I don't know. I mean the battle system is fine, the base battle system that is. But really most Tales are solid to play. It's the additions that just kind of feel "meh" to me. Linking is ok, but I don't know hasn't meant much to me beyond having Jude I guess help up Milla. It just a Tales game. But....
The levels so far are bland looking as hell and the game so far is rather linear. Final Fantasy XIII may also be a linear corridor like Xilla but, at least XIII's places look cool. They have unique and cool artistry in them. So far the world in Xilla is uninspired blandness. Nothing has looked memorable are beyond whats been in any other Tales game. And somehow the game looks worse than Vesperia.
Looking even more at the presentation, it's obvious the Tales studio needs to hire someone who knows how to direct cutscenes as well, because jesus are they dry here and boring. Long pauses, little action, and just ametur directing. They are awful. Doesn't help that characters like Milla sound awful in English. The English dub in general does nothing for me and for the most part is merely standard.
The story is also usual Tale's bullshit, complete with nature stuff and the usual made up science thingy. Which is fitting because quite honestly all these Tales games are starting to blend together. They all look the same, take place in the same bland animu fantasy world, and have the same lame nature whatever story. It's just getting boring. Tales is possibly the most static jrpg series. The play fine, but hell most of them are just starting to feel the same even in gamplay.
Tales needs a shake-up.
Or maybe it dosen't. I'm not really a fan of the series, I play them because they come out on systems I own and I like jrpgs. That's it honestly. I would like the series to produce one that shakes up and goes radically different with the story and look. But that's just me.
