Tales of Berseria Remastered Review – Great JRPG, Questionable Remaster

Tales of Berseria Remastered Review

Tales of Berseria is the sixteenth mainline entry in the Tales action JRPG series. The original game came out in 2016. Although there’s only been one mainline game since Berseria came out, Bandai Namco has done lots of remasters of classic titles from the series’ past. They recently announced a “Remastered Project” for Tales’ 30^th anniversary, promising more consistent remasters of past games. Tales of Berseria is one of the most beloved entries in the franchise, but when its remaster was announced, there was a collective “why?” from series fans. It was already available on modern consoles, so there didn’t seem to be much need for an upgrade. Read-on to find out what changes have been made, and to find out if Tales of Berseria Remastered is worth a double dip.

Tales of Berseria is a prequel to Tales of Zestiria that takes place 1000 years earlier. I would recommend playing Zestiria first, but Berseria can be played without prior knowledge of Zestiria. It’s also a much better story. I’ve heard many Tales fans say they suffered through Zestiria, just so they could appreciate Berseria more.

A Darker Tale

The narrative is about Velvet, whose village was attacked by daemons when she was a child. During the attack her older sister was killed. Years later, everyone in the village is suffering from a sickness caused by the daemon attack, and Velvet and her brother-in-law, Artorius, are taking care of her sick younger brother. Another daemon attack takes place, during which Artorius ritual sacrifices her younger brother. Velvet’s arm transforms, and she goes into a rage, massacring the all the daemons before passing out.

I don’t want to give away much plot after this opening, but the story is largely about Velvet’s desire to find Artorius, and take revenge upon him. There are lots of story beats, and homage to the manga Berserk, which is a serious contender for my favorite story ever. Tales of Berseria Remastered is the series’ darkest game, and one of its best narratives. The story is one of the main reasons Berseria has gone on to become such a beloved Tales entry.

Action JRPG Combat

Tales of Berseria Remastered is an action JRPG. It has all the usual JRPG trappings such as exploration, visiting towns, item management, level increasing, etc. It also has lots of Tales series hallmarks, like skit conversations. Players can move freely in combat. Face buttons each do different melee attacks. Powerful melee attack combos use up a soul meter, which builds back up over time. This makes it so players can’t be constantly attacking. Combos lead to skill attacks called “artes”, which can be mapped to melee buttons in a menu accessed by pressing the control pad. The player can defend with L1, but this also depletes the soul gauge.

In combat, the player controls one character at a time, although they can change characters and release a blast. A portion of a blast gauge is used up when making these switches. There’s also an option for local multiplayer in combat, which is always a welcome addition. Tales of Berseria Remastered’s combat is fantastic, and another reason it’s such a beloved series entry.

AA Aesthetics

Tales of Berseria Remastered’s visuals are good. It’s obviously a AA PS4 game, but the anime aesthetic lets its visual style carry it past its budget. Berseria is a visually dynamic fantasy world to explore as well. There are occasional gorgeous anime cutscenes. The music is also good. It’s pretty standard JRPG adventure music, with some electric guitar in the battle tracks. There aren’t any incredibly memorable songs, but the score services the story and world really well. The English voice acting is terrible, but switching to Japanese fixes that problem.

The Grade Shop is a menu where points can be spent to make certain aspects of Tales of Berseria Remastered easier. In the vanilla version, grade points have to be earned, but in Remastered, the player has maximum grade points to spend from before the start of the game. There’s no negative to turning on these enhancements, so someone who isn’t playing for pride purposes can increase their experience points, gold, or item drops. They can increase their HP, item capacity, or dire foe rate. There are fifteen options in total. It’s a fun way to customize the player’s experience, and a great way for people who hate JRPG grind to have a smoother progression.

Only a Few Remaster Additions

Other than the Grade Shop, the only noticeable new additions to Tales of Berseria Remastered are that there are now optional destination icons. And the player now has the ability to toggle encounters off. These are both great additions, but they’re the only changes. Visually, Tales of Berseria Remastered is identical to the PS4 version. It’s a shame that there’s no way to upgrade to the PS5 version of Tales of Berseria Remastered for owners of the PS4 version. Bandai Namco could have earned some good will if they made Remastered a free upgrade. $50 is way too much to ask from anyone who already owns the regular version. There’s also no way to transfer save data from the PS4 version.

It’s strange that Bandai Namco has announced a Tales series remaster project, and chosen to remaster Tales of Berseria, with little differences. There are seventeen mainline Tales games. Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, and Tales of Innocence haven’t been released in North America before. Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Legendia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Hearts, and Tales of Xillia 2 aren’t available on modern consoles. And Abyss is one of the most beloved entries in the franchise! Why would Bandai Namco remaster one of the Tales games that’s already available on modern consoles, when fans are clamoring for so many other entries!?

Why the Remaster?

Is Tales of Berseria Remastered worth a double dip? Absolutely not. There’s no reason to get it if you already own the regular game (unless you have completionist OCD). Bandai Namco needs to be careful they don’t lose any good will with their fans, when so many other companies are offering free PS5 upgrades to PS4 games. But Remastered is now the best version of Berseria because of its few changes. It’s an excellent action JRPG. If you don’t already own it, Tales of Berseria Remastered has a phenomenal story, and fun combat. So get it if you haven’t already.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***