After my excitement for Tales of Zestiria changed to utter disappointment, I was a bit wary of the next Tales game.

However, Tales of Berseria is not only leagues better than Zestiria, it’s an excellent game that even tries to patch up Zestiria’s worldbuilding, since they’re set in the same universe.

In fact, Berseria often feels like it was written as an answer to Zestiria’s criticism.

All those loose ends in the lore? Several find a home in Berseria. The ever-changing explanations of malevolence? Berseria picks a simpler one and sticks with it. Zestiria’s “angel of death” seraphim? Berseria uses the concept for more than a throwaway scene. The gun? It gets a better explanation here than Zestiria’s non-answer.

And if Zestiria’s bizarre, inconsistent morality bothered you, you should be pleased with Berseria. It might seem ironic, since Velvet is motivated by revenge and selfishness, but her morality is handled much better than Sorey and Rose’s.

Overall, even though Tales of Berseria is the “darker” game, it ends up feeling more positive and optimistic than Zestiria.

But enough comparing it to Zestiria, let’s look at it on its own.

Berseria’s cast is entertaining and enjoyable, and its villains also take an excellent role. I generally liked the characters and wanted to see how everything would work out. Skits have a new style this time, with fuller sprites instead of just portraits, which gives them more life and lets them work for more important conversations. There are plenty of humorous moments alongside its darker themes, and the plot was entertaining with a few twists I didn’t see coming.

It also has several different types of mini-games, as well as some excellent side quests.

That’s not to say Berseria is perfect. It has a few annoyances, such as a few set phrases and ideas the characters like to bring up over and over and over. One would have been fine, but with so many, it starts to feel silly.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the combat system, either, where the number of attacks you can perform depends on your “souls,” which you can gain or lose based on what you do in battle. It was fine, but I’d like to see the next Tales game return to a simpler system.

Tales of Berseria is a strong answer to Zestiria’s problems, as well as a great JRPG in its own right. Zestiria left me unhappy with the series, but Berseria has redeemed it.

Tales of Berseria deals with Velvet’s quest for revenge against a “savior” named Artorius.

This premise is interesting for many reasons, one of which is the connection to Tales of Zestiria.

It also raises questions about how Tales of Berseria will fit with Zestiria’s world.

Daemons and Daemonblight, featured in Berseria, seem as though they could be early incarnations of malevolence and hellions. However, while Zestiria portrays hellions as always bad, Berseria doesn’t do the same for daemons.

Likewise, Artorius feels like an early Shepherd, but is presented as an antagonist rather than a protagonist.

The newest Tales of Berseria trailer introduces Artorius himself for the first time and shows why Velvet wants revenge. It has been subtitled by a fan here.

Warning: this trailer contains story content and potential spoilers.

I already like Artorius. Me and my villains, you know.

Tales of Berseria looks like it has the potential for an interesting story. I’m a little wary after how Zestiria turned out, but I want to believe Berseria will not only have a solid story of its own, but repair Zestiria’s worldbuilding.

In fact, the discrepancies I mentioned above could already be a sign of that. Adding depth to hellions and showing an antagonistic Shepherd could be a way to work the twisted (and bizarre) morality of Zestiria into something that makes sense.

Let me know in the comments your thoughts on the new trailer, Artorius, and Tales of Berseria in general.