レビュー

• Zeph

  Aug 9, 2023

  One of The best Tales games! With best opening theme!
• gamedeal user

  Aug 15, 2019

  Tales of Berseria is one of my favourite games and a prime example of how story structure and character development should be. If you've played Tales of Zestiria, Berseria fixes a lot wrong with Zestiria's story and let's you understand the recurring characters and their backstories.

  Story

  As I mentioned above, the story fills in a lot of gaps and does a better explanation of how the world works. Berseria takes place 1000 years before Zestiria does. The story kind of starts off a little slow, there is a known curse that happens, protagonist loses someone close they care about and that causes events to unfold. The story after that is mostly about the main character - Velvet - coming to terms with herself, getting her emotions back and caring about others again instead of being purely hate and rage filled on a blind suicide mission. Character development in this game is very strong and actually gets rather depressing at times, but it is done very well and has become one of my favourite games and stories. The game also takes a different spin as you're not playing as the hero, you're playing as the villains, who become the heros briefly due to a bigger threat, but in doing so, you singlehandedly keep the curse upon the world and further delve it into chaos. Everything that happens after this game (all the way to Zestiria) is simply because of Velvet and her party. - Artorius starts out as someone just trying to keep his family and village safe from the Hellions, albeit through some rather extreme measures, who eventually turns into someone who wants to rid the world of emotion so no more Hellions can spawn and gets a god complex in thinking he's the only one that can be the people's hope and even attempts to control a god. - Velvet starts out as a laid back girl just looking out for her sick brother, after his death who she blames Artorius for, she becomes consumed by hate and revenge and will willingly sacrifice herself if it means Artorius's death. As time goes on she begins to get her emotions back and begins to care about others again, coming to terms with what happened and coming to terms with herself, while still keeping the goal she made. - Eizen starts as just the sarcastic know it all, who pretty much retains that, but also begins showing more character as someone that wants to protect and help others. He's looking for his pirate crew's captain even after suspicion of his death, just so there is closure. Mentions multiple times he's trying to stay away from his sister because he knows he'll turn into a dragon and will cause harm to her, which he goes out of his way to enlist help from others to keep her safe and even helps another character, Zaveid come to terms with his denial over a loved one. - Zavied starts as a very cocky and plays a lot with the more carefree personality and not taking much serious. Zavied is very against killing, which eventually comes to light because his lover had turned into a dragon from malevolence corruption and he's in denial that she can't be reverted, thinking that everyone can be saved. Eizen is the one that shows him this is false and he needs to accept the fact that sometimes saving someone is killing them. They fight against Zavied's lover and Zavied comes to her defense multiple times, where he finally sees that she's gone and never coming back. Eizen has the chance to kill her and take her heart to reverse his own curse, but instead doesn't, in order to set her free in death, which Zavied makes a promise that he'll return the favour once Eizen turns and that he'll protect Eizen's sister. This is extreme foreshadowing and actually changes Zavied's outlook in Zestiria. There is much more character development from others, but I don't want to spoil everything.

  Graphics

  The graphics for the most part are pretty good. There is some slight AA issues on higher resolutions sometimes and some background environments may look a little plain, but the effects of moves, cutscenes be it the animated style or the actual game cutscenes are very nice. There are some gorgeous overworld areas as well with enough life given to them, just some dungeons and caves look a little too plain.

  Soundtrack

  This is one where I'll say Zestiria beats out Berseria. Berseria by no means has a bad soundtrack, it has a great soundtrack, but it didn't match the feel I got from Zestiria's OST. With that said, music for Berseria that is done by the Tales of Orchestra is very strong and eclipses past Zestiria in my opinion.

  Gameplay

  Gameplay is very fast paced in combat, which I like. The fast paced, combo/button spam free fight fits this game's narrative and pacing way better than turn based. Movement within the overworld is a little slow at first, but as you beat bosses and mini bosses, you'll get passive items that increase your speed. You'll be reading a lot of dialouge at times, through skits, chatter whilst moving around and cutscenes, which may get annoying for some, but something I personally didn't mind. Grinding levels in this game isn't that bad, most characters have some sort of "spammy" attack that should get you through if you pay attention to enemy weaknesses. Post game is an okay size, you have the Zavied and Dragon arch, an EX Dungeon and I think a few little side quests here and there.

  Cons

  There isn't really much I can think of, as they're really going to be based on a person's preference. I'll name a few and the bolded one is an actual con. - Combos are very easy and honestly, there is plenty of moves that you can just spam over and over again no problem to just speed through enemies. - Long story that some might be turned away from. You will probably sink about 40 hours into the main game and maybe close to 60 if you do post game. This is "exacerbated" by a lot of dialog and skits that pop up. - PlayStation controller is not supported under normal circumstances. A few of my friends who played this with a PS controller, had issues. They had to use an external program to get it to work, which it did, however; it kept the button layout on screen as an Xbox controller instead of reflecting the PS layout.

  Summary

  - Fantastic story that that has amazing character development and gets depressing by putting moral questions within yourself trying to determine if Artorius is correct or if Velvet is correct. - Sound track that for the most part is very good and has plenty of memorable scores, but does fall a little short to Zestiria. - Fast combat gameplay that fits the pace of the game and keeps things moving. - Plenty of dialog if you're interested learning about the characters and the world. - A very good amount of gameplay to be had through enemies, exploration, bosses and post game. - Velvet is best character, like ever.

  Conclusion

  Tales of Berseria is seriously a game people need to try out. I won't make the argument that it's the best Tales game, as others have their own preferences, but it's my favourite Tales and one of my favourite games in general. The story is the main driving force for this game and everything else with it is just an added bonus to me. Legit, they could have turned this into an anime or even a movie and I would have been more than happy, but getting to play alongside it was fantastic. As I mentioned at the top, if you played Zestiria and was underwhelmed or felt like it was an uphill battle or had too many inconsistencies and/or poor explication, give Berseria a try. It seriously fixes so much that Zestiria did wrong and really puts the story for this universe together. It also sets up the plot for a third story, which I hope they go back to explore eventually since Tales of Arise is confirmed not to be apart of this universe. If this is your first Tales game or consideration, I can not recommend this game more than I already have. 10/10 game!
• gamedeal user

  Jun 24, 2017

  I wanted to wait until I beat it to write a review but at 60 hours in, the game is already so good I feel compelled to. This is probably one of the best action JRPGs you will find on PC, and certainly the height of the Tales series (disclaimer: I've played a handful, but not nearly all of them). Let's dive right into what makes Berseria great, and where it's a bit lacking: - The story is engrossing. Yes, it's JRPG, and it's Tales, so there's bound to be clichés and tropes, but Berseria strikes the perfect balance of not taking itself too seriously while presenting you with relatable characters in genuinely compelling scenarios. You can have fun, but still feel invested, and there's enough sub-plots to keep you interested in ALL of the main cast. - The combat is bleeding edge, joyous, chaotic mayhem. It's super fast paced, and between juggling enemy types to trigger status effects to fill your Soul Gauge to use Break Souls to feed your Mystic Artes (which you'll want to properly time to get grade bonuses, among other things), there is always a strategy to be refined on the battlefield if you are a grinder, min-maxer, or whatever. That isn't to say mastering the mechanics is a necessity. There are plenty of tools and difficulty settings to tweak the combat difficulty to your liking. Me? I crank that **** up to Intense ASAP and get to work melting wave after wave of demons in Dangerous Encounters (and all the better if you get a Dire Foe afterwards - seriously, these are some of the best, most heated moments of the game!). - The cast is fantastic and the writing is strong. This is hands down the biggest strength for me. Despite being yet another title in a genre as saturated as JRPG (in a series as dense as Tales, no less), the main characters manage to have very distinct personalities and motivations, and are just the right amount of "morally grey" to be likable without being obnoxious. They start off as somewhat standoffish misfits, cooperating only to pursue their personal opportunistic goals, but over time you will see them grow together in a way that is believable. There's also something deeply satisfying about being able to play as a team of blatant criminals, as opposed to the white knights, royalty, and chosen ones we've grown so tired of. And beyond that, even the side cast of characters does a great job of complementing and bouncing off of the main cast. The villains do seem a bit one dimensional, and I fear the "big bad" twist is going to end up being predictable, but it's a small bump on an otherwise fantastic journey. Final note on this - the themes and the tones are appropriately adult. The language feels natural and there is swearing and innuendo in all the right places, never beating you over the head with it. - The pacing is good. The intro/tutorial segment is the perfect length (some Tales games have ones that drag on ENTIRELY too long, not the case here), and you will periodically unlock new mechanics to keep the gameplay fresh. You will actually acquire all the party members pretty early on in the game, although this is preferable due to how the equipment mastery system works. - Great customization options. The arte pools are huge, and the trees are fully customizable. I've used Velvet almost exclusively for the first 60 hours, but I can tell there is still plenty to unlock for her and the rest of the cast seems to have their own fun, unique playstyles as well. Because of how fast paced the combat is, I don't find myself switching primary fighters as much as previous Tales games, but Berseria actually makes it even easier by allowing you to swap mid-battle, mid-combo. Lots of fashion options, lots of equipment flavors, and a mastery system that makes it fairly compelling to keep different sets of equipment around (and tweak until your playstyle is content). - The world map is expansive, but the areas can be a bit samey, and the puzzles are definitely nothing groundbreaking. Pretty middle of the road for JRPG, so just don't expect anything impressive there. I find myself constantly looking back to Symphonia as the holy grail of Tales world maps, as I've yet to see that one be outdone. - The voice acting is good. I've only listened to the dub, as the English VAs are more than serviceable. The main cast are all great. The NPCs are not as varied as I'd like or as I have seen in previous Tales games, but again a pretty small nitpick. Nearly all cutscenes and skits are fully voiced, though, so there is a truly dense amount of lore and worldbuilding going on, if you are into it (I am). - The visuals are aesthetically pleasing. Watch some videos. It should be clear that Berseria is not pushing next gen graphic fidelity. Instead it goes for a colorful, eye-popping art style that does the game justice. - The music is good. The tracks set the appropriate moods, and have enough depth to be enjoyable from moment to moment, but I honestly didn't find much in the way of "holy **** I need to go download this right NOW" kind of songs. Still, I would say a bit above average in terms of video game music. In summary, this is a must-buy for Tales fans, but still a heavily encouraged purchase for JRPG fans, action RPG fans, or someone looking to try out the genre. If you haven't tried the series before, don't worry about needing to start at the beginning. You can jump right into this without any issues and you'll find yourself getting giddy with glee as you literally hack through swaths of demons like they were hot butter in no time: I guarantee it.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 5, 2017

  Berseria is a great game but with many flaws you must be aware of before buying and playing, but these are minor enough to not stain it's greatness too much. A great buy and a good step forward from Zestiria. Be aware that the Tales of series (after Eternia) due to their constant lore exposition is better enjoyed when taken as a hybrid between shonen anime and video game. Playtime: Very long (50-80hrs depending on your speed, difficulty and completion, without doing any postgame content) Chosen playthrough difficulty: Hard. Compared to other Tales of titles, i'd say it's among the best in my eyes, along with Symphonia and Abyss. +Enormous world with tons of lore +Great character design (for a shonen-type story that is) +If you like combos BUY IT INSTANTLY DON'T EVEN USE YOUR BRAIN +Tons of complex mechanics making it really enjoyable if you take them all seriously enough +Multiple playable characters with radically different playstyles you can swap with during combat, never boring +It sits comfortably between a game and an anime, oscillating between combat-heavy dungeon parts and more laid-back narrative inbetweens that let you breathe while developing it's characters and story (which you can skip if you don't appreciate exposition and want to get straight to gameplay) +Very long playtime. You're in for quite an adventure! +Magilou +Post-Scarlet Night Velvet is basically a female Guts, and anything that goes the Berserk way is always good +If you like putting silly cosmetics on your characters and losing yourself to hilarity when Velvet gets serious while wearing a mustache and a giant Normin suit this game is for you +Tons of collectibles +Extremely deep customization (equipment, forging, arte loadout, titles, ...) -Lots and lots of empty hallways, lots and lots of walking around and backtracking. -Bad balancing (My opinion on that only counts for hard difficulty!), casters (npc's & pc's) are extremely overpowered, to the point where battles against a horde of caster mobs can be harder than most bosses, and slow melee bosses can be killed with kiting while using casters as CPUs and running in circles). Mob casting times are too short (especially for casting bosses. Isn't it, Kamoana?), and mob hitstun duration is inconsistent (bosses and some enemies have resistance, and the hitstun you inflict when you have used up all of your sp is shorter) making them frequently insta-punish you by one-shotting you in the middle of your combo. -Some performance issues that can either be fixed by tweaking gfx settings or grabbing a patch. -Sometimes not just difficult but outright unfair, you will need patience to really enjoy ToB. -Due to the story, some characters will disappear and reappear from your party, scrambling your combat team without warning. You might get mad if Rokurou swaps with one of your main casters right before a very difficult boss, so be mindful of this! Despite it's flaws ToB gets a warm recommendation from me, as these can generally be dealt with, are case-specific or opinion-based. Go get it, especially if it's on sale!
• gamedeal user

  May 27, 2018

  If this is your first Tales or you're a returning player like me, just get it. I got burnt by Zestiria, but the story is so mature and well written in this one. It's kinda connected to Zestiria and made me want to go back and play that. The characters in this really feel like they are all here for their own reasons, which helps with the whole 'you are the enemy' feeling. Most of them don't want to do anything to help people, their own greed or glory being their motivation. Combat is pretty solid too. Got through most of the game doing the auto-combo on a and focusing on dodging things. Decided to make my own stun combos later and dedicated combos to certain types of enemies that really annoyed me. The story in this alone is worth it. It's heavy on the text but I found myself reading every little optional thing, caring about why everyone was here and why things were they way they were. All the little nods to Zestiria are nice too and adds to the awesome factor. It took me about 80 hours to finish. I took my sweet time taking everything and my only regret is that I waited for a sale instead of buying this outright day 1. A deep, dark story and an amazing combat system that can hold your hand through the game if you choose helps make it so much more accessible.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 9, 2021

  ~ DIFFICULTY ~ 🔲 My grandma could play it 🔲 Easy ☑️ Normal ☑️ Hard 🔲 Dark Souls ~ GRAPHICS ~ 🔲 MS Paint 🔲 Bad 🔲 Meh 🔲 Graphics dont matter in this game ☑️ Good 🔲 Beautiful 🔲 Masterpiece ~ MUSIC ~ 🔲 Bad 🔲 Not special ☑️ Good 🔲 Beautiful ~ STORY ~ 🔲 This game has no story 🔲 It's there for the people who want it 🔲 Well written ☑️ Epic story 🔲 You choose your fate ~ PRICE ~ 🔲 Free 🔲 Underpriced 🔲 Perfect Price ☑️ Could be cheaper 🔲 Overpriced 🔲 Complete waste of money ~ REQUIREMENTS ~ 🔲 You can run it on a microwave ☑️ Average 🔲 High end 🔲 NASA computer ~ LENGTH ~ 🔲 Very Short (0 - 3 hours) 🔲 Short (3 - 15 hours) 🔲 Average (15-50 hours) ☑️ Long (50-90 hours) 🔲 Extremely long (90-110 hours) 🔲 No ending ~ FUN ~ 🔲 I'd rather watch paint dry 🔲 Hard to enjoy 🔲 Repetitive ☑️ Actually pretty amusing 🔲 Ride of your life ~ REPLAYABILITY~ 🔲 It's a one-time experience 🔲 Only for achievements ☑️ If you wait a few months/years 🔲 Definitely 🔲 Infinitely replayable ~ WORTH BUYING ~ 🔲 No ☑️ Wait for sale ☑️ Yes
• gamedeal user

  Jan 28, 2017

  A JRPG in which your starting party is an angry vengeful demon, a psychopath with a sword, a merciless pirate and a brainwashed child you literally kidnap and take on dangerous adventures with for endgoal to kill King Arthur because he made the world a better place and you just can't accept saving the world was worth one life. Also the battle system is majorly improved over Zestiria and Xillia/Xillia2.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 24, 2017

  I think the only bad thing I can say about this game is that a lot of the environments just seem pretty bland and the dungeon layouts can be irritating at times. I also wish that it looked nicer overall. Velvet could also use some better costume options :s That aside, the game has a wonderful story and the entire group of characters are all lovable. The combat is somewhat deep and also quite fun. You can definitely tell that a lot of care and love was put into this game. This was my first Tales of game and now I'm definitely going to be looking to play more! Easily my favorite game of all time.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 8, 2019

  install movement speed mod and save yourself 30 hours of walking
• gamedeal user

  Jan 31, 2018

  I'm not a huge fan of JRPG's, I could never get into Final Fantasy or any turn based game for that matter. With that being said I don't really look around much within JRPG's. I had come across Tales of Berseria a while ago around the time it came out, but I was hesitant due to the price. Stuck it on my wishlist and waited. Then the winter sale came, so I grabbed it as it was on sale for cheap. Honestly, kinda wish I didnt wait. The game is certainly worth full price, and I would not have been disappointed with my purchase. After about 40 hours I can safely make a review, and I have to say its been some of the most satisfying time I've spent in a while. Combat is fluid and easy to learn, but maintains a great level of depth and strategy that becomes more needed later on. Graphics are pretty nice for what it is. As someone who loves anime the anime style graphics are a real delight. Fantastic cinematics, many of which are actual anime scenes. Any anime fan will appreciate this. Dialogue is pretty perfect most of the time. You have the option of playing in English or Japanese with subs, as a big fan of subbed anime this option was a huge bonus for me. Playing the game with the originally intended voice actors lends more authenticity to the title. The story is just fantastic. Yeah it's a little cliched, but sometimes that isn't a bad thing. This is one of those times. Revenge stories can almost always work. All in all, whether you like anime, RPGS, or JRPG's this game is a must play. Even as someone who has never played another Tails game, this is still a must have.