Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is about more than returning to adventure with old friends. It is about getting to know a new one too. Patty was originally introduced in the PlayStation 3 version of the game. The Xbox 360 version did hint at her eventual existence, what with a pirate hat that has "Pa" on it in the Torim Harbor lighthouse. But for so long, she was a a mystery. This release introduces a new character with a unique skillset that gives you random, possibly wonderful, effects when attacking.
Patty is a character that, upon the first few meetings, touches on some RPG stereotypes. She is an energetic young woman. Some might even consider her a bit bratty or overwhelming. She has a chirpy voice and precocious personality. While there is a significant amount of growth for the character as she regains her memories and her story advances, some might be put off by her initial appearances. She is the sort of character that might be easy to consider comic relief. Ha! The teenager has a crush on the main character, to the point where she even has a Dream Couple skill that will decrease her TP consumption if her and Yuri are in the party at the same time. Except, as her story plays out, people get to see cracks in the mask. Is she really always that happy? How authentic are her whimsical quips and attempts to get the better of people? Why is she so determined to follow in the footsteps of Aifread, the Siren’s Fang pirate guild leader? Seeing how everything pans out really helps take her character to another level.
It is these hints at her eventual backstory and the way she comes to the party that makes Patty feel more realized, rather than some bonus character who was tossed into Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition for fun. The game works hard to integrate her into the cast without making her seem too obtrusive. Some people might even wonder what it was like without her in the first place, given how frequently she joins up with the party before officially becoming a member of the roster. Not everyone might feel this way, granted. She does appear so often that these extra instances before she officially comes aboard may seem forced. But it doesn’t feel as abrupt as someone might expect.
The "your mileage may vary" stance may also take effect when it comes to actually using Patty in battle. While she is a pirate, her attacks are really more unpredictable and make her seem like a gambler stereotype. She has a stance system in play and artes that are chance-based and rely on the current form she is in. Once you use Form Change in battle, she switches to a random stance. Normal form is ordinary, Advance increases her strength for physical attacks, makes her a little faster, and restores a little health, Brainiac improves her magical attacks, makes her a little slower, and restores a small amount of TP, and Critical stuns enemies, makes her faster, and boosts her physical and magical attacks. As you can tell, trying for Critical is pretty helpful stance. Since you can’t really guarantee what you get, it helps to work toward skills that turn the odds in your favor. For example, if you get the Form Keep skill, it will let her keep a form between each battle, rather than changing. If you get Pirate’s Gun: Cerulean, you could learn the Critical Upgrade skill that will switch her over to the Critical form automatically after getting jackpots from artes.
Patty’s nature means it is best to not let the computer handle her. With everything being so reliant and luck, it is better to have some control over what happens. For example, people who find her frail or worry about keeping her alive may want to spam Little Big Chef. In every form except Advance, she will actually make some food after attacking with a frying pan. There is a chance of getting a burnt dish, which will reduce health and TP by half, but you could also make meals that restore her health, her HP, or boost the Overlimit gauge. If you want to do a lot of ranged damage with spells, Risky Cast is a good bet in both the Brainiac and Critical forms, since you could get offensive and defensive spells. (Though, if you want, the Normal and Advance forms will get offensive spells when using it.) It can also be fun to use her summoning skill to pull in other characters, like Mieu from Tales of the Abyss. You just have to go in knowing things might not always work out perfectly.
Patty adds a little something extra to Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, though how much people get out of the new character will depend on how much time you are willing to spend learning to use her and maybe looking beyond some initial personality traits that might make her seem like she falls into stereotypical roles. Her arc shows quite a bit of progression in the game, as we see her memory return, and people who are willing to take control of her in a fight might find her luck-based attacks incredibly helpful against enemies.
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Published: Jan 18, 2019 12:00 pm