Tales of Vesperia
-
JaySevenZero
- Admin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:28 pm
- Location: Liverpool, Europe, Earth
- Contact:
Tales of Vesperia
Here is where you can leave your thoughts regarding Tales of Vesperia for possible inclusion in the podcast when it's recorded.
-
mikeleddy83
- Member
- Posts: 1432
- Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:32 pm
- Location: Oxford
- Contact:
Re: Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Vesperia is a comfort food rpg and a great demonstration of Tales games to this day since. It knows exactly what it is and delivers on an almost annual basis now but back in 2009 this game was the perfect conclusion to an arc of seeing Symphonia create a path to success, Abyss evolving the formula and Vesperia finally laying on the polish and preparing the series for its long nesting as the king of it's own niche.
Vesperia is a gentle game with a big heart, it has a determined soundtrack, first rate animation, strong and memorable bonds between characters, one of the less transparent twists of the Tales series and an addictive gameplay system where not once could I become complacent in battle for worry of a low rank. It's simply the complete package!
On the flipside it's simply a little too nervous to push the series past the classics of the genre in whole. The Tales series deserves a home at the big table and as far as this game did push I just can't see it crossing that bridge. For what there is you are left with a defining classic from the 360 library and arguably the strongest Japanese localised exclusive to the Xbox 360.
Vesperia like Final Fantasy VII may be seen as the commercial breakthrough for the series and in a similar way I see it as the defining game of the series. There is just so much to love about this game.
To come back to the comfort food thought, that's its only real drawback and ultimately its double edge sword, the series really doesn't make many misteps like the others. Graces f, Xillia, Zestiria and Berseria are all mighty fine games and always welcome to stay on my collections top shelf but hard as they try that x factor just won't reveal itself to propel the series further at this stage and as a long time fan I can only urge the developers to brave that step.
With no reservations I recommend the game highly, should you play just one Tales game - look no further!
Edit: I had more to add but that's probably enough of a mouthful!
Vesperia is a gentle game with a big heart, it has a determined soundtrack, first rate animation, strong and memorable bonds between characters, one of the less transparent twists of the Tales series and an addictive gameplay system where not once could I become complacent in battle for worry of a low rank. It's simply the complete package!
On the flipside it's simply a little too nervous to push the series past the classics of the genre in whole. The Tales series deserves a home at the big table and as far as this game did push I just can't see it crossing that bridge. For what there is you are left with a defining classic from the 360 library and arguably the strongest Japanese localised exclusive to the Xbox 360.
Vesperia like Final Fantasy VII may be seen as the commercial breakthrough for the series and in a similar way I see it as the defining game of the series. There is just so much to love about this game.
To come back to the comfort food thought, that's its only real drawback and ultimately its double edge sword, the series really doesn't make many misteps like the others. Graces f, Xillia, Zestiria and Berseria are all mighty fine games and always welcome to stay on my collections top shelf but hard as they try that x factor just won't reveal itself to propel the series further at this stage and as a long time fan I can only urge the developers to brave that step.
With no reservations I recommend the game highly, should you play just one Tales game - look no further!
Edit: I had more to add but that's probably enough of a mouthful!
-
paleAvenger
Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (3.6.17): Tales of Vesperia
I tried to get into Tales of Vesperia, but I don’t think I’ll ever finish it.
I put in about 20 hours, and found some aspects of the game really enjoyable. The combat system is pretty fun, I like that there is a bit of strategy to the overworld battles, and some of the art is beautiful. I also really enjoyed Yuri’s character: I felt that the writing did a great job of portraying him as sad, kind-hearted and caring, without making him preachy or dull.
Unfortunately, there were some persistent annoyances, and I was less enamored of the other characters. The naïve princess was pure cliché, and I don’t really enjoy the JRPG staple of impulsive, childish little kid characters, who can out-fight all the adults and monsters in the world. I couldn’t ignore this part of the game, either, because the characters kept talking about it, and Rita kept having temper tantrums.
There are things to love here, but I just don’t feel like spending another 30+ hours listening to some of these party members (especially Rita).
I put in about 20 hours, and found some aspects of the game really enjoyable. The combat system is pretty fun, I like that there is a bit of strategy to the overworld battles, and some of the art is beautiful. I also really enjoyed Yuri’s character: I felt that the writing did a great job of portraying him as sad, kind-hearted and caring, without making him preachy or dull.
Unfortunately, there were some persistent annoyances, and I was less enamored of the other characters. The naïve princess was pure cliché, and I don’t really enjoy the JRPG staple of impulsive, childish little kid characters, who can out-fight all the adults and monsters in the world. I couldn’t ignore this part of the game, either, because the characters kept talking about it, and Rita kept having temper tantrums.
There are things to love here, but I just don’t feel like spending another 30+ hours listening to some of these party members (especially Rita).