Tales of Berseria Torrent is an action game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Berseria’s paramount advantage lies in its capability to narrate a divergent kind of narrative from those of its forerunners. Instead of the upbeat, can-do demeanor I’ve come to anticipate from the series, Berseria thoroughly delves into the bleakest facets of the human heart.
There’s no genuine sunny aspect to the anti-heroine Velvet Crowe, who propels the storyline with her insatiable craving for sanguinary retribution on the individual who deprived her of everything. Nor is there much prospect of salvation for the unforgettable company she associates with, which encompasses the infuriated pirate Eizen, the outspoken and emotionally distant sorceress Magilou, and the fratricidal demon Rokurou.
These characters depict just how emotionally shattered their world has become in the wake of numerous catastrophes. Only the delicate Malak (spirit) Laphi and the sincere Exorcist Elenor maintain this motley crew anchored in hope and separate from the actual antagonists. Even then, the bonds that unite them risk unraveling as their quest for the truth behind the political machinations of a close-knit group of elites collides with their yearning for personal retribution.
While Tales of Berseria Torrent flips the narrative on Tales’ typically sunlit tales, the combat inspired by brawlers remains largely consistent, with a few gratifying adjustments that impart a sleek and responsive feel. A variation of the Linear Motion Battle System, enabling you to traverse a 3D battlefield, is reintroduced, but now, instead of utilizing a move-governing mechanism, each action is linked to a character’s Soul Gauge, diminishing every time a party member executes a special skill (Arte) in battle.
Exhausting a character’s Soul Gauge facilitates adversaries to more effortlessly repel attacks, whereas maximizing a character’s Soul Gauge enables the activation of Break Souls—a momentary state where a character’s combo limits are disregarded, allowing the use of a distinctive set of skills. This includes Velvet’s potent Consuming Claw, enabling her to take a chunk out of the enemy’s health and inflict a status effect. While the Soul Gauge gradually replenishes, I discovered it more enjoyable to hasten the process by extracting souls from an adversary while endeavoring to evade a similar assault. I genuinely appreciate this innovative system because it injects a measure of sensible strategy into the gameplay without feeling compelled to conserve or expend energy needlessly.
Tales of Berseria Torrent provides the option of opting for either Japanese or English audio, and it turned out advantageous that I chose English. Not because the Japanese ensemble performed inadequately, but rather because the subtitles proved to be exceedingly peculiar. Lines like “That’s gruesome by any standards” metamorphosed into a humorous “That’s goose by any standards,” and “even death can be a kind of release” transformed into “even depth can be a kind of release,” transforming the adage into a conundrum.
Tales of Berseria Torrent stands as an unexpectedly robust entry in this enduring series. Its sorrowful tale of shattered individuals contending on the misguided side of history renders it profoundly gripping, and its finely-tuned combat more than compensates for its lack of captivating environments. In simple terms, this is a tale too heart-wrenching to overlook or consign to oblivion.
Tales of Berseria PC/System Requirements
- OS: Windows 7/8/10/11
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: GeForce 9800 GTX
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 15 GB available space
