Tales of Arise is one of the most anticipated games of the year, as Bandai Namco promises to re-invent the franchise and take it in a different direction. The newest entry in the Tales franchise in five years, Tales of Arise is preceded by Tales of Berseria and Tales of Zestiria, both of which brought unique changes to the franchise. Although Tales of Arise is separate from the two previous Tales games, their impact could be a lot more influential than what many fans might expect.

Despite the fact that Tales of Zestiria received mixed reviews and criticism, it introduced some interesting mechanics that would later be refined and simplified in Tales of Berseria. As both games were designed with the PS4 in mind, they presented a modernized take on the Tales formula that will likely influence the design of Tales of Arise to an extent. Even if it isn't clear what Tales of Arise will keep or discard, there's a lot of ways it could be impacted by previous Tales games.

RELATED: How Dohalim and Kisara Fit Into The Tales of Arise Cast

How Tales of Zestiria Should Impact Tales of Arise

Tales of Zestiria Sorey

While Tales of Zestiria has often received criticism for its environmental interactions or poor dungeon design, its real issue was in its overly complicated mechanics. The equipment system and item fusing were interesting concepts that had a surprising amount of depth to them, but required players to invest a lot of time in order to maximize its potential. Furthermore, while the battle system introduced new mechanics, Tales of Zestiria had one of the worst AI designs in the franchise. Enemy intelligence became a constant source of annoyance throughout the game.

That said, Tales of Zestiria still managed to take the franchise in a new direction and helped setup a number of fundamentals that would be refined in Tales of Berseria. The character interactions in Tales of Zestiria are executed well and Tales of Arise should take some influence from the side skits in developing its charactersTales of Arise could also benefit from taking the ambition behind the upgrade systems in Tales of Zestiria but tempering them so that they don't feel as convoluted.

How Tales of Berseria Should Impact Tales of Arise

Tales of Berseria

Tales of Berseria fared much better than its predecessor by introducing a darker narrative and simplifying many of the mechanics found in Tales of Zestiria. The combat system in Tales of Berseria was far simpler than Tales of Zestiria because weakness combos were easier to achieve and the Break Soul mechanic allowed players to facetank a lot of damage. Tales of Arise seems to want to attract newcomers to the series as well so having a simplified combat system like Tales of Berseria could help a lot. On the flip side, Tales of Berseria's combat rarely offered a challenge or difficulty spikes so Tales of Arise should look to balance the combat more.

In particular, Tales of Berseria stands out in the franchise due to its tone and protagonist, Velvet. Starting off as a tale of revenge, the game goes in a darker direction than typical Tales games and the narrative arc is one of the most compelling ones in the series. Tales of Arise similarly features characters with troubled backstories and utilizing some of the storytelling elements found in Tales of Berseria could strengthen the overall narrative. Western fans typically enjoy these darker narratives more and with Tales of Arise aiming to appeal to a worldwide audience, it's important to replicate Tales of Berseria's unique tone.

Tales of Arise releases on September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Tales of Arise Playable Characters: Everything We Know About Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, and Law