Tales of Vesperia: The Review
Tales of Vesperia is a new RPG in the Tales series by Namco/Bandai. This games is really my first foray into the Tales series. I briefly played Tales on PS1, and Tales of Symphonia on Gamecube. I played these games briefly because I did not like either one of them.
But since I have been dying for an RPG I decided to give this one a go. I had played the demo first, and liked it, but it seemed very cheesy. So let me tell you that I was floored when playing the real game.
The story starts out with Yuri Lowell, a young adventurer living in the low quarter of the Empire. Basically the trash of the town. The town fountain has gone crazy and flooded the low quarter after someone steals the blastia core from the fountain. Blastia Cores are magic, and this ones function was to keep the water regulated. Before you know it Yuri is pulled into a grand adventure that starts out tiny, but leads to an epic showdown.
The story script to me was excellent, the characters were all enjoyable. The dialogue was very good, and the cheese factor is really kept to a minimum, which was really cool.
There are times the story in this game feel heart warming, other times the story goes down dark paths. Its important to know that Yuri is a character who does what he has to, and this makes his character very likable no matter if you argee with his decisions or not.
Also there are skits in between parts of the game that add to the story thats going on. They are not necessary to watch, you can ignore them. But I watched everyone. They usual show a few characters animated mug shots, and all are voiced. They are sometimes very funny. And have so much personality.
The combat system was fun and addictive. Combat is action based, plays more like a brawler than a hack and slash game. You are always on a 2 d plane with your selected enemy which makes focusing your attacks easy. If you want to be more tactical about how you fight, hold down the left trigger and you are free to run around in the 3d plane. It sounds more complicated then to really is.
You also have spells and special attacks you can use by either hitting B and a direction, or using the right thumbstick flick in the a direction. Your party consist of at least three other team mates who go about their own business and the AI does a pretty good job of keeping you healed and fighting. Also this game gives you the rare chance to play 4 player co-op in battle with a friend. Not on Xbox live, but on the same couch. I tried this mode out with Halo, my dog, and he kept using all the healing potions, so I am not sure how much you will like it.
After battles you are treated to nice little dialogue from the characters. Sometimes it may be a simple high five, or Ellise complain that her breast don't bounce like Judy's. I found myself watching these over and over while my experience tallied up.
The graphics in this game were the most impressing thing about this game before playing it. Bright colors, high res graphics in combat are great. The animation seems very cartoon like. Sometimes you forget that you are actually playing a game and not watching a cartoon in cut scenes. Most of the story is told in in-game cut scenes. In fact there are a few points where it will use hand drawn animation, and frankly it looks worse at that point.
As Beautiful as the game looks in towns, dungeons and battles. The overworld map is hideous, looking more like a high res PS1 or early PS2 rpg. Enemies spawn out of nowhere, and fade away after battles.
Enemies in this game are just as colorful and animated as the characters. Although they are not as numerous. You will be fighting the same giant enemy crab at the begining of the game as the end, with just higher stats and a palette swap.
The bosses are pretty unique, and numerous throughout the game.
To get to some of the problems of the game are these. The challenge can be uneven sometimes. Some bosses are very difficult and force you to grind. Sometimes you may go in with a party that is not fully healed, or just not the right cast of characters. So you die and have to try again. Here lies a slight problem.
Most boss encounters are preceded by a 5 minute cut scene. Which is great as long as you beat the boss. But fail, and you have to watch it again. You can speed the speech by hitting buttons, but anything else moves at whatever pace the game chooses. And there is no option to just skip the cut scene.
All in all. This game was great. I am having a tough time deciding if I would choose this or Lost Odyssey as my RPG game of the year so far. The characters are wonderful. The plot, while somewhat cliche, was awesome.And besides a few nagging design choices, well worth the price of admission.
This game gets an A
Feeling Robbed Moment: Only being able to have 15 of any item in the game. Apple gels go fast, especially if Karol is in the party.
Also the ending is about as anti-climactic as Final Fantasy VII.
