Caphi posted:

Well, there's Sergei and Mayvin.

And a bunch of "who?" characters, like Lucas and every single Sparrowfeather.

Jsor posted:

Will I need to play Zestiria to appreciate this game? Because I got bored of it pretty quickly and I know they're the same universe.

Jsor posted:

Will I need to play Zestiria to appreciate this game? Because I got bored of it pretty quickly and I know they're the same universe.

Tae posted:

I know I will not enjoy Berseria as much as I should, because prequels always make me feel this way when I know how certain characters end up.

Endorph posted:

don't forget attak

voltcatfish posted:

did zestiria have side characters?

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:

Alisha

Junpei posted:

Let's see...

I'll list a combination of any two PC or supporting characters from Berseria. If they have any sort of relationship whatsoever, expand on it, Caphi.

Rokuro and Laphicet
Eizen and Eleanor
Velvet and Dyle
Dyle and Eizen

Erg posted:

please do not feed the junpei

Erg posted:

please do not feed the junpei

Chaotic Flame posted:

I've been playing Tales of Link long enough that I was able to beat Ares Realm. Not sure how to feel about that.

Actias posted:

I've probably spent more time on Tales of Link than on all other games this year combined. Please send help.

Chaotic Flame posted:

Caphi posted:

This sounds fun! I'll try. Mild spoilers ahead, tell me if I cross a line.

Rokurou and Laphicet

Laphicet names Rokurou and Eizen as the people who "taught [him] how to live." If I were to read into it, though, I would say Rokurou, as the non-malak in that statement, represents something special to Laphicet: the picture of a human who is imperfect but hopeful.

Eleanor is perforce pure. Velvet has another kind of relationship with Laphicet. He loves her, and he wants her to have hope, too, but they both need each other's support, and that makes the story a bit different. Rokurou just has a generally jovial rapport with everybody, and I believe that's important - he's a daemon, Malevolent as all get-out, and all about swords (and booze, and debt), but he follows his own code, he's always pushing himself, he knows exactly who and what he is, and he can be insightful when he wants to be. When Laphicet talks about how humans are always going to gently caress up and make mistakes, but they deserve hope and a chance to forge their own way, I think he is talking about Eleanor and Rokurou both. Velvet is a tragedy that is very close to Laphicet, and that's the kind of hope Laphicet wants to give her. But Rokurou is just a dude with issues, and that's the kind of hope Laphicet wants to give him.

Velvet is highly specific (and so is Eleanor, in a different way). Rokurou is an ugly, beautiful, powerless, badass human just doing what he can the way he knows how, and thus showing Laphicet how humans do that. That's very important to Laphicet.

Eizen and Eleanor

I think it's funny that Eizen is with Velvet when they find out Eleanor is supposed to be a spy. Like, it's barely a spoiler, the instant she joins Artorius calls her up and is like "hey do these things secretly" and Velvet and Eizen are both silently standing behind her. It's incredible.

Eleanor gives Eizen a certain amount of poo poo for being a neglectful, irresponsible, freewheeling, thickheaded outlaw pirate. But I think, ultimately, that comes from Eleanor's concern for him, as she's sincerely concerned for everybody - you can see how she reacts to the Reaper's Curse, and his home, and some dragon stuff, and his relationship with Zaveid. Meanwhile, Eizen is the only one who doesn't return fire for her being a straightlaced, stuck-up Exorcist. See, Eizen takes the role of the old, wise one on the team, especially in the field of Malevolence, and he has an idea of what that means about Eleanor.

Quick aside. Eleanor is basically what Sorey was intended and stated to be. She is a naturally kind and naturally pure personality who has had her worldview turned upside-down, and she's struggling with the clash between her compassionate nature, her desire for the best, and the strictures imposed on her in the name of the greater good. The thing is that Eleanor visibly struggles, actually tries to make her own way instead of listening to what she's told (it's highly explicit) by either the Abbey or an old master like Eizen, and is even allowed to put herself out and screw up a few times. I guess that makes Eizen sort of the Lailah in this situation, but the only thing he ever says is what his way is and what works for him - at one point he even tells Laphicet "that's my way. Think about yours for yourself." The entire thing is everything Zestiria paid lip service to.

Eleanor's principled honor-student personality isn't because of her Reason, Abbey or otherwise. Just the opposite. She's very serious about doing everything right, and she thought that path was with the Abbey, but she brings the same intense focus to Team Chaos. The fact that she clashes with them is very much about her own code, not because she's trying to be a paladin about it. And the point here is that I think Eizen is the person who understands that earlier and respects it more than anyone else.

There's also a thing where Eizen really wants to be Mr. Exposition and Eleanor, since she's an honor student, will occasionally show him up. It's a very good bit.

Velvet and Dyle

Part of me feels like you picked these pairings because you played the game and you're going for the least voluminous ones, and another part of me doesn't because you focused on Dyle instead of, say, Percival.

More than anyone else, I think Dyle represents home. He's basically the self-appointed caretaker of home, and a lot of what he seems to do, albeit kind of interfacing with the party as a group, takes the form of taking responsibility for everyone's safety and happiness while Velvet is out doing her thing. (If anything, he's closest to Eleanor, through Moana.) Dyle grumbles about Velvet's recklessness occasionally, given that she's the instigator of a lot of his troubles (though she's also the one who saved him to begin with, and he knows that, because he takes the loss of his tail in stride), but ultimately, he's into his job and he will do whatever it takes because it's what he loves.

Dyle and Eizen

Dyle probably feels as strongly about Eizen as anyone else on the Van Eltia (which is not exactly trivial), but again, I don't remember much specific. I like to think they shared a bottle of spiritwater, though.

Actias posted:

Caphi posted:

Footnote: one advantage of Berseria putting half of half the story scenes into the skit system is you can recheck it easier through Katz Island.

Endorph posted:

also tbh the skits look better than a lot of the cutscenes

Caphi posted:

Anyway I'm doing Berseria's postgame dungeon because apparently it has some very serious Wasteland setting/metaplot sequel hook poo poo in it

Endorph posted:

I mean, the Alisha DLC teased a Zesty sequel, and we obviously didn't get that.

I still kind of think they might do a revamped version of Zesty, but on the other hand it might just be best to wash their hands of the whole thing and just make a new game.

Alt, Tales of Destiny 3.

Endorph posted:

list of tales games that have room for a sequel:

abyss
vesperia
tbh that's all i got

Endorph posted:

tales of phantasia 2

wait that was just symphonia

Junpei posted:

Maybe we can get a good Dawn of the New World?

By the by, how does Bersy rate on "sticking with it's theme"? From a scale of Zesty(worst) to Symphonia(best)?

Endorph posted:

tbh my only idea for a vesperia sequel is duke is the protag, gauche, droite, and nan are the 3 core party members and it's mostly about awkwardly trying to navigate a changing world when you were on the wrong side of the change

i don't even like vesperia that much but that seems like an actual interesting idea for a game

i'd argue vesperia or graces is the worst at sticking with its theme (vesperia drops the 'who should enforce justice' thing in the third act, graces is basically never about the strength to protect and is more about bonds and found families vs your real family) and abyss is the best (everything feeds back into the meaning of luke's birth)

Anyway, it pretty much sticks to what it sets out from beginning to end. There are some minor plot detours that seem to mostly exist to fill time but Arty fills exactly the role you'd expect him to fill and the game is about Velvet trying to kill him and the people she meets along the way, how they affect her, and how she affects them. The emotion vs reason thing isn't really trotted out every single conversation, but it's clearly one of the game's core focuses and the ending makes a clear statement on where it stands with regards to that.