Fans and critics have praised the game for its stellar combat and unique world design along with its blend of sci-fi and fantasy motifs, with it being hailed as one of 2021’s best RPGs to boot. However, it was possible that all of this could have been its own standalone title without needing to lean on the Tales of moniker at first. As revealed in a roundtable discussion between Denfaminicogamer and the producer Yusuke Tomizawa and Director Hirokazu Kagawa, this was a real possibility during early development.

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According to Tomizawa, the development of Arise had started with Bandai Namco intending to be its own IP. The “Arise” part of the name was chosen at the beginning, but the Tales of portion was not. The main fear of adding the Tales of moniker was that the game was aiming to be more innovative than past games in the series, so there was uncertainty about whether the title should be attached and become the next mainline entry.

This is especially evident since Tales of Arise feels completely different from the other entries in the long-running JRPG franchise. This sentiment was reflected by Atlus producer Eiji Ishida, who was also at the table, where he felt he was playing something significantly different due to the setting and character designs. The game eventually became a mainline entry in the franchise, but considering how much the combat and other factors were tweaked compared to the older games, it becomes clear how and why Arise managed to carve out its own identity.

For the time being, Tales of Arise has no plans for a direct sequel, though there is likely a project related to this game currently in the works. Earlier this month, Bandai Namco filed a trademark for Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn, which some speculate to be a spin-off. In terms of other Tales of games coming out soon, Tales of Symphonia’s remaster is looking to release next February for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

Tales of Arise is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Denfaminicogamer (via NoisyPixel)