Definitely check out Graces f for the combat. It's amazing!
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Tales of Berseria Import Thread
- Thread starter Rpgmonkey
- Start date
Definitely check out Graces f for the combat. It's amazing!
lucablight
Member
You play as the villains in this? That's quite an interesting take if that's the case.
No not really. Game is rather black and white.
sadly not, but GoShiinas Songs from Zestiria are in and also some things are really good and different this time like Magilous Theme
InternHertz
Member
Not a rumor, he said it himself in this interview: http://www.vgmonline.net/motoisakurabainterview/
The second part also explain why in Zestiria Sakuraba's style changed with Shiina composing along him, even though Sakuraba by far didn't get access to the same music budget.
Tales games usually have quite a bit of combat depth as long as you put in the effort to master a character, with the 'main' character the most straightforward to use.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)
Still, apart from Xillia1, most Tales games have fully fleshed out secondary characters combat styles (Xillia1 is a bit of an exception due to relative lack of linking between secondary chars, as well as some awkwardness in controls).
Berseria seems, from the streams, pretty good depth wise with not only completely differnet playstyles depending on the character but also them seeming fully functional. Hell, I even saw some impressive Laciphet comboing.
But, yes, you aren't going to see much depth in normal or second in recent Tales games. You pretty much need Hard/Evil/Chaos for the weaknesses/etc to matter, and for the full decks you possess to be needed.
No, but you're far from a group of "heroes".
I think Tales combat is depending on how you play. I've never been able to do those sick combos like those videos online.
Berseria has so good looking combo too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeB3iBC0jfY
Berseria has so good looking combo too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeB3iBC0jfY
Brawly Likes to Brawl
Member
I wish it was next year already
Damn that shit is dope. Not Graces level dope but way better than Zesty's shit.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
yea zesty has nothing on what I just watched for berseria. Seriously pining for berseria now
Yeah you could, but I feel that in order to do a lot of that stuff, you need to have the equipment to handle the fast casting speeds and stun, and getting that stuff was the biggest barrier. I would have been fine with Zestiria's combat if not for the reliance on the equipment system in the harder difficulties and the camera indoors.
Very true- Zestiria had a high grind barrier if you truly wanted to get top tier mechanics enabled, while that was very much easier on the Xillias (Graces was a mix bag, as its own system was ridiculously grind demanding).
It was 'fairly easy' to get something decent and that's all that was needed for Chaos, but if you wanted to get the top tier skills... ouch.
InternHertz
Member
Okay, just finished the story. Clear save file at 76h46, characters at level 79.
Now...a bit of a break (want to play Nioh Beta and earn the DLC for that) then I'm exploring the post game content, playing the minigames and grind in order to prepare for New Game+
Now...a bit of a break (want to play Nioh Beta and earn the DLC for that) then I'm exploring the post game content, playing the minigames and grind in order to prepare for New Game+
Shouta
Member
Finished. Played most of the game on Hard and finished at about 55 hours. I did turn down the difficulty at points though because they just pumped too much damage and the healing is reduced on Hard, lol.
I'm gonna say that the game is easily the best 3D Tales game and the second best overall Tales game there is to me. The only game I'd say is a better game is Tales of Destiny R.
Graphics -
Pretty solid improvement over Zestiria. Solid FPS all the way through, the environments got big upgrades as well as the map layouts. They choreographed some great cutscene fights in this as well which was great. It's still technically PS3 game levels but it's much more pleasant and smooth. I'm pretty fine with this level of graphics as long as they continue to refine it.
They also made huge improvements to the talking heads/long chat mode in the game. They used bigger art just like in Tales of Zestiria but now they're more expressive and there's a lot of movement. It actually has movement on screen showing where folks are moving or popping in. It's much more engaging as a result. A good example is during a skit where one of the characters is monologuing while the rest of the cast walks past her in the background. Simple but it really makes the skit.
It's a good thing they added that because it's used for non-important scenes/info dumps within the story. This probably took less time to make so they could spend more time on making the important scenes that use the models look better and it's a huge difference compared to Zestiria.
Sound -
Voice acting feels like it's a huge step up from Zestiria. It might be because of the story as well but it felt a lot more meaningful. Tunes sounded good.
Gameplay -
Big jump over Zestiria. The combat system is way better in this and really enjoyable. All the characters are unique and the weakness system changes are great. You can mash the shit out of it if you want but you can also aim to exploit the weakness system to kill things even faster, rewarding skillful play.
The two big complaints I have is that manual mode movement got a little wonky at times and Hard was tuned a bit blah. On Manual mode, there were times when an attack would go the direction you didn't want to unless you were really specific about pointing the thumbstick so I failed to follow up on combos a few times. It's not a huge deal but definitely annoying in some situations. As for Hard, I felt like they didn't need to reduce the healing effects of your character's spells at all. You don't get a lot of AOE spells until the second half of the game and by then most enemies are doing even damage that even unnerfed healing wouldn't be a huge deal to have.
There are a ton of sidequests and minigames as well which was really nice. I could have done without some of the grindy things like the Nekonin boxes but oh well. Gear system is way simpler but a little annoying that learning is tied to Grade.
Story/Characters -
Easily where the game shines the most.
The characters are fantastic and I feel like this is the best iteration of the 6-person band that has been a thing with Tales games recently. The personalities mesh well and the interactions are enjoyable without getting into the ruts that Tales games can get in. Velvet, Laiphiset (sp?), and Eleanor really provide the story with its core while Eizen, Rokuro, and Magilou help to round it out and give it a lot of flavor, especially Magilou!. The supporting cast is fantastic too.
First and foremost with Berseria's story is that I feel like they managed to make a complete and satisfying adventure in the game. It's something I don't think Tales has really ever done well save for one or two titles. You get to see the complete arc the characters go on and they provide ample development throughout to support it. It also manages to portray things as grey much better than a lot of other JP games do.
I could go on but it'd get really long. All I'll say is that the game does such a good job with its story and characters that it makes Zestiria look even worse. I sort of want a 3rd game in this storyline to tie it all up.
I'm gonna say that the game is easily the best 3D Tales game and the second best overall Tales game there is to me. The only game I'd say is a better game is Tales of Destiny R.
Graphics -
Pretty solid improvement over Zestiria. Solid FPS all the way through, the environments got big upgrades as well as the map layouts. They choreographed some great cutscene fights in this as well which was great. It's still technically PS3 game levels but it's much more pleasant and smooth. I'm pretty fine with this level of graphics as long as they continue to refine it.
They also made huge improvements to the talking heads/long chat mode in the game. They used bigger art just like in Tales of Zestiria but now they're more expressive and there's a lot of movement. It actually has movement on screen showing where folks are moving or popping in. It's much more engaging as a result. A good example is during a skit where one of the characters is monologuing while the rest of the cast walks past her in the background. Simple but it really makes the skit.
It's a good thing they added that because it's used for non-important scenes/info dumps within the story. This probably took less time to make so they could spend more time on making the important scenes that use the models look better and it's a huge difference compared to Zestiria.
Sound -
Voice acting feels like it's a huge step up from Zestiria. It might be because of the story as well but it felt a lot more meaningful. Tunes sounded good.
Gameplay -
Big jump over Zestiria. The combat system is way better in this and really enjoyable. All the characters are unique and the weakness system changes are great. You can mash the shit out of it if you want but you can also aim to exploit the weakness system to kill things even faster, rewarding skillful play.
The two big complaints I have is that manual mode movement got a little wonky at times and Hard was tuned a bit blah. On Manual mode, there were times when an attack would go the direction you didn't want to unless you were really specific about pointing the thumbstick so I failed to follow up on combos a few times. It's not a huge deal but definitely annoying in some situations. As for Hard, I felt like they didn't need to reduce the healing effects of your character's spells at all. You don't get a lot of AOE spells until the second half of the game and by then most enemies are doing even damage that even unnerfed healing wouldn't be a huge deal to have.
There are a ton of sidequests and minigames as well which was really nice. I could have done without some of the grindy things like the Nekonin boxes but oh well. Gear system is way simpler but a little annoying that learning is tied to Grade.
Story/Characters -
Easily where the game shines the most.
The characters are fantastic and I feel like this is the best iteration of the 6-person band that has been a thing with Tales games recently. The personalities mesh well and the interactions are enjoyable without getting into the ruts that Tales games can get in. Velvet, Laiphiset (sp?), and Eleanor really provide the story with its core while Eizen, Rokuro, and Magilou help to round it out and give it a lot of flavor, especially Magilou!. The supporting cast is fantastic too.
First and foremost with Berseria's story is that I feel like they managed to make a complete and satisfying adventure in the game. It's something I don't think Tales has really ever done well save for one or two titles. You get to see the complete arc the characters go on and they provide ample development throughout to support it. It also manages to portray things as grey much better than a lot of other JP games do.
I could go on but it'd get really long. All I'll say is that the game does such a good job with its story and characters that it makes Zestiria look even worse. I sort of want a 3rd game in this storyline to tie it all up.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
thanks for the write up. I was a huge Tales fan but I have to say the last one I REALLY enjoyed was the PS3 release of Graces F. Xillia was a huge turn off and so was everything afterward. Just blant and dull AF, at least to me.
This gives me a lot of hope. Gonna have to check this out. The trailers looked good to me as well.
Sold. Importing now.
Shouta
Member
Yeah, they're pretty good and are usually relevant to the characters.
My favorite sidequest is for Magilou which
is largely you going around and watching Magilou do Manzai routines with the various characters. It's really funny and really unique as far as quests go.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Great impressions. How would you rank this game compared to the other Tales games you've played?
He says it there in the post, second best overall to him. His favorite being Destiny R.
Shouta
Member
Yeah, 2nd best overall for me. I like and enjoy the other ones but they usually have some sort of major flaw that really keeps me from rating it high. This is the first game since Destiny R that I've felt legitimately manages to do almost everything well. It has a few problems, obviously, but my complaints with it are pretty small.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Surprised it even beat Vesperia and Symphonia, since those 2 games are held pretty high in the JRPG community and are probably the closest to a "near flawless" Tales game.
Shouta
Member
Neither Vesperia nor Symphonia rank high for me, more towards the middle if anything.
Nightengale
Member
Each person's top Tales games are different anyway.
I put Abyss and Destiny R up top, followed by Vesperia & Rebirth. The rest I honestly don't know how I'd rank them properly.
I put Abyss and Destiny R up top, followed by Vesperia & Rebirth. The rest I honestly don't know how I'd rank them properly.
If the 3rd act of Vesperia didn't exist I bet you would rate it higher =P
Shouta
Member
Maybe. That third act is a hot mess but I wasn't exactly all that warm on the rest of the game. I do like parts of it but it was largely boring to me. The cast didn't really do anything for me either other than Repede and Raven.
Crimson_Justice
Member
This has me excited, which is something I haven't been able to say about recent Tales games. I'll definitely check out more impressions when it comes west. Thanks for the large write-up!
You're probably talking to the English JRPG community then because most Japanese players would put Destiny R above those if not at the top of the list.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Sold by all the impressions.
I wasn't sure before, but now i'll try this next year the moment i have some free time by much more anticipated titles (probably in summer).
This will be the first Tales i jump into, can't wait!
Edit: do we know if this is going to be Multi-5 in EU like Zestiria?
I wasn't sure before, but now i'll try this next year the moment i have some free time by much more anticipated titles (probably in summer).
This will be the first Tales i jump into, can't wait!
Edit: do we know if this is going to be Multi-5 in EU like Zestiria?
GasProblem
Member
Haven't played a Tales game since Vesperia. Really looking forward to this.
Hope it doesn't come out to close to Persona 5 and Mass Effect Andromeda though. First half of 2017 is crazy.
Hope it doesn't come out to close to Persona 5 and Mass Effect Andromeda though. First half of 2017 is crazy.
Dual Audio + Multi 5 + Russian for the first time.
I think it best to know NOTHING about Zestiria and play this game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QG7bnbdvA4
Velvet's theme is pretty sweet
Small spoiler but looks like the characters are good this time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wafjnSV9YOs
InternHertz
Member
To understand this game, absolutely not.
But by having played Zestiria, you'll see things from that game explained here, so it's very nice if you like this. (I did)
Thanks for your impressions. Even more hyped for the game right now, I didn't that was possible but it looks like I was wrong. 2017 can't come soon enough I want this game now!