The Tales RPG series has many series staples it adheres to, one of them being that each game features its own animated opening. As Tales of Arise gears up for its launch in September, Bandai Namco has shown that the anticipated title is honoring this tradition by releasing the beautiful intro for the game online.
Tales of Arise was revealed back at E3 2019, and is the first main Tales title in five years. Even though the wait for the game has been long, what has been revealed as of late has shown that Arise promises the same adventures the series is known for, while also changing the formula a bit.
The opening shows the characters shared to fans so far in spectacular motion, focusing on their bonds and some story elements such as Shionne and her thorn curse. The opening even shows off the villains, who haven't had much of a chance in the spotlight just yet. Fans should also be happy to hear that the opening video brings back an old partner to the Tales of series with Ufotable, the animation studio known for Tales of Zestiria's and Berseria's opening animations.
The opening song "HIBANA" is sung by Kankaku Piero, and has lyrics befitting the story's themes as usual. The intro serves as a great tease of what's to come later in between the battles in Tales of Arise since Ufotable has been said to be animating a few cinematic in-game cutscenes as well.
With how expertly crafted the opening is, fans may look forward to the release even more as the animation does a great job of showing that Tales is back and promises to keep them entertained and interested. Intros of Tales titles usually foreshadow events in the story as well as hype up the in-game combat with animation of things like Mystic Artes. Arise's does so in wonderful flair and style.
As much as the opening sells itself to be another grand entry to the Tales series, it depends on how the game performs upon release if it can truly stand up to what came before it, like Tales of Symphonia and Vesperia. There is also the fact that openings leave story segments vague for a reason as to not spoil the players, so what some fans may think looks interesting may play out entirely different in context. At the very least, the animation is spectacular, and fans can hold onto the excitement the opening elicits until they can finally set out with Alphen and company.
Tales of Arise releases September 10th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S.
