The Tales of franchise has been going strong for years with a lot of memorable and less memorable entries. It’s a series that suffers a bit from hits and misses, but when it gets it right, it offers some of the best RPGs in the genre. Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Berseria are easily considered among the best entries thanks to their stories and impeccable gameplay. It’s no surprise that Tales of Berseria received a remastered version. As one of the fan favorites, why shouldn’t it? But is it any good on the Nintendo Switch? Let’s find out.
Tales of Berseria?
For those unfamiliar with Tales of Berseria, let me quickly recap the story. Tales of Berseria takes place in the world of Desolation, years before Tales of Zestiria. The game introduces us to Velvet and her little brother Laphicet, both on the run from Daemons. That’s right, the deadly Daemons return in this entry, brutally attacking your village. Lucky for you, Arthur the Exorcist arrives just in time to kill the Daemons and rescue the village from what could have been the end of it all. Just when the tragedy seems to be over, Arthur’s wife is killed during the attack, leaving him behind as a colder and broken man. The death of his wife not only affects Arthur’s life but also impacts Velvet, since Arthur’s wife is her sister.
Three years have passed since that attack, and Velvet has become a successful hunter thanks to Arthur’s training. Laphicet shows significant potential but is unable to fight because he can’t move due to an unusual disease. Despite that, life continues in the village; until the night the moon turns red. The red moon marks the return of the Daemons, and Arthur must find a way to stop them once more. Seeing no other solution, he sacrifices Laphicet’s life in order to close the portals to hell for good. Desperate to save her brother, Velvet becomes infected by the demon virus and fails to stop Arthur in time. The result? Velvet is imprisoned, while Arthur becomes a national hero. From that moment on, Tales of Berseria becomes a story about revenge; a story about a girl trying to stop the man who has taken everything from her.
The story is one of the game’s main highlights, as it offers a more serious and even darker tone than what you’re used to in the franchise. For the story alone, this remastered version is definitely worth playing. But if you want to learn more about the game itself, I invite you to read my original review here:
Now, let’s see what this Remastered version has to offer on Nintendo Switch.
Remastered?
Besides bringing Velvet’s revenge story back to modern platforms, this remastered version also introduces a handful of quality-of-life improvements that make the journey through Desolation a bit smoother. Navigation has been modernized with clearer destination markers, and players can even toggle enemy encounters if they simply want to explore the world at their own pace. Fast travel becomes available much earlier than before, and the Grade Shop can now be accessed right from the start, allowing returning players to tweak their adventure from the very beginning. On top of that, most of the DLC from the original release, including costumes and useful items, is included straight out of the box. Content-wise, it’s a good deal, although a Deluxe Edition might have been a more accurate name since it doesn’t really feel like a full remaster.
When I think of remasters, I think of better visuals and smoother framerates, but playing this on Nintendo Switch felt like a bit of a letdown. Sure, it has some sharper textures, but when I’m not directly comparing it to the PlayStation 4 version, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. There aren’t many improvements to the graphics, and the game even suffers from a few too many visual glitches on Nintendo Switch. From poor draw distance to pop-ups and flickering shadows… those are things that honestly shouldn’t appear in a remastered version. The framerate is capped at 30 frames per second, which is fine for the type of game it is, but again, I was hoping for a bit more.
Conclusion:
Tales of Berseria Remastered brings one of the best stories in the franchise to modern consoles, but the Nintendo Switch version never quite feels like a true remaster. Content-wise, there are some welcome quality-of-life improvements, yet graphical hiccups and a capped framerate prevent it from fully living up to that label. It’s still one of the strongest stories the series has to offer, but sadly not the best remaster.
