This announcement has nothing to do with E3, it’s just perfect timing.  This weekend Namco Bandai is holding their Tales of Festival event in Japan, and their big announcement was that Tales of Xillia 2 will be released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 sometime later this winter.  Naturally this is only in Japan for now, but I hope it makes its way to Europe and North America sometime next year.

Here’s the debut trailer, and a quick look at some gameplay.

The sequel takes place exactly one year after the events of the original. Decisions will play a key role in how you play this game. You might decide to skip fighting a big boss character, which will then change the story later on. You’ll also have tons of smaller choices, to help customize your gameplay experience as you see fit. Meanwhile the combat system, currently referred to as the ‘Cross Double Raid Linear Battle Motion System,’ will feature tons of customization options as well.

Ayumi Hamasaki stay on to perform the theme song, while Ufotable is taking care of all the game’s animation. Namco Bandai promises to reveal the exact release date and further information on June 27th, so importers of long-time Tales fans haven’t got long to wait.