Tales of Vesperia: Xbox 360

...

that follows the same pattern (something major happens, everyone leaves for a while, everyone meets back up, etc.) And the ending is one of the worst, most complete garbage excuses for a game that I have ever seen.

On your first playthrough, it'll take you

Tales of Vesperia: Xbox 360

...

cast any Tales game has had, for so many reasons.

The game is full of characters who, despite being based off of obvious anime cliches (like the individualistic hero dressed in dark clothing, Yuri) really jump off the screen. Even the 99% pink princess is charming because she's realistically naive but also well educated, and it doesn't hurt that she isn't voiced by an annoyingly high voiced little twit. The best of these are characters you'll remember after you play the game, like the characters of a good fantasy novel.

The world of Vesperia is actually rather innovative as well, I thought, though I haven't seen this mentioned in any of the press reviews, all of which spend a good portion of their time stating the bloody obvious: (WARNING: this is a Japanese RPG, which means it is from Japan and is an RPG, and so on).

What makes the game world feel unique is that, instead of being a normally peaceful, ordered place that is threatened by some mad Machiavellian villain or organization*, Tales of Vesperia begins in a world in which humans are a minority, struggling for survival. Early in the game you are shown that the only reason humans are able to survive at all in the harsh environment is because of magical force fields created by artifacts called Blastia barriers that protect the cities of the world, barriers that people rarely leave (anyone else smell a recipe for adventure?)

I'll stop there, because I don't want to spoil any of the game. Let me just say in conclusion, to anyone who's still undecided about this game: I have never played a Tales game that I would rank anywhere near my favorite JRPGs. My favorite JRPGs are Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 7, Suikoden 2 and 5, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, the original Final Fantasy Tactics, Lunar, and the Grandia 3 combat system (though the game itself sucked after 5 hours). I've played a lot of JRPGs (too many...) and the above are the only ones that I've ever replayed. Tales of Vesperia is actually worth replaying. Every aspect of it is enjoyable, from the fast action combat to the beautiful graphics to the great characters and surprisingly great voice acting (no whiny main characters here!).

What's sad about the reviews this game has received is that you can tell most of the reviewers really enjoyed the game, and had almost nothing negative to say - they just felt that scoring it too high numerically would get them in trouble with the mainstream audience, and they may be right (I'm sure they know about that better than I do). What's a real shame is that as a result of all this, a game that is clearly the stand out in a long series (the Tales games have been around for years) is receiving a lower metascore than most of the previous games in the series! For example, Tales of Symphonia: 85. Tales of the Abyss: 80. Tales of Vesperia: 79. Sure, that's not a huge difference, but this is a game that should be scoring five points above Symphonia, not six points below! One last thing I didn't see mentioned in ANY of the reviews - and I obsessively read these things - the game has four player co-op! So if you like playing RPGs with a girlfriend, wife, sibling, or just some good friends, consider this review score an 11. Going from exploration to cut scenes to combat in this game is like going from a candy store to a game store to glorious paintball. Two thumbs up and all that, what what.



* (For those who play lots of JRPGs, this setting should sound familiar)


Pros:
Pretty much everything. See above. To me, the story is the most important part of an RPG, and the characters and how they interact with their world is the most important part of a good story. But the combat and graphics are also incredibly polished and probably better than any other RPG on the system.

Cons:
Every fourth cutscene or so isn't voiced, but because all the inter-party banter is voiced, the game still has more voice acting than a Final Fantasy game, and probably better voice acting too (and I love the Final Fantasy games).

I've heard the boss battles can be too easy if you control the mage character Rita for most of the game.

Oddly enough, the worst voice actor out of the main characters in the game seems to be the dog, Repede, whose bark lacks... um... conviction. That dog needs to stop smoking (and walking around with knives in his mouth).

Tales of Vesperia: Xbox 360

...

cast any Tales game has had, for so many reasons.



The game is full of characters who, despite being based off of obvious anime cliches (like the individualistic hero dressed in dark clothing, Yuri) really jump off the screen. Even the 99% pink princess is charming because she's realistically naive but also well educated, and it doesn't hurt that she isn't voiced by an annoyingly high voiced little twit. The best of these are characters you'll remember after you play the game, like the characters of a good fantasy novel.



The world of Vesperia is actually rather innovative as well, I thought, though I haven't seen this mentioned in any of the press reviews, all of which spend a good portion of their time stating the bloody obvious: (WARNING: this is a Japanese RPG, which means it is from Japan and is an RPG, and so on).



What makes the game world feel unique is that, instead of being a normally peaceful, ordered place that is threatened by some mad Machiavellian villain or organization*, Tales of Vesperia begins in a world in which humans are a minority, struggling for survival. Early in the game you are shown that the only reason humans are able to survive at all in the harsh environment is because of magical force fields created by artifacts called Blastia barriers that protect the cities of the world, barriers that people rarely leave (anyone else smell a recipe for adventure?)



I'll stop there, because I don't want to spoil any of the game. Let me just say in conclusion, to anyone who's still undecided about this game: I have never played a Tales game that I would rank anywhere near my favorite JRPGs. My favorite JRPGs are Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 7, Suikoden 2 and 5, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, the original Final Fantasy Tactics, Lunar, and the Grandia 3 combat system (though the game itself sucked after 5 hours). I've played a lot of JRPGs (too many...) and the above are the only ones that I've ever replayed. Tales of Vesperia is actually worth replaying. Every aspect of it is enjoyable, from the fast action combat to the beautiful graphics to the great characters and surprisingly great voice acting (no whiny main characters here!).



What's sad about the reviews this game has received is that you can tell most of the reviewers really enjoyed the game, and had almost nothing negative to say - they just felt that scoring it too high numerically would get them in trouble with the mainstream audience, and they may be right (I'm sure they know about that better than I do). What's a real shame is that as a result of all this, a game that is clearly the stand out in a long series (the Tales games have been around for years) is receiving a lower metascore than most of the previous games in the series! For example, Tales of Symphonia: 85. Tales of the Abyss: 80. Tales of Vesperia: 79. Sure, that's not a huge difference, but this is a game that should be scoring five points above Symphonia, not six points below! One last thing I didn't see mentioned in ANY of the reviews - and I obsessively read these things - the game has four player co-op! So if you like playing RPGs with a girlfriend, wife, sibling, or just some good friends, consider this review score an 11. Going from exploration to cut scenes to combat in this game is like going from a candy store to a game store to glorious paintball. Two thumbs up and all that, what what.







* (For those who play lots of JRPGs, this setting should sound familiar)





Pros:

Pretty much everything. See above. To me, the story is the most important part of an RPG, and the characters and how they interact with their world is the most important part of a good story. But the combat and graphics are also incredibly polished and probably better than any other RPG on the system.



Cons:

Every fourth cutscene or so isn't voiced, but because all the inter-party banter is voiced, the game still has more voice acting than a Final Fantasy game, and probably better voice acting too (and I love the Final Fantasy games).



I've heard the boss battles can be too easy if you control the mage character Rita for most of the game.



Oddly enough, the worst voice actor out of the main characters in the game seems to be the dog, Repede, whose bark lacks... um... conviction. That dog needs to stop smoking (and walking around with knives in his mouth).