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Tales of Xillia Review Thread | More JRPGS? Yay!

N

Nags

Banned
Dammit, I think I might like it regardless. Just breaking into the Tales series so I should start with the worst and work my way up to the best... right?
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
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.
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Gaming Bolt: http://gamingbolt.com/tales-of-xillia-review ... guh, there should be a score here, but there isn't? Weird.

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.
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Dark Octave said:
So it's more sci-fi than fantasy?

Horrible characters?
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Lack of content. Towns with the illusion of scale. A levelling system that gives you the illusion of choice. As Aeana mentioned, fields that are basically linear and are mostly empty.

But you can backtrack, though! And the characters, for the most part, are decent.
 
S

SaSliXCII

Banned
RPGCrazied said:
Good scores. A 7 from edge is like a 9 everywhere else. They are harsh on games, specially jRPG's.
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I was about to say the same thing. They gave Max Payne 3 a 7 and i thought that was one of the best games of this generation tbh.

Is this accessible to someone (like me) who's not familiar with the Tales series?
 
C

Celegus

Member
Sounds like a Tales game. Still need to get back to Graces F though. Got it a while back to play with the wife because playing Symphonia together was so much fun, but it didn't have that same spark.
 
kiunchbb

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
It felt so wierd listening to someone I know doing video review. It felt like I asked you "how's ToX?" and you gave me a 5 minutes answer in mumble. You do need better mic =p

The reviews are coming in so nicely, may be I will consider buying it after price drop. I don't have time for a lengthy JRPG nowsaday.
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
Dark Schala said:
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.



These guys, right?

Official Playstation Magazine: 6
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I'm going to enjoy the game regardless, but comparing Ni no Kuni to Xillia and giving it a mediocre score because of it seems stupid. It's like giving the Battlefield series a meh score because it's not like Call of Duty.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
chickdigger802 said:
whats the diff between the US and JP one that lead to 10% points difference?
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It's not really a 10% difference. The scores jump 10% at a time. Time has passed, some differences between the two versions, and such put the game in position where 70% aptly described the game. Scores really don't mean anything compared to what the review is actually saying.
 
L

LuuKyK

Member
Huh, those are some really good scores. Was expecting reviewers to be more harsh towards it for some reason. I am glad it seems to be good. Even with some of the things Schala, Kayos and Aeana mentioned in the Xillia threads I am still excited to play it. To bad it will probably be one more week till I have it. :/
 
R

RalchAC

Member
I quote my own "translation" of Vandal's and 3DJuegos' conclussions about the game. I put them before in Xillia's OT thread.

RalchAC said:
Spanish most important websites have rated it quite well:

Vandal : 8,7

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.
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3D Juegos: 8,2


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.
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They are both sites conclusions about the game. Sorry if I have made some mistakes in the translation. I found it quite difficult.
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And, man, that 6 for PS UK Magazine is awful. Using those standards we should start rating hardly every game with a 6 becuase they aren't as wider as GTA, as emotional as TLOU and didn't have a multiplayer as addictive as COD (putting some examples). A game must be reviewed as what it is.
 
A

A Human Becoming

More than a Member
kayos90 said:
It's not really a 10% difference. The scores jump 10% at a time. Time has passed, some differences between the two versions, and such put the game in position where 70% aptly described the game. Scores really don't mean anything compared to what the review is actually saying.
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The importance of Metacritic says otherwise! :p
TharpDaddy said:
I've never played a Tales game. Should i grab this, or Abyss on 3DS to start out with?
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Vesperia is still my favorite, but Abyss is also good.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
kayos90 said:
It's not really a 10% difference. The scores jump 10% at a time. Time has passed, some differences between the two versions, and such put the game in position where 70% aptly described the game. Scores really don't mean anything compared to what the review is actually saying.
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What are the differences? Just the difference between English and Japanese dubs or are there things missing?
 
C

chickdigger802

Banned
really curious if i will enjoy this more than the others. them 'trimming the fat' off some of the systems actually sounds kinda appealing.
 
S

SaSliXCII

Banned
Dark Schala said:
Seriously. Maaaaan, you know how I feel about Ni no Kuni. :lol


I think so. It's more streamlined than the other Tales games, that's for sure.
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Might have to check it out, though a lack of a world map has put me off somewhat, after experiencing the XIII linearity abomination.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Kintaro said:
What are the differences? Just the difference between English and Japanese dubs or are there things missing?
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Certain characters don't sound so hot, the game has some slowdown problems, etc. The game remains basically the same.
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
RalchAC said:
I quote my own "translation" of Vandal's and 3DJuegos' conclussions about the game. I put them before in Xillia's OT thread.
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Ah, thank you very much for that. My Spanish ain't all that awesome, so I didn't want to attempt, lol.

SaSliXCII said:
Might have to check it out, though a lack of a world map has put me off somewhat, after experiencing the XIII linearity abomination.
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To be fair, Tales games haven't had a proper World Map for a while (ex: ToS2, Graces, Xillia, Xillia 2). It's certainly not as linear as FF13, though, because you can backtrack and do sidecontent throughout the game as opposed to being limited to doing that stuff in the later end of the game like 13.

Jucksalbe said:
Fixed.
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Apt. Well. for me anyway.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Might snag this. Last Tales game was Vesperia, which I loved, and before that Abyss which I also dug.

How grating are the story and characters?
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
RalchAC said:
And, man, that 6 for PS UK Magazine is awful. Using those standards we should start rating hardly every game with a 6 becuase they aren't as wider as GTA, as emotional as TLOU and didn't have a multiplayer as addictive as COD (putting some examples). A game must be reviewed as what it is.
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I agree. I think the consensus is that reviewers shouldn't focus on comparing a game to another that's completely different, even if it is a 'JRPG.' Reason being, everyone has different tastes so the comparison is not relevant.


Personally, I don't get why Ni no Kuni is the new standard of measurement for JRPGs. It's a decent game, but (imo) a bit safe and boring.
 
A

Astra

Member
I was really looking forward to diving into this today, but it didn't arrive in the mail thanks to the holiday yesterday.
 
T

Toki767

Member
MilkBeard said:
I agree. I think the consensus is that reviewers shouldn't focus on comparing a game to another that's completely different, even if it is a 'JRPG.' Reason being, everyone has different tastes so the comparison is not relevant.


Personally, I don't get why Ni no Kuni is the new standard of measurement for JRPGs. It's a decent game, but (imo) a bit safe and boring.
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I liked Ni no Kuni, but it's the very definition of a "bog standard" JRPG.
 
D

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
MilkBeard said:
Personally, I don't get why Ni no Kuni is the new standard of measurement for JRPGs. It's a decent game, but (imo) a bit safe and boring.
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I certainly hope it isn't.

It has charm but charm can only get you so far with half-baked mechanics and repetition.
 
Q

qazqaNii

Member
I played Ni No Kuni, and beat
SHARDAR
after that the game just felt repetitive probably would be better if it just ended there, I could predict the story already.
 
A

Astra

Member
You guys reminded me that I had Ni No Kuni sealed on my shelf for months now. I really ought to get around to playing that. It'll have to wait until after Xillia, and about another dozen games in my backlog.
 
R

RalchAC

Member
Dark Schala said:
Ah, thank you very much for that. My Spanish ain't all that awesome, so I didn't want to attempt, lol.
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My spanish is not the problem (i'm from Spain), lol, but i was not so sure about my english skills. And those websites have some journalists that make some quite complex sentences.

MilkBeard said:
I agree. I think the consensus is that reviewers shouldn't focus on comparing a game to another that's completely different, even if it is a 'JRPG.' Reason being, everyone has different tastes so the comparison is not relevant.


Personally, I don't get why Ni no Kuni is the new standard of measurement for JRPGs. It's a decent game, but (imo) a bit safe and boring.
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I haven't played the game yet (I want to play ToX and buy a Vita for P4G first) but I think a lot of people love them becuase of Ghibli. There are some people that said their films are masterpieces but think you are a weirdo when you talk about other pretty good anime films like 5cm per second.
 
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