Note: This review was based on a Japanese copy, and has not been released in English yet. I had to translate most of it myself and hence there may be some errors in the story.
Tales of Xillia is Japanese role playing game exclusive to the PS3 which was released in Japan back in 2011, and is part of the ever growing Tales of franchise. The Tales games are known for their vibrant cast, colourful visuals and fast combat, and Xillia takes it up a notch.
For starters, the graphics. The series has always had an anime feel to the graphics, but Xillia incorporates a mix of that and realistic backgrounds and textures. The major party all have mocap and have rather advanced facial expressions and subtle movements. The cast feels genuinely human. There are actually two main characters, with a choice of whose story you will follow at the start. There is Jude Mathis, a 15 year old medical student studying in the city of Il Fan, and Milla Maxwell, a mysterious woman with a strong interest in regular life and quirks in the world. After Milla infiltrates a facility in Il Fan to destroy the 'Kresnik' a military weapon that was harming the spirits, she and Jude are forced to flee town and figure out just what the weapon was to be used for. Along the way, the party grows and changes, with the usual variety of the Tales games. Other characters in the main party include: Alvin, a mercenary that helps Jude and Milla escape Il Fan, Elise, a young girl that has led a rather sheltered and traumatic life, Rowen, a 62 year old man that helps out the party, and Leia, Jude's childhood friend who is training to be a nurse.
The combat is fast, fun and over the top. Since Tales of Phantasia on the SNES, the series has built on the system with each installment and Xillia shows what a success it has become. A battle starts when coming into contact with an enemy on the field, transporting you to Final Fantasy-esque battlefield. The combat is real time, with no menus to navigate. Your character moves on a 2d axis in relation to the enemy position, but holding L2 allows free movement. Regular attacks are done by pressing o, with each character having a signature attack style. There are also 'artes', which are used by pressing x and a direction on the left control stick. These range from strong physical attacks to healing spells and buffs depending on the character you are playing as. You can set these artes to wherever you want on the control sticks, which allows for your own signature play style. You earn experience and level up, but this process is done through the 'lilial orb', essentially a skill tree. When a character levels up, they gain 'GP', points that allow you to increase a stat, or learn an arte or skill. This helps to customize characters to your personal style.
Until recently, all of the Tales games were split into towns, dungeons and the world map. Xillia expands on the idea of having 'roads' between areas instead of a separate world map. These aren't roads though; these are massive sprawling areas with many secrets and items to horde. They are also the place you will spend most of you time doing sidequests at. These are mainly fetch quests and monster hunting, but some of the major ones have unique objectives and cut-scenes. There are the standard JRPG shops, weapons, items etc., but Xillia has a unique mechanic where shops can be upgraded for discounts or certain items to become available. This can either be done by spending money there, or by using any of the materials you have found in your travels. This means that you potentially have access to high level items and equipment early on, rather than having to buy them at the next town.
Xillia was a bit of a rushed job, however, with quite a few extras from previous games being cut out, such as a cutscene viewer or an extra story arc. The main story alone is about 40 hours long, perhaps a bit shorter without having to translate it, which is still a fair length.
Tales of Xillia is how a JRPG should be done, the characters are deep and have their personal flaws, the combat is fun but still challenging and fair, and the hair is AMAZING. It will be release for PAL and NTSC regions on the 6th of August.
Plus:
*Likeable party
*Unique graphical style
*Intuitive combat
Minus:
*Corners were cut in development
*Long wait for the English release
Overall verdict -
A well-crafted game that hits all the right notes, and in general is hard to fault. The Tales series and JRPGs in general are stronger for it.
10/10
Remember all those things that didn't make it into Xillia? Well, instead of being cur for good, Namco have release 'Tales of Xillia 2'. It is a continuation of the first with new characters and quests. Refined continuation or blatant cash in? Find out in the next few weeks here at the Illegible Others.
So, that is my first review... If you feel that I could improve the style of writing or just want to leave feedback then please leave a comment. I'll try to make next week's review a little less obscure. On reflection I did notice that the tone is a little dry, so I will work on that.
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