So hey, I won a free copy of this earlier this year and decided yesterday to finally dig in. Ive liked what I played so far Im just up to after the introduction of the concept of sidequests. So my question is should I just start dumping into shops to upgrade them all Willy nilly or should I use some discretion and only upgrade specific shops similar to how its more useful to kindle specific bonfires in Dark Souls.

Also is there a proper crafting system in this game? Any other starter tips might not be a bad idea either. I started on Hard since the IGN review pointed out its not especially difficult either.

You can upgrade what you like but weapons and armor of course are much more useful to you of course. The only thing you should look out for is what item gives you a bonus and only use these items to upgrade. Personally I have not bought many items to begin with since they were not really needed. And no there is no crafting system which makes weapon gathering pretty easy and simple.

As for other tips: It is not really challenging on hard but some boss fights later have a much higher difficulty spike and can be a bit annoying on hard. As for side quests From time to time it is a good idea to go back to other cities to trigger certain events especially the character side stories are pretty good. Xillia 2 has a bit more to it for Xillia you just can enjoy the story^^

When you unlock a weapon try to upgrade a few times past it if possible as you'll get decent discounts on the new weapon. Also be ready to buy all brand new equipment and the moment you sell your old stuff you level up and unlock new weapons/armor.

Okay, finally understand how the game works now....mostly. Some of the advanced combat stuff I still haven't clicked with although I did manage to beat the first boss fairly easily. The one thing Im not understanding is it said something about artes being influenced by your stats? Is there anywhere to see what stats influence which artes? Some of the advanced link combos are kind of nuts too. Im enjoying it though despite its extremely archetypal characters and plot. Its got something to it that separates it from the other mediocre anime inspired JRPGs. I think its mostly due to the combat but I still dont even mind the characters or plot that much either.

@demoskinos: You can display in-depth stats explanations in the Party Menu. Just move the cursor to the right, pick a character and check the Parameters tab. Basically DEX, PSY and INT affect Arte damage and defense while STR, VIT and AGI boost physical stuff. Some also affect your movement speed, chance to inflict status ailments and so on.

Xillia is waaay more tolerable than Tales of Graces f but I still rolled my eyes plenty, just you wait. I'm excited to finally play Symphonia next year when they re-release it.

@ervonymous: Oh Im sure it will have its share of cliche moments. Its a decently fun enough romp though. Im still waiting for Milla and Jude to split up or something cause there has to be parts that you only see as one or the other right?

I still have the game on hold, it's not game breaking but the slowdown in battles drove me nuts about 15 hours into the game. Nothing too interesting with the narrative up to that point and I doubt Bamco had the balls to do anything radical with the two protagonists approach.