#STEP UP YOUR GAME ROKUROU

[corvuscorona]

IT'S TIME TO RANK TALES OF BERSERIA CHARACTERS BASED ON THEIR "BROKEN : WATCH OUT" RATIOS.

I have to document this or I'll die.

1st number indicates how broken the character is (when handled by an amateur who loves to fuck around but cannot remember more than 3 things at a time) on a scale of 1 (you have to play the game to win) to 5 (90% of the potential gameplay is unnecessary for winning. on chaos mode).

2nd number indicates how much you have to Watch Out when playing as the character, again from 1 (you'll be fine probably) to 5 (switch to velvet the second things start going south or Die).

ranked in order of total numerical score because I LOVE to jevil-do-anything. there is 1 tie; please consider it broken by "more manic gameplay" winning over "inherently more methodical".

ready GO!!!

"broken" is higher: character i switch to when i just want to get it over with.

"watch out" is higher: more fun on account of the risk but if the other number is too low i still don't feel like it most of the time.

scores match: simulates what i think it must be like to play fighting games.

there are gifs of mystic artes because even i didnt want to read 6 paragraphs in a row without landmarks.

6- LAPHICET: his break soul is defensive & i can't figure out how to do combos w/ him that actually make casting faster. 0:3. 1 star. do it yourself, babyboy; i cannot help you. you'll help me.

5- ROKUROU: youd think he would be more broken than this but the timing on his break soul counter-hit thingy is surprisingly fussy and it's hard to see when something's about to hit you when there are 6 suits of armor onscreen all flailing their empty limbs around at once. buttonmash city. soul waster supreme. easier to combo with but his focus must be low or something bc i get stunlocked the most as him by far. hard to play w/ finesse. 1:4 "don't get hit."

4- ELEANOR: swinging her spear like a baseball bat flinging a guy into the air and then leaping up into the air to smack the guy around while things continue happening underneath me is a lot of fun to let me keep having as often as i can use any of her dozen-hit-doing iron-stance-having artes to grab souls with and consequently her break gauge fills really fast too. would be higher on this list if i could remember which direction shes gonna step/slide/jump/fly like a bullet out of a gun when i hit any given button. the unpredictable nature of this keeps my on my toes too hard for me to ever really win with her on purpose. 3:3 & also why does she run so slow???

3- VELVET: ol' reliable. her break soul is aptly named because if the entire battle system hadnt been built around it like an SCP containment procedure this game would be unplayable. as long as you have 3 souls you can tank any hit you want while you rip an enemy's blood right out of its veins and if the tailor-made-for-that-exact-enemy attack she does at the end of the combo doesnt get you back a soul, your options are limitless - do a weak point combo or guard real good or do 2 switch blasts in a row or hit em with a mystic arte or failing all that just run in circles until one of your teammates dies and their souls fly out of their pockets. free for the taking. DEVOUR. i have only had to Watch Out as velvet like 5 times in 120 hours & two of them were because the enemy attack lasted for 500 years so when i came out of therion mode with 1hp it was still happening on top of me. 5:1.

2- EIZEN: now we are fucking getting somewhere. the second you knock an enemy down you get 2 free hits that do GOOD damage & hurl you several feet in the "behind the other guy" direction, and give you like most of a break gauge level, but First you have to Knock Them Down with a guy who gets stunned like he's punching HIMSELF 1 out of every dozen hits & has really cool attacks i wanna look at that have weirdly long windups. i tried playing as eizen to fight phoenix on chaos mode and it did NOT go well but on the other hand it went a LOT worse as every other character so man i just do not know anymore. special bonus points for having the most contentious "hard to do long combos : really cool tier-2 mystic arte" ratio, too. 3:5 i'm not kidding you really gotta watch out eizen dies A LOT

1- MAGILOU: as long as you can LOOK, A SHOOTING STAR!, you have a chance of surviving but the size of that chance vacillates wildly from moment to moment LET ALONE fight scenario to fight scenario. her combat is so simple in theory; spell absorber Just Works and spams free attacks for you that practically blot out the goddamn sun, her little meteor attack is nigh instant comes down exactly where you expect it to in front of her and stuns/grabs souls like there's no tomorrow. AND YET. i cant get used to like any of her other attacks for fear of getting hit while winding up and/or launching myself halfway across the battlefield directly into a giant bird's big stupid laser beam, doing combos to lower casting time on her artes is just as much of an issue as it is with laphicet, and in the not-so-rare circumstance that she cant stagger whatever she's hurling space rocks at she crumples like a paper bag. love watching her do her futile little gay little run away from danger in the world's biggest 2 hats, and then die. queen. 5:5 !!!

[mvsendex-moved-blog]

💕 //shigure & eizen :3c

Send 💕 and my muse will use The Love Calculator to see how compatible they are.

Love Calculator: 96%Dr. Love thinks that a relationship between Shigure Rangetsu and Eizen has a very good chance of being successful, but this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to work on the relationship. Remember that every relationship needs spending time together, talking with each other etc.

Smug Eizen is smug.

@ofvaricty

[yume-x-hanabi]

And the rest of the questions :)

4. Do you prefer canon ideas or do you have your own headcanons for them?

I enthusiastically take every little bit of canon we can get, but I also need extensive headcanon. Any kind of content about them makes me happy x3

5. Favorite canon moment of them?

Game: it’s more in the little things, like the looks they exchange, the way Wingul immediately knows what Gaius wants, stuff like that.

Side material: the Dumplings&Masks Drama CD is a treasure: Gaius going to Xian Du because he couldn’t find Wingul in the castle, Wingul instructing Presa not to listen to Gaius when he says he’s fine on his own, the way they rib each other about being workaholics. It’s exactly how I imagine their casual interactions to be and it’s wonderful <3

6. Least favorite canon moment of them?

That time when Wingul decided to block the party’s path to Gaius. We don’t talk about that time -_-

7. Favorite headcanon trope/idea? (Your own or someone else’s)

All the ways people are coming up with to bring Wingul back. I love how we as a small ship fandom are collectively in denial about his death. He shall be saved!

8. Least favorite headcanon trope/idea?

Thankfully it’s rare, but I really hate it when they’re made to fit yaoi trope dynamics (overly pushy/aggressive Gaius, weepy uke tsundere Wingul...). I’ve never liked those dynamics to begin with, but especially with them because it just... doesn’t fit? Gaius would never abuse his power in such a way, that’s so contrary to everything he thrives to be as a king it’s not even funny. And Wingul, even if he has some tsun tendencies, generally knows what he wants and how to get it. He’s got his own ambitions, he’s not some delicate flower to be manhandled. And that’s not even getting into the rapey undertones. No thank you.

9. Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics?

The respect, trust and loyalty. Also how they can be absolute dorks together (Sound&Fury comes to mind).

10. Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcanon)

Wingul’s insecurities. Listen to Rowen! You don’t have to sacrifice your health and your life for Gaius to want you by his side!

11. If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?

During their conquest of Auj Oule. I imagine they spent a lot of time one on one, planning and stuff, and they understand each other well... At some point they’d develop a friendship, and then start having feelings for each other. It wouldn’t be easy on Wingul’s side at first, because he still holds resentment about the death of his family; he’d probably reject the idea that he’s falling for his former enemy. But eventually he’d accept it. As for how exactly they’d get together, I don’t have a specific headcanon about that, just a list of possible scenarios depending on the mood (sometimes Gaius takes the first step, sometimes Wingul does, sometimes they find out accidentally...)

12. If you had to take them and plunk them into another fandom, what fandom would that be? Why?

If they found themselves in the Berseria world (looking for Jude and Milla? x3), Gaius would so become bff with Rokurou and it would be so hard to get them to stop rambling about swords all day long. Wingul would be so aggravated.

13. How hard is it write/draw your pairing? Scale of 1-10.

Hmm... They’re not really hard for me to write; it’s more writing in general that’s hard for me because I lack practice. But they’re about the only ship I can write about atm; they’re very inspiring, haha.

Drawing, I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t tried to draw in ages, and when I used to draw I would only be able to draw female characters. So idk. I wish I hadn’t stopped ;_;

14. Is there a pairing that you think rivals them?

Nope x)

15. Which character of the pairing do you like more? (Would you ever pair yourself with them?)

So, firstly, I don’t pair myself with characters (or people lol). I may joke that some characters or actors are my husband/wife, but it’s just to express they’re high-tier favorites and they’re too old for the label “bby” (depends on context lol), it’s not part of some self-insert fantasy or anything.

Now, who do I like more? I don’t think I like one more than the other. Interest may lean more toward one at a given time, but in general I just love them both and it’s hard to rank them.

16. Which character of your pairing would be the one to break up with the other? Why?

Why would they do that ;_;

Wingul, if he feels that their relationship would be detrimental to Gaius. Noble idiocy at its finest.

17. Are they relatable as characters or as a pairing?

Well, important parts of their personalities are not really relatable to me because I’m not in their position and will never be. I do relate a lot to Gaius’ love of cats and chocolate though :p

18. Did you once/ever dislike one/both of them?

Nope. I wasn’t as interested in them the first time I played because I tend to focus on the party members, but I didn’t dislike them.

(Slight aside, but thinking about it, that’s the first time I’ve really gotten so attached to antagonists. Usually I like antagonists for their role in the story, but don’t really build emotional attachment to them. Maybe it’s because Gaius and the Chimeriad are not really villains? idk)

19. On an estimate, how many posts have you made about them?

I have no idea... Maybe 50? idk

20. What made you decide to ship them?

When I realized just how interesting their shared history was, and the amount of trust between them. Doesn’t help that lord/loyal vassal is one of my favourite relationship dynamic in fiction x3 They were just perfect for me.

21. Favorite genre for them? (Angst, fluff, etc.)

Angst is beautiful in all kinds of ways, but fluff really makes my heart melt (esp because we don’t really get it in canon). For my own writing, comedy’s the easiest genre to write lol.

[anchoredtether]

Title: Sunder

Author: AnchoredTether

Rating: Explicit [graphic depictions of violence, major character death, dark themes, discussion of suicide, graphic/disturbing imagery]

Series: Vengeful Retribution

Chapter: 1/?

Spoiler-free Summary:  Rokurou thought nothing had changed until he felt something he could only describe as innately human. Velvet swore she felt a warmth, a luxury she was certain she would never feel again after her humanity died. It seemed even daemons could change.

---!! MAJOR SPOILERS !!--- This story picks up after the ending of the game. I also reference stuff from SEVERAL side quests, so if you don't want those spoiled and you want to know what the characters are referencing, be sure to do them or watch youtube videos of the cutscenes (I mainly reference side quests involving Rokurou, but there's also ones in reference to Seres and Velvet).

Full Summary: Rokurou thought nothing had changed until he felt something he could only describe as innately human. Velvet swore she felt a warmth, a luxury she was certain she would never feel again after her humanity died.

It seemed even daemons could change.

In the wake of the aftermath of sealing Innominat, harmony is restored, but Rokurou feels like the scales are grossly imbalanced. Even when Maotelus cleansed the world of malevolence, Rokurou's still a daemon, and he's still a daemon for a reason. There are too many loose ends for him to be satisfied, and he craves to discover the truth and unlock a future for the woman who ultimately lost everything.

After all, malevolence is necessary to avenge the one you love.

CHAPTER 01 --- SUNDER

"You said you were a yaksha. Is that why you retain your human appearance?"

"Hmm?" Rokurou looked over at Velvet with a raised eyebrow. They were in a shared inn room, each sitting in their respective bed. Before he could speak further, Velvet continued, her knuckles raised to her lips in thought.

"You say you're a daemon and yet the only daemons I've come across look more akin to Dyle. Completely transformed…monstrous even."

"Could make the same observation towards you." Rokurou added blatantly, albeit his tone was anything but hostile. "You don't even have any markings like I do…although I suspect there's a reason your entire left arm is bandaged." Velvet recoiled slightly from this, her gaze faltering for only a moment before regaining their steely stare once more. "I certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of bandaging each individual finger to cover even the fingernails unless there was something to hide."

Velvet stood up from her bed and strode over to Rokurou, causing him to lean back slightly with his eye wide in surprise. He thought she was going to punch him for being so blunt, but she paused, only a foot away from him and only slightly taller even though she was standing and he sitting on the bed. As if debating whether to continue or not, her bandaged arm slowly rose, her fingertips gracing the obsidian edges of his jawline. She kept her hand there for a moment as if asking for permission, and when Rokurou stayed still as death, she continued, caressing her hand up the side of his face as if he were a lover, and brushing his bangs away to reveal his daemonicy.

Her brows furrowed, and her expression looked near painful, as if she were looking at the rawness of a fatal wound. She had seen the edges of black clawing into his face and neck like some tribal tattoo, and occasionally saw a glint of crimson from his right eye, but she had never seen the extent of evil etched upon his face. Gruesome red marks trenched through the black like a burn. Such details of his mark were always hidden by his dark hair. Her golden eyes stared into the daemonic eye that looked back at her unwavering, the red and black ringed iris with a feral slitted pupil housed in a bright red sclera looked like something that belonged on a bloodthirsty dragon.

"Your arm looks the same, doesn't it?"

Rokurou's voice broke her out of her trance as she took a quick step back, about to release her hand from his face but his was quicker as he gently held her wrist and kept it there. Velvet looked at his human eye, as if his voice and very being were connected to that amber iris while the other side of his face was…something else entirely. She made a soft sound of protest, uncertain how to answer or how to even find her voice. She didn't want to expose herself so quickly to someone she barely knew, but then again, here she was, mostly trusting him and allowing him to tag along, and standing in close proximity to him with her hand intimately touching a hidden part of the daemon.

"You don't seem to care to cover yours up." She said in a roundabout way of answering his question, reflecting the focus off of her back to him. "At least…not fully."

"Can't exactly bandage half my face." Rokurou said plainly. "It'd also be difficult to see."

"You can see…?" Velvet meant to make a retort about how he couldn't see through his bangs either, but somehow her voice betrayed her piqued interest in the fact that his right eye still functioned normally to begin with. It looked too strange to function, even by a dragon's eye standards. She was mesmerized by the movements of that iris, and the slow blink as his eyelids lowered.

"Even better than this one." He lifted his left index finger to tap just below his human eye. "All my senses have improved, but my vision has become���different. I don't know how to put it." He shifted his gaze to look at her hand and where his hand curled around her wrist. "You bandage your whole arm because it looks just like your daemon claw, am I right?"

Velvet stood still a moment longer, blinking a few times as she peered down at the samurai's questioning gaze. She lowered her hand, palm up, out in front of her, with Rokurou's hand still softly wrapping around her bandages. She lowered her eyes and let out a soft sigh of defeat. With her right hand she pulled off his, and reached for the loose end of the bandage that lie where his hand once was. She carefully peeled back a few stripes so her forearm was exposed to him, raw and vulnerable.

Why was she showing him weakness? Maybe a part of her felt bad for prying upon his obscured face because of her damn curiosity. It ran in the family, and she could never fully blame her younger brother when he got into too much trouble because he simply wanted to learn about the world around him. He learned it from her, after all. The man before her said he owed her a debt, and that he would fight alongside her until it was paid, so maybe a bit of intimacy was a necessary prerequisite if she was going to avenge Laphi and destroy Artorious. From what she had seen of Rokurou so far, it seemed they could learn and gain a lot from each other - even if only as fellow daemons. Velvet saw the benefits of having a formidable samurai vowing to fight alongside her, but perhaps there was something to be gained in having a companion who could understand.

"Huh. I was right." Was all he could say. No fear in his eyes, no falter in his voice. It was as if he were confirming that she had freckles, not a daemonic abirritation. Her skin was black as a void, just like his, and marred with bright red trenches that resembled fresh blood. Her therion claw looked exactly the same except distorted in size and pulsing with hunger. It only made sense that her arm normally remained tainted.

"Yeah. You were." Velvet answered emotionlessly, wrapping herself back up and securing the end of the white strip with a better feeling of security. Her arm fell to her side and she looked back up at him, her expression hard. It was time to return to her original question. "So why are you the same? You're not a therion. And you're clearly not like most daemons. Yet…"

"Did you lose your arm?" Rokurou asked abruptly, tilting his head thoughtfully. The question caught Velvet off guard. Her eyes widened momentarily before she crossed her arms.

"Yeah…the man who killed my brother…did this to me."

Rokurou frowned in thought. She could only see his amber eye now, but somehow she could still feel his daemonic eye burning into her questioningly. He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, his gaze lost in a thousand yard stare before returning his focus to the woman looking down at him.

"When I became a daemon, it's because I was dead."

"You died..?"

"My face is marked like this for the same reason your arm is."

Velvet turned away from him. She almost wanted to say she was sorry, but she couldn't afford to feel pity for someone she barely knew. She tried to remove the gruesome thoughts that marred her mind as to how he got his marks - no, scars - but she could already feel her stomach churning at the idea. After a long moment of silence, Velvet found her voice again as she headed back towards her bed.

"For what it's worth, I hope your condition is similar to mine…and that you're stronger because of it."

[maliiik-blog1]

TAGGED BY: @x-avversiera-x (thanks fam ;3) TAGGING: @ anyone who wants to introduce themselves, snag it and tag me y’okay?

NAME: Fatima GENDER: Female  EYE COLOR: Green HAIR COLOR: ....a color that i till this day don’t know its name but..’that Mediterranean Basin’ blond brownish color lolol. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: A Moogle. ZODIAC: Pisces.  FAVORITE COLOR: Green. FAVORITE SEASON: Winter (but Fall is closeby) FAVORITE PLACE: My home. (especially the one back in the UAE tbh) FAVORITE HOLIDAY: Eids. FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: Final Fantasy Type 0 & Harvest Moon:SNES. (newset and oldest yo) LAST SHOW YOU WATCHED: British Got Talent counts?  WHAT’S YOUR HONEST OPINION ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: fuck this royal blue egg. he can be a mess but then flips back and pull himself together like PEOPLE ARE COUNTING ME MUST NOT FAIL!!!!!!!!1 he is determined and always puts 200% in his actions which is very admirable. I honestly did not love him at first but i was interested in him because uh...*whispers* tomokazusugitasan&matthewmercermmmye what? but then he grew in me like ‘that dork who tries to make the best out of the situation to save his people. plus that dork who eats unpeeled oranges.’ i honestly cant put just one thought of why i like this dorking but to sum up this mess:

he is honest af guy who wants the best for everyone--enemies and friends alike.    WOULD YOU DATE YOUR MUSE?: I’m not sure. he’s too good for me.  WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE KINDS OF THREADS?: Anything that makes me come up with more headcanon and ideas about my muse (aka angst lmao) ARE YOU A SELECTIVE ROLEPLAYER?: Mostly, yeah. but asks are open for anyone.  DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MUSE?:Don’t shame me for my long list. I love my Eight & ocs (fftype0) to death.I will step on an active volcano for them. I love Akihik. o Sanada (persona 3) I’ll smash the reaper for him. I love Chrom dearly and I will kick gr ima into the next week for him.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE FANDOM?: JAZZ HANDS AT MY SINNER FRIENDs, ELLIOT &SAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 but yeah i rped long ago in here so yee i guess fe7 just needed love and i kept my drive to come back with a muse alive? mm....yes. p much. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF STAYING WITH THE FANDOM FOR A LONG TIME?: ...dude you dont know me then. i make blogs like i breathe. not currently thinking of making rokurou (tales of ber.seria) because i hate my life.

[the-honey-bear]

Castles in the Sand

quick Velvet and Phi-centric fic. Laphicet and Velvet build a sand castle. identity issues and messy feelings. going from a number to sharing a dead boy’s name isn’t easy.

- ao3 link -

Probably, Velvet could tell you were getting restless. You'd seen pictures of the ocean in books, of course, but no illustration can compare to the crumbly, pastry-flaky way sand falls apart under your burrowing fingertips; or how the waves tease the shoreside, playing cat-and mouse with the land.

When Velvet sighs, and decrees it's time to call it quits for the day, you sprint as fast as your legs can take you to the water-side, eager to join in with the ocean's game. You follow the water in when it sucks in its breath, as close as you dare, leaping, laughing, stumbling back and shrieking when-- inevitably-- the ocean catches you off-guard and cold water catches around your ankles.

Laphicet! Velvet calls to you from across the beach. Take off your shoes. You'll ruin them.

Duly, you take them off, unrolling your stockings too and tucking them into the safety of your shoe.

A hermit crab scuttles into your line of vision. You nudge it with the end of your shoe, to see what will happen, and it darts off into the shade of a cockle-mottled rock. You crouch down low onto all hours, hauling your belly across the hot sand and imagine what it would be like to carry your home on your back.

Laphicet? What are you doing?

Velvet stands above you, shadow thrown long across the sand.

You colour a little. Pretending to be a hermit crab doesn't sound a very grown-up thing to say.

Nothing, you say, instead.

It's fine, Velvet says. Laphi was always going crazy about crabs and bugs and all kinds of unpleasant things, too. Must be a boy thing.

Your ears perk up at that. Velvet doesn't mention your name-sake often, but you cling onto the tiny morsels she feeds you. When Velvet talks about her brother the dream of a soft smile plays on her lips. You catch her snorting at some old joke, or her eyebrows pushing together as she puzzles some old memory out. Always, she thumbs her old comb, the gloss on the metal buffed away by her constant handling, thumb chasing endless circles on the bronze. You think you can catch glimpses of the person she used to be, like snatches of reflection lost in the tumult of the waves.

Every morsel Velvet hands out you treasure like a precious gem. You want to pick up Laphi's shoes, dust them off; step into them.

Maybe then, Velvet will smile again.

She seems in the mood to talk, so you ask her: did you used to visit the beach with Laphi?

She nods.

There was a little cove down from Taliesin we'd visit in the summer, when Laphi was well enough. He'd spend hours drafting me into building sandcastles with him. Even though the tide would just wash it all away.

Sandcastles? You ask her.

Here.

She digs out an old discarded container from the sand and fills it. Tips it on its end and gives it a magician's tap. When she removes it, the sand has magically held the cup's shape.

Amazing!

Laphi was always buried in encyclopedias of the world. This one time, she tells you, he saw a picture in a book of the castle at Loegres, and he became completely obsessed with recreating it. We spent so long building the thing. It had this turret here, and the moat went around this part--

As she speaks, Velvet begins to build, recreating her childhood in the sand. Pass me that old bucket, Laphicet, she asks you, and you scrabble to help her. Together you erect towers and fortifications and dig out the moat. The shadows grow long as the two of you crouch over the construction. Rokurou and then Eizen pass by with badly-hidden curiosity, but you're too engrossed to engage them for long.

At last, the castle is finished. You inspect it from every angle: the perfect turret and spires, complete with leaves to replace Midgand's banners and a hard-boiled egg for the cathedral bell-tower. It's not perfect but it'll do. Artistic liberty, is what Magilou called it. Smiling with tired satisfaction, you turn back towards Velvet.

But she's gone.

She's still right next to you, but Velvet's not there anymore. Her smile has been extinguished into embers; she looks into the sunset with eyes as cold as lumps of burnt-out charcoal.

Velvet? You speak tentatively.

Sometimes, she still scares you.

What does it matter? She says. He'll never see it now. He'll never go any of the places in those books.

The tide is coming in. Within a few hours, it'll take your castle with it. A cool new fear pools in your chest, as cold and sudden as the waves, that cold hand closing your ankles. Velvet looks so distant, so far away that you see a premonition: see the waves roll and crash, taking not just the castle but Velvet, too, away with it. The swift tide pulling her away to some dark, wet place, where you can no longer reach her.

For the first time, when you think of your namesake, you feel not curiosity and envy, but a pang of something like hate.

Later, when the camp's made up and the stars have flickered into life like pin pricks in the sky, Eizen comes to find you by the kicked-down castle, sitting by the shoreside.

He inspect the debris; the cracked-open egg. For a long time, he says nothing.

Why'd you destroy it? He asks.

It didn't look right, you tell him. Nothing like the real thing.

The moon sits, half full, perched on the horizon. You dig your toes into the quickly cooling sand, and cast your mind back to the book you read about astronomy, back when you were a number under a master's thrall.

The moon casts no light of it's own, and is, instead, a pale of reflection and imitation of our own sun's majestic light.

Eizen puts a hand on your head for a long minute. Passes no judgement. Aside from a swift rap on the wrist for insubordination, no-one had ever touched you, back when you were a tool.

He ruffles your hair, and drops his hand with a short little sigh.

Come on, he says. Time for bed.

[kyndaris]

"Why Do Birds Fly?”

Should you look at many of the Tales of Berseria reviews you’ll have noticed that in one corner there is a discussion on reason vs. emotion. Yet, when I think of the adventure that was had by Velvet Crowe and her band of misfits, the more pertinent theme, I found, was what it meant to live.

Humanity, in itself, is a continuous struggle. But our emotions are what define us - as Velvet professes. Desires and wants as well as control and will are all what makes us distinctly ourselves. Take away the means that motivate us and what are we but automatons? This was a reality that Artorious (the main villain aspired for and nearly succeeded in achieving). When reason ruled all, it was as if the characters had stepped into a nightmarish world where free will was obsolete as everyone committed to the needs of the many.

Eizen is infamous with his quote of taking control of the wheel, drawing an allusion that life is very much commandeering a pirate ship on the high seas. And this is reflected in the personal and selfish choices that drive each and every character.

Though my first dip into the ‘Tales of’ franchise started with Xillia, with Jude and Milla (and his one-sided love), it was Tales of Berseria that showcased how nuanced the story telling can be. It was startling to see how quickly I sympathised and became invested in each and every of the characters. True, Velvet does hit familiar beats of an anti-hero but the moments when one saw her past was just enough to understand her quest for vengeance.

Tales of Berseria starts with a simple premise but despite its simplicity, it brings forth several themes as characters act off each other - from Phi to Eleanor and even Rokurou (even if the daemon serves to be the weakest of the cast members). In fact, several of the skits make the party seem the start of a joke: “A therion, a daemon, a pirate, a malak, a witch and an exorcist walk into a bar...”

In fact it’s quite humorous considering how the non-playable characters build upon the legends of Velvet. At times it seems contrived that none recognise the self-styled ‘Lord of Calamity’ but with recounts of a gorilla daemon or a wolf head, it’s quite easy to see how Magilou’s Menagerie sneak through each major town on their journey.

I could go into a much more in-depth analysis that might have made my teacher proud as I explored the ‘human condition’ but the game itself is also quite enjoyable. Battles are quick but relies quite a bit on button mashing. There is a hint of strategy in using break souls but most of it is forgotten under continuously pressing ‘X’ or Square.

In truth, I had only customised Velvet’s moveset and it was only to assign certain elements to each face button. 

Worse still, the dungeon design leaves much to the imagination. The silver lining here, however, is there little to no loading times as one progresses to each area. A boon to any familiar to Skyrim’s minute long loading screen. Less so when you’re hoping to research monsters for your Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

Beyond that, it was a shame that I could not take any screenshots from any moments of the game besides certain sections. 

Despite that, it’s the story and the characters that elevate Tales of Berseria. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s an exploration on what it means to live - particularly through the representation of Laphicet (or Phi for short). At first a submissive malak, Laphicet grows as a person with the help of Velvet and the other members of the team. This comes first with a name and Velvet slowly opening up her heart after three years in prison. It was easy enough to slip into Velvet’s motivations and feel each gut-wrenching twist as they came along.

Ah, but I have failed to mention my favourite character: Magilou. First introduced as comic relief, she serves an important part of keeping the group together with her jabs. “Act. Like. A. Dove.” will never grow old. But beyond her joyous facade, there is much more to this Mayvin that serves to flesh out her place in the story.

Tales of Berseria is a wonderful story-driven game with a strong set of characters. From Edna’s brother (who, by the way, was the best in Zestiria) to the beginnings of Maotelus’ reign as the Fifth Empyrean, Berseria was an inspiring narrative that went beyond simple revenge and did not shy away from the question: what does it mean to live?

[pengiesama]

today’s berseria highlights

with 40% less salt from yesterday’s adventures

(but i will never be sodium free)

(it is my very nature)

the fat cat seraph from pendrago making a guest appearance as shigure’s malakhim

the factoid that said cat’s eyebrows are considered to be high fashion among malakhim

don’t worry, mikleo, your eyebrows are on fleek even if they’re not thick and luscious like caterpillars

shigure’s the only decent villain thus far and even he’s pretty bland. he gets points for treating malakhim well?

our villains so far: pretentious generic “for the greater good” fuck  ominous ancient god that’s jealous that laphi curbstomped him in a fight dollar store flynn and his sister who wants to bone him some fat old guy evil samurai man

to be fair they’re still better than zestiria’s villains. zestiria’s villains were fucking awful lol

eizen shrieking at rokurou for a solid five paragraphs for not appreciating modern art

a callback to the “lipstick on a pig” line from zestiria, wherein rokurou explains, “it means you can take someone cute and dress them up nicely, and they’ll be even cuter!”. your attempts to appeal to my sormik lusts are transparent, and also, successful

like seriously when do i get to free the malakhim from their enslavement spells and help them lead an insurrection. i feel like this would effectively cripple the Abbey and should be higher on the party’s strategy list. maybe lailah leads the revolution when she’s freed and that’s why she’s held in such high regard. that is probably asking too much

i’m honestly a little weirded out that eizen isn’t visibly more upset when he sees his fellow malakhim being used as brainwashed disposable slave labor, or when they get murdered in droves before his eyes. laphi’s a bit more emotional but even he isn’t as upset as he should be. bad writing or meant to show how they’ve detached themselves from an awful situation? who knows

put a bunch of dumb attachments on eleanor in a vain attempt to make her appealing. the loss of zestiria’s attachment system means that i can’t stack three giant hats on her at once or make massive sunglasses that clip through everything, making my efforts fruitless. am now saving up tales coins for a normin fursuit to shove her into so i eventually don’t have to look at her at all. then i’ll only have to hear her tropey anime nonsense. and see her in skits. it’s not a perfect solution, or even a good solution

speaking of characters i dislike, i see bamco thinks that “pervert mascot who talks in a high-pitched squeaky voice peppered with nonsense words and who constantly sexually harasses the female characters” is still something that needs to exist in a game. please make bienfu disappear permanently and give his expository lines to a sentient lamp or something

please. stop the sexist skits. you proved in zestiria that you could make jokes that didn’t revolve around “LOL WOMEN AMIRITE. WOMEN LOVE MAKING MEN’S LIVES DIFFICULT. WOMEN ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPREHENSIBLE. DERP DERP”. why did you regress. 

please do not ever make a skit with innuendo about laphi masturbating like, ever again

i know people complained about zestiria’s skit system (i.e. skits only triggering at save points and inns) but the berseria (i.e. the traditional tales system) isn’t much better?? every two steps gameplay is interrupted by a required skit, lasting like five minutes apiece, and then you stack the optional skits on top of those (at least three per area). zestiria’s skit system wasn’t flawless (i definitely missed most early-game inn skits bc i had no idea that system existed until someone told me) but at least it let me pace out the skits for when i felt like sitting back and watching them.

so i’ll definitely be replaying zestiria once i’m done with this game lol. if only to actually go through it knowing how the battle system is supposed to work (bc, again, they failed to explain it. zestiria had a real problem with not explaining game mechanics). and as a palette cleanser to all the gross sexist bs and also to refuel my soul’s engines with concentrated sormiks.  

[u23art]

A LOOK AT TALES OF BERSERIA

After my falling out with Zestiria, I gave this installment a 15 hour test. If I felt that I was just in for another whopping round of all the strenuous hang ups that Zestiria gave, I would drop it. But when I stopped paying attention and I passed over the 15 hour mark without noticing, it was at the very least reasonable to say Berseria was a more competent counterpart. So without further ado, let me explain why.

So Tales of Berseria is a loosely canonical prequel to Tales of Zestiria, released back in 2015. Velvet Crowe is a mild mannered villager caring for her sick Brother and living with her exorcist step brother Artorious. All is well, until the dreaded scarlet night, Artorious sacrifices Velvet’s brother Laphicet to a god in order to control the hearts of humanity. Failing to kill him, Velvet is instead turned into a demon hybrid or a therion and tossed into a dungeon to rot. She is released by the turn tale underling Seres, starting Velvet on a revenge quest that would turn the world on its head.

Along the way you’ll be joined by Eizen, the pirate brother of Edna from Zestira who just can’t tan on the open seas. Rokurou, the one note sword loving samurai. Magilou the Magician, who’s “Quirky comedic dialogue” that feels so forced she comes off as more of an idea than a character. Laphicet, Velvet’s Love?/replacement brother. And lastly Eleanor, a former exorcist with the moral fortitude of the school hall monitor.

First thing I really noticed about Berseria is that it ran far smoother than Zestiria. This was probably due in part to the graphical simplification, a bit of the sheen is lost and the activity onscreen is toned down some. This at least stopped battles and exploration from being a romp through molasses with a lower frame rate.

Battles are otherwise the standard affair, touch an enemy and you’ll be brought to a mini arena to duke it out. Velvet uses a variety of moves that can be smoothly combo’d together once mapped to the shape buttons, and pressing L trigger with a full special gauge will allow you a stronger super move to even the odds. But what’s really neat about gameplay is Velvet’s berserker mode. Pressing the R trigger will activate Velvet’s demon arm and allow you a few seconds of invulnerability until you end the sequence with a special move. Using this will use up a battle gauge node that could potentially limit your number of attacks after frequent use, but mowing through enemies will return you a gauge node or two. This advocates for the idea of going out of your way to be attacked by multiple enemies on the map at once, letting them come at you in hordes and managing your berserker time well can net you a heaping helping of XP and level you up faster. And this with little consequence seeing as you can’t be killed while using it.

Maps are still very linear but the monotony is broken by separating chucks of maps to different islands. Dungeons are a bit of a drag as they very committed to an almost grid-like format. There are no clever arrangements to the layouts, the dungeons are a straight shot to a boss, and the the suspense is taken away by a big old star that will blatantly indicate an event of significance is close at hand. At least there’s no gratuitous amounts of back tracking like certain previous installments to pad out the time spent in a single area.

Now as far as the story is concerned, it’s nothing new or life changing. However, where it lacks as an overall package, it compensates by having some memorable character moments scattered throughout. Before I touch on that however, I think that it’s worth mentioning that the game is misleading. Misleading in the sense that it is very tame despite this dark, edgy over tone that it would lead you to believe. Velvet gets her arm chapped off, but the shots cuts away as the sword comes down and there’s no blood. Velvet and company steal a ship but it soon crashes off screen leaving you temporarily stranded, but there’s no cutscene to show what went wrong to show the severity of the situation, the scene of the ship ground ashore just fades in unceremoniously and sends you on your way.

Back to the character moments, Velvet gets most of the spotlight. The other party member get their arcs, but the actual performances feel rather like they’re stiffly read off a script rather than acted, but it’s not intolerable. Velvet however is acted out with a lot of passion and I don’t regret admitting that she can drive home the emotional severity in a number of situations. Though that doesn’t excuse the hard attempts to make her an edge lord.

Party characters are more tolerant for me since they aren’t accessories to the main character. Yes they choose to accompany Velvet who mainly has the spotlight, but they they actually have relationship development, starting awkwardly, they slowly have more open conversations. And there’s no concentration on food talk, no silly conversations about “round object” or “Arma Dylan”. It felt like Abyss again, or other pre- Xillia installments.

Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that Zavied from Zestiria shows up from time to time. This was long before he’s a boring lady lover and he’s cool again. Coupled with an invigorating theme song and he has the stage presence to take the scene.

It is also worth noting that the soundtrack is another electrifying set of scores by Motoi Sakuraba. Stimulating me with his rock heavy arrangements since Baten Kaitos and the Star Ocean games, I am under the impression that this guy can do little to no wrong.

So no surprise here, Artorious is the final boss and was manageable, he didn’t have any gimmicks to hinder the player such as an unblockable death beams. I was level 72 and more than able to take care of him, and that’s just fine.

Although he puts on airs that he’s charismatic presence to give caution to, he’s more of a librarian really, his character changing scene has a hole or two, and his motivations just feel half baked, even more so as he wears the same facial expression throughout 90 percent of the game. It comes off to me as a lack of conviction towards his goals and plans. And his plan? Make the world calm down, similar to Joss Whedon’s Serenity but not nearly as long living or impactful. It’s basically he, the librarian, going shush to the rowdy pirates of the world.

But all in all, I walked away from this experience rather reaffirmed that the Tales games can conduct themselves well in the RPG market, and hopefully it acts as a sign that the franchise is going to get its act together. And it was far better in comparison to Zestiria.

Tales of Berseria gets a 7 out of 10.

[aratanaruu]

#1! (which someone else will probably ask you) also, 4,, 27,11 (from tales of zestiria and symphonia. Those are the only games i played lol)

Hello, hello, Anon~ No worries, I’ve played a small amount of Tales games, too. Thank you for the ask~! (From this Tales ask meme)

1. Which one is your favourite game?

TALES. OF. THE. ABYSS. Halfway through Abyss, it wormed its way into my top 5, or even top 3 favourite video games of all time, which is not an easy list to make its way into. i love everything about this game i would die for it and i did die because of it (cough tower of rem scene cough)

Oh, and look at that. You’re the first (only?) person to ask me this question, heh.

4. First Tales game you have ever played?

Tales of Xillia, back in... 2015? My sibling got it for me for my birthday because “it looked like an anime game [your weeb ass would enjoy].”

11. Favourite skit from [Zestiria / Symphonia]?

I haven’t played Symphonia, so Zesty skits... oh no, oh no, which ones to choose..?

Meebo the Shorty: Self explanatory.

Weapons for All: I love these idiots so much. Zaveid’s “Boom! It’s a SPOON!” caught me so off-guard the first time I heard it...

The Palace Library: Oh, Sorey...

Terror from the Sea: I know they’ve never seen a crab before, but really? Threatening hellions? Sorey, Mikleo, they’re the size of your foot. Just step on them!

27. Favourite boss battle?

tfw you’ve only played 2 Tales games

Let’s go with... Shigure’s boss battle from Berseria. This was when I really started loving Shigure’s character (chaotic neutral types are my type), a sharp difference from how I originally disliked him. The build-up (wait, Shigure’s been holding back this whole time..?!) and Shigure’s battle theme never fails to get my heart racing.

That, and the fact that Rokurou so casually asks Eleanor out on a date for some yozakura anmitsu afterwards. Sure, ask someone out for a date in a volcano after you kill your brother while you’re trying to stop a madman from taking over the world. I love it.

[ccharliem]

Tales of Berseria Review

Tales of Berseria, a far prequel for the the previous installement in the Tales of series, Zestiria, cam le with some surprises and a unique charm for a person that doesn,t really tastes the flavour of the jrpg genre. I was quite interested in this particular types of games, but Berseria managed to change that.

Jumping in the game with a sort of skeptisicm, by the time I hit the 2 hours mark I was completely mesmerized by the story and sure that actually want to discover what the game hides. While the combat is pretty strong, the story and characters is what convinced me that I want to the credits roll.

Let’s start with the combat. The action combat stays in Berseria and it offers some diversity at first but becomes repetitive fairly easily. You mainly use the face buttons to perform artes, which are badically attacks. Those artes require Souls in order to be used and the souls gauge can be filled by stunning your foes or killing them, however if you get stunned you lose on soul. You can have a maximum of 5 souls. When you manage to get a chain attack you can activate a Mystic Arte which brings up cutscene and a character performing some heavy attacks on one target. There is block button LB/L1, that requires of some mastery for the user. Blocking works only if hold it down before the enemy enters the attack animation and that is most unlikely to happen. If an enemy atacks you once and you don’t block you’re most likely to get a full-burs of attacks and lose souls for certain. The block button works as a dodge if you hold it down and swing the left stick in the direction you want to dodge.

In combat you take 4 allies at one and you can choose to fight with whoever you like. The party will have 6 characters at most and the player decides who fights and who plays the sub-characters. The player can swap between the the character that entered the combat with and the two sub-characters at the cost of of 1 BG per swap.

I myself took most of the fights or the first 10 to 12 hours, but I after that I got somewhat bored and avoided the non-mandatory encounters, but not all of them.

Now that I listed  what the combat offered me, let’s take on the part that probably will enrupter most of the players, the story and characters. The characters in your party are diametrically different and keep going onwards for different reasons. Velvet Crowe, a vengeful daemon willing to step on corpses in order to get revenge on Artorius. Rokurou Rangetsu, a daemon that wants to repay Velvet for freeing him from the prison and determined to become powerful enough to take down his brother Shigure. Eizen, a malak possessing the Reaper’s Curse which brings misfortune to everyone around him. Despite this aspect, no one has any problems with Eizen staying around. He is also very knowledgeable about most of the things in the world. Eleanor, a praetor exorcist that is bound to Velvet’s orders after losing a duel. She also serves as a vessel for Laphicet, a malak saved by Velvet from a high-rank exorcist that considered all malakhims to be only tools. After “joining” the group he learnes how to be more ‘human’ and is tought a lot of facts about life, even about girls. And last but not least, Magilou or Magillanica Lou Mayvin, a goofy witch that sticks with the group for no reason or she says. She controls a normin malak called Bienfu and she also uses phrases like: “Magikazam..!!”

All those characters that fight for their own reasons, they all start to get along at some point and while they have some ups and downs they keep together until the very end. They all learn from each other, Laphicet teaches Velvet that she doesn’t need to be cold and kill everything in her way, she also posses some empathy and compassion. They also have some entertaining  moments, for example when Eizen And Rokurou tell Laphicet about girls and the three girls get offended by some statements and get into arguments, or the time they go to a bath house and the girls bodies are swapped with the boys.

Although very different they all need each other, they lift each other up, they joke together, they fight together, they plan things together, they all act as a team. And they all fight for one common purpose, taking down the Abbey. The Abbey is the organization of exorcists trained to keep the daemon spreading in check.

The main plot Is based around Velvet desiring vengeance against Artorius, her brother-in-law, for doing something excruciating. The story is a very delicate subject, because anything I say could be a potential spoiler. A lot of crucial pieces are not revealed until very late in the game. For the first 21-23 hours the pieces of the story don’t really fit together, all you know is that is mostly about vengeance, but after you are given some flashbacks from the past, everything makes sense, the motive behind most of things is unveiled and you can understand why some of the characters are how they are today.

All the action takes place in a world where after the events of the Scarlet Night people started to be infected with the Demonblight, a sort of virus that would cause people to transform into daemons. These daemons could have only been fought by exorcists and at the time, very few. After roughly seven years from that moment another Scarlet Night occurred. This one made the demonblight stronger and allowed malaks to be seen by regular humans. That night Arthur (Artorius) sacrificed Velvet’s most beloved thing in the world, her brother Laphicet. This is why Velvet is so determined to kill her brother-in-law.  After that night Arthur imprisoned Velvet on a prison island called Titania where hundreds of other daemons where held. After escaping and teaming up with all the others they discover the Abbey’s plans of “cleansing” the world of sins, but what they want to do is not actually cleansing. I’m not going to say anything more about the story because everything I say from here on, quite literally, will be a spoiler for the player.

As a verdict I would say that despite the repetitive combat, Tales of Berseria is an experience worth picking up, even for the players that don’t appreciate the jrpg genre. If you don’t enjoy the fights all that much you can always decrease the combat difficulty and avoid most of the fights, focusing on the story. It’s really nice to see a group of different races starting together with different goals and by the end, one by one achieving those goals and saving the humanity.

Final score - 9 out of 10

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[mvsendex-moved-blog]

rangctsuhes replied to your post seETHINGactio

Step up your gay game Rokurou or else