JRPGs have a long list of influential and famous franchises that lay out a path the genre has taken. Some franchises, like Shin Megami Tensei and Final Fantasy, have been around since video games were still very young, and continue to leave a mark on the industry. The Tales series of games also belongs to the class of long-lived, well-liked, and influential franchises. It's celebrating its 25th anniversary by releasing Tales of Arise, a title that introduces some significant changes to the Tales brand while building on what made the previous games successful.
Tales of Symphonia may be one of the earliest Tales games, releasing in 2003, but it's also one of the best remembered. Tales fans have wanted Symphonia's protagonist, Lloyd Irving, to join Super Smash Bros. as a representative of the franchise for a long time. That probably isn't happening anytime soon. At the same time that Tekken's Kazuya Mishima joined Smash Ultimate, Lloyd got a Mii costume, indicating that he isn't a high priority for a Smash invitation and probably won't get in this time. However, his Mii costume might still be a good thing in the long run. Lloyd's presence could help out Tales of Arise, and the Tales franchise as a whole, at just the right time.
Giving Tales a Greater Voice
An interesting thing about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC characters is that Nintendo has clearly done its best to choose characters that will appeal to both Western and Eastern audiences. Game tastes vary in different parts of the world, which inevitably means different characters are more popular in different places. The Hero from Dragon Quest joined Smash because of Dragon Quest's big fanbase in Japan, for instance. However, adding the Hero from Dragon Quest proved timely for Western audiences as well, because a new Dragon Quest game was releasing at the time.
Interestingly, Tales of Arise falls into a very similar place as Dragon Quest right now. Tales is famous, but it's not quite as popular a JRPG with Western audiences as Final Fantasy. Even if it's just as a Mii costume, Lloyd's appearance in Smash Ultimate creates a lot of extra visibility for the Tales series. Tales of Arise is only a few months away, so seeing Lloyd Irving running around Smash might make a few more people think about giving the franchise a try and seeing what all the hype for Lloyd was about.
Tales of Arise's Positive Circumstances
It doesn't hurt that now seems like a great time to get into Tales. The franchise has a reputation for complicated combat, but Tales of Arise is paring down and streamlining combat mechanics. If demanding combat intimidated anyone from getting into Tales before, Tales of Arise offers a great opportunity to give Tales a chance. Character trailers and a darker plot points have already set the stage of a narrative in Tales of Arise that'll speak to Western audiences. The biggest thing Tales of Arise needs to do to be more popular than its predecessors is find a way to reach out to Western RPG fans who haven't been interested in Tales before.
If there's one thing that's held Tales back in the West before, it's marketing. Even though some titles like Tales of Symphonia have been major international successes, the franchise hasn't developed the international staying power of a few of its competitors. Lloyd's Mii won't singlehandedly ferry Tales of Arise to success in the West, but it goes a long way. Smash Ultimate brings together a huge number of the game industry's most important characters, even as Miis, so it's a big deal that Lloyd is on that list. It'll be interesting to see how Tales of Arise interest performs with Western audiences once it releases.
Tales of Arise releases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.