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Part III: The Icecaps We Braved
Hmm, looks like that compass didn't do much to aid navigation. The mysterious malak
Laphi...cet...
*gets up* Get back!
A short battle against two pretty easy enemies followed. Only point of caution is that Velvet is on her own again, so you'll need to be a little careful. After the fight...
My word, a daemon-muncher! You really ARE a box of horrors, aren't you.
Sorry. If I had a weapon, I would have helped, I promise.
You're wearing one.
Oh, nah, I can't use this. Sorry. Long story.
Hm, I think it's a matter of won't, rather than can't. Can't take too much effort to swing a sharp piece of metal with a handle on it around.
And the child?
The little brat? Scampered off somewhere.
You ought to be scampering off yourselves.
My debt is not yet repaid. Until it is, I will not leave your side.
I can hardly scamper off without knowing from whence I'm scampering. We're lost, stranded shipwreck survivors, no?
Well, then I expect this might come in handy. *presents map*
A map? Was that left by the child?
And lo, was Tales of Berseria's world map so. We're currently in the circle I marked with red. Seems there's a town directly north of us. Titania is in blue. This map is a little misleading, though; despite it seeming like the largest continent is a single landmass, they're actually broken up in two at the place indicated by a green circle. You can confirm that by going to the in-game map screen, accessed from the main menu after this scene.
After this map is shown, we get our first skit of the update (it's linked in the above screenshot). Apparently the capital, Loegres, is on Midgand, the center continent. It's notable that when Rokurou asks what Velvet plans in Loegres, she doesn't answer, so he rightfully assumes it's something big. Where we are is Northgand. Per this skit, our next destination is a town called Hellawes, which is another Arthurian reference, but this one's a bit more obscure. She's actually a sorceress affiliated with Lancelot from Thomas Malory's "The Death of Arthur", which is one of the more "modern" compilations of Arthurian lore. "Modern" in the sense of "it was published in 1485", of course, but most popular imaginings of Arthur today take a lot of inspiration from Malory's telling. Despite its name, it covers the entire period of Arthur's ascendancy and his kingship, ending just after Arthur is whisked away to Avalon.
Right after you resume control, our second skit of the update. Apparently that kid was a malakhim that Velvet may or may not know, but the person herself says she doesn't know any malakhim "anymore" and looks at that ring we "got" from Seres. And after that, a third skit before we leave, going over the precise definition of a witch. As opposed to a spellcaster. There is some rather important nuance there. And now we...
Slip into a more incognito outfit. Hey, can't walk around looking like a complete villain in an Abbey-controlled world, right? All part of blending in.
Do you remember the "trail" areas from like, Xillia 2? Fighal Icecaps is the first area like that in Berseria. Enemies here a step up from difficulty from what you could find either in Nearby Forest or Titania, but you'd expect that. Can't stay in tutorial land forever. The most annoying enemies around here are probably the bugs, since when you get close, they zip around like crazy and may drag you into a battle you'd rather avoid for one reason or another. They don't usually try to make contact with you, but if you get too close you can set them off.
And this is our first Break Soul use. Notice how Velvet's maximum Soul Gauge is only two? The cost of doing business. In addition, to use a Break Soul, the character launching needs at least 3 diamonds in the Soul Gauge. As you can see, she also gains a buff from the enemy type listed here that's active as long as she remains in Therion form, which is pretty easy to tell because her arm is unsheathed.
On the other plus side, ending a combo in her Theroin form gives you a pretty sweet finishing move. I think the specific move used depends on the enemy you're attacking. However, while Velvet is pretty powerful in Therion form, keep in mind her HP drains quite quickly while it's active, but can't fall below 1 HP. If she does get to 1 HP, she'll automatically use her enemy-specific finishing move then go back to normal status. Using one of those sweet finishers before this form ends also takes her out of the form, so keep that in mind as well. Once you've proceeded far enough toward Hellawes...
We get a skit with our new, uh, contemporaries, neither of whom feel any particular need to help out right now. Rokurou does mention a "House Rangetsu" he hails from, so it seems, in spite of his dreadful appearance, he's somewhat civilized for a daemon.
And no, Velvet is not particularly interested in her sob story.
Gonna have to come back to this one... Oh yeah, and a leaf icon on the mini-map represents where you picked an herb. They don't respawn, so the notice is kinda pointless... Anyway, once you're finished meancing the local daemon population, proceed toward town to come upon a sight most curious... Katz Korner
Oh look, another weirdo.
That thing talks?! What if it's a cat daemon?!
Simmer down, big man! She's just a Katz! Haven't seen one in a good long while.
Katz...? Is that different from a regular cat somehow?
It's complicated. Katz are a mysterious bunch. Just...think of them as a special kind of malak...sort of.
Works for me. I understand that they're hard to understand, at least.
Hey! I don't suppose you happen to be carrying any katz spirit on you?
That's just like what I found at Titania... *pulls out a katz spirit*
Purrfect! You could say they're kinda like our souls to us?
Katz Spirits hmm...
Sometimes we call 'em "kitten caboodles", too!
That's just foolish.
Really? Then how about "kitty clumps"? Anyway.
*groans*
Anyway, one night we were having a feast so meowvelous our souls flew right out of our bodies! That's why I need your help to find the Katz spirits and use them to emeowcipate my friends!
Emoewcipate, really?
It means to use Katz spirits to free Katz who are locked away in Katz boxes like these here, meow.
*sends orb to enter second chest*
*sends orb to enter third chest*
See? Emeowcipate!
*everything disappears except the brown Katz*
By that logic, shouldn't it be ekatzcipate?
Wow, you're way more clever than you look! Fur real! I guess I totally underestimated you! Please! Our Katz spirits got scattered fur and wide, and so many sad Katz are trapped without them! Seek out the Katz spirits and rescue our poor clawst brothers and sisters, meow!
And why should I?
Please, think of the Katz!
You know, Katz have weird and mysterious powers. There's a good chance we might benefit by having them in our debt.
We'll make it worth your while, I purr-romise!
And...if we snub them, they might put a curse on us.
That has been known to happen, meow.
Ahaha! If we're doing all this traveling anyway, why not help them on the side?
Just remember that it's on the side.
How have I LP'd two Tales games in a row that had a cat-related sidequest? Boggles the mind.
Anyway, this sidequest. Remember how I said these spirits were sort of a collectathon and sort of weren't? Well, as you explore the world, you'll come across these Katz Spirits. The reason you want to gather them is to open the pink, very elaborate Katz chests. There's...40 something of them in the game, I think, and each of them requires a certain number of spirits to open. Katz Spirits are basically the money you need to do this thing. When you gather a Katz Spirit, it disappears from where you gathered it, but it will eventually respawn when you leave your current screen and come back. Katz Chests usually have some neat rewards in them, being one of the main sources for fashion accessories, actually.
As for me, I started this playthrough with like 4700 spirits, so I won't be hurting them for any time soon. Make sure to gather them up, then open the chests. Easy.
Nice-looking town... Well, its wall at least. We have another scene once you get close enough. Outside town
Exorcists.
Well, that's just inconsiderate. Word of the prison break couldn't have traveled so quickly.
I somehow doubt they'll just let us in, looking the way you do.
Hey, speak for yourself Mr. Demon Eye. Velvet and especially Magilou are very on the level in their current garb.
*takes out compass, puts it down*
The compass...
*runs off toward a cliff path*
You OK with this? He could be working for the exorcists.
I'm following him.
Hmm, is he your dessert?
If necessary.
But of course, first we're taking the Compass with us. As you might expect, you can't get much closer to Hellawes, but there's a very large cliff path leading to it away from the main gate. Along the way, you can take a little detour for Sage, but other than that, just follow the path, picking up collectables (like the materials gathered from white gathering points, I won't point out Katz spirit locations unless they're in interesting areas).
A totally unguarded ladder that leads to the city's storeroom. Rather glaring design flaw...
Don't give her any ideas... Magilou points out that the storeroom here has a lot of Flamestone, which is rather combustible. But hey, what are the odds we'll end up lighting this place up like a Christmas tree? We're here to get our ship fixed, not start a ruckus. More importantly, we also have two objectives: find a good sailor for the ship and get some weapons for Rokurou so he can stop cheerleading and start helping in a fight.
Of course, since this is a storeroom, a few things of value to plunder, like gald and a Life Bottle.
Ah, some good docks. Sounds like this is the place to get a ship fixed. The end of the docks nearest to where the storeroom is has a Fire Ring in it, which reduces damage from Fire attacks (you'll get a pop-up when receiving or giving damage indicating what element is causing the damage). Sounds like the kind of thing that's not helpful at the moment, but will be.
Moving on to other business, this conversation has a bunch of kids wanting to grow up to be exorcists. Hey, they're the only group out there who can kill daemons. They do sound like heroes who will save the human world. Aside from this and another Life Bottle to plunder, nothing too interesting going on here...yet.
Certainly seems like a pleasant little town at the edge of civilization. The little icons on what's apparently the main street of the city is an item shop (red), a tavern (purple), and an inn (blue).
This is a church dedicated to the "Empyrean", according to the exorcist out front. Yep, the exorcist on guard duty here apparently has never heard of us and lets us right in.
Doubt that's the last time we'll hear that name...
By following the back alleys and up a ladder, we can get a nice birds-eye view of the city, with zero risk of slipping off. In fact, following this path is the only way you can access that little outcropping in the center of the city surrounded by water. Still flowing, by the way, so I guess it's not *too* cold around here.
Anyway, if you follow this little path the whole way (which winds back near the docks entrance), you'll get a slightly better Blood Blade for Velvet (just increases her max HP by 30).
The outcropping in the center has an Amber Garment with these stats in a silver chest. HP for a minor Physical Defense hit is probably fine. Once you're done making a nuisance of yourself, approach the star for this next skit. Rokurou peaces out to get some weapons at the shop, leaving just the girls for this part. The maritime guild has some issues with a guy named Dyle. Most importantly, these guys, even though they're from the maritime guild, won't help us fix the ship, because guild activity is prohibited because of... The Lady Praetor
Lady Teresa--
Number Two, did I give you permission to speak?
*looks down*
Lady Teresa, how long must this punishment of ours last? You know it was all Dyle's fault, don't you milady?
I know Dyle was the one smuggling Flamestone, but your guild, through its negligence, shares responsibility. This rule was set down by the Abbey to maintain order. Do you disagree with it?
N-No, milady.
We will capture, interrogate, and sentence Dyle. When this has been accomplished, you will be free to continue business.
This is Teresa's POV, by the way. Velvet is currently looking away from her for...obvious reasons.
And you, girl? Aren't you cold dressed like that?
I've just arrived from the south. I wasn't aware Northgand was so cold. *sneezes*
A young woman ought to keep herself warm.
Thank you for your concern.
*nods, leaves with the two malak*
*grins* My, my. So this is how the Abbey flexes its muscle, hm? Cruel, cruel world these days.
I see how things stand. If I catch this Dyle person, you can repair my ship, right?
Sure, but I warn you...he's a daemon. He escaped after killing a bunch of soldiers who tried to capture him. Can't be done without an exorcist.
He's from a small village outside the city. If you're doing this, I imagine that's a good place to start searching. He's a brute with the head of a lizard. I'd prepare for bloodshed.
Hey!
Anything could happen. It's best to keep our options open.
While you wait, find us a good navigator.
Before we see what Rokurou's up to, let's open our first Katz Chest, shall we?
Just around the corner from those guys. This Katz gives you Square Glasses, the first accessory item you can get. By the way, I should mention, none of these Katz chests are missable. There actually isn't a whole lot in this game you can permanently miss, if memory serves. One of the few things you can is just coming up, actually.
Next business is to talk to Rokurou. We initially make some small talk about Rokurou receiving some free weapons, then we get a skit.We confirm our objective with Rokurou and Magilou decides she needs to attend to her own business for a while, leading to this great exchange.
Gotta love her. I'm sure we'll meet again.
After Rokurou officially joins the battle party, we get a whole mess of Conversations, including one in the pub and the other at the docks. Let's start with the pub first.
I'm sure you can tell where this conversation is going... We get her full name from this guy, Teresa Linares. We also learn that Teresa has quite a loyal fanbase in this city. From our brief encounter she seemed heavy-handed but reasonable.
Well, gotta get a warm meal first, right?
Guy up the street talks about Dyle, apparently a character of weak moral fibre.
This one's a bit more interesting... Apparently the world of snowballing is more treacherous than I imagined.
At the docks, we learn that Hellawes' trading network reaches all the way to Loegres. Excellent.
Oh yeah, and let's give Rokurou some...inconspicuous duds, as well. I should mention they changed the fashion system in this game for...no particular reason. See those yellow diamonds? That represents the cost of the fashion items you can equip; can't just equip them willy-nilly in this game like you could in prior titles.
Why the change? I have no clue. I'm just pointing this out now so that, in the future, if I veto someone's costume choice, this is the reason. Probably.
This woman complains about the cold, and how it's been getting unnaturally cold around here lately. Global cooling in this world, apparently. According to the Abbey, at least.
And our final conversation for Hellawes: a yak.
I wouldn't brag about that first one... So before we continue the plot, remember when I said one of the game's few missables was coming up? Rokurou's Jacketless outfit is what I was talking about. To get it, just sleep at the inn in Hellawes before we go much further. You'll get a skit for doing so where Rokurou is practicing his craft without a shirt on, and you'll get the outfit after you resume control.
Oh, and inns. They operate just like they always have in Tales games: fully restoring your party's status for a nominal fee. There's nothing else interesting going on in town, so we better get back to work. It doesn't seem like the exorcists in front of the town's main gate have left, so we have to go back through the secret storeroom entrance to get to the village where we might learn more about this "Dyle" character.
Once you're back in the field and walk around for a bit, another skit.
For context, Velvet asked if he was cold, he said he wasn't and pointed out Velvet's the one with the exposed midriff, Velvet got mad at him for that, and said she still apparently felt feelings of shame, which is something daemons allegedly lack. At the very least, she doesn't.
Small ice slide. Whee.
We're certainly looking forward to it. He's gotta use Stormhowl at some point in the plot, right?
Nearer to a dungeon we won't be going to for a long time (and I forget the context for doing so), we find this. Although this shares the Conversation icon on the mini-map, it's actually a scene, so I'll be covering it here and not including it in the Conversations compilation for this update. Bitter memory
Look, there's something growing all the way out here. That is one gutsy flower.
It's a Princessia...
That's quite an elegant name.
My sister loved them...
...I see. Thank you. And everybody's in position, I take it?
Yes. Preparations are underway now. We're all looking forward to it.
Not much longer. Keep up the good work.
Of course. If anyone can succeed, it's you, sir. *both men leave*
*looks toward graves* The time is nigh, Celica... Time to do what needs to be done. For you, for him...for everyone.
*looks on*
Is something the matter, Velvet?
Oh, no, I, uh... I just didn't want to disturb you.
Perish the thought. You're not disturbing anyone--she's your sister, too.
I know, I just figured that... Well, she loved you the most out of all of us. And that, uh...you also loved her more than anyone else, so...
*shakes head* ...Velvet. There's no ranking among family. Celica, Laphicet, you... You're all very important to me.
Yeah...you're right...
It's almost the anniversary of her death. I'd better go to the cape and pick her a Princessia.
That's a good idea. I'm sure that would make her happy.
Yes... I really hope it does.
And once we return to the present, we get a skit, which is also part of the above video. I dunno, Velvet... He seemed pretty sincere there to me. Hopefully if we see him again, we can get some answers.
You may assume these are climbable vines. They are, but you don't get the prompt here. Why? There's a boulder at the top.
Just for a change of pace, let's switch to Rokurou. There's not much to differentiate him from Velvet this early in the game aside from Break Souls. Like her, he's a fast, nimble fighter. His Break Soul, for the record, is a counterattack. When you activate it, Rokurou will go into a stance, and if an enemy attacks him, he breaks out of the stance and dashes through the enemy, causing a whirlwind that knocks them away and down.
Whoever you decide on playing as, the village is easy to find just by following the mini-map. Upon entering... The girl who doubts
Thank goodness I was here. But any further attacks, and...
An exorcist... Was that Dyle she slew?
No. It wasn't a lizard daemon.
*turns around*
Are you...crying?
It's just...everything that's going on. Daemons run rampant in the outlands, and yet the Abbey has explicitly chosen not to come to their aid. It's true we haven't the forces to be everywhere at once, and the people of the outlands refuse to obey the Abbey's rules.
Why make excuses to me?
I'm not making--! My name is Eleanor Hume. I am a praetor patrolling for the Abbey. What is your business here?
We heard there was a murderous daemon in this town who fled from Hellawes.
This shipping guild incident, yes. I've been looking into it, but I haven't found any clues yet.
Mmm.
Worry not. We will track down that foul daemon and put it to the sword. *marches off*
Good thing word hasn't gone out yet about Velvet's physical appearance and the prison break...
Did the exorcist lady go away?
Yeah, she's gone.
Oh good. I didn't want us to get eaten!
Eaten?
I-I mean, I don't know anything about a daemon!
It's fine. You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, I promise.
...There's a lizard daemon in a cave to the north. He said he'd eat the whole village up if I told anyone. I'll give you these! Don't tell anybody, all right? *gives two apples to Rokurou*
Got it. That's a promise. *nods*
*girl runs off*
*tosses one to Velvet* A cave to the north? Hmm.
One of the rare times a skit will give you a full screen image like this. Despite Rokurou lauding their taste, Velvet can't taste a thing from this apple. How odd.
Before we go after Dyle, some business to take care of here. There's a skit after resuming control where Velvet asks about what Eleanor was doing here and Rokurou seems to know. Seems he's stayed more up to date about the world in the three years since the prologue than Velvet has.
Rokurou's gotta gush over yaks more. This one's got a bit more of an unpleasant ending for him than the last time, though.
Well, that would explain why the Abbey doesn't seem too popular here. We do get some worldbuilding from this guy. Apparently daemonblight has only gotten worse since the Abbey was founded, and the Abbey can only really keep firm control of the larger cities. But, at the very least, for this town, not everyone is here by banishment. For example, this guy lives here of his own free will.
Before we leave town, there are two chests to open: one gilded one has a Twin Charm for Rokurou (better armor) and a Katz chest that opens for 15 Spirits. No reward this time, though.
Another old guy chats us up near the northern exit. The main purpose of this conversation is to introduce Cooking, which is another Tales staple. Like most of the other games, you gather ingredients, you learn the recipe, you can cook to restore HP and other important benefits.
But WHAT other benefits is up to you. You see, there's a bit more customization this time, because each party member can activate different benefits for each recipe to give you the advantage you want. For example, for this same recipe, Velvet can activate either Stun -20%, Max HP +20%, or 1000+ Damage -40%. Although I have all these effects unlocked because I carried over everyone's cooking ability, normally you can have to keep cooking a particular dish with a character to level up their skill with to unlock these different effects.
In addition to a manual system like this, you can also set up auto-cooking, and the game will helpfully inform you how many more battles you can fight before the auto-cooker can no longer do their job. Always good to know when you need to stock up again. After that tutorial, a skit where Velvet reveals the only thing she can taste anymore is blood. That's rough.
Definitely not the type to piss off... And finally, one more skit for the road, wherein we learn that Rokurou uses alcohol both for drinking and another important purpose.
This is that boulder I was talking about, but can't interact with it right now. The nearby red icon is our next destination, Hadlow Hollow. Hadlow is a village in England, by the way. If there is any more significance to that name, I do not know it.
Not the world's most exciting scenery here. There's a fair number of very basic tutorials here, but it's all fairly perfunctory stuff.
And yep, you'll get these kinds of messages occasionally when that character's cooking level is high enough. How nice.
She's not lying.
Smash that boulder! Remember, Chris only *punched* the boulder, he didn't blow it up with a kick. He probably could have, though.
Moving on, there's a Katz chest just ahead that opens for 25 Katz Spirits, and has a Rose Corsage as a parting gift from a Katz.
And this "tutorial"...you probably don't need me for this.
So instead, let's talk an actual gameplay mechanic: Titles. In older Tales, titles were mostly cosmetic. You'd unlock them via sidequests or in-game achievements (like getting to the final dungeon of Tales of Eternia under a certain par time), they'd have a description, but didn't affect gameplay at all, with only rare exceptions. Starting from Symphonia, select titles unlocked new costumes for the characters, but they still were mostly cosmetic. However, in addition to costume titles, Symphonia was also the first Tales that made titles somewhat gameplay-relevant. By equipping certain titles, you'd develop that character stats-wise one way or another, usually at the expense of stat development toward another one. It was a relatively small effect, so I imagine not people remember that titles did that in that game.
Here, Titles are quite important. As you can see, every title gives that character a certain slate of buffs (except for everyone's default Title, I think) that you unlock more buffs for by grinding a certain gameplay statistic far enough. Some are much easier to do than others; this is the result of Rokurou's Hidden Arte usage over *two* playthroughs of Berseria, so it takes an insane amount of grinding to unlock all the buffs for some titles and the payoff is not particularly worth it in many cases. But it is nice that they *tell* you whether you're wasting your time, is the thing.
So what titles should everyone have? I hate to say "It depends", but it really does, but increasing starting Soul Gauge, can't go wrong with that.
In usual video game fashion, just take alternate paths to find various goodies that hardly deserve mention and then go back to the main path. Once you kick this boulder into the tar, a skit. Short but it's Rokurou being silly so it goes in.
A branching path in a prior area leads to this whole mess of Katz. Let's hope there's not one Katz per soul, or this world could have a huge problem on its hand with Katz everywhere. That chest has Shadow Daggers in it, an upgrade for Rokurou.
That's certainly an ugly bat...it's actually our first rather dangerous enemy, but we won't be fighting him right this moment. We need a save point first. Speaking of, proceeding further in this area gives us a skit.
Yakshas are actually a thing in South Asian / Indian mythology, but they're not typically associated with war in real life.
After Velvet reveals she's a therion, he says he's never heard of a daemon like that and speculates this is her real daemon identity. Nice to know his sense of humor hasn't changed after becoming a daemon, either. And we also have another skit shortly afterwards where they talk about styles and the Stormhowl. Sounds like we have some backstory for ol' Rokurou coming at some point.
Another thing we should talk about in our first real dungeon is equipment. Zestiria was much maligned for its equipment system, whereby you needed to grind equipment a lot to actually develop your characters in interesting ways, since, instead of being purchased from stores or received from sidequests or treasure chests, most equipment was gathered by enemies dropping it.
Berseria actually maintains that system, somewhat, insofar as enemies will drop most of the equipment you use. So what's the difference between enemy-dropped items and ones you find like normal? Well, enemy equipment typically comes with Random Skills which are various small buffs to stats. How many slots for these buffs depends on the item and the enemy who dropped that item.
So, equipment. Master Skills are actually learned via Grade, in that, the Grade you get after the battle goes toward filling out the Master Skill of a piece of equipment. Once the Master Skill is acquired, it's actually a permanent skill that can be used by the character. So once Velvet masters this Amber Belt, she can equip Capability against demihumans +8%, as a normal skill. For this reason, you should change equipment fairly regularly depending on your particular needs in any given situation, including during a boss fight. For obvious reasons I'll try to stay out of menus as much as possible during fights, though. Ruins the pace.
Wheeee. On the far side is a skit where Rokurou asks about Velvet's sense of smell. Apparently it's gotten better, but Rokurou uses most of this skit to prattle on about himself. Gotta get used to that...
Ah, finally. Stands to reason Dyle's close, but we can also save and go after that particularly ugly bat. But let's save that for next time, shall we?