Tales of Xillia Remastered Feature Scores
Explore all 73 feature scores for Tales of Xillia Remastered, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
73 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.028 (38%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.420 (27%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.414 (19%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.411 (15%)
Pros
Sort
-
Combat is the clearest strength across the reviews. Linked Artes, character swapping, fast real-time attacks, and build experimentation are repeatedly described as fluid, deep, and fun, though a few reviewers find regular encounters repetitive or simpler than other Tales entries.
-
The party is one of the most consistently praised parts of the game. Reviewers love the colorful personalities, chemistry, distinct combat roles, and character arcs, with very few complaints about the core cast.
-
The game is widely described as enjoyable, charming, and easy to keep playing, with combat and party chemistry doing most of the work. Even more critical reviews usually still regard the core game as fun.
-
Modern convenience and accessibility additions are broadly praised, including difficulty settings, remapping, encounter toggles, subtitles, autosave, and clearer navigation. The suite is helpful rather than exhaustive, with at least one reviewer wishing for options such as colorblind modes.
-
The soundtrack is one of the most dependable audiovisual strengths, with energetic battle themes, melodic town music, and orchestral pieces repeatedly singled out for praise.
-
Most reviewers consider this the definitive or easiest modern way to play Xillia thanks to autosave, markers, faster movement, smoother performance, and bundled extras. The central criticism is ambition: several call it barebones, conservative, or essentially an upscaled port, and the absence of Xillia 2 is repeatedly lamented.
-
The Lilium Orb progression system is widely praised for being flexible, rewarding, and constantly engaging. Reviewers like choosing stat, skill, and Arte growth instead of following a rigid path.
-
Character growth is one of the strongest narrative qualities. Reviewers repeatedly praise the way Jude, Milla, Alvin, and the wider party evolve through personal struggles and relationships.
-
Autosave is one of the most consistently appreciated additions, reducing the risk of lost progress and making long stretches between manual saves far less stressful.
-
Character-focused writing is a major strength, with reviewers praising expressive interactions, themes, and emotional arcs. Even more critical takes usually reserve their complaints for familiar tropes or underdeveloped larger ideas rather than the cast writing.
-
The cast and story land emotionally for many reviewers, with heartfelt character moments, sacrifice, and relationship arcs giving the adventure lasting warmth despite structural weaknesses.
-
The colorful anime-inspired art direction has aged well and helps the game retain charm even when individual models, textures, and environments reveal their PS3 origins.
-
PS5 and PC are repeatedly praised for smooth, stable frame rates, often at 60 FPS or better. Switch impressions are substantially weaker, with a 30 FPS cap and dips in busier areas.
-
Two protagonists, New Game+, and Grade Shop modifiers give the game real replay potential. The tradeoff is that several reviewers feel Jude and Milla's routes overlap too heavily to justify another full-length run.
-
Performance is strong on PS5 and PC in most reviews, with smooth play and responsive combat. Switch is the clear exception, where lower image quality, frame-rate limits, and sluggishness receive criticism.
-
Skits and party banter are repeatedly praised for humor, chemistry, and characterization. Repeated lines and occasional slow or awkward exchanges are the main drawbacks.
-
Build customization is a standout strength. The Lilium Orb, Artes, skills, equipment, and party-link choices let players shape characters into distinct roles without making the system inaccessible.
-
The story is generally liked for its emotional themes, political conflict, and character focus, but opinion is not unanimous. Some reviewers find it layered and gripping, while others call parts predictable, underdeveloped, or weaker than the cast.
-
Sharper resolution, stronger color, and cleaner presentation make the remaster look noticeably better, especially on PS5 and PC. Reviewers still see dated models, sparse assets, and notably softer image quality on Switch.
-
Value is positive for many reviewers who see a strong JRPG and useful upgrades at a mid-range price. Others think the package asks too much for such a conservative remaster, and premium-edition value draws additional criticism.
-
Combat has a learning curve, but reviewers repeatedly say it becomes intuitive with practice and rewards players who keep experimenting.
-
Loading is dramatically improved on faster platforms and often described as nearly instant. The base Switch version is the main outlier, where longer loads contribute to a slower overall feel.
-
Tutorials are consistently regarded as helpful, making layered combat mechanics understandable as they are introduced.
-
Voice performances are mostly well received, especially the ensemble cast, but audio quality creates a persistent caveat. Milla's English delivery and compressed or muffled voice recordings are singled out more than once.
-
Bundled costumes and legacy DLC are viewed as a welcome bonus, especially when included without extra cost, although some licensed items could not return.
-
The added dash and faster traversal noticeably improve movement, making the older world quicker and more pleasant to navigate.
-
Jude and Milla are both regarded as compelling leads, with reviewers especially responding to Milla's unusual perspective and the contrast between the two protagonists.
-
Controls are generally responsive and flexible once learned, especially in combat, but a few reviewers still find the older control and camera conventions clunky.
-
The skill-tree-style Lilium Orb offers meaningful build freedom and depth for most reviewers, although one critique finds parts of the progression less satisfying than they first appear.
-
The interface is cleaner and more usable for some reviewers, while others still find portions dated or awkward, particularly settings buried too deeply in menus.
-
Newcomers generally get a friendly entry point through clearer systems and quality-of-life changes, though the Grade Shop appearing immediately can be confusing or overly front-loaded.
-
Exploration benefits from faster movement, marked objectives, treasure indicators, and optional detours, but repetitive fields and backtracking keep it from being a universal strength.
-
Linked companions are usually helpful and automate partner abilities smoothly, but one reviewer reports allies wasting resources or positioning poorly against tougher enemies.
-
The remaster is praised for faithfully preserving what worked in the original while smoothing rough edges rather than rewriting the game.
-
The underlying gameplay hooked the reviewer quickly, with its systems feeling immediately engaging rather than merely functional.
-
The dual-protagonist structure and combat ideas are credited as meaningful innovations for the series, even though later reviewers debate how fully those ideas were realized.
-
One retrospective view treats Xillia as an unusually distinctive step for the series, crediting it with an identity that stood out in its era.
-
One reviewer strongly praises the way political context and skits make Rieze Maxia feel lived-in rather than merely decorative.
-
The remaster adds welcome polish and refinement, but reviewers still see visible PS3-era rough edges. The overall presentation is cleaner without feeling rebuilt from the ground up.
-
Enemy variety receives mixed feedback: some reviewers enjoy the range of encounters and memorable foes, while others feel the regular enemy pool becomes repetitive.
-
One reviewer highlights the game's co-op capability as a meaningful way to share battles with other players.
-
Fast travel is a useful convenience that cuts down on manual backtracking once locations have been discovered.
-
Clearer directional and objective information makes navigation easier to understand at a glance.
-
Crisp effects and environmental audio help one reviewer feel more immersed in the world and battles.
-
One reviewer specifically praises the character menu as organized and easy to return to between fights.
-
One reviewer specifically enjoyed the open map structure, side quests, and tucked-away areas, finding that they add to the sense of adventure.
-
Battle effects are praised for looking dramatic and lively, helping combat pop visually.
-
Bosses are often a combat highlight and can be memorable, but their quality is uneven; some rely on inflated health, stun-heavy behavior, or disruptive armor mechanics.
Cons
Sort
-
Environmental detail is a recurring weakness: fields, caves, ports, and connecting areas are often described as bare, repetitive, or low-detail. Strong color and occasional attractive locations soften the criticism but do not erase it.
-
Side quests are commonly described as basic, repetitive, or fetch-heavy. A few have worthwhile narrative context, but their structure rarely matches the quality of the main cast and combat.
-
Level design is one of the most consistent weak points. Reviewers repeatedly call dungeons and field areas linear, samey, or visually repetitive, even when individual locations or gimmicks work well.
-
Platform parity is a weak point. Switch and Switch 2 users do not receive the same frame-rate and visual experience available on PS5 and PC, and reviewers wanted a more capable native Switch 2 version.
-
Pacing is a recurring concern, especially through the middle of the game where cutscenes, formulaic progression, or repeated structure can slow momentum. A few reviewers still find the overall story flow strong.
-
Several reviewers call out difficulty spikes around the middle of the game. The challenge can be managed, but the curve is not always as smooth as the otherwise approachable systems suggest.
-
One reviewer finds enemy AI too passive, reducing the pressure and tactical demand of some fights.
-
Sound design is uneven. Effects and music can be crisp and immersive, but English voice compression, muffled clips, and occasional mixing problems are repeated complaints.
-
Grinding is highly context-dependent. Grade Shop modifiers can dramatically reduce repetitive leveling, while achievements, trophies, shop leveling, and some midgame progression can still demand busywork.
-
The remaster loses some original crossover or licensed content, which contributes to the feeling that the package is less complete than it could have been.
-
Facial animation still looks stiff and dated in the remaster, limiting how modern the presentation feels.
-
Portable play is possible, but one detailed comparison recommends Steam Deck or ROG Ally over the Switch versions because of image quality and performance compromises.
-
One reviewer wanted the game's interesting ideas and lore explored more deeply, finding too much of the world-building left at a surface level.
-
Pausing cutscenes has a specific technical flaw in one review: resuming can cause the voice audio to drop out.
-
The dual-protagonist choice sounds more consequential than it often feels. Some reviewers enjoy the different viewpoints and replay motivation, but many say Jude and Milla share too much of the same story for the choice to transform the campaign.
-
Technical issues vary by platform and reviewer. Most are minor or non-game-breaking, but reported problems include subtitle behavior, audio drops, visual glitches, high-frame-rate bugs, and severe pop-in in older-source impressions.
-
New objective, event, and treasure markers are broadly useful, but the map itself can become confusing in multi-level areas where icons overlap or elevation is awkward to read.
-
Upgrade systems are mixed: character and replay modifiers can be useful and flexible, but immediate Grade Shop access can undermine the intended progression and sense of earning upgrades.
-
Animation quality is mixed. Combat can look fluid and energetic, but stiff cutscenes, older facial movement, and dated character animation repeatedly reveal the game's age.
-
The world's mood is split between cozy, colorful charm and criticism that repetitive spaces fail to captivate. Atmosphere depends heavily on how much the art style and cast carry the environment for the player.
-
Camera behavior remains somewhat dated, with occasional clunky movement or obstructed views in combat, though not every reviewer finds it troublesome.
-
The main loop can be engaging when combat and progression are clicking, but repetition becomes noticeable over longer sessions.
-
The shop-leveling economy is distinctive and can make gathering materials feel purposeful, but some reviewers think universal shop inventories and donation requirements overstreamline shopping or encourage unnecessary grind.
-
A first run generally lands around the mid-30-hour range, which some find comfortable and others find daunting when considering a second protagonist playthrough.
-
Puzzle and dungeon interactions draw mixed reactions: some reviewers appreciate the occasional environmental tasks, while others criticize the game for lacking substantial traditional puzzles.