- The combat system has undergone many changes, but is still recognizable anyway. It is more dynamic than in Vesperia and more elaborate than in Graces F. fans who did not like the combat system of Graces F particularly, could come back here at their expense.
This time you can join forces with a character - with whom, which is optional and can be changed as often - together you can use more powerful combo attacks and use useful skills. We remember the skills system of Vesperia? Something like it is here: Levelt you on, you can on the Liliumkristall (strongly reminiscent of the Crystarium of FFXIII) Insert points and thereby unlock new abilities and Artes. In skills menu you can then equip the skills - is very useful here is that there are skills that work in the bound state (For example, if Alvin mitblockt as the connection partner for us and so save us a thing or two times)
Mythical Artes there is here again
- Big plus is also the story. The is far bleaker than in Graces F and also not nearly as cheesy. The plot has many twists. At the same time I must here point out that for some players the story could be a weak point, because the game is really very heavy story - since chasing a video sequence to the next and sometimes you get the feeling that you look at a movie.
- Second big plus for me was the characters. This show really last much depth - everyone has mitzutragen his package and different than usual are not only the two main protagonists Milla and Jew at the center, the other characters are very well worked out. In the valley-of-popularity surveys in Japan, many characters from Xillia found the way back, such as a Jew, Elize and Gaius.
I found particularly interesting is that the antagonists were no absolute common adversary in this game, which represent the absolute evil (I always find boring if it runs so), but characters that either a different path or follow a different opinion ( as Gaius example) or, for example, simply are desperate. In English there is the beautiful expression 'twisted character', which means as much as 'twisted character' and it pretty much sums it up, what about some of the characters in Xillia. It is judged in the story little what or who is wrong and right now in the right and who is wrong.
Not all the characters are likable and that's so special about it. There are characters with whom you will not really warm, but that should be no popular figure. There are those who dare not be on the way - you know full well that they are a drop in the back ... the only question is: When?
Normally I'm not a fan of kids in the troop, but Elize with its tragic past and the funny stuffed animal similar Teepo which can never shut up, quickly became one of my favorites.
Jew as a hero is a different way than usual - although he is also equipped with the classic JRPG hero helper syndrome, but he is also very smart and well-read, sometimes insecure and doubtful of himself. This makes it so easy credible.
- The animated video sequences are great, as might be expected. At the beginning of the game, there are only a few animated sequences from the 2nd half but they are more.
Weaker, however, are the other sequences, the characters act here simply quite woody - similar to Grace F. The game, however, but already 2 years old, what could be an explanation. But for which there is no excuse are the barren landscapes, the simple almost always look the same! When you come to a new area, you find yourself immediately familiar - unfortunately it is all very very similar. The have both Vesperia and Graces F better solved.
- Passive are also the expandability of shops. With donations of material that can be found to satisfy the roaming the countryside, you can expand stores and unlock new weapons and items.
- Side quests there are very many. Many of them are also quests that provide us with additional information about the characters and also tell us why they act the way they do it. Otherwise, there is the classic mob quests (monsters besiege the lake!), Item Quest (bring me the So-and-so-herb), but also much more elaborate quests that can be a part in the fate of each person.
Conclusion:
The Tales series is really a small JRPG-spot of this console generation, with a strong story, good gameplay and interesting characters. This makes the anticipation for "Tales of Xillia 2" and "Tales of Symphonia Chronicles" even bigger.