Having been shackled to the PS3 ever since its launch all the way in which again in 2011, it is nice to see Tales of Xillia make a deserved comeback via Tales of Xillia Remastered.
A part of Bandai Namco’s ongoing mission to re-release nearly each Tales title on as many platforms as doable, Xillia Remastered is a predictably strong providing.
Its visuals have been cleaned up a bit with a lift to color saturation and backbone, it runs at 60 frames-per-second on PS5, and it boasts quite a few welcome high quality of life enhancements, like goal markers, a dash toggle, and even a useful autosave.
However for individuals who have performed Xillia earlier than, maybe the largest addition is the Grade Store being open proper from the beginning. Sometimes saved for New Recreation+, the Grade Store options gameplay modifiers that may alter the expertise fairly dramatically.
You’ll be able to enhance expertise level and forex positive aspects to hurry the journey alongside as you want, making replays a breeze should you’re simply right here for the nostalgia. Considerate stuff.
And we do assume {that a} sport like Xillia wants a bit of additional incentive nowadays. The RPG hasn’t aged badly, however components of it do really feel barely misguided right here in 2025.
For instance, there’s a whole lot of backtracking via same-y environments, the facet quests are decidedly uninteresting, and basically, the sport simply takes some time to actually get going.
Story and character-wise, although, Xillia holds up moderately nicely. The twin protagonist strategy of Jude, a pointy however timid teenager, and Milla, the incarnation of what’s basically a demigod, nonetheless works, with each leads bringing utterly totally different views to the social gathering.
The opposite members, in the meantime, are inclined to bounce off the twosome brilliantly. There’s an virtually prickly, unsure dynamic to the group, and the stress helps preserve the broader plot attention-grabbing.
The fight system’s nonetheless good and punchy, too. Many followers will inform you that Xillia’s obtained a number of the most balanced battle mechanics within the sequence, they usually’d be proper — it is a refined combine of massive combo injury and distinctive character skills.
So, whereas there are components of Tales of Xillia that do not fairly measure as much as at the moment’s requirements, the core journey stays rock strong, and the remaster brings some welcome additions and extras to the desk. This PS3 RPG deserved an excellent re-release, and it is obtained one.
