If you’re in the market for a JRPG, it seems Namco Bandai have now got you covered. With Ni No Kuni released last year to a resounding success through both critics and fans alike, Namco have decided to finally localise one of the most popular franchises in Japan, Tales of Xillia. After not only having been out for two years in Japan, but also warranting a sequel, let’s see what all the fuss is about.

Are JRPG’s slowly making their return to the mainstream? Definitely becoming more accessible as time goes by, they still hold the fundamentals of what made them such a punishing genre in the first place. From the off, you are given a choice of character, although not particularly game changing, if you want to see everything the narrative has to offer, it does mean two playthroughs. Instead of the almost supernaturally mysterious Milla, I plumped for the promising young medical student named Jude, filled with both hope and guile, he eventually bumps into the alternate starting choice Milla whilst exploring the first dungeon.

After a veritable bevy of cut scenes and plenty of leg stretching later, you get introduced to the slightly revamped battle system. Dubbed the ‘Dual Raid Linear Motion Battle System’ it revolves around linking characters and Artes. Essentially your magic, Artes are acquired via levelling up. Linked characters attempt to fight together as a team with each combination having different effects, some strive to cover your rear and flank around the enemy, whilst others will protect you from magic attacks. Each teammate also has a certain affinity for enemy types and will be vastly more efficient whilst attacking them. Micro managing is encouraged to get the most out of exploiting the enemies weaknesses using this technique.

Along with fighting aside your new best buddy, there are other benefits on offer too. Linking Artes is a quick way to dispatch powerful monsters with ease, only certain skills can be linked with specific characters however so setting up moves in advance is necessary. Once unleashed, your Artes can be chained with a press of a button and providing the link meter has been filled, an unlimited amount can be performed in the same combo. Dealing devastating damage is not the only purpose though, healing spells can also be chained to create a field of rejuvenation for you and your squad.

In an attempt to create a unique party for each player, the developers have included a level-up system not too far fetched from Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid. In much the same vain, players, after a while, can choose to specialise their characters a little. Driving your main damage dealer down the vitality and physical attack routes is an obvious choice, but a little more thought is required when dealing with the half magic, half physical characters such as Jude, the protagonist. After levelling up, Artes and skills have to be set in order for them to contribute. Skills differ from Artes in that they comprise of passive bonuses; these can be directly combat related such as altering performable combos, or instead, offer out of battle health regen. Early on, not all skills can be equipped as they each have a value assigned to them, level up points can be spent to increase the pool however, making a surprising difference later on when everything is equipped.

Due to only being in control of one character at a time during battle, it stands to good reason that some form of AI control has been implemented. Reminiscent of the gambit system on FFXII, Tales of Xillia let’s you select and alter certain parameters such as target prioritisation, item usage, what to do when the TP (mana) reserves inevitably run dry. Switching playable characters on the fly is a simple tap of the d-pad away; because of the free movement, attacks can be freely dodged if you’re in a bit of a bind. Blocking works well, yet it’s worth noting however that the responsiveness of the guard is intentionally slow. You must read the enemies movements and reactions to fully utilise the timing. Especially useful  if you play as Jude as, if performed correctly, you can not only negate the enemy attack completely, but also teleport behind, leaving them wide open to potential counter attacks and an overall good thrashing.

However enthralling the main quest line is, the real meat of a JRPG lies in the side-quests and Xillia doesn’t disappoint. Offering many (entirely) missable distractions, mostly involving backtracking through a previously completed dungeon in the typical JRPG way. Later on, after having access to a fast travel, these become significantly less tedious. Perhaps not quite as tedious as the rewards however. Much of your hard work is received with welcome cash, irritatingly spelt ‘gald’ along with a decoration to adorn your party members with. These can range from embarrassing to just plain daft, dog tails, drippy noses, aviators and more of this ilk can all be yours… Getting into the routine of checking every potential quest giver in every visited town after every completed main quest does grate however. For a completionist kinda guy, the rate at which you can miss vast quantities of missions in a game is fairly infuriating.

Despite this game originally being released some two years back, the anime art style still looks fresh and well detailed in the ‘proper’ cut scenes, the actual game is showing it’s age however. Towns are desolate until the pop-in catches up; the wilderness unfortunately lacks in detail, style and imagination. The one blessing is that load times are cut to a minimum, whilst often fast travelling, searching for another elusive quest or a hard sought after item, the down time is always less than you might expect. Shopping, a favourite past time of many an adventurer is done in an interesting way, instead of the shops naturally progressing within the game, you must donate either items or money to level them up, therefore giving you access to the more powerful inventories.

Tales of Xillia comes across as the definition of ‘generic JRPG’; that’s not a particularly bad thing, it just doesn’t attempt anything new or daring to entice newcomers to the genre. Everything you might expect is here, long cut-scenes, grinding levels, party isolation, backtracking and levelling up are all present and proud. For a lot of people, that’s exactly what they want, but for me, a little innovation could go a long way.

Reviewed on PS3. standardisation