Bandai Namco’s latest addition to the Tales series, Tales of Arise, has been released into the wild for long-standing fans to embark on.
With clear inspirations at the heart of its designs and stylish action and battle sequences to champion this installment as one of Tales’ greatest titles, fans have already begun commenting on its striking visuals.
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Tales of Arise "Watercolor Storybook" Comparison
Reddit user Terozu shared their thoughts on the Tales of Arise subreddit, comparing the RPG’s style to something quite picturesque.“Tales of Arise feels like playing a watercolor storybook,” the Redditor said, stating that the developers produced an ideal blend of realistic graphics merged with the game’s unique style. Adding that this particular title has "aged like fine wine" - playing into the current meme going around - the user also added that they wished Skyrim would look more like an artistic storybook.
Other members of the subreddit did not hesitate to put their two cents in, adding that the game’s strong suit was definitely its overall look and fluidity. Another comment compared Tales of Arise’s style to the Valkyria Chronicles, and the game’s Cameo Battle feature was also discussed - an encounter that features characters from past Tales titles.
World Building Within Tales of Arise
If Tales of Arise was illustrated within a storybook, the narrative would be just as vivid in comparison to its art style. Creating colorful scenery was a prominent goal in mind when building the visual accompaniment to Alphen and Shionne’s journey, while retaining distinctions between both worlds on offer.
Arise is set between the medieval world of Dahna and the more modern world of Rena, with the latter dominating Dahna because of its technological achievements. Protagonists Alphen and Shionne hail from both worlds - the former being from Dahna and the latter from Rena - and they travel together with other mixed companions to triumph through hardship.
Bandai revealed that an “Atmospheric Shader” was used when building the worlds of Dahna and Rena, introducing the graphics shader to achieve their vision of the game’s art style which was in fact inspired by watercolor paintings and anime. Artistic backgrounds and delicate designs were the developer’s main focus during world-building, where natural environments shift depending on what time of day it is.
Bandai Namco