So i'm a huge RPG and i'm just finishing up Dark Souls which completely took me by surprise and quickly has become one of my favorites of all time. I have a nice mix of RPG's to choose from to play next...Kingdoms of Amalur, Witcher 2, Dragons Dogma, Final Fantasy XIII-2, or Tales of Vesperia. I'm thinking about going with Tales since I've always wanted to play it, I love the look, and I haven't played a good JRPG in a long time. I'm interested in hearing from anyone that's played it and what exactly I can expect from it.

I actually just bought it about a week ago and have sunk a dozen hours in so far. I've really enjoyed the story and characters so far and the world behind it all. There was only one part of the plot that flat-out didn't make sense but it was only a small one. The combat is great as well. Its not turn-based but it's also not the typical real-time combat you would find in a western RPG. If your looking for a change of pace from the dark and dreary Skyrims and Dragon Age like games that have been dominating the RPG scene then this is a great choice.

I've been meaning to pick up Tales, but I still haven't. However, out of all the games you posted, I liked FFXIII-2 the best. I'm playing the Witcher 2 right now and it's fun but I'm in a funk with playing games... been too busy and just built a PC and haven't been too motivated to reinstall everything yet.

Vesperia is a great game. It's an Action JRPG, where you control one character and the rest move and act on their own. The story is great, and Yuri develops into quite an interesting character.

Is this your first "Tales of" game?

Yes.

It reminds me too much of Final Fantasy... Not like it's a bad thing, Final Fantasy used to be pretty cool.

My favorite from the list is Amalur. I'm planning on playing that again one day

I may be one of the few with an opposite opinion of the Tales games.

The characters and graphics are nice and all, but I really don't like the combat system. It's not that it's hard either, it just feels wrong to me.