#or ‘actually zestiria is still my favourite storyline’

[kresnikcest]

Trying to think of an April Fools bit this blog could theoretically have that would be believable for me

Probably something like “surprise! I’m actually changing my url to something Xillia themed!” only to change back after

[kaleidographia]

[Review] Tales of Vesperia: The Brightest Star in the Night Sky Doesn't Shine as Strongly as I'd Hoped

Warning: Contains allusive/thematic spoilers.

The day is finally here! Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, containing content previously unseen outside of Japan, has finally been released, so that us English speakers and/or non-PS3 owners can experience the new storylines, characters and features for the first time! Alas, this isn’t a post about that, firstly because this post is going up day-of-release and I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, and secondly because I am writing this from outside of the country and won’t be united with my pre-ordered copy until I return next week, RIP.

Therefore, this post is written from the point of view of someone who has only played the Xbox 360 version. I will try to keep it brief for the sake of not spoiling newcomers to the game, and also hopefully not to complain about things that are fixed (or broken??) in the Definitive Edition.

Tales of Vesperia is a game in the long-running “Tales of” franchise from Bandai Namco, the first one in HD, originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2008, later receiving an updated PS3 version in 2009, exclusive to Japan. Like many older fans, my introduction to the Tales of series was with Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, and I fell in love hard; I was therefore extremely excited to play the next games, but unfortunately, I never owned the platforms for them until very recently. Along with Tales of the Abyss, Vesperia and Symphonia form the “holy trinity” of games in the series almost everyone loves; find a Tales fan and ask them their favourite game, and the answer will likely be one of those three (note: I’ve heard very good things about Graces and the two Xillia games, but unfortunately haven’t had a chance to judge them firsthand myself). The three games, while not directly related in terms of plot or setting, share a lot of things in common, as they had mostly the same creative team, often referred to as “Team Symphonia” (as opposed to “Team Destiny” which made most other games since then). One notable difference is the scenario writer, Takashi Hasegawa, while Symphonia and Abyss were written by Takumi Miyajima.

The Tales series is known for its reliance on anime and JRPG tropes, often used in a way that plays off cliché expectations only to then layer plot twists and character development and produce a much deeper experience than what would be expected from the get-go. When used effectively, these methods produce a story that is both fun and emotionally challenging. Tales of Vesperia is no different, offering a cast of archetypes that should be highly recognizable to those familiar with the genre, and yet this may be best set of characters in a Tales game. The party has impressively good banter, chemistry and dynamics and several scenes had me laughing out loud or yelling, and I never had a bad time watching their relationships unfold.

Unfortunately, the game spares little time fleshing out backstories or learning more about each individual character outside of the main plot. By the end, I was left wanting, as the cast was so endearing and vibrant, yet I knew next to nothing about them aside from what had been relevant to show onscreen. I longed for more information about where they had come from and how they had gotten where they were, but it is a testament to the strength of the character writing that their storylines reached a satisfying conclusion despite this relative sparse amount of information about them. “Backstory is not story”, Craig McCracken and Frank Angones were fond of saying to fans of Wander Over Yonder, but for a game with the size and scope of a 60-hour JRPG, not providing that window of information feels like a hole in the worldbuilding.

Mechanically, Vesperia builds on the model established by Symphonia and refined in Abyss, where combat takes place in a 3D arena and the player can run around, hit enemies and rack up combos fighting game style (the franchise calls this “Linear Motion Battle System”). While Symphonia was in 3D, it restricted the player to a single side-to-side corridor of action. Abyss added the ability to run around in 3D space by holding down a button, a feature Vesperia also has. This makes combat easier and more fun, as nothing is quite as satisfying as avoiding an attack and then running around and hitting the enemy from behind. And, as the game allows up to four players controlling different party members, and I have a player 2 (shoutout to my roommate Opal), Vesperia’s system is the most well-suited to multiplayer. If nothing else, I never felt lost while on the battlefield yelling for backup. The one major flaw is that boss fights come with massive difficulty spikes and I often had to grind and formulate careful battle plans with Opal just to not get continuously massacred by bosses.

Storywise, Vesperia starts off very strongly, sort of peters out near the middle, and then the third act falls apart. At first the theme is anti-authority, with a protagonist who grew up in the slums, neglected by nobles, who became a knight and then quit out of disillusionment when it turned out all they did was squabble about politics, and the inciting incident and early driver of the plot is his quest to “fix the plumbing” as a popular Tumblr text post put it. It’s clear Yuri has all the reason in the world to not trust authority and he even goes full vigilante against unjust abuse of power, but while this thread seems like the most important theme in the story, after a while so many other elements come into play it ends up lost and doesn’t really make much of an appearance except to highlight the differences between Yuri and Flynn’s approaches to life and how they prefer to help people. On its own it’s a compelling idea, but it never gets the follow-through it deserves, and my expectations were certainly subverted—but in a bad way.

It’s hard to talk about the third act without spoilers so I will probably come back to it for a proper analysis at a later date, but its ultimate message was already kind of limp in 2008 and is even more laughable now. For a game whose initial premise was so strongly against authority, the ultimate resolution of the main conflict reads as incredibly daft in light of just about everything that is happening in politics at the moment. There’s a very strong environmental allegory and the comparisons to climate change are not subtle, but the writers probably bit off more than they could chew because realistically trying to solve this problem in the time the story allotted would have been next to impossible; I still would have hoped the implications of the given solution had been actually explored instead of settling for an “oh well, guess everything’s been fixed now”.

I’m being harsh about the plot because to me Vesperia has a lot of wasted potential. Don’t get me wrong: I do love this game. It is in fact up there with the holy trinity as far as my opinions of the series go, but it lands in third place out of the three because it just fails to live up to what its first half promises about the world it created. To put it bluntly, if the story had just ended at the conclusion of the second act, it would have been much stronger. That the game continues for another 20 hours on a completely different track with an unsatisfying, unrealistic conclusion is a huge shame because it brings down what could have been a real masterpiece of tropey anime JRPG narratives. I live for that stuff, there’s a reason I want to play every Tales game, but that’s what makes this letdown the most disappointing. At least the characters themselves get good conclusions; it is unfortunate I can’t say the same for the main plot.

Despite all this I think Vesperia is a worthwhile experience, and one of my favourite things about is its aesthetic sense. Every location is immersive, polished, and the pinnacle of what I want to see in a videogame, to the point I dream of Symphonia and Abyss remakes made in the same style (and every other game in the series, to be honest, but that seems unlikely with the direction it’s taken since then). I genuinely cared about the party and I wanted to see them succeed and I was ultimately happy that they did even if I did roll my eyes a lot. The combat was so satisfying and so fun to play with a player 2 it makes me twice as mad that Zestiria’s camera goes completely wild during multiplayer and prevents me from joining in. I should note that for someone who plays as many games as I do I am notoriously terrible at them so I heavily favour story over mechanics, but Vesperia is a game that reminds me that engaging gameplay can make a huge difference. Yeah, I suck, but at least I’m having fun while sucking. That’s more than I can say for a lot of games.

If you like JRPGs, games that let you run around and hit things, or fun and intriguing character dynamics, you’ll probably like Tales of Vesperia. If you’re looking for a coherent story from start to finish, you’ll probably disappointed, but there’s just enough there to keep you engrossed until the end. Overall, Vesperia is solid, and the parts it fumbles aren’t bad enough to ruin the whole thing, but hopefully the extra content in Definitive Edition helps to smooth it out; I’ll have to find that out for myself.

Aside from how it messes up the voice acting this time around. Oh, Bamco.

[hyperlightspeed]

hey i feel like rambling so im gunna talk about combat systems in video games i like in a ranked order okay Here We Go

shortlist:

flat out my top 4 are as follows: 1. Xenoblade Chronicles X 2. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 3. Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories 4. Tales of Zestiria

- note: these are my opinions. these are technically Good combat systems but they’re ones i like regardless of flaws

Xbcx:

i really love xbcx’ system. limitation of arts is something i like and are features of all my favourite systems. it takes away the button mashing to replace it with auto attacks, something i’m used to in other video games.

i prefer it over Xenoblade Chron.’s fully because of Overdrive. i really really love overdrive as a feature. Regardless of if i KO in battle or not it always makes me feel just. Powerful and Cool using it ? not to mention my usual arts i use with Cathan are set up in a way so that i can use infinite overdrive anyway

i always found it fun to play around with weapons and arts until i settled on knife/longsword and multigun. i love the healing of the knife and the strength of the longsword. the multigun is just a really nice weapon and is good for toppling as well !!

KH 0.2

i’ve always really liked bbs’ combat system but 0.2 really Bumped it Up. the hud is actually a little small which is just a nitpick but not what im talkin about anyway. i really like reaction commands from kh2 they’re very neat, and having a similar thing in 0.2 was nice !! mixed in with the more regular format of combat style that kingdom hearts has anyway it was fun to play, despite the games shorter length

kh re:com

i haven’t played the original gameboy chain of memories which is why i’m specifically sayin re:com.

i’m not sure what it is about the card gameplay here. it Does take away the button mashing a bit though which is nice. overall it’s just a Unique sort of style ? it’s closer to ToZ in a way because of the limited uses, which i think is why i like ToZ’s combat so much as well. i just like a challenge

yes there were times where i was frustrated with the system but i never found it Too Hard to use. i completed both sora and riku’s storylines with relative ease tbh. only about maybe max a month for the whole game if that. it was a shorter game in general though and i am a Master at kh games by now but seeing as it differs from the usual combat, and that everyone pisses on it constantly, i feel like my first playthrough being so quick is an achievement

ToZ

ToZ is the only game i’ve played in the series, i’m considering playing bestiria but im not sure atm. like the combat a lot ! even though i am getting used to it still. i’ve only really played as Sorey which probably Isn’t the way you’re meant to play, and i’m going Alisha’s DLC atm and having a bit of trouble ‘controlling her’ i guess because of it.

but overall, i really like this system as well. the ‘stamina’ bar for how many attacks you can use is a nice little feature, and has actually Encouraged me to Actually Block in games from now on. 

the armitization is also neat !! similarly to Overdrive i feel Powerful using it, even if i get K.O.’d ! i do sorta cheat a little bit by spamming arrow squall or crystal tower to defeat enemies though oops

[corn-maze-runner]

Tales of Zestiria :o

Nice, even though I’m not caught up on the anime.

my all-time ultimate fave character: Oh god I love all of them. Umm. Probably Mikleo. He’s snarky, and smart, and amazing and I love that boy. SO MUCH.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: That’s tough cause most of the characters I either always like or always dislike. Probably Sergei, cause he was kind of mean to me for a while before he became amazing. Like he was just doing his job and I understood why he was acting the way he was, but I had to fight him and that made me upset. But then he came over to my side and then he met up with Alisha and they were super cute together, so I HAD to like him by the end.

a character I used to like but now don’t: I was going to pick Symone, but honestly I wouldn’t say I liked her in the beginning. I didn’t mind her, and thought she could’ve been cool but I also knew she wasn’t a good guy and therefore didn’t trust her from the start. Instead, I’ll pick Maltran cause I legit really liked her. She was a good until she wasn’t and that will forever make me sad >:

a character I’m indifferent about: Hmm probably Chancellor Bartlow. Like I mainly dislike him, but I’ve never liked him cause I never trusted him. So I’m pretty indifferent to him. Most of the decisions he made I could’ve called.

a character who deserved better: Dezel. God bless that man. At first I was skeptical of him, but then I found out his backstory and I loved him so much he deserved so much better than what he got ;3;

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: Hmm there’s kind of a lot. I’ve never cared for any Sorey/character not Mikleo, nor any of the other seraphs/anyone honestly.

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: Sorey/Mikleo. I always come back to that ship, especially if I see something Zestiria related I’ll read a couple fics.

a cute, low-key ship: Hmm Rose/Dezel. I actually think they’re quite cute, I’ve just never really delved into that.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: Does Rose/Alisha count? I feel like since the anime came out this ship got a lot more popular.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: Mikleo/Edna. I know it’s out there, and I hate it. They’re a good squabble couple but not a good couple in general god no.

my favourite storyline/moment: OH BOY. So much happens in both the game and anime how am I supposed to decide. I was going to pick two different moments from both the game and anime, but honestly it’s the same for both it just plays out differently. It’s the moment before and after Sorey first armatizes with Mikleo, because in the anime Mikleo comes back to Sorey with the bow and they armatize and it literally made me break out into tears I was so happy. And then in the game, Sorey and Mikleo are fighting and then Sorey finds the bow, realizes he needs Mikleo and armatizes with him, and then after that they have a tickle fight and it’s literally amazing I love everything about about Sorey and Mikleo oh god

a storyline that never should have been written: I don’t really have a moment in the anime I believe should never have been written, but in the game I wish the Katz didn’t exist. Like. God. Then maybe their god forsaken song wouldn’t have been created and I could’ve been spared.

my first thoughts on the show: “AWW YISS I GET TO WATCH MY FAVES BE FABULOUS AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.”

my thoughts now: “Hello darkness my old friend. I’ve come to speak with you again.”

Send me a TV series and I’ll tell you!

[100wordanime]

Later today my Best of Winter post will come out and I’ll celebrate all those wonderful moments that got people talking (or at least entertained me during the past three months). But that is not his post. This post shares the worst and the lowest moments of the season as well as the reader’s choice for worst anime of Winter 2017.

My Least Favourite Show

Chosen only from shows that I watched from beginning to end during the Winter 2017 season (or completed in 2017 if they carried over from the previous season), this is the show that I cringed at the thoughts of watching but still managed to string me along with the faintest of hopes that eventually it would reveal something of note.

Yep, Hand Shakers.

And no, it never did produce anything of note other than just how awful it was. Then again, anyone who has been following my blog is not even remotely surprised by this.

It should probably be noted that I literally hated everything about this show, however, in order not to let Hand Shakers get a big head by letting it take out every worst of category, I’ve pretty much excluded it from this point forward.

My Least Favourite Character

So, this had to be someone I bothered to remember but I actively disliked them as a character (so not just because they were a villain). And once again, I had to have finished watching the show so all the characters from Fuuka were removed from potential nomination because otherwise my decision would have been easily made.

I’m kind of going to have to go with Chuta from elDLIVE.

I really wanted to see him grow as a character and I did enjoy the few kind of moments of growth he got, but he pretty much instantly regressed right after and given they are playing his insecurities for laughs it really doesn’t have quite the same appeal as some other emotionally damaged characters this season.

My Least Favourite Story

Again, I had to have finished the story to make this decision so Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 and Zestiria are momentarily given a reprieve as neither of them have actually finished, though both would have been contenders given their season 2 plots have mostly just gone through the motions and added little of significance. And on that theme we have the winning anime:

Blue Exorcist Season 2

All build up and hints at later plot threads but the plot delivered in this season is strictly side-story material and the final villain is all but inconsequential (and treated as such). Basically, if you have been reading the source material, you might get a lot out of this in terms of the set up for later events, but if you view this just as an anime season and ask it to stand on its own two feet in terms of plot, its going to fail miserably.

My Least Favourite Opening Theme and Visuals

Okay, these categories are only combined because the answer was one and the same. Not a lot to explain about the category other than this is an opening theme I couldn’t stomach listening to and visuals that were just hideous to look at (and I already excluded Hand Shakers from nomination).

I give this dubious honour to Spiritpact.

As much as I ended up enjoying the show by the mid-season point, the opening was terrible as were the visuals. While the visuals improved in the second half, there were still some really questionable choices and to be honest the whole show would benefit from a total remake as the story is actually kind of good once you get into it.

Reader’s Choice – Worst Anime of 2017

Here it is:

Hand Shakers, you did it again.

Admittedly, there was a pretty short time frame on this poll and Fuuka was definitely rallying there at the end so maybe if I’d left the poll open a bit longer we’d have a slightly different result.

Now, I’ve had my say on the worst of Winter 2017. What do you think? Who would you have nominated for worst character? Which show had the worst opening, visuals, or storyline? Share your opinion in the comments below and be sure to check out the best of post later today.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

Results are in from the reader poll and I'm also sharing my low points of Winter 2017. #anime Later today my Best of Winter post will come out and I'll celebrate all those wonderful moments that got people talking (or at least entertained me during the past three months).