Arguably as well as I’ve ever seen in popular entertainment.

I need not have been, because Tails of Arise handles it magnificently. That simplistic and naïve understanding of revolution does people no favours, and when I first realised that this would be the dominant theme of Tales of Arise, I was more than a little concerned. It will barely touch on the personal, cultural and political tensions that lead to it, and it rarely deals with the subsequent consequences that come from a successful revolution. In most cases, when popular entertainment deals with revolution as a subject, it simply focuses on the fight for freedom. Revolutions are always motivated by a good cause – the rising up of the oppressed and downtrodden – but what comes after the revolution isn’t always a positive outcome (and whether it is a positive outcome or not depends on your worldview across a whole lot of things). By its very nature it’s politically loaded, inspires people towards polarised thinking, and involves wide-ranging social and cultural change. Revolution isn’t an easy topic to deal with. It’s a game about one of my favourite topics and areas of thought – revolution – and it does it with almost surprising nuance. I enjoy them enough, but even the best of them doesn’t wind up on my list of favourite JRPGs. I’ve not been the world’s biggest fan of Bandai Namco’s Tails series. “We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.” – Che Guevara.

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