everdistant | Tales of Xillia 2 liveblog!

So the first game starts out with Jude Mathis, a med school student in the middle of his practicum at the age of 15--jesus--. He meets up with Milla Maxwell, a woman on a MISSION: to destroy something in the kingdom's research facility that dooms Spirits and humans, Gin/Jinn, because it's her MISSION as Maxwell. Unlike Spirit Artes that allows the mana used to be recycled afterwards, Gin burns it up completely, reducing the finite supply of mana in the world of Rieze Maxia, and drains the mana of any nearby Spirits and people as well. However, Milla's attempt to destroy the Gin, the Spear of Kresnik, fails spectacularly as the Four Greater Spirits(Undine, Ifreet, Sylph, Gnome) are captured, she loses her abilities as Maxwell as a result, and they have to book it out of there since she's powerless.

In the quest to go back, save the Spirits and destroy the Spear, they add to the party: Alvin, a mercenary who tries to be cool but is just shady and predictably backstabs all three groups he works for, but he gets better by endgame; Elize Lutus, a shy girl who uses her doll Tipo/Teepo to speak for her and bite peoples' heads, but she gets better by endgame; Rowen J. Ilbert, a former military commander turned butler who politely trolls the party and makes tea during rescue missions at the age of 62, and he just takes a level of badass by endgame; and Leia Rolando, Jude's childhood "friend" who takes competitive to a new level and became a nurse in training just so she could be close to Jude, but she gets better by endgame.

They defeat Nachtigal, the king of La' Schugall trying produce Gin for power; butt heads on ideals with Gaius, king of A' Jule and actually a good guy just extreme; meet Musee, Milla's unknown sister and Greater Spirit who basically opens rifts through space, makes black holes, seems disturbingly mellow but is actually batshit; and work to stop the plans of the group Arkunoa/Arc Noah(Exodus in the local) who want to return to their advanced world of Elenpios, where Alvin is from, and take Rieze Maxia's mana energy with them, since there are no Spirits, mana or anything to sustain the world there after their over-usage of Gin has drained it all. However, Rieze Maxia is isolated from everything else by the Shell, a separation of space that has been kept secret or tried to be, and is tied to Maxwell's existence... which means they naturally try to kill Milla to get back home. They get demolished instead, but Milla gives up her life regardless to save all her important people from getting killed by Musee, even knowing that it will open the way for more like Arc Noah to come over and try the same, but believes Jude and Gaius can take care of it.

Except the Shell doesn't fall at all, because Milla wasn't the real Maxwell even though she honestly thought she was. Jude and co. figure this out, start looking for the real big guy in order to get explanations, and find out that 2000 years ago the true Maxwell got sick of the people of Elenpios killing Spirits, so he created Rieze Maxia and people could use mana as artes so they wouldn't resort to stuff like Gin, migrated all the remaining Spirits over and sealed it off. When Arc Noah unintentionally broke through and got stuck there 20 years ago, Maxwell knew they would come for him, and created Musee to protect the Shell from one side of space, then Milla to be an expendable decoy Maxwell and had the Greater Spirits follow her so humans would believe she was the real deal, and permanently holed up in his realm where he keeps the world ticking along.

The party calls him out on abandoning Elenpios to die, Milla is reborn as a Spirit and calls him out on it, and after getting kicked across the screen the old man finally agrees that maybe he should dissolve the Shell and use the mana left over from that and when he dies to help Elenpios out. Except Musee, who has been killing everybody who knows about the Shell because it's her MISSION to keep it safe and secret, freaks and calls Maxwell out on essentially throwing her away-- if there's no Shell, she has no MISSION, and no reason to exist. Gaius is also less than impressed with all of Maxwell's actions and decides he can do it better, putting him at immediate odds with Milla, who believes a normal human doesn't have what it takes. Musee decides everything before any fighting can break out though, by literally pulling the Spear of Kresnik out of thin space and incapacitating Maxwell with it, then hurling the party over to Elenpios to get rid of them.

That turns out to be the best thing to happen, however, as they discover there that mana in the people of Rieze Maxia can be concentrated in the fossils of Spirits left on Elenpios, allowing a new form of the former Spirit to be created from it; a process called Origin, after the Prime Spirit of the same name. With new Spirits and a new sustainable supply of mana, Gin can be abandoned and everyone can get along, but Gaius refuses to believe that it will work out and Musee is just crazy, so they fight to end as the final bosses... and lose, but survive. Jude earns Gaius' respect and grudging willingness to at least try the new technology, and Milla wins Musee over by being kind since the poor girl just wants to be loved. But as the Shell dissolves to nothing, so does Maxwell, leaving nothing to hold up the system of Spirits, worlds and mana. So Milla decides to take his place, being born and bred for role even though it was a lie at first, while Musee sticks around with her and the party and Gaius return to Rieze Maxia to start working on preparations for the changes that will be coming.

These are big paragraphs and I'm lazy and did not read any of them. :D

I didn't expect anyone to! This is just me torturing myself.

OKAY GOT MY PREORDER DLC AND PUT ON THE THEME THAT CAME WITH IT

it's pretty despite being pink :D

...title screen is quite boring, with Ludger just standing there with the logo, and some gears in the background. All in pink, of course.

OKAY WE START RIGHT OFF IN A BATTLE. Against some guy whose upper half is shadowed, and uses twin swords like Ludger...

No HP bars, or menu or any interface at all. You can move and use basic attacks until a cutscene takes over.

Shadowed figure: Heh... The same movement. We are brothers, after all. However--! /manual fight resumes for a bit to let you get a feel for it; there's a side step like Graces! Also the battle music is pretty awesome <3

Shadowed figure: [couldn't make it out bc sfx]
Ludger: /takes a wild swing with his sword that the figure easily ducks under
Shadowed figure: People are predictable/easy to read/etc.

He then says something about destroying/crushing the world, history is repeating and other stuff that is hard for me to catch because it's during battle :|

Shadow dude uses a move with a red ! above his head, which meant in Xilla that a mystic arte was coming, so I try to dodge the sucker while he keeps coming at me with it, but he breaks my guard and connects, leading into another cutscene with Ludger painfully getting up from the ground and just barely blocking a sudden attack from the dude.

Shadowed figure: A choice is necessary! A choice between yourself, the world, everything you have! [no text here]If it's you, it can be done!

Then he uses his Mystic Arte while asking Ludger to make his choice, and Ludger screams out in pain.

White screen and title, get.

Ludger suddenly wakes up in bed, his fat cat Lulu next to him. I want it...

Lulu meows, getting Ludger's attention and he spots the clock, grabs it and makes a noise that pretty much says he's late and he dashes out.

White screen with Chapter 1 on it!

In a cave now, and three guys are standing about; two in uniform and mask, one in glasses, dressed sharply and looking at a pocket watch. Ludger comes running in, and glasses guy says he's all worked up, and asks how he can hope to become an agent of Clanspia Corp.

IT'S THE SAME VOICE AND FIGURE AS THE SHADOW DUDE. I guess his murderous brother.

Anyways, Ludger just glares him, and we're given a choice! We can pick either "I understand, Julius" or "I understand, Nii-san".

...NII-SAN IT IS. Julius says no "nii-san"s today though, he's technically Ludger's boss at the moment so it's unprofessional, especially for a company like Clanspia. Ludger nods, but then looks shocked and we're given another choice when Julius asks what's wrong; "Nii-san, have you had nightmares with me in them?" or "Nothing".

The former gives us Julius getting confused at that, but then he lightens up and says something along the lines of it's not a nightmare, but his daily life teasingly. He then urges Ludger to follow along.

So we in a tunnel under construction that leads from the city Triglav, and the job is to clear out monsters, k. Julius hands Ludger dual swords, and he takes and handles them easily.

Julius: Heh... The same movement. We are brothers, after all.

Ludger looks uncomfortable at that, but Julius continues, giving him the instructions from head office before putting a hand on his shoulder.

Julius: Well, team leader is your brother, so no worries about dying today.

But, something lands next to the group and Julius says no time to be all brotherly. Battle start!

eeeeeeee last game's final dungeon music that I love

cell phones are called ghs here.

k

welp going to be level grinding for a while >3>

...or not, since they don't respawn and we're called back once all are defeated orz

so we go back to Julius, a woman nearby screams since a monster has cornered her and we get a choice between "Let's help her, Nii-san!" and 'Go help her'.

I've decided I'm going to be fixated on Nii-san this playthrough, okay. So first one it is. But Julius is a prick who says it's none of our business, and we have a set job to do and have to move on the next area. Ludger is conflicted, and Julius asks what he'll do. Ludger hesitates, and the monster leaps at him next, knocking his swords away, but before it can take a bite, Julius kills it with his own swords. As he turns away from Ludger, he looks disappointed.

Julius: You couldn't decide on a choice... I guess, after all, you're-- [turns back] Ludger Will Kresnik. You're useless.

Ludger looks a little heartbroken.

ANIME CUTSCENE TIME! With a little girl running away from men shooting at her ;; Some guy in black and in a mask that covers all but one eye is apparently her papa. And he's pretty badass.

And uses dual swords just the same as Ludger and Julius. 8|a

He hands the girl, Elle, a watch same as what Julius has only silver. He tells her to go to Triglav, and then from there find her way to the land of Canaan, where wishes are granted. He tells her to do her best no matter how scary or hard it gets >: She then runs away on her own, while "Victor" gets shot to death...apparently. The pursuit complaints that girl got away, but one says that this guy is the "key" so it's fine. Meanwhile, Victor's body spasms and the bullets fall out of him... and gets up looking like some kind of monster .___.

OPENING

SO BEAUTIFUL

SONG 4 U NOT AS GOOD AS PROGRESS BUT STILL OKAY

At home! Julius is tinkering with the watches--yes, both gold and silver this time...-- while Lulu meows and rolls over for attention. Ludger's getting dressed when Julius calls for him, and then they have brotherly times where Julius tries to ruffle Ludger's hair, but Ludger stops him in embarrassment. Julius suggests Ludger cook, since he's gotten good over the years, and Lulu whines too out of hunger.

Julius: Chef, what's on the menu? [Omlettes] or [Mabo Curry]

MABO CURRY HELLS YES

Julius: You... know I'm not fond of spicy things, right.

Lulu comes over still whining and Julius says he can have the leftover if he's a good kitty, and lifts him up. And we are treated to several shots of the Lulu's gratuitous lard.

I don't care if the cat's 40 pounds. I want it.

News is on, Ludger's doing dishes, Julius back at the watches, Lulu's running out his catflap. Julius asks what Ludger would like as a gift to celebrate his new job, choices are: "Something like your watches, Nii-san?" and "Nothing, really".

Hit the first, Julius says he's too young to be carrying around a pocket watch, and suggests maybe a new tie, since appearances are important. We get close ups of the watches HINT HINT IMPORTANT STUFF and as Julius reaches for the gold one, it glows and fades out for a moment. He's less surprised about this and more thoughtful. He leaves quickly, telling Ludger not to be late either.

YAY I GOT THE JUDE AND MILLA DOLL ATTACHMENTS

BUT NOT THE YURI OR ASBEL ONES SINCE I DON'T HAVE THEM IN JAPANESE BT

O HEY LUDGER'S APARTMENT IS THE ONE NEXT TO BALAN'S

hmm there's a bright star on my town map, is that where I go /goes everywhere else then

JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE

Who looks much more mature and cool than before. Who's talking to Leia on his cell, complaining that she can't show him where he needs to go and even Balan is out so he's out of luck. He doesn't remember that something special is today, why she couldn't come. He gets hung up on :3

Ludger finds him and there's a choice but I understand neither options!

... L-left >3>;;;

GOOD PICK SINCE IT OPENED UP A CHARACTER QUEST WHOO. ...I think we offered to show Jude around, because he asks Ludger if it's okay to take up his time, and said that his friends failed him. As they both walk off screen, the camera pans down to Elle going along looking very lost. She mentions the new train that was on the morning news and looks down at her gold watch-- sorry it looked silver in the cutscene-- and it glows much as Julius' gold one did and she drops it out of surprise.

...And Lulu comes over right in her face happily. Elle is equally as happy at his cuteness, so she chases after him when he starts to go on his way.

well, Elenpios and Rieze Maxia seem to be getting along well, at least better than Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla did.

Anime cutscene at the train station! Some bigwig surrounded by guards shows up, Bisley, who gets on the train. Jude thanks Ludger for the help, and does the same.

Elle sneaks on board by drawing the guard's attention to Ludger, and mouths "Sorry!" back to him... that doesn't make this okay you little brat :| We get the choice to just push past the guard and run after Elle, or draw attention to her. I choose to just push past, and a convenient explosion happens!

It becomes less convenient when soldiers jump in and start gunning down everyone in sight. They quickly hop on the train, and we get our first timed choice to either go after them and try to save people on the train, or gtfo. In my panic as the timer quickly went down, I chose the heroic path :\

Ludger leaps the ticket bars and rolls into the compartment, only to find everyone already dead. The train starts to move and he starts to look around, but a whine from Lulu WHO FOLLOWED ELLE ONTO THE TRAIN makes him look over, where Elle is on the floor; the watch under her jacket stopped a bullet. He clearly recognizes it as his brother's so he reaches for it, but touching causes it to glow and burst into little sparkles.

Elle wakes up, but a guy has come back, and seeing the pair he starts firing like crazy. Timed to choice to leap out or stay hidden, go with the first and Ludger starts avoiding gunfire and trying to melee with the guy-- er, girl I guess. She wonders aloud if this guy that's keeping up with her is an Agent, and she has a familiar arm band on, so... I'm guessing remnants of Arc Noah? She gets him at gunpoint, though, but before Ludger gets riddled with bullets, Elle slides-- his swords at him? idk but battle start

ELLE IN BATTLE CHATS <3 AND VICTORY POSESSSSS

Elle asks if they're all gone, but then quickly skitters behind a seat as another shows up behind Ludger. He doesn't attack though, because Jude has taken him out from behind already. Bisley compliments Jude and intros himself to Ludger as president of Clanspia Corp. and a choice is given how formal you want to return the greeting. Bisley's assistant provides a bunch information about Ludger to him like brother is Julius, mother is dead, etc. and he gets stuck on the Kresnik part.

Apparently Arc Noah is trying to crash the train with Bisley on it, to cause a blow to the Corp. by both taking out the head and a resource they just built. So we go to beat them up first. I get Jude officially in my party :D

...wow there's a lot of blood O_O

and Jude gives us the new version Lilial Orb, the Arrocell Orb. Yay skills and stat ups! And we get the Link/Link Artes tutorial /o/

cutscene where elle decides to run after Jude and Ludger, saying they mustn't stop the train since she has to get to Canaan. This interests Bisley.

Jude and Ludger get to the car before the control room, and they duck down to talk over a plan of attack; Jude goes first, Ludger covers his back. But gunfire sounds, and they abandon that and just run up.

To find Julius. He's holding onto the watches, and asks why Ludger's here. Choice to ask Julius why HE'S here or ask what happened just now. Took the first, and Julius says it's his job.

Bisley walks in now and says he has quite the good subordinate here. As expected of one of his top Agents. Julius tells him enough with the compliments, but Bisley brings up that he has such a talented brother as well; Julius should be a kind brother and watch over him.

Julius says he plans to, and immediately swipes at Bisley with his sword, but Bisley evades every stroke easily before asking if it's alright to do this while in front of his younger brother. Julius flips back and pulls out the watches again-- Elle thinks the gold one is hers, and as she runs over to Julius, her gold watch reappears. This shocks both Juilus and Bisley, allowing a mook to sneak up and get ready to fire. Timed choice to save either Elle or Bisley, obviously chose Elle :| The mook fires around wildly, knocking the gold watch over to Elle and her watch glows again just as Ludger grabs her to pull her away and the gears of light from the watches surround Ludger, change part of his appearance. He suddenly has a spear and he lobs it right at the mook, impaling him to the wall, right before light fill the train and Jude, Elle and Ludger are sucked elsewhere.

YOU SAID YURI

I SAW IT

WHERE IS HE

/uses one whole Yuri icon in celebration

He is an attachment if you have Vesperia PS3. Which I don't.

NOOOOOO

Quick, let's go to Kay and Li's and steal their copy!

... idea :D!

I'LL BRING THE BAGELS

The colors are muted now, and as everyone gets up, Elle hides behind Jude, clearly scared of Ludger now. She gives her name now, and Jude tells her not to worry. She irately says she has to, with this weird person [pointing at Ludger] around. Ludger looks at the hand he used to pull Elle before, concerned too.

Jude, though, just says he is used to weird since he knows the Greater Spirits and Maxwell. Elle spots another mook and the boys get ready to fight... but this one's taken out from behind too, but a girl with a broomstick, Nova. She's a friend of Ludger's apparently. A choice on what to do: try to take control of the train still, or go find Julius.

NII-SAN WE'RE COMING

And Elle too, I guess. Jude tries to get her to stay back, but Elle's cuteness winds him over. Plus she's usually smart enough to know to hide when the fighting starts. Lulu's still with us too. Somehow.

...battle music has changed...

Elle keeps telling herself it's not scary /wibbles

So we somehow ended up at the start of the train again, and had to go back to the control room. Julius is there again, but when he turns to the party this time, he goes shadowy with red eyes for a second. He tells us not to come closer, and that he'll take care of everything.

Choice between "What are you going to take care of?" and "... Got it". Taking the first, and Julius says there's no need to know while smirking. What's needed is... us to die apparently, because his face goes black with red eyes permanently this time, different than the dream, and starts curbstomping us in a cutscene before BOSSU BATTORU

Nova and her boss come in and are horrified by all the dead, while Jude runs up to deal with the train. Nova's boss tell Ludger to kill Julius since he's responsible for this, and timed choice to or not to.

I'M NOT KILLING NII-SAN OKAY. Boss dude calls him stupid, and Julius gets up enough to tell Ludger he's far too kind.

Julius: That's why-- /throws a sword, seeming to impale Ludger with it, but actually just kils Nova and her boss

Elle starts freaking out, and Julius rushes Ludger and holds his other sword to his neck, telling him he said not to come.. Elle hits critical mass before Julius can kill Ludger, and her watch freaks out again-- transforming Ludger again. In an instant, he's run Julius through with his spear, and Julius dissolves into black wisps. A black gear that was in Julius remains on the tip of Ludger's spear before breaking, then the world itself shatters like glass.

Chapter 1 end!

When can I come visit and watch you play Xillia?

... (unsure)

Okay you're using a lot of names and I have no idea who these people are. You should have them introduce themselves in a fashion show-type skit just for me. That's within your power as an Ari, right?

I'm introing new people as they come, but people from the first game are in the big paragraphs at the start :|

READ THOSE YOURSELF :|

I DID SEVERAL TIMES

Tales of Xillia 2 liveblog!

Xillia 1 Summary 1/?

2/?

3/3!

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