| SpookyXJ said: No random monster encounters and real time combat win win for my tastes. I may have to bump Gears 2 to next year. I hate that this was completly off my radar screen I would have bought TOV instead of Mercs 2. Between this Fable and Fallout don't think I'll have the time or money for anything else. |
I can empathize, believe me... 
In XB360 JRPG threads, I always have this feeling that most people never played a JRPG in their life, and hype the games like they just discovered that JRPG wasn't as bad as everyone told them, which they never checked by themselves.
It was worse for Eternal Sonata though, I remember when I said players was saying it wasn't that good, and that only people new to JRPG could overhyper such a game. I see people have become reasonable. But the evidence that reviews are flawed are still there, as ES is as well rated as ToV.
Now that I've seen reviews of ToV, I'm not as hyped as before for this one. It looks like a typical good Tales Of, nothing exceptional as I thought before.
I thought it was anime-like in presentation, the characters moving like in an anime, but it's not the case at all when you look at the video reviews. Everything else is your typical Team Symphonia fare.
| SpookyXJ said: Great the GT reveiw made me want the game. They had me at no random monster encounters. Just what I needed another game to buy this year. Love the cell shading, very pretty. Is the majority of the game voiced over? Is the combat real time? |
The majority of cut scenes are voiced...I'd say 80% of cutscenes are voiced, some are not, though.
However, 100% of the 'skits' are voiced - They are optional dialogue trees between your party before, during and after, certain cutscenes, and compliment the cutscenes.
Each skit lasts 30 seconds to 2 minutes. There are over 100 skits to 'unlock' so there is tons of voice acting.
The encounter system (IMO) is very similar to Blue Dragon - you'll see monster parties on the overworld. They can detect you, and will attempt to attack you. If you get attacked from the rear, it's a suprise encounter, and you may have other non-selected party members join the battle. Also, if you attack a group of monsters, and there is another group nearby, they may join in, and you will fight more monsters. My maximum number of monster parties in an 'encounter link' is 3 parties...Makes for insane battles.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
ZenfoldorVGI said:
You should play it if you get the chance. Believe me, it would compete even if there were some good jrpgs released to challenge it. |
Unfortunately, I don't own a 360. The depth of JRPGs requires that you own the console you play them on and not keep stalking your friends lol.
With regards to my comments, I was referring to console RPGs not handhelds. Many (not all) of the handheld RPGs are spinoffs and ports anyway.
"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)
"WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler
| ookaze said: In XB360 JRPG threads, I always have this feeling that most people never played a JRPG in their life, and hype the games like they just discovered that JRPG wasn't as bad as everyone told them, which they never checked by themselves. It was worse for Eternal Sonata though, I remember when I said players was saying it wasn't that good, and that only people new to JRPG could overhyper such a game. I see people have become reasonable. But the evidence that reviews are flawed are still there, as ES is as well rated as ToV. Now that I've seen reviews of ToV, I'm not as hyped as before for this one. It looks like a typical good Tales Of, nothing exceptional as I thought before. I thought it was anime-like in presentation, the characters moving like in an anime, but it's not the case at all when you look at the video reviews. Everything else is your typical Team Symphonia fare. |
Yet despite that, it's still the best Tales game ever made, and arguably the best currently available for any console at the moment.
Look through the post, ookaze, and tell me who is giving high praise for it:
| Badgenome | 30+ RPGs owned | RPG Gamer for 10+ Years |
| ZenfolderVGI | Don't know? | |
| Shadowblind | 5+ RPGs owned | RPG Gamer for 5+ Years |
| MysticD | 3+ RPGs owned | RPG Gamer for 1+ Years |
| Mrstickball | 50+ RPGs owned | RPG Gamer for 17 Years |
So I think that there are a few valid RPG-ers that are promoting ToV, and have the experience to judge the game against others that they've played. In my case, I am attempting to compare Tales of Vesperia to the 150+ RPG's I've played.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
| ookaze said: In XB360 JRPG threads, I always have this feeling that most people never played a JRPG in their life, and hype the games like they just discovered that JRPG wasn't as bad as everyone told them, which they never checked by themselves. It was worse for Eternal Sonata though, I remember when I said players was saying it wasn't that good, and that only people new to JRPG could overhyper such a game. I see people have become reasonable. But the evidence that reviews are flawed are still there, as ES is as well rated as ToV. Now that I've seen reviews of ToV, I'm not as hyped as before for this one. It looks like a typical good Tales Of, nothing exceptional as I thought before. I thought it was anime-like in presentation, the characters moving like in an anime, but it's not the case at all when you look at the video reviews. Everything else is your typical Team Symphonia fare. |
In Xbox 360 JRPG threads, I always have this feeling that ookaze is going to show up and insult everybody... and oh, look! There he is!
| mrstickball said: About 15 hours in, right now, at Keiv Moc. I must say, Tales of Vesperia is possibly the best action-oriented Japanese RPG I have played since a few notable SNES masterpieces (Seiken Densetsu 2, Secret of Evermore, and the Terranigma series). The characters are great, they interact well with eachother, and Yuri is one of the best anti-stereotypical male leads in quite some time. The battles are insanely fast paced, and are one of the most strategic examples of a battle system I've seen - I can beat many battles in a matter of seconds using the right combos. Music is very good, and compare favorably with some of the best of the generation (which would be in between LO, ES and BD). Oh, and the graphics: Despite the fact they are rather simple for being cell shaded (not as impressive as ES in character models), the game is possibly the smoothest, fastest-loading JRPG I've played in ages. Battles do NOT bog down regardless of what's going on the screen - I've had over 15 enemies onscreen at once (via encounter links), while throwing every arte in the book at the opponents...No frame dropping...Nothing. Tales of Vesperia, to me, is the first TRULY next-gen JRPG in the fact that the game is the most well-polished I've played - It doesn't suffer from the technical glitches of Lost Odyssey, or even Western fare such as Mass Effect or Oblivion. Not only this, I have yet to read a single user review that slams any aspect of the game. It's litterally flawless (that is, unless you have personal preferences against what ToV brings to the table).
Come October, I think that Fable 2 and Fallout 3 may have some serious competition in the RPG GOTY category. Who else thinks so? |
I agree with you 100%. The one thing that I have found extremely annoying with the emergence of LOTS of voice acting in the current gen JRPGs is the quality of it. They are either overly dramatic, or even worse, annoying and high pitched. Now I know that ToV has a liiiiittle bit of both, but not nearly to the extent of say, something like ES.
Anyways, like I said, this is BY FAR the best JRPG this generation. I want to see what ToS:DotNW looks like before I proclaim this to be THE best JRPG of the year.
^^^These may provide some insight:
http://www.talesbrigade.com/forums/?view=posts&forum_id=460&topic_id=442710&start=0
http://tales.namco.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=73324&highlight=vesperia+symphonia
GOTY Contestants this year: Dead Space 2, Dark Souls, Tales of Graces f. Everything else can suck it.
| ookaze said: In XB360 JRPG threads, I always have this feeling that most people never played a JRPG in their life, and hype the games like they just discovered that JRPG wasn't as bad as everyone told them, which they never checked by themselves. It was worse for Eternal Sonata though, I remember when I said players was saying it wasn't that good, and that only people new to JRPG could overhyper such a game. I see people have become reasonable. But the evidence that reviews are flawed are still there, as ES is as well rated as ToV. Now that I've seen reviews of ToV, I'm not as hyped as before for this one. It looks like a typical good Tales Of, nothing exceptional as I thought before. I thought it was anime-like in presentation, the characters moving like in an anime, but it's not the case at all when you look at the video reviews. Everything else is your typical Team Symphonia fare. |
Yeah, it's typical Tales, however, it is probably the best in the series, and you can take comfort in the fact that I've played hundreds of these games, and in essence I thought Eternal Sonata sucked, and I didn't like Lost Odyssey very much either. If you're implying that I just claim to like the game so much because it is a HD jrpg, or because it's on the 360, then you're wrong(but I don't think you're implying that).
If you didn't like Symphonia, then you might not like Vesperia. It's just a superior version with better characters, story, and battle system. However, being a superior jrpg to ToS is, imo, quite a feat. This is the first real, quality jrpg on next gen consoles, imo, and boy is it a doosey. I think that sceptics are saying, "Because it's first, you must have lower standards." The answer is no. This game is also better than any jrpg ever to appear on the gamecube, and it is arguably better than all but about 2 jrpgs that appear on the Playstation 2.
I agree that reviews are flawed. ES getting even close to ToV is a travesty.
The game is cell shaded. It's not hand drawn. However, the game obviously has tons of anime influence and a few cutscenes are anime, as are the skits, though they a emotive anime avatars, rather than full motion anime.
How does this stack up against the PS2 jrpgs, imo?
Here's where I'd rank it.
1. Final Fantasy X
2. Final Fantasy XII
3. Vesperia
4. FES
5. SH: Covenant
6. Odin Sphere
7. Tales of Symphonia
8. Kindgom Hearts Series
9. Till the End of Time
10. Suikoden V
11. Tales of the Abyss
12. Suikoden III
13. Dark Cloud 2
14. Nocturne
15. Dragonquest VIII
16. Xenosaga Ep 1
17. DDS2
18. Rogue Galaxy
19. Devil Summoner
20. Ateleir Iris: Eternal Mana
21. Mana Khemia: AoA-R
22. Growlanser: Generations
23. VP2: Silmeria
24. Digital Devil Saga
25. Tales of Legendia
26. Ys Arc
27. FFX-2
28. Grandia 3
29. Radiata Stories
30. Shadow Hearts
30. Wild Arms 4
31. ./hack series
32. Legaia 2
33. Wild Arms 3
It's the best Tales game ever made, imo. It's up there on the PS2 list, no matter how you formulate it. Of the vast amount of jrpgs I've played, me highly recommending ToV should instantly spike your attention to at least check out the gametrailers and gamespot reviews for the game. Especially when you know that I'm not really big on any other 360 jrpg, and I don't think any 360 jrpg but Vesperia would earn a spot on my PS2 list at all.
Now, granted, the fact that I'm in love with the game right now, might be a reason I put it above FES, but this game is better than Symphonia. It stacks up favorably against 95 percent of the jrpgs on the PS2. No, I'm not saying it's good because it's on the 360, or because I'm a 360 fanboy. I'm a jrpg fanboy. It's good because it's a great example of the genre. This, from someone who thinks Eternal Sonata and Lost Odyssey are both slightly worse than the .//hack series, and who wholeheartedly believes that FFX-2 pwns them both.
It's a great jrpg. I highly recommend it to anyone, not just fans of the genre. I can't say that about many games. Those people who haven't liked a jrpg since FFVII will probably like this one.
These are just my opinions and recommendations, as always.
If I was adding srpgs, I'd say that Path of Radiance is just about equal to Vesperia, and Disgaea 1 is slightly better than Vesperia and FES.
Grim Grimoire, being in a completely different genre(rts), but chock full of jrpg elements, would fall somewhere in the mid or upper 20s, with a story capable of top 10ing it.
I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.
NO NO, NO NO NO.
mrstickball said:
Yet despite that, it's still the best Tales game ever made, and arguably the best currently available for any console at the moment. Look through the post, ookaze, and tell me who is giving high praise for it:
So I think that there are a few valid RPG-ers that are promoting ToV, and have the experience to judge the game against others that they've played. In my case, I am attempting to compare Tales of Vesperia to the 150+ RPG's I've played. |
This reminds me someday I gotta upload all my PC games to my profile.
Current-gen game collection uploaded on the profile, full of win and good games; also most of my PC games. Lucasfilm Games/LucasArts 1982-2008 (Requiescat In Pace).
About Us |
Terms of Use |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise |
Staff |
Contact
Display As Desktop
Display As Mobile
© 2006-2025 VGChartz Ltd. All rights reserved.
