The full Tales of Xillia presentation from Expomanga 2013 in Madrid, Spain is now online thanks to Otaku Music Radio. The entire presentation's an hour long (and is mainly in Spanish), but it features a few new gameplay scenes and some skits in English dub.
For the specifics, the gameplay is at 18:40, while the two new skits are at 28:15 and 31:35. We also get to hear Teepo's English voice for the first time.
Tales of Xillia will be released in the US on August 6, 2013 and in Europe sometime the same year. Pre-orders are now available at the following places:
Are you going to London's upcoming MCM Expo? Well, you're in luck! Namco Bandai Games UK will be holding a Tales of competition to find the biggest fans of the series, and you could win a Tales of Xillia PS3 console AND lunch with Tales of Series producer Hideo Baba!
The contest proper will specifically be on May 25, 2013 of the expo. Starting from 10am until 10:30am, Namco Bandai UK will be taking over the main stage to "look for the biggest Tales of fans in the universe." Whether you’re an artist, musician, cosplayer, dancer or have any other hidden talents that relate to Tales of Series, Namco Bandai UK and Baba-San want to see them!
All you need to do is turn up at the main stage by 10am and Baba-San, the man himself, will judge and vote for his favourite three ‘Tales of’ submissions.
Entries will be at a first-come, first-served basis, so try to be early. You can get more information here or at their Facebook post (visible to UK citizens only).
Tales of Xillia will be released in the US on August 6, 2013 and in Europe sometime the same year. Pre-orders are now available at the following places:
Spanish anime-manga and video games site Koi-Nya has generously provided us with an English version of their recent interview with Tales of Series Producer Hideo Baba at Expomanga 2013. This is mostly where the Tales of Symphonia HD remaster rumor surfaced from, but Baba-san also talks about other interesting topics, like about how voice actors are chosen for the games and a few bits about the anime adaptations and Xillia 2.
koi-nya: How do you feel about the reception of the Tales games in Expomanga? What do you think about Spanish fans so far?
Hideo Baba: I can see the franchise is very successful and popular in Spain. I realize this also thanks to you, as you even cosplayed Tales of characters (TN: one of our editors cosplayed Yuri Lowell the previous day). It’s a pleasure for me to be able to visit Spain and meet so many fans that love our games so much.
k-n: One of the most popular features of the franchise in Japan are its voice actors, which are always very popular and talented. But we’ve noticed that they don’t participate twice with a different role. Is this intentional?
Baba: We make auditions in order to find the best voice actors and actresses for each character. We choose the ones we think are best based on the mental image we have of the characters as their creators, regardless if they’re popular or not. Both veterans and new voices come to our auditions, and all of them have the same opportunities. We also know that you, the fans, love our characters and in our opinion having the same actor or actress voicing different roles could confuse you or make you think they have something in common. That’s why we always choose different voices. However, sometimes the same voice actor/actress could be used for secondary and minor characters, but never for main ones and/or party members.
k-n: We would like to know which are the factors that influence the fact a sequel will be made for a Tales game. For example, there’s a Tales of Xillia 2 but not a Tales of Vesperia 2. How is this determined?
Baba: When you play and enjoy a Tales game, you play within a world in a limited time frame. But when we create the plot, we build all the story of that world from beginning to end. We ask ourselves what happened in that world thousands of years before and what will happen thousands of years later. And in the end, we only use a fragment of that story in the final product. But sometimes we think it could be interesting telling the fans some other parts of that history in a different game. For example, Tales of Xillia 2 happens after the first game, and some parts of Tales of Destiny 2 deal with what happened before Tales of Destiny.
k-n: We’ve heard rumors about the possibility of both Tales of Symphonia games getting a remastered version in HD for the PlayStation 3 under the title of “Perfect Edition”. Could you give us more information about these rumors or even tell us if there’s a possibility they could be true?
Baba: I'm surprised that such a rumor reached Spain. *laughs* Tales of Symphonia is a very successful sub-franchise and something like that is a representation of the hopes and dreams of fans who have long been wanting to see it come true. Who knows, it may be a rumor, or it may be true. I don't know. *laughs*
k-n: You’ve already declared that you’re working on the next Tales game for PlayStation 3. Some time has passed since that, could you tell us something about it? Which will be its catchphrase? Will we know more information about in the next Tales of Festival 2013?
Baba: It’s true that we’re already working on it, but I can’t reveal anything yet at this point. I don’t know when we’ll be able to show information about it, but I’m sure Spanish fans will really enjoy the theme of this new title.
k-n: We would also like to ask you about the animated adaptations of the franchise, now that the Tales of Symphonia OVAs by ufotable have ended. Have you thought about animating a new project, or even continuing the OVAs with Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of the New World?
Baba: It’s true that we always try to get the franchise outside the world of videogames. We’d like to keep producing these types of projects, and I’d personally like to see a new TV animated series in the future, not only OVA adaptations. This way more people would know the franchise not only in Japan, but also in the rest of the world, and it’d become more popular. About the possibility of Dawn of the New World adapted into an OVA series, I’m afraid we don’t have plans for that at this moment. *laughs*
k-n: In another recent interview you mentioned about your liking for WRPGs like Skyrim. We would like to know which are your favourite JRPGs outside your own franchise, or the ones that are most special to you.
Baba: First I’d like to say that my favorite franchise is, hands down, Tales of, and I’m really proud of being involved with it. When I was younger, RPGs started being popular with titles such as Wizardry, and later the Dragon Quest franchise was born in Japan. They had silent main characters, but I liked them very much. Recently, Square-Enix’s Bravely Default really surprised me with its very nostalgic aura. It’s a videogame made with an old-school flavor, and that caught my attention.
k-n: When the first image of Tales of Xillia 2 was shown in the media, some fans saw the glyphs of the elenpios language and guessed it could be a sequel for Xillia. However, in the Famitsu magazine the same image was shown without the glyphs. Did Namco Bandai notice this fact? How did you all react?
Baba: We always check everything before publishing any kind of material, but that time we forgot to check the glyphs. And soon many people started saying “It’s Tales of Xillia 2!” *laughs* Therefore, when we showed the image again we removed them. It’s a very minor detail, but fans spotted it really fast. Actually, when we realized our mistake it was too late and we couldn’t avoid publishing the image like that. *laughs*
Before leaving, Baba-san also left a message for Koi-Nya's readers and the Spanish Tales community in general:
Baba-san with the Koi-Nya staff
Tales of Xillia will be released in the US on August 6, 2013 and in Europe sometime the same year. Pre-orders are now available at the following places:
The people from Koi-Nya.net were able to have an interview with Tales of Series Producer Hideo Baba during Expomanga 2013. Though they haven't posted the entire interview just yet, Baba-san had apparently dropped the info that a possibleTales of Symphonia: Perfect Edition for the PlayStation 3 - which would basically be an HD remaster to include both Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.
This is, at the moment, a RUMOR that Koi-Nya managed to get from their sources. Though they wanted to confirm it with Baba-san, he wasn't in a position to confirm it, but he mainly said that "This is a representation of the hopes and dreams of fans who have long been asking for it."
"I'm surprised that such a rumor reached Spain. It may be a rumor, or it may be true. I don't know. *laughs*"
It seems only time will tell whether this is for real or not.
Also part of the rumor is that, if this Perfect Edition ever does come into fruition, we will at least be seeing it released in the West... and that (RUMOR!!!) "Tales of Xillia 2 is getting localized." - Okay, so this wasn't in their interview at all. I guess this was false information. Sorry guys.
... because if that is the case, they sure are trying to keep it under wraps.
During the Machi Asobi Vol. 10 event last May 3rd, Tales of Series Producer Hideo Baba was asked "Will we be getting info on the next Tales game during Tales of Festival 2013?"
To which Baba-san simply replied: "I wonder? I don't know." with a smile on his face.
Other Tales news announced during that time involves Tales of Kizna. Apparently, the game has already reached 1.4 million subscribers during Golden Week.
Tickets for the upcoming Tales of Festival 2013 are also almost sold out, according to Baba-san. There are still a few left, though. At the eve of the Festival, there will also be an event around the Yokohama Arena. This is in cooperation with ufotable.
The remainder of the event was then given to cover God Eater 2.
With Tales of Hearts R and Tales of Xillia 2 already out for quite a while and with Tales of Xillia almost here in the West, I'm surprised that we haven't heard much about a new game yet. They usually announce it quite fast.
AC's "Tales of Merchandise Monthly" is back! Now promptly renamed "Tales of Merchandise Monthly" and with a slightly new look! To those who missed our debut post eleven months ago, this column of ours focuses on any upcoming Tales of Series related merchandise, as well as those that (we think) are already available and are worth collecting.
Sorry for the lateness on this one! I was waiting for the Jude figure to get released . Also, no "Coming Soon" section this month since, well, we don't really have anything Coming Soon that wasn't covered last month. Also, happy anniversary to this little column of ours! ★
In this month's issue, we set the spotlight on one of the best figure companies involved in Tales merchandise: Alter.
Many months after this figure's announcement, we finally get a glimpse of Alter's Tales of Vesperia Estelle 1/8 Figure in full color. This is simply one of the prettiest Tales of Series figures I have ever laid eyes on. If you purchased Alter/ALTAiR's other Vesperia figures, then don't forget to add this beauty to your collection! Expected release date for Estelle is late September 2013.
Also from Alter is this Tales of Xillia Itsudemo Milla Plushie. If you'll remember the other Tales of Series plushies by Alter, specifically the Tales of Vesperia ones, then this should be familiar to everyone. What I like about the Alter Tales plushies is that the legs are movable, so you can actually have them do some poses of some sort. Little Milla's release date is expected sometime late July 2013.
I'm sure everyone's familiar with the Tales of Xillia Collector's Edition by now, which we covered in our last Tales of Xillia update. This awesome Collector's Edition, which will be made available to both US and Europe, includes the game, a 21.5cm tall Milla Maxwell figure (originally from Ichiban Kuji), a 100-page artbook and an original soundtrack. Pre-ordering it will get you free pre-order bonus DLC: Jude and Milla's Cress and Stahn costumes + wallpapers and icons. Namco Bandai says they'll only have limited copies for this, so better get your hands on it! So far, I believe even GameStop's slots are all taken, so check out Amazon if you're after it. Tales of Xillia will be released on August 6 in the US and August 9 in Europe.
Viva! Tales of Magazine July 2013 Issue (late May 2013) - HobbySearch
From Last Month's Issue:
There are only roughly three months left until Tales of Xillia's release in the West! If you're not after the Collector's Edition mentioned above, then show your support by getting the regular version!
After a series of delays, Alter/ALTAiR has finally released their Tales of Xillia 1/8 Scale Jude Mathis figure just a few days ago. If you're collecting Alter's figures, a big fan of Jude (like I am) or if you just want to pair him up with Alter's previous Milla Maxwell figure, then be sure to check him out!
The bargain edition of Tales of Innocence R, Tales of Innocence R The Best version for the PS Vita was released last April 25th. If you missed out on Innocence R, then here's your chance to get it at a much cheaper price.
The Tales of Xillia 2 Rubber Straps were released sometime late March 2013. The set includes all the main characters of the game. The secret character for this set was Milla Maxwell.
Megahouse's adorable Tales of Series Petit Chara Land Sword Wielders was also just released last March 2013. The set focuses on some of the sword users from the series, with a roster of seven figures including the secret one - which just happened to be Milla Maxwell in a ponytail. They are mainly being sold as a set of 10 in most shops.
Released just last March 28 is the Tales of Symphonia: The Animation Visual Complete Book. I've been seeing some pictures of the contents here and there, and so far, it really seems to be worth the money. You might want to check this one out if you love Symphonia and ufotable's work.
Tales of Symphonia: The Animation Visual Complete Book (03/28/2013) - CDJapan | HobbySearch
★Oh! Hi there! You found the little something special we had in store for readers of Tales of Merchandise Monthly! This is to celebrate the first year anniversary of this column! Just answer this simple question: At what date was our first issue of "AC's Tales of Merchandise Monthly" published? Specific date, no time needed. Just the entire date - i.e. June 21st, 2013. Just answer that simple question and send it to a745@abyssalchronicles.com along with your desired nickname/username. The 32nd person to answer this correctly (meaning, the 32nd e-mail with the correct answer to enter my inbox will win an Alter's Tales of Xillia Itsudemo Milla Plushie! GOOD LUCK! NOTE: Do NOT send multiple e-mails in an attempt to make yours the 32nd. I'll be checking. But what if no one notices this and you don't even reach 32 correct answers?? Then the Milla plush will be moved as a prize for our Xillia contest happening sometime May or June 2013. Sorry :(. I might also consider halting this column, 'cause having few entries may mean not a lot of people read this.STOP THE E-MAILS! Congratulations to NanoNano for winning AC's Tales of Merchandise Monthly Anniversary Contest! You win a Tales of Xillia Itsudemo Milla plushie!
Other Items Just Released:
Viva! Tales of Magazine May 2013 Issue - CDJapan | YesAsia
Viva! Tales of Magazine June 2013 Issue - CDJapan | YesAsia
Tales of Hearts R Official Complete Guide (03/14/2013) - CDJapan
Tales of Xillia Manga Side; JUDE Vol 3 (03/2013) - CDJapan
Tales of Xillia Manga Side; MILLA Vol 3 (03/2013) - CDJapan
When it comes to figures, Alter (or ALTAiR for the male figures) is simply one of the best out there. The attention they give to the tiniest details in their figures are impressive, and despite the recent delays with their figures, you're sure to get something of very good quality. So far, Alter has released the following Tales figures (plus plushies), and the following shops still have them available, though at higher than normal prices:
Tales of Vesperia 1/8 Yuri Lowell Figure - Plamoya
And that's it for this issue of Tales of Merchandise Monthly! Yup, this is practically our anniversary issue! Did you find the something special? Good luck!
Alter has released pictures of the colored prototype of their upcoming Tales of Vesperia 1/8 Scale Estelle figure. Some shops also have pre-orders open. In addition, the Milla Maxwell plushie, also by Alter, has some pre-orders open as well.
The expected release of the Estelle figure is sometime September 2013. Some shops already have pre-orders open, specifically CDJapan, Amiami and HobbySearch.
In addition, the Tales of Xillia: Itsudemo Milla Plushie, also by Alter, has it's pre-orders open in CDJapan, Amiami and HobbySearch. Expected release date is sometime July 2013.
The Famitsu Awards 2012 ceremony was held yesterday, April 17, 2013, at the Tokyo Dome Hotel. The awarding focuses on games released last year, specifically from January 1 to December 31, 2013. Game of the Year was awarded to Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
Tales of Xillia 2 has received an Award of Excellence from the said event. Other games that received this prestigious award include GRAVITY DAZE, Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Dragon Quest X, Dragon's Dogma, New Super Mario Brothers 2, Resident Evil 6, Puzzle & Dragons, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fantasy Life, Bravely Default, Persona 4 Golden, Pokemon Black 2/White 2 and Yakuza 5.
Two years ago, Tales of Xillia also received the same award from the 2011 Famitsu Awards.
Also note worthy is that Kana Hanazawa, the voice actor for Sophie from Tales of Graces/Graces f, received one of the Character Voice Awards.
Tales of Xillia 2 was released in Japan on November 1, 2012. Copies are still available at the following places:
Tales of Xillia 2 JP Version - Play-Asia | CDJapan | Amiami | YesAsia Tales of Xillia 2 Asia Version - Play-Asia Tales of Xillia 2 Famitsu DX Pack - Play-Asia | CDJapan Tales of Xillia 2 Lalabit Market Kyun Chara Pack - Play-Asia | CDJapan Tales of Xillia 2 X Edition (w/ PS3 controller) - Play-Asia (all slots currently sold out, check again later) | YesAsia
A new official website for Tales of Xillia has opened today, revealing the game's European release, a Collector's Edition and a new trailer. Two new battle videos and sixteen new screenshots focusing on Alvin and Elize have also been released.
First off, the official European release is on August 9th, 2013, just 3 days after the US release. A Tales of Xillia Milla Maxwell Collector's Edition was also announced, which includes the game, the a 21.5cm tall Milla Maxwell figure (originally from Ichiban Kuji), a 100-page artbook and an original soundtrack. Pre-ordering it will get you free pre-order bonus DLC: Jude and Milla's Cress and Stahn costumes + wallpapers and icons.
There also seems to be another Tales of Xillia Day One Edition which is basically the same, except without the Milla figure. Some participating stores will be having this, pretty much like Graces F's Day One Edition before.
A new trailer, entitled Man and Spirit, was also released. It's a bit similar to the first part of one of the old Japanese trailers, only with an English dub. Something of interest in the trailer is the change of the term "Jin" to a "Spyrex."
Also, 16 new screenshots, mainly focusing on Alvin and Elize, were released today.
There are also battle videos, but I'm still waiting for Namco Bandai themselves to upload the videos to their YouTube (don't want to risk a copyright strike now). And here they are:
Tales of Xillia will be released in the US on August 6, 2013 and in Europe sometime the same year. Pre-orders are now available at the following places:
Kotaku had an interview with Tales of Series producer Hideo Baba about his comments on some issues regarding the Tales games, along with a confirmation of Tales of Xillia's US release date.
First off, Tales of Xillia's release date for the US, according to the Kotaku article, will be on August 6th. This was apparently announced during Namco Bandai's Global Gamer's Day. I'm not sure if it will be the same for the EU release.
Hideo Baba also repeats in the interview the same thing he said during the previous New York Comic Con: No localizations for the PS Vita Tales of Series games are planned because the PS Vita itself is doing relatively poor in the West.
In addition, Baba-san also mentions that though the PS4, WiiU and the next Xbox are looking great so far, they have no plans of developing a Tales game on them as of yet.
To the interested, the issue of dual audio was also raised, and Baba-san said that they are definitely looking into it for future titles, though at the moment he can't promise anything.
Tales of Xillia will be released in the US on August 6, 2013 and in Europe sometime the same year. Pre-orders are now available at the following places:
First off, we'll go to the good (?) news: The Tales of the Tempest patch by Absolute Zero? Yep, that was real. That was very real. That was the joke, actually. That it was real and that they actually went and translated the whole thing. The actual translation part was also done since a few years ago, actually.
Second, I thought I had made it blatantly obvious, but AC had two jokes for this year: Tales of the Tempest R announcement and Barbatos invading AC. So I'm sorry, Tempest R isn't coming (yet). If you had actually gone to the site first and hovered over the image:
That would've come up. Also, the URL for the Tales Channel+ was set to "NOPE" and the image points to an URL named "NOPE NOPE NOPE". Again, sorry guys. April Fools!
And then there was Barbatos, who basically blocked me out of AC the past day and wouldn't let me in. Luckily I asked some help from Kyle and his party, and they managed to kill of Barbatos.
For good? No idea.
Thanks to those who were such good sports and actually enjoyed the thing. I got so many messages saying our April Fools joke was awesome, and I had a chance to interact with a whole lot of you guys, something I rarely get to do. It was really fun! And I hope you guys enjoyed it, too!
To those who got angry over this, let's learn to liven up a little.
To those who believed the Tempest R thing right away... I am so sorry oh my gosh you have no idea the guilt that started welling in when I noticed people believed the story right away ;_;
Oh, and please do tell me if there's some left-over Barbatos anywhere. He did such a great job of redecorating while I was away that I had a hard time reverting everything back to normal.
Abyssal Chronicles is a Tales of Series fansite owned by a745 and sukotsuto. This site is online for entertainment and informative purposes only and is not, in any way, associated with the game company. The Tales of Series belongs to Namco Bandai Games Incorporated.
. Also, no "Coming Soon" section this month since, well, we don't really have anything Coming Soon that wasn't covered last month. Also, happy anniversary to this little column of ours! ★
