If you have access to both, I'd strongly suggest Vesperia, just because I feel like Vesperia's sidecontent and skill acquisition is more meaningful. Xillia's still a good starting point for people, though.
I do have access to both. I'll probably buy Vesperia now as it's much cheaper, and Xillia in a year or so... I like spacing games in the same IP out. As for "starting point", I've completed Symphonia already, so this will be my second Tales game, no matter which one I choose.
Well this is partially because the scope of Terca Lumereis is well conveyed through the usage of world-map travel. In Rieze Maxia, this doesn't happen. While it's true that RM is definitely smaller than TL, I think the world of RM and its mythos is very interesting in relation to the Guild vs Empire dynamic presented in TL.
I hope for the next game they make the world feel more, IDk, alive. Like how Symphonia and Rebirth had hostels and abbeys dotting the map. Graces even had a few random houses and stuff. Make it feel like people traverse these areas. Not just giant empty fields. Discoveries would've been nice too.
I bought this today - traded in a few Wii U games ( which netted me a surprisingly good refund, I might add ) - and I am enjoying it so far. I am pretty new to the Tales -serie ( I did play Tales of Vesperia when it released on Xbox 360 some years ago ), so I'm not that familiar with the saga. I take it that the games are all 'individual', and not linked to each other in terms of story, characters or place?
I bought this today - traded in a few Wii U games ( which netted me a surprisingly good refund, I might add ) - and I am enjoying it so far. I am pretty new to the Tales -serie ( I did play Tales of Vesperia when it released on Xbox 360 some years ago ), so I'm not that familiar with the saga. I take it that the games are all 'individual', and not linked to each other in terms of story, characters or place?
You get a trophy for completing the first chapter, "Scholar of Rieze Maxia" I can't remember if you have it by that point but if you don't you're really close. I'm not too far in front.
When Teepo got kidnapped and they stole something from him, how did he manage to be fine like 2-3 hours later like nothing happened? Am I missing something here? That part of the plot is all a blur, because it didn't make too much sense to me.
When Teepo got kidnapped and they stole something from him, how did he manage to be fine like 2-3 hours later like nothing happened? Am I missing something here? That part of the plot is all a blur, because it didn't make too much sense to me.
I think chapter 1 ends when you finally get all 6 party members together for the first time. Or rather, that's when chapter 2 starts. I think you get the trophy a bit earlier.
. This is great. Between the music, the nonstop battles, and in battle conversations, you really get a sense of epicness. What's the name of the song that plays here?
Trying to avoid the black bars, as I'm only a little bit in on Chapter 4 (I think)
Hard to fathom how the other characters storyline would play out :lol Wonder if there's a "New Game +" type feature, that carries over with the other character.
Haven't read too much into the sequel, but I see there are 2 new starting players. How interconnected are the 2 games? From the cover, there seems to be some returning players? In relation to Xillia, is it a sequel like FFX-2, or a sequel like Chrono Cross?
I know I missed on Graces (it just looked "off" in it's character design), but I do remember liking a bit of Vesperia, mainly the main character and his liking of
MURRDAAAAAH IN THE 1ST DEGREE
Lastly: Alvin
How has no one ganked that traitorous scumbag? He's turned like 8 times by now!!!
"Hey, I'll just wave sarcastically as you guys run for your lives from the UberSword wielding King, then show up at the next town and just tag along, until I turn on you again!"
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was really starting to hate his guts, but I couldn't really do it because his life has pretty much just sucked. That scene with Elize consoling him really moved me and I can't wait to see more of him in Xillia 2.
. This is great. Between the music, the nonstop battles, and in battle conversations, you really get a sense of epicness. What's the name of the song that plays here?
and half of it is completely wasted on idealistic blabbering and standing around? YOU GUYS!!! Though I really liked it after that hand-holding scene, I love these kind of endings where you get to briefly hear what the characters are doing with their lives now. Gives the story and characters this kind of... continuity maybe, you know, that the story was only a small part of their long lives.
So yeah! Finished the game. What a fucking great game, goddamn. Loved every second of it. To do a quick list of the cons, I'd say the worst were the lack of overworld/boring fields, the shop system, the lack of synthesis and all kinds of other sub-systems, the rushed fourth chapter and the bullshit combo-breaking bosses. There were other flaws too, but they aren't worth mentioning.
Other than that, it was all golden. Loved the story overall, most of the characters were absolutely fantastic (hell yea Alvin!) and battling was just a ton of fun.
On my top Tales games list, I'd say it either shares the first spot with Vesperia or is a very, very close second. It's a hard decision. Nonetheless, Vesperia and Xillia are pretty much the best JRPGs I've played on home consoles this gen.
But this being a long RPG, I just can't bring myself to play it again for another year at least. So no Milla's side of the story me for now. Hope I'm not missing anything vital.
More hyped than ever for Xillia 2. Thank GOD western release has been confirmed! For now though, I think I'll entertain myself with SMT spinoffs and Tales of Destiny
and half of it is completely wasted on idealistic blabbering and standing around? YOU GUYS!!! Though I really liked it after that hand-holding scene, I love these kind of endings where you get to briefly hear what the characters are doing with their lives now. Gives the story and characters this kind of... continuity maybe, you know, that the story was only a small part of their long lives.
So yeah! Finished the game. What a fucking great game, goddamn. Loved every second of it. To do a quick list of the cons, I'd say the worst were the lack of overworld/boring fields, the shop system, the lack of synthesis and all kinds of other sub-systems, the rushed fourth chapter and the bullshit combo-breaking bosses. There were other flaws too, but they aren't worth mentioning.
Other than that, it was all golden. Loved the story overall, most of the characters were absolutely fantastic (hell yea Alvin!) and battling was just a ton of fun.
On my top Tales games list, I'd say it either shares the first spot with Vesperia or is a very, very close second. It's a hard decision. Nonetheless, Vesperia and Xillia are pretty much the best JRPGs I've played on home consoles this gen.
But this being a long RPG, I just can't bring myself to play it again for another year at least. So no Milla's side of the story me for now. Hope I'm not missing anything vital.
More hyped than ever for Xillia 2. Thank GOD western release has been confirmed! For now though, I think I'll entertain myself with SMT spinoffs and Tales of Destiny
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was really starting to hate his guts, but I couldn't really do it because his life has pretty much just sucked. That scene with Elize consoling him really moved me and I can't wait to see more of him in Xillia 2.
I loved him all the way through, I got a bit irritated at some point sure, but I never hated him. And when it became apparent how lonely he is and how, at times, he was forced to do what he did, I felt really bad for him. And yeah, the swing scene was heartwarming!
Loving this game, the only thing that always seems to worry me is if i've overleveled or underleveled the shops. Not sure if i'm 'supposed' to have this gear or not, that kind of thing.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was really starting to hate his guts, but I couldn't really do it because his life has pretty much just sucked. That scene with Elize consoling him really moved me and I can't wait to see more of him in Xillia 2.
While you bring up that scene, I have to say that I absolutely adored how Xillia handled that. Every character contrasts another character in the game. Elise contrasts Alvin, Leia contrasts Rowen, and Jude contrasts Milla. It fits very well within the game's theme of unwavering convictions, with the character's contrast helping them along the way. Alvin and Elise contrast each other kind of. Both of them have difficulties expressing themselves and their emotions. Elise uses Tipo to talk for her, while Alvin deals with it in another way (sometimes extreme, but again, he's been through a lot, and he's absolutely torn between what he wants to do and what he should do). Alvin as a character is written surprisingly well for a Tales game, and I ended up enjoying him in the long run.
Leia and Rowen, and Jude and Milla, should probably be self-explanatory.
I also enjoyed that scene and the final scene in the morning because they had a sense of camaraderie. Something I felt was missing in a lot of larger scale console RPGs at the time, and something I'd sorely missed. They're not a group of people just sticking together for the sake of beating some sort of boss or for the sake of duty or fighting their destiny or what-have-you. They're doing it because they've genuinely become friends over the course of their journey. I thought it was great.
Yeah, Milla's story isn't all that fun, imo. So there's no need to go through it so soon after Jude's.
I said it earlier, but I didn't like how in Milla's story in chapter 1
you see the cutscene where Cline gets hit by an arrow. But after Gandala Fortress, all you get is a "(Cline is dead)" textbox at the bottom when Milla's stuck in bed.
I am curious to see what happens with Milla at some of the later parts in the story though.
These are problems/nitpicks I had with the latter part of the game. some things may be incorrect due to me missing a sidequest, forgetting, or not remembering certain details
-The final dungeon and boss are kinda underwhelming
-Exodus pretty much gives up and disappears for no reason
-I don't get how Spyrites were created if no person in the other world has mana lobe
-The other world is a joke and I feel it should've been a little bigger. Everything in it from Volt to Alvin's cousin feel rushed and wasted to me.
- The Elize booster plot is dropped and made no sense in the first place since she used Teepo nonstop
-We never learn why Alvin was a part of Exodus when he was so young and why they traveled on a cruise ship of all things
-I feel that Ivar had a justifable reason to hate Jude and want to help Milla himself and in the end pretty much gets shamed out of the game
I think I had a few more before I went to bed last night but I can't remember them lol
This is driving me nuts, playing as Jude, about WTF do you do when she bites it on the Cruise Ship/Lance destruction. Cause so far, it feels like the 2 character story "fits" with what's presented i.e. numerous separation points. So, I don't believe they switch it up and have Jude sacrifice his life, and I don't believe they'd have you switch over to the other character until her inevitable return (which I haven't seen yet). I'd lol if the game picks back up with her coming back to life, with her (and the viewer) not knowing what happened while she was gone.
Not that I want to know now, I plan on starting on a Milla playthrough afterwards. I'm just rambling cause I'm at work and I want to keep playing.
I really like this game so far. My only complaint is that, as usual, combat just ends up being a spamfest for me. I know there's supposed to be strategy, but maybe I'm just not good enough. I never remember which Artes link with which, or which ones are assigned to which button, and what artes everyone else is using. So instead I just spam. I wish they could come up with a way to make it just as active and strategic, yet easier to do it in a way that doesn't involve button mashing.
I also don't like that you have to hold the O button down to cast spells. Kind of annoying.
One question, I'm playing Milla's side and I'm at
Xian Du
and the sub-quest guide says there's supposed to be a girl in the inn that I can do a quest for. But she's not there. I checked right after getting there, as well as every story progression. Still nothing. Is this not in the English version, or did I miss it?
Also, what's the highest store material bonus you can get? I've seen an x3 only once, but at the time I had almost no materials on me, so I couldn't get anything. Does it ever go higher?
While you bring up that scene, I have to say that I absolutely adored how Xillia handled that. Every character contrasts another character in the game. Elise contrasts Alvin, Leia contrasts Rowen, and Jude contrasts Milla. It fits very well within the game's theme of unwavering convictions, with the character's contrast helping them along the way. Alvin and Elise contrast each other kind of. Both of them have difficulties expressing themselves and their emotions. Elise uses Tipo to talk for her, while Alvin deals with it in another way (sometimes extreme, but again, he's been through a lot, and he's absolutely torn between what he wants to do and what he should do). Alvin as a character is written surprisingly well for a Tales game, and I ended up enjoying him in the long run.
Leia and Rowen, and Jude and Milla, should probably be self-explanatory.
I also enjoyed that scene and the final scene in the morning because they had a sense of camaraderie. Something I felt was missing in a lot of larger scale console RPGs at the time, and something I'd sorely missed. They're not a group of people just sticking together for the sake of beating some sort of boss or for the sake of duty or fighting their destiny or what-have-you. They're doing it because they've genuinely become friends over the course of their journey. I thought it was great.
I was honestly shocked at how enthralled I was during these particular moments. The writing in this game feels so much better compared to most of the other JRPGs I've played lately. The cast is so likeable and the twists in the game honestly surprised me more than I expected. Such an unexpectedly great game hampered by just a few niggling issues.
and the sub-quest guide says there's supposed to be a girl in the inn that I can do a quest for. But she's not there. I checked right after getting there, as well as every story progression. Still nothing. Is this not in the English version, or did I miss it?
Also, what's the highest store material bonus you can get? I've seen an x3 only once, but at the time I had almost no materials on me, so I couldn't get anything. Does it ever go higher?
I was honestly shocked at how enthralled I was during these particular moments. The writing in this game feels so much better compared to most of the other JRPGs I've played lately. The cast is so likeable and the twists in the game honestly surprised me more than I expected. Such an unexpectedly great game hampered by just a few niggling issues.
Yep. I usually played Xillia at night into the wee hours of the morning since that was the only time I could actually play games at the time. I usually had the volume low or not even on, but that was one of those rare times I opted to plug the headphones into my TV because I ended up loving how the game wrapped up the Unwavering Conviction themed arcs. I was kind of surprised by that, actually, even though Tales' games character interactions are generally decent outside of a few games here and there.
