History VideoGame / TalesOfArise

* LaResistance: Each of the provinces on Dahna, save Ganath Haros, has some form of a Dahnan rebel organization seeking to overthrow their Renan rulers and save their people. Specifically:
** Calaglia has the Crimson Crows, lead by Zephyr. They want to push the Renans out by liberating small groups of Dahnan people to join their cause, and fight by primarily attacking through guerrilla methods.
** Cyslodia has the Silver Swords, lead by Meneck. They operate in secret, using hideouts and secret tunnels to avoid the Snake Eyes, and prefer to have their members infiltrate key spots in order to pass along information.
** Viscint has the Gold Dust Cats, lead by Migal. They are a collection of people who want to protect the peace Dohalim has created from his more abusive direct subordinates, as well as expose TheConspiracy to oust him. They operate out of a hidden mine in the forest near the capital.
** Mahag Saar has the Dark Wings, lead by Dedyme. Unlike the others, they have already successfully fought back their Renan rulers and claimed back the area, but their brutal methods have made things worse.

* AlienInvasion: While Renans are human, they pretty much did this 300 years ago to Dahna--[[VillainWorld and very successfully.]] [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed the Renans are not so much aliens as much as they are Dahnans capable of Astral Artes, kidnapped by the Helganquil, modified, and made to live in Lenegis; as such, the invasion could be said to be an alien invasion by proxy for the benefit of the Helganquil after the first Spirit Channeling ceremony failed.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: This game portrays the Dark Wings, [[RecurringCharacter a series-wide recurring group]], in a darker light. Instead of a group of bumbling and usually sympathetic comic reliefs, they are now [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized brutal revolutionists led by a dictator]], Dedyme. They gleefully sacrificed their own people for a shot of revenge against the Renan Lord that they opposed. Ironically, they maintain their bumbling and inept attitude; [[PlayedForDrama they're just inept at making a revolution good and worthwhile, as opposed to the other resistance leaders that are kind and insightful.]] Even if said Renan Lord, Almeidrea, just happens to be [[HateSink one of the most despicable people ever]], [[EvilVersusEvil it doesn't help their stance.]] Their actions instead makes the Mahag Saar arc darker than the previous arcs, and Dedyme and his supporters are [[spoiler:horrifically killed by Almeidrea's Fruit of Helgan.]] Though the group becomes less dark when Baephon's more moderate faction takes over and works with the other resistance groups, although it's a matter of 'becoming much more amicable' rather than reverting to [[PlayedForLaughs how the recurring group is treated series-wide]].

** For Non-Cameo Superbosses there are the rematches with each of the Renan Lords during The Reminiscence Device sidequest which leads up to a brutal BossRush against all four of them at the [[OhCrap same time]] Afterwards there's one last fight against [[spoiler: Zephyr.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: This game portrays the Dark Wings, [[RecurringCharacter a series-wide recurring group]], in a darker light. Instead of a group of bumbling and usually sympathetic comic reliefs, they are now [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized brutal revolutionists led by a dictator]], Dedyme. They gleefully sacrificed their own people for a shot of revenge against the Renan Lord that they opposed. Ironically, they maintain their bumbling and inept attitude; [[PlayedForDrama they're just inept at making a revolution good and worthwhile, as opposed to the other resistance leaders that are kind and insightful.]] Even if said Renan Lord, Almeidrea, just happens to be [[HateSink one of the most despicable people ever]], [[EvilVersusEvil it doesn't help their stance.]] Their actions instead makes the Mahag Saar arc darker than the previous arcs, and Dedyme and his supporters are [[spoiler:horrifically killed by Almeidrea's Fruit of Helgan.]] Though the group becomes less dark when Baephon's more moderate faction takes over and works with the other resistance groups.

In September 2023 (the game's second anniversary), A DownloadableContent titled "Beyond the Dawn" was announced for release in November of the same year. [[PostAdventureAdventure Set one year after the original game]], it sees the playable cast reuniting to deal with a mysterious newcomer Nazamil, a child of a Renan Lord and a Dahnan, who seemingly threatens the new peace created by their actions.

In September 2023 (the game's second anniversary), A DownloadableContent titled "Beyond the Dawn" was announced for release in November of the same year. [[PostAdventureAdventure Set one year after the original game]], it sees the playable cast reuniting to deal with a mysterious newcomer who seemingly threatens the new peace created by their actions.

** For Non-Cameo Superbosses there are the rematches with each of the Renan Lords during The Reminiscence Device sidequest which leads up to a brutal BossRush against all four of them at the [[OhCrap''same time'']] Afterwards there's one last fight against [[spoiler: Zephyr.]]

* {{Superboss}}: Two of them. [[RecurringElement As usual for the series]], they're previous ''Tales'' character cameos.

*** Then there's the matter of what comes ''after'' liberation: three centuries' worth of collective suffering and resentment cannot be ameliorated in one fell swoop, especially when being a slave has become so ingrained since birth that, when the perpetuating institutions collapse, the newly-liberated has little idea as to what to do next, and may struggle to build anew over the smoking ruins. The worst cases don't even know how to think for themselves anymore (such as in Ganath Haros), simply obeying ''anyone'' who tells them what to do without question, and in the absence of such - or even ''in spite of it'' - they'll revert back to past behavior simply because it's all they know and/or they still fear the consequences of disobedience.

** The Elde Menancia arc rips into the HeroWorship trope with a vengeance. Dohalim really is a one-in-a-million Lord who manages to kickstart the concept of coexistence and unification between Dahnans and Renans within his realm, but he is still his own person, not an immutable monument to liberation. Though his way of thinking ultimately wins out when Kelzalik challenges the concept of coexistence among Dahnans and Renans by staging a terrorist siege of Autelina Palace, there are still several issues left in the wake of the celebrations that reflect what happens to a society so enamored with a single person to the point they warp him into an ideal. Even with Dohalim abdicating his right as a Renan Lord, most of the Dahnans who worked under him ''honestly do not know what they want to do'' beyond making a wage with the jobs they had under Dohalim. Even Dahnan statesmen are at a loss as to what they're supposed to do while Dohalim is gone, such that many people within Viscint can only really think to carry on as they were. There ''is'' a mindfulness directed towards continuing coexistence between Dahnans and Renans given how that concept was challenged and surmounted with Kelzalik's downfall, but without their figurehead to constantly inspire them, social progress practically slows to a crawl for a while. Kelzalik's siege also only went as far as it did - as did his horrific usage of the Fruit of Helgan to make a literal lake of hollowed ''a few rooms away from where many Dahnans made a living in the mines'' - because everyone was too busy thinking their hero, Dohalim, already solved every possible problem in Elde Menancia, with Kisara serving as a talking point to the concept with her, by Law's perception, 'smug' pride in blindly serving her Lord. Furthermore, though Dohalim turned out to be just as noble as people painted him as in regard to his stance on coexistence, he could never be ''perfect''. His psychotic breakdown in front of Kisara causes her to seriously question not only her devotion to Dohalim but the potential fragility of the concept of coexistence, something many other Dahnans and Renans, even after Kelzalik's failed revolt, echo as they figure out how to live and think for themselves.

** Renans won the war with Dahna through their technological superiority, bioweapons in the forms of Zeugles, and their ability to use Astral Artes. Most Dahnans can't use Astral Artes. Sure enough, when Lagill borrows some of the trademark PoweredArmor Renans wear to duel Kisara, she retains the entire moveset of an actual Renan enemy, ''except'' she has none of the voiced lines (since the party mostly fights male Renan soldiers and they talk smack about the party being mostly Dahnan) and if you run away from her, she never attempts to use Astral Artes, because she ''can't.''

*** Adding onto that, MightMakesRight as a concept isn't a ''voluntary'' philosophy in Renan society; it is the way of life within the confines of a meritocracy. The Crown Contest is something ''mandatory,'' where the strongest Renans, as chosen by the preliminary proceedings, have to get involved. With how the Crown Contest is built up within the society, most people are absolutely okay with the downright barbaric process involved in making it to one of the coveted Lord positions, even when it means killing family and friends. But Dohalim shows what happens when MightMakesRight is foisted on someone who is ''strong'' but not mentally stable or in favor of the status quo - one of his friends screaming after Dohalim was forced to butcher another of his friends causes Dohalim to develop a psychotic trigger associated with people screaming. Dohalim may have had the ''power'' to get into the top five, but he didn't have the ''resolve,'' which becomes even more obvious when the psychotic trigger goes off while Kisara screams. Furthermore, because Renan society is dictated by the strongest and craftiest, there's no real vetting process for the type of person who gets one of the five Lord positions; Dohalim and '''Ganabelt'''[[note]] For all his faults regarding his stance on Dahnans, he's actually one of the most forward-thinking Renans from Lenegis, considering he took issue with the fact some Renans were treated as second-class citizens and apparently [[DamnedByFaintPraise actually cared about the Renans under his command]].[[/note]] were the most morally righteous winners of the preliminary judging in the latest contest, which says something about the other three and about how a society that idealizes and ''forces'' meritocricy and MightMakesRight on their populace can screw people up and create monsters concerned only with power.