Tales of Xillia

[Dimentionalist]

-Both Fujishima and Inomata as character designers
-Male hero is Shoot Mathis, female is Mira Maxwell
-2011 release date
-Dual hi-ougis return
Look of the characters in terms of graphical style isn't as different as I thought it would be, but that's only from the small scans. But those environments, from what I can see... oh, man...

[Yetika]

Interesting how the pronunciation according to the katakana reading is like "ex-silly-a" rather than "zilly-a." That actually makes it a bit less grating to me.

Not sure what to think yet about the character designs, already not a fan of the clichéd dyed tuft of hair at the front thing on Mira/Milla/Miller/Not-LiquidSnake, but at least the top half of her outfit is more reasonable than I was expecting. Also, Mira Maxwell, seriously? Skirting the copyrights a bit too closely there, Namco-Bandai!

[Dimentionalist]

If this and Graces (F or Wii) got localized I would enter an orgasm-induced coma and never wake up.

I can't wait to see the environments... *crosses fingeres for CC or EG system*

[Cless Aileron]

There's not really much I can say on this right now.

I can say that I'm very interested in the fact that Fujishima and Inomata are both doing character designs.

Other than that, there's not much going on this one to say anything else.

[Kajitani-Eizan]

shoot? really, namco? shoot? first we have shingle, then assbell, and now shoot.

i think the next tales hero after ToX should be named justice. maybe the next one after that should be named friendship.

[Dimentionalist]

i think the next tales hero after ToX should be named justice. maybe the next one after that should be named friendship.

Lloyd should be in the cameo battle in Justice's game so he can mercilessly DESTROY HIM for having such a name.

"Don't even start spewing the name Justice! I hate that name! Haaaa! I'll show you... Divine Justice!"

[Cless Aileron]

The official site has a trailer up.

And someone's going to need to link to another source later.

Well, the trailer does give me a little hope but...I'm not ready to get my hopes up.

[Dimentionalist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YJafikwTJU

...not... too big on the direction this is going. I think I'd still prefer a localized Graces F. In my mind, Vesperia is still the best looking Tales game. Maybe I'll warm up to it.

[throughhim413]

Shoot? Ahaha. He looks like a giant douche.

"The first double protagonists in the series!" How about the Narikiri Dungeons? Knight of Ratatosk? Or all of the other games with a male and female lead? I don't see how this will be different. Oh, no, wait, the combat in the trailer makes it a bit more clear. Still, it looks like it's building on the Chain Partner system in NDX.

Graphically the backgrounds look more Final Fantasy than Tales. But they look nice. I don't really have a problem with it. I just hope the series stays true to itself (except in regard to localization).

My question is why they named the girl Maxwell when they already have the spirit Maxwell. And she talks about the spirits dying and such in the trailer. Her character description specifically mentions the ability to control the four elements like the summon spirit Maxwell, but I can't make all of it out. And the trailer ends with "There is no evil in this world that can stand against it. But if there were, it would lurk in the hearts of men." Are we looking at more Aselia here?

[Dimentionalist]

More Aselia would actually increase my hype for this. I love the environments, but I'm not too big on the character models and their textures.

What was with the weird things in the water towards the beginning of the trailer?

[throughhim413]

I assumed they were a product of her ability to manipulate the elements.

[Dimentionalist]

http://www.4gamer.net/games/117/G011720/20101215053/screenshot.html?num=011
It's Jude, not Shoot, thank goodness.

[Yetika]

Wow, quite an in-game difference there with Mira's hair. Who needs hairspray when you've got magic keeping your hair in place?  

Jude, huh? That is a bit silly, because now he'd have to hit himself! Do-ho-ho! Punchin' Jude-y

Graphically the backgrounds look more Final Fantasy than Tales. But they look nice.

Wow, you're quite right there. They remind me of Final Fantasy X's general sort of aesthetics, which is something I always liked about that game when it wasn't being really silly. That one shot of a town/city at night with the glowing trees remind me of various visual adaptations of the Elf settlements in Tolkien's works (Lothlorien in particular with the structures built around the trees).

[throughhim413]

http://www.4gamer.net/games/117/G011720/20101215053/screenshot.html?num=011
It's Jude, not Shoot, thank goodness.

Witness the power of four little tick marks to change a bad name into a decent one. The scans we currently have are really awful for those not to show up at all. *Laughs*

http://kotaku.com/5713661/new-tales-game-ready-to-tell-a-story
Kotaku's article is a mess. I posted some corrections based on stuff mentioned here. But they'll probably never be made.

[Dimentionalist]

Meanwhile, Namco realizes that focuses on western-style games may not have been the best idea. Does this bode well for us getting ToGf and Xillia? Only time will tell...

[Kajitani-Eizan]

oh, shoot, his name is Jude? it's a miracle!

*is shot*

i agree about the environments thing; i was reminded of star ocean (?) or some other series more than tales. it's certainly nice. not so nice is the low quality models, again. i could swear ToV beta looked better than this, and this is for PS3. can't they up the graphics quality on the models a little tiny bit? ToG graphics don't cut it for HD... at least, not for this art style they're going for. the on-model detail is good but the model edges look like they're made of legos. i mean, look at mira's hand at the end of the trailer, for chrissakes! (unless maybe they're keeping the graphics low because they're planning a 360 port down the line for US gamers? lolz)

additionally, even though he no longer has a terrible name, jude still looks stupid. like some kind of star ocean character. i think it might be his short mullet. also stupid are mira's "just got out of the shower" hair bundles. don't get me wrong, "just got out of the shower" is a pretty hot look, but it isn't a compliment in this particular case. i hope they intend to improve that if they intend to animate her hair like that.

all this will be fine if this turns out to be another aselia game, though. mira is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of flein k. lester? jude's mullet is the descendant of lloyd's neckline hair spike things? sign me up