Corrections Dept: Xillia’s Kitties Can’t Do Magic That Well!

Tales of Xillia 2 Standard EditionOkay, I’ll tweak the post tomorrow when I’m more awake, but I made two goofs in my Tales of Xillia review regarding the exploits and some side quests monsters vanishing. One: In Kitty Dispatch mode, Rollo WILL come back faster if he’s carrying certain sub-items with him or you save and come back later in the day (that system clock seems to work for that as well as the bonuses).

Two: while some low-level monsters may disappear from the Job Board when your Badge level increases, those TOUGH sub-bosses stay on their own sub-menu and never disappear. I was up for roughly 37 hours on that last chunk of my playtime, so when I sat down to write from a few notes I’d taken, I ended up adding in a thought I had based on me being half-awake while playing and confusing the Job list with the sub-boss list. Hey, it happens! Anyway, I’m in the final stretch of the game, but I’m saving that until tomorrow or Thursday because if I don’t sleep now, I’ll probably be as dead as some of those monsters Ludger and company go hunting throughout the game…

See you all tomorrow. Zzzzz…

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Review: Tales of Xillia 2

Tales of Xillia 2 Standard EditionPlatform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Namco Tales Studio, LTD.

Publisher: Bandai Namco Games

# of Players 1-4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

tox2-screen02 Tales of Xillia was one of last year’s great JRPGs, offering up an intriguing plot, a party of interesting characters designed by different artists, the series trademark fast-paced battles and plenty of the usual JRPG tropes all adding up to a lengthy and memorable game experience. The follow up, Tales of Xillia 2 changes up things a bit with two new main characters, a much darker tone, even faster combat, a different skills leveling system, loads of reused maps (this is a good thing – more on this below) and a fair amount of humor thanks to a localization team having a blast with their translation efforts. The result is a game that will pull you in for the long haul as it takes Ludger Kresnik and company on a journey spanning a few familiar and all-new areas (well, all-new to those who haven’t played the first game)… Continue reading

Tales of Xillia 2: Missed the First Game? Here’s The Deal So Far…

 

ToX_BannerYou actually don’t need to have played Tales of Xillia to fully enjoy Tales of Xillia 2, but in case you didn’t and are wondering what you missed, this under six-minute recap of key cinematic moments from the first game should get you psyched for the new adventure ahead. I’ve been playing since yesterday evening and will have a review up on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how far I get in the game. I should take my time with this and try to get as close to 100% completion as possible, but there’s SO much to tackle in this game that if I tried to blaze through too quickly, I’d definitely miss out on a lot of content. On the other hand, if I get caught up in all those side-quests and cat-catching (I’ve caught 23 out of 100 so far), this review isn’t going to get done until November (of next year, ha and ha!)…

Back in a bit…

WHAT Summer Drought? This Week’s LOADED With RPG Madness!

 

Yikes. Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is out (PS3 and PS Vita! BUY IT!), as is Disgaea 4: A Promised Revisited (PS Vita, BUY IT). Next week (all arriving on the 19th!), it’s Tales of Xillia 2 (PS3, BUY IT!), Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment (PS Vita, BUY IT!) and the summer/fall/winter/forever eating madness that is Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition (PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One, BUY IT!).

 

Finally, the close of the month (well, August 26) brings in DLC for Dark Souls II in the form of the Crown of the Old Iron King content (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, BUY IT!) and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 (PS Vita – the jury is out, but it does look cute!). If you like your RPGs a bit more (well, a LOT more) European, Risen 3: Titan Lords (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and Sacred 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) are out NOW, and while the reviews aren’t “stellar” for either game, I’m gathering both will find their niche among more open-minded RPG fans.

 

Well, now that your wallet is gasping for air and you’re curled up in a fetal position wishing you had more time to PLAY all those games, I’ll consider my work here done as I bid you adieu (for now)…

Gallery: Tales of Xillia 2

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Elle&Lulu LudgerThe past year plus has been quite good for fans of Namco’s Tales series here in North America as we’ve been getting some nice games and more on the way in a relatively “speedy” manner. Granted, not ALL of the games in the long running franchise have made it stateside, but Hideo Baba did promise last year at the Namco event I attended that fans would see some nice surprises over time from the eternally busy Tales Studio.

Tales of Heart R is one big surprise for Vita owners and here, Tales of Xillia 2 is the other, as it coming this August exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Screens below the jump and that $129.99 Collector’s Edition is below. Yes, pre-ordering this or the plain vanilla standard edition is probably a good idea as some retail locations will only stock what their customers have actually put down some money for and Tales games have the tendency to sell out rather quickly.

ToX2_CE_ShotAugust isn’t really that far away, you know…

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