Tales of Vesperia

Tales of Vesperia (テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア) is the tenth Mothership Title in the Tales series. It was developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. The title was announced on December 22, 2007 at Jump Festa. It was released on August 7, 2008 in Asia and on August 26, 2008 in North America. Additionally, both release dates were planned to be a close as possible to each other. On June 26, 2009 Tales of Vesperia was released in Europe making it the second console game in the Tales series to be released there. The game's characteristic genre name is "Enforcing One's "Justice" RPG" (「正義」を貫き通すRPG). It is the first game in the series to support high-definition.

Setting
Vesperia takes place on the planet Terca Lumireis. The people of Terca Lumireis have come to rely on blastia, an ancient civilization's technology with a wide array of capabilities such as providing water, powering ships, or creating barriers around major cities and towns to protect them from monsters. The Imperial Knights and guild members also use bodhi blastia to enhance their abilities in combat. The blastia, created by the elf-like Krityans, are fueled by a substance called aer that lends its power to the blastia's ability, but can be fatal to humans in large concentrations.

Plot
When the aque blastia core is stolen from Zaphias's lower quarter, denying water to the lower class who live there, a young swordsman named Yuri Lowell attempts to chase down the thief, but is arrested and jailed in the castle. During his escape, he meets a young woman named Estelle who is searching for Yuri's close companion and friendly rival, Flynn Scifo. Along with Yuri's faithful dog Repede, the three leave the safety of Zaphias's barrier to chase after both Flynn and the thief. On their way, they encounter Karol Capel, a young boy who joins them in hopes of catching up with his guild, the Hunting Blades, and Rita Mordio, an intelligent but anti-social blastia researcher who takes great interest in Estelle's healing magic. On their journey, Yuri learns about the state of the world and philosophy of the guilds, who gave up their Imperial citizenship to live free from the rule of the Empire. Along with Raven, a high-ranking guild member, and Judith, a mysterious Krityan woman who is hunting and destroying blastia, the group prevents the machinations of an evil guild leader named Barbos and recovers the aque blastia core. Yuri turns the core over to Flynn and announces his intention to form a guild with Karol, later christened Brave Vesperia, named after the brightest star in the night sky.

Estelle discovers she is known as the "Child of the Full Moon", an omen of the end of the world. Unlike the rest of the world, who require blastia in order to reconstitute aer into magic, Estelle can reconstruct aer on her own; this is how she uses her healing artes. Unfortunately, this method of conversion is so inefficient that it puts a great strain on the aer resources of the world, threatening to bring forth a disaster known as the Adephagos, a being that feeds off aer and would convert all life on the planet back to pure aer to satisfy its hunger. The party also learns the excessive blastia culture of the world is also threatening to strain the aer resources to breaking point, and that Judith's mission was to destroy the blastia that were causing the most damage to the environment. Meanwhile, Yuri, seeing how the laws of the Empire are powerless against the corruption within its officials, takes matters into his own hands and murders two corrupt officials: Magistrate Ragou, a conspirator in Barbos's plot, and Captain Alexander Cumore, a high-born knight who was using his power to commit atrocities. This brings him into conflict with Flynn, who joined the Knights in order to change the system from within instead of rebelling against it from the outside like Yuri.

Estelle is suddenly kidnapped by Raven, who is revealed to be Imperial Knight Captain Schwann Oltorain. Commandant Alexei Dinoia is revealed to be the mastermind who funded Barbos's schemes in order to create a replica of the legendary sword Dein Nomos, an aer-manipulating treasure of the royal family that can open the way to a powerful weapon known as the Enduring Shrine of Zaude. Chasing after Estelle, Yuri and the party are forced to fight Schwann, who has been blackmailed with his life by Alexei for ten years. Taking back control of his life, Schwann sacrifices himself to allow Brave Vesperia to escape a trap set by Alexei, and they pursue the Commandant. However, Schwann is rescued by his loyal subordinates and rejoins the party, shedding his previous life as Schwann to pledge his new life to Brave Vesperia as Raven.

Alexei takes control of Estelle's aer-manipulation powers and, along with his false Dein Nomos, succeeds in reviving Zaude. Yuri rescues Estelle, and the party pursues Alexei to Zaude. Here, the Commandant, tasked with saving a world he knows is killing itself through excessive blastia use, intends to use Zaude to rewrite the natural laws of the world by destroying and recreating it. Despite the efforts of Brave Vesperia, Alexei succeeds in activating Zaude. To everyone's surprise, it is revealed that Zaude is not a weapon but a giant barrier blastia that Alexei has inadvertently de-activated, allowing the Adephagos to seep through into the world. Realizing that his fatal mistake has doomed the world, Alexei commits suicide by allowing Zaude to collapse upon him. Rita researches a way to stop the Adephagos and discovers a method to transform apatheia, which make up the cores of blastia, into Summon Spirits, which can convert aer into a safe substitute called mana. By converting every blastia core in the world into a spirit and using it to power a massive weapon, she theorizes that it would have enough strength to destroy the Adephagos. Realizing that such an action would irreversibly change the entire world, Brave Vesperia meets with the leaders of the Empire and guilds in order to ask permission to carry out such an act, as well as to discuss ways to prepare the world to survive without blastia. Barrier blastia is particularly vital to towns and cities, preventing monster from entering and creating turmoil.

During this time, Flynn, who has been promoted to Acting Commandant, confronts Yuri in order to settle the outstanding issue of Yuri's double-homicide, as well as his willingness to let Flynn take credit for all of his accomplishments, such as retrieving the aque blastia. Their swords and beliefs clash in a fight to resolve these issues. Yuri tells Flynn he is the leader the world needs right now, and that he is content in being a criminal in the shadows to achieve that end. Flynn accepts this, but warns Yuri if he continues to break the law, then there will be no other option but to stop him, an ultimatum Yuri gladly accepts.

Brave Vesperia receives the blessing of the world's leaders to carry out their plan. However, Duke Pantarei, a veteran of the Great War who has lost his faith in humanity, has revived an ancient weapon called Tarqaron with the intention of sacrificing the lives of every human in the world in order to power the weapon and destroy the Adephagos. Brave Vesperia confronts him at the peak of Tarqaron, but neither can stand down due to their shared desire to save the world in their own ways. Duke and Brave Vesperia fight to resolve their conflict of beliefs, and Yuri manages to convince Duke that humanity is willing to give up their blastia to save the world. With the aid of Duke and power of every blastia core Summon Spirit in the world, Yuri forms a giant sword that allows him to cleave the Adephagos in two, converting it into hundreds of thousands of spirits itself, revitalizing the world.

Characters

 * Yuri Lowell - Unlike many main characters in the Tales series, Yuri possesses a more fully-formed personality. He is extremely empathetic, choosing to solve smaller problems from individuals rather than larger problems. Yuri was once an Imperial Knight, and has traveled slightly out of the city where he was born; however, he did not do so as regularly as Flynn. Eventually, his envy for Flynn led him to decide to see the world for himself. He later becomes part of a guild, organizations that oppose the Empire.


 * Flynn Scifo - Flynn, in contrast to Yuri, is a knight who would solve the larger problem before the smaller ones. He possesses a similar sense of justice to Yuri, but would rather solve them through politics. His differences in idealogy causes him to clash with Yuri, although the two are not particularly at odds with each other.


 * Repede - Repede is Yuri's partner, who wields a dagger. He carrys a pipe and a chain as mementos of his former master. He is friendly around those he trusts, but dislikes being approached by people he does not know. He is the first non-humanoid playable character.


 * Estelle - Estelle encounters Yuri after he sneaks in the castle where she lives. Because she was largely confined there, she was taught to use swords, and often read books, granting her a great deal of knowledge.


 * Karol Capel - Karol is a young, guild-member boy, who wields a giant hammer and various other large weapons in battle. He states he is from the Hunting Blades guild (魔狩りの剣)). Due to certain circumstances, he accompanies Yuri on his journey. This leads to him joining the party for the remainder of the story, and he becomes the leader of the guild, Brave Vesperia.


 * Rita Mordio - Rita is a brunette-haired girl, who wears goggles. She is a researcher who studies blastia, and hates to be interrupted during her research. She is eccentric and has a poor social disposition, as well as highly anti-social and aggressive to nearly everyone she comes into contact with. In battle, she wields scrolls, whips, and a book, and is capable of using various, magical attacks.


 * Raven - Raven is a frivolous and shady-looking man, who wears a long, purple coat and uses a bow that can fold into a sword-type weapon. He first appears in a jail cell next to Yuri's early in the story, though he does not join the party until later. Raven often complains about his age and doing hard work. He sometimes mentions being in the Great War and his bittersweet relationship with an unnamed girl.


 * Judith - Judith is a beautiful woman, who wields a spear in battle. She is a member of the Kritya tribe, a minority race. She is one of the more mysterious, mature, and rational members of the team. She is gentle-looking, perceptive, composed, receptive, and often acts without explaining her actions; thus, she is unable to gain an impression of the situation at hand. Judith is also decisive, persistent, witty, somewhat impulsive, and quite bold, preferring to wear several revealing outfits. She is also very flirtacious and enjoys teasing the male members of the team, notably Raven and Karol, and often makes suggestive comments about "showing a little more" of her already-impressive figure. She has also stated she is "not a very good liar".


 * Patty Fleur - Patty is a young, adventure-seeking pirate girl, who is searching for the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Aifread. Although she is merely 14, she acts much older. She is skilled with guns and short swords. Patty does not have a role in the Xbox 360 version of the game, but there are references to her in the lighthouse, as well as conversation about a legendary pirate named "Aifread". Dialogue between her and Seifer implies she is Aifread.

Presentation
Bandai Namco stated the CG scenes will set records for the Tales series, using more cell-shaded characters, appearing less rough like in Tales of the Abyss and more anime-like. Additionally, the main theme, "Ring a Bell", will be sung by Bonnie Pink in both Japan and North America. For the second time in the main games of the series, the skits are fully voiced in North America; Tales of Legendia was the first to offer this feature.

Battle System
The battle system is an "evolved" form of the Tales of the Abyss FR-LMBS, possessing many new features. For instance, in battles, more monsters may appear on the battlefield after the battle is initiated if they are nearby, meaning eight monsters can be fighting at once. There is also the ability to take out non-boss enemies if certain button combinations are used, regardless of HP. The Skill System allows the player to backstep, execute artes in midair, increase attack and defense, and perform other, similar effects. Weapons are the keys to unlocking skills.

Over Limit
Four Over Limit gauges can be stocked, which can be used on one character or shared with the party. Each Over Limit level stacks the bonuses of the previous ones. Four additional Over Limit gauges were added for the enhanced PlayStation 3 port of Tales of Vesperia. Although the Over Limit gauge can go up to eight, the same character can only use four at once:
 * Over Limit Lvl 1 - Raises attack power. No restriction on arte chains.
 * Over Limit Lvl 2 - Attacks force enemy to stand.
 * Over Limit Lvl 3 - Mystic arte can be activated. No TP consumption.
 * Over Limit Lvl 4 - Invincibility.

Online Content
Though Tales of Vesperia is the first main game to have online content, it does not do too much with the capabilities. It features only worldwide rankings on minigames, hit count, and completion time. Additionally, useful rare items can be bought, though nothing that can not be acquired in the game is available for download.

Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike

 * Main Article: Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike

Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike is the official name for the anime adaptation of Tales of Vesperia, which was released as an animated feature film in Japan in autumn 2009. It is the same season in which the PlayStation 3 port was released. The movie is a prequel to the game, depicting Yuri's time as an Imperial Knight.

PlayStation 3 Port
Tales of Vesperia was ported to the PlayStation 3 and released on September 17, 2009. The PlayStation 3 version of the game features full-voice acting, which is nearly double the size of the script in the original Xbox 360 version. The game also features various new characters such as Flynn as a fully customizable, permanent playable character, and Patty Fleur, a young girl with blond hair, who is an entirely new playable character. The game also features several unplayable characters from Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, which the game ties-in with. In addition, Repede, Flynn, and Patty become selectable as on-screen avatars with new mini-games such as a racing mini-game for Repede, new subplots, skits, and main game quests, and sidequests. The game also has new songs added to the game's soundtrack together with remodeled towns and new towns and dungeons. The game also includes new bosses such as the Sword Dancer from previous Tales games, Don Whitehorse, and Clint of the Hunting Blades. Players are also able to replay boss fights at Nam Cobanda Isle.

In addition, there are also new gameplay elements such as higher Overlimit levels, up to eight, more mystic artes, including a dual mystic arte with Yuri and Flynn, and new artes, skills, and equipment for playable characters. A new key item was also been added called the "Artes Ball", which allows an additional eight artes shortcuts to be assigned to the previous eight slots combined with the L1 button, which allows for a maximum of 16 artes. The game also features a wide variety of new character costumes, which include cameo costumes based on characters from previous Tales games, as well as costumes based on characters from other series, such as Xenosaga and Sgt. Frog. Also included is a scene-skip feature and a Team Arena in the Coliseum. The game also features connectivity with the Tales spin-off, Tales of VS., for the PlayStation Portable.

On January 27, 2010, Namco Bandai stated they currently have no details regarding this issue at the moment to release the port outside Japan. On June 25, 2010, Nippon Ichi Software's Marketing Coordinator Nao Zook said within an unofficial blog post that if there is an opportunity for NIS to try to localize the game, they would love to do so.