The Tales Series Has Produced Another Stunning Opening
The Tales series is well-known for its gorgeous 2D opening animations, which serve as something of an introduction to the games, their themes, and their overall tones. These openings are also just incredibly fun and feature some great songs–for example, the opening song of Tales of Vesperia has been playing in our heads on repeat since 2008. Now, Bandai Namco has released the official Tales of Arise opening animation, and it more than lives up to its predecessors. This gorgeous 2-minute-long video shows off some stunning animation, draws attention to beautiful backgrounds, and gives a short introduction to each playable character, all set to the grand and lively tune of “HIBANA” by Japanese rock band Kankaku Piero. Take a look, but watch out for flashing lights.
The video starts with the game’s protagonists Alphen and Shionne standing at the edge of a cliff as the sun rises before them. This gorgeous view of the game’s world transitions into what seems to be a glimpse of Alphen and Shionne’s pasts, or perhaps their tormented psyches. Alphen is shown surrounded by flames while Shionne is standing in a white room, both of them staring in horror at their empty hands while the screen glitches around them. Next, Shionne is shown walking away from a faceless crowd and ultimately being surrounded by thorns while Alphen is found by a friendly-looking group. The following scenes quickly introduce the other Tales of Arise four party members: refined Dohalim, stoic Kisara, playful Rinwell, and a sobbing Law.
After the character introductions, Alphen is shown drawing the Burning Sword from Shionne’s chest in a scene reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena. The rest of the video is dedicated to showing off the characters’ combat abilities, which are absolutely jaw-dropping. It makes one wonder how gorgeous a Tales of Arise anime could be. The opening concludes with a look at several of the game’s antagonists, including the Mysterious Swordsman who once again battles Alphen. One last shot shows the party standing in a green field, surrounded by what seem to be cherry blossoms. It’s a beautiful animation that gets us very excited to play the game.
Tales of Arise will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC on September 10th, 2021. Pre-orders are now available.
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