Due to never owning an XBox of any form (and not being able to read Japanese), the recent release of the Definitive Edition of Tales of Vesperia marked my first chance to play the game.
It became immediately apparent why Yuri was a popular protagonist, and nearly all the other characters end up solidly entertaining in some manner (Karol leans more toward annoying). Where the game fails spectacularly though is in the plot developments… which are atrocious. It’s not very completionist-friendly either and requires a ton of grinding and a not insignificant amount of backtracking if you want to collect everything (though be aware that the world map search points can help a little with material requirements).
In addition to the standard pitfall of missing hidden sidequests (following a walkthrough will solve that issue) another noteworthy trap for completionists is the Fell Arms weapons. If you happen to face the final boss with all of them collected, you’ll get thrown into an extra battle against an enemy scaled for a post-game party. A nasty surprise which will probably force you to grind even more and/or lower the difficulty to Easy.
As for the prequel movie, it can be watched either before or after playing; all it does is show Yuri’s brief stint with the knights. There’s effectively no storyline connection and little character connection. You do get to see more of the red-haired twins who pop up in a sidequest though.