Tales of Berseria will be out on August 18 in Japan, and its cover has been revealed.

Personally, I love how this looks and hope the English box art is similar. The close-up reminds me of Tales of Destiny, which I still need to play.

Berseria will have three pre-order bonuses, at least for its Japanese release. One is a behind-the-scenes look at the game involving the voice actors, and we don’t know the other two yet. (Maybe it will have tiered bonuses like Zestiria did on PC?)

First print copies will also come with a code to download “Special Dramatic Chat: Melon Gumi Chapter,” which sounds like it’s a special bonus skit.

Limited and special editions of Berseria were also announced for Japan.

To go with all this information, we’ve got a new trailer to watch, too! It shares many elements of the previous trailer, but is much longer. That one made me hope Berseria will patch up the problems with Zestiria’s lore, and now I have more reason than ever to believe that.

Let’s take a look.

It might also interest some fans to know that Hideo Baba is not the producer of Tales of Berseria, although he’s still credited as the IP General Producer and the IP Supervisor.

I don’t know if Baba is really to blame for why many fans feel the series has lost something, but it’ll be interesting to see if Berseria feels different without him.

Anyway, there are a few new faces in this trailer, including one who was recently revealed as a party member.

He’s a 1000-year-old Malak, a pirate who serves as deputy to Aifread, and he’s known as the “God of Death.” Oh, and his name is Eizen.

Yes. That Eizen.

If you’ve played Tales of Zestiria, you already know a bit about Eizen and probably have suspicions about what will happen. This should be interesting… and it’s another sign Berseria may repair Zestiria’s holes.

See, most of my issues with Zestiria involved the story feeling rushed: character motivations, plot points, and backstory details left unexplained.

Between Artorius and Eizen, we should at least get a few answers. It seems like Zaveid will put in an appearance, perhaps to resolve his loose ends, as well.

And if Eizen is a Malak known as the “God of Death,” could we even get expanded lore on the “angel of death” concept Zestiria never bothered to detail?

It makes me wonder if the writers cannibalized Zestiria’s story to save bits for Berseria… but either way, I’m feeling hopeful Berseria will fix Zestiria’s mistakes. We’ll have a better idea in August, once it’s out in Japan.

What do you think?

I’m excited about Berseria, but I have some misgivings about it being set in the same world as Tales of Zestiria.

It’s a far-distant prequel, but since Tales of Zestiria’s worldbuilding is one of the things that fell apart and caused my lackluster review, I worry Berseria might suffer from the same issues.

On the other hand, this is their chance to smooth things out and establish working lore for this world.

The newest trailer makes me hope they’ll do just that. Let’s take a look.

This trailer is cool for a lot of reasons.

First, we see a man who appears (at least from this distance) to wear Shepherd-esque garb walking away from a balcony. It’s unclear if Shepherds already existed at the time of Berseria, but there is a “savior” Velvet wants revenge on.

The trailer then plays “Burn,” Berseria’s recently-revealed theme song, and we see Velvet swordfighting a man in white. This man was previously introduced as an exorcist, like Eleanor, whom Velvet also fights in this trailer.

Exorcists protect people from daemons, which seem to be an early version of hellions. Some daemons can keep their reason, such as Velvet and Rokurou, the dark-haired man she’s shown back-to-back with.

The closeup of Rokurou includes a quick glimpse of Velvet and Eleanor in the field behind him. Perhaps although the exorcists begin as Velvet’s enemies, Eleanor at least will become an ally at some point.

The trailer also shows Laphicet, Magileux, Bienphu, and a couple new characters.

First, Rokurou fights a man (at a volcano?) who hasn’t been revealed, but while that could be a minor antagonist, the trailer also shows a woman in white who seems prominent.

She appears in the fight between Velvet and Eleanor, and then again beside Magileux. Her attire, the way Eleanor appears to be guarding her in the first scene, and the scepter she carries all suggests she has authority. Perhaps she is a high-ranking person in the Abbey, the order of exorcists.

After a few scenes showcasing Magileux, the woman in white appears to strike her.

Everything about this trailer is really cool, but one more small detail caught my attention. Velvet says the name “Artorius.”

Tales of Zestiria contains an important location called Artorius’s Throne, but it’s never expanded upon. As I traveled through it, I kept asking myself, “Who is Artorius? Why is this place here?” It felt completely irrelevant to the plot and world.

If Berseria plans to include Artorius, perhaps show Artorius’s Throne in the past, it gives me hope it will straighten out the jumbled world Zestiria created.

What do you think? Will Berseria save the Zestiria universe or fall prey to the same mistakes? Let me know your thoughts on that and this trailer in the comments below!