When Tales of Arise first launched in 2021, I considered it an exciting entry. It really felt like something of an upgrade in terms of some mechanics and environmental design compared to PS4 and Xbox One-era installments. Now that Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition is on the Switch 2, I’m just as excited in entirely different ways. Not only due to this being the “complete” package, but it being a port that feels so smooth and well executed on the system.
Since this is the full version of Tales of Arise, we’re getting both the base game and Beyond the Dawn expansion. The initial adventure takes place during the Crown Contest on the planet Dahna, with the Five Lords Balseph, Ganabelt, Dohalim, Almeidrea, and Vholran competing to collect the most astral energy in their Master Core to become Sovereign of Rena, the twin world to Dahna. When Alphen, a mysterious Dahnan in an iron mask enslaved under Balseph, meets Shionne, a Renan with a curse that creates thorns that hurt anyone who touches her and a Master Core that spawns a Blazing Sword only Alphen can wield due to being unable to feel any pain. The expansion takes place a year after the end of the original game and involves Alphen, Shionne, and their allies after they encounter a young woman named Nazamil who is both a Dahnan and Renan. While attempting to help the persecuted teenager, the group also ends up dealing with the aftermath of the original game.
So coming to Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition on Switch 2, I’ve had quite a lot of time to think about the original game’s story and the follow-up expansion. I still feel this is a strong story for the series, especially once we get to the sort of trademark “reveal” that seems to be a staple for the series. I think my biggest critique coming back to it years later is how conveniently the party pairings sometimes read. (What with Alphen with Shionne, Dohalim with Kisara, and the hints of Law with Rinwell.)
I do feel like the main campaign tells a stronger tale than the Beyond the Dawn plotline with Nazamil. There are some valuable insights there, such as explaining what happened with certain technologies, showing how people are adapting to the changes in the world, and addressing prejudices following the last Crown Contest and war. It is interesting and a fun playthrough, especially if someone did love the main campaign and cast. I feel it sometimes isn’t as compelling.
The mechanics remain strong and feel as comfortable in Tales of Arise on the Switch 2 as they did when first release. It’s still an active combat system with four players available at once, with buttons being used for Artes and Techniques, competent dodge mechanics, an Over Limit system that rewards skilled evasion, and Boost Strikes to power up attacks. Some characters can feel truly different when you play as them, such as Kisara coming across as a tank with her moveset and guarding and Rinwell playing as though she’s a true mage. The Emblem system also makes acquiring new Artes and Techniques feel more eventful.
In terms of performance, Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition on the Switch 2 works wonderfully. It absolutely maintained its 30fps frame rate admirably during my battles and when exploring the overworld. If someone had told me sometimes it even did better than that, I’d believe it. The 1080p handheld view is great, and most of the textures looked spot-on. I know the PS4 version I played years ago also locked in at 30fps and 1080p. I hopped into an older save on that system while playing the Switch 2 version in handheld mode and I think it’s more impressive on Nintendo’s console considering it wasn’t docked when testing it out. Now, it isn’t going to be as good as the PS5 performance, since that could hit 60fps/1620p or around 30fps/4k. But what we have here looks well, runs well, and loads quickly.
Even finding the owls somehow seems easier and less annoying in Tales of Arise on the Switch 2. I don’t know if there was a post-launch patch that I missed when going through the PS4 version of the game, but I sometimes had the most difficult time pinning them down and hearing the audio queues. Here? Not an issue. The Switch 2 speakers in handheld mode make it easy to pin them down and they’re very visible when you do find one in the field.
Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition is as strong of a JRPG on the Switch 2 as it was on the PS4, and the port works perfectly. It runs so well, and it’s a delight to play in handheld mode. This also being the full and complete version of the game with the expansion and cosmetic DLC also helps it feel like a strong new staple to the system’s RPG library.
Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition will be available on the Switch 2 on March 22, 2026. It will be available physically, but as a game-key card release.
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