Tales of Vesperia

The tenth mainline entry in the Tales series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in European territories by Atari in 2009.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.The story focuses on Yuri Lowell, a former Imperial soldier 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 who have different plans related to the abuse of blastia resources, and Yuri is forced to confront his friend and former comrade Flynn.Returning staff included producer Yoshito Higuchi, composers Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura, and character designer Kōsuke Fujishima.[11] Cooking, creating meals with ingredients found in battle or around explored environments, can also be used by individual characters to restore their Health and Technical Points and grant temporary enhancements.[8][11] Vesperia uses a variation on the series' trademark action-oriented Linear Motion Battle System, which plays out in a similar way to a fighting game.[13] Vesperia also features a local four-player multiplayer option: up to four players can connect to a single Xbox 360 console through both wired and wireless controllers.[16] The people of Terca Lumireis rely on an energy source called "blastia", devices created by the Krytia from using the crystallized remains of a powerful race known as the Entelexeia.[Game 3] Ten years prior to the events of Vesperia, a new form of blastia was developed that could seriously damage Terca Lumireis' ecosystem and potentially release the Adephagos.One of the veterans of the Great War, Duke, is utterly disillusioned with humanity after his Entelexeia companion Elucifer is seen as a potential threat and killed.[Game 4] In the present, former Imperial knight Yuri Lowell goes on a mission to retrieve his neighborhood's blastia core from a nobleman when their reservoir fails.On their journey, they also meet Karol, a trainee hunter separated from his guild; a blastia researcher named Rita; Raven, a Great War veteran; Judith, a Krytia who seeks to destroy the blastia harming the aer balance; and exclusive to the PS3 version only, seemingly the descendant of a legendary pirate Aifread named Patty Fleur.Together, the group recover the stolen core from a corrupt guild leader and return it to Yuri's friend and former fellow knight Flynn.[Game 6] After this, Estelle is kidnapped by Raven, revealed to be an agent of Commandant Alexei, leader of the Knights and the mastermind behind the blastia thefts: Alexei intends to use Estelle's power and the replica of a magical sword to activate an ancient weapon called the Enduring Shrine of Zaude and remake the world, erasing the harmful blastia.After Raven decides to remain with Brave Vesperia after helping Estelle to escape with them, the group travel to Zaude to stop Alexei.After receiving permission from the world's leaders to carry out their plan, Brave Vesperia must confront Duke aboard the city-sized weapon Tarqaron.Duke intends to convert all of human life, including himself, into energy to power the weapon and destroy the Adephagos, returning the world to a more primal state of being.[Game 10] A post-credits scene shows Brave Vesperia continuing their adventures and helping the world adjust to life without blastia.However, upon seeing the projected lifespan of sixth-generation consoles, the executives at Namco Bandai informed the team that Abyss would be the last Tales title of that generation.[21] The game's director Yoshito Higuchi originally wanted a realistic feel after the cartoon-like styling and shader techniques of Abyss and the Wii spin-off title Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.Its general meaning was to depict the protagonists and their ship as a newly born star shining on the land, similar to Venus in the evening sky.While creating the soundtrack, Sakuraba was caught in the transition between sequenced to prerecorded streamed music, the latter of which gave room for rearrangements and improvisation mid-production.They contacted Warner Music Japan, Bonnie Park's label company, fairly early in the game's production, and discussed the theme song's connection to the story at great length.[34] The team were able to make the skits, the game's extra conversation pieces, fully voice in the western version, which they were not able to do for Abyss or Symphonia because of time constraints.[43] A report from a Namco Bandai employee sparked speculation that the reason behind the lack of a localization was due to a deal with Microsoft to keep the game as an Xbox 360 exclusive in western territories.Designed to celebrate the game's tenth anniversary, Definitive Edition includes upscaled graphics, all content from the Japan-exclusive PS3 version, and English and Japanese voice tracks.[59] Edge praised the cast's strength and the battle system, saying that the development team's focus in other areas was what made the game enjoyable and easy to play.[78] James Quentin Clark, reviewing the port for RPGFan, said that the added features had made Vesperia the best JRPG of its console generation.6][98] An episodic audio novel adaptation following Yuri and Flynn's childhood, Tales of Vesperia: Genealogy of the Condemned, began release on Android and iOS in April 2014.