Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

 Switch
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 183 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 123 out of 183
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 183
  3. Negative: 23 out of 183
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  1. btbt
    Feb 14, 2019
    9
    New to the Tales series and waited to grab this since the first promotion dropped. I could not be happier, the port looks great and the combat system is very unique. I have been waiting for a good RPG to put hours into since grinding +300 hours in both xc2 and botw. The fact this game is a 10 year old port is nuts, aside from the battle music, I enjoy everything about this game. I amNew to the Tales series and waited to grab this since the first promotion dropped. I could not be happier, the port looks great and the combat system is very unique. I have been waiting for a good RPG to put hours into since grinding +300 hours in both xc2 and botw. The fact this game is a 10 year old port is nuts, aside from the battle music, I enjoy everything about this game. I am looking forward to more Tales ports and new titles. Hot dog the switch is an RPG Machine!… Expand
  2. guiletheguiles
    Sep 21, 2021
    8
    Tales of Vesperia is my first trip into this franchise. After being swallowed by near 70 hours of gameplay, I can definitely say that this is a must play for RPG fans.

    Like most RPGS, the artstyle is the first thing hurled at you once you boot it up. I'm glad to say that this game is beautiful. Not only the many environments you'll visit looks great, but character design, anime    Tales of Vesperia is my first trip into this franchise. After being swallowed by near 70 hours of gameplay, I can definitely say that this is a must play for RPG fans.

    Like most RPGS, the artstyle is the first thing hurled at you once you boot it up. I'm glad to say that this game is beautiful. Not only the many environments you'll visit looks great, but character design, anime cutscenes and music are very good.
    The charismatic cast of character also helps. Yuri, the protagonist, for example, may look like your typical anti-hero cliché guy, but as the story unravels, you find out that he's a bit more complex than than your standard main anime guy. In fact, most of your party members are fairly well-written, with good plots, believable motifs and an overarching development over the game's 3 acts. Patty, the definitive edition's new addition, should be enough to convince you to spend time here.

    It's a pitty that, although the cast is great, the writing and pacing do not help the overall storytelling. This lighthearted story is good. It actually goes a bit deeper than most regular RPGS, but the RIDICULOUS amount of not so compelling dialogues and slow interactions kinda kills the game's rhythm. And while the story is compelling, its supposedly epic moments are somewhat dull. I blame the pacing. Vesperia kinda outstays its welcome, which is a shame for a game so good.

    But while playing this gargantuan game, you'll experience one of the best gameplays that action RPGs of its time had to offer. The battle system definitely carries a bunch of shortcomings and limitations, but it works surprisingly well. Organizing your party and skills feels strategical, buying and synthesizing equipment and items is nice, boss battles are challenging, the game often gets tactical and intense, the AI works neatly, dungeons are simplistic and well-designed and pulling the right combos at the right time is addictive. It's all too fun. This game is from the XBOX 360 era, but yells PS2 RPG. And that is a fantastic compliment, in my opinion.

    The thing is, being a product of its time, Vesperia's gameplay is filled with limitations and archaic design flaws. If you like to nitpick, you might easily fall off the wagon.
    The combat takes a while to get used to, movement is stiff, difficulty spikes towards the end can make it a little grindy, getting mobbed and stunlocked in any fight IS a thing, you have to wait the enemy get up so you can damage it again, there are PLENTY of enemy reskins instead of new ones and not every dungeon is fun.
    And then there are the sidequests. Probably the most notable problem with the game. They are missable, clueless for no reason and, sometimes, rather unrewarding.

    Yet, Tales of Vesperia holds up reasonably well. I'm glad I got to play such an intriguing RPG. Its shortcomings and pacing issues may not be for everybody, but the game constantly compensates you for playing and spending time with this remarkable cast.

    Play this game. It has Patty in it. Do it for her.    … Expand
  3. nicksobis
    Jun 28, 2021
    9
    Awesome Jrpg.

    Although it's another unecessarily long game of the genre, this is one of the best jrpg on recent years. The combat is awesome, even If It is tought to master, but the beauty of the title comes down to the characters. With a great cell shading animation, the protagonists really keeps you invested in the story. From the stoic and badass Yuri, to the great Patty and Rita    Awesome Jrpg.

    Although it's another unecessarily long game of the genre, this is one of the best jrpg on recent years.
    The combat is awesome, even If It is tought to master, but the beauty of the title comes down to the characters. With a great cell shading animation, the protagonists really keeps you invested in the story. From the stoic and badass Yuri, to the great Patty and Rita Mordio. The dialogues between the gameplay only enchances their bond and Fun personality.    … Expand
  4. Korea_overlord
    Sep 14, 2019
    10
    the best games in my opinion are the tales of games. It makes fun to see the world and the environment. Most of the fights are really fun in the long run. Playing together with a friend or sister makes the game really interesting. I love this game very much.
  5. bashimon
    Jan 12, 2021
    7
    The idea to port this game to the Nintendo Switch was good. The graphics are not bad at all, they fit into the roster of other Switch games graphics-wise. It runs smoothly in 60fps and has an interesting story, that get's a bit complicated and weird at times but all such aspects are presented in a pace that one can understand what is going on (in comparison to e.g. FF13 that throws manyThe idea to port this game to the Nintendo Switch was good. The graphics are not bad at all, they fit into the roster of other Switch games graphics-wise. It runs smoothly in 60fps and has an interesting story, that get's a bit complicated and weird at times but all such aspects are presented in a pace that one can understand what is going on (in comparison to e.g. FF13 that throws many terms like N'Cieth etc. on you without explaining them at all). The story is very JRPG-like but overall interesting, the combat system was a bit boring in the beginning, but when I understood it it was quite funny, even though on "Normal" difficulty, you can do most fights without even looking at your display. Would definitely recommend to play this game on "Hard". If you like other JRPGs and have no issue with a real time fighting system, there's a high chance you will like this game. I played neither leisurely nor quickly and needed around 52 h to beat it, but I probably not explore everything that is in the world, but around 80% I think.… Expand
  6. SuperRon
    Jan 14, 2019
    10
    The long awaited Complete Version of Tales of Vesperia!
    It feel SO GOOD to finally have a lot of costumes to unlock, finally a lots of sidequest to find out when you replay, finally a lots of optional content and bosses. I feel like this game gave me everything I wanted "more of" tales of symphonia.
    The characters are overall pretty good, Yuri put a great dynamic with the team and each    The long awaited Complete Version of Tales of Vesperia!
    It feel SO GOOD to finally have a lot of costumes to unlock, finally a lots of sidequest to find out when you replay, finally a lots of optional content and bosses. I feel like this game gave me everything I wanted "more of" tales of symphonia.

    The characters are overall pretty good, Yuri put a great dynamic with the team and each character feel very distinct.

    Battle Wise the game is more clunky in first few hours than most tales of, but open up much more in the end, which gives a fantastic sense of progression through the game and in the challenge keeps up, to max level in the endgame challenges. Add to that 9 playable characters and you have the most diverse cast and a lot to learn if you want to vary your play style.

    Story wise it's pretty simple, it's mostly about people figure it out and an adventure in the classic sense, it wasn't as groundbreaking as other tales of, but servicable.

    As most tales of you can still have fantastic couch multiplayer, expect great replayability from the NG+, unlocked difficulties, numerous Ex dungeons, and a lots of things to unlock.

    If for some reason you don't like anime or JRPG in general, just pass on this game, for the other just buy it.    … Expand
  7. Jahoodi
    Mar 19, 2020
    5
    I am a newcomer to this series, and purchased the game (digitally, sadly) based on the multitude of positive reviews. I had just finished Dragon Quest XI and was looking for another JRPG to get into. Perhaps this game was good when it was released a decade ago, but I would strongly discourage anyone from picking this up today. It feels like the combat was designed with the endgame in mind,I am a newcomer to this series, and purchased the game (digitally, sadly) based on the multitude of positive reviews. I had just finished Dragon Quest XI and was looking for another JRPG to get into. Perhaps this game was good when it was released a decade ago, but I would strongly discourage anyone from picking this up today. It feels like the combat was designed with the endgame in mind, in the sense that the gameplay for the first 20 hours is a joyless, unfair, poorly designed slog. And this is really what it comes down to: the combat system that has been inexplicably lauded by so many reviewers is just plain bad. Enemies don't telegraph moves in time for you to respond; getting hit results in a lengthy stagger state that allows enemies to hammer on you (meanwhile, enemy stagger states are short or nonexistent); boss battles are poorly placed and poorly designed from the very start of the game, making you face enemies with far greater move-sets than you as soon as you are becoming accustomed to the controls; the character movement is sluggish and unresponsive. It is certainly possible that I just "don't get it," but man what a horrible experience it has been to try and play this game. Spend your money elsewhere.… Expand
  8. NiboR
    Jan 31, 2019
    9
    What can i say? 4 player multiplayer. A great 50+ hours story. Alot of side quest and much more. With the Nintendo switch you can take this game on the go and because of that this is the best version of the game. I love this game from the beginning to the very end. This game have alot of replay value and are totally worth 45$. It's not even a 60$ game. If you haven't played this game andWhat can i say? 4 player multiplayer. A great 50+ hours story. Alot of side quest and much more. With the Nintendo switch you can take this game on the go and because of that this is the best version of the game. I love this game from the beginning to the very end. This game have alot of replay value and are totally worth 45$. It's not even a 60$ game. If you haven't played this game and own the system, now is your time. Perfect to play with your friends, partner or kids. The story is lovely, an action JRPG dream came true AGAIN.… Expand
  9. Rpg89
    Jan 22, 2019
    9
    This game is damn gorgeous!!! Buy it you won't regret. Every playthrough keeps making you to want more.
  10. Magenta1991
    Nov 14, 2019
    10
    Uno de los mejores Tales que puedes encontrar en el mercado actualmente. Una historia simple y libre de drama innecesario acompañado de uno de los mejores gameplays de la saga te motivan a utilizar todas las armas para sacar el mayor provecho de tus personajes, conforme progresas en el juego puedes sentir como mejoras en el mismo videojuego obteniendo más libertad en los combates paraUno de los mejores Tales que puedes encontrar en el mercado actualmente. Una historia simple y libre de drama innecesario acompañado de uno de los mejores gameplays de la saga te motivan a utilizar todas las armas para sacar el mayor provecho de tus personajes, conforme progresas en el juego puedes sentir como mejoras en el mismo videojuego obteniendo más libertad en los combates para orientarlos a la forma en que más gustes llevarlos. El casting exhibe una de las mayores cohesiones grupales que se han visto en cualquier RPG y todos aportan algo importante a la historia. Si el RPG es lo tuyo este juego tiene que estar en tu colección sí o sí.… Expand
  11. Neatqt
    Feb 25, 2019
    7
    Cast: 10/10
    Story: 6/10
    Fun: 8/10
    Gameplay: 4/10

    Recommended
    ----------------------
  12. greenprell
    Aug 14, 2019
    5
    Extremely story heavy with frequent cutscenes and asides, which makes the game engaging but tiresome to the point of absurdity.

    The combat is frustrating and poorly explained. It can be fun, but I felt like I was 'dealing with it' all the way to the end of the game, rather than enjoying it. Another frustration is that the game progression is very imbalanced. At several points you may    Extremely story heavy with frequent cutscenes and asides, which makes the game engaging but tiresome to the point of absurdity.

    The combat is frustrating and poorly explained. It can be fun, but I felt like I was 'dealing with it' all the way to the end of the game, rather than enjoying it.

    Another frustration is that the game progression is very imbalanced. At several points you may be happily fighting through incidental battles only to run into a boss that kills your entire party instantly. This can be quite infuriating, especially since most bosses are buried deep in maps / dungeons, so retreating to grind is time consuming and risky since you're probably nearly out of resources.

    Additionally, this game is apparently full of secrets and side-quests, but they're impossible to discover without a walkthrough. Another thing I shake my head at with this game.

    I'm given to understand that some people really like these 'Tales' games. If you're one of them, I'm guessing you'll like this one. But if you're like me and you were looking for a fun action JRPG, this may look like one but it plays like something else entirely.    … Expand
  13. runeasgar
    Jan 29, 2019
    5
    I think people with a lot of nostalgia for the Tales series are biasing reviews for this game. By modern standards, it has incredibly clunky controls and pretty awful music/sound design. I'm 13 hours in and the story still isn't even remotely motivating. I do not think this is a good game. It's an "ok" game. Certainly not worth $50. Maybe $30.
  14. Tootzo
    Jul 28, 2019
    9
    @runeasgar: or simply this game is not for you, since 26 out of 27 reviewers gave it an 80+ score.
    The first Tales game I played was Symphonia on the GameCube and I loved it, though the grinding sometimes became boring. I played Berseria on the PS4 and I like the tone and setting in that game a little more, but my time with Vesperia has been great. There’s so much content in it, the    @runeasgar: or simply this game is not for you, since 26 out of 27 reviewers gave it an 80+ score.
    The first Tales game I played was Symphonia on the GameCube and I loved it, though the grinding sometimes became boring. I played Berseria on the PS4 and I like the tone and setting in that game a little more, but my time with Vesperia has been great. There’s so much content in it, the combat is really fun and even if the story may not be on par with other Tales games, is just as lovely.
    Highly recommended game for all those JRPG fans out there.    … Expand
  15. VTL
    Dec 9, 2019
    7
    Un buen juego, con un gameplay super entretenido en batallas dinamicas y con mucha personalidad y con una historia que empieza realmente muy floja pero que va augmentando llegando a ser una historia buena. La verdad que me lo pase bien pero algo cuesta arriba ...
  16. AllySky
    Jun 24, 2019
    6
    This is a fantastic game for the switch and deserves a pick up. It has great characters, a beautiful world and story surrounding it all.
  17. Phuz
    Dec 15, 2021
    4
    Just simply, not very good. Zestiria and Berseria are a lot better. Arise is worse though. Not sure you'll find any other Tales of on modern consoles. Zestiria would be my call for best. Hater's jump on Zestiria though. Zestiria's battle system is too hard and doesn't make sense etc. Absolutely true but it doesn't affect the gameplay at all. I am quite rubbish at games but still manageJust simply, not very good. Zestiria and Berseria are a lot better. Arise is worse though. Not sure you'll find any other Tales of on modern consoles. Zestiria would be my call for best. Hater's jump on Zestiria though. Zestiria's battle system is too hard and doesn't make sense etc. Absolutely true but it doesn't affect the gameplay at all. I am quite rubbish at games but still manage just fine. Zestiria has a lovely OST too.

    Arise is awful. Don't be fooled by the reviews.


    Ys games are better, especially games on the older engine, prior to Ys 8.    … Expand
  18. D3t0x15
    Sep 5, 2019
    5
    What a game ...(what a shame...) symphonia, xillia 1 & 2,berseria, zestiria, grace and abyss are better than that and that's why:

    With a plot twist worse that in vampire diaries, where you can clearly see that some characters are complete a**hole and will betray you the first second after they are introduced. It's the first tales of that i complete in automatic combat because of the    What a game ...(what a shame...) symphonia, xillia 1 & 2,berseria, zestiria, grace and abyss are better than that and that's why:

    With a plot twist worse that in vampire diaries, where you can clearly see that some characters are complete a**hole and will betray you the first second after they are introduced.

    It's the first tales of that i complete in automatic combat because of the slow controls (I've started auto mode after 14 hours of playtime)

    Not enough fan service. ( cool Aizen references tho )

    A sorcerer ring that hit ennemies 1/5 times like in symphonia (5 years after symphonia),

    No tracking for quest

    The way to get more clothes is s**tty (my opinion btw)

    A main character that doesn't have a little bit of charisma ( SPOIL: just two times when he murder some dudes, will not give the names for the... SPOIL )

    Repede has more charisma than 3/4 of the characters and he is a DOG . Exceptions for me are Judith and Patty. Karol is a cry-baby, Rita should shut the "fudge" up more often and show some respect for others, Flynn needs to be hit so freaking hard in his pretty baby face and Raven ..... oh Raven did he ever take a shower in his life ?
    For Estellise, I think that she do her job perfectly.... ( a dumb princess that take so much sh*t in the face that she begin to think after 3/4 of the game ....Hourra !! )

    I personally think this game is trash because he is the only one tales of game on Microsoft console,and to not discourage new player of the serie, they have made this game, easy, with no depth and a little bit of fan service for those who where crazy to buy a xbox360 for this one game.

    that's why I gave this game a score of 5 .... ( It hurts me a lot but I had to do it ....even legendia is better for me. but Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is definitively the most sh**tier of the tales of )    … Expand
  19. Alberto_Rahl
    Mar 4, 2020
    8
    Lo que mas me gustó, además de la historia, fue el estilo gráfico. El diseño "animesco" realmente le sienta bien y no me sería posible imaginármelo de ninguna otra forma.

    Sin haberlo jugado antes el propio juego me engañó hasta dos veces distintas pensando que ya había terminado para después descubrir que aun me quedaba la mayoría del juego por delante. Ni que decir que es un juego    Lo que mas me gustó, además de la historia, fue el estilo gráfico. El diseño "animesco" realmente le sienta bien y no me sería posible imaginármelo de ninguna otra forma.

    Sin haberlo jugado antes el propio juego me engañó hasta dos veces distintas pensando que ya había terminado para después descubrir que aun me quedaba la mayoría del juego por delante. Ni que decir que es un juego largo y que se disfruta de principio a fin.    … Expand
  20. Phishion
    Jul 25, 2020
    6
    Obviously, no matter how highly rated the game was at the time, without the addition of emotion, it will inevitably have traces of age after 10 years, and after about 20 hours of play, I really couldn't play it any longer, the counter-intuitive combat system, lame perspective and map design, and dragging plot are so out of place today, but the creative little theater design makes theObviously, no matter how highly rated the game was at the time, without the addition of emotion, it will inevitably have traces of age after 10 years, and after about 20 hours of play, I really couldn't play it any longer, the counter-intuitive combat system, lame perspective and map design, and dragging plot are so out of place today, but the creative little theater design makes the character portrayal of the game reach a height that other similar works cannot reach. The music, to be honest, belongs to a very average level, can be listened to, far from excellent, can't understand why someone can score 8, 9 points, every episode of the town NPCs will also have a change in character dialogue, can see is seriously do the game, the plot in today's look moderate, may be more in line with the tastes of teenagers, the male lead is not pretentious some breakthrough, the female lead has been apologizing and let me feel some stereotypes. It may have been a masterpiece in its day.… Expand
  21. ket
    Aug 24, 2023
    6
    I want to give Tales of Vesperia an 8/10, but I just can't. In my 80+ hours of gameplay so far the game has crashed on me a good 3-4 times, one of those times actually sent my Switch crazy and it wouldn't turn back on for a minute or two (and no my Switch isn't overheating or has anything wrong with it - its just this game) so really I should be penalising the game heavier than I am, muchI want to give Tales of Vesperia an 8/10, but I just can't. In my 80+ hours of gameplay so far the game has crashed on me a good 3-4 times, one of those times actually sent my Switch crazy and it wouldn't turn back on for a minute or two (and no my Switch isn't overheating or has anything wrong with it - its just this game) so really I should be penalising the game heavier than I am, much heavier.

    Outside of those crashes gameplay can also be furiously frustrating due to a horrible leveling system that unless you have special items takes an eternity to gain even one level, how would you feel for example if your character needed around 35,000XP to level up and the best normal fights you could find in the game gave you about 700-1000XP? The same is true for learning abilities, some take a LOT of effort to learn, probably more than they should, and what makes this incredibly grinding is the sheer amount of abilities to learn meaning you always have a ton of weapons kicking around you'd rather not. Why couldn't armour pieces also have abilities to learn instead of everything being only learnable from weapons? As you get into latter stages of the game it is truly absurd just how many weapons characters have to learn abilities from.

    The story in the game is decent enough but written very child-like despite the game touching on really rather adult theme topics at times and I've also seen numerous spelling and grammar mistakes in the text. A lot of puzzles are also completely nonsensical and feel like they were designed that way just for more padding, something the game definitely doesn't need. This game does not respect the players time.

    The difficulty spikes between normal enemy encounters and bosses is jarring to say the least, one boss essentially just kept spamming his limit break on my entire party with an AOE that covered the entire battle area forcing me to grind out more levels for 3 hours. Your gameplay is fundamentally broken if you can spend 10+ hours grinding away at levels and abilities only to reach an end of chapter boss and STILL be under leveled for the encounter.

    Story pacing in the game is also an issue with too much of the game left to you chancing upon it rather than it being part of a constructed narrative to increase enjoyment value. For example you can upgrade your ship but you aren't told this is possible to do at any time and you'd miss out on some deep sea treasure searching which to me seems a rather freaking important side task mechanic when you just want something a bit different to do rather than blindly following the story but you'd miss out on this unless you happen to bungle into the NPC on a chance return visit to Halure and talk to him to kick off a side quest with multiple rather obscure steps.

    Another problem the game has is with logging side quests, you can find an NPC and be told about something, but you then have no journal to tell you what items you need if it's that kind of side task or even anywhere to just keep a record of NPCs who have given you a side task to do.

    Tales is a game that is a 40-60 hour or so experience dragged out into one that's 100hrs or more and depending on your tolerance will either wear out it's welcome, or have you feeling extremely jaded and just wanting it to be over. Final Fantasy IX did and does do everything Tales tries to do infinitely more competently. Buy that instead.

    6/10, and Tales is lucky to be getting that considering I strongly suspect this game almost killed my Switch due to a bug in the games code. I really can't recommend this game mostly down to the disrespect the game has for the players time forcing manual backtracking, absurd levels of grind, and all manner of padding tactics possible to artificially drag out the games length. I've never seen such disgusting methods used in any good RPG. Go buy any number of countless other GOOD RPGs instead like Final Fantasy, Xenoblade, Bravely Default, etc.    … Expand
  22. rrafemi
    Oct 29, 2019
    7
    El juego es entretenido sin mayores pretensiones ni pretender ser un referente en el género. A consecuencia de ello, la historia se mueve en exceso lenta, parece que le cuesta avanzar y el desarrollo es tremendable plano, siguiendo el mismo patrón de principio a fin. Que viene a ser, llegar a localización, hablar, posada, charla nocturna, dormir, siguiente ciudad y vuelta a empezar.
  23. Afenger
    Mar 2, 2020
    9
    Um jrpg de respeito vindo de uma das series mais aclamadas no quesito. Com as dlcs e todo conteúdo inédito adicionado na versão de Ps3 e agora em Full HD a 60fps só deixa esse game ainda mais atrativo para quem jogou e melhor ainda para os novatos.
  24. SainxtrichX
    Feb 2, 2020
    9
    Simplemente uno de los mejores JRPG que jamas he jugado, es rapido entretenido y completo.
    Los personajes son muy carismaticos y diversos.
    Los unicos puntos negativos que puedo recalcar son que para el final te pierdes un poco ya que cuesta saber donde ir, es fruto de su tiempo. Si jugaste tales of the abyss y tales of symphonia te recomiendo este juego al 100%
  25. pmasterfunk
    Feb 18, 2021
    5
    I first laid eyes on this game back in 2008, and I was super hyped. Over ten years later, the definitive edition goes on sale for Switch, and I finally have a chance to play it.

    Meh. I've tried, but I'm just not much of a Tales fan. Tales of Phantasia blew my teenage mind back in the late 90s when Dejap released a fan translation that I played on ZSNES, while I listened to Limp    I first laid eyes on this game back in 2008, and I was super hyped. Over ten years later, the definitive edition goes on sale for Switch, and I finally have a chance to play it.

    Meh.

    I've tried, but I'm just not much of a Tales fan. Tales of Phantasia blew my teenage mind back in the late 90s when Dejap released a fan translation that I played on ZSNES, while I listened to Limp Bizkit and Korn. Good times, my dudes, good times.

    Seriously though, I enjoyed ToP, and it was definitely a tour de force back in the day. I've since played other Tales games, but I've always come away feeling somewhat indifferent. For Vesperia, I'm less indifferent, and more irritated. There's stuff to like about the game. It's reasonably pretty, even in 2021, with good character and enemy designs. There's a lot of content, so for people who enjoy the game, it can last forever. The voice acting is pretty good. But that's about it for me.

    The action is not great, which I should have suspected given the word salad "Evolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System". Regular attacks have very short range and are pretty slow, so hitting moving enemies is oddly difficult. Enemies have really long invulnerability frames when knocked down, which bogs the action down. Pressing up makes the character jump instead of just moving forward, which is mostly useless and sometimes makes high attacks or using techs activate jumps instead. Enemies have tons of HP, so even mooks can take a while to defeat. Bosses vary wildly in difficulty, from pretty easy to practically impossible (Gattuso, you bastard). Status effects are practically an afterthought, and only seem to show up in boss fights.

    The fixed camera in cities and dungeons feels old and restrictive. Aiming the Sorcerer's ring is terribly frustrating. I also always run out of cash. Micromanagement of equipment is pretty tedious. Just about any weapon may be necessary for creating better weapons later, so I just ended up hoarding all my stuff in fear of missing out on an important item.

    Apart from the characters and enemies, the visuals are kinda bland. The lighting is really flat in most locations, making backgrounds really uninteresting. Lots of dungeons have identical rooms that make navigating them confusing. Most locations are pretty bare in background details, so they don't have much personality.

    I'm not a big fan of the music, but I'm sure some people like it.

    So what about that story? Well, it kinda sucks. It's not the worst, but the pacing is horrendous, the plot is mostly delivered in exposition dumps, and the pace constantly stalls for all sorts of dumb reasons. "This person can't see us you today, so let's randomly go walk in the desert in the meantime". "Let me tell you the most important secret we have kept hidden from you since your bi-- AAACK I'M DEAD". "I have so much to tell you abo- AAACK I'M DEAD". "I have multiple personality disorder - AAACK I'M DEA- oh wait, I'm back!" The cut scenes involving action are probably the worst I've seen in any video game. Bad composition, weak and stunted choreography, and poor music and sound effect choices make these downright painful to watch.

    Further slowing the pace are small dumb decisions. I don't need to be told "Karol has left the party", only for him to join up again two minutes later to be told "Karol has joined the party". The game constantly slows down to let you walk from one cutscene to the next. It's bloat.

    I also hate the trend in japanese media to make up dumb words. Why call this magic rock a blastia? What is a Cyano Ciel Apatheia? How is it related to Aer Krenes? Formulas do what? Why is the leader of the guild called a Duce instead of just "boss" or "president"? Are the good guys the l'Cie or the fal'Cie? There's a guy called Duke, is he a Duce ? I'M CONFUSED BECASE DUCE LITERALLY MEANS DUKE

    The main cast varies pretty wildly in likeability. Yuri is a pretty good MC, even though I feel like his moral dilemma doesn't get much of a resolution. He often sounds disinterested in the team's dilemmas. Estelle is pretty flaky for most of the game, but she's still pretty likable. Karol is kind of annoying, but in an endearing 12-year-old way. It does break my suspension of disbelief when he is having a profound existential crisis about his powerlessness in the face of complicated world-wide geopolitics. Repede is a dumb name for a cool dog. Raven is alright for a while, but the old man jokes are kinda weird for a 35-year-old guy. I mean it's not THAT old, is it? Judith is real pretty, but she's kinda bland otherwise, and the mysterious femme fatale thing fells kinda thin. Patty? Why is she here? But the worst is Rita. I hate everything about Rita. I hate her tsundere shtick. I hate her dialog. I hate her motivations.

    For me, this game was lots of frustration and not much payoff. If you're not a Tales fan, I'd suggest avoiding this one. It plays fine on Switch, if you're still interested in buying.    … Expand
  26. Lesh0
    Dec 27, 2019
    9
    Ny first Tales game and I can say that i loved it !! Cant wait for more Tales games for the switch. This is my top 3 or even top 2 GOTY. The characters personality is amazing also the story was so good i didnt had a boring moment with this game. The only reason this is not a 10/10 is because the combat felt clucky and there were too many sidequests that gave you some good spells but wereNy first Tales game and I can say that i loved it !! Cant wait for more Tales games for the switch. This is my top 3 or even top 2 GOTY. The characters personality is amazing also the story was so good i didnt had a boring moment with this game. The only reason this is not a 10/10 is because the combat felt clucky and there were too many sidequests that gave you some good spells but were long and not so enjoying but after some time you get used to it. Its a must for people that enjoy jrpgs or good story and characters.… Expand
  27. Zelda1979
    Apr 7, 2019
    9
    Not as good as Symphonia but very enjoyable. Too many cut scenes and bit too easy ( I only died once during whole 50+ hours gameplay). Still highly recommend though
  28. Overload_25
    May 10, 2019
    9
    I have always been a fan of the tales franchise, so the fact that the game came out on the Switch was a god send for me. Yet another great entry in the franchise for those who had missed it on the Xbox last gen
  29. Foxazoxi
    Sep 6, 2019
    7
    The story is great and characters are impressive. The combat system is not my type but it got better and better by keeping playing it.
  30. KowieT
    Feb 26, 2020
    9
    This JRPG never felt like I had to grind to defeat a boss. With the exception of a surprisingly challenging boss at the beginning of the game, my characters and their natural progression from enemy encounters have me enough experience to be well prepared for boss battles. The music was enchanting and gradually evolved as the story progressed which enhanced the excitement I felt as myThis JRPG never felt like I had to grind to defeat a boss. With the exception of a surprisingly challenging boss at the beginning of the game, my characters and their natural progression from enemy encounters have me enough experience to be well prepared for boss battles. The music was enchanting and gradually evolved as the story progressed which enhanced the excitement I felt as my characters became stronger. Voice acting is spot on!! A nice attention to detail was the character interactions during the victory screens. As things changed around them and the characters got to know each other more, their dialogue grew with them.… Expand
  31. littlestfinch
    May 7, 2020
    10
    Wow, I loved this game! I picked this up as an accidental recommendation from a friend (they confused it with another Tales of game) and I'm so glad I did! I'm totally new to this series and based on my experience here would absolutely visit another title.

    I will start by saying that I don't fully love the combat. It's not awful by any means, but I am glad that there was an auto-battle    Wow, I loved this game! I picked this up as an accidental recommendation from a friend (they confused it with another Tales of game) and I'm so glad I did! I'm totally new to this series and based on my experience here would absolutely visit another title.

    I will start by saying that I don't fully love the combat. It's not awful by any means, but I am glad that there was an auto-battle option for world map mobs and general farming. I did really enjoy a lot of the other systems though, especially those revolving around weapons and skills! I enjoyed building out my team and using different strategies even with auto-battle going so you're not fully detached from the experience.

    I see some complaints about the number of cutscenes and story moments, but I loved it! The animations were gorgeous. I loved most of the voice acting in the game. I really loved the characters that make up your party. Seriously they were so charming and there was some solid character growth especially with the ladies! Between the characters and the story itself, the game kept me fully engaged all the way through.

    My only actual complaints are the lack of mini maps & quest indications. I know that was a common thing in games at some point, but I feel like they could have been added into this remaster of the game. There are certain locations (a castle and a specific temple come immediately to mind) that are a nightmare to navigate through and took longer than necessary to complete because of this. I'm also finding that I missed a lot of content in my first playthrough because there is no rhyme or reason to finding side quests!

    I honestly can't believe how old this game is, because it doesn't feel like it! In fact, I finished my first run of the game, bust out a guide and now I'm running a New Game+ so I can get every bit of this game's content. I'm a quarter of the way through my replay and I'm already finding so much I missed!

    This was actually one of my first forays into JRPGs that isn't FF or LoZ and based on this I really want to break into more titles under that flag! Honestly, this game has helped me forget the current state of the world for a bit and escape, which is my very favorite quality of a good video game.    … Expand
  32. CasualTap
    Oct 16, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is an anime heavily inspired JRPG game published by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment.

    You will play as Yuri Lowell, who was once a knight and didn’t believe in the justice system but sought to deal with injustice with his dirty hands. As the story develops, more people will join you to save the world, which is typical of a JRPG. The art work is okay-ish and the music is serviceable, overall. But, admittedly the OP music was a very brilliant part!

    In my playthrough, the first 10hrs or so of Tales was very good. But then the quality began to drop. But don’t worry it would pick up again and stayed consistently good and very engaging throughout. Basically, it had a very strong hook but struggled to set up and introduce the main story. However, the main plots frustrated me in a way that at first I thought I already beat the final boss but then another major plot was introduced. It was like that three times or so. Every one of it seemed to end smoothly. But then I realised there was more to explore and uncover! It was annoying and unsettling. It would be nice if they set aside the major plots for DLCs, didn’t end each one that smoothly or just dropped a hint that there would be more to the game. Also note that you have to pay attention to the conversations most of the time. Or you will get lost and do not know what to do or where to visit next.

    In this definitive edition, you will have access to various cosmetics/clothes for the characters. I did expect the game to look good but at some point the graphics turned blurry while certain parts weren’t voiced over either. I wonder if it was due to glitches or because they did not do a good job in porting the game. Though it didn’t bother me much, I think it’s still worth pointing out.

    I did beat the game. But I’m torn between giving it a solid 9 or a decent 7. Definitely, it can’t be an 8 for me. There were times when I was blown away by how amazing the game was and also times when I almost gave up playing it altogether. For now, I tentatively give it 7.8/10.    … Expand
  33. Rygon
    Jul 31, 2022
    10
    After playing Phantasia, Symphonia and Abyss, I must say this Tales of has surprised me for good. The character is so original for a JRPG and the story keeps you sticked to it with every event that happends through the game. The gameplay is very good and has a lot of possibilities never seen in old titles.
  34. SwitchOnly
    Dec 20, 2021
    5
    I can't say it's bad, but it certainly wasn't what it appeared to be from the eShop details. Honestly, it was my mistake. I didn't realize that it's predominantly fixed-camera with a linear game path. Anyone expecting an open world exploration rpg will immediately be frustrated. I couldn't get past it.
  35. Vinzkill
    Dec 1, 2022
    10
    Great story. The gameplay is ok. Not a fan of the graphics either. But the characters are interesting and they are one of my favorite casts. The story progression is nice as well. I enjoyed it. If your an rpg fan but got tired of turnbased or strategy with tiles, try this game.
  36. Ventuski
    Apr 6, 2022
    6
    As a Tales game is good. I've had some problems trying to complete it, since every time I want to recap I find myself lost about what I have to do next. Not very friendly if you plan to play casual from time to time.
  37. Moekn
    May 6, 2022
    10
    35 hours into the game and iam really enjoying it,the art style,the story and the gameplay is amazing the leveling system is classic which each level up increase your stats at auto and thats what i like about it ,its on sale for 10$ its 100% worth it,yea i remmber it may look bad at the screenshots but trust me you wont regret buying it if you are rpg or anime fan.
  38. ifman13
    Feb 15, 2023
    7
    Historia 6/10
    Personajes 7.5/10
    Gameplay 9/10 Música 7/10 El segundo Tales of que juego, tras phantasia. La historia es quizás su punto más flojo, que aunque no es mala, puede parecer predecible o algo inspirada en otros rpgs. La mayoría de los protagonistas cumplen los típicos clichés, pero en este caso el protagonista destaca, realmente tiene carisma, cabe destacar su relación con    Historia 6/10
    Personajes 7.5/10
    Gameplay 9/10
    Música 7/10

    El segundo Tales of que juego, tras phantasia. La historia es quizás su punto más flojo, que aunque no es mala, puede parecer predecible o algo inspirada en otros rpgs. La mayoría de los protagonistas cumplen los típicos clichés, pero en este caso el protagonista destaca, realmente tiene carisma, cabe destacar su relación con su amigo de la infancia Flynn, y los dilemas morales que se plantean acerca de la forma que tiene cada uno de afrontar los problemas.

    El sistema de batalla es muy variado y profundo, realmente me ha sorprendido, jugarlo en el máximo nivel de dificultad ha sido desafiante.

    Story 6/10
    Characters 7.5/10
    Gameplay 9/10
    Music 7/10

    The second Tales of I play, after Phantasia. The story is perhaps its weakest point, although not bad, it can seem predictable or somewhat inspired by other rpgs. Most of the protagonists fulfill the typical clichés, but in this case the protagonist stands out, he really has charisma, it is worth mentioning his relationship with his childhood friend Flynn, and the moral dilemmas that arise about the way each one has to face the problems.

    The battle system is very varied and deep, it has really surprised me, playing it on the maximum difficulty level has been challenging.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best Switch Game of 2019
46
#46 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019
52
#52 Most Shared Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Switch Player
    Apr 17, 2019
    80
    Tales of Vesperia still holds up as a game that is absolutely charming and enjoyable to play, with a multi-faceted cast of characters and a story of intrigue. It’s a JRPG that deserves your attention, even despite its tangible flaws.
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  2. Nintendo Insider
    Mar 22, 2019
    90
    Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is one of the best RPGs to grace the Nintendo Switch. It’s a lengthy adventure that will keep players absorbed from start to finish. With new content and new characters, those looking to double-dip will more than get their money’s worth. The added joy of having Tales of Vesperia on a portable device elevates to new heights as you can now enjoy all it has to offer at any time and in any place. If you missed out on this gem a decade ago, it is time to rectify that mistake and immerse yourself in one of the finest RPGs to release this decade.
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  3. Worth Playing
    Feb 26, 2019
    80
    All in all, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is a solid remaster of a fun and enjoyable JRPG. It has its flaws and foibles, including a relative weak final story arc and a somewhat inconsistent battle system, but it's one of the most popular Tales titles for a reason. It's plenty of fun to play, and fans of JRPGs will easily overlook the flaws for what is a genuinely enjoyable romp through an old game style.
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