Firstly, let me say, this game was amazing relative to any RPGs currently available on the market. The battle system is engaging (although somewhat a button masher) and the character development is believable. Even the interactions between characters seems realistic and you slowly begin to see character relations evolve as the story progresses (few very of the RPGs on the market have believable character progression from what I've seen so this is impressive).

Story:

The story begins with the main character Yuri Lowell who lives in the Lower Quarter who, by chance, is sent out on the world. I'm not going to spoil anything regarding the story but as the story progresses you slowly will see how Yuri's own problem slowly becomes less of an issue as he uncovers greater issues. There are hardly any moments in the story when you have no idea what's going on and each piece of the story leads you to the next seamlessly. However, the story often has moments where, even at the end of the game, you're confused just to what had occurred. There are a lot of times where loose ends are not tied up and it just is confusing as to the purpose of the story in regards to that because of it. Without spoiling anything, also, the story does get better as it goes on but the end was somewhat anti-climatic and I had not expected it to end as it did. Regardless, the story, even as it is, was engaging and fun to play through.

Battle System:

The battle system in the game is very similar to any other Tales game but this time in 3d space. Tales games generally have side scrolling battle arenas where you instantly are placed in once you encounter an enemy on the map. In these battle arenas you use your skills button or your attack buttons to fight the enemy while other characters in your party automatically use their own abilities. In Vesperia you have to pay attention to the whole arena because often your healer will be attacked while you're fighting up front so you have to force yourself to run over to the attacker to protect them. This adds a bit of difficulty to the old system.

Voice Acting:

Voice acting in Vesperia was well delivered and very few times do the lines sound out of place, with the wrong emotion, or not as part of the environment. Oddly enough there is a mix of some lines having voice acting while others not. For the most part key scenes do have voice acting, however.

Creation System:

In towns you can use items found through monster fighting and on the world map to create new items. An example of this would be to take your old weapon plus some other ingredients to make a weapon + with higher attributes and skills often more so than what you'd find in the store. Some items can only be found through the synthesis so it's imperative to play around with it. Luckily the game tutorial system does a pretty strong job of teaching the use of this system so you'll pick it up quickly.

Linear:

The game is, for the most part, fairly linear. In dungeons there is only one path to get to your destinations and even after you have a mode of transportation you find that it's unlikely you can really explore more. To give it credit though you are able to reach areas with higher level enemies quickly you just will find yourself spending a lot of time searching for these areas because you don't have many other choices. Towns are also fairly small and while the backgrounds often show big cities you are limited to the areas you can explore. Often there is just the item shop, the inn, and one or two places to enter although this isn't necessarily bad if you consider the other extreme where you search forever in a town you only spend 10 minutes in anyhow.

Exposition:

A lot of the story is done through exposition and while you often know your next step you may feel like you're being force fed a lot of the info. I liked the level of exposition because I often would leave my game for periods at a time so it got me caught up with the story but I can see it annoying people who would play the game non-stop through the story.

Getting Around (Confusing):

The only real annoyance I found was more toward the end of the game. While in the beginning the linear environment forced you to go a certain path at the end of the game (when you can fly) you're told to goto certain areas on certain continents as if you'd have any idea where these places are. Given I don't have a giant map of the game world this left me confused for awhile. It should be noted that there is a way when flying around to find the game map (I think it was the select key) so you can sort through each area to find the destination (or so) where you wanted to get to continent wise but it's not very intuitive. Given there are so many continents in the game and everything has a fairly unique name you may get confused as well.

In general, I thought this game was much better than the other Tales I've played and has a story that is both exciting and interesting with plenty of character interaction to keep you interested in continuing on. Toward the end of the story the game begins to get more confusing with aspects of the story not fully explained and a somewhat anti-climatic ending (although exciting none the less) but in general you'll be driven to play more. Definitely one of the few RPG games for the XBox 360 to add to your collection.

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Just wanted to say a few words about this game not gonna get into all the details but this is the best rpg I have ever played and I have been playing rpgs since the late 1980's and this by far is the best so if you have a chance to get this pick it up as it is gettting harder and harder to find now since they stopped making them.This game beats out all the final fantasy games in my opinion and the only game I think even comes close would be something like Secret Of Mana(SNES)or maybe Legend Of Dragoon (PS1)

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It was a fun game. For $30 bucks brand new much better deal than anywhere else even ebay. You can easily get 50+ hours on this game and it also gives you some incentive to replay the story again for a second time.

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I have to say, I was really scared of this one after playing the abortion that was Symphonia II on the Wii. That game, heck, I still can't hardly play it without grinding my teeth in frustration at the horrible storyline, bad acting and bizzare Pokemon-esque gameplay.

Vesperia... is... different. It's a return to the dark, adult-oriented, hardcore gameplay of the first Symphonia. If anything, this game is darker, more targetted at those of us over the age of 25. The characters are at times bitingly sarcastic with each other, the humor is definitely not teenage, sophmoric BS, and the storyline (what I have managed to glean so far) is awesome.

The music and sound effects are top-notch, what I've come to expect in a Tales game. Cinematics are well-directed and well-placed if a little long at times. The artwork is breathtakingly beautiful.

I don't think they could have possibly done the combat gameplay any better, really. I can't find anything I don't love about it.

This one may end up replacing the GameCube Tales of Symphonia as my favorite of this series, and is already becoming one of my favorite 360 games.

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This game is very fun to play it may take a while to get used to the gameplay but once you do this game is a great addition to your collection. Much better than infinite undiscovery

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Tales of Veseria is a wonderful experience for anyone who likes RPGs. The great thing about the game is how simple and streamlined the story is. Unlike larger scale RPGs like "Oblivion" or "Dragon Age" Tales of Versperia doesn't contain many sidequests that distract you from the main mission. Rather the game progresses on a very A to B format that never manages to feel like filler. And for the most part, you always know what you should do next. That doesn't mean this is a short game either. The World you explore is vast and once you have completed the game you can restart the game in "New Game Plus" mode that lets you replay the game with enhancements that tweak the game depending on what upgrades you choose. This is a no-brainer for any RPG lover.

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Although I don't play this game myself, my daughter is loving it! I enjoy watching the characters and the graphics are super. Great music as well. It has kept her busy for hours and she is absolutely delighted with it.

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The story takes a little while to get going and even when it does, it's not super engaging. The overworld sections are well done and the battle system is interesting (sort of a real time, action-based mechanic). It's fairly lengthy, taking me about 30 hours to play through.

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This game is alot of fun - very final fantasy-ish without the summons. It does have parts of it that are puzzles which I really like (so much like Alundra - another awesome game).

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I've liked the Tales series from Namco, but they've had some not so good games in the series. This one is one of the better games of the series. I truly did like this game. The few cinema scenes are good and the character interaction is very good. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone.

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Amazingly well done JRPG. Even though a little bit is lost in translation the story is good. The combat system is pretty sweet and you won't get too bored of it your first time through it. Had a lot of fun beating this game, took me about 40 hours without doing sidequests and the like.

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ive played a few tales games now including symphonia and this is by far my favorite. In fact i started playing this game on my brothers xbo360 and i loved it so much i went out and bought my own just so i could play this by myself. i ended up liking several rpg's on the xbox360 but this one is by far the best, its also the most fun. FIND THIS GAME, AND BUY IT! and make sure they keep making more like this. if i had to choose between this or Final Fantasy 13. this game blows that one otta the water.

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For a long time, I had wondered when the X-Box 360 would come up with a good RPG for the system. I have to say I was disappointed in the previous games like Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata. I was even hesitant about getting this game because I didn't care much about Tales of Symphonia. However, I decided to take the chance, and was well rewarded.

The one thing I have always considered a good RPG to have is storyline. I believe Namco fulfilled this. The story is engrosing from beginning to end. I really wanted to turn to the next page of the story and learn all the secrets. There were even a few good twists that helped strengthen it.

However, the best part of the game is the characterization involved. What I especially liked was that everyone was "human". Even Yuri who is the main character is no knight in shining armor who obeys the rules (he's just your average guy throughout the story). I also enjoyed the small skits throughout the game. Though only talking portraits, they were fun to watch and you really got a sense of the bond everyone shared.

The animation is not the best X-box 360 can do, but for the purposes of telling this tale, Namco did well. The animation shown as a type of anime style. Though it doesn't push the bounds, the detail involved is still good, and you can clearly see the expressions on the characters clearly.

In terms of gameplay, the game is great. I never got tired of the battle sequences. You can use anywhere between 1 to 8 special moves that can easily be executed by pushing a arrow key and the special attack button. To further describe the combat sequences, it is similar to Star Ocean 3 or Star Ocean 2, only more flexible and easier to use. You also have the ability to change weapons or special moves during battle. This is especially helpful against the various monsters. Not all weapons can damage certain enemies.

Overall, this game really set the bar high for future RPGs. Good story, excellent characterization, and flexible gameplay you can taylor. This game is worth it.

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I never really played any of the tales games... so I was kind of skeptical about getting this game. I just have to say, the more you play, the better this game gets. Instant classic for Xbox 360. If you enjoy RPGs back in the 90's when I was a teenager, then check this game out. Best JRPG out there today.

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Tales of Vesperia will definitely hold me over until I can get my hands on FFXIII. Only 20 hours into the game and it has kept me interested. Stories and dialog can be long at times. Voice acting is done well. All around fun game, I will probaby play it through again when I finish this time around.

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