Tales of Xilia marks the latest installment entry in the long-running series, Tales. JRPGs in the current generation of gaming have not lived up to its expectations. Unlike the two generations ago, the PS2 and GameCube showcased the best of the best JRPGs the genre has offer to date. However, even with the downfall spiral of Japanese games in this era of games, Tales of Xilia successfully holds its premise high with its flashy, addictive combat and lighthearted storyline.
The game takes place in Raxia at first. You get to play either with Mila, the lord of the spirits or Jude, a medical student living in the heart of the city. While Jude was returning from university, he spotted a girl with a strange attire. Not being to resist, he followed her to the sewer. The two characters crossed paths from the get-go, marking the beginning of the story.
Generally speaking, the story slowly progresses. Needless to say, sometimes, it is so painstakingly slow. Consequently, I felt lost between the lines and toned out of the engagement. Moreover, my interest in knowing more about the worlds detracted in the first twenty hours of the game. There may be some plot twists thrown at you when you think you are finally rolling down the credits. But once you reach that certain mature stage of the game, it all makes sense.
Nevertheless, as you advance in the story, you will get meet new characters, each has his or her unique traits, mannerism and of course, cheesiness. To say the least, not enough character development is equally given to all characters. For an instance, Alvin, the best character that stands out in my opinion, is fairly given the time and place to grow and shape up into a very likable protagonist. On the other scale, Rowen, a legendary strategist and war veteran, sadly does not have the privilege to go. That is why, such characters feel static and unaspiring.
Unfortunately, the same goes for the main protagonists; Milia and Jude, but in a different manner. In these two, character involvement leads to developing them as the main heroes. Yet, they struggle to stray away from the conventional JRPG protagonists. Given the main story theme; to save the world. This could force to stay as the typical JRPG heroes.
Tales of Xilia has a very amusing soundtrack. If you are used to playing Japanese games regardless of the genre, you will fit right in. The combat music complements the action beautifully. The voice acting, however, differs in accordance with the character. Jude, for example, has an annoying tone of voice, which makes my ears bleed and so does the little girl, Elize, with the doll, Teepo. Other than these two characters, Alvin, Mila, Rowen and the majority of the set are bearable to listen to.
The gameplay mechanics of Tales of Xilia is all real-time action role-playing. You get to control a character at a time while the rest are controlled with the AI. The game, in the first few hours, gives the impression of mashed-up X buttons with a repetitive flow. By any means, this is not a bad thing, but it makes sense as you unlock skills through Ilium Orb, which is a system that enables characters to acquire Arte and Magic skills. The GamePlay becomes so complex, addictive with a lot of options at your arsenal.
The game is very simple to learn even with the most novice gamer out there. He or she can get used to the mechanics pretty quick. It is a learning curve in the beginning until you equip your characters with all the high-tech skills later in the game. One little comment is, however, in heated battles the game tends to break up, and slow. Only the final boss is surprisingly strong. It took me 50 nonstop minutes to defeat him and beat the game.
General PROS & CONS:
+_+ Amazing flashy combat.
+_+ Enjoyable Storyline with Unexpected Plot Twists.
-_- Story Progresses Slowly.
-_- No Enough Character Development for All.
-_- Gives a Bad Impression at First.
Score: 7.5 out of 10