Back with another remaster of a PlayStation 3-era Tales of game, it’s nice to see continued support for titles in the series that aren’t Vesperia or Symphonia. Though this can be considered a fan favorite, was a complete remaster really necessary?
Tales of Xillia Remastered
Developer: DOKIDOKI GROOVEWORKS, Inc.
Price: $39.99
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS5 code for review
Playing Tales of Graces f Remastered earlier this year was an enjoyable experience, and I think I rated it appropriately. Tales of Xillia Remastered falls into the same category as both titles were released during the same console generation and, until recently, were both locked on the PlayStation 3 (at least in North America).
But I ran into the same issues with Tales of Xillia that I had with Tales of Graces f. This remaster is just a port; it’s an upscaled port, but it’s just a port. Giving us access to the grade shop immediately with lots of points isn’t an enhancement to the game. It’s nice, but it doesn’t really change the fundamental experience one gets from playing Tales of Xillia.
On its own, Tales of Xillia is a very solid game in the Tales of series of games. It’s the first time the series features a split-protagonist, allowing you to choose who to play as from the beginning and see the story from each character’s perspective. Milla and Jude make wonderful protagonists, and the team, except for Teepo, are all lovely to spend time with.
Unfortunately, much of Tales of Xillia takes place in caves or in open fields. The lack of level variety is stark and is a huge turn-off. Likewise, treasures are often hidden in small holes throughout levels, requiring you to scan each wall to make sure you don’t miss something.
As Jude and the gang travel from town to town in boats, they end up on a dock that has all the amenities one could need, along with the same looking dock in every port. I thought of all the other Tales of games I had played and how interesting and varied I’d find the worlds. One moment you’d be on a vibrant beach fighting monsters and the next you’d be climbing a snowy mountain. I didn’t feel captivated by the world in Tales of Xillia.
Which is a shame because the skits, group chemistry, artes, and combat were all top notch. An evolution of Tales of Graces f, Xillia allows for incredible combos, linking, and link artes. Link artes, allowing players to link with a partner and pincer an enemy with combos and artes, shakes up combat a bit.
Tales of Xillia Remastered Brings Accessibility, But Not Ambition
But what’s so confounding about these remasters is the availability. Like Tales of Graces f, Tales of Xillia has been delisted from the PlayStation 3 store. And, truthfully, except for enthusiasts, I don’t expect most people to have a PlayStation 3 on hand. So the real reason for these remasters is simply accessibility.
And accessibility IS prominent. Aside from most of the DLC being added, there’s a new autosave function, a retry feature for battles, subtitles available during battles, a dash toggle, and some accessibility functionality here. And even though all of them are present in Graces f Remastered, it’s a good thing that these were added to Xillia Remastered as well.
I greatly enjoyed my time with Tales of Xillia Remastered. I’ll likely play it again before year’s end. But it really does feel like Bandai Namco is charging $40 for things that should have been in the initial launch, plus some graphical updates. I can wax on about the price of video games for hours, but I think Remastered is too much for a game that has improved accessibility, graphical upgrades, and is playable on more platforms.
I don’t think anyone should be expecting an ambitious remaster like the Final Fantasy 7 Remake games, but even Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted got an AI to generate fake concept art; was there nothing on the Namco Tales Studio cutting room floor for this game? No extra content or concept art?
The Final Word
Tales of Xillia Remastered is an unambitious remaster that takes a half-step toward accessibility and lets you play the game on your platform of choice. And as disappointing as that is, Tales of Xillia is still a wonderful addition to the series and one of the better entries. Making it more accessible in the modern day is a good thing.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
