#28 - Tales Of Vesperia

I always find it funny when people try to downplay certain games because the reality is that it's better than their favorite game. Tales Of Vesperia does get liked by a lot of people, but just as many people will criticize the hell out of it, only to jack off to Tales Of Symphonia and The Abyss. Seriously? I enjoyed Symphonia and Abyss, but there's a good reason Vesperia is on my list - because it's more enjoyable as a whole. The Tales series was never really known for good stories but for good characters, and with the exception of Estelle (aka Colette with pink cropped hair and even more awkward), I felt that Vesperia was where they really stepped up their game and I also hope that Tales Of Xillia continues this trend, or I might have to cap a bitch. But yeah, Vesperia has a lot more going for it, particularly in terms of character development. Not only does individual development keep the character interesting, but their relationships further develop their characters into something more than just a group of kids saving the world. I'd honestly put this in my top 10 if the last act wasn't so... I wouldn't say weak because it was still good, but it feels like they were about ready to go to bed while writing this act. The first two acts were actually quite strong, particularly the second one as it further developed the characters, but the last act didn't show much except them taking a step back into old ground. At least the characters were interesting enough to keep it from being shit, but all Tales games are like this, really.

The Tales games aren't just about characters, but what the player does with them. If you've played Abyss, then you'll be quite familiar with Vesperia's because they're similar - while you mostly fight on a 2D plane, you can hold the RT and do some "free running" (meaning it's on a 3D plane). You'll be a bit slower and you can't use artes (special attacks) whilst free running though; it's more of a dodging mechanism than anything else. At least you can attack... with this one slow attack, but it's an attack nonetheless. One addition is the fatal strike, where if you hit an enemy enough with a certain type of arte, once the symbol pops up, you press RT and you'll either kill them or do a lot of damage to them. Also, playing as other members is finally not a complete pain in the ass! I'm sorry, but in other games, I made sure only to play as the default character as they were clearly the one who was designed the best in terms of player control, while here, everybody has their own nuances that you can eventually get used to and will be a blast to play with. I guess it has to make up for the dungeons, which have no puzzles. At least Symphonia had good puzzles (besides you know what...). But Vesperia's combat is so much fun that it doesn't matter.

Summary - It shows strong signs of the series growing up and overall, Tales Of Vesperia is a damn fine experience. If only its third act could keep up.
Rating - 9/10

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