Magic is a core part of the fantasy genre. It’s not at the core of every story, but it’s often a major element of what makes a setting fantastical. Magic fuels spell-casting, magical items, and sometimes even monsters and the ecosystem of a given world. Video games, often being fantastical themselves, have come up with many novel uses for magic. Just about anygamer can recall moments where they used magicfor some purpose, and magic was used against them. In some game genres, magic feels like a near-ubiquitous element.
Nowhere is this feeling stronger than in role-playing games. Having roots in the same tabletop games thatspawnedDungeons & Dragons, many RPGs work magic into their settings and mechanics. Governed by some sort of resource, magic can be used to do anything from dealing damage, to healing wounds, altering the abilities of different characters, and even changing the surrounding area. The volume of magic is again intensified when considering JRPGs, which often include high fantasy or outright cosmic elements in their stories.Tales of Ariseand its astral energy take many cues from the usual use of magic in JRPGs but also do some extra work to stand out from the pack.
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How Magic Often Manifests in JRPGs and Tales
As previously mentioned, magic is an incredibly common sight in JRPGs. Sometimes, magic is simply a part of life in a games' universe. Sometimes, it’s something that only a special few have access to or something that anyone can learn with great effort. InPokemonandDigimon, non-magical characters are given means to command the magic of others. There are a lot of ways to go about building magic into a setting, but it’s usually just there as an accepted presence in the world. This typically comes with a standardized platter of elemental classifications, often with some small twists or unique additions to make individual games stand out.
TheTalesfranchise used magic since its very beginning, and it has appeared in every game since. Magic isrepresented inTalesby magic artes, one of the two main types of combat artes used in the battle system. Human characters tend not to have an innate ability to use magic artes, and require a catalyst or training to employ them. Some games include other species like elves to whom magic comes more naturally, but the fact of the matter is that it isn’t a mundane facet of any setting. This changes from game to game, but usually manifests in certain party members only knowing strike artes and other characters knowing magic artes. Whether a givenTalesentry wishes to focus on the mechanics of magic is left up to it.
What Tales of Arise Does to Change Magic Up
Tales of Arisesimilarly uses magic in its setting. Magic artes once again run parallel to strike artes and can be divided into six elemental categories: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, and Darkness. While these types do roughly match the six playable characters, only half of the party can use magic, withTales of Arisetaking a “haves and have-nots” approach to the mechanic. Only Renans and a small group of Dahnan Mages can harness astral energy, and the main party has two of the former and one of the latter. This is fortunate, given that while Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth energy exist on both Dahna and Rena, Light only exists on Dahna and Darkness exists only on Rena.
Things start to diverge from there. As it turns out, astral energy is the life force in all matter inTales of Arise’s world. That includes living beings like Dahnans who aren’t even able to channel astral energy, and the environment itself. This overabundance of magical energy places the spotlight on it for much ofArise’s plot. The five Renan Lords are competing in the Crown Contest to gather Dahnan astral energy into their master cores. To do this, they used their magic and technology toenslave the Dahnans and work them to death, which is ironic considering that Dahnans used to persecute Dahnan Mages. The further mechanics of magic and who can use it are major elements ofTales of Arise’s plot, more so than a lot of JRPGs. Thus, the choice to focus on magic enhancesTales of Arise’s gameplay and world-building, and it’s refreshing to see such a common narrative device take center stage.
Tales of Ariseis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
