Tales of Vesperia

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 323 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 254 out of 323
  2. Mixed: 49 out of 323
  3. Negative: 20 out of 323
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  1. Charllize
    Aug 6, 2013
    5
    Not bad.Story is standart, graphics looks good. But combat and character development is little boring. And totally horrible thing is, if you want see all things in game, you cant play without guide. 50% game is missable. I know, lot a JRPG have missable things, but here, hmm..crazy.I hate use guides, and dont want play same game 4 or 6 times for see everything..NO!
  2. Kakashi2
    Jul 22, 2013
    7
    Sweeter than honey. This game is the best Jrpg on the 360 by far. The game is just soooo pretty to look at. The characters are likeable (which is getting harder to find with jrpgs). I understand that this game has some clichés but to me it felt like a sweet throwback. This game puts its twist on the conventions. I like this game so much because it is fun continuously. That's really all ISweeter than honey. This game is the best Jrpg on the 360 by far. The game is just soooo pretty to look at. The characters are likeable (which is getting harder to find with jrpgs). I understand that this game has some clichés but to me it felt like a sweet throwback. This game puts its twist on the conventions. I like this game so much because it is fun continuously. That's really all I need in a game.… Expand
  3. mafonso
    Aug 13, 2013
    6
    I have a lot of history with JRPGs, and I hadn't played one in a year or two so I decided to throw this one on my game que for gamefly and try it out. I start playing it and it resembles what most JRPGs are like for the first 8 hours or so. Out of no where the game runs into this terrible problem of character development where they are repeatedly saying the same things over and over againI have a lot of history with JRPGs, and I hadn't played one in a year or two so I decided to throw this one on my game que for gamefly and try it out. I start playing it and it resembles what most JRPGs are like for the first 8 hours or so. Out of no where the game runs into this terrible problem of character development where they are repeatedly saying the same things over and over again and it's doing nothing for you in character development, the team takes on somewhere between 8-15 jobs that are all of their "main missions" and slowly learn information and repeat repeat repeat. It gets very tiresome to sit through dialogue while the main character says, "choose for yourself" to the other character over and over again. It feels like the characters want to split up but always decide last minute to stay. You expect it... and it got in my head and made me really really annoyed with the game.. I think there must have been some sort of translation issue.… Expand
  4. Mikeylano
    Mar 29, 2014
    5
    I became so drowned in dialogue that I lost the will to finish this game after 25 hours of playtime.

    The battle system is not all that great. In the end, it boils down to pressing attack or a macroed special attack (arte) and hoping that your target doesn't wander off slightly to the side. Flying enemies are a complete pain. "Combos" are unsatisfying and not true combos. It's a matter    I became so drowned in dialogue that I lost the will to finish this game after 25 hours of playtime.

    The battle system is not all that great. In the end, it boils down to pressing attack or a macroed special attack (arte) and hoping that your target doesn't wander off slightly to the side. Flying enemies are a complete pain. "Combos" are unsatisfying and not true combos. It's a matter of pressing the right macros in sequence.

    This battle system would have been a whole lot better if you were able to actively switch between the four characters on the field at will. Instead you are locked into playing just one, with the option of commanding the others through a clunky menu that pauses the action. There is an option to assign just four attacks from other characters to the game pad, which simply isn't enough. This means you leave most of the action to the computer whilst you mash the attack button and attempt a "combo".

    Most of the characters are not fun to play. Yuri is the only one I had fun with; the others are clunky, slow or entirely dependent on TP (which is too onerous to recover and severely disadvantages them against players that can deal damage for free with weapons).

    I'm not much of a fan of anime but I found this art style quite charming. The characters are perfect for this type of game, but unfortunately, in my personal opinion, this made them cringeworthy and annoying at times. Estellise was the main offender, but several others were also very cliché. Clearly, this is what anime fans want to see, but for those who are not, the experience becomes very repetitive and one-dimensional. For example, I'm sure fans love that Karol, the young boy, is so excitable yet determined - taking on the role of a leader. But to everyone else, he seems like a child who has become too big for his boots and shrieks a lot. At times I just wanted Yuri (the older, main character) to tell him he needs to grow up and listen to others. Perhaps my real qualm is with the lack of maturity embedded in the characters; e.g. Rita is always stroppy, Estellise is always naive, except for those things she has studied. It creates a setting that is just not enjoyable for anyone but anime fans.

    The dialogue was just too frequent, nonsensical and irrelevant. Most of the "skits" (talking head conversations on screen) were entirely for the purpose of character building - great to a degree, but painstaking in excess - especially when several cutscenes are followed by a series of skits. I was sitting there thinking "oh god just shut up" many times towards the end of my experience.

    The world is fine and as you would expect, although I would have to say that if you are a masochist determined to complete every section of this game then expect to spend a long time doing it - with the help of guides. From the first battle you are expected to start working towards trophy goals that you will otherwise have to obtain by restarting the game.

    The graphics are good, but with an art style like this, I should hope so (I personally prefer photorealistic games, although this art style did work tremendously with this game, for which I give it credit).

    The "story" is not so much one linear story with a defined objective, but a narrative about a journey where the goal constantly changes depending on the whims of the party members and the events they encounter. Ultimately, the game feels quite aimless and the desire to go on is seriously reduced - nothing is a surprise/sidequest/setback because there is no overall goal.

    I am very disappointed with this game. I think you have to be a die-hard anime fan to enjoy the charm of the characters and world. Personally, I enjoy a battle system that makes me sweat and a story that makes me laugh and cry. Tales of Vesperia does none of those things. It's like being on prozac - everything is just lukewarm. Hence why I give this 5/10. Only die hard anime fans need apply.    … Expand
  5. ShaneS
    Jun 22, 2011
    7
    Several design flaws hold this game back. The producers seem to think that turning a twenty hour game into a forty hour game by doubling the encounter rates is a good thing. This is confusing since the game offers a replay mode which lets you play agian after beating the game. The game robs the player of the only main healer towards the end of the game, and forces you to fight bossesSeveral design flaws hold this game back. The producers seem to think that turning a twenty hour game into a forty hour game by doubling the encounter rates is a good thing. This is confusing since the game offers a replay mode which lets you play agian after beating the game. The game robs the player of the only main healer towards the end of the game, and forces you to fight bosses without a healer class. The friendly AI doesn't seem to know what to do in battle half the time. Flying enemies are a giant pain since attacking them with normal characters is all but impossible. Bosses are H.A.R.D.! The best part of the game is the story, and characters within it. The story has to do with pollution, and the ethical dilemma whether or not you should kill someone who may unintentially kill others. The characters consist of an old spy, a main character who breaks the law in order to do good, an opposing character who wants the law followed regardless of the consequences, a niave person who is learning about the world, a kid who must find some self confidence in order to save the day, and a dog who smokes a pipe. The combat is good and not button mashy at all but the game takes forever trying to lean the player into the mechanics of combat. It won't be until twenty hours into the game that the game is done teaching you how to play it. Overall if you see it for under twenty dollars you might want to pick it up. If you see the game before it in the series "Tales of Symphonia" then grab that instead.… Expand
  6. Caestus
    Feb 26, 2013
    7
    Tales of Vesperia fells like a beta version of something it wanted to be. Besides Yuri and maybe raven every other character is annoying and not fun to play. The story ist 0815 JRPG and does not offer anything special. It is not a bad game, fight system is still fun to play but i have expecteed more.
  7. wesker2012
    Oct 6, 2013
    7
    Beautiful visuals, but I just couldn't get into this game. Played a good amount of hours, but it was more of a chore than fun to play. Plot was pretty slow and boring. And the constant enemy encounters really got on my nerves.
  8. Underpants158
    May 30, 2013
    7
    Tales of Vesperia is all around OK. The combat system is ok. The story is ok. The characters are ok. And the style of the graphics is..well, pretty good. I'll skip the combat system as it's not why i play these games and not why you should be playing them either.

    The story progresses slowly. So slowly and without a leading cause that I found myself forgetting what I was doing. It's your    Tales of Vesperia is all around OK. The combat system is ok. The story is ok. The characters are ok. And the style of the graphics is..well, pretty good. I'll skip the combat system as it's not why i play these games and not why you should be playing them either.

    The story progresses slowly. So slowly and without a leading cause that I found myself forgetting what I was doing. It's your typical "HIGH SCHOOL KIDS SAVE THE WORLD" JRPG and that is fine if only because it is to be expected. I won't get into the specifics other than that if you watched fox news you'd think it's hippie-left wing-tree huger propaganda. What my biggest complaint about the story is the big evil bad guy only shows face in the later portion of the game. He just comes on the scene and goes "IM GONNA DESTROY THE WORLD! TEENAGERS BE DAMNED!" It's very lackluster. No build up. No real desire to defeat him. I just found myself going through the motions and not giving a damn and the whole reason I play these games is to so I can give a damn. Damn not given.

    The characters! The main character is a beautiful dark haired girl with a sexy mans voice-kinda like Dr.Girlfriend from "The Venture Bros." Some people may say this character is a guy but "Yuri" is such an androgynous name that I feel perfectly justified in assuming he's a she. This Yuri believes that the law is not always right and breaking the law is not always wrong. He's rebellious wise ass. If he didn't look like a girl (and a pretty one at that) I may just taken him seriously. There is a book smart princess who is obliviously naive as she was sheltered her whole life. There's a child prodigy mage that is kinda like a female version of Sheldon Cooper from 'The Big Bang Theory." However she is not the star of the show and her and complaining isn't funny it's just... and complaining. Then there is a (14 year old?) boy with a gigantic sword that is street smart but at the same time is kind of a pansy. How does one get street smart without in the process growing balls? I do not know the answer to this question but he isn't very likable either. The complaint with the characters in this game is that they are just ok. I don't care about them and I don't care about what they are doing. In other words I am not giving a damn.

    I admit, I didn't finish the game. I really only know of the big bad boss because I looked up the plot summary after ten hours and realizing I'd rather not play the game anymore. I do give it a seven out of ten though because I know there is a crowd that aches for this stuff. The type of quirky that only the Japanese know how to do. And in reality it's not that bad of a game. I like JRPS. Suikoden III was one of my favorite games of all time but I just couldn't get into this one.    … Expand
  9. Tomaskovic93
    Apr 25, 2013
    7
    Very fun game, definitely worth buying. Combat is very well done AI is spot on. only problem is some cut scenes include voices but most of them don't. Very long game as well, story is quite confusing as they explain to you what everything in the world is only once and expect you to know it by heart from then on.
  10. Thelostpariah
    Jun 6, 2013
    7
    Vesperia feels like a great game that made a lot of mistakes. It's a seven, but just barely. To start with the bad, the plot is one of the worst I've ever played. It is disconjointed and I, as a player, don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. Several times you will show up in a city/dungeon, complete it, and then find that the person/thing you went there to find had already gone orVesperia feels like a great game that made a lot of mistakes. It's a seven, but just barely. To start with the bad, the plot is one of the worst I've ever played. It is disconjointed and I, as a player, don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. Several times you will show up in a city/dungeon, complete it, and then find that the person/thing you went there to find had already gone or escaped. There isn't a villain that I feel like I have an agenda against and the end game is full of pointless plot-twists that don't really mean anything. The game is also very long, which isn't bad, but it gets boring when the plot isn't interesting.
    There is still a lot of good, however. The characters are interesting and are easy to get connected to, even if they are cliche and unoriginal. The fight engine is also fantastic. There are a lot of the same battles, but they do well to stay fun and interesting. Also, you feel like you really progress throughout the game and get stronger. The characters grow as you do and that really helps the game. All in all, a very good game that is probably worth buying if you feel like putting the effort into it.    … Expand
  11. tonberry_ftw
    Jun 25, 2023
    7
    My favorite tales series. Was very fun until a piece of garbage called Sodia appears and keeps ruining the plot

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2008
29
#29 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2008
15
#15 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. Official Xbox Magazine
    85
    Incredibly satisfying. [Oct 2008, p.82]
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  2. Hardcore Gamer
    80
    The graphics are stunning, the characters are interesting and the game is simply really fun to play.
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  3. IGN
    82
    Tales of Vesperia is a strong anime-style Japanese RPG with a wide-ranging story, compelling characters and an intense real-time battle system that keeps you on your toes.
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