So I had a moment with Tales of Berseria the other day.
I was pretty much in the last stretch of the game
-- more than capable of waltzing right into the final dungeon, at least after I
tied up some loose ends vis a vis the sidequests that opened up. I did as many of those quests as I could,
since I worked under the assumption that -- by virtue of the game taking up
much-needed memory space on the PS4 -- I might never get the chance to play it
again. As of this post, I’ve finished
the game. I didn’t do everything (like
the post-game dungeon) because I need to move on to other stuff. But I’d say 95% of the stones were turned.
In any case, one of those sidequests got a real
reaction out of me. I didn’t cry or anything,
though. It’s just that…well, I won’t go
into detail about it, because it’s a spoiler for both Berseria and (to a lesser extent) its predecessor Zestiria. But it does involve/clarify a core character’s
fate, which is just as dire as you’d expect.
Said character -- Eizen, the one who had become my favorite character -- happened to be the one I was using as an
avatar on the field at the time. So when
the cutscene finished and I regained control, I could’ve gone on to do other
stuff. Fight more daemons, search for
treasure, et cetera.
But I didn’t.
I didn’t really do anything. I took Eizen to the edge of the area -- a
grassy, pleasant plateau that just made it through the rain -- and stared out
at the world beyond. The fields, the
mountains, the clouds, the sky; all of it stretched before me, with blooming
flowers set behind my avatar’s feet. I
drew a slew of deep breaths -- one slow, chilled sigh after another. It wasn’t something I did out of exasperation
or frustration. Certainly not despair,
either. I guess the closest word would
be “melancholy”. I had every right to be
melancholic, I think, since at long last I had learned the circumstances behind
Eizen -- the one question that had been on my mind since I first learned he
would be a playable character.
But as impactful as that moment was, I don’t think
that’s the sole reason I stood there on that plateau. I know it wasn’t. I knew it then, and I know it now. It was in that moment, when I had the truth
sealed firmly in a recess of my mind, that I realized the end of the game drew
near. So did the end of my
adventure. So did the end of countless
battles. So did the end of innumerable
laugh riots. So did the end of my
travels -- my privilege to travel with Velvet, with Laphicet, with Rokuro, with
Eleanor, with Magilou, with Eizen. And
so, as I stood on that plateau, one single, simple thought came to mind.
“I’m gonna miss these guys.”
I wasn’t wrong.
Tales of
Berseria is a long game. Very
long. Not counting game overs and lost
progress, Zestiria took me about 56
hours to beat. By the same metric, Berseria took me about 77 hours to
beat. I could’ve beaten it sooner. I should’ve
beaten it sooner; this spring has seen an onslaught of weighty, gold-star
releases, and by the time you read this you’ll probably be well on your way
with the show-stopping Persona 5. But even of another massive JRPG is right
around the corner for me (and all of us), I wanted to play Berseria as much as possible.
I did sidequest after sidequest and fought daemon after daemon. It wasn’t just for bragging rights, or a
virtual trophy, or even for the sake of pretending I was some kind of
completionist. Well, maybe that last one
factored in on some level. But the more
I played, the more I could pretend like the game could never end -- that I’d
never have to say goodbye.
It’s been a while since a game made me feel like
this. Arguably, there’s never been a
game that could make me feel like
this. Maybe that’s an exaggeration;
maybe it isn’t. Either way? It doesn’t change my intense love for the
game. Nor does it strip away its merits,
or the respect I think it deserves. For
that reason -- for the fact that I’m legitimately getting misty-eyed while
writing this post -- I have to make an assertion. Tales of Berseria is, without a doubt,
one of my favorite games of all time.
I won’t even try to rank it, because the
proverbial “Top Ten” list is a nebulous cloud of titles and half-formed
memories. But it’s up there, because it should be up there. Tales games
before this one have been legitimately, consistently good. The same is going to apply to Tales games after this one. But this game -- this, of all entries! -- is
the one that broke a barrier no others have managed to breach. It’s a thrilling prospect, since it could
mean that this is the new standard that Berseria’s
successors will follow. But with it
comes disappointment, and even frustration, for the worst possible reasons.
My fear, if not my belief in the greatest
injustice in the gaming world, is that Tales
of Berseria will go completely unnoticed and untouched by most of the
populace. It’s not the biggest name in
the JRPG pantheon. It’s by no means a
mainstream franchise, with conventions and aesthetics that may invite scorn
instead of praise. And worst of
all? It’s a title that’s released in a
season drowning in high-profile, must-have games. I’d imagine that even a JRPG enthusiast will
wipe the calendar clean, knowing full well that Persona 5 would crush April (and beyond) underfoot. And I can’t stand the thought.
I want people -- as many people as possible -- to
enjoy the franchise that’s steadily tried to support the genre and the medium
alike. Admittedly, my motives are as
selfish as they get; even my high-minded ideals don’t mean much when the
subtext is “everybody come and like this game I like”. But I hope you don’t mind me being a little
selfish. If it’s for the sake of art, I’ll
gladly play the role of the dastardly villain.
So yes. I
am absolutely going to write more
about this game; in my eyes, it deserves nothing less than whatever tribute I
can offer. If it manages to convince
even a single person to give it a try -- to set aside some time in an utterly
frozen gaming schedule -- then I’ll have returned the favor. I want to do much more than that, and reach more people than that,
obviously. But I have to start
somewhere. And I hope that you guys will
come along with me on this brand new journey.
Why?
Because in the end, Tales of
Berseria is a lot of things. And who
knows? Maybe one day soon, it’ll mean as
much to you as it does to me.
See you next time.
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