Tales of Vesperia (2008)

A former Imperial soldier is thrown in jail and forms a guild called Brave Vesperia to aid Estelle, a noble woman he encountered while escaping.

Directors:

Eiji Kikuchi, Kiyoshi Nagai

Writers:

Tsunekazu Baba (scripter: Namco Tales Studio Ltd.), Kyoko Hirano (battle script supports: Namco Tales Studio Ltd.) (as Kyouko Hirano)

Stars:

Kôsuke Toriumi, Mai Nakahara, Kumiko Watanabe

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôsuke Toriumi	...	Yuri Lowell (voice)
Mai Nakahara	...	Estellise Sidos Heurassein (voice)
Kumiko Watanabe	...	Karol Capel (voice)
Rika Morinaga	...	Rita Mordio (voice)
Aya Hisakawa	...	Judith (voice)
Eiji Takemoto	...	Raven / Schwann (voice)
Chiwa Saitô	...	Patty Fleur (voice)
Makoto Ishii	...	Repede (voice)
Mamoru Miyano	...	Flynn Scifo (voice)
Jûrôta Kosugi	...	Alexei Dinoia (voice)
Kenji Nojima	...	Cumore (voice)
Masashi Hirose	...	Leblanc / Barbos (voice)
Keiichi Nanba	...	Adecor (voice)
Toshiharu Sakurai	...	Boccos (voice)
Megumi Ogata	...	Ioder Argylos Heurassein (voice)

Storyline

The game's story takes place in the world of Terca Lumireis. This world is largely sustained by "blastia", a technology from an ancient civilization which can be used to perform a variety of tasks including powering the barriers which keep cities safe from monsters and helping knights in battle. After a war ten years ago, the world has settled into a more or less peaceful state consisting of the Empire which rules the land and various guilds which formed for those wishing to live outside the Empire's rule. The main character in the story is Yuri Lowell, a former Imperial Knight who now helps solve peoples problems in the lower quarter. After a blastia which regulates water flow in the lower quarter is stolen, Yuri attempts to catch the thief however ends up being thrown in jail instead. He then meets a mysterious girl named Estelle while escaping; she is coincidentally searching for Yuri's childhood friend Flynn, and from here their adventure begins.

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Plot Keywords:

animated fmv game | animated fmv sequence | attack | battle | fight | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Certificate:

T

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first Tales video game series ever to feature a dog character that can be controlled during battle. All the previous Tales series had human-like characters to control in battles.

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Quotes

[sometimes heard when the battle is won with Karol, Rita and Judith in the party]
Karol Capel: Victory pose!
[there was a brief silence]
Judith: Hey, you too?
Rita Mordio: [reading her book while refusing the victory pose] Aw, hell no!

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Connections

Followed by Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike (2009)

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Soundtracks

Ring A Bell
Performed by Bonnie Pink (as BONNIE PINK)
Written by Bonnie Pink (as BONNIE PINK)
Produced by Burning Chicken and Bonnie Pink (as BONNIE PINK)
All Instruments Performed by Burning Chicken
Recorded and Mixed by Burning Chicken at GULA, Studion, Sweden
Vocal Recorded by Yasuhiro Tsuruzaki at Rodriguez Studio
Assistant Engineered by Yuta Yamagishi
Mastered by Ryuichi Tanaka (MIXER LAB) at Warner Music Mastering
Management: Narumi Itokawa (Taisuke Co. Ltd.), Naoko Koya (Taisuke Co. Ltd.)
A&R: Narumi Itokawa (Taisuke Co. Ltd.), Souichiro Takakura (WARNER MUSIC JAPAN), Ryoma Suzuki (WARNER MUSIC JAPAN)
A&R Assistant: Kazuma Inazaki (WARNER MUSIC JAPAN)
Sales Promotion: Yasushi Suzuki (WARNER MUSIC JAPAN)
Legal Adviser: Kazuhiro Ando (SEPTMALAY Co. Ltd.)
Executive Producers: Taisuke Morimoto (Taisuke Co. Ltd.), Nobuo Uesaka (Fujipacific Music Inc.),
Takashi Yoshida (WARNER MUSIC JAPAN)
(P) 2008 WARNER MUSIC JAPAN

User Reviews

One of these RPGs Any Person Should Play

Tales of Vesperiais a role-play video game, which was developed by Namco. The tenth mainline entry in the Tales series was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in Europe by Atari in 2009. An expanded port of the game for the PlayStation 3 was released in 2009 in Japan. An enhanced version, subtitled Definitive Edition, was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows in January 2019. The gameplay is similar to previous Tales games, featuring a new version of the series' trademark action-based "Linear Motion Battle System", while also introducing new elements such as online leaderboards.

Vesperia focuses on the world, called Terca Lumireis, which uses an energy source called blastia for all its needs, including creating protective barriers around its cities. The story focuses on Yuri Lowell, a former paladin, who forms a guild called Brave Vesperia to aid Estelle, a noble woman he encounters on a mission. As they explore the world, Brave Vesperia are challenged by factions that have different plans related to the abuse of blastia resources. Yuri is forced to confront his former friend, as well as his former comrade Flynn.

Of course, ten years later, Tales of Vesperia is a little bit outdated. The story of a knight, who tries to get rid of the past relations with his old comrades and now lives his own life, and then, he becomes the only person to save the world, is not new at all. Yuri Lowell, the main protagonist of the series, just wanted to help the city residents find a thief stealing blastias - artifacts able to provide people with everything they need: including water and the defense against monsters. But everything goes awry: first, Yuri gets imprisoned, then he does manage to escape from the prison, but he becomes a criminal in his home city.

It is an open secret that Tales of Berseria was remembered for its wonderful characters, and the brightest "star" there was Velvet Crowe. In Vesperia, the protagonist has not been imprisoned for three years, unlike Velvet. Yuri's voice actor Troy Baker called his role his one he most enjoyed- Yuri is not just a simpleton, he has a rather complex character, you will surely enjoy. Thanks to these well-written characters, Tales of Vesperia is never boring, more than that even cut-scenes are very interesting to follow; you never want to skip them. Indeed, any good RPG implies many dialogues and you do understand that in requires quite a talent to write something people will find entertaining. Tales of Vesperia is one of these games. Though, it might seem that the game is just boring, full of clichés comedy. It is not. This is game is quite tragic and dark. But only attentive players will enjoy it fully.

As it has been already mentioned, the game does have clichés. But it should not worry you, because it is quite a challenge to create something new. However, it requires a true talent to turn these clichés in an absolutely brand new game, with its own world. And, I must say, Tales of Versperia did manage to get rid of all these clichés and become a unique masterpiece. Indeed, the game's combat system is somewhat difficult to get used to, especially if you play on high-difficulty levels. But it will not take you that long to love it. By the way, with the introduction of the steam's Remote Play Together feature, you can enjoy this game with your friends. Indeed, they will only take part in battles, since only one person controls the character, while exploring the world of Versperia. Yet, you can easily change the person, controlling the character, which makes Tales of Versperia an amazing tale to discover with your friends. But, it is also amazing to explore it solo. 10/10. The game is worth its money even without a sale.

Details

Official Sites:

Namco Bandai [Japan] Namco Bandai [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

26 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tales of Vesperia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Namco Tales Studio Ltd.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color