Tales of Arise - Beyond The Dawn - Review
It has been over two years since we helped stop the Great Spirit of Rena from wiping Dahna from existence. How have things progressed in the world of Tales of Arise since we last left off?
NOTE: WILL CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OF THE BASE GAME
Beyond the Dawn is a chunky DLC experience for Tales of Arise. Taking place a year after the events of the first game, the game allows you to explore the aftermath of the conflict, and how the characters are co-existing in a world where there is no longer a divide between Renan and Dahnan citizens. The appearance of Nazamil, daughter of both a Renan Lord and a Dahnan woman is a symbol of the new uniform world in which both races must live together. Not all goes to plan, however.
For those who are jumping into Tales of Arise either after a long hiatus, or as a way back into the game after potentially falling off, Beyond the Dawn is a good way of doing so. It encourages you to have finished the main story prior to starting it, however it will start you at a much higher level and exists independently from the main story. It is unnecessary to have beaten the main game, but you do receive additional starting rewards for having done so. These rewards consist of more starting more and CP (cure points), as well as a special weapon for those who have a completion file with all characters at level 100. These are nice little buffs, but for the most part not entirely necessary or even all that useful. A nice nod if you beat the main game fully, but not much beyond that.
Beyond the Dawn takes place a year after the events of Tales of Arise and looks at the world post the merging event. In an interesting way, the way that different areas were treated in their relationship between Renan and Dahnan persons in the base game are amplified here. There is an attempt to create a co-existence between the two races, but after 300 years of subjugation, abuse and slavery it isn’t all that simple. Beyond the Dawn does a good job of reflecting the world as it would be expected to be a year on from Tales of Arise, but also only looks at very specific sectors of the society. Mostly only focusing on the differences between Niez and Viscint. Niez being a mostly Dahnan run city that is hateful of the Renans. Viscint having been a city that already had a solid level of co-existence between the two races. The story uses this difference as a crutch of a reason for why the antagonist of the DLC ends up attempting to change the world for their benefit.
The story is also unfortunately just not strong enough to justify a two year wait for a DLC that has 75 per cent of its game time as superfluous sub-quests. Most of which whilst nicely expanding upon the individual backgrounds of your core cast of characters (the returning 6 from the main story), are irrelevant to the overall story of Beyond the Dawn. There is a couple that attempt to link into the overarching story, but failure to do so in any meaningful way. In fact, the dialogue and writing itself feels like a significant step back from the main game. It is endearing that the sets of characters are still awkward in their obvious affection for each other. Yet it is baffling that a year after the events of the main game, not a single set of the couples have acknowledged their feelings for each other. Shione and Alphen are still dancing around the topic. Rinwell and Law are still bashful and deliberately ignorant of how everyone else sees them. Kisara and Dolahim have reigned their outwards flirting in, but also seem to have completely ignored their obvious tension. It’s a strange decision to assume that none of them are social competent enough to have had the obvious conversations that were littered through-out the main game. As a result there is a constant running back of these ideas in a way that is insulting to the player. The logical assumption would have been that at least Shione and Alphen would have come together post the events of the main story. The decision not to have had this happen previously, seems like an excuse for a DLC quest that occurs within Beyond the Dawn, around marriage. Yet even in that they pretend to dance around the obvious.
The writing is insulting to the player. It is far more simple, far more childish than the main story. A tale about war, slavery, torture and resistance that has been reduced to a bumbling adolescent’s romance story, with a bizarre focus on the power of friendship. Nazamil is touted as the main focus of the story, and whilst she takes centre stage early on, feels less like the focus and more of a distraction from an unfocused idea. Beyond the Dawn’s writing seems to fall apart because of being a DLC expansion title, rather than a direct sequel. What should have been expanded upon and explained over a longer period is compounded into a short narrative, that realistically only accounts for six to eight hours of actual story development.
Depending on difficulty, those seeking to complete everything the DLC has on offer, will likely complete everything in between fifteen and twenty hours. This seems significant, but as most of that is a result of the end-game dungeon having repetitive boss fights with absurdly high health pools and a bunch of sub-quests that require you to grind mobs, the significance falls apart. Beyond the Dawn would have been acceptable in this condition, a year ago. Yet as two years’ worth of work, it feels somewhat lacking. There are almost no unique enemies introduced throughout the game. Only two bosses are new, and one of those designs is re-used a total of six times in one dungeon, which is a slightly reduced version of another boss that you fight twice. The Gigant Zeugles are interesting, but besides one all of them seem to simply be reskins. In fact almost every enemy throughout the entirety of the DLC is a reskin of a previous enemy. For those who haven’t played in two years, this might be overlooked. Yet for those who are picking the game up now as a complete package or replayed the main game before jumping into the DLC, the laziness in enemy design and changes here is upsetting. Things have changed, the worlds have merged. It is not outside the realms of reason that the Zeugles would also have mutated and changed with the merging world. More of the old is not beneficial here.
Beyond the Dawn is an okay DLC experience, that relies on the player being interested in being hand-held to a post-game conclusion. Rather than pushing forward with a brand-new narrative or acting upon things that had been hinted at throughout the entirety of the main game, Beyond the Dawn attempts to play it safe. In doing so it falls apart and is a serviceable return to the Tales of Arise game. The base gameplay is still enjoyable, and the flashiness of battle is enjoyable. Nazamil is under-developed in a story that is hamstrung by its shortened length. A direct sequel may have been a better idea, as giving players a more in-depth story would have gone a lot further than this fantastical almost OVA feeling DLC expansion.
The Score
7.5
Review code provided by Bandai Namco
The Pros
Higher level gameplay allows for big numbers
The DLC exclusive EX mission is warm and heart-felt.
Final Dungeon is very uniquely designed.
The Cons
Story and writing feel half-baked
The Year difference really doesn’t seem to matter at all.
Lack of unique and new bosses and enemies
