Author Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?  (Read 12391 times)

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Offline Evan_B

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Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« on: November 29, 2017, 05:26:29 PM »
I'm surprised that, with the release of this game only two days away, there is absolutely no discussion of this title.

That's right, the original innovator of "big world with collection quests" on Nintendo consoles is back for another round with a fiery sequel(?)! Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is all about a boy and his blade, who is a super special blade, trust me, because its red and has a Zohar on it. So! Let's highlight some of the key elements, shall we?

Exploration:
A major difference, and perhaps a key factor in the speedy development of the title, is the segmented nature of the world. Each different biome is actually atop a flying creature called a Titan, proof that, in any sequel, more is better. Titans vary in size, and many are used as airships to travel from one place to the next.

While time of day will affect the ecosystem, another element is the cloud sea itself, which has rising and falling tides that will allow access to certain areas. Likewise, there are diving points where Rex will be able to recover materials and other surprises...

Combat:
Some new innovations to combat mean that Arts selection is... easier, I guess. But it's more committal in regards to positioning and auto-attack combo chaining, in addition to a revelation regarding secondary and tertiary "levels" of specific blade arts. Not only will raising a blade art level in combat change its effects, but it can be chained with party blade arts into even more devastating attacks. Chain attacks from the first Xenoblade also make a return, although with an added layer of complexity found in the blade art chaining.

With less of a focus on equipment, the main area of customization comes from Blades themselves, as each character can wield up to three at a time, switching between them in combat. A fun aesthetic note is that, as with several character designs, Monolith reached out to prolific Japanese character designers and artists to create a vast amount of unique designs for rare Blades that can be found throughout the world.

Quests:
According to hands-on experience, the quest system in Xenoblade 2 is even more streamlined than XCX, with objective markers and character portraits featured. If you have excess Blades that are of a weaker level, you can rent them out to a mercenary group in order to complete missions on their own and improve their abilities. there's a specific Titan full of Nopon merchants with special accessories for your party members, and even townspeople may be suspicious and challenge you to battles.

Aside from these aspects, there are some elements of the story that I find particularly curious, but I won't go into any storyline specifics, as two major points that I would consider rather spoiler-ish were revealed in the last Direct. Is anyone planning on picking this up? I'll admit, I told myself I would pick up a Switch when Monolith's next project was announced, which was at the Switch reveal last year, so... yeah.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2018, 02:23:48 PM by Evan_B »
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2017, 06:45:38 PM »
That's right, the original innovator of "big world with collection quests" on Nintendo consoles

Obviously someone has forgotten about the 'collect 30 Dogg bones to play as Snoop Dogg for an hour' collection quest in the innovative open world game True Crime: Streets of L.A.!

But yeah it's interesting that the hype for this one seems subdued, might be that the Nintendo audience is still 400 Power Moons short and hasn't had time to board the hypetrain yet? For what it's worth, Xenoblade X is the game that sold me on a Wii U 3 full years into the system's life, but the new one isn't doing the same for me and Switch (yet). I think it's the character designs, I just kinda dislike them. It's the eyes, maybe? That was less of a concern last time with the character creator.

Hope it turns out amazing though!

Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2017, 09:54:23 PM »
I find that rather amusing, as one of the primary issues people tended to have with XCX was the soul-destroying dead eyes (which makes sense, in context) and the "potato faces." (which doesn't really make sense, in context)

Although XC2 has a decidedly more "anime" aesthetic, I think it suits the look of the title rather well. I'm consistently impressed with how faithful the transition from character art to 3D models are in this game. I think that the art style of the main character designer (the name is escaping me at the moment) transitions to 3D very well, however. Their designs were also used in a completely CG film called "Expelled from Paradise," which you can view on Netflix. Either way, from what I've seen of the game and its iterative improvements on the previous Xenoblade titles, it looks fantastic. Sure, it doesn't have giant robots and its not a direct sequel to the first game, but I already got used to the "Final Fantasy" idea of each title being self-contained with XCX. While I have an immense love for the original Xenoblade, I'm always willing to give new characters and storylines a chance.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2017, 08:08:16 AM »
I'm thrilled that it's getting released, but...
* was disappointed with the direction Xenoblade Chronicles X (XCX) compared to the first Xenoblade game; still have to finish playing through that game eventually
* don't own a Switch and have no plans in the near-term to buy another console due to huge backlog of games I already own and want to play

But the new game looks awesome. Just saw the NWR review, and feel like XC2 will be much closer to what I wanted from XCX.  At some point, I will play this game. Just not for a while.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 08:57:56 AM by ejamer »
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Offline Adrock

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2017, 09:20:23 AM »
I just cancelled my pre-order. I can’t justify spending $60 on this game when I haven’t finished most games I purchased on Switch. I’ve had Axiom Verge for over a week and I haven’t put the card in my console. I did manage to snag a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Pro Controller so my brother and I can finally play Fire Emblem Warriors together as it was meant to be played.

I’ve yet to unwrap Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U which I found in a Target bargain bin for $30 either last year or the year before (they all blend together because I’m old). I still want Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and I’m hoping to catch it on sale down the road.

Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2017, 10:45:44 AM »
I'll be picking up my SE order from Walmart tomorrow after work. Dunno how much of it I'll play right away, though. I have to get to Persona 5 & finish Danganronpa 3 by February's NFR GOTY recording. I don't know if I have enough time to properly devote to this game.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2017, 02:25:49 PM »
Oh lord.

That Special Edition box.

Lordy lordy.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2017, 08:25:37 PM »
FedEx delayed the delivery of my copy till Monday because they were "backed-up."

That certainly won't leave me bitter all weekend. -_-
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2017, 11:16:16 AM »
Four hours in, the combat is already much more satisfying than the previous two games, and that's before getting alternate Blades.

With an increase in player interaction, however, comes a bit more proactive thinking.

EDIT: Six hours in, and sweet jebas, Monolith has made SO MANY PURCHASABLE ITEMS IN THIS GAME

Also, this game is... waaaaaaaaay more anime than the original Xenoblade. The first game had some occasional moments of silliness, but this game is over-the-top in all the best and worst ways.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2017, 03:40:38 PM by Evan_B »
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2017, 02:37:50 PM »
My copy, which was supposed to be available Friday, finally "arrived" (Walmart spent all day "processing" it) today...at the wrong Walmart. At least I have it now. Wow, that art book is both larger & heavier than I was expecting.

The soundtrack CD sounds good, better than X certainly. Bugs me, though, that Track 3 continually uses the exact note pattern from the main refrain of "Tomorrow is Another Day" from The Rescuers. Just something that bugs me as someone who's very familiar with old Disney songs.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2017, 02:30:55 AM »
Reached the Gormott Plains, and so far I'm quite enjoying this game. I never finished Xenoblade 1 (I doubt I even got halfway in), but I really didn't like what I played of Xenoblade X. Xenoblade 2 does feel like a proper successor to the 1st game, just in its tone & style.

IMO, it's the only Nintendo-developed Switch game this year that's actually lived-up to its hype.
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Offline Enner

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2017, 12:35:33 PM »
All the anime is happening at once! It's a bit exhausting to do this all again a third time, but I'm enjoying it so far. The combo-heavy, animation-canceling nature of the reworked battle system is really intriguing as I begin my journey in to the second big titan.

I kinda wish this game got more care or time in development. There are a bunch of little unrefined and weird quirks that makes moving around or organizing things that makes everything take that little bit longer.

I'm playing it with Japanese audio (the lip sync ain't great here either), but what I've heard of the English voice-overs doesn't seem to be a total disaster some reviews have lamented.

Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2017, 09:46:20 PM »
I'm honestly shocked how much care has already gone into the game. The fact that it is as big as it is, with as much content and complexity, after XCX having been released in 2014, baffles me.

General note: the Arts experience gathered is only for the weapon type that has been used and doesn't transfer over to others, but it is a universal upgrade across blades of that type. So even if you summon a new blade, their combat potential is still high. I love this feature and it makes me so happy.

I see Blade Combos in my sleep.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 01:16:07 AM by Evan_B »
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Offline Enner

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2017, 05:31:55 AM »
Another tip:
Auto-attack hits build up the charge for your Arts. Most of the three-hit auto-attack chains of weapons end with a lengthy animation to reset the chain. You can cancel that animation by moving your character a bit after landing the hits of your character's third auto-attack. Your character should quickly start over the auto-attack chain.

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #14 on: December 14, 2017, 12:03:27 PM »
In addition to some bug fixes, we will address the following points:

An easy mode will be added to Tiger! Tiger!
When you press the X button, the Skip Travel screen will open the map to your current location. We hope this will make it easier to spot Skip Travel locations and Salvage Points on the map.
An additional 1:1 zoom on the mini map will be displayed by pressing the L Stick. This will allow improved visibility of your surroundings and make it easier to check quest locations.
We will further improve the convenience of the mini map as we add more quests and additional elements for second playthroughs next year for all players (not just those who purchased the Expansion Pass!) We appreciate your continued patience.

In your second playthrough, you will be able to have “those” Blades join your party! You can also dispatch Blades like Pyra and Dromarch as a Merc Group, and unlock the “LV 4 Special” of a certain Blade.
We will distribute the following useful items to those who purchased the Expansion Pass:
- Driver Essentials Set: 10 x Rare Core Crystal, 1 x Legendary Core Crystal, 3 x Overdrive Protocol

- Upgrade Parts for Poppi: 30,000 ether

- Pyra’s Favorite Things: 5 x Jenerossi Tea

- Nia’s Favourite Things: 5 x Ardainian Bear Carving

Monolith Soft will continue to add improvements that will make the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 even more enjoyable for a long time. And even though there may be times when we cannot address every need immediately because we are working on these improvements in parallel with the Expansion Pass, we truly appreciate your continued support for Xenoblade Chronicles 2!

The Xenoblade 2 Early Access program!

Okay, mean joke aside, it's nice to see these sorts of changes.

Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2017, 03:14:46 PM »
In addition to some bug fixes, we will address the following points:

An easy mode will be added to Tiger! Tiger!
When you press the X button, the Skip Travel screen will open the map to your current location. We hope this will make it easier to spot Skip Travel locations and Salvage Points on the map.
An additional 1:1 zoom on the mini map will be displayed by pressing the L Stick. This will allow improved visibility of your surroundings and make it easier to check quest locations.
We will further improve the convenience of the mini map as we add more quests and additional elements for second playthroughs next year for all players (not just those who purchased the Expansion Pass!) We appreciate your continued patience.

In your second playthrough, you will be able to have “those” Blades join your party! You can also dispatch Blades like Pyra and Dromarch as a Merc Group, and unlock the “LV 4 Special” of a certain Blade.
We will distribute the following useful items to those who purchased the Expansion Pass:
- Driver Essentials Set: 10 x Rare Core Crystal, 1 x Legendary Core Crystal, 3 x Overdrive Protocol

- Upgrade Parts for Poppi: 30,000 ether

- Pyra’s Favorite Things: 5 x Jenerossi Tea

- Nia’s Favourite Things: 5 x Ardainian Bear Carving

Monolith Soft will continue to add improvements that will make the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 even more enjoyable for a long time. And even though there may be times when we cannot address every need immediately because we are working on these improvements in parallel with the Expansion Pass, we truly appreciate your continued support for Xenoblade Chronicles 2!

The Xenoblade 2 Early Access program!

Okay, mean joke aside, it's nice to see these sorts of changes.

Yeah, I wouldn't start using the "Early Access" joke until we start getting to Final Fantasy 15-levels of absurdity, where the entire game has pretty much been replaced at this point, in both mechanics & content.

And yes, I'm still waiting to play FF 15 until it comes out of Early Access sometime in 2020.
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Offline Enner

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2017, 02:49:51 AM »
Woof on Final Fantasy 15.

Still, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, more than any other recent Nintendo game I can think of (or care to think of), feels like it made it's release date ahead of many other concerns. This is the sloppiest I've seen Monolith Soft at. I've had the game crash on me, which shocked me really bad. Thankfully, I save often so I didn't lose too much progress in this titanic game with no auto-save. Hopefully the crash bugs will be squashed.

One feature I do hope they patch in the future is some adjustment to the Core Crystals to make being a Rare Blade completionist less of a horrible endeavor. From what little I gathered, there are no adjustments or pity rates with the Core Crystals that have become codified in the gacha systems of mobage that the Core Crystals emulate. It's nice that Tetsuya Takahshi was able to get all the Rare Blades after playing for 220 hours, but it would be nicer if it didn't take everyone at least that long to get them.

One thing I have no faith in being fixed is your party members learning to not stand in the poison.

Offline broodwars

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2017, 10:44:37 AM »
I haven't run into any major technical issues in my play through, but I'm early in CH. 2. I've had other things cone up recently that have made me put this fane on the backburner.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #18 on: December 16, 2017, 12:29:58 PM »
One feature I do hope they patch in the future is some adjustment to the Core Crystals to make being a Rare Blade completionist less of a horrible endeavor. From what little I gathered, there are no adjustments or pity rates with the Core Crystals that have become codified in the gacha systems of mobage that the Core Crystals emulate. It's nice that Tetsuya Takahshi was able to get all the Rare Blades after playing for 220 hours, but it would be nicer if it didn't take everyone at least that long to get them.

One thing I have no faith in being fixed is your party members learning to not stand in the poison.
While I also experienced a crash (and lost about two and a half hours of affinity buffing and sidequest completion), I do appreciate that the game saves every time you resonate with a Core Crystal, as it feels like a natural way of autosaving progress. While, yes, the game does feel a bit rushed in that respect, we do live in the age of patches and there are other aspects of the game that feel incredibly smooth and polished, so it's a weird circumstance. Loading times are incredibly fast, and the amount of unique content is really impressive.

In terms of getting all the rare blades, there are ways to obtain Legendary Core Crystals through exploiting the game's mechanics, so I wouldn't make too big a stink about the randomization factor. Something that you need to consider is that there are a number of rare blades that are unlocked through extensive side quests, so obtaining them all might also have to do with properly managing your investment in the main narrative as well as all the other content. I have a pretty high number of rare blades myself, and I...

*looks at playtime*

...Oh. I have ninety-three hours logged.

I'd like to go back to a previously stated notion, which is, holy crap, this game has a ton of unique content. I don't think there has been a single instance in which I have had a simple "kill x enemies" or "collect x things" quest, and if I have, it has been lost among the sea of genuinely satisfying and character-driven side quests. There's a lot more depth to these in comparison with either of the previous Xenoblade titles, and while they don't auto-complete like those titles, the payoff and investment you have in them is drastically higher.
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Offline Enner

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #19 on: December 19, 2017, 02:54:43 AM »
I really like how Monolith Soft excised most of the menial side quests. While I somewhat lament the lack of auto-completion, a good number of the side quests are multi-part and involving affairs.

I spoiled myself a little bit in regards to Rare Blades, so I am glad that quite a number of them are attained through quests. For me, I'm not bothered by the gacha of Rare Blades since I'll most likely will myself to play every inch of this game. I just want to express sympathy for those who are frustrated with the gacha.

Offline Mop it up

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #20 on: December 23, 2017, 01:24:29 PM »
I've considered getting this, but I may be a bit Xeno'd out at the moment. I know there have been just two games, but they're huge games... Plus, I already have a lot of RPGs on my backlogue.

But I'll probably end up getting it anyway because I'm irresponsible.

Offline Enner

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #21 on: December 24, 2017, 01:14:58 AM »
The new patch has added some very welcome fixes. The map fix was much needed and is much appreciated.

The easy mode for Tiger, Tiger! takes away wall damage which makes it so much more pleasant.

Offline Adrock

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #22 on: December 25, 2017, 12:52:15 PM »
But I'll probably end up getting it anyway because I'm irresponsible.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #23 on: December 31, 2017, 01:28:49 AM »
I have just passed the 100+ hour mark (on the Switch user page, as the game incorrectly logs suspended/sleep mode time as gameplay hours- that clock sits at around 197 hours for me) and, while I still believe Zelda is a far better-designed game than this one, I’m just enjoying this game so much. The combat is truly a revelation. If there’s one system I’d like Monolith to carry on into other Xeno- titles, it’s this cancel mechanic that adds a level of attention and depth to battles.

Questing in this game is just so vastly improved from previous entries because of how collection points and the narrative-based scenarios function, everything is far more memorable and feels much less like busy work.

I’d go into a bit more detail, but I’m still only at chapter 8 and I’d offer a few ranks so far:

Combat Systems: XC2>XCX>XC
Narrative: XCX>XC>XC2
Side quests: XCX>XC2>XC
World Design: XCX>XC>XC2
Party Members: XC>XC2>XCX

I might elaborate on these later.
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Offline ThePerm

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Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How is Monolith Soft so Monolithic?
« Reply #24 on: January 08, 2018, 03:49:25 PM »
It's funny how there are two video game companies named Monolith. The two of them collectively are Duolith.
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