LIVESTREAM UPDATE:

Just a reminder, there is no livestream this week as I will be up at my camp doing some preliminary work for the summer.  Chances are the stream will resume next week!

See you then!

END LIVESTREAM UPDATE!

Note: I’ve combed through the post to make sure there are no blatant Tales of Xillia spoilers, but just in case, I offer a warning that something here might be construed as a spoiler, so… be careful, I guess?

After seeing today’s strip, you may have guessed that Rich and I finished up the Tales of Xillia run this week.

You might also have guessed that I wasn’t too fond of the ending to Milla’s story.

The huge issue is that the third act of Milla’s campaign is almost non-existent.  She gets one unique area (which, to be fair, is an incredible sequence) that lasts about thirty minutes tops, whereas Jude’s story gets tons of character developing scenes, a bunch of narrative driven boss battles, and a large helping of plot that helps explain what’s happened over the course of the game.

If you play as Milla, there are many principal characters that she meets, but never sees again due to the fact that their character arcs are tied up in her absence.

This isn’t just a situation of “you need to play both campaigns to get the full story,” mind you.  Any player would say that the Jude’s campaign gives you a resolution to the story, both in tying up plot holes and giving closure with the cast.

Milla’s… doesn’t do any of that… she more or less gets air-dropped in when it’s suddenly convenient, and the player is expected to already know what’s happened beforehand.

If the purpose of the Milla campaign was to give a little bit of flavor to an already rousing adventure, it should only have been available after beating Jude’s quest.  Playing as Milla first will leave you scratching your head come the finale.

The whole situation is really a shame, as Milla is a million times the lead that Jude is, and her struggles and conflicts are the true driving force of the story; it felt as though Jude’s “importance” was artificial and empty.

Xillia is totally an amazing game and I highly recommend that you play it.  I admit that my criticisms are nitpicky, but when a game is so close to being perfect the little flaws really stand out.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN LEGENDARILY GOOD!

Grrrrrrrrr!