It's more Tales of Arise. And that's an incredibly good thing. The story was also pretty good. Not as good as the main game, but decent enough to where I was caring at the end of it.
Is it worth $30? I don't think so. I got about 10 hours worth of gameplay doing 100% of everything and luckily I picked this up on sale for $20. I think that is the perfect price for it.
Long story short, I liked it a lot, it's dlc worth playing.
Is it worth $30? I don't think so. I got about 10 hours worth of gameplay doing 100% of everything and luckily I picked this up on sale for $20. I think that is the perfect price for it.
Long story short, I liked it a lot, it's dlc worth playing.
gamesux
This review contains spoilers
This was disappointing. That was an awful ending.
Story (1/3) - It was so good till the halfway point. Just randomly Nazamil decided to leave the group, then the story was fetch quests the video game for 4 hours. Then you find out Nazamil is turning people into slaves....how??? She is now just able to activate the mauzaliums. Then she suddenly listens to nobody when they meet. What a destruction of character development. She was an interesting character till then. Horrible writing. Then at the end, she just leaves and they let her....after the whole point of the game was that she is alone and everyone treats her badly. As if people will forgive her for making them slaves. This was so bad.
Gameplay (2/3) - Same as the main game. The only real issue is that enemies are too tanky. Why do they have so much health, makes boss fights almost 30 minutes long at max level.
Performance (2/3) - Voice Acting was really bad during many skits, where the VAs sound like they gave one shot to read the lines. Graphics are amazing, absolutely beautiful. Some FPS drops in the more graphically enhanced areas.
Story (1/3) - It was so good till the halfway point. Just randomly Nazamil decided to leave the group, then the story was fetch quests the video game for 4 hours. Then you find out Nazamil is turning people into slaves....how??? She is now just able to activate the mauzaliums. Then she suddenly listens to nobody when they meet. What a destruction of character development. She was an interesting character till then. Horrible writing. Then at the end, she just leaves and they let her....after the whole point of the game was that she is alone and everyone treats her badly. As if people will forgive her for making them slaves. This was so bad.
Gameplay (2/3) - Same as the main game. The only real issue is that enemies are too tanky. Why do they have so much health, makes boss fights almost 30 minutes long at max level.
Performance (2/3) - Voice Acting was really bad during many skits, where the VAs sound like they gave one shot to read the lines. Graphics are amazing, absolutely beautiful. Some FPS drops in the more graphically enhanced areas.
It is too expensive for what it is. It is still good, as the base game is, but it is more or less the same with weaker characters and less interesting story. There are only three new dungeons and they are quite repetitive in terms of gameplay and design. The enemies are also similar to those of the main game. And... to start completely from scratch is never a good idea. Never!
I'm gonna be quite harsh here.
This expansion is highway robbery.
Its asking price is way too high to be justifiable, since it adds NOTHING new to the gameplay--no new Artes, no new systems, nothing. A lot of the enemies are just reskins from the base game, which I've already grown to dislike over time. Speaking of, the story didn't make me feel anything, Nazamil is a nothing character, and this overall just feels like one long side mission in the base game, with all the repetitiveness that comes with it.
Overall, this is a nothingburger expansion that is way too pricey.
This expansion is highway robbery.
Its asking price is way too high to be justifiable, since it adds NOTHING new to the gameplay--no new Artes, no new systems, nothing. A lot of the enemies are just reskins from the base game, which I've already grown to dislike over time. Speaking of, the story didn't make me feel anything, Nazamil is a nothing character, and this overall just feels like one long side mission in the base game, with all the repetitiveness that comes with it.
Overall, this is a nothingburger expansion that is way too pricey.
It's not worth £25. But I had MS points to use up. It might be worth a tenner.
For me, it's probably a 4/5 as I loved spending more time with these guys and the story is enjoyable. The new character is a bit annoying but they don't distract from the main cast.
But for everyone else it's bang-average, more of the same. You get out of this what you got out of the original.
For me, it's probably a 4/5 as I loved spending more time with these guys and the story is enjoyable. The new character is a bit annoying but they don't distract from the main cast.
But for everyone else it's bang-average, more of the same. You get out of this what you got out of the original.
While I had fun with it, it’s kinda hard to suggest for its steep price. It is really only worth picking up for the story. Nothing new gameplay is added. Nazamil is a fun addition to the cast tho
You LOVED base tales of arise? 4 stars
You found it okay? 3 stars
You hated the final arc? Or do you want a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 level expansion? 2 stars
It's more from the cast, now after the final battle of the game and before the illustrations of the credits. If you wanna see and know more about the state of the world after the final boss of the base game, play the dlc, if you don't care, don't even bother
You found it okay? 3 stars
You hated the final arc? Or do you want a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 level expansion? 2 stars
It's more from the cast, now after the final battle of the game and before the illustrations of the credits. If you wanna see and know more about the state of the world after the final boss of the base game, play the dlc, if you don't care, don't even bother
This review contains spoilers
In short, if you liked the main game of Arise, you'll probably like this about the same amount. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had some ideas for a plot beyond just the DLC-character Nazamil, especially the stuff regarding Alphen's living weapon reputation among basically everybody in the world. All of my favorite parts of this expansion were connected to him. Nazamil was fine, just felt a little forced sometimes and it was hard to be as attached to her as I would've been if she hadn't just now popped out of existence. The game does not make any significant changes in regards to how fights are designed; I still wished that bosses had about half the health that they actually do, and normal encounters were as addicting as before.
This DLC is the epitome of average.
The story is fine. There was a lot of potential regarding where they could take it after the main game, and yet, I'd argue the route taken here was the safest. Nothing truly new is added when it comes to the state of the world (People are still trying to figure out their differences, as expected), and the character arcs only explore existing struggles or personal journeys (e.g. Alphen is still struggling with being called hero/destroyer, Kisara seeing herself and her brother in a boy and his sister and wanting to protect them.)
Even Nazamil, the new character of the expansion, despite having a few good moments, was written in a very lacklustre way with a predictable arc.
So yeah, nothing necessarily wrong with the story here. It's just... Ok.
And that sentiment echoes throughout all other aspects of the DLC. In terms of gameplay, it rehashes almost everything from the base game to an almost absurd point (Arbitrary level AND skill reset.) I have nothing against having to level up again, but at least give me new arts and equipment to look forward to!)
What saves Beyond the Dawn, in my eyes, is the stellar combat and personal stories. Yes, nothing new is introduced to us, but we get more of the solid character arcs from the base game, and that's not bad at all!
The story is fine. There was a lot of potential regarding where they could take it after the main game, and yet, I'd argue the route taken here was the safest. Nothing truly new is added when it comes to the state of the world (People are still trying to figure out their differences, as expected), and the character arcs only explore existing struggles or personal journeys (e.g. Alphen is still struggling with being called hero/destroyer, Kisara seeing herself and her brother in a boy and his sister and wanting to protect them.)
Even Nazamil, the new character of the expansion, despite having a few good moments, was written in a very lacklustre way with a predictable arc.
So yeah, nothing necessarily wrong with the story here. It's just... Ok.
And that sentiment echoes throughout all other aspects of the DLC. In terms of gameplay, it rehashes almost everything from the base game to an almost absurd point (Arbitrary level AND skill reset.) I have nothing against having to level up again, but at least give me new arts and equipment to look forward to!)
What saves Beyond the Dawn, in my eyes, is the stellar combat and personal stories. Yes, nothing new is introduced to us, but we get more of the solid character arcs from the base game, and that's not bad at all!
A bit overpriced for what it was. Some of the side quests were pretty repetitive, but there were some good character moments sprinkled throughout. The story was alright, I wish we got to spend more time with the new character.
NOT A TALES GAME
I'm gonna miss these idiots
I only recommend this if you really loved the main game and the characters, or if you haven't bought the main game yet and get the DLC bundled with it.
It's a cute epilogue with a much better finale, but it could be shorter and cheaper.
It's a cute epilogue with a much better finale, but it could be shorter and cheaper.
If you liked the base game, I recommend getting this expansion on sale. While I ultimately enjoyed my time with this extra content, there's a number of things I thought were lacking. Among them, the story was pretty weak and predictable. Sure, it all comes together for a somewhat satisfying ending, but parts of it felt rushed, especially the second act. It was really interesting seeing a post-endgame world, but Nazamil is the only new notable character, as far as I'm aware.
There are also a number of sort of leader-type characters scattered among all the cities from the first game, but I couldn't tell you if they were created for the DLC or not; they were extremely unmemorable and generic. Hell, I already forgot all of their names.
This was something I thought about the original game too, but the last dungeon is way longer than it needs to be, too. It feels super stretched out to wring out as much playtime as possible. Hell, there was this one room where there's a long path that looks right back to the beginning of the room up to a ledge with like, 1 enemy along the way and nothing else. It was really bizarre, especially since it sort of broke the flow of the dungeon.
The length was underwhelming for the price, too. I think I did nearly everything I could, and I clocked in right at 20 hours. Got all the achievements and everything. I feel like they could have improved the second act and lengthen the story quite a bit. I remember reading people say this expansion would be 30-40 hours, but that just simply isn't true.
Oh! And my least favorite thing of all: this is completely separate from the original game. Anything you had in your inventory, and all of your levels: gone. They start you off at level 70. I get why they did this, but I really didn't like losing out on all my stuff. You get a few extra bonuses for having done certain things in the base game, but it's not a good substitute in my opinion.
This review has been mostly negative, but I still think this is worth checking out when it's cheap. It's a blast going on a new adventure with the same party members from the base game. Nazamil, while not an entirely original character, is really endearing for a good while. And the combat from the base game remains pretty much unchanged. It would have been nice getting something new in that department maybe, but I just had fun playing MORE Arise. If that's what you want out of this DLC, I think you'll find it.
There are also a number of sort of leader-type characters scattered among all the cities from the first game, but I couldn't tell you if they were created for the DLC or not; they were extremely unmemorable and generic. Hell, I already forgot all of their names.
This was something I thought about the original game too, but the last dungeon is way longer than it needs to be, too. It feels super stretched out to wring out as much playtime as possible. Hell, there was this one room where there's a long path that looks right back to the beginning of the room up to a ledge with like, 1 enemy along the way and nothing else. It was really bizarre, especially since it sort of broke the flow of the dungeon.
The length was underwhelming for the price, too. I think I did nearly everything I could, and I clocked in right at 20 hours. Got all the achievements and everything. I feel like they could have improved the second act and lengthen the story quite a bit. I remember reading people say this expansion would be 30-40 hours, but that just simply isn't true.
Oh! And my least favorite thing of all: this is completely separate from the original game. Anything you had in your inventory, and all of your levels: gone. They start you off at level 70. I get why they did this, but I really didn't like losing out on all my stuff. You get a few extra bonuses for having done certain things in the base game, but it's not a good substitute in my opinion.
This review has been mostly negative, but I still think this is worth checking out when it's cheap. It's a blast going on a new adventure with the same party members from the base game. Nazamil, while not an entirely original character, is really endearing for a good while. And the combat from the base game remains pretty much unchanged. It would have been nice getting something new in that department maybe, but I just had fun playing MORE Arise. If that's what you want out of this DLC, I think you'll find it.
too little, too late
C'ést pas un chef-d'œuvre et c'est beaucoup trop cher, par contre le scénario est bien, il y a une quantité raisonnable de contenus, le combat final était hype (spécialement avec l'OST Hibana) et... honnêtement c'était vraiment sympa de revoir les persos d'Arise, et le jouer encore une fois car j'avais oublié à quel point le gameplay était addictif
Ah oui et KISARA 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐
Ah oui et KISARA 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐
It's too late, it's too expensive, it's too lazy. Just a few boring dungeons and the rest you've already seen in vanila game. The story is also generic and boring, adds almost nothing to the plot. Please Namco, learn how to make cool expansions from someone like Monolith Soft.
Haven’t even played but having to own arise (which i gave a 2/5)already to play it makes it shit.
for an expansion, this is really boring and incredibly repetitive with barely any new enemies or locations if this was just a side mission in the main game I would thought it was meh decent
if this dlc was $10-15 cheaper and came out about 6-12 months ago, I would've loved it. aside from that, final boss was really cool. I just wish bosses didn't have so much damn health.
A £24.99 boring exercise that barely adds to the main story.
Insane asset reusage, uninteresting new characters and sluggish pacing
I generally liked Tales of Arise, but this felt like a overpriced cashgrab that should have been free.
Insane asset reusage, uninteresting new characters and sluggish pacing
I generally liked Tales of Arise, but this felt like a overpriced cashgrab that should have been free.
We had some really great DLCs last year, like Burning Shores for Horizon: Forbidden West, or the absolutely fantastic Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk 2077, just to name a few. I was really looking forward to this one, as well, as Arise is one of my favorite Tales titles, and all in all, I wasn't disappointed in it. I wasn't super impressed with it (maybe I shouldn't have played it right after the amazing Future Redeemed for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, because I kept comparing the two in my mind...), either, but I think it's a decent add-on, definitely one of the better ones.
It was nice to meet the gang again, I think the cast of heroes is just as strong as in the main game, but it would have been great to see more new main characters, not just one. The story was OK, I guess, but it really lacked a true villain, in my opinion. More new locations would have been nice, too, and, as far as I'm concerned, I would have gladly settled for less boring side-quests in exchange for a few more hours of content in the main story...
Still, the graphics are still beautiful, the lore is interesting, the gameplay is fun, and there's quite a lot of content here with collectibles, optional bosses and so on, so yeah, if you liked the main game, there's no reason not to try this one.
It was nice to meet the gang again, I think the cast of heroes is just as strong as in the main game, but it would have been great to see more new main characters, not just one. The story was OK, I guess, but it really lacked a true villain, in my opinion. More new locations would have been nice, too, and, as far as I'm concerned, I would have gladly settled for less boring side-quests in exchange for a few more hours of content in the main story...
Still, the graphics are still beautiful, the lore is interesting, the gameplay is fun, and there's quite a lot of content here with collectibles, optional bosses and so on, so yeah, if you liked the main game, there's no reason not to try this one.
Review to be inserted later
Good skits, decent character interaction, combat is still fun but nothing new gameplay-wise. Reuses lots of the same content, revisiting same locations, and the quests were around 3/4ths filler. Overpriced for what it is, not bad to nab on sale though
While I enjoyed a lot of the side quests and of the main story, I feel like this dlc needed a bit more specifically help Nazamil connect more with the player. Im also disappointed at the lack of gameplay additions. Still I find Arise combat to be very fun, even if its middle of the road for tales, and I very much love this cast to the extent that I came out of this enjoying it. Anyway please remaster and port old games Bamco.
ehhhhhhhh...
This review contains spoilers
Guys we just have to empathize with her harder we can't rebuke her for trying to implement human instrumentality, that would be kinda mean. Man this was cornier than some of the biggest offenders from the base game (Law "revenge is le bad" anyone?) but at least it was still super pretty, and a few of the side quests I managed to do all of were ok
Funny though how they saw the negative reception to that massive slog of a final dungeon from the main game and said hell yeah, let's do exactly that again - repetitive skit dialogue and all. Cowards couldn't even give us an on-screen marriage proposal or wedding (or anything with Rinwell/Law or Dohalim/Kisara). Like cmon, you KNOW the fans who'd buy this DLC a whole 2 years later wanna see that cute shit. I p-worded this but $30 is definitely a crazy asking price
Funny though how they saw the negative reception to that massive slog of a final dungeon from the main game and said hell yeah, let's do exactly that again - repetitive skit dialogue and all. Cowards couldn't even give us an on-screen marriage proposal or wedding (or anything with Rinwell/Law or Dohalim/Kisara). Like cmon, you KNOW the fans who'd buy this DLC a whole 2 years later wanna see that cute shit. I p-worded this but $30 is definitely a crazy asking price
When I first beat Tales of Arise about a year and a half ago, after beating the main story, and doing everything else, I got to the point where there was nothing more for me to do. I wasn't quite ready to put it down, so I spent about an hour just wandering the world, and talking to NPC's. I was almost sad in a way, nothing more for me to do, until now.
So just getting it out of the way. I am WELL aware this is a controversial title in the series, but I've always been a Tales of Arise shooter. And I'm not gonna spend time here reviewing this expansion on the base game's merits, especially when I already gave it five stars.
So that makes it a little hard for me to rate this expansion since it basically just is the base game. Nothing really new is added, which kind of makes it hard for itself to justify its existence in a way. Pretty much all of the new content is story and quest related, but I am happy to say that it doesn't disappoint in that regard.
Pretty much every single side quest you're going to be doing acts as sort of an epilogue to either a quest or a plot point from the base game. It was a joy to catch up with the world and characters I said goodbye to. All of the quests are pretty excellently paced as well. You never spend too long on one thing, and they're interwoven very well with combat and great character moments. Pairing all that together with an excellent main story that serves extremely well to the kind of abrupt ending of the main game, makes it for an excellently paced and nostalgic experience. The main conflict surrounding the mysterious new girl has its fair share of sweet and awesome moments, especially the ending, which had me out of my seat in excitement.
However, even I really can't justify the 30 dollar price tag. That's like half a full price brand new game, for really no new content outside of story. And even taking my time doing literally everything it only took me around 13-14 hours to complete. So I can't really give it the same full five stars I gave the base game. So maybe either wait for a sale, or buy the complete edition of the game if you're a new player.
But as a big fan of the series, this expansion provided me with a ton of fun, and I would totally recommend it if you enjoyed the base game.
So just getting it out of the way. I am WELL aware this is a controversial title in the series, but I've always been a Tales of Arise shooter. And I'm not gonna spend time here reviewing this expansion on the base game's merits, especially when I already gave it five stars.
So that makes it a little hard for me to rate this expansion since it basically just is the base game. Nothing really new is added, which kind of makes it hard for itself to justify its existence in a way. Pretty much all of the new content is story and quest related, but I am happy to say that it doesn't disappoint in that regard.
Pretty much every single side quest you're going to be doing acts as sort of an epilogue to either a quest or a plot point from the base game. It was a joy to catch up with the world and characters I said goodbye to. All of the quests are pretty excellently paced as well. You never spend too long on one thing, and they're interwoven very well with combat and great character moments. Pairing all that together with an excellent main story that serves extremely well to the kind of abrupt ending of the main game, makes it for an excellently paced and nostalgic experience. The main conflict surrounding the mysterious new girl has its fair share of sweet and awesome moments, especially the ending, which had me out of my seat in excitement.
However, even I really can't justify the 30 dollar price tag. That's like half a full price brand new game, for really no new content outside of story. And even taking my time doing literally everything it only took me around 13-14 hours to complete. So I can't really give it the same full five stars I gave the base game. So maybe either wait for a sale, or buy the complete edition of the game if you're a new player.
But as a big fan of the series, this expansion provided me with a ton of fun, and I would totally recommend it if you enjoyed the base game.
I've gone on record saying I quite enjoy Tales of Arise. It definitely has its issues, don't get me wrong, I get why it's not the most beloved game in the series. I hate the bosses, the skit system has been ruined, the pacing in the back half of the game is not very good, the AI was blehhhh, but in spite of all of that I enjoyed the game a lot. I loved the cast, the combat was super satisfying outside of bosses, the overworld and content was vast and investing, and I even thought the story was pretty good. However, what I think both haters and fans can agree on, is that after the credits rolled, we were done with Arise. It made some interesting steps forward and we wanted to see where the series would go from here. Of all the Tales games, this had to be one with the least potential for a continuation.
Which is why I remember seeing "Beyond the Dawn" trademarked and getting worried.
Was this a sequel? No, it can't be a sequel, what would they even do? An anime? A pachinko machine? It was certainly a... Weird thing to see announced. But, being the massive Tales fan I am, I had faith that Bandai Namco wouldn't do something unreasonable. Turns out this was a DLC taking place after the story, sort of like Tales of Graces' "F Arc." I became cautiously optimistic, while the arc had its flaws Graces' F arc had a lot of great aspects going for it and I think made the game stronger overall. Promising 20 hours of content, a ton of new stuff, and a wholely new story, I was curious to see what Bamco was cooking.
The first thing that made me worried was the pricetag. Thirty dollars. That's pretty freaking hefty for a DLC, isn't it? But hey, it's pretty long at least, I guess it sooorta makes sense. Then I was hearing from others that the game's length was... Actually more like 10 hours. Hell, someone I know claimed to beat it in less than 5. I'm not taking the price into account with this review, but I beat this campaign in around 10 hours, and for the actual amount of interesting new content this price is a complete scam, especially considering what this is advertising. I imagine you're only getting 20 with all the sidequests while going as slow as possible. Not cool Bamco. Not cool.
But whatever, I had borrowed a PS4 for this, I had set aside time for it, I was gonna play this campaign. And... I was kinda bored? Beyond the Dawn's structure is the first thing that kills it for me. All the overworld areas are reused. This makes sense, the whole world was pretty much explored (which is another reason this DLC didn't need to exist), but it makes every moment you're not in a dungeon just... Walking from cutscene to cutscene. Tales of Xillia 2 reused overworld areas as well but there were like. Goals. And places to travel to. Here it's just... Empty space with no whimsey in the slightest.
And the cutscenes themselves? I mean they're fine I guess. The story of Beyond the Dawn is not very special in my eyes. Most of it is focused around this new kid Nazamil with Dahnan and Renan blood and how she had an awful upbringing that effects her life now, and like. I don't know she's fine. I didn't really get attached to her, they spent a bit trying to make me feel bad for her and then suddenly I'm supposed to think of her like she's my best friend. I feel like I've seen the themes and story of Nazamil done with characters in the series like Phi or Artorious or... I don't know, point is she just didn't really feel that inspired or special. Other factors in the story are lesser focuses. They reference the current race relations of the world which is interesting but it doesn't go much further than "racism sucks." It's nice seeing the other characters a year later and how they're doing though, even if they don't have much to do. Shionne and Alphen are the highlight here, being as cute as ever, and I'll admit I genuinely really liked what they do with Alphen. Being seen as a hero and someone who ruined the world at the same time and how that's taken a toll on people. It was neat! The skits were also an improvement I think, much shorter and featuring more enjoyable interactions. I'll admit that there were some genuinely effective and well-written scenes throughout the campaign, but nothing felt especially impressive. It just leads to a really mediocre undercooked story.
When you're not wandering around you'll end up doing the grand total of 3 new dungeons. Their layouts are typical Arise stuff (outside of the last one) meaning that they're neat and all but not really that interesting in layout. The problem comes in the battles. I mentioned the F arc earlier, which has many dope gameplay differences. New artes, an expanded version of a character you didn't (normally) get to play much, and an entirely new character! Beyond the Dawn has nothing new. No, seriously. The game plays pretty much identically, warts and all! Okay the AI seemed better, they died to dumb dodgable things less at least, but that could just be me. But the utter lack of things for Beyond the Dawn to claim as new makes this feel more like an overpriced sidequest, emphasis on overpriced because jesus christ $30 for nothing new in gameplay is some sad crap. I like Arise's combat, but I didn't get anything out of Beyond the Dawn that I couldn't have gotten out of the original with a way better structure. Hell, some things are taken away from you, having to unlock artes and such you already had in the campaign. What a bizarre decision to force in some level of progression since they didn't want to add anything new. I was at least hoping for Bamco to maybe go back on their boss design at least, but nope, still a bunch of stupid beefcakes that the game refuses to let you combo. What a disappointment.
But whatever, even with all of that I still would have written off this DLC as whatever, an overpriced disappointment. You know a sort of "well if you really love Arise there's more to do in it, a bunch of sidequests I didn't touch too." But no, they decided to drop one of the worst final dungeons in the series on me at the end too. Not only does it pull from the Tales design idea I was glad died of making the final dungeon a drawn-out gauntlet that will overstay its welcome and then offer you two more hours of content, something that instantly makes your dungeon tedious and horrible, it has you refight an almost identical boss THREE TIMES. It took me at least 12 minutes each time, and no it wasn't fun the first time either. It felt like a freaking punchline by the third time, where it was now throwing two giant unstunnable monsters at me at the same time! Great, now I have to manage dodging three strong enemies that I can not combo all at the same time! It felt like a freaking romhack, but whatever, one terrible version of a boss and a few bad ones throughout an overly long dungeon isn't the worst thing ever. It made me say I disliked the DLC, but I still had a grand finale to go through at least. Maybe Beyond the Dawn could pull through?
It's the worst boss fight in the entire franchise.
Now I can't be 100% sure on that, I haven't played the JP games or the spinoffs, and some come really close so I could change my mind later, but god what a DUMPSTERFIRE of a boss. Unlike some bosses in the basegame, this wasn't extremely frustrating with obnoxious mechanics, it's just the purest form of an Arise boss. Way too much health, some annoying abilities, and of course you can't combo it. But when I say way too much health, I mean WAYYYY too much health. It legit took me over FORTY MINUTES to take this dude down. I was playing well too, I never felt my chance of winning threatened once. The boss even has an ability to recover health if you don't take out their clones fast enough, which SUCKS because instead of being a threat my thought process was "oh god I don't wanna play this terrible boss any longer." But whatever, after so freaking long I finally beat the dude... AND THEN THERE WAS A SECOND PHASE. THAT ALSO TOOK FORTY MINUTES!!!! It has even MORE health, WHY?? Why is a significant portion of your DLC campaign ONE BOSS FIGHT, it took me over a tenth of my playtime!! Possibly even more! This phase was more threatening at least but god it just has such annoying attacks and does not. Freaking. END!
I was only half paying attention when the final cutscene played. I think I gathered what happened but I didn't care, I was so utterly worn out from that terrible endgame. This is a low for the series, and unlike other lows I can't make an excuse for it. This DLC flat-out sucks. The fact they're charging THIRTY DOLLARS for this game, a price tag you could use to buy some of the greatest games ever created around this holiday season is a punch to the gut of all Tales fans. Hopefully wherever the series goes from here takes no notes from this DLC. What a waste of time and money.
Which is why I remember seeing "Beyond the Dawn" trademarked and getting worried.
Was this a sequel? No, it can't be a sequel, what would they even do? An anime? A pachinko machine? It was certainly a... Weird thing to see announced. But, being the massive Tales fan I am, I had faith that Bandai Namco wouldn't do something unreasonable. Turns out this was a DLC taking place after the story, sort of like Tales of Graces' "F Arc." I became cautiously optimistic, while the arc had its flaws Graces' F arc had a lot of great aspects going for it and I think made the game stronger overall. Promising 20 hours of content, a ton of new stuff, and a wholely new story, I was curious to see what Bamco was cooking.
The first thing that made me worried was the pricetag. Thirty dollars. That's pretty freaking hefty for a DLC, isn't it? But hey, it's pretty long at least, I guess it sooorta makes sense. Then I was hearing from others that the game's length was... Actually more like 10 hours. Hell, someone I know claimed to beat it in less than 5. I'm not taking the price into account with this review, but I beat this campaign in around 10 hours, and for the actual amount of interesting new content this price is a complete scam, especially considering what this is advertising. I imagine you're only getting 20 with all the sidequests while going as slow as possible. Not cool Bamco. Not cool.
But whatever, I had borrowed a PS4 for this, I had set aside time for it, I was gonna play this campaign. And... I was kinda bored? Beyond the Dawn's structure is the first thing that kills it for me. All the overworld areas are reused. This makes sense, the whole world was pretty much explored (which is another reason this DLC didn't need to exist), but it makes every moment you're not in a dungeon just... Walking from cutscene to cutscene. Tales of Xillia 2 reused overworld areas as well but there were like. Goals. And places to travel to. Here it's just... Empty space with no whimsey in the slightest.
And the cutscenes themselves? I mean they're fine I guess. The story of Beyond the Dawn is not very special in my eyes. Most of it is focused around this new kid Nazamil with Dahnan and Renan blood and how she had an awful upbringing that effects her life now, and like. I don't know she's fine. I didn't really get attached to her, they spent a bit trying to make me feel bad for her and then suddenly I'm supposed to think of her like she's my best friend. I feel like I've seen the themes and story of Nazamil done with characters in the series like Phi or Artorious or... I don't know, point is she just didn't really feel that inspired or special. Other factors in the story are lesser focuses. They reference the current race relations of the world which is interesting but it doesn't go much further than "racism sucks." It's nice seeing the other characters a year later and how they're doing though, even if they don't have much to do. Shionne and Alphen are the highlight here, being as cute as ever, and I'll admit I genuinely really liked what they do with Alphen. Being seen as a hero and someone who ruined the world at the same time and how that's taken a toll on people. It was neat! The skits were also an improvement I think, much shorter and featuring more enjoyable interactions. I'll admit that there were some genuinely effective and well-written scenes throughout the campaign, but nothing felt especially impressive. It just leads to a really mediocre undercooked story.
When you're not wandering around you'll end up doing the grand total of 3 new dungeons. Their layouts are typical Arise stuff (outside of the last one) meaning that they're neat and all but not really that interesting in layout. The problem comes in the battles. I mentioned the F arc earlier, which has many dope gameplay differences. New artes, an expanded version of a character you didn't (normally) get to play much, and an entirely new character! Beyond the Dawn has nothing new. No, seriously. The game plays pretty much identically, warts and all! Okay the AI seemed better, they died to dumb dodgable things less at least, but that could just be me. But the utter lack of things for Beyond the Dawn to claim as new makes this feel more like an overpriced sidequest, emphasis on overpriced because jesus christ $30 for nothing new in gameplay is some sad crap. I like Arise's combat, but I didn't get anything out of Beyond the Dawn that I couldn't have gotten out of the original with a way better structure. Hell, some things are taken away from you, having to unlock artes and such you already had in the campaign. What a bizarre decision to force in some level of progression since they didn't want to add anything new. I was at least hoping for Bamco to maybe go back on their boss design at least, but nope, still a bunch of stupid beefcakes that the game refuses to let you combo. What a disappointment.
But whatever, even with all of that I still would have written off this DLC as whatever, an overpriced disappointment. You know a sort of "well if you really love Arise there's more to do in it, a bunch of sidequests I didn't touch too." But no, they decided to drop one of the worst final dungeons in the series on me at the end too. Not only does it pull from the Tales design idea I was glad died of making the final dungeon a drawn-out gauntlet that will overstay its welcome and then offer you two more hours of content, something that instantly makes your dungeon tedious and horrible, it has you refight an almost identical boss THREE TIMES. It took me at least 12 minutes each time, and no it wasn't fun the first time either. It felt like a freaking punchline by the third time, where it was now throwing two giant unstunnable monsters at me at the same time! Great, now I have to manage dodging three strong enemies that I can not combo all at the same time! It felt like a freaking romhack, but whatever, one terrible version of a boss and a few bad ones throughout an overly long dungeon isn't the worst thing ever. It made me say I disliked the DLC, but I still had a grand finale to go through at least. Maybe Beyond the Dawn could pull through?
It's the worst boss fight in the entire franchise.
Now I can't be 100% sure on that, I haven't played the JP games or the spinoffs, and some come really close so I could change my mind later, but god what a DUMPSTERFIRE of a boss. Unlike some bosses in the basegame, this wasn't extremely frustrating with obnoxious mechanics, it's just the purest form of an Arise boss. Way too much health, some annoying abilities, and of course you can't combo it. But when I say way too much health, I mean WAYYYY too much health. It legit took me over FORTY MINUTES to take this dude down. I was playing well too, I never felt my chance of winning threatened once. The boss even has an ability to recover health if you don't take out their clones fast enough, which SUCKS because instead of being a threat my thought process was "oh god I don't wanna play this terrible boss any longer." But whatever, after so freaking long I finally beat the dude... AND THEN THERE WAS A SECOND PHASE. THAT ALSO TOOK FORTY MINUTES!!!! It has even MORE health, WHY?? Why is a significant portion of your DLC campaign ONE BOSS FIGHT, it took me over a tenth of my playtime!! Possibly even more! This phase was more threatening at least but god it just has such annoying attacks and does not. Freaking. END!
I was only half paying attention when the final cutscene played. I think I gathered what happened but I didn't care, I was so utterly worn out from that terrible endgame. This is a low for the series, and unlike other lows I can't make an excuse for it. This DLC flat-out sucks. The fact they're charging THIRTY DOLLARS for this game, a price tag you could use to buy some of the greatest games ever created around this holiday season is a punch to the gut of all Tales fans. Hopefully wherever the series goes from here takes no notes from this DLC. What a waste of time and money.