Our ragtag adventurers travel across lovely but linear flower fields and dreary marshes connected by nodes, or via a ship that travels around a large archipelago on a 2D map. “The one place where Berseria doesn't shine as brightly is the garden-variety locations and lack of deep exploration. I really like this new system because it adds a bit of sensible strategy to the gameplay without feeling like I'm being forced to conserve or use up energy just for the sake of it. Although the Soul Gauge will replenish over time, I found it much more fun to hurry the process along by pounding souls out of an enemy while trying to avoid a similar beatdown. Depleting a character's Soul Gauge allows enemies to more easily deflect attacks, while maxing out a character's Soul Gauge allows you to activate Break Souls, a temporary state where a character's combo limits are ignored and they can use a unique set of skills – such as Velvet's hard-hitting Consuming Claw-to take a bite out of the enemy's health and inflict a status effect. A variation of the Linear Motion Battle System that lets you run around a 3D battlefield returns, but now instead of using a move-governing mechanic, each action is tied to a character's Soul Gauge, which depletes every time a party member performs a special skill (Arte) in battle. Play While Berseria flips the script on Tales' normally sunshine-filled stories, the brawler-inspired combat stays pretty much the same, with a few welcome tweaks that make it feel smooth and responsive. Even then, the ties that bind them threaten to come undone as their search for the truth behind the theo-political machinations of a tight group of elites collides with their need for personal vengeance. Only the fragile Malak (spirit) Laphi and the earnest Exorcist Elenor keep this ragtag group anchored in hope and distinct from the actual villains. These characters reflect just how emotionally broken their world has become in the face of multiple calamities. Nor is there much hope of redemption for the memorable company she keeps, which includes the enraged pirate Eizen, the mouthy and detached witch Magilou, and the fratricidal demon Rokurou. There's no real sunny side to the anti-heroine Velvet Crowe, who drives the plot with her unquenchable thirst for bloody vengeance on the man who took everything from her.
Instead of the cheery, can-do spirit I've come to expect from the series, Berseria fully explores the darkest parts of the human heart. Berseria's greatest strength lies in its ability to tell a different kind of story from those of its predecessors.
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