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[raven777]

Nobody played xillia 2? It seems there's a near unanimous disdain for xillia 1, but its odd to see even the usual importers not mention the sequel, is it just that the battle system is the same? Is it ever coming stateside? I'm actually more hyped for xillia 2 than this, the main character looks like a goof goof whose gonna do goof goof things like the dude from graces, I just could no longer deal with the choices the main character made and reactions, they're setting this up to be some similar stuff with the rivals nonsense, I hope I'm wrong.

I haven't played Xillia 2 yet, but from what I heard.

-it is coming to the stateside
-battle system is based on xillia 1 with few improvements
-the story is A LOT better than xillia 1
-there is still a lot of assets that are copy&paste from xillia 1


I am very excited for xillia 2 as well.

 

[Sandfox]

I haven't played Xillia 2 yet, but from what I heard.

-it is coming to the stateside
-battle system is based on xillia 1 with few improvements
-the story is A LOT better than xillia 1
-there is still a lot of assets that are copy&paste from xillia 1


I am very excited for xillia 2 as well.

From what I've heard the game is balanced for a mechanic that only the main character has which throws things off if you play other characters, and there's also a loan type thing in the game where you're being nagged to pay back money.

 

[NoirVisage]

I haven't played Xillia 2 yet, but from what I heard.

-it is coming to the stateside
-battle system is based on xillia 1 with few improvements
-the story is A LOT better than xillia 1
-there is still a lot of assets that are copy&paste from xillia 1


I am very excited for xillia 2 as well.

Cool, glad I'm not the only one, I never plan to finish the first xillia (stopped playing somewhere after the tutorial dungeoun, so it'll be all new to me for the most part!

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Did I read ( Graces Like ) ?!

OMG ;_;

 

[keisuke999]

Tales of Graces Battle System?!

 

[keisuke999]

double post.

will connect balls to car battery in repentance.

 

[iavi]

Cool, glad I'm not the only one, I never plan to finish the first xillia (stopped playing somewhere after the tutorial dungeoun, so it'll be all new to me for the most part!

For what it's worth; Xillia's story gets 10x better outside the slooooooooooow intro. That game takes a second to get going, but once it does, it finds itself one of the better Tales plots. It's not even good, 'for a Tales,' it's actually just pretty good.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Graces battle system?

Well, there goes my interest in Zestiria. I really disliked the weird sidestepping limited movement system of Graces, so I'm certainly not paying for that twice in my life.

 

[keisuke999]

Graces battle system?

Well, there goes my interest in Zestiria. I really disliked the weird sidestepping limited movement system of Graces, so I'm certainly not paying for that twice in my life.

To be fair, it's only BASED on Graces. Will most likely be improved.

 

[raven777]

From what I've heard the game is balanced for a mechanic that only the main character has which throws things off if you play other characters, and there's also a loan type thing in the game where you're being nagged to pay back money.

Not sure about the main character focus but I won't be surprised. In Xillia 1, the link artes were mostly focused on Jude and Milla as well. Heard a lot about the loan system, and how much people hating that.

Cool, glad I'm not the only one, I never plan to finish the first xillia (stopped playing somewhere after the tutorial dungeoun, so it'll be all new to me for the most part!

Yea I think it could be better to skip 1, so you won't feel as repetitive. But you might miss out on some story elements (not so much I heard, but still you will miss little things)

 

[demidar]

Want information about character growth/progression system now.

 

[Labadal]

I still think everything I have seen of the game looks poor. That doesn't matter if the combat is indeed by Graces f.

 

[Ravage]

OMG Yes!! Words can't describe how excited I am right now.

 

[Amon37]

The main characters head and face? Something not right compared to the others.

 

[AkelisRain]

This couldn't come fast enough, be still my heart.

 

[Heyt]

Tales of Graces has the best battle systems and overall system design I have seen on a RPG. This game could be really huge if they nail every other thing. Being directed by the same guy that did Vesperia brings a lot of hope.

Do we know who's writing the script?

 

[bonercop]

I might be the only person in the world who preferred Xillia's battle system to Graces(though Graces was much better at everything else system-wise).

I liked how you couldn't easily stagger the bosses in Xillia and how you had to actually play defensively for once in a tales game. Jude's snap-pivot made playing defensively super-fun. Graces F on the other hand, As shown in the video in the OP, felt like I was just constantly pulling out eleventy-gazillion combos in every battle and overwhelming enemies.

 

[iavi]

I might be the only person in the world who preferred Xillia's battle system to Graces(though Graces was much better at everything else system-wise).

I liked how you couldn't easily stagger the bosses in Xillia and how you had to actually play defensively for once. As shown in the video in the OP, Graces F felt like I was just had constantly pulling out eleventy-gazillion combos in every battle.

I was with you till you said you had to play Xillia defensively. In Xillia there is Jude, the broken, snap-pivoting, arte-chaining, savage destroyer of all minor enemy and every boss, and then there's everything else. The best and only defense was an offensive onslaught.

Every Tales combat-system is going to feel like a step down after manning that beast.

 

[FSLink]

I was with you till you said you had to play Xillia defensively. In Xillia there is Jude, the broken, snap-pivoting, arte-chaining, savage destroyer of all minor enemy and every boss, and then there's everything else. The best and only defense was an offensive onslaught.

Every Tales combat-system is going to feel like a step down after manning that beast.

Xillia 2's protagonist is pretty much if Dante were thrown into a Tales battle system, and Xillia 1's Jude still beats him in broken-ness.

 

[bonercop]

I was with you till you said you had to play Xillia defensively. In Xillia there is Jude, the broken, snap-pivoting, arte-chaining, savage destroyer of all minor enemy and every boss, and then there's everything else. The best and only defense was an offensive onslaught.

Every Tales game is going to feel like a step down after manning that beast.

Yeah, about that....read my edit

I'm not saying playing as Jude in Xillia made for a harder game than playing as Asbel in Graces F -- but to fully utilize Jude's strengths, like the snap pivot, you have to relent and focus on dodging enemy attacks from time to time, whereas in Graces F you're just constantly firing of 239059hit combos. Again and again.


(full disclosure: it's been years since I played Graces F, so maybe my memories of the combos are exaggerated. )

 

[iavi]

Xillia 2's protagonist is pretty much if Dante were thrown into a Tales battle system, and Xillia 1's Jude still beats him in broken-ness.

lmao

I'd be lying if I said that Jude getting the nerf in 2 doesn't dampen my excitement a bit.

 

[Heyt]

If anything, Graces system ecouraged using defense properly with the CC reward for evading and perfect blocking. It was a big part of building max CC fast. Also, with sidestepping as a common trait for all characters defending this way was an integral part of gameplay. In Xillia only Jude and Leia have a reason not to just stand and block. And Jude payoff is too big, almost broken.

Sure there are moments built for his mechanic like

Spoiler

the one on one fight with Ivar

but design wise it does nothing to bring interesting defesive play to the game as a whole.

 

[FSLink]

Yeah, about that....read my edit

I'm not saying playing as Jude in Xillia made for a harder game than playing as Asbel in Graces F -- but to fully utilize Jude's strengths, like the snap pivot, you have to relent and focus on dodging enemy attacks from time to time, whereas in Graces F you're just constantly firing of 239059hit combos. Again and again.


(full disclosure: it's been years since I played Graces F, so maybe my memories of the combos are exaggerated. )

Definitely exaggerated, since you had to use sidestep a ton especially if it's above Normal mode. Xillia's probably more fun due to Jude being broken in random encounters, but boss battles really kind of suck in comparison to Graces F's bosses.

Graces F's problems is that it gave you a few of the neat tools like Accel Mode late. And that depending on your arte progression through titles, you might end up doing similar combos for awhile.

 

[RalchAC]

I might be the only person in the world who preferred Xillia's battle system to Graces(though Graces was much better at everything else system-wise).

I liked how you couldn't easily stagger the bosses in Xillia and how you had to actually play defensively for once. As shown in the video in the OP, Graces F felt like I was just had constantly pulling out eleventy-gazillion combos in every battle.

Seriously? I thought that idea was really cheap and lazy. Graces f on Moderate / Hard (during my first playthrough) has a decent amount of challenge. I remember I needed to learn how to use auras in the latter half of the game and how bosses could break my combos if I didn't use the fastest chained attacks (I can remember that this was a problem when fighting against

Spoiler

Richard and that Malik's friend

).

The best part about Xillia battle system was, undoutedly, the idea behind linking and changing party members during battles. Not saying you're wrong for liking it more, different people has different tastes.

The game about 300+ combos was Vesperia though.

This or this are the best examples of something broken I've ever seen lol.

 

[bonercop]

I guess I just haven't played Graces F recently enough to argue the points you guys are making, because I have no recollection of some of the stuff I'm reading here, lol.

In Xillia only Jude and Leia have a reason not to just stand and block. And Jude payoff is too big, almost broken.

Dude, Rowen. His backstep sucked, but if you could pull it off, it had the most broken-ass effect(time freeze) and his sidestep was awesome. He was also super-frail in combat.

 

[Taruranto]

God, the girl with the umbrella looks so stupid.

No hope for a return of the world map, eh? At least I hope the areas will be better than Xillia's.

 

[Heyt]

I guess I just haven't played Graces F recently enough to argue the points you guys are making, because I have no recollection of some of the stuff I'm reading here, lol.



Dude, Rowen. His backstep sucked, but if you could pull it off, it had the most broken-ass effect(time freeze) and his sidestep was awesome. He was also super-frail in combat.

I'm replaying Xillia now to get more grade and see Jude's side but I never pulled Rowen's backstep off! I'll try to see how does that work. But you mean backstep, right? Sidesteps are only on Xillia 2.

 

[bonercop]

I'm replaying Xillia now to get more grade and see Jude's side but I never pulled Rowen's backstep off! I'll try to see how does that work. But you mean backstep, right? Sidesteps are only on Xillia 2.

Do keep in mind you need to have activated the appropriate skill. As for the bolded:

Nah, it's called "mirage step" or something. If I remember correctly, you pull it off by tilting the analog stick into a direction while holding L after an attack with the X-button.

 

[FSLink]

I'm replaying Xillia now to get more grade and see Jude's side but I never pulled Rowen's backstep off! I'll try to see how does that work. But you mean backstep, right? Sidesteps are only on Xillia 2.

Sidestep = Assault Step skill. Done with L1 + attack. Xillia 2 just made it there by default and removed the attacking part.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I was with you till you said you had to play Xillia defensively. In Xillia there is Jude, the broken, snap-pivoting, arte-chaining, savage destroyer of all minor enemy and every boss, and then there's everything else. The best and only defense was an offensive onslaught.

Every Tales combat-system is going to feel like a step down after manning that beast.

I don't think I was the only one who found it annoying that you couldn't really make use of the combo system.

Apparently Xillia 2 fixes this.

 

[FSLink]

I don't think I was the only one who found it annoying that you couldn't really make use of the combo system.

Apparently Xillia 2 fixes this.

Not really fixing, the weakness system just makes it so they're less likely to break out iirc but they still break out of combos.

For the battle system, Xillia 2 basically adds a few new characters while making some changes to the old cast, removes in-battle switching with reserve members, adds more link artes and generic link artes that you can do with anybody, and the weakness system.

Innocence R (and Hearts R uses it too) at least added an ability to counter a boss's combo breaker with a timed button press to continue the combo...a really great idea that I wish was in X2.

 

[Heyt]

Do keep in mind you need to have activated the appropriate skill. As for the bolded:

Nah, it's called "mirage step" or something. If I remember correctly, you pull it off by tilting the analog stick into a direction while holding L after an attack with the X-button.

Sidestep = Assault Step skill. Done with L1 + attack. Xillia 2 just made it there by default and removed the attacking part.

Lol I gess playing Milla's side first and maining Leia for Jude's side left me in the dark about this skill. Thanks!

, removes in-battle switching with reserve members,

Oh I liked tha feature and use it a lot actually. I gess that with Ludger being more versatile than most characters it does not affect gameplay that much.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Not really fixing, the weakness system just makes it so they're less likely to break out iirc but they still break out of combos.

For the battle system, Xillia 2 basically adds a few new characters while making some changes to the old cast, removes in-battle switching with reserve members, adds more link artes and generic link artes that you can do with anybody, and the weakness system.

Innocence R (and Hearts R uses it too) at least added an ability to counter a boss's combo breaker with a timed button press to continue the combo...a really great idea that I wish was in X2.

Can you get long combos by making use of the weakness system? I don't want to watch any videos before I have spoilers flooding my youtube homepage.

 

[FSLink]

Lol I gess playing Milla's side first and maining Leia for Jude's side left me in the dark about this skill. Thanks!

No everyone gets it in Xillia 1, but you just didn't get it on the Lilial Orb.

From GameFAQs:

When an enemy is hit and staggered by an attack with a property that it is weak to, it will enter an "opening" state in which it is open to all forms of attack, resistances notwithstanding. This is indicated by the reticule icon on the enemy and the "weak hits" bar under the combo counter.

This state can be extended (and the multiplier increased), when you hit the enemy with an attribute not yet used in the combo. When all attributes are used, the maximum multiplier will be achieved (425%, I think, at least on a new game on hard mode).

By the way, you can use this system to your advantage even if the enemy has no weakness by utilizing Might Charge 2, which makes your first attack afterwards a weakness hit, regardless of its property.

Short version:
-Hit weakness(es)
-Damage is multipled
-Boss cannot break free until gauge depletes.

There's also less elements than Graces f so it's a bit easier to get started.

 

[ScriptedReality]

my hype man lol.

If they make a collectors edition for this with exclusive items per outlet, i think im buying them all.

 

[Zhao_Yun]

Graces-like battle system is all I needed to hear! I hope the Western release date won't be much later than the Japanese one.

 

[Mozendo]

I really want this to be my first tales game.
Probably can a hold off a PS3 by then.

 

[Pics_nao]

A Graces like battle system?

 

[PKrockin]

Graces-like battle system has me hyped. I hope the mystic artes are like Graces's too. Fast as hell and many for each character. Instant transitions in and out of the regular battle view. Flowing seamlessly between regular attacks instead of just being combo finishers. Able to kill enemies with the last hit instead of enemies anticlimacticly waiting to die until the screen fades out and back in to the regular battle view.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Graces-like battles, you say?!

WHERE DO I PRE-ORDER

Yep! I'm hyped. I really like Tales of Grace battle system; but any spin off of Graces-like battles would be wonderful for me.

 

[3Kaze]

I hope the battle system is different enough from Graces, I don't want them to keep rehashing old mechanics.

Can you get long combos by making use of the weakness system? I don't want to watch any videos before I have spoilers flooding my youtube homepage.

Yes, you can as long as they are in the 'weakness state', I managed to do +100 hits on several bosses.

 

[BasilZero]

Graces like eh? Looks like I'll try out Graces F as my next PS3 game (after Star Ocean xD).

 

[PKrockin]

I hope the battle system is different enough from Graces, I don't want them to keep rehashing old mechanics.

Tales has a good track record of mixing up the mechanics each game.

 

[kewlmyc]

Wait, Mikulio and Edna are brother and sister? Can Alicia not see Edna too?

 

[djtiesto]

Graces combat wasn't bad, there was just faaaaaar too much of it. Hopefully this game will be a bit more balanced and know when to wrap up. The later parts of Graces were such a slog to get through.

 

[n00bsauce87]

Played both Graces f and Tales of Xilla. Maybe it's because there was a large time gape between the two that I didn't find that big of a difference between the two battle systems.

I do have to admit that from the memories I did have playing Graces f, it was a bit more fun in the battles. I could make use of the arena a bit better than Xilla and the learning curve wasn't as high as Xillia, imo. But nothing so severe that they were worlds apart.

I guess it'll be great. The Tales series have been on the top of their game for the past couple of years. I fully expect them to make a great game.

I will say this though, Graces f was more character driven and Xillia was more story driven. I like story more. Graces was really really simple while Xillia was simple too, it threw some complexities in it. You had to question who was really the bad guy in all of this. It was a matter of putting yourselves in another person's shoes to understand, but it was a good story. Kept me interested in the lore of the game. Graces saving grace was the good character development.

 

[ohlawd]

Graces-like. Yikes.

Oh well, I'll suck it up.

 

[Proven]

Wait, didn't we already get a paper using character with Sheena?

 

[Luigi87]

Just the other day I was thinking "I hope the Zestiria combat is like Graces..."

So, so happy it is confirmed to be.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Wait, Mikulio and Edna are brother and sister? Can Alicia not see Edna too?

They're not related, or at least there's currently no confirmation of any relation. "Family of Heaven" is a somewhat misleading translation of "Tenzoku", they're more like a tribe/race/clan similar to Elves and stuff.

Alisha can't see any of the Tenzoku, but that's bound to change at some point in the story.