It’s a far cry from the nonsense checkerboard system in Zestiria that made it look like I was staring at the periodic table, and I found myself constantly swapping equipment to master every new piece of gear in order to stack different bonuses together. The equipment mastery system has been greatly simplified, as they now level based on grade and once a piece of equipment is mastered, the character keeps the boost that was on that piece of gear forever. Unfortunately, while the combat was certainly a lot of fun it lacked a certain level of challenge, and even on the harder difficulties (Moderate/Hard), I never faced a single game over throughout my entire playthrough. Velvet’s consuming claw allowed her to break the guard of the enemy and, depending on the type of enemy she hit with the attack, it would bestow different boosts to her character along with the benefit of becoming uninterruptable.Ĭhaining normal artes into hidden artes into a burst attack to continue the combo far beyond what the stamina allowed was an effective strategy and made for very fast paced and fluid combat encounters. The burst gauge determined the use of powerful mystic artes and the ability to tag in sub-characters on the fly.Įach character also had access to their own unique ability that would use up stamina to invoke but provided for some very powerful effects.

Stamina determined how many attacks could be chained together and could be gained or lost depending on the situation. The two main resources in combat were stamina and burst gauge. The combat feels faster and much more fluid.Īs for the combat, just like in Zestiria, there are no more MP that is expended through the use of artes, and now the usage of holding a direction while pressing a button to get a different move is no longer present.Īt first, this seemed like it would limit the combo potential of attacks, but as I delved deeper into setting up a chain of different moves, I found that I could make a versatile and satisfying arsenal of moves. There are also connections to Zestiria given they both take place in the same universe, but while knowledge of what happened certainly enhances the experience, it is by no means completely necessary. The cast in Tales of Berseria is easily one of my favorites in the Tales series, and it made what was already a good story even better. Rokurou, Eleanor and Laphicet all had their quirks as well, but they were far more than the typical archetypes they appeared to be at first.Īlso, given the rather serious nature of the story, I wasn’t expecting there to be a big comic element but I found myself chuckling quite often during many of the skits, as the characters were quite charming and the dialogue was often quite clever. Still, even with the curse plaguing his every move, he strove to move forward, not letting his curse hold him back from what he wanted to accomplish in his life. Magilou, the self-proclaimed witch, was mysterious but also quite mischievous, jumping on every opportunity to trick or tease everyone around her for the sake of her own amusement.Įizen was a hardened pirate with the nickname of the “Reaper”, as he brought misfortune to everyone around him. Velvet’s not-so-merry gang of misfits were quite the characters themselves, and all brought something unique to the table. It’s a compelling narrative that resonates from the very beginning of the story- explored in many different nuances and even during the final moments, it held true to the message it was trying to tell. There’s an overarching theme of “the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few” and what that means for those few who are sacrificed or left to suffer.

While a story revolving around an anti-hero isn’t something wholly original, it’s executed quite well, as I found myself feeling sympathetic to Velvet and her cause even when she was clearly in the wrong. It’s a tale of vengeance where Velvet is willing to do anything and everything to kill the man that took her one and only little brother away from her.Īlong the way, she meets up with other undesirable criminals and daemons alike on a long, perilous road with plenty of collateral damage to spare. The story kicks off with the murder of Velvet’s brother by the hands of someone who she once held dear.

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