Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (version reviewed), PS4, PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One
Genre: Expansion To Bandai Namco’s JRPG Entry

Sequels and expansions to Tales Of entries are usually divided. while most are vilified and unnecessary like Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and Tales of Xillia 2, some of them have merit like Tales of Berseria (a prequel to Tales of Zestiria). The latter fleshes out the interesting world and lore built by the first game by going back to the past but adds a whole new tale that makes sense, reusing assets from past games when needed.

Of course, game development for triple-A JRPGs aren’t cheap, so developers do need to find ways to tell new stories or repackage them using the assets they’ve spent years making. With that in mind, is the new Tales Of Arise expansion Beyond The Dawn necessary? Well, if you like the base game’s combat and characters, sure!

Light It Up

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn takes place a year after the conclusion of the base game Tales Of Arise, where main characters Alphen and Shionne travel together to close down sci-fi monster/Zeuguel-filled hellholes called Mausoleums. While the big bads of the games and overlords are taken down, tensions between the Dahnan and Renan races are still ever-present. The duo come across a lost girl named Nazamil, who is born with both Dahnan and Renan blood. A series of quests involving the ever-growing racism in the world and Nazamil all come full circle in yet another world-ending disaster, with Alphen and Shionne reuniting with old friends Law, Rinwell, Kisara, and Dohalim.

Being an expansion that will last you around 15 hours, you’ll start off at level 70 (if you choose pre-leveled/geared characters just for the DLC) and get into the heat of things, with some fast travel points already unlocked. Every real-time combat ability that’s given in drip feed form in the base game is just given to you quick, so you can go to town with your attacks, combos, Strike Artes, and so forth. You still have sidequests to undertake, with some of them boosting your abilities for each of the 6 main characters and even an EX gold-letter-indicated one where you help a guy out with wedding research, capped off with a wholesome ending.

If anything, the Beyond The Dawn expansion does justify its existence because of the new storyline involving Nazamil and seeing your old friends come together, interacting with one another with new humorous and insightful skits. Yes, Alphen is still the blandest Tales Of protagonist out there, and Shionne isn’t as antagonistic as last time, which to be fair makes sense plot-wise as she has shown change for the better since the last game. But the other four main characters are still fun to watch, particularly the interactions and chats between Kisara and Dohalim.

Otherwise, the same problems from the base game and Tales Of expansions are still prevalent in the expansion: boss fights with absurd high hit points that feel like slogs to go through, as well as reused assets and level design save for a few last portions which are pretty epic, standard anime plotlines that you can see coming a mile away, and the fact that you need to finish the original game to get with the whole program as a whole.

If you’re itching for more potential Dohalim x Kisara ship material and a jaunt into Tales of Arise’ combat all over again in a “new” setting, you can’t go wrong with this decent-sized expansion that at least learned some lessons from overblown and too-long-for-their-own-good Tales Of sequels. In fact, if you want a solid Tales Of Arise experience, get the base game and expansion for a fun JRPG time. Otherwise, it’s not required viewing unless the price goes down.

Final Score: 60/100

Review copy provided by Bandai Namco Asia.