I've gone back to Tales of Symphonia after taking a break from FFX (Chocobo Catcher broke me).
One thing I've been noticing about this game is that there isn't really a comprehensive guide around.
I know theres lots of playthrough exclusive things in the game, but even things/scenes that you can do everytime aren't mentioned.
Bit surprising considering what a popular entry this is.
Was any character in Xillia not broken? Jude is basically light speed infinite combos and breaks boss armor, and Rowen and Elize are obviously op. Milla alvin and leia are just kind of super good I guees
Well, they solved it by making most later bosses spend most of their time in linked overlimit, effectively making them invincible for the duration. It wasn't impossible or incredibly hard, just annoying as hell.
Was any character in Xillia not broken? Jude is basically light speed infinite combos and breaks boss armor, and Rowen and Elize are obviously op. Milla alvin and leia are just kind of super good I guees
Milla plus Alvin both controlled by players are a broken constant air-juggling festival of brutality.
Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
On her own Leia is "just" really good. When linked with Jude you gain Tempest Piourette which turns a good character and a great character into a single unstoppable force that clears battles in just a few seconds.
On her own Leia is "just" really good. When linked with Jude you gain Tempest Piourette which turns a good character and a great character into a single unstoppable force that clears battles in just a few seconds.
Goddamn this. Tempest Pirouette is one of a handful of Linked Artes that, if you're fighting normal enemies, is basically hitting the 'win' button.
But I'm not sure if anything beats Judgement Gate. Holy shit, that Milla/Jude Arte is just mean. Pirouette has more hits, but Judgement Gate pulls enemies INTO the Arte, then alternately knocks down enemies and stands them back up with each hit. It's disgustingly powerful.
To be honest, unless I'm fighting a boss, I leave Milla out of my group when I play Jude, because it's just too easy with them both in the fight. Course half the time I just link with Elize and top off everyone while the AI handles the heavy lifting. It's rather odd how well that works too.
I just couldn't find a niche for him that someone else didn't do better.
I actually quite like playing as Rowen. Tidal Waveing the entire field, confusing enemies with Shimmering Toll, or just piling on the damage with Tetra Spell.
My only complaint is that linking to anyone effectively removes them from the battle when I'm playing as Rowen, while not linking means no Stop Flow or Mystic Arte meter build.
After the first time Alvin betrayed the party, I benched his ass for the rest of the game. By the third time he betrayed the party I was yelling at the game to let me murder him.
PSN|AspectVoid
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
An article on Tales of Zesty. The one thing that caught my attention was this:
Tales of Zesteria has a new “Real Map Battles” feature for the first time in the series, you’ll fight in the same area as the battle commences. This means that you might want to consider where you fight, since there will be different obstacles, or maybe you wouldn’t want to fight yourself caught in a narrow hallway.
That's awesome. More JRPGs need to do that.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
An article on Tales of Zesty. The one thing that caught my attention was this:
Tales of Zesteria has a new “Real Map Battles” feature for the first time in the series, you’ll fight in the same area as the battle commences. This means that you might want to consider where you fight, since there will be different obstacles, or maybe you wouldn’t want to fight yourself caught in a narrow hallway.
That's awesome. More JRPGs need to do that.
Like Chrono Trigger?
(The sentence 'Like Chrono Trigger' is almost universally a positive.)
Yeah that was pretty neat in Chrono trigger, I don't remember the surroundings effecting your tactics (AOE special attacks aside), they could do some neat stuff with that!
Yeah that was pretty neat in Chrono trigger, I don't remember the surroundings effecting your tactics (AOE special attacks aside), they could do some neat stuff with that!
So perhaps Final Fantasy XII is the right Squeenix game to compare it to?
Although hopefully it's not like that system where other wandering monsters can come join mid-battle if they're close enough and get aggro'd.
So I just finished Tales of Xillia. It's also my first Tales of game, at least the first I played longer than a rental.
I admit I do prefer a more tactical approach to turn-based RPGs, especially compared to this style of combat where towards the end it was 'hit mans, retreat during exclamation point, repeat'. Sadly your AI partners aren't as smart, and it basically makes the game a matter of 'hit and run' and 'might is right'. It works, but it all gets clunky and turns into a waiting game towards the end.
Supposedly the plot is pretty standard fare for the series, but I was pleasantly surprised with the kinds of twists it took. Now I can see myself getting bored of the flow if it turns into the series' only trick, but there's nothing wrong with having neither side really be evil. That's what made the Suikoden series so interesting for me.
I wasn't a HUGE fan of Jude until he grew up a bit, but I suppose that's one point to the story as well. It's also why I didn't like Jude and Milla's relationship much at all. Jude's emotions are on his sleeve, while Milla was rather cold and calculated for most of the game. This should've made them oil and water, but I suppose a tube top does wonders for compatibility. Yeah, I get the fact that Jude matured and Milla became more human during the game and they met in the middle, but the conflict that should've made that relationship interesting was nonexistent, and it left the experience feeling rather lame in my eyes. 'They stayed together because reasons' just isn't enough.
All in all I liked the game, and I can see why a second was really needed. The ending felt rather hurried, and despite giving you a whole other world towards the end, it only gives you a handful of areas to explore. I assume the point of Xillia 2 is to concentrate more on Elympios than Rieze Maxia and actually conclude the solution that both sides need. I'll be grabbing the game tomorrow.
I'd say Xillia is somewhat unusual in not having a "big bad" that is obviously and unequivocally evil, as far as the series goes. Xillia definitely has more degrees of nuance in its overall story than the previous titles, though the gameplay and area design didn't do much for me. I'm hoping Xillia 2 clicks with me more, but I'm definitely looking forward to ToZ, which looks much more interesting than the last few entries, IMO.
I'd say Xillia is somewhat unusual in not having a "big bad" that is obviously and unequivocally evil, as far as the series goes. Xillia definitely has more degrees of nuance in its overall story than the previous titles, though the gameplay and area design didn't do much for me. I'm hoping Xillia 2 clicks with me more, but I'm definitely looking forward to ToZ, which looks much more interesting than the last few entries, IMO.
Having played Symphonia(s) and Abyss, I don't really recall their big Bads being wholly evil either. True, they went way too far and, in the case of Symphonia and Abyss, had to die before peace could be restored, but there was more than them just being evil.
I agree that Xillia's main villains were even moreso, though.
bunch of bleeding hearts. yeah, the bad guy learns his lesson after you beat the crap out of him. hes not going to go right back to being bad after he leaves the room or anything
bunch of bleeding hearts. yeah, the bad guy learns his lesson after you beat the crap out of him. hes not going to go right back to being bad after he leaves the room or anything
Well, I also love the meme-level of absurdity with some of the fighting. 'The Final Boss' in Xillia just had too many tropes for me to fully enjoy.
Sure game, have me fight him with only two people this time, one I barely ever played with. That's fair.
Oh, everyone else we fight dies if we win, but he doesn't. He just jumps through a space vagina and gets away.
Oh, now he's back with his slave, so he can do Linked Artes now.
Oh look, he took his shirt off. That means he's serious about it now.
Well, all our friends are coming back and saying hello with a Mystic Arte to the face each time, so that's fair.
Really, neither one are dead? And now we're just GG'ing and calling it good?? What?!!
Still, I really enjoyed the game regardless, but aside from a 'This Isn't Even My Final Form' moment, it was one of the most cliche JRPG final boss fights I've had in a LONG time.
The bad guy in Symphonia is arguably really trying his best to do the right thing, just kind of stuck up his own ass so far that he doesn't realize that it is actually dicking over tons of people in the process.
One of the things I appreciated about Symphonia 2 was that it illustrated that the main characters in Symphonia also ended up dicking over quite a few people in their pursuit of the greater good, and that people who didn't know any better blamed them just as they would a normal villain.
I still need to finish up my Symphonia Collection playthroughs. I'm honestly not all the hyped for Xillia 2 so I don't feel an urge to play it ASAP, but I'll definitely enjoy it once I get around to it. The Tales games are like video game comfort food.
Honestly, Xillia just felt kind of all over the place in a way that even Tales games aren't normally.
When the team had their emotional pre-final dungeon conversation about whether to go home or not, before it had been established they even could go home, and then
the bad guy shows up to give them a thing that lets them go home,
I have to assume someone in editing was dozing off only to do that 'huh what no I'm really awake it's okay' thing and just mashed the keyboard in the resulting blind panic.
So I bought Tales of Symphonia on PS3, despite not having a great first impression when I played it on GCN... and I pretty much got bored again less than 2 hours in.
I LOVED Tales of Vesperia and have played a number of Tales games, though Vesperia was the only one I completed. For all the praise Symphonia gets, I thought I just didn't give it enough of a chance.
What is it about Symphonia that people love so much? The dialogue feels stilted, the plot cliche and the animations are stiff. I know Tales games have cliche plots, but Symphonia feels especially so. The lack of spoken English dialogue for Skits really sucks.
My tastes have changed so it is harder for me to get into an oldschool JRPG. Perhaps it's just that. Symphonia feels like a game that should be of a much higher quality but the era it came out in hamstrung it.
Honestly, Xillia just felt kind of all over the place in a way that even Tales games aren't normally.
When the team had their emotional pre-final dungeon conversation about whether to go home or not, before it had been established they even could go home, and then
the bad guy shows up to give them a thing that lets them go home,
I have to assume someone in editing was dozing off only to do that 'huh what no I'm really awake it's okay' thing and just mashed the keyboard in the resulting blind panic.
Something tells me, and I'm giving them probably more credit than they deserve here, that perhaps they got partway through the development of the game and it dawned on someone how much they created so far. That there's a good 30-40 hours of content before you even get to Elympios, so they needed to break up the game into a two-part series, but they needed a quick way for the team to return and settle everything and leave Elympios to explore in the second part.
And that's why Xillia's ending feels rushed and weird. Because someone was told 'here, finish this game in 5 hours instead of 45 so we can put that other 40 hours in another game'.
So I bought Tales of Symphonia on PS3, despite not having a great first impression when I played it on GCN... and I pretty much got bored again less than 2 hours in.
I LOVED Tales of Vesperia and have played a number of Tales games, though Vesperia was the only one I completed. For all the praise Symphonia gets, I thought I just didn't give it enough of a chance.
What is it about Symphonia that people love so much? The dialogue feels stilted, the plot cliche and the animations are stiff. I know Tales games have cliche plots, but Symphonia feels especially so. The lack of spoken English dialogue for Skits really sucks.
My tastes have changed so it is harder for me to get into an oldschool JRPG. Perhaps it's just that. Symphonia feels like a game that should be of a much higher quality but the era it came out in hamstrung it.
'cus it's fun to play and the characters are fun to have around.
However, like pretty much every modern Tales game, it is slow as fuck to start out, so you have to push through that to get to the point in the game where anything actually happens.
Honestly, Xillia just felt kind of all over the place in a way that even Tales games aren't normally.
When the team had their emotional pre-final dungeon conversation about whether to go home or not, before it had been established they even could go home, and then
the bad guy shows up to give them a thing that lets them go home,
I have to assume someone in editing was dozing off only to do that 'huh what no I'm really awake it's okay' thing and just mashed the keyboard in the resulting blind panic.
Something tells me, and I'm giving them probably more credit than they deserve here, that perhaps they got partway through the development of the game and it dawned on someone how much they created so far. That there's a good 30-40 hours of content before you even get to Elympios, so they needed to break up the game into a two-part series, but they needed a quick way for the team to return and settle everything and leave Elympios to explore in the second part.
And that's why Xillia's ending feels rushed and weird. Because someone was told 'here, finish this game in 5 hours instead of 45 so we can put that other 40 hours in another game'.
The real reason is pretty much that Xillia 1 was rushed so that they could get it out in time for the franchises 15th anniversary.
Honestly, Xillia just felt kind of all over the place in a way that even Tales games aren't normally.
When the team had their emotional pre-final dungeon conversation about whether to go home or not, before it had been established they even could go home, and then
the bad guy shows up to give them a thing that lets them go home,
I have to assume someone in editing was dozing off only to do that 'huh what no I'm really awake it's okay' thing and just mashed the keyboard in the resulting blind panic.
Something tells me, and I'm giving them probably more credit than they deserve here, that perhaps they got partway through the development of the game and it dawned on someone how much they created so far. That there's a good 30-40 hours of content before you even get to Elympios, so they needed to break up the game into a two-part series, but they needed a quick way for the team to return and settle everything and leave Elympios to explore in the second part.
And that's why Xillia's ending feels rushed and weird. Because someone was told 'here, finish this game in 5 hours instead of 45 so we can put that other 40 hours in another game'.
The real reason is pretty much that Xillia 1 was rushed so that they could get it out in time for the franchises 15th anniversary.
And in doing so ironically the game ended up with almost no features that are common in Tales games...
The bad guy in [Tales Game] is arguably really trying his best to do the right thing, just kind of stuck up his own ass so far that he doesn't realize that it is actually dicking over tons of people in the process.
Man the thread title reminded me of how hilarious naive everyone was regarding Agria's backstory.
Party: Man screw Agria. She's just a psycho who loves fire.
NPC: No you see her entire family died in a mysterious fire when she was young.
Party: Oh man that's so sad poor Agria I feel so bad for her.
Me: What!?
Man the thread title reminded me of how hilarious naive everyone was regarding Agria's backstory.
Party: Man screw Agria. She's just a psycho who loves fire.
NPC: No you see her entire family died in a mysterious fire when she was young.
Party: Oh man that's so sad poor Agria I feel so bad for her.
Me: What!?
One of the bonus images you could unlock is a photo of Agria when she was young:
Posts
One thing I've been noticing about this game is that there isn't really a comprehensive guide around.
I know theres lots of playthrough exclusive things in the game, but even things/scenes that you can do everytime aren't mentioned.
Bit surprising considering what a popular entry this is.
Milla plus Alvin both controlled by players are a broken constant air-juggling festival of brutality.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Goddamn this. Tempest Pirouette is one of a handful of Linked Artes that, if you're fighting normal enemies, is basically hitting the 'win' button.
But I'm not sure if anything beats Judgement Gate. Holy shit, that Milla/Jude Arte is just mean. Pirouette has more hits, but Judgement Gate pulls enemies INTO the Arte, then alternately knocks down enemies and stands them back up with each hit. It's disgustingly powerful.
Judgement what?
I must have missed things.
Stop Flow is hilariously good, though.
For your viewing pleasure, just so you're aware of what we're talking about.
To be honest, unless I'm fighting a boss, I leave Milla out of my group when I play Jude, because it's just too easy with them both in the fight. Course half the time I just link with Elize and top off everyone while the AI handles the heavy lifting. It's rather odd how well that works too.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I just couldn't find a niche for him that someone else didn't do better.
I actually quite like playing as Rowen. Tidal Waveing the entire field, confusing enemies with Shimmering Toll, or just piling on the damage with Tetra Spell.
My only complaint is that linking to anyone effectively removes them from the battle when I'm playing as Rowen, while not linking means no Stop Flow or Mystic Arte meter build.
That was my team too!
Like Chrono Trigger?
(The sentence 'Like Chrono Trigger' is almost universally a positive.)
Why I fear the ocean.
So perhaps Final Fantasy XII is the right Squeenix game to compare it to?
Although hopefully it's not like that system where other wandering monsters can come join mid-battle if they're close enough and get aggro'd.
I admit I do prefer a more tactical approach to turn-based RPGs, especially compared to this style of combat where towards the end it was 'hit mans, retreat during exclamation point, repeat'. Sadly your AI partners aren't as smart, and it basically makes the game a matter of 'hit and run' and 'might is right'. It works, but it all gets clunky and turns into a waiting game towards the end.
Supposedly the plot is pretty standard fare for the series, but I was pleasantly surprised with the kinds of twists it took. Now I can see myself getting bored of the flow if it turns into the series' only trick, but there's nothing wrong with having neither side really be evil. That's what made the Suikoden series so interesting for me.
I wasn't a HUGE fan of Jude until he grew up a bit, but I suppose that's one point to the story as well. It's also why I didn't like Jude and Milla's relationship much at all. Jude's emotions are on his sleeve, while Milla was rather cold and calculated for most of the game. This should've made them oil and water, but I suppose a tube top does wonders for compatibility. Yeah, I get the fact that Jude matured and Milla became more human during the game and they met in the middle, but the conflict that should've made that relationship interesting was nonexistent, and it left the experience feeling rather lame in my eyes. 'They stayed together because reasons' just isn't enough.
All in all I liked the game, and I can see why a second was really needed. The ending felt rather hurried, and despite giving you a whole other world towards the end, it only gives you a handful of areas to explore. I assume the point of Xillia 2 is to concentrate more on Elympios than Rieze Maxia and actually conclude the solution that both sides need. I'll be grabbing the game tomorrow.
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Having played Symphonia(s) and Abyss, I don't really recall their big Bads being wholly evil either. True, they went way too far and, in the case of Symphonia and Abyss, had to die before peace could be restored, but there was more than them just being evil.
I agree that Xillia's main villains were even moreso, though.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
But yeah, in Xillia,
Well, I also love the meme-level of absurdity with some of the fighting. 'The Final Boss' in Xillia just had too many tropes for me to fully enjoy.
Oh, everyone else we fight dies if we win, but he doesn't. He just jumps through a space vagina and gets away.
Oh, now he's back with his slave, so he can do Linked Artes now.
Oh look, he took his shirt off. That means he's serious about it now.
Well, all our friends are coming back and saying hello with a Mystic Arte to the face each time, so that's fair.
Really, neither one are dead? And now we're just GG'ing and calling it good?? What?!!
Still, I really enjoyed the game regardless, but aside from a 'This Isn't Even My Final Form' moment, it was one of the most cliche JRPG final boss fights I've had in a LONG time.
One of the things I appreciated about Symphonia 2 was that it illustrated that the main characters in Symphonia also ended up dicking over quite a few people in their pursuit of the greater good, and that people who didn't know any better blamed them just as they would a normal villain.
Let's Plays of Japanese Games
When the team had their emotional pre-final dungeon conversation about whether to go home or not, before it had been established they even could go home, and then
Now playing: Teardown and Baldur's Gate 3 (co-op)
Sunday Spotlight: Horror Tales: The Wine
I LOVED Tales of Vesperia and have played a number of Tales games, though Vesperia was the only one I completed. For all the praise Symphonia gets, I thought I just didn't give it enough of a chance.
What is it about Symphonia that people love so much? The dialogue feels stilted, the plot cliche and the animations are stiff. I know Tales games have cliche plots, but Symphonia feels especially so. The lack of spoken English dialogue for Skits really sucks.
My tastes have changed so it is harder for me to get into an oldschool JRPG. Perhaps it's just that. Symphonia feels like a game that should be of a much higher quality but the era it came out in hamstrung it.
Something tells me, and I'm giving them probably more credit than they deserve here, that perhaps they got partway through the development of the game and it dawned on someone how much they created so far. That there's a good 30-40 hours of content before you even get to Elympios, so they needed to break up the game into a two-part series, but they needed a quick way for the team to return and settle everything and leave Elympios to explore in the second part.
And that's why Xillia's ending feels rushed and weird. Because someone was told 'here, finish this game in 5 hours instead of 45 so we can put that other 40 hours in another game'.
'cus it's fun to play and the characters are fun to have around.
However, like pretty much every modern Tales game, it is slow as fuck to start out, so you have to push through that to get to the point in the game where anything actually happens.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
The real reason is pretty much that Xillia 1 was rushed so that they could get it out in time for the franchises 15th anniversary.
And in doing so ironically the game ended up with almost no features that are common in Tales games...
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
NPC: No you see her entire family died in a mysterious fire when she was young.
Party: Oh man that's so sad poor Agria I feel so bad for her.
Me: What!?
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
One of the bonus images you could unlock is a photo of Agria when she was young: