Final Thoughts: Tales of Vesperia and the future of next gen rpgs

Himuro said:
Mass Effect is flawed as shit.
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The flaws don't hinder the fun-factor, unlike most JRPGs I've played in the last 5 years.

gregor7777 said:
I'm about as big of a ME fan as there is, and I have to say this is the first game that's giving it a run for my money.

It's truly a great RPG.

What it attempts to do it does to damn near perfection.

I can't comment on the endgame yet though.
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Maybe this one (ToV) will bring me the JRPG lovin' I've been so desperately looking for...And when I say desperate, that's what I mean. I just bought Xenosaga I and I hope I like it :(
 
Yeah, I mean the two games couldn't be any more different, but so far this gen these have been the only two RPGs to really capture what I love about the genre, each in their own way.
 
Alright, my first "next-gen" JRPG (not counting western stuff like ME) that I played was Infinite Undiscovery. Suffice it to say, it pretty much killed any interest in the genre. IU has been one of the worst purchases I've made in recent memory (and I brought Too Human :lol ), as I simply cannot find the motivation to finish it. The story and characters are so damn lackluster that its just tedius and boring.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy past tales games such as Symphonia and Abyss. So, do you think I should try this one still? Can you promise I won't be so horribly scarred as I have been by IU?

Another thing I'm wondering about is the upcoming tales for the Wii (the Symphonia sequel), I'm trying to determine which one I should play first. True, Symphonia 2 still has a bit to go before its released here in the US, but I'd still rather play the weakest one first, and impressions have left me thinking the Wii one will be the weaker game.
 
Himuro said:
I don't think anyone in this thread said it was the only 3d action rpg they like. I said I think it's the funnest I've played.

Name some other 3d console japanese action rpgs then? Kingdom Hearts? Dark Cloud?

The only one I can really think of I enjoy nearly as much as Vesperia was Brave Fencer Musashi. Tales of Symphonia was really fun at the time, but I liked Vesperia tons more.

I'm just not big on action rpgs period, and have wanted to play a high quality one for a years now after the disappointing Kingdom Hearts II.
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Abyss is a better game than Vesperia by virtue of its superior battle system.

Star Ocean 3 is the most underrated game on GAF. Transcendent in its excellence. Unsurpassed in its depth. Nothing is more replayable. Nothing gives you as much satisfaction as you begin to master it. I can't say enough amazing things about this game that, quite wrongly, got buried on GAF because the inconsequential story shit on the inconsequential stories of the previous games. Start here if you want the pinnacle of 3d action. The only real problem is that it probably is a bit harder than it should be to unlock the final difficutly.

Valkyrie Profile 2 is far superior to any Tales game.

Dark Cloud 2 was awesome, if a bit repetitive... and building weapons is virtual crack! (biggest problem with Rogue Galaxy was the shit weapon creation). Dark Cloud 3 is the game they should be making.

Tales of Symphonia is a terrible game.

I would suggest you start with SO3, or try it again if you couldn't make it previously. Though I should mention that my qualifications primarily concern themselves with GAMEPLAY. I don't give a shit about the "story." SO3 is a high class product that requires you to become a better gamer to truly appreciate its glory. Tales games are so base, boring, and exponentially dumbed down by comparison.
 
I wouldn't say Tales of Symphonia is a terrible game... it's not great, but as long as you ignore the superior little brother (Vesperia), it's not bad. Kinda like me!

*crickets*

Oh you can all go fuck yourselves.


ToV was the best RPG I've played in a long, long while, at least on the console. So far Disgaea is the best SRPG I've been playing on the DS, and for the PC, well, can you EVER beat BG2? If you say yes, you're a horrible horrible liar who's going to hell. And stuff.

I'm really eager to see Last Remnant, and how it turns out.
 
You really think someone would go to hell for saying Planescape Torment is better than BG2?

(though I'd give the nod to BG2 between those two... obviously)

But I don't even want to think about BG2. It just makes me hate console Bioware that much more.
 
My Arms Your Hearse said:
You really think someone would go to hell for saying Planescape Torment is better than BG2?

(though I'd give the nod to BG2 between those two... obviously)

But I don't even want to think about BG2. It just makes me hate console Bioware that much more.
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PT: Better dialog and slightly cooler concept.

BG2: Better. Just better.


And possibly. All is possible in the Religion of Baldur's Gate!
 
Himuro said:
It's not that demos for rpgs are useless, it's just that no company outside of Square knows how to make a good rpg demo.

FFVII, VIII, X, DQVIII and others had GREAT demos.
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This might of been a European thing only, but Skies of Arcadia had an excellent demo, even though it was basically the opening of the game, it gave you a good 2 hours or so of playtime, with lots of battles, a chance to explore around a town and a full dungeon.

The problem with most RPG demos is they are just too stingy. Given the genre is not one for immediate thrills a decent demo should give at least 1hr30mins of content.
 
Himuro said:
I've never played Star Ocean 3.

Vaklyrie Profile 2 isn't what I consider an action rpg either. It's fuck amazing, but to me, not an arpg.

Dark Cloud 1 and 2 were fun. Dark Cloud 2 was a better game than 1, but for some reason I enjoyed Dark Cloud 1 more. DC games are the few 3d action rpgs I can enjoy.
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Star Ocean 3 is a great game, although I actually didn't finish it because the twist annoyed the hell out of me. I just went onto other games instead.

Still the best combat system in an RPG, and it still had all the cool bonuses and such that tri-ace is known for(much more in depth than the grade system in vesperia)

And I don't really see how VP2 isn't an action RPG....but whatever.
 
Himuro said:
Because of the way AP is handled. The way I play VP2 is a turn based game with real time actions.

Plus, it feels more like a strategy rpg battle system than action rpg either way.
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It's true but Vesperia could also be described in that way. Circling the enemy, back-stepping, conserving TP, etc.

The VP series is definitely less action than the other tri-ace games. But yeah we are just arguing semantics now.
 
Between Infinite Undiscovery, Lost Odyssey, and Tales of Vesperia, I've been trying to pick one to play to sort of...introduce me to JRPG's. Since I only have a 360 at the moment, those are really my only options next to Blue Dragon, which I have heard less than great things about. Obviously if I had a PS3 my options would much more vast.

Based on everything I've read and seen, Tales of Vesperia seems to be the way to go :) Every time I see this game I just want to play it more.
 
Loxley said:
Between Infinite Undiscovery, Lost Odyssey, and Tales of Vesperia, I've been trying to pick one to play to sort of...introduce me to JRPG's. Since I only have a 360 at the moment, those are really my only options next to Blue Dragon, which I have heard less than great things about. Obviously if I had a PS3 my options would much more vast.

Based on everything I've read and seen, Tales of Vesperia seems to be the way to go :) Every time I see this game I just want to play it more.
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I honestly don't get the hate for Blue Dragon as long as you go in expecting a shonen light-hearted adventure.

But Vesperia is by far the best as far as the full package goes. Lost Odyssey was good but for some reason I just don't find it as memorable as BD or Vesperia. Plus the loading sucks.
 
Hmm, that is quite the writeup Himuro. I had considered this game a non-issue, but I'll have to consider before deciding what next-gen system to buy (first)
 
santouras said:
sorry I couldn't see it in this thread, but is it region locked? If it isn't, I'll import for sure.
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European 360s cannot play this game yet. Apparently the US version works in Japanese 360s or something crazy. However, Europe is still screwed. It has a 2009 release date.
 
Himuro said:
I've never played Star Ocean 3.

Vaklyrie Profile 2 isn't what I consider an action rpg either. It's fuck amazing, but to me, not an arpg.

Dark Cloud 1 and 2 were fun. Dark Cloud 2 was a better game than 1, but for some reason I enjoyed Dark Cloud 1 more. DC games are the few 3d action rpgs I can enjoy.

Abyss' battle system bored me to tears though. I had a lot more fun with Vesperia due to Fatal Strikes and other features. FOFS and other things in Abyss felt like throwaway features that weren't nearly developed much.
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Well, you should get SO3 immediately.

Though really, I think you're destined to hate it as it has a horrible story and the fact that you think FOFs are "throw away" and that Vesperia's Fatal Strikes are more developed...

All I can say is "you're doing it wrong." So very wrong.
 
Himuro said:
I had to ask you something in relation to SO3. Are there are any good videos on youtube or something that give a good idea of what to expect, battle wise, but something that wouldn't...overwhelm someone interested, like a bunch of combo vids?

How similar to SO2 is it and what did they do to evolve the formula?
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Well this is a pretty high skill level vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGdimUjwkrE&feature=related

Keep in mind that he is controlling BOTH characters, he just switches between both to keep juggling Archdemon. This is one of the hardest things to do in the game, and he makes it look pretty easy.

Also worth noting that dude is a master of the sidestepping. as shown in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NfbVlDHfLU&feature=related

this is a pretty neat vid using the whole party instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zn5Gk-gCXw&feature=related
 
I'm about 7 hours into Vesparia after beating Infinite Undiscovery.

I agree with the OP review.

I really, really love the "banter" "skits" that appear at points. It is a great way to inject character interaction, some funny moments, and character depth. Love it.

And THOSE you can skip.

I really wish you could skip cut scenes. Facking awesome game so far!
 
permutated said:
I'm not a huge JRPG guy, though I loved Eternal Sonata to no end, would I enjoy this?
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If you loved Eternal Sonata you'll cream your pants. I liked Eternal Sonata, I love Tales of Vesperia. People hate Eternal Sonata and like Tales of Vesperia.
 
Firestorm said:
If you loved Eternal Sonata you'll cream your pants. I liked Eternal Sonata, I love Tales of Vesperia. People hate Eternal Sonata and like Tales of Vesperia.
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I haven't played any Tales games though, will I be lost? If so, where do I get caught up? :--)

(PS thanks for the answers)
 
When the white beam shot out of the god damn naive princess to heal a tree, I just walked over and ejected it from my 360. I can't believe I use to like that kinda of writing.
 
permutated said:
I haven't played any Tales games though, will I be lost? If so, where do I get caught up? :--)

(PS thanks for the answers)
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Nope. They're unrelated story-wise and the game does ease you into the battle system slowly. It's also got a battle book you can read at any time and if you're still confused you can just ask in the Official Tales of Vesperia thread.
 
Firestorm said:
Nope. They're unrelated story-wise and the game does ease you into the battle system slowly. It's also got a battle book you can read at any time and if you're still confused you can just ask in the Official Tales of Vesperia thread.
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Sold :)

Should I play the demo or avoid it? (Sorry, last question, just curious)
 
permutated said:
Sold :)

Should I play the demo or avoid it? (Sorry, last question, just curious)
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Demo will confuse the hell out of you. It takes everything in the battle system and throws it at you without explaining it. Also has most skills disabled making it thoroughly unfun. Confusing unless you've played Tales games before.

Actually I've played Tales games before and I still didn't understand quite everything. Avoid it unless you really wanna try it out. It even takes place in a really boring setting with confusing terminology.
 
Besides Himu's OP, it is your job, fellow JRPG gaffers, to convince me why I should care about this game enough to buy it. The demo sucks (it really really SUCKS), and I HATED ABYSS with a passion. It falls apart halfway through. And even before that, it pretty much sucked, save a few parts. I hated the characters, the long unnecessary conversations, the going back and forth to the same two places a thousand times for no good reason only to engage in more boring long unnecessary conversations and roaming around, etc. etc. It drove me absolutely mad.

But I hear Vesperia is amazing, even to people like me who hate previous games.
 
flarkminator said:
When the white beam shot out of the god damn naive princess to heal a tree, I just walked over and ejected it from my 360. I can't believe I use to like that kinda of writing.
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I don't think anyone really plays Tales games for the story.
 
Ulairi said:
This game is 60 hours? I'm at 20 hours and I feel like the story is wrapping up....
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I finished it in 40. It's a Tales game. Hell, Abyss told me to gear up and buy all my items because there's no turning back once and it was only 50% done.

Diablos said:
Besides Himu's OP, it is your job, fellow JRPG gaffers, to convince me why I should care about this game enough to buy it. The demo sucks (it really really SUCKS), and I HATED ABYSS with a passion. It falls apart halfway through. And even before that, it pretty much sucked, save a few parts. I hated the characters, the long unnecessary conversations, the going back and forth to the same two places a thousand times for no good reason only to engage in more boring long unnecessary conversations and roaming around, etc. etc. It drove me absolutely mad.

But I hear Vesperia is amazing, even to people like me who hate previous games.
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Himuro hated Abyss and loved Vesperia. I personally loved Abyss, especially the characters.

If you meant the story fell apart halfway through, then you might find issues with this one as the game does take a turn for the cliche about halfway through. Not as drastic as a chance as Abyss though.

Yuri > any character in Abyss and I'm including Jade in this. Hell, some people are saying Yuri's the best jRPG protagonist in recent memory but I don't play enough RPGs to be able to agree. I'll just say that he actually makes sense as the leader. He oozes confidence.

The crazy terminology is kept to a minimum in Vesperia. The only nutso word is Blastia. I just saw the first episode of the Abyss anime today and was reminded of how much weird shit Abyss talked about.

The crazy go from town to town for some weird unrelated craziness that you're talking about is not in Vesperia thankfully.

So yeah, if you liked the gameplay of past Tales games, get it. It's awesome and so are the graphics.

flarkminator said:
Shit, I know.

But a man can only take so much.

Plus, I had literally been playing The Witcher like all the day before...
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Well, she's a healer and she healed the tree =P Keep playing until you hit at least the end of part 1 before you decide to skip the game!
 
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