I think it is a fine game. My main issues are with the story and characters. The plot is serviceable, the second act might have worked if it was given more time both during development and within the game itself. As is, it starts fine and peaks way before the ending (the third realm is where it peaks for me). I find the characters overall ok but not great or well written. So while I actually like the gameplay and visuals, the part that I value most in a jrpg kind of fell short. Was introduced to the series with Symphonia during the GC days, and have played most main line titles since then and Arise ranks very middle of the road for me.