Tales of Xillia 2 is a title that I played mainly because I could. With the new Tekken game sucking attention away at the Bandai-Namco area, the wait in line wasn't particularly long. I still wasn't too sure about it, since I'd yet to play the first one, and was afraid I'd be lost in regards to the plot.

And I was, to an extent. The part of the demo that I chose took me though a high-tech hydroponics facility powered by Asuka, the great spirit of Light. Several other great spirits were mentioned, most of which I recognized from Tales of Phantasia.

I'm thankful I took a moment to read the instructions, else I might have missed some parts of the combat. The protagonist can switch between weapons at will during combat, and so I had fun slashing one enemy with twin long knives, then shooting another in the face, and finally turning to whack a third with a polearm not unlike an oversized meat tenderizer. My time ran out before I could try the transformation option, however.

One thing I did know before playing was the game's tagline: "Would you destroy the world to save her?" I kept an eye on all the plot-important dialogue, and two things stood out. First, there were multiple references to something called the "Time Fracture." Second, I now know how to write "alternate history" in kanji.

Seems like that "Destroy the world" thing wasn't just hyperbole after all.

Now I'm wondering how much the first Xillia is going for in the stores...