#the thing about ludger as a character is that his past (in both worlds) is much more interesting than his present | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

taleslations · 5 years

Text

ToX2 behind-the-scenes info

People have been wondering about the decisions behind Xillia 2’s creation, so I have compiled information found in guides and interviews. No straight-up translation because that’s too tedious, just an info dump.

X1&2 Spoilers below.

From the Complete Guide interviews

Producer & Director – Baba & Anabuki

[Note: Anabuki worked on S, A and V’s development. He was the main planner for V 360 and did some directing for the PS3 ver. He was part of the battle system team in X1, and became the director for X2.]

Reasons for making a sequel

· Fans had often said they wanted sequels in past questionnaires

· Xillia was the 15th anniversary and they’d created a very detailed setting they wanted to re-explore

· Wanted to expand on Elympios with an Elympion main character

· Felt it was a waste to use the characters in only one game

· Feels it kind of started when people said it would be fun to play as Gaius and Muzét

On what changed and what didn’t

· They wanted to keep the old characters

· Since the setting was more or less the same (tho with more focus on Elympios), they decided to build the game’s identity on its mechanics (see below)

· Game mechanics changed a lot, with the introduction of the debt system, fixed parties, chromatus ability and choices

· Setting is more modern

How the debt system came to be

· Because ppl Ludger’s age worry about money

· They wanted to have Ludger burdened by something

· 20,000,000 gald bc that’s the kind of sum that modern day salarymen could borrow. It’s a huge sum but not impossible to pay back if you work hard

The choice system

· Because part of being an adult is making choices

· Sometimes there are choices you don’t want to make but you have to (exemplified by having to destroy fractured dimensions)

Okumura as main character designer

· Because since this wasn’t a game with two protagonists, they couldn’t ask both Fujishima and Inomata like last time

· Since Ludger’s kind of a player self-insert, his design would be tricky, so it’d be easier with someone from within the studio

· Okumura’s been working on Tales designs since Eternia (mainly for minor character) and his talent shone when he designed the Chimeriad, so they weren’t worried

Why the heroine is 8

· They wanted her to be someone you’d strongly want to protect (working toward the last choice)

· It wouldn’t work if it was a strong heroine who fought alongside you like in past titles

· Yamamoto wanted her to be a girl because “I’d want to protect a little girl more than a little boy”

· If she can’t participate in battles, it’s easier to remove her from the party for plot reasons (can’t have a fighting heroine kidnapped by the last boss for gameplay reasons)

· (When she’s out of the party) Wanted to make players feel her absence in anticipation to the last choice

On Ludger’s various fighting styles

· Baba wanted a sort of style shift like in Graces

· Since he was a new protagonist, they wanted to introduce something that wasn’t in the original Xillia

· Chromatus was Anabuki’s idea, because he likes transformations

· People who played the first game probably have attachment to the old characters, but since Ludger’s the protag here, they wanted to make him stand out more

· Staff got angry at Baba because that meant they basically had to program three characters in one XD

On Ludger’s silence

· They wanted him to be a self-insert to the player

· Plus it makes the one scene where he speaks more meaningful

· They added the voiced lines option as NG+ bonus for those who like voices

· Reason they didn’t make that option available on first playthrough was they wanted to get their message across/wanted players to see what they were aiming for, which wouldn’t be possible if players could skip the voiceless aspect from the start

About Gaius and Muzét

· It was hard to include Gaius because he’s supposed to be super strong

· Also because he’s the type to handle things himself before the protag has a chance to. But since this was Ludger’s story, they had to sideline him

· They wanted to give him an ability like Vesperia’s fatal strikes, but that would make him too strong, so they had to tone it down

· Muzét’s a good middle-range character. She’s weak if you get past her guard, so she has the ability to move out of range quickly

About the endings

· The first scenario they came up with was the one where Ludger disappears, but since they implemented the choice system they wanted the game to have an important choice at the end, hence the creation of other endings

Discarded ideas

· Fractured Milla with short hair (discarded because they didn’t want ppl to realize immediately from promotion images that she was a different Milla, and also bc they didn’t think Milla was the type to cut her hair short since she doesn’t care much about her appearance)

· Otoh, something they hadn’t planned on: character models. They were originally just a way for the motion team to test things, but since it was fun they decided to include it in the game

Any chance for another sequel or anime adaptation?

· Nope on sequel, as they think that world’s story is over

· They’d like an anime or other media adaptations, but there’s no plans for it

Battle team – Fukuie, Yamase & Takizawa

[Fukuie was responsible for battle planning, various mechanics and linked artes; Yamase was the battle programmer (worked on Ludger’s artes and on mystic artes in particular); and Takizawa was battle program support (enemy artes and mystic artes, effects etc)]

What was kept from the original and what’s new

· Linked artes were an essential part of the original so it was kept. They thought of modifying it but since it was popular they decided not to and simply make it easier to use

· They gave spellcasters some more melee artes

Anabuki’s influence

· Anabuki wanted more event battles so they added a lot

· He’s also responsible for having them end the final fight with a mystic arte & cut-in

Ludger

· They made bosses stronger because Ludger is really powerful

· Elite monsters weak spots were inspired by Vesperia’s secret missions system

· Implementing Ludger’s three fighting styles was apparently tricky with the tight schedule they had, so they asked for something else, but they went back to the first idea eventually

· Example of other idea: giving him the fighting styles of the old characters. But that would cause problems if they simply copied the motions (they cited Elize’s posture, which would look weird on Ludger)

· The scenario team asked that Ludger use both hands for each weapon style

Chromatus

· The transformation part came mainly from the scenario team – someone said they wanted the image of a dark hero and someone else replied “then they should have a transformation.” The battle team was like “but he already has three fighting styles!”

· At first the transformed state was less useful than fighting normally, so they removed staggering when transformed but added a time limit

Other characters

· Anabuki wanted Gaius to be strong since he was the previous game’s last boss, but simply making him stronger than the rest would break the balance

· There was a lot of arguing about his special ability

· They also had a lot of ideas about Muzét but settled for emergency wrap because she can fly around freely

· They increased the speed at which Rowen threw knives to make him less defenseless

Trivia

They picked Cless and Stahn as cameo because they were cameo costumes in the first game; then they added Mint and Rutee

They like the cameo ending, they feel it’s like a 4koma

At the beginning, the animation team made an animation of Ludger prostrating himself, but it wasn’t used. There’s always a number of gestures that don’t make it into the final product

Takizawa cleared everything on Unknown

Scenario team – Yamamoto, Hasegawa & Hori

[Note: Yamamoto was the main scenario writer of X2 (as well as H, Z and B); in X1 he worked on sub events]

Settings

· They picked the story of Maxwell and Kresnik from the first game and developed it further as a base for X2

· They were careful not to make it look like the previous game’s story wasn’t complete or to make it sound like the previous game’s conflict was lighter than the sequel’s

· There was a request from the planning team to make up a different system, so that’s how they came up with the choice system and having the protag be a player self-insert

· However, leaving him without expression or personality would be too un-Tales-like, so that’s how he ended up like he is in the game

· It was decided from the start to change the protag because Jude and Milla’s story was over

· Since the first game was heavily focused on Rieze Maxia, they made this game from the pov of Elympios

On separating main story and character episodes

· Part of the new system idea

· You get to know the characters more in their chara eps and that can influence the main story a bit

· They’d planned on adding bonus scenes from the start; they added more than expected

Fractured dimensions

· Represent the power of choice (as they show how history would be if different choices had been made)

· Also as a way to catch X1 players’ interest

· Yamamoto’s favorite FD is Victor’s dimension because it’s full of suspense; in chara eps it’s the one with Nachtigal. Hori’s were the ones with the Chimeriad because he had wanted them to survive so that was a way to see them again. Hasegawa’s were the ones in Leia’s and Alvin’s chara eps.

· They redid Leia’s episode entirely, giving a bigger role to her boss as a result

· The target audience for X2 is a bit older than X1, so that’s why they show stuff like relationships between boss and employee, it adds a touch of realism and can make adult players empathize

Ludger and Elle

· Elle is at the center of the story. She is both a trouble bringer and a source of strength for the main character

· They wanted the last choice to be heavy, choosing between Elle and Ludger/the player themselves

· No choice is more correct than the other. While Jude etc were heroes who saved the worlds in the first game, they didn’t need for Ludger to be a hero at all cost – that’s for the player to decide with the choices

· The Julius ending was Hori’s idea. He wanted people to feel that it was a valid choice

· Choosing means eliminating the other possibility. Nothing changes if you don’t choose, you can’t go forward. That’s why they didn’t include the option to save both

· If it had been a shonen manga, everyone would be happy at the end, but they wanted an older target audience for this game, which meant burdening Ludger with difficult choices

· The two joke endings were added for more Tales-like fun. The cameo ending was requested by the planning team

· It’s just for fun though so they don’t consider the cameo “happy end” valid because it glosses over the main story’s drama

New characters

· It was hard to find balance on Gaius because he tends to solve things himself if you let him, but here he needed to have a support role

· They liked showing a more casual side to him, as well as his relationship with the Chimeriad

· Muzét didn’t really have evil intent (in the first game), it was more that she went out of control. Bc she had a hard time in X1 and since X2 had a heavy story, they decided to focus on light-hearted scenes with her

· Fractured Milla was created to show the player what fractured dimensions were in a straightforward manner

· They also wanted to surprise the players by giving her a completely different personality

· At first, she was just created as a step to bring prime Milla back, but they decided to give her a bigger role because they grew attached to her

· At first, they came up with half a dozen personalities for her before settling on one (tsundere)

· They picked a cat for a mascot because there were cat lovers among the staff

· It’s hard to have an animal move around during events, to they made him a fat cat so he wouldn’t move too much

· Ludger’s hair is silver like his father’s, and the black part is dyed

· Nova’s meche is because she saw Auj Oule women (it’s a cultural thing there) and she wanted to imitate Rieze Maxia’s fashion

Discarded ideas

· Julius’ was supposed to be Ludger’s mother at first, but they thought an older brother character would be more popular. His overprotectiveness is remnants of his motherly role

· Yamamoto wanted Bisley to use a gun and have a scene where Ludger transformed and avoided the bullets, so Bisley would go “that slow thing is useless” and discard the gun before transforming himself and punch faster than the gun fired bullets

· He also wanted a scene where Bisley showed up to the last dungeon in a car saying “Sorry for the wait”

· Anyway Bisley is really Yamamoto’s favorite XD

· Nova and Vera had a very small role originally but Nova grew as a character who cheers Ludger up when he worries about his debt

· She was originally just there to provide information; in the original idea, she was also originally in love with Ludger, not Julius, and would be irritated at Julius for causing Ludger trouble

· They didn’t expect her to even show up at the hot spring

From staff comments in the World Guidance book

· At first the debt was supposed to come from Ludger having to take responsibility for the Oscore incident

· Anabuki drew the wanted posters

· They call Kanbalar Edo lmao

· They’d originally planned to have an ending where Ludger gives up in ch.14

· The imagery of butterflies is associated to the Key of Kresnik (Elle’s hat design, Bisley’s wings in his chromatus form…)

· Jude was introduced early to cover for Ludger’s lack of lines

· They considered having him oppose Ludger at first (abt destroying the dimensions) and eventually join the party

· They decided to keep the old cast’s personalities as they were in the first game’s epilogue, but made an exception for Elize, who matured a bit in between

· They originally wanted to show Muzét regret her actions of the first game, but her chara eps took another direction

· Fractured Milla was originally simply a gimmick to show the cruelty of fractured dimensions, but her role got bigger

· They had templates for her

· A hidden thema of the extra episode is to restore Ivar’s honor

· Ideas for Rollo: Julius’ disguise, Chronos’ true form. But he ended up as a regular cat in the end

· The dungeon in ch.10 was meant as a homage to past titles

· Since the game is aimed at adults, “immorality” and “irrationality” were key themes of the first ideas

· Some character design rough sketches are dated as far back as March 2011 (the first game came out in September 2011)

Past translations:

Unused ideas for plot, fractured dimensions, Ludger & Julius episode, and fractured Milla personalities.

Staff comments about the fractured dimensions featuring the Chimeriad.

Interview with Daigo Okumura.

Interview with Takashi Kondo.

#tales of xillia 2 #tales interviews

84 notes · View notes

thewolfisawake · 4 years

Note

The Tales series if you haven't gotten it already

Favorite character:

Undeniably goes to Yuri and Velvet. What can I say? I’m into the dark-haired protagonists that ‘aren’t like the others.’ I can get onboard with why they come to the conclusions they do even if I don’t think it’s write. With Yuri, I admire the ability to do when others cannot. And can’t deny, he made me laugh the most with his sense of sarcasm and panache. Plus that voice...Troy Baker, they did you dirty. Meanwhile with Velvet I was like ‘yes, let’s be married in this quaint little town together’ in the beginning. She was just cute. Then it became attraction of ‘I don’t give a damn what happens to this world so long as I get what I want’ and ferocity.

Least Favorite character:

Emeraude. Like what the fuck is your problem lady? You’re getting jealous of a child. Your feelings towards someone should be directed towards that person, not abusing some third-party that doesn’t even understand what you two have going on.

Cumore. Fuck him too. For a side character that you don’t even really fight, he’s a real ass that his death was catharsis. Pure catharsis. There was no a single moment that he showed any redemption. He was a cruel bastard that held no regard for human life. He was willing to make excuses for anyone under him to get in trouble. He lied to people to enslave them and work them to death. He dragged people into the desert to look for an impossible item and left them without resources to die. Fuck him so much. He might’ve been cartoonishly evil compared to some not nice guys but those actions translate to atrocities.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Selfish Coexistence (Basically the Berseria Party) - Their relationships seem so hard to define to me as they all use each other for various reasons. They also seem to develop care through their selfishness and all of the either are like *shrug* guess we’re doing this now or ‘what is this I’m feeling?’ ‘emotions?’ ‘disgusting.’ There’s an understood protection amongst all of them and then a fierce rationalization for their action rather than saying ‘because I like you okay!’ They’re very smart yet they’re all dumbasses and I love them all.

Ludju - You know what’s better than one adorkable dumbass? Two adorkable dumbasses. I like Ludger and Jude’s relation better than any I have unlocked during the story. Jude by nature is very caring but it just is different with Ludger? Main thing I can note is that Jude touches Ludger a lot. Like a firm, ‘I’m right here’ shoulder touch. A nudge in the arm. Catching when about to faint. And I just don’t see Jude do the same with anyone in his party in either game. I just find their interactions from the extra scenes are really cute.

Velvet/Niko - “If you were a boy, I think I’d be in love.” Gurl she don’t have to be a boy to kiss fall in love. Shipping a Main Character with an NPC? Is it madness? Absolutely. But I had feelings about that from the very beginning. Like this could’ve been so fucking sweet. Could’ve had it all. And then the Advent happened.

Alvin/Presa - Oh man. Ooooh man. This was just a curiosity on the way of Tale’s of Xillia’s path. Like it was a lady that lent to Alvin’s skeevy or ladykiller vibe he gave off. And it was like was she just a jilted one-time or something else? And the answer seemed like ‘something else’ but didn’t know what. It was a little ‘wonder how that went...’ Then you do Tales of Xillia 2 and I thought I was wrecked. Because it reframes so much of their interaction to a really sad relationship that fell apart because Alvin was a coward.

Flynn/Yuri/Judith - Haha! Didn’t expect the end part of this one did you? I think everyone knew I liked Fluri. Like their dynamics are so interesting. But I really do enjoy Judy being involved. I’m really sad that Judy and Flynn don’t get much interaction even in the PS3 version but I don’t find it hard for them to get along. But I do usually see that more times it’s Flynn and Judy dating Yuri and their relationship changes over time. They can scrap together, they can travel together, and not needing as much talking to get what anyone means. I find it hard to describe this one but I feel it.

Character I find most attractive:

Yuri and Velvet are like the reflexive thoughts. But I actually really also like Jude and Judy. I mean look at this cute little nerd, he’s adorable! And then there’s hot elf lady that she could kick me in the face and I’d thank her. In general you can probably guess my type from those four.

Character I would marry:

Probably Yuri. I’m sorry that this is my answer to so many but he is like my type to a T and it’s just ruined so many standards for me. Like a funny guy that is good at cooking (and has a sweet tooth!) and can go venturing with? What else is there? I mean yeah there’s the hair and voice but that’s like given. But yeah, I’m a basic bitch with that.

Character I would be best friends with:

Eizen, if that’s a bit surprising. Sure he’s a bit of an edgelord but I feel like I’ve never left it so he’s already doing better than I. But I like the idea of sailing on the ship with him there, probably not gonna be able to let me struggle for that long. He’s funny with a dry sense of humor to me and also he’s a low-key nerd that knows a lot of things and likes finding new and interesting things. So yeah.

And as much as I give shit about him, I actually think I would be friends with Sorey. He’s the kind of excitable that makes others excited and that’s kind of what I do. So we’d kind of excite each other. And so long as it’s not spelunking, I’m down for going exploring.

a random thought:

What defenses occur with the end of blastia? Barriers were what repelled monsters from most of the inhabited areas in Terca Lumireis. Dahngrest and Zaphias look to have fortresses that can hold back most land beasts. But there are other places. What stops the monsters now? Will they go towards more mana based works?

Also, someone also mentioned, does ANYONE know how to do medical work? Like actually patching up injuries? How to care for someone in sickness? Healing artes were what were used! They can’t use blastia anymore! What happens now?

Can there be a history of how things changed from Berseria to Zestiria? Mainly the shifting of how malevolence works from turning people to reflect their sinister nature to straight up monsters with no sense? How the Shepherd thing went to include the malak as much as it does. The change from malak to seraphim. Just...how did we geeeetttttt heeeerrreeeeee.

An unpopular opinion:

I fucking hate that I had to be told from other friends that actually could find the material or read the fucking wiki to understand the dynamics of the Kresnik family. Ludger has a LOT of fucking baggage that we don’t even get to hear anything about! Partially because he’s silent and partially because ‘oh he was young so he conveniently forgot?’ And a lot of it was important to the last half of the story! That’s bullshit! And even further bullshit is that there was no reason they couldn’t have found time to put it in the game but they chose not to.

Tales can’t make a fun last level to save their lives. I haven’t enjoyed a single final level in any of the games I’ve played. I don’t mind doing puzzles for it but straight up spiraling branches full of dead ends is frustrating. ESPECIALLY FUCK XILLIA 2′s! Randomly generated based off those in the party and then you can’t even see when a path is not truly there so you can follow the path and then all of suddenly blank ground, meaning dead end you have back up and retrace another path. And then like Berseria’s made me feel nauseous from the ‘ethereal’ look it was going for. And just made it hard as fuck to see. And more of this awful tower climbing. I just...mmmmmmm, I will probably always enjoy the game until the final level exists. I swear.

My Canon OTP:

Uuuuuuhhhhhh I don’t think I have one.

My Non-canon OTP:

Most protags x happiness?

Most Badass Character:

Don Whitehorse. He was like definition of like ‘stubborn old man’ but man was he cool. He was staunch in the honor of the guilds under his control and was proud of what he and other had built up with their own hands. Also you don’t often see a man willing to sacrifice his life to right a wrong done by his own.

Most Epic Villain:

Gaius. Like me and my friend were like ‘what the fuck’ when we were co-oping Xillia together. Like this was a king that meant business! Mhm. .

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Most of the pairings are fine to me.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Sorey. I’m sure I’ve gone on this so many times but I really hated that they kept alluding to him having to make hard decisions but whenever one was brought to him, someone else took it for him. Like if his job is that important and it’s expected to make these choices, THEN LET HIM MAKE THEM. I was so angry over that. I spent the entire game waiting for when they’d do a major point where Sorey had no choice but to step up.

Favourite Friendship:

Alvin & Elize - I really like how much they have both grown from each other. And how when Alvin broke her trust that he had to live with her mistrust and work to earn it back. Their friendship had uneasiness that seemed hopeful at the end of the first game and turned to just banter and teasing by the second. Growth baby, it’s wonderful.

Character I most identify with:

Mmmmm, probably Ludger. Look at all that debt. Can’t do nothing but cry over it.

Character I wish I could be:

Yeah, no. JRPG rules means everyone has some fucked up shit in their past or coming for them. I’m fine over here.

#answered #wolfatrest #arcxnumvitae

3 notes · View notes

ofstarsandskies · 7 years

Text

Tagged By: @ufemew-wexub (Thanks mate! Gettingtoyourreplyasofpostingthis)

REPOST DO NOT REBLOG

Name of your Muse: Ludger Will Kresnik

One Picture you Like Best of Your Muse’s FC:

(I just like my bby boi smiling)

Two Headcanons You have for Your Character that You Never Told Anyone:

1. Ludger learned most, if not all, his social interaction skills initially from emulating his brother. Being naturally shy (and deeply traumatized by having his mother murdered right front of him), Ludger had a hard time talking and interacting with other people. On the flip side, Julius was naturally charming and had none the same problems as Ludger when speaking to others. Thus, in hopes it’d get people to like him how they liked Julius, Ludger tried to mimic what his brother would do when talking to others.

Over time, Ludger did start to ease off from copying his brother to try tackling conversations without any safety nets. He still had a shy and quiet streak, but he made friends and that’s all Ludger could ask for. Although the neighbors still tease him sometimes how he used to be a “mini-Julius”.

2. Ludger has a huge dichotomy where he struggles between being the shy, kind man who uses his experiences to help others and a paranoid man who trusts absolutely no one and wants to shut out the world entirely.

If Ludger were asked which he preferred a year back, he would’ve likely said the latter without missing a beat. But now, through making friends, working through his guilt and trauma, basically overall improving his life, he can’t answer that question. Ludger wants to trust people, and yet he keeps various less savory things about him under tight lock and key in fear of how it’d change people’s opinion of him. And he’ll likely stay this kindhearted, distrusting person till the day he catalyzes or dies.

Three Things Your Character Likes Doing in their Free Time:

1. Cooking, obviously. Nothing’s more for for Ludger than busting out a new cookbook and trying out a new recipe. Occasionally he gets into a bit of tomfoolery with his brother and specifically chooses a recipe with eggplants, but usually he shows mercy and tries to make dishes both him and his brother would eat. Luckily his friends sort of share the same taste--

2. Arts and crafts. Sometimes Ludger likes to swipe discarded magazines or buy sewing kits to try and make whatever comes to mind. He’ll admit he’s not very good at this spontaneous art project thing, but he has fun with it and that’s what matters. Small kitten dolls modeled after his friends are his favorite (and best) to make.

3. Practicing his acrobatics/combat maneuvers. Ludger didn’t just learn how to back flip or strafe in his sleep one night-- rigorous trial and error went behind the scenes to make that magic happen. He often goes out onto one of the highroads, picks a decent sized rock as his “target”, and goes flipping and sliding around it. He fears how ridiculous he’ll look if caught one day.

Seven People Your Character Likes:

Nii-san, his fellow Ludgers (there are many), Atsuro, Victor!Rinji, Alice, Lara, and Lulu/Rollo.

One Thing Your Character Regrets:

Getting involved with Origin’s Trial in the first place. Yes, Ludger was happy to meet Elle and Jude and co., but his life became an absolute mess thanks to the trial.

His sanity has all but disintegrated thanks to destroying many worlds, murdering his old friends in the name of keeping his brother with him, and dealing with the guilt of those things plus abandoning Elle to possible certain death. If he were given the chance to turn back time, Ludger has about 10 different things he’d do differently. Namely keep his past self from getting on that train.

Two Phobias Your Character Has:

1. Moderate to severe claustrophobia when people are around.

Stick Ludger into a small box, he’s fine. Stick him in a small cramped room, he’ll be uncomfortable but he won’t freak out. Stick Ludger in an elevator with 10 people crowded around it, then he’s likely to start hyperventilating and try to escape the situation the moment and out is presented to him. With his severe distrust of others, being confined in a tight space with strangers (although this could apply to friends) is akin to torture. He’ll flinch if anyone moves, make his displeasure known, and touching him? Yeah no. Bad idea.

2. Anyone finding out about the really horrible things he’s done.

It’s a big sign of trust if Ludger tells someone about his former occupation (not so much what it was but what his work required) and/or he’s an actual wanted murderer. Thus, if anyone finds out before he has the courage to tell them, he completely shuts down. Mostly due to if he gets detained for his actions, that leaves nobody to take care of Julius, who’d blame himself for allowing Ludger to die for their devils’ dream of trying to return to their normal(?) lives before Origin’s Trial.

#dg;; Surprises Abound!#[tl;dr Ludger is a spastic]#[Because many a trauma in his life.]

3 notes · View notes