Shellac nail designs

The most palpable impression of Tales Of Arise is that it feels like a stuffed full 2000's JRPG rendered in the sheen and polish of a 20's AAA blockbuster.
Everything you'd expect is here: progression trees for party members, charming-yet-repetitive contextual dialogue blurbs, cute animal companions, sweet tales of friendship contrasted against melodramatic existential threats, a prickly tsundere love interest, a protagonist conveniently afflicted with amnesia...
It's ALL here. For better or worse.
I say for better because the formula, even for someone who isn't a hardcore JRPG fan, fits like a comfortable autumn sweater. And, crucially, the characters acting within that formula are eminently likeable, charming, and brimming with shared chemistry.
I say for worse because that sweater is itchy with tired and tropey writing, stuck in a large world that is pretty to look at but ultimately stinks of mothballs in it's ultimately shallow design.
This game may be frustrating to some audiences in it's utter refusal to innovate within its own genre, locked into a by-the-books approach to gameplay and storytelling. While on the surface the plot involves a series of twists and subversions, none of them come as surprises, and most can be seen coming from a mile away.
Despite all of that, it is still easy to recommend, as it nails it's most important strengths: flashy and engaging combat involving characters that make you smile more often than they make you roll your eyes.
So if you're tired of the Ubisoft formula of mass produced open world "action RPGs" look no further than this charming modern take of a different formula, from years gone by.