Tales of Xillia Remastered – The Adventures of a College Student and a Mysterious Girl
Tales of Xillia Remastered: The College Student, the Lord of Spirits, and a Host of Upgrades
Tales of Xillia Remastered, the definitive version of the 2011 JRPG classic, has arrived on modern consoles and PC. The game, which originally launched on the PlayStation 3, brings the dramatic tale of two intertwining destinies to a global audience. Players can now dive into the magnificent world of Rieze Maxia on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam starting October 31, 2025.
A Tale of Two Destinies
Tales of Xillia distinguishes itself in the long-running Tales of franchise by offering a dual protagonist system. Players choose to experience the adventure from the perspective of one of two heroes, each offering unique insights and scenes into the overarching narrative.
- Jude Mathis: An aspiring medical student from the capital city of Fennmont. He stumbles upon a military research facility and becomes entangled in a massive conspiracy.
- Milla Maxwell: A mysterious woman who claims to be Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits. She journeys to prevent the kingdom of Rashugal from using a mysterious weapon that drains the world’s mana.
Their paths converge, forcing them to embark on a quest to destroy the dangerous device known as the Lance of Kresnik. Along the way, they recruit a diverse cast of allies with their own motivations to save the world, where humans and spirits strive to coexist in harmony.
Enhanced Battle and Quality-of-Life Features
The remaster improves upon the original experience with significant graphical boosts and essential quality-of-life additions, making the gameplay much smoother and more modern.
- Dual Raid Linear Motion Battle System: The core combat remains an action-packed, real-time system. It focuses on the Dual Raid mechanic, where two characters can Link together to perform devastating unified attacks called Linked Artes. This requires strategic coordination to maximize damage and unlock special support skills.
- Key Quality-of-Life Upgrades: The developers have addressed many player pain points from the original release:
- Auto-Save Function: A much-requested feature that automatically saves progress after moving to a new map or completing an event.
- Early Grade Shop Access: The game’s traditional Grade Shop can now be accessed and utilized from the start of the first playthrough.
- Enemy Encounter Toggle: Players can now switch enemy encounters ON or OFF in the configuration menu, allowing for uninterrupted exploration or focused grinding.
- Dash Mode: A Dash function has been added to increase movement speed on field maps, greatly reducing travel time.
- Destination Icons: Main story destinations are now marked on the map with a “★” icon, and sub-events are marked with a “!” icon, helping players track their objectives easily.
- Included DLC: The remaster includes over 40 types of DLC from the original release, such as costumes and items, at no extra charge.
Our Take: The Remastering Redemption Arc
Tales of Xillia was always an exemplary Tales of entry with its great combat and dual-perspective story, but it was absolutely plagued by 2011 console design choices—namely, endless corridors, no auto-save, and the constant fear of missing a limited-time sub-event. The fact that this remaster has practically weaponized Quality-of-Life features, giving us auto-save, enemy toggles, and little exclamation marks for sub-events, is nothing short of a development team publicly apologizing for the original game’s flaws. It feels less like a simple port and more like the definitive version we deserved all along. Now if they would just hurry up and announce Tales of Xillia 2 Remastered, we can finally have the full, excellent package on modern hardware.
