New Tales of Arise DLC content brings the popular Sword Art Online franchise to the action RPG, letting players face off against Asuna and Kirito. The latest entry in the Tales franchise was released worldwide for PC and modern consoles in September, so this crossover comes not long after launch. In the anime-inspired series, Tales of Arise the first to release on Xbox since Tales of Vesperia on Xbox 360, and its embrace of action RPG gameplay has made it one of the most accessible entries in recent memory.

The last franchise game, Tales of Berseria, was released over five years ago, so Tales of Arise expectedly has a number of consequential difference from its predecessor. The new game’s visuals have been particularly been praised for their improvement over Berseria, and Tales of Arise’s combat is faster-paced and features a major rebalance of older series mechanics mixed in numerous new gameplay elements. Since most of the Tales games aren’t narratively connected, critics remark Tales of Arise is a strong entry point for the series, and it’s now getting its first major post-launch content.

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The official Tales of Arise official Twitter account announced the release of a Sword Art Online DLC crossover on October 7. The fresh content includes Shionne, Alphen, and Law outfits modeled after Sword Art Online main characters Kirito and Asuna, as well as Kirito’s swords for Alphen. The highlights of the DLC shown in a trailer are a special fight against Kirito and Asuna and a new Mystic Arte, which is unlocked once the pair are defeated. The new ability that allows Alphen call upon the two Sword Art Online characters for a flashy and powerful combo attack.

A tweet reply also revealed that a free update has also been released for Tales of Arise, adding two new difficulty levels to the game. The new “Very Easy” difficulty is targeted at those who simply want to experience the anime game’s story,  while “Unknown” is the game’s new highest difficulty. Tales of Arise already features a “Story” difficulty level, so it’s unclear where the new “Very Easy” sits in the list. On the other hand, “Unknown” looks to be for players looking even more difficult challenge than the existing “Chaos” difficulty.

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While Sword Art Online‘s protagonists appearing in the paid Tales of Arise DLC may be the main focus of the new update, some of the free content may be the most interesting additions in the long-term. The Sword Art Online Collaboration DLC costs $16, so its up to customers if the outfits, Asuna and Kirito fight, and new Mystical Arte are worth the price.

Tales of Arise is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Source: Tales of Arise/Twitter

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Martin Patino
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Martin has been writing for ScreenRant since the middle of 2020. He’s also written for several print and online publications across gaming, esports, and tech over the past 9 years. Some of these include PC World Philippines, Computerworld Philippines, 2.0 Magazine, Gadgets Magazine, GGNetwork.tv, PlayStation LifeStyle, GamingBolt, GameRevolution, UnGeek.ph, and more. Apart from video games and tech, Martin is a also massive anime and manga fan.

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