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INTEREST: Producer: Western Audience Influenced Tales of Arise


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shabu shabu



Joined: 25 Jan 2019
Posts: 79
Location: Tokyo
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:18 pm Reply with quote
Not a good sign.
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gacha



Joined: 03 Mar 2018
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:30 pm Reply with quote
True, they don't look as good and creative as before. Certainly a western influence.
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luisedgarf



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 656
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:38 pm Reply with quote
gacha wrote:
Certainly a western influence.


Or more accurately sepaking, American, in this case.
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Random Name



Joined: 24 Nov 2016
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:55 pm Reply with quote
Hmmm can't remember anything in the past that panders to a western audience that I have liked. These decisions always seem odd since it seems like it alienates the only people who will actually buy the game.
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Zerreth



Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 207
Location: E6
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:03 pm Reply with quote
Whaaaat? No Waaay. I totally couldn't have guessed that when a distinctly japanese game series is showcased at a MICROSOFT panel.
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:16 pm Reply with quote
Seems like a vicious cycle when console games sell better (or at least as well) in the West / internationally > Developers emphasize or credit more Western influence > Western buyers get upset over Western influence. I don't know that the developers are really thinking of any of the negative connotations being thought of here.
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El Hermano



Joined: 24 Feb 2019
Posts: 450
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:27 pm Reply with quote
Kicksville wrote:
Seems like a vicious cycle when console games sell better (or at least as well) in the West / internationally > Developers emphasize or credit more Western influence > Western buyers get upset over Western influence. I don't know that the developers are really thinking of any of the negative connotations being thought of here.


Tales doesn't sell better in the west though, which is the strange thing. This is the exact same thing that happened with Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness. They pander a franchise that has never been popular in the west to a western market and then they get criticized by not only the Japanese fanbase but the western fans who like Japanese games in the first place.

It could still be a good game, even though the graphics look very lifeless to me. The game breaker will be the combat. We only see a second or two in the trailer, but it might end up being Final Fantasy 15 style which would be disastrous.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:50 pm Reply with quote
No wonder it seemed like it had nothing the Tales of franchise is known for. I'm skipping this for sure, nobody asked for a westernized Tales of installment.
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Grimvice



Joined: 10 Aug 2017
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:39 pm Reply with quote
I dunno, a lot of people are complaining about Western influence, but I think that might do Tales Of some good.

because let's face it, Tales Of is anime-inspired JRPG junkfood. It's not like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest which has its own distinct style and elements.

Most of the 3D Tales Of games looks and is stylized like generic anime. Why play a lengthy game when you can get a similar, more efficient experience just watching an anime? RPGs aren't always a streamlined experience and can get grindy, and Tales Of games sometimes have the anime adaptations you could watch instead of going through the RPG slog.

Being influenced by the West could easily mean less cliche anime tropes like bathhouse scenes, generic slapstick, and less bishoujo/bishounen characters (I hate that in Final Fantasy my party members are of various races of shapes and sizes, which is cool, but all Tales Of party members are almost exclusively anime pretty boys and cute girls).
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:45 pm Reply with quote
El Hermano wrote:
Tales doesn't sell better in the west though, which is the strange thing. This is the exact same thing that happened with Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness. They pander a franchise that has never been popular in the west to a western market and then they get criticized by not only the Japanese fanbase but the western fans who like Japanese games in the first place.

That's what I mean by the "(or at least as well)" part - if international sales are, at the very least, a big enough chunk that they think they can secure the future by validating that chunk, I'm not surprised if they think they need to act on it in some way. If I'm not mistaken, Tales of first week sales have been trending downward in Japan for a while, although obviously that's not the full picture (Berseria apparently reached 1 million sales worldwide - how much of that is just Japan? Half, or a bit more, maybe? Digital sales not being accounted for complicates things too - doing the armchair executive thing is harder now)

I'm not bringing this up as a "you should like or be grateful for this" thing - I'm just as "ugh" as everyone else when it comes to the prospect of awkward Westernization - but it's just interesting to me that they'd react this way and say things like this, probably not thinking of it as something terrible like so many over here. I suppose I wonder how they'd react to comments here.


Last edited by Kicksville on Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Siegfriedl88



Joined: 22 Jun 2017
Posts: 347
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:54 pm Reply with quote
as long as they dont start taking story ideas, im good.

though maybe im just going through the motions at this point, much like with Final fantasy i buy tales of because of name recognition, regardless of what happens in the future ill still buy it.
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jellybeanbandit



Joined: 18 Jun 2019
Posts: 107
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:07 pm Reply with quote
Grimvice wrote:
Most of the 3D Tales Of games looks and is stylized like generic anime. Why play a lengthy game when you can get a similar, more efficient experience just watching an anime? RPGs aren't always a streamlined experience and can get grindy, and Tales Of games sometimes have the anime adaptations you could watch instead of going through the RPG slog.


Anime adaptions of games are NEVER as good as the games.
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Tripple-A



Joined: 21 Feb 2017
Posts: 383
Location: Hamburg, Germany
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:40 pm Reply with quote
"Western Audience Influenced Tales of Arise "
Now I'm extra cautious, I already thought I have to see a lot more before I could decide whether to buy it or not, but now I'm starting to think that it would be better to skip it entirely.

@Grimvice You seem to not even understand the appeal in Tales of. And talking about distinct style and elements in Final Fantasy is ridiculous. Final Fantasy is one of the most extreme examples of not having one style over the course of a series, the exact opposite of Dragon Quest. The USP of Tales of are the character and their interactions throughout the story, events and skits and yes this includes anime tropes and slapstic moments.
What's next, Neptunia without references, parodies and moe?
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Skydrop



Joined: 12 Sep 2017
Posts: 93
Location: NY
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:12 pm Reply with quote
this really makes so call new tales of game is no different than any ordinary western action rpg. Most of (long running) franchise managed to continue their sequel or newer game with maintaining same appeal while making it fresh. RIP tales of franchise. It was fun while it lasted.
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Grimvice



Joined: 10 Aug 2017
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:29 pm Reply with quote
Tripple-A wrote:
"Western Audience Influenced Tales of Arise "
Now I'm extra cautious, I already thought I have to see a lot more before I could decide whether to buy it or not, but now I'm starting to think that it would be better to skip it entirely.

@Grimvice You seem to not even understand the appeal in Tales of. And talking about distinct style and elements in Final Fantasy is ridiculous. Final Fantasy is one of the most extreme examples of not having one style over the course of a series, the exact opposite of Dragon Quest. The USP of Tales of are the character and their interactions throughout the story, events and skits and yes this includes anime tropes and slapstic moments.
What's next, Neptunia without references, parodies and moe?


That's my point about Final Fantasy, each game shares elements but they're all wildly different. All Tales Of games overlap in art style, writing, clothing and anime trappings way too much.

I'm saying that with having influence of a Western audience, there's a small chance we'd get a Tales Of game that's universally good, not just "fan of anime" good. I don't think most people want to sit through games that average around 7/10's for anime tropes and character interactions.

Neptunia is a bad example because it's so distinct. The point I'm making is that the Tales Of games are ok at best because they're not so distinct, since they're too similar to anime, to bare bones fantasy, and to each other.
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