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Tales of Vesperia
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Namco Bandai
Genre: RPG
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Platform: Xbox 360
Reviewer: Eric
 The popular Japanese RPG series is finally make its next generation debut on
the Xbox 360. Tales of Vesperia is another game in the long lasting Tales
series, which has been around for quite some time now. Can this adventure help
all those gamers who have been waiting for a real RPG experience on the Xbox
360?
Other than Final Fantasy and the Dragon Quest series the Tales franchise has
been running wild since 1995. Since that time we have seen numerous games from
the original Playstation to the upcoming Wii Tales game. Each and every Tales
game offers a new experience and Tales of Vesperia offers just as much
excitement with a lot more fun.
Vesperia’s story seems awfully familiar to other games in the Tales series. You
will go through high parts and real low ones. Friends will backstab you and your
quest is to save everyone in sight. Corruption and betrayal are the main key
points to the games story. Namco Bandai should have explored into a new story
direction, however you have to give them credit for about everything else in the
game. The story isn’t bad but we have seen most of these aspects before in other
Tales games.
All of the games cutscenes offer new parts to the story. The voice overs are
right on with the characters mouth movements and the music fits the game very
nicely. Some of the lesser known characters in the game might sound a little
silly and their dialogue is just as bad. But with crystal clear graphics and
perfect animation you can forgive Namco Bandai, there are worse games out there
in the RPG genre today.
Like all the other games in the series Vesperia has a real time battle system
with no random encounters. You control how you want to fight in battle, in a
designated circular area. All you do is control one character and your other
teammates will fight along your side too. Battles can last from thirty seconds
to a couple of minutes. It all depends on how you play. Go swinging in with your
sword or put some strategy into it and use special attacks and magic.
 Fans of fighting games should be very familiar with the way battles are in
Vesperia. I did run into a few times where I thought the controllers weren’t
quite working right. Since battles are action based it would make more sense to
have the button layout a little different. This really isn’t a huge problem but
if you are like me and you play numerous games at once then you will have to
take a minute to relearn where all the buttons are each time.
Instead of letting your teammates go wild you can set the options to make them
do certain things, like attack the weakest or the hardest. You can also stop the
battle and have your teammates use magic and skills, even items if you feel like
it. There is more than meets the eye with the battle system here, you just have
to be willing to do all the extra things, this is a role playing game after all.
As you progress through the game you will learn new skills. In order to learn
new skills you will have to constantly use your other attacks so many times.
Tales of Vesperia sort of forces you to battle numerous enemies to learn all of
the skills. Honestly it isn’t necessary to learn all the skills, but if you want
to defeat some bosses without any problems then you better stop and level up,
that way you can learn new abilities as well.
There is also the Artes skills, which help your characters stats and so fourth.
Just like the skills you will have to fight numerous battles to learn these.
Hardcore RPG fans will be glad to know that the Artes are some what like weapon
skills from the Final Fantasy series. You will want to collect all the items and
then you will want to learn everything there is to learn. Again you are not
forced to do this, but your characters will thank you in the end when they
become powerful.
 Vesperia offers hours upon hours of gameplay and then a few more hours of side
quests. New areas will open up if you continue to read all of the character
dialogue and you will also be rewarded for doing certain parts in the game.
There is about 50 to 60 hours of gameplay in Tales of Vesperia. That is almost
unheard of now, most new aged RPGs tend to last at least 20 to 30 hours and that
is including the extras.
There is no online play, which is alright considering most RPGs never have any
online extras. I still would love to see a role playing game have online play
where you can battle each others teams. That would be a lot of fun. For now we
have a set list of achievements that are quite challenging to earn. Here is a
little advice, make sure you use those magic lenses whenever you get the chance.
Final Verdict
Tales of Vesperia is another Japanese RPG to make it over to the United States.
Is this the best role playing game on the market today? No, but it is the
strongest RPG on the Xbox 360 right now. The Tales series has seen a lot of
changes throughout its years and for the most part they have all been good. RPG
fans should defiantly pick this game up; casual gamers should also consider
buying this one if they are sick of random first person shooters.
Rating
9.75 out of 10
Tales of Vesperia Trailer
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