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| Tales of Vesperia | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 5 2010, 05:31 PM (315 Views) | |
| picollo no. | Jul 5 2010, 05:31 PM Post #1 |
Screw the rules I'm Yuri Lowell
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Title: Tales of Vesperia Platform: Xbox360 Developer: NamcoBandai Tales of Vesperia is a recent entry to Namco’s long running ‘Tales’ series and probably one of the main JRPG’s in the 360’s catalogue. It has many of the elements and gameplay mechanics of the other games in the series and indeed feels very similar to the other games such as ‘Tales of Symphonia’ except with a more striking and beautiful animé style look to it. So is this the pinnacle of the series or just another generic JRPG? To start of I will look at the most important aspect of any game; the gameplay. As mentioned in my intro the game is pretty similar to all the other Tales games; you travel to cities, explore dungeons, fight ferocious monsters and bosses and traverse across a big world map. Enemies appear on screen so you can choose to either engage or avoid combat based on how quickly you’d like to go through the game and it is a reasonably sized game. The battle system is like the other Tales game playing initially like a side scrolling beat-em-up on a linear field with four of your allies teaming up against monsters, except this game has the gimmick of allowing you to run around the 3D environment by holding the right trigger button on your 360 control. It is a fun combat system and it feels incredibly satisfying building up huge combos and is certainly more than a mindless button basher. However there are some irritations such as characters not being able to use items on other characters unless they learn an ability that allows them to do so. This is highly irritating when a boss is handing your arse to you on a plate. There are some interesting features to the game, for example each weapon comes with it a certain number of skills your characters can learn which can range from an increase in HP and MP to new abilities you can use to take down monsters with as well as unfortunately the skill to use items on other characters -.- . It is a fun game and definitely feels more robust and customisable than Symphonia, however activities outside of battle have taken a huge hit especially when searching around cities. This can be seen at the beginning of the game where your introduced to Zaphias capital city of the continent which offers you a view of a vast market place only you soon realise that it is not up for exploration and that is what every other city offers in the game. They feel confined and small and incredibly limited and only really serve as a device to buy new items and to further the story. Now I’ll look at the story and characters. Tales games are known for their heavy focus on character development and that holds true in this game with each character getting a turn in the spotlight and the skit’s which appear frequently throughout the game also further this development. It's just such as shame that none of these characters are particularly great. Not awful by any means, but just so bland. There is a delicate but resolute princess called Estelle who has been sheltered all her life, a cowardly little boy named Karol who learns to be brave and an arrogant mage with violent tendencies called Rita. Thankfully main protagonist Yuri Lowell is actually a very good character and actually blurs the line of right and wrong by his actions at a couple of points in the game and is actually a bad ass in his own right and has an interesting rivalry with the righteous knight Flynn Scifo who throws Yuri’s character into sharp relief . Yuri is infinitely more interesting than white than white Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia. Raven too is another highlight character that actually has a few extra dimensions that the others don’t have. The villains in this game are nothing noteworthy ranging from the ‘real pricks’ to the ‘doing what is best for the world’ stereotypes. The story likewise is nothing special, it does a job and gripped me enough to complete the game, which I wouldn’t do if it were too dull, but it is ultimately just a tale of good gang of heroes taking on evil maniac with ambitions of despotism and then taking on the ultimate evil threat. It does throw a few interesting plot points there mainly revolving around Yuri and Flynn’s differing approach to dealing with evil, but it is a standard JRPG affair and doesn’t really do much to push the boundaries of the genre. The presentation for this game is pretty good, the graphics particularly being very striking with beautiful cel-shading which at times makes the game look exactly like the highest end of animé which meshes nicely with the pleasant art style of the game. It looks basic at times but still very nice. The game also knows how to treat fans with beautifully animated cutscenes from the kick-ass intro to the others peppered around the game at key story points. If you love animé you’ll love this games style. The music too is also very pleasant if not very memorable with no tracks really sticking out apart from the intro theme. The game also has a good ranges of voice acting some of it very good (e.g. Yuri) to some of it pretty annoying (e.g. Rita and Estelle) and it is also very annoying that at certain story points there is no voice acting which is weird considering this is a 360 game we’re playing here. The story is told also rather basically through text-boxes which while not very impressive in comparison to more contemporary storytelling methods at least give of the appearance of being dynamic and there are some cool action sequences. So overall this is a good game. Don’t get me wrong it feels and plays rather basically at time even a little outdated but it is a incredibly fun and shows that there is still place in the market for traditional JRPG’s along with the Western big guns of Fallout and Elder Scrolls. It will definitely last long with my first play through taking around 60 hours and there are plenty of sidequests as well as incentives to replay again. It is a respectable entry for the series and I recommend it, but just don’t expect anything revolutionary as this is a by the numbers JRPG. 83% Edited by picollo no., Feb 25 2011, 10:22 AM.
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| Takoa | Jul 5 2010, 09:32 PM Post #2 |
Merry
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I've been wanting them to release the PS3 version of this over here. I don't want to have to wait till I move out and live with my mate who has a 360 (if that ever actually happens) or buy one myself just for one game (though that's pretty much what I did with the PS2 and FFX :p ). |
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| picollo no. | Jul 6 2010, 03:52 PM Post #3 |
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Screw the rules I'm Yuri Lowell
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Not sure if we'll ever see the PS3 version in the west which is a shame for PS3 owners. Also the PS3 has cool extras like an extra party member and Flynn becomes an actual playable character as well and every story event is voiced :) But the 360 version is good as well. I still say I prefer Symphonia personally. |
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| Joshytclegg | Feb 9 2011, 07:52 PM Post #4 |
The grail...shall be ours...
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I just noticed I should rage at this Pic. Yes Tales of Vesperia may be good 'n' all but NO SHOP ON EARTH NOW HAS IT FOR SALE IN ENGLISH! I have wanted for ages and have this feeling it'll cost me BOTH of my kidneys to obtain it. :feenacry: |
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| picollo no. | Feb 25 2011, 10:13 AM Post #5 |
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Screw the rules I'm Yuri Lowell
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Ha ha ^_^ Seen it being sold on Amazon for like £196 if that is any help :p But yeah your best bet may be ebay :)
Edited by picollo no., Feb 26 2011, 11:08 AM.
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| Takoa | Feb 25 2011, 07:13 PM Post #6 |
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Merry
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Great, so when I finally get the chance to share my mate's 360 it'll cost over £200, assuming the ridiculous pricing continues to rise. -.- |
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| picollo no. | Feb 25 2011, 09:04 PM Post #7 |
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Screw the rules I'm Yuri Lowell
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Well I've seen it on ebay going for £30-40 so that may be an idea :) But who knows give it a couple of years and I could come into serious money :p But yeah looks like I got the game at just the right time with a bonus CD to boot :grin:
Edited by picollo no., Feb 26 2011, 11:08 AM.
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| Joshytclegg | Feb 26 2011, 01:07 AM Post #8 |
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The grail...shall be ours...
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If you ever consider selling Pic, I will pay £150 and you can have your pick of my spare organs :^0 |
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| picollo no. | Feb 26 2011, 11:18 AM Post #9 |
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Screw the rules I'm Yuri Lowell
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Ha ha not sure if I'd ever sell any of my collection unless I was really hard up as they all have memories which money can't really replace but I'll let you know :) Also I already have a full set of organs that I know of so you can keep yours for the moment ;) |
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