Ok so like, Tales of Arise, I’m enjoying it.

I am.  Really.  I really am.

BUT there are too many skits.  In the Tales series there are “skits”, little character conversations that either elaborate plot points to give the player a greater understanding of what’s going on, or have nothing to do with advancing the plot but instead show off more of the cast’s character (for example in Tales of Symphonia there’s a skit of the party playing with a kendama).

Tales of Arise, bless its heart, somehow has managed to do the impossible.

ToA’s skits do not advance the plot.  ToA’s skits do not have cute character moments.

The skits in Tales of Arise serve as recap discussions of events that literally just happened.  Every time there’s a major scene you can be sure that immediately after regaining control of the party you’ll be inundated with prompts for skits that mostly feature Alphen, Shionne, and company going, “Oh my god no wayyyyyyyyyyy” over and over again with different words and making sure to use full names and descriptions of the subject’s job, title, or background.  These people speak like they’re possessed by a thesaurus and encyclopedia at the same time.

Now, not every skit is completely useless, just the majority of them, and you can skip skits.  However, since this is my first playthrough I don’t know what skits are good to skip or not, so I’m stuck watching them all.

Save me.

In other news I like to send out amateur voiceover auditions and I got a role in a neat MLP fic!  If you ever wanted to hear me be a unicorn, you can check it out below.  This is part one and I’m not sure when the next is coming out, but I had a lot of fun recording!