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A tale like no other!
How will this tale be told?
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Release Date: August 26 2008 (NA), June 26 2009 (EU)
Platforms: Xbox 360 exclusive (being ported to PS3 on Sept 17, 2009)
Developers: Namco Tales Studio
Genre: RPG
Publishers: Namco Bandai / Atari (EU exclusive)
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Blastia are an ultimate source of power and protection providing the world with all its necessities. However, the capital, Zaphias, of the land of Terca Lumireis is unjust and favors only the rich, rarely giving any aid to the poorer of its citizens which are in a time of need. The districts aque blastia – their only source of water – has been stolen from them causing havoc and devastation, whilst also summoning an unlikely hero to take action. This individual being the upbeat Yuri Lowell who decides to take matters into his own hands and recover what has been taken from these lower class civilians.
Immediately he attempts to hunt down this illustrious thief with only the name ‘Mordio’ to go by but in his efforts he is detained by the imperial knights ‘Schwaan’ brigade. After a series of events he meets an unlikely ally (a princess) and an even more unlikely foe (a deranged assassin), from which he arises triumphant and continues on his journey to pursue the blastia thief, along with the princesses wishes to find the noble imperial knight ‘Flynn’ who is also an acquaintance of Yuri’s.
A quiet little town
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Tales Of Vesperia like the previous in the ‘Tales’ series does not disappoint, supplying a deep and amusing storyline and constantly forms tension ensuring the player is lured indefinitely. The characters never cease to entice, one of the deepest being Yuri showing many traits from his shady yet righteous acts to bring law to the true criminals even if it means sacrificing everything he can give and although misunderstood by many, he never ceases to enthral the gamer. With many twists you’ll struggle to move an inch from your seat for a promising 40+ hours of gameplay.
The gameplay throughout the game is amazing with some of the simplest controls for any xbox360 RPG, combined with a great battle system (similar to that of some of the previous titles in the series) and a FF9 type sub skill learning system. As expected characters level by obtaining experience points gained from fighting various monsters that roam the vast continents and from gaining these exp points the characters will level and in turn increase attribute points and cause them to learn new skills. However, similarly to the weapon based skill levelling system displayed in FF9, Tales of Vesperia incorporates a method of earning LP in battles to learn passive skills which become of great use from almost every weapon in the game. The battle system, rightfully called: ‘’ Evolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System’’ is basically a separate screen advanced hack and slash method which is extremely easy to adapt to.
Whilst being quite simple, the battle system has also integrated many other techniques to give the user a variety of ways to execute his foes. These range from fatal strikes which can be performed by combining certain skills followed by a tap of the right trigger causing instant death to anything that isn’t a boss to mystic artes, specific to each character and the most powerful move that they will be able to execute upon their nemesis. Furthermore, if you encounter an opponent that is proving troublesome to defeat with the current character or the equipment you have equipped at that moment, fear not, the menu is your friend. By simply pressing ‘start’ whilst having the menu open you can change between any of the four of seven combatants are in the battle or if you wish to still use the same character you can simply change any part of their equipment to give them the necessary advantage.
The games graphics are nothing short of brilliant with full utilization of its cell shaded features, although this can receive mixed reception as some gamers may not be fond of cell shading. It cannot be denied though that the fluidness of the characters both in and outside battle are outstanding and the skills animations are spectacular making it a pleasure with every use of them. The antagonists never cease to amaze with great amounts of detail shrouding many of them.
Also, the audio is superb with extremely well done English voice acting (none of the characters speak with a tedious squeal in their tone for once), and be warned, with over 80 hours of gameplay and around 500 skits you’ll hear plenty of them. As a further warning, the only problem you may face is if you decide to exercise the self explanatory ‘Rita grade farming method’ towards the end of the game, you may become somewhat annoyed by the constant ringing of ‘’TIDAL WAVE, blah blah blah, TIDAL WAVE!’’, I’d definitely recommend using the mute button here. The soundtrack for Tales of Vesperia was done by the composer Motoi Sakuraba who helps add a RPG feel to the game with upbeat music.
Despite being a single disc, this game is no 10 second game, with at least 60 hours of gameplay to keep you enticed to the lengthy story and the many side quests that are available, along with the post game maze dungeon which will supply an extra challenge and show the return of an old character from Tales of Symphonia as the secret boss, if you manage to collect the necessary items to reach him that is. So be sure to prepare prior to this confrontation if you do wish to challenge this antagonist, and if you feel like another challenge you could even try the coliseum for a 200 vs. 1 battle, if you feel worthy.
The games new game + feature is similar to that of earlier instalments in the series in which you spend GRADE earned from battles throughout the game to buy extra power-ups for the next such as 10x exp or keeping all the items you possessed, all giving you a great head start. However, its main purpose is for completionists who want to either collect all of the little things they missed in the previous playthroughs and / or getting 1000G as it is necessary for 100% completion. Nonetheless it offers a great opportunity for those who don’t wish to start completely fresh.
So, Tales of Vesperia offers all of the expected RPG elements for a modern day masterpiece with an excellent storyline to keep you enticed for the entire game, even with its simple yet effective graphics and battle system. With the choice of many sub tasks ranging from things such as a dragon time trial type event to a comedic trip to a spa on a distant continent it ensures the gamer great enjoyment and a wide variety of things to do if you wish to take a short break from the storyline. I’d certainly recommend this for anyone who likes RPG, you won’t be disappointed.
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Storyline: 10/10
The complex storyline will make sure you remember this experience for a long time.
Length and replay value: 8//10
Its length is tremendous and makes this a tremendous investment, although new game plus is really only for completionists or messing about to be quite honest.
Gameplay: 9/10
Fluid and easy gameplay ensures you don’t get frustrated, the game can become quite difficult on hard or the unknown super hard difficulty levels, great for people who like to be challenged.
Graphics and Audio: 8/10
The voice acting and music are amazing, combined with perfect flowing animations you are sure to love the game.
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Overall Score: 9/ 10
‘‘You will not be disappointed’’
Unlikely friends.
[Review] Tales Of Vesperia -
07-21-2009, 01:31 PM
the ported version has costumes of the tales of abyss characters, and new mystic artes *-*
Linear Mode
