Board 8 > Whats the consensus on Xillia 2?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Better or worse than Xillia?
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@Xiahou_Shake
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Should just play Berseria
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Way better than Xillia, IMO. One of the best Tales games. (I'd put it 3rd behind Berseria and Abyss.)

Gameplay is great and Ludger is amazing to play as. I felt the story was far better too. The debt system never bothered me, but I think that was the chief complaint leveled at the game along with the recycled material from Xillia.
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I heard its worse and SHINE heard it was better

what is Truf
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xp1337 posted...

Way better than Xillia, IMO. One of the best Tales games. (I'd put it 3rd behind Berseria and Abyss.)

Gameplay is great and Ludger is amazing to play as. I felt the story was far better too. The debt system never bothered me, but I think that was the chief complaint leveled at the game along with the recycled material from Xillia.

Uh Vesperia?
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Corrik posted...

Uh Vesperia?

what about it

Vesperia would be... 5th or 6th for me, I think. (Graces f ahead, Symphonia debatable)
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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Should just play Berseria

I know nothing about Xillia 2 but this is usually an accurate thing to say.
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xp1337 posted...

Corrik posted...

Uh Vesperia?

what about it

Vesperia would be... 5th or 6th for me, I think. (Graces f ahead, Symphonia debatable)

Take it back.
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i know barely anything about xillia 2 but yes play berseria its great
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Corrik posted...

xp1337 posted...

Corrik posted...

Uh Vesperia?

what about it

Vesperia would be... 5th or 6th for me, I think. (Graces f ahead, Symphonia debatable)

Take it back.

no i'm okay with my tales ranking thanks
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Other than the new mechanics that Ludger, the main character, brings to battle, it's worse across the board. If you like Tales of games, it is still one of the better ones.
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Vesperia was my favorite for a time, though it's 3rd behind Abyss and Berseria for me now. Really wish they'd put the Xillia's on PS4.
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xp1337 posted...

Corrik posted...

xp1337 posted...

Corrik posted...

Uh Vesperia?

what about it

Vesperia would be... 5th or 6th for me, I think. (Graces f ahead, Symphonia debatable)

Take it back.

no i'm okay with my tales ranking thanks

I have only played Vesperia, and I have it pretty handedly as the best Tales games.
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Worse than Xillia. I got bored with it and never finished it. Berseria is much better than both of them
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ninkendo posted...

@Xiahou_Shake

I've been summoned!
Xillia 2 was my favorite Tales game flat out... until Berseria came out. That said, it's actually still my favorite as far as gameplay goes, and it barely loses out out on story.

The gameplay is just flat out beautiful. Ludger is handily the most fun playable character the series has ever had. He seamlessly flows between three styles each with a full set of artes, and the combos you can carry out by using him to his fullest are absolutely bananas. Put it this way, if you're good enough you can kill most bosses in one monstrous combo plus a bit of extra work... but pulling it off isn't that easy and it's really satisfying when you do it.

The game suffers a bit from largely being a massive asset rehash of Xillia 1, but it keeps its own identity thanks to its story. The story here is way different from any other Tales game - it's significantly darker and tackles a lot of subject matter the other games don't touch with a ten foot pole. And unlike Xillia's story, which falls apart at the seams due to the game being rushed, this one stays consistent throughout.

Ludger's brokenness aside, all the other characters return (plus some extras~) in much better shape than they were before. While in Xillia 1 Jude and Milla outshine everyone else, X2's cast gives you an even crazier character in Ludger and then brings everyone else roughly to the level Jude/Milla were at in the first game. Coupled with a combo system that actually rewards you for playing well, it's just a ton of fun to play. (My biggest beef with X1 is that it has a decent battle system but all of its bosses are made so that very little of what you practice in random encounters matters at all. You can't consistently combo a majority of them due to combo breaking mechanics so everything feels pointless. X2 solves that one glaring problem and it results in IMO the best system the series has ever had.)

Erm, well that's my initial gushing. If you have other questions I can answer them but seriously, check it out. It's literally Xillia 1 but way the fuck better.
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Yeeesh, Xillia 2 is hella mixed
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Pretty bad
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Punnyz posted...

Yeeesh, Xillia 2 is hella mixed

That's what you get from this topic? I saw detailed posts on why it's better and short dismissive ones about how it's worse. I'm looking forward to it if I ever get around to it now.
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pjbasis posted...

That's what you get from this topic?

Yes, as I've already said, All i'm lookin for is if people liked it or didn't

Tales games are, from what I've seen, usually pretty unanimous whether its enjoyed or not. Well, maybe except Symphonia
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I never got that impression.

Vesperia maybe
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Punnyz posted...

Tales games are, from what I've seen, usually pretty unanimous whether its enjoyed or not.

what
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I thought the consensus was ToX2 was better than the original
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Yeah I dunno about Tales opinions being unanimous for almost any game. Abyss and Graces especially are pretty damn divisive. I'd also probably sooner go to Vesperia for a universally regarded game than Symphonia, but even in this topic we have someone not as hot on it.
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Well I covered my bases

as I've said, from what I've seen

I don't think I've seen many bad things said about Vesperia

People don't seem to like Legendia. Mershi used to make fun of me for liking this game.

I've seen lots of people agree that Phantasia is not great because its "dated" now (I Still like it alot!)

everybody seems to agree that Zesty is mediocre as hell. And I know that because I made a topic like this one asking about it some time ago

and yea, Symphonia. especially when it came out. Lots of people hella praised it, like HM, and other people think it only got as popular as it did because there weren't alot of RPGs on the gamecube at the time and think it was overrated

and now you guys in this very topic seem to go back and forth on xillia 2 whether you like it or not

whats so "what" about it
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Tales of the Abyss is one of the most divisive games I've ever seen.
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Symphonia seems divisive because it's the only one the general public cares about, so you see it talked about a lot more. Every Tales game has detractors. Vesperia is probably the closest the series has to 'universally liked'.
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Punnyz posted...

pjbasis posted...

That's what you get from this topic?

Yes, as I've already said, All i'm lookin for is if people liked it or didn't

Tales games are, from what I've seen, usually pretty unanimous whether its enjoyed or not. Well, maybe except Symphonia

Abyss is usually at the very bottom or very good of most lists <_<
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LeonhartFour posted...

Tales of the Abyss is one of the most divisive games I've ever seen.

The last time I met up with some friends, we spent a good 20 minutes talking about how much we hated Tales of the Abyss. Then I come here and some people love it. Divisive is a good word.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Tales of the Abyss is one of the most divisive games I've ever seen.

LapisLazuli posted...

Abyss is usually at the very bottom or very good of most lists <_<

look, yall 2 are listing a game I didn't even comment on because I clearly haven't paid attention to it

"From what I've seen", Remember?

What about the games I DID list?
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LeonhartFour posted...

Tales of the Abyss is one of the most divisive games I've ever seen.

For sure. The only game I can think of that gives it a run for its money is FF8.

Maybe Wind Waker would have been up there at one point, too, but not anymore.
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Punnyz posted...

look, yall 2 are listing a game I didn't even comment on because I clearly haven't paid attention to it

"From what I've seen", Remember?

What about the games I DID list?

this is kind of amazing

"this is only based on what I've seen so don't bring in stuff I haven't seen"
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KamikazePotato posted...

Vesperia is probably the closest the series has to 'universally liked'.

Think Berseria may take that spot now.
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I wish I had the memory of it to provide a decent explanation of why I don't like it, but I ultimately played and forgot about it, which is really the biggest issue. I remember the concept of the story was great, but they did a poor job of delivering on the possibilities. Also, there was 0 reason for it to be a sequel, and the shoehorned characters and references felt pointless. Debt was a really bad mechanic, but I don't remember specifically why I feel that way.
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LeonhartFour posted...

"this is only based on what I've seen so don't bring in stuff I haven't seen"

Yes?

You're disregarding my comments because of crap I haven't seen like I'm entirely wrong

and still you've yet to tell me I'm wrong on the things I HAVE commented on

tell me each of my observations are THAT wrong then.

Just because I haven't observed one dumbass game doesn't mean ALL of my observations are automatically false

what kind of shit are you even saying, leonhart
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I think Phantasia is great and Symphonia is not.

Hopefully you can remove those two examples from your "correct" observations now.
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pjbasis posted...

I think Phantasia is great

Glad to hear it!

pjbasis posted...

Symphonia is not.

Hopefully you can remove those two examples from your "correct" observations now.

but that falls into the mixed thing I already said it fell into
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Punnyz posted...

You're disregarding my comments because of crap I haven't seen like I'm entirely wrong

and still you've yet to tell me I'm wrong on the things I HAVE commented on

tell me each of my observations are THAT wrong then.

I mean I can't because you've cornered the argument by saying you can't remember anything other than unanimity about these particular Tales games

like I can't argue that you're lying about your observations
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You know what's a great game and one of my favorites Tales of the Abyss
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either way, the whole point of this topic IS proving that my observations are wrong. So yall can actually rest easy

I come from a place where I've only seen people say bad things about X2, from customers, to my friends, to internet forums

SHINE came from one where its the opposite

so I just wanted to see where the game stood in a concentrated area where I trust the opinions more than just anywhere in the internet: b8

and my current observation has it at Mixed now

see?
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So in the end you're just going to play Tales of the Abyss right
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I think what pjbasis's original comment was alluding to was that the people who liked it layed out what they liked about it in detail, while those who didn't offered nothing beyond "I didn't like it" so he was expressing that those who offered no actual, detailed criticism shouldn't be taken seriously and that, as a result, ToX2 seems to be a pretty universally liked game, and it at least had that effect on him since he said he would be psyched to play it now.
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I still have to play Xillia 2

maybe when SHINE starts it I'll start it as well
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I'd say that how people feel about xillia 2 depends on how they feel about the first game since they are different in structure and tone so people who like one is probably more likely to dislike the other.

I think a pretty reasonable comparison is ff13 vs ff13-2.
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13-2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 13

how I will I feel about ToX2
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Pros for Xillia 2:
- Ludger's contributions to battle
- Battling in general saw some improvements
- Returning characters are mostly improved, especially Gaius and Alvin

Cons for Xillia 2:
- Excessive reuse of assets from Xillia
- Tales of games generally have poor non-party characters. This game has about as few new non-party characters as the Symphonia sequel did, and like that game, none are remotely good.
- Touches on a few intriguing themes along with some intense moral dilemmas but ultimately cast them aside, undermine their importance, or implement them poorly.

The debt system was dumb, but it never got in my way based on how I played the game. I can definitely see why it would be a huge con for others, but not a pro.

I'm sure there are others for both categories, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I don't play Tales games for their stories or characters, so I overall have a positive outlook on the game.
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What is the debt system? I've had Xillia 2 unopened for awhile and keep meaning to start it up but never do.
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It forces you to do sidequests and stuff for cash to pay off a plot-related debt before you can progress the plot.
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Oh, well I always do sidequests and fight a lot of battles anyway so that probably won't bother me.
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