Tales of Xillia follows Jude Mathis, a clever medical student attending school in the capital city, and Milla Maxwell, a mysterious woman accompanied by four unseen beings. Players will be able to choose either Milla or Jude at the outset of their adventure through the world of Rieze Maxia, where humans and spirits live together in harmony. The kingdom of Rashugal has been experimenting with a powerful device that has been draining the mana from the world. Realizing the harm it is inflicting on the world, Milla and Jude set off on a journey to destroy it and restore the mana back to the world. Over the course of the game their lives will intersect with a vast ensemble of characters that will teach them the strength of unwavering conviction.
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god tier game, no one does it like tales of
they actually wrote that skit about milla's bazongas
I've been really meaning to play another Tales game this year, but getting hella addicted to first Atelier (beaten ten games so far this year ^^;) and then SMT (beat four games ^^;) really didn't help that effort XD. So I looked at the ones I had on hand to play, and I figured Xillia would fit the bill well, as that's the one immediately after my favorite, Graces, and it's one I've had recommended in particular from several friends in the past. It took me some 51 or so hours (and then mucking about for another 10 or so in post-game) to finish the Japanese version of the game, and I enjoyed my time with it very much ^w^
Tales of Xillia is the first game in the Tales series (to the best of my knowledge) to take a page from the Atelier playbook and have two main characters instead of one. First you have Jude, the 15 year old med school student who becomes embroiled in trying to stop a plot by his city/kingdom to plunge the world into war (or worse). Then you have Milla, the living avatar of the master of elementals, Maxwell, who is the one who embroils Jude in trying to destroy the evil Jin machinery that the government is trying to use for evil purposes. There's a cast of four main/playable characters outside of them, but they're the two the plot primarily revolves around. You can actually pick from playing either's route before you start the game, but Jude's is the one you should play first (as I did) and it's also the most complete. Milla's perspective on things is almost identical to Jude's, and Jude is the real main character when all is said and done, no matter how much Namco may try to pretend otherwise (although Milla is a very good #2 story focus).
I really loved the story and especially the character writing in Tales of Graces, and Tales of Xillia did not disappoint on that front either. All six of the main cast are really well portrayed and developed (with my personal favorite being Teepo), with the story's main themes being conviction, duty, and finding one's purpose. The antagonist is also very interesting for a JRPG, as I really can't think of any other one that I've played where the ultimate conflict between the main hero and villain comes down to such an almost mutually agreed upon point that their conflict ends the way it does here. Being a more recent Tales game, this is a longer story with two major twists (although it's oddly enough split across four acts), and I think it handles the writing really well in the way Tales so often does. The familiar fantasy-with-technology setting and larger themes of environmentalism and anti-colonialism are here, sure, but they're done in an entertaining and still unique way from other Tales games to make this one as engaging as ever.
The gameplay has changed a little and a lot, but it's mostly changed in the very incremental way that the Tales series is so reliable with. Where Vesperia had learnable skills tied to weapons you equipped and Graces had skills tied to your titles you equipped, now equippable skills are tied to a large sphere grid-style board you can slot points into upon leveling up. It also provides stat buffs and such on top of what you get for normally leveling up, but it isn't anything super revolutionary (although it is a trend the series would continue for some time). The way you walk around the world has also changed, with the narrower corridors that used to define dungeons and fields being replaced with wider areas, particularly in the fields. You can look around these locations for materials and treasure chests, but it again isn't a terribly significant change to how things had been done so far. The game has no overworld, but it does have fast travel available very early, and the way it does its shops is also quite clever. Instead of having multiple shops, all types of shop are effectively the same all over the world (no hunting for that ONE shop that sells the thing you need), and you use those materials you win in battles or find around the world to trade in and upgrade them and the stock they hold. It's a very neat idea to reward exploration and also make shopping much more convenient.
The combat system has the same sort of combo/chain limit style that Tales of Graces has, but refined even further so it doesn't have nearly such a steep learning curve as that one did. However, while they have kept the chain system, they've also re-introduced a mana system, so you can't use artes and special moves like you used to. They take a lot of how technical and important your movement was (side-steps are completely removed) and refocus it instead on dodging and attacks that more easily flow into one another. A really cool move that Jude can do is if he dodges with a back-step just before an attack, he teleports behind the enemy to hit them for higher damage!
This also helps build up your link gauge faster, and linking is this game's overlimit mechanic. During battle, you can link to another party member, and they'll both gain a special power to use in battle as well as help you kill whatever you're killing (both guarding your back as well as helping you focus-fire). When you've either taken or dealt enough hits to reach a pip of the meter, you can press R2 after you do a particular special move (every partner has particular artes they can do this with) to do a super powerful move. Filling the bar all the way means you can use those special moves as much as you want until the meter runs out and/or unleash an ultimate attack. Tons of Tales games have overlimit mechanics like this, but this is definitely the overlimit mechanic that I've enjoyed and actually used the most instead of just forgetting to ever use it XP
The presentation is really nice. Music is pretty and atmospheric, which is very usual for a Tales game, and the anime graphics style of Tales is as pretty as it always is. Character design is good and fan service is very thankfully kept low (save for a few fairly revealing outfits). There are some slight performance hitches in very large battles (generally post-game battles or optional super hard fights with lots of movement and particle effects), but even when they happen they don't disrupt your ability to fight too badly. It feels more like you suddenly have bullet time than anything XD
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This game didn't take the top spot of Tales of Graces for my favorite Tales game, but it came damn close. Xillia is honestly probably just a better game than Graces, if I'm being more objective, but Graces's themes and characters just hit home for me in a way I'm not sure any game can top. This is a really solid Tales game and an excellent one to check out if you've ever been interested in the series. It may not be quite as good as Vesperia to use as your entry to the series, if you've ever played one at all before, but it's still a really good one that you wouldn't be going wrong with either as a newbie or a series veteran~
Tales of Xillia is the first game in the Tales series (to the best of my knowledge) to take a page from the Atelier playbook and have two main characters instead of one. First you have Jude, the 15 year old med school student who becomes embroiled in trying to stop a plot by his city/kingdom to plunge the world into war (or worse). Then you have Milla, the living avatar of the master of elementals, Maxwell, who is the one who embroils Jude in trying to destroy the evil Jin machinery that the government is trying to use for evil purposes. There's a cast of four main/playable characters outside of them, but they're the two the plot primarily revolves around. You can actually pick from playing either's route before you start the game, but Jude's is the one you should play first (as I did) and it's also the most complete. Milla's perspective on things is almost identical to Jude's, and Jude is the real main character when all is said and done, no matter how much Namco may try to pretend otherwise (although Milla is a very good #2 story focus).
I really loved the story and especially the character writing in Tales of Graces, and Tales of Xillia did not disappoint on that front either. All six of the main cast are really well portrayed and developed (with my personal favorite being Teepo), with the story's main themes being conviction, duty, and finding one's purpose. The antagonist is also very interesting for a JRPG, as I really can't think of any other one that I've played where the ultimate conflict between the main hero and villain comes down to such an almost mutually agreed upon point that their conflict ends the way it does here. Being a more recent Tales game, this is a longer story with two major twists (although it's oddly enough split across four acts), and I think it handles the writing really well in the way Tales so often does. The familiar fantasy-with-technology setting and larger themes of environmentalism and anti-colonialism are here, sure, but they're done in an entertaining and still unique way from other Tales games to make this one as engaging as ever.
The gameplay has changed a little and a lot, but it's mostly changed in the very incremental way that the Tales series is so reliable with. Where Vesperia had learnable skills tied to weapons you equipped and Graces had skills tied to your titles you equipped, now equippable skills are tied to a large sphere grid-style board you can slot points into upon leveling up. It also provides stat buffs and such on top of what you get for normally leveling up, but it isn't anything super revolutionary (although it is a trend the series would continue for some time). The way you walk around the world has also changed, with the narrower corridors that used to define dungeons and fields being replaced with wider areas, particularly in the fields. You can look around these locations for materials and treasure chests, but it again isn't a terribly significant change to how things had been done so far. The game has no overworld, but it does have fast travel available very early, and the way it does its shops is also quite clever. Instead of having multiple shops, all types of shop are effectively the same all over the world (no hunting for that ONE shop that sells the thing you need), and you use those materials you win in battles or find around the world to trade in and upgrade them and the stock they hold. It's a very neat idea to reward exploration and also make shopping much more convenient.
The combat system has the same sort of combo/chain limit style that Tales of Graces has, but refined even further so it doesn't have nearly such a steep learning curve as that one did. However, while they have kept the chain system, they've also re-introduced a mana system, so you can't use artes and special moves like you used to. They take a lot of how technical and important your movement was (side-steps are completely removed) and refocus it instead on dodging and attacks that more easily flow into one another. A really cool move that Jude can do is if he dodges with a back-step just before an attack, he teleports behind the enemy to hit them for higher damage!
This also helps build up your link gauge faster, and linking is this game's overlimit mechanic. During battle, you can link to another party member, and they'll both gain a special power to use in battle as well as help you kill whatever you're killing (both guarding your back as well as helping you focus-fire). When you've either taken or dealt enough hits to reach a pip of the meter, you can press R2 after you do a particular special move (every partner has particular artes they can do this with) to do a super powerful move. Filling the bar all the way means you can use those special moves as much as you want until the meter runs out and/or unleash an ultimate attack. Tons of Tales games have overlimit mechanics like this, but this is definitely the overlimit mechanic that I've enjoyed and actually used the most instead of just forgetting to ever use it XP
The presentation is really nice. Music is pretty and atmospheric, which is very usual for a Tales game, and the anime graphics style of Tales is as pretty as it always is. Character design is good and fan service is very thankfully kept low (save for a few fairly revealing outfits). There are some slight performance hitches in very large battles (generally post-game battles or optional super hard fights with lots of movement and particle effects), but even when they happen they don't disrupt your ability to fight too badly. It feels more like you suddenly have bullet time than anything XD
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This game didn't take the top spot of Tales of Graces for my favorite Tales game, but it came damn close. Xillia is honestly probably just a better game than Graces, if I'm being more objective, but Graces's themes and characters just hit home for me in a way I'm not sure any game can top. This is a really solid Tales game and an excellent one to check out if you've ever been interested in the series. It may not be quite as good as Vesperia to use as your entry to the series, if you've ever played one at all before, but it's still a really good one that you wouldn't be going wrong with either as a newbie or a series veteran~
Gameplay was fun, especially when I started getting used to the Linking system. Great cast overall. Probably my favorite out of the Tales games I've played so far!
Downsides:
- A couple of the character's arcs didn't feel fully resolved to me.
- Parts of the game's 4th Act felt rushed, and I wish there was more to the late game areas.
- Most of the highroads you go through look the same, which was very boring.
- The Coliseum is awful.
Downsides:
- A couple of the character's arcs didn't feel fully resolved to me.
- Parts of the game's 4th Act felt rushed, and I wish there was more to the late game areas.
- Most of the highroads you go through look the same, which was very boring.
- The Coliseum is awful.
YOKED OUT BAZONGAS
Alvin Moment