I Tried To Like Tales of Vesperia

[@TheKisekiNut]

Sometimes a game just doesn't catch you...

[@hectora.3220]

you should try dq11 next, if you havent already. DQ8 is also good.

[@tvsizedanimechannel7288]

I think you would like tales of graces the lore and many things about the world are similar to trails for instance Eleth witch powers the world of graces is similar to Septium split into seven elements similar to trails Septium and you have to stop a god monster from absorption of all Septium I mean Elith

[@tvsizedanimechannel7288]

There is tales of graces and eleth supports all of nature keeps plants alive and with out eleth the planet decays and withers also everyone uses Elith to fight cast arts tied to the type or empower their crafts and the plot of game a evil god alien monster is eating all the worlds Elith creating deserts monsters get more powerful and the heroes have to stop it

[@OTioRean]

I agree ...a lot of people don't like "symphonia 2" but for me is a masterpiece, and Vesperia....main story is not so great....Yuri is great, I liked the characters and their moments...very common for a tales of game, and I love that the ps3 and ps4 versions of this game have a lot more of screentime for the...Knight guy yuri's rival. Besides all that the game does not enter in my top 5 Tales of game

[@countpicula]

I agree with you on the quality jrpg umbrella.

[@KisekiGamer1]

I find it humorous that you were using TRAILS music on a TALES review🤣🤣

[@ayasdwiky6009]

Because Tales doesn't have good music, or perhaps copyright issue

[@KisekiGamer1]

@@ayasdwiky6009 🤣😂🤣

[@AsbelLhant100]

@@ayasdwiky6009 Alright, saying Tales doesn't have good music is mad cap

[@ayasdwiky6009]

@@AsbelLhant100 ohh sorry about that, I only play berseria and zestiria and well probably only one ost that memorable to me.

[@supersonicmario56]

@@AsbelLhant100 Seriously. Legendia's Music. Say what you will about the game, the Music though . . . .

[@LOREWITHBLAZER]

Fun fact: Yuri Lowenthal wanted to Play Yuri Lowell but because he already did Luke from Tales of abyss they gave the role to Troy Baker

[@shawnnbits]

Cool

[@elleCX01]

If you're in it for the story, I'd suggest Tales of The Abyss. One of the best stories as far as Tales of Games go IMHO.

[@NerevarineKing]

Abyss's story is very strong and even better than a lot of other JRPGs

[@AngeVNs]

I like Vesperia just fine but I found it mildly overrated. It's good but maybe mid-upper mid in my rankings. I like Symphonia, Graces f, Abyss, Berseria, and various JP only games better at minimum. Your complaints/flaws mostly mirror mine.

[@chrisglare6354]

I like Vesperia, but it's definitely not among the best Tales games or even JRPGs.

[@chaotix67]

Honestly, I still like Vesperia, despite its faults. The combat usually draws me in for Tales of over story, so its kinda the exception to the rule for me because story usually takes priority in JRPGS for me as well. Whatever you do, avoid Zestiria though. For everything you didn't like about Vesperia, Zestiria finds a way to make it even worse. Gameplay is rough, has the most nonsensical skill tree and equipment system I've ever dealt with, and the characters are all one note. The story lacks depth to it and often feels aimless as well.

[@tubadude07]

Agreed with Zestiria, i like the OST in that game though.

[@revolvingworld2676]

Agreed it was my third trails game after Symphonia and Berseria and, it just wasn't good.

[@Seryth91]

Not to mention that final boss...

[@Thuxo]

Why do you play Blue Destination the day I found out Unisuga has retired? :(

[@ForgoMem]

Wait, Unisuga retired? Dang, now I’m sad :(

[@TheKisekiNut]

We shall celebrate the great man! (Don't know why YT deleted this reply...)

[@dustingonzalez8080]

I’m like this when I played Vesperia and symphonia. I really tried to like the game but I couldn’t get into them. I did beat them till the end because I don’t like leaving games unfinished like that.

[@panos21sonic]

I too didnt rlly like symphonia, still finished, but im like 7hrs in vesperia and so far im rlly liking it

[@Slangwell]

I look back fondly on Symphonia, but I think I was so young that that was when I was just still slogging through games and not really having fun and didn't know the difference. My Xbox banned me halfway thru Vesperia (stole it, heh heh heh) and I didn't really care enough to actually buy the game to keep playing it.

[@TesuuArisato]

Would enjoy to see what tales games you thought were fun because if you dont Lole Symphonia Or Vesperia that would mean you not a fan of Xillia and Xillis 2

[@Phantom_Gabriel]

Honestly Vesperia I really enjoyed it but yeah there are some pretty dumb moment in the story I definitely agree For me it was a solid 7 or 8 out of 10 It ain't nowhere near to my fav JRPG games like Sky SC FF7 or P5R but still a really solid game

[@LOREWITHBLAZER]

Personally I’m a Tales of Abyss but berseria has a really good cast

[@darknesswave100]

Way better than Zesteria but that bar was set so low it doesnt seem fair lol. Except for Edna of course

[@Hilversumborn]

@@darknesswave100 Edna carried Zesteria.

[@zeroXshinobi]

While I enjoyed vesperia and completed it back in my 360 days, I don’t remember why the villain was “evil”. All I remember was he looked cool, bored and I don’t think he was entirely bad. What I remember the most about Vesperia was it being a classic JRPG in the days where brown and gray shooters were flooding the market.

[@ifrit1937]

The final boss wasn't really evil...the main threat SPOILER WARNING FOR THOSE THAT DIDN"T PLAY: was the Adephagos and the way Duke (the final boss) thought of dealign with it was buy more or less killing all humans and letting the Enteliexia (I know botched that spelling somewhere but i'm going off of memory lol) live on in a world without humans while Yuri and the party were trying to find a way to defeat it without killing humans (who created the Adephagos as a by product via the Hermes Blastia). When it came down to it the 2nd act's main antagonist, Alexei, and motives was a far better choice for last boss imo and the game should've just ended there or had Duke be revealed to pulling his strings for his own ends (say getting the throne which was more or less Alexei's goal or reviving the Adephagos to take over the world or something). It also doesn't help Duke's case that the very first time you meet him is on top of the gates before Halure when the Giant Boar attacks where all you get is an npc dialogue box for him...not even an actual cutscene or anything...even Heldalf, a villian with an even worse motive than Duke if i'm to be honest, got an epic cutscene for his first reveal and same with almost all other final boss main antagonists as well (granted...Van's first appearance didn't really get an epic cutscene either i guess but it was still a cutscene in the main story when he comes to train Luke at the start of the game and not just some missable npc dialogue). Imo Vesperia is no more than an ok to decent game...nowhere near best game in the series. Personally that goes either to Symphonia (easily the most solid game in all of its aspects and the best story in regards to writing (mainly how it structures the story more so than the actual subject matter)...was cheesy too of course but i personally found that cheese to be one of the game's more charming aspects) or Berseria (definitely one of the most interesting plotlines the Tales went with and had some really great characters in it (Eizen and Rokuro in particular))...only real issue with Berseria's story would be the last act with how they more or less made an excuse to kill the head exorcists to awaken the spirits...felt a bit too forced if i'm to be honest and a bit rushed).

[@taigaaisaka6305]

That's because the villain wasn't evil and he wasn't really the villain. Tales of Vesperia changes drastically, and mind you, for the absolute worst, in Act 3, where it becomes a generic and badly done "Gather the 4 Crystals of the 4 Elements to save the world" plot line as opposed to the self discovery morally grey journey in Act 1&2. They basically needed a last boss fight for Act 3 and Duke was the only character available to fill that bill, no matter how dumb it was. And it is dumb, the dialogue before the fight is legitimately stupid: Yuri "We have everything ready for our plan, let use use the machine so we can save the world without killing anyone" - Duke "You are lying, humanity would never agree to the plan. Now wait until I finish preparing my plan. Its not yet ready." - Yuri "..but we talked with everyone, they agreed and here we ar, ready to do it" - Duke "Nu.uh, stop lying and just sit" - Yuri "But-" - Duke "Agh! why don't you shut yp, let's fight." - Yuri "... k" Yuri wins, they do the plan and Duke, literally, goes surprisepikachuface.png. The end.

[@florac1995]

Couldn't really enjoy Vesperia either. I kept playing it hoping to see why people love it that much...I just didn't see it, wether gameplay or story

[@Adrakaan]

Same here, few hours in and I just wanted to skip all the dialog, and I usually only play games for the story.

[@Magus427]

@@Adrakaan There's a ton of dialogue in Vesperia, no getting around it. However, if you are interested in the story, as much as some hate to do so, use a walkthrough. There are key points you can miss that flesh out the character's stories a lot more. It's not a perfect game, but people do like it for other reasons than the story like the main protagonist which you don't find often enough in these RPGs and the combat.

[@Adrakaan]

@@Magus427 I do not have any problems with using a walkthrough, however, there is something in Vesperia that just does not click with me. I tried to like it just in the same way as the author of the video did, but I can't even remember the names of the characters right now. In comparison, I can name all of the characters in The Edge of Eternity (the game I literally ditched Vesperia for) and every twist and turn of its lore.

[@ForgoMem]

As a long time and overtly passionate Tales fan, I’m honestly not huge on Vesperia myself. I’ve beat almost every mainline Tales game (with a few I still need to play or finish), and while I can definitely see why many loved Vesperia and consider it their favorite, I find it to be rather flawed all in all. The good still outweighs the bad over all in my opinion. Yuri is a FANTASTIC protagonist, he feels like a great change of pace from the typical goody-goody protagonist, instead, we have someone who sees the corruption within the world around him and wants to fight against it, while supporting those who are less fortunate. Characters beyond Yuri I feel are mostly decent, I liked Judith and Raven a lot. The story feels like it had a lot of potential, it builds up well and raises interesting questions of the concept of “Justice V. Law & Order”, but then it feels like it couldn’t answer them, so it distracts you with a random evil force. The third act is where it really fell apart, and it definitely left quite a bit to be desired. For the most part, it was a simple story concept told well up until that third act. I agree with the point about the aimlessness, it felt like a collection of disjointed arcs that hopped around and didn’t amount to much. Vesperia’s combat is super fun to me, something about just felt so smooth and refined. I still think Vesperia is not at all a bad game, nor do I even dislike it, I just don’t think it’s amazing, or the best Tales game. My personal favorites are Abyss, Xillia 1/2, and Eternia.

[@27Bayleefs]

Yuri is an awesome character no doubt about it. The sad thing is the heroine Estelle just doesn't play off of him as well as others. Yuri takes a mentor role to Karol a sort of big bro role to Rita and his banter with Judith and raven is hysterical. Estelle is just this girl who can use artes and that's it. Judith in all honesty had far more chemistry with Yuri than Estelle. Both perform questionable qcts for noble reasons both hide their pain and intentions with jokes both like to fight and the playful flirting they do is hilarious. Estelle is just dull. Seriously wish Estelle had more to her than the princess with the unexplained ability

[@razzy9172]

Yuri is a very fun character for sure, but he's never challenged. He's always in the "right". im not a big fan of the guy I think he's a bit overrated. He's a good character but a bad mc to me

[@ForgoMem]

@@razzy9172 I agree with that for the most part, honestly. One of my problems is that Yuri is always presented as the right one in every instance, and never truly has his views or ideals challenged in a significant way. Not a bad main character per say, but the world around him sure doesn’t want to challenge him in that way. Man, the more I’ve thought about this game overtime, this game really didn’t age very well. Definitely don’t feel the same way I did about this game when I first played it when I was younger.

[@MBV97]

Such a shame. This game had potential in story but it was just aimless. What I did liked best Spoilers Was Yuri becoming an anti hero and the moral Dilemma between Law and Vigilantism between him and Flynn who's on the law side. Law is meant to uphold societ and stop crime. However, the law is not perfect and at times fail. Those within high position can abuse their powers and continue to hurt others for their own agenda. In these cases, vigilantism maybe the best answer even if it mean opposing the law so those that haven't been punished are stopped so others can be saved. However, in the eyes of the law they be no different than criminals. It complex and no one can truly say the line between law and crime. AND THEN we changed from anti hero to global warming. That's where I'd say Vesperia lost all of its potential

[@MiyaoMeow588]

9:49 i distinctly remember this dialogue, and i also remember that yuri does acknowledge his hypocrisy in that moment when Rita points it out. It's an intentional inconsistency, presumably because he didnt want to admit that he wasnt any different

[@momarbeye9252]

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Vesperia either, if you feel like trying another Tales of game someday I think you should definitely try Xillia, it has excellent combat, story and characters, it's my favorite.

[@isaacburtley2987]

Yeah, the same can be said about it’s sequel.

[@TesuuArisato]

How fuck you not like Vesperia then like Xillia it's the same thing lol

[@johankarlsson1776]

@@TesuuArisato how are Xillia and Vesperia the same? The combat systems are extremely different. Worst part of Vesperia is its story, and telling of it, it's so wonky XD

[@TesuuArisato]

@@johankarlsson1776 Those games follow the same formula THE ONLY DIFFERENT SHIT IS THE AC GAUGE but now i see why Xillia 1 and 2 are fking forgetton games compared to Vesperia that's sad people actually think like this the only dogshit games are the Zestria Beseria and Arise simple as that

[@strwrbttlfrnt]

I played this after trails in the sky second chapter and I just said great another game with Estelle in it

[@andreharvey8476]

Man hates on one of best games 😂. Litterally one of thw best tales in the series 😂

[@AsakuraEX]

I personally think Symphonia, Berseria, and Abyss handle story telling way better than Vesperia.

[@Nel_Annette]

Oh, the stories are definitely better in those. Vesperia's story kind of meanders and (imo) peters out at the 2/3 mark, where someone you'd think was the big bad suddenly isn't, but I've always felt its strength was in the party members' personalities and how they interact with each other. Plus, the cel-shading style they used still holds up.

[@AsakuraEX]

@@Nel_Annette yeah, I agree. I enjoyed Vesperia’s story for the most part but it was carried by the character development everyone else got.

[@princefishyfingers7498]

And xillia

[@revolvingworld2676]

Vesperia was carried by the characters for me.

[@princefishyfingers7498]

@@revolvingworld2676 The only characters I actually liked were Yuri and raven

[@mzxa9988]

I love vesperia, the characters and the story. BUT I FCKING HATE ALL THE MISSABLE SIDE QUEST STORY THIS GAME HAVE. I literally need a guide besides me all the time because there's WAY too much missable sidequest that's only available in a small amount of time

[@alextorres5467]

THIS! Ive tried to love it but it just seems so... idk. I feel nostalgia has a huge factor in why the game is so praised Like some characters like karol and estellise are copy paste tropes done wrong. And don't get me wrong, i absolutely loved patty and rita, im not just being critical without basis. And the story dragged on horribly and sometimes felt like it was lost and just forced some moments to happen to forward the story. The entire karol and the guild arc was way too dragged on to the point that the guild leaders death barely affected me because i wanted that part of the game to be over. It was trying to be as ambitious as symphonia was, with multiple enemies and entailing side stories but fell flat due to the pacing and horribly complicated concepts like aer, adephagos, children of the full moon, formulas, entelechea, barrier blastias and much much much more I love tales, and i believe berseria was perfect on characters and story, not being too obnoxious and cookie cutter yet being well paced and not difficult to follow if you were to put the game down for a while and come back

[@darkhaven9119]

I hateeeee patty with a passion omg she’s so fucking annoying and her voice actor is so bad I skip every scene with her in it. I tried but I just can’t stand her. I love Yuri and raven though

[@Seryth91]

Tales of the abyss is still my favorite, i loved how the villains had a reason for why they became villains and it made it hard to dislike them =')

[@ataridc]

What were their reasons,

[@clover2739]

@@ataridc have you played the game?

[@Aster_Iris]

@@ataridc Spoilers below! In order of fight, excluding Asch who isn't really a villain and more of an antagonistic rival, and also pardon if I got any details off, I REALLY need to replay the game since it's been years: Arietta: Kinda tied with another character later as the most tragic as I hesitate to call her outright villainous given she's mostly being manipulated by the main villain, especially in regards to preying off of her anger (esp. at the party given they killed her adoptive mother, who was a man-eating giant cat, in self-defense) at other people and given she was literally raised by tigers she understandably has a fairly shaky psyche and understanding of emotion and other things. She's sometimes willing to help the party, however, but for reasons that are tied to spoilers. Hits a breaking point when [redacted for mega spoilers, even I'm not getting into this one] happens and her "mirror" party member, personally feeling responsible for the event, basically admits to her what happened and that bridge is thoroughly burnt and goes out in a formal duel for the honor of those she lost. Sync: One of seven replicas/"clones" of an important political figure who met an early death, but when the best one of the batch was decided, he and the other six were thrown into a volcano to die. Of those six, only two are known to have survived, himself included. This incident at the start of his life, this violent rejection and attempt on his life and later on just being acquired as another cog in the machine of the main villain's plan and the general attitude of the world triggered a deep rage and misanthropy within Sync, and dedicates himself to the destruction of the old world as well as the Score (basically an akashic record/extremely in-depth horoscope of the entire planet) that doomed his life to such suffering that he'd prefer to have never been born at all. Essentially, he wants to see the world burn. Largo: The aforementioned tragic character tied with Arietta, Largo used to be a mercenary who traveled about with his wife Sylvia from place to place until IIRC Sylvia got a job as a servant at the royal palace of the country of Kimlasca. Finally having a place to settle down and even having a brand new daughter, things seemed absolutely idyllic. Until the princess of the country was (TW) stillborn, but the Score still calling for there to be a princess of the nation as well as the queen being in absolute despair, the wet nurse essentially kidnapped Sylvia's daughter who was also still a newborn at this point and passed her off as the princess to the king. Having her daughter ripped away from her, Sylvia went mad with grief and drowned herself, and then Largo found out that all of this was foretold in the Score, so he bitterly agreed with the main villain's plan to destroy the old world so it would no longer be bound by these foretellings. He's overall actually rather friendly to the party (well, friendly being a more relative term compared to how the other members of the villain squad treat the party), more interested in testing their strength than killing them, and it only gets deadly serious by the endgame where it's now a full-on conflict of ideals. Dist: On the surface, your quintessential mad scientist minor villain a la Hojo from FFVII, not really caring much about the end goal of the main villain's plans or even the consequences of his own projects so long as it benefits his research. Thing is, Dist's research is entirely to bring his old teacher back to life entirely so he and his childhood friends (Jade, a party member, and Peony, a major NPC) can live out the good old days as if nothing ever happened (basically what happened was that due to a major accident Jade inadvertently killed their teacher and this was the catalyst of a major rift between the friend group, and by that I mean Jade and Dist totally split paths and while both are super involved in their own things and coping mechanisms for this disaster, Jade does still keep in touch with Peony). In the meantime, he's perfecting his research on replica creation as well as how to undo a specific glyph that may or may not have the initial replica of his teacher (who was sealed due to a murderous rampage) imprisoned in a cave. Legretta: Buckle up, this one gets messed up. So essentially the main villain, after having fully come to the conclusion that Score Bad Ergo Blow Up Planet and Create New One, ends up setting up the death of one of his soldiers who was already foretold to die in the battle he was participating in by the Score to prove a point. Legretta, the soldier's sister, also a seasoned soldier in her own right, comes to avenge him, but is defeated in the duel. The main villain then spares her and forces her to act as his right hand woman sort of to torture her, as she could kill him whenever she wants in theory but the moment will never be right. Knowing that he would always anticipate her killing him, she is then entrusted with mentoring his younger sister, the only person in this world that the main baddie truly cares about, and she sees the ideal opportunity to craft the perfect vengeance ploy and begins to mold the younger sister into a perfect soldier and assassin to one day kill the main villain, forsaking all things for the sake of the mission, be it acting her age, any and all attachments, all emotions, even her own life. However, as time went on, Legretta grew to genuinely care for her apprentice, even helped her during a time in her life when she was majorly bullied by the other trainees, but the damage was already done and the girl was hard-wired as someone who wanted nothing more than to be a perfect killing machine. To make matters worse, Legretta found out that the Score foretold that she would fall in love with the man she hated, and in a harrowing mix of reserving herself to her fate as well as the conditioning from the main baddie at this point, she became his "devoted lieutenant", and convinced herself that she truly loved him and would do anything that he said. Especially destroying the world and Score that killed her brother and robbed her of her free will and a chance to be away from this man who she now had to "love". As for the main baddie...I both can't spoil much about him or else his identity might be given away and it is a twist, and also I'm not clear on a lot of the details and it's been years since I've played the game. But TLDR his entire homeland was destroyed and his parents died either directly because of the destruction or due to after-effects of it, and it was all foretold in the Score and the other nations of the world either actively participated in this destruction or knew about it and chose to do nothing to help anyone. In the aftermath of the tragedy and learning of the new technologies on the rise, he wanted to right the wrongs of this wicked world by wiping it all clean so there'd be no more world to adhere to any records, and then rebuilding it and reinhabiting it with replicas as not a single soul from the old world was to remain. The party meanwhile thinks that no you probably shouldn't commit omnicide and instead just try to change things from a societal standpoint but the main villain is convinced that the record is very real and that people are incapable of change and as such all deserve to burn.

[@easterbasket9688]

But the main cast was insufferable. Luke is the worst protagonist.

[@andr0zzsenpai]

​@@easterbasket9688There was a reason for that, after a certain point he starts to have great character development.

[@LOREWITHBLAZER]

Personally I think it’s the most overrated tales of game the story is really forgettable for me especially the main antagonist

[@nickmaestro]

Never played Vesperia, but I felt the same when I played Tales of Hearts R on the VITA. Many people were praising it as one of the best JRPGs, and I was like, meh. Story was boring, music was mediocre, and combat was good. But those skits annoyed me so much. Hence why I've only played one Tales of game. I did manage to get the platinum trophy...5 years later.

[@HyouVizer]

i disliked Hearts R so much. Its heart dungeons all looked the same so that gimmick out old real fast. Then there's carrying around a hollowed husk of a character for the first third of the game that's not fun to see from a narrative perspective at all. Never bothered finishing it

[@isaacburtley2987]

Same here. I've played it over 6 years ago and never understood why it didn't get localized (in terms of English Voice acting I mean).

[@heroawesomereal]

As someone who does like vesperia a lot, I really respect how you did this video. And I think you hit it on the head why the game doesn’t work for you. This game can really only be enjoyed at his highest level if people have a sort of opposite mindset to you, where gameplay is a much more important aspect over story. The story has a lot of issues, but I personally feel that it both is serviceable enough as there are a lot of moments that i really like and that save it from being bad for me, and mostly not that important in comparison to the gameplay which is easily the main selling point imo. If you take the time to really master the combat and do all the side content, that’s how you enjoy the game to its fullest, and that’s usually the position many people came from when they were recommending it to you. Still tho, good video, really respect how you acknowledge that you yourself can’t enjoy the game that much while still understanding how others may like it a lot, it’s surprising how many people I see online not respecting that lol

[@skylinenissani6888]

No. This is a bad game. The story is mediocre and it takes forever to get there. The battle mechanics are also mediocre at best, and you can't ever get comfortable with it because they shuffle the party CONSTANTLY all game long. This game had IMMENSE potential. It's really just a SERIOUSLY long journey of trying to catch something you will never get. This game isnt worth it, the journey isnt worth it. The story was doing fine in it's mediocrity, but the fact that you couldnt enjoy the gameplay because they shuffled the party EVERY instance, you couldn;t enjoy playing it either. You keep playing because the game teases you into resolve and never gives it to you, so you want to continue, despite the horrible gameplay when you cant focus on a party. Then you finally get Flynn and he takes your items as he leaves the party FOREVER. then shows up at the end of the game. Horribly paced, mediocre story, ZERO fun or comfortability in this game. Im having a hard time just wanting to finish it after FLynn left with my faerie ring after the Heracles. F this game and all the time it wasted. It has alot of great things about it, the time wasted with the cat and mouse theme of this game, erases all of that. 0/10 would not recommend ANYONE play this game, for any reason. I LOVE the Tales series, this is EASILY the worst one.

[@heretic124]

This was my first jrpg, game that started it all, and I'm replaying it at the moment. I love it even more than I loved it 10 years ago. I love characters, the story is serviceable, dialogues don't bother me. Sure I'm looking at it through nostalgia glasses but I think you're nitpicking way too much.

[@thehappychocobo9980]

Ahh the good ole I liked the game so you have to like to it as well post and no he's not being nitpicking just giving his opinion on the game

[@heretic124]

@@thehappychocobo9980 Ahh the good ole I had issues with the game so how dare you voice your opinion disagreeing with mine reply.

[@leon888111]

It came with a pretty good anime movie this game was pretty awesome games nowadays don't even have stories that even come close to this games from the past

[@pauloazuela8488]

@@leon888111 That depends though although I would say most. Trails series is an example of where they're trying to keep and improve on what they've been doing on the past decade

[@TheNOODLER100]

Talks about Tales of music... ...only uses Trails of music

[@TheKisekiNut]

Copyright's a bitch - I had all songs from Vesperia in the editing, but YT wasn't having it. Substituting it all for Trails isn't the worst thing in the world though.

[@TheNOODLER100]

@@TheKisekiNut you betcha

[@untilweseethestars]

Tales music isn’t good to begin with, so it makes sense why he uses Trails’ music

[@Cman04092]

I tried to play this game, but I didn't like it either. I liked the charecters but I dunno I was just bored I guess. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[@drewferguson8324]

DQ11 is much more your kind of game….

[@acidwizard6528]

I liked Vesperia. I'd even say it's one of my top 3 Tales games, however the game outwore it's welcome by the end. It took me 60+ hours and had it ended 10-15 hours sooner I would have enjoyed it more.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I think so too. If they cut that third act and went with something else I do think I'd enjoy it far more.

[@NerevarineKing]

That sounds like my experience with a lot of Tales games, they just don't know when to end

[@countryboyred]

Yeah sometimes a game just doesn’t catch you man. Vesperia is the only Tales Of game I actually really like. I thought it was a fun time. Reminds me of a Saturday morning cartoon. The battle system starts out boring but by the end game you can pull off sick combos almost like a fighting game. Also there are a ton of secrets and hidden scenes so it has a lot of replay value. The remastered version was awesome.

[@violinjon]

The comments-to-views ratio is pretty damn impressive for this video (currently about 1 to 11!). Us JRPG fans are a passionate bunch :) Also gotta say that hearing Crossbell music while seeing Vesperia is giving me mental dissonance.

[@dobadobadooo]

I love Vesperia, but it's obviously not for everyone (no game is). The only problem I have is if someone tries to make a game out to be outright bad because it's not to their tastes *cough* Egoraptor *cough* EDIT: For the record, I'm not saying this video does that. In fact, I agree with the criticisms, they just don't ruin the game for me.

[@DarkstarNoise]

Exactly, I adore the game as well but I also except the criticism it garners. The story is rather random at times but frankly, I still enjoyed it. Plus the side quests can really take up your time.

[@AllenTax]

@@DarkstarNoise Rita's book test, Karol's book and monsters,Repeed's markings,Estelle book & ghost, cooking,those people of far away place, sunk treasure, spear & Flynn's sword & twin generals. Granted at least two of them have little time or you have to do at this moment events. As the spear one and Estelle's amulet. As that one is also tied into battle trophy earning.

[@thomasdeguzman1149]

Yeah a lot of the game design really shows its age. When critics mention the overworld, I'm like no shit it feels empty, this was made 13 years ago. Ni No Kuni (both 1 and 2) had the same feeling with their overworld and both were made well after this. The main thing I criticise about the game is how easily missable a lot of the side quests are. Yeah the story for Vesperia does feel directionless, but for me the characters and their interactions made up for it.

[@KaueBR89]

Dq11 S is so much better than tales of vesperia. Those people were nuts lol

[@at0micl0bster]

Apple gels and she slimes

[@jessiescholten9119]

Dq 11 is so good

[@TorchicEX]

I love this game only having just playing it in recent years with the definitive edition, however I can't say that my experience is the one everyone should have. I mean if everyone enjoyed it that would be great but not everyone views things the same ways and I understand their perspectives of the game and the issues they have. But this game has been one for which of the older tales of battle systems to me feels the most refined (don't know if people classify Xillia and Xillia 2 as having the same style of battle system but if they do then I say that is the best but to me it fundamentally feels different before we got the tales of Zestiria system implemented, just to me Xillia doesn't feel like Symphonia, Abyss or Vesperia but the next evolution of it while zestiria and berseria felt like a new system entirely) and I loved it and every moment of it. I enjoyed a lot of the music in the game, more importantly the battle themes and the one pumping song at important moments, those who played it know which one I am talking about. Characters yeah I can see the problem with some, but Yuri I feel is both one that doesn't change and one that does change. There will be a bit of a spoiler warning from here on for those who haven't played the game so if you are reading this, now is the time to stop. **spoiler warning start** So Yuri at the start of the game was the guy who did what he believed is right to help those who couldn't. He was always decisive and never hesitated. In the second act of the game he realizes that there are people that abuse the rules and the laws of the world to get what they want and basically needs a vigilante to shut them down, permanently. In the third and final act he eases up on that role and does what he can to make up for acting as the judge, jury and executioner. This is shown a bit going into the end of the second act mind you but it really shows more in the third. But he isn't doing it simply because he felt bad, he did it because people can change. If he kept that attitude up, would he have struck down someone who innocently endangered people? He felt there are other ways to handle it and the finale shows that with each other, yeah things can be done. Yuri and Flynn can work together even while apart to change the world to one where those who wrong people are rightly punished by the law so people like Estelle don't have to worry. Even if it is a slow process, the end of the game shows they can and will change. **spoiler warning end** Anyways off that tangent, that is just how I feel about it. Not how everyone should feel. Opinions are subjective after all. And all the points he makes are completely valid. I honestly still believe that Tales of Xillia and its sequel Tales of Xillia 2 are the best in the whole series for more than the combat which I do love to death, but all the characters development, the music, the story beats always hit well. It has its issues but they are my favorite and the second one faces themes that are good to explore for a story aspect. And ignoring the whole fact that the male main character in Xillia is just overpowered for many reasons, there is also the fact that there is also a female main character with their own sections, their own tales to tell as yes there is a choice to play as the male or female storyline through the game which also changes the battle themes and events. Heck even certain cutscenes that show up in both stories play out differently depending on which you take.

[@33GLOCK]

Mmmmm

[@HistorysMysterys]

Worst tales I ever played

[@CuteAndFunnyFan]

I really enjoyed Vesperia, but my favs are Abyss, Destiny DC, and Graces f.

[@chaotix67]

You're a person of culture. That is my top 3, different order though lol

[@GalanOfTruth]

Graces F is great, playing it again now and surprised how much better it is than I even remember and I remembered it fondly.

[@tombeauvais7025]

A bit late for a comment here, but I think this basically come down to how both Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Vesperia were set up as games where 80% of the content and story is locked in timegated sidequests that you will never know exist unless you have a guide. Basically everything in this video is more or less explained by "yeah, this actually makes sense if you catch all the side events and the first meeting with the final boss is in the first ten minutes of the game", but... I completely understand how major themes and quests shouldn't be gated by ludicrously hidden content.

[@scoutisabelle]

I loved the game, except it was annoying how they said "Blastia" in every other sentence. By the way, love your videos and your voice is soooo good. 😘

[@salsamonkey65]

I liked DQ11 a lot. Why are people so negative on that game??

[@RaifSeverence]

Probably because its hyper traditional Jrpg fare.

[@salsamonkey65]

@@RaifSeverence I guess that's not for everyone, yeah. It was exactly what I wanted anyway

[@darknesswave100]

Probably cause people are so used to big explosions and stuff like that so a super (I'd go as far as to say ultra mega) traditional jrpg just doesnt appeal to them. That being said they've always been like that so not sure why all of a sudden 11 is a problem lol

[@Mclucasrv]

Wow I liked DQXI more even tho is simpler(?).For vesperia I liked Yuri as protagonist the rest of the cast is just ok and the story I like the first part but the rest is just not that engaging for me,I like the thing of pop up shorts I dont know I like character interactions a lot in any game the more the better for me.

[@Girlgamer4ever]

I was a kid when I played Vesperia. I enjoyed Legendia and Abyss before playing TOV and even at that time, I could feel Vesperia had a boring story imo. I wanted to love the game because Yuri seemed really cool, but like you said it was such an aimless story. My friend played it recently and I watched him play, it was even more bland than I remembered. Though I guess I’m glad it made many people interested in the Tales series

[@videogamesworld01]

For the complain of the dialogue and the exact same scene you mean. It's obvious yuri acts like that but he gives the others choices and sees the full story while the monster doesn't even want to see any other side the same thing happened with the haunting blades they basically attacked monsters without trying to see any other side of the situation and yuri definitely hates that so when he talked with the entelexia and he refused to see any other side he asked him what made him so high and mighty because he didn't want to to try and find any other options like he does. So I don't believe there is any contradiction there.

[@Skylotgh]

How is dialogues are bad when they are just translated lines from japanese lol like what a weak criticism.

[@AerisVelivolus]

After 70 exhausting hours (that felt like 100), I beat ToV: DE last night and man, I agree with you 100%: I'm so disappointed specially with the story which, to me, is a total mess. There are a lot of side characters that add ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the plot and the game feels like an obligatory world tour, not like an epic quest journey. The main characters are "average" at best including some awful Deus ex machinna in the case of at least two of them (I'm talking about Raven and Patty). The world map is one of the most annoying I've ever played on an JRPG and the antagonists... Please don't make me talk about how terribly written they are. The worst thing about Vesperia is that there are some really good ideas, but are totally wasted in the nonsense of the narrative. As you say, the absence of direction in Vesperia is more than obvious. The game itself is not truly aware of which themes are crucial to the story and which aren't that relevant: More is not always better. An embarrasing number of plot questions aren't even answered at the end of the game and I'm not even exaggerating! And speaking about that: that ending and credits sequence...? Rushed and anticlimatic as hell! I played Symphonia 10 years ago and I still remember the plotwists, those characters and the main events/revelations. I know It won't happen the same with Vesperia in a month or so. Such a pitty... I only hope Arise to be a better story.

[@MakeAmericaLiftAgain]

Just beat Tales of Vesperia too and yea I have to agree with all these points. I was very disappointed in the game and at one point I couldn’t wait until it was over. The game felt like it took FOREVER for me to beat!! Makes me not want to play another Tales game.

[@AerisVelivolus]

@@MakeAmericaLiftAgain I'm in the final dungeon of Tales of Arise and I'll tell you something: it's not perfect and it has some flaws, but it's a million times better that Vesperia. The battle system is engaging, the characters are well developed and it's more mature and deep. Maybe you should give it a try! Whatever you decide there will always be Persona 5 Royal!

[@noname-sd1tc]

On sale on switch but after watching your video and reading comments I will pass. Thanks mate! 😊

[@joshuabradford8206]

Vesperias story was lacking with me too. I don't even remember 99% of the plot points in that game because it didn't really pull me in. I enjoyed the gameplay and some of the themes however it really didn't focus on them enough. It's so sad cuz tales of the abyss did a much better job of forming a world with cohesive themes and character development. This definitely is one of the weakest games in the series in terms of story.

[@ezequielfernandez476]

Late comment but anyways, berseria was my first tales game, i loved it so much that i got vesperia and zestiria, i have a ps4 so those were the ones i could get (until arise released) and i loved zestiria when everyone else hated it and didnt like versperia that much when everyone else loved it haha so i get you, for me it was the combat, playing berseria first gave me an unfair bar, it was the newest game when i played it for the first time so it was the most refined too so i felt versperia as a downgrade and is also why i didnt dislike zestirias combat, berserias is a better version of zestirias so they are kinda similar, the story is a meh too, i finished the game but i cant remember anything from it while i could tell you the complete story of berseria and its characters now and even when zestiria story is basic as hell i do remember the main plot and character stories enough to talk about it, but vesperia just bored me

[@lionablaze8747]

my problem with the tales of franchise is that it's impossible to 100% without looking up guides. I hate that so much.

[@MushaGundamMKIII]

All very fair criticisms. I don't think the story is quite as bad as explained here, as I still find it very enjoyable, but it definitely is the weakest point of the game. By far, Vesperia is the best game in the series when it comes to gameplay and characters. Between that and still being able to enjoy the story, it's easily one of my favorites in the franchise, and I've played literally all of them save for the ones not in English. For the best narrative though, I would highly recommend Abyss. That is where the Tales series peaked in its story telling and they haven't really gotten anywhere near there since. Xillia is probably the next best but it too rides a lot on its characters for the story as well, just not as much as Vesperia.

[@Dxwill10]

unsubbed 0/10 I hope Patty steals all your money and you hear "blah blah blah.. TIDAL WAVE" in your head while sleep forever. j/k.

[@supersonicmario56]

As a Tales Fan, I've always thought Vesperia was overrated. Not a bad game, but overrated in general. My favorites have been Legendia, Graces, Eternia, Zesteria, and Symphonia 1/2. Hope this doesn't sour your experience with any other Tales games you might be interested in . . .

[@TheKisekiNut]

Definitely not - the chances of having a positive experience with all the Tales games is a pretty tough ask. But I've enjoyed two, and been disappointed by one, so it's not putting me off from other titles.

[@bruxplays2914]

Very fair and well considered criticism, appreciated this video immensely.

[@ShadowLibrarian]

Out of the tales of series I personally rate tales of vesperia a 6/10 it's nowhere near one of my favorite of the series. I find tales of xilla/xilla 2 to be the best in the series. Great characters all round a fascinating world the best battle mechanics the series has had so far. Still some of the best looking graphics even comparison to berseria which came along much later. Tales of vesperia always felt older than it actually was which really did not help the game, plus the story came off as one of the most generic in the series. Just my opinion.

[@SuperMizuki111]

Ironic you can get throughs trails fc and not this L

[@yongkysiaw6597]

They should've made Alexei the true villain til the end. That's my only gripe with the entire story.

[@Miyakolover]

I am surprised with the amount of hate for Vesperia in this comment section where elsewhere it seems to be universally praised (Even as the "best in the series").

[@HappyLittleWorker]

Because this is a safe haven for Vesperia hatred lol

[@Miyakolover]

@@HappyLittleWorker lol...I don't agree with the hatred and all, but I feel everyone should be able to tell their opinions freely without being persecuted by a mob.

[@HappyLittleWorker]

@@Miyakolover Yeah, I agree

[@THEpilandi]

Played it, beat it. Can't even give you a general summary of the main plot. It was that forgettable. Which sums up the whole game for me pretty nicely.

[@sirkevstah289]

Same. lmao I remember playing it and my friend played it a few months later. I couldn't answer one damn question of his. It's like I never played it. He ended up hating it as well and was like well no wonder you didn't remember a thing.

[@taigaaisaka6305]

That's because the game has no story. It legitimately baffles me that anyone would ever recommend Vesperia for its story of all things. Act 1 is Yuri looking for a thief that took the fountain materia or w/e it was called from the area he lived, he meets everyone else during that, it starts to build up the corruption of the empire and Yuri as a morally grey character that will have to pay for what he's done even if he did the right thing. 2nd Act suddenly shifts and its about the Guilds and everyone telling Estellise to grow a pair, choose what she wants to do and focus on that. Literally, the entirety of that act is people telling Estellise "Focus, b*tch". Then the 3rd act is a generic and extremely poorly done quest about gathering the 4 elements push space Cthulhu back. You fight the bad guy, win and it ends. Right there and there. Vesperia story is a mess of themes that are never developed nor chained in a cohesive nature. With Act 3 being so poorly written I am convinced the main writer got a stroke and the janitor or some random person had to finish it because every single theme in the previous 2 arcs is dropped.

[@cinta9420]

I enjoyed Vesperia but story is inferior for sure to other Tales games, especially personally Abyss. Doesn't help how A LOT of the missing content for the characters is locked to Japanese exclusive novels, manga and such

[@Mr._Matt]

I think that most people who value story more than pretty much anything in games are likely to dislike Vesperia. Story is usually the most important thing for me, and I uninstalled Vesperia shortly after being directed to go to the final dungeon because the story had disappointed me so much that I just didn't care anymore. You lucked out by playing Symphonia and Berseria as they have some of the best plots in the Tales series. I hear that Abyss is another one with a great story. I need to find the time to play it.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Exactly. I've got no issue with the gameplay or the art style. It's the story that gets me - it's just not good.

[@brawlfan9999]

@@TheKisekiNut I can personally vouch for Abyss having a pretty damn good story

[@SantosOverlord]

Yuri carried that game HARD

[@MrShiftyCapwn]

Same thing happened to me in tales of Arise. I just ran out of gas right before the final act/ missions.

[@Mr._Matt]

@@MrShiftyCapwn I managed to finish Arise, though I definitely had some massive drop-off in interest and excitement, especially in the fourth region (water boss) onward. The differences in treatment of people in each region and how the lords kept the people beneath them in line was interesting, and that just screeched to a halt in the water region. It just turned into a "muwahaha evil guy is evil" situation, with an over-the-top bad guy whom I tired of very quickly. The first generic evil lord didn't bother me too much as his normalcy and generic evil nature made the second lord such a shock and drastically changed up how things felt. Each one after that was surprising in some way. The last lord was just surprisingly cliche and the story never recovered for me. I don't blame you for not finishing it.

[@Amra..]

People really like Vesperia over DQ11? That's wild

[@princefishyfingers7498]

Yeah dq11 is better

[@nicholasyoung1000]

I played it this year myself! I did enjoy my time with it eventually - but it took me a while to get into. It was my first ever Tales game, but I’ve enjoyed it enough to give some of the other games a go!

[@bryan8638]

SAME! For me it was mostly the combat, I could never figure out what to do, it felt SO clunky and odd. The characters were cool, I liked them but it wasn't enough and I put the game down forever after about 10-20 hours.

[@indrab2121]

The only Tales game that works for me is Tales of the Abyss on PS2. And after I played the Kiseki series, my standard of JRPG became so high that it is extremely difficult to find a good one these days.

[@videogamesworld01]

Tbh After I played cold still my standards lowered so much to the point I accept everything that doesn't make me cringe.

[@sirkevstah289]

This is my friend and I summed up perfectly. Persona 4, 5 and the Kiseki games have made my expectations way too high. Kind of sucks.

[@pauloazuela8488]

@@videogamesworld01 You're talking about the speeches aren't you?

[@留住咖啡的甜]

Personally I prefer DQ11 over ToV... just my opinion here:)

[@darkwolf9ball]

It had direction. The main set out to get revenge for what took place in the lower quarter. The female protagonist set out to escape ish and see things for herself while having a goal to help Flynn. Flynn had a goal of changing the knights and making things better by attaining more rank. The little kid had goals only do the the grown ups. The dogs goal was to follow his master. Swan was to do the bidding of his leader while keeping the guilds in order. The dragon lady's goal was to destroy cores. The powerful mage goal was for research. Ect. They were all goals just they had no big goals til later in the game. People have miss conceptions on what goals are. You have long term and small term. Them being all over the place is more realistic do to the fact its rare in real life to find a group that have a set concrete goal meaning all on the same page. Yes its a video game but it is what it is. Your free to dislike it but your concept of goals is off or not brand enough. I in real life have mostly short term goals that I reach often as I hate failure and I blame myself more than anyone e when I fail.

[@pn33milan11]

Vesperia is potentially the best Tales of game in terms of combat, when you reach the endgame. However, if we are talking about the overall quality (story, gameplay, etc.), I would still pick Xillia and Berseria. Vesperia's plot is good, don't get me wrong. But there are a couple of plot points here and there that feel a little rushed, especially at the end. Also, in all honesty, i prefer DQ11 to Vesperia. Yeah, the story in DQ11 is not too deep, but that's never been the focus in DQ games, honestly. DQ11 is simply the apex of the content DQ is used to provide.

[@Santoryu90]

Your entitled to your opinion you made fair points, personally the problems I see some people have with the game I don’t really have a problem with and or don’t really see where they’re coming from but to each their own.

[@TheSunderland001]

I'm so bored with it. wish I would of seen this first.

[@thanaka8416]

What i really disliked was yuri saying this 'if a part is poisoned you need to cut if off' or something like that. A little bit later, a villain is saying the exact same thing and yuri is like 'damn, how could you say that, you are so evil' ... i was like wtf. You dont remember what you said some minutes ago?

[@joerittmeyer4490]

Yuri just looks like a young Arios and the dog looks like a wartorn Zeit.

[@keivkamijo]

Man, you don't need to be that rude 😂

[@Mystra]

The only Tales games that rivals DQ11 is Berseria and Xillia 1. My opinion.

[@Stero906]

Xillia definitely deserves more recognition! So good

[@kayfert]

Agreed, xillia 1 was so much fun

[@darkhaven9119]

I agree but also tales of the abyss that’s my all time favorite

[@NotCharAznable]

Barely and I love Tales of. The just don’t put enough budget into their games. Now Abyss. That’s goat status.

[@cjqcresent292]

Tales of Rebirth should also be a contender.

[@williamhououin]

Ah! It's funny, because I just made a video saying almost the opposite 😄 Legendia is my favourite (which is a controversial opinion) but anyway, Vesperia did grab me pretty good. That said, it's been a while since the last time I played a Tales of game (last one was Xillia 2) and I think I was really in the mood for a Tales of experience Anyway, great video, cheers !

[@arcticpunda3061]

The side jokes were too good XD

[@TPerez1021]

Same... I finished the game, but it was forgettable to me. It almost made me feel like I wasn't into JRPG's anymore... But then I got introduced to the Trails series.

[@Lungoomba21]

I'm literally at the point where I prefer the 2d tales titles than the 3d ones, however I enjoyed Abyss a lot a good story and characters that had me captivated from beginning all the way to the end. For combat, any battle system made by Team Destiny is always an awesome time (Destiny DC, Destiny 2, Rebirth, Hearts and Graces).

[@matth1641]

Same here, other than Abyss and Innocence R, I mainly play Team Destiny games. Though technically Hearts DS was a project worked on by both Team Symphonia and Team Destiny with the intention of being a handheld Destiny R.

[@Flareboxx]

I think Vesperia was just ok. It is hands down the most overrated in the Tales of series though. Before I played, I saw SO many people saying Vesperia was not only the best Tales game, but the best game of all time. I had only played Symphonia (which I loved) in the series, so I was hoping it would at least be as good as Symphonia. But it wasn't 😂 Berseria, Arise, and Symphonia are all much better in my opinion, and that's not even looking outside of the Tales series.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Have to agree - I had the same issue, loads of people telling me how good the game was, that it was the best of Tales. Tried it out and it didn't measure up to Symphonia or Berseria. It's fine as a game, but I just can't see the reason for all it's praise.

[@pigster1813]

i liked the characters but the story just kept dragging on and at some points i just wanted the game too end

[@andrewharper8995]

I felt very similar about both Symphonia and Vesperia. Didn't play either until a year ago and my expectations were probably too high. I am a Tales fan and loved Graces, Xillia and Berseria, I even really liked Zestiria and I know others have slated that instalment. Anyway, good video as always.

[@KudaGeatsune3821]

Vesperia tried but after the first half it just sorta lost any sense of cohesive narrative

[@coltonowens2742]

Tales of the Abyss makes Vesperia's plot look like a bad episode of SpongeBob.

[@deadlydood4615]

All understandable. I feel we never actually get any real development of the main antagonist he just kinda want more power. Then the last boss, his reveal is meh. But i guess it's intentional since he was in the backlines the whole time and at times assisting the main cast. It's only when he takes action during that final arc his motives actually are bad for humans.

[@drankclaw2095]

OH MY GOD. Seeing this title made me so happy... I thought I was crazy... Everyone recommends this game, rarely ever see any negative criticisms towards it... But the controls were CLUNKY so clunky I found it barely playable... and the fact the party split up every 5-15 minutes and I'd have to go run around the town to find them again (this happens every time we go somewhere new for at least the first 20-30 hours... exhausting)... My personal final nail in the coffin was the fact the "side quests" are pretty much all hidden missables with barely any indicators or plot/story... I really want to like the Tales of series as a whole, have tried almost every game, but so meh... People praise the character design and growth but I haven't picked up a Tales of game since I discovered Trails 2-3 years ago. I can't... Tales of graces f was bomb though (still very flawed)

[@jessiescholten9119]

Same i also just didn't vibe with it

[@Hilversumborn]

For me Vesperia looks and plays great but it's story is definitely weak compared to others in the series. My biggest problem is the cast: I like Yuri but he also felt stale after a while, I understand why people love him but for me he's on the lower tier of Tales protagonists list. Estellise is the sheltered noble who gets to know the world by exploring it, but it always nagged me that she never had that moment where she had to pick between her Guild or her Nobility. Karol, I understand what their going for a deconstruction of the typical JRPG protagonist who eventually improves during the story, problem is the story is weak and his bad personality quirks stand out way to much. Rita is the insufferable genius mage with a heart of gold, maybe it's me but she's feels way too mean spirited, as in she's an A-hole too many times without getting called out on it, if she couldn't spam Tidal Wave people wouldn't like her as much. I like Raven and he actually has a nice character arc but his flirty 'old man' personality doesn't click with me when he's 35, it feels like they tried to combine Zelos' (Symphonia) flirting and Jade's (Abyss) old man excuses without understanding the reasons why Zelos and Jade act like that, also Rowen (Xillia) an actual old man in his 60's who's a gentleman really makes Raven look pathetic. Judith has a good personal reason for doing the things she does in the story and her gameplay is very satisfying, but for the rest there isn't a lot of depth to her character, and the creators know this or else she wouldn't be such brazen fan service. Repede is cool but most likely created so they didn't have to developed another humanoid character with dreams, motivations, etc. Flynn I really like, in fact I wanted him to be more in the story cause I feel like the dynamic between him and Yuri is actually one the stronger points in the game. I actually really like Patty because I found her to be actually funny and there's a lot more to her than at first glance. Yeah, this cast really fell flat IMO.

[@cjqcresent292]

When you laid it out like that, the cast of Vesperia doesn't seem that bad as like Zestiria and Hearts (Zestiria being the worst one, yes even worse than Tempest's cast). For a game that gets heavily praised, Rebirth ends up having a better overall cast of characters over Vesperia (even though I see Vaigue becoming not as well liked as Yuri or even Luke, simply because of his personality).

[@ramsesjfg7668]

My first Tales game was Abyss, and Vesperia didn't do it for me either, although I loved that the visuals and gameplay were basically a more polished Abyss. I recommend you play Tales of the Abyss, because the story, cast, and soundtrack are all fantastic. Unlike Vesperia, it won't disappoint you. In fact, it will surprise you.

[@radianttrails939]

Loved this analysis. It's so interesting to see how split this one is for people. Personally, Vesperia is one of my favorite Tales of games, but I'm in agreement with you on some of your criticisms for sure. I loved the theme they had going initially, and then the third act change-up kind of threw me for a loop. Also, the Tales of games at this time had a lot of great secrets and side content but if you were new to the series (like I was when playing this one) I didn't know to backtrack to different locations or where to look for some of them so I missed out on some great side content which is a shame. I loved the characters and story overall though

[@leontan6452]

(sorry for my bad english) Hi, I just finished the game and wanna to find someone to review on it , and i found you. And what surprised me is that you using so many trail series material in this video, like the opening bgm and estelle. AND god i love it so much Btw trails was my favorite JRPG series so far😆😆Really detail and honest opinions in this video, love it 😆💪

[@albundy1485]

You're not alone brother. We share the same opinion about this game. You should try Berseria , though. It's way better.

[@DeiZeiga]

Is Trails really that good I’m kinda diving into the world of JRPG’s I’m currently doing Vesperia and I’m loving it so far.

[@AsbelLhant100]

Yes, it's got the best world-building I've seen in some time. The story is pretty good, characters are quite enjoyable, and the ost is frigging fantastic

[@TheKisekiNut]

My channel is mostly dedicated to Falcom and Trails, so my opinion will be bias. But yes, it is the best JRPG series I know of and likely will remain that way.

[@DeiZeiga]

@@AsbelLhant100 I’m dreading it since I heard it’s all one connected story across multiple games like Kingdom Hearts which I love KH but still😅

[@DeiZeiga]

@@TheKisekiNut Damn that’s a hell of a recommendation I’ll try it someday

[@Arcangel23XX]

My take contains MASSIVE SPOILERS, expand at your own risk. I have a soft spot for Vesperia, and it honestly still sits in my top 5 Tales games, maybe top 3, but that's a harder discussion to have right now. I agree though that as the years have gone on its story is a lot harder to recall as I go on. However, I have always cared more about characters and gameplay than story as I feel it's hard to tell a unique story anymore, so give me characters that'll make me remember it. Yuri's willingness to become a vigilante because of his own sense of justice was very compelling for me, and I think he's a big reason this game gets so much praise. Yuri knows exactly who he is, and what he's willing to do. But as you said, this kinda stops mattering after the Don's death. Judith's conviction is also compelling, willing to do anything to save the planet, even piss Rita off once they're friends was great. What does that amount to? Nothing. She steps out of the party for a bit, Rita finds her reasonings completely reasonable once Hermes Blastia are explained, and Judith's "punishment" is a slap on the wrist. Like...what? It's frustrating because her and Yuri have great chemistry, a sense of justice they're willing to break laws over, and yet both of them lose all their agency and any semblance of romance by the end of the game-and yes I am bitter Yuri doesn't end up with her. I could go on, because I genuinely love Veaperia's cast, but their own agency seems to get twisted into a save the world plot that basically stops challenging their convictions entirely. Yuri and Judith don't need to worry about their justice because all the moral grayness evaporates from the plot, Estelle has massive Lutonarrative dissonance going on with her arts killing the world except in gameplay because we can't outright remove your main healer. Raven gets all depressed and martyr complex for less than an hour of the story before he's back to being his old self. By the end of it all Rita and Karol are the only characters that feel like they grow at all, and frankly outside Rita's shipping intensity with Estelle I'm not entirely certain she grew much either. The gameplay and early story hard carries this game, and I have many fond memories with it. I wonder if some of that perception is because the alternative around that time was Symphonia 2, and the less said about that the better. It's a good game, but it gets misguided when it decides it needs to start shifting to the save the world plot and abandons any themes it was trying to establish. Still, Yuri, Judith, Rita, and Raven all stand as some of my favorite Tales characters, but I think I'd much rather play Berseria or Arise again these days.

[@Lee-ml9uw]

Ya know, I spent a lot of time playing Vesperia and I like that game more for the battle system than the story. It didn't grab me as much as other stories. In fact, it is still my favorite battle system in Tales with Symphonia and Abyss a close second. (I didn't play all of the Tales of games, but I played a bunch of them) As a side note, I rate the story from Tales of the Abyss better than Vesperia, personally. It hit harder and stayed with me in the long run. Back to Vesperia, I really liked learning different combo routes and the ways I can get certain things done during the fights. Especially when you make characters really broken like Yuri and Rita. I can still hear Rita shouting "Blah, blah, blah!" when she speed/insta-casts magic, lol. Oh, and like you, I too am hoping Arise will be good for bot story and battle system!

[@christianlopez707]

Hope you still play DQ11 down the line. It's a great JRPG.

[@bradmelville6806]

I’m in the same boat. I got about 50% though and felt like playing was a chore.

[@AlkonKomm]

I am a huge Tales fan, I have finished berseria, xillia, xillia 2, abyss and zestiria, and I could genuinely not even make it through vesperia. The only Tales game (so far) that I couldn't finish. I wholeheartedly believe people are blinded by their nostalgia on this one. It has a nice artstyle that aged well, an okay cast of characters (the MC is really awesome), and .. that's it. The story is downright bad and lacks direction, the OST is mediocre, the pacing sucks, and the combat feels clunky (you can get into it if you keep at it, buts its not intuitive at all) I think there is simply nothing this game excels at. Abyss has a better cast of characters, Xillia (especially 2) has better combat, zestiria has better soundtrack, and so on. To anybody who wants to get into tales, but didn't like vesperia: Give it another shot, and start with Xillia 1 or berseria (in my opinion), which don't feel as dated and clunky as Vesperia.

[@darknesswave100]

About the only thing good about Zesteria is the music. The characters besides edna are awful, the story is terrible and Sorey is the worst protagonist they've ever came up with. Just my opinion of course

[@AlkonKomm]

@@darknesswave100 I agree, I didn't like zestiria either, BUT I still managed to finish it. Why? It felt like an overly ambitious project that failed in many regards, but I still found it kind of memorable, even if it's one of my least favorite tales games. My point wasn't that zestiria is better than vesperia, I don't think it is, but that vesperia is so... mediocre/generic in almost all regards that I'd still rather play a bad game that has some things that stick out. In case of zestiria I really LOVED the soundtrack, I found the worldbuilding and atmosphere to be quite good (same world as berseria, different time), and the combat had some good ideas, but an awful camerasystem. Tales games I genuinely enjoyed so far were Xillia, Berseria and Abyss. I think those are all way better games than Vesperia ever was, but I am definitely in the minority thinking this.

[@MrGnuh]

me too! but it's a messy, broken stutterfest that makes my physically sick. ON EVERY PLATTFORM! i love the charming characters but throwing up and deal with headaches, just to play a game? screw that...

[@klissattack]

The remaster of this pissed me off. They main dude has such a different voice from scene to scene because they couldn't get Troy Baker back and they didn't redub it all...

[@nanamikado999]

The worst part is that they didn't even try to get Troy Baker to dub the definitive edition. He was really upset about that

[@vagos976]

I tried to like it as well, but I just wasn’t having fun. It wasn’t for me either. Same with Symphonia. I didn’t like the gameplay at all, especially the combat. However, with Berseria, I was having some fun, but right before the final dungeon, I was getting tired of it as well and I had lost interest. Still hyped for Arise though, it seems different and I really hope that it will be the first Tales Of game that I’ll like. Kind of funny that, after I dropped Berseria (the last out of the 3 that I tried), I thought “maybe JRPGs aren’t for me anymore, maybe I just grew out of them”. Then, the next day after that, I began my Trails journey with Sky FC. And hoo boy, I was wrong about “growing out of JRPGs”! I loved every second of it, both gameplay and story wise, that I binged 5 games in a row (that’s when I found your channel as well). Didn’t regret it at all. Currently playing CS1 and still going. Loving the series so far. Turns out, I’m still into JRPGs, but Tales Of weren’t for me.

[@Nikita_Akashya]

Personally, I enjoyed the few tales of games I played. Though to be fair, I only played like four or five games in the series. Symphonia 1&2, Phantasia, Vesperia and Abyss. Vesperia was literally the only game I didn't really like. I hate the menu in Vesperia and the Story is all over the place. My favorite Tales of game to this day is Abyss. It just had the best story in my eyes. Maybe that's just because I liked the theme of Abyss so much. My favorite track is a rendition of the opening called Meaning of Birth. It's amazing. I played Sky FC too last year and am about to start Azure. I just got Cold Steel 1&2 installed on my PC and am ready to go once I finish Azure. And from what I can see in the guide Azure is not that long. Which is great, because that means I can start Cold Steel faster. My dad got me Cold Steel 3 for my birthday and I can't wait to play it. God, i hope I don't burn through these games too soon. I hope I can hold out until Hajimari and Nayuta come to the west. Although i could play something else in the meantime. I was planning to play Cold Steel 2 at least twice after all. I personally liked Symphonia a lot. I used Presea a lot in combat. I don't know, it just feels very satisfying to land a good hit with that axe.

[@vagos976]

@@Nikita_AkashyaI haven’t played Abyss, but I’m thinking of checking it out on KZbin for the story (too old for me to play it right now. It also has the same pseudo-2D fighting combat that Tales of had, which I cannot stand personally). As for Azure, it took me 95 hours to beat it, (I’m not using guides though, so time may vary) making it my second longest until now, only behind CS1 which lasted about 104 hours (finished that one as well, was playing it when I wrote my first comment. So, I’m currently at CS2). Personally, I found CS1 to be my least favourite Trails game up until now. However I’m really enjoying CS2 way more than 1, despite its filler. My favs are Sky 3rd and Azure atm. It’s all a matter of taste though, so you might enjoy CS1 way more than I do. Have fun with Azure! It’s amazing 😉

[@megasoniczxx]

Even though I actually do like the game now, I can never blame anybody for not liking it as much these days since I can completely understand where they're coming from. Gameplay wise, Vesperia takes way too long to open up compared to the other games in the series (it really only gets good by NG+) and it's story really isn't the best although the character interactions are among my favorites in the series. Shame that it couldn't hook you but maybe you'll turn around on it at some point. That's kind of how it was for me with Star Ocean 3 for instance, it was a game that I initially hated but grew to love over time because of a lot of its unique qualities and interesting content compared to most other JRPGs.

[@Latronibus]

I think much of what you said here is overstated, especially about things other than the main story. But I do agree with a lot of your criticism of the main story. The big thing that damages my memory of Vesperia is the really sharp "seams" between the acts. There's the first act that's actually directly instigated by the inciting incident at the beginning, there's a sort of faffing about act in the middle (which seems like it's what really dragged you down), and there's the third act. The first act is great, with a lot of character...fleshing out, I guess I would say, as it is for the most part not "development" as you mentioned in the video. The third act is perfectly serviceable. Its theming is really on the nose in a bad way, and the extreme amount of JRPG good guy optimism gets pretty ridiculous, but it's alright. It had a really great Well Intentioned Extremist character in there, which I tend to like better than the objectively evil kind of villains. But the worst thing is the second act. Not only do I not really remember what happened in it (I mostly remember a lot of circling back to Dahngrest), I don't recall how it actually led into the third act. It seemed like the third act just kinda started without warning. To be sure there were hints sprinkled all about in regards to the actual conflict of the third act (some but far from all of which are embedded in side content scenes), but it didn't really seem like that was the direction they were going until it suddenly was. That said, I could say something pretty similar about a lot of Cold Steel, CS4 in particular has a similarly pointless second act.