However, it seems the next remastered title may have already been revealed. A Twitter user, Lowedelta, reportedly discovered a Tales of Series News video set for August 18th with a thumbnail featuring characters from Tales of Xillia (like Milla Maxwell, Elise, and several others). It’s thus possible that it may be the next remastered Tales title.

Of course, Tales of Xillia would make sense for other reasons. It’s one of the few titles in the series that was never released for other platforms after its 2013 launch on PS3. Given the plethora of DLC content, the inclusion of the sequel is unlikely.

Stay tuned for more details and updates on the announcement when it goes live. In the meantime, check out our review for the last remaster, Tales of Graces f Remastered.

Killzone 2

While Guerrilla Games has become well-known for the Horizon series, remastering Killzone 2 for the PS5 seems a given. It’s the game that put the company on the map and its excellent visual fidelity, attention to detail, fun gun play and solid multiplayer would make a smooth transition over to the console. If a new sequel on PS5 isn’t coming any time soon, then it makes sense to revisit Killzone 2 in some capacity.

Speaking of Naughty Dog’s third person adventure, it recently fell to sixth place this week. FIFA 13 managed to rise up to the second spot, while the Smurfs 2 for some forsaken reason is at number 3. Tales of Xillia for the PlayStation 3 debuted this week at number 4, which isn’t too bad at all. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Leaf dropped down to fifth place.

The usual suspects inhabit the remaining top ten, with Call Of Duty: Black Ops II, LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes, Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed III at seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth place respectively.

Tales of Xillia follows the story of Jude Mathis, a medical student, and Milla Maxwell, a woman about whom very little is known. Milla is accompanied by four companions, none of whom can be seen. Players will have the option of experiencing the story from the point of view of either Jude or Milla, but whoever they choose to be, the character’s destinies will intertwine in the face of a dangerous threat to the world’s mana supply, prompting them to team up and test their combined meddle.

A staple of the Tales series has always been the real time battle system, and Xillia continues the legacy with a fresh twist. The new battle system allows two characters to attack in tandem, performing powerful linked attacks and enabling an entirely new dimension of tactical strategy.

Tales of Xillia is exclusively available the PS3. You can read our full review of the game here.

The tale revolves around Jude, a medical student in the big city, and his encounters with Milla, the incarnation of a great and powerful spirit who can command the elements. Jude encounters Milla whilst looking for his missing professor and, after both of them are sucked into a big military conspiracy, Milla has her powers stolen and she and Jude are branded as outlaws.

"Level ups grant you points that you invest into each characters' lilium orb. It looks a bit like the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X, with a variety of nodes you can activate that grant you different stat boosts."

The story revolves around Milla’s journey to regain her powers and restore balance to the world, with Jude tagging along in an effort to find his place and true calling in life. It’s a typical Tales narrative of personal growth, but one that is told with appropriate aplomb. The characters certainly help, a typically likeable bunch with enough personality quirks to keep you invested. The story offers enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, a winning formula that constantly keeps Xillia feeling fresh.

No quest to save the world can be completed without a few scraps, and it’s here that the Tales series has always earned its place in the RPG canon. Playing out more like a beat ’em up than a traditional RPG, Xillia keeps this tradition going; a masterful mix of accessible high-octane action with enough skills, stats and ultimate moves to keep you invested throughout. A fair few innovations are introduced in Xillia though. You can now create and switch links between your character and another party member on the fly and, depending on who you link with, you see different benefits.

Some characters stun fast enemies, others can perform guard breaks on more defensive monsters and all characters will unleash pretty decent tag team combos when linked. Linking also opens up a linked skill system, whereby two characters can unleash their skills in tandem for maximum damage. It probably sounds reasonably standard in the abstract, but the pace at which combat flows keeps you on your toes throughout. There is seldom a dull moment in Tales of Xillia’s battles.

Levelling and upgrading your heroes is also different to previous Tales titles. Level ups grant you points that you invest into each characters’ lilium orb. It looks a bit like the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X, with a variety of nodes you can activate that grant you different stat boosts.

"Where the level designs falter, the characters stand strong. They look great, with a visual design that will be hugely resonant with fans of anime. "

Certain nodes are nestled between the lines and, if you can activate all the nodes that surround one of these, you can get the skill hidden within. It sounds like a great system but, for all the levelling up options it gives, it is quite limited in how similar each character’s lilium orb is. Whether it’s a mage, healer or straight up warrior-type hero, the nodes are almost identical, differing on only a few key skills. It’s not a bad system at all, but a bit more variety would have gone a long way.

Shops are a little different to conventional RPGs as well. Rather than each new area offering fresh gear, you need to level up the shops to get access to new tiers of equipment. You can do this by contributing gold, or by donating certain types of loot gained in the field. Managing this makes for an interesting new system and, whilst it doesn’t offer much more than an interesting distraction, credit must be given for the attempt to innovate.

Searching for relevant loot will certainly be an addictive call for those wanting the best gear, but it is hampered by how hit and miss the level designs can be. Every multi-layered and rewarding level is offset by the inclusion of a map that is the gaming equivalent of watching paint dry. It gets tedious after a while playing through such sparse environments, but at least the low points are bailed out by the great combat and story.

Where the level designs falter, the characters stand strong. They look great, with a visual design that will be hugely resonant with fans of anime. They are slightly let down by last gen facial animations, but the bright and vivid world manages to shine through the graphical infidelity. The sound doesn’t hold up quite so well. The dull soundtrack is a mixture of hard rock battle riffs and mediocrity. It’s perfectly listenable but, outside of some interesting Chinese string instrumentation, it will be resigned to the back of your mind fairly quickly. Harder to swallow is the voice acting.

"You may feel a bit hard done by paying full price for a game launched so long ago in Japan, but the sheer amount of content makes your investment worth it."

Whilst it is a much higher calibre than many JRPGs can boast of, it still has a few cringe-worthy performances. Jude’s vocals do grow on you as the game goes on, but his “plucky young hero” acting is painfully generic. I always opt for the Japanese voices with subtitles where possible on games like Xillia, so the lack of them was a truly frustrating omission. Granted, this would be a huge technical burden to include, but it’s annoying not having the option when the English dubs for all Tales games are of such a mixed quality.

You may feel a bit hard done by paying full price for a game launched so long ago in Japan, but the sheer amount of content makes your investment worth it. The story itself is huge and the abundance of side quests further bolsters Xillia to help it stand toe to toe with even the largest of RPGs.

Players are given the choice to play through Jude or Milla’s story when they start a new game but, whilst this may make you think you’re getting two games for the price of one, they aren’t that much different at all. Jude and Milla separate at only a few points in the story and, whilst the two stories fill in the relevant gaps, it feels like a last minute addition that wasn’t particularly well thought through. It’s a missed opportunity, but it doesn’t do any harm.

There are plenty of changes that help Xillia stand out above most contemporary RPGs (other games in the Tales series included). You can consider it essential gaming if you’re a series fan or a dedicated RPG player in general, as the story and gameplay are top notch. I’m not entirely convinced it deserves the crown of “best Tales game” that so many fans have attributed to it, but that’s an argument I’ll leave for the forums. This is a great addition to your collection, and a fantastic title to finally have on our shores. Stop messing around and go pick it up.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Tales of Xillia was praised for its excellent visuals, battle system and the use of two main characters – that offered their own quests – instead of one. Designer Hideo Baba revealed that if the game was successful and demand was high enough, he’d consider bringing the game to the West, which is precisely what happened (who knew?). Could Tales of Xillia 2 be very far behind given its overall critical and commercial success in Japan?

One can certainly hope. Meanwhile, Tales of Xillia will be heading to North America on August 6th and to Europe on August 9th exclusively for PlayStation 3.

The Last generation of PS3 games is upon us. With the PS4 hitting shelves sometime in November there really aren’t going to be too many more games coming out of the PS3 for long. While there are going to be some new cross-platform titles releasing on it in 2014, the sun has begun to set on the PS3 with the announcement of the next generation.

This is more than alright though, the best titles for a console tend to come out towards the end of it’s life. It’s a bittersweet affair that happens in every successful console’s life cycle. Just look at what we’ve seen this year for the PS3 and it’s been a good year for gaming in general as we usher out the old and bring in the new. The PlayStation 3 still has a few exclusive gems to share with us before the year is done.

1. The Last Guardian:

The Last Guardian promises to be interesting with Team ICO behind the game’s development there is a lot to look forward to. The story is about a boy as he becomes friends with a giant, wild- yet friendly creature as they try to escape what appears to be a monolithic and ancient castle.

The wonderful cinematic sequences, creature design and art style are going to be a treat for anyone who is a fan of games like Shadow of the Colossus and Ico. The action ans well as  game-play in The Last Guardian also looks like it will bring a fresh twist to the Action-Adventure genre. It will be interesting to see how a young boy deals with large, armored soldiers while apparently not having any real weapons. The underlying tone of friendship and dedication is a nice touch of emotion that we should be seeing more of in gaming.

Given the questionable absence of the game, we think that this will be a cross generation game.

At the Japan Expo in France, Namco Bandai confirmed that Tales of Xillia 2, the sequel to the PS3 exclusive Tales entry that created so many waves in Japan when it first released there (and which finally releases in the west in a month), will be localized and coming to the west after all. The video above confirmed that the sequel is Europe bound next year.

Tales of Xillia 2 will have brand new characters, but in the same game world as Tales of Xillia. It will build on that game’s engine, including the same combat and battle systems as that game.

Tales of Xillia 2 marks the first time since Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World that a mainline Tales entry got a direct sequel. The new game, like its predecessor, will be PS3 exclusive. As of right now, it has only been confirmed for PAL territories, although a US announcement should be inbound soon.

Namco Bandai has officially announced the Limited Edition of Tales of Xillia.

The Limited Edition of Tales of Xillia will include 2 Downloadable Content Costumes, Special Limited Edition Packaging, Tales of Xilla itself, Soundtrack CD and an Art-book with Character Profiles. The Limited Edition will only cost $59.99, those who pre-order the regular edition will automatically be bumped up to the limited edition.

Tales of Xillia has been out in Japan for quite a while now since 2011 and now North America and Canada are finally getting the Japanese RPG treat on August 6th 2013.

Let us know if you’re looking forward to playing Tales of Xillia later this summer on your PlayStation 3 in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates and our review of the game in the coming months.

The Tales series is a well known franchise that has spawned a decent amount of titles already and is quite popular in Japan. PlayStation 3 has always been kind of lacking good RPG’s for this generation of gaming, so its gratifying to see a new Japanese RPG hitting the platform for players to enjoy. Tales of Xillia has been out in Japan since 2011 and will be hitting North American retailers on August 6th.

Let us know if you’re excited for Tales of Xillia on the PlayStation 3 in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for our review of the game in the coming months.