Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles X - OT

Yeah i really loved the story too, even if i said that it's not the "most important thing" in the game. What i meant is that, like @Dezzy said, it's more open world than story driven. You'll spend most of the time by doing things "Mira related" rather than main missions. By the way the thing i liked the most in the story is the final twist. I hope they do a sequel on Switch in the future

Cool, thanks.

@FGPackers

Lol as I said a few pages back, I found the final twist to be kind of silly and pointless. You can completely ignore it and the story works great without it.
In fact I think the final twist kinda undermined the earlier twist that I thought was cool (the fact that they were inside the core in digital backup format. Once you learn that Mira has somehow kept them alive anyway, you might as well have ignored the fact that they were only digital and just said their bodies were on board but had all died. Mira could have kept them alive under that story too.)

@Dezzy Yeah i meant that part too, maybe it was the best one

I didn't think much of XCX's story or characters, much prefering XC's.

Didn't stop me from putting in 215+ hrs for my initial playthrough and dubbing it my best game of 2015 and 2016 and all time favourite Wii U title.

But damn do I desire a sequel. I hate open endings.

Short comparison how I personally feel about Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Story

Xeno 1 was story driven, but very fantasy-like. Xeno X feels more realistic and that made it so much more immersive to me, like, really crashlanding, surviving and exploring on another planet and being part of an ecosystem, creating your own destiny instead of following a predetermined path. Even though there's less main story, I was amazed by XenoX unique twists while Xeno1 left me confused at times.

Gameplay

XenoX is openworld and looks fantastic, the sidequests don't feel as repetitive as in Xeno1, and the map system is excellent and something that's never been done before. Map resource management is almost like having a second game running independently on the GamePad, which is crazy! I already know I'm going to miss this ingenious feature in Xeno2. Also, halfway through XenoX you get a Skell and this added a whole new dimension to the game which my spoiledbrat gamersoul found super impressive.
However, gameplay in XenoX may feel a tad overwhelming if you had not played Xeno1 before, due to deeper battle systems and so much more to customize and try, online modes, etc.

Characters

Xeno1 had a good cast, though some may argue that a lot of them are cringeworthy they're still better than most RPG characters. However, making your own character in XenoX is like being personally involved rather than just playing with some predefined characters. XenoX has more playable characters (18 instead of 7) and you can have 4 with you, leveling up at the same time (instead of 3). Yeah, in Xeno1 all characters are important to drive the story forward and in XenoX it's just a handful. However XenoX characters feel more independent doing their own thing which I also like. Also, XenoX affinity missions are a huge improvement compared to Xeno1's affinity improving locations.

Music

Xeno1 is a masterpiece in that regard. XenoX style is different, more modern, but man, I love so many tracks in both games, I could never say one is better than the other.

Replayability

Well, there's so much to do in both games, and the closer you come to 100% the more grindy they get. But if you get to that point you already have doubled and tripled your moneys worth.

Comparison Conclusion

With XenoX it feels like the devs took everything what made the first game great, and made them better, while improving or dropping the few things that people didn't like in Xeno1.

I'm finally starting to get into this game (just started Chapter 4), and I have a question about it. How important is it to do all of the secondary things to make your character better? I'm talking about things like whatever you find in Armory Alley (buying, selling, augments, investing in the weapons companies, etc.). In the first Xenoblade, I didn't do any gem crafting or buying or selling or anything until about 3/4 of the way through when I ran out of inventory space and so pretty much had to do it. Can I get away with that in X, too, or will I become a sitting duck if I don't do any of those things? It's just already such a big game and my gaming time is so limited, I don't feel like doing those things that seem a lot more mundane if I don't have to.

@Tsurii Yeah so far I am just choosing quests that I have already completed or that I know I can easily. As for gear, I don't think I ever bought much in the original until close to the end because I was always finding good pieces in my play and after battles, and so far that seems to be the case in X, too. I've already picked up a lot of improved weapons and armor just from enemy drops. It's good that the augments are better than Chronicles gems, because I never worked with them much because I just didn't feel like messing with them.

Interesting to see this thread active! I logged over 700 hours into Xenoblade X after owning it since release. I completed everything and killed all the notable creatures. Many of those hours were also spent doing the squad missions over and over again. I beat the story so long ago I can vaguely recall it. I do miss the game, but the lack of a NG+ mode is disappointing.

I finished it mostly without bothering to craft. This game really has a way of growing on you, so if you're at chapter 4 you're going to get deeper into its life and planet with each step.

The key thing here is that they made a planet. All the intricacies and characters and quests and stories they tell combined with the environments makes it feel insanely special over time.

One of the best games on the wii u for sure, so enjoy every moment of it

It really is an amazingly crafted world. I've actually been itching to get back into it, but with the Wii u put away and the daunting thought of downloading the data packs again, plus my hopes for a switch version put me off from playing again just yet

Little question.
Is it me or on Xenoblade 2, the Gigantic monster have Tons of HP, similar with Monster Hunter series.
Imagine if I have to take long time to defeat those Gigantic creatures spreaded off around World Map.
Is it still Normal for Xenoblade series ?
Btw, I'm a newbie of this series, never played before but I got the experience of beating Gigantic creatures from Final Fantasy XII (Yazmat, Gaaah... 50 Million HP, Nuts !!!)

@Tsurii OK, I haven't actually tried to do any of the augments yet, but maybe I will just to see what it's like. @erv I'm obviously not that far into it yet, but so far it just doesn't seem as grand as the original. I'm sure it's because the original's world was just so awe-inspiring being the first time I'd ever seen a game like it, and now I'm like "Oh, I've seen this on the Bionis before." I do like the way you interact with the world more, and I'm sure I will grow to love it more once I'm into it further. I also like the way it kind of makes you take a break from the story and just explore the world more before it tells you when you are strong enough to continue, so you don't get stuck fighting someone way over your head like I did in the first game a number of times.

Glad to see that there are still a few out there playing this game. I haven't played through it yet, but I plan to during this coming winter. It looks like a truly fun game, but the thought of how many hours I'll be sinking into it is almost daunting.

Yeah, I've only been to the second continent so far (Noctilum or something like that) which is very pretty but just doesn't have that awe factor that the swamp or Eryth Sea had. I haven't been to Oblivia yet, though, and of course the first couple worlds in the first game weren't necessarily amazing either, so I definitely still have to give it time. As another weird question, has anyone played it just on the Gamepad? I could probably play a lot more without the TV, but the Gamepad seem so integral to the experience that I haven't tried it yet, and am wondering how doable it is without losing something.

@Xyphon22 I played the game a lot on my gamepad. It's very nice to play with the thing in hand laying on a couch.

I didn't exactly feel bummed through it. The comfort of laying down and playing made up for it, as long as you don't forgo the big screen play.

As for the area and the settings, I specifically remember appreciating the world more after the third one. The desert world was a bit tight at first but it's a thing of beauty once you revisit the thing.

The unique experience about this game's planet is hidden in the way the world grows on you. You'll do some stuff in the regions from time to time and will slowly but firmly grow appreciation even for the sandy sea...

@Xyphon22

It's doable on the gamepad although the text is too small really. And you can't enjoy the views as much.

I didn't really start loving the world until I'd left Primordia. Noctilum was the best continent imo. Especially the latter half of it once it opens up near the triple waterfall. Oblivia was good too. Then the last 2 are average.

The world really needed a few more towns though. They were so good at making cool towns in XC1 so it kinda sucks that it's just the 1 city.

@erv @Dezzy Thanks for the replies. I actually hadn't really thought about the dip in graphics on the Gamepad and missing the spectacular sights. I am more worried about not having the map there at all times which seems like such an integral part of the gameplay. I will give it a shot sometime to see how I feel about it. And yeah, I think I will miss the cities. I know the outside world is the big draw, but the capital in the first game was amazing and there is so much they could do with big cities of advanced civilizations.

Edit: So I tried it out on just the Gamepad last night, and I guess it will work for if I just want to go try to do some missions and level up, but I don't think I would want to try to go anywhere new or advance the game too much off of the big screen. Also, I don't think I've gotten the hang of the battle system yet. Is there a way to do chain attacks like in the original? And does the TP do anything other than letting you resurrect someone if you have enough? I know the manual talks about Overwatch, which I guess I don't have the ability to do yet. Does that unlock more of these kinds of things?

-Chain attacks are gone AFAIK
-TP is used for any Art that has TP in the icon (1000 per use)
-Overwatch is a 2016 First Person Shooter

Yeah, I knew as soon as I reread that after I posted it that it was wrong, but I can't remember what the ability is called. It's Over-something. But I'm sure if you've played the game you know what I mean.