Tales of Vesperia Review

Exciting news! Well, it is for me anyway. I have an Xbox 360 now! Which means I've finally entered the current generation of gaming consoles. So, that means I can review all of the many JRPGs on the 360. Today I'm going to start off by reviewing the game that made me put off buying a current gen console for the longest time, Tales of Vesperia. Why did this game make me wait so long? Well, there was a semi-legitimized rumor for a while that they were going to release in the U.S. the PS3 port of Tales of Vesperia, which had a new character (always a plus) and alternate costumes from Tales of the Abyss. However, they decided to bring over Tales of Graces instead, so the 360 is the only place to get this game.

If you've played a Tales game before, the plot is probably pretty recognizable. Maverick Yuri Lowell starts on a quest to help the people of the lower quarter in the capital city, but is captured almost immediately by the imperial guards. He meets a mysterious young woman in the castle, and agrees to let her tag along during his travels. As the story unravels, it appears there is a conspiracy to take over the world, and Yuri and his ragtag band of companions have to stop it, because no one else will. The story is the part of the game that I'm least enthused about. It's basic, but there's altogether too much of party members sticking with your group just because. It just feels a little bit too forced for the first half of the game, and that's a real problem. Still, it's not totally inadequate, but it illustrates how the Tales series is all about character driven stories.

Speaking of, the characters are great. Yuri is something of the opposite of your typical protagonist. He's the dark loner type, with a dark vigilante streak which is sometimes a bit jarring in an otherwise lighthearted game. Judith, the lancer chick, is refreshingly blasé about everything, not to mention having a reaction to her history that is somewhat unusual. Raven is your stereotypical sketchy old man, but he's got tons of secrets that actually make him pretty badass, though he mostly ends up playing comic relief. I really didn't care for Karol, the chirpy young adventurer, but even he's tolerable. The villains receive some good treatment, especially several of the midbosses. It's a little bit of a spoiler, but one of the best parts about the development of the villains is that you aren't aware of their villainous nature for most of the game, which makes for a fairly nuanced view of the motivations and character of each.

I can't really say too much on the battle system, because it's really in the same vein as Tales of Symphonia and several subsequent games. It's in three dimensions, you can move in a line towards and away from the enemy you've targeted, jump, and launch attacks and specials in combos. You can also run around the battlefield outside the line between you and your target by pressing a button and moving, but you can't make combo attacks while doing so.

There's also a synthesis system, which is pretty straightforward (stores have recipes, you give them the ingredients and money and they make you the item). In addition to main weapons, each character has a sub weapon which increases their stats and is used for various attacks. I wish they had done more with this, because it would have been really cool if it led to a system of dual wielding. Skills are learned either from weapons of subweapons, and the skills on the currently equipped weapon are automatically equipped, which makes it so you can strategize which weapon to equip on other grounds than whichever has the highest attack power. All in all, it's a system not substantially different from in previous games, but it still works fine.

Replayability has become one of the continuing features of the Tales series, and this game is no exception. After you complete the game, the grade (based on your performance in battles) can be used to purchase various benefits that can be transferred over to a new game. While there's not as much character customization as there was in Tales of Symphonia, you probably won't get the hang of all eight characters in one playthrough, so you might enjoy getting to know more characters during a new game. You can also try to find more of the skits, which are voice acted in this game! So, the rating is just about "replayable, but only for the sake of characters."

So, as for the rating in total, I should mention that this game incorporates one feature that I believe to be essential to a truly excellent RPG, minigames. There's a blackjack game, a dragon flying game, and a shooter that's kinda meh. These games are fun so they do improve the game. The overall total score for this game is 9.8. I really wanted to give it a 10 out of 10, but I couldn't ignore the weaknesses in the story. Everything else was great though. I may not have liked all the characters, but they grew on me. The gameplay was fun, and battles never really got boring.

Quick Tip: If you want to get every item or skill, make sure you make the karolian hammer +1 before you make the karolian sword, since you only ever get one karolian hammer.

Fun Fact: In the locker room on Namcobanda Isle, you can find a love letter from Natalia to Asch, both from Tales of the Abyss.

If you liked this game, you might want to try one of these games. Tales of Symphonia or Tales of the Abyss are both very similar in battle system and tone. Honestly, the Tales games haven't changed much in recent years. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana has a less action oriented battle system, but its crafting system is similarly robust and enjoyable. Grandia III has a great, fast paced battle system, and though the story is a little underwhelming, it also has something of a crafting system that is pretty enjoyable.

Top Ten Cutest RPG Girls

Okay, you guys have waited long enough for this one. You went through the boys hot springs, and now, at the end of the optional dungeon, you get to see the girls side. The rules are the same for this one. To be considered, the character has to be one of the game’s playable characters, or protagonists. Also, the idea is “cute” and not sexy or adorable. Attractive, both in their personality and in their physical appearance. Usefulness as a character is a plus, but not strictly necessary. Finally, only one character per game series, for no reason in particular other than most series don’t manage to have more than one really excellent female character. There are a few exceptions to this last one, but it would be boring to list three or four characters from the same series or game that specializes in cute girls. And, finally, in contrast to my other stuff, artwork matters. If the graphics don’t support a detailed look at a girl, then no luck.

10. Yukiko Amagi, from Persona 4. It’s a tough call, since all of the girls in Persona 4 are pretty cute, but Yukiko has the most going for her. She’s designed as the traditional Yamato Nadeshiko girl, but she’s also got her sense of humor, which is actually endearing. She looks cool, but the illusion is shattered when she gets embarrassed. In battle, she’s a total magic attacker. No healing, no physical power, but loads of magic. Especially once you get her social link high enough, she’s really cute and powerful, always a good combination.

9. Rikku, from Final Fantasy X. Urgh. Rikku is such an annoying, explicit, and uninspired little bit. Even so, there’s no denying that she’s cute. She’s a useful party member, she’s got a pretty skimpy outfit, and she’s got an adequate personality, so, really, there’s a lot to “like.” Her overdrive is probably the most interesting in the game, as it involves combining items to make one of a huge number of separate attacks. As to her outfit, there’s a cutscene devoted entirely to watching Rikku strip to her … undies? Or that’s what you think until you’re shown that it really is her normal outfit. She’s almost aggravatingly perky in her attitude. If you like that kinda stuff, she’s okay, I guess. I do like her all right, but she’s been made into such a huge sex symbol, I’m hesitant to put her on this list. I decided to, obviously, because her “sex” appeal is based primarily on her cutesiness.

8. Monica, from Dark Cloud 2. Monica is not a particularly amazing cutie, but she’s pleasant. She has sort of a girl next door vibe, which is especially odd considering she is, technically, a princess. As far as controlling her goes, she’s one of the two characters in the game you play as, so you’d better get used to her. She has pretty good melee ability, but her magic takes too long to charge up, which can be a problem if the enemy can close distance fast. Still, she’s upbeat, athletic, and very friendly.

7. Ridley Silverlake, from Radiata Stories. Oh, Ridley, you poor thing. You get hit with the plot cupid arrows in the worst way. Despite being the smartest, strongest, and most competent member of the initial party, you end up with the rock stupid protagonist to end all rock stupid protagonists. Ridley is very sweet, in an emotionally repressed kind of way. She really has a lot of issues on her plate, and deals with them reasonably well, all things considered. In battle, she’s very useful, providing powerful attacking capabilities. She suffers a little from throwing herself off-balance sometimes, but that doesn’t stop her from being quite useful. When her icy shell breaks, it’s quite touching.

6. Princess Éclair, from La Pucelle: Tactics. Éclair’s weird. Without going into spoileriffic stuff, she’s somewhat of a surprising personality. When she gets everything sorted out, she’s definitely a pleasing and curious character. Before you get to know her deep dark secret, she’s somewhat bland. She’s got two pretty nice outfits, one cute and respectable, one skanky as all get out. Because this is La Pucelle, you can pretty much make her whatever you want, though she has some pretty good specials for attacking. And, as a human with the purify ability built-in, she’s pretty useful overall.

5. Jane Maxwell, from Wild Arms Alter Code: F. Tsundere. Really, that’s all. At least she’s playable in this game. Plus, she looks pretty cute in her wildly unpractical dress. It’s okay though, because she uses a gun. All in all, she’s a fun character, who serves as one of the lighter, more comic characters in your party. When you can get her for keeps, she is an integral party member, having thief skills and excellent speed.

4. Tear Grants, from Tales of the Abyss. Oh, Tear. You’re such a kuudere. You act so cool and collected, but you really like those cute things. Ahem. Well, apart from being a member of a fairly rare archetype, Tear has a few other things going for her. She’s got a pretty skimpy but functional outfit. She’s smart, she serves as your first healer but not necessarily a primary healer, and has good support moves to help take advantage of elemental attacks. She’s also pretty harsh sometimes, which can be quite surprising. Even though the targets of her ire frequently deserve it, it’s relatively rarely that a video game character reacts as strongly to another in a realistic fashion.

3. Feena, from Grandia. Feena’s spunky. That’s really the only way to describe her adequately. She’s also a more mature person than the main character of her game, which makes her something like an older woman character, even though she’s only 15! And her outfit… wow, that’s really skimpy. She is a competent fighter, and a good magic user too, so she’s definitely got some redeeming value. Plus, she’s got a pretty romantic outlook, and knows how to be cute. She’s also pretty sneaky sometimes, so yeah, she’s got a personality to go along with her fanservicey digs.

2. Jean, from Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. Jean starts out as your basic status effect ranged fighter. She’s pretty good, and wears pretty dancer’s clothing. She’s friendly and dependable. About halfway through the game, she classes into your secondary physical attacker. This comes after she deals with her past issues, and adds a little depth to her character. Unfortunately, her new duds don’t look all that great on her. Not bad, but not great. Still, she’s a pretty girl, with real weaknesses and strengths, and isn’t relegated to a traditionally female party role, such as healer or glass cannon.

1. Gwendolyn, from Odin Sphere. Gwendolyn is pretty much everything you could possibly want in a female protagonist from a cute perspective. First of all, she’s a badass, who looks pretty good in armor. Second, she’s also a little girly, because she does like looking pretty in a dress, with her hair down. She’s got her well developed tragic past issues. Finally, she’s both a little Tsuntsun and Deredere, but isn’t actually a tsundere overall. Basically, she covers all the bases (all right!) and thus ranks in as the cutest rpg protagonist girl.