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Tales of Vesperia

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Tales of Vesperia
テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア
(Teiruzu obu Vesuperia)
Information
Japan ReleaseAugust 7, 2008 (Xbox 360)
September 17, 2009 (PlayStation 3)
North American ReleaseAugust 26, 2008
PAL ReleaseJune 26, 2009
Game SystemXbox 360,PlayStation 3
Battle SystemEvolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System (EFR-LMBS)
ModesSingle Player, multiplayer cooperative
Theme Song(s)Kane o Narashite by Bonnie Pink (Jap.)
Ring a Bell by Bonnie Pink (US)
RatingsCERO: Ages 12 and over (B)
ESRB: Teen (T)

Tales of Vesperia is a Role Playing game created for the Xbox 360 by Namco Bandai Games. The Xbox 360 version was released August of 2008 in Japan and North America while the European release was on June 26, 2009. However on April 4 it was confirmed that an enhanced port of Tales of Vesperia was being developed for the PlayStation 3 for release on September 17, 2009 in Japan, it contains many new features not included in the original Xbox 360 version.

Bandai Namco has stated that the CG scenes will set records for the Tales series. Additionally, the main theme, Ring a Bell, will be sung by Bonnie Pink in both Japan and North America.[1] The Monster Encyclopedia makes its return as well.[2] For the second time in the main games of the Tales Series, the skits are fully voiced in North America; Tales of Legendia was the first to offer this feature.

Additionally, both release dates were planned to be a close as possible to each other.[3]

Contents

[edit] Online Content

Though Tales of Vesperia is the first main game to have online content, it doesn't do too much with the capabilities. It features only worldwide rankings on minigames, hit count, and completion time. Additionally, useful rare items can be bought, though nothing that cannot be acquired in the game will be available for download.[1]

[edit] Battle System

The battle system is an "evolved" form of Tales of the Abyss' FR-LMBS, having many new features. For instance, in battles, more monsters may come on the battlefield after the start if they're nearby, meaning eight monsters could be fighting at once.[4] However, in the place of FOFs, there is the ability to take out non-boss enemies if certain button combinations are used, regardless of HP.[1] The Skill System allows the player to backstep, execute artes in midair, increase attack and defense, and other, similar effects. Weapons are the key to unlocking skills; blastia are used to bring them out (weapons, however, have no effect on artes).[1]

[edit] Overlimit

Four overlimit gauges can be stocked up. They can all be used on one character or shared with the party. Each Overlimit Lvl stacks the bonuses of the previous ones. Four additional overlimit gauges have been added for the enhanced PlayStation 3 port of Tales of Vesperia. Even though the Overlimit Gauge can go up to Lvl 8, the same character can only use 4 at once.

Overlimit Lvl 1 - Raises Attack Power. No restriction on Artes Chains.

Overlimit Lvl 2 - Attacks force enemy to stand.

Overlimit Lvl 3 - Mystic Arte can be activated. No TP consumption.

Overlimit Lvl 4 - Invincibility.

[edit] Setting

When the aque blastia core is stolen from Zaphias's lower quarter, denying water to the lower class that lives there, Yuri attempts to chase down the thief, but is arrested and jailed in the castle. He escapes and flees with Estelle, after discovering that she is searching for Flynn. The two, along with Repede, chase after both Flynn and the thief. They meet Karol and Rita, who takes great interest in Estelle's healing artes. The group is able to catch up with the thief, and, with Judith's help, recover the blastia core, thwarting the plans of an evil guild leader, Barbos, in the process. Yuri then turns the core over to Flynn to return to the city. As the group recovers, Rita discovers that Estelle does not actually use her bodhi blastia to cast healing artes. Estelle soon comes to learn that she is the Child of the Full Moon, and an omen of an impending disaster upon the planet.

Judith leads the group to Myorzo, the home of the Kritya, who explain that the Child of the Full Moon, if used as a tool, could bring forth the Adephagos, a being that feeds off 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, revealed to be the Imperial Knight Captain Schwann Oltorain, kidnaps Estelle and takes her to Alexei. Alexei is able to take control of Estelle's power, and uses it to reveal the Enduring Shrine of Zaude before the group can save her. Raven has a change of heart and regroups with the team as they chase Alexei to the Shrine. Before Yuri can kill him, Alexei activates the huge blastia at the top of the Shrine, causing the Adephagos to break through a magical seal and send tentacle-like appendages across the planet. Alexei then commits suicide, realizing the folly of his ways. As the group recovers, Duke appears and states his intention to help destroy the Adephagos and save Terca Lumireis by sacrificing the life essence of all humanity, including himself.

The group comes up with a strategy for stopping the disaster, but at a cost: by creating spirits of the elements from the apatheia of the four Entelexeia (Belius, Phaeroh, Gusios, and Khroma), they will be able to convert all the blastia cores within the planet to an energy weapon that can destroy the Adephagos. The group decides to push forward with the plan and work their way through the tower of Tarqaron, a gigantic, hidden city-turned-weapon underneath Aspio that Duke 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 the Adephagos. Duke recognizes Yuri's honesty and assists the group. The combined power of the Elemental Spirits, the converted blastia cores, and Dein Nomos slices the Adephagos in two and destroys it.

[edit] Characters

Cast of Tales of Vesperia (PS3)

Unlike many main characters in the Tales series, Yuri has a more fully-formed personality. He's extremely empathetic, choosing to solve smaller problems from individuals rather than the larger problems. Yuri was once a knight, and therefore had traveled a little out of the city he was born in, however, he didn't do it as regularly as Flynn. Eventually, his envy for Flynn led him to decide to see the world for himself. He eventually became part of the Guild, an organization that opposes the kingdom, Brave Vesperia, named after a star.[2]

Estelle has but a few things known about her. She encounters Yuri after he sneaks in the castle she lives in. Because she was largely confined there, she was taught to use swords, and often read books (which she loves to do), giving her a great deal of knowledge.[2]

Flynn, in contrast to Yuri, is a knight who would solve the larger problem before the smaller ones. In other words, he has a similar sense of justice to Yuri, but would rather solve them through politics. His differences in idealolgy will cause him to clash with Yuri, although the two aren't really at odds with each other.

Yuri's partner, who wields a dagger. He carrys a pipe and a chain as mementos of his former masters. He is friendly around those he trusts, but dislikes it when approached by people he does not know. He's the first non-humanoid playable character.

A brunette-haired girl who wears goggles. She is a researcher that studies Blastia, and hates to be interrupted during her research. She is eccentric and has a poor social disposition. In battle she wields scrolls, whips and a book and is capable of using various magical attacks.

A little boy who wields a giant hammer and various other large weapons. He says that he is from the Hunting Blades guild (魔狩りの剣 Magari no tsurugi?)). Due to certain circumstances he accompanies Yuri on one journey.That leads to him joing the party for the majority of the game and is the leader of The Guild Brave Vesperia

A beautiful woman that wields a spear. She is a member of the Kritya (クリティア, Kuritia?) tribe, a minority race. She appears to be one of the more mysterious, mature and rational members of the team. She is gentle-looking, perceptive, composed, receptive, and often acts without explaining her actions, thus she cannot get an impression of the current situation. She is also decisive, persistent, witty, somewhat impulsive, and quite bold, apparently prefering to wear several revealing outfits, particularly her default outfit and her bunny outfit. She is also very flirtacious and apparently enjoys teasing the male members of the team, especially Raven and Karol, and often makes suggestive comments about 'showing a little more' of her already-impressive figure. She has also stated that she is "not a very good liar".

A frivolous and shady-looking old man that wears a long purple coat, and uses a bow that turn into a sword, he also weilds a knife. He first appears in a jail cell next to Yuri's early in the game (though he does not join the party until much later). Raven often complains about his age and doing hard work. He sometimes mentions being in the great war.

A young adventure seeking pirate girl. She is looking for the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Aifread. Even though she's only 14, she acts much older than she is. She is skilled with guns and can also use short swords. She didn't have a role in the Xbox 360 version, so it's unclear of her role in the PS3 port, but she will be a fully playable character.

[edit] PlayStation 3 Port

An enhanced port of Tales of Vesperia is confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and was released on September 17, 2009. This version of the game features a new playable character, Patty Fleur, and several other additional content, including new bosses such as the recurring Sword Dancer fights from previous Team Symphonia games, and Mystic Artes and full-body cut-in images. A recent trailer features the use of a two-character mystic arte by playable characters, involving both Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo. Flynn joins at more points of the story and is permanent by the end of the game. The theme song will remain the same as the Xbox 360 version. Also each character gets a new mystic arte for their collection. These Mystic Artes have special conditions like in Tales of the Abyss.

[edit] Cameo Costumes

New costumes in the PS3 port include that of cameos from characters of previous Tales games. In addition, these costumes grant a signature arte that the character can use while wearing the costume and becomes a separate arte after enough uses:

In addition to these cameo costumes, three more are available through preordering the game:

[edit] New Content

The PlayStation 3 port of Tales of Vesperia contains an extensive list of new content exclusively for the PlayStation 3, these include:

  • Full voice acting which will be twice as long as the original script
  • Tie-ins with Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike[5]
  • New playable character, Patty Fleur
  • Flynn Scifo as a fully customizable, playable character
  • Repede and Flynn as selectable on-screen avatars
  • New main game quests
  • New cutscenes
  • New subplots
  • New sidequests
  • New dungeons
  • New towns
  • Remodeled towns
  • New soundtracks
  • New bosses
  • Boss fight replays at Nam Cobanda Isle, in an area called the Door of Memories
  • New Overlimit Levels 5, 6, 7 and 8[6]
  • New Mystic Artes (including a dual Mystic Arte with Yuri and Flynn)
  • New artes
  • New skills
  • New equipment
  • A key item known as the "Artes Ball," which allows characters to assign up to eight artes to the left stick, and eight arte shortcuts to the right stick for a new maximum of sixteen artes.
  • New costumes (including a Sgt. Frog costume for Karol[7])
  • New skits
  • A scene-skip feature
  • Connectivity with Tales of VS.[8].
  • New Coliseum battles and challenges

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1UP: In-depth talk about the upcoming 360 Tales RPG
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Famitsu
  3. ↑ IGN: Tales of Vesperia Hands-On
  4. ↑ IGN: Tales of Vesperia Detailed
  5. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5201634/whats-new-about-ps3-tales-of-vesperia
  6. ↑ http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/173/173337/c20090626_tov_19_cs1w1_720x405.jpg
  7. ↑ http://blog.funimation.com/2009/08/frogs-invading-more-than-just-funimation/
  8. ↑ http://scrawlfx.com/2009/06/tales-of-vesperia-ps3s-new-dungeon-psp-connectivity

[edit] See also

Tales of Vesperia
Yuri Lowell Artes • Skills • Titles
Estelle Artes • Skills • Titles
Flynn Scifo Artes (X360)
Artes • Skills • Titles (PS3)
Repede Artes • Skills • Titles
Karol Capel Artes • Skills • Titles
Rita Mordio Artes • Skills • Titles
Raven Artes • Skills • Titles
Judith Artes • Skills • Titles
Patty Fleur Artes • Skills • Titles

Weapons
Swords • Axes • Spears • Hammers • Rods • Staves
Scrolls • Whips • Light Bows • Heavy Bows • Daggers
Sub-Weapons
Equipment
Mails • Guards • Cloaks • Coats • Dog Armor
Helms • Circlets • Hats • Ribbons
Accessories

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