×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
GAME: Tales of Xillia


Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
dan9999



Joined: 25 Oct 2011
Posts: 648
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:44 am Reply with quote
ATastySub wrote:
You're not a completionist yet you disagree with the review because you think the reviewer should play on unknown difficulty and 100% the game?


I am not longer arguing the review.


My last comment is directed specifically to a user comment not the reviewer, for the reviewer I already said all I wanted to and NEVER once I said he had to choose the hardest difficulty or do 100% of sidequests.


Let me help you see who I was directing my last comment to:

DG_Nick wrote:
Could it be that you guys are just terrible at actually playing RPGs? Maybe that's why it's taking you so long to beat a short game.


I said it depends on the type of player, if one is completionist, if one loves the challenge, thats why clock time varies from player to player, more clock time does not men one sucks. Definitely no when you can even choose easy difficultly if you you merely want to relax.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 19 Jan 2012
Posts: 639
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:05 am Reply with quote
dan9999 wrote:

So for me at the least the minimum you can account for length in the tales are: story + story subevents + skits (core features of any tales game).


So you changed your mind since you said side quests and fluff are mandatory?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:13 am Reply with quote
The side (sub) quests aren't mandatory to form an opinion of the game, but many of them add to what you can get out of the game. Some are nothing more than fetch-quests, but others add to what we know about the characters, and some provide useful items you wouldn't get otherwise.

If you're the sort of person who wants to get a lot out of your game, then doing the sub-quests is, if not mandatory, a very good idea.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime My Manga
ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 19 Jan 2012
Posts: 639
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:22 am Reply with quote
Yeah I remember doing lots of them in past Tales games, but only for the few characters I actually liked. Which, considering Tales characters, have been pretty few indeed. The draw to me has always been the combat, but even it gets boring after too long so dragging the game on further risked me never finishing them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dan9999



Joined: 25 Oct 2011
Posts: 648
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:20 pm Reply with quote
ATastySub wrote:
dan9999 wrote:

So for me at the least the minimum you can account for length in the tales are: story + story subevents + skits (core features of any tales game).


So you changed your mind since you said side quests and fluff are mandatory?


No, again, your want to argue with me and dont bother reading what I already said.

Most of Tales sidequests are story and character development driven, while I did not count them, probably 60-70% of sidequesta in most Tales games relate to the story and characters, they should count toward game length, by game length I have always meant story length ONLY, as overall length can vary a lot depending on the type of player and I already said why, they are an integral part of the story, if you skip them you are missing on a big chunk of the story, plain and simple, if you are doing a proper review and judge the game without those your are only doing it superficially and based only on a part of the complete story and without really knowing the characters at all, a big chunk of character developed, their backstories and game story is via those side-quests and their personality is further addressed via the skits.

Seriously am I the only one here that really has experience with the Tales series? or that really like them? Yet, as I said, I play them for story and characters, so I dont do treasure hunting or do much of the challenges like fighting overpowered bosses or extra dungeons.

Someone that has played most, or a few at least know how important "sidequests" and "skits" (sidequests are not simply pointelss fetching and beat x monster types, there are but they are the minority), both non mandatory and skipable yes, but for a tales game, those are core features, and while you can skip them they are not meant not, and much less if you will properly judge the game and will influence others about buying it or not.

My main concern with this review has been the length, as most tales fans that are influenced by reviews can see this about being 30 hours and think its really short an skip it, sure, like I said, rush and 30 hours seem about right, maybe even less if you use the easiest difficulty and avoid most battles via holy bottles, but at least make it clear that the sidequests which provide more story and character development will further expand the length of the game (again, I am talking exclusively story length) and that there is another playthrough you need to do to uncover more story, once you make those all things clear that in most cases matter for a tales fan you will notice is not 30 hours only, but around 40 or more for a normal easy playthrough and finish the story completely. From there it can only go up in time if you are a dedicated player or completionist.

Game length matters for rpgs, because most of us rpg fans care about game length time, and sure thing a a short rpg most of the time is disappointing for most of us.

Check previous posts about what other players are reporting clocking in their Xillia playthrough, and you will see it goes in accordance with what I am trying to convey here.

It CAN LOOK SHORT indeed, but the review failed to say why: 1)no backtracking and no foot work to do like other tales game 2)No puzzles, this is need mentioned 3)You can teleport anywhere: dungeon, fields, towns, with 2 small button pressings, those 3 alone add quite a number of hours to the clock in tales games, but those merely increase time artificially, its most of the time no quality time spend on the actual game, last 4)You need to do another playthrough to see the whole story and get exclusive character story subevents. I can even argue todays rpgs are so short because in the past it I could easily clock 60 or more hours! Sure thing, but many hours were wasted on those annoying random battles that happened every few steps!

I played the japanese game as well, and I did a barebones playthorugh, easiest difficulty, skipping most sidequets, minus those that happened naturally, skipped battles here and there, and indeed it took me I think 27 or 28 hours, so when I saw it mentioned in the review I got the impression is was based on a rushed playthrough and trashing it to boot, sure thing, there are annoyances and its not the best and finest tales game but its not as bad as it sounds and much less as short as HALF other tales games, I wanted to make this clear for others that are still thinking in buying it and do so based mainly on reviews.

After this wall of text I am now done with this topic.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:16 pm Reply with quote
I went into this game a week after finishing graces f, and I must say that xillia is a masterpiece compared to that other piece of crap. I think the story was decent, the characters weren't annoying and I really enjoyed the fighting system. Plus I think Jude is my favorite tales character to come out thus far.

I think xillia is the best rpg for the ps3 that I played in the last 2 years or so. I like it, is what I'm trying to say. I don't see it being inferior to something like "the last of us" since they're completely different (yet people call those games masterpieces). If you like JRPGs, xillia delivers--you will have much more fun playing it than buying yet another shooter which gets over-hyped and rated 9/10
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rahxephon91



Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 1859
Location: Park Forest IL.
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:55 pm Reply with quote
I like how these threads devolve into strange western/shooter game bashing. Can't you just enjoy you're little jrpg?

And yep don't play the same shooter, play this same old same old Tales game. That's so much better.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime
Lady Multi



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 673
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 12:00 am Reply with quote
Ambimunch wrote:


I think xillia is the best rpg for the ps3 that I played in the last 2 years or so. I like it, is what I'm trying to say.


Have you tried the Atelier series? They make for some interesting gaming in the JRPG genre for PS3.


Quote:
I don't see it being inferior to something like "the last of us" since they're completely different (yet people call those games masterpieces).


I don't like it myself when people compare games of two different genre of games. I try to compare games only with games that of their genre but my higher love always goes to JRPGs for that's the genre I most play.
...The Last of Us was an AWESOME game for an Action game.

...Tales of Xillia was a great game for a JRPG. The only game I'll compare it to for the year will be Ni no Kuni, Disgaea D2, Kingdom Hearts 1.5, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 for they're in the same genre.

Tales of Xillia isn't going to take the top spot for JRPGs for 2013 but I think it should, at least, be in the top 3.

....Heck, even with how great Ni no Kuni was, I wouldn't even give it the top spot due how the game continued even after what-should-have-been-the-ending happened. The entire end boss could've been completely removed from the game, imo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 12:54 am Reply with quote
Lady Multi wrote:

....Heck, even with how great Ni no Kuni was, I wouldn't even give it the top spot due how the game continued even after what-should-have-been-the-ending happened. The entire end boss could've been completely removed from the game, imo.


IIRC, that first was the original ending. They added the extra ending for the PS3, though it was kinda the same grief story as the first.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Danette-Anime-Otaku



Joined: 09 Feb 2011
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:04 am Reply with quote
"If we go by extremes, Xillia is one of the least irritating Tales games..."

Irritating? I don't consider the Tales games to be irritating at all, or at least the ones I've played. Sounds like this person doesn't like Tales games to begin with.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bravetailor



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 12:44 pm Reply with quote
Danette-Anime-Otaku wrote:
"If we go by extremes, Xillia is one of the least irritating Tales games..."

Irritating? I don't consider the Tales games to be irritating at all, or at least the ones I've played. Sounds like this person doesn't like Tales games to begin with.


If the only other one you played was Abyss, I could see you perceiving them as irritating.

(Spoken as someone who still likes Abyss.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
lostrune



Joined: 09 Jun 2012
Posts: 313
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:09 pm Reply with quote
Ambimunch wrote:
I think xillia is the best rpg for the ps3 that I played in the last 2 years or so. I like it, is what I'm trying to say. I don't see it being inferior to something like "the last of us" since they're completely different (yet people call those games masterpieces)


J-Devs are generally not in bed with gaming journalism in the west so there's less pressure from sites to talk them up as masterpieces since they get no money from it. Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rahxephon91



Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 1859
Location: Park Forest IL.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:20 pm Reply with quote
lostrune wrote:
Ambimunch wrote:
I think xillia is the best rpg for the ps3 that I played in the last 2 years or so. I like it, is what I'm trying to say. I don't see it being inferior to something like "the last of us" since they're completely different (yet people call those games masterpieces)


J-Devs are generally not in bed with gaming journalism in the west so there's less pressure from sites to talk them up as masterpieces since they get no money from it. Laughing
Yep that's it. It's all a conspiracy as to why western games get good reviews.

I wonder, do you have an actual direct proof of this? I sure hope it's not "derp look at ad space" because well does that explain why Ni No Kuni and this bland Tales game got good reviews in the western press as well? Because Namco paid people? Usually when people pull this argument it's targeted at games they don't like and ignores when a game they like also receives good reviews. basicly it's an argument to use only when it suits them. basically, only an argument an idiot uses.

But hey I guess it's better to ignore the idea that Japanese companies pay off Japanese publications like Famitsu just as well.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime
Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:51 pm Reply with quote
Rahxephon91 wrote:
I like how these threads devolve into strange western/shooter game bashing. Can't you just enjoy you're little jrpg?

And yep don't play the same shooter, play this same old same old Tales game. That's so much better.



Well thats my point kinda. Same old shooters get same old 9/10 review scores. Yet same old tales games get lower reviews for being "the same old shit" if you get my drift.

I don't have beef with shooters, simply because I don't play any. I tried the last of us, because it got hyped, and I wasnt that impressed. People shouldn't rely on review scores imo. If a person wants to try xillia, they should give it a go (even though its review is shit). On the other hand, people might give some other shooter a try that got a good review and they wont enjoy it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rahxephon91



Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 1859
Location: Park Forest IL.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:14 pm Reply with quote
So you don't play shooters and accuse reviewers of unfairly giving them good reviews because you think they are samey?

Ok, that dosen't make much sense.

And regardless, it's not like Xilla has even gotten bad reviews from western media. It's all mostly been positive. The weakest one I've seen is well from this website, which fans here want to discredit because of the length part and ignore most of the other more valid complaints.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9  Next
Page 5 of 9

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group