Tales of Vesperia

Infobox VG
title = Tales of Vesperia


developer = Namco Tales Studio
publisher = Namco Bandai Games
designer = Kōsuke Fujishima (Character design)
Yoshito Higuchi (Chief director, producer)
Motoi Sakuraba (Composer)
engine =
released = vgrelease|JP=August 7, 2008cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/talesofvesperia/similar.html?mode=versions | title=Tales of Vesperia | publisher=CNET | work=Gamespot | accessdate=2008-08-09] vgrelease|NA=August 26 2008 [cite web | title=Tales of Vesperia | publisher=Namco Bandai | url=http://www.namcobandaigames.com/games/talesofvesperia/ | accessdate=2008-08-09] vgrelease|EU=Spring 2009 [ [http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/880/880407p1.html IGN: Xbox 360 RPG Press Conference Live Blog ] ]
series = "Tales"
genre = Console role-playing game
modes = Single Player, multiplayer cooperative
ratings = vgratings|CERO=Ages 12 and over (B)|ESRB=Teen (T)
platforms = Xbox 360
media = DVD
requirements =
input = Gamepad

nihongo|"Tales of Vesperia"|テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア|Teiruzu obu Vesuperia is the tenth mothership title in the "Tales" series. It was developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco Bandai Games exclusively for the Xbox 360. The title was announced on December 22, 2007 at Jump Festa, and was released on August 7, 2008 in Japan and Asia, and on August 26, 2008 in North America. It is set for release in Spring 2009 in Europe. "Tales of Vesperia's" characteristic genre name is nihongo|"To Enforce One's "Justice" RPG"|「正義」を貫き通すRPG|"Seigi" o tsuranukitōsu RPG. The game's character designer is Kōsuke Fujishima, the chief director and producer is Yoshito Higuchi (who previously worked on both "Tales of Symphonia" and "Tales of the Abyss"), and the animated movies were done by Production I.G. The game's theme song is nihongo|"Kane o Narashite"|鐘を鳴らして in the Japanese release, and "Ring a Bell" in the North American release, both by Bonnie Pink. [ [http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3167430 1UP Tales of Vesperia News: Bonnie Pink Sings Tales of Vesperia Themes] ]

It was confirmed on GameSpot that "Vesperia" will be exclusively for the Xbox 360. [ [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6186789.html Namco Bandai spinning Wii, 360 Tales - Wii News at GameSpot ] ] A special limited edition was also released in North America, including a metal case with unique cover art and a 22-track soundtrack. [ [http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/896/896502p1.html IGN: Tales of Vesperia Gets Special ] ]

Gameplay

Battle system

"Tales of Vesperia" uses an improved and evolved version of "Tales of the Abyss"'s battle system, called the "Evolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System" (EFR-LMBS). As with previous "Tales" games, characters can move freely around the battlefield to combat their enemies in real-time.

An added aspect to the game's world is the "Encounter Linking" system. Should a particular enemy within the current battle session spot a roaming enemy walking about the field, the roaming enemy will also join the current battle. Also returning from previous "Tales" games are "surprise encounters." Like in "Tales of the Abyss", a surprise encounter rearranges the active party when taken into battle. "Tales of Vesperia" also makes use of "Secret Missions," special tasks or challenges that can be completed during boss fights for certain rewards.

Returning from "Tales of Symphonia" and "Tales of the Abyss" is the "Overlimit." Similar to "Tales of the Abyss" it is in the form of a visible gauge, but it comes in the form of a single bar that can be spread out among the party, or "stacked" up to four different levels to give more powerful effects when used for a single character. Another new feature is Burst Artes, powerful attacks performed while in overlimit and using an arcane arte or a spell change. Depending on the Overlimit level, the amount of time increases, allowing players to add in more combos. As with previous "Tales" games, characters are able to pull off powerful hi-ougis. Characters also have "Fatal Strikes," attacks capable of defeating their enemies with one strike. The attacks are performed through a series of select button combinations.

Recurring features

As in previous entries, "Tales of Vesperia" features an arena where the player can battle a number of enemies for prizes. In the arena, one chosen character will have to challenge two hundred monsters. After enough monsters are defeated, the battle with the next contender is unlocked. The four contenders are: Dhaos (voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa in Japanese and Patrick Seitz in English), the final boss of "Tales of Phantasia"; Shizel (voiced by Kazue Ikura), from "Tales of Eternia"; Barbatos (voiced by Norio Wakamoto), from "Tales of Destiny 2"; and Kratos (voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki in Japanese), a playable character in "Tales of Symphonia".

Vesperia also includes character costumes, which are dependent on the various titles that characters have obtained throughout the game. Equipping various accessories will also grant the same effect as the costume titles. "Tales of Vesperia" also includes skits, short optional conversations that further character or plot development. Unlike the English release of "Tales of the Abyss", skits in the English release of "Tales of Vesperia" are fully voiced by the English voice actors.

kill system

"Tales of Vesperia" introduces a new skill system to the series. They are found and used through equipment. Through fighting battles, characters gain Learning Points, which are assigned to all currently unlearned skills. When enough Learning Points are acquired, that character learns the skills. Learned skills can be equipped on a character without having the associated weapon equipped, but then they use up a certain number of Skill Points (SP), which are gained through leveling up. Through skills, characters are also capable of "Skill Changes," artes or spells that are created when a certain skill is equipped and a certain arte is used. Through using a Skill Change enough times, the character learns that arte or spell and is capable of using it without a Skill Change.

Online component

The game doesn't contain online multiplayer or competitive battles, but it does contain online leaderboards for things such as highest combo and minigame scores. The game also has downloadable content for items that are difficult to acquire in-game. [cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3167420&p=4|title=Previews: Tales of Vesperia|publisher=1UP.com|date=2008-04-16|accessdate=2008-07-30]

tory

etting

"Tales of Vesperia" takes place on the planet Terca Lumireis. The people of Terca Lumireis have come to rely on "blastia", an ancient civilization's technology with a wide array of capabilities, such as providing water, powering ships, or creating barriers around major cities and towns to protect them from monsters. The Imperial Knights and Guild members also use "bodhi blastia" to enhance their abilities in combat. The blastia are created from a substance called "aer" that lends its power to the blastia's ability, but can be fatal to humans in large concentrations.

Characters

The main protagonist of the story is nihongo|Yuri Lowell|ユーリ・ローウェル|Yūri Rōweru, a former member of the Imperial Knights who was discontent with the way the Empire treated its citizens, and is willing to help those in need. He is always accompanied by nihongo|Repede|ラピード|Rapīdo, an intelligent dog with old battle wounds and smokes a pipe. Yuri and Repede eventually join up with nihongo|Estellise Sidos Heurassein|エステリーゼ・シデス・ヒュラッセイン|Esuterīze Shidesu Hyurassein, nihongo|Estelle|エステル|Esuteru for short, who is an heir to the Empire throne but has not set foot outside the capital, nihongo|Karol Capel|カロル・カペル|Karoru Kaperu, an eager young member of the Guilds, nihongo|Rita Mordio|リタ・モルディオ|Rita Morudio, a blastia researcher, nihongo|Raven|レイヴン|Reivun, an older and laid-back Guildmember and later revealed to be a Captain of the Imperial Knights, and nihongo|Judith|ジュディス|Judisu, a member of nihongo|Kritya|クリティア|Kuritia tribe who has knowledge of the dangers of blastia and has attempted to stop them, initially appearing as a nameless dragon rider. Along the way, the group works with Yuri's and Estelle's friend in the Imperial Knights, nihongo|Flynn Scifo|フレン・シーフォ|Furen Shīfo, to help deal with problems across the land.

The group encounters several antagonists during the game. nihongo|Zagi|ザギ|Zagi, a frenzied young man, holds an unexplained grudge against Yuri, thinking him to be Flynn, throughout the game, interfering at inappropriate times. nihongo|Alexei|アレクセイ|Arekusei is a high-ranking member of the Knights and is maneuvering events throughout the story to his own ends. Assisting him is guildmember nihongo|Yeager|イエガー|Iegā, along with his subordinates nihongo|Gauche|ゴーシュ|Gōshu and nihongo|Droite|ドロワット|Dorowatto. Though initially assisting the group, nihongo|Duke|デューク|Dyūku, a war hero, is also attempting to drive events to a certain conclusion, with his aide to the group as part of his plan.

Plot

When the aque blastia is stolen from the capital city's lower quarter, denying water to the lower class that lives there, Yuri attempts to chase down the thief, finding himself in the castle. There, he encounters Estelle, who is looking to escape the castle under Flynn's protection, but decides to go with Yuri instead. The two, along with Repede, follow both Flynn's and the thief's travels across the land, meeting Karol and Rita, the latter who takes great interest in Estelle's healing artes. They are able to catch up with the thief and recover the blastia, turning it over to Flynn to return to the city, while Yuri ends up meeting and working with Judith to stop the thief. As the group recovers, Rita discovers that Estelle does not actually use her blastia to cast healing artes. Estelle comes to learn that she is the Child of the Full Moon, and an omen for impending disaster to the planet.

Judith leads the group to the home of the Krytia, who explain that the Child of the Full Moon, if used as a tool, could bring forth Adephagos, a being that feeds of aer and would convert all life on the planet back into pure aer due to their use of blastia; the group is encouraged to kill Estelle as soon as possible to prevent this from happening. As the group comes to terms with the revelation, Raven steals Estelle and takes her to Alexei. Alexei is able to take control of Estelle's power, preventing the group from killing her, and is able to summon forth the Shrine of Zaude from her power. Before Yuri can slay him, Alexei damages the huge blastia at the top of the Shrine, which causes Adephagos to break through a shield surrounding the planet and send tentacle-like appendages across the planet. As the group recovers, Duke appears to state his intention to help destroy the Adephagos by using the life force of all the humans.

The group comes up with strategy for stopping the disaster but at a cost; by creating spirits of the elements, they will be able to convert all the blastia in the world to an energy weapon that can destroy Adephagos. The group decides to push forward with the plan and work their way through a large shrine that Duke has activated, meeting Duke at the top. The group is able to defeat Duke, and Yuri attempts to convince him that all humans are willing to give up blastia to stop Adephagos. Duke recognizes Yuri's honesty and assists the group; the combined power of the spirits and the converted blastia slide Adephagos in two and destroy it. The world is able to recover and rebuild, now relying on their own technology instead of that of the blastia.

Audio

Music

"Tales of Vesperia"'s soundtrack was mostly composed by Motoi Sakuraba. Bonnie Pink performed the game's opening song, Ring a Bell both in English and in Japanese.

Voice actors

Reception

"Famitsu" awarded "Tales of Vesperia" a score of 9/9/9/8, totaling 35/40. [cite web|url=http://www.n4g.com/News-177099.aspx|title=Latest Famitsu Review Score,Tales of Vesperia get 35/40, Fatal Frame IV get 34/40|publisher=N4G.com|accessdate=2008-07-30] Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4 out of 5, praising the game for its anime-style graphics. [cite web| title=Hardcore Gamer: Tales of Vesperia Review| publisher=Hardcore Gamer | url=http://www.hardcoregamer.com/index.php?option=com_magazine&id_rubrique=1&type=article&id_article=190| date=| accessdate=2008-08-19] GameSpot gave it an 8.5/10, stating that "Tales of Vesperia" is the best game yet in the series." [cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/talesofvesperia/review.html|title=Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360 Review|author=Kevin VanOrd|publisher=GameSpot|date=2008-08-26|accessdate=2008-08-31] While they criticized the visuals as being a little inconsistent, IGN gave it an 8.2/10, stating "Tales of Vesperia is a strong anime-style Japanese RPG with a wide- ranging story, compelling characters and an intense real-time battle system that keeps you on your toes." [cite web|title=Tales of Vesperia Review|url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/902/902269p2.html|publisher=IGN|author=Ryan Geddes|date=2008-08-22|accessdate=2008-08-31] Game Informer gave the game a rating of 7.25, stating that while the game looks wonderful and had solid gameplay, the story is not very unique and can bog down an otherwise good game. [http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/5EA9B0F4-3BA9-4C60-B932-089EB1FF6032.htm?CS_pid=200491]

Since its release in Japan, the game has sold around 140,000 copies according to "Famitsu" numbers.Fact|date=August 2008 The launch of "Tales of Vesperia" in Japan caused the Xbox 360 to sell out. [http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=8909]

References

External links

* [http://namco-ch.net/talesofvesperia/ Official Japanese Site]
* [http://www.namcobandaigames.com/games/talesofvesperia/ Official American Site]
* [http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/53875/info.shtml "Tales of Vesperia" Page]
* [http://www.talesbrigade.com Official Tales Series Enthusiast Community]