A good JRPG party is a living thing. You constantly need to switch members in and out of action based on who you need for a particular fight, who needs more experience, and who you just feel like futzing with for a little while. Switching the character you personally control has always been a bit… abstract in Tales games, and Tales of Arise is no exception, but the method is simple if you know what to do. In this guide, we’ll show you how to switch characters in Tales of Arise.
Real quick, let’s clarify something: the character you’re controlling in the overworld isn’t the same character you’re controlling when combat starts. These are two separate settings that you need to set in and out of combat.
How to Switch Characters in Tales of Arise
To Switch Characters in Tales of Arise on the Overworld:
- Open the pause menu
- Look for the little flag symbol next to your character’s status bar
- Press X/Square to cycle the flag through your party until it lands on the character you want
To Switch Characters in Tales of Arise in Combat:
- Hold down the LB/L1 button to bring up target selection
- While holding the button, press left or right on the D-Pad to choose who you’re controlling
- Alternatively, bring up the combat menu by pressing Start.
- Cycle through your party members with the shoulder buttons to choose who you want to control
There are fast and short ways to swap characters both on and off the battlefield. If you’re on the overworld, just bring up the menu and press X/Square until the little flag symbol moves over to the character you want. In combat, pause the game with the menu and use the shoulder buttons to select a character, or hold the lock-on button and use the D-Pad buttons.
You can also edit your overworld and combat characters using the edit menu, accessed from the pause menu either on the overworld or in combat. This is also how you’ll switch out your party composition.
For more related content and guides, check our Tales of Arise section.
