Finished Tales of Vesperia!!

The Tales of series has to be one of the most underrated JRPG franchise out there. I mean most of the gamers I know don't have any interest in playing any game from the series for some inexplicable reason. Personally I cannot get enough of this superb franchise. I got my first Tales fix when I played Tales of Legendia for the PS2 and become a fan of its anime-esque visual and its fast and flashy game play and since then I have played and finished Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss and both these games were amazing. Even games which have scored a bit on the lower side have not been ignored in the form of Tales of Symphonia 2 and Tales of the World. This series is that awesome!


Tales of Vesperia caught my attention when it trailers hit the Internet in the summer of 07 and needless to say I was smitten by is amazing production values. No seriously, the incredible anime like visuals were totally out of world and the classic Tales game play was back in full force... in glorious HD. But to my dismay it was a 360 exclusive. The thing is as soon as the trailer and announcement of a US release came to the fore, my 360 got its first RROD attack and soon enough the machine was died. I was really annoyed and vowed never to buy another 360 again. Sure that mantra changed when the game was released to glowing reviews by the gaming fraternity for its inspired visual and the classic JRPG strappings. Every day I would browse the net watching video reviews and read reviews. And then I snapped. Soon enough I got a new 360 (a UK one) in late 2008, thinking that the UK release was around the corner. As it turned out I had to wait 8 months for the damn game, and that was infuriating as best!.

It was love at first sight the moment I put on the game and the introduction played out. Every cut-scene felt like an episode from a high class anime series, all the characters facial animation were astounding. I mean this game is easily the best looking game ever made which have anime like aesthetics (Naruto games included). Some of the backgrounds of the dungeons and towns are stunningly good, like the forest ruins of Kiev Moc or the town of Halure. Look, I am all for realistic looking games and all but when a game looks this good with its cartoony presentation I just can't help myself for wanting more games to look like Tales of Vesperia. There was one moment in the game when my party reaches a cliff hanging over the vast ocean which totally made the game's visuals stand out.

Turn-based battle systems are good if they are done with some pizazz and panache, but sometimes an action orientated system takes the cake. Same is the case with all the Tales games as the pioneer of action based game play in an RPG. Tales of Vesperia takes the formula to great heights as the battles are fast. Most battles don't even last more than 2 mins and that makes the monotonous element of RPG fresh and fun. Controlling a single character and having indirect control of the AI party members and doling out massive combos. My combo meter reached 43 hits once but I have seen monster combos of more than a 100 hits. The bosses were the most fun as implementing attacking tactics made many boss encounter outrageously fun. Oh yeah Tales of Vesperia has one feature which have been missing for sometime: a world map. The world of Terca Lumireis is vast and travelling on foot or a boat was truly epic!

Characters in Tales of Vesperia are really good. They deftly avoid the arch types of JRPGs and come off as human. Yuri, Raven and Judith were the stand out characters with their deep storyline yet the remaining characters were also very well fleshed out. Character interactions were awesome with often witty and amusing banters that the main leads have with each other. I have not heard such natural dialogue delivery in a JRPG since Persona 4. The voice acting, thank God was top notch. There are no annoying voices in the game. All the characters were voice appropriately but I loved the gentle yet sultry voice of the buxom Judith (who was also as my favorite character in the game for obvious reasons).

As many JPRGs are trying their best to present focused storyline (i.e Final Fantasy XIII), Tales of Vesperia's plot is involving and rewarding, The story is rife with twists and turns, ancient technology and races and political angles. Such plot lines were usually found in many JRPGs of the PS2 era, but in the HD era such twisting plot lines have been replaced. Many game sites nominated the story of Tales of Vesperia in the Best Story category, much to my surprise (my conspiracy theory, which will be discussed in another blog post), but after playing through the game I agreed with such an assessment.

Anyways 2 years of dedicated play, I finally finished the game I (re)bought a 360 for with a grand play time of 57 hours and 29 mins, and was greeted to a great ending. It will be a shame if Tales of Vesperia becomes the last localized game in the series after Namco Bandai reported punishing losses in 2009. With a PS3 exclusive just being announcement in the form of Tales of Xillia, I really hope that game does make it out in English. Till then I look back fondly with the time I spend with Tales of Vesperia. My rating: 9.3!!