Game Watch has their version of the interview up.
Some points:
-The Tales series has their own type of cel-shading style that's differentiates them from games like Idolm@ster or Trusty Bell
-Scenes animated by I.G. Productions will be in 720P
-Text made to be readable with with SD resolutions and small monitors in mind
-The base for the combat system is the TOA battle system
-4 player Co-Op. Online play was considered, but rejected
-Battles are 60 FPS
GameSpot Hands-On
The limited demo kicked off shortly after the proper start of the game and found us meeting up with main character Yuri and his motley crew of a party: Karol, Estelle, Rita, and gaming's most awesome canine character since Amaterasu, Repede, a pipe-smoking dog. The quintet arrive at an area known as Ehmead Hill, and after some hijinks ensue (Yuri's a bit of a rebel and sort of a wanted man), they set out to do some exploring. The real-time cutscene already featured full voice, with passable voice acting. Namco reps also noted that the skit interactions between the characters will feature full voice, which is a first for the series.
Gameplay was pretty much what you'd expect from a Tales game. There was exploration and, when we came across enemies, combat. Battles still play out in real time with the option to stop the action to make item choices. You'll be able to assign attacks and spells to the controller buttons to let you string together your own unique attack combos, which is always a good touch. New to Vesperia is a much more timing-based combo system that will require you to mash buttons quickly and in the right combinations. It's an interesting new wrinkle to the system that will take some time to absorb. We're curious to see how it works out in the final game. Finally, we were able to confirm with Namco reps that cooking will appear in Tales of Vesperia, so we look forward to getting our sandwich on.
SEXY PIC ^^
