Namco Bandai Games in both America and Europe have announced that the company will be bringing the Tales of Xillia brand to America, EMEA and Australasia exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The latest in the acclaimed Tales of Japanese role-playing game franchise, Tales of Xillia lets players enter the world of Rieze Maxia in a tale of unwavering convictions. Almost two years after the Japanese release, Tales of Xillia will be available in the West in 2013.
Tales of Xillia follows Jude Mathis, a clever medical student attending school in the capital city, and Milla Maxwell (shown above), a mysterious woman accompanied by four unseen beings. Players will be able to choose either Milla or Jude at the outset of their adventure through the world of Rieze Maxia, where humans and spirits live together in harmony. The kingdom of Rashugal has been experimenting with a powerful device that has been draining the mana from the world. Realizing the harm it is inflicting on the world, Milla and Jude set off on a journey to destroy it and restore the mana back to the world. Over the course of the game their lives will intersect with a vast ensemble of characters that will teach them the strength of unwavering convictions and they are accompanied with the responsibilities it entails.
Players will engage enemies with the critically acclaimed Linear Motion Battle System that the Tales of series is famous for. The system allows for real-time movement and attacks, giving the player a more tactical role in the midst of fights. The battle system in Tales of Xillia has been upgraded to Double Raid Linear Motion Battle System to let two characters combine their attacks to utilize devastating dual-character attack, letting fans strategize the best party setup for their style of play.
No English trailer yet, so here’s the original Japanese Tales of Xillia trailer.
Olivier Comte, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Publishing for NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe had this to say about the announcement: “The recent success for last autumn’s release of Tales of the Abyss and the anticipated release of Tales of Graces f and its exclusive European Edition has helped make localizing Tales of Xillia for the western market one of the easiest decisions we have ever made. The latest game in this prolific series gives gamers a brand new world and cast of characters to adventure with along with its celebrated battle system that has yet to be rivaled by other Japanese RPGs.”
Note: Tales of Xillia 2 has already been announced in Japan. So if the first Tales of Xillia game is a success in the West, Namco Bandai are sure to bring over another PS3-exclusive. 🙂