Tales of Berseria was originally released in 2016. Can you believe it? I have felt like it’s only been five years rather than the long ten years! This is the third remastered title under the Tales of Series 30th Anniversary Remastered Project, with more titles coming our way. Like its recently released forerunner (Tales of Xillia Remastered), Tales of Berseria Remastered brings with it quality-of-life improvements for a reenergized playthrough in latest generation platforms.
In this title, you play as the vindictive Velvet Crowe, a human turned daemon who lost her family in an awful tragedy at the hands of her brother-in-law, Artorius. She vows to exact her revenge on Artorius and goes on a journey of bloody vengeance.
Before we dive into the remastered experience, as a long-time Tales fan, I have had certain musings on this remaster during its announcement. Why Tales of Berseria? Wasn’t Tales of Zestiria released a year earlier than this? If we were to gauge from the previous remaster releases, they seemingly follow a chronological order of mothership title release. But with this logic, Tales of Xillia 2 should have been the next remastered title rather than Berseria, right? A curious case indeed, but I also realize that the Tales of Xillia games were originally released for the PS3 and probably need more time to port. The developers did confirm that Tales of Xillia 2 is already underway in its remaster development anyway, so that’s something to look forward to.
The announcement of Tales of Berseria Remastered has made me realize that a long time already passed— a decade since the release of this iconic game! It made me feel a teensy bit old, to be frank, but hey—we get more revamped games! Tales of Berseria is the first Tales of title with a sole female protagonist at its core. While Tales of Xillia did feature Milla Maxwell as a playable female protagonist, the bulk of the story still centered around Jude.
Releasing Tales of Berseria Remastered first rather than Tales of Zestiria makes sense in terms of the story timeline. Both games are in the same universe, and Tales of Berseria is set many, many years before Tales of Zestiria came along. It would make sense for new players to begin with Tales of Berseria to understand the lore more easily. And while this game can arguably be downright heavy and somber in terms of the plot, it is still worthwhile getting its remastered version.
Boosted Battle Experience
While there are no changes in the plot, the quality-of-life improvements boosted the gameplay for me as a long-time fan. These made the gameplay experience smoother than my original playthrough. It’s nice that there are still ways to improve what was already there without compromising the original vibe and feel.
All the Tales of Series remasters that have since been released include similar sets of improvements recalibrated for the latest generation platforms to deliver a valuable experience. Of course, the iconic Grade Shop is readily available during the first playthrough. Though for this title, I find that it made my experience a bit too easy with the Grade Shop advantages, so I suggest going for more challenging difficulties.
Tales of Berseria [Remastered]’s battle gameplay is a “Liberation Linear Motion Battle System (Liberation-LMBS)” with the concept of “steal”, since lore-wise, the protagonist Velvet devours demons/enemies. The battle system is similar to Tales of Graces f [Remastered] in terms of artes setup, but made more flexible with character-specific Break Souls actions and Soul Gauges. And since it’s a straightforward battle system, there’s a lot of repeated single-button mashing. You don’t have to think too much about the combos, as long as you set up your artes well.
I think as a new player, you will only have to spend some time juggling new artes to master each of them, as well as enhancing and switching multiple equipment per character to acquire skills. With the advantages of the Grade Shop, unlocking new artes and acquiring items post-battles have become really quick and efficient. This title is one of the most directly manageable ones and not as meticulous (if you will it to be).
This wasn’t my favourite title to play repeatedly, so doing it again after a decade somehow feels like I was playing it again for the first time, but with a better experience because of the added game improvements.
Since I had used Velvet mainly during my original playthrough, this time around with the remaster, I focused on fleshing out the other characters as my lead. Count on Tales of Series to have really nice playable team members! Their unique skillsets and artes are really enjoyable to play with, especially in this remaster. I did not have a hard time getting familiar with the controls because, as mentioned, this title has a pretty straightforward battle system. Plus, the autosave, enemy encounter toggle, and retry function (for normal battles) make for worry-free gameplay.
Exploring Made Easier
In the remaster, the visuals look crisper and brighter to look at, especially during exploration in the game’s wide maps.
There are also a slew of guides to further make exploring more efficient, like the destination ‘star’ icon to mark your goal, the “!” icon for triggering sub-events, and item/chest indicators on the map. Destination names also appear onscreen while entering a new field, which I think is a nifty add-on to be more familiar with the locations, especially with how big the game’s field maps are.
The remaster also changed the acquisition timing of the items for fast-travel (“the Bottomless Denore Bottle” and “the Bottomless Inoph Bottle”). So, barely five hours into the gameplay, I already have fast-travel! Back in the original playthrough, it took me my sweet time going to and from the wide expansive fields. This feature is pretty neat and saved me a lot of walking in-game. Furthermore, there’s a 20% increase in default character movement speed, as well as when using the Geoboard (this is the skateboard-like equipment you unlock to traverse fields more easily).
There is also the option to unlock the location map display option, which allows you to display maps of places you have not yet visited. This makes exploring even more progressive! More technical add-on improvements are also available in the game, like adjusting screen brightness/volume/battle BGM, subtitles during battles, automatic skip event function, key customization function for map controls, and different voice languages.
Tons of Lovely Cosmetics and DLCs
One of my favorite aspects of the Tales series is the cosmetics. I love having the freedom of customizing my team with various accessories and costumes, which also include other Tales of Series titles. I always look forward to the new DLCs because they make for amusing cutscenes, and of course, tasteful fanservice.
The remaster includes over 70 DLCs from the original (with some choice exceptions) to enjoy. One doesn’t simply play a Tales of title without taking part in all the juicy costumes and accessories.
Tales of Berseria has really attractive character designs, so pairing them with equally charming costumes results in fun eye-candy. Though with the dark plot of vengeance prevalent in the game, the colorful cosmetics can be a jarring contradiction to the overall vibe. After all, the plot is really emotionally-charged, and I find this title the darkest–if not, the most depressing one I have ever played amongst the mothership titles. So, playing with the cosmetics is my way to sort of dampen the feeling whenever I remember the ending.
Tales of Berseria Remastered Final Verdict: 8/10
Tales of Berseria Remastered proves that there are still ways to make an amazing game even better, prettier, and more efficient. For long-time fans in the market looking to reignite the feels for this iconic title, this game is a must-play (especially for the cosmetics alone!). Playing this remaster made me hopeful for more enjoyable Tales of Series remasters. Who’s to say that we might be getting Tales of Zestiria soon after this? I am truly eager for what the franchise can offer and am looking forward to more games from the Tales of Series 30th Anniversary Remastered Project.