Just when you thought the role-playing blitz was over and done, here come another tsunami of heavy-hitting Xbox 360-exclusive titles starting with Tales of Vesperia. The first installment of the venerable series arrives later this summer touting drop-dead-gorgeous graphics and the same classic real-time battle system for which the franchise is beloved. While innovation won't be a hallmark of this newest high definition iteration, loads of challenging, finely-tuned gameplay will characterize this pretty little game.

With nearly all information related to the game's plot and characters purposefully held back, learning the story behind Tales of Vesperia and the motives of its characters will have to wait until its autumn release. Playing through a quick section gave us little clues about the cast of characters, but what few details could be mustered aren't exactly illuminating. Blastia, the world in which the game is set, has been dependent on ancient technology.

Now, these machines are being used in a threatening move to control civilization. As Yuri Lowell, a sarcastic guy with an underlying penchant for sympathy, you must stop the use of this magical technology for destruction. Yuri is joined by childhood friend and rival Flynn, as well as a girl named Estelle. A number of others accompany Yuri through the course of the adventure, although their roles are uncertain.

About the only thing we know for certain is that Tales of Vesperia embarks on a new storyline carried by a real-time battle system inherited from previous games in the series. What little we know about the plot is more than made up by a slew of details regarding gameplay. Keeping in line with past installments of the long-running series, battles occur separate from the exploration screen upon touching an enemy.

As you traipse through the forest or whatever locale, you can engage in battles by running into enemies that appear on the exploration screen. A maximum of four characters can be in your party at any given time. Naturally, you don't control all four in battle; instead, you're able to switch characters as the others are controlled via the computer. Another option is to have three buddies join in for local multiplayer. This only applies to battle though, as the rest of the game can only be played solo. As a note, there aren't any plans on supporting online cooperative play.

Orienting through the lush forested Ehmead Hill, we were able to get a good feel for the battle mechanics. During battle, normal attacks are executed with a tap of the B button. Rhythmic presses of the B button yield combination attacks that naturally dish out increasingly more damage.