Support NeoGAF

[dark10x]

Not bad so far. Feels like another Tales game.

I have very mixed feelings on the visuals. It LOOKS beautiful with some incredible designs and great image quality, but man, the animation is awful during cutscenes. I mean, this kind of stuff was just BARELY acceptable on PS2, but it looks really akward here. I expected it, but it's still very wierd to see. I think the game will be a good romp as usual, but it feels a bit TOO familiar for its own good. It literally feels just like Abyss or Symphonia with a high quality HD shell. At least there is very little loading!

It's very wierd to play a Tales game in English, though, but the voice acting isn't as bad as expected. That's good.

Can't say much about the new gameplay systems, though. The battles have a slightly different feel this time, but most of the systems haven't been introduced yet. Looking forward to seeing what happens there. One other nitpick is how abrupt the transitions between battle and the field are (post battle). The victory music just cuts off everything and then immediately stops when you hit A. They should have faded from victory back to the normal music. It seems tiny, but when it happens over and over, it does kind of bother you a bit.

OK, enough nitpicks, back to playing. These games always start off slow so I'm sure it will start to grab me soon enough.

 

[Mejilan]

I look forward to receiving my Amazon preorder with great anticipation, if not speed.

 

[kiryogi]

Not bad so far. Feels like another Tales game.

I have very mixed feelings on the visuals. It LOOKS beautiful with some incredible designs and great image quality, but man, the animation is awful during cutscenes. I mean, this kind of stuff was just BARELY acceptable on PS2, but it looks really akward here. I expected it, but it's still very wierd to see. I think the game will be a good romp as usual, but it feels a bit TOO familiar for its own good. It literally feels just like Abyss or Symphonia with a high quality HD shell. At least there is very little loading!


OK, enough nitpicks, back to playing. These games always start off slow so I'm sure it will start to grab me soon enough.

Yeah, sad thing is, KoR's motion capture really shows the difference in animation. But, the little details animated like their hair, and clothes is extremely nice. Lots of environmental animated detail as well. and Dark10x, what's your gamertag. I wanna keep track of your Vesperia progress

Edit: heres the voice breakdown me and friend made vs JP:

Yuri - TOO LOW, me: ok at first, but playing it right now and yeah, almost too low for the laidback nature he has.
Estelle - OK-ish
Repede - lol JP voice
Rita - OK-ish me: still not as spicy as the jp one
Karol - No comment so far
Raven - ...JP voice was more lively and more changing in tone. EN seem flat. =| me: seems ok
Judy - too childish, me: total agree and fail. But she's also my fave char next to Rita.
Zagi - ok me: not as demented as suyama but still doable.

 

[Pakman]

How would I go about getting this LE, if I was interested? Is it only available online, or at certain places?

Online only and I'm pretty sure it's sold out at most major online retailers. I think people were saying it was still popping up at buy.com though. I'm still waiting for Amazon to ship my pre-order if they ever do.

 

[dark10x]

Gamertag is dark1x.

Sounds like the JP voice acting was superior as usual, but really, this isn't as bad as expected considering what I've heard before. I had heard that most of the other Tales games didn't have voice overs for the skits when localized for the US market? Is that really true? Fortunately that isn't the case here (they are fully voiced).

I must admit that I'm flying through it a bit faster, though. Voiced scenes are about the same, but I read Japanese about 50% slower than English so it took a bit longer to get through the games. Here, I'm constantly hitting the A button to skip forward. That's proving to be both good and bad.

Music is REALLY good so far, and this is coming from someone who's usually not impressed with Tales music.

Meh, it's about average for the series (which isn't good). Abyss was the only decent sounding Sakuraba scored Tales and it was still pretty bad for him (compared to his Tri-Ace work). Really, the only Tales soundtrack that was actually REALLY good was Legendia (but that game sucked and didn't even make proper use of its awesome score). It's a shame they didn't get Go Shiina on Vesperia.

 

[RBH]

Right, just sticking out my head here .... so if megaflamathon erupts that'll be the last time i add rumors to GAF period ...

Had a Square meeting today, Infinite Undiscovery, units and so on. Right after vthe official talks were over i pitched a repress of FFVII, FFVIII, and FFIX. The company i work with had arranged for represses of those titles in the past and i was certain the units i would need would please Sqaue in doing such a re-run.

Long story short, they declined in doing a re-run. Price was not an option, they were not interested. In short, all three titles were in a locked deal as a downloadable [shock horror]. Here comes the juicy part, supposedly not just for PSN.

You should make a new thread for this.

 

[kiryogi]

Gamertag is dark1x.

Sounds like the JP voice acting was superior as usual, but really, this isn't as bad as expected considering what I've heard before. I had heard that most of the other Tales games didn't have voice overs for the skits when localized for the US market? Is that really true? Fortunately that isn't the case here (they are fully voiced).

I must admit that I'm flying through it a bit faster, though. Voiced scenes are about the same, but I read Japanese about 50% slower than English so it took a bit longer to get through the games. Here, I'm constantly hitting the A button to skip forward. That's proving to be both good and bad.


Meh, it's about average for the series (which isn't good). Abyss was the only decent sounding Sakuraba scored Tales and it was still pretty bad for him (compared to his Tri-Ace work). Really, the only Tales soundtrack that was actually REALLY good was Legendia (but that game sucked and didn't even make proper use of its awesome score). It's a shame they didn't get Go Shiina on Vesperia.

Yeah, it's true, until Radiant actually, they all were unvoiced and so that maybe why many voiced dissatisfication with skits and all. But this is probably the first real high quality domestic console Tales release. With KoR following it in 2 months. On the soundtrack, overall, it might be one of the best tales yet. It's still taleish, but there's some stuff that isn't and it really stands out. A lot of variety overall and catchy tracks. Should check out some of the battle themes Sakuraba has lined up

 

[grandjedi6]

I am loving this game.

It turns out that my love for Tales hasn't diminished, I just couldn't get into Legendia or Abyss at all.

+ Really interesting story and characters. The main character Yuri, just as I knew when I first saw him when the game was revealed months ago, is really something special. The guy is a sarcastic, positive, all around good guy without being a total goody goody. Yuri's an everyman. I never get tired of him and he's immediately likable. The character interaction is really swell so far. Estelle, like Yuri, has her own thang going on. She's a typical princess, but her naivety is taken into overdrive so she can be an amusing character. Repede is a fucking dog with a pipe. HOW CAN YOU HATE THAT? I can go on too! This cast is wayyyy better than Abyss', or any other Tales game's so far for me.

+ Excellent script so far, that doesn't throw a bunch of stupid terms in your face at all times (Abyss), or have retarded story scenes in general that make you want to turn the console off (Legendia). Not only this, but it's really funny too. I've found myself laughing more than a few times, not only because of the script but because the character interaction. It really stands out and the characters are immediately likable. Yuri throws rocks at guards in the face in order to get by them, Estelle tries hitting Yuri in the face with a vase when they meet, and even the battle victory dialogue and skits are well done too. "You'll never beat me in 100 years." "Is this because you're...older?" "Not really."

+ Battle system. I could not get into Abyss' or Legendia's. The characters weren't fun to use, their move lists were boring ect. In this game however, I am even playing as more than the main character. Repede's REALLY fun to play as. Yuri is the BOMB. Estelle's okay, but I'm not a big fan of mage's in Tales anyways.

+ Unlike Abyss, the game isn't hack and slash and button mashing. There are a few variables that make it so that you can't get by with just button mashing, especially on hard mode. One of which is the encounter link system, something I have not heard people even bring up yet in reviews or impressions. If you see multiple enemies on the field, you can bunch them up together and fight them all at once. It's really neat, because you will be fighting an upward of 8-9 enemies at once, and you CAN'T button mash to get by. You have guard and know when to combo. It's REALLY neat and it reminds me of Blue Dragon, although done probably more interestingly.

+ The game gives you a lot of reasons to check out new weapons and have fun experimenting with skills. Some weapons have certain skills. It really reminds me of Final Fantasy IX, and it's sososososo addicting.

+ WEAPON SYNTHESIS!!!

+ Music is REALLY good so far, and this is coming from someone who's usually not impressed with Tales music.

+ Voice acting is great so far. I'm not a big fan of this version's intro music, I prefer the Japanese one. I guess I really am a homojapual.

+ Unlike Abyss, the game doesn't feel on rails so far. There is actually incentive to explore. You can find inns on the way to town, or secret items you can't find anywhere else by exploring. They are easily missable if you don't go out of your way either.

+ The game has excellent pacing thus far and starts out with a bang. Unlike Legendia or Abyss, the game doesn't turn me off right from the beginning.

+ The graphics. After Symphonia, Abyss and Legendia's more 3d graphics and art style didn't really interest me. I'm so so glad they brought back the cel shading.

Negatives? Hmmm. The battle controls could be a lot more smooth, but I'm used to them now. Jumping is still weird though.

Color me shocked. Impressed.

Himuro likes it!? Bebpo was right?!?

(Is Bebpo's "like One Piece!" comparison coming true?)

 

[kiryogi]

I dunno, there's also the FFXII comparison which is sort of on the money too. BTW here's a sidequest/secret mission guide:

http://ameblo.jp/koulinovesperia/

I know you were looking for one TSA so here you go.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Thanks for the impressions Himuro

I'll be picking this up soon

 

[purg3]

Nice impressions. I'm about to start this, but I do feel bad for not finishing up LO before starting this. I hate playing multiple RPG's at the same time.

 

[FrankT]

Very nice impressions.

 

[Akai]

Sounds fantastic...It'll be interesting trying to balance playtime between this and Infinite Undiscovery (and Ys, if I ever get around to downloading it...)

 

[Jonnyram]

Jonnyram: I'm hurt D:

But you're not even keeping up with me
I wanted to talk about the whole Schwann thing!

 

[kiryogi]

But you're not even keeping up with me
I wanted to talk about the whole Schwann thing!

I'm there now! You know I spent 4 fricken hours in the Heracles?! XD Hard modes a pain :lol @ Secret mission 15 now actually.

 

[JaMarco]

Very nice impressions Himuro, I cant wait to play

 

[Jonnyram]

I'm there now! You know I spent 4 fricken hours in the Heracles?! XD Hard modes a pain :lol @ Secret mission 15 now actually.

:lol

Good luck! That one I got first time, thankfully. 17 drove me nuts, though.

 

[Firestorm]

fucking Scamco aaasghhhh
Just went by EB and the CE was delayed until Friday >=(

 

[RBH]

fucking Scamco aaasghhhh
Just went by EB and the CE was delayed until Friday >=(

 

[Junpei Heat]

OMG I love this game.

This game is great. I'm about 2-3 hours in so far,I've fought two bosses which weren't too bad,I have a 42 hit combo and I already have a full party. The battle system is good and apparently it gets deeper as progress through the game which is radically exciting. One thing I definitely noticed is the abundance of those voice chats. Within the first hour or so,I've been through about 5-6 of them but this isn't a complain they're rather enjoyable and I laughed a lot. Oh and Estelle <3 The entire cast so far is great.

And I have 2 achievements!

 

[Papercuts]

Hopefully I can get this by Saturday, this was the worst possible time for the game to come out for me.

 

[Firestorm]

On the way home I was listening to last week's 1up Yours. Shane says that between Infinite Undiscovery and Tales of Vesperia, Vesperia's the one you should pick. He also said IU's graphics are better than Vesperia so take that as you will..

I'm still pretty annoyed about the CE. The associate said the game sold pretty fast today. He had two copies of the regular edition left in the drawer they keep pre-orders in.

 

[Teknoman]

Right, just sticking out my head here .... so if megaflamathon erupts that'll be the last time i add rumors to GAF period ...

Had a Square meeting today, Infinite Undiscovery, units and so on. Right after vthe official talks were over i pitched a repress of FFVII, FFVIII, and FFIX. The company i work with had arranged for represses of those titles in the past and i was certain the units i would need would please Sqaue in doing such a re-run.

Long story short, they declined in doing a re-run. Price was not an option, they were not interested. In short, all three titles were in a locked deal as a downloadable [shock horror]. Here comes the juicy part, supposedly not just for PSN.

As long as I can finally play and beat FFVII without paying too damn much, im good.

 

[2DMention]

There's a demo? I'll give it a try. I'll most likely be picking it up over IU.

 

[Jonnyram]

There's a demo? I'll give it a try. I'll most likely be picking it up over IU.

Warning: I hated the demo, but I love the game. The demo just made me irk at the retardedness of the event, but once you actually get to know the characters, it's a lot more enjoyable. Also, the difficulty is pumped artificially high in the demo, since they give you a bunch more skills to try out than you usually have at that part of the game. You might get a decent idea of the battles at least, but without a tutorial, you might miss a lot of that too.

 

[Robobandit]

The demo was especially annoying since they were throwing around a bunch of unfamiliar terms.. I don't know why they didn't build the demo based on the opening segments of the game.. it would have made more sense and have made people want to play more when the full version was released.

The part they chose was totally out of context.

 

[Teknoman]

Also is "Fighting of the spirit" in the soundtrack at all?

The demo was especially annoying since they were throwing around a bunch of unfamiliar terms.. I don't know why they didn't build the demo based on the opening segments of the game.. it would have made more sense and have made people want to play more when the full version was released.

The part they chose was totally out of context.

Really. I still dont know what a blastia is (I am buying the game though. The demo was just for me to check out the graphics, battle system, soundtrack, and VA).

 

[Big-E]

Have only played an hour so far but I am enjoying it. Liking it so much I think I will wait before buying infinite undiscovery.

 

[B.K.]

I wish I'd preordered the Premium Edition. I didn't think it would be so rare. I know a few Gamecrazy stores. I'll go buy them, since they're supposed to be carrying it. I don't think anyone goes to those stores.

 

[Ermac]

Has anyone's Amazon CE order's shipped yet? I'm thinking about just cancelling mine and going to Walmart tomorrow and just buying the damn game.

 

[MrDaravon]

Almost everyone who ordered from Amazon is apparently fucked; almost no one's order has shipped, and multiple people have reported that they've called amazon, and amazon basically took waaaaay too many orders, and basically have no idea when or if they will be getting anymore. They also apparently did not base it on order date, since one guy got his shipped yesterday when he ordered on the 23rd, but there's a ton of us who pre-ordered on the 11th and 12th, and it hasn't shipped. Buy.com had it listed for a while and some of us ordered from there, but after ordering it goes straight from being in-stock to back order, which is listed as basically "we have no idea when or if we will get more." There were three copies on ebay with BIN's for $99, I went back maybe an hour later and they're all gone. What the fucking hell is this? I'm seriously not buying this game if I don't get the CE, this is just complete fucking bullshit. It could have been handled better at retailers, but it's mostly Namco's goddamn fault for announcing this like 2 1/2 weeks before release.

 

[kiryogi]

Almost everyone who ordered from Amazon is apparently fucked; almost no one's order has shipped, and multiple people have reported that they've called amazon, and amazon basically took waaaaay too many orders, and basically have no idea when or if they will be getting anymore. They also apparently did not base it on order date, since one guy got his shipped yesterday when he ordered on the 23rd, but there's a ton of us who pre-ordered on the 11th and 12th, and it hasn't shipped. Buy.com had it listed for a while and some of us ordered from there, but after ordering it goes straight from being in-stock to back order, which is listed as basically "we have no idea when or if we will get more." There were three copies on ebay with BIN's for $99, I went back maybe an hour later and they're all gone. What the fucking hell is this? I'm seriously not buying this game if I don't get the CE, this is just complete fucking bullshit. It could have been handled better at retailers, but it's mostly Namco's goddamn fault for announcing this like 2 1/2 weeks before release.

Dammit. Might have to resort to Ebay.

 

[FateBreaker]

For the guys who beat the Japanese version (or people that know period), once you beat the game, and you do New Game+, can you carry your existing monster book over so you don't have to re-Magic-Lense the ones you originally found?

 

[MrDaravon]

Dammit. Might have to resort to Ebay.

That would be nice if it existed on ebay; there's literally no copies, they're selling immediately. I actually no one guy who is actually F5'ing ebay. It's pretty fucking crazy. It's at the point where I would literally pay $100 to get a copy right now; it's probably going to wind up going for more than that very quickly here.

 

[kiryogi]

For the guys who beat the Japanese version (or people that know period), once you beat the game, and you do New Game+, can you carry your existing monster book over so you don't have to re-Magic-Lense the ones you originally found?

If you decide to buy the option to carry it over from the Grade Shop, yeah. But I guess since it's come down to it, gonna have to pay a fortune for it. Dammit Namco.

 

[Darkman M]

Almost everyone who ordered from Amazon is apparently fucked; almost no one's order has shipped, and multiple people have reported that they've called amazon, and amazon basically took waaaaay too many orders, and basically have no idea when or if they will be getting anymore. They also apparently did not base it on order date, since one guy got his shipped yesterday when he ordered on the 23rd, but there's a ton of us who pre-ordered on the 11th and 12th, and it hasn't shipped. Buy.com had it listed for a while and some of us ordered from there, but after ordering it goes straight from being in-stock to back order, which is listed as basically "we have no idea when or if we will get more." There were three copies on ebay with BIN's for $99, I went back maybe an hour later and they're all gone. What the fucking hell is this? I'm seriously not buying this game if I don't get the CE, this is just complete fucking bullshit. It could have been handled better at retailers, but it's mostly Namco's goddamn fault for announcing this like 2 1/2 weeks before release.

Same thing happened with SCIV i ordered the LE edition from Amazon and my order status changed on the day it was suppose to be delivered. My Amazon order for Tales CE still hasn't shipped but it still is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I ordered this bitch on the same day they started taking orders which was on the 9th i think. If my shits not here tomorrow ive lost all faith in Amazons competence.

 

[kiryogi]

Not sure but, again and again, in Gamestop online at least, we trust. :/

 

[FateBreaker]

If you decide to buy the option to carry it over from the Grade Shop, yeah. But I guess since it's come down to it, gonna have to pay a fortune for it. Dammit Namco.

What is the Grade Shop, exactly? And what else can this be applied to (items carry over, for instance?) ?

 

[MrDaravon]

Same thing happened with SCIV i ordered the LE edition from Amazon and my order status changed on the day it was suppose to be delivered. My Amazon order for Tales CE still hasn't shipped but it still is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I ordered this bitch on the same day they started taking orders which was on the 9th i think. If my shits not here tomorrow ive lost all faith in Amazons competence.

If it gives you a delivery estimate but says not shipped it has NOT shipped; this is the exact scenario all of us are in. There were people where it said the delivery estimate was today, obviously didn't get it, and amazon's telling them (on the phone) that basically you're probably fucked. I've only personally seen 2 people say that their amazon order has actually shipped or arrived, I think pretty much everyone got screwed. I tossed an email out to them, I'll post if I get anything interesting as a response, or if my amazon or buy order actually ships or I get an update on it.

 

[kiryogi]

What is the Grade Shop, exactly? And what else can this be applied to (items carry over, for instance?) ?

Eating dinner right now and in the middle of ToV itself, I'll type up a list a bit later. But basically, it has options you can purchase for use in your next playthru with the grade you've earned. Like, transferring items, titles, gald, raising difficulty, lowering xp, raising xp bonus. Stuff like that.

 

[Darkman M]

If it gives you a delivery estimate but says not shipped it has NOT shipped; this is the exact scenario all of us are in. There were people where it said the delivery estimate was today, obviously didn't get it, and amazon's telling them (on the phone) that basically you're probably fucked. I've only personally seen 2 people say that their amazon order has actually shipped or arrived, I think pretty much everyone got screwed. I tossed an email out to them, I'll post if I get anything interesting as a response, or if my amazon or buy order actually ships or I get an update on it.

I hear you im thinking this is mostly Amazons fault they ship to people who ordered on the 23rd over people who ordered it weeks ago? Thats total bullshit they should have been shipped on a first come first serve schedule and why take all these preorders if you can't supply them.

 

[FateBreaker]

Eating dinner right now and in the middle of ToV itself, I'll type up a list a bit later. But basically, it has options you can purchase for use in your next playthru with the grade you've earned. Like, transferring items, titles, gald, raising difficulty, lowering xp, raising xp bonus. Stuff like that.

Oh, OK. Cool. Thanks for the help!! So the higher the "grade" at the end of the game, the more you can...purchase...for New Game+? I'm off to play some more myself, so don't worry about immediately responding or anything. I'm just asking these questions because I just realized I didn't Magic-Lense the first boss (ugh, how did I forget), so if I ever wanted the Achievement (not sure if I do), then I'd have to replay -- which is how this question originally arose.

 

[Ermac]

If it gives you a delivery estimate but says not shipped it has NOT shipped; this is the exact scenario all of us are in. There were people where it said the delivery estimate was today, obviously didn't get it, and amazon's telling them (on the phone) that basically you're probably fucked. I've only personally seen 2 people say that their amazon order has actually shipped or arrived, I think pretty much everyone got screwed. I tossed an email out to them, I'll post if I get anything interesting as a response, or if my amazon or buy order actually ships or I get an update on it.

Yup. Mine hasn't shipped, though it's telling me the delivery estimate is the 28th. Which is now today.

Spoiler

Fuck.

Edit: Check out what Amazon has to say: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E1BNZU/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Jonnyram]

Grade shop - only costs 10 for each of your item and monster books.
There's a full list here in Japanese: http://www26.atwiki.jp/vesperia/pages/23.html
I guess I'll translate it quickly if people want.

 

[kiryogi]

Oh, OK. Cool. Thanks for the help!! So the higher the "grade" at the end of the game, the more you can...purchase...for New Game+? I'm off to play some more myself, so don't worry about immediately responding or anything. I'm just asking these questions because I just realized I didn't Magic-Lense the first boss (ugh, how did I forget), so if I ever wanted the Achievement (not sure if I do), then I'd have to replay -- which is how this question originally arose.

Pst, whats your gamertag

 

[Jonnyram]

Grade shop translation (spoilered, just in case, for touchy people)

Spoiler

Increase max amount of each item you can carry to 99 - 400
Carry over items to next game - 500 (doesn't carry key items, but does carry attachments)
Carry over Gald - 1000
Carry over titles - 500
Carry over Item Collector - 10
Carry over Monster Collector - 10
Carry over recipes - 10
Carry over cooking levels - 50
Carry over world map - 300
Carry over synth level - 10
Carry over battle record - 10
Carry over battle artes - 1000 (all chars, including counts)
Carry over skills - 1000 (all chars)
Carry over Yuri artes/skills - 350
" Estellise - 350
" etc. for each char - 350 (cheaper to just get the two for 1000 if you want all these)
Increase max HP - 500 (HP+20% - but if you get to lv200, you don't need this anyway as it has reached max by then)
Decrease max HP - 10 (HP-20%)
Increase max TP - 500 (+20%)
Decrease max TO - 10 (-20%)
Increase amount of Gald collected by 2 - 600
OVL Gauge fills 2x speed - 1000
EXP x 0.5 - 10 (other exp modifiers don't work with this) - you need this for one of the achievements
EXP x 2 - 1000
EXP x 10 - 3000
Grade x 2 - 3000
Skill SP1 - 3000 (all skills take up only 1SP!)
Item drop rate up - 1000 (x2 multiplier basically)
Technical Battle - 50 (base EXP becomes 1, but bonus EXP is x5 usual amount)
Unlock Battle Rank - 50 (unlocks "unknown" difficulty level)
Unlock Skit Player V - 1000 (unlocks skit player V on Namcot island)

 

[mr stroke]

I wish I'd preordered the Premium Edition. I didn't think it would be so rare. .

kinda of nice in a weird way. LE/PE are suposed to be limited so hopefully its worth money someday?(200$ ebay 10 years from now?)

 

[Paznos]

kinda of nice in a weird way. LE/PE are suposed to be limited so hopefully its worth money someday?(200$ ebay 10 years from now?)

Yeah it's so limited my copy still hasn't been shipped and it's somehow supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

 

[clashfan]

Never played a Tales but I decided to take a chance with Vesperia. I'm about 90 minutes in and finally beat the first boss. Man he was hard. I guess I'm just not good at this game. I found the game really fun and has a really charming art style. Great so far...

 

[Pakman]

Check your order status if you ordered from Amazon. I just checked now and my order changed to, "Shipping Soon" and says it's being prepped to ship.