The Next Tales of...

[Gobo]

Taking a page out of their own book, Namco Bandai's next Tales of is Tales of Xillia 2 (Tales of Destiny 2 was released in Japan 5 months before FF X-2.) This follows the pattern of making a sequel to a game that sold well in the series (Destiny was the best selling, Xillia was a close second). Xillia 2 will be a mothership game, not an escort like Symphonia: Knights of Ratatosk.

Events take place 1 year after Xillia in the Elenpios area, which was only explored a little in the original game. New main characters, Ludger/Rudger Will Kresnik and Elle Mel Martha (who is the youngest protagonist at 8). Only Ludger/Rudger has been shown to be playable at this time. Battle system is called Cross Double Raid Linear Motion Battle System (XDR-LMBS). Seems to be a fusion of Xillia and Graces. Characters can switch weapons mid battle (Ludger shown to use a sword, guns and a hammer). There will be a Live trigger system similar to 13-2 that affects the story, where you have a limited amount of time to make your choice. Ufotable is doing the animation again and Ayumi Hamasaki will sing the theme song again.

Trailer

Winter release for Japan. There have been several hints in the Ask Hideo Baba about Xillia coming westward, but nothing definitive.

[Raydeus]

Re: The Next Tales of...

Geh, I still need to play the first one. <_<;

But this is good news.

[Aeni]

Re: The Next Tales of...

Well, if the reception in the West towards Tales of Grace F is lukewarm, I can't imagine them bothering with Xillia, considering the huge ass licensing cost with Ayumi Hamasaki's name attached to it. That localization cost, 90% of it, will cover just one song (Yes, that's hyperbole, but you get my point) If Xillia comes out, don't be surprised to see Ayumi Hamasaki's song excised out of the game, or that they demand a minimum number of pre-orders (200,000 units?) before the game even sees the light of day.

(Tales of Graces featured BOA, another expensive music artist, but not as sought after as Ayumi Hamasaki and the game had a multi-platform release to even out the costs)

[Malacite]

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*grumble grumble dead horse ps3 vesperia grumble*

[Raydeus]

Re: The Next Tales of...

Well, if the reception in the West towards Tales of Grace F is lukewarm, I can't imagine them bothering with Xillia, considering the huge ass licensing cost with Ayumi Hamasaki's name attached to it. That localization cost, 90% of it, will cover just one song (Yes, that's hyperbole, but you get my point) If Xillia comes out, don't be surprised to see Ayumi Hamasaki's song excised out of the game, or that they demand a minimum number of pre-orders (200,000 units?) before the game even sees the light of day.

(Tales of Graces featured BOA, another expensive music artist, but not as sought after as Ayumi Hamasaki and the game had a multi-platform release to even out the costs)

This makes me glad I import Japanese versions of these games. <_<

[Aeni]

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*grumble grumble dead horse ps3 vesperia grumble*

I was surprised there wasn't an enough reception to have this one localized either. I wonder why they went with Grace instead? They just released a "players choice" poll on best Tales character (Japanese opinions) and a character from Vesperia was the top (Yuri Lowell)

@ Raydeus did you import either or both Xillia and Vesperia and how would you rate those two?

[Malacite]

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Really I just want it for the fuller story (and to have Flynn in my party).

[Raydeus]

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@ Raydeus did you import either or both Xillia and Vesperia and how would you rate those two?

I'm going to get Xillia, but since I'm still flooded with games I haven't even opened or installed (and playing STO doesn't things help either) I've put my order on hold until ZOE HD is released to get them all in one shipment.

[Gobo]

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Well Namco Bandai as all but confirmed Xillia getting localized. There is a special announcement in the last part of the Hideo Baba interviews (not to mention Baba himself dropping a lot of hints) and their Tales of twitter account has told followers they are listening and to be patient shortly after the announcement of Xillia 2.

Supposedly there are 2 unannounced games from Namdai, but that really means nothing.

(Graces sold about 150k in its first week in north america)

[Aeni]

Re: The Next Tales of...

Well Namco Bandai as all but confirmed Xillia getting localized. There is a special announcement in the last part of the Hideo Baba interviews (not to mention Baba himself dropping a lot of hints) and their Tales of twitter account has told followers they are listening and to be patient shortly after the announcement of Xillia 2.

Supposedly there are 2 unannounced games from Namdai, but that really means nothing.

(Graces sold about 150k in its first week in north america)

Graces selling 150K is not bad but remember Kingdom of Amalur sold double that in units in first week or two and it was considered a "flop". So I'm not sure how industry "experts" call these things. However, Graces was released on the Wii, so there were just some "upgrade" to the original in the form of F as it was released on other consoles. Xillia is a whole different beast, so I'm sure Namco Bandai might still feel somewhat hesitant in localizing a "higher cost" title.

Vesperia was suppose to be the cheaper of the 3, they won't lose any money localizing it, and yet still haven't done so nor have they even mention anything about it. I'll be happy to have either localized, but I may have to import in the worst case scenario.

[Malacite]

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The thing with Vesperia is they actually had Troy Baker come back for the additional voice work on the extra scenes added to the PS3 version (no word on the other cast, he was the only one who came forward at comicon I believe and said he'd been asked to come back) for NA release yet they still shelved.

Well then WTF did they pay him to come and do that extra work only to do nothing with it?! Did someone just say "Ah fuck it!" at the last minute?

[Kailea]

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oh wow a second Xillia? sweet first one needs to hurry and get here ;p

[Gobo]

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The thing with Vesperia is they actually had Troy Baker come back for the additional voice work on the extra scenes added to the PS3 version (no word on the other cast, he was the only one who came forward at comicon I believe and said he'd been asked to come back) for NA release yet they still shelved.

Well then WTF did they pay him to come and do that extra work only to do nothing with it?! Did someone just say "Ah fuck it!" at the last minute?

I'm not sure the validity of that statement. I think I was an "I asked Troy Baker at comic-con" thing.
In case you didn't know (and will probably get your hopes up for no reason), Bamco outsourced to FUNIMATION to localize Tales of Vesperia: First Strike, aka the prequel movie. Troy Baker (Yuri) and Sam Riegel (Flynn) are the only two returning to reprise their respective roles. Then again, they are really the only two that are needed to do so. Estelle and Rita have a combined 15 minutes of screen time and Raven is even less. Estelle's and Rita's new VAs get it close and that's fine, since the movie is two years before the game and you can chalk it up as their voices changing.

[Aeni]

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I know it's not Namco Bandai's fault if the demand isn't there. I think for some in the community that are long time "Tales" fans, they tend to forget that not everyone in the West appreciates JRPG and really, the only gaming companies that have met with some success in producing and then selling JRPGs is Square Enix. The other companies tend to sell their games in the relatively low 100K or thereabouts and I haven't heard of any titles that have sold near 1 million mark if it wasn't a Final Fantasy flagship title (I think Xenosaga I came close, somewhere near 3/4 of a million units sold worldwide, although the sequels didn't do as well, with Xenosaga III selling just over 300K worldwide)

In fact, there was some article over at Gamasutra, which discusses the dire straits Japanese game developers are in and how they are desperate and trying anything and everything to stay in business. Catering to a small niche crowd may seem like the safest option, but it also does not allow room to grow and your products become stale and obsolete (nevermind the fact that it also is unappealing to the majority of gamers OUTSIDE of Japan) I have a feeling that JRPG will eventually just become a very niche market with no domestic localization (aside from Square Enix) because of the costs involved and the low demand for them (or just don't expect very much for what does get localized ... the bulk of them scoring less than 70% in most reviews)

[Aeni]

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AC - Abyssal Chronicles - A Tales of Series Fansite

Been poking around for Tales news and it seems like Vesperia and Xillia might be announced for localization (or just Xillia and Xillia 2) It should be the 3rd news entry on that site. Well, we'll see, but if this is true, then I won't waste money spending on importing both titles (Not interested in Vesperia enough to drop $100+ shipping for it)