Tales of Vesperia was remade for the Switch.  As someone who played the original version, I was hesitant to buy this game again.  However, I did not play any of the original DLC which was included no extra charge in Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition.

The story of the game is just as amazing as I remembered it.  A massive story that starts with trying to help the poor which leads to saving the entire world.  All of the characters are amazing with detail and with each passing moment I just want to know more and more about these individuals.  With the definitive edition I get to also play as Flynn, a knight that appears a lot in the game but was not playable in the original version, without DLC.  The game also includes a brand new character Patty the pirate that did not even appear in the previous standalone edition of the game.  The inclusion of these two characters adds so much content to the game and at first I was worried that the additional dialogue and quests would feel disjointed from the events of the rest of the game; however, they felt like a natural progression of in game events.  There were only two things that really made me realize that I was playing new content and that was when Flynn was playable and Yuri’s voice changing.  The voice actor for Yuri did not return to record the additional content.  It was a little tough getting used to the voice changes but you eventually grow accustomed to it. Overall the additional content really added so much to the game and altered a significant portion of the events in the game which led to constant surprises.

Like any tales games you go through hours of conversations, winding roads all across the world map and just when you think the story is winding down you realize it’s barely begun.  The story in this Tales game is unique in how deep the game addresses the difference between what is right and what is legal and it’s interesting to watch just how dark the story gets before all the characters find some sort of agreement on what to do in order to protect the well being of life as they know it. The best part of the story is the roles of Flynn and Yuri, especially how Yuri takes the role of a vigilante and tries to take the law in his own hands while Flynn tries to enforce the law with his.  With the added content the game does more to explore Flynn’s side of the argument where as the original game almost completely focused on Yuri.  This additional content alone made it worthwhile to buy the game again just to explore such a deep and emotional conflict from a new perspective.

The gameplay plays like any other Tales games and it was really enjoyable from start to finish.  I found myself looking for new items, weapons, skills and artes to really find a great play style for the game.  There’s so many ways you can play this game that you can choose a different fighting style every time you play it and enjoy the game several times over.

The game ran great docked and un-docked and it was nice being able to play such an interesting and massive game anywhere.  My only concern with the un-docked playing was how the Switch would vibrate with every attack.  Since I try to combo a lot in the game the Switch vibrated a lot and that made me less interested in playing the game un-docked.

Overall the biggest question is if the game is worth buying.  For newcomers to this game it is a resounding yes because the game is amazing and has so many enjoyable moments.  If you played the game but did not play any of the DLC, like myself, I still say it’s a must buy because the inclusion of the new characters adds so much dialogue and changes the events of the story to feel like a new experience.