Board 8 > So when does Tales of Xillia 2 pick up?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I just finished chapter 5, and started the Jude Side story. I get why people like the gameplay, but man is the rest of the game just....super unengaging. I can't really bring myself to get invested in the goings in, and it certainly doesn't help that I think everything about the last chapter of Xillia 1 was just dreadful, so the returning characters don't really do anything for me.

Does the game actually start taking off on its own feet at some point?

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Yeah, you play the game for how great Ludger is in combat. The story eventually gets super bad with an even worse ending.
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off topic but, does graces f story get better? I just got to the ice country in the north and am going to the capital city, it's been pretty predictable so far

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KCF0107 posted...

Yeah, you play the game for how great Ludger is in combat. The story eventually gets super bad with an even worse ending.

Ouch. I'd never heard anything but the combat discussed.

_stingers_ posted...

off topic but, does graces f story get better? I just got to the ice country in the north and am going to the capital city, it's been pretty predictable so far

Not really, Graces F is also an entry that is primarily recommended for the gameplay and not the story. I actually just booted it up 5 minutes ago to start a new game because I wasn't feeling Xillia 2, lol. I'm honestly a much bigger fan of the combat in Graces.

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Graces has the worst plot in the series i think

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I know of absolutely nobody else who has beaten Xillia 2, so I could be totally alone on it. For me, the big thing as that for a large portion of the game, a significant moral issue is looming large that nobody ever brings up during in the game, which rears its ugly head with the game's multiple endings.
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I don't think the plot in Graces is particularly awful, just dull.

Dull is arguably worse than actually bad, though, since bad can sometimes be entertaining.

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I'll be the dissenting opinion to KCF and say that I do think Xillia 2 does find its footing eventually and hit some real emotional highs by the end of the game.

I have my issues with the story and I couldn't tell you exactly when it picks up - it's been a while since my last playthrough - but I think it sticks the landing really well all said.

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KCF0107 posted...

I know of absolutely nobody else who has beaten Xillia 2, so I could be totally alone on it. For me, the big thing as that for a large portion of the game, a significant moral issue is looming large that nobody ever brings up during in the game, which rears its ugly head with the game's multiple endings.

There's a lot that's turning me off. The whole thing feels like a side story to a game I ended up not caring about, so nothing with returning characters is doing it for me. Nothing in the primary plot is even a little compelling. I don't have any issue with the debt thing, but just doing side quests to progress the plot is boring. I think the combat is good, but (and this is my fault) knowing I've got got Graces F here waiting for a replay after a decade or however long it's been means that's not a huge pull.

Basically the only things I'm digging are the girl loan shark friend from school who is fantastic, and Julius has a pretty rad aesthetic going on.

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Xillia 2 has a good final boss battle theme and a fun combat system.

The story...ehhhhhhhhh

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i dropped xillia 2, which means it wasnt particularly good much like zesty and graces~f~

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Just an hour and a half in, already can't state enough how much I appreciate the bright and actually designed map versus the bland empty wide open monotone nothing that was the entirety of Xillia and I assume Xillia 2.

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Environments have always been the Tales series' biggest weakness. Berseria's were embarrassing considering what the modern standards for the genre are.

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I have Xillia 2 but I haven't started it yet. I've heard some people say it's better than the original but this isn't giving me high hopes!

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Berseria had the excuse of a low budget and fast development. Xillia I guess has the excuse of them working in HD hardware for the first time, though that's pretty flimsy. With Graces, I imagielne it's original development as a Wii game means it was the final release of the SD Era, meaning they went all out on art design (I've heard the Wii version we never got was a buggy mess, though, so maybe that still managed to be more than they can handle.

I think Xillia is the worst offendor of the bunch because it's also all brown, brown with green, or a snow area. The game is mud. Berseria at least has color.

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Leonhart4 posted...

I have Xillia 2 but I haven't started it yet. I've heard some people say it's better than the original but this isn't giving me high hopes!

Gameplay wise this is certainly the case, but it's just a better version of said gameplay, not a whole new system. Pretty much comes down to the weapon swapping thing.

I'm having a tough time really giving Xillia a fair shake even though I JUST played it from start to finish a few weeks ago, due to just how truly awful I think the last act was. Not, like a fucking Zesteria nightmare hellscape of failure, of course, but still...ROUGH. I would not put it on the list of Tales games I like.

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Wait, Vesperia came before Xillia, right? Why do I remember Xillia specifically as the first HD release....

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Yeah, I was enjoying Xillia until the last part of the game.

Milla is still great though.

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i will not let this xillia 2 slander stand

actually i will because i don't feel like getting into it now but it is a top tier tales game

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Wait, Vesperia came before Xillia, right? Why do I remember Xillia specifically as the first HD release....

that's a good question because there were 3-4 Tales games in between them >_> even Graces f was localized before Xillia

but really who doesn't remember Vesperia as such an early ps360 era title

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xp1337 posted...

i will not let this xillia 2 slander stand

actually i will because i don't feel like getting into it now but it is a top tier tales game

Can always count on my boy xp to back me up where Tales is concerned.

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Hmmmm...maybe it's because it's the first Tales game using HD assets released after they moved to fully animated character models?

Only reason I can think of for why that would be a sticking point in my head.

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Just did the first boss fight, and man Graces just feels so much better than every other entry, even in the child section. Maybe it's just the specifically tailored to my preferences.

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I absolutely loved Xillia 2 and I couldn't even finish the first game because it bored me to tears. Which might honestly be why I enjoyed the second more from the start. Almost everything was new!

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I tried getting a feel for Tales games earlier this year, and all I could think was, "There's something off about EVERY game...except Berseria." I know Berseria wasn't perfect by any stretch. Level design is bland, but holy crap, the characters and interaction is so purposefully edgy and camp, it's hard not to like. But outside of parts of Abyss and most of Graces, I can't help but laugh at some design decisions, animation style, characters and motivations, and an overall "lack of polish." For a series with as much notoriety as it has too. I'm not super thrilled with the line based combat most of the games used...so maybe that's just a preference thing. I've been told Tales is highly popular, but not some amazingly consistently good franchise either. It just exists as a long running "good enough" staple.

And even Abyss and Graces had issues I couldn't stomach. Abyss's main issue was "Star Trek language," where every second word was something made up which they explained right after it. It sure made good characters like Tear and Jade sound kinda silly and inhuman. Graces's biggest offense was being...inoffensive. I understand Vesperia is considered the good one, but I found it way too campy for my liking. It just felt like a Saturday morning cartoon rather than something serious and real. Note, I only got as far as the beginning, and some random streams showing off people like Rita and Judith. *not the best overall feel I admit*

I'm not sure what Xillia and Zestiria are like in comparison, but Beseria just had this, "Everyone except Laphi and Eleanor is fucking evil, let's roll with it" looseness that made all the characters a riot to be with. Game design wasn't amazing, but with characters and performances so strong, it was too much to ignore.

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Strife2 posted...

"There's something off about EVERY game...except Berseria.

Pretty much, yeah

Graces annoys me especially to think about cause I legitimately think the story had potential. The first 1/4 was super unique. Asbel makes a bunch of well-intended bad decisions that burn all his bridges and leave him virtually alone outside of Sophie, who barely has emotions, and Richard, who is evil. He just fails over and over and gets put through the wringer and it actually feels harsh. It becomes a standard JRPG soon afterwards, but what could have been...

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But it never feels like Asbel loses those connections or his title for that long either. Like they wanted to go for broke, but not enough to stick the landing. Asbel and company were too good natured, most other than Malik and Hubert came off as dopey.

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Well yeah, thats what mean by lost potential. It would never happen in a Tales game especially because a selling point is the number of playable characters, but Asbel being alone (or just with Sophie) for most of the game due to his burnt bridges would have been really interesting. Instead everyone buddies up immediately after Richard goes full nutso.

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I dunno if it's a failing on Graces's storytelling or I didn't pay enough attention, but I never thought Asbel actually burned any bridges. He was mainly alone with Sophie in the beginning because Hubert kicked him out

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Asbel accidentally did an extremely cruel thing to Cheria while tunnelvisioning during the timeskip, but that's about really the worst he did anyone, I felt like. And everyone involved knew it wasn't out of malice but out of Asbel being a dunce, so it wasn't really a burnt bridge.

KamikazePotato posted...

It would never happen in a Tales game especially because a selling point is the number of playable characters, but Asbel being alone (or just with Sophie) for most of the game due to his burnt bridges would have been really interesting.

ToS2 has the main two characters alone for most of the story!

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yeah I feel like other Tales games already did that plot

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agesboy posted...

ToS2 has the main two characters alone for most of the story!

That's because nobody wants to be around them.

In a meta sense.

ToS2 is suck.

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On a side note, kind of wish the plot in Tales of Crestoria was in a regular game because it's honestly pretty strong. Obviously the stuff where they shoehorn in characters from past games can get wonky, but the cast and setup is good!

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

ToS2 is suck.

story was terrible, gameplay was hella especially when played with a friend

probably my 2nd favorite pre-graces gameplay system

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Gotta say, I think my memory was giving Graces a far worse rap than it deserves. Not all the dungeons are winners, but the characters are far better than I remember, and I'm pretty engaged.

Considering I don't remember anything after Strahta, though, I imagine this is where it starts to fall off.

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I don't remember much of anything about the graces plot except for spaaaaace but damn I had a hell of a good time with it!

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Graces check in!

I think I'm approaching the end of the primary campaign, IIRC.

Absolutely one of the worst offenders of falling into gibberish bullshit for the last act, which is a staple of most Tales games. It's incredibly rushed, sudden, and jarring here. Certainly enjoying the game, but not the misunderstood gem I was starting to feel like it was.

Like seriously, this is zero to space in a matter of an hour or so and none of the characters even bat an eye.

When you look at the timeline of the worst offenders here, it's absolutely the Hideo Baba influence. Starting with Vesperia and ending with Zesteria, every single Tales game completely shits the bed in the last act. Right before Baba took over was Abyss, didn't have this problem. Right after Baba left was Berseria, didn't have this problem.

The man was a plague.

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