Tales of Berseria Remastered

The game features an excellent narrative with well-developed characters and psychological insight. The solid Liberation Linear Motion Battle System offers considerable satisfaction, and the enemy bestiary is well-researched and varied. Among the remaster's strengths are undoubtedly its technical performance, with 4K support and improved fluidity, as well as the inclusion of all previous DLC. However, some features are controversial to say the least, such as the ability to disable turn-based combat, as was the case in Baten Kaitos, and especially the application of censorship. These are choices intended for a wider audience, we understand, but purists may not be happy.

Making a beloved classic available to a grander audience is exciting no matter the context, and Tales of Berseria Remastered will assuredly continue to prove the demand for that notion. I'm positive that Switch and Xbox players who haven't played this entry before will find themselves compelled by this tale of vindictive reason...Still, the ill-crafted combat has not aged elegantly, and the necessity of this remaster is entirely meaningless for those on PlayStation and Xbox platforms. Now, I'm just hoping that Xillia 2 and titles from the PlayStation 2 era and before finally make their way to modern platforms.

Tales of Berseria remains what it always was: a strong JRPG with a compelling story and memorable characters. However, this remaster feels less like a true return and more like an expensive 60-fps patch. If you've never played the original, this is still highly recommended. But if you're already familiar with it, you have to wonder if this version has added enough to warrant a fresh start.

Tales of Berseria Remastered remains a fantastic JRPG, driven by its gripping revenge story and rock-solid real-time combat. The remaster adds smoother performance and visual upgrades, but little in the way of actual new content. If you’ve never played it, this is the best version to jump in. Veterans, however, may notice that there’s little reason to return.

I'm a long time fan of the Tales of games, and I personally love that this release, along with the other recent remasters, received a physical version with some extra bells and whistles. That said, the urge to buy Tales of Berseria Remastered isn't really all that strong, as this experience essentially exists on modern hardware already.