I beat Tales of Xillia 2. Got all the endings. It has okay combat, with some fun boss battles, but overall, I feel like it's a fairly bog standard jrpg. Too many kids in the game.
I'm playing Avernum 6 on PC. I prefer A4, and A5 over this, but at the same time, it's interesting to see what has happened to areas that you visited in older games.
In Tower of Time, I am 100% done with the first two floors. Making good progress on the third floor. The dwarf packs a real punch, but has died more times than I care to admit. Currently, he feels like the melee equivalent to a glass cannon.
On console, I am mixing up Resonance of Fate sessions with Elden Ring sessions. It took me 15 minutes to understand one of the tutorials on RoF. Felt like a moron. Looked it up online, and it turns out that the tutorial could be better at explaining things. Still feel a bit stupid, though.
You got me interested in Xilia, never played a Tales of game. How does it compare to others?
If you're going to play a 3D Tales game, either play Vesperia, Graces f, or Berseria.
Vesperia offers the best overall package. Graces f offers the best combat, but shitty story and characters. The combat was miles better than any 3D game in the series. Berseria is a decent game, too.
Xillia 1 is better than Xillia 2. Xillia 1 has more of an adventure feel to it. Xillia 2 has you clear up a debt you get early on in the game. You have a quest board where you do repetitive quests over and over. They share the same world(s), so it feels a bit like a cash grab. Dungeons are uninspired. There are big fields to explore, but in general, I just liked a couple of areas in both games. Combat is solid. I have no major complaints, but at the same time, it feels vety safe. It's fairly straightforward. ToX2 doesn't change much from the first game, other than giving the new character a super power available only to him, and a couple of bosses.
Most new characters added to the second game, I did not like.
If I were to recommend you a game in the series, Xillia would not be it. It's not worst in anything, it's not best in anything. I'd say try Berseria for a more modern Tales game. Graces f, I really enjoyed, but the anime tropes, and power of friendship are huge. Not something most codexers could stomach.
Vesperia has probably the best main character in the series, and is a safe bet (imo).
Be aware that I consider this series to be fast food of jrpgs. I like fast food every now and then.