2021 was full of great games that cannot be missing from any digital library. One of the ones that impacted me the most at that time was Tales of Arise, a masterful JRPG one of those that manage to leave an indelible mark due to its gameplay, its plot, its graphics and sound, and its cast of characters, in addition to being able to keep you hooked for dozens and dozens of hours.
Beyond all, this managed to become the fastest-selling title in the saga in less than a week. However, contrary to what is usual with countless titles once they have gone on sale, Bandai Namco gave no signs that it had any intention of expanding its content in any way, which is why we were very pleasantly surprised when it announced that This great game was going to receive an expansion called Beyond the Dawn.
Of course, this DLC It has been the perfect excuse I needed to return to this fantasy world that he gave me so many good moments. Of course, after two years, to what extent has this long wait been worth it to be able to live a new adventure?
A continuation that takes place a year later
When it comes to playing this expansion, it is very important that you take into account the fact that it is a continuation of the main plot. This also means that it is vitally important that you have completed the campaign previously, since otherwise there will be details that you will not understand or it will directly spoil how the story ends. That which, The following paragraph contains spoilers.
The action takes us one year after the battles fought by Alphen, Shionne and company, when the worlds of Rena and Dahna merged into one. Since then, their respective inhabitants have been living together and it seemed that peace and tranquility would finally reign, but not all citizens view this situation favorably. There are especially few who still remember the conflicts that arose between both sides in the past and therefore do not finish turning the page.
In the midst of all this social conflict that does not seem to be ending in the short term a most mysterious girl named Nazamil appears, who seems to have Redahna and Dahnian blood. Precisely for this reason she is considered a weirdo everywhere and is not welcome anywhere, to which is added a terrible traumatic childhood that is revealed little by little as the plot progresses, which makes her behave in a strange way. very shy and afraid when approaching anyone.
Due to fate, her path ends up crossing that of the group of protagonists, who from the first moment do not hesitate to treat her as one more to make her see that the world is not as horrible as it seems due to the unfortunate situations that have happened to her. touched live. In this way, Nazamil joins them on a trip they are undertaking to destroy the mausoleums, places that are causing the fusion of the planets to not completely take place and that of course are infested with abominable creatures.
The plot has its interesting moments to better understand the past of the young woman who joins our heroes and, in the process, live a new adventure with all of them. However, also suffers from certain ups and downsbecause there are parts in which the main plot is left aside to have to complete missions that consist of killing certain enemies or having to go from one place to another through the immense scenarios, which gives the impression that it serves a little excuse to extend the duration even further.
Therefore, there are parts that leave you wanting to progress and others that you wish you could skip. Furthermore, the secondary missions do not contribute much either, because in all of them you have to act as messengers, either to eliminate certain enemies or to collect specific materials, although the positive part of these tasks is that they serve to meet again with very familiar faces. those who have completed the main story.
More of the same, for better and for worse
Despite certain specific details, I loved the plot in general terms, especially for meeting Alphen and company again and being able to live a new adventure with them. On the other hand, what I have missed has been a greater amount of new features. For example, I would have appreciated if Nazamil had been a playable character and it did not simply appear during the cinematics without further ado, because the group remains the same and there are no new additions.
On the other hand, practically all the settings from the main story have been recycled, which continue to be a delight to the eye when traveling through them. Likewise, the enemies also remain the same for the most part, so you won’t find any surprises here either. The only really new places are the mausoleums, dungeons that must be visited during this new chapter and where interesting fights await against huge final bosses against whom you will have to give everything to defeat them.
The gameplay remains exactly the same, which is not at all a negative thing, quite the opposite. Precisely something that seemed brutal to me from the original title was their battles because of how spectacular they are constantly
In another vein, it should be noted that, although it is a direct continuation at the plot level, the characters do not maintain all the progress that has been achieved with them. This means that before starting the game The game delivers a series of rewards based on the objectives that have been previously achieved, but what is the same for everyone is that the characters start at level 65 and from there you have to obtain pieces of equipment, forge them, create them, unlock arts, etc.
iGamesNews’s opinion
Perhaps the fact that so much content has been recycled and there is such a lack of new features may weigh too negatively on Beyond the Dawn. Even so, it is impossible for me to say that it is a bad expansion, because it is still a way to continue enjoying one of the most outstanding JRPGs of recent years and with the same group of iconic characters.
The plot is very interesting most of the time and it is still a pleasure to be able to fight such amazing battles, but before checking out you should assess whether the fact of having an excuse to continue playing the game weighs more on you. Tales of Arise or do you prefer a greater amount of news before shelling out the money? 29,99 dollars What does this DLC cost? At least for its duration, it is also money very well invested, because it can easily last you between 15-20 hourswhich isn’t bad at all for an expansion of this brilliant masterpiece.
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