A welcomed addition to the series

Fans of the Vesperia series can rejoice...as the series finally gets the upgrade to the next gen consoles with this beautifully rendered addition.

The Story:

An ancient technology known as Blastia is supporting the world, Terca Lumireis. In this civilization, Blastia, is used for everything from supplying the power that keeps the shields active around the towns to protect the inhabitants from monsters...to keeping the water supply clean. Yuri Lowell is an ex-soldier of the imperial capitol, who embarks on a journey that will have global implications. The plot is typical RPG, but where Vesperia shines is the side quests, which vary from the highly predictable....to the completely unexpected. And, while the story is typical for the genre, it does manage to remain and play fresh. Skits are performed by interacting with the many NPCs spread throughout the world...which range from the hilarious...to guiding Yuri through his adventure.

Gameplay:

What can I say? Tales of Vesperia is almost exactly like all other games in the genre. You progress the story by traveling from town-to-town, you interact with the townsfolk, you buy your weapons, and you solve puzzles. Vesperia has added two new fighting systems from their predecessor.

- Encounter Links: This allows your party to engage multiple groups of enemies simultaneously.
- Advantage Encounters: This will give your party an upper hand in battle IF you manage to properly wield the sorcerer's ring prior to the battle beginning.

After each battle you are awarded learning points which can be used to enhance your characters by altering the skills they know and thus use in battle. The game does limit the amount of skill points that can be allocated per level. Another minor change from its predecessor is that your skills are only active during battles - which make the constant grooming of battle skills mandatory. Some gamers may enjoy this but, but others will find this tedious, since you'll need to alter your skill sets in order to use basic commands such as items. Alchemy is also vital in the game as it is another avenue to acquire skills. For those new to alchemy, it is gathering materials from around the world and synthesizing them into useful objects.

Graphics and sound:

While some of the environment is lacking in details, it is rendered beautifully by the Xbox engine. The characters feature genuine facial expressions and the cut scenes are movie quality. The music in the game is done well and is just a matter of taste. All the music does lend to the realism and mood set of the environments and the emotionally charged boss battles.

Final thoughts:

Tales of Vesperia is a worthy and welcomed addition to the series and to any gamer's library. The characters are memorable, the game play is fun, and the scenery is beautifully rendered.