-
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
Congrats.
I'm waiting for my other copy to come in (just gave my old copy to my brother), might attempt the platinum. I at least want to do the EX dungeon this time.
Gillian Seed
Banned
Congrats! How many hours did it take to blitz through the second campaign?
Started ToX yesterday finally.
Is it me or this game looks worse than ToG even, which was Wii port?
Also I nominate Milla's hair as most ridiculous ever seen (><)
Like idea behind linking, it seems to add depth to battle system. Levelling web is great too.
I can't believe characters can't cook, and we have to buy food. That's bad idea, very bad. Or am I too early in game for cooking?
Is it me or this game looks worse than ToG even, which was Wii port?
Also I nominate Milla's hair as most ridiculous ever seen (><)
Like idea behind linking, it seems to add depth to battle system. Levelling web is great too.
I can't believe characters can't cook, and we have to buy food. That's bad idea, very bad. Or am I too early in game for cooking?
As a result of being upscaled on stronger hardware, Graces f is both extremely fluid and sharp which might explain why it looks better.
Milla's hair is indeed ridiculous.
I think Linking kinda sucks but I might be alone on that. It's probably not that bad on lower difficulties.
Yes you have to buy food.
That's another thing... I didn't find where to choose difficulty level at all! How weird is that?
Why they ditched cooking? Why? *sad panda*
Uh, it's still in the settings menu, you could even see it as soon as you boot up the game since that's the first thing they throw you in.
They ditched it because of trying to streamline some gameplay aspects..it's a dumb decision yes.
I must be more blind than I thought, I tried to find it very hard and couldn't. Settings menu had no such option I could swear. Well, will check again today.
Yes, horrible idea.
I'm actually ambivalent towards the cooking change, I don't really use it in most Tales games except Graces f.
I'm the same, but it's frustrating having them go backwards in design instead of using Destiny remake's or Graces' superior cooking systems. Or make it complement the battle system well enough that it's worth using (Rebirth).
thunder_snail
Member
It also makes collecting various loot more fun. Hunting down specific monsters to collect obscure stuff is really fun for me for some reason.
What's Destiny remake's cooking system? I haven't played any of the 2d games.
I'm with you on this one. Don't see Tales as needing any simplification of gameplay myself.
cooking >>>>>>> buying, yes.
Arles Pot/Cooking Bag > Cooking Food (Rebirth) > Buying Food > Cooking Food in games where it's almost useless (the rest)
Destiny Remake's is similar to Graces' cooking system for those who haven't played.
Also here's a spoiler-filled but amazing combo video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5grEGfzB1io
Linking it now that a lot of people have finished the game by now.
thunder_snail
Member
That video makes me feel I don't deserve to play games...
Eudaemonium
Member
Well, after a hiatus I finally had a chance to sit down with Xillia for a couple of days, I'm in Chapter 4, and
I must say I'm absolutely loving it. I find the battle system fluid and fun, maybe not as fluid as Graces, but I like the cast here a lot more than in that game, which makes up for it. I ended up overleveling in the extreme and being level 50 before the end of Chapter 2, so pretty much everything other than Devil Beasts has been a cakewalk. I must say, though, I'm really enjoying the story.
I'm playing Jude's story first. And there's something about him I like a lot more than I was expecting to. I think it might be his whole bookish side which means he knows lots about random stuff. He is rather *too* trusting, however.
. The curveball in Chapter 3 (btw: on rails much?), when
had me stunned, but I got to see tons of
, so I wasn't complaining. I liked the subtle foreshadowing with
.
I also really like the dynamic between Milla and Gaius in the game. I like how they're pretty much portrayed as being the same, or very similar in personality and drive.
I confess I hate Milla's default costume, but I have her swanning around in the Dhaos costume so she now looks pretty badass. Pity it alters the battle theme, though. Is there any way of turning that off?
just fought what I thought was the final boss, only to have more game! Currently in Elympios.
I'm playing Jude's story first. And there's something about him I like a lot more than I was expecting to. I think it might be his whole bookish side which means he knows lots about random stuff. He is rather *too* trusting, however.
Seriously, you're gonna take Alvin back *again*?
Elympios invaded
Gaius being super badass
the name 'Exodus', their advanced technology, and the way Alvin would occasionally look longingly at the sky
I also really like the dynamic between Milla and Gaius in the game. I like how they're pretty much portrayed as being the same, or very similar in personality and drive.
I confess I hate Milla's default costume, but I have her swanning around in the Dhaos costume so she now looks pretty badass. Pity it alters the battle theme, though. Is there any way of turning that off?
Milla can cast in mid-air? That changes everything!
Still, with some practice I reckon I can do everything there (when I'm not being interrupted by enemies :/).
About six hours with grade bonuses, skipping scenes I've seen before, sub events, most enemies, etc.
Maybe we are in the minority, but I hated "cooking" food in Graces F just about as much as I have ever hated any feature in a game. I spent so much time messing with those menus before I said screw it and just ignored it for half the game.
Give me Xillia's food store any day.
Gillian Seed
Banned
Wow! That does not sound that bad at all.
Fix The Scientist
Member
How linear is this game? Something i disliked about Vesperia was that it had a really fake openness, i could almost never explore the world or complete tasks at my own pace, sure there was a world map but it mostly opened up one location at a time, at least for the 30 hours i played. I also thought there werent enough sidequests. Does Xillia have similar issues? I'm hoping for something paced more like ffxii.
The game is fairly linear. There are sub-events that you can complete (around 100 of them if I recall), and there is a world map that allows you to port around the world and visit old locations for secret sub-events.
That being said, there are only a couple of dungeons along the way that are "extra" and most often they are so high level that you will have to come back to them. The "highroads" between town are straight forward and boring looking.
There is a bonus dungeon after the end of the game as well.
Probably more linear than Vesperia. You pretty much go from town-->path area-->'dungeon'-type area-->town-->path area-->etc. There are 2, maybe 3 optional areas.
There are more 'subevents' than Vesperia but unlike Vesperia they are a) usually shorter in length, oftentimes a single scene or a request to kill a monster and b) recorded in a journal to keep track of them.
BassForever
Member
I just discovered the brokeness that is Palm Strike spam, oh lord
Fix The Scientist
Member
Thanks for the help! guess i'll wait until it's a bit cheaper
I played through Milla's story first, and you're totally right. It's especially crazy at the part where
you rejoin Jude and the others after Milla dies and they are all of a sudden in the middle of a battle with Maxwell and you have no idea how they even got there.
I've played Phantasia, but my savefile got corrupt... So I kind lost interest. I think I was nearing the end, so I'll have to pick that up sometime.
I haven't played Destiny yet, so I'll have to make that my next played Tales of game.
For the moment I have no means of playing Innocence and Tempest. =/
And that's not even counting
the fact that Jude and Alvin had a very serious fight with Leia almost dying, Muzet going off the deep end, and the party killing off half of the major antagonists remaining entirely off screen in Milla's scenario.
Very true. It wouldn't have even bugged me so much if more stuff happened during Milla's part there, but there really wasn't much going on at all. It just seemed like an afterthought to add "replay value" to the game.
distantmantra
Member
Got to the "Teach me about Bazongas!" skit last night.
The OT now makes sense.
The OT now makes sense.
It's one of the better attempts at a comedy skit in Tales games. Rowan's VA made it work by going all in on the joke.
One of my gripes with the game, there's no confidence in the design choice of dual protagonists and as a result, feels half-assed and anemic.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
Actually the second hand storytelling of something like that is really cool and is a story telling style that you never really see much of in fiction while second hand storytelling is such a big part of storytelling in our day to day lives.
But the skit that I thought was going to cover that was like "This major thing just happened" and Milla is just like "oh so I guess you've been busy, that's cool" instead of asking the obvious "how did it come to that and how did it turn out?" question that everyone would obviously ask.
If it's too repetitive they could just make Jude be in bed or talking with someone else while one of the other party members catches you up in a Milla only scene. I can't believe they wouldn't have the time for it when they have time for plenty other cutscenes.
Actually I thought
the Maxwell fight
Maxwell was clearly very distracted, but you couldn't tell why until all of a sudden you realize it's because jude was causing trouble for him.
Usual Suspect
Member
BassForever
Member
The catalyst is
Jude and co decide they need to find the real maxwell and discover if Milla's whole purpose was a lie or not
CrackPebbles
Member
Im finding hard mode to be a bit challenging, beat
the other day after a couple attempts. I was at the same level as his AI and i purposely used the third obtainable weapon at the shop even though the only things i carried over into NG+ were shop levels and costumes. Of course having a strategy based on weakness abuse and linking with alvin for breaking guard made him easy but im worried that i might have a hard time if i don't grind for later bosses. Is hard mode really that easy for you guys?
Jiao
As much as I love Xillia I completely agree with everyone who say it was clearly rushed. Not only in terms of side content though, the whole dual character playthroughs thing just feels completely half baked on Milla's side from what I've played in comparison to Jude's which feels like a much fuller experience. Almost wished that they would have just made Jude's playthrough the default and offer some of the bonus Milla scenes as a NG+ bonus.
The final dungeon was a bit of a joke too, possibly the shortest final area in a Tales game ever. I wasn't expecting some Tower of Tarqaron challenge but what we got was basically a couple of boss fights connected together with narrow paths and a couple of chests and monsters.
The final dungeon was a bit of a joke too, possibly the shortest final area in a Tales game ever. I wasn't expecting some Tower of Tarqaron challenge but what we got was basically a couple of boss fights connected together with narrow paths and a couple of chests and monsters.
Dragon1893
Member
Just saw a few anime cutscenes and like the intro the quality is really good. A real treat.
So many accessories to equip! I like putting devil wings/tail on Elize, they go well with Teepo lol. Sunglases on Jude and Alvin are a must.
Pop-in inside towns is insane, I sometimes bump into stuff because it appears out of thin air right in front of me.
Switching characters and trying different link combinations keeps the combat fresh, especially since you're constantly learning new arts.
Played about 25 hours and still having a blast.
So many accessories to equip! I like putting devil wings/tail on Elize, they go well with Teepo lol. Sunglases on Jude and Alvin are a must.
Pop-in inside towns is insane, I sometimes bump into stuff because it appears out of thin air right in front of me.
Switching characters and trying different link combinations keeps the combat fresh, especially since you're constantly learning new arts.
Played about 25 hours and still having a blast.
It's something that would have made a very good NG+ incentive, but it is just really bizarre that Namco is advertising Milla's side as some bonafide parallel perspective. Given, I have not really started on Milla's side yet, but it seems like it would be better advertised as some additional scenario/NG+ content like the 108 stars bonus scenario in Suikoden III or something (a scenario that is not exactly integral, but it fills in on some very crucial gaps).
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head with the issue of second-hand storytelling in this instance. Like, if a character took the time to explain, it would serve a dual purpose; first, it would provide some basic context for Milla scenario players (while offering an incentive for a second run-through to see what really happened), second, it can serve as a means of character development depending on how the characters actually explain/react/cope with the events.
But Milla just being like "oh, that's cool guys" made me immediately think "No, I don't think you understand Milla, you missed a lot."
Both of those were added content for the PS3 version of Vesperia.
BassForever
Member
Eternia had Aifeed or however it's spelt
He's one of those series tradition/staple characters much like the Dark Wings.
He's been mentioned or in Phantasia, Eternia, Symphonia, Legendia, Abyss (mentioned in a hat piece of armor), Vesperia.
BassForever
Member
I guess I should have been more specific, I know it's a reoccurring element in the series.
I just recall his legacy playing a larger role in Eternia then most of the other games in the series
Has anyone ever given a damn about him?