Tales of Vesperia gets demo on Xbox Live

43 Comments by Justin McElroy Jun 20th 2008 5:00PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs

We're not sure what a "Vesperia" is, exactly. We suspect it's either a topical cream which has sinus cleansing vapors, or some manner of ornate doily. If that's the sort of thing you'd like to hear some tales about, you're in luck, as the demo for Namco Bandai's cel-shaded RPG, Tales of Vesperia, has just arrived on Xbox Live.

Yes, Namco told us that a demo was coming this month, so it's not exactly earth-shattering news, but we find great comfort in things panning out the way we've been told they would. As per our usual agreement, let us know what you think of the demo in the comments.

Gallery: Tales of Vesperia

Tags: demos, namco-bandai, tales-of-vesperia, xbox-live

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Vcize: Jun 20th 2008; 5:11PM

Is this in North America? X3F is reported Asia and India only...

PojoMofo: Jun 20th 2008; 5:11PM

After looking at wikipedia and websters online, im fairly certain Namco Bandai pulled "Vesperia" out of their dairy-aire

Jerdude1234: Jun 20th 2008; 5:12PM

Yeah...i just checked the marketplace...no demo in NA yet. i haven't played a tales game since symphonia.

alex: Jun 20th 2008; 5:19PM

I'm confused. I just read elsewhere that this was only out in India and Asia?? Please clarify as I am very much anticipating this demo.

Zarim: Jun 20th 2008; 5:24PM

Well I've got xbox live silver, so I'll let you know in a week.

Fernando Rocker: Jun 20th 2008; 5:27PM

Nice.

I love Tales series. This and Tales of Symphonia 2 for the Wii are one of my most anticipated games of this year.

Greyline108: Jun 20th 2008; 5:28PM

Yeah, I just checked too. Nothing in the US D:

Titanium_Orchid: Jun 20th 2008; 5:33PM

Doh! Xbox only.

Screen shots look nice at least.

Shimrra: Jun 20th 2008; 5:33PM

I have not played a Tales game in years and this one does look rather interesting. Hopefully it has some of that great bad english voice over work.

Fernando Rocker: Jun 20th 2008; 5:41PM

Question:

Anyone is having problems with the comments section? Sometimes the comments dissapear...

Cyro: Jun 20th 2008; 5:56PM

YES!

RobLink (Return of the McElroy Defence Force): Jun 20th 2008; 6:23PM

I did, but F5 found it again.

Seroth: Jun 20th 2008; 5:42PM

Apparently, if you've got a Japanese silver account, you can get the demo now.

I'm using the account I created for the Eternal Sonata demo to download it right now...

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674): Jun 20th 2008; 8:37PM

I too created a Japanese silver account and got the Eternal Sonata demo. A few weeks later however the account was banned and I was not allowed to create another one.

killerpickle: Jun 20th 2008; 5:44PM

Yeah I just checked as fast as humanly possible once I read this and a tales demo is not in the marketplace. Someone either jumped the gun or neglected to mention that north america got screwed out of a demo :)

erico316: Jun 20th 2008; 5:49PM

tales had never been a great rpg its always been an ok rpg.
i hope for 360 fan boys they do get an great rpg soon they still haven't gotten one same for ps3.

4MyFriends: Jun 20th 2008; 5:51PM

Lost Odyssey called, it wants ignorant gamers to stop calling it crap because it doesn't hold the Final Fantasy name.

arrrgh: Jun 20th 2008; 5:58PM

seriously. great game.

Farseer (GDI): Jun 20th 2008; 6:07PM

Hell, what does the Final Fantasy name hold anymore anyway?

Benny: Jun 20th 2008; 8:15PM

The hearts, souls and wallets of the Japanese population?

LameDuck: Jun 21st 2008; 1:32AM

My dead hopes and dreams.

Screw FF25, I'll just replay FF6. My gaw... that game had so much hidden stoof... ._.

erico316: Jun 20th 2008; 5:49PM

this game is not going to be good .i dont trust 360 rpg they dont seem to keep me involve.story line get boarding half way into the game.

danny.: Jun 20th 2008; 5:54PM

Why is it that the console has this effect do you suppose?

Farseer (GDI): Jun 20th 2008; 6:10PM

I imagine that the problem lies in the game, not the console. For example, the programmers probably write in complete sentences... that actually make sense. I can see where you get "boarding half way [sic]" through.

Farseer (GDI): Jun 20th 2008; 6:10PM

MuToiD_MaN: Jun 20th 2008; 5:49PM

No, man, 'vesperia' is a hyperventilative reaction some people get while riding motor scooters at high speeds.

Cyro: Jun 20th 2008; 5:52PM

I am looking forward to this game. The graphics look amazing.

Cyro: Jun 20th 2008; 5:54PM

I am looking forward to this. Graphics look amazing.

Cyro: Jun 20th 2008; 5:55PM

Stupid comment system is acting weird.

RobLink (Return of the McElroy Defence Force): Jun 20th 2008; 6:24PM

I did, but F5 found it.

Eggman: Jun 20th 2008; 6:32PM

Demo is excellent.

The demo doesn't really explain the battle system but it has a very large amount of depth to it. Burst artes, fatal strikes, skill changes, a skill system based on equipment, having the right stick mapped for shortcuts, it's all excellent.

Graphically the game's amazing, the voice acting is actually pretty good (definitely equal to really any other RPG aside from probably FF12), good music, and the boss fight is definitely cool. It involves environmental effects based on the flowers littered around the battlefield. Hitting one while the boss is near them stuns him. An awesome first for the series. Oh yeah, and the demo's all in english.

I'm definitely 100% psyched for the game. Rita is awesome.

ScallionN: Jun 21st 2008; 5:19AM

It's a shame that they didn't start the demo earlier on in the game, so you're not dropped in the middle of a weird story (blast artes, mages, goofy-sounding town names, etc.), and have some kind of tutorial to get used to the way the game handles. There was so much stuff in the menu I thought it was a strat RPG for a few seconds. That being said, it looks like it'll be deep, and have room for customization. I didn't feel like waking anyone up to try to see if there's multiplayer co-op, but i'm assuming there is, and it'll be a blast, as usual.

browntown: Jun 20th 2008; 6:41PM

First game i will buy for my 360 after i read some reviews. Loved symphonia. This will probably be the only 360 game i buy this year, hopefully they bundle games for the holiday.

phobic99: Jun 20th 2008; 6:42PM

I just played this. The combat system threw me for a loop and the English voice acting is, as to be expected, abysmal. I'm pretty sure the full version will have Japanese and English but I think I'm going to pass on this game. It just didn't have that "click".

browntown: Jun 20th 2008; 6:46PM

I must say though, wat is up with the blurry haze over everything, symphonia was so crisp, this looks likes someone used a little extra lube when they were spanking the monkey.

LunarAura: Jun 20th 2008; 6:48PM

The left wolf is like "Ooh she's hot" and the right wolf goes "BRIDGET'D!"

Jouten: Jun 20th 2008; 10:18PM

Back off of the wolf comments! =P

ThePerfectCompanion: Jun 20th 2008; 8:31PM

Uhh I don't see it on Live yall...

Is this region specific? I'm a Gold Member so if its on there I should be able to download it right...?

Very curious to play it. Hopefully its as great as Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata!

God I love my 360!

krackish: Jun 20th 2008; 9:18PM

decent demo .. doesn't explain the combat system.. and it's all in English even though it is released in asia

T-Bag: Jun 20th 2008; 9:42PM

Downloading it as we speak!

elektra168: Jun 21st 2008; 12:21AM

Pretty cruel of them not to mention it's not out for the U.S. I love Tales games and Eternal Sonata, and was looking forward to this demo all evening. Vesperial looks like it'll be awesome.

killerpickle: Jun 21st 2008; 1:01PM

If you google for a guide to create a japanese live account this could help you download this demo...

As for the demo - very nice. It felt like they just sliced a 10-15 minute portion of the actual game and let us play it. The battle system was great but I died at the boss because I couldn't (didn't know how to) switch characters :(

Superstar90: Jun 22nd 2008; 10:53PM

You can switch characters?

I played this, and you will not beat it on your first try. Everything is so indepth, and nobody tells you how to play. Also, I kept pressing the wrong buttons because Eternal Sonata uses the opposite buttons for everything.

Some people who worked on the first Tales game (Phantasia) left to form tri-Ace (Star Ocean) who subsequently gave birth to tri-Crescendo (Eternal Sonata). So that's why it has a similar vibe (IMO), even though combat in ES is more simple.

Also, Repede is the best dog/wolf with a pipe EVAR! Does anyone know how to switch and control him?

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