Tales of Berseria

Recently completed the main and major quest lines of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” after having played its special edition on Playstation 4 for many hours since its release last October. Although I likely will revisit this excellent game for another run with a different character build and orientation, was keen on trying something else even though I usually tend to spend a year or more playing the same immersive game.

When the Playstation Store ran a special summer sale earlier this month featuring discounts on games created in Japan like “Nights of Azure” or “Star Ocean Integrity And Faithlessness”, took advantage of the opportunity to grab “Tales of Berseria” for Playstation 4 at half price.

Friends had recommended “Tales of Berseria” to me and it has been far too long since I played a good jrpg. Also, had quite enjoyed the two episodes featuring the “Tales of Berseria” cast that aired during the “Tales of Zestiria The X” anime which showcased one of the games earliest chapters.

Made a few dozen hours of progress into the game already, am enjoying it so far and it has positively impressed me. Velvet is an intriguing main character and a welcome departure from the usual, superficial too-good-to-be-true male protagonist often used in such games. Also, the interaction between Velvet and Eleanor over Laphicet has been hilarious.

Plus, it is nice to play another game where not everything is overly simplified into good or evil, but instead characters their choices, positions and actions are a complex range of shades of grey, although it does not achieve the level of how a gem like “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” worked with this.

After two open world games, it did feel somewhat odd though to go back to a typical jrpg play style and map navigation. The cutscenes and dialogue animations though are superbly animated by studio ufotable, making them feel much more immersive and enthralling than in engine generated cutscenes.