Woo, just hit the "big twist" moment of chapter 3. This story is getting exciting.
Tales games love their alternate worlds and things hidden beyond the sky. I really appreciate how one set of bad guys (Gaius and the Chimeriad) didn't see this coming either and are just as confused as the party is. I suppose we'll be jacking one of those airships before the game is over, too.
Yay, Celsius! The game was hinting at more spirits, so I'm glad it came true. I love seeing the design of the spirits in each games. It looks like this game will take after Symphonia, with four great spirits in one world and four in the other. Vesperia only had the four spirits, which was a (tiny) disappointment.
We played some more Xillia today, and the most important question @Wyborn and I had was whether we should equip sunglasses/aviator shades on everyone, or just have them solely on Jude to highlight his particularly dramatic moments.
I love how the shop expansion system works, and also really enjoy being able to see a preview of items available at next upgrade. Makes me salivate in anticipation.
I did manage to get the 90 subevent title, and I assume that's all of them. Had a guide for the first two thirds of the game, and then I just checked stuff manically.
Woo, playthrough complete! It's easily one of the best Tales of's, right below Symphonia and Vesperia for me.
The story was great as far as Tales games go. There are a whole lot of twists, shifting alliances, dramatic events and so forth to keep things exciting. The characters were great too, and all of them likeable. Teepo was annoying initially, but I started to like him once I learned his origin.
The combat system was fantastic as well. I loved the linking, each character's special abilities, access to 16 shortcuts, the combination of TP and CP, the overlimit gauge, and just about everything else it did. I feel like such a badass when I can pull off Jude's evasion move consistently.
I do have a couple issues with the game. First, there is a ton of copy-paste in the environments. All of the fields and caves are just reskins of each other, and many of the dungeons feature identical rooms. Every port in the world is the same, right down to the same stack of crates on one side. Everything else in the game feels polished, so it's a shame that the environments are so frequently bland and/or repetitive.
Second, the party size is a bit small at six characters. This game feels like it could use an extra party member or two more that Vesperia did. An Auj Oule party member would've made for an interesting inclusion. I'd even have settled for Ivar, just to have a bit more variety in the conversations.
Third (spoilers):
Elympios was incredibly underutilized.
Other than that, it's a wonderful game and an easy recommendation.
Woo, playthrough complete! It's easily one of the best Tales of's, right below Symphonia and Vesperia for me.
The story was great as far as Tales games go. There are a whole lot of twists, shifting alliances, dramatic events and so forth to keep things exciting. The characters were great too, and all of them likeable. Teepo was annoying initially, but I started to like him once I learned his origin.
The combat system was fantastic as well. I loved the linking, each character's special abilities, access to 16 shortcuts, the combination of TP and CP, the overlimit gauge, and just about everything else it did. I feel like such a badass when I can pull off Jude's evasion move consistently.
I do have a couple issues with the game. First, there is a ton of copy-paste in the environments. All of the fields and caves are just reskins of each other, and many of the dungeons feature identical rooms. Every port in the world is the same, right down to the same stack of crates on one side. Everything else in the game feels polished, so it's a shame that the environments are so frequently bland and/or repetitive.
Second, the party size is a bit small at six characters. This game feels like it could use an extra party member or two more that Vesperia did. An Auj Oule party member would've made for an interesting inclusion. I'd even have settled for Ivar, just to have a bit more variety in the conversations.
Third (spoilers):
Elympios was incredibly underutilized.
Other than that, it's a wonderful game and an easy recommendation.
Xillia 2 has three new characters, so a total of nine. But unfortunately, you can only switch party members in a town in that one.
One of them is Gaius, so there's your Auj Oule member. :P
It made me sad when I found out, too, but then I realized I pretty much just stuck with my main four and only switched in the others when they started to whine about not being used.
I had assumed for the longest time that Jude was at least in his late teens, which is still young for someone in his position.
Then again, maybe being a doctor isn't so hard in the Tales world, when all injuries and illnesses can be treated by casting either "Heal" or "Recover".
Goddamn, I want Xillia 2 now. Apparently there are costumes that turn your characters into NPCs. So you can have, like, an army of Driselles, or the entire Chimeriad or whatever. And they keep the original character's movement and everything, so you can have Jiao running around like Elize.
I just hope they don't keep Xillia 2's silent protagonist for an English release. Your character doesn't voice any of his lines.... unless you beat the game. Then you can play it again with proper voice acting! That's such a strange design decision.
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I'm having trouble processing the thought. One of the biggest selling points of Tales games is the character interactions and skits. Is he not even in the skits? I don't want to spend the whole game playing as a hollow, boring shell of a character. It seems like such a waste.
I apologize in advance for the Kotaku link, but Xillia 2 doesn't sound so hot now. And this link. On one hand, the story sounds pretty interesting. The combat sounds like it has some neat improvements, such as enemies with weapon-specific weakness. There are more playable characters this time around, too.
On the other hand, Ludger must be in the party for the whole game, and unlike the first game, you can't switch party members mid-battle. You can't even switch them on the field. Party members can only be switched out in towns.
Having the full party with you at all times is something I liked about Tales games (and JRPGs in general), compared to some of the more popular western RPGs where you can only take two or three party members on a quest at a time. I love my Mass Effects, but the other party members often feel interchangeable or otherwise non-essential to the story. In Tales, everyone feels like they have an active role in the story, whether they're fighting in the battles or not.
In addition, apparently a bunch of content in the game is recycled. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for how incredibly rushed and repetitive Xillia 1's fields and dungeons were in the first place. It sounds like the game is recycling content that wasn't that great to begin with.
My interest in Xillia 2 just plummeted. Hopefully the game isn't as bad as it seems. I've heard nothing but great things about the story and the combat.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I know I could complain about the game in such.
But I know I would still buy it because it is a Tales game.
Like right now I'm seriously considering buying a PS3 just for Xillia and a couple of other games.
meh, Kotaku is Kotaku. I hardly think their opinions are worth a damn for any game that isn't a Western AAA title.
The intention of the silent protagonist is that he's supposed to be 'you'. He is your avatar in the game, which is a break from Tales tradition in that the main character is not you and you're an observer. And yes, that explains why he's overpowered, again he's supposed to be you.
Regardless, Xillia 2 isn't going to be an initial purchase for me. I never quite liked the design of the main character and his sidekick. In any case, I've got far too much to play through and the Atelier series is more than enough to keep me occupied as a regular release title.
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Meh, I don't buy that silent protagionist = you crap.
Most of these games never present a good number of roleplaying options anyway(and really voice has little to do with that most times), and really I don't know but I don't find a blank stare to be a representation of myself. So I would rather just have the character talk and be their own character.
The player doesn't need a silent protagonist to have control in a story. Just look at BioWare games, especially Shepard (Mass Effect) or Hawke (Dragon Age 2). At the very least, the game should let the player choose the appearance/gender of their "avatar character" so they can actually feel ownership over him/her.
It sounds like they're taking a more "squad-based" approach to character/party setup, but only in weird half-measures that sacrifice some strengths of classic Tales games while failing to achieve the strengths of the alternative approach.
Granted I could be way off-base since I haven't played the game, but it doesn't sound good on paper.
On the other hand, Ludger must be in the party for the whole game, and unlike the first game, you can't switch party members mid-battle. You can't even switch them on the field. Party members can only be switched out in towns.
Having the full party with you at all times is something I liked about Tales games (and JRPGs in general), compared to some of the more popular western RPGs where you can only take two or three party members on a quest at a time. I love my Mass Effects, but the other party members often feel interchangeable or otherwise non-essential to the story. In Tales, everyone feels like they have an active role in the story, whether they're fighting in the battles or not.
It's pretty strange. You can only switch in towns, but everyone's still there, whether they're fighting or not.
If I had to guess, its because your party is just Ludger calling his homies up for a favor, because everyone has their own lives and stuff.
But yeah, it is a step back for sure. I wonder if you can even access everyones info at all times or just your active party, because if not, that sounds like a pain.
Posts
Yay, Celsius! The game was hinting at more spirits, so I'm glad it came true. I love seeing the design of the spirits in each games. It looks like this game will take after Symphonia, with four great spirits in one world and four in the other. Vesperia only had the four spirits, which was a (tiny) disappointment.
I love how the shop expansion system works, and also really enjoy being able to see a preview of items available at next upgrade. Makes me salivate in anticipation.
Switch: SW-7603-3284-4227
My ACNH Wishlists | My ACNH Catalog
Or I am
Monica's not getting much practice at it since she's playing Alvin. One day!
Also how do Mystic Artes work in this one, do we have to discover them or are they somewhere on the sphere grid or
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
You need to unlock arcane artes through the lilium orb to use mystic artes. They show up once you unlock the second grid.
Rest of the gang gets top hats and something else.
XBL: GamingFreak5514
PSN: GamingFreak1234
I also had Milla in a hat basically the whole game because her normal hair is so dumb.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I believe so.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Fixed in the 3DS version. Everything has to load like three times as fast.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
The story was great as far as Tales games go. There are a whole lot of twists, shifting alliances, dramatic events and so forth to keep things exciting. The characters were great too, and all of them likeable. Teepo was annoying initially, but I started to like him once I learned his origin.
The combat system was fantastic as well. I loved the linking, each character's special abilities, access to 16 shortcuts, the combination of TP and CP, the overlimit gauge, and just about everything else it did. I feel like such a badass when I can pull off Jude's evasion move consistently.
I do have a couple issues with the game. First, there is a ton of copy-paste in the environments. All of the fields and caves are just reskins of each other, and many of the dungeons feature identical rooms. Every port in the world is the same, right down to the same stack of crates on one side. Everything else in the game feels polished, so it's a shame that the environments are so frequently bland and/or repetitive.
Second, the party size is a bit small at six characters. This game feels like it could use an extra party member or two more that Vesperia did. An Auj Oule party member would've made for an interesting inclusion. I'd even have settled for Ivar, just to have a bit more variety in the conversations.
Third (spoilers):
Other than that, it's a wonderful game and an easy recommendation.
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Holy shit, baby where have you been all my life? I don't want to even link jude to anyone else but her
"...only mights and maybes."
Xillia 2 has three new characters, so a total of nine. But unfortunately, you can only switch party members in a town in that one.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Was one of the reasons the system worked so well.
It made me sad when I found out, too, but then I realized I pretty much just stuck with my main four and only switched in the others when they started to whine about not being used.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
"Oh man they're in the rain this is the perfect setup"
"I bet he kisses her"
"Yeah he's leaning in oh yeah here we go"
"KISS HER"
"KISS HER GOD DAMN YOU"
"KISS HER YOU STUPID IDIOT"
"YOU WASTE OF FLESH"
"WHY DID THEY EVEN CODE YOU TO BE SUCH A GIANT BABY YOU BABY"
"PUCKER UP YOU SMARMY BASTARD"
"YOU KISS THAT GOD INCARNATE RIGHT NOW"
"I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND"
Simultaneous::
"AWWWWWW"
"AWWWWWW"
"Dammit dammit dammit"
"This game sucks"
-me and the wife playing Xilia today
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Is 15?
Sure thing, Blackjack, sure thing. And Elize is 37! And Alvin is a half-elf!
Then again, maybe being a doctor isn't so hard in the Tales world, when all injuries and illnesses can be treated by casting either "Heal" or "Recover".
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
To get our age equivalents you have to take characters' ages and multiply them by 2.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
But yeah, I'm eagerly waiting Tales of Suitsia 2
I'm having trouble processing the thought. One of the biggest selling points of Tales games is the character interactions and skits. Is he not even in the skits? I don't want to spend the whole game playing as a hollow, boring shell of a character. It seems like such a waste.
I apologize in advance for the Kotaku link, but Xillia 2 doesn't sound so hot now. And this link. On one hand, the story sounds pretty interesting. The combat sounds like it has some neat improvements, such as enemies with weapon-specific weakness. There are more playable characters this time around, too.
On the other hand, Ludger must be in the party for the whole game, and unlike the first game, you can't switch party members mid-battle. You can't even switch them on the field. Party members can only be switched out in towns.
Having the full party with you at all times is something I liked about Tales games (and JRPGs in general), compared to some of the more popular western RPGs where you can only take two or three party members on a quest at a time. I love my Mass Effects, but the other party members often feel interchangeable or otherwise non-essential to the story. In Tales, everyone feels like they have an active role in the story, whether they're fighting in the battles or not.
In addition, apparently a bunch of content in the game is recycled. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for how incredibly rushed and repetitive Xillia 1's fields and dungeons were in the first place. It sounds like the game is recycling content that wasn't that great to begin with.
My interest in Xillia 2 just plummeted. Hopefully the game isn't as bad as it seems. I've heard nothing but great things about the story and the combat.
But I know I would still buy it because it is a Tales game.
Like right now I'm seriously considering buying a PS3 just for Xillia and a couple of other games.
The intention of the silent protagonist is that he's supposed to be 'you'. He is your avatar in the game, which is a break from Tales tradition in that the main character is not you and you're an observer. And yes, that explains why he's overpowered, again he's supposed to be you.
Regardless, Xillia 2 isn't going to be an initial purchase for me. I never quite liked the design of the main character and his sidekick. In any case, I've got far too much to play through and the Atelier series is more than enough to keep me occupied as a regular release title.
Most of these games never present a good number of roleplaying options anyway(and really voice has little to do with that most times), and really I don't know but I don't find a blank stare to be a representation of myself. So I would rather just have the character talk and be their own character.
It sounds like they're taking a more "squad-based" approach to character/party setup, but only in weird half-measures that sacrifice some strengths of classic Tales games while failing to achieve the strengths of the alternative approach.
Granted I could be way off-base since I haven't played the game, but it doesn't sound good on paper.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
But yeah, it is a step back for sure. I wonder if you can even access everyones info at all times or just your active party, because if not, that sounds like a pain.
PSN: BrightWing13 FFX|V:ARR Bright Asuna
Enjoying it a million times more than Tales of Graces f.