Tales of Xillia 2

Coming off of Tales of Xillia, the changes to the combat system are quite jarring. However, you're given plenty of training as the game progresses. Not a game for those who get overcome by "the feels" easily (or perhaps it is), as from start to finish, outside of a few light-hearted moments, the game is far darker and far "harder" (in the sense of seriousness) than the original.Though Ludger himself is a silent protagonist, something that has been appearing less and less in console games within the past few years, dialogue choices appear that allow you to better shape his personality, though not to the extent of say, Mass Effect or even Persona 4. These choices occasionally change the events of the next few moments, sometimes extending upwards to even a good few minutes later, though the majority of them are mere shifts in how the dialogue flows.The plotline is a bit convoluted and strange, sometimes hard to follow unless you think in unorthodox ways, though I never personally used it (i kinda forgot it was there) there is a synopsis function in the Library tab of the main menu, that allows you to check over the most recent plot events, written from the view of Ludger himself. as well, for those who jump straight into Xillia 2, there is a section of the Library tab, reserved for explaining plot details and character profiles of those whom appeared in the previous game.Combat difficulty can be selected from the beginning of the game, and changed at any time. all this does truly is slightly alter enemy attack patterns, along with giving them more damage dealt to you, less taken, and more health. Like almost all Tales Of games, beating the game once opens up both a clear save file, and a New Game+ option, for those who like to replay their games over and over, with added advantages.Upon such, the Grade Shop makes its return, but like Xillia 1, "Grade" is gotten through "titles" rather than combat, unlike some previous titles such as Tales of Vesperia, or Tales of Symphonia. The Grade Shop allows for bonuses in your next run, such as experience multipliers, carrying over skill books (which do various things such as teach new attacks in battle or new applicable abilities), technique usage data and so on.The game itself is fairly long enough, i believe i clocked in somewhere around 40 or so hours for the primary story, but there are character specific side-quests, a...convoluted post-game dungeon (helpful hint, if you enter it accidentally, just die, it's the fastest way out), the standard Tales Of arena matches, including Cameo battles (which are always fun and another series staple), powerful boss monsters and upgraded versions of themselves...there's fair enough content, should a player be so inclined.All in all, the game is a very good RPG for any PS3 owner or JRPG fan. Though if you're not a fan of the combat system, which is much more involved than most other RPG games, this definitely wouldnt be the game for you. Also, the plot is fairly anime, but not as terribly so as other games have been. A solid four stars, due to a couple things that could have been tightened up, and mostly one or two personal gripes. Like Nova.You'll understand when you meet her.

Excellent. The story isn't convoluted like it could get with games that deal with time lines plot. Keep in mind this is not time traveling back and forth between past present or future, but time traveling between parallel dimensions although sometimes you can arrive in the future or past of that parallel dimension but you won't get back to those again. This prevents the plot from being a total mess of changes in a single timeline like certain ffxiii-2. The music and graphics are pretty beautiful. The battle system is a lot of fun that includes some tactics and thinking. The fields are about the right size and not too vast nor boring with tons of monsters to fight. Hated the loan to pad the length of the game but it is good if you need to level up or have some fun with battles then it will become a good excuse in the game that will push you to do so.Lots of non graphic related content with characters side stories that I enjoyed a lot and did them all. You will get back all the six party members from the previous games plus Gaius, Muzet, Elle (she is not playable though) and Ludger the main protagonist of this sequel. All of them come back with different outfits as well as the previous outfits and color variation of both and with their personalities slightly changed after one year but they are still awesome!The world is pretty much the same with the exception of three or four new locations in elympios.This game is perfect for those who like hack n slash and RPGs as well as those who enjoy anime and stories with depth and lots of dialogue which I do (of course it's a TALE so it must have lots of dialogue). Fans of the franchise should also play it. Tales of xillia both have been one of the darkest to date, which is also something very interesting to experience with. No doubt you will have humour and love in the game though!

Takes the original, simple-to-pick-up Xillia gameplay, and cranks it to 11. The main character --and by extension, the player-- has more options than ever, with 3 weapon movesets to switch between at will in combat (hammer, sword and pistols), and numerous timed decisions to make which may simply influence dialogue, or in several cases cause a fight. There are a decent handful of endings based on your decisions towards the end of the game, including a Bad End. Nearly the entirety of Xillia1's world map is also fully explorable in addition to new locales. The original cast returns to support Ludger as his party, except for Milla, who is replaced for a large chunk of the game by a plot-device "fractured dimension" version of Milla, who has no memories of X1 and lived alone most of her life. Alt Milla is not particularly memorable on her own, mainly standing out simply by the differences between her and the real Milla, and Real Milla later says she could 'see everything' Alt Milla did from where she was stuck, which makes the entire character of Alt Milla a bit redundant-- but that's fine. She isn't all that crucial to the plot compared to X1 so you can look past it.The main character isn't voiced in dialogue until your second playthrough, but it's not a big deal. You'll understand why once you play it.The point of contention you may have going in is the "Debt" system. Since there is nothing specifically withholding the MC Ludger from exploring the world, the plot lays upon you a completely unreasonable amount of debt that restricts where you can go until payment milestones are met. Typically you make more than enough going through the story to pass these barriers, and there is no requirement to fully repay it (they expect you to manage this on NG+). As an added incentive, you will receive a slow drip of prizes for paying back certain amounts, like technique books and potions to increase your affinity with party members.Speaking of "Affinity", another interesting feature added to X2 is the friendship system. Each of your teammates likes Ludger paying attention to them, and you will gain Titles (and thus, GRADE) by strengthening your bonds with everyone. Either through using them in battle, helping them with side events, sticking up for them in conversation choices, or feeding them friendship potions gotten thru debt payments. For reference I focused almost exclusively on Muzet for my main playthrough (kept her in battle and fed her every potion I got), and didn't max her out until close to the end of my run, but you may have better luck.Some may disagree, but I think Xillia 2 is one of the high points of the Tales franchise; polished to a shine, full of content during and post-game (and NG+), great music and fun characters.

The phrase “more of the same” is one that is used frequently when describing video game sequels nowadays, and unfortunately, it is not a phrase that is often used the most flattering light. However, Tales of Xillia 2 perhaps embodies this phrase more than any other video game sequel that has ever been made. This is a game for people that loved Tales of Xillia, and nobody else. It looks the same, sounds the same, and contains the same strengths and weaknesses that the first game had, often to its own detriment. Yet despite the incredible amount of similarities that this sequel shares with its predecessor, it ultimately ends up feeling distinct, especially when it comes to the intense, and much darker, storyline.In my review of the first Tales of Xillia, I stated that the only thing that kept me from giving the game a 5 star review was the game's environments, particularly the dungeon and overworld settings. They seemed like they were made in a hurry. They didn't look very good, didn't really display much creativity in terms of level design, and really weren't all that fun to explore. Well, as Tales of Xillia 2 takes place in the same world as the first game, almost all the assets from the first game are reused here, and you'll end up running through the same areas, listening to the same music (which isn't a bad thing, as the music is great), and finding secrets in the same places. That's what made Tales of Xillia 2 drag at times. As these environments weren't too stellar the first time around, having to go through them all again here can be downright grating sometimes. As a result, I spent significantly less time exploring this time around, and primarily stuck to story missions and character side quests. There are a handful of new locales, but this game's biggest weakness is the recycling of environments that weren't all that great the first time around. Rounding this issue out is the game's final area, one of the only new environments in the game, and an exercise in frustration due to its trial and error way of moving forward towards the final battle. It seemed like a cheap way to pad out the final sequence of the game, and ended up being more annoying then fun.One of Tales of Xillia's major strengths was its gameplay and combat, and that returns here with some changes that will please some and disappoint others. Your main character can now rotate between different weapon sets, each with its own full arsenal of artes (the game's magical attacks), making combat more dynamic than it was the first time. Certain enemies are weak to certain weapons and resistant to others, and the weapon transitions can be lot of fun to play with. Yet at the same time, it can get to the point where there are TOO many artes, especially later on in the game when your character is at a high level. For some players, it will become very difficult to master a particular combat style, particularly when trying to maximize linked artes with your party members. These battle system refinements are a mixed bag, and depending on who you are, will either feel like an improvement or a step down.Also, your character has a sort of “beast mode” phase where he can shift into the form of a dark being and wield enormous powers once a certain gauge is filled. The character leveling system is also more refined and felt like less of a hassle to use. Overall, the changes in gameplay are small, but feel just significant enough to stay fresh.Ultimately, though, just like the first game, Tales of Xillia 2's greatest strength lies in its characters, its writing, and its story, all which return here with a vengeance. These strengths are why the player is going to want to play Tales of Xillia 2 after completing the first game, and that desire is absolutely warranted. The main story is told in a significantly different way than the first game was. The main character, Ludger, is a mostly-silent protagonist, and was created this way to give the player-choice driven narrative a more personal feel for the player. Taking a queue from a Bioware RPG, the gamer will constantly be making dialogue and action choices, some small and some quite large, that will affect not only the narrative, but also how his companions view him. Party member-specific side quests exist to strengthen Ludger's relationship (known as affinity) with his party members, which has benefits both in the storytelling as well as in the combat. And as for the story itself...it is stellar. It's a much darker, more personal story than Tales of Xillia's, yet is equally as poignant, especially in the end. The game's narrative often feels similar to playing the Playstation 2 classic Shadow of the Colossus, where the player will be forced to perform sometimes hideous deeds, and and in turn will begin to question their own motivations. It can be a rough ride emotionally, but this is ultimately very much a positive quality of Tales of Xillia 2, and it is what makes this game very much worth playing, despite its numerous weaknesses.I would definitely recommend this title to fans of the first game who want more time with these characters and want to experience another top tier story in this universe. However, while this is still a solid game with a great story, it is not as strong as the first game due to its over-reliance on the first game's assets, and arguably its broader, yet less refined, battle system. This is a game for Tales of Xillia's biggest fans only.

I have only ever played Tales of Xillia, and I didn't like it all that much in the beginning. It was very hard for me to get into it at first, as it moved so incredibly slow with the story. the characters weren't very interesting to me either, and I feel this is a very important part of an RPG game. If you're going to spend so many hours, it needs to be appealing in these aspects. I kept with the game though, and kept playing. It finally grew on me halfway through, because I really loved the fighting/battling. Then the story picked up the pace, and it was alright then. So, after beating the original, I decided to buy Xillia2.So far, have not beat the game, but I'm really liking the changes to Xillia2 so far. It's pretty cool to see where the story is going to go with the decisions it allows you to take. Everything about the fighting from the first is there, with the second, on top of some neat changes. It does seem they amped the difficulty up a bit, which I'm really enjoying. I feel that after I'm fully done with the game, that I can't write a proper review, but at the same time, I'm very happy and satisfied with the game enough to want to write a review about it. So, all in all, if you liked the first one, you'll most likely love the 2nd as well.