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Namco Bandai made a couple of RPG-related announcements today. Tales fans have something to be excited about as a playable demo of Tales of Vesperia for the Xbox 360 is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and it’s free for Silver and Gold account users. Tales of Vesperia is due out on August 26 and is rated “T” for Teen.

It was also announced that the PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata will be making its debut on the system this fall. The new version will come with some in-game goodies including new events, music, and two new playable characters: Crescendo and Serenade.

Tales fans have yet another reason to rejoice. At a press conference in Tokyo, Makoto Yoshuzumi, series manager for the Tales games announced another upcoming addition to the series, this one for the Nintendo Wii. Though little information is available at this time (not even a name), the game is set to be the series’ main release for 2009.

Source: IGN

In the latest issue of Shonen Jump, Namco Bandai has announced a pair of new portable Tales games: Tales of the World : Radiant Mythology 2 for the PSP and Tales of Hearts for the Nintendo DS. Little is known about the two games at this time, though Tales of Hearts is due out in Japan this winter.  [Edit: Date is possibly in dispute due to what could be a typo on the source page, but most sources seem to say winter 2008.]

Source: Gamekyo

Xbox 360 owners living in Asia or India can download a 278 MB demo for Tales of Vesperia. Don’t live in Asia or India? As long as your Xbox thinks you do, you can still download it. Those afraid of foreign languages need not worry; the demo comes in English.

Source: Kotaku

Microsoft hasn’t given up on the Japanese. At the same event where a ton of new RPGs were announced, a brand new Tales of Vesperia Bundle was unveiled. On August 20, Japanese gamers with ¥37,800 (US$353) burning a hole in their pocket can pick up a 360 with 20GB HDD, a copy of Tales of Vesperia, a Tales faceplate and a copy of the game’s script. Only time will tell if this will convince anyone to buy the system on that half of the world.

Source: Kotaku

As is supposedly common knowledge, the Xbox 360 has a dearth of RPG titles available for it. Sure there’s Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Culdcept Saga… ok, maybe not a dearth. Still, it could always use more! To that end, Square Enix, Namco-Bandai Games, and Microsoft announced quite a few interesting bits at the surely well-populated Microsoft Japan RPG Press Event, held, well, about an hour ago. Continue reading ‘X360 Japan RPG Presser: More RPG goodness than you can shake a power brick at’ »

With every new Tales game comes a new battle system, and Tales of Vesperia is no different. Each game in the series offers a new take on the Linear Motion Battle System, better known to fans as LMBS. The newest iteration is called Evolved Flex Range-Linear Motion Battle System, or LFR-LMBS. Strongly resembling the system from Tales of the Abyss, it features a 3D battlefield where characters can move about at will. The player will control one character, and up to three others will use AI for their moves. There will also be an “overlimit” system that allows for powerful abilities once the bar on the appropriately named overlimit gauge is full. Continue reading ‘Vesperia Tells Tales of its Battle System’ »