One of My Faves #1: Tales of Vesperia

 Where do I begin? I love the Tales franchise, and Tales of Vesperia is my personal favorite. Over the years the the series evolved with the times, but somehow stayed true to itself and its fans. Unlike Final Fantasy, who seems to have lost and/or forgotten its identity, Tales has stood the test of time. With its unique blend of action and classic rpg elements, the gameplay remains fresh and exciting throughout the course of the game. This battle system makes leveling up in game much more enjoyable than your typical turn based rpg, and has contributed to the replay value of the game.

Raven, Repede, Rita, Yuri, Estelle, and Judith

What makes a great game is balance, and ToV has just that. I play this game for the story just as much as I do for the combat. Without spoiling anything, ToV is in  my opinion the darkest in tone of the series. The characters are put in situations where the solutions to the problems are not always clear. Its never as simple as good versus evil, and their decisions never so easy as black or white. This isn't your standard good versus evil story line here, and as a result the main character Yuri is forced to make some tough not so typical jrpg hero decisions. The subjects of revenge and murder ( there is even a tiny bit of genocide) are common throughout the game, and it makes you look at these characters actions and their motivations somewhat differently than you normally would.

 Vesperia is the first HD entry in the series, and the series has never looked better.The game's art style is beautiful from the over world map to battles stages. The use of colors and detail bring the villages and dungeons to life. The game has great characters as well, all of them unique and with their own motivations within the story of the game, but whats a game or story without awesome villains too? Good thing ToV has some amazing boss battles( especially the final boss). Some of the baddies are pure evil, others are more tragic, and some are just doing what they feel is the right thing. Which isn't too different from what Yuri does throughout the game. If you haven't played this game, you owe it to yourself to try it. In an age where classic rpgs seem to be a thing of the past, its good to know that there are developers still making these types of games.

In the city.

This isn't meant to be a review, as much as its intended to bring to your attention an overlooked game of the past generation. Its one of my favorite games of all time, and is a good fit for any jrpg fan out there.