Tales of Xillia 2 is a great RPG game with many elements carried over from its predecessor, and its one that you can’t miss if you enjoy a story-driven RPG game. Since it is a Japanese-style role-playing game you might expect slow, turn-based combat – but that is definitely not the case in Tales of Xillia 2. While the game developer may have made some sacrifices to focus on the story and character development, they were sacrifices worth making.

The combat in Tales of Xillia 2 is intense, and battles often end in less than 20 seconds. The battle system in this game is extremely similar to previous games in the series, but this is something that fans of the series can appreciate. Since the battles happen fast, you must think fast and keep enough healing items around to make it out alive.

The main character in Tales of Xillia 2 is an always silent guy named Ludger, who can fight with twin guns, a sledgehammer or dual blades. Fighting with a sledgehammer is really fun, but Ludger can also use an ability of his called Chromatus, which definitely makes the battles more interesting. The Chromatus ability is where Ludger turns into an invincible lancer, with the power to attack opponents with various special attacks.

Tales of Xillia 2 also has a nice skill system that has a great deal of customization options, although it does take some experimenting to get used to. Basically, the skill sets a character learns is dependent on the elemental Alium Orb they have equipped. There are light orbs and dark orbs, and a dark orb is capable of improving a healer’s offensive magic, while a light orb is capable of refining her healing skills. It is simple to understand, but you will have to experiment with it at first.

Now don’t think there haven’t been improvements from the previous title, as Tales of Xillia 2 offers a good amount of side-quest, making the game more dynamic in nature. At the beginning of the game Ludger gets himself into a 20,000,000 gald debt, which he will pay back in installments as he goes on side-quests to earn more of the in-game currency. Ludger won’t have access to certain areas until he earns enough by completing the side-quest. This is probably the biggest difference between this game and its predecessor.

There are ways for Ludger to make a nice income on the game, and the character can take on five jobs at a time. The jobs usually consist of delivering items to fighting bosses and culling standard monsters. Since Tales of Xillia 2 puts you in a large world, it is great to have side-quest as a reason to explore and see everything. Earn more money and you can unlock more quests, it is truly addicting.

If you liked the original game then you will love Tales of Xillia 2, because they took the best elements from the previous title and enhanced it to make an awesome JRPG. In this game you will be playing in the same world as before with the same character as before, but the new story and side-quests really make it a game worth playing. It’s definitely not necessary that you’ve played the original game to enjoy this one, as the game will have you caught up with the story and character details in no time.