LogFAQs > #936521326

#7 - Velvet Crowe (Berseria)
I hate to say it, Niko... But I think Im a terrible person. I really thought I could have my own life back again, and I could forget everything else. I tried to act like I was doing it for Laphi, but it was all for myself. But I cant forget. I shouldnt forget. Laphi is dead. He was murdered without even knowing why. I will never forgive that... Ever!

I feel like its important to note before anything else here that optimism for Tales was kind of at an all-time low among fans when Berseria was in development. Zestiria had been widely considered a disaster, and if you were someone who didnt care for one or both of the Xillia games, youd really had to endure a rough stretch of entries in the series. So when the game was revealed and we got our first look at Velvet in her outrageous getup, the prevailing reaction of the internet was one that I could most accurately equate to a worldwide, simultaneous exchanging of wide-eyed looks. Oh no, we thought, here we go again.

Then we played it, and we all got to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Bamco had given us a great Tales game again, and theyd done it in no small part by creating an absolutely incredible protagonist.

Something that I think goes a long way into making Velvet interesting is that she already feels like a complete character before the fateful Scarlet Night. Shes a happy girl in an unhappy world, eking out a simple existence while having to deal with relatively pedestrian struggles like a sick brother whos most likely doomed no matter how much she tries to believe otherwise, the implications of her impending adulthood as a woman with desirable domestic qualities, and somewhat ambiguous romantic feelings toward her sisters widower that is largely distrusted on the basis of being an outsider in a tight-knit and somewhat isolated community. In another medium or even genre, thats a compelling story setup all on its own.

What we get instead is a really excellent story of vengeance. You could make a compelling argument, I think, that even at her lowest point, Velvet is never truly a violent person deep down. Shes motivated exclusively by her all-consuming hatred for Artorius, which in turn is only due to the pure love and devotion she has for her little brother. Shell use and hurt and kill other people in service of her goal if shes even the least bit convinced she has to, but she does it with a sort of dispassion, and as the game wears on it becomes more and more obvious that, no matter what she says, being known the universe over as a bane on the world weighs heavy on whatever part of her humanity shes retained. It feels like she has to relearn every day when she wakes up how to be a killer (which, incidentally, kind of excuses the overly dark and edgy dialogue she tends to spout in the early game, which would otherwise be a really off-putting aspect of the character - it reads like shes trying to remind herself over and over that this is what must be done). Its also intriguing to note that there likely existed many scenarios where she was a full supporter of Arthurs plans and ideals. She puzzles out in the prologue after some initial internal conflict that hunting boars for food is a rational thing to do in a manner disturbingly similar to some of the detached Abbey logic.

But she wouldnt be nearly this high if she wasnt well-rounded like all the other characters in this part of the list. I love the subtlety of the progression in her interactions with the rest of the party. Theres never any explicit attention drawn to it, but around the time of the first fight at the Throne she just starts to get a little friendlier. Small smiles in skits, calling people by name, that sort of thing. Toward the games end we even get little heartwarming lines like her telling Magilou, I hope you learn to like yourself. Endgame Velvet is probably as close as she could reasonably get to being the person she used to be given everything that happened, which is admirable. And theres a few other small moments - her profound sadness at being unable to taste the food she still loves to cook, the silly recurring quirk of being notably bad at nicknaming, her impassioned argument that Artorius genuinely believed that his actions were best for mankind, the brief occasions where she allows herself to think back fondly on the days when her whole family was together - that fill in the few remaining pieces that make her incredible. Her finest hour, though, comes in what is (indefensibly) an optional scene where she states, with no hesitation, that she wouldnt go back in time to change what happened to her little bro because changing events doesnt change people or intentions.

The final thing I want to do in this writeup is shout out Cristina Vee for turning in what is pound-for-pound the best voice performance in the series. Velvet goes through a metric ton of emotional turmoil of pretty much every kind in Berseria, and it wouldnt have worked at all if not for Vee clearly understanding the character so well. Even comparatively small things like the in-battle screams or the subtle changes in vocal pitch as she gets used to the partys presence, she just nails. Ive seen some people complain about this and it just baffles me. Its perfect.

TL;DR: When the worst thing I can say about Velvets story is that her enemys ambitions are just a little too obviously wrong, so that the player never has any prolonged periods of having to heavily consider the implications of what the protagonists are doing, it says a lot. I love that this is a revenge story that never gets hung up on killing their killer wont bring them back. Shes forthcoming about doing it for herself first and foremost, and no abstract benefit to her late brother or the world as a whole ever enters into her thinking. And we grow to love her through it. All that is why its so satisfying to see it through.

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