TheTales Offranchise has seen its biggest shake-up in years thanks toTales of Arise. Shifting to a revamped art style, a modified approach to combat, and wider areas than the series has seen in years, it appears that a new era ofTales Ofgames has arrived. Fans are eagerly waiting to tear into the latest entry of the mythic action RPG franchise, and explore what will easily be its grandest adventure yet. All of this sudden change, however, does bring a certain other celebrated RPG franchise to mind. It feels almost likeTales of Ariseis emulatingFinal Fantasy’s evolution over the years.
Final Fantasyis an interesting franchise, as no two numbered entries are alike. Ever since the second game on the NES, mainlineFinal Fantasyhas taken an anthology approachto both its worlds and gameplay. Experimentation with mechanics and the job system gave way to active-time battles, jobs emphasized and de-emphasized, individual class customization became more prominent in the PS1 era, even shifting towards MMO gameplay for a time.Final Fantasy 15marks the jump to outright action gameplay, andFinal Fantasy 16looks to push it as far as it can go. On top of sharing a genre, there’s plenty of similarities betweenTales of AriseandFinal Fantasy.
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Tales of Arise has Final Fantasy’s Scope
One of the most notable similaritiesTales of Arisehas to the averageFinal Fantasyis its ambition.Tales of Arisewants to be grander than anyTalesgame before it, and to accomplish that, it’s changed a lot about itself. Right from the get-go,Arise’s story encompasses two planets. The technologically-advanced world of Rena is oppressing the world of Dahna, and the two main characters are disgruntled inhabitants of each. WhileTales' often linear nature means that it will take a while for players to reach the second planet and even longer to unlock free travel between the two, it will still be an epic adventure the likes of whichTaleshas not yet seen — butFinal Fantasyhas.
A “two worlds'' mechanic has been present inFinal Fantasyever sinceFinal Fantasy 3surprised players with a second world map. The series has long been in the realm of hopping between worlds, exploring the deep sea, and flying through the sky.Tales of Ariseis also working to emulate this feeling through itslarger, more open maps. For a long time,Tales Ofareas were flat and simply made, with the most recent games using wide open areas to allow combat to take place in the field. Now that that’s been done away with and hardware has improved, gorgeous areas with lots of open spaces, details and verticality are possible.
Tales of Arise and Final Fantasy are Refining Action Combat
Another interesting similarity is whatTales of Ariseand recentFinal Fantasygames are doing to each’s combat.Tales Ofhas always been an action RPG series, andFinal Fantasyhas often had a real-time bend sinceFinal Fantasy 4. However,Tales of Ariseand the mainFinal Fantasygames from15onwards have shifted the focus over to action in a big way.Ariseis now allowing players to run, dodge, and jump around the field like aDevil May Crygame, and combat has become more dynamic and aerial. Meanwhile, aerial combat has become a focus inFinal Fantasy 15and16, whileFinal Fantasy 7 Remakehas taken a grounded combat approach similar toTalesgames.
Tales of AriseandFinal Fantasy 16are a particularly amusing duo, as it seems they are both taking specific inspiration fromDevil May Cry.Final Fantasy 16even had aDevil May Cry 5combat designer join the staff during development. This latestFinal Fantasytitle is focusing on action combatmore than ever before. It seems that Bandai Namco and Square Enix are both interested in getting into the largely-Capcom and Tecmo Koei-led hack-and-slash genre, and it just so happens that each is showing the most serious attempts to do so in close proximity. It’s a time of change for both franchises, and it’s going to be very interesting seeing how each ends up.
Tales of Ariselaunches Aug 09, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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