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Tales of Xillia 2 has one brilliant idea. It's something that presents an entirely new spin on the familiar structure of a Japanese role-playing game, and it even has an allegorical relevance to the real world. It's one of the most intriguing ideas I've seen in a game of this genre. Sadly, for all its conceptual brilliance, it's also one of several factors that make this a slightly disappointing entry in the Tales series.The idea in question is debt. Your lead character, Ludger Kresnik, is in hock to the Spirius Corporation following a devastating terrorist attack apparently carried out by his own brother, an elite Spirius agent. Despite trying to prevent the atrocity, Ludger is stung with a 20 million bill for his medical care, and then forced to pay it off while tracking his fugitive brother down.
When this bombshell is dropped after the introductory sequence, I was honestly thrilled. Here was a concept that echoed the financial reality of the world - relevant when the game originally launched in Japan in 2012, and arguably even more relevant today - and also added additional jabs at privatised healthcare and unscrupulous lending. Subtext and depth, and the game hadn't even properly begun!
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