While not the most popular or successful in the long-running Tales series, Tales of Berseria (the one before Tales of Arise) is surely one of the few that represent it at its best, mainly because Namco’s line of JRPGs was a story-first kind of experience, and this delivers one of its best, as well as darkest narratives yet, pushing beyond the typical light-hearted idealism of the series, something that’s even reflected in the art style itself. For all its strengths, it still carried many of the franchise’s familiar baggage, like an uneven story progression, an extremely linear structure, and finally systems that feel more iterated than evolved. While it’s nice that past titles have steadily received remasters, making them accessible for fans and newcomers alike, Tales of Berseria Remastered offers minimal upgrades, attaching a price tag that suggests far more effort than is actually present.
The quaint village of Aball has everything an adventurer needs. Lifeless NPCs that don’t have much to say? A pretty but forgettable design? The insane amount of two explorable areas where there’s nothing to explore? Oh, dear! It also has a few tutorial level mobs that serve as the…err, tutorial. “Boring” is too kind of a word for the introductory chapter of Tales of Berseria where, apart from meeting two members of the cast besides the main heroine, not much time is spent on character building. After a very short while (which feels like an eternity), a bitter taste of betrayal, and the sacrifice of a mere child in order to unleash a great force, the real adventure finally begins.
The realm of Midgand is ravaged by the Demonblight, which turns ordinary people into lawyers. Or demons. It’s hard to remember which is the correct one, but anyway, at the centre of it all is Velvet Crowe, whose story begins a few years from the event that left her inside a dark prison cell (more like the bottom of a large well) and less human than she once was. Easily the most striking protagonist the series has produced and far from a traditional hero, her journey is fuelled by anger and loss. The supporting cast isn’t comprised of the usual do-gooders, as they are misfits, outcasts, and opportunists, each with their own agenda.
Sadly, despite its efforts to sell itself as a darker, more mature entry, Tales of Berseria remains a “pop fantasy” kind of deal, still heavily influenced by modern anime tropes. Everyone has a great haircut, everyone is stylish, everyone is a walking stereotype instead of a real character. The story initially hints at emotional depth and moral ambiguity, and truth be told, there’s some of that here, but it quickly collapses under the weight of its own repetition and uneven pacing. Predictable twists; dialogue that overexplains rather than trusts one to interpret events; long, frequent cutscenes that interrupt the flow and fail to push things forward.
Much of the game revolves around fetch quests that add nothing of value to the plot, and mostly increase the duration of Velvet’s quest for no concrete reason. The world itself draws its inspiration from the PlayStation 3 era…by being an uninspired, long, linear corridor where there’s almost nothing to do besides picking up the odd piece of loot and fighting enemies. As for its real-time combat system, it’s quite complex (in a good way), yet battles often devolve into button mashing. The frequent encounters add to the tedium, and boss fights rely more on inflated difficulty and cheap mechanics that must be exploited rather than skill.
Okay, despite all the negativity, this is still one of the good Tales games; just be prepared for something a bit more niche than the usual JRPG, as even its fanbase frequently addresses the flaws of each entry despite loving them. In other words, it has a certain charm, but it’s not for everyone. What about the Remastered version, though? This can be described as a half-patch, half-upgrade kind of deal. Apart from a few fixes here and there, it is mostly a fresh paint job. There’s a larger draw distance, higher resolution support, as well as a better (and mostly stable) frame rate of 60 fps.
The characters, which have always been far better than the simplistic backdrops they walk on, are their best versions yet. That of course makes the environment look even more flat and generic than before. While generally good looking, Tales of Berseria looked kind of underwhelming even back in distant 2016, and the improvements at hand do little to meaningfully modernise the experience. Is that all? Frankly…yes, that is all, and it’s simply not enough for the price attached. Unfortunately, this is the definition of a cash grab.
Apart from bug fixes, faster loading times and so on, there are a handful of quality-of-life additions, like a somewhat faster movement speed, map indicators that are clearer and more helpful than before, and, finally, the Grade Shop, traditionally reserved for a New Game+ playthrough, is now available from the get-go. On top of that, all previously released downloadable content is included, offering a generous pool of outfits and accessories, which is neat as these carry over into cutscenes. Still, is it worth a purchase?
Tales of Berseria Remastered is a product that is hard to defend. £34.99 (tax included) feels excessive given the relatively minor scope of improvements. The Deluxe Edition pushes that cost even further, while a separate upgrade pack is also available, bundling extras like a digital artbook, soundtrack, and minor in-game bonuses. Meanwhile, the original version remains on PC at a similar – or sometimes higher – price point, making things feel…weird consumer-wise. This rerelease (because that’s what it is), is good news only for complete newcomers, or for those who want to experience Tales of Berseria on Nintendo Switch or Xbox.
