Tales of Vesperia is the story of a delinquent (Yuri Lowell) who leaves the slums because his well is broken and that needs to be fixed. He ends up traveling with his dog who uses a dagger and smokes a pipe (Repede), a sheltered noble (Estelle), a young guild-member (Karol), a fiery mage (Rita), a elf krityan with a clothing allergy (Judith), and a fishy archer (the smell comes off him in waves) (Raven). In the Japanese version of the game, a random pirate girl (Patty), and Yuri's best friend joins up -

Yes. Best friends

They deal with problems like WHY THE HELL ARE THE NOBLES AND THE KNIGHTS NOT PROTECTING PEOPLE, WHO STOLE MY DAMN WELL, and WHY DOES THIS FLAMING TURKEY CALL YOUR HEALER A POISON. Themes of this game are "What is Justice" and "How do you punish people who are able to twist the law to suit them", which sounds as cheerful as you can expect from having your protagonist in batman's colors-

This is straight to the beginning of the game, exposition and all- Please note that this is a Tales game, which means there are monsters eating things in the opening, and that Yuri's voice is likely to be familiar to many people. and here is Duke

The first minute of this is a lovely example of what kind of person Yuri is.

And the respect your protag has for doors.

That playthrough skips minor battles, which makes it quite a bit shorter than otherwise c: