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Fix: Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition not launching

If you’re nursing the frustration of startup failures with Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, this article will help you out. We’ve added solutions that other players recommended for resolving the problem.

Make Sure Your System Meets the Game’s minimum requirements

If your PC lacks the required hardware and software components to play Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, it will fail to run the game. You can easily think that your modern computer is fortified with all the specs to run the game. However, what you’re really doing is overlooking certain key components that might seem irrelevant.

You don’t have to scour the net for the game’s system requirements (even though you can easily find it on Steam’s servers. as we’ll be providing every bit of information below.

Minimum Requirements

  • Operating System: Windows 7; Windows 8; Windows 10 (64 bit)
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-750, 2.7GHz; AMD X6 FX-6350 3.9GHz AM3
  • System Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB; AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB
  • Storage: 25 GB available space
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Sound Card: DirectX compatible
  • Additional requirements:
  • Frame Fate: stable more than 60 Resolution: 1280×720
  • Setting: LOW/OFF
  • Anti-aliasing: OFF
  • Operating System: Windows 7; Windows 8; Windows 10 (64 bit)
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-4770S, 3.1GHz; AMD Ryzen 7 1700
  • System Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970; AMD Radeon RX 470 Graphics
  • Storage: 25 GB available space
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Sound Card: DirectX 11 compatible
  • Additional requirements:
  • Frame Fate: stable more than 60 Resolution: 1920×1080
  • Setting: High
  • Anti-aliasing: 2X or more

To check your system’s specifications, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the Start button and click on Settings in the Quick Access menu. You can also punch the Windows and I keys together to call up the Settings application.
  2. After the Settings app’s home screen appears, click on the System icon.
  3. Once you get to the System interface, navigate to the left pane, scroll down, and then click on About.
  4. Your PC’s basic specifications, such as your CPU’s make, model and speed; system type (32-bit or 64-bit); and system memory size will be outlined under Device Specifications.

You can also check your PC’s specifications, as well as your DirectX version in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Follow the steps below to do that:

  1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows logo and R keys together. You can also right-click on the Start button and select Run.
  2. After Run appears, type “dxdiag” (without the quotes) into the text field and click on the OK button or hit the Enter key.
  3. Once the DirectX Diagnostic Tool shows up, you’ll find your system’s specifications – and DirectX version – under the System Information section of the System tab.
  4. To check the properties of your sound card, head over to the Sound tab.
  5. Go to the Display tab to check details about your GPU.

Reinstall the Visual C++ Redistributable package

The Visual C++ Redistributable package is a critical piece of software for gaming. It allows programs created in the Visual C++ programming environment to run on Windows. PC video games constitute such programs or have components that rely on the programming environment.

If the Visual C++ Redistributable isn’t installed properly or installed at all, it would explain why the game is refusing to start.

Many Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition players easily resolved the startup issue by reinstalling the package. To apply this fix, go to the subfolder of the game and run the Vcredist installation files. Follow the steps below if you don’t know how to locate the game’s installation directory:

  1. Right-click on the Start button and click on File Explorer in the Quick Access menu. If you want to summon File Explorer faster, use the Windows + E keyboard combo.
  2. After the File Explorer opens, head to the left side of the window and click on This PC.
  3. Switch to the right pane or main window, go to Devices and Drives, and then double-click your Windows drive, which, under normal circumstances, should be the Local Disk C.
  4. After you see the contents of the drive, locate and open the Program Files (x86) folder.
  5. Go to the Steam folder after the Program Files (x86) folder opens and double-click it.
  6. When the Steam folder shows up, open the Steamapps folder.
  7. After that, double-click on the Common folder.
  8. Now, open the installation folder of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition.
  9. If using the methods above doesn’t help you find the game’s directory, it means you installed it in a different folder. You will have to use the Steam client to summon the folder in this case. Follow the steps below:
  • Double-click on Steam’s desktop icon. If you don’t have a desktop icon, go to the Start menu, search for the client, and then launch it.
  • Click on Library at the top of the Steam window.
  • After the list of games you bought on Steam appears, locate Tales of Vesperia; Definitive Edition, right-click it, and then click on Properties.
  • Once the Properties page opens, go to the Local Files tab and click on Browse Local Files.
  • The game’s installation folder will now pop up.
  1. Now, navigate to the _CommonRedists folder, then open the Vcredist folder.
  2. Run both installers one after the other.
  3. If any installation wizard, at any time, asks you to uninstall, see the process through, then reinstall the package.
  4. You should now be able to launch the game without problems.

Update Windows

Updating Windows will see you install important updates for vital software components that the game depends on to run properly. These components include device drivers, the .NET Framework, Visual C++ Redistributable packages, the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, and a host of others.

You shouldn’t have to worry about updating your system if Windows Update is properly set up to automatically download updates when they become available. If the tool has been doing its job, you should notice. However, there are times when you have to give it a nudge. Follow the steps below to check if your system has available updates, then install them:

Follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the Start button and choose Settings in the Quick Access menu. Use the Windows + I combination if you want to launch the application faster.
  2. After the home screen of Settings appears, click on the Update & Security label, which should be sitting at the bottom of the window.
  3. Once the Update & Security interface appears, click on the Check for Updates button under the Windows Update tab.
  4. If there are pending updates for your system, allow the utility to download them.
  5. Once the updates are downloaded, click on the Restart Now button.
  6. Your system will now reboot and Windows will begin to install the updates.
  7. Note that your PC will reboot several times before the updates are completely installed.
  8. After the process is complete, your computer will boot up normally.
  9. Once your system comes up, run Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition and check for the problem.

Run the Game in Administrator Mode

You can’t get a game to launch if it doesn’t have the required permissions to access some advanced system resources that it needs. You could easily resolve the startup issue by lifting the restrictions on the game. To do that, you have to grant it admin privileges.

Before you run the game as an administrator, you must to be logged into a user account that has administrative control. You must right-click on the game’s Start menu icon or desktop shortcut and select Run as Administrator whenever you want to open it.

However, since you almost always launch the game from Steam, you have to adjust its Properties to prompt Windows to grant it admin rights whenever you open it. Doing that will also get rid of the stress of always using the right mouse button whenever you want to play the game.

You can easily open its Properties dialog by right-clicking its desktop shortcut and selecting Properties from the context menu. If you don’t have a desktop shortcut, however, navigate to its installation folder in a File Explorer window, then right-click its EXE file and choose Properties from the Quick Access menu.

If you don’t know where you installed the game, open the Steam client and click on Library at the top of the Window. Once your game list appears, right-click on Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition and click on Properties. Switch to the Properties section and navigate to the Local Files tab. Once the Local Files tab opens, click on the “Browse local files” button.

After the game’s folder appears, locate the file with the “.exe” extension, right-click it, and then click on Properties. When the Properties dialog window pops out, switch to the Compatibility tab. Now, check the box beside “Run this program as an administrator” and click on the OK button. You can now run the game to check for the problem.

Unplug Your Controller and Disable the Driver

Some gamers found out that their controllers were behind the problem. As it turns out, the controller’s driver might be clashing with the game and obstructing the startup process. Before you close the game, unplug the controller. You can also go to the Device Manager to disable the controller’s driver to prevent it from running. Now, start Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition and check for the problem.

Update Your Graphics Card Driver

The game might be refusing to start up because your current display driver is corrupt, missing or out of date. You can easily resolve the issue by installing the updated version of your graphics card driver.

Before you perform the update, we advise that you completely remove the current version. Doing that will make sure the updated version won’t be affected once installed. The steps below will show you how to remove the driver via the Device Manager:

  1. Press the Windows and S keys together or click on the magnifying glass icon in the taskbar to open the search box beside the Start button.
  2. After the search bar opens, type “device manager” (no quotes), and then click on Device Manager in the results.
  3. You can also launch the Device Manager by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Device Manager in the Quick Access menu.
  4. Expand the Display Adapters category after the Device Manager opens.
  5. Right-click your display card and click Uninstall Device.
  6. Check the box next to “Delete the driver software for this device” in the Uninstall Device confirmation dialog, then click on the Uninstall button.
  7. Restart your system after the process is complete.

You can also use the Display Driver Uninstaller to uninstall your graphics card driver and remove all its entities, including registry keys and leftover files. You can also use the AMD Cleanup tool if you use an AMD graphics card.

Once you’ve got rid of the driver, make sure you install the updated version the right way. Going about it the wrong way could result in different other problems.

If you haven’t updated your OS, start with that. Windows Update installs latest driver versions whenever Microsoft releases them.

If you’ve updated your system, try using the Device Manager. You can use it to check if there are updates available for your graphics card driver and install them automatically. If you don’t know how to use the program, follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click the Start button and click on Device Manager.
  2. Expand Display Adapters after the Device Manager opens.
  3. Right-click your display card and click Update Driver.
  4. Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software” after the Update Driver window appears.
  5. Windows will automatically install the driver once it completes the search.
  6. Restart your system and check for the launch problem.


If using the Device Manager doesn’t work, you can go for Auslogics Driver Updater. The application is designed to make sure you don’t suffer issues related to device drivers. It will perform regular scans on your system to identify missing, outdated, or damaged device drivers.

If your display driver has any of these problems, the program will notify you and allow you to automatically update it. Also, the app can save backups of drivers that it updates, allowing you to easily roll them back in the future, whenever compatibility problems arise.

The steps below will show you how to use Auslogics Driver Updater:

  1. Download Auslogics Driver Updater.
  2. Once you get to the webpage, click on the Download button and allow your browser to save the setup file.
  3. The file is not larger than 18 megabytes. So, your browser should be done with the download in a few seconds, depending on your Internet speed.
  4. After your browser completes the downloads, click on the Run/Open button or open the folder where you saved the file and double-click it.
  5. The User Account Control dialog will now pop up and request for permission. Click on the Yes button when this happens.
  6. The Setup wizard will now appear.
  7. Select your preferred language for the program in the drop-down menu.
  8. Next, choose the directory where you want the setup to install the tool by clicking on the three dots under Installation Directory.
  9. Now, use the checkboxes that follow to decide whether you want the setup to create a desktop icon, whether you want the app to launch whenever your PC boots up, and whether you want the tool to send anonymous reports to the developers when issues occur.
  10. After entering your choices, click on the “Click to install” button, then allow the setup to complete the installation process.
  11. The program will launch automatically and begin to scan your PC for problematic device drivers once it’s installed. If it doesn’t start up on its own, you can launch it via the Start menu or by double-clicking its shortcut (if you created one). After the program comes up, click on the Start Scan button.
  12. You’ll see a list of all the outdated, missing, and corrupt drivers on your system once the scan is complete.
  13. Check if your display driver is on the list.
  14. Click on the Update button to prompt the program to download and install the updated driver software.
  15. Once the process completes, reboot your PC and run the game to check for the problem.

Verify the Integrity of the Game Files

The problem could be related to faulty game files that are critical to the game’s startup process. These files might have been affected by malware, your antivirus program, or incomplete updates or installation. To resolve the issue, you have to find the defective game files and replace them.

Thankfully, you can easily use the Steam client to do that. Follow the steps below:

  1. Double-click on Steam’s desktop icon. If you don’t have a desktop icon, go to the Start menu, search for the client, and then launch it.
  2. Click on Library at the top of the Steam window.
  3. After the list of games you bought on Steam appears, locate Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, right-click it, and then click on Properties.
  4. Once the Properties page opens, go to the Local Files tab and click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES.
  5. Steam will now scan your game’s files and check if they match their updated versions on its servers. Missing, outdated, and damaged files will be replaced automatically.
  6. Restart Steam and launch the game once the process is complete.

Prevent Your Antivirus Program from Blocking the Game

Adding the game as an exclusion should be your next move if the previous fixes have done nothing to get the game to start. It’s possible that your security program is flagging the game as a threat and blocking it as a result. This isn’t an uncommon situation. Antivirus programs don’t always spare games on their crackdown on security threats, despite their legitimacy. This usually happens because the game files are relatively new and considered foreign. In certain cases, it’s because the game unnaturally spikes the use of system resources.

Disabling the antivirus program could do the trick, but we rather you add the game as an exclusion. You might be adding the game as an exemption or to the Whitelist, depending on the antivirus program you use. If you don’t know how to prevent the security suite from scanning the game, check for a guide on the website of the program’s developers.

The following steps will show you how to apply the fix if you’re okay with using only the built-in Windows Security suite:

  1. Use the Windows + I keyboard combo to open the Settings app.
  2. After the home screen of Settings opens, go to the bottom of the page and click on Update & Security.
  3. Once the Update & Security interface shows up, move to the left pane and click on Windows Security.
  4. Go to the Windows Security tab on the right pane and click on Virus & Threat Protection under Protection Areas.
  5. Once the Virus & Threat Protection interface appears, scroll down to Virus & Threat Protection Settings and click on Manage Settings.
  6. On the Virus & Threat Protection Settings screen, go to Exclusions and click on “Add or remove exclusions”.
  7. Next, click on the “Add an Exclusion” icon and click “Folder” in the context menu.
  8. Once you see the Select Folder dialog window, go to the installation folder of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Anniversary and select it.
  9. Run the game to check if the startup problem persists.

Run Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition in compatibility mode for an earlier version of Windows

Your current Windows 10 build might not be playing nice with the game. To confirm that the your OS is messing things up, run Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition in compatibility mode for an earlier Windows version, such as Windows 7 or 8, and check if it launches without issues.

The guide below will show you how to do that:

  1. Open a File Explorer window, using the Windows + E keyboard combo.
  2. After the File Explorer opens, navigate to the game’s installation folder, which should be located in C: >> Program Files (x86) >> Steam >> Steamapps >> Common.
  3. If you can’t find the game’s folder in the path above, then you must have installed it in a different directory. Follow these steps to use the Steam client to locate the folder:
  • Double-click on Steam’s desktop icon. If you don’t have a desktop icon, go to the Start menu, search for the client, and then launch it.
  • Click on Library at the top of the Steam window.
  • After the list of games you bought on Steam appears, locate Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, right-click it, and then click on Properties.
  • After the Properties page opens, go to the Local Files tab and click on Browse Local Files.
  • The game’s installation folder will now pop up.
  1. Now, head to the game’s EXE file, right-click it, and then click on Properties.
  2. After the Properties dialog window pops out, navigate to the Compatibility tab.
  3. Check the box beside “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”.
  4. Now, select Windows 7 in the drop-down menu that follows.
  5. Click on the OK button and check for the problem.
  6. You can go for other Windows versions until you find what works.

Conclusion

That’s it! Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition should now launch without issues. If you have any thoughts on the game’s startup problems, let us know, using the comments section.