I didn't want to rent Crackdown and Forza Motorsport 2 originally. I only got those games because I wanted to showcase my 360 to my family during Christmas. Okay, yes, I also enjoyed them, but they were not my first choice. Today, I rented what was my first choice.
I rented Tales of Vesperia.
"Sweet Jesus! He's playing another Tales games! Run, run and hope he gives up on it like he did Eternia!"
Some things never change. Like the Tales games. TOV is, for the most part, no exception to that rule. It is a stat-based RPG, using anime designs, in a world that uses Gald for money. Like the Final Fantasy games, the Tales games, unless otherwise noted, are not connected to one another plotwise, unless if it's like the sequel to Tales of Symphonia that came out for the Wii. You can cook food to create healing items, your characters earn "titles" to describe them, and battles are random encounters that take place in enclosed battlegrounds that occur in real-time, with the fights playing like fighting games. The music, like most other games, is composed by renowned musician Motoi Sakuraba. There are "skits" in between cutscenes, and much like Tales of Legendia, (and unlike the American Tales of the Abyss) they are voiced. The voices, like the more recent Tales games, are not fantastic, but certainly don't suck. *points at Tales of Eternia*
All of these things apply to TOV. It just wouldn't be Tales without it. But there are some major differences. The biggest of which being that the game is in widescreen, with HD. You can really notice this in the intro movie. Not only that, the sound is in 5.1. You can really tell the sound design is great; footsteps are audible and will be loud if you're walking on something hard and soft if you're walking on something soft. Voices echo inside of castle walls, and the sound effects in battle sound better than they did in TOTA. TOV runs on TOTA's engine, but with improvements. Characters models are cel-shaded instead of polygonal, the draw distance is much longer, there are no "jaggies", and animations are more fluid. Cutscenes make better use of camera angles. The cel-shading is appropriate, given that Tales games were never about achieving a photorealistic look, but rather, were about replicating fantastical works of animation. This is the first 3D Tales game I've played that is really beautiful. The 2D games are gorgeous, (I still swoon at TOE's background art) but the 3D games never could compare . . . until now. Now, don't try to compare TOV's artistry to an RPG like FF12, but TOV is a marvel to look at.
So far, the storyline has been decent. It's not epic so far, but that might change. On the other hand, if you're like me, you'll also have fun playing, "Name That Voice!" Yeah, there's a good number of notable dub actors and actresses in the cast. I won't tell who they all are just yet, but I've recognized a couple. Oh, and fangirls, Vic Mignogna plays a part in this game, and his character is wicked.
Expect to hear more from me in the near future.
