TALES OF VESPERIA: DEFINITIVE EDITION
This classic JPRG will steal your time
The Tales series has a magnificent history, its colourful games forming a different part of the JRPG spectrum from titles such as Final Fantasy and Resonance Of Fate. Of late JRPGs have made a triumphant return to form. This makes now the perfect time for Tales Of Vesperia, on PlayStation for the first time since its Japanonly release over a decade ago. Yuri Lowell’s tale begins with a theft – of a blastia core, a magical device with the ability to control the elements. All around the world, people have come to rely on these, as they provide resources such as drinking water and invisible shields that keep monsters at bay. The absence of the core has worrying consequences for Yuri’s home, a poor part of the imperial capital, and so he goes out to find it.
Throughout the roughly 50-hour long adventure, there is, of course, way more to the plot than petty theft. Unable to turn a blind eye to any injustice, the seemingly aloof Yuri discovers a network of political corruption with potentially apocalyptic consequences.
Tales Of Vesperia uses a real-time combat system. In practice this means you take down fiends by mashing the attack button with your main character while your other party members make decisions automatically according to set parameters. The ability to block, plus several special attacks called artes, ensure you won’t need a replacement DualShock by the time you’ve seen all the game has to offer. In the chaos that ensues, it’s difficult to develop any sort of strategy, particularly during boss battles, which are prone to spikes in difficulty.
TELL TALES
Instead of clever combat, the strength of a Tales game lies in its worldbuilding and characters. Vesperia might just have the best of both: Yuri Lowell is near irresistible, an idealist who acts the cynic. He’s slightly more mature than your average JRPG protagonist, which makes him the calm centre of the group. Thanks to the sheer wealth of content, each of his party members isn’t simply one more character to fill out a battle roster, but a person whose backstory you slowly uncover. With each bit of dialogue, including so-called “skits” (optional chats that are a mainstay of the Tales series) you learn a lot about the world of Terca Lumireis and get to listen to your party’s takes on events throughout the story.
The story arc takes time to truly ramp up, but there’s much to see in the meantime, from underground dungeons to cosy countryside towns, all lovingly rendered. Tales Of Vesperia was a lovely-looking game when it first released, and this remaster helps its charming anime character design really stand out. Cute and never overly ambitious, it strikes a beautiful balance between the slow forming of friendships and rather audacious adventure.
VERDICT
Short on innovation but engaging and full of character, Tales Of Vesperia is one of the best tales games and sits well in the collection of any JRPG fan. Malindy Hetfeld