'Tales of Xillia' from Namco Bandai.
When it comes to Japanese role-playing games, conventional knowledge is that Final Fantasy rules the West while Dragon Quest rules the Land of the Rising Sun. If there ever was a third entry to complete a JRPG triumvirate, however, the long-running Tales series would be a shoo-in for that list. Thanks to solid entries such as Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss, the series has earned a sizeable following of its own through the years. It's a following that gets its latest installment in the West as Tales of Xillia finally makes it to the U.S. and European shores on the PlayStation 3.
Xillia chronicles the tale of two main protagonists - the aspiring medical student Jude Mathis and a mysterious spirit user named Milla Maxwell. Regardless of who you choose to start the game with, both characters' fates quickly become intertwined after they stumble upon a dark secret of the Kingdom of Rashugal involving the use of spirit energy. This spirit power is actually a big part of Xillia's world, providing both a source of energy as well as healing and magic arts. Ultimately, however, human ambition makes this power rife for abuse, creating the conflict in Tales of Xillia.
I actually first experienced Xillia when I bought its Japanese version during a trip to Japan nearly a couple of years ago. The first thing I noticed at the time was how beautiful it looked for a console game thanks to its lush colors and well detailed anime-style characters. For the most part that still holds true, particularly for the character models although some field maps are looking a bit dated at this point.
Character movement, meanwhile, is nice and fluid, which helps with the game's active battle system. The ability to manually control your main character in real time remains a defining feature that sets the Tales games such as Xillia apart from traditional turn-based JRPGs. This includes the ability to move in either a straight line or the less restrictive free run to position yourself against enemies. Characters also have a set number of action points that dictates the number of moves they can perform in one go. Meanwhile, Technical Points are used for special artes, which can include attacks, buffs or heals depending on the character.
As with previous Tales games, chaining regular moves with special "artes" to trigger combos remains the battle system's main draw. You start out with basic chains at first but can build up to some pretty insane combo counts as you increase your action points and special moves. One tradition for Tales games for example, is unlocking a title after registering a combo of 50 hits and up, which remains in this game. For Xillia, you also have a special feature that allows characters to link together and form a symbiotic relationship in the field. Milla, for example, can bind enemies for you while Jude can pick up downed allies. Linking with a partner also fills up a blue linked arte gauge that allows you to do combined attacks. Do a combined attack when it's completely filled and you can unleash an even more powerful Linked Arte while also triggering Over Limit mode. Over Limit lets you spam unlimited moves and artes in a short amount of time while also preventing you from staggering, making it a great opportunity to rack up damage and combo counts at the same time. The ability to play local co-op during battles remains a nice feature as well.
Meanwhile, a "Lilium Orb" system allows you to use growth points from leveling up to customize your stats and moves, adding another level of strategy to the game. Stores can be leveled up as well by expanding them. This is primarily done by donating requested items that you get from the field or enemies, with in-demand items providing bonus points for unlocking better stuff. This allows you to access the same store inventory in any area as items aren't locked to specific towns. As with past Tales games, you can also get fashion items to customize your character. These can range from glasses and attachments to less flattering fare like a runny nose.
Downsides include the aforementioned lack of detail in some field maps. Combatwise, the AI has a tendency to go brain dead for allies that are linked to you, causing them to sometimes just stand around doing nothing. Content also isn't as expansive as Tales of Graces although Xillia's story and presentation is improved over its predecessor. Lastly, fans of Japanese-voiced characters will be disappointed by the lack of a Japanese audio option.
Overall, though, Xillia hits the right notes for fans of the genre. Although it doesn't implement the more drastic changes that Final Fantasy has done to its combat system through the years, that familiarity may not necessarily be a bad thing for folks who just want a tried-and-true Japanese RPG experience. If you like JRPG's and have been looking for a meaty game to sink your proverbial teeth into, then you'll want to give Tales of Xillia a shot.
- by Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette Journal
News10/KXTYV
Source http://www.news10.net/rss/article/253387/99/Game-Guys-review---Tales-of-Xillia
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