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Only a few months after Tales of Xillia Remastered, Bandai Namco is back with yet another entry in their ongoing remaster series and this time, the choice is a surprising one. Instead of going with the widely expected Tales of Xillia 2, the publisher has decided to release Tales of Berseria Remastered, a game that is still readily available on current-generation platforms today. That alone raises a fair question: does this remaster actually bring something worth paying for, or is it a package that exists mostly for the sake of existing? Our review breaks down what’s new, what’s carried over, and who this release is really meant for.
For those unfamiliar, Tales of Berseria is a mainline entry in the long-running Tales series, originally released in 2016. It launched on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 simultaneously, and the PS4 version remains playable on PlayStation 5 through backward compatibility. Despite being almost a decade old, the game still holds up well by the series’ standards, especially considering that only one new mainline Tales game has come out since.
The game is notable for a few reasons. It shares a connection with Tales of Zestiria, with Berseria’s story essentially acting as a prologue to that game. References to Zestiria are scattered throughout, which is fairly unusual since Tales titles typically stand on their own unless they are direct sequels. That said, you can play Berseria without any knowledge of Zestiria and still follow everything without a problem.
Berseria also stands out as the first mainline Tales game to put a solo female protagonist front and center. The main character, Velvet Crowe, drives the story with a revenge-focused journey following the death of her younger brother. Her path is complicated by a curse that transforms her left arm and forces her to consume monsters and daemons to survive. The story carries a noticeably darker tone compared to many of its predecessors.
What the Remaster Actually Brings
Unlike other remasters in the Tales lineup, Berseria Remastered does not bring major graphical or performance upgrades. The reason is simple: the original game already ran at high resolution with 60 FPS on PS4, which leaves very little room for meaningful visual improvement unless Bandai Namco was willing to commit to a full-scale visual overhaul on the level of Tales of Arise. That did not happen here.
Instead, the remaster shifts its focus toward quality-of-life changes. Early access to the Grade Shop is available before starting a new playthrough, acting as a built-in cheat system where players can spend Grade points on bonuses like doubled EXP, increased item and money drops, extra item capacity slots, and boosted Max HP. These bonuses can be toggled off at any point if the game feels too easy.
Other additions include objective indicators to help players track their goals, options to adjust enemy encounter rates, retry options on lower difficulty settings, a more optimized skip feature for cutscenes, character movement that is 20% faster than the original, improved sound effects, and an auto-save system that helps prevent progress loss from forgetting to save or from unexpected crashes.
On top of that, nearly all of the original game’s DLC is included in the base package, with only a small amount of content excluded. The Deluxe Edition offers optional item sets for players who want additional progression aids, but the standard edition already covers the vast majority of what the original version sold separately.
Who Should Actually Buy This?
The most practical case for Tales of Berseria Remastered is straightforward: if you have never played the game and are looking to buy it now, this version offers better value than the original. The original game is still sold at a higher price point and does not include all the DLC, which can add up considerably. The remaster comes in at a lower standard price while bundling most of that content together with the quality-of-life improvements already built in.
It is also worth noting that this marks the first time Tales of Berseria has been made available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series. Players on those platforms now have access to the game for the first time, which makes the remaster a clear recommendation for that audience.
For players who already own the original game, however, there is not much here to justify a purchase. The improvements are real but not dramatic enough to make revisiting the game feel like a significantly different experience. If DLC ownership or the QoL additions are of interest, waiting for a discount would be the more sensible approach.
Verdict
Tales of Berseria Remastered sits in an unusual spot. It is a remaster of a game that does not technically need one, and it does not deliver the kind of technical upgrades that typically define the format. At a time when some developers are rebuilding games on entirely new engines and simply calling them Deluxe editions, what is being offered here falls short of what the “remaster” label tends to suggest. It would have made more sense to direct this effort toward older Tales titles that are harder to access on modern hardware.
That said, judged purely as a package, Berseria Remastered is hard to argue against for newcomers. Lower price, bundled DLC, and quality-of-life additions make it the most practical way to experience the game today. The value is there but the ambition, less so.
Played on PS5
The Review
Tales of Berseria Remastered
PROS
- In terms of value, it is indeed better than the original version.
- A variety of essential QoL improvements and includes a bundle of almost all previous DLC.
- Finally gets its first release on Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch.
CONS
- A remaster that feels more like a “repackaging” without any significant technical upgrades.
- The changes don’t feel particularly substantial, especially since the game still feels very modern.
- There is almost no meaningful selling point to attract longtime fans who already own the game.
