PixlBit

I just got back from being out of work three days straight with a nasty sinus infection.  I got off easy, my wife was out all last week with the same thing.  With not being able to really get any housework done I did what any true geek would do in my situation would do and turned on my Xbox 360.  Dark Souls has been living in my disk tray since the day it came out, but I honestly felt more like something a little less punishing.  Chicken soup for the gamer's soul if you will.  I took a look at my backlog:  Arkham Asylum... no.  Deus Ex, eh... not yet. Hmmm... Tales of Vesperia.  I heard good things about this one, and a good JRPG would feel just right about now, so I pop it in and install it.

A little insight:  I know the Tales series has been around since the SNES days, but the only one I've played was Tales of Phantasia on said SNES... sort of.  I was in college and had just discovered the wonders of emulation and was trying to play games that were not released in the USA, but had a reputation for being awesome.  Naturally the first one I played was Seiken Densetsu 3 via fan patch from DeJap Translations.  Their website also mentioned Tales of Phantasia, so I downloaded their translation patch and gave that one a play as well, and I was very entertained by it. The visuals pushed the hardware to its limits, the characters, dialogue, and the world were captivating,  and the soundtrack was outstanding.  They even had a song on the title screen that was fully voiced, something unheard of in the 16bit era.

Later I found out that DeJap's Tales of Phantaisa patch took a very liberal approach to its translation.  While some fans were outraged by this, I found that I enjoyed the approach he took to localizing the material.  I'd rather read a story that's entertaining with characters I find interesting regardless of the source material.  Eventually the game was given an official localization later, with a dryer, perhaps more accurate translation.  It was critically dismissed based on poor character development and shoddy, typical story.

I walked away from the franchise at that point.  Everything I read about it seemed to indicate it was typical anime saturated kiddie drivel.  My next console was the original Xbox, and after that the 360, so I never had any true reason to give the Tales series a second look until now.

Simply put, while flawed, Vesperia is gorgeous.  I cannot get over just how beautiful the game world looks. I thought for sure I would be putting this thing in my system, and putting it back on the shelf after only a few hours of play with no desire to return.  Instead, over the last several days I've put twenty four hours into this game, and never regretted it.  Any review will point you to the flaws, but this is a blog, not a review, and honestly, I'd rather focus on what I like about it, because my enjoyment overrides my criticism of this title.

I love that the entire game isn't gray or brown.  Some would argue that this reflects the more realistic direction the in game art is moving for.  I say to hell with realism. I'm playing a friggin video game here.  You really think there's anything realistic about a giant, fully automatic rifle with a chain sword mounted to it as a bayonet?  This game actually has color, and has it uses cell shading perfectly.  I actually feel like the animators spent a good long time looking at animated film and duplicated that look in full detail here on the screen.  This isn't Wind Waker cell shading where everything looks like it has the same style, there's actually a difference between the pieces that move and the pieces that are static, just like in real, classic (pre computer animated) animation, and it just looks beautiful.

Voice acting makes or breaks a JRPG.  I loved Grandia on the PS1, but I would hunt down and destroy whoever was responsible writing for and directing those voice actors.  If you want to see a fantastic game that is difficult to play because of the voice acting, look that one up.  The voices were so bad, and the game was so good that it really honestly made me furious. This game on the other hand, while it's not a perfect 10, is head and shoulders above most offerings that come from that side of the ocean.  The characters speak in language I can relate to and often made references to thinks that I know wouldn't work in Japan.  It works great without breaking the Japanese feel of the game, and I really appreciate the effort that went into making the dialogue appropriate for the audience.

Some have made comments that the soundtrack isn't memorable.  While I wouldn't die for it, I would like to say that there are stand out tracks.  The battle music is pretty catchy in my opinion, and there are a few other themes that, while they may not get stuck to your ears, are very appropriate for when and where they are played.  I'd also like to point out that there's one city that has a very cool industrial theme playing in the background that I love.  They even used an audio sample in it that sounds just like an aluminum bat hitting a chain link fence.  It's just great.

I understand my previous reservation.  The history of the franchise, paired with what Japan has been crapping out these days and calling a modern JRPG, kind of caused me to let this one sit on my shelf for a long time, but I'm glad I finally gave it a shot. Seriously, when you see an awesome sunset that looks so nice you want to point it out to someone, and at the same time it makes you think of Vesperia's in game art, you know they did something right.  I look forward to finishing it.