So, I guess school is the anathema to blogging. But I don't think it's just that... I think the lack of communication is also because I started playing a game that just won't let me out of its grasp: Tales of Vesperia. Whereas Too Human personally failed me for what I wanted from a console RPG, Tales delivers what I want in spades.
I have been a fan of the Tales series ever since I played a fan translated version of Tales of Phantasia for the SNES. Over the years, there have been fantastic iterations in the series (Abyss, Symphonia) and dreadful ones (Legendia). So, where does Vesperia rank?
As far as gameplay and battling, it's still pretty much just Symphonia with a tiny little twist that's really pretty much negligible. That's not a bad thing, of course: the Tales series has always had one of the most fun and exciting battle systems in JRPG history. Now if Japanese developers would only took a couple pages regarding narrative from our western developers...
That brings us to the weak point in Vesperia's armor: The story is the same JRPG story that you've played time and time again. It's Final Fantasy X and Tales of Symphonia all over again: You've got the ditsy girl who can use magic who wants to sacrifice herself so the world can live in peace, etc., etc. Vesperia's story isn't told in an offensive way, however. It's not girls in skirts falling over so you can see their panties, but it is a distinctly Japanese story (which is to say that it drags). If the story moved more briskly and featured less exposition and pondering aloud, it would improve by leaps and bounds.
The characters are nothing new (except maybe a dog with a pipe), but most of them are affable enough to make me give the story enough slack as to not just drift away elsewhere while their lips are flapping. The Tales team (this goes for other JRPG makers as well) needs to get rid of their female protagonist model that they've been using since the start though. I hate this clumsy girl with clasped hands who's only use is cure spells and who is so sheltered/mentally impaired that she just exudes sunshine and goodwill. Kill her, kill her now. Please. (Also, why is anyone who is over 17 considered to be an "old person" in these games?)
All-in-all, I do think that Vesperia is the first great Eastern RPG of this generation and I eagerly await the next current-gen Tales game, but I'm not holding my breath for a story that's worth a damn. Bioshock, Portal, or Planescape: Torment these games ain't.
I have been a fan of the Tales series ever since I played a fan translated version of Tales of Phantasia for the SNES. Over the years, there have been fantastic iterations in the series (Abyss, Symphonia) and dreadful ones (Legendia). So, where does Vesperia rank?
As far as gameplay and battling, it's still pretty much just Symphonia with a tiny little twist that's really pretty much negligible. That's not a bad thing, of course: the Tales series has always had one of the most fun and exciting battle systems in JRPG history. Now if Japanese developers would only took a couple pages regarding narrative from our western developers...
That brings us to the weak point in Vesperia's armor: The story is the same JRPG story that you've played time and time again. It's Final Fantasy X and Tales of Symphonia all over again: You've got the ditsy girl who can use magic who wants to sacrifice herself so the world can live in peace, etc., etc. Vesperia's story isn't told in an offensive way, however. It's not girls in skirts falling over so you can see their panties, but it is a distinctly Japanese story (which is to say that it drags). If the story moved more briskly and featured less exposition and pondering aloud, it would improve by leaps and bounds.
The characters are nothing new (except maybe a dog with a pipe), but most of them are affable enough to make me give the story enough slack as to not just drift away elsewhere while their lips are flapping. The Tales team (this goes for other JRPG makers as well) needs to get rid of their female protagonist model that they've been using since the start though. I hate this clumsy girl with clasped hands who's only use is cure spells and who is so sheltered/mentally impaired that she just exudes sunshine and goodwill. Kill her, kill her now. Please. (Also, why is anyone who is over 17 considered to be an "old person" in these games?)
All-in-all, I do think that Vesperia is the first great Eastern RPG of this generation and I eagerly await the next current-gen Tales game, but I'm not holding my breath for a story that's worth a damn. Bioshock, Portal, or Planescape: Torment these games ain't.
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