Tales of Vesperia
A New Generation of Tales Unfold
A power struggle begins in a civilization dependant on an ancient technology, the blastia, and the Empire that controls it. The fates of two friends traveling separate paths intertwine in an epic adventure that threatens the existence of all. Tales of Vesperia marks the first Tales RPG release in high-def with detail and graphics never before seen in the series. Now, real-time battles are more exciting than ever with over limits, the ability to unleash fatal strikes, combinations and burst artes. The next evolution of the revered role-playing series comes to the Xbox 360.
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Key Features
- A classic series returns: The newest installment of the Tales RPG series keeping the established gameplay formula that fans love
- Next Gen sights and sounds: First Tales RPG game with high-definition graphics, broadcast quality animation, and Dolby surround sound
- Evolved real-time battle system: New refinements and additions to the trademark Tales real-time battle engine making for dynamic, action-packed RPG fighting
- Fan favorite character designs: Characters designed by famous manga artist, Kosuke Fujishima, responsible for popular series’ Ah! My Goddess, Sakura Taisen and You’re Under Arrest
- Immersive look and feel: Detailed environments, animation and an artistic style so good, it’s like playing a cartoon
- Dramatic story: Gripping tale of a young hero on a quest for justice, trust and friendship filled with unexpected twists and turns at every step
- A decade of Tales: The first game celebrating the Tales 10 year anniversary
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Characters designed by famous manga artist, Kosuke Fujishima
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A classic series returns.
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User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars fun game and kid friendly
i enjoyed playing this game. it is a good rpg for people of all ages, while an older crowd may think the story lags in some areas, i felt it was solid all around.
5 Stars The most underrated game of 2008?
The Tales series itself is actually quite an unappreciated RPG genre, as their games are better than most new RPG’s on the market today. Kind of surprising, considering that the company that made them are best known for Pac-Man.
Vesperia is the latest entry in the Tales series, and it manages to stay true to the other games’ roots while still having its own unique features. Released in 2008, the game was the only 360 game to be a top seller in Japan, but here it didn’t do too well, which is a shame.
GRAPHICS: Like the other 3D Tales entries, the graphics are cel-shaded, and they are some of the best cel-shaded graphics I’ve seen. The characters are finely detailed, almost looking like interactive anime characters, while the backgrounds are lush as well. And finally the game has real shadows instead of those stupid circles under their bodies. Of course, even though the graphics are amazing, the game still includes the always lovely anime cutscenes.
MUSIC: Some great compositions here, but none of them really stood out except for the Danghrest music. The opening song, Ring a Bell by Bonnie Pink, is awesome, though. J-rock is a guilty pleasure.
VOICE ACTING: The Tales series always seemed to have luck with good voice acting, as the English actors actually seem quite passionate about their job. The actors themselves are experiences actors in anime and video games, but like the other Tales games, the makers decided not to credit them for whatever reason. Just go to Wikipedia and read who the actors are and read their other works. For instance, you might be surprised to know that the woman who voices Nan is none other than Wendee Lee, who voiced Fay Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, or that the guy who voiced the crazy Zagi also does Edward Elric, or that Cumore is voiced by the guy who does Gaara and who also voiced Dist in Abyss, which is still my favorite Tales game, BTW. Also the cameo Tales character who appears in the bonus dungeon is voiced by Cam Clarke, who did Liquid Snake and Alexi is voiced by the same guy who voices Wesker in RE5. While the voice acting is prominant in many scenes, there are still some scenes that are important that don’t have acting. On the plus side, however, ALL of the hundreds of skits (conversations, usually humorous, that can be optionally viewed after a certain event) that are in the game are now voiced. Yay.
Of course, there are still those weeaboos (I love that word) who like Japanese voices no matter how good the voice actors are, but whatever.
STORY: While I didn’t like the story as much as the other Tales’ stories, the plot to this game is still quite strong, with some pretty cool characters with unique personalities. Though many of the characters have kind of bleak, unmentioned pasts. Maybe more of the plot will be expanded in the upcoming anime, but that’s only in Japan. HA! Or maybe more of the plot will be expanded in the PS3 port. Keep reading for my rant on that.
GAMEPLAY: If you’ve played any of the previous Tales games, you’re familiar with the gameplay, and it still remains the same here. You’ve got your real-time battle system where you choose how to control your characters, you’ve got the ability to earn titles, which are still kind of useless, but some give cool alternate costumes, you can cook food, which is still a useless function, you can change the difficulty of battles anytime, with a new Easy option, there is still the infamous spa scene, there are still plenty of sidequests, the weapons quest, New Game Plus, and the many artes you can learn. But there are also a lot of new features as well. For instance, on the menu, besides changing the characters’ costume, you can add attachments to the character, like sunglasses, hats, canteens, and other cool items, which are usually found in chests or by making them with materials, which are also used to make other items as well. While the attachments do nothing for your character, they look cool. Also you can learn skills, which are acquired by getting LP points and are in weapons. In battles, you can also do a Fatal Strike, which occurs when you press RT when a symbol appears in front of an enemy. In kills any enemy who is not a boss easily. Also in the game are Secret Missions. In boss fights, attacking them a certain way will complete the mission and give you an achievement, but to find out what the mission is, read a FAQ.
I have qualms with the game, though. The world, while well-designed, needs a lot more cities. There are a lot of continents that are pretty much bare. Also the game makes you believe that Flynn, the blonde guy on the cover, is playable, when he only fights with you in one battle. Also the game could have used a better main villain. Also the coliseum this time is not as good as in the other games, and the game needed more cameo fights, as their only is one. Interestingly enough, in the coliseum town, behind one of the signs is a list off all the playable Abyss characters, making me believe that you could fight them. Sadly not. And how come you never get to fight Cumore?
DLC: Nothing that special. The DLC consists of things such as leveling up the characters by 5, giving you a lot of Gald, and alternate costumes, which are IN THE GAME, by the way. Pretty much stuff for people who are too lazy to get themselves. I mean, there are tricks to leveling up fast and getting lots of money.
ACHIEVEMENTS: They could have been a LOT better. Most of the GamerPoints are acquired by just progressing through the game. The descriptions for the achievements are vague as well. And the hard achievements are not very rewarding. The No More Grinding Achievement, which consists of getting to level 200(!), only yields 10 points. Getting ALL the skits (good luck on that) only gets 10.
PS3 Port: This is the reason why I knocked off a star in my rating. Or would have, but I rated the ‘fun’ 4 stars by accident instead. -_-. The cover claims that this game is a 360 exclusive, but that’s a lie. Coming in autumn is a PS3 port of this game, with a bunch of new sidequests, full voice acting, a new character (some loli pirate. LOL) the ability to play as Flynn more, and probably a bunch of other stuff. This happened with Viewtiful Joe and RE4 as well, two Gamecube games that were apparently exclusive but then released for the PS2 with more features, but the difference is that those two games only took you a few hours to beat, whereas it took me 90 hours to beat Vesperia. I kind of feel screwed now, as I have a PS3. I mean, the new features look awesome, but I don’t want to replay a game that pretty much has the same plot and will take me forever to beat again. Why does Sony always have to get special treatment? I personally dislike the PS3.*
BUY: It all depends. If you have a PS3 or are planning to get one, wait till the PS3 port is released. If you don’t have a PS3 and don’t want one, then buy this game!
Here’s to many more Tales.
*Before you go posting comments calling me a console fanboy, I’m not. I judge all three systems equally. For instance, with the last generation of consoles, the PS2 was my favorite while the original Xbox was my least.
5 Stars best tales game i love it
i played this game so much i broke it i may have to get a new one i put it inside of the xbox and it does not play it is an anime and rpg cant stop loving on it and the main character yuri lowell was an handsome hero. 10 stars may be even more buy it you are missing out on all the fun. best tales game best rpg when the game came out i did not think it got the attention it deserve. may take it to a local game store to get it fixed.i am buying the ps3 version.
2 Stars I was expecting more from a TALES game. I was truly disappointed.
I’ve played 4 TALES games counting this one. TALES of Symphonia, Legendia, Abyss and now Vesperia. By far Vesperia is the worst Tales game I’ve played. There are many things I didn’t like about the game.
1. The graphics for this game weren’t very good.
2. The story wasn’t captivating. It just didn’t keep me interested in the game. I know they used the environmental theme for the game. They could have done a much better job with the theme and the story. If you want a great game that tackles that theme get Final Fantasy VII. I had to try real hard to get through the game.
3. The characters were terrible. I wasn’t interested or cared about any of them. Yuri was uninteresting and came off as a cold hearted bastard, not good for the lead character of a RPG. Estelle was just boring and I didn’t care about her story. Karol and Rita just didn’t add anything to the game. Raven started out well in the game and I did like him. I wanted him to stay dead, it was just a great ending for his character, but now they decided to bring him back to life, what a rip.
The only characters I did like were Judith. I thought Judith and Yuri would get together, they were a much better than Yuri and Estelle, and I think it would have made Yuri more interesting, but the creators didn’t take the game in that direction. I also liked Repede, he was just a fun character and they way he interacted with the other characters. My favorite character in the game was a minor character and turns out to be on of the bad guys. Yes it’s Duke. I really like his story and character. At the end of the game I actually wanted him to win some how, even though I knew it wasn’t possible.
Oh yes did I mention was a let down of a ending. Talk about a waste of my time.
I am really disappointed with Namco/Bandai. I have really liked the TALES games until this one. It’s just really sad.
1. TALES OF ABYSS: 10
2. TALES OF SYMPHONIA: 9
3. TALES OF LEGENDIA: 8
4. TALES OF VESPERIA: 4
5 Stars A Game Second to none in the Tales series
I didnt really know what to expect when i first got this game. i played Tales of Symphonia (ToS) on GC and i was like, ‘how could any tales game even come close to being that good?’ well when i first started playing this game, i found out a game actually could be as good as ToS, and BETTER. the Tales Series does a great job of character development, and you really get to know and love the characters as the game progresses. ToS had a really loveable cast, and the cast for Vesperia is no exception. at the beginning they just seem annoying, like Estelle and Karol (Karol is actually a whiny little wimp the whole game) but the characters are great! Yuri is a phenomenal leader, he is very selective of his words, but often acts before thinking. Raven is a comical character, and he adds much to the game. i enjoy the fighting always going between Rita and Karol and Raven. if you liked ToS and have an Xbox 360, then i HIGHLY recommend this game, you wont be disappointed.
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