Tales of Xillia 2 Review (PS3)

            WARNING: There will be minor spoilers for both Xillia 1 and Xillia 2. One year later, and now we finally have the sequel to 2013’s Tales of Xillia. This particular entry brings back a lot of things from its prequel, right down to the exact same environments, but it brings a lot of new things to the table that make it vastly superior in my opinion.

Story and Characters

One of the many choices you'll have to make.

            Tales of Xillia 2 stars Ludger Will Kresnik, just an average young man looking for a job. He attempts to apply for work at Spirius Corporation, where his brother Julius works, but fails the entrance exam and ends up working as a chef at the Trigleph Train Station. On his first day of work, he meets a young girl named Elle, and the plot begins to unfold as Ludger finds himself to be one of the few people who are able to destroy the alternate timelines that threaten the world.

            I’m going to say this now: this game has THE darkest and most violent plot in the series thus far. While the premise of the plot involves destroying alternate timelines, the game does not hesitate to explore the consequences of those actions, and brings to question just how much should be sacrificed to save a world. The game also deals with racism between the two nations of Elympios and Rieze Maxia, as shown through several NPCs, minor characters, and the terrorist group Exodus returning from the first game.

            While the plot is somewhat short compared to previous games, you have character sidequests you can do in between chapters. They range from simple cutscenes to actual exploring and boss fights, but they all help develop the returning characters from Xillia 1 even further. Admittedly, there are a few plot-holes here and there, but it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the story. From the research I’ve done and the experiences I’ve had with this game, the story is said to be one of the best in the series alongside Tales of Hearts, and I can definitely see why.

            Unlike previous games, our hero Ludger is a silent protagonist, and you’re given dialogue choices throughout the game. While the system is implemented decently enough, they should have either included more choices instead of making you pick between two each time, or just made Ludger a standard protagonist. However, Ludger still has a personality; though it is only seen in the journal entries summing up each chapter of the game.

            Returning characters get more development, and are generally even better than they were in the first Xillia. For the most part, Ludger and Elle’s interactions with them are done quite well, and helps develop them further. However, I think that in order to get the most out of the characters in this game, you’ll need to have played the first Xillia. This character development in this game continues from where the first game left off, so the impact will be lost if you haven’t played the first game.

Gameplay

            While the battle system remains mostly the same, there have been major tweaks. Sidesteps from Tales of Graces return, and new skills help turn the tide against bosses with Iron Stance. Elemental weaknesses become much more important in this game; they stun enemies and allow you to start combos. You’ll also be inflicting or receiving a lot more status ailments, so you can use this to your advantage. Learning how to use this system can be crucial to victory, as this game is much harder than the first, and almost as hard as Tales of Graces.

            Ludger is able to use three different weapons in battle and can switch at will. By holding L1 and pressing either R1 or R2, you can cycle between Dual Swords, Dual Pistols, and a Sledgehammer. Each weapon comes with its own set of artes; this allows Ludger to cover every weakness in the game. Later in the game, Ludger will gain the ability to use a “Chromatus Transformation”. This transformation allows Ludger to wield the Lance of Kresnik, and gives him a new set of attacks and powerful artes at the cost of having to fight solo for the duration of the transformation. While in Chromatus form, Ludger takes no damage and consumes no TP. The only thing that really limits him is the time limit on this form; you lose time if you are hit by an attack in Chromatus form. This ability can prove to be very useful or very broken. In a pinch, it’ll help you deal damage with impunity, but if used properly it can become the most devastating skill in your arsenal.

            Due to story reasons, you’re stuck with a fixed party for each chapter, and can no longer switch inactive members in and out of battle like in the first game or Final Fantasy X. During the breaks you have between chapters, however, you can freely arrange your party as you like, although Ludger is a required member until post-game. This is a step back from the first Xillia, but it didn’t bother me that much. On the other hand, a few of the game's boss fights end up being much harder than they should be due to the fact that you're missing the main healers of the team.

            Tales of Xillia 2 introduces a new development system called Allium Orbs. Allium Orbs work similarly to the development systems found in Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Vesperia. Each character can equip an extractor that gives points toward a certain element when you get Elemental Ore (which can be found on the field or earned from battles). When you get enough points, you’ll learn an arte or skill, depending on what element you have equipped. This time around, SP is earned differently. Each skill now gives you half of the SP required to equip it. Defeating a certain amount of enemies will also boost SP for certain characters. Which enemies will give what character SP boosts can be found in the Enemy Data section of the game, which helps with grinding. Overall, I think this whole system is better than the first game. It allows you to learn much more artes and skills at a faster pace.

            Returning from Tales of Symphonia is the affinity system. Certain dialogue choices you make can increase a party member’s affinity with you. Unlike in Symphonia, however, you’ll always know when a choice boosts a characters affinity since their icons will be shown under the choice after you select it. You can also boost affinity by linking with those characters in battle. Also, pressing Square on Ludger’s status screen will also bring up the affinity for each party member, which maxes out at 10 hearts. At certain levels of affinity, your party members will give you skill tomes or arte tomes. Finally, high affinity levels will also add extra scenes involving the character with high affinity. It’s certainly a nice system, but it doesn’t really add as much to the game as it could have.

            Sidequests have also been revamped. Instead of talking to NPCs to initiate quests, you simply go to the job bulletin board in town and accept jobs. You can accept up to 5 jobs at once, and certain jobs require you to have a certain job rank to accept it. You can increase your rank by earning points for every job you complete. Jobs will also reward you with gald, which is a lot more important in this game than in previous titles. Giganto Monsters return from Tales of Vesperia, now called Elite Monsters. Defeating one nets you a lot of gald and points, so be sure to fight them.

            Like I mentioned above, this game introduces character quests that appear between chapters. These are initiated by talking to party members in certain towns. Once you gain the world map, bringing it up will also show which towns have character quests to do; you can also fast travel straight to those towns. Like I’ve said before, they help flesh out the characters further, but some of them also present interesting what-if scenarios due to the alternate timelines in this game.

            Early in the game, you’re hit with a massive 20 million gald debt, and paying it back is probably the most infamous part of the game. In between each chapter, you’re forced to pay a certain amount before being allowed to proceed in the story. This ends up padding the game out somewhat, but beating Elite Monsters should make it easy to pay off the debt. But because that’s the case, what was the point in including the system in the first place? Sure, you get stuff like costumes and skill tomes, but they could have just as easily made them obtainable through sidequests.

            Pretty much every single area from the first Xillia returns. However, the areas are all recycled with absolutely no environmental changes. This does come off as somewhat lazy, but it’s excusable since this is a sequel that was released only one year after the first Xillia in Japan. On the other hand, you’re given much more freedom to explore and find loot or grind. In between chapters, you can go pretty much anywhere you want. It was also most likely due to this freedom that enemy scaling was now introduced; enemies now scale to about your level instead of being pathetically weak or absurdly overpowered. Ultimately, the freedom the game gives you to explore is much better than the first game’s linearity.

Graphics

            This game re-uses assets from the first game, so there’s no difference in graphical quality. While it looks good, it’s not as spectacular as it COULD be, and I hope the next Tales game for the PS3 will look better. One minor point I’d like to add though, is that there’s a lot more blood in this game compared to previous titles if any of those had blood at all. It helps to reinforce just how dark the world of Xillia 2 is, and I think it helped enhance the execution of the story.

            For some odd reason though, the game’s framerate and pop-in issues seem to be a little worse than in the first game. It’s most notable in places like Sharilton where it’ll take several seconds for you to realize you’re walking into a horse and not an invisible wall that was arbitrarily placed in the street. While it’s not a game-breaking issue, it’s quite distracting since I don’t recall having any of these issues in the first Xillia.

Music and Sound

            The music from the first game returns, though several new tracks have been added. These themes are generally better than the first game’s but they aren’t spectacular. However, I will say this: Xillia 2 probably has the best final boss theme in the Tales series.

            As for the voice acting, it’s improved from the first game. As for the newer characters, I think they’re relatively well done. Elle comes off as annoying at first, but it’s justifiable since she’s a little kid. Her voice acting’s not that bad, and the actress certainly managed to nail the more emotional scenes involving Elle.

Length

            Xillia 2 managed to fix one of the biggest problems that the first one had; there’s a lot more content to explore in this game. The character quests really help add to the story, and the coliseum from the first Xillia returns. You’ve also got a new post-game dungeon. The most notable part is that Xillia 2 has 5 different endings. Three of them are obtainable in one go, while the remaining two are mainly post-game content. Overall though, if you don’t rush, you’ll finish the game at around 40-ish hours, which is a nice length.

Verdict: 8/10

Pros:

• Much better story than in the first game. The dark tone of the plot can be refreshing for those who didn't like the lighthearted shift the series took starting with Vesperia.
• Tweaks to the battle system make it one of the best ones yet.
• Higher difficulty than in previous entries.
• New music is awesome.
• Voice acting has improved.
• A lot more content compared to the first Xillia.

Cons:

• Re-uses nearly all of the first game's assets.
• Fixed party can lead to unfair situations in later boss fights. Due to the fixed party, you can no longer switch inactive members into the party mid-battle.
• Seems to have slightly more framerate and pop-up issues.
• The debt system is pointless padding.

            Despite the flaws it has, Tales of Xillia 2 is the best title in the series to date. It improves on the original in so many ways, but is ironically held back by features recycled from the original. However, the story and improved combat system make this title worth picking up. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this game, and I think any Tales fan or JRPG player would too.