Tales of Berseria

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 370 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 226 out of 370
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 370
  3. Negative: 104 out of 370

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  1. posoh
    Jan 26, 2019
    6
    Apparently Zestiria was SO BAD that people think about Berseria as Holy Pinnacle of Video Games. It's really not. On every level. Nice credit sequence though
  2. Mandulum
    May 21, 2017
    7
    Five Word Review: Standard Tales affair, decent story.
    Favorite Thing: Magilou, she somehow grew on me. Probably because of how necessary she was to balance the dour Velvet.
    Least Favorite Thing: The level design, especially caves, is extremely unremarkable. I got turned around a few times due to how same-ish it all is. Date Completed: 2017-05-13 Playtime: ~ 42h Enjoyment: 7/10    Five Word Review: Standard Tales affair, decent story.
    Favorite Thing: Magilou, she somehow grew on me. Probably because of how necessary she was to balance the dour Velvet.
    Least Favorite Thing: The level design, especially caves, is extremely unremarkable. I got turned around a few times due to how same-ish it all is.

    Date Completed: 2017-05-13
    Playtime: ~ 42h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: For Tales and jRPG fans.    … Expand
  3. gmanxp
    Feb 26, 2017
    7
    I just want to be clear before I start my review; the last Tale's game I played was Tales of Xillia. Xillia 2 and Zesteria seemed to be a little too bland for my tastes. But other than that, I've played most of the major 3D Tales games.

    +Combat: -To put simply, the combat in this game is a bit too easy. The best strategy by far is to just button mash all four of the face buttons at    I just want to be clear before I start my review; the last Tale's game I played was Tales of Xillia. Xillia 2 and Zesteria seemed to be a little too bland for my tastes. But other than that, I've played most of the major 3D Tales games.

    +Combat:
    -To put simply, the combat in this game is a bit too easy. The best strategy by far is to just button mash all four of the face buttons at once. (I guess I should mention that this game is best played with a gamepad.)

    +Graphics:
    -Underwhelming. The fact that this game came out on the PS3 in Japan isn't enough to defend its bland graphics. On the bright side, I was easily able to get this game running at 4k 60fps at max settings, something that I can't say with most AAA games.

    +Story:
    -Definitely one of the more interesting stories presented in the Tales series in a while. Funnily enough, Velvet, the protagonist, is actually the least interesting character in the story, however her companions more than make up for it.

    +Music:
    -Forgettable; normally music in the Tale's series would get stuck in my head days after playing it, however I can't say the same with Berseria. It's serviceable, but nothing more.

    +PC Port:
    -Surprisingly good; Plenty of graphics options, 60 fps, 4K support, etc. Unfortunately, anything above 60 fps isn't possible, and having a controller is basically essential to playing this game. Compared to Bandi Namco's other PC ports, I was able to play the game with no tinkering of external files to get things working properly.

    +Final Verdict:
    -I could say that Tales of Berseria is better than the past couple of games in the series, however that wouldn't be much of an achievement compared to what most people thought of Tales of Zestiria. I think that a 7/10 is about what this game deserves.    … Expand
  4. Axorc
    Feb 23, 2017
    7
    Berseria still runs like its predecessor, Zestiria but removes much of it's detrimental aspects such as the awful gear and key system. However, as I played on, I grew bored of playing as this bland caricature of a revenge driven character, she easily comes of as unsympathetic and sometimes just stupid, making boneheaded decisions because "vengeance". The plot easily falls apart when youBerseria still runs like its predecessor, Zestiria but removes much of it's detrimental aspects such as the awful gear and key system. However, as I played on, I grew bored of playing as this bland caricature of a revenge driven character, she easily comes of as unsympathetic and sometimes just stupid, making boneheaded decisions because "vengeance". The plot easily falls apart when you don't really care to what happens to the protagonist.… Expand
  5. Indrigis
    Feb 6, 2017
    5
    Tales of Berseria is a painfully mediocre game. It is a good JRPG in that it does all the necessary fanservice and "unexpected" plot twists but as a game it is really bland.

    Yes, it has rave reviews but it still follows every "safe" cliche that has plagued the genre for the last 10 years. Velvet is all "dark", "really evil" and "revenge-driven" but she's extremely prone to not killing    Tales of Berseria is a painfully mediocre game. It is a good JRPG in that it does all the necessary fanservice and "unexpected" plot twists but as a game it is really bland.

    Yes, it has rave reviews but it still follows every "safe" cliche that has plagued the genre for the last 10 years. Velvet is all "dark", "really evil" and "revenge-driven" but she's extremely prone to not killing important enemies, being needlessly chatty when butt-kicking is due and turning into a damsel in distress when the plot demands it. The supporting cast, however different and "edgy" they might look are all the stereotypical ones. A swordsman who looks carefree but is actually totally absolutely amazingly powerful, a clumsy kid whose primary role is to invoke warm feelings, a really grimdark fighter who is both grim and dark, a comic relief happy go lucky magician girl who, of course, will magically save you when a deus ex machina is needed...

    The combat is quite complicated and nuanced but gut-wrenchingly boring. There are a plethora of "artes" your characters can learn but you are limited to 4 artes per combo level so you either set up the most effective combo all around and mash a single button until you get calluses, start every battle with painstakingly reassigning artes to fit your present set of enemies or say "Eh, whatever" and set combat difficulty to "Easy", saving yourself a few hours.

    And technically the game is stuck somewhere in mid-2000s. The sublevels are small to account for the engine's limitations and when a really big open level shows up it looks like a Quake map with lots of rectangular building blocks glued together with no environmental detail or objects. SFX is flashes and animated inserts, sound is nothing to write a review about.

    Despite all the praise it's still a Tales game fresh off the conveyor with all the flaws and bumps lovingly preserved. You've played this before quite a few times.    … Expand
  6. GuruJoeyy
    Feb 13, 2017
    5
    Better story than Zestiria but the combat, graphics, rendering, ect. none of it was improved, it is a 50$ mod of Zestiria pretty much. I always enjoy the stories of the tales games but they've shown they aren't quite ready for the mainstream in the rest of the world when it comes to making engaging gameplay. The Japanese are in-love with rock beats paper style combat, this isn't a surpriseBetter story than Zestiria but the combat, graphics, rendering, ect. none of it was improved, it is a 50$ mod of Zestiria pretty much. I always enjoy the stories of the tales games but they've shown they aren't quite ready for the mainstream in the rest of the world when it comes to making engaging gameplay. The Japanese are in-love with rock beats paper style combat, this isn't a surprise from pretty much the only country that still makes turn-based combat games (very different from turn-based strategy). This game is only something you should buy if you're a fan of the series, there is no fluid combat to be found, no interesting crafting system to explore, perhaps one day we'll get a Tales game that I can safely say I don't play solely for the story.… Expand
  7. Baronz
    Feb 26, 2017
    5
    Graphic from ps2, really boring combat system. The story looks nice, but you don't have any choice to make. Played 10 hours and really can't go on anymore, too boring.
  8. andarial6670
    Mar 29, 2017
    7
    I couldn't finish this game.

    The story and character design is the best part about the game. You know exactly what drives each character, everyone is unique and has their own likability, and the several thousand lines of internal dialogue between the characters gives them a depth and characterization that most games don't even come close to achieving. Not many games are going to make    I couldn't finish this game.

    The story and character design is the best part about the game. You know exactly what drives each character, everyone is unique and has their own likability, and the several thousand lines of internal dialogue between the characters gives them a depth and characterization that most games don't even come close to achieving. Not many games are going to make you feel like the characters could have been real people, but Berseria could be one of them. 10/10

    Sound is acceptable. The opening intro music was outstanding, but music for the rest of the game is forgettable and uninspired. Other sounds, such as from in-game effects from footsteps to sword slashing are what you'd expect. I have one pet peeve about the sound that you hear in combat... Each character has access to a couple dozen different skills and many of them have their own cool names, so when they're used, the character has to yell out that name out loud, every single time. 7/10

    Design of the game leaves much to be desired. Game is extremely linear, lack of quick travel combined with mandatory backtracking over long long distances, maps and areas that have little to absolutely none distinguishing features, 'demon' designs that often look like ordinary animals....Graphics also seem dated for a 2017 release. However, sometimes the graphics do work out. There are also anime-cutscenes that are extremely well done, but used too sparingly to compensate for the game's overall lack in graphical appeal. 3/10

    Gamplay... is terrible. The walking around part feels boring and long with no interesting interactions, and the combat system... is terrible. Mashing all the keys at once with no strategic thinking necessary. It is VERY hard to see clearly what exactly is happening. Combat is extremely chaotic and poorly done. 0/10

    The story itself is amazing enough to consider watching it on youtube. But the game itself probably isn't worth playing through. There are several JRPG's that have a stellar gameplay to go with a great story, but this only has the story.    … Expand
  9. Panzidane
    Mar 23, 2017
    7
    Eu poderia passar o dia escrevendo como e porque esse jogo poderia e deveria ser melhor, mas é bem mais simples entender isso jogando. O jogo é razoável para mediano. Nada nele faz sentido ou sequer motiva. O jogo é cansativo porém tem belos gráficos e trilha sonora. O forte mesmo são as lutas com chefe. Torço para que essa série que tem muito potencial evoluir, mas por enquanto eu meEu poderia passar o dia escrevendo como e porque esse jogo poderia e deveria ser melhor, mas é bem mais simples entender isso jogando. O jogo é razoável para mediano. Nada nele faz sentido ou sequer motiva. O jogo é cansativo porém tem belos gráficos e trilha sonora. O forte mesmo são as lutas com chefe. Torço para que essa série que tem muito potencial evoluir, mas por enquanto eu me sinto mal não podendo dar 6.8 e sendo forçado pelo metacritic a dar 7.… Expand
  10. BoredSeal
    Sep 7, 2018
    7
    Main plus of this game is awesome dark story about bad guys being main protagonists. It has interesting story, great humour, characters and dialogues. Curiosity was main driving force to finish the game, even if game itself was not so much fan. Level design is very simple and outdated and if there was not new dialogue or small scene peeking behind the corner, I would probably give upMain plus of this game is awesome dark story about bad guys being main protagonists. It has interesting story, great humour, characters and dialogues. Curiosity was main driving force to finish the game, even if game itself was not so much fan. Level design is very simple and outdated and if there was not new dialogue or small scene peeking behind the corner, I would probably give up because stereotype, but I´m glad I was strong enough to finish the game.… Expand
  11. Trunks252
    Jan 21, 2018
    7
    If you play Tales of Berseria, play it for the story. The characters are incredibly well developed and the story is unique and interesting. Few games can say their characters could pass for real people with real complexities and personalities. The dialogue is also endlessly interesting and/or humorous. Magilou and Eleanor in particular are fascinating to me, but all are exceptional. TheIf you play Tales of Berseria, play it for the story. The characters are incredibly well developed and the story is unique and interesting. Few games can say their characters could pass for real people with real complexities and personalities. The dialogue is also endlessly interesting and/or humorous. Magilou and Eleanor in particular are fascinating to me, but all are exceptional. The story itself is centered around revenge, and the main characters could actually be viewed as the villains for a good portion of the game. It's an interesting plot line that I can't recall having seen before.

    That said, the rest of the game is lacking. Graphics are decent but technically unimpressive by all standards. Level design is lazy and uninspired. Enemies are basic animal tropes. Music is completely forgettable except maybe a couple tunes. Fighting bosses is exceedingly frustrating when you can't build up combos. Exploration can be fun, but mostly you'l just want to get to the next area.

    Overall I was satisfied with my playthrough, and a discounted $20 price. I got roughly 40 hours of play, and had a blast with the story. As long as you can accept the game's flaws, it's a decent play. There are several other 2017 RPGs I'd recommend before this one, though.    … Expand
  12. pmasterfunk
    Nov 30, 2022
    6
    After quitting partway through Tales of Vesperia, for some reason that is still unknown to me I decided to pick up Tales of Berseria.

    I am concerned about my obsessive desire to like these kinds of games. The thing is, Berseria is close to being a good game, but there's just enough jank and stupidity in there for me to keep distancing myself from anything that kinda looks like it.    After quitting partway through Tales of Vesperia, for some reason that is still unknown to me I decided to pick up Tales of Berseria.

    I am concerned about my obsessive desire to like these kinds of games.

    The thing is, Berseria is close to being a good game, but there's just enough jank and stupidity in there for me to keep distancing myself from anything that kinda looks like it.

    First of all, the game doesn't look very good. I honestly think Vesperia, a PS3 game from 2008, looks better. The environments look even blander than Vesperia's, lighting and shadow effects are practically nonexistent, enemy designs are often really boring. Character designs aren't too bad, but it's pretty hard to justify Velvet's outfit. It's often referenced in the game, "a lady shouldn't dress so immodestly", "aren't you cold wearing that outfit?", "you should be careful going around dressed like that". It would be much more productive for Velvet to wear a less inconspicuous outfit and fit in with the general public, but instead she wears something so revealing we can tell she's into "ladyscaping".

    The game is oddly sexist. The male characters often make broad outdated statements about women, and then the female characters make broad outdated statements about the men. What year is this, 1957? I find it really strange when a video game tells me women are fickle things and men are oblivious sex-crazed monkeys, when every other interaction does not point to those "facts".

    Sexist comments aside, I actually don't mind the cast this time. Velvet however is so emo and grumpy you'd think this is a Final Fantasy game. She's way worse than Noctis, somewhere close to Squall levels of emo-ness. Laphicet 2.0 is kinda terrible, but he has a decent late game turn. The others are'nt too bad. Rokurou is pretty likable, Eizen is surprisingly informed, Eleanor is kind of annoying but somewhat endearing, and Magilou is infinitely irritating in the best possible way. I like Magilou. I shouldn't, she's awful, but I like her anyway.

    The battle system is at least more fun than Vesperia's. It feels a lot faster, and there's no jumping, I'm not constantly swinging at the air when enemies aren't moving directly towards me. However, it is infinitely complex, to the point that 20 hours in I'm still getting tutorial screens explaining new garbage. It's possible to map 4 different skills to each face button, but I don't really understand the point of being able to change "button skill tree" mid-combo, since most enemies are immune to one element. I just mapped elemental attacks to the buttons that matched those colours, and mashed that until said enemies would die.

    Which takes a while, because enemies have tons of HP. These random mooks can take a serious beating, while simultaneously dealing very little damage to my characters. Why does a 40 hit combo not kill an enemy that hits me for single digit damage? I still don't really understand why I can hit the same enemy, during the same battle, with the same skill, and have damage values range between 85 and 1400 points.

    There is very little risk involved in random encounters (at least on Normal), but they often overstay their welcome. I also find most fights to be visually messy - particle effects, numbers, spells, it's so busy. Controlling a spell-caster is terrible; enemies have a tendency to target the controlled character, and the spells take so long to activate enemies will rarely let your character get a chance to actually finish casting. Ultimately, I don't enjoy the action all that much, mashing is good enough to finish the game without really grinding on normal, but I haven't found it to be particularly satisfying mashing.

    Story-wise, it's definitely better than Vesperia. I haven't felt like my intelligence was insulted at every plot turn, which is a pretty big improvement. The bad guy is not just some random deus ex machina existential threat to the world, and the beef between the bad guy and Velvet is set up early on and drives the plot forward. No random "oh, let's visit the desert" garbage this time. There are a few minor detours, but it never feels too forced, and the team still retains a sense of agency. The game is very linear, but I'd rather have a decent linear story than a crap story with tons of freedom. The late game pacing is definitely on the slow side, though, and I was getting tired of moving from one dungeon to fight some mooks and then get a cutscene to get access to a different dungeon to fight some more mooks before getting another cutscene.

    The music is terrible.

    All in all, should you play this game? If you like the Tales series, you'll probably like this game. If you don't like the series, you'll probably be lukewarm at best about this game. I'd avoid it in that case.    … Expand
  13. CortoPunzante
    Jan 26, 2022
    5
    I think on many levels it works but I think it's going to depend a lot on the type of player.

    I felt that a lot of hours and dialogues are just filler or that the dialogues don't go to anything. However, beyond the overall script, each character has an interesting and engaging background: they start from a cliché and build from there to reverse this idea. That's why it works quite well.    I think on many levels it works but I think it's going to depend a lot on the type of player.

    I felt that a lot of hours and dialogues are just filler or that the dialogues don't go to anything. However, beyond the overall script, each character has an interesting and engaging background: they start from a cliché and build from there to reverse this idea. That's why it works quite well.

    The scenarios are not the most inspired of the JRPG and the enemies comply, although it calls to plan and make the secondary content to take advantage and improve weapons.

    I insist, it may appeal to a large audience, but I think they are going to a specific niche. At least I got a good impression in general that is declining as the hours of play go by. That doesn't discourage me and makes me want to play more Tales of titles, since this is the first one I've tried.    … Expand
  14. Jrson
    May 5, 2020
    6
    There is a lot of playful banter in this game. This makes the characters pretty likable, but my main problem with this game is the combat. It is horrible.
  15. kinsang
    Sep 12, 2022
    7
    เป็นเกมที่ได้ตัวละครและเนื้อเรื่องแบกไว้อย่างหนัก ถึงแม้การเขียนบทจะไม่ได้ยอดเยี่ยมซักเท่าไหร่ก็ตาม ส่วนเกมเพลย์การต่อสู้ก็ค่อนข้างจืดชืดและซ้ำซากเป็นเกมที่ได้ตัวละครและเนื้อเรื่องแบกไว้อย่างหนัก ถึงแม้การเขียนบทจะไม่ได้ยอดเยี่ยมซักเท่าไหร่ก็ตาม ส่วนเกมเพลย์การต่อสู้ก็ค่อนข้างจืดชืดและซ้ำซาก

Awards & Rankings

83
#83 Best PC Game of 2017
49
#49 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
13
#13 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Mar 31, 2017
    80
    The 16th game in the Tales series is also the most adult. Who would have thunk it? [Issue#260, p.62]
    Read full review
  2. Riot Pixels
    Mar 17, 2017
    76
    Tales of Berseria is too archaic in its game design and visuals to be a mass-appeal JPRG. Still, if you're looking to play a modern representative of this genre, keep in mind that you can easily find a better-looking game, but you won't have as much fun playing it as this one.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 1, 2017
    62
    In Tales of Berseria you can find every single thing which caused “traditional” JRPG to fall out of favor: world is almost empty, balance is non-existent and instead of truly intricate story we have a cheap, unbelievable drama. Sure, most of these can be explained away as a JRPG tradition – but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get tired of them. [Issue #217, p.76]
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