Tales of the Rays review - A fully fledged Tales on mobile?
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| Tales of the Rays

Tales of the Rays is the latest entry in the long-running JRPG franchise, and it's a mobile exclusive.

Bandai Namco claims that it's "a console quality Tales on your phone," and there's some truth in that. The trademark Linear Motion Battle system is here, there's a plot delivered with wonderful animations and voice acting, and even dungeons to explore for treasure.

But the experience has been watered down for mobile, and even compromised in some areas to support the freemium model.

What's going on?

Tales of the Rays is set in a world that's about to be destroyed, and the two teenage protagonists Ix and Mileena are the only ones that can save it. No awards for originality there.

Ix and Mileena are Mirrists, which basically means they can create copies of worlds complete with inhabitants. They then set off to these worlds and rescue the Nexus - a person with the most energy or something - to harness that energy and save their own world.

It's a nonsensical plot, but it merely serves as a backdrop to send you off on an adventure across the franchise's history, revisiting locations and characters from your favourite games.

Putting the Linear in Linear Motion Battle

Unless you're a Tales diehard, you'll likely just skip all the cutscenes and get right into the action.

And that's basically a condensed version of a typical Tales game. You'll run through a tiny dungeon, look for treasure, battle a few monsters, and smash a boss in the face with a special move.

The trademark Linear Motion Battle system makes an appearance, with a smart one touch control scheme. Tap on the right to attack, swipe in four directions to use Artes (skills), and let go completely to block. You can also run freely using the virtual joystick on the left side of the screen.

And it works a treat. Battles are just as fun as in the console games, and I had no issues using the touch controls whatsoever.

Bring on the grind

But then there's the rest of the game, which can only be described as your standard freemium mobile RPG experience.

You know the drill - collect currency, use it to summon stuff, moan when its not five stars. Rinse, repeat. You'll also level up weapons and Artes using crystals you get when you complete a level.

It's just one huge grind. This isn't so much of an issue early on, as you've got a ton of energy (oh yeah, there's an energy system) and the battles are super easy. Later on though, you'll frequently run out of energy and run into tough battles, when you'll feel obliged to start spending money.

This is a problem inherent with the freemium model, rather than this particular game though. It's just a shame that an experience that showed so much promise elsewhere lets itself down massively.

Rays of sunshine?

Whether or not you enjoy Tales of the Rays largely depends on how much you like the Tales franchise. If you're a huge fan, you'll get a kick out of the returning characters, cliche plot, and the presentation.

If you're not a fan, you may well be won over by the battle system though - it's as excellent as ever, and it was a smart move to stick it at the forefront of the experience.

But the freemium stuff eventually bogs down the experience so much that even the biggest Tales fan might get put off.

It's a real shame as well, because without it this might well have ended up being the console quality Tales experience on mobile Bandai Namco claimed.

Tales of the Rays review - A fully fledged Tales on mobile?

Tales of the Rays is an enjoyable mini JRPG that's unfortunately bogged down with typical freemium trappings. This one's for the diehards only
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Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, lively Chris is up for anything - including running Steel Media! (Madman!)