Magic is a major component of the genre of fantasy. It’s not the main focus of each story however, it’s usually the main element that makes a fantasy setting magical. Magic powers spell-casting, magic objects, and occasionally creatures and the ecosystem of the world in which it is. Video games, which are often fantasies in themselves are coming up with numerous new applications for magic. Nearly every player will recall instances when they utilized magic to accomplish something and used it against the players. In certain genres of games Magic is seen as an almost ubiquitous element.
This feeling is nowhere more evident than when playing role-playing games. Originating from similar tabletop game genres that gave birth to Dungeons and Dragons and many other RPGs, many use magic in their mechanics and settings. The rules are set by some kind of resource, magic is utilized to perform anything from dealing with damage to heal wounds, changing the abilities of various characters, or even altering the environment around them. The scope of magic is heightened when you consider JRPGs that often incorporate the most extreme of cosmic or high fantasy elements within their stories. Tales of Arise and its astral energy draw inspirations from the typical application of the magic element in JRPGs. However, they also make an effort to distinguish itself from the rest of the game.
How Magic Often Manifests in JRPGs and Tales
As we’ve mentioned before it is a common feature in JRPGs. Sometimes, magic is just an element of the game’s world. In other cases, magic is something only a select few are able to access or which anyone can learn through a lot of effort. The world of Pokemonand Digimon Digimon, magical characters are provided with the means to control the magic of the other. There are numerous ways to incorporate the illusion of magic into a game, however, it’s generally just present as a standard presence within the world. It usually comes with an unchanging set of basic categories, usually with tiny twists or distinct variations to make each game stand out.
The Talesfranchise employed magic from the very beginning, and is present in every game ever since. Magic is depicted as a part of the Talesby magic arts which is one of the two major kinds of combat artes that are used to combat. Humans don’t generally possess the ability to make use of magic and need the help of a catalyst or some training to utilize their abilities. There are games that include others species such as elves, where magic is more easily, but the reality in the end is magic isn’t the most common thing to do in any game. It varies from game to the game, but it usually results in certain players who only know strike artes and others who know the magic arts. If a Talesentry wants to concentrate on the mechanisms of magic is entirely to its discretion.
What Tales of Arise Does to Change Magic Up
Tales of Arise also employs magic within its setting. Magical artefacts again run in a parallel fashion to strike artes and are divided into six categories of elemental elements that include Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Light and Darkness. While these kinds do correspond to the six characters that can be played however only half of the group are able to utilize magic and Tales of Arise using the “haves and have-nots” approach to the mechanism. There are only Renans and a tiny collection of Dahnan Mages are able to harness astral energy. The main group includes one of these, and two of the later. This is very fortunate considering that although Wind, Fire and Water Earth energy exists across each of Dahna and Rena however Light is only present only on Dahna and Darkness is found only on Rena.
Things begin to diverge from the beginning. It turns out that astral energy acts like the primary power in every aspect of Tales of Arise’s world. It includes living beings such as Dahnans who can’t even transmit astral energy as well as the natural environment as a whole. The abundance of magic energy puts the spotlight on it throughout Arise’s story. Five Renan Lords are participating for the Crown Contest to gather Dahnan astral energy into their master cores. In order to do this, they employed their technology and magic to to enslave the Dahnans and force to the death This is ironic given that Dahnans were the ones who persecuted Dahnan Magistors. The additional mechanics of magic and the people who could benefit from it are important components in Tales of Arise’s story, which is more than most JRPGs. Therefore, the decision to concentrate on magic is a great way to enhance Tales of Arise’s gameplay and world-building. it’s refreshing to watch the common narrative device take the center stage.
