Will make a JRPG believer out of you

by Shaan Ali Khan

Fun factor: Fun

Worth to: Buy

Offers nothing new to the genre, but it is a prime example of what RPGs should aspire to with its solid story, great characters and optional level of depth.

I will admit it; I’m not the biggest fan of the Japanese RPG. I’ve dealt with enough androgynous teenage boys, sinister plots at the hands of ancient demons, and endless grinding to know that it’s a type of game I’m largely done with. That’s why I was so surprised with Tales of Vesperia, a game that may indulge in the occasional cliché here and there, but that revived my hope in the genre with great balance of strong storytelling, characterization, and solid strategy.

One of the best lead characters to date

To start off, Tales of Vesperia is a little more of an action-RPG as its real-time battle system is one of the series’ key features (a feature I think could potentially make me a fan of the franchise). As a result, anyone who has some bizarre affinity for random encounters and turn-based battles should turn away now, because there’s none of that here. But you will still find a big adventure with a lot of plot, a lot of depth, and a lot of classic JRPG gameplay that will keep fans of the genre happy.



The basic setup is that the world of Terca Lumireis relies heavily on a technology called blastia. These are used for all sorts of functions, including creating barriers for cities to protect from monsters. When a blastia is stolen from the lower quarter of the capital city (your home, of course), former-knight Yuri Lowell sets out to hunt down the precious item’s thief. Eventually teaming up with other characters along the way like the loving Estelle, the sometimes-annoying Karol, and some other interesting faces, Yuri and his new companions end up getting involved in a large conspiracy, and eventually reach a point where the whole world is put on the brink of destruction (as usual).

This certainly doesn’t sound like anything new, I know. But what’s fascinating is the way Vesperia reaches its final moment. There are some interesting twists, some great character-defining moments, and even Yuri finds himself facing some grave moral decisions that make us, the audience, question what measures are necessary to protect the world.

I feel as if Yuri is perhaps one of the best lead characters in a game, to date. He’s mature, yet still flawed and has his own issues to deal with. But he’s smart. He doesn’t act without thinking, and he’s always trying to think of the bigger picture. He sort of reminds me of a cool, older brother. The other characters help balance each other out quite well, too. They all work together as a strong ensemble cast, and the optional skits you’ll encounter always managed to get me interested in what these heroes had to say to one another. While there are certainly some clichés, the main protagonists themselves, as well as some of the supporting members, are both strongly written and performed, helping create a narrative that I don’t doubt is one of the best JRPG storylines I’ve ever played through.

Multiplayer Co-op in an RPG?

The game world itself is quite huge, but opens itself up to you in a largely linear fashion. You go from town to town, going through caves and forests along the way, occasionally passing a dungeon here or there. The dungeons themselves are decent in length without being overbearing. In-between battles, there’s the odd puzzle or trap you’ll have to work your way around. The puzzle-solving is largely pretty simple -- they won’t really test your mind much.



What will test your mind, surprisingly, is the combat system. While it is a real-time combat system, there is quite a lot of strategy involved. It ranges from the characters you’re choosing in your party, to the roles you want your team performing. You’ll only control one party member during battles. If you want, you can let the other three characters just fight as the game has defaulted them to, which largely seems to work fine. However, if you do like to organize yourself a bit more, there are many options for you to tinker with. These can include: how much magic your allies use; do they attack who you attack; do they attack the weakest monster; do they remain stationary; do they protect the weaker characters… the list really goes on. There’s certainly a lot of possibilities for you to customize your own style and strategy for battles.

Your party’s AI usually works really quite well. Of course it could very well depend on what your strategy settings are, but they generally take of themselves. They will use items when necessary, even saving you from time to time. They will help each other; I almost never had to worry about them, or take over as “Potion Guy” instead of actually playing the game. Up to three friends can jump in locally, each controlling one of the four party members in combat. It’s a nice feature, and the fact they can jump in and out whenever is appreciated.

Gameplay depth is optional

While battling certainly is fun thanks to real-time combat, you can avoid getting into fights if you want to. Enemies will appear in a dungeon or overworld, and if you want, you can simply walk around them. But also thanks to the nature of the combat system, grinding (if necessary… I didn’t find it to be too bad) never really felt like a chore.

Within combat, there are also some interesting sub-techniques for you to use. Depending on how you attack, you might be able to pull off an instant-kill move on some monsters. The various artes (special moves) have different classifications, and can be chained in with other artes. Some of these will rely on what skills you have available. Skills can be acquired through basic leveling, but others (most, actually) can be obtained by using various equipment.



While you’ll generally find that upgrading your equipment is as simple as going to the next town, getting better stuff, going to the next town, getting better stuff, etc., eventually you will realize some subtle differences in equipment, such as which stats really improve what, or what skills they’ll help your character learn. All these factors help make a surprisingly complex battle system if you want that depth to it, but while still not alienating those that want something accessible.

As per usual, there are plenty of main quests and side-quests for you to accomplish. Some side-quests are hidden, but sometimes offer really valuable rewards later into the game. Vesperia rewards exploration and interaction with its various NPC’s, so be sure to do so if you want a lot of goodies that can help you through your adventure. These can be as simple as offering you titles or alternate costumes, while others can be a whole new skill that can greatly help out in combat.

Schizophrenic presentation

The presentation is generally quite strong. A very slick anime look, a nice cel-shaded style, and some solid cutscenes make the game a treat to look at. Strangely though, some of the cutscenes sort of jump around. Some are in-game, others are straight-up anime, and others are CG. Jumping between these three looks can feel a bit inconsistent. I would have liked a few more of the anime cutscenes, as I thought they were done quite well (and I don’t like anime so that’s a big compliment).

Another note is that while some of the effects are neat, characters seem stiff in some of their animations. It prevents several scenes from really capturing you, unfortunately. Also, the overworld is a bit too simplistic, but it gets the job done. Considering how much is packed onto the disc, I won’t hold it against Namco Bandai. But generally speaking, the art style is really strong.



Environments look great thanks some excellent art design. There is a lot of color used, which brings the world to life. It’s certainly a nice break from the browns and grays of a game like Fallout 3 or Gears of War. The art direction is simply excellent, and character designs remain very strong without getting too over-extravagant with unwieldy costumes and needlessly spiky hair. There is one character who does stick out a bit oddly though. I’m sorry but silver lipstick and a pink suit of armor just doesn’t work on males.

You’ll get your money’s worth

The music is also is quite affective, especially in some of the cutscenes. There is sort of this weird mix of metal, techno, and thematic soundtrack in some of the battles. This really keeps the action quite lively, so it’s a fitting touch. There is no option for the Japanese voice-tracks though, so “sorry” to those that really want that feature. That said, the voice actors actually do a great job of handling their roles, and while some lines in battle can be repeated a bit too often, a lot of the dialogue and writing works quite well. Most of the dialogue is voiced also, so that is a welcomed inclusion.

Ultimately, the game will have you playing for a good 70-or-so hours. If you want to complete all the side-quests and find all the goodies, add another 10 to that, at least. This is an epic game with a large scope. There’s a lot to see, a lot to do, and a lot to delve into if you want. There’s a decent amount of backtracking in the game, but it’s never through a dungeon or something unpleasant. It usually amounts to simply flying over the ocean to a town you visited a while back. Thankfully, this only helps make the world feel united and cohesive as opposed to just trying to pad out the game’s length.



The storyline largely does actually feel quite fresh, tackling interesting ideas and featuring excellent characters. Sure, we see some standard archetypes here and there, but the “new” manages to stick out. The plot always feels like it’s moving forward. It’s sort of like a movie trilogy in the way it is set up. There are some interesting story arcs; you never feel like you’re getting involved with stupid tasks for no good reason, and there really is an epic feeling to this game that most “epics” fail to achieve, no matter how many high-flying CG action scenes they have.

Summary

Tales of Vesperia doesn’t offer a whole lot that hasn’t been seen before. It’s not exactly ground-breaking, it’s not revolutionary, and it won’t seem like anything radically different than a standard JRPG. But funnily enough, it is. Where the game shines is its excellent level of polish. Everything here feels very refined, and well-balanced. The game is engaging due to its combat system -- it’s simply just fun. If you’re someone who wants to just jump into a JRPG, it’s simple enough for that, but if you want a lot of depth, the option is there for that too.

Vesperia really is a great game. It’s a stand-out game, and while many who glance at it won’t see anything different, experiencing it for yourself will make you realize just how special it actually is. I opened this review stating that I’m not a fan of the Japanese RPG genre. And it still stands true. But with that said, not only is Tales of Vesperia an exception to that rule, but I am willing to call it out as one of my favorite games. If you have an Xbox 360 and are looking for a big adventure to invest yourself into, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. And if you still don’t believe me, one of the characters is a pipe-smoking dog. Convinced yet?