If you love JRPGs, Tales of Vesperia should be your next game, hands down.
Tales of Vesperia doesn't do anything huge to alter the formula of the series, but it polishes and tightens everything to such an extent that it stands out as one of the best JRPGs to be released for years, and has taken it's rightful spot as one of, if not the best of the Tales series.
Tales of Vesperia takes place in the world of Terca Lumireis, a world that relies heavily on the ancient technology known as "blastia". These blastia provide everything from potable water, to street lamps, to massive barriers that enshroud each city and provide protection from the vicious monsters that roam just outside. Blastia are also used by humans as bodhi blastia, which allow the user to learn powerful skills and abilities to use in combat.
The story revolves around Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo, two childhood friends who have taken different paths to the same ultimate goal: change the Empire, one of the major ruling factions in Terca Lumireis, for the better of the people. You play as Yuri, resident of the Lower Quarter of the Empire's capital Zaphias, in the midst of a crisis: the aque blastia, which provides water for the residents of the lower quarter, has been stolen, and you must track down the thief who swiped it. Along the way you will meet many different characters, from a naive girl of royalty, to a loyal (and incredibly smart) hound who carries a pipe as a keepsake from his previous owner, to a young boy who can never quite find his place in the world.
The characters may all seem to be standard fare for a JRPG in the early stages (aloof swordsman with a heart-of-gold, sexually obsessed comic relief older guy), but as the story progresses, you'll find yourself growing attached to the characters and their own personal struggles with right and wrong, "good" and "evil". In Tales fashion, many characters seem to be hiding something, and while some are easily predictable, some may catch you off guard and change the way you view your companion for the rest of your journey.
Your journey itself is a long one and, not counting some of the game's enormous subquests, should take you between 30-40 hours to complete. Your party will interact with each other in 2-D sequences known as "Skits", which are fully voiced and range anywhere from serious to amusing. They give a little insight into the characters and how they are feeling about new developments in the story. As is expected in any RPG these days, the road is rife with twists and turns as you follow Yuri in his vendetta to put the world right, even if it means dirtying his hands in the process. Flynn shadows you throughout the story, questioning Yuri's motives and providing a few interesting if not overused moral quandaries to argue about. Not much more can be said about the story without spoiling it, but if you enjoyed Tales of Symphonia's plot, you will enjoy Vesperia's.
The graphics are gorgeous, with some of the best cel shading seen in a game to date. Admittedly, some of the character animations are a bit stiff or goofy-looking, and a bit more effort could've been put into making the fully-voiced cut scenes more lively, but it makes up for it with great effects in and out of combat throughout the course of the game.
The game, as should be expected, excels in sound. Composer Motoi Sakuraba brings us an epic and extremely fitting soundtrack, with some extremely memorable songs, including one of the best theme songs for a Tales game, "Ring a Bell" by Bonnie Pink. Some of the songs played during cut scenes are a bit overused, and a bit more variation would have been welcomed, but it is easily made up for with some excellent combat music.
For the uninitiated, Tales of Vesperia uses the "Evolved Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System", which is the best incarnation of the combat system yet. On the world map or in dungeons, enemies will be visible characters that will attempt to engage you when you get near them, removing random encounters from the game and letting you skip certain fights if you so choose. In standard JRPG fare, you have HP and TP, and special abilities known as Artes. However, unlike recent games like Lost Odyssey or Eternal Sonata, you have complete freedom of movement in battle, allowing you to switch targets on the fly, move out of the way of an enemy's attack, or just piss your teammates off ("The enemy's over there, you know!").
In combat, the idea is to link your basic attacks and artes together to form combos, which will keep your enemy incapacitated while you dish out massive damage. You can also enter "Overlimit", which effectively allows you to use any attack over and over, and also bestows certain effects, such as removing the TP cost of artes to making you completely invincible. You can also learn Skills in Vesperia, which are similar to EX-Spheres in Symphonia. You learn these skills from the weaponry you obtain on your quest; different skills give you different bonuses, like increasing your basic attack combo, linking together or creating new artes, and even granting additional abilities in combat. There are also powerful abilities known as Burst and Mystic artes that you will learn later in the game. They can only be used while in Overlimit, and any character, including villains, are able to use them.
The difficulty of combat is entirely dependent on what you choose. You are able to alter the difficulty at any time, so if a certain boss is giving you trouble, just drop it to Easy and pulverize him. There are 4 difficulties total (One unlocked after beating the game), so it should keep even the best players challenged (Assuming they don't use cheap tactics, naturally).
Overall, Tales of Vesperia is one of the best JRPGs to be released in years. The story and characters are well-done, if a bit clichéd at times, and the graphics, art direction and soundtrack are beautiful. Don't forget the combat, too; for first-time Tales players, or veterans of the series, the combat system is still one of the best in any RPG ever released. If you like JRPGs, you will love Tales of Vesperia.