I understand the direction the story is taking and the Malevolence system is trash so I don't have a material problem with it. It just seems like after exploring the impacts for 160 hours I wouldn't feel satisfied with either the conclusion of "and then you fixed it" nor the process of doing so since I have no optimism that it won't be done through a series of deus ex machinae. It will claim to be an anthem of human self-determination, but the narrative mechanics will be that you'll go and do a bunch of magical overwrought prophecy shit at the whims of either good or bad malakhim/seraphim and a happy ending will pop out like a candy bar. I brought up Xillia 2 for a reason.

Desolation does not respect humans. It's my cardinal problem with it and goes back to when Endorph said Zestiria feels like it doesn't care about humans. It doesn't; no matter what humans do, they are constantly, in big ways and small, hapless victims of the invisible war between seraphim and hellions. Between Zestiria and Berseria, a metaplot is coming together that on paper brings seraphim and humans together, but the reality is that the onus of coexistence has always been on seraphim since Zestiria. Humans are, in fact, kept ignorant of the very fact that this is a question, at times deliberately, except when a Shepherd rolls through to remind you that all you are, down to your very self, is actually all seraph magic, and all you can do is worship them while their whims decide if you get to keep your own thoughts or not.

(Apart from an asspull at the end, Sorey spends most of Zestiria doing what Artorius did, just more gently.)

So no, Desolation 3 isn't going to be about reaffirming human freedom, except in name; it's going to be about reaffirming the power of the eight virtues or a couple more magic dragons or the Grand Council of Elysia who oversees the great test or basically anything other than real people working hard and together, with maybe a spirit bomb or something, and a bittersweet end credits where Sorey/Phi is like "we did it... we all did it" while the sun fucking rises over Pendrago.

I'm not looking forward to that game. It would piss on both what value Desolation had and its potential to overcome its flaws. And don't get me wrong - if they announce Tales of Desolation 3 this summer, I will be hoping harder than anyone else that it won't be that, that it'll be better than that. But at this point I think we know Naoki Yamamoto, and Berseria shows what even a game with any thought put into it could do with the ideas of seraphim and malevolence.

Berseria is a good Desolation game not because it fixes Zestiria's setting or themes, but because it tells strong character stories utilizing and largely in spite of them.