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[kayos90]

Below is a compilation of reviews from various publications, including my own for Tales of Xillia. You don't see a review listed below? PM me. I'll put them in.

EDGE: 7.0 (Print)

IGN: 8.0

The Tales series has a long history, and some games in particular – think Phantasia, Destiny, or Symphonia – hold a special place in my heart. Xillia isn’t better than any of those entries in my estimation, but it certainly is a worthy addition to the storied Tales franchise. Indeed, it’s no surprise that its sequel was so quickly green-lit and released in Japan (with a western localization coming in 2014).

Xillia’s ability to nurture Tales’ traditions while adding its own flavor to the mix is perhaps its greatest strength, and while it suffers from occasionally corny moments and a subpar graphical look, its weaknesses are overwhelmed by its complex systems, fun combat, interesting stories, and a compelling party of characters, not to mention its dueling protagonists.

Tales of Xillia is a must-play for Tales fans and JRPG freaks alike.

RPG Site: 70/100 (This is mine btw. Video review also inside.)

Tales of Xillia is a well-crafted game that executes many of its ideas extremely well. The narrative is engaging and draws the player in for an experience that is both familiar and old to newcomers and veterans alike. However, there is an alienation that occurs due to how long it’s been since its original release. While it’s not a case of a simple “a little too late” it’s not timely either. Still, what Xillia offers should not be missed amongst JRPG fans and gamers yearning for a fun and addictive combat system.

Joystiq: 4.5/5

Though it hews closely to the traditional ratio of exploration and critter killing, Tales of Xillia has more than enough unusual and refreshing elements to keep pushing you forward. The story spins out new tendrils of information at just the right speed, so as soon as you think you know what's going on, you discover that there's more to the tale. The characters are people whose company you enjoy, rather than simply endure, and the fast-paced combat keeps you mentally engaged at all times. Tales of Xillia never forgets its mission, but it doesn't neglect to enjoy the journey either.

GameInformer: 8.25

Last year, Tales of Graces f rekindled my love of the series, but it left room for improvement. Xillia entered the realm looking to surpass it, and did. It isn’t a panacea, but it tells a more engaging tale, weaving in more meaningful characters. It doesn’t just improve its writing; Xillia also has an enhanced battle system where all the parts work together well. It may not have the ­production values of Final Fantasy, but Xillia makes up for it in charm and gusto.

The Sixth Axis: 10/10

Tales Of Xillia is a brilliant title, and could just be the breakout game that really establishes the series in Western markets. There’s a great story here, with likable characters and voice acting that makes the characters feel real. The streamlined leveling, equipment choices and skill tree make Xillia one of the best RPGs I’ve played. In fact Tales Of Xillia may just be what the JRPG genre needed.

Push Start: 9/10

If you are a fan of RPGs or JRPGs, this is a game you need in your collection. The reply value is there and for me, it is one of the best games I have experienced this year and I am very honoured I was given the chance to review it. There are some Tales of games that I didnt warm to, but Tales of Xillia joins Tales of Symphonia for the Dreamcast in my top 10 RPGs. August 9th cannot come fast enough for me.

Electronic Theatre: 87%

Tales of Xillia combines existing RPG staples with fresh ideas in a manner that has become synonymous with the franchise. It’s elegant in its delivery and deep in both its combat and its lore, resulting in a hugely compelling adventure. Tales of Xillia isn’t about to convince fans of Bethesda Softworks’ The Elder Scrolls series that a more leisurely pace is warranted, but for the millions of gamers who still warm to the appeal of investing tens of hours in a Japanese fantasy experience there are very few titles that look set to better Tales of Xillia on the horizon.

Vandal: 8.7/10

Tales of Xillia is a good example of how to make a enjoyable and relevant japanese role play game in this time and age. Gameplay wise this Tales of is modern, despite it doesn't abandone the formula they have used in almost every game in the saga. It's sad that everything except the combat system could have been better, but Hideo Baba has recognized that the game's development time frame was to short and they need to cut somethings: every port looks the same in every city, more monster designs would have been nice, the game seems rushed in some parts -the ending doesn't explain to well every character future- and the secondary content is only for who wants to completely explore the game. They are mixed-feelings that remains when you finish a notable game in its core that would be a nice gift for Tales of fans, without being the best game in the saga.

But, on the other hand, most of their mistakes are forgettable -and happened becuase of the lack of money, not a lack of ideas- or stay in the dark due to the game's virtues. On the plus side, there is a very charismatic couple of main characters that multiplies the time the story (which is more and more interesting as you play) lasts, an art direction that is great in nearly every place we travel and one of the most fun and fluent combat systems we can play nowadays, which can be learned easily by old and new fans. Furthermore, it is the best way to enter in the world of Tales of Xillia 2, game that seems to be one of the top rated games in the saga. But it is something that we would review next year.

Now Gamer: 7.5/10

It's a shame that Tales Of Xillia doesn't quite pull off its more ambitious ideas with the perfect execution they need because when it comes to the content, the battle system and the personality, there's little here at fault.

3DJuegos: 8.2/10

Namco Bandai and Team Tales Studio have made another nice JRPG, and, despite the time that has passed between it's Japanese and Western release, it is a high quality game. Battle system is what we have liked the most, battles are enjoyable and dinamyc, something vital in its development. Furthermore, the characters are good, the localization (in Spanish) it's correct and technically is nice but doesn't shine (neither sound, not graphics...). A great JRPG.

God is a Geek: 6

This year we have been blessed with the exceptional Ni No Kuni, which married resolutely old-school adventuring with a plot and aesthetic style that made it perhaps the ultimate homage to the games we grew up adoring. Tales of Xillia doesn’t come close to its aforementioned forebears. It is the quintessential “bog standard” JRPG, a sad showing considering it’s part of a recognised and long-running franchise that has certainly hit some impressive highs in the past. It manages to make a killer combat engine redundant and boring, and comes across as a lazy, poorly-engineered mess in all other areas. With a cliché-laden story and drab characters, the personal and emotional investment remains low. Namco have a fighting engine here that deserves a better game.

Eurogamer Italy: 8/10

Eurogamer Sweden: 9/10

EGM: 7.5

Tales of Xillia feels like the Final Fantasy X of Namco Bandai’s venerable Tales RPG series. It’s an enjoyable experience, but it also discards several tried-and-true franchise conventions—such as a traversable overworld map—in favor of a smaller, more focused adventure. The ability to link characters in battle adds a huge new element to combat, though, and the cast of characters might well be the strongest the series has ever seen. While Tales devotees may fret over some changes here, they’ll definitely enjoy the overall package.

Metro UK: 7/10

In Short: Proof that Japanese role-players can evolve without having to losing their own unique identity, although Xillia stops just short of being a full-on revolution.

Pros: One of the best battle systems ever in a Japanese role-player and one of the best customisation systems of any game. Likeable leads and a mountain of content and side quests.

Cons: The plot and script is unremarkable and still too reliant on cliché. Weak to mediocre voice acting. So-so visuals show little evolution over the last game.

Push Square: 8/10

Energetic combat and awe-inspiring settings make Tales of Xillia a highly enjoyable title. It may not be the best in the series, but there's still plenty of fun to be had – twice if you dare to play through the campaign as both Jude and Milla. This is a must-buy for Tales fans, a good entry point for newcomers, and an all-around excellent JRPG.

New York Daily News: 3/5

Xillia is certainly fun, but it's nowhere near as captivating as Tales of Vesperia was five years ago.
Then again, that was a different JRPG era.

Official Playstation Magazine: 6

While Japanese role-players may not be currently flourishing on PlayStation, there’s a fine back catalogue and we’d only recommend Xillia if you’ve run through that and are hungry for more. Ni No Kuni has more charm, Resonance Of Fate’s combat is richer, and Persona tells a far better story. And even then, if you’re intrigued by the Tales series then Vesperia is a better starting point. Fast, fun combat let down by a so-so story and lifeless environments. We’ve seen worse – and weirder – JRPGs, but also a whole lot better.

Gaming Bolt: http://gamingbolt.com/tales-of-xillia-review (No score)

There are plenty of changes that help Xillia stand out above most contemporary RPGs (other games in the Tales series included). You can consider it essential gaming if you’re a series fan or a dedicated RPG player in general, as the story and gameplay are top notch. I’m not entirely convinced it deserves the crown of “best Tales game” that so many fans have attributed to it, but that’s an argument I’ll leave for the forums. This is a great addition to your collection, and a fantastic title to finally have on our shores. Stop messing around and go pick it up.

GameZone: 8.5/10

Tales of Xillia marks an incredible return for the Tales series. The stellar combat, fun exploration, character and shop upgrading as well as a myriad of side quests to take part in all culminate in one amazing experience that I more than recommend checking out twice -- once as each character. While it's a shame it took this long to get the game over here, better late than never, right?

 

[Dark Schala]

EDGE gave it a 7.0, but there is no online review as of yet, but source, nonetheless.

Would be helpful to quote the concluding paragraphs of the reviews or something.

 

[Black Republican]

EDGE gave it a 7.0, but there is no online review as of yet.

for a JRPG thats pretty damn good coming from Edge

 

[sixteen-bit]

for a JRPG thats pretty damn good coming from Edge

7 should be a good score in general if you're using all 10 points on the scale, lol

 

[AwRy108]

Joystiq gave it 4.5 stars out of 5: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/06/tales-of-xillia-review/

 

[chickdigger802]

What did famitsu give?

 

[Majmun]

7 should be a good score in general if you're using all 10 points on the scale, lol

Not in the game industry

 

[Dark Schala]

What did famitsu give?

39/40. Big surprise there, but you know how Famitsu grades. On prestige and spectacle.

Haha, kayos, you gave it the score I would've. Good for you.

 

[FSLink]

What did famitsu give?

10 / 9 / 10 / 10

But lol Famitsu

 

[chickdigger802]

Didn't Kayos give a higher score with his import review?

 

[kayos90]

Seems like mine is the lowest of the ones out there alogn with Edge. ROFL.

 

[Coxy]

Sent kayos a bunch of links but to save spamming him I'll post others I see here

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/tales_of_xillia/b/ps3/archive/2013/08/06/coming-back-stronger.aspx 8.25

general complaints among the reviews seem to be: want to play as milla first but know it spoils the story a bit, shop system sucks, graphics

 

[Dark Schala]

general complaints among the reviews seem to be: want to play as milla first but know it spoils the story a bit, shop system sucks, graphics

Aeana redeemed.

 

[Chronoexe]

RPG Site: 70/100 (This is mine btw)

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 7 I have to read this.

Which JRPG is your favorite of this generation?

 

[daffy]

seems to be a good title, will buy after price drop

 

[Aeana]

RPG Site: Jude/100 (This is mine btw. Video review also inside.)

Fixed.

 

[kayos90]

Fixed.

I STILL fucking hated that part. Just saying. Sam Regal made it a tad better though. Alvin and Gaius still the best yo.

 

[Canis lupus]

Kayos the link to your review doesn't work.

 

[Aeana]

Kayos the link to your review doesn't work.

Works for me.

 

[Dark Schala]

Making me do your dirty work for you. Also, one of the links is from a banned site and I have no idea who it is from!

The Sixth Axis: 10/10
Push Start: 9/10
Electronic Theatre: 87%
Vandal: 8.7/10
Now Gamer: 7.5/10

As I said, it would probably be helpful to post closing paragraphs for certain sites' reviews.

EDIT: Throwing in 3DJuegos, too.
3DJuegos: 8.2/10

 

[Isaccard]

Dat shameless plug

 

[foobarry81]

Push Square: 8/10

Energetic combat and awe-inspiring settings make Tales of Xillia a highly enjoyable title, and while it's not the best in the series, there's plenty of fun to be had – twice if you dare to play through again as Jude and Milla. This is a must-buy for Tales fans, a good entry point for newcomers, and an all-around enjoyable JRPG.

 

[Dark Schala]

Metro UK: 7/10

What’s particularly interesting about Xillia though is that as well as taking obvious note of its Western rivals there are also obvious influences from Final Fantasy XIII, except Xillia pulls them off much better. There is no world map, for example, but rather than using that as an excuse to create better looking but less interactive environments Xillia looks and feels like an evolution of older games – one that takes full advantage of modern technology and techniques, with large game worlds full of secrets.

In Short: Proof that Japanese role-players can evolve without having to losing their own unique identity, although Xillia stops just short of being a full-on revolution.

Pros: One of the best battle systems ever in a Japanese role-player and one of the best customisation systems of any game. Likeable leads and a mountain of content and side quests.

Cons: The plot and script is unremarkable and still too reliant on cliché. Weak to mediocre voice acting. So-so visuals show little evolution over the last game.

 

[Coxy]

Making me do your dirty work for you. Also, one of the links is from a banned site and I have no idea who it is from!

ah that's my bad, I forgot PSLS was banned

Playstation official magazine gave it a 6

 

[Dark Schala]

New York Daily News: 3/5

LOVED IT: Beautiful visuals and art style, excellent nuanced battle system, likable key characters

HATED IT: Shaky tutorials, little additional content, limited reason to truly explore, DLC costumes? Really?

GRAB IT IF: You're a diehard fan of Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia

Then again, that's the entire issue with Tales of Xillia throughout. It's as if Namco wasn't truly confident about challenging gamers this time around, so it opted to keep things simple and straight-line. In doing so, it limited this game just slightly, preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Xillia is certainly fun, but it's nowhere near as captivating as Tales of Vesperia was five years ago.

Then again, that was a different JRPG era.

 

[Fodder76]

As long as the characters aren't as annoying as they were in Graces F, I'm all in. And all indications are that they are not.

 

[Cheddahz]

It sounds like this game is the FFXIII of Tale games

 

[Aeana]

It sounds like this game is the FFXIII of Tale games

That's not a poor way to describe it. At least when compared to other games in its own series.

 

[Cheddahz]

That's not a poor way to describe it.

It seems like it's really linear compared to Vesperia and according to reviews, they have taken additional content out and there's no reason to explore and such

 

[Dark Schala]

It sounds like this game is the FFXIII of Tale games

...That was the running joke that importers had a few years ago because the comparison, at least within the series, is apt.

Edit: Dangit, Aeana.

 

[Dolphin_Butter]

These reviews sound like pretty much like what I expected.

 

[chickdigger802]

It sounds like this game is the FFXIII of Tale games

Milla has bigger boobs.

For now.

 

[Cheddahz]

Milla has bigger boobs.

For now.

Will she also appear in every Tales game from here on out?

 

[Owzers]

Is the battle system the same as Vesperia's? I couldn't get into that game, i didn't like the linear movement with a free run button, it felt clumsy, and my ai characters kept dying unless i made them only have a heal spell available to use and nothing else.

 

[zroid]

reviews are surprisingly good for a game of its type

 

[Rapscallion]

I'll probably give it a go when it's relatively cheap. Looks like it's about on caliber with Graces F, which I found some decent enjoyment in.

There's already a sequel for this game, right? Is it connected, not connected?

 

[Dolphin_Butter]

Will she also appear in every Tales game from here on out?

I wouldn't mind.

 

[aravuus]

That's not a poor way to describe it. At least when compared to other games in its own series.

Is Xillia really that linear? I don't usually mind linearity, KH2 for example was perfectly fine after KH1 but FF XIII was just way too linear.

Still, good scores, happy I pre-downloaded the game

 

[Coxy]

Is Xillia really that linear? I don't usually mind linearity, KH2 for example was perfectly fine after KH1 but FF XIII was just way too linear.

Still, good scores, happy I pre-downloaded the game

it's not FF13 linear if that's what you mean, just comparitively to other tales games its slimmed down

 

[Isaccard]

Milla has bigger boobs.

For now.

If her chest size increases it will definitely be for storyline/plot purposes.

 

[Gillian Seed]

Is the battle system the same as Vesperia's? I couldn't get into that game, i didn't like the linear movement with a free run button, it felt clumsy, and my ai characters kept dying unless i made them only have a heal spell available to use and nothing else.

I am losing it. I swear Vesperia allowed you to move anywhere. That was one of my favorite games this Gen, but maybe I am forgetting this. Lol

 

[Aeana]

Is Xillia really that linear? I don't usually mind linearity, KH2 for example was perfectly fine after KH1 but FF XIII was just way too linear.

Still, good scores, happy I pre-downloaded the game

It's pretty linear. It just so happens that the fields you go through are really wide corridors rather than thin ones. They're still about as featureless, though.

Is the battle system the same as Vesperia's? I couldn't get into that game, i didn't like the linear movement with a free run button, it felt clumsy, and my ai characters kept dying unless i made them only have a heal spell available to use and nothing else.

The linear battle system is a staple of Tales.

 

[Conciliator]

How dumb is the story/characters in this game? I know a lot of you guys have played it on import or whatever. For reference I played Tales of Vesperia and liked the main dude and snarky wizard chick but not so much the other characters.

 

[kayos90]

Wow. Seeing these high scores make me sort of glad that people liked the game. I on the other hand will be one of the very few who gave it a lower score in comparison. rofl.

 

[Dark Schala]

Eurogamer Italy: 8/10
Eurogamer Sweden: 9/10

EGM: 7.5

Tales of Xillia feels like the Final Fantasy X of Namco Bandai’s venerable Tales RPG series. It’s an enjoyable experience, but it also discards several tried-and-true franchise conventions—such as a traversable overworld map—in favor of a smaller, more focused adventure. The ability to link characters in battle adds a huge new element to combat, though, and the cast of characters might well be the strongest the series has ever seen. While Tales devotees may fret over some changes here, they’ll definitely enjoy the overall package.

The Good Probably the most mature, respectable, relatable Tales cast in history; new Link system adds to combat complexities in a good way.

The Bad Arbitrarily locks off travel options for chunks of the game; pacing falls apart in the latter half.

The Ugly A talking puppet yapping about…”bazongas.” Yikes.

 

[A Human Becoming]

However, there is an alienation that occurs due to how long it’s been since its original release. While it’s not a case of a simple “a little too late” it’s not timely either.

To put this in the final paragraph of your review kayos90 seems odd. Typically the end summarizes the review, not take a jab at the late localization. Insightful review otherwise.

 

[Nags]

Is Tales of Graces F any better?

 

[Dark Schala]

Is Tales of Graces F any better?

Depends on what you want from a Tales game. I honestly think people will like Xillia more because of its narrative and characters. I personally prefer Graces f, myself.

Playstation official magazine gave it a 6

These guys, right?

Official Playstation Magazine: 6

While Japanese role-players may not be currently flourishing on PlayStation, there’s a fine back catalogue and we’d only recommend Xillia if you’ve run through that and are hungry for more. Ni No Kuni has more charm, Resonance Of Fate’s combat is richer, and Persona tells a far better story. And even then, if you’re intrigued by the Tales series then Vesperia is a better starting point. Fast, fun combat let down by a so-so story and lifeless environments. We’ve seen worse – and weirder – JRPGs, but also a whole lot better.

 

[darkwing]

Is Tales of Graces F any better?

no

 

[RPGCrazied]

Good scores. A 7 from edge is like a 9 everywhere else. They are harsh on games, specially jRPG's.