Tales Of Vesperia - 9/10
Us PAL gamers have not seen much of the critically acclaimed Tales series. We have only had access to Tales Of Symphonia and the re-made Tales of Phantasia.
The Tales series is a massive hit in Japan which made it all the more surprising to find out that an exclusive Tales game for the 360 was being made. We have had to wait longer then the US and it began to seem as if we were not going to see this wonderful RPG on Australian shelves. Thankfully it did come out because it may be the best RPG on the Xbox360.
The story revolves around Yuri Lowell. Yuri is a known trouble maker in the capital of the empire Zaphias and when a blastia thief steals the core to the Aque blastia, a device that provides clean water to the people of the lower quarter. While investigating the theft of the core he meets Estellise, a mysterious girl looking for a friend of Yuri's. What starts out as a chase for a thief turns into a massive journey of self discovery with twists around every corner. The games story also revolves heavily around blastia. Blastia are devices which feature in many ways, using 'aer' to fuel them.
The characters in Tales Of Vesperia are very good. Yuri breaks the usual 'Do gooder' stereotype of hero. Estellise however is your typical indecisive heroine which is fairly disappointing considering the other characters have fairly unique personality's. Repede is the faithful dog of Yuri, who fights with a dagger AND HAS A PIPE. Karol is a young boy who is an expert on guilds, but is really just a young boy deep down. Rita is a genius mage that has an attitude that adds alot of humor to the game. Raven is an old man that has an insatiable hunger for women. Judith is a beautiful Kritiyan, a race that has been around since the discovery of blastia who is intelligent, but doesn't mind using her appearance to her advantage.
The battle system breaks the trend of typical turn based RPG's, and is more a 'brawler'. The style of combat has 4 party members against a group of enemy's with you in real time combat. The game starts of with you just hammering the attack button for a 4 hit combo but by the end of the game you'll be linking base artes into arcane artes into a powerful mystic arte. The 'skill' system is what makes this more of an RPG. Every weapon you equip typically has a skill attached. After a number of battles you will learn this skill and be able to use it without the weapon attached. These skill vary from increasing the STRENGTH stat by 10% to allowing you to link your special abilities together to allow for a massive combo. All battles except for boss fights and story required fights can be avoided, which is a massive plus for some players such as myself.
The sound in the Tales games have been known to be epic. There is not exception for Vesperia and the music is a treat to listen to.
A fairly big downside to the game however is the difficulty to players new to the series. The game seems overwhelming to those who have never played a tales game and one particular boss in the beginning is notorious for turning players of the game early. The difficulty can be changed at any point throughout the game, however there is a fairly big gap between 'Easy' and 'Normal' in the beginning of the game.
This game is meant to be played through at least twice. Throughout the game you will be awarded GRADE for your battles which can be exchanged post game for things like "10X Experience" or being able to watch all the skits featured in this game. However i easily recommend playing it twice. One playthrough to enjoy the story and another to get all the side quests and items that can be missed.
Overall Tales of Vesperia is an enthralling game that drags you deep down into the mystery of the blastia and the world. It is a worthy addition to any RPG fan's collection.
Kischasy 'Kurtis'
Tales of Vesperia Reviews