Tales of Vesperia is definitely a game you don't want to miss -- even if you aren't an RPG fan it's worth a try.
I'm a big Tales fan, have been for a long time and had extremely high expectations for this game. I was only mildly let down by one thing... the story. Tales games aren't known for their ability to tell epic or even original stories, but something about Vesperia's story felt like it would be different. Watching a lot of videos and keeping up with news on the game really got me excited for it.
Unfortunately, in the second half of the game when the main story starts building, you really get a sense you've seen a lot of these elements before. Anyone who has played all the Tales games like I have will probably agree. The villians and how they fit into the story is mostly the same old formula taken from past Tales games and repeated. The main villian issue in Vesperia is there's a ton of very cool looking characters that don't have much involvement or back story... they're the kind of villians you want to stick around for the whole game but you see them a few times briefly before you have to take them out. Even more disappointing is how you don't even get a chance to fight some of the them.
But, back to the general story, it starts off great but eventually heads in the inevitable "group of young heroes must save the world" direction. Luckily the game is long so there's a lot to enjoy about the story before random events push you to that point, which isn't only my least favourite aspect of this game, but most games. I've played very few that can pull off saving the world in an epic way, not battered with cliches and things/actions/elements/circumstances we've seen over and over again.
And that is where my biggest complaint, which happens to be the only one worth mentioning, ends. There's a lot to love about this game, if not everything, and though the story is Vesperia's weakest point you never know, someone else could love it. It all depends on how many games you've played, and if you've seen too much of something you'll get tired of it. If Vesperia was my first Tales game, I definitely would've loved the story.
I didn't mention this before, but while the story is cliche it's built up and made enjoyable by the strong cast of loveable characters that are easy to get attached to, which seems to be the Tales norm. Vesperia has some awesome, amazingly endearing characters, and that is one of its strongest points.
Gameplay wise, I couldn't ask for anything better. It was everything I expect from Tales games, with a lot of great additions to make battles and everything else more exciting. The battles are fast-paced and seem much harder than anything from past Tales games, but getting used to the controls, leveling up and gaining more skills is a quick way to remedy this. Most people's complaint is how the system is "slow", and guarding and evasion take a little more skill. Speaking of "skill" the skills you can learn from weapons can, if equipped, eliminate these problems for you. So it all depends on how you want to play. If you want a bigger challenge, you can adjust the battle system, difficulty, etc for your playing style. It's very flexible in that way.
As for the graphics, Vesperia's style has got to be my favourite. The gorgeous, colourful, smooth cel-shading is absolutely perfect, and enhanced the experience quite a bit for me. Everything looks more detailed and beautiful, from the changing skies and weather, to the towns and dungeons. All of it was wonderful to explore.
The music and voice acting was also a treat in this game. Sakuraba was once again the composer for this Tales games, and while this isn't his best work, I still enjoyed it a great deal. The voice acting was something that surprised me... I didn't expect it to be better than Abyss' at the very least. I was glad to see, or rather hear, mostly voice actors I haven't before as the main characters. All of the voice work was well done.
Tales of Vesperia is the kind of game that has a lot of replay value. With the grade shop and myriad of sidequests and subevents, this game will keep you busy for at least 100 hours if you try to tackle it all. It's a lot of fun, and as expected I went right into my second playthrough after beating it.