Tales of Xillia to have real-time swapping parties, three forms of chat

Namco Bandai is to include a skit concept with Tales of Xillia, and according to Famitsu, three forms of skit will be found in the game.

Skits, like most Tales games, are conversations between characters. In Xillia, these will be Fighting Chat, Long Chat and Short Chat.

Fighting chat will allow you to have conversations during battle, Long Chat is the same as found in past Tales games, and Short Chat will allow you to chat while moving around the game.

Players will also be able to use the d-pad to swap out characters. While you will not be able to switch between characters who are already in battle, instead you can swap in another party member during battle.

The Famitsu article also gave readers a closer look at Rowen, the 62-year-old character of Rowan revealed in Jump earlier in the week. Rowen is a butler who is apparently wise and had good judgement. IN battle, he is an advanced spirit user and is able to "tune" skills after being cast.

Tales of Xillia is the 13th title in the Tales series, and is slated for release in Japan this year on PS3. No western date, or whether it will be released outside of Japan, is known at the moment.

Thanks, ScrawlFX, Andriasang.