I Tried To Like Tales of Vesperia

I Tried To Like Tales of Vesperia
A game that was on my backlog for 2021, and one of the titles I was looking forward to playing.
Unfortunately, Tales of Vesperia just didn't do it for me, which is a shame as some fans consider this to be the best the Series has to offer.
Though it had the odd flash of excellence, mostly due to the main protagonist, my overall experience just felt flat and unfulfilling.
It's a shame, but it does happen once in a while.
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Songs Used:
Zero no Kiseki OST - Afternoon in Crossbell
Ao no Kiseki OST - A New Daily Life
Ao no Kiseki OST - Seize The Truth
Sen no Kiseki II OST - Blue Destination
Sora no Kiseki SC OST - Looking Up at the Sky
Ao no Kiseki OST - A Barrier to Get Over
Sen no Kiseki IV OST - Lyrical Amber

[@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.

[@EVERYWHERE_MAN]

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

[@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 . . . .

[@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!

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@lionablaze8747]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@TalesofCROWE]

God I loved watching this video, thank you for this. Liked and Subbed

[@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.

[@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...)

[@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.

[@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.

[@samuelflores2219]

Out of curiosity, do you intend on watching any analysis videos on certain topics about Vesperia? A personal favorite of mine is ZaffreRevolution's video about Yuri and Estelle. Gave me a different perspective on certain scenes was a decent watch all around.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Nah - I only watch deep analysis videos on games that interest me, in titles that I 'want' to learn more about. Vesperia doesn't fit that bill.

[@ankr3w1]

This is the first Tales game I played and finished. I've since played Zesteria and Berseria and I'm halfway thru Arise currently. I love them all in their own ways.

[@Makuro_XIII]

Great review, Mate! I had some troubles with the pacing of the game sometimes, but overall I really liked it! And I think that Vesperia is a good entry point for new Tales players. I would recommend it 👍🏽.

[@cletus223]

I got Tales of Berseria during the Steam Summer Sale but I am worried as I wasn't really able to get into Tales of Phantasia or Symphonia. When I tried Phantasia I remembered what the issue was: the random battles became unmanageable. The problem is I took damage in every battle but could only carry 15 of each food item, also the cost of food and resting was less than I was getting from battles or not much more. Unless I was supposed a lot more than I normally, which is usually a lot already, I could barely keep my characters alive; in Phantasia it was after the Golem Cave (I think that's what it's called) and when I got to Midgard, the piranha type enemies were especially bad. Did anyone have similar trouble with Tales of Berseria?

[@arcticpunda3061]

The side jokes were too good XD

[@fieryredpodcast]

The Don's arc was my favorite, and the finale surprised me.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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

[@feedthedevilscats9027]

I also feel very similar to you about the way Vesperia delievered its story. At first it felt like it was building towards something but gets sidelined and from then on the character's just wander aimlessly until they come across plot point X and Y and so on, things just get more wishy-washy and the characters dialogue stops feeling meaningful. The gameplay was enjoyable enough but also switched between being fun and being too difficult too many times for my liking to the point where it felt like I kind of had to manage it myself. Yuri is definitely the star of the show (or game in this case) and was a nice change of pace. While the "Tales" series of games aren't great at their stories by their plot and characters, I do prefer a lot of the other titles to this one. Either because of nostalgia, which I'm not ashamed to admit, or just because they fell more in line with my tastes and preferences.

[@nadiareads6359]

I actually agree with you. I beat tales of vesperia once two years ago in 2020 and never picked it up again, until yesterday. I want to see if I can do a second play through but I don't know. When I played the game and beat it two years ago I was excited to experience the story but it didn't grab me like previous titles of the series did. All I did was beat the game and put it back on my shelf. Now games like final fantasy X I always find myself going back to no problem.

[@moseslalmuanpuia8988]

where can I find the version of "afternoon in crossbell" you used in the beginning ?

[@makotoyuki345]

Tbh I understand. At first I tried it cuz I wanted to see the hype and honestly 3 hours in I just decided to screw that and enjoy it on my own terms I like Vesperia now, the characters, the combat etc I think the story is fine but I think the biggest take away from the writing is the characters (+ I also do wish act 3 continued the theme in act 2 and act 1 as well). But your criticism is genuinely solid and I do agree

[@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...

[@HappyLittleWorker]

Congrats, you made me wanna play Vesperia again

[@SirBanana1992]

You perfectly put into words exactly what I thought about Vesperia. It was still good but to finally play it many years later after so much hype it was easily the most disappointing Tales game, not the worst though. I loved the gameplay for sure and more than anything playing Repede, but everything else was nowhere near what everyone was stating it to be. I am unsure which plotpoint you are referring to that was dropped but I'm 99% sure it is the same too, seeing as the "payoff" was a short abrupt scene of a minute or two that didn't give any action consequences and whenever it was brought up in a conversation later every other character acted dumb as if to dismiss it immediately. I was utterly frustrated because it was my favorite theme so far.

[@Tuinuiski]

Thank you for posting this. Vesperia is on sale on the Nintendo eshop at the moment and I'm very tempted even after watching your video. I was worried that the combat system would be bad, and according to you this is not the case. The story, dialogue and such don't matter to me greatly. Anyway, great video, didn't quite dissuade me but I still like it.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I hope you have a better time than me! It was never my intention to dissuade others from trying it out themselves, but integrity is important to me with these reviews. If I don't enjoy something then I'll straight up say it.

[@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

[@Bakuuren]

I've only played Tales of the Abyss but I thought it was pretty solid. Um, any suggestions on which Tales game I should play next? I was thinking Symphonia.

[@joerittmeyer4490]

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

[@keiv54]

Man, you don't need to be that rude 😂

[@EVERYWHERE_MAN]

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.

[@wendyjones3967]

I played the heck out of Tales of the Abyss. Loved it. I tried to play Vesperia but never finished (can't remember how far I got). I can't speak about other Tales games since I've only played Abyss, my attempt at Vesperia and Arise.

[@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.

[@Chronosassassin]

I feel ya here. The same friends that got me into the Trails series would tell me time and again about Vesperia. Well Trails was a homerun for me so Vesperia must be either the same or close to it. But I always found the game lacking a certain something that I couldn't figure out. Hearing you talk about it though puts all that into perspective.

[@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).

[@wenchwogg8843]

I was really excited to play this, after all the hype I heard for years. But yea, I gave up after the first act. Agree with a lot of your points. Something that drove me crazy in the Definitive Edition was the fact that Troy Baker didn't voice all of Yuri's lines - I found it so distracting when it switched to the other actor (Grant George I think). If I go back I'll probably play in Japanese

[@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 😆💪

[@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.

[@HyouVizer]

Vesperia is one of my most fav Tales games of all time 💜 That being said I respect the hell out of this video for stating how they felt about the game is a nice way while providing reasons for each thing they didn't like too 👍 The Blastia ex machina thing yep 100% agree. Tales of Xilla does same thing but with "mana lobes" just poor your mana into anything and it'll work out basically 🙃 Edit: oh i forgot to mention, maybe try Tales of the Abyss? I loved its story way more than Vesperia. Its on PS2 for US and JPN but UK/EU didn't get it until years later with 3DS port. I'd recommend PS2 emulation honestly if possible

[@TheKisekiNut]

I've heard that Tales of Abyss has a great narrative despite how dated it appears to be in other aspects. Problem is I'll have to set up PS2 emulation first before I can give it a whirl... But if I get the time and means to do so, it's definitely one I want to check out.

[@zodiarkkenway279]

Aster town's theme as an outro. Liked!

[@mhasemore]

I think after playing the fantastic story of the games you mentioned, makes the disjointed story of Vesperia more apparent. However, I am curious about how you felt this compared to Symphonia. I personally loved the story and characters of Symphonia but actually progressing was a pain in the ass at the time (forest fish puzzle cough cough).

[@TheKisekiNut]

I don't know what it was, but Symphonia just resonated better with me. Maybe it was because I was just getting back in to JRPG's around that time, who knows. But all I know is that I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and it was my positive experience with that game that made me think I'd like Vesperia too.

[@ghaithshafie9970]

this is a very late reply but screw it i agree about what you said regarding symphonia, the story was really captivating but it felt like a chore to enjoy it. me personally, i stop somewhere to the end and watched a walkthrough cause it felt like the gameplay ruining the story to me

[@MetalGearRaxis]

Have you done a review for Berseria?

[@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

[@yongkysiaw6597]

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

[@keroclow9059]

So what are you thinking of the newest tales of games ?

[@strwrbttlfrnt]

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

[@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

[@JoelAe]

I started with Symphonia and then went back to Phantasia (GBA version). I want to try out Vesperia and Abyss since I actually prefer the 2D combat system as I enjoy the 2D animation for the techs. Can someone who has play both retro and newer Tales games (Graces, Berseria, Xillia, Zestiria etc), tell me their experience switching from 2D to 3D? thank you.

[@neogamer6461]

I enjoyed Vesperia overall but the story can get pretty confusing at times especially towards the last arc. When they refer to the blastia and the history of the entelekeia (I don't know how to spell it), it was doing my head in and I just wanted to finish the story. The gameplay was great though. It took time to get used to but I was really hooked by the time I finished the first town. The characters were for the majority pretty well done especially Yuri but yeah sometimes, the story of some of them feels aimless or has no real purpose. Great review.

[@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.

[@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

[@jerrygottwald2997]

Interesting take. I am currently playing through Vesperia for the first time (near the end of arc 2), and i've been enjoying almost everything in the game so far, although a lot of it took some getting used to. I guess the main difference is I went in with no expectations in regard to story, since I hadn't heard anything about it and I had mixed experiences with other Tales games (loved Berseria to death, but Zestiria was a huge disappointment). Regardless, this was an entertaining video and you made some good points.

[@brazyfever787]

Was the theme you were referring was the Justice theme ?

[@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.

[@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

[@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?

[@MrRPGcrazy]

You are not the only one. I liked it when it came out but when I played the PS4 version I liked it even less, Its not a bad game at all but it does not really intrigue me for pretty much the same reasons. I do value characters more then story myself but none of them did impress me that much in this game.

[@torinmccabe]

I am glad you showed your rating system because for me "themes" are usually what I hate most about stories since they are often contrived and cliched. Characters and plot are also often cliched but they often also have a self-aware humor to them, yet with themes people tend to think "oh how deep muh theeeemes are". Vesperia was great for its characters who were a nice mix of seriousness and humor.

[@jacobmonks3722]

I don't think themes have to be contrived or cliched, it's all about the presentation and how the themes nake the story more cohesive. Vesperia doesn't really have a cohesive theme, and I can see that being a detriment to people who wanted more out of the story, especially when you have played RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Final Fantasy VI.

[@statesminds]

Damn this became one of my favorite jrpgs ever on xbox 360 and now I own it on xbox and switch. Sucks you couldn't get into it I was younger teen when I first played it tho so maybe that has to do with it. I named my palamute in MonHun Rise Repede. I tried hard to get hooked on Atelier Ryza but it was hard for me to get into

[@shuntsec9978]

currently playing it. didnt know what i expect but imma continue since its tales series.

[@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.

[@togashifc]

To be fair, I find myself in your shoes as I played a lot of those highly acclaimed titles, namely DQXI, Ni No Kuni, World of Final Fantasy, Lost Odyssey, etc. If you haven’t already, I would recommend playing Xenogears since it has one of the most complex story and a lovely cast of characters in a JRPG imo. I notice as I grow older I begin to appreciate stories that have a lot of depth more than those with a light-hearted tone. Anyways, thanks for sharing your honest opinion!

[@AngelofAmbrosia]

I got through the game when I first played it on Xbox 360…however…I tried to replay the DE…I really did…but I couldn’t do it. I tried to love the story too but it didn’t grab me the same way Abyss, Berseria, and others did. Like you, I wanted it to keep with initial, darker tones of the story. But they were never revisited. Perhaps it’s hard for me to replay because Berseria went SUPER dark and I loved it for it. But I do LOVE the “Ring a Bell” from the opening. 😅 I appreciate this video because this is how I felt with Vesperia too.

[@chrisglare6354]

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

[@Omnibus4Everyone]

Edit: Oh btw, you might want to replay Lost Odyssey. I recently replayed it and the story, albeit good, isn't written half as decent as I remembered (not counting the 1000 years of dreams, but the actual plot). --- I can't imagine this video going over well in the 'Tales of fanbase' xD I applaud your honesty and your courage to go against the grain in criticizing a beloved game. Tales of Vesperia is easily among my most favorite games of all time. I ended up importing the Japanese PS3 version back in the day and playing it endlessly to this day. I love the world, the characters, and the story. And even though my bias is so strong, that I can already feel something welling up inside of me at the mere thought of someone criticizing Vesperia, you're absolutely right. The story does fall flat. The theme, which in your honor, I'll leave unnamed, is abandoned and some of the dialogue is, well it's typical RPG bullshit at times. I can still remember being disappointed during my very first playthrough, several times when several set-ups got no payoff. Or poor payoffs. Critical elements to the plot are left unexplored for no reason. Nowadays I'm blind to the faults. the flaws are essentially white noise to me. However, unlike most of the comments I see down below, I'd still argue that Vesperia is among the best games in the franchise, simply because every other game in the series does one thing infinitely better and one thing horrendously worse, whereas Vesperia does everything at least all right, or good. Also, as an aside. Comparing Vesperia to DQ11 isn't exactly comparing apples to apples in my opinion, but regardless; those people calling dq11 "a charming game, but falls short" or "not one of the best" are insane to me. Wow...

[@marcuswagner9604]

Well I can agree that the main characters do kinda just stumble into the plot points most of the time, I think it was more of they tried to keep things to be to much of a surprise most of this could have been fixed with more outside input from the main villains and what they are doing rather then just dumping it on you. That said I would recommend the story of tale of Abyss though I don't know if you have the platforms to play it on, but I felt the story to be more compelling or at least enough to finish the game for me, and that is not because I don't want to just that I got to then endgame and found out I was missing a bunch of stuff that I forgot to upgrade that was necessary to pull off the better damage numbers and got stuck there and didn't micro manage my saves so I would be better off starting a new game so I lost energy for it and started something else and haven't gotten back to it.

[@bruxplays2914]

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

[@wiseguy240Winston]

Wasn't big on the combat and music but the story and characters kept me hooked cause they did great there.

[@invalidname182]

Great video. I felt the exact same way about the game. I liked Yuri, and I tried hard to like the game surrounding him, but none of it resonated with me. Did the game have a plot? I know he wanted to fix his water fountain, but what after? I agree with all your takes and I don't think you could've said it any better.

[@djgizmoe]

Yep, just finished this yesterday, and though I'd recommend it overall because I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, all of your points about the story and optional content are spot on; all the blastia technobabble did nothing to connect me emotionally or intellectually to the proceedings, and there was a lot of it. I might also add that though the Japanese voice actors are all quite good, the English voice cast is terribly wooden (imho). However, all that said, Yuri is one of my favorite protagonists in gaming, and I appreciated the way that some of his morally dubious (but entirely defensible) actions were presented. It would have been very easy to martyr him at the end had the writers felt he was a bad role model that needed to sacrifice himself for his sins (I really though that was where we were headed), but it thankfully never happened.

[@bradmelville6806]

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

[@unleashed2724]

I only made it half way (I think) through this game. Nothing really grabbed me in terms of the story. The combat was alright. I know I shouldn’t leave it unfinished but it feels impossible for me to go back at this point. My favourite Tales game right now is Tales of Berseria. Now that wasn’t my first Tales game if anyone was wondering. Tales of Zestiria was my first. I started Tales of Xillia on PS3 a couple of months ago, but can’t continue it because I have no controller anymore for it.

[@chariothe9013]

I tried to like some of tales of games that i played(zest, bers, ves) but none of them is really standout or get a place in my heart or memorable to me, then i decided to get into Kiseki series start with trails in the sky, and i’m having a blast, i love dialogues , love Estelle love Joshua love every moment of the game, still playing not finish yet.

[@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.

[@Feorh]

uhm... and what about Utawarerumono (my experience starts from deception and truth first) series story there is solid and mind blowing with all characters developed. Yes its VN with awesome tactical elements but i'd like you just try it somehow.

[@orangegespenst5854]

i understand why you feel that way about vesperia. i think part of it's populairty was that it was one of the few jrpgs that released on the xbox 360 also for me my list for things that affect my enjoyment of an rpg is like: graphics at the bottom followed up with both gameplay and story (can't really decided which of the two is more important to me) second highest for me is soundtrack (nothing throws me out of a game more then a boring or bad soundtrack) with character's being at the top ( it's the most important part to me because that's what draws me into a world are the character and their interactions with each other)

[@cjqcresent292]

You should check out Evergrace's soundtrack.

[@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

[@raven_g6667]

I'm playing it rn. I'm in the same boat, i'm really trying to like it. I tried playing it a few years ago but dropped it cuz I couldn't get into it. I'm just trying to finish it so I can maybe start seeing what everybody else sees in it.

[@albundy1485]

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

[@davidrobinson7768]

I first played the nintendo switch version last year and couldn't get into it. I gave it another chance some months later and I'm enjoying it. I'm 55 hours in at the moment.

[@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.

[@jdivund]

I really liked playing Vesperia, my only problem was the side quests, I didn’t understand the side quests mechanics and basically ran a good bit of the story before realizing that side quests had to meet certain conditions. And I wasn’t in the mood to replay the game because of that ONE difficulty spike

[@keiichimorisato98]

And side quests are timed too, so if you progress the story past a certain point, you loose access to side quests, and each side quest has a different point in the story that locks you out of them.

[@jaydiggy86]

Tried to play it (first game in series ive tried) but got bored pretty quickly, plus combat felt janky and didnt vibe with me. Moved on to trails of cold steel and fell in love. sooo good

[@noname-sd1tc]

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

[@asaka616]

Did you even play DQ XI? it IS good.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Not yet - it's on the desktop to play soon.

[@Nezan]

Love the attention to Estelle 😂

[@Lovellyoungwolf]

Yeah, I'm having a hard time playing it. Especially coming from playing Besaria (spelled that wrong I think lol). Everyone kept talking about how great it was so I decided to jump on it and.... Well, I'm not having to much fun for a lot of the reasons you've stated

[@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.

[@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

[@nafisishtiaque]

New one looking very good

[@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.

[@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.