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+--- Thread: Tales of Berseria Review (/thread-3758.html)
Tales of Berseria Review - RepentantSky - 02-01-2017
Tales of Berseria is a game that many thought was likely just an excuse to keep a near yearly franchise going, but I'm glad to say that this is as far from the truth as possible. Tales of Berseria is one of the most realized worlds in the Tales series, and that's saying a lot coming from someone who has played, almost every major title in the series. As it's core, Tales is a game about the origin of the Shepherd's and and explanation of the some of the story for Tales of Zesteria, which some, myself included, found a bit lacking.
I am happy to say that Berseria has by far the best combat system Tales has ever had, and playing the game on higher difficulties will allow you to really play around with what I consider, the most immersive action combat in action RPG history. It's fun to play the game in lower difficulties as well if you want to just go crazy with the combo system that relies on Velvet's ability to string combo's that would make even games like Marvel vs Capcom take a second to admire it's greatness. The item enhancement systems from some of the more recent games is also back to give you an edge in combat, but isn't needed in lower difficulties. Thankfully, if you play the game in a higher difficulty, the enhancement system this time around is far simpler and more to the point, which prevents it from being annoying or tedious like it past entries.
The characters, all of them, be they small characters that you can only run into once or on occasion feel alive, and really help the world feel alive as well, more than any previous game in the series has. The story overall is not the most original ever, but it doesn't need to be, because it hits all the right notes and makes you feel for the characters in a way that any good RPG should do. Some reviews have complained that Velvet takes too long to change, or that it's hard to know exactly who was right in the conflict you fight, but I disagree with both of those points. Velvet's story fits the character perfectly, making her eventual hero sort of turn feel earned, and the cause you end up fighting for, makes more sense then the alternative. The game clearly takes advantage of the darker tones, and as such makes you feel more for the characters than in a lot of the previous games, though I wouldn't say I feel more for them than I do say, Milla and Jude from Tales of Xillia, which is my current favorite in the series despite popular opinion. Still, I really do like all of these characters and Magilou is probably the most interesting of them all, which is saying a lot.
The game isn't prefect though, it's easy to see where the current engine has trouble making the attempt at astounding visuals and possibly more in the way of combat, an upgrade would be nice, and maybe with the next game we'll see that. It's not really a huge concern for me personally, but when I look at this game compared to Final Fantasy XV, or Horizon Zero Dawn, it's clear that it could use a lift to truly get it to the level expected of triple A titles of today. Also, it's worth noting that if there's one flaw in combat, it's that as time goes one, almost all of your enemies try and make you flinch to remove your ability to perform the combo's you need to get an edge in battle, and that feels more like a way to falsely create difficulty, instead of just making it more difficult by means most games who do it right would do.
The music of the game is perfect from start to finish. It always sets the tone and the mood you are expected to feel and allows both serious, and comical moments to really shine through, giving you the best possible reaction to things. Whether it's the opening by the wonderful band Flow, the amazing title screen music which belongs with the best of them, or the ending theme of the game that closes it out, it's on point at all times, and is something to be admired.
Overall my experience with the game was near perfect, I played it for almost 65 hours doing some small sidequests, training in combat just because it was fun, and just enjoying the world. Realistically, the game is probably only about 50 hours long at best, but it's fun sometimes to just take it easy and collect items that allow you to get costume items, whether Kat Malak characters or from allowing a scout ship to sail, or even playing minigames that will get you tales coins to get certain items, there's a lot to do in this game, and I glad I bought it, played it, and simply took my time to enjoy it. My final score for Tales of Berseria, is a 4.8/5, it's a wonderful adventure worth the time and money it takes to play it, but be weary, if you don't play Tales of Zesteria first, you'll miss some of the better elements of this story, so even though I wouldn't rate it as high, I suggest you play that game first. If Gravity Rush, which is being called the first great PS4 exclusive of 2017 really is that as good as people say, than Tales of Berseria is the first great PS4 RPG of the year, and I'd love to see how games like Ni No Kuni II, NieR: Automata and Persona 5 stack up against it. Either way, this is going to be a great year for RPG's, and Tales of Berseria, was the best start we could have ever hoped for.