I finished Tales of Xillia in May of last year and although it carried with it a lot of flaws typical to the Tales series, I felt I could pretty safely say I enjoyed it. At the very least, the series is always worth it for its combat system. Although some of these games do tend to devolve into button-mashing, there is enough to play and experiment with during combat that the trope-laden plots and sometimes irritating characters are made bearable over 40-50 hours of gameplay. Tales of Xillia 2 is no different in that regard, with a combat system that is virtually identical to that of its predecessor--with a few key differences.
The main quirk to the format that Xillia introduced was the "linked artes" mechanic. Two characters could link together and fight in formation, unleashing deadly combination artes when the Overlimit gauge reached a certain threshold. There was a decent variety of these artes, some of which were very clever and nice to look at. Xillia 2 expands on this pretty considerably not only by adding three new playable characters (increasing the roster to 9 from Xillia's 6) but by including a series of generic linked artes for combinations of skills that wouldn't otherwise yield a result. Therefore, it is possible to unleash a linked arte when the gauge reaches certain thresholds regardless of which skill is being used, even if the generic linked artes are rarely as powerful or flashy as the unique ones. There are dozens and dozens of unique linked artes to use with every possible combination of two linked characters. The new protagonist, Ludger, appropriately boasts the highest number of these unique linked artes.
Xillia 2 also completely reworks the way in which new artes and skills are learned. The game's predecessor featured a system called the Lillium Orb (which is explained in the plot in as incomprehensible way as Tales fans are now accustomed) that is very similar to systems like Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid or Final Fantasy XIII's Crystarium. Skills are acquired by spending points on a network of connected nodes. It's very simple, but it worked. The Allium Orb of Xillia 2 is actually a little more interesting, but more difficult to understand at first glance. Characters must equip elemental Extractors that translate elemental ore acquired from completed combat encounters into five disparate elements. The Lightning Bolt extractor, for instance, transforms this ore into the fire and earth elements. Skills and artes are acquired by reaching certain amounts of these elements. Some require a certain amount of two different elements. To learn all of a specific character's abilities, it is required to switch out extractors on a regular basis. As one advances further into the game, extractors with higher growth rates (ore is transformed into more of a certain element) are unlocked and abilities are learned more quickly.
The biggest change in Xillia 2 (and in fact, the biggest break from tradition in the Tales series) is the inclusion of the silent protagonist, Ludger. That's right--Ludger seldom says a single word over the course of the entire game, and it frequently makes the pacing of the game feel very awkward and uncomfortable. Aside from a few muttered lines and non-committal replies, all of Ludger's dialogue is determined by the player. Of course, these choices are not voiced whatsoever, which I imagine is part of the reason why it feels so strange. The other reason is that the Tales series has never had a silent protagonist, and judging from Xillia 2, it's not something it ever needed either. It's just such a hamfisted inclusion that serves no real purpose for the majority of the game's runtime, save for a few climactic moments at the very end of the game. It's clear that Namco Bandai wanted Xillia 2 to be a game about making choices, but they forgot to make those choices actually mean anything. I would have enjoyed the game a lot more if Ludger was a character with a real personality and actual dialogue--even if he was as unlikable as Luke from Abyss or Emil from Dawn of the New World. I'm all for change and evolution, but this was not a change for the better.
On the other hand, Ludger's combat style is fantastic and adds a whole new dimension to the battle system from the first game. Ludger is capable of switching between three different weapons and as a result has access to a whole slew of artes, dwarfing all of his party members in comparison with his utility. His dual swords, pistols, and hammer all boast significantly different play styles and serve different purposes in fights depending on whether he needs speed, range, or power. If that's not enough, he also unlocks the ability to transform into a Scary Demon Form later on in the game that again features an entirely different gameplay style that is unique to him.
As far as mechanics go, Xillia 2 is honestly a step up from its predecessor, but the good news ends there. Xillia was not exactly a powerhouse in the plot/character development department (then again, Tales games rarely are), but the sequel fails to live up to even those standards. The plot is as usual completely incomprehensible, featuring a serpentine plot concerning such things as fractured dimensions (essentially Bizarro Worlds), divergence catalysts, and of course some light time travel. These are all par for the course for Tales and that might be fine, but the entire structure of the game is different than usual. From the very outset, the premise is set up as an adventure in which our hero Ludger must pay off a 20,000,000 gald debt. And yes, you've gotta make regular installment payments to progress in the plot. You acquire funds by taking on quests and defeating epic monsters and as you pay off more and more of the debt, you'll unlock more of Elympios and Rieze Maxia to explore, which of course is comprised almost entirely of content most have already seen from the first game. In fact, 95% of locations visited in Tales of Xillia 2 are completely identical to areas from the first game. This left me with a bad taste in my mouth not unlike what I experienced when I played Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
Honestly, the main things that kept me playing Xillia 2 were the combat system (which I'll maintain is quite good, despite frame rate slowdowns that still unfortunately exist) and the inane minigame which has you scouring the globe for hidden kitty cats. There are 100 of them in all. Some are hidden in holes in the wall, some in inns or deep in dungeons. I'm not sure what I found so addictive about tracking down all those stupid little cats. It's not like I got anything great from it, and it exists almost solely as an excuse for you to revisit areas which most players are going to be quite familiar with already from the previous game. Still, it was a feature I couldn't help but find hopelessly addicting and I'll proudly declare that I located each and every one of those little furballs.
Tales of Xillia 2 is a game I doubt I stubbornly finished (with help from my girlfriend, no less) but could not in good conscience recommend to others. It features a fantastic battle system but loads of reused content, asinine characters (Muzét is particularly awful), hours of boring dialogue and equally boring character-centric sidequests, and a circuitous and virtually nonsensical plot. But hey, at least I don't feel guilty at the prospect of starting Tales of Zestiria now.
No comments:
Post a Comment