Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles X - OT

So to go in another direction, who is your Tank of choice? L, Lin or H.B.? As much as he makes me want to hit him, I am warming up to H.B. this time around as I am taking the time to understand his Spike Damage better, but previously I pretty much went Lin the entire time.

After finally beating Xenoblade Chronicles I was disappointed by the gameplay. I bought the game when it launched and I have been playing it through the years. I was surprised to know it is considered one of the best RPGs ever made and I didn't want to give the series another chance. I loved the story though.

Finally, I decided to get Xenoblade Chronicles X and I already have a list of complaints but I also think that it's better than both Xenoblade Chronicles and Breath of the Wild and yes, this game has the dash in the left stick click like I wanted BotW to do. It's a switch so you just click once to dash and move both the character and the camera as in any other modern game (except BotW). You can modify the camera settings which is nice.

The main problem with this game is that when fighting I have to deal with the camera all the time so I miss tons of button prompts, that use a different button to Arts as opposed to the prequel. It's like I am playing with the camera and not with the character which sucks. I tried the targeting function but it's awful. It's like the camera system hasn't evolved at all.

The second complaint is the soundtrack. Oh boy, it's totally inappropriate to say the least. And there are no audio settings in this game so you can't turn it down (it's too loud), I barely hear the dialogues. The vocals... are not good. Then we have the typical Xenoblade annoyances like everything is more complicated that it needs to: check this terminal here for that and you don't even know there is another one for that other thing, do you? Try to explore just to realise that you can't install the probe but you can't make in-game notes about it. Just roam the same areas hoping that you have leveled up for installing probes.

But the world looks much nicer than in Xenoblade Chronicles or Breath of the Wild and there are some quality of life improvements (unfortunately not the camera) with my favourite one being the improved tracking quests system and the follow ball, it's overpowered Navi! Awesome. The battle system is less cryptic. The graphics are great (ignoring clipping) and controls are better so I feel much more immersed in this game that in Xenoblade Chronicles and I am also enjoying it more because of that and the little gameplay improvements. Oh, and Monster Hunter inspired them a bit, didn't it? It's incredible that this game doesn't use the OS RAM like BotW does and yet it looks technically better.

I think that the story is not good this far. This is the first time in a video game that I answered 'No' to 'Do you want to join us?', etc. because their reasons didn't make any sense and they are doing what they don't want the other species to do to them. So yeah, then I was forced to join although they insisted it was my decision? Then they complained about somebody attacking human beings after planning to basically kill everything else. I mean, it's a game but they didn't write it well and I didn't see the logic anywhere. The only good thing I can say about the story is that because you are just a survivor looking for survivors then it's easy to focus on the slow game progression and forget about the story, while I only beat Xenoblade Chronicles because of the story. It's nearly the opposite here. Also very annoying to read Offline all the time while playing offline, why?

These were my first impressions. I have been playing the game a lot and I found a few tricks for dealing wih the camera like using certain fighting styles that require less rotation and just using a manual camera not too close. Now my big complaint is the soundtrack that I really hate now except the instrumental songs. I turn the audio off when I am in NLA but some cut-scenes have also music with vocals that doesn't let me hear the characters (subtitles are on, obviously). The soundtrack was composed by a third-party and in my opinion it is the worst thing in this game by far.

The gameplay is complex but manual and in-game tutorials are helpful. You must read the manual and check the terminals and still there are a few things that you don't know how to use until you try, like upgrades and augments (I still haven't found a weapon where I can apply an augment) but overall the game is impressing me much: art style, combat, exploration, the GamePad maps, even the story has become an interesting one at this stage (chapter 6). It's an amazing game and I didn't expect it to be and not just that but I am enjoying it like I haven't enjoyed any other open world game before. I consider this game the best Wii U game now and that's funny because I almost did not play it at all.

@BlueOcean: The strengths of the game don't lie in the main story IMO; what kept me playing was the exploration, all the customization you can do (I loved installing probes, mining ore, and customizing the Skells), the combat (There's a definite learning curve and ground combat is occasionally meh, but Skell combat = 🤩 ), and some of the side quests. Not all of the quests are worth writing home about, but some of the better ones let you know more about a character's...well, character, or else they tackle some dark themes like suicide, xenophobia/discrimination, murder, and even some crazy quest chains like (slight spoilers past the tags, but nothing too earth-shattering) picking a wife for a NPC or a quest line that reminds me of a certain vehicle from Back to the Future.

The main story does have a couple of curve balls to throw at you, but for the most part it's kind of generic and predictable at times. It isn't the worst storyline ever, but neither is it GotY material in the narrative department. The game actually encourages you to do other things before advancing the main story; its strengths, I would argue.

As for the music....Your complaint about the track overpowering what's being said on the screen is a common one. It's something that I adapted to, but it did still irritate me at times. Get outside of New LA when you can; since you spend a lot of time there, I agree that the tracks there (Particularly the night theme - not my type of music at all. XD) can be quite grating after awhile. Some of the tracks elsewhere in the game are much better. Noctilum is not only home to my favorite day theme, but is one of my favorite continents in the game. I still listen to some of the extended tracks from the game on YouTube at work sometimes.

I'm curious to know where you're at in the game currently.

@Tyranexx

My all time favorite "XenoTune" is a track of X... this is a masterpiece from my perspective :

@Cobalt: That's definitely one of the better tunes. Now if only I could say the same about that continent.... (Not that it's bad per se, I just liked the others more.)

X actually has my favorite soundtrack out of the three games purely because it's so different from pretty much everything else. I unironically love the NLA/battle themes/Don't Worry and I will defend them all to the grave.

X in general is really my favorite Xeno game, but it ain't because of the story because the story is by far the weakest in the entire Xeno series. The gameplay blows everything else out of the water though.

@Tyranexx I am about to start chapter 7 and doing all the optional stuff too, about to get a Skell too. Some RPGs are boring and repetitive and others have messy and unbalanced gameplay. For someone like me there must be something that really justifies spending so much time (and grinding) in a game. This is what I wrote about Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii):

https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/wii/xenoblade_chronicles_h...
(I was much harsher with the game elsewhere but I can't find it).

After that I almost did not give XCX a chance but this is the last big Wii U game that I had not played and after beating XC I was curious and I decided to get it. The first hour or so I was quite sceptic but after a while I realised how wonderful the game is and now I consider it the best Wii U game and nicer and more fun than Breath of the Wild, which I know it's not a traditional RPG but I am not a traditional RPG hardcore fan anyway.

After playing for some hours I hated some songs like both NLA tracks (I like the Barracks song though) but some of the (instrumental) ones are great and we all agree about that. The NLA songs would be fine if you only heard them once per playthrough but not in a loop while playing a massive game. I also had some issues with the camera during combat, and combat is really deep, but once you get the hang of it and using a manual camera at middle distance you are fine. There are many camera and HUD settings but no audio options is a huge mistake.

Everything else about the game is positive. The game doesn't use the Wii U OS RAM like Breath of the Wild and yet it is much more detailed and beautiful. The developers sacrificed a few new-generation features like dynamic lighting and some collision detection but the result is a game that looks awesome and the performance is much better than in Xenoblade Chronicles, it is almost perfect indeed, and that affects gameplay positively. Controls have also been vastly improved and the side quests are thousand years ahead, so is the game structure with effective quests management, fast travel features and just one city hub. I like my avatar, I like managing the probes, I like using the maps on the GamePad while playing with the pro controller, I like all the combat styles and I love playing this game. Heck, I even like the story now. The game encourages you to adventure along Telma and Lin but there is a nice fourth slot for your favourite character or you can try different ones, which is what side quests cleverly introduce. Plus, both Lin and traveling companion Tatsu are great characters.

The visual art is spectacular. There were many different artists involved, some designed the weapons, others designed a particular alien race, creatures, environments... The final result is a rich combination of high-quality assets made by really talented people as opposed to many modern games with mediocre art. Primordia and Noctilum (haven't been in Cauldros and just 2.8% of Sylvalum and 13.4% of Oblivia) are both really impressive and have so many unique areas that make your time in them enjoyable no matter how much time you have already spent in them. Those two are two of the best regions I have ever explored in a video game. In the Wii game exploring the flat areas and doing side quests was a boring chore, now exploring Mira and doing side quests is what I actively want to do. Xenoblade Chronicles is one of the few games that justifies having a particular console. It is a polished, beautiful and fun game. It belongs to my favourite games list now.

@BlueOcean

I just read your HUGE block of text !
Guess what ? I could have written the same three years ago.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is simply the most impressive game on the Wii U but I would say even more, the most impressive RPG, on Nintendo's platforms, EVER ! ^^

@Cobalt. Just one word, true!

@BlueOcean: I always thought it would be neat that, once you got your Skell, you could switch between different radio stations when at least in NLA. That way you could enjoy different tracks instead of the same two ad nauseum.

Glad to see that you're enjoying the game! You're correct that it encourages you to use both Lin and Elma during the main campaign. Just don't fall into the trap of using a certain character who (for story reasons) isn't available in some of the later chapters. I fell to this but caught on early enough to train up another Blade to help out.

@Tyranexx Yes, I think it would be a good idea to change the tracks in NLA, something like Sonic Generations.

Do you mean not to level up a person that you can't use later on? Who?? I choose either Gwin or Phog as fourth member. I am in Chapter 7.

@BlueOcean: I won't say due to trying to avoid spoilers, but those two should be fine. I regret not using Gwin more TBH.

This is the only Xenoblade game that I've played so far. I haven't played XC2 (no Switch yet), but what didn't you like about XC1? I know you linked it earlier but noticed that you were pretty up front about spoilers; I didn't read through the topic as a result. I've been curious about XC1 on and off. A lot of people hype it up, but up until a couple of years ago I considered it difficult to get...plus I find the length (according to HLTB) a bit off-putting.

@BlueOcean

Don't get spoiled my friend...
Pro tip : pay attention to the "kizuna quests" during your play time and you could guess things by yourself...

@Tyranexx

1st problem with Xeno Wii : the inventory.
2nd problem : the AI can act really strange...
3rd problem : the game wants you to feel totally free to choose your way but in reality you can't...the game is on rails... (not like X).

Yeah, to be honest I don't want spoilers. Nice to hear that my boys are safe. Initially I chose Gwin to compensate having two girls in the team and because Irina was irritable. I like Lin and her cute relationship with Tatsu though. Now that I found him I also pick Phog because I like him.

@Tyranexx No spoilers actually but I didn't want anybody to complain about naming a boss or whatever. I talk about an annoying boss (not the last one) and how the different characters behave as fighters which is actually helpful if you are going to play the game. I really would have loved to know what I found out before struggling so much. About the ending all I said is "I finally beat the game!".

I will try to find my "review" of Xenoblade Chronicles and link it here. Basically combat is chaotic, the controls are not great, the camera is daft, AI is low, battlefields are bad designed so you can fall to the abyss, the frame rate issues affect combat negatively and there are overlapping huge numbers on screen that hide other team members and the enemy attacks. Grinding is necessary and tiring and the side quests are dismal, ridiculous and boring. I also wrote good things, the story touched me, the cut-scenes are awesome, the voice acting is good and the songs belong to the different scenarios.

I have two friends with a Switch so I play it sometimes but I don't have one either in my house. I will play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 eventually but I am not sure that I will like it as much as X. Do I recommend you to play the first game? Hmm, well it's available as a download on Wii U so not that difficult to find or expensive but after playing XCX I think that you are going to get frustrated with XC. I would recommend you Pandora's Tower instead, much simpler but much more fun to have and with a nice and original story. It's a small underrated gem.

@Cobalt: That sounds...typical for a lot of games actually. XD Good to know in any case.

@BlueOcean: I like Tatsu and Lin's relationship. Some of the jokes get old fast, but they're a little more permissible after you learn their ages. I especially love how he calls her "Linly". XD The Nopon in general are a pretty fun race.

When I was originally contemplating trying XC1, the only copies to be found were used and marked up to ridiculous prices. I started thinking about getting it again when it became available via the Wii U eShop and more recently the 3DS port when I picked up a N3DS XL. Glad to see that I should be in no hurry; I have plenty of backlogged RPGs already. XD

Pandora's Tower also has caught my interest on occasion. Seems like I should be giving that one more thought.

1 is fantastic but X and 2 improved the gameplay so much that I can't go back to 1 as easily.

1 has the best story though.

@ReaderRagfish It seems that we partly agree after all but the issues affected me more. The thing with the New 3DS version is that it's technically worse (according to reviews) but even being optimised for Wii the big scenarios are really flat so they can run on the hardware and the frame rate tanks during combat. Playing XC after XCX could be tricky but I respect your opinion totally.

@EvilLucario I bought the game when it launched in 2011 because they said it would be hard to find, I started playing right away. The story is amazing but I only beat the game in 2018 because I gave it up a few times out of frustration. It's not just the difficulty, I can deal with that, it's the combination of flaws that made me believe that it was not worth the effort. Not until nearly the end of the game you are basically forced to optimise team members and strategies to crazy levels but the confusing battles don't let you do that easily anyway. The story was the only thing that I genuinely enjoyed about XC and only a remake could fix the rest in my opinion.

@BlueOcean I picked up the first one when I bought my Wii U and played it for a solid 100 hours. I think for me what helped was catching onto the MMO style battle system fast. Once that was done, I realized I needed a striker, tank, and healer/support on my team and built them accordingly. I honestly think I went through the majority of the game with the Shulk/Reyn/Sharla because it was a very balanced team if spec'ed right. Melia/Dunban/Riki was the other setup I used, although I think I ran the last battle with Shulk/Seven/Sharla.

Combat in XCX seemed to be designed much the same way, although it was broken enough that a single character built the right way could overrun most battles. I finished the last battle with just my own character alive abusing defensive stance and the sword arts to overdrive/heal (using a relative safe spot I found). I've been toying with an Assault Rifle only build that I don't think will be able to complete the end game unless I take control of someone else, but I am enjoying that I cannot just overwhelm enemies this time around.

In the end, XCX (and Breath of the Wild/Smash Bros for Wii U) showcases what the system was really capable of. I like to imagine a world where XCX got a stand-alone expansion (and released early), and XC1 got an HD release on the Wii U. I am still amazed how good the first one can look when pushed through Dolphin.

@Darknyht One game that really impressed me on Wii was Monster Hunter Tri. Yes, it has loading screens but the world looks so nice and the monsters are really impressive. The Darkside Chronicles is probably the best-looking Wii game (probably the best-looking SD game ever) but it is a rail shooter (ha!).

The best-looking Wii U game in my opinion in XCX. Breath of the Wild has a few more modern features like dynamic lighting but Mira looks much better overall and so do the creatures. Breath of the Wild is like an evolution of Skyward Sword's visual style. I am still halfway in XCX but I already consider it the best Wii U (original) game overall.