I'm playing an 8 year old game. I always have a knack for completing sequels first huh... (Actually, yes and no. I finished Jude's side of Xillia so technically I've finished 90% of the story, but since I haven't played Milla's side yet, I'm not writing a review. I used to have a draft for it but that was nearly 5 years ago, I deleted it since my opinions have changed and some content isn't relevant anymore). To put it in simple terms, Xillia 2 is similar to FF13-2 in terms of plot. There is just too many similarities between these two games. Fair warning: I may get emotional suddenly in the review so pardon me. Like Berseria, knowing the spoilers do not automatically make you immune to feels.
Tales of Xillia 2 has the characteristic genre of Choices That Spin the Future RPG. I don't know about previous Tales games but this is the only one that I know of that has multiple endings, with only one being canon, or 'True'.
It's a round of 'guess that character'! Since I haven't done an official review of Xillia, I guess I have to introduce everyone... so our protagonist this time is a silent one, the center of them all, 20 year old Ludger Will Kresnik. Like any game with choices you can make him as nice or as asshole-ish you want. The heroine is a twintailed 8 year old, Elle Mel Marta. They are the new additions to the cast, as everyone behind them are recurring characters from the first game. Jude, the kid genius who is 16 with a doctorate and is now a researcher; Milla Maxwell, the new Lord of Spirits personified; Elize, another kid genius in terms of raw magical power; Alvin, chronic backstabber who is now trying to make an honest living as a merchant (now with a goatee!); Leia, combat nurse turned reporter; Rowen, former soldier turned butler turned prime minister; then we have Xillia's final boss duo Gaius, the new King of Rieze Maxia and his toned down psychopath companion, the spirit Muzet (who is also Milla's sister).
Some exposition: After Xillia's conclusion, the two worlds start interacting with each other and peace treaties are in the talks. Spyrix tech harms the spirits, so spyrite is currently in the development. However, people who do not agree peace between Rieze Maxians and Elympions exist, believing one is superior than the other. Fantastic racism at its finest. The terrorist group from the original game, Exodus, is still active and going around sabotaging peace efforts. One of the most powerful companies in Elympios is Spirius, which also has their own private military (red flags). Our story starts here.
In the opening scene Elle is placed on a boat and told to ride the 10 o'clock train to the Land of Canaan, a place that can grant any wish. Her father hands her his pocket watch then sends her off while he fights the assassins. Meanwhile, Ludger wakes up from a nightmare in which his older brother Julius kills him. On the day of his entrance exam into Spirius. What a way to start the day aint it? Julius also happens to be his examiner, unfortunately Ludger still fails the exam. Instead he got a job working at the Trigleph train station cafeteria as a cook (Ludger himself is a supreme chef). On his first day on the job, he runs into... Jude! Who got lost in Trigleph trying to get to the train station. Apparently there's a ceremonial train going from Trigleph to the new Oscore plant (that manufactures fresh food for Elympions) and Jude was invited by his reporter friend.
Elle walks around in Trigleph, looking for the train station too. She was led to her destination by Rollo, Ludger and Julius' fat cat. Since the ceremonial train to Oscore is the 10 o'clock train that Elle was looking for, in order to get in she frames Ludger as a kidnapper and sneaks in during the confusion. Ludger has shit coming for him since day 1... Just as the train was about to leave the station, Exodus jumps in, hijacks the ceremony as the public flees in terror. Here the player has the option to board the train to save Elle or leave the scene. I chose the latter because I aint getting myself caught up in this shit but the story is predetermined so Ludger boards the train no matter what.
The train passengers were all massacred by Exodus, with only a few survivors. One of which is Jude, because he knows how to kick ass. Elle is also safe but her pocket watch disappears into thin air. The CEO of Spirius, Bisley Bakur and his secretary Vera are also safe thanks to Jude and Ludger's intervention. Exodus has hijacked the train's systems to crash straight into the Oscore plant. Ludger and Jude team up to stop the train, while Bisley chills at the back coach with Elle. Elle suddenly realizes that the pocket watch is missing and runs off to look for it, saying she needs it to get to the Land of Canaan. When he heard it, Bisley had a smile I could only describe as 'creepy villain grin'.
So Ludger and Jude fight Exodus agents to the front coach, with Elle right behind. What they find is... Julius in a creepy getup. Ludger confronts his brother only for the supernatural to happen and they are immediately transported back to the back coach, where they started... but Ludger and Jude sense that something is amiss. They shake off that feeling and meet Nova, Ludger's old classmate and her boss. They continue to advance to the front coach and there they find Julius again, this time with his body in a weird dark shade. After beating the crap out of weird Julius, Ludger was told by Nova's boss to kill him (and I chose not to because he's my brother), but Julius shut him up by putting a hole through his body. Having seen two adults die a gruesome death, Elle's intense emotions (somehow) trigger the pocket watch to transform Ludger into the creepy getup and he stabs evil Julius right in the gut and the surroundings shatter...
Ludger wakes up in Duval, healthy without a single scratch. Rideaux, a Spirius agent, claims to have saved him and Elle (as well as Rollo) with his medical expertise. Rideaux is a bitch and I hate his guts. The bad news: Ludger is now in serious debt. A total of 20 million gald! And since he technically skipped his first day on the job, he's basically fired. Nova was assigned to help him pay off his loan, and Ludger wonders why she doesn't recall being on the train... As he returns to Trigleph, Julius is now the most wanted for his hijacking of the ceremonial train and Ludger, being his brother, is a prime suspect. Bisley proposes a solution. Ludger helps Spirius track down Julius and Bisley can get the police off his back. Ludger agrees. Word is Julius was last seen at Helioborg with Balan and someone has been asking around about him at Marksburg. The story could advance to Helioborg or Marksburg first, but the sequence doesn't matter too much.
In Helioborg, they meet Alvin just outside the facility. The goodwill ambassadors from Rieze Maxia who are visiting were taken as hostages by Exodus, who are out on their terrorism business (again). Unluckily for them, among the child ambassadors was Elize, and she breaks out in no time. Balan led the Exodus agents away to the development wing so that the ambassadors could escape. Before Ludger and co. could rush to the roof to save Balan, a thunder comes and Elle shouts, and they are transported to the same place, but with the same weird feeling from before. They reach the roof and there isn't Balan or anyone, but the spyrite Volt, who was destroyed in Xillia. Ludger transforms into the creepy getup and destroys Volt, transporting the party to the first floor. Back on the roof, Balan explains that they never even considered recreating Volt due to technological limitations and the last time he's seen Julius was 6 months ago! Muzet came out of nowhere to inform everyone that Milla has gone missing and then flies away...
The person asking around for Julius in Marksburg is none other than Leia, newbie reporter. The Julius she was looking for? A cat named Julius Catstantine The Third!!! Ludger and co. explain the situation and Leia agrees to help, she's a reporter after all and what reporter doesn't like a scoop! Leia has an informant in Duval and wagers that she knows some things that might come in handy. In exchange for the truth on the train hijacking the informant says that there's a demon in the alleyway that's been giving the local gang some serious trouble. The party goes to investigate but gets themselves surrounded by Jude's haters. A bullet is accidentally fired and Elle screams (you see the pattern?), which transports them back to the time before the incident. Rowen comes to the rescue... or is it Rowen? Turns out this Rowen is the same as the evil Julius from before! Ludger goes creepy getup again (the pattern???) and stabs Rowen, taking them back to the 'real' world, where Jude's haters are still looking for them because 'no one can vanish into thin air!' Badass Gaius appears with the real Rowen and saves the party. After more explaining Gaius orders Rowen to join the party and get to the bottom of all the creepy evil versions of people that Ludger and co. keeps encountering.
Vera informs that Julius was spotted at Aladhi Seahaven and all pursuit agents are on their way there. When you actually reach there all the agents were roughed up and Julius was nowhere to be seen. However, the agents managed to get his fractured dimension data and so Ludger heads back to Spirius to get the data analyzed. Bisley is pleased to meet Ludger. The good news is that Ludger's hired as an agent at Spirius. The bad news: he's now on the most wanted list of the police, which is ironic since Ludger is nowhere near as competent as Julius in avoiding the authorities I mean they could arrest him right as he enters Trigleph! If Ludger agrees to work for Spirius Bisley can pull some strings, also he claims that an agent's salary is nothing to scoff at (will be talking about this later). Anyway, Ludger cannot refuse since he has a huge ole' debt and he can't risk going to prison. EXPOSITION!!!! Bisley starts going off about fractured dimensions (which are essentially fancy parallel dimensions) and Ludger and Julius' creepy getup is called a chromatus, which is a power only those of the Kresnik clan and its branches possess. This power also allows them to travel to these dimensions and destroy the divergence catalysts, objects or living things that are the reason why these dimensions diverge from the prime dimension. By destroying these catalysts, the fractured dimension is also destroyed, which means Spirius has their agents commit mass murder in order to save this one prime dimension. Julius was one of their best agents, known as the Crown Agent. The chromatus is triggered by the pocket watch, an heirloom of the Kresnik clan.
Ludger's very first assignment comes in the form of the Oscore plant, which is still in operation in this dimension. While looking for the divergence catalyst they run into Chronos, the most stupid boss fight. Chronos was going to laser beam everyone to death but Julius comes to the rescue and with the two brother's powers combined, they open a portal and jump right in, leaving Chronos there all in his lonesome... Ludger and co. get transported all the way to Nia Khera. They meet this dimension's Milla, who Jude has really strong and complicated feelings for. Julius is also with the party now and guess what? He wants Ludger's pocket watch. Ludger is really upset about his brother's behavior and so am I. In the end the divergence catalyst is Muzet, who has gone blind. She is also one of the waymarkers that can reveal the Land of Canaan. Before the dimension shatters, Elle holds Milla and they come back to the prime dimension... with fractured Milla?! Back at Nia Khera, Rideaux orders Ludger to defeat Julius. I chose to fight him because I have bills to pay. I love you brother but trust aint never paid bills or debts. Sorry.
Back in Spirius, Bisley goes on another tangent about trials and whatnot, as well as the Key of Kresnik. The power actually belongs to Elle, but Bisley seems to think that Ludger is the one. The Kresnik brothers know this, but they keep quiet about it. Bisley wants Ludger to look for the waymarkers so that they can get to Canaan. At night, Ludger and Elle share a heartwarming moment of trust as he hands the pocket watch to her. They're partners now!
Gaius wants to know Ludger's determination, so he tags along for the next mission. In this version of Kanbalar, Gaius has abdicated the throne due to his sister Karla's death. Wingul is now the reigning king and he doesn't seem to be doing a good job, preferring to stay in the castle while he wails his sorrows away. Ludger destroys the divergence catalyst and obtains the second waymarker. Julius has escaped. Rideaux gets what his bitch ass deserves - fancy footwork on his face! Which is why he's wearing those shades. Ludger and co. run into Muzet at Hamil, who has stolen some fruit and has a lot of catching up to do. Vera then informs Ludger that they just detected an unauthorized entry into one of the fractured dimensions which also has a high likelihood of containing a waymarker. Muzet and fractured Milla share some thoughts as Elle plays with the waters of Kijara Falls. Ludger finds Julius sitting on a rock, humming a familiar tune. The Hymn of Proof, an old family tune. "It's supposed to be about longing to see someone. Here's my brother. Guess it works." When a supposed anti-hero says this, you know shit's going to hit the fan sometime. "I swear to you, I'm only doing this because you mean so much -" aaaand cut off. Elle was attacked by the divergence catalyst/waymarker monster. Ludger awakens his 2nd form of the chromatus and successfully kills the monster. Now they have three waymarkers, as Julius gave back the one he took.
Nova is in some sort of trouble at Drellin, but turns out she just got frightened by some of her clients. Most of the guys agree to help a girl out while Ludger and the remaining party go to investigate the new fractured dimension. This is another weird dungeon, but it has its merits. After retrieving the waymarker, the audience realizes that Elle's existence in this world may not be as simple as it seems... The party also witnesses first hand the effects of a prime entity meeting its fractured counterpart - the fractured version vanishes. Fractured Milla, who wanted to meet the prime Milla if given the chance, isn't so sure if it would be possible. The turning point comes when the last waymarker is located, but the spirit Maxwell is preventing entry into fractured dimensions. She's stuck in the dimensional abyss and anyone who attempts to enter is spit out by the Four Great Spirits. Muzet comments that if Milla Maxwell has the Four with her, getting out of the place is child's play. It may be that she is unable to return. Everyone looks at fractured Milla. While Milla broods on the fact that she has to disappear in order to let the prime Milla return, the party was informed that Exodus plans to sabotage the peace treating signing which would be held on a ship. As the party progresses, fractured Milla and Jude have a little lover's spat, Rideaux is up to his crap schemes again and opens a circuit that summons Milla Maxwell. Fractured Milla falls into the pit, Ludger holds on to her, but Elle is close to getting kicked by Rideaux and he only has two hands. Here you have the option to let go of Milla or hold on to her. The outcome is the same: fractured Milla has to go (but you get extra cutscenes if you chose to hold on). The prime Milla emerges from the pit and Jude is lovestruck again. The chancellor is safe, but Elle's heart is broken. She refuses to acknowledge Milla.
With Milla out of the dimensional abyss, Ludger and co. can finally reach the final waymarker. Major revelations occur in this fractured dimension. For one, spyrite are commonplace and Jude is thrilled to know that it works. The downside is that Rowen and Jude both died 8 years ago in this dimension, their bodies found at Lake Epsilla. As they head towards the crime scene they overheard in Drellin that a doll was fished out of the lake, one which belonged to a young girl whose body was also found there. It's... Teepo! The party dread the worst. When they reach the lake, it's filled with water with a house nearby. Elle claims that it's her house and goes to greet her daddy. The party couldn't believe it. Elle is not from the prime dimension... her daddy also raises some red flags in that he wears a mask. He introduces himself as Victor and offers the party a meal. Elle doses off afterwards as the adults get down to business. Victor reveals himself to be the divergence catalyst and aims to kill Ludger so that he can get to the Land of Canaan instead and wish for him and Elle to be reborn in the prime dimension. Ludger also never had the power of the chromatus in him, Elle is the one that is helping him transform all this time, and she risks turning into a divergence catalyst herself. Victor and Ludger clash and they mirror each other, so you can already guess Victor's true identity... Elle comes out and sees her daddy get all psychopathic on everyone, Ludger and Victor fight some more and it ends with Elle witnessing her father's death while he hums the Hymn of Proof.
Elle being a child is understandably upset by this. She lashes out at first but gets better later when she realizes it's not Ludger's fault. Bisley wants to meet at Rieze harbor in Marksburg. They arrange the 5 waymarkers into a star formation and...
The Land of Canaan appears. It's a gross purple sphere with an embryo resting inside. It's gross. Chronos appears and dumps Julius onto the party like trash. He's like 'you humans are unworthy' and fights the party. Chronos was temporarily stopped by Bisley, who claims he knows how Canaan really works and threatens to beat Chronos to pulp. The party was all ????? and Chronos tries to cheat, but Julius pushes the spirit away and they teleported somewhere else. For some reason Elle is very agitated and leaves the party. Everyone advises that Ludger should give her some time to sort things out, and that Elle would come back when she's ready.Elle never came back. When Ludger goes to Spirius he is promoted to vice president and he no longer needs to repay is debt. Rideaux the bitch is there as well to 'congratulate' Ludger and spills some secrets, like Bisley's plan for Canaan, Julius' true intentions and his lineage. Ludger calls Bisley to confirm his suspicions. Bisley really planned to use Elle to defeat Chronos and pass the trial. Elle snatches the phone and says her last goodbyes to Ludger tearfully. Ludger aint going to sit and watch Elle get destroyed by the trial and plans to rescue her, but Bisley has orders that the vice president is not allowed to leave the building. Rideaux and Ivar get their ass whopped as the party escapes. Julius left a letter for Ludger at home. A human sacrifice is needed to create a bridge to the Land of Canaan. Julius says to meet him at Rieze Harbor once Ludger has steeled himself. Gaius comes in and asks if he's prepared to fight his own brother. I answered no.
Julius waits at the harbor as the party approaches him. Julius offers to kill himself since he is slowly turning into a divergence catalyst and won't live for long. Why not use his dying breath to become a sacrifice? Ludger comes in last second to stop him. The hardest choice has to be made. You can choose to go either way - refuse to kill Julius and you'll be treated to the bad ending, where you kill all the main cast and forsake the world; tearfully agree to fight Julius and you'll be presented with the duel boss fight with a remix of the Hymn of Proof taunting your emotions in the background. Both are as heartbreaking as it can get. Ludger gains his 3rd chromatus form and he is whisked away to another, similar dimension. Everything is the same. The party is doing pretty good. Ludger goes back home and hides as he sees himself of this dimension leave the house. Julius straightens Ludger's tie, Ludger promises to make pasta margherita when he gets home, Julius commenting on Ludger buttering him up with tomatoes, then goes back into the house. Ludger enters, his face grim.
 |
| Farewell, brother... |
The world moves on and there is no time to grieve. The soul bridge is built. It is time. When Ludger arrives at the center, Bisley and Chronos are having their own mini fight. Chronos easily dunks on Bisley the first time and switches his attention to the party. Normal humans are still no match for a primordial spirit, that is until Bisley uses the true Key of Kresnik - Elle - to stab Chronos through the chest. Chronos tries to use his usual shtick to undo his wounds, but Elle possesses the power of the void of Origin, and thus Chronos is stuck with his pathetic wounds. Again like any other good final boss battle, Ludger and co. tell Bisley that his plan sucks so they beat the hell out of him two times, the last blow done by Ludger in his 4th and final chromatus form. With his last breath Bisley warns Ludger that he walks a dangerous path, that this form of chromatus quickens his transformation into a divergence catalyst. Ludger and Elle open the door and Origin steps out. He asks, what is their wish? Wish away the fractured dimensions and Elle will die. Here is the second hard choice: let Elle die and pass the trial, or sacrifice yourself and fail the trial. If Elle dies, you get the good ending, which isn't that good tbh. After the credits you find that Ludger is now the CEO of Spirius and he sheds a single tear as meets his future wife and Elle's mother - Lara Mel Marta. The true ending is where Ludger sacrifices himself by transforming into stage 4 chromatus and becoming the millionth divergence catalyst, resetting the counter and undoing Elle's transformation. Humanity fails the trial, but this is the outcome that Origin hoped for. He thinks humans are capable of making the right choices, and so he grants their wish and eliminates all fractured dimensions. Milla quietly steps away from the party as Muzet takes them back to the spirit realm. The party and Elle watch as the counter resets to 0, and Ludger hums the Hymn of Proof as he disappears.
Hooooooooooo boy. Where to start???? Darker and edgier is one way to describe this game. Of all the Tales series games that I have played, none of them can even make me feel more heartbroken than this. It is truly a multiple endings story where none of them are traditional happy endings. Like Sweet Pool.
Gameplay: 7. One thing I dislike about this game is the party members restriction, but that's a minor thing. The story revolves around Ludger so he's locked in the party, I get character episodes require specific characters to be present and that's fine, but even during the free periods he's fixed and cannot be removed! Previous Xillia had the option of letting you switch reserve characters in battle, I'm kinna disappointed that Bamco decided to do away with that. However once the game is cleared Ludger can be freely switched out during non-story missions, so now I can put all the girls into one party hehe. Otherwise the battle system is unchanged. Ludger being able to use 3 types of weapons also makes for some awesome combos and satisfying battles, but nothing beats Pow Hammer+up attack. When I found out how OP it is, no boss is safe from the wrath of the mighty hammer! The other thing that's been bothering me is the frame rate. It lagged sooooooo muuuch when I fought the chimeriads. I thought maybe it's all the fancy artes on screen that's causing the lag but when I reached Canaan the same thing happens, especially if there's multiple harpies and a dragon. I almost died during the chimeriad fight because of the lag. The final dungeon is short (only two areas) and I'm thankful for that but the maze is a fucking nightmare! After I got the good ending I went out to complete some sideqeusts and battles and also to grind a bit, but when I was finally ready to tackle the true ending... I remembered the maze and I was fucking pissed! It randomizes into 4 possible routes, the corridors are narrow as shit so you can't even navigate in peace, and the monsters respawn once you're far enough so no point in clearing the whole area... might as well just suck it up and memorize where you've been... I would've liked to start a NG+, but I'm not so sure anymore...
Story: I gotta say I'm not impressed. I give it a 6. Like FF13-2 this is one big dumpsterfire, but I can actually stomach this one. It's never a good idea to mess with topics like time travel and multiverses because it just makes everybody's head hurt and it is bound to have less than happy endings, especially if it's a sequel and everybody got things wrapped up nicely in the first game! Still doesn't stop me from crying a fucking ocean though. And Julius... oh Julius you sweet man... since the start you can sense he's doing it for Ludger and I so desperately wanted to do what he says and go back and just leave all this dimensional bullshit behind but no... the story is predetermined. The duel boss essentially broke me. The true ending also wrecked me, not as hard as Julius' duel boss fight (I fought him twice and cried twice), but it's heartbreaking all the same. At the very end of the credits you see a photo of the party with Ludger and Elle together. If you played Gaius' character episode, you'll know that he was gifted a camera, and he looks forward to taking a picture with everyone. But it is not possible, not in any dimension. The character episodes also expands more on what the original cast are up to in the past year. Jude is working his best to perfect spyrite for a better future; Leia still has a small crush on Jude; Alvin is working on his Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome, he's getting better; Elize now has many friends and is a more cheerful girl; Rowen and Gaius work together as prime minister and king to improve Rieze Maxia-Elympios relations; and Muzet is less psychopathic, but still crazy in another way, trying to get along with everyone. It's nice to know that the Jude/Milla ship is still going strong and there's plenty of food for us shippers to go by.
Soundtrack: Gah it's same old Sakuraba composing again. He gets one extra point for the Hymn of Proof and its variations as well as the chillax darling Unknown Artes, but there's nothing memorable for me in there. I give it a 4. The Hymn of Proof is a piece that effectively renders me a sobbing mess. Just put any variation in any slightly sad scene or have one of the characters hum it while dying, bam! My room's flooded!
This is one variation where the melody is more obvious, there are others that really turn on the waterworks, if I think about it hard enough. One of the very first tracks heard in the game (and also no.2 in the OST) is a track named Peaceful Evidence. What's the synonym for evidence? Proof! It's also used in Julius' dimension right until the anime cutscene. The cutscene uses a different track, which is not anything special or groundbreaking but still manages to make me cry even harder.
Overall rating: For the tearjerker aspect, I rate it a 6. The dimensional bullshit is still a dumpsterfire and this game gets a lower rating than the other dimensional bullshit FF13-2 because the music isn't as good. It's still an enjoyable game, I liked the character interactions but the plot... just no. It's not my cup of tea.
The characteristic genre is pretty self explanatory. Xillia 2's whole shtick is the choices that the player has to make that yield different outcomes. The outcomes don't really differ but the process of getting there changes. The future that the genre speaks of is the multiple endings. There are five possible endings, two of which are gag endings. The other three are mentioned above in the summary. However only the true ending is considered canon. Which is why players shouldn't take the choice-making aspect of this game too seriously...
Character analysis
All I do here is write about my opinions on these characters so can it be considered an analysis?
Ludger Will Kresnik is the silent protagonist and 'blank slate', you can make him a nice adult or an asshole kid. In TalesFes skits he's usually the tired adult who has too many things to worry about, it's understandable since he's by far the only Tales protagonist who needs to pay bills by working. When I was younger I used to think that Ludger is a cool adult who had things figured out but once I reach his age I realize that he's just a mess like any of us, trying to live peacefully. Now that I'm slightly older, it's apparent that Ludger is far more reliable than me. He has a stable job! His 3D model makes him look like he doesn't have an upper lip and I'm not pleased about that (his concept art is waaaaaaay more handsome) but he's got some charm. He may not look it due to his usual shirt but underneath he's packing some nice pecs. Trust me I saw. And don't get me started on the chromatus! As the stages get higher more of his body is transformed, leaving nothing to the imagination, and I mean nothing. People are actually naked in chromatus form. The first only transforms his arms and the second his torso, in third form Ludger's whole body is transformed so you get to admire his chiseled abs and beautiful pecs as well as those sweet thighs, but nothing beats the fourth and final form where he's got the full chromatus armor plus a cool helmet and flow-y scarf things behind his back. He's one of the most well-dressed Tales protagonists, though suspenders aren't supposed to be seen, no matter how fancy they are. It also makes me wonder how he fights and does all the flips with dress pants...
Julius Will Kresnik, Ludger's half brother and a lover of tomatoes. He's a tragic one. The Kresnik brothers are nothing but tragic. Julius is nice. In the opening he's this cool older brother that worries too much, has a stable job and all the girls love him... then the image of the 'perfect' brother shatters when you find out he's been doing some questionable things that you don't understand and he refuses to explain anything. The few times Julius and Ludger are together in a scene, they argue or fight. But you can get the sense that Julius really loves Ludger, in that he shows up to save the him from danger on multiple occasions. When Bisley wanted Ludger to continue his work, Julius says he'll do it in his stead and tells Bisley to leave his brother the fuck alone. That scene where Julius grabs Ludger into a portal with his chromatus? It makes me feel things. Every decision I make regarding Julius saddens me, especially the one where I had to choose to trust him or fight him. Again, trust never paid any bills, so sorry about that one. Julius' final moments in his own fractured dimension really shows you what could've been, what he had hoped for. A peaceful life for them both. Off with the depressing comments! In concept art Julius looks way skinnier than his bulky 3D model. I thought it might've been his coat but nope. You can clearly see he's thicc in chromatus form. He's the kind of man you'd like to rely on, I mean... I'm not thirsty at all...I just recently knew I fancy fictional characters in full-body armor, it makes me feel... things.
Elle as a character doesn't have much to go on. I don't like kids, especially tsunderes. She really annoyed me in the first 10 hours, but the kid grew on me. By hour 50 I'm ready to throw hands with anyone that dares hurt Elle. She's not to the level of Haruka's status as my baby girl but close enough. It's touching to see her warming up to Ludger and the party. You have the option to hug Elle when she's sad that fractured Milla is gone and I went for that, half-expecting Elle to push Ludger away but she didn't, and it warms my heart. You know, right there. Her love for Ludger shows when Bisley hints at the method to get to Canaan. The party doesn't get why Elle refuses to go to Canaan last minute, but she did it so that Ludger does't have to disappear. Elle believes herself to be 'fake', like fractured Milla. She's worried that Ludger might care for the 'real' Elle more than her, which is why she's willing to die in the good ending. In the true ending, as she asks why Ludger would be willing to die for her, a fake, the party reassures her that Ludger is doing it for the one and only Elle he knows. During the final battle, Ludger transforms into stage 4 chromatus and holds Elle by one hand as he approaches Bisley was so cool, it makes for a really nice family portrait. Which makes it all the more sad.
The orchestral version of the opening song. The normal version was licensed for the NA release so I don't see why this wasn't used for the end credits.
This game... THIS GAME!!!! I'm just so weak when it comes to stories about brotherhood!! Kiryu and Nishiki's fallout and reconciliation in Y0, Yuri and Flynn's unwavering trust and friendship for each other in ToV, I even stopped reading Blue Exorcist because Yukio fucking turned his back on Rin and I cannot bear to witness it until they patch things up.
Also is this game an allegory for the USA's inhumanly expensive medical expenses? Or people getting paid less than minimum wage??? Because the more I play the more I realize Ludger is severely underpaid for all the shit he has to go through. Ludger completes his first mission in Chapter 7 but only gets paid from Chapter 10 onwards! At first I thought he's in probation period but EMPLOYEES IN PROBATION ALSO GET PAID. So Spirius didn't pay Ludger 3 times!!! All the other dimensions he destroys in character episodes? He gets a measly 25k for one boss, up to 50k for two. Don't get me started on insurance policies. Spirius definitely doesn't provide health insurance for their employees because Ludger gets back from a mission all wounded and he has to pay for the healing items himself. It's not like he could claim these items from the company either. Some companies require employees to buy their own safety equipment, so I won't say anything about Spirius not providing the appropriate tools for their employees, but the protective gear Ludger buys? The weapons? It's not a purchase that's able to last years before needing repairs or upgrades, he literally has to buy the newest equipment available so that he doesn't fucking die in the next mission! Spirius pays Ludger less than 100k for this dangerous job, which requires a specific skill few people possess. I can't believe Spirius pays their employees like that! I wouldn't be this mad but Bisley just had to mention that Ludger's debt can be paid quickly because this job pays well. Bullshit! Pays well my ass! You know how much 20 million gald is???? I get my hands on 1 million and the bank goes and takes it all away from me. FUCK! Spirius agents should unionize man what the hell.
I swear this review will never end if I keep thinking of Julius so here's his boss battle theme, it was so iconic it got featured in Tales Orchestra 2015 and Sakuraba played it during his performance in TalesFes of the same year.
I got on a tangent about Ludger's working conditions, which is weird since it's video game logic and real world laws don't apply. This game was a blast, it's nice to see the old cast again, but the plot... The plot! Being a sequel it has all the previous areas featured in Xillia, with some new Elympios places to visit. I would prefer if they expanded more on the Elympion side. It's hard to add more content in a sequel when disc space is limited, but they could keep the cities and do away with some of the dungeons and fields. What's the point in revisiting old locations when there's nothing new? Elympios is so large, it's impossible that it only has two small towns! Even if the world is too barren to sustain any civilization, the remaining cities should be bigger to accommodate for the increasing population... well Trigleph is a pretty huge city. I guess they put all the budget into boobs and jiggle physics... fractured Milla and Muzet's gainaxing... Milla Maxwell's increased breast size... hmmm....
Despite the story I still enjoyed playing it. Take out the dimensional bullshit and all's left is a bittersweet story about the meaning of existence, found family, brotherhood, friendship, and love. And aint that the basis of every good JRPG?
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