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[kiryogi]

Yes. Nobody in Xillia even comes remotely close to Yuri or Rita for me. Truth be told, Yuri is the only Tales lead I've ever liked. I only actively dislike Elise from the Xillia cast, but the rest aren't particularly great in my eyes.

Yet the issue here is Yuri and Judy (or Rita for you) were the only decent characters. Everyone else was pretty eeeeeeh. Xillia's cast in comparison I find very charming and lovable. While not amazing, they're still so much than the Vesperia cast. I guess you could say they're playing it safe as Graces. Although I find them a lot more interesting vs Graces cast, which was mostly serviceable.

"

.... um what?

you are suggesting me to watch the ending videos of one of my most anticipated game ever "

not even the less anticipated game ever.... no no no !


Hmmm... yeah, Yuri is very likable as I've heard of... but I find TOX Characters design is more appealing .

Heh, I really want to reply to Shouta's comment about the ending, but any expression about it would be absolute spoiler.

 

[matmanx1]

I'm not very far in but so far I am very impressed. This seems better than Vesperia in pretty much every way with the possible exception of the character graphics which is probably just a style preference on my part. Cell shading really did wonders for Vesperia and I am still a big fan of that look.

Otherwise Xillia is faster and deeper in terms of combat and has some great tweaks to familiar sytems (like the new skit styles which are awesome).

I also appreciate the option to only advance text when I press a button which is a great help to a non native Japanese speaker like myself. I'm picking up far more of the story and conversation bits than I would have otherwise. I wish all jrpg's had such an option.

 

[kiryogi]

I'm not very far in but so far I am very impressed. This seems better than Vesperia in pretty much every way with the possible exception of the character graphics which is probably just a style preference on my part. Cell shading really did wonders for Vesperia and I am still a big fan of that look.
.

I absolutely love the style choice here, and the character models especially. It feels like the leap they did from Symphonia -> Abyss. But yes, it comes down to personal preference. IMO we get a lot more detail going with this direction.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

There is a demo coming for the JP PSN... right? right?

 

[Aeana]

Yet the issue here is Yuri and Judy (or Rita for you) were the only decent characters. Everyone else was pretty eeeeeeh. Xillia's cast in comparison I find very charming and lovable. While not amazing, they're still so much than the Vesperia cast. I guess you could say they're playing it safe as Graces. Although I find them a lot more interesting vs Graces cast, which was mostly serviceable.

Good lord, I hate Graces's cast aside from Malik. :|

And no, I would say that the only non-good character in Vesperia is Karol. The rest are good.
Rowen has to be one of the most boring characters I've ever seen in this series, honestly. Have we really not seen that trope used often enough yet?

 

[ULTROS!]

How's the pacing and linearity so far? I hear the game doesn't have much towns (from the OST track list something, hope I'm wrong though).

 

[Aeana]

How's the pacing and linearity so far? I hear the game doesn't have much towns (from the OST track list something, hope I'm wrong though).

Pacing is fine. Game is very linear.
The number of towns... hm, well, I guess there aren't really that many, but it hadn't occurred to me. What has occurred to me though is that every town's port looks completely identical.

 

[ULTROS!]

Linear is okay with me as long as the pacing is fine.

I hope it holds up (better or on par) with Tales of the Abyss. The only Tales game that I finished and liked (though I liked Destiny and Phantasia to some extent).

 

[Aeana]

Linear is okay with me as long as the pacing is fine.

I hope it holds up (better or on par) with Tales of the Abyss. The only Tales game that I finished and liked (though I liked Destiny and Phantasia to some extent).

You are getting Graces, right?

 

[ULTROS!]

Of course, and I plan on completing it (and probably platinum it).

 

[The Praiseworthy]

The number of towns... hm, well, I guess there aren't really that many, but it hadn't occurred to me. What has occurred to me though is that every town's port looks completely identical.

Oh, No ~~~~~~ ;_;

So they are less than Graces?

 

[R_thanatos]

There is a demo coming for the JP PSN... right? right?

maybe LATER ( and i mean LATER ) the previous Tales had demos to show how improved they were ..this one doesn't need that ..Also it's selling like hot cakes so far ...Demo ( if it comes ) is not in the near future ..

 

[InternHertz]

My guess is that when I talk to a girl in the Arena, I'll see the cutscene featured in one of the trailers, where Milla evades some attacks, Alvin shouts he didn't know of "their" (

Spoiler

Ark Noa

's) plan, and Tipo is taken away.

I have now more than 25% of the black feathers to get everything, I gave a good bunch to the guy, 250+ now and I got a whole lot of attachments and head outfits.

The story is advancing right now with some details unveiled and a lot more questions are now popping up. Should be fun to seek the answers!

Question for those at least where I'm at right now : did you see the skit when Tipo talks about what "Baribo" is? Still didn't see it and I was afraid I passed it somehow.

 

[Shouta]

How's the pacing and linearity so far? I hear the game doesn't have much towns (from the OST track list something, hope I'm wrong though).

The pacing in the game can be slow in the sense that while there are events, time is often spent creating the atmosphere or setting for the situation so that it feels like it's a proper part of the story rather than something that is tacked on. So what happens is that the first half or so of the game feels somewhat slow in comparison to the last half where a ton of things are happening. I mean, if you really look at the plot points in the game, there aren't nearly as many as one would think.

As for towns, there's maybe a dozen areas or so in the game that can be considered towns or so, which isn't shabby. All of them are pretty key to the story so there are no filler towns at all and they all look very different aside from the ports looking the same.

Game is linear for sure but the fields are big enough that it doesn't feel super claustrophobic. It actually works very well considering the shop system and the need to find pick up loot for drops.

On characters, I defintely find this cast a lot better than the last three big Tales games (Abyss, Vesperia, Graces). Not that I don't have complaints about them but as a whole they work better as a unit, they aren't as anime silly, and most of them are rather intelligent and think. In fact, Alvin alone is one of the best Tales characters up to this point, very well written after everything is out in the open. I'll go more indepth after I finish the game.

 

[matmanx1]

I'm honestly enjoying myself much more than I thought I would be considering my deficit with the language. I know enough to get the menus and some of the general subjects, verbs and whatnot and having my "Japanese" app on my iPod Touch next to me has been a big help with looking certain things up.

I'm not going to worry about trying to understand everything in my first run through. I've done that before and it's a surefire recipe for burnout as I get so caught up in trying to translate the words that I forget about the game. With Xillia as long as I can figure out where I'm going, the major gameplay systems (which you guys are great at helping with) and have a basic understanding of what's going on then I think I am going to be happy.

For sure it helps that I am a Tales fan and I'm familiar with the basics of the battle and item system already. I have that much of a leg up and that's already eased my transition into this game quite alot. So far I would say there's a very real chance that Xillia could end up as my most successful Japanese language gaming purchase ever and that would be a real treat.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

if you really look at the plot points in the game, there aren't nearly as many as one would think.

So the story scenes / events / skits are less than the last 3 big Tales games?

 

[Shouta]

So the story scenes / events / skits are less than the last 3 big Tales games?

As in, "They go here, they do this big thing, then they go do this" is perhaps fewer than other Tales games. I think it's because the game doesn't use a lot of superfluous quests to pad it out. There isn't much in the way of "You have to go get this to power the thing so it'll tell you that" and the like.

 

[InternHertz]

31:45, chapter 2 still, L.Lv 35, did a number of sidequests before going near

Spoiler

the wyverns to go back to Il Fan

.

The number of sidequests with TO BE CONTINUED as their status is starting to worry me, I hope I won't pass by some time restricted step and fail some of them.

 

[ULTROS!]

The game is definitely starting to look interesting.

I wonder if the trophies are easy to get (and hopefully no replays to get all the trophies).

 

[InternHertz]

Most if not all of the trophies are easy to get yes...easy but time-consuming. You have to farm or grind a lot I'd say but with time you can get everything. However you need to at least finish the game 2 times, one on each side to get all trophies.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

As in, "They go here, they do this big thing, then they go do this" is perhaps fewer than other Tales games. I think it's because the game doesn't use a lot of superfluous quests to pad it out. There isn't much in the way of "You have to go get this to power the thing so it'll tell you that" and the like.

So it less because the game is straight forward in the story telling?

 

[Shouta]

So it less because the game is straight forward in the story telling?

It's less because there isn't much padding to it. Almost all the events are important to the story and have a reason for being there. Mundane fetch quests don't exist in the story so it has fewer points on the plot map.

In return, the game pays pretty close attention to its characters and how it flows.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

It's less because there isn't much padding to it. Almost all the events are important to the story and have a reason for being there. Mundane fetch quests don't exist in the story so it has fewer points on the plot map.

In return, the game pays pretty close attention to its characters and how it flows.

I love to have a lot of story events and some padding in my JRPG games to make me feel really like a part of their group..... but I'm really liking this, I really do..... actually it's making me ever more excited now

More and more I'm become very sure that this is the perfect Tales game.

 

[Dark Schala]

Most if not all of the trophies are easy to get yes...easy but time-consuming. You have to farm or grind a lot I'd say but with time you can get everything. However you need to at least finish the game 2 times, one on each side to get all trophies.

Were the "get a large number of X" trophies clarified (ie: did anyone figure out what number of a product to get so that the trophy would pop, or is it too early to tell)?

 

[InternHertz]

Well I think the only thing I think they did really wrong in this game is the way they handle Grade Points. I don't like this system AT ALL.

At first I wasn't really against, it's cool to get them via titles and achievements...until you realize you can only get maximum 10k GP and that it means you CAN'T get everything you'd want. Not after the first playthrough, not after the second, third or nth one.

Impossibility to farm them = me angry because I won't be able to get a "perfect" save. I'll need to sacrifice some options I would have liked to have on a new game +. It's not cool

Were the "get a large number of X" trophies clarified (ie: did anyone figure out what number of a product to get so that the trophy would pop, or is it too early to tell)?

It's figured out, turns out most are really easy to get, numbers are not the highest you can get (a lot of trophies have further titles you can have). An example of this is that you need 1350 attacks on weak points for the trophy, but you get a title and more grade if you can get 4050 attacks.

 

[FSLink]

Just beat the end of Part 2. Wow. The boss for it was tons of fun on Hard mode, and luckily Elise learned Revive pretty recently, so I used that to survive the Mystic Arte onslaught.

 

[Dark Schala]

Well I think the only thing I think they did really wrong in this game is the way they handle Grade Points. I don't like this system AT ALL.

At first I wasn't really against, it's cool to get them via titles and achievements...until you realize you can only get maximum 10k GP and that it means you CAN'T get everything you'd want. Not after the first playthrough, not after the second, third or nth one.

You're kidding! That's silly. I'm guessing the stuff in the Grade Shop will be expensive, then and you can't get everything even though grade probably carries over. -_-

It's figured out, turns out most are really easy to get, numbers are not the highest you can get (a lot of trophies have further titles you can have). An example of this is that you need 1350 attacks on weak points for the trophy, but you get a title and more grade if you can get 4050 attacks.

I see, well that's a huge relief, and certainly doesn't seem as bad as what I thought it was going to be.

 

[kiryogi]

! Didn't notice. More hair and hat attachments next week along with the maid/butler outfits.. AND TIPO ATTACHMENTS. I must get. I think I'm about to get the Wako outfit for Leia too.

 

[R_thanatos]

At first I wasn't really against, it's cool to get them via titles and achievements...until you realize you can only get maximum 10k GP and that it means you CAN'T get everything you'd want. Not after the first playthrough, not after the second, third or nth one.

Wait GP isn't carried over ( with NG+ ) ? SO you can have a pool GP for crazyness runs ?

 

[Datschge]

What I read is that you do carry over GP while titles are reset, so you can accumulate GP over several playthroughs. Buying the whole grade shop seems to cost GP worth 2 1/2 playthroughs.

 

[Shouta]

So after seeing a very big scene late into the game, I finally see why they kept the characters to a minimum overall. The relationships and connections for each of them, as far as I recall, isn't there or isn't as visible in other Tales games. Personally, I feel like it's a real cut above the rest in this regard. This scene was kind of an Aha! moment and made me realize exactly why they chose to design the characters the way they did.

 

[InternHertz]

What I read is that you do carry over GP while titles are reset, so you can accumulate GP over several playthroughs. Buying the whole grade shop seems to cost GP worth 2 1/2 playthroughs.

Well what I read is exactly the opposite, in the sense that once you got a title it is kept checked and thus you can't get it back. Everything in the Library section is supposed to be automatically carried over.

Of course, should you be in the right, that would be kind of a good thing (though I wouldn't want to lose my titles) because that would mean that in time I could get everything in one save.

Got a bit further, I returned to

Spoiler

Il Fan

and my subevent count went over 50 completed. 34:20 and L.Lv 36.

 

[ULTROS!]

So after seeing a very big scene late into the game, I finally see why they kept the characters to a minimum overall. The relationships and connections for each of them, as far as I recall, isn't there or isn't as visible in other Tales games. Personally, I feel like it's a real cut above the rest in this regard. This scene was kind of an Aha! moment and made me realize exactly why they chose to design the characters the way they did.

So the characters are pretty fleshed out and aren't out of the blue eh, guess that's a good sign.

So I'm going to assume this is your current top 1 Tales game?

 

[Shouta]

I'd say it's my No. 1 Tales in story for sure. Gameplay, I'd still go Destiny Remake overall. Destiny Remake is like the perfect storm for battle systems to me so it's ridiculously hard to beat.

 

[Aeana]

I feel like the only person who's down on anything in this game. I won't go into it yet - I want to wait until I beat it - but it sure isn't all sunshine and rainbows for me. :/ I feel like Graces is a dramatically better game in every area except story/characters.

 

[kiryogi]

I'll wait until the ending before I say where I stand officially, but I will say it's better than Vesperia easily, maybe equal/close footing with Graces for being a TS/TH title anyway (give or take)

Abyss is still considered my top, with Graces next and then ToD2. I can see Xillia changing that, but my mindset will change over time.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

I'm about 5 hours into this so can give a few impressions. Firstly, the combat (for Jude anyway) has to be my favourite of any Tales game. It's fast and when used with an Arte, can produce some nice combos. The game looks great too. My only real negative is that, so far, the cast isn't as good in my opinion of Vesperia's. Not having anyone (again, so far) anywhere near as amazing as Pascal from Graces also saddens me I did like that crazy girl enemy with the white hair and freckles that appeared near the start though.

 

[Shouta]

Finished the game, I liked the ending a lot. There are a few things I think they could've explored more but perhaps it isn't necessary. It would just cement the game a lot more. I'll write up some thoughts a bit later.

 

[matmanx1]

Finished the game, I liked the ending a lot. There are a few things I think they could've explored more but perhaps it isn't necessary. It would just cement the game a lot more. I'll write up some thoughts a bit later.

How many hours did your first run through end up being? And how much "extra" stuff have you found? Are there any bonus dungeons or areas like the sky races in ToV? Just curious. =)

 

[Shouta]

About 41-42 hours if I subtract a bit of the time I left it on to do something else. I did a few of the end quests and got Milla's Fell weapon but that's about it. An endgame dungeon opens up after you finish the game and Milla/Jude get another Hi-Ougi as well.

I don't really intend on doing that stuff until I get through a second play through, whenever that is.

 

[Datschge]

I feel like the only person who's down on anything in this game. I won't go into it yet - I want to wait until I beat it - but it sure isn't all sunshine and rainbows for me. :/ I feel like Graces is a dramatically better game in every area except story/characters.

So Xillia is kind of a jack of all trades, master of none Tales game? (As in it takes the TS bases but tries to recognize the improvements in TD games. That's my armchair analyst take.) Well, looking forward to you review once you beat it. =)

 

[jae]

So Xillia is kind of a jack of all trades, master of none Tales game? (As in it takes the TS bases but tries to recognize the improvements in TD games. That's my armchair analyst take.) Well, looking forward to you review once you beat it. =)

This sums up how I feel about it. I like a lot of aspects of it, but not as much as past Tales games. I'm only in chapter 2, maybe my opinion will improve. Right now it ranks somewhere in the middle.

I really don't like how the reward for everything is just another stupid attachment. Making characters look ridiculous is fun and all, but I would rather get something actually useful in the game.

 

[matmanx1]

Tales of Dress Up?

Seriously though, didn't a Namco rep say something like most of the Tales merchandise is bought by females? Not that guys can't like dress up but perhaps all of the costume DLC and in game attachments are an appeal to that demographic.

 

[InternHertz]

About 41-42 hours if I subtract a bit of the time I left it on to do something else.

Heh, I'm already at 45-ish hours and still not in the 4th chapter (shouldn't be long though now considering what's happening in the 3rd).

However I'm trying to get as many sidequests done as I can, so every time something happens I take the time to explore every city in search of an exclamation point or a scene. That takes a long time.

 

[hyduK]

So, Flanoir (ToS) came up in the 'Favourite Towns' thread...just wondering if there's any snow areas in Xillia? The lack of them in Vesperia left me a little disappointed.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

So, Flanoir (ToS) came up in the 'Favourite Towns' thread...just wondering if there's any snow areas in Xillia? The lack of them in Vesperia left me a little disappointed.

I think I saw a picture of one and it was really beautiful... can't be sure, wait for those who are playing it to confirm it.

 

[CruxisMana]

So, Flanoir (ToS) came up in the 'Favourite Towns' thread...just wondering if there's any snow areas in Xillia? The lack of them in Vesperia left me a little disappointed.

I found a scan showing one!

 

[Shouta]

So, Flanoir (ToS) came up in the 'Favourite Towns' thread...just wondering if there's any snow areas in Xillia? The lack of them in Vesperia left me a little disappointed.

Yes, there is. I like the town for it as well.

After putting a little bit of sleep on it, I will this game is hands down the best Tales game for story. The characters are close to top, if not top depending on context. I'll get to more detailed explanations later. Got work today.

 

[kiryogi]

So, Flanoir (ToS) came up in the 'Favourite Towns' thread...just wondering if there's any snow areas in Xillia? The lack of them in Vesperia left me a little disappointed.

Yes there is. It's pretty amazing. . .

That said though, I figured this at first, but after seeing this snow town it confirmed what I thought. Along with the hangol/chinese characters mix forming the world language and the cultures themselves, the world of Liese Maxia is actually very eastern based. Which in turn means that Sakuraba's score takes after this ethnic style.

This sums up how I feel about it. I like a lot of aspects of it, but not as much as past Tales games. I'm only in chapter 2, maybe my opinion will improve. Right now it ranks somewhere in the middle.

I really don't like how the reward for everything is just another stupid attachment. Making characters look ridiculous is fun and all, but I would rather get something actually useful in the game.

I personally don't mind and loved that I kept getting different attachments, but that's a subjective thing. I dunno, I really like this title compared to other Tales so far. TS continues their more mature story telling that they started with Vesperia, and they haven't jumped the shark yet.

I did get a chance to talk to Bebpo tho, and he absolutely hates the game. I'll post what he had to said since he hasn't weighed in yet.

played about 4-5 hours of it. Got to Mira's hometown. Went back to devil survivor 2 because Xillia was kind of bad. The characters so far are the worst I've seen in a Tales game yet, Jude/Mira/Alvin are super boring; the plot is slow, the map fields are terrible compared to Xenoblade, the towns are super tiny and you can barely talk to any npcs or go in any houses, and the battle system is fast but brainless spammy.

 

[Jijidasu]

I suppose there is a lot of mixed opinions on the game itself based on what the previous entries in the series, but overall people seem to be enjoying it?

I've yet to actually complete a Tales of game, this will be my first. I remember picking up the Vesperia 360 bundle back in '08 after classes and my Japanese was too rough to do much so I put it down and never played it again. I'll be starting Xillia tomorrow after work, I'm going in completely open minded!