Tales of Berseria | Official Thread

[Fox]

Hey, I liked FFXIII!

It's cool, nobody's perfect, but you take my point I hope

But in all seriousness, what about Zesteria was iffy? Was it the characters, or the plot?

Yup. And the world. It was all just fairly bland, characters weren't particularly compelling, plot wasn't particularly gripping. It's hard to really put my finger on it, but the entire game just felt like a bit of a chore.

I didn't know Xillia 2 had a silent protagonist. That seems strange, but not a deal-breaker.

It does come close, I will say that. I'm not a silent protagonist fan at the best of times but this (along with Xenoblade X) is one of the worst examples of recent years. But yeah, I got through it. If that doesn't break you in the first hour then you'll have a pretty good time with Xillia 2.

[Formalhaut]

This all reminds me of the fact that Pumpkin mognetted me a very nice list of all the Tales games and her thoughts on them when she asked me what Tales game I wanted her to gift me. I should probably find that again at some point!

[Pumpkin]

I really liked Zestiria BUT I wouldn't say it was up to the usual Tales standard. The thing is, the Tales series has really high standards to me. I was meh on Legendia but every single other Tales game I've played has impressed me and left me satisfied and pleased.

So Zestiria isn't as good as the others BUT to me, it's still a good game.

Here's a quick refresher for you of the one's I have played:

Symphonia - GameCube, explores the "chosen one" trope and how that would actually affect a person and take their toll on them. Excellent characters, good development, interesting plot, good world. Terribly clunky gameplay. It started the "modern" Tales gameplay style, which was only recently changed with Berseria so it is VERY rough around the edges. But to me it had that classic, epic fantasy adventure vibe and I loved it.

Abyss - PlayStation 2, explores the "destiny" trope and what it means for people when their whole lives are laid out by fate. Great story, good world, some super interesting and well developed characters, and a really strong cast of antagonists. The gameplay is, again, kind of clunky and the intricacies of the battle system are very convoluted.

Vesperia - Xbox 360, starts out as a story exploring vigilante justice and whether change should be approached through radical action or slow progress from the inside. Kind of goes in to an environmentalist thing later on. Great characters, beautiful world, good cast of supporting characters as well. The battle system in this one is also a bit overly complicated though.

Hearts R - PlayStation Vita, a story that explores the different aspects of our emotions and how they all, good and bad, affect who we are. It also explores not letting those emotions control us but rather using them to do good. It had a really good romance that took center stage much more than in most Tales games and it was very quirky and fun. The characters on the whole were a bit forgettable though.

Graces f - PlayStation 3, this one is a pretty straightforward RPG story about the power of friendship and all of that, which is a heavy focus in the game. While still very good, I found it to be one of the weaker ones. The battle system in a bit different from the others, which some prefer and others don't (like myself), there's not as much trope exploration so much as just playing it straight, and while some characters are super strong, others kind of lag behind, including the main protagonist. It is very pretty though and has a lot of neat stuff to explore and do, just keep in mind it's kind of a different experience from the other Tales games.

Zestiria - PlayStation 3/4, this one also kind of explores being the "chosen one" and how being the hero of a story sets up expectations of you in other people's minds. There's some new stuff here like a more open world, although it feels somewhat forgettable, and there are two characters you HAVE to have in your party while you switch out the other two between the other 4 playable characters. While the story was lacking in some ways, like having a sympathetic and personal villain that the rest of the series excels at, it also has some amazingly subtle touches that help enhance the story, in my opinion. I also really like the characters and the humour.

Berseria - PlayStation 4, I am almost done!!!! This one kind of looks at Zestiria's story and tells the story from a different, almost opposite perspective. What if instead of being the hero, you were the selfish but not-all-bad antagonist that the Tales series does so well? It also explores the concept of the few vs the many, a mentality normally viewed as moral, and takes a deeper and more cynical look at it. The characters are very strong, the world is interesting, it's an interesting new take on the series, and while the battle system is new, it still feels very Tales-ish. Also, Eleanor and Rokurou are in love, I don't care what anyone says.

Like the others mentioned, Zesteria and Berseria are connected and I feel you gain a lot by playing both of them. You can play one without the other but they really serve to enhance each other and I think they're both worth playing. Yes, I think Berseria is better than Zestiria but as I said, I still find Zestiria to be a strong game and I've actually been itching to play it again after Berseria so I can link all of the details together.

Which one you would prefer is up to preference really, so that's why I gave you some good details to go off of. Berseria seems super well received, and Zestiria less so. Symphonia and Vesperia are generally regarded as the best and I love Symphonia although it hasn't aged the best. Abyss and Xillia are generally up there as well and are pretty positively regarded by the fan base.

Hopefully that helps!

[Scruffington]

Should I copy-paste my review here or make a separate thread for it?

[Formalhaut]

Thanks Pumpkin! Saves me a search of old messages.

I feel like regardless of Zesteria's flaws (who knows whether I'll end up agreeing?), I should probably play it before Berseria, so the links come through.

Graces/Hearts seem like they can be put off until much later. I'm reminded of Fox's point about Vesperia aging if I dive too deeply into the most modern installments, and the same is probably doubly true for Symphonia, though wasn't there a PS3 re-release a few years ago? Abyss also has a 3DS re-release. Wow, all these old games are getting ported versions.

Not sure which to pick as my inter-game between the Xillia duo, to be honest! I could go with Symphonia, because honestly Pumpkin's description of the trope deconstruction sounds interesting, and it is one of the earliest Tales game in the series, so any game after that will look polished in comparison, like Abyss.

Of course, this won't be for a while yet. I next have to do a Milla play-through of Xillia, which'll go much faster thanks to the Grade Shop. Then there's also ME: Andromeda as well...

[Fox]

I'm reminded of Fox's point about Vesperia aging if I dive too deeply into the most modern installments, and the same is probably doubly true for Symphonia, though wasn't there a PS3 re-release a few years ago?

Yes, they released a "remaster" on PS3 and Steam (also includes the sequel). It's a remaster in only the most technical sense, don't go in expecting Symphonia Final Mix.

Bearing in mind what I said about Vesperia... it may already be too late for Symphonia. I really, really struggled to get through it when I played it on the PS3 (which was my first time playing it). It's not a bad game but it has aged quite poorly, and there's a lot of not-very-good stuff in there that got ironed out in later releases. Symphonia was a great game for it's time and it's a great game due to the legacy it left behind.

But judging it on its own merits now, playing it for the first time in a post-Vesperia world? That's a really hard recommend to me. I'd go for Zestiria ahead of that and as I've said I am no fan of Zestiria.

[Pumpkin]

(SPOILER)Wtf Jude xDDDDDD

Also, Scruff, send me a reminder to check out your review tomorrow!

[Fox]

How Spoilery is the spoiler? I wanna click it but I'm probably​ not far enough through the game xD

[Pumpkin]

It's like a sidequest spoiler without much context

[Fox]

I finally met (SPOILER)Grimoire!! It only took me about a month!

COME ON MAN. PLAY THIS GAME FASTER. Poor Kat, I played one session of Gravity Rush 2, then paused it to go through Berseria. She's been waiting for me to come back and play with her for so long now

[Fox]

I really like how they've got the individual identity of the town back in this game. In Xillia in particular they all felt a beat generic (especially the seahavens) but here most places have their own unique feeling. Even the ports have a fair amount of variety to them. Makes the world feel much more alive.

The addition of a hoverboard to the series was a surprising but positive one

[Scruffington]

I really like how they've got the individual identity of the town back in this game. In Xillia in particular they all felt a beat generic (especially the seahavens) but here most places have their own unique feeling. Even the ports have a fair amount of variety to them. Makes the world feel much more alive.

The addition of a hoverboard to the series was a surprising but positive one

I definitely agree about the towns.

I will also say that the one advantage towns had in Xillia was introducing you to a variety of sidequests, which is more or less absent in Berseria. Instead, Berseria has replaced side quests with the monster hunts. Personally I prefer this approach greatly. While it would be cool to have more meaningful sidequests in Berseria, I love monster hunt quests. And I would rather have a game full of them as opposed to a game full of meaningless, filler fetch quests like other RPGs have.

The hoverboard was a great addition. I just wished they introduced it earlier in the game It's a huge step forward in terms of exploration for the series though. Hopefully the next game in the series has a better way to travel quickly between destinations (like a sprint meter or something).

[Fox]

What a thrill~
With darkness
And silence
In the night~

(SPOILER)mgs_berseria02.jpg

[Scruffington]

What a thrill~
With darkness
And silence
In the night~

(SPOILER)mgs_berseria02.jpg

That scene was genuinely sad. It reminded me a lot of Code Geass.

[Fox]

Yeah. A lot of scenes are generally sad at this point! I'm on the home stretch!

They've done a very good job of making sure that no one is a complete jerk just for the sake of it. And building relationships not just amongst your party but among the antagonists and NPCs as well. So when I rock in and smurf their trout up that can be pretty heartbreaking in itself. I know exactly what you mean about Code Geass; I didn't think of it at the time as the visual was so reminiscent of MGS3 but I definitely get where you're coming from.