I got the platinum trophy in Tales of Berseria over the weekend. Time for some thoughts. There are no spoilers below.
The story was fantastic. Folks kept throwing around the term "edgy" or "dark" and, while true, every Tales of has some sort of aspect that is "edgy" or "dark." Berseria was just more in your face about it. Even before her change, it's clear Velvet lived a hard life. And it only got harder. If I had to fault the story for one thing, it's the whole Corsairs Scourge line. It felt like unnecessary padding, even if the end result revealed more about the big picture. Traveling through Reneed and The Fens of Nog in order to find a cure was a chore. Speaking of which...
Good lordt were the field areas too big for their own damn good. Areas were fine at first, but they ended up being too massive and empty. A hidden path here, a crawl-space there, and nothing to reward you except a treasure with gear you already had.
Which leads me to the equipment system. I look at it with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's rewarding to permanently learn a bunch of passive skills that turn your team into a six-man army. On the other hand, the way it was done was cumbersome. For example, after only fifteen minutes of playing I remember walking away with dozens of Amber Blades, Amber Talismans, Amber Boots, etc. I commend the creators for kicking Zestiria's awful equipment system to the curb, but I -REALLY- hope future titles stick to something traditional like the ones in Symphonia or Abyss.
Combat was the game's best feature. It took me a while to get acclimated to the Soul Gauge, Blast Souls, Switch Blasts, etc. but once it clicked I couldn't get enough. There isn't much to say that hasn't been said about it. Again, Namco must have realized how s***acular the combat was in Zestiria. As a result, they made my favorite combat system in the series.
As for the characters, this is a Tales of first. ALL characters were great both in and out of battle. Usually there's that one character that I can't stand in the story; or there's that one character that is absolutely worthless on the battlefield. Not in Berseria. Everyone had a role to play. But, Eleanor was my all time favorite. Her design immediately reminded me of my favorite character from Abyss, and her fighting style was a work of art. The fact that she got a Mystic Arte called Lost Fon Drive -AND- Natalia's costume was icing on the cake.
The trophy list was another highlight. The only time I started to get agitated was when I had to farm Tales Coins for Making a Mint. Aside from that, most of the trophies were earned just by playing the game thoroughly and completing side-quests.
Final random thoughts:
*I think the Normin are obnoxious. For that reason alone, I hope the next Tales of will take place in a new setting.
*The Scout Ship mini-game was fantastic because of all of the Tales of references.
*The in-game costumes and attachments were disappointing. Normin costumes for everyone? Really, Namco?
*The Mystic Artes were a sight to behold.
*The bonus dungeon was fun. It had just the right amount of content and challenge.
*The cameo fight was miles ahead of Zestiria's.
After playing Tales of Zestiria, I was disappointed with the direction of the series. Luckily, Tales of Berseria reignited my adoration for it. Tales of Destiny 2 is still my favorite due to nostalgia, but Berseria is right behind it.
