Tales of Berseria

Tales of Berseria is a surprisingly strong showing for this long-running series. Its tragic story of broken people fighting on the wrong side of history makes it utterly compelling, and its well-tuned combat more than makes up for its lack of interesting environments. Simply put, this is a tale to heartbreaking to miss, or to forget.

Thanks to its dark atmosphere and exciting combat, Tales of Berseria is a refreshing change of pace for the long-running RPG series.

Berseria has some flaws and archaic design, but it’s one of the most interesting Tales games I’ve played

Despite its flaws, Tales of Berseria has numerous interesting stories to tell. If the developers had cut the flab and focused almost exclusively on the cast of characters – with some combat thrown in – then I think this would have been a must-play. As it is, I think it’s still worth playing if you’re a fan of story-focused JRPGs, as long as you know you’re strapped in for the long haul.

Tales of Berseria may not be the most ambitious or innovative game ever, but that's entirely okay. It may have a handful of issues, not least of which includes its forced backtracking, occasional reuse of dungeons and its uninspired puzzles. At the same time, its characters are often likeable and entertaining, its tale of revenge is intriguing, and its combat system is fast-paced and responsive. If you're already a fan of -- or are curious about getting into -- the Tales series, this is one to check out.

Like most recent entries in the Tales series, Tales of Berseria is an epic adventure packed with stuff to do. There are mini-games to play, cosmetic items to collect, food to cook and treasures to uncover. Those goofy fun trappings are draped across a much more serious whole this time around, offering welcome respite from a tale that’s not afraid to take its memorable characters to some very dark places.

Tales of Berseria takes a positive turn with a much darker theme, a great cast of characters, and perhaps the best storyline that the series has seen for quite some time. The fast and tactical battle system is also a definite step up, but the game is starting to look dated and needs to lose its last-gen shackles. For those disillusioned fans of recent Final Fantasy outings, however, Tales of Berseria might just be the game that they're looking for, with a more traditional Japanese RPG setup that sticks closely to what it knows, while offering a new and exciting narrative direction.

A refreshing return to form for the storied "Tales of" franchise.

Tales of Berseria still has that same old Tales of feel, but it brings some much needed revitalisation to the series.

While Tales of Berseria isn't quite as good as the series gets, once this game gets its daemonic claws into you, it's hard to put down.