

So how did 2021’s most memorable video-game romance come to life? To find out, Inverse spoke with Tomizawa about developing the game’s central romance, the unique storytelling challenges posed by the heroes’ unusual ailments, and what’s next for the Tales series. While that doesn’t rule out future stories set in the world of Arise featuring other fan-favorite characters, it seems the story of Alphen and Shionne is decisively over. “On the other hand, after the release of the game, we received many requests from people who really enjoyed the game and wanted to know more about the parts of their story that were not depicted in the game and about their future.” “Since Alphen and Shionne’s journey has come to an end with the main story, we did not create the game with a sequel in mind,” Tomizawa tells Inverse. Bandai Namco producer Yusuke Tomizawa says there are no plans for a direct sequel, but doesn’t rule out exploring other aspects of Arise’s story due to the positive responses the game has received from fans.

The latter is inflicted with a curse that causes electrifying thorns to shock anything unlucky enough to touch her. The former suffers from amnesia and is unable to feel any sort of physical pain. Tales of Arise centers on the love story between Alphen and Shionne. According to the team behind Tales of Arise, which took home the 2021 Game Award for Best Role Playing Game, you don’t.
