Usual Suspect
Member
Huge Tales fan. Next week can't come soon enough and fingers crossed that i get my CE on time.
Hey Mr.Postman....
Hey Mr.Postman....
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Tales of Xillia |OT| - Teach me about Bazongas!
- Thread starter ULTROS!
- Start date
It's either loved or hated depending on whether you enjoy battle systems and subsystems or story more. Considering I got into this series because of the interesting battle system and the combo possibilities, it's no surprise I'm a pretty big fan of Graces. If the story is good in a Tales game, it's a bonus, otherwise, I have other games/media to enjoy good stories for.
Also love it or hate it, Graces has some of the best Mystic Artes in the series. So fast and flashy. IMO miles ahead the "big explosions around me" the Team Symphonia like games get.
dakkumauji
Member
Not so much, but I was following a guide while playing since I didn't want to miss any. It's probably the same standard of revisiting old places or whatnot.
Skits are a little more annoying since they are more dependent on the timing of when they'll appear.
But truth be told, since you have to do a second playthrough on the other character's story, you'll bound to get all the skits and can probably do all the sidequests anyway.
Uh, the most annoying one for me was leveling up everyone to level 99 since that was extremely tedious. Of course, this was made trivial with grade shop. Though most of the game is made trivial after using grade shop.
R_thanatos
Member
The rare monster trophy...
You need to kill 80 of them.
Dont worry there is a way to get it by abusing some field mecanics later in the game
chickdigger802
Banned
so teach me about bazongas.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Different difficulties affect the combo XP multiplier bonus you get at the end of battles. If you want to easily get the level 99 trophies for everyone faster, I'd encourage playing on Hard.
That is, provided that you know how to exploit the combos with Milla at the beginning (ex: 3 normal hits and then a Negative Holder, rinse and repeat, making sure not to knock anyone down).
But everyone tells me that I grade harshly too. They haven't seen the AniHawk scale. :/
Other than that, everything's pretty straightforward. For the "use this x amount of times" trophies, there's an in-game list that keeps track of everything you do (so it'll keep track of how many times you've used Jude's vanish skill, how many food items you've eaten, how many hits in a combo you've done, etc.), so it's easy to keep track of everything. You'll know when you look at the titles menu, too, since trophies/grade are tied to titles now, which, if you ask me, is pretty suck.
For the 100-hit combo trophy, you can easily use Rowen or Milla towards the end of the game with Splash and one of Milla's elemental skills that you'll get in Chapter 4 to easily get that trophy. I ended up getting that trophy with Leia last time.
Most annoying trophy to me was probably fight 75 rare/strong enemies until I figured out that you can go in and out of the forest to easily fight a Strong/Bacura enemy instead. I handed that tip to R_thanatos, and he thought it was neat. I guess the "get 450 black feathers" trophy might be hard for some people, but if you keep picking things up on the field and getting drops from enemies, it really shouldn't be hard to get those.
I guess most people will find the hardest trophy to be the "do 90 sidequests" trophy, just because 32/102 sidequests are missable.
OH. When you start getting food items, start using them right away, if you're platinum-bound. That's cuz one of the trophies is "Eat food 800 times!" Also, pick up every single sparkly you see and every single duffel bag. Even when you go through areas again, do that again, since you have to pick up 800 sparklies for a trophy. And use everyone and use their special skills when you use them manually. Faster to get to "use this 150x" for some of the trophies. In essence, the tedium of trophy grinding in Xillia just sours Xillia 2's environments for people at times because you have to do the same effing thing only do it MORE for Xillia 2. And that sucks. It's really regrettable that they decided to do the same trophy list but just up the amount of times you have to do everything by 2x for Xillia 2.
My advice? Don't do this on your first run if you want to enjoy the game the first time around. Do most of your platinum stuff on the second playthrough. It's faster that way. I did most of my stuff on my first playthroughs and it was soooo boooorrring, and it took me a while to actually start my second playthrough.
So don't do trophy nonsense until your second playthrough. You'll enjoy the game more if you play through the first time normally. The trophies aren't hard, but they're just boring as hell to do. This is my least-liked Tales trophy list because it doesn't encourage skill at all. It's too easy.
Like you said, everything, including the trophies, are trivialized by the Grade Shop.
That is, provided that you know how to exploit the combos with Milla at the beginning (ex: 3 normal hits and then a Negative Holder, rinse and repeat, making sure not to knock anyone down).
Spot-on. That's the score I'd give it.
But everyone tells me that I grade harshly too. They haven't seen the AniHawk scale. :/
Platinumed twice, so I played through the game four times (though for the Milla playthrough, I skipped most of the cutscenes). Yes, you should try to use a guide for those since some of the quests are only available after certain events, and some of them have points of no return (ie: the chapter ends).I'll probably be trying to platinum the game as I did Graces (except I never finished getting the plat). Anything noteworthy I should know? Missable side quests are still around? Should I use a guide for those? Dark Schala you've platinumed the game like a dozen times, what do you recommend?
Other than that, everything's pretty straightforward. For the "use this x amount of times" trophies, there's an in-game list that keeps track of everything you do (so it'll keep track of how many times you've used Jude's vanish skill, how many food items you've eaten, how many hits in a combo you've done, etc.), so it's easy to keep track of everything. You'll know when you look at the titles menu, too, since trophies/grade are tied to titles now, which, if you ask me, is pretty suck.
No. All of the trophies are braindead easy and they're boring and don't enforce player skill.
For the 100-hit combo trophy, you can easily use Rowen or Milla towards the end of the game with Splash and one of Milla's elemental skills that you'll get in Chapter 4 to easily get that trophy. I ended up getting that trophy with Leia last time.
Most annoying trophy to me was probably fight 75 rare/strong enemies until I figured out that you can go in and out of the forest to easily fight a Strong/Bacura enemy instead. I handed that tip to R_thanatos, and he thought it was neat. I guess the "get 450 black feathers" trophy might be hard for some people, but if you keep picking things up on the field and getting drops from enemies, it really shouldn't be hard to get those.
I guess most people will find the hardest trophy to be the "do 90 sidequests" trophy, just because 32/102 sidequests are missable.
OH. When you start getting food items, start using them right away, if you're platinum-bound. That's cuz one of the trophies is "Eat food 800 times!" Also, pick up every single sparkly you see and every single duffel bag. Even when you go through areas again, do that again, since you have to pick up 800 sparklies for a trophy. And use everyone and use their special skills when you use them manually. Faster to get to "use this 150x" for some of the trophies. In essence, the tedium of trophy grinding in Xillia just sours Xillia 2's environments for people at times because you have to do the same effing thing only do it MORE for Xillia 2. And that sucks. It's really regrettable that they decided to do the same trophy list but just up the amount of times you have to do everything by 2x for Xillia 2.
My advice? Don't do this on your first run if you want to enjoy the game the first time around. Do most of your platinum stuff on the second playthrough. It's faster that way. I did most of my stuff on my first playthroughs and it was soooo boooorrring, and it took me a while to actually start my second playthrough.
So don't do trophy nonsense until your second playthrough. You'll enjoy the game more if you play through the first time normally. The trophies aren't hard, but they're just boring as hell to do. This is my least-liked Tales trophy list because it doesn't encourage skill at all. It's too easy.
Like I'd written in the OP FAQ:
What I did was that I ended up buying all the skits in the Grade Shop for 3000 Grade, then going to the skit archive and playing all of the skits until the trophy popped since you get all of the skits when you purchase the item anyway (you need 220 skits).
Like you said, everything, including the trophies, are trivialized by the Grade Shop.
Reading this thread made me pop in Tales of Graces f again, because I hadn't finished the post game ark because of other priorities at the time. I forgot how much fun this game is. The battle system is just insane. IMO the skits make up for any weakness in the story too.
Funny enough, despite the general consensus about the game, Graces f is what got me really interested in Tales games again. I played Destiny way back in the day and loved it; got Symphonia day one on GC but just couldn't get into it. Game felt really simplistic, especially after playing all the great PSX/PS2 rpgs available at the time.
I wish I could play Vesperia, but I'm never going to get an Xbox 360 (sadly I'll be missing Lost Odyssey as well...).
Funny enough, despite the general consensus about the game, Graces f is what got me really interested in Tales games again. I played Destiny way back in the day and loved it; got Symphonia day one on GC but just couldn't get into it. Game felt really simplistic, especially after playing all the great PSX/PS2 rpgs available at the time.
I wish I could play Vesperia, but I'm never going to get an Xbox 360 (sadly I'll be missing Lost Odyssey as well...).
Gillian Seed
Banned
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
I love Graces f, and a lot of other GAF members do too (particularly those who imported). It just kinda feels weird that people say they hated it when reading some of the posts in the Graces f OT and the import impressions/Graces f demo thread made me think the complete opposite.
I'll continue to help out when I can when the game actually comes out like I did with the Graces f thread. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
I haven't done a platinum run in Xillia yet and was thinking of doing one for the US release but now all that just doesn't sound fun, haha. Luckily I'm not a trophy hoarder.
I always felt the majority of Tales stories were just OK to mediocre. The skits and general character interaction make up for it if you can stand tropes from time to time.
I think they're just used to Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia having decent stories. Whereas Graces is not terrible but not good either. I still want to see a localized Rebirth and see how that one's received. :lol
I always felt the majority of Tales stories were just OK to mediocre. The skits and general character interaction make up for it if you can stand tropes from time to time.
I think they're just used to Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia having decent stories. Whereas Graces is not terrible but not good either. I still want to see a localized Rebirth and see how that one's received. :lol
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
"WORST TALES EVER"
Localize Tempest and VS. >.>
Err... well, the OP has two variants... Sheesh, I didn't count. Probably 12-15.
When you consider the reason people seem to hate it so much is the story though it actually DOES make a certain amount of sense they'd enjoy an import demo more than the full game.
15. Plus the two openings. About 30 minutes in content altogether I believe. Ufotable is awesome.
That's more i expected tbh. Ufotable animation is the best <3
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Point taken.
Though since OTs are generally more positive in general than normal gaming threads, I suppose that may have affected my understanding of the game's reception overall on GAF.
More than in previous Tales games. I was surprised... also the anime cutscenes are just plain awesome.
chickdigger802
Banned
what difficulty to start on?
i don't wanna bulldoze past it, but i have zero interest of just hitting the same AI mobs with higher def/hp.
Has there ever been a tales game where one can actually avoid the enemy hi-ougi's?
avoid as in everyone not getting hit (runaway you stupid ai friends!).
i don't wanna bulldoze past it, but i have zero interest of just hitting the same AI mobs with higher def/hp.
Has there ever been a tales game where one can actually avoid the enemy hi-ougi's?
avoid as in everyone not getting hit (runaway you stupid ai friends!).
Ready to play the game two Sundays from now. My 5-player group and I have resigned ourselves to the lack of Link Artes and Mystic Artes and are just going to go at it anyway. My biggest worry is that I'll resent the game coming from Graces f with its systems and combat masteries, so I'll stick with some combination of Alvin, Leia, and Elize while leaving the main characters to others. Hearing about the extra ability you get for each character when you have direct control gives me some hope.
How many difficulty levels are there? I assume that only the highest one is NG+ only.
Finding out that there's two battle themes is an extra bummer. I like Milla's theme more, but we'll probably do Jude's storyline for the playthrough. Well, my friends will probably prefer Jude's theme more anyway.
Teepo, please save this game for me.
How many difficulty levels are there? I assume that only the highest one is NG+ only.
Finding out that there's two battle themes is an extra bummer. I like Milla's theme more, but we'll probably do Jude's storyline for the playthrough. Well, my friends will probably prefer Jude's theme more anyway.
Teepo, please save this game for me.
tiny raptor
Member
So all the trophy stuff carries over into the next playthrough? Nice.
dakkumauji
Member
Your monster, items, etc books all carry over.
The amount of times you done something carry over as well.
Your skits that you saw in the first playthrough do as well, but you'll need to spend that hour going through all of them again to get them to count for your second playthrough's total.
The sidequests you done I believe don't carry over, so you'll have to do all of those in one run.
dakkumauji
Member
You'll get a costume and a new arte for Jude or Millia when you finish their respective story.
As someone who'd consider Vesperia to be an 8.5 or 9, a 7 for Xillia is what I'd also give the game.
Easy, Normal, Second (I think this was called Moderate in English Tales?), Hard, and Unknown.
Yes.
Tales of Graces has the better battle system though.
ThatChairMan
Member
How obscure are the some of the missable side-quests? Will I have to, say, backtrack to the very first town every chapter to get them?
RPGCrazied
Member
videogamesplus just shipped my copy, so excited
Why so early? Does it come out earlier in EU or something?
nintendoman58
Member
15. Plus the two openings. About 30 minutes in content altogether I believe. Ufotable is awesome.
Holy shit. The entire game is a full length anime episode.
dakkumauji
Member
Luckily, this game has a fast travel feature trivializing most travel into choosing an area and going to there. You can walk back but why bother. ~_~
Regarding obscurity, I don't remember any with a really really specific timing. Like drop everything and do this sidequest or you'll miss it forever like how Abyss was. Sidequests occur through talking through a clearly marked NPC or walking into a specific area on the map (though this are usually the first time you get there).
I think it's usually just after a major event or so.
I just preordered the game even though I'm not a huge fan of Team Symphonia.
Hope this game is good.
I don't see anything wrong with it. Well done ULTROS!
Hope this game is good.
I don't see anything wrong with it. Well done ULTROS!
Not that hard. You'll be using Free Run to move in 3D space mostly to get away (and heal or something) or get close to defend a party member, nothing else. Outside of that, it's just like a 2D Tales.
I can't wait to make another Tales of...purchase mistake next week! Will be picking this up with my Dragon's Crown pre-order. I actually don't even care for Tales games too much anymore, but I can't shake this feeling of obligation I have to the series (although, it's probably more an obligation to supporting the RPG/localization scene). I finished Vesperia back in the day, liked it, but couldn't muster up a reason to replay it. I put 40 some hours into Tales of Graces f, but dropped it because the story and characters were beyond boring-town and I mistakenly forced myself to get all the monster gems as I played and set the difficulty to the highest. Got burned out reaaaal fast. I honestly haven't enjoyed a Tales games since the PSone days (Destiny/Eternia). This should be an interesting attempt of a playthrough, lol!
CielTynave
Member
Well, I definitely won't have enough money to get this for a few weeks at least. I'm considering just getting a gamefly account and renting it instead of buying it at all lol. I'm definitely getting the impression I won't be getting as much mileage out of this than Graces.
How nice of you to criticize it, then not state what you see as a problem.
Since you're reviewing it, mind sharing when the embargo going to be lifted?
When the copy arrives? sure. My guess is that it's this Monday or Friday.
This saturday...
Oh, I found a Limited Edition unboxing, Just Push Start.
... Man, that packaging's disheartening to see. Not only a lack of a manual but using the inside cover for all that safety garbage rather than printing art there. Granted at least you get something of a nice initial run package, but that booklet really does look tiny.
... Man, that packaging's disheartening to see. Not only a lack of a manual but using the inside cover for all that safety garbage rather than printing art there. Granted at least you get something of a nice initial run package, but that booklet really does look tiny.
dakkumauji
Member
Not surprised they skimped out on the manual. I do wonder how the CE's manual will look like. Though I guess the royal carpet treatment NNK got is probably an one time thing now.
That artbook looks even skimpier than the CE's artbook as well.
I guess I'm decently satisfied with keeping my CE preorder at this point.
Yeah, the outside case looks exactly the same so I'm not optimistic. They really did go further with NnK's and even kept that a store exclusive, but I'm guessing here the copies are the same.
Of course, we'd know if Colin Moriarty remembered people might've wanted to see inside the case too, I'd assume anyone who cares enough to watch an unboxing video also wants to see the inside of the game packaging, especially with how dire it's been as of late.