Tales of Xillia 2: More Info On Ludger & Elle + New Story & General Game Details

This week's Famitsu features new in-depth information about Tales of Xillia 2, mainly more info about Ludger and Elle, about their story, the game's battle system and the game itself in general.

• Our hero, Ludger Will Kresnik (romanization official) with a height of 170cm, is a normal young man living in the city of Trigraph together with his older brother. His brother is always busy with his own work, so he's mostly in charge of the housework and as well as taking care of the pet cat Lulu. His brother always seems to like his cooking and finishes up everything he makes that in time, Ludger managed to be able to cook a diverse variety of dishes. His cooking skills are something to be considered. Ever since he failed getting a job in the Clanspia Company that he's always longed to work under, he has been living in Trigraph and working in the train station's restaurants. On one of his days to work, he gets involved in some incident with a little girl he doesn't know (Elle) in front of his workplace. Ludger is a man burdened with both a huge financial debt as well as the fate of the world.

• Our heroine, Elle Mel Mata (romanization official) with a height of 130cm, is practically the youngest Tales heroine in the history of the series, and is also the second non-playable heroine after Claire Bennett from Tales of Rebirth. That's right - Elle's an NPC heroine. Like we reported before, Elle is on a journey towards the Land of Canaan, where legends say that wishes can be granted, and she's doing this in order to keep her father's orders. Along the way, she meets Ludger in Trigraph and they promise to travel to Canaan together. Though she originally has a spoiled and shy personality, she's willing to go all out to save her father. She carries around with her a pocket watch which she inherited from her father.

• Ludger's pet cat, Lulu, is originally owned by Ludger's older brother, though she has become quite attached to Ludger himself for taking care of her ever since the older brother has been too busy with work. She has taken a liking to Elle and also accompanies the two on their journey. She acts more like a mascot character than a key character. She doesn't have a shy personality and usually just meows in an adorable voice. And no, she can't speak the human language. She is actually the boss of the neighborhood cats, and even Elle feels that atmosphere about her.

Keywords and Information:

1. Mana - The main source of all energy for the world.

1. Jin - It allows the production of a mass of mana at the expense of spirits. There is a sort of limit in the use of it in Elenpios, where it can only be used for a relatively short time, so its utilization does not sacrifice any spirits.

1. Origin - A future generation system being developedin Liese Maxia. It allows the user to perform artes even though its use does not consume spirits, but it is still not being used for its impracticality.

1. Clanspia Company - A large enterprise boasting its top shares and has a huge branch in Trigraph. In the past, it had this sort of plan to take energy from another world (I'm not sure on this translation), but right now it aims to reconcile with Liese Maxia. This is the company Ludger wanted to work for, but was apparently not accepted into.

1. Current World Relations - The two worlds of Liese Maxia and Elenpios appear to be in harmony at the moment, but the high level of differences in terms of opinions and culture between the two has the two worlds still in some opposition with each other.

Battle System:

• Weapon Shift - This is a special skill that Ludger has, where he can shift between a couple of swords, a couple of guns and a hammer during battle. Pressing the L1 and the R1 buttons makes you shift between the three weapons. Pressing the L1 and R2 buttons simultaneously allows a reverse order of the weapon shifting. It seems this skill is only for Ludger, and that the other party members to be introduced will have their own special skills.

Interview With Hideo Baba: This part only has the important tidbits in the interview with Hideo Baba found in Famitsu. Those highlighted in bold are the ones I (personally) find most interesting.

• The game is currently 60% complete.

• The Clanspia Company is a huge enterprise that deals with producing merchandise for the purpose of elevating the level of life for people. They have various services such as things that are able to control monsters, hiring of bodyguards, etc. Like in our current society, one of the reasons Ludger wanted to work here was because it would be good for his image. And for some reason, the game's story somewhat focuses on the company.

• Hideo Baba doesn't reveal if Ludger can travel to Liese Maxia in the game, but he promises that they'll try to answer everyone's expectations, and info on this will be revealed in a future report.

• The whole "are you prepared to destroy the world" thing not only affects the story, but also the game system. It's mainly about the choices and about the player feeling the meaning behind them.

• There aren't exactly countless of paths for the game since it has its own major path, but the game's impression and progress does change based on your choices.

• As mentioned above, Elle is the second non-playable heroine in the series, with Claire Bennett from Tales of Rebirth being the first.

• While Xillia had the feel like you were travelling with the characters, they aim to have Xillia 2 make you feel like you are Ludger yourself on this journey.

• There's a meaning behind Ludger's surname being Kresnik, but that will be a secret for now.

• The new battle system, XDR-LMBS, will give you a feel of a mix between Xillia's and Graces' battle system.

• Mutsumi Inomata and Kosuke Fujishima will be involved in the game. Though Mr. Baba couldn't reveal how exactly, he mentions that he's sure it's something fans would appreciate.

• Though ufotable and Ayumi Hamasaki are back for the animation and the theme song, they're trying their best to make this game better than the original Xillia.

• The other characters will be introduced soon. In addition, there are still a lot of information about the game's story and system that is yet to be revealed.

Well, that's a lot of info, but there will be more to come soon! I'd like to take this time to mention that this month's Tales Merch Monthly is late because I didn't want it to overshadow any possible new Tales news (like this one). It'll be out within this week though, so stay tuned!