Tales of Xillia 2 Review [SPOILERS]

The game’s story begins with Ludger Kresnik taking an entrance exam to become an agent for the Spirius Corporation, a company that has emerged to be very powerful and influential after the merging of the two worlds. Although the exam is proctored by his older brother, Julius Kresnik, Ludger fails. Meanwhile, a young girl is told to take a train and find the Land of Canaan by her father, who is under attack. On the day of the train’s departure, Ludger meets Jude Mathis, the first game’s protagonist, who is still working on spyrite research. Ludger, Jude, and the girl (who is named Elle Mel Marta), all board the train, which is then hijacked by remnants of Exodus, who are violently opposed to peace between Rieze Maxia and Elympios. It is here that Ludger first enters what is called a fractured dimension, a parallel world with at least one difference to the main dimension. 

The train then crashes, and Ludger and co. are recovered by Rideaux Zek Rugievit, a high-ranking member of Spirius who is also absolutely detestable. Rideaux ends up charging Ludger TWENTY MILLION GALD in medical expenses, and Ludger has no choice but to take out a loan to pay it off. Turns out healthcare is just as bad in Elympios as it is in America. Being in debt also means Ludger faces travel restrictions, which are lifted as he makes payments on his debt. Ludger is then recruited by Spirius CEO Bisley Bakur to enter and destroy the fractured dimensions. This is necessary because Origin, a Great Spirit, is unable to support the process of purifying all of the souls in all of the worlds. Ludger agrees and brings the rest of the party with him, as Jude has reunited with Leia, Alvin, Elize, and Rowen from the last game.

Ludger slowly but surely destroys more and more parallel dimensions, and learns that he has the ability to transform into a more powerful form called a Chromatus. In one dimension, Milla Maxwell’s sister, Muzét, is the divergence catalyst, which is the cause of the fractured dimension and what Ludger must destroy. He does so, but Elle ends up bringing that dimension’s version of Milla with her back to the prime dimension. Fractured Milla is understandably distraught at what just happened, but agrees to stay with the party to learn more about why the fractured dimensions must be destroyed. The number of total party members increases to nine as King Gaius of Rieze Maxia and the prime dimension’s now-normal Muzét join the group.

In addition to simply destroying divergence catalysts, Ludger also ends up finding Waymarkers, which lead to the Land of Canaan when all five are gathered. Elle was told by her father to find this place, where one wish is granted by Origin to the human that gets there. Bisley Bakur’s plan is to wish for the fractured dimensions to all be eliminated, making it sustainable for life in the prime dimension to continue. As Ludger and co. gather the Waymarkers, they learn that the peace treaty signing between Elympios and Rieze Maxia is set to be attacked by Exodus. However, that is just a setup for their real plan, as they hijack the ship the Elympion chancellor is on and hold her hostage. The party frees the chancellor, but then Rideaux appears, having been working with Exodus. He intends to kill the Fractured Milla so that the real Milla Maxwell can return to the prime dimension. Rideaux opens an abyss that Fractured Milla falls into, despite the best efforts of Ludger to hold onto her. The prime dimension's Milla Maxwell then returns, reuniting with Jude and the rest of the first game’s party. They beat Rideaux in a fight, but Elle is distraught afterwards, having grown attached to Fractured Milla. 

The party then enters another fractured dimension in search of the final Waymarker, and it is here that the truth is revealed about Elle’s origins. In this fractured dimension, they are eight years in the future, and they find Elle’s house as well as her father, Victor. They then learn that Victor is actually a future version of Ludger from the fractured dimension, who intends to kill Ludger and replace him in the prime dimension. After a brutal battle, Ludger kills his future self to secure the final Waymarker to Canaan. Elle is even more traumatized afterwards, having seen Ludger kill her father. It is there they also learn the true nature of the Kresnik family’s Chromatus powers. Every time Ludger has utilized the Chromatus, he has been siphoning power from Elle, the true Key of Kresnik, who will turn into a divergence catalyst if the power is used too much. 

With the five Waymarkers, the party makes the Land of Canaan appear, and Bisley Bakur is ready to complete his plan. However, his true plan is to make spirits completely subservient to humans, and he takes Elle to do so. In order to enter the Land of Canaan, a member of the Kresnik family must be sacrificed. Bisley uses Rideaux, a Kresnik descendant, as a sacrifice, but Ludger has to do something far more difficult. Julius returns and determines that he must sacrifice himself in order for Ludger to enter the Land of Canaan. After a battle with Julius and a very emotional animated cutscene, Ludger kills him and enters Canaan, where the party encounters the Great Spirit Chronos. Chronos has been working against them to get rid of humanity and have a world only for spirits. Ludger and co. defeat Chronos, then come face to face with Bisley and Elle. Ludger defeats Bisley, and then he and Elle meet Origin, who will grant their wish. Ludger wishes for the fractured dimensions to be eliminated, at the cost of his own life, as he becomes the one millionth divergence catalyst. This keeps Elle from dying, and allows her to continue living in the prime dimension. The story ends with an older Elle reflecting on her experience with Ludger and the party. 

One of the central themes in Tales of Xillia 2 is the impact of choices. Ludger is a mostly silent protagonist, but he has numerous dialogue choices that affect the story. When prompted, you choose a response that affects factors such as the other characters’ affinity towards Ludger or even the overall ending. There are two other endings to the game besides the main one. The first alternate ending is at the Land of Canaan, where Elle is sacrificed instead of Ludger. After this ending, Ludger is the new CEO of Spirius Corporation, and he meets Lara Mel Marta, Elle’s future mother. The other alternate ending is back before the bridge to Canaan is built. If Ludger continually refuses to sacrifice Julius, he goes berserk and fights literally all of the other party members, abandons the mission, and leaves with Julius. Xillia 2 is very dark in terms of the difficult choices it forces upon Ludger, and therefore, the player. This is especially reflected during the sacrifices of Fractured Milla, Julius, and Ludger (or Elle) at the end. The act of destroying the fractured dimensions in itself is a difficult ethical dilemma, as these dimensions all have their own people living their own lives, such as Fractured Milla, but it ultimately must be done in order to prevent the destruction of all life in all dimensions. 

Although Tales of Xillia 2 is largely an asset flip of the first game, there are a few new additions in terms of gameplay. The first is that they have redone the skill tree with the new Allium Orb system, which extracts different elements from Elemental Ore to gain new skills corresponding to said element. You swap in new extractor orbs to get different elements. Elemental Ore is found both in the overworld and gained from battles. It’s a bit confusing, and I definitely preferred the first game’s Lilium Orb skill tree system. The other main additions are with Ludger in battle. Ludger is able to switch between three different weapons, which are twin blades, a sledgehammer, and dual pistols. Each of these weapons has their own properties and associated artes. I liked this feature, and it added an extra layer of depth to battles. There is also the aforementioned Chromatus transformation, which is charged with a gauge before being able to be used. There is also a job feature in the game, where you accept jobs from a listing to make money and pay off your debt. These jobs range from defeating a certain amount of monsters in an area to finding items to deliver. Some items are rare and can only be found with Kitty Dispatch, another new feature where you can send the kitties you find in the overworld to seek out items. The debt feature is essentially how the game paces world progression.

Another aspect I liked in Tales of Xillia 2 were the Character Stories. In addition to the main story, there are also substories focusing on each of the eight other party members: Jude, Milla, Alvin, Elize, Rowen, Leia, Gaius, and Muzét. Each of these stories has its own small arc for the corresponding characters; Jude tries to find the key to perfecting spyrites, Milla’s story is split between her Fractured and original versions, Alvin is trying his best to make it as an honest businessman, Elize wants to be a good friend and big sister figure for Elle, Rowen deals with growing older while accomplishing his goal as Prime Minister of Rieze Maxia, Leia wants to impress her boss at the newspaper and become a full-fledged journalist, Gaius goes incognito in Elympios to better understand the people there, and Muzét wants to be better friends with all of Milla’s friends. Of course, all of these substories involve Ludger, as he helps the other party members in the process. I appreciated these substories a lot because they gave us further insight into the characters from the last game, showing how they had changed in the past year and in some cases delving further into their backstories. 

To conclude, there was a lot to like about Tales of Xillia 2. The story was very emotional, presenting difficult choices and an ultimately bittersweet ending, not to mention the other two ending possibilities. The gameplay was largely the same as its predecessor, but it brought some new ideas I liked and others I didn’t as much. My main comparison to it is other sequels that use the same engine and released not long after their predecessors, such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Super Mario Galaxy 2. I would definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the first Tales of Xillia. As of this review’s publishing, it has not received the remaster treatment for modern platforms, but reports suggest it will sometime soon.