Tales Of VS
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(pronounced as ''"Tales of Versus"'') is a
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
fighting game featuring various characters across the ''Tales''
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
series. It was developed by
Matrix Software , commonly referred to as Matrix Software, is a Japanese video game development company located in Tokyo. Founded in July 1994 by former members of Climax Entertainment and Telenet Japan, the company has since created games for a number of syst ...
and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable on August 6, 2009 in Japan. It was not localized for release in any other regions.


Gameplay

The game takes the basic fighting engine from the main series of ''Tales'' video games, which is called the " Linear Motion Battle System", and uses it in a crossover fighting video game in the vein of ''
Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fighting game with action RPG elements developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the '' Final Fantasy'' series' 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in Nor ...
'' and '' Super Smash Bros.''. Characters are able to carry out normal attacks as well as "Artes," special techniques which have been utilized in almost every ''Tales'' game. Items appear on the playing field that also affect gameplay; food such as
sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
may offer a temporary stat boost, while others, like a boomerang-blade, may offer a temporary means of attack. Battles can feature up to a total of four characters at a time, with an emphasis on two on two battles, although " free for all and one vs. two battles do occur as well. Stages are interactive with different stages having different effects, such as rays of light or rolling barrels that cause damage, or disappearing and reappearing platforms for characters to jump on. Customization also plays a large role in the game as well. Upon winning battles, characters gain experience in the form of "grade points", which are used to upgrade statistics. Grade points may be distributed and redistributed in between battles, to statistics such as health points, attack power, or defense. Additionally, grade points can be used to equip skills and abilities as well, such as a "dash" move that increases general speed, or a move that increases jumping height. Like games in the main series, characters are also able to customize their equipment, although it doesn't change the character's physical appearance.


Story mode

The game features a number of different game modes. The main part of the game, the "Story Mode", is where the bulk of the gameplay occurs and where the game's overall plot unfolds. In game, it is referred to as the "Yggdrasill Mode", named after the "World Tree" that the game's story is centered around. This mode focuses entirely on two on two battles, where the player chooses a preset duo, some from the same game, like
Lloyd Irving is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003, in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the ''Tales'' series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13, ...
and Colette Brunel of '' Tales of Symphonia'', some being random pairings, such as Farah Oersted of ''
Tales of Eternia , known as ''Tales of Destiny II'' in its original North America release, is an action role-playing game published by Namco as the third main title in their '' Tales'' series. Initially released for the PlayStation in November 2000 in Japan, an ...
'' pairing with Yuri Lowell of ''
Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The tenth mainline entry in the '' Tales'' series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in European territor ...
''. In the game, the player directs the characters around a World Map with preset paths and destinations, not allowing for exploration beyond the straight line. Different events occur when the character stops on different icon amongst the paths; typically leading to either story sequences, required battles, or optional side-quests. Finishing the game with certain character sets, or playing through the course of the game and making certain choices, unlocks further sets of characters to play through the game.


Other modes

There are multiple other aspect of the games beyond the "Story Mode". The game's "Arcade Mode" simplifies things down to simply continuous fights against computer-controlled opponents in a preset order, where as the "Survival Mode" plays similarly, but entails advancing for as long as possible against increasingly stronger opponents. The game also has a "Special Battle Mode", where special challenges, scenarios, or restrictions are set up for the player to do in order to win the battle. For example, a winning condition for a battle may be to use certain characters, being the first to attack, or being restricted from using certain moves. A general "Training Mode" also exists, where the player can practice moves against a dummy opponent. A wireless "Multiplayer Mode" is also available, for up to four players to battle amongst each other. "Grade Points" earned from performance in multiplayer battles can be used in the "Story Mode" as well. In addition to the specific "Multiplayer Mode", a number of the other modes can be played with a second player in a cooperative manner as well. Beyond the various different fighting modes, the game also has other areas, such as a specific "Customization Mode" that is just for setting up characters for battle, and an "Item Library", where unlocked content, such as music, movies, or collectable cards can be viewed.


''Tales of Wallbreaker''

''Tales of VS.'' also contains a detailed mini-game, ''Tales of Wallbreaker'', separate from the typical fighting that takes place in the rest of the main game. This part of the game opts to use a completely different graphical style than the rest of the game, modeled after traditional 2D sprite-based graphics similar to the first few ''Tales'' games. The gameplay still revolves around fighting on a 2D plane, but the goal is no longer based on draining the other character's health. Instead there are two walls, one behind each character, and the object is to attack the other character into the wall enough times to make it shatter. The mini-game contains twenty one characters, including thirteen exclusive characters that cannot be played as in the main game. While largely a stand-alone game, characters for ''Tales of Wallbreaker'' can be unlocked due to actions that take place in the "Story Mode" of the main game.


Story

Unlike many cross-over scenarios, where characters from one world are transplanted into another, in ''Tales of VS.'' all of the characters from different games come together into a new, original world, called Dailantia. The world is largely drained of resources, with only four countries left, all needing the remaining resources. The four countries consist of the Holy Kingdom of Hazel, the Knight States of Fleswelg, the New Imperial Nation Niddshogg, and the Free States Alliance of Dyne. The "World Tree", the source of the world's energy (called "mana" in-game), only releases a "Great Seed" of energy every couple of years, which leads to the Nations fighting amongst themselves for ownership of it. Instead of falling back on war, the nations come up with a diplomatic competition to decide who gets the resources. The countries would have representatives that would travel the land to collect special flags, and the country that collects all of the flags would be given the rights to the "Great Seed". The "representatives" are characters of the past games in the ''Tales'' series, and the fights between the representatives to obtain the flags make up the game's battles.


Characters

''Tales of VS.'' features a total of 35 characters from 13 previous ''Tales'' games. Character interactions and relationships are handled in a similar way to how it is handled in ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' and '' Dissidia 012'' crossover fighting video games; character's share their same general characteristics and relationships from their prior games, but technically have slightly different backstories. For instance, Lloyd is still Colette's guardian in ''Tales of VS.'', as he was in his original game '' Tales of Symphonia'', but their overall goal and country they live in differs from their hometown and " World Regeneration Project" featured in their original game. When more than one of the same character is being used in the same battle, the characters wear the same costumes but in different colors.


Main game


''Tales of Wallbreaker''

Additionally, there are some characters that are only playable in the ''Tales of Wallbreaker''
minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...
.


Development and release

''Tales of VS.'' was released on August 6, 2009 in Japan. While the game's name was trademarked in North America, and even had trailers with some English voiceovers and English text, it was never announced or released for any region outside Japan. Shortly before and after the game's Japanese release, a series of videos of the game, titled "Director's Corner" videos, were released, showcasing aspects of the game by the developers. The theme song accompanying the opening scene is " Be Your Wings", sung by
Girl Next Door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is so named because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later often ...
, and was released on August 5, 2009. The game came packaged with a code for free DLC for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
version of ''
Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The tenth mainline entry in the '' Tales'' series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in European territor ...
'', which unlocked new skits, and pre-ordering the game resulted in further DLC that unlocked new costumes in ''Tales of Vesperia'' based on ''
Tales of the Abyss is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio as the eighth main title in their '' Tales'' series in celebration of the series' 10th anniversary. Originally released for the PlayStation 2, the game was published by Namco in Japan ...
''. Additionally, ''Tales of Vesperia'' contained a DLC code for ''Tales of VS.'', to unlock a special fight that unlocks special, otherwise unobtainable equipment. A radically different game under the title of ''Tales of VS.'' was also released for mobile phones. Players would be able to use a login ID and password to send and receive data from the PSP version of the game. Through this players can view status, equipment or even get bonus items. In the mobile version, players are also able to make their own characters, and change their Guild, Job, Title and Accessories. Contrary to the action-based fighting in the PSP release, the mobile version utilizes a turn-based system known as "Command Battle" in which each character has four commands: Attack, Defend, Use Skill or Counter. Each battle lasts 10 turns.


Reception

Reception for the game has been mixed. Japanese gaming magazine ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' released a generally positive review for the game in their August 2009 issue giving the game a 8/8/8/8 a total of 32 of 40. ''Famitsu'' praised the gameplay and controls, stating "The controls are simple...but the gameplay system is remarkably deep. It's pretty basic as a multiplayer game, but I get the impression that the charms of the series are well-represented." Siliconera was also positive with the game, praising the crossover character interactions and different game modes, stating that it was "generally fun to play". Excessive load times between battles and occasional odd camera views were noted as faults of the game. PlayStation LifeStyle was less enthusiastic regarding the game, giving it a 4/10 and stating, "''Tales'' fans might have some reason to import this interesting spinoff, and the ones who can understand some Japanese would get a few smiles out of the story mode, but without the appeal of fanservice, we’re left with a fighting game that gets boring quickly." Initial sales of the game in Japan were high, with 133,000 copies sold in its first week, and just short of another 35,000 in its second week.


References


External links


Official ''Tales of VS.'' website
{{Matrix Software 2009 video games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games Fighting games Platform fighters Graces, Tales of Crossover video games Matrix Software games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Go Shiina Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba