Welcome to Rieze Maxia:
Rieze Maxia, a vast land where spirits and humans live together in joyful harmony. However, peace is not going to last that long because a weapon is killing the spirits. This kind of weapon is called a Spyrix weapon, and it kills the spirits. The weapon was called the Lance of Kresnik. It's capable of killing the spirits and it was made by the lab where the Spyrixes were created.
Since ancient times, Rieze Maxia became a beautiful and lush land with spirits and humans. But with the Lance of Kresnik being reborn, spirits are being killed. The two protagonists and the other characters are here to save the spirits from being killed by the weapon.
Introduction:
Tales of Xillia has two protagonists. Jude Mathis is the male protagonist, he's wanting to be a doctor after his graduation from the Talim Medical School in Fennmont. Milla Maxwell is the female protagonist, she's on a mission to destroy the Lance of Kresnik, a weapon made for sucking mana from the world. After a failing to destroying the Lance, she lost her Four Great Spirits Fire Spirit Efreet, Water Spirit Undine, Wind Spirit Sylph, and Earth Spirit Gnome. These are the Four Great Spirits that are servants of Milla.
Tales of Xillia has a cast 6 characters in battle. At the beginning of the game, you can begin the game with either Jude or Milla. (But I recommend beating Jude's story first, and then beating Milla's story.) If you don't know who's story to choose, you can use a coin toss. Heads for Jude's story and Tails for Milla's story. Both stories has some of the same cutscenes, but from a different point of view. Other than the protagonists, there are four other characters: the first one is a young mercenary named Alvin, the second one is a timid girl with a doll named Elize Lutus, the third one is a combat butler named Rowen Ilbert, and the fourth one is a young girl living with Jude named Leia Rolando.
The Gameplay:
Unlike other Tales games, Xillia has a free camera for easy exploring so you don't have to get up closer to the screen. Other Tales games has a fixed camera angle because it allows you to focus on where you're going.
Tales of Xillia has a gathering method. If you see a little light on the ground or wall, it's a gathering point to find materials. Here, you can donate materials by going to any shop and earn the shops' points. If the shops earn a certain number of points, they go up a level and can put new items in stock and give the items a discount. There's also another two ways like donating Gald and buying anything.
Plus, it has missable side quests because they are not a part of the story. The first side quest is not missable because it's a part of the story. To know it's a side quest, some are being triggered in the right place at the right time and others happen after being requested to go somewhere. If you beat a side quest, you will be awarded. Also, if you beat all side quests, you will earn a trophy and a lot of grade points.
All Tales games including this one have skits and they are mini scenes. The title of the skit appears on the bottom left corner after certain conditions and times, and you can view it by pressing the Select button. Also, you can view skits again by going to the Library menu under skits. If you viewed all skits, you will earn a trophy and a lot of grade points.
Tales of Xillia's battle system mimics 2D fighters like BlazBlue and Skullgirls for example because it has side stepping, canceling, air combos, ground combos and more. Here, Tales of Xillia has an AC (Assault Counter) system that works just like the CC (Combo Counter) system from Tales of Graces. In Graces, when the CC reaches 0, you have to back away from the enemy so it can recharge and can attack again. Here in Tales of Xillia, that's definetely not the case. Instead, it recovers almost instantly after your combo ends. Also, artes decrease both your AC and TP at a same time (Tales of version of MP that can be consumed using artes). Like some other games, Tales of Xillia has a multiplayer feature, and you can let 3 people play with you by turning the 2nd, 3rd and 4th in-the-battlefield characters to Manual setting so it'll be fun with the four of you playing the game.
The Link gauge is located on the left side of the screen, and it allows you to link up with another character depending on the directional pad you press. The blue aura is link "A," while the green aura is link "B." To be able to do Link Artes, the gauge must reach the milestones by filling up the little parts of the gauge with fighting. If if does, the top part flashes, and it means you are able to do a Link Arte after certain artes, and when using certain artes, the Linked symbol appears, and quickly press the R2 button before it disappears. When idle, the gauge decreases slowly over time. Once the Link gauge is full, the characters go into Over Limit. During Over Limit, your TP and AC will not drop, and you can do as many Linked Artes as you can until the gauge depletes. If you see the "Chain Chance" symbol, quickly input the artes depending on the characters that has certain artes to start a Linked Arte before the symbol disappears. None other Tales games didn't have this linking feature.
Unlike other Tales games, Tales of Xillia uses a Lilium Orb feature. Once you level up, GP (Growth Points) are awarded. The Lilium Orb is a menu that has a form of a "spider web," and each part of the web has nodes. Each node offers a wide variety of stat increases, artes and skills. If one of the nodes has a unique arte called an Arcane Arte, you are able to do a super cool arte called a Mystic Arte. To execute a Mystic Arte, the Link gauge needs to be in "Over Limit," perform an Arcane Arte and hold the X Button.
During the field, if you touch a monster that is nearby 1 or 2 monsters, it's an Encounter Link from Vesperia. The more enemies you defeat, the more EXP and Gald you earn. That makes it interesting when earning more EXP and Gald.
Like on Vesperia, you can turn on skills by using SP (Skill Points). If you can't use the skill, it means insufficient SP. Skills are abilities that can give characters something interesting, while SP is a count that can turn on skills in the right amount. In Vesperia, you can earn LP (Learning Points) to learn the skills from equipment. But in Xillia, you can definetely learn skills via the Lilium Orb. If you earn max SP via the Lilium Orb, you can get more skills.
Be sure to look out for the monster with a yellow triangle with a ! on its head called the Strong Icon. They are rare monsters that are strong. If you win against one, you earn double the usual amount of EXP and Gald. If you're confident in your ability, try it out!
The best thing in Tales of Xillia was you can earn grade points by unlocking titles, and you can carry your grade points to the New Game +. To unlock it, you need to beat the game. Here in the New Game +, there are various things you can spend your grade points on. If you want to start the game normally, don't buy anything.
The More You Know:
With that being said, Tales of Xillia is the 13th Tales game of the series, celebrating its 15th anniversary. If you love the series very much, then you might be an all-time Tales fan. When Vesperia was released for the 360, the series was dead. That is, until the Tales of game, Graces f has managed to revive the series as a PS3 exclusive. Besides, Xillia isn't the last game of the series because we'll be getting more games, including Tales of Zestiria. However, they are going to be released as a PS4 exclusive since Namco Bandai isn't interested in supporting the Xbox One.
The Best and the Worst:
Tales of Xillia is a must-play game for everyone that will not miss out. The 13th of the series has a lot of fun since Graces f was released. While Vesperia turns out a flat-out fail, the company decides to move on to the Sony consoles. As usual, Tales of Xillia was a flat-out hit. In fact, it was big of a hit that Xillia 2 was released the following year. Fans do not want to miss playing it. Sadly, the battle system in Xillia 1 isn't much, but in Xillia 2, it will be much. Overall, it can be played up to 4 people for multiplayer fun. Both Jude and Milla are great protagonists, and they are a lot of fun to play as.
Pros:
+Linked Artes are interesting.
+Winning against the Strong Icon earns you double.
Cons:
There are no cons
Overall, Tales of Xillia is an awesome game. It's a fun and decent game. Since it was released, I been wanting to play it for months and I was finally able to play it! It is an awesome game that you don't want to miss out on. Thanks to my enthusiasm, I give Tales of Xillia a solid and perfect 10 for prime! Thanks, Namco Bandai, we love your Tales games!
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