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Part I: The Story We Began

Welcome to Tales of Berseria, the first half of this thread. As in my Tales of Xillia 2 thread, we'll be starting a New Game+ to take advantage of some benefits of coming off a 100% complete file. The options at the title screen are everything you should expect, so let's jump right into the Grade Shop.

The Grade Shop in this game is fairly extensive, so let's just briefly summarize the various categories of modifiers you can attach to a New Game. First, the standard Tales EXP modifiers: 1/2 EXP, x2, or x3. We'll not be using any of these. One interesting note is that these do stack, so if you have x2 and x3 selected, you get x6. Not usually how it's handled in this series.

Next up is gameplay buffs. These modifiers include Double Gald, better chance of enemies dropping enhanced equipment, cost of enhancing equipment is reduced by 50%, double Grade, or two separate stacks of +1000 Max HP to every character.

And finally, inheriting stuff. Carrying over the Library is free (but unlike prior games doesn't carry over total playtime, unfortunately), and everything else should be fairly self-explanatory. It's been a while since I last played this game, so I don't exactly remember what all these items do, but I'm sure we'll get around to them.

Just off-screen is the final category, miscellaneous buffs, such as doubling item capacity from 15 to 30, double Arte Learning Speed, doubles chance of encountering wandering enemies, adding leveling up bonuses to all titles, or giving a buff to BG regeneration (which doesn't need to be gone into now).

Aside from carrying over various things from my last playthrough to this one and the double Gald / Grade thing, I won't be using any gameplay buffs, wanting to keep this as vanilla a playthrough as possible on Hard. Everything checked in this screenshot remains checked, and double Gald / Grade, and that's what we'll be going with.

The Scarlet Night

Ngh! They're already daemons.

*the man picks up the two children, takes them over to a hollow tree stump*

You hide here, Velvet. I'm going back to help Celica.

I'm so scared... Arthur, please...

*grabs an apple* You'll be just fine with these. Celica enchanted them herself. They'll give you the courage you need to survive.

They will?

Sure they will. Now have I ever lied to you?

*shakes head*

I'll come back for you once Celica is safe. It's scary, but don't give in to fear. Don't despair...no matter what!

I won't. I promise. After all, I'm Laphi's older sister and your student!

*leaves*

Some time later...

Celica?!

*Velvet and Laphi run away*

Arthur, help us!

Gentle home

On that day, the world began to change. Men and beasts posessed by evil spirits. Hunting and killing anyone they could.

The taste of blood-soaked flesh...

Ah... Okay...

If you're carrying over Fashion items, or...some option in the Grade Shop, Velvet here takes the appearance of what she looked like on your New Game+ loaded save... Just roll with it until I can change her into her Villager outfit, which is what she's supposed to be wearing here.

Grumble-grumble, huh? You must be feeling good. *feels his forehead* Hmm. Bit of a fever, I'm afraid. At least the new medicine's supposed to come today. Until then , you stay in bed, got it?

What? Aww, but I wanted to go to the cape.

Sorry. You'll have to wait.

Can't I at least read a book?

*glares*

I didn't mean to...

Arthur! Done chopping firewood?

Yeah. Enough to last through winter. But there's something else I need to take care of. Sorry, but medicine money'll have to wait a bit.

I can earn it myself, then. Bring down a few prickleboars, and I'll have plenty to offer in trade.

On your own?

Arthur's first maxim! "Plans must be solid, and reactions flexible."

All right. I shouldn't doubt my student's abilities. Sorry to put you in a spot.

I'm sorry, Velvet.

Whoa, hey. What's everyone apologizing for? We're a family, right?

Right. I'll see you later. *leaves*

I whipped up some porridge for you, OK? Be back by evening.

Thank you. Be careful, Velvet.

*nods*

Before we formally begin proceedings, let's get Velvet back in what appearance she should have. Unfortunately, while I remembered to equip her Villager clothes, I forgot she has a customizable haircut, and I kept her in the unkempt appearance it has for most of the game. This too will be fixed...just as soon as the recorded me knows I forgot something.

Pretty standard equipment screen. Velvet's weapon is not the usual sword that Tales protagonists have, but a gauntlet with a retractable blade. Pretty handy, probably.

The item screen. From left to right, it's New Items, Consumables, Weapons, Belts, Armor, Accessories, Boots, Crafting Materials, crystal things that I'm sure will be explained later, Valuables, fashion accessories, and DLC content. Unlike in many games where DLC is automatically applied, in Tales games getting DLC gives you items that you then have to use from the item menu to apply to the game. Strange system, but suffice to say I did all that before continuing on.

Velvet's humble home actually has a second floor, but we don't need to worry about that right now. Before we head out, we seem to have some manner of discussion to be had with Laphi. First one is talking about prickleboar, and the other is just scolding Laphi a bit.

Arthur keeps some interesting books... The other book Velvet notices here is a book about translating a certain foreign tongue. Probably not important. There are no other points of interest in her home right now, so let's just move on.

These little glowing points indicate places you can gather items from. Unless I pick up something notable from them, probably won't mention these. You can find them everywhere and they usually just give up vendor trash.

Our first skit of the game. Skits in this game come in two flavors: ones that automatically pop up when you take a certain action or ones that pop up in normal Tales fashion, like this one. Of course, both will be in each update's skit video (unless they're super short), since the game considers them both skits. Like in the Xillia 2 thread, I'll screenshot anything in them I feel is important.

Another kind of worldbuilding to be found in Berseria are Conversations, which are basically skits but instead of being between named characters, are instead done with named characters and mob characters to be found in the environment. These are all marked by a ! point on the mini-map.

For now, there are a number of conversations to be had around town before we head into the forest. This guy talks about the Opening, which may or may not be what we saw in the opening movie. I would figure a night of a blood red moon and people turning into daemons would make quite the impression. This guy also mentions that Celica died during that incident.

The woman nearest to the item shop talks about Laphi's illness (and the fact he likes to catch beetles), and that Celica took care of a young Laphi and Velvet. Apparently this Celica was Velvet's sister.

We get a minor Tales callback if we talk to this fellow. Rappigs are as the name implies: a strange combination of a rabbit and a pig. First showed up in Abyss, if I'm not mistaken.

And finally, for the town proper, we have this woman. Seems these Empyreans are the gods of this world or something like that.

Hmm... We also learn from this woman that's there a "shrine of tranquility" one can fall into at the cape and that Velvet is 16. Both good to know.

If you head out the town gate (noticeably not in the direction of the forest we're going to), we can visit the Morgana Woods for our final conversation for the moment.

I should also bring it up now that, between Arthur and Morgana, we seem to be going for an Arthurian mythology thing when it comes to a lot of names. This was prominent in Zestiria and also here. I'll be pointing out any references I personally know, but if I miss something, feel free to let me know in the thread. Arthur, of course, needs no explanation (though his real name "Artorius" is a Latinization of that name), but "Morgana" is one of the many spellings of Arthur's sister's name, who plays a key role in all versions of the tale.

This conversation is about a group of daemons that were spotted near town. It seems this town quite depends on Arthur's protection and that he can kill these things, or at least chase them away. Pretty valuable skill. This conversation also mentions that Arthur is an "exorcist" who can control a "malakhim", which one would think would make him skilled in hunting daemons. Also that he has an unknown past and came to this town for...some reason.

Anyway, that's quite enough goofing around for now. Just follow the path up to that doomsaying woman and out the gate to head into the...

Fitting name. For such a small area, there's a couple areas we can't go until we progress the story quite a bit further. The only real gameplay here is following the path from Aball to the cape on the opposite side. Obviously we'll have to go through those stars to do it, though.

The first star has our first enemies of the game: prickleboar. These enemies can actually be pretty aggressive for the first enemy of the game, but even on Hard, they do very little damage and don't have much health.

So, Berseria's combat system is very mobile, and you're expected to move around a lot to get behind enemies and attack their weak points. While you can just mash X, O, or Square to win this fight, in Semi-Auto mode, let's talk a little bit about the combat. It's kind of one of those unfortunate ones where new features to it are constantly unlocking over the course of the game, so you wouldn't be getting to the full depths of it until late in the game, but we can at least start with the basics.

Those blue diamonds in Velvet's status window is the Soul Gauge, which represents her ability to attack and continue a combo. As long as you have blue diamonds remaining, you can continue to attack. When not attacking (including while Free Running, which is by default in this game rather than requiring a button like in previous games), the Soul Gauge refills itself up to the maximum number of souls the character currently has, which can be a total of 5. While it is possible to continue fighting without any of the Soul Gauge remaining, you'll be blocked a lot and your attacks will be a lot less effective.

So how do you increase the maximum? The simplest way for now is just to defeat an enemy. After a Prickleboar is defeated, you'll see Velvet's Soul Gauge max go up to four. The other way at the moment? Quick Step to dodge an enemy attack. If you do it right, you'll see a blue cube fly out from the enemy, which represents a soul you can pick up to expand the maximum. This, and another method later in the game, will be the primary way you expand the gauge during boss battles.

Oh, and another very important note to keep in mind is blocking (with L1 on the PS4), which will make Quick Stepping easier.

And the results screen. Everything should be pretty self-explanatory, except for Grade. It's essentially an itemized list of everything that happened in battle that increases that number or decreases it. Killing enemies easily, chaining together big combos, staying alive, not using items, that's how you get the big numbers.

After you first battle, you'll get a cute skit about the future of the Prickleboars. If Velvet has any say in it, it's gonna be rough.

Good advice. I look forward to the day when we can do that.

I should also mention that Berseria is one of those weird games where difficulty actually changes a lot, instead of just enemy parameters / occasionally what they can use in-battle. Here, Hard does this, Simple and Normal are the default settings, and Moderate decreases the base EXP learned while increasing Gald gained and bonus EXP acquired (EXP acquired from combos). I'm quite confident I can keep Hard on at all times. Though, again, it has been a while.

Before we move on to the cape, the chest you can open here has an Apple Gel in it, which is your standard 15% HP healing item. A Tales classic.

A nice place, but uncomfortably familiar... After you defeat the final Prickleboar group, you'll get a skit where Velvet says what she's done should be fine to sell for Laphi's medicine. Your cue to go back to town. But we'll investigate this place a bit more, since it seems pretty interesting.

Velvet seems skeptical, but I dunno... This seems pretty bad. I'd hate to know what's at the bottom of it. There's nothing else of particular note around here, but hey, might as well check it out while we're here.

Once you return to that first clearing in the forest... Logic and emotion

Wait. The boars I hunted... Are you their--
*roar*

Maxim three. "Never waver once your sword is drawn. Control your feelings to control the tide of battle!"

There's actually quite a few of them, but again, no use in thinking about what you're doing right now. Just smash them as soon as possible to thin their numbers.

I did it!

Uhhh... I don't think they always did that.

Seres!

An exorcist arte!

Pride and anxiety. Pity for the enemy. The thrill of victory... Your emotions run too hot. That will be your downfall. Agreed. It's one of her virtues as well.

Huh?

Arthur?

Arthur's fourth maxim. "Never let your guard down, even when victorious."

Got it!

In any case, this should be enough to buy Laphicet's medicine.

Head out where?

The person I was supposed to meet is late. I don't think I'll be home tonight. I came out here to let you know. You'll have to pick up the medicine yourself.

Right...

One more thing, I saw a group of daemons near the village. If you're attacked, run away. Am I clear?

No way! I-I can handle a bunch of--

Daemons can only be challenged by those with the talent for exorcism. That's the cold logic of the world, and no emotions can change it.

Do you think... I could become an exorcist?

Why is it you think that birds fly?

Why? ...Well, without flying, they couldn't find food...

It takes a particular innate talent to be an exorcist. Unfortunately, very few humans have it within themselves.

...All right.

Tomorrow is Celica's memorial day. I'll be back as soon as I can. *begins to leave*

Hurry back. I'll make you a quiche just the way she taught me.

*nod*

Velvet...those boars were possessed by some manner of evil energy that required Arthur to come in and save you... I think we were well past the "Kill or be killed" decision there. Anyway, since the whole point of this trip was get some hides to sell, let's stop by the store on our way back. Well, we have to stop by the store since this event triggers as soon as you follow the village path far enough, but that's the plot reason we're doing this. Homemade recipe

Niko! Here for groceries?

Yep. And you must'e been out hunting.

Yeah. It was a good haul.

Look at you, Lady Breadwinner! If you were a boy, I think I'd be in love.

Good thing I'm a girl.

Oh yeah? You ought do something about your style, then.

This line probably would have worked better if I had kept Velvet's normal haircut here, but we'll just to work with this.

So get a new one.

Sure, I'd like to, but...

Hey Mister! How about a sale on combs for the pretty girl?

Hrmm? You two need something?

I'm fine, Niko. I'm just here to pick up medicine for Laphicet.

Oh, Velvet. I already told Arthur, but... I'm afraid the medicine hasn't come in yet.

What? Why not? Is it because of the daemons?

Seems like the daemonblight's really taking a toll on the city. There's even a group of them lurking around here now.

When's it coming, then?!

I can't say. And I don't know how much it will cost.

Oh no...

Those guys? The daemons already routed them a while back.

...But we're safe here, right? After all, your brother-in-law's an exorcist.

You so sure about that? Arthur can't even use his right hand anymore. Poor fellow couldn't even protect his own wife and child.

...Let me know when the medicine gets in.

A-Ah... O-Of course. For now, here. On the house.

*storms off a short distance*

Velvet! You didn't forget, did you? You promised to teach me how to make your special quiche.

You mean for that apprentice animal doctor you had your eye on? You were serious?

But I thought your folks weren't keen on the two of you dating.

Who cares what people think?! The important thing is my feelings!

Darn right!

Unfortunately, that quiche will have to wait for another time, because we have two more conversations to experience before we head back home. The first...

It seems the dogs are a bit on edge, not to mention being the victim of a vicious cat's attack recently. Rollo is the name of Ludger's cat in Xillia 2, for those who don't get the reference.

The other conversation, with Niko directly, gives us some more crucial backstory on this allegedly delicious quiche. It is a pretty fun conversation with Niko, actually. I'd recommend watching this one, at least. The nearby silver chest has a Resistance Ring, which raises Arte Defense. Yay. Back home...

This scene prompts another auto-skit, next to the graves. The most important thing to note that Celica's favorite flower, Princessias, bloom at the cape, but we unfortunately forgot to grab any today. Well, it's not like they grow far from home or anything.

What this place is actually a monument to.

Well... Let's try to concern ourselves with happier thoughts now. A boy's dream

That piece of paper Laphi is looking at had a picture of that compass we saw at the shop next to the comb, for the record. Doesn't want Velvet to see it, of course.

Laphi! I told you to stay in bed!

I was only up for a little.

*feels his forehead* Look, your fever hasn't gone down a bit! Go lie down and I'll cook dinner.

...I'm sorry.

*notices paper* What's this?

A compass! It uses a magnet to tell you which way you're facing.

Woohoo. You can use the sun and stars for that.

And what'll you do if it's cloudy, huh? Thanks to this invention, we'll even be able to voyage across the ocean! See? It's designed to stay level, so your heading will be true even when the ship is rolling with the waves. Pretty neat, right?

...If you say so, Laphi.

C'mon, it's a must-have for any adventure! Can't you see how useful it is?

Did they hurt you?

Not a scratch, and I brought back plenty. I can hear Arthur already. "Gosh, Velvet, I think it's time you learned all my secret artes!"

He isn't coming home tonight, is he?

How do you know that?

Seres stopped by and told me.

Arthur's malak? Huh. You really can talk to malakhim, can't you?

Yeah. Arthur says I've got exorcist potential.

No kidding. I think you'll be an exorcist to rival even him. I can tell you've been learning all sorts of things from his book collection

I really want to become an exorcist. I want to go traveling with you and see all the wonders of the world. I'll hunt and chop firewood. And if daemons come for us, I'll defend you.

You'll get there, Laphicet. It should only take... Oh, 20 years, tops.

It won't take me that long!

Oh yeah? You better prove it to me, then. Start with this lovely meatball stew I cooked. Eat every last mouthful, even if you don't feel hungry. And take your medicine, no matter HOW nasty it tastes. No tricks. Am I clear?

Yes, ma'am.

The next two "conversations" are prompted by examining the books on the table. Most importantly, Laphi seems to be interested in a book of Arthur's that talks about a "Nameless Empyrean". That's...probably important.

Hmm, wasn't the Opening a pretty scarlet night, too? Don't like that sound of that. But it should probably be fine as long as everyone stays home. And those daemons aren't too aggressive.

Once you're done poking around your brother's journal, examine the fireplace to turn it on, get a skit where we learn Laphi doesn't like spinach, go upstairs to get Arthur's special curry spice, and...

Learn that Velvet concerns herself with Niko's love life a lot. To be fair, as Velvet says, they've known each other "forever".

And that's why I carried over everyone's cooking talent.

Thankfully, the auto-skit prompted by going back to Laphi's room indicates it's nothing particularly serious. Let's just hope his explanation is the truth, that Velvet saying something funny is what prompted his little coughing fit. Anyway, after that little scare, back to the kitchen.

Good boy. You didn't forget your medicine.

Well, I did promise. *looks out the window* Tomorrow's a Scarlet Night.

Yeah. Just like that night that changed our lives.

Um... Velvet? May I sleep next to you tonight?

Of course.

OK, let's see. Today I've got to dry some meat and use that cheese I've been saving to make a quiche for-- Hmm? Laphi? *looks around* You little... Where have you gone?!

That little scamp. Well, given how much he was gushing over that compass last night, stands to reason he might have gone to the store. The compass

Uh, no. I haven't seen him. *drops a book*

Wait! That's one of Arthur's!

Actually, it's a copy that Laphicet made. A smart merchant would pay a pretty penny for this book. I gave him a fair trade.

Laphi... Did he really copy all that by hand? Oh! He must have done it to buy that compass!

No, though he did give it some puppy eyes. Told him I'd throw it in for free, but he said that it would be a bad deal for me. He's a good lad, but not the merchant type.

So what did he use the money for?

I'm afraid my lips are sealed. You'll have to ask him.
*Niko walks up*

Velvet, I saw Laphicet walking around. Is he OK?

He's not OK! Where'd you see him?

He was headed for the forest. I'll help you look for him.

Thanks. Do a sweep of the village, just in case. I'll check the forest.

As you can see from the mini-map, we've got a few more conversation to go through. This one's fairly straightforward, seems the dogs are a bit on edge. If that Scarlet Night means daemons running around, I can see why.

Guy near the entrance talks about what a smart kid Laphicet is, though, given how allegedly complicated the books he reads are, probably would know that already.

Again, probably shouldn't make any plans to go out tonight, if what this guy is saying is true. Arthur seems pretty strong but he can't do everything. After this, when you're ready to continue the plot, just continue to the Tranquil Woods again. Feel free to fight prickleboar along the way if you want to keep practicing the very basics of the combat system. The forest path

Laphi!

Velvet.

Can you walk? How's your fever?

I'm fine. I was just taking a break.

*tsk* You little... You know better than this, Laphicet! Running off without telling me... What if something happened to you?! You wouldn't be the only one hurt. Do you understand that?

...I'm sorry.

If you want to do something, just ask. I know I'm a crummy big sister and I can't afford to buy you all the things you want...

No! That's not why I went out! You see, it was just...

...I get it. You're right, I forgot the flowers for the graves.

Yeah... So I was going out to the cape...and I thought...

You want to see the ocean, too, don't you?

Well, yeah, that too...

Fine. Just for today, though.

Are you sure?

*nod* I am. But next time you run off like that, I'm strapping you to your bed.

...Yes, ma'am.

Such wholesomeness, don't you think? There's a couple of skits along the way to the cape, but otherwise, you're just escorting your brother to the cape. So pester the prickelboars if it's really so important to you, but don't forget we have flowers to gather.

At the cape... Encounter

Ah! Just look at all these!

*sits down*

*sits down* This place never changes, does it?

It does too change. The seasons, the wind, the weather... Change one, and the sea's totally different. And the same goes for what lies across the sea...

"Across" the sea? Sometimes I jsut don't know what you're talking about.

Hey Velvet? Thank you for taking me out here today.

You don't need to thank me.

Hey, Laphi... Do you know why it is that birds fly?

Well, if they didn't, they couldn't catch food. Or escape from predators.

Thought so...

I don't think Arthur was asking for the literal answer, Velvet...

But you know, I think there's more to it than that. A bird that's born with wings HAS to--

A daemon! Laphicet, run. No matter how much it hurts, run!

Velvet?!

Don't be scared. You can do it. You're going to be strong like Arthur.

No! You can't!

Go!

Velvet and Laphi will continue talking during this "fight", but as you might expect, Velvet can't harm this thing at all. For a daemon, it won't attack too much, so just run away from it until cutscenes resume.

I have to do this!

Stop! Face me, daemon!

Laphi...

*pulls out comb* Velvet...

Is this...why...

*blacks out*

Laphi! You're all right! *sits up* Ow!

Sorry. It's all my fault.

No! If you weren't there, there's no telling what might've happened to me.

*puts his comb in Velvet's hand* Your old one broke, right? You've got beautiful hair. It would be a waste if you didn't take care of it. I'll make a new world. A world where my sister can be happy.

Uh-huh... He's talking a little strangely. But never mind that, we have another scene transition, to later that night. Later that *Scarlet* Night, mind... The beginning of the longest night

Was that... Was it all a dream? *notices comb in her hand* No! It wasn't! *runs off*

Well, while Velvet certainly has no particular reason to go outside right now, especially when it's a night she knows is bad news, you'll notice that Laphi is nowhere in the house, so guess it's up to us to investigate. Sure hope we can avoid any daemons along the way. But what are the odds of those showing up?

Pretty high, it seems...

No... What's happening? *runs off*

Uh...nothing good, that's for sure. There are numerous daemons running around, but if that previous "battle" should have proven, you have no business fighting them. There's also no indication of where Laphi went, but we found him last time in the forest, so why not start there?

Huh, one of the rare times this kind of thing actually affects non-humans. Once you get back to Tranquil Woods, of course, there are daemons roaming about, and you still have no business fighting them.

Hrmm...vaguely familiar. The Dawn of Chaos

You.

Oh, thank goodness... You kept Laphi safe, didn't you, Arthur?

...One more sentiment to cast off.

Velvet! Run!

Arthur?! *starts running, trips and falls flat*

Here, once, was the seal to the underworld broken. And tonight, here shall be born the power to save the world. *plants sword in the ground, picks it up again* With Laphicet's life as a sacrifice.

What? What are you saying?!

Arthur! No!

*breaks free of her bonds, begins running toward the shrine*

Not to break up the flow of this scene too much, but this image of Laphi with a hole in him and falling into the shrine? This was actually censored from the original version, where Arthur just ran Laphi through with his sword and he fell into the shrine. The "magical ceremony" version here, though, is fine. Just thought I'd point that out.

Let him go. This is an offering to the world.

Why would you...?!

Nothing can save him now.

No! No! Nooo!

*raises sword* Ever a slave to emotion.

LAPHICET!

How could... HOW COULD YOOOOOOOOOOU!!

What happened was, apparently that dragon thing, after devouring Laphi, launched Velvet back up out of the hole, and crashed near where Arthur is standing.