Tales of Vesperia

Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The nineteenth 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 territories in 2009. An expanded port of the game for the PlayStation 3 was released in 2009 in Japan. An enhanced version, subtitled Definitive Edition, was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019. The gameplay is similar to previous Tales games, featuring a new version of the series' trademark action-based "Linear Motion Battle System", while also introducing new elements such as online leaderboards.

Vesperia is set in the world of Terca Lumireis, which uses an energy source called aer that is regulated by devices called Blastia. This powers much of the magic of the world, including creating protective barriers around its cities. The story focuses on Yuri Lowell, a former Imperial soldier who forms a guild called Brave Vesperia to aid Estelle, a noble woman he encounters on a mission. As they explore the world, Brave Vesperia are challenged by factions who have different plans related to the abuse of blastia resources, and Yuri is forced to confront his friend and former comrade Flynn.

Preliminary work on Vesperia began in 2005, with full development starting the following year, lasting approximately two years. Returning staff included producer Yoshito Higuchi, composers Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura, and character designer Kōsuke Fujishima. The writers included Takashi Hasegawa and Hideo Baba. Developed by the same team that made Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss, it was designed for the Xbox 360 as the PlayStation 3 had yet to be shown to the company and the former console was achieving international popularity. The anime cutscenes were created by Production I.G, with an art style influenced by cel-shaded animation. The game's theme song, "Ring a Bell / Kane o Narashite", is by Bonnie Pink. The game received positive reviews and has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide across all platforms. Further media related to the world of Vesperia have been released, including the prequel film Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike.