TL;DR: Still one of the best Tales games. Cleaner visuals, near-instant load times, and smoother combat make it an easy recommendation — especially if you’re chasing that warm rush of PS3-era nostalgia. Not a remake, but a faithful, heartfelt restoration that hits all the right notes.

Some games don’t just remind you of who you were when you first played them — they remind you of what gaming used to feel like. Tales of Xillia is one of those games. Back in 2011, it wasn’t the flashiest JRPG or the deepest, but it had something that stuck with me: sincerity. It was confident enough to tell a heartfelt story with earnest characters and a combat system that made every fight feel alive.

Now, Tales of Xillia Remastered has arrived, and it’s less a reinvention and more a lovingly polished time capsule. It’s the same adventure that made me fall for Jude and Milla a decade ago, only smoother, cleaner, and faster — a PS3 classic wearing a crisp PS5 jacket.

The moment the anime intro kicked in — that ridiculously catchy theme song, the flash of Milla’s blade — I was 19 again, glued to a CRT, pretending to understand moral complexity through JRPG monologues. The remaster doesn’t rewrite history, and honestly, it doesn’t need to. The story still works: a divine spirit in human form (Milla Maxwell) and a young med student with big ideals (Jude Mathis) end up tangled in a war between two worlds.

The dual-protagonist system remains one of the game’s best ideas. Playing as Milla this time gave me a new appreciation for how fragile her stoicism really is — she’s a god learning to be human, and the remaster’s cleaner visuals make her small emotional cracks easier to see. Jude, still the embodiment of optimism, grounds the story with his empathy and stubbornness. Together, they make Xillia feel human in a way few JRPGs manage.

Bandai Namco didn’t try to overhaul Xillia — they tried to preserve it. This isn’t a Resident Evil 4-style reinvention; it’s more like cleaning your favorite old vinyl so it plays without the scratches. The lighting is softer, the textures sharper, the colors richer. The anime cutscenes pop beautifully in 4K. Sure, the environments still look like they were designed for a PS3 budget — flat plains, boxed-in paths, copy-pasted dungeons — but the remaster’s higher resolution and lighting tweaks make them feel less dated.

And thank the spirits, the load times are gone. Zipping between towns and battles now feels instantaneous, turning the whole experience into the smooth, snappy rhythm it always wanted to be.

Back when Xillia launched, its combat felt electric — fast, flashy, and dynamic in ways turn-based RPGs weren’t. That energy still holds up. Battles flow in real time, with the signature “Linked Combat System” letting you pair characters for combo attacks that explode in spectacular fashion. It’s intuitive and kinetic, especially at 60 frames per second.

But it’s also familiar. Modern players raised on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth or Baldur’s Gate 3 may find Xillia’s action simple once the patterns set in. It’s still fun — like muscle memory kicking in — but it doesn’t evolve much as you progress. The thrill of timing perfect Linked Artes fades once you realize the dance steps never really change.

The new Grade Shop, available from the start, lets you tweak difficulty and experience gain however you want. It’s a smart addition for veterans who want to skip the grind or experiment with harder challenges, though it can also make early-game battles a breeze. Thankfully, you can disable boosts anytime if you want the original pacing back.

As always with Tales, the real magic lies in the cast. Milla’s divine composure, Jude’s restless optimism, Alvin’s charming duplicity, Elize’s quiet strength — they all feel as vivid as ever. The remaster’s cleaner presentation helps bring their personalities to the surface, and the voice acting, still excellent after all these years, sells every emotional beat.

It’s in the downtime where Xillia shines most — those conversational “skits” that break up the journey with jokes, debates, and vulnerable admissions. They feel like hanging out with friends who’ve grown older but not colder. It’s nostalgic comfort food, and it still works.

Even with its visual upgrades, Xillia can’t completely hide its age. Maps are basic. Dungeons lack variety. Some areas feel more like corridors than worlds. Yet there’s a strange charm to that simplicity — it keeps the focus on the characters, the battles, and the story rather than endless open-world distractions.

The vendor system and Lilium Orb progression grid remain satisfying — little mechanical rituals that give you a sense of ownership over your growth. They’re not as deep as modern skill trees, but they feel tangible, deliberate, and personal.

On PS5, the game runs flawlessly. Battles transition instantly, framerate stays rock-solid, and fast travel feels, well, actually fast. This level of smoothness does more for Xillia than any major visual overhaul could. It makes the whole experience feel alive again, as if someone finally removed the dust from your old favorite game cartridge.

A decade later, Tales of Xillia’s story lands differently. Its themes of faith, sacrifice, and coexistence between clashing civilizations feel more relevant now than ever. Milla’s crisis of identity — losing her divine power and confronting human fragility — resonates in a way it didn’t when I was younger. Jude’s arc, too, feels wiser: idealism tempered by consequence.

It’s not a groundbreaking story by modern standards, but it’s earnest and human — qualities a lot of bigger RPGs have forgotten how to embrace.

Verdict

In 2025, Tales of Xillia Remastered feels less like a comeback and more like a celebration — a reminder of why this series mattered. It doesn’t reinvent itself, and it doesn’t need to. The combat still pops, the characters still shine, and the story still has heart. It’s dated in spots, yes, but its sincerity makes up for its shortcomings.

For newcomers, this is the best way to experience one of the Tales franchise’s most beloved entries. For veterans, it’s a chance to relive one of the series’ warmest memories — now running smoother, cleaner, and better than ever.