Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Temple of Kraden News: Welcome to the Temple of Kraden! ------ All worshipers may enter the Most Holy Place in single file, reflecting on the bountiful blessing Kraden hath provided unto him or herself since their last visit. Head coverings are not necessary, as true penitence and humility are found within. The Priests and Priestesses of Kraden endeavor to remind all that fresh orange juice is heavily preferred; only whores use frozen.
Greetings, heathen. Perhaps some fortuitous blessing of Kraden's grace hath led you to our humble Temple, or perhaps you are simply curious about this strange and wonderful cult. Should you be willing - and dare to hope - to achieve enlightenment, the door opens before you. Lo! Leave your old life behind! For once you step through, you become something more than just yourself.

You become a Kradenette.

Are you willing to make the rapturous plunge? Do you have what it takes?



One of us! One of us! One of us!



Already one of us? Make your presence known:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Tales of Vesperia
Topic Started: Jul 16 2008, 03:10 AM (454 Views)
sirkibble2
Member Avatar


I'm sure a good portion of you are Tales fans and I'm sure most of you have beaten, or at least played Tales of Symphonia. Well, if you have an Xbox 360, the demo for this game is out. I'm currently grinding on the game figuring out all the nuances about it so you'll see a lengthy post from me sooner or later detailing all my thoughts.

Here are some quick things I've already found:

-- There is cooking
-- There is free roam during battle
-- Everything is voice-acted; everything
-- Seems like air recovery is gone but i have to play with it some more
-- Enemies seem a little less aggressive but i might be imagining ToS wrong


Those are the things I immediately noticed. However, at the moment, if you don't have a 360, this game is looking to be a reason to get one but we'll see what I say after I've gotten off of Cloud 9. XD
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jackal
Member Avatar
Come and Take It - Temple Tsundere

I have the demo, I just have to play it. It looks intresting, that's for sure.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sirkibble2
Member Avatar


So this what I’ve found out after playing the demo and you can probably clear up the rest of the information on IGN or Gamespot.

Basically, there are 5 characters; Yuri, a former knight who is now a fugitive; Rita, a mage renowned for her blastia research; Karol, a very young and eccentric kid and Estelle who seems to be a healer and the typical naive character of the group. There is also a dog whose name is Repele. His appearance in the cutscene was very, very brief but he is the fourth battler. Karol does not fight.

In the cutscene, the enter an unpopulated area called Ehmead Hill which one had a barrier protecting it. From what I’ve read, there are barriers placed all around the world of Vesperia and they protect various towns from the dangers of monsters. In order to successfully do that, the are powered by Blastia which is an ancient technology that can be mined and used as an energy source for a variety of things.

We then find out that the barrier was destroyed. How it was destroyed is under speculation. It seems that Rita believes it was destroyed from poor care of the blastia in the barrier but Karol suggests that it was destroyed by a “dragon rider.” Karol’s option seems rather silly since a human riding a dragon has not been heard of.

The overworld system functions in the same way as Tales of Symphonia. You can access the menu and all of its options; enemies are roaming the world and various cutscenes can be seen from running into certain things.

The menu system all works the same also. The difference I see is that there are these things called “Artes” which I guess are the special abilities of the characters and these are the things that use TP.

On the map menu, you can view the amount of time you’ve played, your Over Limit gauge (which I’ll get to later) your characters and all their stats, the amount of hits each character has given, your Gald and the play time.

The menu options include Artes, Equipment, Items, Skills, Strategy, Cooking, Status, Library and of course the save and load function.

The Artes menu allows you to adjust your Artes and change their shortcuts. The default for using your Artes is the A button. The items menu allows you to use your items obviously. I didn’t come across any new items in the demo. The equipment menu obviously lets you change equipment but I didn’t have any other equipment so I couldn’t use the option.

The Skills menu allows you to view customize the skills you can have. You are provided with an array of skills (I’m not sure if you can earn more) and each one has a number, called Skill Points, corresponding with that skill. There is also SP (Skill Points) meter of 20 points (not sure if that number can increase) and the more skills you add, the more that meter drops. Of course, how much a skill takes is determined by that corresponding number. I mentioned that the aerial recovery may have been taken out but it is actually a skill now called “recover” taking up three SP.

There are various skills in the game. Some help guard from magic, some help increase attack, some help defense and others increase the Over Limit gauge and there’s one that let’s items be used repeatedly without any delay.

In the strategy menu, it seems you can set different AI strategies to the control pad and use them as shortcuts during battle. However, after testing during battle, it seems that those D-pad commands relate to the Over Limit gauge which I find awkward.

The cooking menu lets you create your meals just like in ToS. I didn’t have any ingredients so I couldn’t play with the option.

The Status and Library menus were not available in the demo.

The battle is similar to ToS but it is much more streamlined, especially when the skills are involved. Probably one of the best advancements is that fact that you can free roam in the battle now. If you hold the L button, you can move freely all around the battle arena which, you will find to be very, very helpful.

The most interesting thing about the new system is the Over Limit gauge. Unfortunately, I do not have much details on it. I can say that it can be filled by taunts if that skill is activated but otherwise, I believe it is filled by performing Artes. When you press a direction on the D-pad, something activates and the Over Limit guage drops. What happens is beyond me at this point. I have found that some of my skills are able to be used but other than that, it seems only the instruction book can solve my curiosity. It also seems that you can’t activate the Over Limit moves even when you have some of it filled so I’m not sure what parameters it takes to activate it.

[Update] There's a new item called a Limit Bottle which fills your Over Limit Gauge. There are also two levels to the Over Limit gauge so I'm not sure if the Limit Bottle will fill only the level you're in or all the way to Level 2.

And long post is really long. O_O
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Delfeir
Member Avatar
Adachi is not amused.

Artes are skills, as you mentioned, and since Tales of Eternia, magic/skills/techs are typically called that. It seems to switch every game or so between those and techs/skills/magic. I think Tales of the Abyss called them Artes while Symphonia still called them Techs, but I digress.

Sounds like an interesting game. If the storyline holds up then it would definitely be worth looking into getting a 360.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
HyrulianJedi
Member Avatar
uguu~
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Hmm. This makes the fourth RPG I want on the 360.

I guess it's time to get one.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ReidAlvein
Member Avatar
If left blank, your default title currently will be: Phasmatis of Elementum

As a Tales fan I can't help but to play any Tales game, guess I'll get a 360 sooner or later.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
ZetaBoards gives you all the tools to create a successful discussion community.
Learn More · Register for Free
« Previous Topic · Games · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Affiliates

Golden Sun Universe Golden Sun Hacking Community The Lost Waters Golden Sun Land Golden Sun Adept's Refuge Golden Sunrise

Visit the Zetaboards Theme Zone for a custom theme of your own!