Although our focus will almost certainly always be anime, we hope to also delve into other Japanese media here on Beneath the Tangles, such as manga and visual novels. To that end, we’re happy to have gaming blogger Michael of Gaming and God guest for us today, as he jumps into a popular JRPG.
If you’re into JRPGs (Japanese Role Playing Games), then you need to check out the Tales Of series. They have been making titles for decades, and one of their more recent games (as of this writing) is Tales Of Xillia. The word that comes after “Tales Of” often has nothing to do with the game, so don’t pay it any mind.
Xillia is a game changer in the series. From the story to the battle sequences, it is a game that’s hard to put down! I spent hours at a time playing through this masterpiece, especially enjoying the interaction the characters have with each other.
Character development is always a strong characteristic of most Tales games. The fact that we get to see anime cut scenes (few and far between but they are there) and a lot of voiced over dialogue really helps to connect with them. Instead of reading tons of text, you are treated to many optional conversations throughout the game play and you can see the unique personality of each character come to life. It’s enjoyable to see the two main characters, Jude and Milla, going back and forth with each other.
Milla is cold, calculated, determined and completely out of touch with humanity. She has no idea how to socialize among everyone else, and has a difficult time expressing her true emotions. She seems like someone who has so much mystery to her, but as you play you find out that it’s quite the opposite! She is pretty one sided actually, and it has nothing to do with mystery but more so her feelings to complete the task at hand.
I personally have seen this in many people in the otaku culture. Whether it’s gamers, anime addicts or just geeks at large, we often struggle with this. We are so focused on our own little world, we don’t look at how the decisions we are making affect the ones around us. Our friends and family want to spend time with us, but we are too busy beating the next game, completing the latest anime season or buying that last item for our collection.
Stop and pay attention to your own life, and see how you can enjoy it more with others. Reach out to others and spend time with them, call that friend or relative you’ve been neglecting for weeks (or months) and take a break from it all. It’s a good habit to be focused and determined in certain areas of our lives (spirit, health, career, family, education) but not so good if they are becoming an idol and a stumbling block.
Learn from Milla and see that your loved ones are very important, even to the point that you’d be willing to give up certain hobbies to be with them. It’s tough at times, because we don’t enjoy what others might enjoy, but just do it to make them happy. Who knows, you might see them one day sitting next to you with a controller beating that boss you’ve been stuck on…
How do you relate at all to Milla, or what did you find interesting about her character? Have you played Tales of Xillia, and what did you think of the game?
Michael is a teacher living in Miami, FL with his beautiful wife. He enjoys reading, writing, conquering video games, watching anime or Netflix, and exercising. He is often posting on Geeks Under Grace where he is a staff writer or on his own blog Gaming And God. You can also find him on Twitter or Facebook.
This reminds me of my own viewing habits. I don’t watch too much anime (maybe not enough for an aniblogger?), but it still leads to difficulties with more important parts of my life in that I usually watch at night before bed. If I stay up too late watching, I’m a grump in the next day and can sometimes be insufferable toward my family. If I’m introspective and strong enough, I’ll make the wise decision to skip an episode and just get that extra rest!
Reblogged this on Gaming And God and commented:
My guest post on Beneath The Tangles went live! Please be sure to check it out 🙂
This article is very true about a lot of gamers and anime fans. We tend to become anti social because we get so absorbed by the fantasy worlds we invest so much time in. But we do need to also be alert of the real world we live in so we won’t miss out on the great things of life, otherwise before we know time will have passed us by and miss out on great moments.
And my experience is that perhaps above all other popular media forms in the west – TV, anime, etc. – gaming has the ability to consume us so totally that hours seems like minutes, and before we know it, a night or day is gone!
Yup! It has happened to me all the time. Honestly, that doesn’t happen to me with anime (it used to when I first started binge watching series years ago) but not anymore. I typically can watch like 3 episodes and I’m done. Then I have to either watch something else or just do something else different.
[…] I am finally getting a Playstation 4 this week, so I hope to play some more games and able to write more as time goes on. One of the games I’m looking forward to get my hands on is Tales of Zesteria. If you don’t know about it, the Tales Of series is similar to Final Fantasy, in that each game is different from the other but the mechanics are similar. Each game is an anime and RPG fans dream come true, bringing together Japanese voice overs, animated cut scenes, fast paced battles and a dramatic story. They have been releasing titles since the SNES, and the last one played was Tales of Xillia. […]