Tales of Arise is the latest in the long-running Tales series of JRPGs. Like its forebearers, Tales of Arise features a varied cast of colorful characters, all rendered in the series' trademark anime style. Like previous games in the series, Tales of Arise offers players bonus costumes as preorder bonuses and DLC. Players can add their flair to Tales of Arise's character skits by dressing the characters in elaborate armor or swimwear.
The latest offerings have brought up some controversy. Some of Arise's DLC costumes give players titles, unlock new skills, Artes, or otherwise make the game easier. Players looking for a challenge might want to check the effects of the gear ahead of time.
Of course, even if a player does want the help, or doesn't mind the assist for the sake of the costume, the game can be slightly unclear on how the player gets the DLC they paid for.
Updated on December 9th, 2021, by Michael Llewellyn: Bandai Namco has had a good year with JRPGs. Along with Scarlet Nexus, Tales of Arise has been nominated for best JRPG in 2021 at the Game of the Years Awards ceremony. This recognition has helped draw in a new audience for the game. As with its predecessors, Tales of Arise has a significant amount of DLC available to purchase and the sheer amount of it can seem overwhelming. These DLC items include costumes, power-ups, in-game currency, and more. There is a process to purchasing and claiming the DLC which can seem more complicated than it needs to be at first. Thankfully, it isn't as fiddly as it may seem but there is a method to make sure that one claims all of the purchased DLC.
When DLC Costumes Can Be Used
Tales of Arise allows players to equip DLC equipment early in the game, but not at the very beginning. Before they can equip anything, they have to go through the game's opening. Once the player is controlling Alphen in the underground dungeon, and they have access to his starter sword, they can replace it with the new gear. But first, they have to claim it.
How to Claim Tales of Arise's DLC
The DLC won't be in the player's inventory automatically. They have to go through the process of claiming it first:
- To Access DLC from the start screen select Download Shop before starting the game.
- To Access DLC during gameplay, press the Menu/Options button during gameplay.
- Go to the System page represented by a gear symbol.
- Click Downloadable Content to access the list of DLC available.
- Click Open Microsoft Store/PS Store
- All the free and premium packs are available here
Try Before You Buy The Costumes
Within the Downloadable Content window, there is a handy little feature that will let the player browse and try on all of the costumes that are available for each character. To access this simply select Preview DLC Costume from inside the menu.
Unclaimed Items
Once the packs have been downloaded, one will need to unlock these items to access them:
- Make sure the new content has been downloaded and installed
- Access the System menu
- Select Unclaimed Items
- A list of all the unclaimed items can be selected in the left panel
- Unclaimed DLC text will be highlighted in white and claimed DLC will be highlighted in blue.
- Select the DLC individually or press Y/Triangle to Accept All in List
- The content will now be available in the game
List Of DLC Currently Available For Tales Of Arise
Costume Packs
The list of costume packs currently available for Tales of Arise is as follows:
- Pre-Order Bonus Pack – Costumes for Alphen and Shionne. Also includes exclusive recipes and food.
- Collaboration Costume Pack – Costumes from Code Vein, The Idolmaster, and Tekken.
- Sword Art Online Collaboration Pack – Costumes from Sword Art Online and a special quest
- School Life Triple Pack Male – School costumes for Alphen, Law, and Dohalim
- School Life Triple Pack Female – School costumes for Shionne, Rinwell, and Kisara.
- Premium Costume Pack – A selection of premium costumes and weapons for all the characters in the game.
- Adventurers Pack – Contains all the above premium costumes, items, food, and Gald.
- Warring States Costume Pack Male – Warring States costumes for Alphen, Law, and Dohalim.
- Warring States Costume Pack Female – Warring States costumes for Shionne, Rinwell, and Kisara.
- Beach Time Triple Pack Male – Beach costumes for Alphen, Law, and Dohalim.
- Beach Time Triple Pack Female – Beach costumes for Shionne, Rinwell, and Kisara.
Item Packs
A list of item packs for Tales of Arise is as follows:
- Free Additional Difficulty Pack – Contains harder difficulties
- Starter Pack – A reduction CP cost by 20%, +Level Up, 100,000 Gald, and 1000SP.
- Growth Boost Pack – Pack with special items like Double Combat Points, Double Exp, Double SP, and 1000 SP.
- Relief Support Pack – Pack with special artifacts to increase carrying capacity, 1000HP, 100CP, and 1000CP. The pack also includes 100,000 Gald and extra consumables.
- Premium Travel Pack – Gain a 50% reduction in Goldsmith costs, weapon forging requires fewer materials, recipes require fewer ingredients, and a 30% reduction in price at the General Store. It also Doubles the cooking time effect and includes 1000SP.
- Tales of Series Battle BGM – Pack containing battle music from legacy Tales games from Tales of Phantasia to Tales of Berseria.
Level And Gald Boosts
Tales of Arise also includes level up and currency boosts. These are as follows:
- +5 Level Up – Increases the Party's level by 5. There are four of these packs to purchase.
- +10 Level Up – Increases the Party's level by 10. There are two of these packs to purchase.
- 100,000 Gald – Grants in-game currency of 100,000 Gald. There are four of these packs to purchase.
If the player doesn't want to drastically alter Tales of Arise's difficulty curve, DLC items can be selected individually on a new playthrough. However, once these items have been claimed in-game they can't be undone on that save. They will, however, become available again on a new playthrough where the packs and the items they contain can be adjusted to the player's liking instead of selecting the Accept All option in the Unclaimed Items menu.
Tales of Arise is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.