From its opening scene, Tales of Berseria carves out a unique identity within the Tales franchise. Ask almost anyone and they'll tell you that Berseria is the "dark one." Provided that you let go of your reservations, you'll feel intimately connected with the protagonist, Velvet, with relative ease--something that very few games manage to accomplish. Actually, Berseria has the best cast of any of the Tales games I've played so far (those being Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, and now this). Laphicet, in particular, is the most endearing "child character" in any JRPG I've played. So why didn't I love this game?

From the jump, Berseria introduces a lot of mechanics that lead almost nowhere. Combat is fast and frenetic. However, combat focuses on proccing stuns through elemental artes, as doing so will raise your soul gauge and allow you to extend your combo in turn. Because of that combat basis and Velvet's "Therionization" mechanic, the game is an absolute cakewalk, to the point that it becomes mind-numbingly boring by the second half. There is almost no incentive to experiment in combat, other than to flex, as you're always going to be working towards the same result--proccing stuns. On top of that, Velvet is unkillable when she's Therionized, and she will almost always be Therionized if you're halfway engaged in combat. The game has a random loot system in the vein of Diablo, ensuring that your character progression feels inconsequential. Finally, your reward for defeating powerful bosses--"code red" encounters and Class IV authorization zones--are incremental upgrades called ventites. I lost track of how many times I unlocked these items, and the item description was always along the lines of, "This ventite has a 40% chance to trigger a random skill when playing on Hard Mode." In the midst of all of this, you are asked to explore countless unimaginative and, frankly, unattractive environments, with the only real incentive for doing so coming from thousands of meaningless collectibles. From a gameplay perspective, Berseria piles unpleasant system after unpleasant system upon the player.

I've already praised Berseria's cast, but what about the story? The game manages several character moments that are both effective and well-earned: Shigure's last stand against Rokurou, Laphicet releasing Velvet from the Earthpulse, Eleanor's defection from the Abbey, and Arthur's death are moments that immediately come to mind. Unfortunately, Berseria's narrative often buckles over its own jargon. By the end of the game, your mind will be spinning with all sorts of in-universe terms--Malakhim, Daemons, Therions, Reaper's Curse, Scarlet Night, The Opening, The Advent, Empyreans, armatization, malevolence, Earthpulses, Innominat, blah blah blah blah. The game's incessant compulson to establish and discuss these concepts often clashes with what the game does right--Velvet's struggle against Artorius and her satisfying transformation from soulless, bloodthirsty Therion to brave, compassionate human.

Ultimately, Tales of Berseria is a decent game with numerous shortcomings. Still, I absolutely love these characters. I just wish I loved their game too.