Story:
Overall the story is rather straightforward when compared to other RPGs of the same genre, however through great character interactions, surprising and unexpected dark moments, beautiful landscapes of the world, and a fair number of plot twists along the way the game makes sure to keep the player completely engaged throughout.

The pacing never felt too rushed or dragged out, and overall progressed at a rather steady pace. What really helps with this is the growth of the characters as the story progresses. How they go from being complete strangers who are simply working together due to a similar goal to slowly becoming closer as they develop genuine connections with each other. On top of this the party also shares a very real sense of companionship that's displayed through the numerous skits taking place throughout the game, as well as their interactions during combat as they learn more about each other.

Gameplay:
The gameplay of Tales of Arise can be split between two areas. Exploration and combat. The game is semi-open world, allowing you to freely explore every area of the game with plenty of items and chests to find, points of interest, and various enemies to encounter throughout. When engaging in combat the game pulls you into a decently sized area to move around in, with the background dependant on the region you're in. The combat is very satisfying, allowing you to use different moves learned throughout the game to create your own combos as well as being aesthetically pleasing. You can select different strategies for the AI to follow depending on how you want them to fight, as well as change up who you have control of during an encounter which allows you to have almost full control over the fight.

There are also numerous activities you can do throughout the game such as fishing, foraging for ingredients, collecting ores to craft new weapons, and locating numerous adorable oddly human sounding owls that give you various cosmetic accessories.

That being said the game can be very grindy, and has a habit of not displaying levels of enemies or side-quests before you begin the encounter, so there are times where you might find yourself up against an enemy that is more than you can chew, however in my experience I've only had to deal with that a few times, and it was nothing more than a minor annoyance.

Music:
The music in the game is an absolute beauty to say the least. Each piece fits the area or situation you are in near perfectly which really helps you immerse yourself in the situation unfolding. Huge props to Motoi Sakuraba for giving us this phenomenal soundtrack!

Graphics:
The graphics of Tales of Arise are an absolute beauty. The 3D models for the characters are among of the best I have ever seen, and the watercolor-esque look of the world around you gives a visually pleasing experience. Each environment feels unique to their region, keeping you from the feeling of repetitiveness. From the vibrant night skies, luscious green forests, snowy plains, and well designed castles the game is a sight to behold.

Replayability:
The story is fairly long, having taken me roughly 69 hours to completely 100% the game. Unlike previous tales games, every achievement can be earned in a single playthrough, so the only purpose of playing the game again is to enjoy the story itself. It does feature a NG+ mechanic, and allows you to play through the game again with your current equipment, levels, and outfits, as well as some other bonuses depending on the artifacts you find during your initial playthrough. However there is no level scaling with NG+ so even on the hardest difficulty, most enemies will be one-shot up until later on in the game if you decide to carry over your levels and equipment.

Final Verdict:
Tales of Arise is a fantastic game, and is definitely one where you'll be sitting back with a blank stare on your face as the credits roll, feeling like you've just completed the journey of a lifetime. Is it worth full price? Absolutely if you're a fan of anime style JRPGs. However if you're not too experienced with them it's completely reasonable to wait for a sale. As much as I'd like to give this title a 5/5, the lack of replayability lowers it to a 4/5