Review: Tales of Vesperia

[Judge]

Finished this a few weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to the reviews sorry.

Tales of Vesperia is the latest entry in the US of the Namco "Tales" series.  It follows the story of Yuri Lowell on his quest to recover a stolen artifact, which leads him eventually into saving the world from destruction (as all RPGs eventually lead to)  It uses  an enhanced LMBS - Linear Motion Battle System - Basically you have a fully 3D view of your field, and you can move around it how you see fit, however, your attacks are on a 2D plane - Front to Back, Up or Down, etc.  The only exception to this are special attacks which are fully automated, and take up the whole screen.

Graphics - While not the prettiest game out there, it's more than adequate for a JRPG, and has some awesomely done anime cutscenes by Studio IG.  The character designs are by the same artist that does Oh My Goddess.  He also did the designs for Tales of Symphonia

Gameplay - I was pushing 40 hours on my save file, and I only did 1 big sidequest, so I could face the ultimate final boss - speaking of bosses

Fights - Most of the fighting was relatively easy, including the boss fights.  The only challenges i had were taking down the 9 optional Gigantic Monsters, which are boss fights in themselves, and the hidden final boss which fucking kicked my ass so bad I was squealing for mommy.  Finally beating him though was amazing and you felt satisfied.

All in all, if you're a JRPG fan, or a Tales fan in General, this is an awesome addition to the series 8.9/10