The remaster’s QoL tweaks help the game feel smoother in motion and in combat, and make playing through the game a lot better than it used to be. And yet, I found myself raising an eyebrow at a few elements of the experience that should have been refined, but have largely stayed the same since I first played it years ago. There are autosaves, expanded skip options, and a Retry option after losing normal battles, and a few more that we’re going to dive into in due course.

If, like me, you’ve witnessed Velvet Crowe’s destructive path to vengeance before, you already know that it’s quite the tale. Her icy demeanour stems from a single-minded focus on bringing the man who destroyed her family to justice. But if this is going to be your first time with the game, know that Velvet is an anti-heroine whose choices might leave you wondering if helping her on her mission really is the right thing to do.

Of course, she meets a motley crew of characters along the way, each with clear motivations and enough nuance to feel genuinely compelling. From a demonic swordsman to a someone having trouble understanding the concept of personal liberty, the friends you make along the way are definitely a highlight of the experience.

I found myself more interested in some of their stories than even the main narrative, and I always took every excuse to stop and chat with them through Skits just to see what they had to say and perhaps even laugh at the banter between them as we travelled across the kingdom of Midgand.

It’s safe to say the story is the strongest part of the game, and it might even pull you through its more repetitive stretches, depending on how invested you are after the rather long prologue. I say that because there’s going to be a lot of backtracking through previously visited areas to get to your next objective, with the game often forcing you to traverse multiple maps to get to where you need to be.

"Velvet is an anti-heroine whose choices might leave you wondering if helping her on her mission really is the right thing to do."

It’s a complaint I had with the original version, and it continues to be a sore spot despite the remaster moving the Bottomless Denore/Inoph Bottles earlier, giving you much earlier fast-travel tools than before. However, those items are limited in their utility, and you’re going to be running across maps quite a lot. It does help that your characters’ movement speed is boosted (the remaster increases it by 20%), but it’s still a tedious amount of repetition that quickly overstays its welcome.

With that being said, the addition of a new star destination marker for main-story objectives that also shows you the distance to your destination is a nice touch. Making the Grade Shop accessible right off the bat was another great way to just blaze through the story for me. However, it could trivialize the game even on greater difficulties, and I’d recommend limiting the boons you obtain from it if you’re interested in a bit of a challenge from the game.

As far as visuals and performance go, the remaster certainly does benefit from a fresh coat of paint, but it’s nothing to write home about. The characters’ facial models are still rather stiff, although they are designed quite well. On PS5, the remaster targets 4K at 60 FPS, and it largely feels like it. The experience was smooth with no pop-in or stutters on most of the maps and cutscenes. The environments themselves are rather bland, but that’s an issue that was prevalent in the original game as well.

The audio design and voice acting deserve a special shout-out, with the soundtrack being among my favorites in the franchise, while the Japanese voice acting really sells its material. While the English actors do a decent job, I’d recommend going with subs instead of dubs with this one.

"The AI for both your party members and enemies is quite basic, and you’re going to be doing most of the heavy lifting yourself"

While the story is great and the exploration is mildly interesting for the most part, Berseria’s take on the series’ LMBS-style combat was a bit too hit-or-miss for my liking. Yes, the controls are smooth, and combos flow into each other quite well, but it’s all simplistic.

I’m a fan of combat systems in JRPGs that encourage building synergies with your fellow teammates, and while the potential for it is there, Tales of Berseria’s combat is largely a matter of button-mashing with a few Artes and Break Souls thrown in. Combat revolves around your Soul gauge: actions consume Souls, and you’ll try to gain more while preventing enemies from stripping yours away.

The AI for both your party members and enemies is quite basic, and you’re going to be doing most of the heavy lifting yourself. I did have a battle where the AI managed to bring down a foe after I got Velvet knocked out, but it was a long wait that made me decide to take a more active role myself. All in all, your mileage is going to vary with the game’s combat depending on how much you like what’s on offer in this one and other titles that are similar to it.

Of course, you now have the option to toggle enemy encounters completely off, so touching field enemy symbols won’t trigger battles, event battles excluded. It saves quite a bit of time if you’re just looking to experience the story. That option works very well with Grade Shop upgrades that let you double or triple the XP you earn from battles you do play through, ensuring you’re still levelling up your characters as intended.

A convoluted UI and unintuitive menus are another deterrent to those among you looking to make the most of distinct builds and varied skill sets for Velvet and her party. Although the game’s RPG trappings are quite rudimentary, engaging with them via its menus continues to be a part of the experience that I just began avoiding thanks to how relatively easy its combat can be.

" Your mileage is going to vary with the game’s combat depending on how much you like what’s on offer in this one and other titles that are similar to it."

Does Tales of Berseria Remastered do enough to justify the effort that went into making it? That depends on what you’re expecting from the game going in. If you’re looking to revisit the story or experience it for the first time without focusing too much on its other mechanics and features, the remaster is definitely going to be of value to you.

But if you’re in the market for a title that tests your skills while entertaining you with its story, you might want to wait for a sale before you pick this one up. Its mixed  combat and tedious emphasis on exploration are going to wear you down, considering that they’re a crucial part of the gameplay loop on offer.

If you’re a fan of the original game or the Tales franchise, this one’s a no-brainer. But for the rest of you, you might want to wait things out a little and pick this up when you get a solid deal on it.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Resident Evil Requiem

The big one, the main event, the raison d’être for many survival horror fans. With the long-awaited return to Raccoon City, a fusion of first and third-person perspectives, and Leon S. Kennedy looking more fly than ever, Resident Evil Requiem is simply the game to watch out for in February. It’s been a long time coming – can you believe Resident Evil Village was almost five years ago? – but based on everything we’ve seen thus far, it will be worth the wait and then some. Look for its launch on February 27th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Nioh 3

“Let’s have a dream of everlasting peace,” said Tokugawa Ieyasu, probably, to which his younger grandson probably said, “No.” With a Kyoto beset by Yokai and no other options, it’s on Tokugawa Takechiyo, the rightful heir to the title of Shogun, to travel back in time and fix things. But even as it incorporates new open-field elements for non-linear exploration, seamless switching between Samurai and Ninja styles, and all kinds of nasty new enemies, Nioh 3 retains that addictive hack-and-slash gameplay and masocore difficulty that we know and love. It’s available on February 6th for PS5 and PC, with a free demo available for both now.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined

The art style, the music, the visual overhaul – everything about this screams old-school adventure. Granted, this isn’t the first “different” edition of Dragon Quest 7, but the developer isn’t just aiming for fancier graphics – it’s also streamlining the original story, adding new content and bringing quality-of-life features (like instantly defeating lower-level enemies in the field). Couple this with new activities and the new Moonlighting system for combining Vocations, and Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined could be the best possible version yet when it launches on February 5th.

Romeo is a Dead Man

Say what you will about Suda51 games, but one thing is for sure: You never know what to expect. So the concept of Romeo is a Dead Man, where one Romeo Stargazer dies, revives, and hunts criminals across space and time with the special Dead Gear? Not exactly on everyone’s bingo card. Nevertheless, the surreal presentation, bloody hack and slash combat – with a delightful assortment of weapons to wreak havoc – and over-the-top bosses will more than suffice when it launches on February 11th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X

If you enjoyed Dead Cells, then BlazBlue Entropy Effect offers one of the more low-key enjoyable – and addictive – rogue-lite side-scrolling experiences out there. For its console release, however, 91Act is going bigger, adding a new story centered around the Sea of Possibility, with Ace seeking the Shards of Possibility to save the world. If none of that matters to you, don’t worry – Entropy X adds Naoto Kurogane as a new playable character alongside new bosses, enemies, stages, and more.

Mario Tennis Fever

I’ve got a fever, and the solution? More Mario Tennis from Camelot. I don’t think any campaign can ever match up to Mario Tennis: Power Tour, but Fever’s set-up of having Baby Mario and friends re-learn their tennis skills is at least somewhat enticing. Beyond that, the real hook is the new Fever Rackets, each with unique abilities called Fever Shots that can turn the tide of a match. Couple that with “Mix It Up” Mode’s unique twists and a whopping 38 playable characters, and Mario Tennis Fever could maybe, probably, be a sleeper hit when it launches on February 12th for the Switch 2.

Ride 6

Arriving about two and a half years after Ride 5, Ride 6 makes the jump to Unreal Engine 5 while packing over 250 bikes. The usual stars appear, but this time, players can also take Baggers and Enduro Bikes onto the track. And if you prefer something a little more free-form, off-road tracks finally properly debut in all their dirty glory. Couple all this with a new Career Mode, RIDE Fest, which sees you going up against Legendary bikers in their category of choice, and Ride 6 is looking packed ahead of its release on February 12th.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties

A visually improved version of Yakuza 3 probably would have been enough, but RGG Studio went the extra mile by revamping the combat mechanics, adding new activities (including managing a gang of bikers), progression systems, and even a whole new side story focused on Yoshitaka Mine. All this for just $69.99. Are we a little worried after the demo was rated “Mostly Negative” on Steam? Well, sure, but maybe there will be some improvements, at least visually, before its launch on February 12th for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reanimal

How do you create something that’s somehow even more disturbing than Little Nightmares? Tarsier Studios apparently has the answer with Reanimal – a story about two siblings seeking to find their friends after an unknown event has brought overwhelming horrors into their lives. The mood, the aesthetic, the isolationism – it’s all here but darker and more expansive. Launching on February 13th for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S, Reanimal invites you to pick up the pieces of a fractured home, or die trying.

ASTROBOTANICA

Even after years of the same crafting, harvesting, farming, and building in this genre, ASTROBOTANICA’s premise has me intrigued. It’s set during prehistoric times, but this isn’t a Far Cry Primal situation. Instead, you’re an alien named Xel, who must study and collect plants to tolerate the atmosphere. From there, hijinks with neanderthals, mysterious sights, six skill paths, and more await. Of course, it won’t all be accessible – ASTROBOTANICA launches into early access on February 16th for PC – but it still promises dozens of hours of exploration.

Styx: Blades of Greed

Why send in an orc to tear down the front door when you could send, well, an orc to rob everyone blind? Styx returns in his third adventure, this time with a crew and a hankering for Quartz. Three massive sandboxes await, and based on the multi-level Wall, where you can jump down chimneys to infiltrate kitchens and poison meals, or mind control guards to do a flip, there are a lot of options for stealth sandbox fun. It’s launching on February 19th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Ys X: Proud Nordics

The original landed somewhat less ideally than I would have liked, especially compared to Ys VIII and Ys IX. Proud Nordics doesn’t look to severely overhaul its combat systems, so much as add new content in the form of the Aland Island and a story revolving around a mysterious Mana user. Regardless, if you’re hungry for more, from arena battles and new bosses to fresh Mana Actions, Ys X: Proud Nordics is worth watching out for when it launches on February 20th for PS5, Switch 2 and PC.

Aces of Thunder

Replaying Ace Combat 7 or diving into Project Wingman to prepare for Ace Combat 8 is nice and all, but what about flight combat in VR? That’s what Aces of Thunder promises when it launches on February 3rd for PC, PS5 and PlayStation VR2. Between an extensive range of WW1 and WW2 aircraft, full HOTAS support, and 15 maps – with War Thunder developer Gaijin Entertainment at the helm – it looks like it could be the most immersive dogfighting sim yet. And while VR is ideal, an optional non-VR mode is also available.

Tales of Berseria Remastered

Why a remaster of Berseria, especially when Xillia 2 is right there? A question for another day, perhaps, but at least it’s one of the more well-received entries in the series. Launching on February 27th for Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS5, Tales of Berseria Remastered adds the usual quality of life options, from turning off enemy encounters to accessing the Grade Shop from the start. You even get a healthy chunk of DLC from the original.

ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard

We won’t be getting Portal 3 anytime soon, but there are plenty of other first-person puzzles worth diving into, such as ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard. Aside from the obvious riff on certain plot elements, the concept of walls attracting objects (sentient or otherwise) of the same color is intriguing. Paint the world red, or blue, or orange, to progress, and hopefully not suffer agonizing death at the hands of many killer robots.

Retailing for $39.99, which includes a Super Adventuring Assistance Set with various items, Tales of Berseria Remastered will also launch with $59.99 Deluxe Edition. Alongside the above, it features a Battle Background Music Pack, a Super Growth Support Herb Set, a digital art book and a digital soundtrack.

But what’s new in terms of quality of life features? Pretty much what you’ve come to expect from other remasters, including destination markers, an option to turn off enemy encounters and access to the Grade Shop from the start. It also includes all of the original game’s DLC.

However, reactions to the announcement are somewhat mixed. Tales of Berseria was released in 2016 and holds up well despite its age. And while it’s an opportunity for Xbox and Switch users to finally play, Tales of Xillia 2 remains a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

Maybe 2027 will be its year. Or maybe we’ll finally see the next mainline Tales.