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Tales of Berseria |OT| The Band of the Crowe

You do get more XP playing on lower difficulties, but Hard gives other advantages instead so it kind of balances out. I can't recall them off the top of my head, but the game describes them in a tooltip early in.

Alright then I'm keeping it on Hard.

I actually like how in this game your allies seem to be fairly competent. During a boss fight Rokurou was able to tango with two enemies while I was taking on the main boss.

Party members seem to be pretty competent at quickstepping as well. I think they do it even more than me at times.
 

TheFatMan

Member
Put in 3 hours tonight after work. Pretty slow start but I enjoyed it so far. The areas look really nice for the Tales very dated engine, I noticed they look much more rich and atmospheric than the Zesteria areas so far. The combat is interesting but I don't think I've unlocked very much of it yet so I will see how that goes.

I bought the costume pack and I like the ones for Velvet a lot....I really like her Japanese costume but for some reason it just doesn't fit with her dark personality so I've been sticking to her default costume.
 

aravuus

Member
It unlocks on 27th in most, if not all, Asian countries.

What's up with that? In my experience, games always release either around the midnight or at precisely 7pm on the day of release (in Finland).

Hard to even call it a January 26th release at this point lol.
 

Rainy

Banned
Played up until you enter that first cave with Rokurou.

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, nice cast of characters, story has my attention, and the battles are fun. Looking forward to playing more tomorrow.
 

R0ckman

Member
Shouta, just wanted to say you were right, these characters are well written compared to past entries, skits are not just story themed or caricature displays.
 

Jiraiza

Member
Shouta, just wanted to say you were right, these characters are well written compared to past entries, skits are not just story themed or caricature displays.

Curious how people will rank Berseria's cast once they finish the game. Best cast.
 

Alucrid

Banned
1) thank god for the other costume they give you for velvet at the start

2) why the hell are they still blocking share functions
 
What's up with that? In my experience, games always release either around the midnight or at precisely 7pm on the day of release (in Finland).

Hard to even call it a January 26th release at this point lol.

It's the same for Resident Evil 7 -flips table- so much for a week of new games!
 

Shouta

Member
Shouta, just wanted to say you were right, these characters are well written compared to past entries, skits are not just story themed or caricature displays.

Yep! There was a lot of attention to how the the characters in this. It's kind of the culmination of the work they started with Xillia . That was the first game where they refocused their writing to make sure that the characters fit together in more meaningful ways.

Curious how people will rank Berseria's cast once they finish the game. Best cast.

I'd put Berseria's cast in my Top 3 easily. Destiny and Legendia are the other ones that I'm very fond of.
 

Bladenic

Member
The combat system and overall feel and speed of battles is so much better than Zestiria. I did the optional dungeon in Zestiria about a week ago and it's so sluggish in comparison, including even just running in battle.

I finally got the fifth member of the party. That took a while. I have to say that the fields I've visited recently aren't bad. They're prettier than anything Xillia ever had and the music was actually pretty cool. Although who the hell thought having the music stop instead of constantly looping was a good idea? It feels awkward honestly. The music that plays when facing
Eleanor
was also pretty good.

The dungeons are still the same as they've been since Xillia though.
 

aravuus

Member
It's the same for Resident Evil 7 -flips table- so much for a week of new games!

I'm so mad!

Well, not really that mad. I should probably finish Yakuza 0 before I even think about starting Berseria to be honest. Normally I could easily juggle two JRPGs, but I'm normally not this busy.
 

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.
Did they...

Spoilers for first ten hours or so

Did they just
connect this game to Symphonia and Phantasia? A skit mentioned that Eizen's coin depicts the Goddess Martel and the Demon King Dhaos, and that it's from the distant land of Kharlan. It mentions that the battle between the two took place in the Age of Myth, which would put Berseria in Phantasia's future. It's possible this is just an easter egg, but the way it's worded makes it seem like it could also be a legit connection (and I kind of hope it is).
 
Played the first three hours yesterday, it's so much darker than any other game before it, and I find it quite refreshing. The game is keeping my attention, and I am enjoying my time with it. Can't wait to play some more today.
 

Osahi

Member
Can you actually take screenshots in this game? I mashed the Share button a couple of times, and always got the message 'Can't take screenshots now'.

I've only played the first hour, so it might be blocked untill a certain plotpoint. Can anyone confirm?
 

matmanx1

Member
Woke up this morning thinking I could download Berseria on Steam and maybe get started on it tonight. Nope, unlocks on the 27th! Sadness!

Evidently I wasn't paying attention to the fact that the release dates were a little bit staggered. Oh well.
 
Caved and bought this. I wasn't overly impressed with the demo at first, and thought the combat was button mashy, but I grew to like it more and saw a bit more depth in it as I tried it a few more times.

I just hope it's better than Zestiria. That's the only Tales game I've played that I couldn't get into.

I'm not an insane Tales player like some of those combo videos on Youtube, but I do like a bit of challenge. Would people recommend starting on Hard?
 

aitakute

Member
Caved and bought this. I wasn't overly impressed with the demo at first, and thought the combat was button mashy, but I grew to like it more and saw a bit more depth in it as I tried it a few more times.

I just hope it's better than Zestiria. That's the only Tales game I've played that I couldn't get into.

I'm not an insane Tales player like some of those combo videos on Youtube, but I do like a bit of challenge. Would people recommend starting on Hard?

Yes
Oh hey look there's a familiar face

Eizen? Or
Zaveid?
 
Could someone explain the artes to me
"Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 stage 4"

Each one seems to have the same Arte for every button

What is stage 1 or stage 2?

I picked searing edge for X when they first brought me to this screen and the rest was rising moon. I mixed and matched stage one but left stage 2 all gouging spin, all harsh rebuttal for stage 3 and all rising moon for 4

Should I mix them all up so each button does something different? Thanks
 

TheFatMan

Member
So do not all items have a unlock when you "master" them? I mastered a few in the first couple hours but no additional stats unlocked. Was wondering if I did something wrong or if it's just because they are weak items.
 

aitakute

Member
Could someone explain the artes to me
"Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 stage 4"

Each one seems to have the same Arte for every button

What is stage 1 or stage 2?

I picked searing edge for X when they first brought me to this screen and the rest was rising moon. I mixed and matched stage one but left stage 2 all gouging spin, all harsh rebuttal for stage 3 and all rising moon for 4

Should I mix them all up so each button does something different? Thanks

You will be able to make your own combo you're comfortable with after getting more artes
Press attack button (any) = stage 1, then press attack button (any) again for stage 2. You can freely use 4 face buttons to use your combo
 
I'd put Berseria's cast in my Top 3 easily. Destiny and Legendia are the other ones that I'm very fond of.

Wow. Another person who has something nice to say about ToL.

And Destiny too. You rarely hear about those games. It's usually Abyss, Vesperia, or Symphonia love. Right on.

Played Berseria for a couple hours.

Love Rokurou's voice actor.

Love the somewhat evil cast. The games been a lot of fun.

The camera doesn't crap out during two player battles, so this is already a trillion times better then Zestiria.

Liking it so far.
 
You will be able to make your own combo you're comfortable with after getting more artes
Press attack button (any) = stage 1, then press attack button (any) again for stage 2. You can freely use 4 face buttons to use your combo
What about R2 at the start of battle, it seems to murder people in the beginning hours of the game. Is it supposed to be used often or is that supposed to be a last resort "super" (I understand life drains while in it)

Wow. Another person who has something nice to say about ToL..
ToL was f'in amazing to me, especially when I thought I beat the game and I didn't go into new game plus, there was this whole epilogue going on. Great great game.
 
What about R2 at the start of battle, it seems to murder people in the beginning hours of the game. Is it supposed to be used often or is that supposed to be a last resort "super" (I understand life drains while in it)


ToL was f'in amazing to me, especially when I thought I beat the game and I didn't go into new game plus, there was this whole epilogue going on. Great great game.
Break would also lower your soul count which limits combo size if you don't kill the enemy while using them.
 

R0ckman

Member
Wow. Another person who has something nice to say about ToL.

And Destiny too. You rarely hear about those games. It's usually Abyss, Vesperia, or Symphonia love. Right on.

Played Berseria for a couple hours.

Love Rokurou's voice actor.

Love the somewhat evil cast. The games been a lot of fun.

The camera doesn't crap out during two player battles, so this is already a trillion times better then Zestiria.

Liking it so far.

I did have an issue where a battle triggered with a ledge in the middle of the battle ring, I could not get to the enemies so I had to run.
 

Jiraiza

Member
Wow. Another person who has something nice to say about ToL.

And Destiny too. You rarely hear about those games. It's usually Abyss, Vesperia, or Symphonia love. Right on.

Played Berseria for a couple hours.

Love Rokurou's voice actor.

Love the somewhat evil cast. The games been a lot of fun.

The camera doesn't crap out during two player battles, so this is already a trillion times better then Zestiria.

Liking it so far.

They're just a band of edgy misfits, totally not evil.
 
So reading through it seems everyone is liking the game for the most part so far! I picked up my CE last night I am trying to refrain from starting until I finish Resident Evil 7 but dammit all the impressions are making it difficult.
 
I was keeping her in her original prison outfit when out in the field and then the village girl outfit when in towns but it annoys me how in conversations it keeps cutting to her black outfit.
 
Enjoying this after 2 1/2 hours. Story set up is pretty good.

Battle system is smooth but I'm still uncomfortable with the art chain set up.

Too much freedom and I can't decide how to use it. Stick one type of move on each button for all four levels and combo between moves at will? Create 4 reasonable seeming combos and try to follow them through?

Set some combos but devote an extra button or two to special artes to switch to at any time?

I have a feeling when I have more skills how best to proceed will be more evident, but by then I'll already have internalized a particular way of using the combo trees that may be sub-optimal....
 

Bladenic

Member
She's an item we're chasing, not a character!

But seriously, every Tales game has a terrible character or two and Shirley is Legendia's bad one. Every other character makes up for it.

I would argue Jay but I know that's unpopular.

I feel like Legendia has the most hateable NPCs. Fenimore and her even bitchier twin sister can both fry in hell.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Shouta, just wanted to say you were right, these characters are well written compared to past entries, skits are not just story themed or caricature displays.

Yep! There was a lot of attention to how the the characters in this. It's kind of the culmination of the work they started with Xillia . That was the first game where they refocused their writing to make sure that the characters fit together in more meaningful ways.

I'd put Berseria's cast in my Top 3 easily. Destiny and Legendia are the other ones that I'm very fond of.

So...umm do I need to track down a copy of Legendia?
 

Shouta

Member
I would argue Jay but I know that's unpopular.

I feel like Legendia has the most hateable NPCs. Fenimore and her even bitchier twin sister can both fry in hell.

Jay isn't that bad. He's mostly kind of eh. The Legendia NPCs are hateable for sure.

So...umm do I need to track down a copy of Legendia?

It depends on how much of a tolerance you have. Legendia has a ton of design problems and the combat is really vanilla. The encounter rate is really high even with Holy Bottles and dungeons are literally straight corridors in a lot of places. The English release also didn't have voice acting for half of the game which is pretty bad. There are just a ton of other little problems that annoyed folks as well but I can't remember them all, heh.

I enjoyed it but mostly because the characters all have excellent individual stories and the fact they meshed really well together. The story itself isn't too bad but the setting is really interesting. I also enjoyed all the artes in the game and Senel's fighting style. It's one of the few Tales games that gives you basic artes then combines and upgrades as you get further in the game. It also is the only game where you get to throw enemies around, which was really fun.
 
Enjoying this after 2 1/2 hours. Story set up is pretty good.

Battle system is smooth but I'm still uncomfortable with the art chain set up.

Too much freedom and I can't decide how to use it. Stick one type of move on each button for all four levels and combo between moves at will? Create 4 reasonable seeming combos and try to follow them through?

Set some combos but devote an extra button or two to special artes to switch to at any time?

I have a feeling when I have more skills how best to proceed will be more evident, but by then I'll already have internalized a particular way of using the combo trees that may be sub-optimal....

Three hours in and I'm just button mashing, no idea what I'm doing and it doesn't seem to matter.
 

Bladenic

Member
If any Tales game needs a remake it's Legendia. It didn't even have mystic artes for crying out loud :(

Is it me or is the AI wildly competent in Berseria by Tales standards? Not only do they perfect dodge a lot, but they also actually *GASP* guard???
 
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