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Game Title: Tales of Xillia 2
Platform: PlayStation 3
Developer: Bandai Namco Games
Publisher: Bandai Namco Games
Genre: Role Playing Game
Age Rating: CERO: C, ESRB: T for Teen, PEGI 16+
Release Date: 1st November 2012 (Japan), 19th August 2014 (North America), 22nd August 2014 (Europe)
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Game Score: 7.5/10
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Summery:
Tales of Xillia 2 acts more of rehash of it's predecessor but with a mature storyline and vast gameplay changes.
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Bandai Namco released Tales of Xillia that changed the series pacing a year later brought sequel that is Tales of Xillia 2 which brings out a more mature storyline without making a complete load of changes to the formula. This is a good thing because Tales of has had some changes with the battle system to make combat as entertaining as the last.
Tales of Xillia had you play as either Jude Mathis or Milla Maxwell which had their own perspective on the story. Tales of Xillia follows a new leading protagonist Ludger Kresnik a young man who has to deal with a hefty debt and also make very difficult life threatening decisions over the course of the game. The Tales centres around tragedy, sacrifice and sadness where portions of the story end up being more depressing as the game goes on, if anyone thinks that one chapter in the story wasn't upsetting enough then the next chapters towards the end will try it's best to leave the player in tears. During the cutscenes or skit conversations you are presented with 2 different dialogue options where sometimes it raises affinity with other characters you met if you picked the right responses. Your other choices become interesting to see play out specially some of the choices that you pick from at the ending portions of the game which sadly doesn't give out a truly happy ending for everyone. This becomes a very hardened Tale because the player will often feel the weight and guilt about the decision they made for the main character. As for Ludger himself he remains as a silent protagonist with him only saying grunts, screams and a few words, however if you complete the game you'll unlock Ludger's Voice option which allows him to speak the decisions which some players may find it to be a pointless feature. It's fine to have Ludger say only a small list of lines but giving him a voice option just takes the likeness out of the decisions.
The original cast of Tales of Xillia makes a return to assist Ludger and just like the Tales of Symphonia sequel it's good to see how everyone has been since the last adventure. Each character is introduced one by one over the course of the game and the skit conversions are just as humorous as the previous game. The skit boxes look the same as the original and it's a good thing that they are animated well but still it's not on part with the skit system in Tales of Graces.
The gameplay design of Tales of Xillia 2 is very identical to the original game from the world map exploration to the battles, even the control scheme (which can be customized to anyone's liking by the way) is similar but does have some new features. First up the basics, players explore fields, mountains, cliff tops, rivers and cave areas where you can find various treasure and materials laying around, small areas to crawl into and places where it can be climbed up to tall areas. Players will have the usual duty of fighting monsters and in some areas a puzzle where it involves moving boxes around. One big change in Tales of Xillia 2 is that Ludger gets hit with a large debt and it will have to pay it off in various amounts of Gald which will later allow access new areas and parts of the story. Thankfully it's not a hindrance because the debt system allows the game to run at the reasonable pace. Players can take on the sidequests till they are ready to tackle a portion of the storyline. Gald can always be earned by fighting random encounters, but it can also be earned by doing sidejobs which is also a new feature added to this game. Players can take on simple jobs which range from collecting materials or eliminating a number of target enemies, the best part about these jobs is that talking to a job client is no longer a requirement aside from a few sidequests which give out insight on the main characters or the world.
There is also a Cat system where players can find lost cats around the world and the cats can be used to locate rare items which can be used to complete jobs as well. An interesting note with the Cats is that when playing the game on certain days of the week there are bonuses such as item gaining boosts and a decrease time for the Cats to return after dispatched. It's an effective system for gaining rare items.
Exploring some new areas becomes some of the enjoyable moments of the game but most of the game's environments are recycled areas from the original Tales of Xillia without any changes or makeovers. It's no issue because many of the maps from the first game were impressive looking and also since it's because it's a sequel that the game reflects on the old environments. Eventually players will earn two special items which helps speeds progress up, first up is gaining the item which allows to warp to any previously visited areas with a click of a button and the other gives out a Dash ability. When Dashing it becomes difficult to steer and when touching the enemies on field even you touch their front unless it's from their backs the battles will always start surrounded.
There has been minor changes to the levelling systems. On one end is the character levelling system called the Allium Orbs, in the original you had Lilium Orbs which allowed you to spend points to raise your character's stats and learn new skills. For the sequel the new levelling system goes back to the old levelling system that J-RPG's follow and gives you a system where you learn new skills and combat abilities. This is done by earning a number of ore points that you get in battles or by finding ores in the field areas. Another levelling found in the original Xillia was the shopping system where shops increase in level by donating Gald and materials or by purchasing items which some players found the feature to make the game too easy to breeze through. In this game that is replaced by the simple shopping system where new equipment comes in different shops as you play through the story which helps keep the challenge level of the battles. A customize shop does become unlocked which allows more powerful weapons and armour to be made with the use of other materials.
Like in other Tales of games you will spend a great amount of time fighting random encounters which again are triggered by touching them and at the end of each dungeon players will always have to take on a boss battle to challenge. The battle system works the same as the original game did with Artes that can be used, the local 4 player cooperative gameplay, linking with another character, battle menus, and pulling off various powerful attacks are all present. Thankfully tutorials are there to explain about how each system in the game works should anyone needs a refresher. Battles take place in real time where 4 party members have their own unique skills and abilities that players can take advantage of. When playing as Ludger he will later gain the ability to switch between his Twin Swords to a pair of guns and a Sledgehammer. After a few chapters into the game Ludger will also gain the Chromatus Transformation where he can use various moves to deal powerful damage, use it's own Mystic Arte which becomes very helpful to save everyone who is in dear trouble. The Chromatus transformation works on a timer and it decreases as you get hit which means you can lose it quickly if you are not careful. The Chromatus alongside Ludger's Weapon Swap ability becomes useful later on because some enemies especially bosses might be immune to some weapon types alongside elemental attacks, thankfully players can always look up the enemies weaknesses which helps out. Bosses themselves can be challenging the first time when learning each of their attack pattern and also combo breaking which makes any boss battle punish players for recklessly button mashing. Thanks to the game's overall pacing it doesn't become a problem to grind EXP to make battles easier unless it's the post game bosses which can all prove to be very difficult to defeat. Regards Tales of Xillia 2 provides a solid battle system that will always keep players engaged and it always feels so rewarding to finally master a high combo and pull off a powerful Mystic Arte to finish the fight off.
The best thing about Tales of Xillia 2's combat is that Jude, Milla and the rest of the cast from the original game can join you in battle which like in Dawn of the New World it's fan service and best of all players can level them up, give them new equipment and actually take control of them which is amazing for those who still want to control the original characters.
Tales of Xillia 2's presentation hasn't also changed from the original, where the environments and the characters look impressive what hasn't changed are the model clippings where attachments you can equip to a character will go through the model. What's worse is the pop up issues that plagued the original game, the same time it takes for people and various objects to appear over the next couple of seconds happens again which shows that the developers put no thought into amending the minor graphic issues. What does make the graphics stand out in the game is that the first in the series to show blood which can be seen in some cutscenes and sometimes near dead bodies in a few areas. It helps shows off the true dark nature of the game and gives off a good reason to have a 16+ rating that Final Fantasy XIII failed to show. The soundtrack hasn't received any changes at all but this isn't a bad thing because the Xillia soundtrack is excellent, thankfully there are some new tracks used for the game and the opening song is very cool as well. The in-game cutscenes are superb and the voice acting for the characters has improved especially Milla's.
Tales of Xillia 2 is more of a solid rehash of it's predecessor, it has a solidly built storyline which is unique in comparison to other entries. The battle system still remains as one of best that the series has to offer ensuring a great challenging even on Normal but unfortunately the game doesn't bring much new environments to the table and the graphics has not received any makeover from the original. For longtime fans it's worth it for the amazing storyline and the enjoyable combat system which has always been the highlight of any Tales of game. It will take about 60+ Hours to play through the main story plus the additional hours it will take to go through the optional and post game content.
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The Good Points:
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1. Enjoyable Combat System that has plenty of depth
2. Jude and the other party members from the original Xillia join you and they can be Levelled up and equip new gear
3. Storyline is dark and mature and some decisions can impact the story and characters
4. Plenty of optional and post game content to do
The Bad Points:
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1. Hasn't received any graphical improvements from the original game
2. Not much new areas to explore
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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