Tales of Vesperia

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Game Information

Developed by Namco Tales Studios
Published by Namco & Atari
Platform : Xbox 360 & Playstation 3
Genre : RPG
Age Rating : 12+
Players : Single Player and Multiplayer Co-op
Additional Contents Provided : None
Release Date - Xbox 360 : (JP) 7 August 2008, (NA) 26 August 2008, (EU) 26 June 26 2009
Release Date - Playstation 3 : (JP) 17 September 2009

---

Synopsis

The game is distinguished by its use of cel-shaded visuals, as players guide a young hero in his unyielding search for justice. The combat system once again offers real-time battles against an assortment of creatures. While earlier games in the series involved fighting against a maximum of four enemies, Vesperia includes as many as eight. Key elements in the battle system include "overlimits," "burst artes," and "fatal strikes.Overlimits are powerful special moves that can be unleashed once an on-screen meter is filled. This meter builds over time as all four party members perform successful attacks. Burst artes are character-specific attacks initiated by first building the overlimit meter to a second level of power. Fatal strikes are essentially killing blows that involve executing timed button presses to perform a one-shot coup de grce. As party members gain experience, they will be able to find and create weapons after collecting the requisite number of materials. In addition to the main narrative, players can embark on various side-quests and even win prizes in arena combat. Cinematic cut-scenes help further the story in this anim-flavored RPG.

---

Gameplay

Now Tales of Vesperia I found was pretty exciting for me when I use to like anime. Personally, now I don't think I could go back to it because it isn't exciting for me and I find it tremendously boring. The gameplay in this game is really responsive and it's well developed. You have various weapons that you can use in combat against your enemies that you will fight throughout the campaign. You have a sword where you do most of your hit combos with and you can also use small spells to stun or finish off your enemies. This is a nice variety as you can take multiple enemies out in a matter of seconds if you combine the right spells and combos. The missions in the game aren't that difficult but there are a couple that could pose a challenge. However, if you are following the campaign and watching all the cutscenes then you should have no problem completing the campaign. You can use various items in the game aswell that can boost your health if its low, boost your damage against enemies and even revive your teammates in the campaign that fight alongside you. This is a good feature but if you are a low level and you are fighting against quite a few enemies then you might find yourself short of health quite regularly. The use of different spells. combos and your teammates packing a punch as well looks really great and you should have enemies and bosses alike going down in minutes. If you are having trouble completing a certain mission during the game, you also have the option to invite a friend from Xbox Live or PSN to join your game session and aid you with whatever is troubling you. This is really helpful if you get stuck and forget your objectives. Personally, this has happened to me many a time and it's a good feature that is definitely worth checking out.

---

Graphics

Graphics in Tales of Vesperia are stunning and look like a great anime TV series. Spells and combos go really well with each other and the effects that are emitted from them look amazing. Throwing fireballs at your enemies look as if they are going to come out through your screen. The environments that you play in are pretty basic and there's nothing that amazing about them. They do have colourful features to them, such as the green grass, the ocean looks really nice and the sky looks pretty decent however that's what you would expect from a good anime. The clothing on the characters is decent and colourful and sometimes their clothing symbolises what kind of character they are. Your melee weapons look really good as they usually glitter when you're fighting your enemies. As you start to unlock upgrades your weapon starts to look much better and that's one of the things I enjoyed. Having a powerful weapon that causes a lot of damage and at the same time looks pretty darn amazing. Only problem I had with the graphics portion in the game was the speech bubbles in the cut scenes. These usually took up a lot of space that didn't need to be taken up. They were all the same colour and sometimes it was hard to depict who was talking. It would have been nice to just have subtitles at the bottom and not the speech bubbles that cover up near enough half of the screen for a bit of speech. Other than that everything looks great and the developers have definitely portrayed an amazing anime RPG for those Anime fans that love games like Naruto and others.

---

Controls

---

Overall, this game is really enjoyable and is a game worth checking out. If you are an anime lover then this is the game for you. This was one of anime games I've played back when I use to enjoy anime and it was well developed and left me playing for hours. I'm sure this game is quite cheap now and in nearly every game store so you won't have to venture far to find it.

Game Rating : 8/10 (Gameplay is better than mediocre and is enjoyable in parts, graphics are pretty stunning, combos and spells work amazing together and controls are easy and quick to learn)