Game Info
- System: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Steam
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Studio Inc.
- Developer: Bandai Namco Studio Inc.
- Release Date: August 18, 2016 [JP] | January 24, 2017 [NA] | January 27, 2017 [EU]
- Pricing:$59.99 [PS4] | $49.99[Steam]
- Rating: T
- Genre: JRPG
- Players: Single Player
- Official Website: http://www.talesofgame.com/en/game/tales-of-berseria/
Who it Caters to
Tales of Berseria is a breath of fresh air that not only provides a lot of fun and exciting gameplay, but the voice acting is top notch along with a powerful narrative to top it off. One great aspect about Tales of Berseria is that it doesn’t try to steer the course and be something that it isn’t, the title feels very much like how a Tales game should be and while the formula may be very traditional, that very tradition is what makes this game an absolute treat.
What to Expect
A heads up though that if your PC specs don’t match the criteria you may experience a lot of slowdowns, and that may hinder your experience just a little so be sure to check the specs before purchasing on Steam. Another reminder is that if you plan to stream the game like we did, be sure to run the game on slightly lower settings to ensure a more fluid experience. As we stated earlier Tales of Berseria comes with a lot of perks and the story is perhaps the most enticing. While the gameplay itself comes with a plethora of cool options such as being able to cook, go on expeditions to collect rare items and so on, the story is emotionally riveting and really absorbs you into all of the action.
Tales of Berseria Trailer
Story
Velvet and her little brother Laphicet live in a small village situated within the Holy Midgand Empire and were saved by her brother-in-law, Artorius, when Daemonblight attacked their village, consuming everything in their path. Velvet’s older sister Celica, who was pregnant, succumbs to the disease and it eventually takes her life.
Fast forward a few years later, Velvet along with her brother and Artorius reside in a new village. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Night returns yet again and succumbs to the terror brought on by the Daemonblight. Desperately in search for her brother who disappeared, she runs into Artorius who is seen using Laphicet as a sacrifice for a ritual. Velvet tries to intervene but instead gets attacked by a Daemonblight and possesses her arm, transforming her into a Daemon. Mad with rage over her brother’s sacrifice and being betrayed by Artorius, Velvet is now on a journey to seek revenge and make sure Artorius is eliminated by any means necessary.
Gameplay
Skills[Artes] | Equipment | Battle Mode
These skills known as Artes come in different varieties ranging from Martial Artes, which are essentially physical based attacks, to the more crazy Mystic Artes which are extremely powerful finishing blows that you can use to destroy any tough opponent with relative ease. All of the skills do of course come with a cost, as you’ll be using up your Soul Gauge(SG) in battle to come up with flashy combos and using various special Artes to dispose of enemies that stand in your way. Depending on the attack that you use, the cost of SG will differ so being aware of this while in battle is essential in not getting countered.
Normal mode is forgiving a lot of time and the enemies don’t typically pressure you into the corner gasping for air, but hard mode is where the fun really happens because these enemies will sometimes call on some of their buddies to join the fray. When this occurs, enemy damage increases and tension starts to rise as well since you don’t want to die. Fortunately, you don’t lose anything you’ve collected if you were to die, but dealing with them again may be irritating for some.
The equipment selection in this game is incredibly vast since you not only can purchase them through various shop vendors throughout the game, but you can also obtain rare items from enemies and treasure chests.
Tales of Berseria really encourages you to search around every crevice of the map to scope out special treasure chests, along with Katz chests, special chests which are run by cute cat-like creatures who supply you with bonus items. In order to unlock what’s inside of those, you’ll need to collect magic mana orbs and the cat will then ask you for a certain amount. There’s honestly so much to absorb in this game and while we’d love to go over every item that you’ll encounter, we’ll let you go on the adventure to uncover them and determine their uses.
If you have too much of the same item, you can hop on over to the shop vendor and dismantle them so that you can then use those attributes to enchant your current weapons. By doing so you buff your items making them stronger, and this also applies to your clothing as well. The more you buff, the more perks you receive such as faster HP regeneration or an increase in defense.
Cooking | Expeditions | Fashion | Misc.
Cooking is perhaps one of the more vital features because battles grow intense as you progress further in the story, so having the ability to cook items automatically after a battle is a huge plus. The game offers you the choice of whether you want to have the items automatically cooked after each battle, or you doing it manually. We tried out both ways and found that it really depends on the situation you’re in because if you run out of a certain item the automatic cooking feature stops. If you do it manually, you can keep track of what items you need and go searching for them.
Finding items in this game are very easy so long as you explore as much as possible. If you’re anything like us who love collecting everything we see, then there won’t be any shortage of important items. However, if you’re just trying to run through the game and not really soak in all of the wonderful scenery and hidden items scattered throughout the map, perhaps the overall experience may not be fulfilling. We really do encourage players to get out there and collect as much as you can because not only will it help you later in the story, but you can level up your team faster by taking everything to the shop and dismantling them. We had a ton of Gald but nothing to buy with it, because we leveled up our characters perhaps a little too fast, but again we didn’t have an issue with that because we just saved Gald for buying Apple Gels and Life Bottles.
Honey's Gameplay Consensus:
Honey's Pros:
- Glorious 60FPS on PC.
- 50+ hour long gameplay if you really put time into it.
- Wonderful story.
- Excellent Tutorials.
- Awesome animations and cutscenes.
Honey's Cons:
- Linear gameplay might turn some people off.
- Limited character customization features.
Honey's Final Verdict:
As always, for all things sweet, with news straight from Japan, be sure to keep it locked here on Honey’s Anime.
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