I heard from ilunari that Vesperia's story is split into 3 major arcs. I just finished the Barboss/Ragou issue at Dancrest so I assume this is the end of the first arc. After getting into the 2nd arc and things start to progress, I see I'm starting to enjoy how things are forming up through here.


Maybe I'm just growing older or growing bored of the Tales series, but I haven't been feeling up to playing any Tales that much nowadays. I used to like the series just for its character interactions but the more I play the series, the more I'm getting used to their character gimmicks and I start to look more into their stories and battle systems instead. Unfortunately, I'm also starting to get bored of the series' battle system by now, but that's not what I'm gonna talk about here.

Cliches aside, Tales' plots tend to flow the same way every time. Hero gets a problem and sets off on a journey to solve that problem. While in the middle of the problem, they get another problem and side-tracks to solve that problem first. OH WAIT WE GET ANOTHER PROBLE-- Anyway, yeah, get my point here? It's becoming very common in RPGs where they have characters getting side-tracked as a method to expand the story but not only it gets tiring for the player, it also gets frustrating when they pull the same string in different titles of the same series. Add up with the fact that we have to solve other NPCs' problems too, urgh.

So I guess Vesperia kinda ran through the same tradition in its first major arc, which is why, despite all the HD pretties, more variety within cutscenes and interesting character relationships we have this time (I love how the characters are a lot smarter and even have more family-bonding than before), I just still couldn't find myself to love the game that much. I mean, I go "YES" and "YAAAAAY" at some parts, but it wasn't enough for me to say it's a fave Tales of mine.

But at the start of the 2nd arc, they finally made a decision that I've always wanted to see happened: They travel because they want to and even have a good enough purpose for it. I mean, okay, so maybe it does sound a bit MMORPG-ish on how they made their own guild and sets off kinda like a yorozu-"let's help people because we want to"-ya but hey, anything's better than trying to chase a tail that keeps running away from you. :T And by now, Estelle = me, in the sense of now I want to travel more with this set of characters because I like them.

People are right about how Yuri and Judith feels like the father and mother of this party. XD While I'm on it, I also like how Yuri isn't a goody boy like the past Tales main characters and actually would go as far as murdering someone behind everyone else' back just to get his goals. I guess if you view it in a Code Geass way, Yuri would be Lelouch while Flynn is Suzaku. Except, uh, Yuri and Flynn run a way healther life and relationship than the Geass pair. wwwwww

Well, off to fight some more ass, Brave Vesperia! At least now I'm back to being addicted to the game. S-sorry for the long pause due to my newly found addiction to online community games wwww (I've gotten less addicted by now)

Last Saturday I went to this lecture seminar that has Tales series' producer Higuchi making a talk about the structure of game-developing and some background on the Tales series' development too, on how and why they make changes to the series' systems as they keep on improving. (Unfortunately, as I learn this, I couldn't help thinking "Wow, Square Enix used that method 5 years earlier than you guys..." and similar things, sorry XD;) Anyway, it was an interesting and informative talk for me. Just, uh, I kinda feel like he's doing it wrong when he showed the new Tales of Graces' trailer that doesn't show the game's battle system at all...

By the way, Higuchi made a passing mention that next year is the series' 15th anniversary. I'm not sure if it's just a simple mention or he's hinting they're making another celebratory title for it. *shrug*

I changed my Twitter link (on the left menu bar of my LJ) to my Twilog, by the way. For those on my f-list that don't have a Twitter account but occasionally want to check my tweets, Twilog should making it easier for you to navigate through them. For those who wanna follow my Twitter, you can still access it through the link on my Twilog.