TALES OF XILLIA 2 RATING UPGRADE

TALES OF XILLIA 2 RATING UPGRADE

In Xillia, the Illium Orb was how you'd upgrade your character using points earned by leveling up. This gives Xillia 2 an extra dose of uniqueness, though you'll undoubtedly find yourself using his blades 99 percent of the time.Ī major change between Xillia and Xillia 2 - one I'm not completely sold on - is the abandonment of the Illium Orb for something called the Allium Orb. Ludger even has skills no one else does, including the option to select from three weapon types on the fly mid-fight: blades, war hammers, and guns. I absolutely love mixing things up in battle, using different special abilities called Artes along with more typical attacks. Tales' fighting game-lite, action-oriented combat is the hallmark of the franchise, and while it seems chaotic at first, getting a hang of it is incredibly rewarding. What remains very much the same, thankfully, is Tales of Xillia's combat, which is alive and well in the sequel. There's considerable depth to this system, especially since it unlocks new items and conversation options.

The way Ludger works his way through conversations, and who he chooses to pair-up with in battle, can build his affinity with other characters, providing a great reason to carefully navigate Xillia 2's extensive exposition while testing out new match-ups during fights. Xillia 2, on the other hand, is far more linear in its campaign's delivery, instead giving Ludger a litany of decisions to make during conversations and combat alike. The biggest turn is the deviation away from Xillia's binary campaign progression, which relied a great deal on whether you were playing primarily as Milla or Jude. Her morbidly obese cat companion Rollo, on the other hand, is absolutely amazing.įor as much as Xillia 2 borrows from Xillia, it takes some smart left turns that ultimately keep the experience new, fresh, and on equal footing with the quality of the original. She's essential to the overarching plot, but I always found myself caring about the original cast more, and her subpar voice acting didn't exactly help (nor did Milla's voice actresses' still-disjointed performance, which isn't quite as bad as the original, but still noticeably worse than expert performances from the likes of Alvin's and Rowen's respective actors). They’re both admittedly weaker than the main cast from the original game, and while Ludger is interesting, I have no idea why he was designed to be virtually silent.Įlle, on the other hand, only takes part in the story, and not in combat, which lessened my attachment to her. Rounding the group out is Xillia 2's main - and mostly quiet - protagonist, Ludger, and a young, mysterious little girl named Elle. Representing Rieze Maxia are most of the characters you're familiar with from Xillia: Milla, Jude, Leia, Elize, Alvin, Rowen, and others. Xillia 2 thrusts players back into the world of Elympios and Rieze Maxia, two territories once separated by a magical barrier that, for thousands of years, obscured them from each other. This may seem like a cop-out to some - and maybe it is - but familiarity is one of Xillia 2's greatest strengths, allowing players to jump in while cutting through the formalities that aren't needed in a story-driven sequel that assumes players already worked their way through the original. They even share each other's technical benefits and shortcomings, like snappy load times and tons of pop-in. They share tons of locations, characters, enemies, graphical assets, music, and sounds. Indeed, judged from the periphery, Xillia and Xillia 2 are virtually indistinguishable from one another. In most respects, PlayStation 3's Tales of Xillia 2 - which is the 14th core Tales game - is simply more Tales of Xillia, but as a fan of the original, that’s exactly what I wanted. 2013's Tales of Xillia was one such JRPG, a game I really enjoyed spending time with, getting to know, and ultimately beating and leaving behind with a heavy heart. You didn't really want it to end, but it did anyway. So when it's all over, it's like closing a good book that took you 50 hours to read. Unlike so many other genres, they ask players to spend dozens of hours with them to complete, and when you play a good one for long enough, you get caught up in its world and characters.

I always experience a tangible feeling of sadness and remorse when I'm done with a good Japanese role-playing game.

Tales of xillia 2 rating