During a special event at the Japan Expo in Paris, video games developer and publisher Namco Bandai Games Europe revealed that Tales of Xillia 2 will be coming to Europe and Australasia as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2014. Tales of Xillia was released in 2011 in Japan, and it’s taken roughly two years for the game to finally hit western shores. The sequel will build on the foundations of Tales of Xillia’s gameplay and world, and will bring together brand new characters in this epic multiple dimension spanning Japanese roleplaying game experience.
Following this announcement, it was also confirmed recently that Tales of Xillia 2 will be released in North America and Latin America, too.
Taking place a year after the events of Tales of Xillia, players assume the role of Ludger Kresnik, a young man with some zest for cooking, who lives with his older brother and a cat called Rollo. On the way to start his first day of work at a local cafeteria, he happens to run into a young girl named Elle Marta and the two soon become involved in an accident that will change both of their lives forever.
Tales of Xillia 2 focuses its story theme around the concept of “choice”, which is expressed heavily in the overall mechanics of the gameplay. The game also expands the battle system, allowing players to initiate “Weapon Swap” in real-time during battles while controlling Ludger and giving the option to switch between three main weapons: dual blades, a sledgehammer and dual pistols, which allows for fast and strategic movements across the battlefield. New features also include a new Cross Dual Raid Linear Motion Battle System which lets players link to any selectable character in battle to serve as a support character and perform linked artes against targeted enemies. Different party members have different support characteristics and linked artes, giving players the freedom to strategically decide which characters to link to whom as various battle situations arise.
The good news is that if you have a save file from both Tales of Graces f and the upcoming Tales of Xillia, you will be able to enjoy exclusive bonus items for Tales of Xillia 2.
Tales of Xillia is due for release exclusively for PlayStation 3 on August 9th 2013, in Europe and Australasia.
For screenshots and more information on the Tales of Series, visit Namco Bandai Games.