Sorry for the hiatus everyone, I've been rather busy with moving and trying to get a job as well as getting consumed by Tera Online. I'll most likely resume regular activity in 2-3 weeks. This news however, could not wait!
For the last three weeks I've been patiently awaiting the announcement for the next addition to the Tales of series. Due to some recent politics and organizational changes made within Namco Bandai both in Japan and overseas, I have high hopes for an increased commitment towards localization. Today's announcement further inflates my hopes with some interesting developments. Despite a comment by Hideo Baba, producer of the series, made during an interview that the series will never be tailored to western audiences as they want to maintain it's inherently JRPG feel, art from the new game feels like it is moving in that direction:
Compared to the vibrant colors and highly animated characters of Graces, this is rather stark. Daigo Okumura (Symphonia, Vesperia, Xillia) is still in charge of character design however, so despite the more detailed graphics, the characters still maintain their old charm:
The game features protagonist Ludger Will Krusnick and heroine Elle Mel Marta in a new "Spin the Future by Choice RPG" style story in which players can make choices during the game that impact future events, much like Mass Effect. Additional characters remain unknown. I hope there will be more than two, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was a disaster. Back when the first Xillia was announced, it seemed like Jude and Milla were the only characters though, so I think they will be introduced as the website is completed. Baba was reluctant to give more information, and even stated that Elle may or even may not be playable.
The biggest part of the series has always been the battle system. This iteration is called XDR-LMBS and adds a "weapon shift" mechanic in which you can switch weapons mid combat. It is unclear whether all characters will have this ability, only Ludger is shown in the gameplay trailer. Here is a video that someone put together will all of the important bits from the 29 minute reveal event:
Finally, animation will be taken care of by ufotable just like the first game and Hamasaki Ayumi will also make a return for the theme song performance. Here is the first one in both flavors, if you haven't seen them yet:
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