Game REVIEWS

Tales of Vesperia Review

System: Xbox 360
Category: Namco Bandai Games
Category: RPG
Available Now

As the newest member of the “Tales of” family created by Namco Bandai, Tales of Vesperia for the Xbox 360 presents players with a new look on this Japanese RPG. The story retains the basic outline of a “Tales of” series game. What makes Vesperia unique are the characters of in the game and the theme of the storyline.

The main character of the game, Yuri Lowell, is unique because he has more traits of an antagonistic then a protagonist character. Yuri has the kind of personality which leads him to do what he thinks is right, and likes to take things into his own hands. He was formerly a knight for a kingdom prior to the start of the game, but now he is more of a vigilante. Yuri had also eliminated a few people whose death he deemed necessary for the peace of the world.

Tales of Vesperia inherited the “Evolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System” from Tales of the Abyss, allowing the player to move their characters around the battlefield in a circular field instead of the older system where the characters are stuck on a 2D field, only being allowed to run from left to right. The overlimit that started back in Tales of Symphonia is available in the game. The overlimit in Vesperia works a lot differently, the bar is visible on the screen like in Tales of the Abyss, but this time the overlimit bar is shared between all 4 characters. The overlimit allows the character that activates it the power to chain any attacking skill into any other attacking skills for as long as the limit is active, and it cancels out mage’s casting time, which is a really handy system against bosses. The introduction of the fatal strike system in the game makes normal battle a lot easier; after certain skills, a circle appears over the enemy and if the player hits the right trigger it would kill the enemy instantly. However, that system does not work on bosses. Vesperia also has the cursed weapon system where the weapon grows stronger as the character kills more enemies.

As a bonus of clearing the game, the player gets the choice to go back and load the cleared data and shows up right before the final fight. From that point on, the player can freely explore the world and finish up any items or events they may have missed that are still available. There is also the choice of going into the bonus dungeon. There are a few things that the player has to do during the main storyline to open the entrance to the ex-dungeon. In the ex-dungeon, the player will go through a series of mazes that are pieced together from previous dungeons already complete, and fight memory versions of the bosses. The memory bosses are stronger and by defeating the bosses the player gets the chance to collect fake Gald, and when one collects ten fake Gald it is possible to head to the end of the dungeon and fight the true final boss.

This game comes in two different editions for the XBOX 360. The standard edition comes with the game, and the collector’s edition is a metal case as well as a 10 year anniversary edition sound track collection, featuring music from previous “Tales of” titles. As the first “Tales of” game on the next gen consoles, the graphics on a high definition TV are as great as any Japanese RPG lover can hope for. As a “Tales of” fan, this game is a must have.

-With the PS3 Version released in Japan, look forward to a new review coming soon

**Written by Benson Chen