Same here. High praise indeed, hope I'll end up echoing Hasemo's thoughts.
Really nice to hear overall positive impressions either way!
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Tales of Berseria Import Thread
- Thread starter Rpgmonkey
- Start date
Same here. High praise indeed, hope I'll end up echoing Hasemo's thoughts.
Really nice to hear overall positive impressions either way!
How high is the ratio of the other Tales games for comparison?
The rating for the PS3 version actually increased, been 3 1/2 stars before, now it's 4.
Doesn't need to be due Zestiria. Games later into a generation tend to sell worse than game early, and ports usually don't make up for it, been true for most Tales games as well.
No idea, never bothered to check.
I've been looking at the wiki to see where I am story wise and it seems that there is some post game content which unlocks
the "true" boss
I mean I'm enjoying the game, but I don't think I'd want to grind everyone to 99 to clear it all.
Yeah I don't get the hate boner for what's a perfectly servicable JRPG, it's not groundbreaking but it's hardly worse than most of the series.
InternHertz
Member
I got confused a little, it was not 45 hours I got it at, but 40, with my levels being at 44-45 at the time. Still 10 hours after you though
No idea, never bothered to check.
I've been looking at the wiki to see where I am story wise and it seems that there is some post game content which unlocks. Does anyone know if that changes the ending in any way or is it just a neat thing for completionists?the "true" boss
I mean I'm enjoying the game, but I don't think I'd want to grind everyone to 99 to clear it all.
Don't know the answer for the post game. Could be like Zestiria with a
hyper version unlocked after the bonus stuff
And the max is lvl200
I'm going to platinum/100% it so in any case I will do all of it myself.
Well, they were lured with a female protagonist and then just given Sorey. Maybe Japan is just aggressively progressive?
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
If you're talking about having a second person play, you probably need to have another controller.
If you do and it's still not working I'm not sure -_-
Right, I always forget how weird Tales games are with level caps.Don't know the answer for the post game. Could be like Zestiria with a?hyper version unlocked after the bonus stuff
And the max is lvl200
And yes, the spoiler part seems to be exactly what that is, so I wonder if it is required for some kind of a true ending or if it can be ignored.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
If I'm not mistaken, this game is a prequel of Tales of Zestiria, yar? How important is playing Zestiria to having a complete picture of Berseria's narrative?
InternHertz
Member
If it's like Zestiria then I think you may skip it, but I haven't checked for fear of spoilers.
I haven't found one of the hunts and it's really weirding me out. I have missed number 14 even though I've checked and double checked after each story event for changes. Also I killed every last one of those I came across on fields...
I don't get how I could've missed it.
So far it doesn't seem to be that important (and definitely not to understand the story, since it's a prequel). That said, having played Zestiria (even if not until the end) gives you a lot of "oh wow" moments in ToB.
I had a few of those missing, but then found them while doing sidequests for some characters (ones with the ! bubble). If you're checking all areas, I'd say ignore them for now and try to do sidequests as soon as they appear. You can check the list on the world map - if there are active ones, they will be under the star marked destination on the list (press □ to switch from the location list).
Zestiria is sort of an aftermath of what happens in Berseria. At least that's how I see it based on the spoilers I have seen and read.
I'm really tempted to import a physical copy.. but does it come with a thick colored manual?
To enable the multiplayer, you need to set the character on manual from the artes menu. In Zesti you press L3 or R3 to change it.
I wonder if it sold really a lot and hopefully the next tales game will just be on ps4.
I'm really tempted to import a physical copy.. but does it come with a thick colored manual?
To enable the multiplayer, you need to set the character on manual from the artes menu. In Zesti you press L3 or R3 to change it.
I wonder if it sold really a lot and hopefully the next tales game will just be on ps4.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Online only, unfortunately
I think YSO predictions were 250k (PS4 and PS3 combined) which would be a drop of ~100k compared to Zestiria. Numbers should be out in a few hours though.
Berseria is already confirmed to be the last Tales game on PS3 (and the PS3 version appears to be well done, which again means the PS4 version likely is a straight port aside upping resolution and framerate(?)).
Did you read many opinions on that version ?
I only checked the amazon jp reviews which were saying that the PS3 version was indeed fine and it was not worth buying a PS4 for Berseria.
The weak technical part quoted here by a few gaffers seems to corroborate what you think at least.
Berseria PS3 version is really well done. Not like Zesteria.
Hentailover
Member
As somebody who is playing PS3 version right now, it has no noticeable problems at all. Does not feel like a ps4 downport at all, feels like a proper ps3 game. So, PS4 is probably just an up-port instead.
And yeah, no garbage performance from Zestiria in sight either.
Jim_Cacher
Member
Just enter this thread to ask if the PS3 version is decent. Sounds like I don't need to buy it when Neo hits. Great!
Hentailover
Member
They're better than Zestiria, but still meh
Thanks for the feedbacks on the PS3 version.
If you're talking about the western release you are aware that there won't be one for the PS3 version right ?
If you're talking about the western release you are aware that there won't be one for the PS3 version right ?
Jim_Cacher
Member
Oh, I don't know that, but I am going to get the Japanese version. Anyway, thanks for the notice.
Was curious too see where I am after 40+ hours and it seems I have only 2-3 new dungeons/areas left. Not bad given the fact that I've been trying to do all sidequests etc. so far. Kind of low level (~56), but luckily chaining dangerous encounters is a super fast and efficient way of getting xp, so I'm not worried at all.
While I still like the game a lot, I wish they didn't make you run around the same areas (especially towns) so many times. While I understand that this is done to show the changes in the world, make the world feel less like a straight line from the beginning to the end and all that, but it's kind of too much.
While I still like the game a lot, I wish they didn't make you run around the same areas (especially towns) so many times. While I understand that this is done to show the changes in the world, make the world feel less like a straight line from the beginning to the end and all that, but it's kind of too much.
I thought Zestiria's were pretty good. Certainly the armatized ones were cool. Although none of the player characters had a mystic arte as awesome as Sophie or Jade 😂
Most people actually never got to the second MAs, much less the thirds or the full-group one, so the view on them is a bit skewed.
Nearly 100k less first week.
01./00. [PS4] Tales of Berseria <RPG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2016.08.18} (¥8.200) - 173.537 / NEW
02./00. [PS3] Tales of Berseria <RPG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2016.08.18} (¥8.200) - 76.186 / NEW
Total: 249.723
01./00. [PS3] Tales of Xillia # <RPG> (Bandai Namco) {2011.09.08} (¥8.379) - 525.605 / NEW <87,12%>
01./00. [PS3] Tales of Xillia 2 <RPG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.01} (¥8.380) - 364.439 / NEW <78,09%>
01./00. [PS3] Tales of Zestiria <RPG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.01.22} (¥8.715) - 340.891 / NEW <89,52%>
Yes and no. Berseria's numbers are around what Vesperia's and Graces f's sales were their first week (this is only counting the PS3 rereleases). However, Xillia gave the series a spike up to around 500k first weeks sales, and that number has been dropping ever since. Zestiria had around 340k first week sales on one SKU, so Berseria not being able to reach that on two SKUs is disappointing. Depends on how you look at it.
Alisha was never advertise as the female protagonist lol she was advertised as the "heroine", basically the role
No.
Xillia didn't really give a spike up, it just benefited from finally releasing on the right platform.
Had Vesperia and Graces been released on PS3 from the get go they would have had closer sales to Xillia which itself had pretty similar sales compared to Destiny 2, Abyss and Rebirth on PS2.
Bamco simply can't release the game elsewhere and expect to make more money with it unlike Vesperia and Graces.
Played the demo. Language barrier and all. However, the gist of what I got from battles was:
1. Every character has their own R2 special abiltiy with different triggers.
2. R2 ability raises the BG.
3. Mystic arte at 3 BG.
That's basically what I was doing. The mystic artes looked okay, I'm guessing these are the level 1 ones so hopefully there are more and nicer ones later. Although I hate the cut-ins, at least most of them don't look too good. Zestiria spoiled me, it really had the best cut-ins since it married the face cut-in with full body to great effect. I'm guessing full body ones will appear later.
Also since I haven't been keeping up with the game at all:
1. Don't care for any female design. Or the little twerp. Interestingly though Laphicet is using the same weapon (cards) as Lailah.
2. Love the samurai and Eizen's design though.
3. The areas in the demo were boring, the sea one looked okay. Music was honestly super meh, not even the battle theme stood out to me. And Formidable Foe remixed again, yawn.
4. The reusage from Zestiria is very notable. Spells, enemies, etc. I guess the bosses were new designs, I think. The Twerp has Divine Saber though it looked sort of meh. OH and those annoying AF yells the female snake enemies make is back, ugh.
Sorry, I know these are demo impressions so who cares. I've played JP demos before that got me hyped, this one didn't do much. Oh well, still a day 1 purchase since it's Tales.
1. Every character has their own R2 special abiltiy with different triggers.
2. R2 ability raises the BG.
3. Mystic arte at 3 BG.
That's basically what I was doing. The mystic artes looked okay, I'm guessing these are the level 1 ones so hopefully there are more and nicer ones later. Although I hate the cut-ins, at least most of them don't look too good. Zestiria spoiled me, it really had the best cut-ins since it married the face cut-in with full body to great effect. I'm guessing full body ones will appear later.
Also since I haven't been keeping up with the game at all:
1. Don't care for any female design. Or the little twerp. Interestingly though Laphicet is using the same weapon (cards) as Lailah.
2. Love the samurai and Eizen's design though.
3. The areas in the demo were boring, the sea one looked okay. Music was honestly super meh, not even the battle theme stood out to me. And Formidable Foe remixed again, yawn.
4. The reusage from Zestiria is very notable. Spells, enemies, etc. I guess the bosses were new designs, I think. The Twerp has Divine Saber though it looked sort of meh. OH and those annoying AF yells the female snake enemies make is back, ugh.
Sorry, I know these are demo impressions so who cares. I've played JP demos before that got me hyped, this one didn't do much. Oh well, still a day 1 purchase since it's Tales.
InternHertz
Member
I'm at the last act of the story according to trophies.
Really like what's happening right now in the story, and we got an interesting tidbit (maybe I'm easily impressed but I had my mouth wide open when I heard it) : Magilou's
. She's
I'm now level 56 with everyone and somehow I'm in (location spoiler)
Really like what's happening right now in the story, and we got an interesting tidbit (maybe I'm easily impressed but I had my mouth wide open when I heard it) : Magilou's
last name
related to Old Man Mayvin from Zestiria!
I'm now level 56 with everyone and somehow I'm in (location spoiler)
the hidden dungeon from Zestiria, The Calix I
My misunderstanding then. So the whole thing was well and truly about nothing.
Damn, the positive impressions just keep flowing in.
I've always really enjoyed the skits in Tales games, so this is really great to hear.
Finally finished the game today.
It took me 48 hours on normal and I did all sidequests (which I could find, but I tried looking everywhere) aside from the batch which opened before the final dungeon. At that point I just wanted to see the story to the end and they would probably take an hour or two running around all areas.
I also didn't explore the whole last dungeon - both for the reason stated above (wanted to see the end) but also because of how confusing the layout got at one point.
Anyway, I really liked Berseria and felt like the story was good until the end. I'll write more in depth impressions tomorrow, since it's quite late. Definitely my favorite Tales game since Vesperia (or maybe even since Phantasia, since I played Vesperia so long ago that I don't remember much).
It took me 48 hours on normal and I did all sidequests (which I could find, but I tried looking everywhere) aside from the batch which opened before the final dungeon. At that point I just wanted to see the story to the end and they would probably take an hour or two running around all areas.
I also didn't explore the whole last dungeon - both for the reason stated above (wanted to see the end) but also because of how confusing the layout got at one point.
Anyway, I really liked Berseria and felt like the story was good until the end. I'll write more in depth impressions tomorrow, since it's quite late. Definitely my favorite Tales game since Vesperia (or maybe even since Phantasia, since I played Vesperia so long ago that I don't remember much).
Valkyri von Thanatos
Member
High praise. I take it the combat system has depth once you get used to it? It seemed really hard to get a proper handle on in the demo, and felt to spammy.
If you don't mind, I have some questions about what in particular made Berseria so good? Was it that the plot finally has more drive to it than most recent games in the series? Is it that all the characters are really great and have good chemistry? Is it that the world design actually makes use of its open space unlike Zestiria which seemed to be big just to be big? Are the dungeons no longer just glorified hallways with enemies in then, and instead have actual proper design again and maybe some interesting lore to them? Was it that the villains were interesting and not simply bad because someone in the story needed to be bad? BTW, how is the soundtrack, does it sound more unique than recent entries (ignoring Go Shina tracks from Zestiria).
Sorry for having so many questions, just curious about what this game did right to win you and others over.
Got my game yesterday. I have to say I was expecting the ps3 version to be a lot worse than Zestiria on the technical side, so I'm pretty surprised the game looks actually good! It feels closer to how Xillia 1 looked, with barely any jaggies visible. Berseria in 1080p could probably be the best looking Tales to date. In terms of performance, I'm not sure if it's actually 60fps on ps3, but it does feel better than Zestiria.
Anyway, I'm definitely optimistic about it after putting a few hours on it.
Anyway, I'm definitely optimistic about it after putting a few hours on it.
CrichtonKicks
Member
Until the end or through the end? Basically, did you like the ending?
Celcius
°Temp. member
I was wondering the same thing after reading that lol
Okay, first to clarify my previous post. I didn't hate the ending. It wasn't the strongest point in the story, but was completely serviceable and didn't leave me disappointed.
With that out of the way, here are my spoiler free impressions after clearing the whole game.
I'll just mention it again - clearing ToB took me 48 hours on Normal. Tried doing all the side stuff I could find aside from the last batch before the final dungeon. There's also post game content including an extra dungeon, but I haven't touched that part myself.
Graphics
It's definitely the best looking 3D Tales game. Sadly, that doesn't really mean much. Models look alright, but in the end it still looks and feels like a PS3 game bumped to higher resolution and 60 FPS. Fields and dungeons are a mixed bag, some look good, some (especially early ones) are just boring. Also, the draw in distance is terrible and nothing really excuses this in the PS4 version.
Sound
I liked one of the themes (main/Velvet's theme?) which kicked in during some cutscenes and made them more exciting. Also,
theme was great, but I think it hasn't changed. That said, I'm a person who rarely focuses on BGMs while playing, so don't take the above as a jab at the music.
Combat
Combat doesn't really change through the game. You get access to some new toys like Mystic Artes, but aside from that you can still pretty much mash through every battle on normal with X and R2, if you're not hugely underleveled. Problem start if you don't get enough souls during your mashing to activate the Break, since it's Velvet's main way of regenerating HP. When that happens, you have to charge block and attack, use Mystic Artes (they add souls) or switch characters back and forth.
I enjoyed the combat system for what it was - flashy, fast, and relaxing, but I think people who want more to put more thought into each battle, turning the difficulty up might be necessary (although Bebpo mentioned that not much changes).
Story
This is where the game shines. No forced romance between party members. Playing as the "bad guys" which will use all means necessary to get what they want. A lot of very dark and sometimes even depressing elements, while never going too far. The story really felt like a breath of fresh air compared to most other jRPGs. While the start is slow and might feel like "forced edginess", it definitely gets better later.
Is it perfect? Of course not, there are still ups and downs, boring moment etc., but in general I think I enjoyed this story the most of all Tales games I've played. This includes Vesperia, but to be honest I cleared that one so long ago that I don't remember much.
I also like connections to Zestiria, like explaining some things in the world. I would definitely suggest finishing or at least playing a bigger chunk of ToZ before Zestiria, if only to catch those parts.
At first they feel like a boring bunch, with less jokes in skits than in previous games. That said, as time goes on they open up and the player can see that they have their own quirks, things they're passionate about (not related to the story) and are all in all quite funny.
The cast really grew on me, even annoying at first Magilou.
Dungeons, Towns, Fields
Dungeons and fields for most of the time were boring. While I liked that they got rid of huge open spaces from ToZ, they still felt like corridors randomly sprinkled with enemies. Some looked nice, that's true, but in the end running through them felt like a chore. Especially when I had to do it multiple times for side quests.
Towns were alright and I liked how the atmosphere changed as the story progressed (mostly NPC dialogue and some effects, buildings etc. stayed the same), but again - running through them multiple times got boring at one point.
Final verdict - a really good JRPG, one of the best (if not the best, probably will be a personal preference) 3D Tales games, which loses some points because of being a cross platform game.
With that out of the way, here are my spoiler free impressions after clearing the whole game.
I'll just mention it again - clearing ToB took me 48 hours on Normal. Tried doing all the side stuff I could find aside from the last batch before the final dungeon. There's also post game content including an extra dungeon, but I haven't touched that part myself.
Graphics
It's definitely the best looking 3D Tales game. Sadly, that doesn't really mean much. Models look alright, but in the end it still looks and feels like a PS3 game bumped to higher resolution and 60 FPS. Fields and dungeons are a mixed bag, some look good, some (especially early ones) are just boring. Also, the draw in distance is terrible and nothing really excuses this in the PS4 version.
Sound
I liked one of the themes (main/Velvet's theme?) which kicked in during some cutscenes and made them more exciting. Also,
Zavida's
Combat
Combat doesn't really change through the game. You get access to some new toys like Mystic Artes, but aside from that you can still pretty much mash through every battle on normal with X and R2, if you're not hugely underleveled. Problem start if you don't get enough souls during your mashing to activate the Break, since it's Velvet's main way of regenerating HP. When that happens, you have to charge block and attack, use Mystic Artes (they add souls) or switch characters back and forth.
I enjoyed the combat system for what it was - flashy, fast, and relaxing, but I think people who want more to put more thought into each battle, turning the difficulty up might be necessary (although Bebpo mentioned that not much changes).
Story
This is where the game shines. No forced romance between party members. Playing as the "bad guys" which will use all means necessary to get what they want. A lot of very dark and sometimes even depressing elements, while never going too far. The story really felt like a breath of fresh air compared to most other jRPGs. While the start is slow and might feel like "forced edginess", it definitely gets better later.
Is it perfect? Of course not, there are still ups and downs, boring moment etc., but in general I think I enjoyed this story the most of all Tales games I've played. This includes Vesperia, but to be honest I cleared that one so long ago that I don't remember much.
I also like connections to Zestiria, like explaining some things in the world. I would definitely suggest finishing or at least playing a bigger chunk of ToZ before Zestiria, if only to catch those parts.
Characters
At first they feel like a boring bunch, with less jokes in skits than in previous games. That said, as time goes on they open up and the player can see that they have their own quirks, things they're passionate about (not related to the story) and are all in all quite funny.
The cast really grew on me, even annoying at first Magilou.
Dungeons, Towns, Fields
Dungeons and fields for most of the time were boring. While I liked that they got rid of huge open spaces from ToZ, they still felt like corridors randomly sprinkled with enemies. Some looked nice, that's true, but in the end running through them felt like a chore. Especially when I had to do it multiple times for side quests.
Towns were alright and I liked how the atmosphere changed as the story progressed (mostly NPC dialogue and some effects, buildings etc. stayed the same), but again - running through them multiple times got boring at one point.
Final verdict - a really good JRPG, one of the best (if not the best, probably will be a personal preference) 3D Tales games, which loses some points because of being a cross platform game.
Valkyri von Thanatos
Member
Hmm, so basically:
1. Great story
2. Great characters
3. Enjoyable, but low depth combat
4. Good, but not standout music
5. OK dungeons, fields and towns
Is that right?
If so, sounds great! I'd have to say it doesn't sound quite like "one of the best JRPGs" level of praise (Edit: ah, now I see you were saying "one of the best Tales of"), I'm now more excited to get it and see for myself. I can certainly understand why the first two points could carry the game really far, especially if the story really is well done and straying from stereotypes (something Tales of has often been said to usually suffer from).
The lack of combat depth is somewhat disappointing, and the lack of "linear motion" really did not jive with me in the demo, but admittedly, my favorite Tales of game (Symphonia, though Vesperia and Abyss are close) probably has combat that has much less depth than Berseria if I'm being honest.When I was young, Symphonia seemed to have a lot of combat depth, but nowadays I'm aware that it's somewhat basic, and only Xillia and Hearts R have really scratched my combo itch (I know I should check out Graces f).
Berseria in comparison, even if I currently don't understand it's combat system, probably has a lot more going on. (Obviously, being unable to read all of the Japanese instructions in the demo didn't help to ease my lack of understanding)
Thank you for the impressions! I'm hopeful to see if I will have the same feelings about the game after I play it. It seems like overall the early mpressions that Berseria would be a "return to form" after Zestiria were correct.
Edit:
I wish that Namco Bandai would let Sakuraba have Dark Souls/Bloodborne budget/time to make Tales of music. I don't think it should really follow that style of composition, but it seems clear he is not given enough leeway to experiment. Wasn't there a rumor that he's been actively told not to diverge from "the Tales of sound" by executives? It certainly sounds that way from the soundtracks of late, but is there a source on that?
1. Great story
2. Great characters
3. Enjoyable, but low depth combat
4. Good, but not standout music
5. OK dungeons, fields and towns
Is that right?
If so, sounds great! I'd have to say it doesn't sound quite like "one of the best JRPGs" level of praise (Edit: ah, now I see you were saying "one of the best Tales of"), I'm now more excited to get it and see for myself. I can certainly understand why the first two points could carry the game really far, especially if the story really is well done and straying from stereotypes (something Tales of has often been said to usually suffer from).
The lack of combat depth is somewhat disappointing, and the lack of "linear motion" really did not jive with me in the demo, but admittedly, my favorite Tales of game (Symphonia, though Vesperia and Abyss are close) probably has combat that has much less depth than Berseria if I'm being honest.When I was young, Symphonia seemed to have a lot of combat depth, but nowadays I'm aware that it's somewhat basic, and only Xillia and Hearts R have really scratched my combo itch (I know I should check out Graces f).
Berseria in comparison, even if I currently don't understand it's combat system, probably has a lot more going on. (Obviously, being unable to read all of the Japanese instructions in the demo didn't help to ease my lack of understanding
)Thank you for the impressions! I'm hopeful to see if I will have the same feelings about the game after I play it. It seems like overall the early mpressions that Berseria would be a "return to form" after Zestiria were correct.
Edit:
I wish that Namco Bandai would let Sakuraba have Dark Souls/Bloodborne budget/time to make Tales of music. I don't think it should really follow that style of composition, but it seems clear he is not given enough leeway to experiment. Wasn't there a rumor that he's been actively told not to diverge from "the Tales of sound" by executives? It certainly sounds that way from the soundtracks of late, but is there a source on that?