I remember when I was younger and used to save up my pocket money to buy random gaming magazines simply because they had a disc full of game demos. They weren’t a rare occurrence either, they would drop a new magazine with a fresh set of demos every single month. Over the years companies have dramatically rolled back the idea behind demos, some developers even going as far as claiming that a demo can hurt a game more than help it.

Yes, we still get betas but generally, they are just a multiplayer preview, not often are they to show off the campaign. Bandai Namco has said, “You know what, let there be fun!” and dropped a banger of a demo in Tales of Arise. This was literally my first experience ever in a Tales game, a long-standing series spanning 25 years! I have since smashed through the demo multiple times over and dived onto the rich history of the Tales universe, but for now, I will run you through my experience from the first time playing it.

Upon opening the demo I was presented with six playable characters to pick from, all offering promises of unique and varied roles to fill. Unsure of who to pick, I closed my eyes, spammed the thumbstick, and made a random guess. I landed on the Kisara, a mace-wielding badass warrior clad in plate mail armour while also rocking a gigantic shield.

After character selection, a breathtaking landscape unfolds in front of you named Elde Menancia. Gazing over the cliff edge to a sweeping landscape of jagged hills and plunging valleys all covered in a fine mist, it took me a moment to notice there were buildings and structures in distance. Pulling back, I began walking in circles inspecting the texture on the rock walls and the lush grass and foliage. I was genuinely gobsmacked. ARPG or JRPG titles aren’t necessarily a bad-looking genre by any means, however, the staggering amount of detail put in both the characters and the environment was made even more apparent as the sun sank behind the mountains and the whole place was bathed in a midnight blue as the sky opened up to a sea of stars. It was magical.

After pulling myself away from the cliff face, I strolled down the path and immediately got in a fight with a couple of Boars as tall as humans just roaming around on the path. This was where I got to see the chaos of combat unfold and the endorphins started kicking in something fierce. It was fast-paced and full of explosive visual flair, to my surprise, it’s not just your character you picked but your entire party that participated in the fight.

Through a few brief tutorial notes, I was swinging away with RB for my normal attacks and using the face buttons to unleash special named attacks. I had a combo meter on the side of the screen letting me know consecutive hits without being interrupted and how much damage that one combo was dealing. Most of the characters are able to dodge but Kisara was meant to be on the front line tanking huge attacks with her giant shield.

Six little markers on the bottom left of the screen had each of the characters’ faces in them, and when the bar around them filled, it would glow signalling I could use the D-Pad to unleash their boost attack. The fight would momentarily be interrupted as that character would have a little cut scene to show off the devastating attacks that could inflict weakness or stun an enemy. Combining my flurry of attacks and their boost attacks would build up a meter on the enemy which would prompt an instant-kill move called a boost strike. These were extremely cinematic set pieces that never got old. I have to commend the camera work as well here, as keeping up with the combat could certainly be an issue if the camera didn’t track as well as it did.

It can be a relatively short demo as you can speed run straight to the boss fight with the Giant Mantis, but taking your time and exploring the landscape reveals so much heart. Small little farm areas with cows and pigs tease the farming portion of the games that will be added to the full release. There was a charming little pond off the beaten path which was prime for a spot of fishing too, which all leads into the cooking portion that helps boost your combat prowess by resting at a campsite.

By playing as each of the six characters, I learned more about the combat system and the different play styles. Combining different combos and understanding the difference between aerial attacks and ground attacks will be a long endeavour when the full release is out. This particular demo doesn’t have anything to do with the game as it was built specifically to showcase how well it plays and you can unlock three different trailers after multiple completions. Each trailer got me more hyped than the last one and I’m now almost giddy with anticipation of the full launch this September.

Written by: Shane Fletcher