Blue Dragon. Enchanted Arms. Infinite Undiscovery. Eternal Sonata. Lost Odyssey. Spot the connection? If you said that they were RPGs Microsoft hoped would make the console a must-buy in Japan, you’d be right. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line the developers of the five previous titles misfired in various ways which lead to average (or slightly above average) titles. Now that Final Fantasy is confirmed for the 360 things will assuredly change, but there is one final pre-FF hurrah in the grand attempt to give the Xbox 360 a must-own JRPG, and it comes from one of the genre’s most respected and successful franchises: the Tales series.

Tales of Vesperia is the tenth release in the long-running series of hit RPGs, and the first of this generation. Known for its unique real-time battle system, Tales has an RPG fan following surpassed only by the two genre juggernauts: Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior.

It was that kind of history and following which Microsoft hoped would enamor the game with RPG fans—especially the Japanese consumers. Not surprisingly, unlike the previous Xbox 360 JRPG attempts Tales of Vesperia manages to hit all the notes required for a hit JRPG title, and even manages to offer up an enticing package which will likely draw non-RPG gamers into the fold.

For those not familiar with the series, combat is simple—when your character runs into an enemy, you’ll enter combat with up to four party members. Thankfully, the Tales Studio fixed the loading problems which absolutely ruined Tales of Abyss and players enter into combat almost instantaneously. Once you’re in combat, the game resembles an action RPG/brawler more than it resembles what many people consider a typical role playing game. By pulling the left trigger, characters enter a free-run mode which enables full 360 degree movement on the battle field, and allows people to hit anything in the battle without worrying about which monster is an active target.

To fight, there are three main face buttons which are used in almost every battle; B performs a basic melee attack, A performs a special artes move (magic, special hits, etc.), and X blocks incoming attacks. It sounds simple, right? It is, until you realize that every direction pressed in conjunction with a face button performs different actions. Press up and B, and you’ll perform an upward rising melee attack; forward stabs, and down performs a sweep type maneuver. As you gain experience and win fights, your characters unlock different artes which can be equipped to either LS+A or RS+A combinations, allowing for a total of seven special attacks available in any battle. (Left and right + A perform the same skill.)