Tales of xillia 2 steam6/5/2023 ![]() This system also plays into Xillia 2’s side quest system, which allows you to earn currency by going on a handful of different mission types. Attempt a move to the next area to push the plotline along and you’ll be forced to pay a sum toward your principal. Specifically, Ludger Kresnick debt determines how far around the game world he can venture. Xillia 2’s storyline also guides much of the game’s mechanical structure. As someone who always preferred a bit of poignancy in their journeys, I found the game’s conclusion offered one of the more rewarding finales in this generation of JRPGs. The answer can be found in the title’s two endings, each of which are poised to deliver a sense of mono no aware in players. The game’s original marketing pitch asked players, “Are you prepared to destroy the world for the girl?” which is an adept summary of Xillia 2’s main thesis. An ensuing catastrophe plunges the protagonist into debt, forcing Kresnick to escape liability by abolishing fractured dimensions. Tenderly, the game cultivates a heartening and convincing relationship between the two, with Kresnick unsurprisingly drawn into aiding the charming young child. The opening hour introduces players to both Kresnick, as well as an eight year-old girl named Elle, who’s attempting to observe her father’s request to journey to a mysterious place known as the Land of Canaan. Set a year after the events of the first game, Tales of Xillia 2’s plotline wisely focuses on straightforward events before embarking on its more metaphysical elements, such as the inclusion of alternative timelines. Considering the size of the cast and how towns are teaming with talkative NPCs, Xillia 2 supplies a magnitude of dialog, highlighted by a surprising number of engaging character arcs. Beyond the reticent lead, the game gradually reintroduces the largely likable principals of its predecessor, while adding a number of new characters. Although this design decision might help foster identification between the character and the player, Kresnick ends up feeling like a cipher, especially when juxtaposed to the rest of Xillia’s colorful cast. Instead of following role-playing tradition and extending a well-developed hero, the lead is mainly defined through player decision, his enigmatic silence only broken by the sporadic grunt (at least during the first playthough). While the game’s relational developments are certainly gratifying, Kresnick’s depiction is a bit unfulfilling. Much like the Persona series, building rapport feels rewarding, and yields tangible perks in the way of new combat skills and conversational options. While a player’s decisions do provide some radical repercussions late in the game, more often they’re used to determine an affinity with other characters. Interestingly, Xillia 2 settles for a single lead, the largely taciturn Ludger Kresnick, but presents a similar impression of choice- extending pairs of actions or dialog options at regular intervals. Although the technique allowed players to see the world through each protagonist’s perspective, in execution the trajectory of each hero’s journey was largely identical. Tales of Xillia’s storyline allowed players to select either Jude Mathis or Millia Maxwell as the lead character. For those who enjoyed the first XIllia, this follow-up offers an indulging reappearance of characters and locations- while adding enough tonal distinction and new mechanics to justify another sixty dollar purchase. But save for the outdated decision for English-only voice acting, the wait was worth it- with Namco-Bandai delivering a top-notch translation for a technically impressive grand adventure. While we’re getting the title late in the PS3’s lifecycle, Xilia 2 was published nearly two years ago in Japan. ![]() ![]() Mercifully, solace can still be found on the PlayStation 3- with the release of Tales of Xilia 2 offering an engrossing and melancholic twilight entry for this generation’s JRPG genre. ![]() For fans of Japanese role-playing games, the future remains especially uncertain, with only Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III on the horizon, while Wonder Flick and Omega Quintet linger without confirmation of Western localization. The dawn of a new hardware generation is often accompanied by a few pangs of uncertainty. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |