New screenshots for Tales of Berseria, along with more in-depth detail on the game's story, characters, battles and world.
A lot of the info here are just stuff we got from the recent Famitsu article, but there are a few tidbits added.
The main point of the theme is the clash between Velvet, who uses her strong emotions as her drive to push through, and those who have abandoned emotions for reasons, and how she goes through the world.
The stage of the story is the world called Wasteland. At the center of it spans a large land mass, which, in the distant future, will be called the continent of Glenwood. (i.e. Tales of Zestiria's Glenwood continent, apparently)
The story will be mainly in the Midgand Kingdom, a kingdom whose rule encompasses the continent and crosses the oceans. There are countless islands and archipelagos divided into "territories."
Despite being in the same kingdom, there are vast differences to be noted between the northern and southern regions of the world, specifically on climate. The climate heavily affects the culture of the area, making a variety of work and livelihood for the people in this world. In the recent years, the weather has been turning a bit more cold, especially at the northern regions that are buried in snow.
The Midgand Kingdom's shipbuilding and sailing technology has allowed it to perform trade in different territories. Since the ocean currents and weather changes frequently, the ships use specific routes for trade, and these are frequently targeted by pirates.
This is the beginning of the legend. And the story of the forgotten "truth" in the distant future.
The G?maby?, a disease that transfigures humans into monsters. The world is in an area of chaos.
Velvet, who lives in a remote village within the Midgand Kingdom. Despite their harsh living conditions, she and her family help each other out to survive, spending their everyday lives in warmth.
However, on the Scarlet Night, when the moon shone a bright red, everything changed for Velvet. One she trusted betrayed her, and not only did she lose her blood relatives, a mysterious power has engulfed her left arm, carrying with it the power to transfigure into a demonic form that can devour monsters.
Time flows, and three years later...
With the advent of the "savior," and as the Kingdom tries to return order into this world, a young woman passes through.
Her name is Velvet Crowe. Within her eyes burns the fury of having everything taken away from her, her fury for the "savior."
As stated before, the items compass, comb and apple have some part in the story.
Some key words in the game:
- ??? (G?maby?) - A disease that transfigures humans into monsters. Those afflicted lose themselves and tend to attack other people, though there are some who are able to keep their sense of reason.
- ?? (G?ma) - The term used for a human who has transfigured into a monster because of the G?maby?. There have also been reports of animals becoming one.
- ?? (Seirei) - A race that is able to wield the power of nature. Many of them think not for themselves and are instead enslaved by humans. Laphicet is a Seirei.
- ??? (Hi no Yoru, Scarlet Night) - Refers to a night when the moon becomes a brilliant red. It seems to be connected to the G?maby?.
Also noted in the magazine are key items that will affect the characters and the story: the compass that Laphicet holds, the comb that Velvet is seen holding in the trailer, and apples.
Velvet Crowe
"I will never give up. Whatever happens, I'll devour them."
Age: 19 years old
Height: 170cm
VA: Rina Sat?
Character Design: Mutsumi Inomata
Weapon: Thorn Blade
Class: Lancer
Race: G?ma? (listing actually has the question mark)
- Though once a no-frills friendly girl with great love for her family, she completely changed after an incident 3 years ago. She almost never smiles and instead harbors anger and hatred within her now cold personality. With her original kindness gone, leaving her cold anger burning in its wake, she will soon become a presence that will change this world.
er bandaged left hand has taken on a mysterious power since the day of that incident, and can now transfigure into something inhuman. Her transfigured left hand seems similar to those seen in G?ma and is able to give her inhumane powers, but it seems slightly different from the usual G?ma.
- Her bandaged left hand has taken on a mysterious power since the day of that incident, and can now transfigure into something inhuman. Her transfigured left hand seems similar to those seen in G?ma and is able to give her inhumane powers, but it seems slightly different from the usual G?ma. (Refer to below for an elaboration of what the G?ma are)
Laphicet
"But it's hard to suffer alone, isn't it?"
Age: 10 years old
Height: 142cm
VA: Azumi Asakura
Character Design: Minoru Iwamoto
Weapon: Paper sheets
Class: Seirei Caster
Race: Seirei
- Ever since birth and even when he hadn't been bestowed a name before, he has been a tool used for his artes. Knowing only a life of following orders from his master, he never carried his own will.
- When first meeting Velvet, she gets irritated with how he has no feelings or own intentions. However, upon going on a journey with her and learning about many things, he is able to grow his own heart and will, eventually becoming a support for Velvet whose violent rage continues to inhabit her.
From a town covered in snow to an island of everlasting summer, autumn colors and sunsets, Tales of Berseria will feature more diverse locations to spice up this adventure.
Based on the free run model and the use of the left stick for movement plus using the circle and x buttons for attacking, Berseria will now utilize all four buttons of square, triangle, circle and cross for attacks and artes. The left stick will be more focused on movement alone, and by focusing on the four buttons, it'll be possible to link attacks. The camera viewpoint can be adjusted as you see fit.
As we reported before, Velvet is more of a frontliner with her thorn blade thing and footwork. There's the use of her transfigured left arm, making her a good advance guard character. Her left arm, especially, will be able to exhibit some special power.
Laphicet is more of a back type character who specializes in using Seirei artes that can perform both attacks and restoration. As a melee character, he is also able to use his paper sheets as his main weapon, but he is much better as a support character.
Tales of Berseria is the latest mothership title of the Tales of Series which was first announced during Tales of Festival 2015. The game was released for both the PS3 and PS4 on August 18, 2016 in Japan, January 24, 2017 in North America and January 27, 2017 in Europe for the PS4 and PC. The game features a female protagonist named Velvet and a theme of pirates and ships. It’s also confirmed as a distant prequel to Tales of Zestiria.
