The producer of Tales of Arise has explained why the studio has no plans for a direct sequel or narrative expansion.
Speaking to Edge magazine, producer Yusuke Tomiwaza said that despite the game's success - Tales of Arise shipped 1.5 million copies in its first month to become the series' fastest-selling title ever - a sequel wasn't on the cards. Instead, the team hoped that the story would be complete "with a good aftertaste" that would eliminate the need for expansion.
Instead of building on that story, Tomizawa says that his studio wants "to continue to take on the challenge of [...] acquiring new fans for further expansion of JRPGs." To do that, "we need to come up with a cutting-edge flagship title that builds on the success of Arise, while also providing an opportunity to rediscover the history of the series."
While a sequel isn't on the cards, a healthy rivalry helped push Tales of Arise forward. As game director Hirokazu Kagawa explained that the relative similarity between his game's combat system and that of Scarlet Nexus, which launched a few months ahead of Tales stemmed from Scarlet Nexus director Kanji Anabuki. While the two games didn't directly share any ideas, Kagawa says "we did see each other as rivals" due to Anabuki's previous roles in the Arise series.
Given that the series has been around since 1995 - a 27-year period which has seen it produce 17 titles - the lack of a direct sequel probably won't prove too devastating to fans, as something entirely new is likely on the horizon.
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