Tales game is not Blastia

Tales of Vesperia? What, yet another Tales game? Didn't one of those come out just last week?

Namco-Bandai seems to dish out roughly three Tales games a year.

Interestingly, Tales of Vesperia managed to help the Xbox 360 outsell the Play Station 3 in Japan.

The game is set in a world run by blastia, which is magic-based technology. The storyline of Tales is nothing to write home about, opening scenes are riddled with clichés that might tempt you to throw your controller against the wall.

Regardless of the painfully predictable storyline, featuring secret princesses and yawn-worthy revelations, the characters are interesting enough to provide cohesion through the duration of the game.

How can one go wrong with a dog that keeps the pipe of his previous owner as a memento?

Graphics is where the game truly stands out. Imagine colorful characters against vibrant cell-shaded environments. The game literally looks like a three-dimensional Anime film.

The voice acting is surprisingly well-done, but the music is mediocre.

As with any Tales game, the battle system is fast-paced and exciting, featuring enemies and allies moving freely on a 3D plane.

Tales of Vesperia does bring something new to the series which is implementing an innovative skills system in which special abilities are learned through equipment.

In the end, Tales of Vesperia doesn't break any molds, does nothing outrageous, or go boldly where no other game has ever gone before, but it manages to provide a thoroughly fun experience with a great cast of characters.