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. ocinom
    Aug 8, 2013
    9
    Another satisfying game from the Tales Team. I would appreciate if they included the option for Japanese Voices but never the less this is game delivers the patented Tales experience
  2. C3realkillah
    Aug 8, 2013
    9
    Tales of xillia is in my opinion the best in the tales series I was disappointed with Vesparia as it played awkwardly and looked really cartoonish. Xillia has great anime styled graphics, likeable characters, a good story (which I relly need to play more of) and overall badass dynamic real time rpg styled combat. Seriously the combat alone in this game is enough to warrant a purchase. It'sTales of xillia is in my opinion the best in the tales series I was disappointed with Vesparia as it played awkwardly and looked really cartoonish. Xillia has great anime styled graphics, likeable characters, a good story (which I relly need to play more of) and overall badass dynamic real time rpg styled combat. Seriously the combat alone in this game is enough to warrant a purchase. It's not as complex like star ocean the last hope but it has its own level of style and strategy. The only thing i didnt really like was how the world is very mysterious and not a lot gets explained also some of the va is bad (one girl has a lisp which is AWFUL!) and the graphics though being anime like dont stack up to this generation of graphics which is to be expected because it took forever to release outside of Japan. Overall if anyone likes RPGs or jrpgs in general or just games with a good story,solid fun combat, or even anime I recommend giving this game a shot! The negatives are few and pale in comparison to the rest of what this fantastic game has to offer. 9/10… Expand
  3. Roxas0
    Aug 8, 2013
    10
    I have seen someone is downvoting Xillia with alt accounts, the average user score went down from 9.2 to 8.7 in some minutes!

    Anyway, I have played half of Tale of Xillia and it's already my best jrpg on PS 3, better than Ninokuni and Final Fantasy XIII. The bosses are a lot of fun, and I've connected a lot with the heroes of this game. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a jrpg so    I have seen someone is downvoting Xillia with alt accounts, the average user score went down from 9.2 to 8.7 in some minutes!

    Anyway, I have played half of Tale of Xillia and it's already my best jrpg on PS 3, better than Ninokuni and Final Fantasy XIII. The bosses are a lot of fun, and I've connected a lot with the heroes of this game. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a jrpg so much, it's really polished like a classic from the past generations.    … Expand
  4. Bashton
    Aug 11, 2013
    10
    I'm in love with this game, I have bought it some days ago and I've already tackled more than thirty hours! It's the best Tales game ever released, by far, and possibly the best jrpg on the PS3 system. I love the characters, the story is rich and full of surprises and the fights are fast and have a lot of depth.
  5. ryuzaki57
    Aug 8, 2013
    9
    Being the first Tales of lead-developped for the PS3, Tales of Xillia looks like it comes from a different dimension from Graces or even Vesperia. However, while most of the towns and effects (water and attacks in particular) are among the finest in the genre, field maps have all the same minimalist aspect. Anime-style cutscenes are really getting old horrible in ToGF, those ones improveBeing the first Tales of lead-developped for the PS3, Tales of Xillia looks like it comes from a different dimension from Graces or even Vesperia. However, while most of the towns and effects (water and attacks in particular) are among the finest in the genre, field maps have all the same minimalist aspect. Anime-style cutscenes are really getting old horrible in ToGF, those ones improve a little in Xillia but they make no sense given that the formidable game engine makes wonders in real time cutscenes.

    The battle system is what I liked the most in Tales of Xillia. If I had to quantify it, it would easily make 50% of the (immense) pleasure I had playing the game. Battles in ToV were immersive, awesome in Graces, and ToX actually manages to trenscend both. You choose two characters within the four on the battlefield, one lead (the one you control) and one «partner» who directly assists your lead. The interesting thing is that each character has a special ability as a lead and another as a partner. For exemple, Jude can heal his lead while he will dodge and counterattack as a lead. Furthermore, you can switch between characters in every possible way, leaving room for quite dynamic strategies, which ultimately is very important since all ennemies don't behave the same. But the most striking aspect of Xillia's battles is the link attacks as your overlimits jauge gradually fills, lead and partner will be able to launch powerful joint attacks. Always very impressive, sometimes hilarious or totally over-the-top, they make battles more offensive-oriented and far more spectacular and fiercer than ever. Of course, you can always complain that sidestepping is gone, or that TPs are a pain (not that much actually), but believe me, you forget all that once you start linking link attacks. Of course, the excellent voice acting and sound effects help a lot. Another very good thing is that the auto-item system has been refined to perfection you can now decide the quantity, the priority order and what your allies are allowed to use. To be completely exhaustive with the battles, I must stress that the game is sligthly less difficult than Graces in difficulty «Second» except for an horrible difficulty spike in Millia's story. Luckily, you can switch to another difficulty setting anytime, which allows you to overcome the aforementionned spike (otherwise trust me that the disc would have flown by the window).In Second, Xillia remains a decent challenge with really unforgettable boss fights, but appears a little more humane than ToGF, which was discouraging at some points.

    The story seemed to be the weak point of this iteration. The problem is that it takes something like 40h to get some steam. In the first half of the game, the various events don't really make sense as a whole. In the late stages of the game though, the narration grows really strong and fully coherent, with one of the most revelant message about ecology ever. The personal destiny of each character is efficiently developped as well, which kinda makes up for the slow start. I found the character design of the playable characters pretty good, better than Graces but not as much as Vesperia which had set the bar very high. But where Tales of Xillia is amazing is on the antagonist side Gaius and his buddies are so cool that I though it was a shame to have them as the bad guys. Millia's story took me 70h to complete (including numerous sidequests), I have barely tackled the post-game dungeon and there's still Jude's story Xillia is really generous in the content it offers. Musically speaking, ToX is quite fine, but could have done with more variety.

    Best graphics, best battle system, great characters, great scenario you have here the best Tales of to date.    … Expand
  6. RonaldR
    Aug 10, 2013
    10
    I'm near the end and boy if it wasn't a fantastic ride. While I love jrpgs I hadn't enjoyed the genre so much in years till I tried Graces last year, and I fell in love in a matter of hours. Xillia is even better, with its revamped graphics, Link Artes and fantastic cast of characters, and the plot so far has been great and fast paced. I recommend it to everyone, this isn't just for jrpg fans.
  7. Drake35
    Aug 7, 2013
    8
    My review for Tales of Xillia

    I will also do a video review online I usally do that better.

    Graphics 8.2
    Sound 8.4
    Controls 81.
    Extra's 7.5
    Story 8.0

    Overall 87
  8. Justhere
    Aug 7, 2013
    9
    My first impressions with "Tales of Xillia" were, admittedly, all over the place. I myself have played a variety of these games in the past, ranging from Symphonia on the Gamecube to Vesperia on the 360. I also delved into a section of the game that's not usually used. Multiplayer. I played this game along with a friend and got approximately 5 hours into the game at the moment. These areMy first impressions with "Tales of Xillia" were, admittedly, all over the place. I myself have played a variety of these games in the past, ranging from Symphonia on the Gamecube to Vesperia on the 360. I also delved into a section of the game that's not usually used. Multiplayer. I played this game along with a friend and got approximately 5 hours into the game at the moment. These are my thoughts.

    Tales of Xillia immediately made me feel right at home in the narration. It felt like a Tales game alright, so veterans like myself will notice distinct similarities. That being said, I was surprised when I was given a choice between the main protagonists, Jude and Milla. We chose Jude and moved on. As we got into the plot side of things I won't say anything about it my friend was easily confused. He hasn't played a Tales game before, so it should be noted that this game isn't really a good game for newcomers to use. That's not really the game's fault though; only so much can be explained in so little time.

    When it came time for combat, the basic tutorials were easy to understand so that even my friend could get the basics down. It utilizes a mixture of traditional Symphonia battles with Graces f's CC system, and the flow is pretty good. X button uses simple attacks that cost 1 AC while gaining TP, and the O button uses Artes, which use both TP and 1 AC. Simple combos feel good as you pull them off. When more characters are added to the arsenal, you're introduced to the "Linking" system, which allows you to pair up with a teammate to fight an enemy together. This opens up more combo potentials, and also brings in "Linked Artes" think of them as two people merging a normal arte together to create a stronger arte.

    Then we were introduced to co-operative fighting after getting my own tush thoroughly kicked I'm surprised that not many people talk about this, because the combat in this game just feels so much better when another player or multiple are helping you fight. You can strategize with people, not AI. It adds a whole new element to the game that I simply love. My only gripe about co-operative play is that you can't link with another human player. When you try to, the second player loses control of his character and the AI takes over. Being able to co-ordinate attacks and artes together would've been a great addition and would highlight the multiplayer aspect, but it's sadly missing.

    As for characters and art style, I have no objections here. It certainly feels like a "Tales" game while the graphics are significantly improved. I only met three playable characters in my travels and grinding, and all of them interact with each other well. I've heard people say that Milla's voice acting doesn't fit the character well, but I personally don't see a problem with it.

    Also, I like the new shop system. You find materials and donate them to the store, which in turn gives you discounts and new items. It makes grinding and searching for all of those materials feel useful and not a waste of time (That was one of my main problems of Graces f. The synthesis system for creating items that did nothing except sometimes becoming something valuable just felt like a chore. )

    I see Xillia as a fantastic addition to the "Tales" series. I really hope that Xillia 2 lives up to this game's quality. The multiplayer combat is fun and should really be noticed more. I can't give this game a perfect score, but it's damn near close.    … Expand
  9. Runeforged
    Aug 8, 2013
    9
    As a long time fan of the Tales series I was really hoping Xillia would be much better than the mediocre Graces. I bought a PS3 specifically to enjoy the Tales series and Graces was really not the epic experience I had in mind. Still, I pre-ordered Xillia and now that I have 23 hours on it I can safely say it is one of the best entries in the Tales series. Right up there with Vesperia andAs a long time fan of the Tales series I was really hoping Xillia would be much better than the mediocre Graces. I bought a PS3 specifically to enjoy the Tales series and Graces was really not the epic experience I had in mind. Still, I pre-ordered Xillia and now that I have 23 hours on it I can safely say it is one of the best entries in the Tales series. Right up there with Vesperia and Symphonia.

    There really isn't anything truly wrong with the game. You could nit-pick the graphics being too low res here and there or some corny moments in the story but there are no glaring flaws that act as a detriment to the fun you will have. Xillia had the best iteration of the Tales battle system yet seen. The focus on Linked attacks add's strategy and boy when you pull them off the resulting flashy attack will make ur jaw drop and eyes glitter with yummyness.

    I think some of these critic scores are from people who never much liked Tales in the first place and they just don't 'get' it. The reviews they post are completely biased based on their general dislike for JRPG's.. Don't listen to them. If you are a Tales fan this is easily a must own. If you have not tried the series this is a great starting point. The emphasis on fun is really what makes Xillia stand out among other Tales games, do yourself a favor and pick up this gem. You won't regret it.    … Expand
  10. giancarloflow
    Aug 8, 2013
    10
    excellent, brilliant, wonderfull, is a great game of the tales. s one of the few games I have imported from Japan in my life, and it was totally worth it. The Tales franchise has had its ups and downs, but Xillia is definitely the high point for the series when you think about visuals, systems, story and characters. nice job
  11. SetsunaSeiei
    Aug 6, 2013
    10
    Tales of Xillia is one of the few games I have imported from Japan in my life, and it was totally worth it. The Tales franchise has had its ups and downs, but Xillia is definitely the high point for the series when you think about visuals, systems, story and characters. The world of Rize Maxia is beautiful and vibrant, the characters are well detailed and pleasant, the battles are fastTales of Xillia is one of the few games I have imported from Japan in my life, and it was totally worth it. The Tales franchise has had its ups and downs, but Xillia is definitely the high point for the series when you think about visuals, systems, story and characters. The world of Rize Maxia is beautiful and vibrant, the characters are well detailed and pleasant, the battles are fast rewarding and better than ever thanks to the linking between couples of characters and the way you gain skills in a Sphere Grid makes that even more compelling than in previous games. Cities are a joy to see, and even normal fields are big and full of paths you can take.

    Xillia also has two different adventures depending on who you decide to play as in the beginning (Jude Mathis or Milla Maxwell), and even if the story doesn't change too much I felt more interested in a second run than in most other Japanese RPGs. Now that the game is in English, I think fans of RPG and Tales alike will end up loving it just as I did.    … Expand
  12. zeone222
    Aug 6, 2013
    10
    Tales of Xillia is a great game despite the flaws that it has. It actually makes many improvements that the franchise needed to adopt in order to become more modern such as the inclusion of a movable camera and the removal of dialogue boxes and virtually everything becoming a cutscene. These little presentation changes allows Xillia to be a great package overall and while it's difficult toTales of Xillia is a great game despite the flaws that it has. It actually makes many improvements that the franchise needed to adopt in order to become more modern such as the inclusion of a movable camera and the removal of dialogue boxes and virtually everything becoming a cutscene. These little presentation changes allows Xillia to be a great package overall and while it's difficult to overlook the flaws it does make, the game definitely does more right than it does wrong. If you're an avid RPG gamer and are looking to delve into a very interesting world with characters that are extremely well-developed and a combat system that is action packed to boot, then you should check this game out. NOTE: This game is only released in Japan meaning Japanese efficiency is highly recommended. It is possible to play with translations and little Japanese but you might not receive the full experience possible.… Expand
  13. adrenilinmatt
    Aug 8, 2013
    10
    Absolutely stunning entry into the tales series. It's the same with every takes game, amazing characters, and a beautiful world. Which this has the best of. Im loving it so far, best one since vesperia. Another successful tales game. Cant say I expected any less at all.
  14. Joerpg84
    Aug 6, 2013
    10
    Great characters and story, innovative battle system with the new linking ...prefer this style graphics compared to previous tales! Definitely one of the better JRPGs I have played...even more than Ni No Kuni
  15. John_Milton
    Aug 6, 2013
    10
    While I'm not particularly attached to the Tales of series as a whole, the hours I have been able to spend with this wonderful game have convinced me Xillia should be played by everyone: Tales of fans, Jrpg fans and even those who have abandoned Jrpgs in the last years due to the genre's disappointing presence on consoles.

    Its freshness and ability to capture the best of its genres    While I'm not particularly attached to the Tales of series as a whole, the hours I have been able to spend with this wonderful game have convinced me Xillia should be played by everyone: Tales of fans, Jrpg fans and even those who have abandoned Jrpgs in the last years due to the genre's disappointing presence on consoles.

    Its freshness and ability to capture the best of its genres while innovating its form make it one of the most captivating Japanese games in recent memory. The story is really well written and engaging, having that distinct Japanese flavor without being too cliched, while the combat system brings the series to a new height and offers players a deep, strategical experience that makes every battle a pleasure.    … Expand
  16. dorchas
    Aug 7, 2013
    10
    I have always been a Final Fantasy fan, but Tales of Graces last year made me a believer in Namco's rpg series. While Graces was easily the best game I played in years, the time I have spent with Tales of Xillia (so far I'm at chapter 2 in Jude's scenario) has been so good and rewarding I think it will be my next top dog for quite some time. I especially appreciate the story, the music andI have always been a Final Fantasy fan, but Tales of Graces last year made me a believer in Namco's rpg series. While Graces was easily the best game I played in years, the time I have spent with Tales of Xillia (so far I'm at chapter 2 in Jude's scenario) has been so good and rewarding I think it will be my next top dog for quite some time. I especially appreciate the story, the music and the overworld you travel in, those are big improvements over Graces. I haven't even finished the game and I already wish I had Xillia 2 to start immediately after it.… Expand
  17. ZackKarpel
    Aug 6, 2013
    10
    this game is beyond too much fun. I have not had so much fun in a game in YEARS and that's saying something. I am a tales fanatic and after the disappointing failure of TO:graces f i am happy to say this game is an absolute MASTERPIECE! I hope you all enjoy this game as much as i do.
  18. Guitarist500
    Aug 7, 2013
    10
    It has a perfect battle system that is surprisingly better and fluid compared to previous entry Tales of Graces along with a better story that is actually a close call to becoming my personal favourite in the series. Although Tales of Xillia is the first in the main series to not feature Hibiki Aoyama/Shinji Tamura, Motoi Sakuraba changes the music direction in a much more mature, darkerIt has a perfect battle system that is surprisingly better and fluid compared to previous entry Tales of Graces along with a better story that is actually a close call to becoming my personal favourite in the series. Although Tales of Xillia is the first in the main series to not feature Hibiki Aoyama/Shinji Tamura, Motoi Sakuraba changes the music direction in a much more mature, darker turn that is very welcome. This game is simply the most fun and addicting 'Tales of' game I've played for quite a while. ...And how could anyone not love and adore Milla?… Expand
  19. Alphoxiel
    Aug 25, 2013
    10
    Deep cast. Brilliant art. Dark story. Lovely humor. 10 Deserved game.
    It feels as if playing marvel vs capcom in battles. The story went in a great pace.
    I just found a lone tales of xillia copy from bestbuy, thinking wow it's the limited edition version and i like jrpgs, but should I spend 60 bucks? nawwww--who am i kidding. Played it, then mind blew.
  20. ryuuhei
    Aug 16, 2013
    10
    Although I have not been very fond of the Tales of series, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and it stands among not only as my number one RPG, but also somewhere in my personal top five favorite games of all time. I played through both stories alone and with a friend (more on that later). It is possible to change the difficulty at anytime outside of battle, which makes any necessary grindingAlthough I have not been very fond of the Tales of series, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and it stands among not only as my number one RPG, but also somewhere in my personal top five favorite games of all time. I played through both stories alone and with a friend (more on that later). It is possible to change the difficulty at anytime outside of battle, which makes any necessary grinding a breeze, but there was only ever one point in both playthroughs that I actually grinded, and the combat flowing so easily (It is NOT a turn-based game, it's all real-time) meant I never lowered the difficulty past the "Moderate" setting (above normal, but under hard). As a side note, the multiplayer is NOT online, you can only turn on a second-fourth controller and set the characters in that slot to "Manual" or have the other players press "select" once or twice and they can drop-in and out at any given point in battle. Not necessary, but a neat feature that only increased how much fun I had with this.… Expand
  21. tallanx
    Aug 30, 2013
    9
    Really good game. I've lost a lot of sleep during a busy period at work, got told of because I was late a few days in a row. All because I couldn't stop playing. All the stuff you normally expect from a Tales game are here, fun combat, undine, skits etc. I'm not finished yet, but the story so far is quite interesting. Although as usual, the first hour or so you get confused by all theReally good game. I've lost a lot of sleep during a busy period at work, got told of because I was late a few days in a row. All because I couldn't stop playing. All the stuff you normally expect from a Tales game are here, fun combat, undine, skits etc. I'm not finished yet, but the story so far is quite interesting. Although as usual, the first hour or so you get confused by all the unfamiliar in-universe terms they use in the dialogue. That's to be expected from RPG games.

    But no game is perfect. The negative points I can think of are that while the actual voices fit most of the characters quite well, the delivery could use some work in some places/lines. Milla's way of speaking can be a bit annoying, but it makes sense when taken in context of the story.

    The shop expansion system is both great and bad. It's great because it allows me to grind really good equipment really early on. And it's bad for the exact same reason.

    The battle music can get annoying after a while, but I will always find that to be the case no matter what game I'm playing because I often like to grind and outlevel the monsters. When I'm playing normally and not deliberately grinding, the battle music is fine.    … Expand
  22. logaems
    Aug 23, 2013
    9
    The biggest surprise of the year for me. I didn't expect much & what did I get The best battle system for an action jrpg on ps3, great funny characters, good chara design & a good story.

    Very few low points: - Average graphics - Some weird interractions between characters ("I want to kill you" then "Lets be friends" in 5 seconds ...) I played FF13, FF13-2, Eternal Sonata but ToX    The biggest surprise of the year for me. I didn't expect much & what did I get The best battle system for an action jrpg on ps3, great funny characters, good chara design & a good story.

    Very few low points:
    - Average graphics
    - Some weird interractions between characters ("I want to kill you" then "Lets be friends" in 5 seconds ...)

    I played FF13, FF13-2, Eternal Sonata but ToX is my reference for PS3    … Expand
  23. ExCyReX
    Aug 24, 2013
    10
    I first played tales of graces and it was amazing, normally i'm not in 2 this kind of games but it just blew me away. And now after playing tales of xillia i just can't wait for the next title. Story line is great, i love the combat system. It's just amazing.
  24. boshi
    Aug 28, 2013
    10
    i'm not usually amazed by games from the tales series. i disliked dawn of a new world,. and thought graces F and vesperia were alright. this game is by far the best tales game, that i've played. the music is good, gameplay is fun, and the story is great albiet a little confusing at times
  25. MisterNoodles
    Aug 31, 2013
    8
    First of all I would like to say this game is freakin' awesome! It is so good I can't wait for Tales of Xillia 2 to come out. With that out the way I can begin this review. Story: The story is amazing and truly something you wouldn't expect. It can be kinda predictable at times, but beyond the that the story is solid and well thought out. The character development is some the best I haveFirst of all I would like to say this game is freakin' awesome! It is so good I can't wait for Tales of Xillia 2 to come out. With that out the way I can begin this review. Story: The story is amazing and truly something you wouldn't expect. It can be kinda predictable at times, but beyond the that the story is solid and well thought out. The character development is some the best I have seen in any game. This game takes all the good and cool characters' personalities from all the other Tales games and makes them fresh and new. And don't even get me started on the development these characters undergo. During the final fight you can see how every single party member has changed and it just adds on to the epicness that is the ending. Plus both Jude and Milla have quite different storylines which are both worth playing through. The game has a lot of sidequests and events that go off from the mainstory. It even has some quite humorous moments riddle in throughout the game. So overall the story was amazingly well executed. Gameplay: Now the combat isn't hugely different from the other Tales game, but needless to say it is still pretty fun and enjoyable. I loved the return of the old skill system and the skill tree is amazing! Plus the whole switching of characters that are off the battlefield is extremely cool and well done. The overworld isn't the greatest and could have been more opened up and needed a little bit more variety. The difficulty isn't extremely hard, but there will be a few boss battles that take extra 2 or 3 tries, unless you play on hard or unknown. But all that said the gameplay is still fun and rarely get's boring. Music/Graphics: The music in the game is great and really sets the mood for the adventure. Graphic wise it could use some improvements, but it came out originally in 2011 so it can be forgiven, plus graphics don't really make a game that much better or worse in any circumstance. Overall the music and graphics are great and work well for the game and everybody's gotta love those animated cutscenes. Improvements: The game has made many improvements over Tales of Graces F. Story wise and gameplay are a great deal better in Tales of Xillia. The leveling systems is more complex, more character development, a lot more sidequests, cutscenes are better, and the new mechanic of linking artes is amazing. There are many more improvements, but I won't get into those or we'd be here all day. Negatives: Now there aren't many negatives about the game besides two. 1. The games mainstoryline feels shorter in comparison to the other by about 5-10 hours. I beat the game in about 37 hours with half the sidequests completed. Tales of Graces F is 50 hours long, but it has extra 10 hours of gameplay due to DLC. Overall it isn't a huge difference, but I really wanted an extra 3 hours. Though if you count both Jude and Milla's story it's about a total of about 74 hours so ya. 2. This ones a bit more nitpicky, but when your allies die in say a boss fight and you don't revive them they don't gain XP. This can become annoying, because in my game Rowan died during a boss battle and fell two levels behind everyone. This made him less useful in the final battle. In the end of the day though Tales of Xillia is probably my 2nd favorite Tales game and my favorite game of 2013. It is fun, addicting, and well worth the money. 10/10.… Expand
  26. BasilZero
    Dec 8, 2021
    9
    Game: Tales of Xillia
    Genre: Action RPG
    Developer: Namco Tales Studios Publisher: Bandai Namco System: Playstation 3 (PS3) Year of Release: 2013 Length of Playthrough: 46 hours Total Score: 87/100 Value Score: 8.7/10 • Story: 7/10 • Characters: 8/10 • GamePlay: 8/10 • Graphics: 9/10 • Sound: 10/10 • Music: 8/10 • Length: 9/10 • Replay Value: 10/10 • Player Value: 8/10    Game: Tales of Xillia
    Genre: Action RPG
    Developer: Namco Tales Studios
    Publisher: Bandai Namco
    System: Playstation 3 (PS3)
    Year of Release: 2013
    Length of Playthrough: 46 hours

    Total Score: 87/100
    Value Score: 8.7/10

    • Story: 7/10
    • Characters: 8/10
    • GamePlay: 8/10
    • Graphics: 9/10
    • Sound: 10/10
    • Music: 8/10
    • Length: 9/10
    • Replay Value: 10/10
    • Player Value: 8/10

    Pros
    +Great combat system
    +Great visual design
    +Good music and sound effects
    +Good voice acting and cast of characters
    +Plenty of side quests and a decent post game dungeon
    +Decent length for a tales series game - takes about 45-50 hours

    Cons
    -Boring and generic maps and dungeon designs
    -Story falls flat at the end with no sense of satisfaction    … Expand
  27. Kenmei
    Jan 20, 2014
    9
    This was the game that revived the interest in the Tales series in Japan and, to a lesser extent, the US. The game tells the tale of Jude Mathis and Millia Maxwell, with two branching storylines, depending on which character you choose to follow. While the majority of the game is the same, there are certain points that change depending on which character you started with. The story isThis was the game that revived the interest in the Tales series in Japan and, to a lesser extent, the US. The game tells the tale of Jude Mathis and Millia Maxwell, with two branching storylines, depending on which character you choose to follow. While the majority of the game is the same, there are certain points that change depending on which character you started with. The story is great and, while the characters are nowhere near as good as they were in Vesperia, the cast does an admirable job telling the story, which is probably the best story in a Tales game in a long time. There are some things that that don't hold up well, including some of the voice acting (espcially Millia's VA who has a permanent lipse throughout the entire game), and the fact that it doesn't do a good job telling you where to go to move the story forward, at times. I got lost a couple of times trying to find the next point in the story and that should not happen in today's gaming world. Still, there's a reason why this game is lauded in the Tales series, as it's easily the best JRPG to come out in the US last year and something I highly recommend everyone play, especially with the release of Xillia 2 later this year. The Tales series is one of my favorite in gaming and I definitely did love this game. It's just not perfect like alot of people will make it out to be.… Expand
  28. mongoman
    Nov 22, 2013
    9
    This is a long satisfying RPG that slowly grabs hold of you and never lets go. The characters are interesting, the story is interesting, the graphics are good, and the controls are super easy to learn. At first I was dumbfounded by the battle system (this is my first "tales of" experience) but I quickly got the hang of it and now its second nature. I honestly cant remember enjoying a RPGThis is a long satisfying RPG that slowly grabs hold of you and never lets go. The characters are interesting, the story is interesting, the graphics are good, and the controls are super easy to learn. At first I was dumbfounded by the battle system (this is my first "tales of" experience) but I quickly got the hang of it and now its second nature. I honestly cant remember enjoying a RPG this much since the PSone glory days. you choose between one of two characters to play as and each character lives the story from a different view, so you essentially get a different playthrough the second time around. I gave this game a 9 because I'm not a fan of constant grinding to level up in preparation for a boss fight but the battle system here alleviates a ton of the frustration, also the some of the character development options in the menu system are very confusing. I was twenty hours into the game before I realized several powerful moves had been unlocked for my characters to use in battle.Overall its a great game and definitely worth the money.… Expand
  29. Friendzie
    Jan 7, 2014
    9
    This is the cream of the crop for JRPGs in recent years. The story doesn't degenerate into some weird spiritual battle against some ultimate evil. In fact, the last boss of the game is not even a bad guy, really. He's just a guy who slightly disagrees with you about how to best help the world. Great game that defies many cliches. The battle system is a lot more active and engaging than theThis is the cream of the crop for JRPGs in recent years. The story doesn't degenerate into some weird spiritual battle against some ultimate evil. In fact, the last boss of the game is not even a bad guy, really. He's just a guy who slightly disagrees with you about how to best help the world. Great game that defies many cliches. The battle system is a lot more active and engaging than the average RPG, as well. I'll only take off one point for the way battles can occasionally feel like you're just mashing buttons, but overall this is a solid game worth owning for any RPG fan.… Expand
  30. KyoSiegfried86
    Oct 15, 2013
    9
    Tales of Xillia is pretty important to the Tales saga, finally combining both studios and changing something. Xillia feels the true next-gen Tales game.

    -STORY- Xillia's story is.... ok. It will pretty difficult for you to not find clichès all over the plot, and characters are what an anime/manga fan has already seen tons of times. They're ok, still, all of them have a good importance    Tales of Xillia is pretty important to the Tales saga, finally combining both studios and changing something. Xillia feels the true next-gen Tales game.

    -STORY-
    Xillia's story is.... ok. It will pretty difficult for you to not find clichès all over the plot, and characters are what an anime/manga fan has already seen tons of times. They're ok, still, all of them have a good importance in the plot and have their own reasons to come along.
    Story can be seen through the eye of one of the two protagonists: the choice is at the beginning of the game. In 90% of the game, the two protagonists are together so you'll see the same exact thing. However, in that 10% of the game, you'll going to learn something better about the past of the protagonist chosen or other characters involved with him. Choosing Jude can be better for the first run, since it is always present during important speeches in the game.

    -GAMEPLAY-
    Xillia has changed something to the Tales saga's popular recipe: now the camera is manual. You'll explore big areas, populated by monsters (you can see and evade them), and there are tons of secrets, passages, treasure chests all over the place, giving you a lot to explore. Development system is pretty unique,too: every time you level up, you'll gain particular points to spend in a spider web-like menu, where you can freely upgrade your stats and learn artes following the web connections: this is good, you can give priority to the stats/artes you think are most useful. Companion AI is pretty good too, since you have to chance to customize it in a very simple way, yet very complete.
    And now, battle system: the battles are a mix between Vesperia/Abyss and Graces, you can move freely, still the camera prefers the one on one approach; fighting is easy, and there are a lot of combinations between normal attacks and artes, giving you a lot of combo to invent and have fun. This button mashing type of fighting is balanced by a good strategy option offered by the link: with this feature, you can have characters work in pairs, giving special abilities like guard break, time stop etc. all enemies has a weakness to exploit using this link system.
    However, the game is really easy (on normal), and you'll probably find to effectively use this feature only during boss fights.
    There's a flaw, however, and it regards the shop system: shops are divided in categories, you can upgrade each category by giving them objects (easy to find objects), when the shop level up you'll have the possibility to buy new equipment or have discounts, This is really good, except for the fact that leveling the shops (finding the objects) are SO easy that you can destroy the game difficulty in just a couple hours.
    Tales fans might be upset to know that cooking is gone... now you just buy food just like any other object.

    -GRAPHICS-
    On the graphic note, Xillia is meh. It's worse than Vesperia, and better than Graces F. However this may be due to the fact that the game finally uses manual camera, but somehow the graphics seems a bit outdated. Technically the game has a pretty stable frame-rate, you'll get only some issue during really really chaotic situations.

    -SOUND-
    Sound is just ok. Music is good, but there aren't lot of tracks so it repeat itself quite often. Voice acting is a mixed bag, but overall good. You can play with Japanese voices too, so it's not really a problem, I guess.

    -GAME LENGTH AND REPLAY VALUE-
    Game story is pretty long, and if you play it while exploring the areas you'll finish the game in probably 60-70 hours. There are a lot of sidequest, most of them pretty useless, but some of them really helpful. Overall your experience will be 100+ hours.
    You may want to replay it, too, by choosing the other character at the beginning (they have a small different ending).

    -CONCLUSION-
    Somehow, Xillia can be seen as the best Tales of ever created. However, some flaws in the shop system, and a well-known plot ruined the title of "best". It deserves a 9 imho.    … Expand
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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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