“I gotta talk to the builder about these roof leaks.”
As Japanese gamers await Tales of Xillia 2, western fans of the fantasy RPG series are still holding out for its predecessor. Alas it appears that the wait for this PS3 blockbuster will stretch all the way into 2013. Namco Bandai has confirmed that the ‘original’ (admittedly an odd word to describe the 13th game in the series) Tales of Xillia is being localised for release in Australia as well as Europe and the United States. It has already been almost two years since the game came out in Japan.
In Tales of Xillia, the setting of Rieze Maxia is teetering on the brink of disaster, its precious mana dangerously depleted by the kingdom of Rashugal. Players will choose between two protagonists (the haunted Milla or resourceful Jude) and embark on a quest to salve the world’s wounds. Combat will again be guided by the series’ trademark Linear Motion Battle System. This time around, there will be an increased focus on combining the abilities of party members.
Series devotees can only hope that Namco Bandai is already working to localise direct sequel Tales of Xillia 2. Otherwise, this entire console generation will be done and dusted before it arrives.
Update 10.07.12 – Australian release confirmed and new screens added
Not receiving or waiting for RPG’s is nothing new to Australian players, although I do think it’s interesting how many games have been pushed back into the first half of 2013. It seems they’re all trying to move as far away from CoD as possible, unless anyone can think of a better reason that the first few months of next year are going to be crowded with AAA titles competing for consumer dollars?