Hope its ok for a new thread for actual gameplay impressions..?
Mine turned up today :) I immediately turned the sleeve and it's lovely. Only two hours in (obviously barely anything) but I have to say it's better than I was expecting. The world is large but not bare. There is plenty to find and monsters to grind with. The voice acting is.. It's ok.. It's kinda nice to hear different british dialects at least. I imagine americans usually notice differences in most games with american actors too but as a brit you all sound the same :P
There's an overwhelming amount of things to see, do and collect. I can imagine the side missions alone will take me to the Wii U launch. For someone not used to playing or liking this kind of rpg it can be dizzying but the ease of the fighting system keeps me happy to stroll along at my own amateurs pace.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on August 20, 2011, 09:12:50 PM
I'll be sure to add to this thread as soon as my copy comes in the mail in a week or two. I can't wait though lol. Are there any Euro gamers on here who have a copy of this game?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 21, 2011, 10:10:10 AM
So, I'm at the Gaur Plains now (with 6 hours on the ingame clock). Can't say I have really adjusted to the combat system that well, it feels like I'm only helping out a bit by making a few more attacks count (I've only just got the attack prediction ability so that might change more and more) but a lot of it is out of my hands (in part because the ally characters are out of my hands). Also healing forever like in other RPGs is pretty much impossible at this stage, I've got a minor healing spell that can be used rarely and I can revive allies with a sliver of health because that's how the system works but it won't prolong the fight much once my characters start dying.
I like sneaking up to enemies and killing them with one backstab attack though I think you can get a stat boost by initiating the combat without an attack and hitting the timed button prompt to unleash a war cry.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 21, 2011, 11:40:29 AM
ahh jealousy
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 21, 2011, 04:45:38 PM
Man, dealing with all the upgrade stuff is overwhelming, the game constantly throws gear at you that you have to arduously compare with what you have to see if it's better. Especially since the magic and physical defense stats are separate and you often get one stat better and one worse which gets really hard to compare as the game doesn't say "defense up by 3", it just marks it blue, you'll even have to hit a button to see an item's raw values instead of merely the ones your character gets out of it. Then you have skill and technique screens which use different progression points. Characters also have affinity stats towards each other that are affected by your ability to hit timed button presses in combat. And all that with several seconds load time for each menu screen you open (selecting the screens is done before any screen opens so you only have to wait once you selected what you want to see but still...). I often find myself not managing all of those screens and ending up with e.g. underpowered techs in combat since I was supposed to upgrade them a few times already.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: NWR_Neal on August 21, 2011, 09:23:59 PM
I hope to be joining the discussion here soon. Finally caved and placed an order, though it might take a while to get here...
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on August 21, 2011, 11:37:12 PM
Same here, I can't wait for this game to get in. From what I've read and seen, it looks like this game took the jrpg formula and added all that I love about wester rpgs (huge open-ended worlds and loot drops aplenty). This is going to be a delight lol.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 22, 2011, 05:01:24 AM
I don't get why I have to hold C to move the camera, the Dpad does nothing when no menu is open so it could just as well move the camera when it has nothing better to do.
Anyway, the game has a very good flow to it, never makes you feel "yeah, that's it, I'm stopping now".
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 22, 2011, 11:13:54 AM
Yeah, I just wasted 3 hours in previous areas doing some sidequests and getting that whole NPC relationship grid built up. While initially you only get handed quests of the type "find X items" without much story there's a lot more development to some of the quests.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: mr_lakitu on August 22, 2011, 02:32:41 PM
I don't get why I have to hold C to move the camera, the Dpad does nothing when no menu is open so it could just as well move the camera when it has nothing better to do.
Anyway, the game has a very good flow to it, never makes you feel "yeah, that's it, I'm stopping now".
I was too lazy to get my classic controller pro out at first but now I have and have I've never looked back. It's far FAR better than remote and nun chuck.
I'm 10hrs in now and I just got onto the thingies leg. My jaw dropped. It's one huge area without load times, countless enemies of many variaties. One of which is around 100ft tall and level 80. I stayed clear of that thing. This is amazing and worth the wait.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 22, 2011, 02:45:24 PM
There's a lot of level 70+ enemies strewn around that map, the windy valley is entirely filled with the things. Hell, there are level 70s in the first area (Colony 9) if you walk into the wrong corner.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 22, 2011, 04:49:03 PM
Two questions for you Americans who bought the game. How much in total USD was the process to import the game? And what homebrew region-free loader did you use?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: mr_lakitu on August 22, 2011, 07:10:57 PM
Two questions for you Americans who bought the game. How much in total USD was the process to import the game? And what homebrew region-free loader did you use?
Look in the other thread :) *tries not to be a nazi*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 22, 2011, 07:23:16 PM
Two questions for you Americans who bought the game. How much in total USD was the process to import the game? And what homebrew region-free loader did you use?
Look in the other thread :) *tries not to be a nazi*
No thanks. I'm fine here.
Anyone care to answer my question?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 23, 2011, 06:12:47 AM
I've got a fourth party member now (Dunban) and I can't think of a way to fit him into my party. Shulk and Reyn synergize well with Reyn's tanking skills drawing attacks towards him, letting Shulk use his various direction-based attacks. Sharla is the only character with major healing spells I have which is a massive boon for any prolonged fight so I don't really want to replace her either outside maybe of piss-easy fights.
Also the premonition system is strange, when a character is low on health it warns you about every piddly attack going their way but I just got hit by a named enemy's special attack that killed one of my guys and left the others at 20% health and knocked to the ground and there was no warning at all. That's the kind of massive attack I'd want a warning about!
Second answer: Use Gecko OS as part of the Homebrew Channel. That's how I've been getting my imports since... dunno, 2008? Especially nice is that the HBC has an autoupdater so you can update it to dodge the latest firmware anti-HBC measures before updating. Once it's installed you can keep it forever.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 23, 2011, 10:15:19 AM
Okay, cool. And how much moo-la did you spend on the game? Because since I'm not the guy who has a heck of a whole lot, I need to budget myself accordingly.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 23, 2011, 10:56:30 AM
45€. I hear the damn Brits get everything cheaper though.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 23, 2011, 11:35:02 AM
I have no idea how much that is. XD
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 23, 2011, 11:43:06 AM
Well, this is the game impressions thread, not the money debate thread. If you need answers about good UK sellers you should look in the other Xenoblade thread.
Throwing Dunban into my main party along with Shulk and Reyn made me murder enemies much faster but the lack of health recovery will probably suck badly in longer fights. And now I've got a fifth character...
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on August 23, 2011, 12:06:05 PM
How does the character level work? Mainly when a character is not in the active party do they still grow? Its sounding like your developing a Trash group and a Boss group.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 23, 2011, 01:25:56 PM
Honestly no idea, it only shows the XP gain of the characters you have in your party but I think the inactive ones get XP too (at least their levels don't diverge much from the active ones) and I heard in forum discussions that they do. What the inactive ones definitely DON'T get is affinity points for the various in-battle assists and quest conversation triggers.
EDIT: Just checked, inactive PCs gain XP from battles. BTW, so do dead ones (so no "I was the only one alive when we beat that boss and now I'm three levels ahead").
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 23, 2011, 01:41:27 PM
How is the movement controls? Judging from the videos I've seen the characters move kinda...odd. I can't explain it.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 23, 2011, 04:38:52 PM
Well, it's analog movement, only weird parts are the jumping (your hitbox seems to extend further down than your legs) and the climbing (the slightest off-axis tilt makes you climb 45° diagonally). I don't know what you mean with odd, maybe it's faster than natural to handle the sometimes huge distances?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Oblivion on August 23, 2011, 04:53:57 PM
Yeah, that's what it is. Faster. It just seemed less fluid than say, FFXIII in Gran Pulse.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 24, 2011, 02:57:27 AM
I guess that was a gameplay decision, Xenoblade has areas that put the original Hyrule Field to shame but it doesn't feel like you're taking forever to get anywhere.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ymeegod on August 24, 2011, 03:24:52 AM
Roughly $58 total for the standalone package if you wanted the Classic Controller Bundle is was nearly $90 though.
Not really worth it for the bundle IMO, you can pick up the Classic Controller Pro with Monster Hunter 3 at most Walmarts for $20 or less.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mop it up on August 24, 2011, 03:39:20 AM
But it isn't RED.
My fingers are still crossed that not only will the game come here, but the bundle as well.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 24, 2011, 06:43:14 AM
Man, Riki's got annoying voice acting but it's just not possible for a westerner to produce those high-pitched squealy mascot character voices the Nopon were designed for. They should have had him voiced by a girl at least though.
Now that I'm up to 6 characters I'm trying all the off-characters as my active party. Would be painful to encounter Mechon without Shulk in the party but if I do I can just re-configure after a wipe. Melia is interesting to play, she has a completely different combat system than other characters. First you have to summon elements that provide a status boost aura while summoned and then you can use her special skill (which doesn't require a charge to use) to launch them at enemies. Seems you can have up to three elements summoned and each type can be used multiple times (but since each summon is on a separate cooldown timer it's faster to summon three different ones). Dunban as a main character seems suicidal, he's pretty frail and attracts enemy aggro (even has skills to draw aggro, as opposed to Shulk who has a skill to AVOID aggro) so he gets killed quickly. Supposedly high AGI stats can make him survivable (the game throws you a bunch of help pages for every character but only logs them in the tutorial menu so you have to look them up before using the character) but I haven't played much since re-outfitting him for agility instead of armor.
Seems inactive characters get reduced XP (at least there's a skill for having them get full XP on one of the characters). Can't be by much though, I think I have them all at the same level (or maybe that's because XP decays exponentially with your level so an underleveled character would gain exponentially more XP than the others, bringing them up to speed quickly).
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: NeoStar9X on August 24, 2011, 04:50:33 PM
Put my order through for the game today. Though it looks like it will be a while before I even get my copy due to stock issues. Might actually cancel with Zavvi if nothing happens to the order over the next few days and try someone else. They were the cheapest.
Edit:
Bah. Canceled the order. Waiting till October is out of the question. No point in having the order if they are currently out of stock. That and I since heard some negatives about Zavvi so I might try a different store.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on August 30, 2011, 12:35:18 PM
I'm using Riki as my main for now, that guy is indestructible. Tons of HP (highest among my party) and I linked a medium armor skill to him so he doesn't make up for that with low defense either. He can do a weak group heal and his play dead ability loses aggro AND recovers a ton of HP. Too bad he cannot DRAW aggro, I often had him at nearly full health while my other characters were chugging along near death. The boss fight at the end of the Highentia Crypt was long and looked like I would lose quickly but since Riki is so damn durable he didn't go down once and could revive and heal the other two (used Shulk and Reyn there) constantly. It was a messy battle but in the end I won thanks to the Heropon.
Kinda funny that in the following cutscene Reyn contested Riki's claim that "it was all because of the Heropon!"
I'm going to put this here because well. I'm pretty sure it was suppose to be.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 30, 2011, 02:53:50 PM
Ah, yeah, probably clicked the wrong thread by accident.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ymeegod on August 31, 2011, 02:58:32 AM
Think my copy is MIA, have to wait another 26days to even report it :(. 40 day grace period for Royal Mail is a bit extreme considering it's suppose to be 4-6 days.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on August 31, 2011, 04:51:16 AM
I don't know about US customs but the customs here in Germany can easily swallow something for two weeks before notifying you that you need to come over and handle it.
Just got through the showdown at Prison Island and it feels like the plot is finally really heating up.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 01, 2011, 07:36:32 AM
Just out in Australia today. Rented it out for $3 to give it a look. I'm only about an hour or two in and it's looking pretty promising.
If it holds my interest for another few hours I might pick it up.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 01, 2011, 11:59:40 AM
I was so sure my UK copy would arrive here in Australia before the local launch. Bloody Zavvi... Same thing happened when I imported Galaxy 2. Ah well, at least I save 50% this time. *Sits infront of door*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 01, 2011, 03:59:23 PM
I really like how much there is to discover about the relationships and stories between NPCs, on the first pass of talking to everybody you may only get a few uninteresting gameplay hints and some generic kill or fetch quests but as you talk to named NPCs multiple times they reveal their connections to each other and new quests appear based on those. Some even with multiple outcomes, like deciding who to help in a love triangle, what kind of ingredient to hand to a brewer for his "firewater" (I gave him the cheap one which made everybody think of him as a cheap boozer) and other stuff. The game clearly tells you that sidequests do not impact the main story so I guess there won't be any major consequences to that stuff but there's still a lot to discover. Also the quicktravel lets you return to older areas at will to pursue the quest chains there (a few are marked as time limited which means they become unavailable after specific plot moments or sidequest moments, e.g. helping a refugee camp won't be necessary once you reclaim their hometown). Almost like a sandbox game.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 03, 2011, 12:16:51 AM
Ok. I gave in and picked it up this morning. Traded in a couple of games for it. They red controller will be coming in a few days. (Am listening to the soundtrack as we speak)
I am currently in the camp where we meet the kid with the buggy (can't remember his name). Just before we go to camp 6.
Damn, didn't I meed those high level monsters in the worst possible way. I was busy fighting some water bird things for a bit of grinding in between plots, while all of a sudden some level 73 flamingo things jumped into the fray and one shot my team. Didn't go back there again.
I assume losing the girl at the first battle with the faced mechon was unavoidable? I ask because I am still finding weapons that she can carry. This leads me to think that either she comes back or maybe there was something I could have done?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 03, 2011, 02:55:58 AM
I assume losing the girl at the first battle with the faced mechon was unavoidable? I ask because I am still finding weapons that she can carry. This leads me to think that either she comes back or maybe there was something I could have done?
Yeah, that scene is a key point in the plot and the motivation for the whole adventure. I only found like two weapons for her, don't think you'll be getting to use those. Just sell them off.
Also fun with high level monsters are things like high level nebulas, those things aggro if you use any ether spells in combat and it doesn't seem like you can tell your allies not to use ether. I think the music changes when a high level monster joins the fray, at that point you should run the **** away. I don't think the escape menu option really does much, what matters is getting enough distance between you and the monster's spawn point (even if it chases you it doesn't matter that the monster is three feet away from you, distance to the monster's spawn point or where the fight started matters). I once accidentally ran out of a fight when I was trying to use Melia's shadow stab to keep a bunch of enemies outside of melee range with the rest of my party dead, I retreated so much that eventually I moved out of the combat zone and the fight just ended.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 03, 2011, 06:15:04 AM
I have also done that. Even if some of your team is dead, they will resurrect themselves when you get out of range. I am assuming that is intentional. I was very surprised when this happened.
Roughly how many hours have you played thus far KDR?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 03, 2011, 07:12:57 AM
Party members always return to 1 HP when the battle is over, that mechanism doesn't distinguish between winning and fleeing. I've had some battles that ended with my main character biting it and the enemy for some reason disengaging so I got revived at 1 HP and the battle was over instead of it throwing me back to the last waypoint.
The timer on my savegame says 34 hours and I'm at level 43.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 03, 2011, 04:53:43 PM
I find it interesting that most of the kill quests don't require you to bring to go back and the tell the person who asked you to.
Not that I'm complaining of course.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 04, 2011, 01:25:04 AM
I think most of the quests from nameless NPCs are automatically solved without returning. The ones from named NPCs usually require returning though (they also add some story bits when you turn them in but it's still annoying).
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on September 04, 2011, 02:50:10 AM
damn, this wait is brutal. My copy was disptached on the 20th and it still hasn't come in. I can't wait to jump into this game. Keep up the feedback everyone.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 04, 2011, 04:08:02 AM
I think most of the quests from nameless NPCs are automatically solved without returning. The ones from named NPCs usually require returning though (they also add some story bits when you turn them in but it's still annoying).
This is true. At lease we have quick travel though. Makes it a lot quicker. But it is still a pain trying to remember where we found the character in the first place. The affinity chart does help to a point, but we still have to find where they are located in that area.
But I suppose that if that's just nitpicking. It is a well built game. Certainly the most immersive that I have played for some time.
Do you know if the quests that pop up for the unnamed NPC's are randomly generated, or are they all pre planned? (and will therefore run out)
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 04, 2011, 08:18:36 AM
I think they're all pre-planned, after all there's at least some text to them. There's more than enough of them that you don't need to worry about running out. You'll get too good for the quest rewards before you finish them all.
Also it's kinda annoying that some of the red items (quest-specific items found in the field) only appear once you get the matching quest. Though I guess compared to other RPGs that should be "it's nice how most red items appear even before you have the quest". Pretty funny when you take a quest and immediately complete it because you found the item already.
The game has some self-spoilery stuff (premonitions aside, of course), you will be offered skill books for characters before you encounter them and all quests from the city of Alcamoth are tagged with the time limited icon so I guess something will happen to the city? Well, okay, I misinterpreted the time limit on the refugee camp as meaning that the camp gets wiped out when really the people just migrate back to their home colony and then task you to rebuild it.
That self-spoiling is why I don't spoiler tag talk about Riki or Melia, by the time that you know who either of these people are you've already seen skill books for them and thus know that they are future party members.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 06, 2011, 04:11:16 AM
Here is a question for you.
I have been asked to go and kill a couple of monsters that are over level 70. This is all well and good, but the problem is that they have the timer next to them, indicating they need to be done before I advance to much further through the main story.
Has this happened to you, if it has, how did you do it?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 06, 2011, 07:30:37 AM
Are you sure those are the right monsters? You're not supposed to hunt a different version of the same monster type (e.g. Colony 9 has toad monsters at level 4 or so and toad monsters that are level 50)?
Anyway, those "time limits" seem to be extremely loose, it just means that at some point something will happen to make the quest impossible. Hell, even if it does, no biggie, it's just a quest. I think the only ones that I've lost to the "timer" were in the refugee camp and they even asked me if I wanted to do more quests first.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 06, 2011, 08:12:04 AM
It is definitely a certain monster. It isn't one of those "kill 5 mutant ostriches" kind. It is a "kill the *insert unique name here* type.
That giant level 73 quadruped thing that runs around in the middle of the leg just near the lake. I am supposed to kill that while I am boasting level 24 stripes. Instant death.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 06, 2011, 02:50:32 PM
If you got that quest from the refugee camp you can do it until you migrate the people to Colony 6. I'd advise against waiting too long with that though, the rewards for rebuilding Colony 6 apparently get fairly major.
EDIT: Speaking of which, I can't find the Fossil Ape I need for constructing level 2 housing.
EDIT 2: I got the damn ape from the universal drops in colony 6. They're supposed to be found in Makna.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 06, 2011, 05:19:58 PM
I really want to do all the side quests. I am a bit anal when i comes to things like sidequests. I want them all finished before I proceed. But stuffed if I know how to kill a level 70 beast.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 07, 2011, 12:56:00 PM
Answer: Level up. Bad idea though, I'm now over 40 hours in and just hit level 50. I just don't think it's possible.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on September 07, 2011, 02:29:46 PM
Sounds like there are quests in there for some kind of Play through Plus mode after you beat the game.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 07, 2011, 04:05:05 PM
OK. So I have just started making my way to the Bionis Head and Dunban has just joined my team I'm sitting around level 29.
I have to say this is the most involved in a game that I have been for quite a while. I am enjoying it quite a lot. It's all pretty user friendly when you get used to how the battles work.
As for a point you mentioned earlier KDR, about feeling like you are just contributing to the battle rather than leading it, I prefer it that way. It actually feels like my team are pulling their weight rather than just stealing my oxygen. And usually they aren't too stupid when we are fighting.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 08, 2011, 06:12:21 AM
Yeah, mostly I have only minor issues with the party AI though it can get really annoying when Shulk decides to use the Buster instead of Enchant while fighting mechons (leaving the rest of the party to do 1 damage per attack until Shulk's special ability has recharged from zero). Fortunately ether spells seem to work on mechons even without Enchant so I can still play a spellcaster even with the AI handling Shulk.
Also when equipping stuff the C button is your friend, sort it by the stat you want to optimize your gear for.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 08, 2011, 02:26:58 PM
Man, I just got the seventh character and boy did they throw a ton of new mechanics in for him. He uses a completely separate set of gear, armor can come in four varieties changing his class and the shoes are actually secondary weapons that determine the special attack he has. I read elsewhere that that's maybe the 75% point of the game so this is a really late addition considering all the extra rules.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on September 12, 2011, 02:49:53 AM
Finally recieved my copy sometime last week and I haven't been able to pry myself away from this game since. Its been a while that a game has had me playing at least for 1 hr even after pulling a double shift from work and knowing that I have to be up in another 6 hrs to put in another double shift. I'm loving everything about this game. Its taken what the Jrpg genre and added everything I love of the western rpgs. I was in the first area of the game for nearly 5hrs and I still want to go back and take care of a few enemies that I couldn't handle before.
One thing I will say though is that I think this game has probably the best intro to a Jrpg that I've ever played. Usually Jrpg start you off slow with little action but the sh*t hits the fan fairly quick in this game lol. Anyway, just had to pop on here real quick to throw my support at the game. Heading off now to get in some more hours lol.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 12, 2011, 03:02:52 AM
Still waiting for ze Zavvi copy to arrive. August 15th is when it was dispatched. *Sigh* Another dude in Australia who lives in Melbourne, 1,000km south of me, recieved his a week ago. *Sigh*...*sigh* Damn British mail. >_>
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 13, 2011, 02:51:21 AM
It's easier to go buy it from a shop. :P
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 13, 2011, 10:03:07 AM
Yeah, but importing is so much cheaper. And I was stupidly convinced I'd recieve the game long before the 15 days it took between the release difference of the two regions.
I guess I'll wait for the recommended 30 - 35 day limit before querying Zavvi on where da funk mah gamez is! That'll be in 3 - 8 days' time. I need a hug, dudes... *hugs monitor*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on September 13, 2011, 10:12:28 AM
Yeah, but importing is so much cheaper. And I was stupidly convinced I'd recieve the game long before the 15 days it took between the release difference of the two regions.
I guess I'll wait for the recommended 30 - 35 day limit before querying Zavvi on where da funk mah gamez is! That'll be in 3 - 8 days' time. I need a hug, dudes... *hugs monitor*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 13, 2011, 12:38:43 PM
Nnbaww!! :)
So I go to my mailing address every day, but not 'til midnight, right? Right. SUCCEESS! It's finally here! It's got 'Priority A' written on it, so I wonder if somethin' happened...
Heh, too bad I started playing FFXII for the first time just 24 hours ago. Emulation with fast forwarding is a wonderful thing with RPGs, y'know? I feel I won't get Xeno's maxmimum enjoyment-stuffs if I were to start right now...maybe.*Sits Xenoblade on shelf whilst staring sternly at the British mail system.*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on September 13, 2011, 12:56:46 PM
So I go to my mailing address every day, but not 'til midnight, right? Right. SUCCEESS! It's finally here! It's got 'Priority A' written on it, so I wonder if somethin' happened...
Heh, too bad I started playing FFXII for the first time just 24 hours ago. Emulation with fast forwarding is a wonderful thing with RPGs, y'know? I feel I won't get Xeno's maxmimum enjoyment-stuffs if I were to start right now...maybe.*Sits Xenoblade on shelf whilst staring sternly at the British mail system.*
...and thus another case of Lindermann syndrome begins to blossom.
I also believe it was the ponies.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 13, 2011, 01:11:20 PM
*Looks at untouched copy of Little King's Story*
Yeah, but it's emulation. Free!
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on September 13, 2011, 01:14:58 PM
Heh, too bad I started playing FFXII for the first time just 24 hours ago. Emulation with fast forwarding is a wonderful thing with RPGs, y'know? I feel I won't get Xeno's maxmimum enjoyment-stuffs if I were to start right now...maybe.*Sits Xenoblade on shelf whilst staring sternly at the British mail system.*
Just go play Xenoblade and you'll Lindemann FFXII instead.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on September 13, 2011, 02:17:20 PM
Heh, too bad I started playing FFXII for the first time just 24 hours ago. Emulation with fast forwarding is a wonderful thing with RPGs, y'know? I feel I won't get Xeno's maxmimum enjoyment-stuffs if I were to start right now...maybe.*Sits Xenoblade on shelf whilst staring sternly at the British mail system.*
Just go play Xenoblade and you'll Lindemann FFXII instead.
He didn't pay for it.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on September 13, 2011, 02:49:55 PM
Yeah, I doubt I'd ever be able to go through what I've already done on FFXII again were I to move onto Xenoblade. And Little King's Story is a retail copy. ROMs and ISOs are just throwaways, usually resulting in much less fun than otherwise would've been the case had you paid cash-moneys for the game.
*10 minutes into a slow starting game through emulation* "Bah, I'm done!" *delete* *10 minutes into a $60 game* "This'd better get better soon, considering I spent moneys on it." *soldiers on*
Oh right, Xenoblade... I don't even want to take it out of the shipping envelope. The pressue, ya know? Good news, though! FFXII's Mimic Dungeon-thingy place's shadows didn't like the emulator very much, causing the area to become completely garbled for a good five minutes. Was the emulator triyng to give me a hint? :3 I ploughed through it though. *has a little cry*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on September 24, 2011, 12:34:11 PM
I'm gonna declare a victory for good taste. Xenoblade has a higher Metacritic score than Gears of War 3.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on September 24, 2011, 06:11:53 PM
Just started playing again. Got a bit slack for a week. Just got to the Eareth (sp?) Sea. DAMN IT IS HUGE!!!!!
As much as I love the idea of large open environments, why can't they at least put something to do as you swim, and swim, and swim, and swim, and swim, and swim around the ginormous area. I've been swimming around the perimeter for about a half hour and I'm only a bit over half way around. I still have to go through all the middle yet.
But yeah, still enjoying the hell out of the game.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 01, 2011, 03:06:35 AM
Damn, this game just keeps. on. going. That is awesome. I just finished the prison Island chapter and assumed that would be the end of the game. And then it just keeps going again. And is really showing no signs of slowing down.
This is well worth a purchase.
I really hope NOA does change their mind. I really feel sorry for all our North American friends. There has just been so much detail and effort put into this game. Hopefully Nintendo take a leaf out of Monolith's book and start putting this kind of effort into Wii U console and game development.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Scatt-Man on October 01, 2011, 05:14:14 AM
I'm also curious as to when this game actually wraps up. I'm on a beach, deserted with someone after something kinda big happened. ~60 hours I think I've put into it so far. :3
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Sundoulos on October 01, 2011, 04:45:02 PM
Sigh...I'm ready to get started on it. I'm just waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail!
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 01, 2011, 06:09:42 PM
I'm also curious as to when this game actually wraps up. I'm on a beach, deserted with someone after something kinda big happened. ~60 hours I think I've put into it so far. :3
That is exactly where I am up to. The story is so involving in this game. I love the characters too.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 07, 2011, 09:41:28 PM
Against, perhaps, my better judgement considering how loaded this Fall is with games, I just finished ordering Xenoblade from Zaavi based on James' recommendation. The site says it'll ship within 24 hours, but taking their 15 days into account for importing I expect I'll probably have this game the week of the 17th. With Arkham City coming out that week, I don't know when I'll get to playing this but I'm looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 08, 2011, 11:19:01 PM
Put aside a LOT of time for it. I have just passed 110 hours and I still don't know how much further I have to go.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on October 09, 2011, 02:13:36 AM
lol, if you have any shred of ocd then you'll definitly need a lot of time on your hands. This game is amazing and one of the best jrpgs I've played in years but it can be torture sometimes. There are moments where I want to put in just a quick half hour to an hour of adventuring but my uncontrolable desire, whether I want to or not, to check around every corner and map out the ingame map completely ends up dragging the playtime up a few hours. Eryth Sea was like pulling teeth for me lol. I knew there wasn't going to be much to find swimming through that ocean but I couldn't help myself, I had to swim it lol.
Don't get me started on the collectables either lol, thats electric crack to me since you actually get ingame items for completing it as apposed to just shallow "achievements".
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 09, 2011, 03:13:39 AM
lol, if you have any shred of ocd then you'll definitly need a lot of time on your hands. This game is amazing and one of the best jrpgs I've played in years but it can be torture sometimes. There are moments where I want to put in just a quick half hour to an hour of adventuring but my uncontrolable desire, whether I want to or not, to check around every corner and map out the ingame map completely ends up dragging the playtime up a few hours. Eryth Sea was like pulling teeth for me lol. I knew there wasn't going to be much to find swimming through that ocean but I couldn't help myself, I had to swim it lol.
Don't get me started on the collectables either lol, thats electric crack to me since you actually get ingame items for completing it as apposed to just shallow "achievements".
Some of us like collecting those "shallow achievements", thank you very much (though in my case, it's trophies). It's nice to have actual in-game unlockables for them for a change, something that I've only occasionally seen with trophy unlocks on PS3.
We'll see how this game fares with me. I've had a real falling out with JRPGs over the last few years (I'm currently struggling to maintain both interest and consciousness trying to get through Star Ocean 4), and of the 3 Rainfall games Xenoblade was the least-interesting one to me. I can pin some of that on the game's seeming similarity to Final Fantasy XII, one of the worst games in that series I've ever played. But hey, it's the Baten Kaitos team and James did mention many much-needed new ideas implemented in this game, so it might be different.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 09, 2011, 05:07:49 AM
lol, if you have any shred of ocd then you'll definitly need a lot of time on your hands. This game is amazing and one of the best jrpgs I've played in years but it can be torture sometimes. There are moments where I want to put in just a quick half hour to an hour of adventuring but my uncontrolable desire, whether I want to or not, to check around every corner and map out the ingame map completely ends up dragging the playtime up a few hours. Eryth Sea was like pulling teeth for me lol. I knew there wasn't going to be much to find swimming through that ocean but I couldn't help myself, I had to swim it lol.
Don't get me started on the collectables either lol, thats electric crack to me since you actually get ingame items for completing it as apposed to just shallow "achievements".
You know that when you find all the landmarks in an area the map is cleared don't you?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 10, 2011, 08:01:29 PM
I got my confirmation today that my copy of Xenoblade has shipped from Zaavi, so I've been trying to get this Hack Mii "Letterbomb" installer to actually work. I figured I might as well test it out with the Donkey Kong Country Returns hack that makes the Classic Controller useable. I've put in the necessary information on the webpage (including my MAC address), I've downloaded the zip file, and I've unzipped the zip file to my SD card. But when I put the SD card back into my Wii, I'm not getting the installer "mail" that's supposed to self-install the homebrew channel once I click it. Is there a time delay before getting your installer email, or am I doing something wrong?
EDIT: OK, I've been at this an hour trying to get this damn program to work right, but I'm still not getting the Letterbomb "envelope" to appear anywhere in my Wii message list. I'm seriously close to saying "**** this" and just returning Xenoblade when it arrives. Looking at the list of crap on Joystiq you have to install after this finally works, it doesn't look worth the trouble right now.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 10, 2011, 09:48:52 PM
Heh, go figure. On a whim, I decided to hunt down the old 1 GB SD card I got back when I first got my Wii (but eventually upgraded to a larger 8 GB card). I formatted that thing, put the Hack Mii stuff on it, and THAT worked. So now I have the Homebrew Channel installed. Is that all I need to do?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mop it up on October 10, 2011, 09:57:08 PM
Do you have Gecko? That's the program you'll need to run the game.
You will also need to have the Wii connected to your TV with component cables and running in 480p, or else the image may not display properly.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 10, 2011, 09:58:14 PM
Do you have Gecko? That's the program you'll need to run the game.
You will also need to have the Wii connected to your TV with component cables and running in 480p, or else the image may not display properly.
I've actually been trying to hunt down the GeckoOS for the last few minutes. I can't find anything concrete just yet that doesn't seem to already be covered by the Homebrew Channel.
And yes, I'm using Component Cables.
EDIT: OK, there we go. I have the latest version of the GeckoOS installed, and I can access it from the Homebrew Channel. From the looks of it, I'm good to go for playing Import games now, so long as I have this SD card inserted when I do. Now to try this out on DKCR...
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on October 11, 2011, 12:26:57 PM
Some of us like collecting those "shallow achievements", thank you very much (though in my case, it's trophies). It's nice to have actual in-game unlockables for them for a change, something that I've only occasionally seen with trophy unlocks on PS3.
We'll see how this game fares with me. I've had a real falling out with JRPGs over the last few years (I'm currently struggling to maintain both interest and consciousness trying to get through Star Ocean 4), and of the 3 Rainfall games Xenoblade was the least-interesting one to me. I can pin some of that on the game's seeming similarity to Final Fantasy XII, one of the worst games in that series I've ever played. But hey, it's the Baten Kaitos team and James did mention many much-needed new ideas implemented in this game, so it might be different.
Sorry about that, I should've worded that differently. I guess you can tell I can live without the achievements lol but to each there own. As for the similarities to FF12, I wouldn't worry about that too much. The game looks similar but is far from it. FF12 required you to micromanage every aspect of your AI's command structure which could be a pain in the ass sometimes. With Xenoblade, your partners for the most part take care of things quite well. They heal when they have to and buff/defuff accordingly so they require little to no management. This leads you to really think on how to develope a proper strategy within the battle as field placement is very important to increasing your damage output. To summarize, the game is solid, you should def play it lol.
I finally got passed the Prison Island section, which really opened up the story a bit more I'm glad to say, but I freaked out as my Wii started to randomly turn itself off on me a couple of times. I'm not sure if this is a result of me soft modding my Wii but hopefully it doesn't happen anymore. Its got me saving every few minutes now as if I was playing one of Bathesda's games. I'd die if I couldn't continue on with this game as I'm already a good 50 hours in and would not enjoy starting all over again.
I have a quick question for those who also have the game. Are the collectables random? I've been going crazy trying to find 1 damn collectable in one of the areas to complete the set and I can't find it for the life of me. I've been wandering around the whole map, grabbing any collectables I see in hopes of finding the 1 missing piece. Sh*t is a pain in the ass.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: KDR_11k on October 11, 2011, 02:01:37 PM
I think collectibles are random but there might be some logic that "unlocks" some when you pick up specific collectible points (I have no proof for this theory). Also some are just insanely rare like the fossil ape.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 11, 2011, 06:22:40 PM
As far as I know they are indeed random. But I know how you feel. It took me ages to find the last Wool Rock that I needed. And now funnily enough I have a whole swag of them now that I finished that quest.
I am currently up to what I assume to be the final battle against Zanza (In space of all places). But damn talk about frustrating. I finally beat his first form and got about half way through his 2nd before he made two more of those damn guardians. If you die though it sends you all the way back to prison Island. I'll try it again later.
I am assuming that this is the final battle in the game. I am at level 80 and have sunk about 120 hours or so into this game.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on October 13, 2011, 03:22:19 PM
Imported it, played it for about 20 hours, really liking it so far. It's more or less what I'd hoped it would be, and modding turned out to be about as easy as advertised (next up: USB Loader, baby!).
That said, there are some things about it that annoy me. Hunting down named NPCs can be annoying, but my big gripe as a completionist is trying to raise everyone's affinity levels. I rotate who's in when accepting/finishing quests, I'm pretty good at timing the affinity bursts in battle, and I've even emptied out the collectibles handing out gifts, but it's still soooo slow to rise. Anyone got any tips?
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 17, 2011, 12:48:25 AM
That said, there are some things about it that annoy me. Hunting down named NPCs can be annoying, but my big gripe as a completionist is trying to raise everyone's affinity levels. I rotate who's in when accepting/finishing quests, I'm pretty good at timing the affinity bursts in battle, and I've even emptied out the collectibles handing out gifts, but it's still soooo slow to rise. Anyone got any tips?
What does Affinity do in Xenoblade, anyway, and how does it work? I was watching Benzai's Quick Look of the game over at Blistered Thumbs, and saw him get Affinity with an NPC for turning in a quest but the game didn't pop up one of its little tutorial panels to explain what it does.
I've actually been listening to the Xenoblade soundtrack over the past few days to get psyched for the game. Wow, I listen to a lot of JRPG soundtracks, and Xenoblade has to have some of the most memorable tracks I've heard from an RPG in years. It makes sense, though, considering this game was composed by the composer from the Kingdom Hearts games (which tends to have pretty excellent original music). Personal favorites include "Main Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Au3GD5INsU)", "FIGHT! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpoe_MOO2p8&feature=related)", and "Unfinished Battle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adN-4pls_AM&feature=related)" (especially that one). I'm seriously close to importing the soundtrack, despite not really having the money for that right now.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 17, 2011, 06:12:17 PM
Affinity grows as you complete sidequests, as well engaging in combat. It is the bond between your party members, as well as your party and various locations and townships. The higher your affinity grows, the more sidequests you can access, and the deeper relationships between characters will unlock. That's it in a nutshell anyway.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on October 17, 2011, 07:12:06 PM
What does Affinity do in Xenoblade, anyway, and how does it work? I was watching Benzai's Quick Look of the game over at Blistered Thumbs, and saw him get Affinity with an NPC for turning in a quest but the game didn't pop up one of its little tutorial panels to explain what it does.
There are two different kinds of affinity: the kind you build up with NPCs and the type you build up with party members. Shorty's outlined the effect of raising affinity with NPCs (i.e. more sidequests. It's also mandatory for unlocking each character's fourth skill tree). Affinity between party members not only helps unlock a few cutscenes, it also helps greatly when you're crafting gems, doing chain attacks, and sharing skills between party members.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on October 24, 2011, 04:59:42 PM
Well, my Xenoblade soundtrack arrived today, which definitely has markedly better audio quality than those .mp3s I was listening to. I just wish the CD player in my car still worked so I could listen to these CDs on the road, but I'll have to settle for my old reliable JVC CD boombox (which still works marvelously considering it was probably made in the 80s).
It's amazing, though, how a CD set shipped from Tokyo, Japan can arrive in 3 business days, but a game sent from the United Kingdom still hasn't arrived 11 days after it shipped. Still, if Zavvi's 10-15 business days estimate is accurate, I should be getting the game sometime this week.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on October 28, 2011, 12:45:04 PM
My copy took about two weeks to arrive, so hopefully yours should be coming soon. One strange thing is that my copy got routed through Belgium, for reasons unknown to me.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 02, 2011, 02:23:46 PM
My copy took about two weeks to arrive, so hopefully yours should be coming soon. One strange thing is that my copy got routed through Belgium, for reasons unknown to me.
My copy finally arrived today, 3 and 1/2 weeks after it shipped out from the UK (18 business days). And my package also went through Brussels, Belgium for reasons that defy logic and reason.
I never thought I'd have reason to say this, but I'm going to put Uncharted 3 down for a little while and play some g-damn Wii for once now that Xenoblade's here. :D
EDIT: Looking at the game in motion, is there anything I might want to do with my Wii's settings or whatnot? Because that game looks more desaturated than I usually expect in Wii games. PS3 and normal Wii games look fine on the thing, so I'm curious if there's just something in the Gecko OS' PAL conversion that may be responsible.
EDIT 2: Looks like turning my TV's brightness setting down a few notches did the trick, as the colors don't look so washed-out now.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 02, 2011, 05:38:00 PM
So I'm a couple of hours into the game, and so far I'm really liking it. I have a few minor issues with the game, like how a monster's level is kind of meaningless since lower-level unique monsters still kick your ass extremely easily early on. I'm also not terribly fond of how randomly the game seems to determine when you've reached a landmark outside of towns.
I spent a good deal of time in this early going just roaming around and exploring, and several times I clearly wandered into a different area but the game determined that I hadn't somehow reached the landmark for it. So I run into a monster too powerful for my two-party team, get my ass kicked, and I get sent way back to the Park since it was the last landmark the game thought I touched. Irritating, but not game-breaking.
What is incredibly annoying, though, is that there's no way to set an active quest in a game with this many sidequests. Oh well, I knew that would be an issue going in. I also wish the game would somewhat auto-target enemies when you get near them, because it's kind of annoying having to L-target them every time I want to engage something.
Despite these issues, though, the game's been a lot of fun. I especially love how it encourages you to explore and experiment, and then rewards you for doing so. It does remind me a lot of Final Fantasy 12, but with some refinements that make it look like Monolith Soft learned some important lessons from it. Whereas FF 12 was very generic-feeling, Xenoblade still feels like a JRPG but with much-needed elements of Western games. And the voice-acting is excellent, though I'm getting sick of Rheyn and his love of saying "YEAH, It's RHEYN TIME!" This game probably could have done well in North America if NoA put any effort into marketing it, because it's a JRPG without the stupidity that plagues that genre right now.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on November 03, 2011, 12:52:14 AM
I spent a good deal of time in this early going just roaming around and exploring, and several times I clearly wandered into a different area but the game determined that I hadn't somehow reached the landmark for it. So I run into a monster too powerful for my two-party team, get my ass kicked, and I get sent way back to the Park since it was the last landmark the game thought I touched. Irritating, but not game-breaking.
The problem might actually be that while you went by a "landmark," you didn't go by a teleportable landmark. By this I mean that only some (usually 1/4-1/3) of the landmarks are ones you can teleport to, and on respawning you're sent to the nearest one of these landmarks. The good AND bad news is that the first area, Colony 9, is probably the worst in spreading out the teleportable landmarks, with almost everything being bunched in the center and nothing appearing on the eastern half.
That said, I agree that nearly every zone should have had some more landmarks you can warp to, especially since it'll be a while until you can make your characters move significantly faster.
Also, regarding monsters' difficulty, you can essentially ignore the monsters' levels and should instead focus on their "threat level," i.e. enemies whose HUD is black are laughably easy (and won't even attack unless they're unique), those in blue are the "suggested" difficulty, and red means "I wouldn't".
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 03, 2011, 12:56:18 AM
I'm almost 10 hours in, and this game is rapidly living up to the internet hype of being "the best JRPG released this console generation", though I'm starting to have misgivings on the battle system since combat is getting increasingly easier as the game unlocks new features. I'm also really perplexed as to why you'd ever make your party leader anyone other than Shulk or remove him from the party, because he's just too useful in combat.
I've unlocked the Monado's ability to show flashes of the future, which has had interesting implications occasionally in battle but especially out of it. Like a lot of things in Xenoblade, it's the little things that really make me enjoy this game. Things like the game now using the Monado's story hook of showing the future to warn me when I pick up a collectible that I'll be needing more of that for a future sidequest. And while it's nice to have so many things to do, the sheer number of sidequests is pretty obscene (especially since, at this point, I can easily slaughter anything Colony 9 sends me out to kill) and I'm still hanging around the first quest hub. I'm really liking how the story is playing out, though. I didn't see that plot twist in Colony 9 coming, and the fact that it was allowed to play out was really interesting. It'll be interesting to see where the game goes with that.
Playing the game, it's interesting to see how much of an influence Zelda had on this game. The exploration and the minor platforming are very 3D Zelda. And the way that the sidequest-giving townsfolk are only out and about at certain times of the day so you have to adjust the in-game clock to meet them reminds me a LOT of Majora's Mask.
And for all my minor gripes with the game, I still glance over at my save slot clock and see that I played the game for almost 10 straight hours. And I'd play more, but I have to sleep sometime. It's been a LONG time since I've been this engrossed in a JRPG, and I couldn't be happier to finally have one like this again.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on November 03, 2011, 05:23:10 PM
I'm also really perplexed as to why you'd ever make your party leader anyone other than Shulk or remove him from the party, because he's just too useful in combat.
In short, affinity. You will find that as you get more party members, they all have talents worth using. Shulk has no ether arts, which you will discover as you progress.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 03, 2011, 06:05:54 PM
I'm also really perplexed as to why you'd ever make your party leader anyone other than Shulk or remove him from the party, because he's just too useful in combat.
In short, affinity. You will find that as you get more party members, they all have talents worth using. Shulk has no ether arts, which you will discover as you progress.
Good to know that I can take the couple of Ether Ups he has on him off. I was wondering if those tied into his Monado powers considering that it doesn't look like the Monado itself will ever upgrade as a weapon.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: alegoicoe on November 04, 2011, 08:33:37 PM
I just got the game today, am 45 mins into the game, and so far so good, i like the battle system and the clean menus alot, although the lip sink is lacking, but overall its looking good.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 06, 2011, 02:26:06 AM
Holy mother of god, I was hoping to never having to experience the typical JRPG cliche of the cheap boss in this game but F me, here it is in all its glory. This damn Deciple Lorithia is handing me my ass in more ways than the karma sutra. These are the type of bosses that I consider to be game killers becuase I'm so burnt out on battling that I have no energy or drive to grind it out for who knows how many more hours to be able to tackle this boss. As it is right now, I'm 1 level under the boss but it makes no difference. I've even resorted to coming online and see how others handled her but alas, its offering me no assistance. Right now, I think my only course for a win would be to level up at least another 10 levels.
Given Elder Scrolls V, Zelda, and the new Assasin's Creed is coming out, I don't see me dedicating the little time I have in my day to grinding my way through this. This is sad, I was really aiming to finish this game off this week before Skyrim released but this really ruined those plans.
ugh, sorry for venting but this really pisses me off lol. I really love this game and wish to see it through to completion but it looks like I might have to put this game on the back burner for the time being in the hopes that I'll work enough patience and time to little by little level up my characters.
EDIT: I spoke to soon, probably all out of frustration lol. Soon after the last post, I decided to put on my big boy pance and nut up. Lets just say the b*tch met my blade. On to the next spot, lets hope thats the last of these frustrating bosses lol.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on November 06, 2011, 03:24:05 AM
I did find her to be rather challenging. I got her on my second try though. Just. She has that stupid shockwave move that throws you all back and stuns you. Very frustrating.
Just have to try and keep out of the purple goop too.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 06, 2011, 04:47:38 AM
I think I'm finding myself to be a little under leveled. I'm currently stuck on the second form of the second deciple. I laced him up his first round but I'm not sure what type of spike defence he has up. I can't seem to do much damage to him. From what I'm reading online, most say level 80 is a good level to finish this game. I think thats about right as that seems on par with the bosses. Some have done it with a few levels less and I've gotten this far on level 75 right now. I'll have to look up some good grinding spots to speed up my levels. I'll have to call it a night for today. I got 3 days to close this game out before I get myself primed up for Skyrim. This should be more than enough time to finish this game as long as the last boss isn't cheap.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on November 06, 2011, 06:29:32 AM
Just take out his underlings as soon asyou can.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 07, 2011, 12:31:08 AM
I've been playing quite a bit lately (about 25 hours, w/ my guys around Level 30), mainly wrapping up all the sidequests I could find in Colony 9 and on the Bionis' Leg. I'm a little annoyed that as good as NoE's localization has been on this game, there's still stupid screw-ups like one of the Bionis Leg sidequests pointing you in completely the wrong direction to find one of the sidequest monsters. I wish the quests were more exact on where some of these creatures are in general, actually.
In any case, I just wrapped up all the business in the Ether Mines and did the big story battle that followed it. Man, what an epic entrance for two characters I was delighted to see again, set to probably my favorite song from the soundtrack. The swordsman in particular looks pretty badass with that shoulder cape. :D Really, it's a huge credit to this game and its dub that I'm over 20 hours into it, and I don't want to murder any of my party members out of sheer annoyance. I was even happier, though, to see that inactive party members still get all the XP, AP, and SP bonuses of in-party members. That'll make swapping characters out much easier.
I was perplexed to see Colony 6 not open for sidequests following the events in the Ether Mine. I guess the folks in the camp will move back there...eventually.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 07, 2011, 12:51:36 AM
I think you might be mixing up which deciple I'm up to, this is the second one and he doesn't spawn out any underlings. Anyways, I'm currently powering through a few bad guys in hopes of getting to level 80 sometime soon. One question though, does anyone know where to get the book to level up Reyn's Lariat move. I've visited every shop I can think of and can't find any manuals for it. I have it basically at the same first 5 levels max that it came with when he first learned the move. It seems to do a good amount of damage and would love to level it up some more.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Shorty McNostril on November 07, 2011, 01:03:27 AM
Ah. I'm with you now. My bad. Sorry. I got through him without too much trouble. I can't remember how I did it though.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Caterkiller on November 07, 2011, 02:11:11 AM
Gonna get it from ebay and just use my old wii I left with me brother. He moded it.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 07, 2011, 05:19:13 AM
sh*t, the last bits of this game have really turned into a series of frustrations. I'm up to the 2nd form of the final boss and I'm getting killed. I got as far as the point where he summoned his minnions (again) and I can't get rid of them fast enough. To make things even better, I decided to just wing it and come unprepared going into the fight with the second deciple thinking I was eventually going to have another save point but low and behold, I get caught up in a non stop string of boss battles. So now I have to turn this off and go through the gaunlet again tomorrow just to get to the same point I'm at now. Would it kill the developers to give me a damn save point or the option to return and make some purchases. They don't have an issue with starting me right on the second form of the boss so they are already cutting corners.
I might have to do some more grinding again tomorrow though. I'm at level 78 but I haven't found some of the manuals to level up my characters arts which is leaving them underpowered. Ugh.....I wish I could speed up this leveling process..... it took me a couple of hours today just to get fron level 74 to 78. There are only so many gorillas I can kill before my patiance starts to wear thin lol.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 08, 2011, 12:29:46 PM
Sorry for the double post but I finally finished the game last night with a build of level 81 shulk, sharla, and riki. I will say this, this is def in my top 5 rpgs ever. The game is so grand and so fullfilling by the end. When everything is said and done, you actually get the feeling of accomplishment. The journey from little hom to world savier is an amazing and grueling one. I think the ending was perfect and left it on a very good note even though it created more questions than it answered. Hopefully this becomes a franchise for Nintendo and sequals are made on the WiiU in the years to come. Theres still so much more thay can do with this world.
Also, this is the first JRPG where I enjoyed every single character. Usually theres at least one in a game that I can't stand especially the cliched "cute" one thats in every jrpg and is practically useless and annoying. I would assume Riki was the designated "cute" character in this game but he is far from the stereotypical cliched character. At first I really didn't think much of him but over time he grows on you. I think the scene where he and Dunban had that deep conversation at the beach really sold me on Riki and had me seeing him in a new light. Once I actually saw him in battle, I was sold, Riki was a baddass heropon. Also something about the "pon" extenstion he adds to words really has a nice ring to it lol. I think one day when I have kids I'll love to have them call me daddypon lol
F*cking Riki heropon FTW!!!!!
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on November 08, 2011, 12:47:14 PM
... Also something about the "pon" extenstion he adds to words really has a nice ring to it lol. I think one day when I have kids I'll love to have them call me daddypon lol
I think we have a title for Manny.
"Just call me Mannypon."
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 08, 2011, 01:01:17 PM
That would be priceless lol, but alas, I can't change my username in my profile. Would've been sweet though. Its a damn shame not many others will get to experience this game. Its def worth the trouble of inporting and soft modding the Wii. A true classic.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Ceric on November 08, 2011, 01:10:50 PM
I'm sure a Mod will help with this. *looks Up into the Forums Sky*
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 08, 2011, 01:20:40 PM
I must be in a good mood today given all my kindness with my mod powers.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on November 08, 2011, 01:32:22 PM
I must be in a good mood today given all my kindness with my mod powers.
You are a good man.
And yeah, Riki annoyed me at first, and strangely enough the noppon accents almost offended me when I first heard them, but it becomes clear fairly quickly that Riki's not exactly this game's Chu-Chu.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 08, 2011, 02:23:55 PM
I must be in a good mood today given all my kindness with my mod powers.
Thank you very much kind sir :).
As for Riki and the noppon, I didn't really think much of them at first. I saw them as your usual cutesy characters that are in every jrpg. I did love their home village though. It was an amazing place to visit and some of the views were spectacular from it, specially during sunsets.
Riki though really grew into his own character and I think its great how you and your expectations of him go along with the main characters in the game. At first the group didn't really think much of him too but at the end, he's just as big a part of the group as the next man or woman.
I think I clocked in a bit over 90 hrs into this game and I left a whole lot of side quests open along with Colony 6. This game was huge.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 09, 2011, 05:51:13 PM
Oh you have GOT to be kidding me...Jabba the Hutt's unholy spawn (the Nopon Riki) just joined my squad. Well, I know I'll never use him for anything important. I'll give Xenoblade this, though: the scene that introduces him is incredibly funny, with the squad treating him like a Volleyball (including Reyn spiking him into the ground). :P:
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on November 09, 2011, 11:23:29 PM
Oh you have GOT to be kidding me...Jabba the Hutt's unholy spawn (the Nopon Riki) just joined my squad. Well, I know I'll never use him for anything important.
Now you've hurt Mannypon's feelings. :'(
Seriously though, he's probably the best tank in the game; highest HP of all your characters, much better agility than Reyn (so he gets hit less), great status debuffs, group HP restoration, and generally useful skills. He doesn't draw the same aggro as Reyn when used by the AI, but under the player's control even that problem goes away. He's not on my preffered team, but he's still a really useful character.
And in terms of him as a character, rest assured he's not as stupid as he first appears.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Mannypon on November 09, 2011, 11:37:57 PM
blasphemous.... how dare you sully Riki's good name lol. Alas, I was like you once lol. When I first saw him, I didn't think much of him just like you. I never once planned to ever use him but by the end of the game, I was singing a different tune. I'll just say this to Riki's defence, I attempted the final boss a handfull of times and failed each one. I then decided to switch out my usual tank Reyn for Riki and within 15 or so minutes, Riki has his boot on that boss's throat. I think its obvious who the difference maker in that group was then lol.
Quick note though for those that have finished the game, I really enjoyed the banter between Riki and Reyn during the ending, I thought it was hilarious. Thinking back at it again, I believe Riki is the only character in the game we adults can all relate to one time or another in our lives. He has a bunch of kids and a wife he needs to keep happy so he doesn't have to be repremanded lol. Compared to everyone else in the game, that's as real as it gets lol.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 09, 2011, 11:47:13 PM
Oh you have GOT to be kidding me...Jabba the Hutt's unholy spawn (the Nopon Riki) just joined my squad. Well, I know I'll never use him for anything important.
Now you've hurt Mannypon's feelings. :'(
Seriously though, he's probably the best tank in the game; highest HP of all your characters, much better agility than Reyn (so he gets hit less), great status debuffs, group HP restoration, and generally useful skills. He doesn't draw the same aggro as Reyn when used by the AI, but under the player's control even that problem goes away. He's not on my preffered team, but he's still a really useful character.
And in terms of him as a character, rest assured he's not as stupid as he first appears.
Eh, I don't know about him being "the best tank" so far. As I've already maxed-out Shulk's Affinity with Sharla and Dunban (who I was using as my Tank after I maxed-out Shulk and Reyn's Affinity), I've been using a Shulk-Riki-Melia party. Now, to be fair to Riki I can see why he would be useful, as he's essentially one of those "Death of a thousand pinpricks" sort of characters. Since seemingly half his abilities deal out status effects, he's good at stalling and disorienting the enemy (which would be good for breaking Vision tags).
The problem I have with him is that the damage he deals is pitiful right now with the best weapon I could find for him. In combat, Shulk will always be the guy drawing the Aggro since Riki's doing sub-1,000 HP attacks and Shulk's doing nearly double his damage. So Riki has the health to be a tank, but he just doesn't have the necessary Aggro-drawing ability. Granted, Reyn's really the only character I've found who can do that, and his damage-dealing isn't spectacular right now either, but Dunban seems to be a pretty good combo unit with both the damage dealing ability of a DPS and the aggro-drawing ability of a tank. I can see why people might use Riki, but I'm not going to.
Now the character right now I just can't understand why anyone would use is Melia. Her moves are just...weird. She's seems to be a sub-par healer, and she doesn't really seem to have much direct-damage capability. If Riki seems built for De-Buffing, Melia seems primarily built for Buffing. The problem is that I need a healer in that slot and Sharla is a much better healer right now.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on November 10, 2011, 10:39:09 AM
The problem I have with him is that the damage he deals is pitiful right now with the best weapon I could find for him. In combat, Shulk will always be the guy drawing the Aggro since Riki's doing sub-1,000 HP attacks and Shulk's doing nearly double his damage. So Riki has the health to be a tank, but he just doesn't have the necessary Aggro-drawing ability. Granted, Reyn's really the only character I've found who can do that, and his damage-dealing isn't spectacular right now either, but Dunban seems to be a pretty good combo unit with both the damage dealing ability of a DPS and the aggro-drawing ability of a tank. I can see why people might use Riki, but I'm not going to.
Now the character right now I just can't understand why anyone would use is Melia. Her moves are just...weird. She's seems to be a sub-par healer, and she doesn't really seem to have much direct-damage capability. If Riki seems built for De-Buffing, Melia seems primarily built for Buffing. The problem is that I need a healer in that slot and Sharla is a much better healer right now.
Regarding Riki, he DOES start out weak, and even in the later game his auto-attack isn't enough to draw aggro, which is why he's not as good in the AI's hand. But his talent arts draw lots of aggro and, once upgraded, they have really low cooldown, which is why he's a great tank in the player's hands; he's death by a thousand slices, yes, but you can make him slice really, really fast.
As for Melia, she's different than every other character in one important way: where everyone (save Sharla) has to fill up the talent gauge before they can use it, Melia can use it anytime she has at least one element in play, even though the thing is apparently grayed out. What this means is that you'll summon a spirit(s), giving the group whatever buffs comes along with this, then hit the talent gauge and use those spirits offensively. Even better, this inflicts ether damage, not physical damage.
To see what I mean, use her as your character, use Summon Bolt, then click on the talent gauge. She'll fling the bolt at the targeted enemy, which usually does several thousand damage even in the early game. In essence, Melia's a mage, one which the game never teaches you how to use, and she's actually the best damage inflictor in the game. Even better, because using the talent gauge attack is a "grey" attack, she's incredible in chain attacks: her main damage inflictor not only builds on whatever color attack came before, but whatever follows automatically builds on top of that. In essence, having her in your party is a guaranteed 5x damage chain attack.
Melia's only weakness is that her healing skill is quite weak: she can use it to drain health from herself using the method above (which usually gives her back half her health total), but it's too slow when used as a party buff. Only Sharla and Riki are ever effective group healers.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on November 12, 2011, 11:52:32 PM
So I've put in nearly 50 hours now and have reached what seems to be the token JRPG "Imperial City", complete with plenty of pompous jerks who are more than eager to fill my quest log. Things seem to be taking an interesting turn in terms of the lore surrounding the Monado, though my interest in the story is tempered a bit by what seems to be a pretty predictable upcoming plot twist with the local royalty. As for the areas lately, I really like the look of the Eryth Sea and the Capital City, but they're both just so frickin' huge and take forever to navigate (particularly the Eryth Sea and its network of teleport platforms).
Having spent several hours wandering around with Riki (the Nopon "warrior") and Melia (the Mage), I am gradually warming up to the two of them. Riki's ability to steal items from certain monsters that like to self-destruct before I can kill them and take their loot is very useful, as is the flood of status effects pretty much all his moves dump on enemies. Melia became almost immediately better as soon as I removed her "Summon Copy" ability from her active abilities bar, as she's now much more focused on using her formidable magical avatars to attack rather than simply waste time replacing them. Melia's out of the party at the moment, so I hope I get her back soon so I can continue working on increasing her and Riki's affinities.
As for certain characters being better under user control, that may be the case but I'm just not going to turn Shulk over to the CPU and I'm not planning on benching him. Controlling him, I have a good feel for the flow of battle, and Shulk feels well-rounded enough that I feel I can counter almost any situation the game throws at me. He can tank when necessary, do minor healing when necessary, do buffing when necessary, and he seems right now the most powerful character in the game. This is particularly true due to his Monado abilities, which I do hope the game will finally soon allow me to unlock further levels in. I've had all his Monado abilities maxed out at Level 4 for quite a long time now, and they're really starting to feel underpowered lately.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Chozo Ghost on November 13, 2011, 03:02:55 AM
I've had all his Monado abilities maxed out at Level 4 for quite a long time now, and they're really starting to feel underpowered lately.
Maybe he does have a weakness then. ;)
Not anymore. :cool; I just unlocked the Monado's remaining upgrade levels and a much more appealing new design.
I am now nearly 60 hours into the game, my characters are around level 50, and I have completed the rather intriguing events at Prison Island. With this latest story advancement, it now feels like the game has moved into its second half, and the soundtrack track listing seems to confirm that as well.
As for the events on Prison Island, I'm not sure at the moment I altogether care for the two major plot twists in that sequence, as they undo one amusing moment and one rather powerful moment from earlier in the game. Plus, they introduce an unwanted headache into future interactions between certain party members. So far, the game hasn't let me down with its story, so I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt on it for now. I'm getting a little weary of all the teasing the game's doing with Alvis, though.
And apparently party members have additional Skill Trees they can unlock by accepting random quests from specific NPCs when some mysterious requirement has been met. I unlocked Milia's, and I started Reyn's (though I have no idea where Reyn's wants me to go, other than somewhere on the Bionis' leg). I wanted to start Shulk's as well, but the NPC he's supposed to get a quest from doesn't have one at the moment despite my having a 4-star rating with Colony 9.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: noname2200 on November 15, 2011, 12:40:23 PM
I wanted to start Shulk's as well, but the NPC he's supposed to get a quest from doesn't have one at the moment despite my having a 4-star rating with Colony 9.
Many (all?) of those quests also require you to have advanced to a certain point in the plot. Both of Shulk's do for certain.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: broodwars on December 16, 2011, 03:18:31 AM
With some games out of my backlog and others on hiatus out of irritation (Skyrim) or boredom (Zelda), I've gone back to playing Xenoblade. I haven't made much story progress, though I did complete the events on the Bionis' arm. Now that Shulk has maxed out his Affinity with every other party member, I've temporarily gone with a Dunban-Melia-Sharla party that's worked out decently so far. Dunban has a high enough agility and aggro-drawing ability to be a makeshift Tank, with Melia and Sharla handling healing and damage-dealing duties. I've also completed Stage 3 with all the sections of the big Colony 6 sidequest.
The more I play this game, though, the more apparent it becomes that Monolith really didn't put much thought into the logic governing their world design. Consider the weather and layout of the following areas:
The Back of the Bionis' Leg (Colony 9) - it's a fairly flat, temperate, and sunny area despite the fact that it's under the top of the upper portion of the Bionis' Leg at an angle. This area should logically be on a gradual to severe grade, sloping downhill, as well as a large portion of it constantly bathed in shadow from the Bionis' thigh above.
The Top of the Bionis' Leg (Colony 6) - it's also a fairly temperate region despite having full exposure to the Sun. There's no real reason why it wouldn't be just as hot and humid as the Bionis' Back.
The Bionis' Head - Another temperate region bordering on tropical, despite being the highest point on the Bionis.
The Bionis' Right Arm - It's a snowy area, despite being directly connected to the tropical Bionis' Back area and lower than both that area and the Head.
For that matter, the sheer scale of these areas seems a great deal smaller than it should be. Although the areas are big, you can still cross them fairly quickly considering your character's size relative to that of the Bionis.
Yeah, I love this game, but you really have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit to accept aspects of this game's world design.
I'm also a little concerned about where the story seems to be going. It just seems like the writers may be over-complicating the game a bit with too many players on the board, all with various factions and allegiances.
Title: Re: Xenoblade Chronicles - Impressions
Post by: Nbz on December 25, 2011, 09:11:11 PM
So I picked up Xenoblade the other day for an absolute steal at 20 quid. I was almost done with Zelda at the time and so I wanted something that was going to last me a good while, and I'm pretty sure Xenoblade is most certainly that. I haven't had much time to play it yet, put in around 40 mins yesterday and another hour this morning before everyone arrived for Christmas. I can already tell that the scope of this game is just unbelievable, and judging from the size of the first area I know how much of an explorable game this is going to be. At one point I jumped off a ledge and dropped what must have been 100 hundred feet into the water. I expected to die and just respawn where I fell off, but no, I was simply allowed to swim in this ridiculously massive lake and explore below the city. Coming off of Skyward sword I'm gonna take some time getting used to not using motion controls in a game, and its going to be difficult because I don't have a Classic controller pro, so I'm lumbered with Wii Remote + Nuchuck. I may well go and use some Christmas money to go and pick one up, if only for improved camera controls. I've already put in around 2 hours and feel like I really haven't got anywhere. A good sign? Most certainly. This game is gonna keep me busy for a looooooong time.
