The Story:
This game has two main characters: A young man named Jude Mathis and a woman named Milla Maxwell. At the beginning of the game, you can pick who to play, and the story will play through his/her perspective. Both of them accidently meet during a lab accident and end up being chased by the military. After learning of Milla's identity as the lord of spirits on a mission to save the world, he joins her on a journey to destroy a mass destruction weapon made by human scientists.
The story is very good. It starts off slowly, especially on Jude's side, but when it picks up, it gets quite interesting and keeps a good pace. The cast is also quite likable, each having their own arcs explored in both the main story and in side-quests. One thing I particularly like is how subtly the game handles character development. The game does a great job of avoiding character flashbacks and having too much exposition, while still having just enough info about the characters for us to understand their plight.
One disappointing thing about the story and characters is how, with one exception, they don't have the emotional depth that helped make Graces great. This is my biggest disappointment, since I was hoping we would see some Team Destiny elements.
But despite that shortcoming, it's still a very good story with a likable cast.
7.5/10
The Gameplay:
Team Symphonia takes their Vesperia battle system and expands upon it even further. This time, the focus is on the new linking system. Each character can link with another party member, unlocking certain team combos, special partner skills and boost skill sharing. One downside to the linking system is how both members always share status effects, so the player will have to be careful with it.
Our character development system this time around is the Lillium Orb. Every time a character levels up, he gains grid points, which can be used to unlock nodes in a grid reminiscent of FFX's sphere grid. There's always a good amount of choices on what nodes to unlock, which gives the player the ability to unlock nodes for stats he might need first.
It's also quite pleasant to see that there's a bigger focus on exploration than in Graces. There's no world map and the structure is similar to Graces, but the overworld areas are way bigger and full of hidden spots to get cool items. The dungeons also have detours with hidden chests that usually have great stuff. This is a game that rewards curious players for exploring.
The side quests pleasantly take a cue from Graces. Once in a while, a skit will warn you of a side quest. Most of them tell stories of their own that further develop the characters and give us more insight into the world of the game.
My only real problem with the gameplay is the Shop Expansion system. Both in the field and after battle, you'll receive materials that can be turned into exp points to level up each of the four shops, which are always the same everywhere. The only way to buy new items is to level up these shops. Fortunately, the game is incredibly generous with materials. As long as you don't rush through the game, you will probably never run out. My problem is that this doesn't add anything to the game. It's not challenging and it doesn't improve from how shops are usually done anyway. It's just busy work.
One thing I'll admit I'm disappointed in is how there's a lack of Team Destiny elements in the battle system. I still think Graces has the best battle system in the series with more unique, strategic and intuitive mechanics than Team Symphonia's system. It makes me wonder what the point of both teams working on the game was, since 90% of this game clearly screams "Team Symphonia".
Still, the gameplay is fantastic on its own merits.
9.5/10
The Audio:
After a period of mediocrity, I can happily say that Sakuraba has given us his best Tales soundtrack since Abyss. Most of the tracks do a great job of being epic and creating atmosphere.
The vocal song is decent and the voice acting is for the most part very good.
7.5/10
The Graphics:
Finally abandoning their dated visual style from before, Team Symphonia creates appealing and colorful textures and models. The animation is also the best the series has ever had. The animated FMVs are gorgeous as always.
It is worth noting that this was also a collaboration between the character designers of both teams, Kosuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata. As a result, we get very well designed characters.
Monster design is also quite good.
8.5/10
Overall, Xillia is a great game that was clearly crafted with care and skill, even if it didn't quite live up to its potential.
Final Grade: 8/10
Join me next time when we go back to the Ace Attorney retrospective. See ya then ;)
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