UPDATE: disregard this entire post, it’s almost definitely the Asgardian era and I’m a huge stupid.
After a few months of knowing that the upcoming Tales of Berseria takes place in Tales of Zestiria’s distant past, the third Berseria trailer has a concrete name and a place from Zestiria, and a lot of the Tales internet is buzzing about it. However, just knowing the bad guy in Berseria is Artorius and you go to his building is not particularly helpful, and Zestiria isn’t that informative on the matter.
There was a timeline of Zestiria’s fictional history in the world guide, which I’m assuming is basically coherent for the purposes of this overanalysis (here is a translation of it by a cool person, since I’ll be referencing it), and as long as I’m knee deep in Berseria hype and speculation, placing the game’s time frame alongside some event in this list would certainly provide a lot of insight into the game’s themes, events, and maybe even ending.
I’m going to give four possibilities the time of day, but not all of them are as likely or reasonable.
Phortune of Phantasia/Destiny Dawn (3000 years B.Z.)
I’m just going to point out that it would be really funny if the age of harmony between humans and seraphim that gets talked up in Zestiria is actually enslavement of the seraphim. However, that’s a good reason to dismiss this one out of hand since Zestiria would take it too seriously.
Artorius’ Throne, the final stage of Zestiria which functions as the man’s castle (?) when he’s current in Berseria, has an emblem of Kanonushi, one of the Five Gods, so I would have assumed that Berseria postdates the Five since the building already exists. Dragons also show up during the Destiny Dawn, and they exist by the time of Berseria (Magilou is known to mention them). It’s not completely out of hand that they could show up sometime during Berseria, I suppose, but it’s hard to see how that would happen within the story.
UPDATE: I am so dumb and focused on the malak society being the age of harmony I didn’t even consider myself that it might be during the Destiny Dawn. It makes a lot of sense since daemonblight is a new thing (dragons as a thing could be less than 3 years old), Artorius is the “savior” and not the Shepherd (the first Shepherd), and all the below theories about Kanonushi still apply. I like this theory better sentimentally, but I’m not sure it fits the kingdom in Berseria as well as Avarost.
Temperance of Avarost/Era of Disappearance (2000 years B.Z.)
This seems the most likely. It’s the earliest you can already have the Five (Kanonushi) and a lot of the elements match up — a magic-using kingdom that claims to be divinely appointed, a dark event that lays it low, and a plunge back into the dark ages. Berseria has claimed to be “the truth that has been forgotten in the distant future” and “the seraphim just vanished one day” seems like a pretty open case as well as a major element of Zestiria (Seraphim being invisible is a huge problem and one Sorey specifically hopes to correct). The names don’t quite match up, but that’s not conclusive. And I think the description of architectural styles in the liner notes matches up too.
I don’t want to believe this one, mostly. If it’s true, the ending of Berseria is already written — the malakim gain their freedom by becoming invisible to humans, setting the world at war and chaos and directly causing the fundamental problems inherited in Zestiria. Having a game end like that because it’s a prequel would leave a pretty sour taste.
There’s also the question of what Kanonushi, a great seraph of godlike power and scope, is even doing if the malakim are slaves without free will. It might actually be interesting if Kanonushi itself is an “object”, powering the entire kingdom’s magic the way Sorey was supposed to in the end of Zestiria, and part of the conclusion of Berseria involves freeing it and thereby taking the power of the malakim away along with the power to see them, exactly as Sorey will ironically try to restore. Still extremely depressing, but interesting. (A reversal of Tales of Phantasia and Xillia, too, I daresay.)
I mean, it does say “the influence of the Five.” It doesn’t say what kind of influence or what part the kingdom played…
Pax Meliodas/Closed Dark (1350 B.Z.)
The Closed Dark is an actual, major blank space in history, so Berseria being a “lost history” would match up with that even better than the Disappearance.
It’s doubtful, though — Meliodas doesn’t appear in Berseria (he’s the king of Glenwood, so it’s not clear how the Divine Kingdom Midgand would even figure into it), and it’s explicit that the seraphim are out of human hands. The malakim could be considered different from the seraphim, but it would be a stretch.
Also, it would imply that there’s an invasion, which doesn’t fit that well with the story premises Berseria already has at this point in time.
Really just wishful thinking, for me, at this point.
End of Asgard/Era of Maoterasu (a few hundred years B.Z.)
I’m going to be real here, I’m only mentioning this because it’s the only way Laphicet could be Maoterasu, which is still a popular theory, I think. Berseria would have to end in Laphicet getting his own religion, and that doesn’t seem right at all. And Glenwood already exists, and Asgard… it just doesn’t work.
I’m scared for the ending of this game in the name of a fictional history. Please help.
