Operation Backlog Completion 2026

The Next Tales Remaster… is Berseria?

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Nov 192025
 

So we’re fresh off the release of the Tales of Xillia remaster, which came out at the end of October, and the last we heard was that a Xillia 2 remaster was in progress and the next remaster would be announced soon.

The phrasing made it sound like Xillia 2 wasn’t the next in line, so everyone speculated about which Tales game might be remastered next…

…and the answer turned out to be Tales of Berseria.

Tales of Berseria Remastered was announced today for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC. It will be out on February 27.

I’m sort of baffled.

I know Berseria came out in 2016, so it’ll be almost 10 years old by the time the remaster comes out, but only one mainline Tales game has been released between then and now. On top of that, it’s still readily available thanks to its PS4 and PC version. It just feels like one of the Tales games that needs a remaster the least.

The remaster has some quality-of-life additions, such as a plot destination icon, and all the original DLC (costumes and items) is included.

Unlike Xillia, where I had mixed feelings, I have no need to get Tales of Berseria Remastered. But that’s fine. My backlog will keep me busy for a while anyway. I just wonder when we’ll hear about the next Tales game… and if any of the older titles will ever be remastered.

What do you think about the Tales of Berseria remaster?

Utawarerumono: Shiro e no Michishirube News Coming November 22

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Nov 142025
 

Remember the upcoming sequel to Monochrome Mobius?

I keep forgetting about it, but Utawarerumono: Shiro e no Michishirube was originally announced for this year, and then it was delayed to 2026.

There hasn’t really been any news about it, though, not even platforms.

Now, however, Aquaplus has announced a broadcast to be held on November 22 at 3 PM JST / 10 PM PT / 1 AM ET (I think I got my time conversions right).

According to the translation from Gematsu, the broadcast will focus on Shiro e no Michishirube and feature a few of the voice actors. It will be followed two hours later by a broadcast about the mobile game.

So, it sounds we’ll finally get some solid information about the new game!

I say “we” despite the fact that I’ll probably avoid reading too many details about it at all, since I still haven’t caught up on the series. Speaking of which, it’s been way too long since I played Mask of Deception… I need to start Mask of Truth one of these days…

Anyway, are you looking forward to news about the new Utawarerumono game?

More Details on Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties

 Video games  1 Response »  Tagged with: , ,
Sep 292025
 

For me, the best announcement from TGS was Yakuza Kiwami 3 and its unexpected companion game Dark Ties, starring Yoshitaka Mine.

A few more details have surfaced since then, mostly through a Famitsu interview with director Ryosuke Horii.

(I’m relying on Google Translate here, just so you know.)

They’d originally intended to make Mine’s story something that could be watched as a video (maybe it as originally planned to be new cutscenes added to Kiwami 3, like the added Nishiki scenes in the first Kiwami?), but then they decided it would be better if he was playable. It seems this decision was at least partly made because of how popular Mine is.

When they announced Dark Ties, they described Mine as having an antihero approach in his substories, and Horii touches on that in the interview, saying that Mine doesn’t approach substories with the “defeating evil and protecting the weak” attitude that the other games’ protagonists have.

Overall, it sounds like they intend Dark Ties to be a darker story, which sounds pretty interesting.

The interview also describes the nature of Kiwami 3 as a remake, and how they felt if they kept it too close to the original Yakuza 3, it would feel boring/pointless since Yakuza 3’s remaster is readily available. Therefore, they approached it differently than the previous Kiwami games and treated it like a new work, and they don’t intend for it to replace Yakuza 3.

Another interview emphasized that as well, with Kiwami 3 involving bigger changes than Kiwami and Kiwami 2 had. Sadly, it also confirms the removal of the Revelation system.

(I’ve been hoping Revelations would come back to the series and appear in newer games, so I’m especially disappointed that they won’t even be in Kiwami 3.)

Moving on from the interviews, there’s also one big piece of information that has surfaced from TGS – the length of Dark Ties. Since it’s packaged with Kiwami 3, I thought it might be significantly shorter than the previous Gaiden games. I was hoping it would at least be the length of the Kaito Files, not as short as Kiwami 2’s Majima Saga. However, some previews mentioned being told it will be similar in length to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

If it really ends up being that long, that’s incredible. I’m really looking forward to it.

What are your thoughts on the latest details about Dark Ties? How do you feel about their approach to Kiwami 3 as a remake?

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