Tales of Xillia

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 515 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 429 out of 515
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 515
  3. Negative: 40 out of 515
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  1. AJCk19
    Nov 22, 2022
    4
    Well, this game is stuck in a awkward position. It is not as good as Xenoblade Chronicles X, Kingdom Hearts, FF13, and Trials of Mana. The real time combat just isn't as good as others. However I do love the art direction and the story is deep. Even the collector's edition they released for this game was extremely rad.
  2. Vivicka
    Feb 25, 2014
    3
    The only other game I've played in this series is Tales of Eternia on the PSP which for the most part I enjoyed. Strangely, none of the problems I had with this game were present in that one but I digress.

    The worst part of this game, I believe, is the way that the levels are laid out. There are items EVERYWHERE, you cannot step two feet without bumping into something to pick up from a    The only other game I've played in this series is Tales of Eternia on the PSP which for the most part I enjoyed. Strangely, none of the problems I had with this game were present in that one but I digress.

    The worst part of this game, I believe, is the way that the levels are laid out. There are items EVERYWHERE, you cannot step two feet without bumping into something to pick up from a chest, or a tree or the ground and everything you find is worthless. All that you can do with 95% of this stuff is sell it, and it's EVERYWHERE, I need to stress this. On top of that, there are far too many monsters to fight, and there will usually be a variety of around 2 monsters in one entire area (30m - 1h of play time). On top of this, these environments are boring, in the first 15 hours that I've played, I haven't found one that I really found interesting (university, city, different city, field, town, field, forest, beach, forest, field etc.). All of this together means that the environment as a whole does nothing to improve your experience, which is worrying to say the least.

    The characters aren't too badly fleshed out, although they never truly make you connect as a player, the main character in particular is purposefully made very unemotional and bland which only serves to further distance yourself from her.

    The story is unique, but that isn't to say that's it's necessarily good. It's very slow paced (10h to get to where we were going after the start) and it just feels as though the game is padding itself to get the run time to the "acceptable" time (30 - 40h) for an RPG.

    The shop system caused me gripes too. There is a very odd system whereby you must pay the shops to sell you different things, and they are essentially the same shop in every town. I don't understand the need for this. Up until now, we had different towns sell us different equipment and that worked just fine, why change it?

    Overall, this game just feels soul-less, I couldn't understand where it was trying to go. The staple for this series has always been the innovative combat system, and thankfully it seems to have kept some of that charm which is the only part I found entertaining throughout the game (though repetitive enemies were again a little grating).    … Expand
  3. beandaddyo
    Dec 23, 2014
    4
    This game was a huge disappointment. I'm a huge fan of the Tales series, and I've never encountered a tales game I couldn't get through. It seems like they put all the development funds into graphics, and tried to hard to make likable popular characters, instead of characters with actual depth. A good battle system can carry a JRPG with bad characters... but this game doesn't have one.This game was a huge disappointment. I'm a huge fan of the Tales series, and I've never encountered a tales game I couldn't get through. It seems like they put all the development funds into graphics, and tried to hard to make likable popular characters, instead of characters with actual depth. A good battle system can carry a JRPG with bad characters... but this game doesn't have one. Sure, the web-like leveling up seems like a good idea.... but it was poorly executed. It was not only a step down from the refined battle system in Graces, it is the worst tales battle system I've ever played with. It is like a bunch of different concepts thrown haphazardly together. It certainly feels rushed.

    This game gets good reviews by some. I feel like it would appeal more to fans of Western RPGs with its increased choices and high graphics. If your the kind of person who will buy anything as long as it looks good, or if you don't care about character development and took Symphonia entirely unironically, this game is for you. Otherwise, avoid it, especially if your a fan of the Tales Series.    … Expand
  4. Kingpotato
    Sep 27, 2013
    3
    This is by far the worst entry in the series i have played, and when compared to tales of graces F is a something that should be hidden in the basement.

    It is a usual tales affair for the most part but from the very first dungeon the game reeks of a rushed out game. It has some of the most bland environments i've seen in a current gen game coupled with the slowest paced clunky combat in    This is by far the worst entry in the series i have played, and when compared to tales of graces F is a something that should be hidden in the basement.

    It is a usual tales affair for the most part but from the very first dungeon the game reeks of a rushed out game. It has some of the most bland environments i've seen in a current gen game coupled with the slowest paced clunky combat in any tales game. You will leave a city area and find an open field filled with random droppings of "environment" such as trees and rocks but it is completely lifeless. These are copy paste cookie cutter trees and locations stuffed to the brim with monsters, unable to take more than a few steps before being forced into another fight.

    The combat itself does get better over time, but starts off as pain, clumsy and awkward and never really goes away. You'll find yourself having to eat every enemy attack because you can't dodge or block fast enough while attacking with significant downtime after each attack, couple this with the addition of mana for your normal artes (that fills far to slowly) and your left only spamming your normal free attacks indefinitely to kill the endless amount of creatures. The addition of the links does nothing to help alleviate the sheer boredom i faced during battles as the AI most doesn't know what its doing. Half the time you are attack and it refuses to attack with you and so are unable to actually use link artes the other it's off attacking a entirely different monster.

    On top of this the much favoured combo system from the previous tales game, graces F, has been down away with. No longer does the directional input with my basic attack differentiate my basic artes ina meaningful way, instead it is replaced with an auto attack like version with no discernible differences, which leaves no room for imaginative combo's with the large delay between the casting of the real artes.

    They have done away with titles and now given you orbs which apon each level you gain a point to distribute. The problem is there is no variance, no skill tree's, you can't actually make a mistake. Simple use of the auto distribute will net you the same results, which totals a very shallow system of false complexity.

    Everything else is largely the same to other series in regards to stories and characters, but with the entire combat system in such a wretched state you are left spending hours grinding boring monsters with a clunky system only to have these story moments dulled by ugly bland environments and all drip fed at a terrible pace.

    Easily the worst tales in the series, even if this game was free i would still feel cheated for the time i wasted trying to like it.    … Expand
  5. liquideyeliner
    Apr 20, 2015
    4
    This was my first venture into the Tales series after hearing hype about it for years, and I gotta say I'm not impressed at all. The art direction is very, very bland. The leading lady has quite possibly the most obnoxious hair style I've seen outside of Yugioh and her voice actress is atrocious. The story is very cliche.

    There are some interesting aspects of the game. You're given the    This was my first venture into the Tales series after hearing hype about it for years, and I gotta say I'm not impressed at all. The art direction is very, very bland. The leading lady has quite possibly the most obnoxious hair style I've seen outside of Yugioh and her voice actress is atrocious. The story is very cliche.

    There are some interesting aspects of the game. You're given the option to pick between a male and female lead and I would assume their story lines diverge at some point leading to a different experience. I'm not totally sure though, I only played as the male as his design was less annoying to look at than the woman with the floofy celery hair.

    The combat isn't bad, but it's shamefully easy. Also the voice acting is some of the worst I've ever heard. I wasn't able to beat the game because I got so annoyed with the cast of characters. By far the worst was this awful little blob called Teepo. Listening to this character was like someone taking a screw driver to my ear.

    I usually try to complete games, even ones I'm not a fan of, just for the sake of it, but this game was just too annoying.    … Expand
  6. zera555
    Sep 4, 2019
    3
    My cousin and I were itching to play another Tales game, so we purchased this one based on the good reviews on Metacritic. Much to our surprise, neither of us cared much at all for the game. We loved Symphonia and Vesperia, but Xillia was just... dull. The main characters, by design, are uninteresting, the plot was uninteresting and felt rushed. I'm genuinely surprised this game has an 8.6.
  7. tonberry_ftw
    Jun 24, 2023
    0
    Nothing against tales series (enjoyed vesperia, abyss), but overall, this game was a waste of time.

Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Best PS3 Game of 2013
23
#23 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2013
34
#34 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 65 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 65
  3. Negative: 0 out of 65
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 24, 2013
    80
    Tales of Xillia is nothing revolutionary, but if JRPGs are your thing, you'll be more than satisfied, as it has a lot more to offer than one would expect. [Nov 2013]
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    86
    A great RPG adventure with action-packed real-time battles. The characters are interesting, but the main story relies too much on passive anime sequences. [Sept 2013]
  3. Critical Hit
    Oct 1, 2013
    65
    There is nothing inherently wrong with the game, nor is there anything to make me recommend it. If you love JRPGs, you might enjoy this. If not, it will probably reinforce all your negative ideas about JRPGs.
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