The First 10 minutes: Tales of Vesperia

Driftwood
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 8:00 AM
11 comments

First 10 minutes Xbox 360 PS3

Namco's last RPG, Tales of Vesperia, has finally been released here in Europe. I know most of you guys must have completed the game already but still, I thought it might be worth it to show you the first 10 minutes of the game.
Update: The video showing the game after 6 hours of gameplay is now up.
Update 2: A video showing what happens during the first hour of the game has been added.

Needless to say that I won't be as long as usual when it comes to writing my first impression. The main reason is that it's hard to figure out a whole Japanese RPG in 5 or 6 hours.

What I can tell you is that Tales of Vesperia is the kind of game you want to keep playing once you've started it. I don't know much about the other games of the franchise but I found the graphics enchanting. I mean, I know some will probably say the game isn't detailed enough but it's really like playing in a cartoon and I just love it. What's more, you won't find any aliasing or any bugs whatsoever so it's a real piece of eye-candy.

The characters are endearing and they have more depth than you might think at first glance. Sure, you get some of the usual stereotyped characters, but even so, it's very easy to embark upon such an adventure. Like in all JRPGs, the beginning of the game is rather slow but once everything really starts, you're in for a real treat.

The combat system is in real time and there is more tactic and depth than meets the eye. At first, you may feel that it's just about button mashing but soon enough, you'll realize that there's more to it, that you have to use combos and your teammates to win.

I'll just say a word about the soundtrack, which I think is pretty standard. It's not that it's bad but it sounds very similar to other JRPGs actually. It didn't bother me but it might be an issue for some of you guys.

The bottom line is, unless you hate real time combats in a RPG and you are BlimBlim, you should give the game a try. There is definitely some challenge so I guess it can appeal to hardcore gamers too.

If you're interested, I might add another video showing what happens after all the footage that our good friend DjMizuhara had captured with the Japanese version. By the way, if you want, you can still see them right here.

Téléchargement

Commented on 2009-06-29 23:46:03

Hope it bombs, and hope it bombs even harder on PS3 (it will).
Die in a fire namco/bandai!

not really I want to play it, but i don't want to give my money to this obnoxious publisher.

In reply to

Drsw36

Commented on 2009-06-30 00:19:23 In reply to nostradamus

@nostradamus:....What?

Anyways, good that Europe finaly gets it. I've beat it like 4 time and its a very good game. A must buy.

jackdoe

Commented on 2009-06-30 00:42:05

You guys already gave the 360 version of the game the first ten minutes treatment when it launched on the 360 in the US last year. The game is still looking as sharp as ever, and I hope for a US release for a PS3 version.

Jollipop

Commented on 2009-06-30 02:09:10

Got 3/4 the way through and thought it was the most boring Tales game to date.

Don't recommend this at all.

presstheflesh

Commented on 2009-06-30 02:57:24

thanks for the impressions driftwood they really help, if edge think this is worth an 8 / 10 it must be good. see what you mean bout the soundtrack seems a little nondescript.

Driftwood

Commented on 2009-06-30 07:49:42 In reply to jackdoe

We only did the first 10 minutes of the game of the Japanese version last year, not the US one. That's why we decided to show you some footage of the European version. :)

Suil

Commented on 2009-06-30 10:43:57

For me its the best JRPG for the 360 to date. Even above Lost oddysey. Hope there was more quality JRPG titles of this type lately.

moroboshi

Commented on 2009-06-30 14:26:28

I bought the US version of this when it came out a year ago. It's a button masher, with a terrible story, abysmally bad US dubbing (no option for the original Japanese), poor animation and cut scenes, and basically few redeeming qualities.

There have been very few good JRPGs this gen, and sadly this for me at least joined the junk pile pretty quickly. Lost Odyssey and Disgaea 3 stand head and shoulders above trash like this.

blinx01

Commented on 2009-06-30 17:03:50

Opinion seems to be split, but I think this is among the top JRPG's this gen on any console.
It manages to blend in the 'old skool' JRPG aspects we've all come to love with new ideas taken from western RPG's.
Combat is simplistic yet effective, graphics are a joy to behold and the plot is rather gripping once you sink your teeth into it.
My only negatives aspects is the soundtrack can be rather generic and the lack of an original Japanese voice track is a bit naff.
None the less, I'd give it an 8.5/10.

Brandino

Commented on 2009-07-01 06:09:07

I play plenty of different genres and plenty of JRPG's. I actually just finished this game last week (58 hours) and I have to say overall it's really solid.

The game is more story driven and the story itself is fairly interesting. The voice overs are great, no idea why anyone would complain about them?

My only gripes of the game was that it was really easy and also the dungeons were much to linear and with barely any puzzles compared to previous Tales games.

I'd give it a solid 7.5/10 rating, it's definitely a must play for any JRPG fans.

Is it the best JRPG on the 360 to date... I'd probably say no as Lost Odyssey had more of an edge, but on a technical front (framerate,graphics,load times etc...) it definitely is the best!