Tales of Xillia General [In Stores Now]

[JoeTang]

Tales of Xillia general thread.
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Console: PlayStation 3

Summary:
Tales of Xillia's story features around two main characters, Jude Mathis, and Milla Maxwell. At the start of the game, you are given the option to choose one of the two main characters whose perspective you will follow through the rest of the game.

Jude is a student at a medical school, who accidentally wanders into a secret testing facility involving magic technology.

Milla senses the mass destruction of spirits and goes to investigate, accompanied by the Four Great Spirits.

In all good conscience, I cannot put an English trailer, as they Official ones I've seen spoil too much of the game.

Systems:
World:
For those who played Graces and Hearts, they introduced a large scale world design for areas between towns, eliminating the need to travel with an overmap. These maps however were fixed camera, and were never too large. Xillia takes this to another level, depicting the fields between towns, and the towns themselves with utmost detail. Maps have several small points to explore about them; a large focus is put to searching harvest points, which get marked on your mini-map for future reference, and reward you with some items for leveling your shops or quests. Interaction with things such as climbing, or jumping down small elevation differences, crawling into tunnels for treasure, or rotating your camera to find hidden treasures elaborates on the detail of this world. You can still travel by opening the map with R3 (I think) so you don't waste 30 minutes walking between towns later on.

Lilium Orb:
Xillia features an RPG growth style reminiscent of MMOs. As you level, you gain GP (Growth Points). Similar to skill points, you spend these to improve your character in the Lilium Orb.

Spoiler

Each dot represents a stat again. Connect the dots to unlock the Artes or Skills in the space between. Spending is permanent. You will gain enough GP to learn everything at the max level, 100, but plan ahead if you want certain stats, skills, and artes ASAP. GP gain is not linear. If I recall correctly, the first few levels gives 3, then eventually, 4, 5, and then it goes back down again.

Quests:
Xillia features some more detailed quests that give you a better reason to explore the landscape. While a lot of them are simply fetch or elimination quests, they develop the world quite well if you do more than skip the text. Be careful, as many of them are time sensitive. Keep track of your current quests with the log, where it will notify you if you've completed as much of it as you can for your current story progression.

Shops:
Shop levels are similar to stamps from Tales of Graces. The shops in Xillia all start at level 1. As you purchase items from them, sell items to them, or donate materials to them, they will level up to provide better wares, and better deals. The shops are divided into [Weapon], [Armor], [Accessory], [Tool], and [Food], each with their own levels. Shops will accept materials, which drop from monsters or can be found on harvest points in the field, to level up. Sometimes, an item type will provide a higher bonus, so you can wait until then to spend.

Combat:

Spoiler

For people who have never played a Tales game before:
Tales is a JRPG that features a real-time battle system in encounters. You control your character in a 3D arena to defeat your enemies. Attacking abilities are called "Artes". They have special effects and animations, with significantly more strength than your basic attacks, but cost TP (Technical Points), Tales equivalent to Mana or Magic Points. Chain together basic attacks and artes to quickly take down enemies with style.

For everyone:
Xillia features the TP system, unlike Tales of Graces, but also includes the AC (Assault Count) system similar to Graces' CC (Chain Capacity). In previous Tales games, you were free to attack as long as you had TP left, allowing some degree of spamming; however, in Xillia, all actions except Free Running require 1 AC, meaning you can only attack a certain number of times before stopping for a short period (i.e. enough for an enemy to break out of a combo in the majority of cases).

Dodging is mostly done by either Back Stepping, or Free Running, unlike Graces' Side Step.
There is no restriction for what artes may be used in combat in Xillia. Many Tales games have an order that prevents spamming, usually in the order of Base Arte -> Master Arte -> Arcane Arte. Since Xillia uses AC to prevent spamming, you are free to use artes in whatever order you want, though some artes cannot be used in midair. Also, beware of Stale Moves (spamming the same attack, doing less damage). Most artes are useful throughout the entire game, rather than becoming useless and replaced by higher level ones with this system.

Link System:

Spoiler

The Link System, unique to Xillia and its sequel, features cooperative combat between two characters. One character is designated the Master (player), while the other is designated the Slave (AI, always). The Slave will support the Master in combat, focusing the same target, blocking certain attacks, distracting, using their special ability, or contribute in Link Artes.
Every character has a special ability that can activate while they are the slave character to assist in combat.

The Link Gauge appears on the left side of the screen. It builds up naturally as linked characters attack. It will stop when a bar is filled, and won't progress until it is used for a Link Arte. Artes that can be linked with your current partner will have a green handshake in the menu during combat. You can check a list of combinations in the menu as well. When you use an arte that can be linked, there will be a sigil over your character, where you have to press R2 to activate the Link Arte. When the entire Gauge is filled, the next Link Arte will enable Overlimits, allowing different link artes to be chained together consecutively, and allowing Mystic Artes at the higher levels.

Due to this System, while it is technically possible to play with 4 players, it is optimal to use no more than two. A third player would result in two players without a link character. Two players can coordinate quick switching for the short moment to activate Link Artes and switch back to their preferred characters.

Elements:

Spoiler

Graces introduced a literal pomegranateton of damage types. Xillia goes back to a basic number of six. Each element has an associated status effect. Fire = Burn. Water = Weaken (reduces CC, makes monsters attack less frequently?). Wind = Paralysis. Earth = Slow. Light = Charm. Dark = Poison. Monsters weak to an element are easily susceptible to these status effects along with taking extra damage. Sadly, the "Weak Hits" effect from Graces did not make it back to Xillia (But it's in Xillia 2, HOORAY!), so there is no explicit bonus from using combinations of elements when a monster is only weak to one, merely to mitigate Stale Moves, and continue comboing.

There are also two "combination" elements; Lightning and Ice. Lightning is a combination of Fire and Wind. Ice is a combination of Water and Earth. They are listed as such in the menu, and will have the same properties as those elements, meaning a monster strong/weak to Fire will also be strong/weak to "Lightning" which is Fire + Wind. Lightning also has the chance to inflict Burn and Paralysis. I don't believe there is such a thing as double weakness, though I believe a Weak/Strong combination cancels out.

Artes:

Spoiler

Every character gets (more or less) the same number of Artes. Jude and Milla get a few more for being super special main characters. You can shortcut almost everything though, which really gives a good feeling of not missing out on things. I believe everyone else has 18 artes, and you only have 16 shortcuts.

Similar to past Tales games, Artes have a hidden bonus when you use them enough times. This was prominent in Vesperia, though I don't believe it was explicit in Graces, moreso implicit from the Title system. With this, many artes gain bonus hits, damage, or effects after a certain number of uses. For example, Jude's Demon Fist will travel faster and further after 100 and 200 uses. After 400 uses, the projectile can penetrate targets instead of disappearing when it hits something. Several Artes have this effect, and many may have some that's not quite as noticeable, such as a damage increase. This provides a decent incentive to use a varying number of Artes, including certain Link Artes that gain a bonus from use count.
If anyone can pickup an Official Guide Book if it exists, it may have this information in more detail, but the most noteable effects are listed in the Aselia Wiki.

Along with this, there is a Star Counter system that denotes these use count milestones. These stars don't inherently state that skills will get some sort of a special bonus, but refer to a generic effect that all skills get.

★	100	Critical Hit Rate+ +3%
★★	200	Damage +5%
★★★	400	Link Gauge Rate +20%
★	1000	TP Cost -33%
★★	2000	Damage +15% (Total 20%)
★★★	4000	25% Chance to not cost AC
MASTER	9999	50% Chance to not cost AC

In Xillia 1, I believe I only ever got Milla's Raging Sun to MASTER. I have a couple in Xillia 2 that high though.

Skills:

Spoiler

Unlike Hearts and Graces where Skills are passively learned and permanent, Xillia skills are like those from Vesperia. You have a pool of Skill Points (SP), which exist in the Lilium Orb like stat points, in certain locations. Skills will cost a certain number of SP to equip. Some skills will have the Link icon next to them (Green Handshake), which means that character and their partner will both have that skill active. For example, there are six elements in the game; Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Dark, and there is a corresponding Guard skill which passively reduces the damage taken from these elements. Rather than spend points to have all six equipped, you can have 3, such as Fire, Water, Wind, on one character, and Earth, Light, and Dark on the other. When they are Linked, they will have all six Guards active, saving some SP.

Characters also have Skills that augment their special abilities, such as Jude who has a skill that gives him an Agility bonus after successfully dodging, or one that gives his Restore ability a chance to revive his partner if they get KOed.

Characters:
Summary of everyone's combat style and abilities.

Spoiler

Jude Mathis
Weapon: Bracers
Jude focuses on hand to hand combat, getting up close, and fast. His special ability activates when he succesfully back steps an attack. He will disappear, and reappear behind the enemy, ready to strike. His special ability when he is the slave character is Restore. He will rush to the Master's aid when they are knocked down, healing them some HP. Jude's main stat is Agility.

Milla Maxwell
Weapon: Swords
Milla focuses on magic swordsmanship, unleashing high power elemental artes, spells, and graceful sword skills. Her special ability allows her to change her spells into artes, unleashing their power immediately instead of waiting for an incantation. Her special ability as the slave is Bind. She will lock down stunned enemies, allowing the Master to deal several hits while they are helpless. Milla's main stat is Intelligence.

Alvin
Weapon: Broadswords
Alvin focuses on heavy hits with his gigantic broadsword, and shots from his special revolver. His special ability allows him to charge his revolver with energy, combining it with his greatsword to unleash more powerful versions of his artes. His special ability as the slave is Guard Break. He will automatically strike gruarding enemies, breaking their defenses to allow the Master to attack. Alvin's main stat is Strength.

Elize Lutus
Weapon: Rods
Elize focuses on dark magic, and area healing, with a few artes using her doll Teepo to attack. Her special ability allows her to equip or unequip Teepo like a backpack, which changes her focus between magic and physical. Her special ability as the slave is Teepo Drain, which uses Teepo to occasionally steal TP from enemies for her and the Master. Elize's main stat is Mind.

Rowen J. Ilbert
Weapon: Rapiers
Rowen focuses on magic attacks, using Earth, Water, and their combination Ice. His special ability allows him to add special effects to his spells based on certain inputs requested during casting. His special ability as the slave is Auto-Magic Guard. When he or the master are attacked with magic, he will automatically magic guard, protecting both characters. Rowen's main stat is Dexterity.

Leia Rolando
Weapon: Staves
Leia focuses on staff-based martial arts, and single target healing and support. Her special ability allows her to extend her staff's range for a short period of time, allowing her to attack from a greater range. Her special ability as the slave is Steal, allowing her to steal items from monsters that are knocked down. Leia's main stat is Stamina.

[ShinkuDragon]

main stats seem kinda weird, but nothing too important i guess, really liking the look of that leveling system, although it seems a bit too simplistic (i loved FF13's 6-way crystarium with subdivisions, for example)

i think the fact i like most is the multiplayer, gives my brothers something to do.

[Dark Link]

Hyped for this. My sister and I have always been "Tales of" fans and this will be no exception.
I've read numerous times that this game is basically a [max] 2-player game, instead of 4, due to the Link System.

[Zerard]

It's times like these that I wish I had a PS3... I love the Tales of series (especially Xillia 1 and 2), but I'm unable to play. Oh well; I suppose I can watch playthroughs on youtube.

Will be sure to discuss storyline/gameplay/voice acting/whatever else here all the same!

[JoeTang]

main stats seem kinda weird, but nothing too important i guess, really liking the look of that leveling system, although it seems a bit too simplistic (i loved FF13's 6-way crystarium with subdivisions, for example)

i think the fact i like most is the multiplayer, gives my brothers something to do.

The Main Stat is somewhat arbitrary in my opinion. For example, Jude gets damage from Agility, but Leia and Elize don't get damage from Stamina or Mind. Can't really recall if it's just that everyone gets damage from Agility, but Jude gets a lot comparatively if they do. Elize ends up being practically impervious to magic at the end game though if I recall correctly.
The character's "Main Stat" has a slightly higher stat gain per point in the Lilium Orb. Also, there are skills with two levels that can be equipped to increase your stats, i.e. +5/10% Strength, etc. The character's main stat has a 3rd level with +15% to that stat. So Jude gets Agility 3 = +15% Agility on top of having level 2 of every other stat, whereas Milla would have Intelligence 3 = +15% Intelligence.

I felt the leveling system was really close to being too complex, i.e. you spend too much time sitting in the menu plotting your next level instead of actually leveling. I think it's pretty difficult to accurately get that feeling where you can say "I didn't make a wrong choice" with your stat assignments.

http://aselia.wikia.com/wiki/ToX_-_J...s:_Liliale_Orb

I've already mapped out all the orbs for every character, though the English names obviously aren't there yet.

Hyped for this. My sister and I have always been "Tales of" fans and this will be no exception.
I've read numerous times that this game is basically a [max] 2-player game, instead of 4, due to the Link System.

It's very much two player unless you want to do some sort of hardcore mode where you don't get Link Artes and Overlimits, which is a significant portion of the fun in battles.

It's times like these that I wish I had a PS3... I love the Tales of series (especially Xillia 1 and 2), but I'm unable to play. Oh well; I suppose I can watch playthroughs on youtube.

Will be sure to discuss storyline/gameplay/voice acting/whatever else here all the same!

Elize sounds too boyish. Rowen sounds too young. Alvin sounds pretty good though. I don't think I've heard Leia yet. Jude and Milla are meh. For example, when Milla Binds a monster in those demonstration videos, her voice is pretty cringeworthy, especially if you hear it twice in a row. Doesn't flow right at all.


I'll add some more info about Skills and Artes into the OP before I go to sleep.

[Remoir]

Hyped for this after i got graces and did 3 playthroughs lol *-*

We can still choose what character to control in battle regardless of the story right? I did a full Cheria run and then a Pascal one in Graces because i loved their playstyle.

[JoeTang]

Hyped for this after i got graces and did 3 playthroughs lol *-*

We can still choose what character to control in battle regardless of the story right? I did a full Cheria run and then a Pascal one in Graces because i loved their playstyle.

Yes, any character is playable during battle. You can use L1 + D-pad to switch, in the direction of their HP bar at the bottom if I remember correctly. D-pad normally lets you choose who to link with. If you hit R3 (I think?), you can even have someone who isn't currently in battle tag in with someone who already is, switching on the fly (provided they aren't KOed).

That being said, the non-main characters are not as playable as Graces's non-mains if you know what I mean. Jude and Milla's ease of control is on a different level comparatively, particularly because they're just fast characters. Xillia 2 on the other hand fixes all of the problems so damn well, but at the same time, Ludger is the most overpowered main character in any Tales game by far.

[Hanabira.Kage]

I've beaten the game like twice...though I don't think I've fully cleared the post-game dungeon yet. Stupid bosses are tough.

I still prefer Graces F's fast-paced battle system though.

[Scaeva]

Super hyped for this, just like with Graces last year. I still need to do a few post game things on Graces (current playtime is 150ish hours, haven't even gotten around to a NG+), which would have been done already if not for the Steam sale.

I'm probably going to rush trough a Jude playthrough first, and then take my sweet time doing everything on my Milla playthrough. The battle themes on Milla's side are so much better, and since I tend to play as the main character during the story (except for Lineages and Legacies in Graces, that was all the Richard goodness) I'm saving the best for last, because magic knight characters in Tales are awesome.

[Polantaris]

I should have beaten Graces f...I don't know why I stopped playing.

Anyway, out of curiosity, is there a way to turn off the faces on the top left during battle? It seems kind of intrusive and annoying.

[ShinkuDragon]

The Main Stat is somewhat arbitrary in my opinion. For example, Jude gets damage from Agility, but Leia and Elize don't get damage from Stamina or Mind. Can't really recall if it's just that everyone gets damage from Agility, but Jude gets a lot comparatively if they do. Elize ends up being practically impervious to magic at the end game though if I recall correctly.
The character's "Main Stat" has a slightly higher stat gain per point in the Lilium Orb. Also, there are skills with two levels that can be equipped to increase your stats, i.e. +5/10% Strength, etc. The character's main stat has a 3rd level with +15% to that stat. So Jude gets Agility 3 = +15% Agility on top of having level 2 of every other stat, whereas Milla would have Intelligence 3 = +15% Intelligence.

I felt the leveling system was really close to being too complex, i.e. you spend too much time sitting in the menu plotting your next level instead of actually leveling. I think it's pretty difficult to accurately get that feeling where you can say "I didn't make a wrong choice" with your stat assignments.

oh, i was thinking maplestory here for a moment, so it's more of a "this character is good for upgrading his mind, even though the damage formula uses these other things"

that is indeed much better, go damage? or go whatever bonuses your mainstat gives? balance yourself out.

[Flonne]

I've heard Xillia 2 is better, but I preordered this because Tales games are usually good. Then again, I liked Legendia, so this could probably be terrible and I would still like it.

[Remoir]

Yes, any character is playable during battle. You can use L1 + D-pad to switch, in the direction of their HP bar at the bottom if I remember correctly. D-pad normally lets you choose who to link with. If you hit R3 (I think?), you can even have someone who isn't currently in battle tag in with someone who already is, switching on the fly (provided they aren't KOed).

That being said, the non-main characters are not as playable as Graces's non-mains if you know what I mean. Jude and Milla's ease of control is on a different level comparatively, particularly because they're just fast characters. Xillia 2 on the other hand fixes all of the problems so damn well, but at the same time, Ludger is the most overpowered main character in any Tales game by far.

Aw Boo :( i was hoping to do a Leia run or something without considerable difficulty.

[shouri]

Xillia 2 on the other hand fixes all of the problems so damn well, but at the same time, Ludger is the most overpowered main character in any Tales game by far.

Wait, really? Even with vesperia's broken OL spams? Ludger is still more OP by far? Just how op is he to be OP by far? 0.o

[JoeTang]

I'm probably going to rush trough a Jude playthrough first, and then take my sweet time doing everything on my Milla playthrough. The battle themes on Milla's side are so much better, and since I tend to play as the main character during the story (except for Lineages and Legacies in Graces, that was all the Richard goodness) I'm saving the best for last, because magic knight characters in Tales are awesome.

I think there's three or four exclusive side quests for each main character. Otherwise, the overall story is identical, only the perspective you see it from is different. The final dungeon is not as extensive as Graces, though the boss is harder than Solomus, especially since the level cap is 100.

Anyway, out of curiosity, is there a way to turn off the faces on the top left during battle? It seems kind of intrusive and annoying.

I don't think you can.

I've heard Xillia 2 is better, but I preordered this because Tales games are usually good. Then again, I liked Legendia, so this could probably be terrible and I would still like it.

Xillia 2 is a lot better, especially if you know what they've changed from Xillia 1. The only things I found worse were the shops, and the treasure chests. I don't think I would have liked it nearly as much if I hadn't played 1 and known what the story and background is for the characters and setting. Would have been confusing as pineapple, despite the initial interviews saying it could be a standalone game.

Aw Boo :( i was hoping to do a Leia run or something without considerable difficulty.

Part of the problem is every character in Graces was so fast because of the CC system. Alvin is particularly slow because of his Charge, and his sword is gigantic. He otherwise has a high amount of variety in attacks, especially since Charge alters his artes. Elize and Rowen use magic primarily, though Elize has some good physical artes. Rowen not so much in my opinion. Spell casting is different from Graces. You can't cut the cast time down with attacks, but that exists in Xillia 2. Elize and Rowen can be strong (broken) if you play them but it's boring spamming spells in my opinion. Leia is pretty fast, and I played her a lot, but I always found she had difficulty maintaining certain combos because she lacked a reliable air to ground arte with too many ground to air artes. She's amazing in Xillia 2 though.

Wait, really? Even with vesperia's broken OL spams? Ludger is still more OP by far? Just how op is he to be OP by far? 0.o

Spoiler

Even if you don't abuse certain game mechanics, Ludger is the most flexible main character. He can do anything and everything short of casting a spell. If you do abuse them it's just downright dirty.

Part of why Vesperia's OL was broken was you could spam spells, like infinite Tidal Wave, and you could ignore the Base Arte -> Master Arte -> Altered Arte -> Arcane Arte order, or whereever Altered fell under. There is no such order in Xillia 1 or 2, so you can continually attack until you run out of AC, which is around 10 or 11 at high levels I think. Doing combos can restore AC. At 9999 uses, there's a 50% chance to not use AC. So eventually, you could infinite combo something if they don't suddenly super armor. IMO the broken spell spams in Xillia 1 and 2 are better than Rita's OL Tidal Wave too.

Corpse Shell Mode is stupid strong. You can use it to break enemy Overlimits, and it does a lot of damage. You can infinite combo single enemies with it (technically it's not infinite because Corpse Shell runs out, but the combo itself can't be broken out of unless there's other enemies there to stop you).

Ludger's Link Artes with every character provide a ridiculous amount of flexibility. With his maxed Azure Edge, he can charge a Link Gauge bar in one or two hits, and Azure Edge is faaaaaaaast.
His own artes themselves have an insane amount of flexibility as well. His Twin Blades are stupid fast, with 舞斑雪 (Maihadare) being able to dodge a lot of attacks by cutting through an enemy to go behind them while doing damage and interrupting (think Assaulter). 重裂破 (Juureppa) can break guards really easily and does a ton of damage. 朧鼬 (Oboroitachi), his Arcane Arte chases down enemies and charms easily, while dodging because it teleports him.
For his Hammer artes, in particular ファンガ・プレセ (Fange Pressé) can guard break and knock down almost anything that isn't strong to Light. Get to a boss you can't quite handle? Spam this and they're on their back the whole time as you pineapple them. That doesn't work? His arcane arte ファンドル・グランデ (Fundle Grande) ranges most of the map in front of him and can petrify.
And his Twin Guns round him out with more range, making him able to attack from a huge distance away, particularly トライスパロー (Tri Sparrow) which seeks enemies and guard breaks, and エイミングヒート (Aiming Heat) which can range anything from anywhere.
He can also deal every damage type, which is important because of the "Weak Hits" type system inherited from Graces, where if you hit a monster's weak point, you can use a different element to increase the damage multiplier. The only other character that can do this is Alvin, IIRC. Everyone else is missing one damage type or element.

[Zerard]

Elize sounds too boyish. Rowen sounds too young. Alvin sounds pretty good though. I don't think I've heard Leia yet. Jude and Milla are meh. For example, when Milla Binds a monster in those demonstration videos, her voice is pretty cringeworthy, especially if you hear it twice in a row. Doesn't flow right at all.

I'm pretty alright with Elize myself. Rowen could stand to sound a little older, and Alvin no doubt is the strongest link of the cast. I personally like Jude; I think Sam Riegel was a pretty decent choice for him! But Milla on the other hand... in my opinion, horrendous. In one of the previews for Xillia, they showed the combat system. Since Milla got the last kill, just preformed her victory quote:

'This is the power of Maxwell.'

... Ugh. Just calmly, with no expression, 'This is the power of Maxwell'. It was almost as if the voice actor was bored. Now... if it were something like:

'This is the power of Maxwell!'

I would be more than satisfied. But oh well. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

[JoeTang]

I'm pretty alright with Elize myself. Rowen could stand to sound a little older, and Alvin no doubt is the strongest link of the cast. I personally like Jude; I think Sam Riegel was a pretty decent choice for him! But Milla on the other hand... in my opinion, horrendous. In one of the previews for Xillia, they showed the combat system. Since Milla got the last kill, just preformed her victory quote:

'This is the power of Maxwell.'

... Ugh. Just calmly, with no expression, 'This is the power of Maxwell'. It was almost as if the voice actor was bored. Now... if it were something like:

'This is the power of Maxwell!'

I would be more than satisfied. But oh well. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

Elize sounds a bit masculine, and not young enough for me.

Here's some victory quotes. There's some spoilers if you listen to them all though.
Milla's same line in Japanese
http://youtu.be/-kb6Ni_Ew5Y?t=1m8s
all dat emotion

Elize's Japanese voice
http://youtu.be/-kb6Ni_Ew5Y?t=3m41s
all dat loli


Leia combat showcase. Voice seems pretty good from this, though it seemed like a lot of her artes weren't voiced yet. Showed her combat style really well though.

http://youtu.be/-kb6Ni_Ew5Y?t=6m59s
and I think this is the same quote, apparently
>localization

[Flonne]

Does it have dual audio, or is it typical Tales single audio?

[Lozmaster]

Does it have dual audio, or is it typical Tales single audio?

Xillia is single audio. I think the Symphonia remake is going to be dual audio, but I'm not sure I can go back to the simplified gameplay of symphonia after playing graces.

[Flonne]

Xillia is single audio. I think the Symphonia remake is going to be dual audio, but I'm not sure I can go back to the simplified gameplay of symphonia after playing graces.

I'll never understand why they use single audio when the other is already made and the media the game is on is more than big enough to hold 20 audio tracks.