In just a few short weeks, Tales of Arise will finally come out. This game holds a special place in the Tales series for being the first mainline title to fully move past the PS3’s hardware limitations, as well as use a new engine. It marks a significant shift in the framework underlying Tales gameplay and visuals, as well as the approach to how the game is designed. Although previous Tales games have been fully 3D, none of them have exhibited a focus on movement and aerial combat like Tales of Arise has. This really hammers home how Arise is doing everything differently, and Bandai Namco is no doubt risking a lot on this new endeavor paying off.
In the name of that gamble, Bandai has made the decision to take one further risk: a Tales of Arise demo set several hours into the game has been released on all consoles. This is an incredible show of confidence as, again, Tales of Arise is revolutionizing what it means to be a Tales game. With the game's release just a few weeks away, fans will now be able to try it out for themselves and decide whether or not they're satisfied with the many changes this title offers. Tales of Arise could benefit massively from this, and it could also lose sales. It's up to fan reception to determine how this demo will fare, and probably whether or not the series will get more in the future.
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A Brief History of Game Demos
Demos are something of a lost art in the game industry. Three decades ago, the only demos that a person could reliably find were at public kiosks, or PC titles posted online as shareware. Demos were a rare commodity in the hobby's early days, but in the times where they passed through many hands and impressed, good word-of-mouth would ensure that the full paid game would be a major success. The original Doom is a standout example of this, and, eventually, home console games started to follow suit.
Since there was no centralized place for demos until digital storefronts like Steam rose to prominence, many different methods have been used to release them. Sometimes a massive number of demos were packed together on collection discs, which were in turn bundled with certain gaming magazines. Sometimes game demos were bundled with other games, such as Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders HD Collection including demo discs for Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, respectively. Eventually, timed demos or limited play demos started to become common, although nothing was quite as good at being consumer-friendly and convenient as a demo that was free, unrestricted, and always available to download.
Why The Tales of Arise Demo Is Risky
As it stands, Tales of Arise is taking a big risk putting out a demo, especially one that so thoroughly shows off what the game has to offer. While the demo is light on story content, it features a roughly half-hour-long stretch where all six of the main characters are playable, and many of the game mechanics are available for use. Players are getting thrown in the deep end here, and if they don’t like what they see, then they have ample time to cancel any pre-orders and speak their opinions to others. However, this demo also could endear wary fans and potential buyers to what Arise has to offer. Players could return to their friends with tales of cool combos and hope for the characters, bolstering the game’s sales.
Ultimately, Tales of Arise is taking the same risk that any game with a free, public test takes. It’s a matter of do or die, and even the ever-so-important pre-orders already placed are on the line. The result is chalked up to the quality of the game in question, though for every Guilty Gear Strive success story, there’s a Balan Wonderworld failure waiting in the wings. With any luck, Tales of Arise’s gamble will have paid off, and the end product can live up to what it’s put forward here.
Tales of Arise comes out on September 10th for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a free demo now available on consoles.
MORE: The 10 Games With The Best Combat In The Tales Series, Ranked
