Vissa spelserier är tokhyllade av fansen men når sällan den breda publiken och den 25-årsfirande Tales-serien är verkligen en sådan. Trots att den sålt närmare 24 miljoner exemplar genom åren är medvetenheten kring den utanför Japan begränsad. Så när vi fick ett erbjudande om att intervjua producenten Yusuke Tomizawa för kommande Tales of Arise vände vi oss istället till @Arzei, som i forumet uttryckt stort intresse och kunnande kring serien.

Om detta sporrar ditt intresse ytterligare kan vi avslöja att Tales of Arise släpps den 10 september på såväl den nuvarande generationen konsoler, som last-gen och pc.

Arzei: Serien har länge haft ett karaktärsdrivet berättande där personliga utmaningar och relationerna inom partyt får mycket andrum. Kan vi förvänta oss mer sådant i Arise?

Yusuke Tomizawa: Yes, also in “Arise”, we have prepared a unique party of characters, including some that we have not yet introduced to the public. You will be able to explore each character’s inside (including some parts that give insights beyond the main storyline) and enjoy the characters’ depth and diversity. But, at the same time, we put effort into creating a party that includes members who take different stances when it comes to the question of how to meet the great challenge of breaking free from the existing oppression and the games being played between the two worlds of Dahna and Rena. We made sure that how players react to the different point of views and opinions within the party, will also be part of the challenge.

Berättelsen om de två världarna påminner om Eternia och Symphonia som också innehöll två världar som inte kom överens. Finns det någon anledning till att detta har blivit ett återkommande inslag i serien och hur kommer handlingen i Arise att skilja sig från sina föregångare?

This connects to my answer to your question above, but there are two further aspects, why we chose to continue this kind of legacy: One is, that we want to deliver a product that also attracts users of the new generation all over the world. Therefore, we chose a subject that is to some extent “Tales” typical but at the same time easy to relate to. The second is that I think this kind of subject has a very deep and new relevance to our present world. Rena and Dahna do not have a balanced relationship to each other, but a very unilateral, one-sided one. The urge of the main characters to raise their voice against division and submission and their strive for freedom has a very present-day relevance. There are many parts, that are similar to the kind of confrontation and division of worlds from previous “Tales”, but the level of empathy for the characters’ personal pain and their growth throughout the journey is something that is hard to describe in words and therefore, we would like
you to experience by actually playing the game.

En del av seriens äldre fans saknar de dungeons man såg i exempelvis Symphonia, som var mer komplexa och innehöll fler pussel än de senare titlarna. Är detta något man har återbesökt?

I think there are many different opinions, when it comes to the concept of dungeons or the balance of gameplay in RPGs, alongside with all different kinds of trends and generational expectations. I personally think it is important to keep in mind what we want the user to enjoy, and to take decisions accordingly. In this game, one of our main aims was to strengthen the feeling of the characters’ presence in the
game’s world and therefore, we improved the handling of field actions such as jumping, exploring or swimming. This also adds to an experience of the dungeons that I believe never have been as three-dimensional or as dynamic to explore. This is also something that we set ourselves as a goal.

Vad kommer Playstation 5- och Xbox Series-versionerna erbjuda spelarna för göra spelarnas upplevelse ännu bättre?

For next generation consoles, you will be able to select a 4K mode or a 60fps mode. This will enable you to experience the unique atmospheric shader that creates a visual similar to the world of an impressionistic painting and that can be displayed on a big screen with great precision. Also, you will be able to enjoy the progressed action battling so smoothly. You can say that it also has a great effect on taking short cuts and an even greater elevation of the fields. For our PS5 version, we use the possibility to individually add a certain move to the controller. This enables you to react to certain effects during battle with that move and adds to an even more
dynamic experience and choreography. We have of course made sure that the game provides the best performance possible on any hardware and we hope that we can thereby meet the needs of even more users, whatever platform they use.

Bonusfråga! Vilka nyheter tror ni fansen kommer att uppskatta mest?

Within the boundaries of what I can say publicly so far, one feature to look forward to is our progress in action battling. Another aspect may seem small, but maybe the dramaturgy of short chats (called skits in-game), that we have put great effort into throughout the gameplay experience. For the battles, we took a fresh look at the usability and tempo of direct feedbacks to certain actions, that should be great to experience. Concerning the sense of freshness and the experience of cooperative fighting, we are aiming to reach the best outcome within the series. We are really looking forward to the responses from fans of the series-typical action battling.

Regarding the skits, I mean the kind of party dialogues that pop up on the verge of the screen during play. We have raised the amount of these short chats and elevated the timing of their popping up in this game. We did not do this in order to simply raise the amount of chats, but because we set ourselves the aim to ensure that the relationships and the diversity within the party and the growth of the bonds between its members should be something that you can relate to. In order to achieve this, the skits play an essential role. That is, because we felt that it is important for the user not to limit this kind of interaction to certain events or skits at certain points in the story, that very obviously will give you some information on characters (or in other words, forces you to find out about the characters), but to naturally interact with the characters and party throughout the game. I think that the depth of the skits makes the experience of our game even richer, alongside with the role they have as kind of tutorials and to give the user a sense of being an adventurer.

Som sagt, lansering den 10 september på alla aktuella plattformar förutom Nintendo Switch. Notera att du inte kan uppgradera den fysiska Playstation 4-utgåvan till nextgen om du bara har Playstation 5 Digital Edition.