Original article from here.

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『Tales of Xillia 2』 Product Launch, All New Information Report!

At the “Tales of Festinal 2012” held at Yokohama Arena on 2 June 2012, an announcement was made for the “NEXT TALES OF” game. The newest work in the “Tales of” series was revealed to be a software game for PS3, titled “Tale of Xillia 2”. The game is currently in the works, and the targeted release date will be in winter 2012. During the event, Producer Mr Baba Hideo made an appearance to reveal various information about the game.

First, a promotion video was aired, receiving loud cheers from the audience. Judging by the video, the game has the “Xillia” feel, but with a slightly different atmosphere. Aside from the 2 main characters revealed that day, the other characters in the game also put in an appearance in the video…

【Scenario： Stage set for 1 year after the previous game】

The game takes place 1 year after the ending of the previous “Tales of Xillia”, in the same world of Liese Maxia, with the main story taking place in Elenpios.

【Characters： 2 protagonists revealed】

The 2 main characters in the story were introduced first.

Ludger Will Kresnik was designed by Mr Okumura Daigo, a familiar amongst the series’ fans, and will be voiced by Kondou Takashi.

The other protagonist is 8-year-old girl Elle Mel Martha, voiced by Ise Mariya. The girl had set out on a journey with an undisclosed goal when she met Ludger during a chance encounter, and was then pulled into the story’s events. She seems to be good friends with Ludger’s cat, Lulu. She is also the one who holds the key to the story. When asked if she can join in battles as a Party Character, Mr Baba smiled but did not give a definite answer.

【”Options” System： Changing the future through choice】

Though each game in the “Tales of” series has a unique name, this game is made to be an “RPG in which choices can change the future”. As “choice” is a main theme of this game, it was revealed that the game system has made such that players can choose how their story unfolds. Mr Baba explained, “The player wishes to become Ludger and make choices, and those choice will be logged down by the game system”. Within gameplay, choices will be given to the player, each leading to a different story development, hence changing the future. In the sample video clip shown, a choice was given in the scene when Edgar was being chased by enemy soldiers (?) on a train. “Fight” or “Hide”, the choice made by the player will change the way the story progresses. “So which choice is the right one? Actually, both are correct. Do play around with the different choices,” Mr Baba added.

【Battle System： Changing through several weapons while fighting?】

The “XDR-LMBS” system, a new battle system as employed in “Xillia”, will be used.

Protagonist Ludger is in the “Sword/Gun/Hammer” class, and can use double swords, double guns and a hammer in battle. In the video clip, it was shown that he can use all 3 weapon types one after the other to create combos. The techniques for each weapon is different, and the player is free to battle using the same weapon or switching through several ones. The combos with different weapons show the high level of control given to the player through this battle system.

【Animation： Done by ufotable, similar to previous game】

The animation for the game will be done by ufotable, following the previous game.

【Theme Song to be by Hamasaki Ayumi once again】

“The game this time will still have the name “Xillia”, therefore we tried our best to push this through with avex.” With that, Producer Baba revealed that the theme song for this game would be produced by Hamasaki Ayumi once more. At that point in time, the song had already been created, and is currently being incorporated into the game’s animation scenes by ufotable.

Accompanying this announcement was a message from Hamasaki. Similar to the previous theme song “progress”, she did a background check on this game’s storyline before writing the song. “I had the story for “2” explained to me. Then I wrote the song, incorporating my own feelings within as well,” Hamasaki commented. As with the previous game, this song would surely be a perfect fit to the game’s worldview.