If you were around to browse this site about nine years ago, you may have been privy to the rising support for localization of a game called Xenoblade Chronicles. Back then, the title was just a niche Japanese RPG that Nintendo was extremely hesitant to release outside of the country, but the fans saw something in it that seemed to justify the outcry. As time would have it, this was the right move, as Xenoblade Chronicles turned out to be one of the greatest RPGs of modern times and a key marker in Japanese game development slowly rising out of the rut that it had fallen in at the time.
Since those days, Xenoblade has spawned a couple sequels and become a tentpole franchise in Nintendo’s ongoing release schedule, though the original release has taken on a legendary status that its follow ups had a hard time living up to. Nintendo could’ve done a simple half-baked re-release to give Switch owners an opportunity to play it on the new platform, but instead decided to take things above and beyond for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Good news: it lives up to that name. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is unquestionably the greatest way to experience this gaming classic, expertly layering in new elements over the already wonderful foundation to make for a complete must-have release.
Xenoblade Chronicles has a rather unique premise in how the majority of its story takes place on the massive bodies of two titans who fought each other to the death in long-forgotten times. And though that battle may be long since concluded, the primary race living on the sinister Mechonis titan – fittingly named “Mechon” – are still hellbent on wiping out as many of the humanlike Homs as they possibly can over on the body of the Bionis. The story picks up in the middle of a decisive battle between the Homs and Mechon which leads to a shaky stalemate between the two sides, but one that’s doomed to kick loose at any moment.
Our main character, Shulk, is a bright, young Homs researcher who wiles away his days in Colony 9 during this fragile peace studying the mysterious Monado sword, which was somehow wielded by the Bionis itself in the battle that led to its demise. Shulk’s research is soon interrupted, however, when the Mechon return and completely decimate his colony, initiating a personal quest for revenge that sees him taking the Monado for himself to hopefully finish the war once and for all. Shulk is initially joined by his best friend, Reyn, on this journey, but the two slowly amass a small group of friends and allies along the way who have each been affected by the war with the Mechon and share the desire for the violence to end.
Perhaps one of the best aspects of the story of Xenoblade Chronicles – and something that its later sequels largely failed to recapture – is the masterful balance that it demonstrates between melancholy and goofiness. For example, though Shulk is almost always the optimist of the group and the one who endeavors to see the best in the people they come across, his link with the Monado also grants him the ability to receive random, incomplete visions of the future. These visions are often of his friends dying or of similarly harrowing events, and he is forced to bear the weight of that knowledge not knowing whether he’ll be able to alter the outcome. Not everyone makes it out alive in this story, and that naturally leads to some surprisingly heartfelt interactions as these characters bond over their struggles.
Things are kept from becoming too depressing, however, via the regular and tasteful usage of humour and positive thinking throughout the story. For example, nearly every time you accept a side quest from somebody, at least one of the members in your party will say something encouraging or supportive as you’re in the middle of accepting the request. Or, in another example, the (somewhat annoying) race of Nopon are a part of nearly every community you come across, and their simple grammar and third-person talking style are often played for subtle comedic effect. Between elements like this and the heavier themes of war and loss, Xenoblade Chronicles proves to have a remarkably well-balanced sense of storytelling that keeps you invested as the dozens of hours roll by.
The main draw of Xenoblade Chronicles is that this is an open-world JRPG with a big environment to explore, the likes of which you won't be used to seeing outside of an MMO – though it’s not all contained in one seamless environment like, say, Breath of the Wild. Shulk’s journey see him and his crew making their way to the top of the Bionis, and each portion of the titan’s body acts as its own huge, self-contained area that you can explore at will. Each area is packed with a variety of side quests to complete, secret areas to uncover, and unique enemies to kill and harvest for parts, and most of the environments are built in such a way that really sells the idea of you being this tiny organism traipsing across the splendorous and massive corpse of a planet-sized creature. There’s something about the world design of Xenoblade Chronicles that manages to instill a rare sense of awe in the player, making the adventure that much more gripping as you continue to encounter new astounding sights. Every new area begs you to explore in search of new secrets, and the worlds are designed in such a way that exploration is almost always rewarded with something good.
Along the way, your party will frequently find itself embroiled in combat, which has some nice depth without being too overly complicated. Fights play out in a real-time setting that sees your characters continually auto-attacking while a hotbar of manually-activated skills – called Arts – give you plenty of options for extra actions that are governed by cooldowns. A big part of this system, too, is positioning, where the ideal Art to cast is often dependent on where your character is in relation to the enemy. Shulk’s Back Slash attack, for example, will do twice as much damage if you use it when behind an enemy, while his Air Slash will inflict a slowing debuff on the enemy if he casts it while beside them. This can lead to some intensely dynamic fights, then, as you’re continuously juggling your lead character’s cooldowns and positioning in the moment, while simultaneously planning a few steps ahead as you work to set up combos and chain attacks together.
Underlying all of this is a neat mechanic that nicely ties in with the story in which Shulk will occasionally receive a vision of the future where he witnesses an attack that will take down one of the party members if nothing is done. You’re then given a few seconds to avert this outcome, either by casting an Art yourself or warning another teammate to do something about it. It’s a simple idea and one that doesn’t get triggered a ton outside of boss fights, but it can massively affect your chances of success if you dare to try punching above your weight – and it adds a nice wrinkle to the flow of combat.
Though this base combat is itself varied enough to be interesting for dozens of hours, a big part of its fun factor can be found in exploring the diverse range of playstyles that Monolith Soft has set up with the party members. For example, Reyn’s kit is centered around him having a massive health pool and most of his attacks are designed to draw as much enemy attention to himself as possible. Melia, on the other hand, has a style in which she can summon various passive buffs to benefit the rest of the team, and dispelling any of these buffs will then usually cast a special debuff on the enemy. If you find yourself getting bored of always playing as Shulk, you’re usually free to put whichever party member you’d like in the lead role, and this guarantees that the combat gameplay stays interesting throughout the lengthy journey.
Though your characters gain experience and level-up as usual, there are also various other forms of progression you can engage in to suitably min-max each character’s stats. Over time, each character will learn more Arts that can tweak their playstyle, and these Arts can then be leveled-up individually to heighten their effectiveness and lower their cooldown times. Additionally, each character has multiple skill trees that offer up various passive buffs once you hit certain milestones, and these skills can then be shared between party members via “Affinity”.
What's nice about these interlocking systems for progression is the fact that you're always advancing something at any given point in time. If it isn't a rote level-up, you've probably got an Art that you can advance. If it isn't a new skill unlock, it's a fresh piece of armour you can now afford. Through this continuous advancement, Xenoblade Chronicles entirely avoids any sense of stagnation, which gives the whole adventure an exhilarating and continuous sense of forward motion. It's all too easy to get caught up in doing "just one more quest" and finding that you've lost another hour or two as that "one quest" turns into a dozen.
A big portion of this forward motion is due to the Affinity system, which acts as a catch-all term for the relationships between virtually every named character in the game. Each part of the Bionis usually has at least one large village or community that acts as a hub for all the quests for that area, and completing quests for people there will then raise your affinity in that region. Sometimes this leads to you improving the connections between NPCs, other times it leads to you unlocking new questlines, and as your affinity continues to rise, you’ll then unlock new options for items that you can trade for with the people in that community. What this all amounts to is a remarkably expansive and in-depth take on side quest content, expanding it far beyond what most RPGs do with the idea.
Now, it must be said that the majority of the side quests themselves aren’t all that much to write home about. With a few exceptions, side quests are mostly low effort fetch quests and monster hunts that don’t vary all that much from each other in the bigger picture. That being said, this system works surprisingly well because you can stack as many side quests as you want at a time. In practice, this means that the typical flow when coming to a new area is to first collect every side quest you possibly can, then by simply going out and exploring as you usually would, you’ll usually clear most of them along the way. Another important factor to consider, too, is that these side quests ensure that you are getting the most out of each area, as they’ll generally send you to every nook and cranny and guarantee that you see the most gorgeous views. As ever, your mileage will vary in terms of how you approach the tedium, but suffice to say that there is a substantial amount of content on offer here that is sure to be quite addictive to RPG lovers.
One of the headlining features of this remake is the all-new Future Connected storyline, which acts as a standalone, roughly fifteen-hour epilogue through an area of the Bionis that was cut from the original release. It takes place about a year after the events of the main game, and without spoiling too much, we’ll just say that it delves much deeper into Melia’s character and highlights more of her relationship with Shulk. Gameplay here is kept largely the same as the base game, although the chain attack has been replaced with a slightly tweaked version involving various Nopon that you can find throughout the region in an extended sidequest.
It would be disingenuous to suggest that this new epilogue acts as an absolute must-see part of Xenoblade Chronicles, but neither is it something to be outright dismissed. It’s unique enough in storytelling and gameplay mechanics to feel like a semi-standalone product, but it also doesn’t stray too far from the award-winning formula that made the base game such a fantastic experience. Those of you hoping that this was somehow going to be a mindblowing new expansion will be a little disappointed, then, but it’s quite difficult to complain about finally getting access to previously cut content that’s been given its own standalone story and fleshed out in full. Future Connected ultimately amounts to what is essentially another fifteen-to-twenty hours of original content for Xenoblade Chronicles, which is far from a bad thing given the legacy of this game.
Future Connect is the most notable new content here, but there's also a new time attack mode that acts as a neat distraction with some cool (Pineapple Riki!) rewards. Here, you an participate in short, fixed battles with either a freely picked team, or one that forces you to use certain characters. The goal, as you probably guessed, is to win the fight as quickly as possible, but various other factors of your performance in battle will all affect the grade you receive at the end. Higher grades mean a higher payout, and you can then spend the coins you receive on new weapons and armor sets, many of which are exclusive to the time attack shop. There's nothing particularly exciting about this new mode, but it nonetheless offers up a nice break from the story every now and then, and it can prove to be rather challenging if you want to go for all the highest marks.
Though Future Connected acts as the most marketable draw for this Definitive Edition release, we’d argue that the various nips and tucks made along the way to streamline the game further are what elevate this release leaps and bounds above its already impressive source material. Monolith Soft did a full hundred point restoration of the original release, and has virtually removed any semblance of archaic tedium from the design. For example, side quest objectives are now clearly displayed on the mini-map in real time, and the game will directly lead you to the monsters or item pickups that you need to continue. Or, in another example, the previously clunky UI has been completely overhauled in favour of a new design which echoes the Switch OS UI quite closely.
In light of this, icons are easier to read, battle information is better conveyed, and there’s far less confusion when coming to grips with the finer points of progression or battle systems. It may not sound like features such as this are much to write home about, but there are so many little quality-of-life updates that have been made here that the original feels outright unpleasant to play in hindsight. This is beyond any doubt the smoothest that an entry in the Xenoblade series has ever played; Monolith Soft has smartly integrated improvements from the later sequels while also including even more features that combine to make this an absolute dream to play.
In addition to the UI updates, Monolith also went to the trouble of integrating a scalable difficulty system, too. Those of you that find the journey to be too difficult can enable casual mode at any time to make battles far easier to overcome. On the other end, the 'Inn' system from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 makes a reappearance here as the new "Expert Mode" which can be toggled on or off at will. If it's on, any experience earned from quests or landmark discoveries will be added to a separate shared experience pool for you to manually distribute to your team as you see fit. If excessive questing has led to your party being five or six levels above the current area's enemies, you can alternatively use expert mode to level down as much as you want, with the excess experience going back into that shared pool.
Xenoblade Chronicles has always been a game with a rather modest difficulty curve, but we appreciated these extra difficulty options to appease all camps. Between casual and expert mode, you can fine tune the difficulty to be as high or as low as you want, and it adds even more replayability considering that this opens up the possibility for masochistic 'challenge runs' where you could attempt to play through at the lowest level possible.
We’d be remiss to discuss Xenoblade Chronicles without taking some time to focus on the absolutely incredible presentation on offer here. Though the original was packed with breathtaking visuals, the up-close shots at models and textures revealed that the graphics were humble, to put it nicely. All that is gone for this Definitive Edition release. Textures have been updated, new shaders have been applied, lighting looks better, and character models are more expressive than ever before, splitting the difference between the gritty realistic look of the original release and the much more anime styling of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Most importantly, Xenoblade Chronicles looks great whether you’re playing docked or handheld, running at 30fps in both modes. Though the dynamic resolution means it doesn’t hit max res on either front, it nonetheless looks to be far ahead of the blurry messiness that plagued Xenoblade Chronicles 2. We’d say this is the best that any Xenoblade game has ever looked, and it certainly deserves to be in the running for one of the most visually impressive releases on the Switch to date.
All this is backed by an excellent soundtrack that has been ‘somewhat’ remastered. Monolith Soft had neither the time nor the funding to get a full orchestra to redo the entire soundtrack, so only certain recurring or popular tracks were retooled for this new release. That being said, there’s not a single track on offer here that doesn’t in some way help to masterfully set the mood. That soaring, sweeping track that plays when you first enter Gaur Plains, for example, perfectly captures the grandiose and awe-inspiring size of the new playground you find yourself in.
We feel special attention needs to be paid to the quality of the voice acting. While the writing can often veer into corny territory, we commend the voice actors for just totally committing to it and playing their roles with a kind of earnestness that’s rare to find in a dub for a JRPG. There’s something oddly comforting with hearing Reyn bray “Whut a bunch’a JOKUHS” for the millionth time after battle, for example, and you may just be surprised at how much the campiness grows on you.
Conclusion
Simply put, there’s almost nothing one can reasonably complain about with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. What we have here is an already excellent JRPG that has been improved in nearly every conceivable way, short of a complete reimagining. On top of the fantastic story, enjoyable combat, and incredible world design, Monolith Soft has included an entirely new epilogue story arc while somehow improving upon and polishing up nearly everything in the base game, from progression systems to visuals to UI design. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is easily one of the greatest RPGs available on the Switch to date, and will no doubt stand the test of time. It goes without saying that if you were ever a fan of the original or of RPGs in general you absolutely must get this game for your collection as soon as you reasonably can. Even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a fan, we would still strongly encourage you to think about adding this one to your collection, as this is the standard against which most RPGs should be judged.
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Comments 231
Satorl Marsh...here I come.
Can't wait to play this again
I’m really excited to experience this for the first time.
I can’t wait! I never played the original game so I’m beyond excited. I already have the game pre-downloaded.
If only this came out before Covid. It would have helped distract me so well.
So excited for this game! Finally this game is on something that can actually kind of run it
I will finish the game this time. Damn "spoiler" boss fight which kept me from continuing.
This is one of the best games ever made! It deserves a full 10/10 and I really don't care if you disagree with me! My favorite game of all time with an outstanding story, amazing characters, fantastic world, stellar music, endlessly fun game play, I have literally nothing negative to say about the game.
Best JRPG. No other comes close. And I'm even counting FF7.
You're entitled to your own opinions of course - but you'll never change mine.
"Helluva Wii game, that one."
Still it on my N3DSXL and halfway thru. it. Am waiting for my Workers Edition to arrive.
Tears for the resolution fans!
Got this on Wii, and 3ds never got past 4 hours. X x casual mode! Ok in in for the 3rd time when the shops open again! X x x looking at these beautiful landscapes I wish I had a horse instead of walking everywhere x x
Cannot wait for my CE!! This is the game that made me start liking RPGs! It's gonna take an extra week or so for the middle-man service from the UK to get it to me, but better have a secure copy and wait a bit than risk it with the only local retailer that had pre-orders up for like...a few hours.
Playing the original on Wii back in 2013-2014 was one of the best gaming experiences (and summers) I'd had.
Still have my Wii copy that I pre-ordered way back when. If I didn't, this would be a must-buy.
The campy dialogue is part of what makes it so glorious!
Anyway, I'm glad this game is getting a re-release. It's so good.
Maybe I'll finally finish it this time lol. 3rd times the charm right?
Forgive me, I know very little about this game. What's the first picture, Affinity Chart: Settlements?
I never understood the appeal but I will try it. It looks too anime but everyone is giving it high scores so it deserves to be checked out.
Wow looks great! Can't wait to play for the first time!!!
@k8sMum
During the game, you'll visit multiple settlements and get to mingle with their inhabitants. Some of them will also be out in the wider world, but still hail from their homes.
They'll have side-quests for you to perform, and named individuals can have relationships with other individuals within the same town, or across them.
Some side-quests also have branching options, which can affect your access to future side-quests, and the affinity between residents.
Before long you'll see how all of the people relate to one another, and get to know them a little as you build up the settlement's affinity, which has its own rewards.
Campy dialogue? I wouldn't have it any other way.
Now it's almost shulk time.
Is there an option to shut them up during battles as watching a one minute clip was enough to put me off if you can't.
Harsh score, honestly. I haven't played this version yet obviously but if Xenoblade Chronicles isn't a 10 then no JRPG is.
@Heavyarms55 Your opinion is perfectly valid, and imma respect it, but you're wrong. I don't know, Square, Enix, and Atlus have a looot of amazing RPGs to give it a run for it's money. Not to mention PC classics that haven't aged great but are still amazing.
Plus XC2.....the story's not quite as rapid fire and edge of your seat, but the characters are much more fleshed out and intricate, especially with Torna included....questing is....ok, it's not "better" but it's less dire. And combat is vastly improved.
I think the questing is what kills both XC1 and XC2 from "best of all time" for me. It could have been, but side quests make the game for me in an RPG and both XC's are a massive letdown there (with 1 being a disaster, and 2 being a trainwreck you sometimes walk away from.) Strangely, XCX got the quests more or less right, but the lesson wasn't carried over to 2. Torna improved it....kinda.
I still want XCX on Switch! Though I don't want to have to relive Boobslider Gate.
@Zuljaras Aren't most JRPGs "too anime?" That's what the J stands for. Anime......(ba dum........tss.....)
It really is pretty anime. Even the story arc and so for is...I don't want to say a trope, it's unique, but the building blocks are certainly build on an anime idea. XC2 had better combat. XC1 has horrid MMO type side-quests (fetch 90 of uninteresting item X around the fields of location Y!) Both have great characters, though XC2 fleshes the character dialogues out way better. What makes 1 so special is the environments and story. Despite being ripped from anime storytelling, the story is just fantastic with rapid-fire plot twists, unlike many games that telegraph plot twists 3 hours prior, this one, multiple times, you simple do NOT see it coming.
Combat's ok, but grindy and repetitive (like many RPGs.) I do feel like XC2 really hit the sweet spot on the battle system, making it very intricate (but poorly explained in-game how it actually works.)
Still, if you're a Nintendo console owner, and a JRPG fan and can get past the anime archetypes, ok but not amazing battle system, and dreadful (optional) sidequests, you really do owe it to yourself to give it a go. And don't judge until you get half-way. The first third to half can seem a bit bland and predictable "paint by numbers JRPG". It's an elaborate con.
I played the Wii version for the first time in 2017, and I thought it still looked and sounded great considering its age. Even though it's a loooong game, I'm looking forward to replaying it and seeing what they've improved.
Ain’t getting anything done for days once I get my hands on this
Only 9/10? I would give the original 12/10 at the very least. I think you might be a little too cautious with scores for some genre.
I think I went through 4 playthrough including 2 NG+ and I still plan on getting the remaster.
@Zuljaras
The sequels WERE too Anime (I say that as a discerning fan of both).
This is more in line with other classic JRPG's than anime.
The appeal for me is exploring these vast and unique looking landscapes accompanied by an incredible soundtrack.
@AJWolfTill @NEStalgia
You both state that the environments are good and that is excellent.
By "anime" I was thinking that in the game might have almost naked girls with cat ears for no reason. That is my only concern
Campy dialogue should be a joy. I guess one's trash is another's treasure as they say.
Future Connected is so bland and uninspired in comparison to the main story. I've finished it roughly in 14 hours and don't "really feeling it".
The review's recommendation of this game to any RPG fan is a bit questionable. This is a jrpg with marmite gameplay, and is by no means going to be a must-have for many people, RPG fan or not.
I'd rather have campy voice acting than the terrible Americanised crap a lot of games offer!
Nice, thorough review.
"Most importantly, Xenoblade Chronicles looks great whether you’re playing docked or handheld, running at 30fps in both modes. Though the dynamic resolution means it doesn’t hit max res on either front, it nonetheless looks to be far ahead of the blurry messiness that plagued Xenoblade Chronicles 2."
Oh, thank god. I'm not expecting miracles, just for it to not devolve into blurry impressionism like Xenoblade 2 did.
@SwitchVogel Question: are there still affinity requirements for seeing heart-to-heart interactions, or is it like Xenoblade 2 where you can activate them as soon as you come across them?
@Spoony_Tech lol Same for me. Owned this on Wii and 3DS and never fully got through it on either platform. I feel like this is the one.
Probably best game ever. 11 out of 10 from me.
@Zuljaras Fluffy kawaii, often annoying sidekick? Check. Scantily clad female protagonists? Check. Cat ears? No. XC1 is mostly tasteful, with Sharla's hot pants and Melia's very low-cut robes being the outliers.
XC2 picked up a lot of internet ire for the attiring of Pyra, but even in-game they make fun of the "anime girls" cliche in hysterical fashion at one point.
Hmph... Bought several games and DLCs lately, so can't spend more for now, plus I want to progress through my backlog... Would really like to play XCDE, though. Someday soon, I hope.
Everyone who gets it, have fun.
@Ralizah Oh, yeah, I forgot about the affinity requirements. it felt like I missed half the character dialogue in the first time....I never had all the affinities.
Count me in the camp that considers this one of the all-time best RPGs.
It's not perfect - most of the side quests are of the monotonous "fetch quest" variety, and some of those repetitive battle cries began to drive me bonkers after the 500th time hearing them. I didn't find the game particularly hard, but there were also two or three bosses that I found to be major difficulty spikes.
But... I loved the characters (in spite of the occasional corniness), the battle system really grew on me the longer I played, and it's one of the most legitimately gorgeous fantasy worlds I've ever encountered in a game. It was a joy to explore each area and discover its secrets. Unlike most games of this length, there was never a point where I grew exhausted and just wanted to rush through to the end.
The story does deal in a lot of the anime tropes you'd expect, but it has enough of a unique twist that I still found it compelling - the narrative even managed to surprise me at a few points.
I never played this on Wii and own but have not started the Switch sequel. Should I buy / play this first, or is it okay to start with the sequel and then come back to this title?
Nintendo took payment this morning ☺️ and I cannot wait for this game. It sounds like you really enjoyed your time with it.
@NEStalgia Yeah, it was massively annoying. Can't see an interaction between two party members unless I run around for hours battling things with both of them in my party.
It's the single biggest improvement between XC1 and XC2, IMO, so I really hope they changed it.
@rdm22 I recommend doing this one first. The second game has a story point that rewards people Who finished the first game.
Thank you, @Anri02. That's very helpful. Guess I know where my gaming budget is going this month.
Great game, can't wait to replay it on the Switch.
However I am surprised you guys didn't mention 1 con, the game runs at dynamic resolution 540p to 720p 30fps in dock (portable even lower) just like XC2 does.
For the rest great review.
Already pre orderder my Collector's Edition!
Never played it, but loved XC2 and am so excited to grab my hands on this one!!
I preordered and am really looking forward to playing through without all the relatively murky graphics of the Wii version. I hope we still have the option to choose Japanese dialogue?
Can't wait to play this after my exams. XC2 is still my favourite game of all time, so I'm dying to play the game that originated it.
If only I would have the character to play it for little bits. It would be the ideal break. But yes, that isn't happening.
What I want to know is if those remastered tracks will have their own smaller OST release?
I actually hit 9 hours on XC2 yesterday and really enjoyed it. Will defenately pick this up despite owning it on the Wii and only giving an hour before thinking i didnt like it at all and selling it. Young, dumb and broke where as now im just old, dumb and even broker 😂
I played about twenty hours of this game on 3DS and it just wouldn’t click. Was there a big difference between the 3DS and Wii versions or was the game just not for me?
Limited Collectors Edition on its way 🥳🥳🥳
Happy to hear this fantastic game has been faithfully updated to modern standards. I'll be getting this at some point, though I don't know if I'll put another 80 hours or so into it again.
Among the Cons there should be how bad it looks on handheld. Just saying, for those that only play like that or they have the Lite version...
Pretty dissappointed with this remaster. I mean, the game is still a master piece, of course, and for those that didn't play it on Wii this is a cake, but for the rest of us... I don't know, I think the game deserved a better remaster. Specially on handheld (they should have learned from Xenoblade 2, damn it!).
As a huge fan, I'll grab it, of course, but much later on, on a big sale or second hand.
So firstly, as always thanks for the in depth and thorough review Mitch!!Cant wait to get my Blossom dance on! But, if your looking for a great laugh just watched IGN's review over at the Youtube. In Alex's voice "Oh my lordy!" I haven't had a great laugh like that in forever.
@Kasma88 From what I have played of both the 3DS and Wii (via Wii U eShop) versions, both versions are identical. Only real differences between those two are slightly better graphics on Wii and a Gallery mode on 3DS. Otherwise it is the same game. I will admit that I thought the game's opening is slow and does take a while to pick up (at least it did for me, I can't vouch for the others) but if you can persevere, it does get a lot more gripping.
I've never entered the series, simply can't play all games in existence. But "hundreds of hours" makes me put any temptation aside. A 100ish hour RPG means half year of my playtime, but hundreds of hours goes way beyond that.
Happy for those who have the time and didn't grab it on Wii, though
Never played this, but curious given the almost universal praise. What aspect(s) of the game do you enjoy most?
@oji You're not the first one that says the epilogue is not really good. A pity, I expected more from a new story for this awesome adventure... Another point why I'm not buying this any time soon lol. Instead of doing that, they should've used that time and effort to make the game look better imo.
@Moroboshi876 The game is perfectly beatable in 70+ hours if you're sticking primarily to main story content.
Really enjoyed this game when it got released on the Wii, and now looking forward to playing this again!
finished it on 3DS - I enjoyed the story but not much more. I'm always surprised by the cult following that this game garnered. the world is huge but empty - side-quests could not be any more bland - the battle system gets repetitive really fast. definitely no chance to make it into my favorite RPG list
Loved XC2. Can’t wait to play this for the first time. Could be the game to drag me away from Animal Crossing and such a good contrast.
@Ralizah But I like to do sidequests too. Not collecting everything nor grinding unnecessarily just for 100% completion, though.
Anyway it's a good thing, just not for me. I'm more than satisfied with a 100-125 hour RPG (including side missions) like the ones in Dragon Quest series.
@Giygas_95 that song at the nighttime in the marsh was so beautiful along with eryth sea at night as well.
@RiasGremory Satorl Marsh is one of my favorite video game locales of all time. I can't wait to see it remastered.
@Ralizah Yeah, I'd like that, but I do get the feeling they haven't changed much about the actual game. Just the visuals.
Monolith always manages to get sooo close, but blow something big when it comes to RPG mechanics in their games. Something simple that they make complicated for no reason, or aggravating/time wasting.
Yassss. Great review, Mitch. Somebody put me to sleep til this releases on Friday plz!
Welcome back greatest rpg ever made. We've missed you.
I don't care if this runs at 360p in portable mode, I'll appreciate it as much as I did XC2 and XC2:T-tGC.
does the combat is slow to death as one 2? I really loved all the game, but I had give up since I lost all the context of the story, with long painful combat for each every mob in the way
I'm looking forward to the "Campy Dialogue" I think we had that in Torna when staying at the "Camps" Great!🙂
I have a strange relationship with Xenoblade. It's easily in my top 5 of all time yet I never completed it. I had the original on wii and played the hell out of it, must have had about 40-50hours and then for various reasons I could never get around to carrying it on. By the time I got round to having enough time to carry on, I'd really forgotten a lot of the story so wanted to restart but couldn't find the energy to.
I bought the 3ds version but again never found the right time to get started on it again.
I've now got the collectors edition of this release on its way to me and I'm so looking forward to getting started on it again. Even if it takes me till this time next year I'm going to finish this one
Friday can't get here fast enough!
@the_beaver I don't think its as bad as you are making out. I'll wait to actually play it in both forms before making up my final opinion but the video footage doesn't seem that bad at all. Of course people see resolution sub 720 and all of a sudden make a decision about a game (Not saying you have/are). When you consider the size of the map in this game its actually an amazing achievement.
ugh...need to get back to x2 though as well.
How many times can you use “dozens” to mean “a lot” in one review?
My favorite game on 3ds, really enjoyed it. I think I’m one of the few who prefer the original game ,and the original graphics, not into this whole anime thing.
Friiidaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy! Coooome oooon!
Can't wait to explore Bionis again.
I don't care what your score says. It's a 10/10 for me.
I’ve replayed the first several hours again when I switched consoles for a game but I can’t replay the 45+ hrs I’d need to do in order to catch up. I will probably only play this on my 3DS and nowhere else.
Never played the games, is this a good game to start Xenoblade with ?
Like the look of the gameplay and really looking for a new game to play.
That’s really cool that you can cater the difficulty so well to taste, or need. Over-leveling remains a problem with JRPG design to this day, so it’s a very thoughtful addition.
I should probably finish up Final Fantasy VII (remake and original), and start Fire Emblem Three Houses first, before attempting tackling this behemoth for the third time (own the original but never got much past the beginning area, due to the depressingly low resolution and how bad that looks on modern TVs.
@Paul1994 Yeah, none of the games are really connected in anyway.
@NEStalgia They made a number of small QoL changes to this release, so it doesn't seem like a big ask.
.@Paul1994 It's the first game in the series, so it's really the best place to start.
@Morph It was an achievement back on the day, 10 years ago haha. But Xenoblade X, for example, showed later a HUGE open world with no loading screens, and it looked and played great (its issues were beyond graphics).
I understand they had troubles making Xenoblade 2 look good on handheld, as they didn't have experience with it. But this one looks the same way playing on handheld, and the other one released several years ago. They have quite a lot of experience with the Switch now, we suppose. What happened, then...??
@mesome713 Thanks i be sure to get it this Friday, looks fun.
@RPGamer the original maybe, but NOT the remaster.
@Ralizah Thanks just ordered it, need a new game
@Zuljaras There's no such thing as too anime, and even if there were, this is nowhere near as anime as, say, FLCL or Monster Musume.
Whenever I hear a critic refer to something as "one of the greatest" I know it's going to be too biased to be useful to me.
@JayJ Yeah, we cant have people having opinions about games, who do they think they are.
Will get this one once I finished with Xenoblade Chonicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country.
Looking forward to replaying this classic. I told myself I need to finish DQ11 before I start this if not I might not go back! 😂
Absolutely cannot wait to play this game for the first time! Waiting on my shipping confirmation from Best Buy. The game is supposed to be here on Friday.
Edit: Received the email! UPS is still listing it for a Friday arrival!
So excited to start playing! I LOVE Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and after everything I've heard and seen about this game, the original may be even better. Already have it pre-downloaded, the wait is almost over!
I am impatiently waiting for the text saying that my collector’s set is ready for pickup. Damn posts on reddit stating early access makes it impossible to not hope for it before friday. Ho-hum...
@Ralizah 50/50. It seems like a good QoL improvement to us. But to the designers it wasn't an oversight but an explicit design choice to force party use diversification......so I think it comes down to who did the edits and how much they did or didn't want to tamper with that intentional design choice or not. I want to think yes, but Japanese devs tend to go by design intent rather than fan feedback. We'll see. It would be nice, I'd see a lot more character dialogue this time if so.
A stunning remaster. Improved textures, improved character models, remastered music. What’s not to love? Can’t wait to try it out.
I have tried every Xenoblade game and I found myself getting bored with the battle system. I get the concept that the characters are just going to attack if you're not doing anything else, but something about it rubs me the wrong way, like I'm not an active participant.
But I literally love the sound of the game, everything else about it calls my name. I go for games with heavy depth and this seems to have it in spades. I keep being torn between deciding that Xenoblade games aren't for me despite the sprawling story and content...or giving it one more try and committing to sticking with it.
Review reads like a 10/10, the Cons really don’t feel enough to knock off a point
I thought there were 90+ remastered tracks? Soundtrack is 91 tracks so surely that's all of them? Maybe you couldn't tell? Some of the battle tracks sound pretty much the same to be honest.
Should be getting my pre-order of the physical copy in the post soon. Problem for me is although I've finished the story in Xenoblade Chronicles X there's still so much to do. Guess it's going to join the backlog.
@NEStalgia it's a waste on Nintendo systems, if Monolith brought this to Game Pass, running in 4K on X or PC this would be good.
I think the problem is Nintendo systems don't have the grunt Monoliths vision requires.
3rd release of this game in 8 years.
I have it twice already and the minor improvements here doesn't warrant the price of a new game.
@Moroboshi876 Same. I used to be a big RPG fan, but now that I'm a dinky adult, who has time like this?
@Aerona That's exactly my problem. And with a 2 yo at home.
@liveswired That's a good thing. These games cost a lot as is and aren't super popular. Look at all the jrpgs on PC, Sony, and Xbox. Majority look worst than Xenoblade.
What's the point? Nintendo can make keep coming all the great games they want, but it doesn't matter. Average gamers will always see them with prejudice, while Sony will stay 10 step forward them with minimum effort, and we all saw that seeing what happened last year... I don't hate Sony, I just want that people start treating Nintendo's games with respect for once...
@mesome713 Point is that this comes off as a fan "review."
...and it's kind of ironic for you to be endorsing opinions while attempting to completely eliminate mine.
@JayJ Wasn’t trying to eliminate yours. Was just stating mine. Fans can review games.
Would be hilarious for someone who hates games to review a game though.
@mesome713 Okay well good for you but if you are going to take this attitude of "it's someone's opinion," which is how I always feel about reviews in the first place, you shouldn't be so selective in how you apply that.
Don't call yourself an RPG fan if you're not picking this up on Friday.
Love this game, excited to play it again.
@BlackKnight93 I wouldn't waste my time worrying about those guys. From your description, their opinions don't seem to hold much merit.
@BlackKnight93 Agreed, Sony hasn’t even developed a game this year yet they say nothing. Nintendo develops 10 games a year and fans still cry Nintendo isn’t making enough.
Good, now all I need is a review for Borderlands
Can't wait to play this on Friday, my third favourite rpg of all time, only persona 5 Royal and witcher 3 can beat this
Still waiting for the confirmation if this is CENSORED or not.
Dispatched! I can't wait!
@ArmoredGoomba I know right! Should be in the Joys section haha
Good heavens, just look at the time...IT'S REYN TIME!
@BloodyMurder
It isn't. The game has all of the same content as before.
@liveswired It's a game designed for the Wii. It ran on a 3DS in semi-crippled fashion. I don't really think hardware limitations are their main setback. These are a lot of the guys that worked on the classic FF games. Their missteps aren't technical, they're dated system designs in places that don't always make sense. They made similar odd choices on past Xeno games that appear on Playstations.
If it were a 4k tech-boundary pushing game it would either be cut in size, or would be an MMO with a subscription or abusive in-game currency. As it is they make these massive games with a relatively thin budget and they are very profitable as a result. Even Monolith referred to XCX as more of an "AA" budget.
I remember I stopped playing the 3ds version - I did all the sidequests as soon as I received them and then I got overleveled. I hated that about the game and stopped playing it.
My copy shipped out yesterday:)
I still need to finish Trial of Mana first though before I think about starting this game. Bioshock and Borderlands collection this weekend. Xenoblade will be back logged for a while.
@BlackKnight93 So true. I'm not sure what the deal is with the weird blind worship of Sony at least this gen. Yeah, Ninty and MS dropped the ball when the PS4 launched, so it looked golden simply by existing and not screwing anything up. Yes, Sony makes some really good games. But I don't understand the truly blind pomposity around the brand where it can do no wrong even when it isn't doing much of anything at all. No console mfr has ever really had that status unless you count the late 80's or early 90's when Sega had all the sports games and Nintendo didn't...but it was an annoyingly vocal minority that insisted on Sega's superiority, nothing like the modern Sony worship.
@NEStalgia I agree. I think XC2 is a better game.
@RupeeClock
Thanks very much.
I had to pre-order this game because I never finished the Wii version, and it made sense to me to give that version to a friend because I won’t need it anymore.
Yeah so, still an amazing game, despite all of this over dramatic nonsense over the resolution. 🙄
Definitely getting this within the next few months. This game is amazing, will definitely be exciting to relive it.
@mesome713 sony haven't developed a game this year yet? The last of us part 2 and ghost of tushima...
Also sony are working on next gen titles...
Sony could survive just on third party games alone but Nintendo need to keep bringing out first party games as that's why people buy Nintendo's consoles as the third party support is poor.
Counting all of sonys other exclusives like persona 5 royal, final fantasy 7 remake and dreams (full version) then that's quite a few exclusives already this year
Havent played it before. Ill buy it when its on sale or cheap 2nd hand, looks like a great game 😊 Backlog is to big to rush on this One.
@BlackKnight93 who sees Nintendo with prejudice? Ive been a playstation fan all my life but I still love Nintendo and love the games they bring out, infact the amazing variety that both Nintendo and Sony bring out every year keeps me busy and my wallet empty.
And this game is one im super looking forward to playing and will enjoy this and the last of us part 2 equally
Preloaded! Just biding my time for Friday, been dying to play this for ages, got a Switch hoping they would port it.
@NEStalgia there is no blind worship of sony, the fact that it has a 4k blu Ray player is a huge reason its sold the amount it has.
If nintendo had a console with the same blu Ray player and third party support that the ps4 has then I'm pretty sure it would sell like crazy too.
Also don't forget when the ps4 was announced there was no Nintendo competitor and the wiiU was awful and xbox lost trust with its consumers, Sony was the place to go
@DennisNOR your in for a looooong wait, Nintendo games don't go cheap second hand lol just check the price of super mario oddysey and that's two years old
@JayJ mostly all reviews on HD remasters or ports or remakes are biased, the only way to get an honest review is to have someone who's never played the game before review it.
@jaronimoe I think it was because at the time Nintendo never had a jrpg of this scale and size. If this released on the ps3 (current console at the time) then I'm pretty sure it wouldnt of got a lot of hype and probably scored lower
Yeah, I dunno, glad that this exists, but I am not sure that I need to play this once more. Fantastic for 1st-time players, yet still a game that fell pray to design imperatives of the time, which still plague us today.
I don't cherish the game for it's sidequests for instance. Those were unnecessary, added little value (just playtime) and the tracking was just flat-out poorly implemented.
To make this super-short: I still like Baten Kaitos much better. Simple as that. It gave me much, much more bang-for-the-buck in terms of hours invested and it was and still is also more unique.
I do in no way begrudge anyone for loving and getting this, but I do feel that Nintendo should go back and give some love to said Baten Kaitos as well.
It's just that Xenoblade is a more recent game, was made for a much much more popular console, is playable on the WiiU, has a remake for the N3DS already ... Baten Kaitos is basically inaccessible for a broad audience in 2020. Xenoblade is not. It did not need this remake.
Just saying....
Hmmm, have to disagree, the party affinity was fun to build during conversations but having to check what gifts were favoured was just plain boring and a pain. Also, the sheer amount of side quests that you sometimes need to do is so outdated, fetch quests or kill "x amount of" quests were so tiring, this was made worse by the enemies dropping a million different things, 95% of which you sell or throw away. I can only recall about 8 or so side quests that had any interesting parts and about 2 with cut scenes and dialogue. The combat system and environments are really where it shines. The story is decent enough as well. The extra fat is what brings it down. If the extra content is anything like the original and filled with the aforementioned fat, then it wouldn't be anything more than a 7 from me.
Ya'll have me hyped for this game. After I'm finished with Trials, I guess I can lose the rest of my summer with Xenoblade lol.
@playstation_king Sony didn’t develop the Ghost game. And Last of Us hasn’t released. So that’s zero so far. Sony develops like one game a year if your lucky.
But Last of Us 2 looks good. I saw a lot of leaked videos on YouTube. Sony is finally catering to the LGBTQ community. It’s an amazing step in the right direction.
And I’m happy they’re censoring those pervy anime games. They’re turning into a great company now.
@mesome713 But sony owns the studios that make games like ghost if tushima, horizon zero dawn, God of war, spiderman etc and I'm pretty sure sony help them with funding.
Don't Nintendo do the same? Don't they have different studios working on the different games, such as xenoblade is made by monolith and astral chain is made by platinum
@mesome713 and I don't mind anime games getting censored as I don't play them for animated boobs lol BUT at the same time I disapprove of sony censoring things that the creators intended to be in the game
@playstation_king O, forgot Sony owns Sucker Punch. So I guess we got 1 game this year so far. Nintendo owns Monolith, so it’s developed by Nintendo too.
Got this on both Wii and 3DS, spent hours and hours (and hours) playing the game across both formats but have never actually finished it. There's just so much to do, and I love filling up the affinity chart to get the connections between all of the NPC's. Very unique aspect to the game, and something they never really found a way to replicate in the later games. Very excited to have this on Switch, and hopefully I can finish it this time!
@mesome713 in that case Nintendo have 1 so far as well... Animal crossing
@playstation_king I'm not really questioning sales figures. Certainly PS4 sold well with it's BD player, and certainly Switch continues to outsell production capacity, so I don't think either mfr is exactly struggling in meeting sales targets.
It's more about the internet community and a strange idolization of Sony at this point. Granted, for a user named "playstation_king" I'm sure that will seem to be a natural result , But as a multi-platform gamer through many generations, myself, it's an odd phenomenon no prior generation really had. Not even the vaunted PS2. And it comes at a time when Sony has pulled away from any involvement with its community.
But surely back and launch your points were right. I happen to love WiiU, but I went into that launch watching E3 planning to buy either PS4 or X1 (having previously owned both PS3 and X360) and either company could wow me. I ended the night preordering PS4. But I never developed that obsessive love the internet has for the thing. I like it. I use it. I've played good games on it. I ended up also getting an X1 and end up playing non-exclusives on that instead. I feel like PS4's main claim to fame beyond a relatively thin stable of admittedly great exclusives I'm glad to own, is mostly "hey we didn't screw up the launch!"
@playstation_king Animal Crossing, Pokémon Mystery, and Tokyo Mirage. Next Xenoblade, 51 Club games, and Paper Mario. And that’s just the beginning.
Much more to come.
Thanks to the 5 people who left user reviews prior to the games launch. Definitely seem like credible people.
@NEStalgia haha yeah my username was because I created a push square account before my Nintendo life one but it uses the same login details and username.
I think the cult following was mainly becuase of its exclusives, I dunno how Sony do it but there exclusives are always out of this world and its now what people expect from Sony, I literally can't see any exclusives from Microsoft that could go toe to toe with games the last of us, God of war, spiderman, horizon zero dawn, beyond two souls, days gone, ghost of tushima, Dreams, persona 5 Royal.
I can't see any other reason why people would obsess over sony, but lately I've been playing the switch more and more as it's now getting more jrpg support and a steady amount of exclusives. I really only go back to the ps4 for exclusives or the occasional game of hunt showdown.
Infact I'd go as far as saying that the switch is the new console people are becoming obsessed with, helped by the animal crossing phenomenal
@Razer "Minor improvement" LMAO
@mesome713 I concede, you win lol and I do look forward to see what new games Nintendo announce. I want a new 3d Mario game and more Rpg's
$49.99 on Amazon U.S. folks. Get it while you can.
I cannot wait to play the ultimate version of one of my favorite all time games! No way am I gonna have it beat before The Last of Us pt. 2, but that’s fine, because I know I’ll come back to it if I don’t finish by then. Since they’ve made adjustments to side quests, I’ll definitely be more inclined to do the vast majority of them this time around instead of endlessly grinding the same high level enemies over and over to level up and progress the plot haha. Advice for first timers, stick with it! If you get to a particularly tough section where you’re under leveled, grind for a bit or do side quests, and upgrade your arts and armor/weapons. Also doesn’t hurt to figure out how you wanna play, because there’s so much choice in how to approach combat thanks to the plethora of party members you meet along the way. But stick with it, because the story is so worth it.
@Heavyarms55 Couldn't agree more, well said!
@NEStalgia To each their own, of course, but IMHO XC1 and XCX have vastly superior combat to XC2. I hate the combat in 2. Your character stops auto-attacking when you move to reposition? That makes no sense and it made the combat ponderous and unejoyable. I can't wait to play the original, and the best, game in the series all over again. Again, to each their own, and I'm glad you liked 2. For me, the story of 2 was good but the combat mechanics were literally terrible and battles were more of a chore than anything. Hopefully they stick with the combat from 1 and X in future installments.
I still hate the flat, toon-shaded faces, but it's a great game, so worth picking up.
I've never played this game myself but I watched my brother play the game a lot. Maybe it's time for me to pick it up, but I'm trying to clear some of my backlog before I add more games to it.
Maybe it'll either be this game or The Origami King that I'll pick up next, depending on if TOK turns out to be a must-have or not.
@Arglas_ yeah minor improvements.
Especially when you're looking at £50 for the game. Very minor.
@Debo626 Yeah. I thought Xenoblade 2 had the worst combat of the three and 1 had the best. 2's had great potential but had too much fat. They should have focused on the core blade mechanic, trimmed the fat and also made it less of a slog to get through. 1's was the most streamlined which is why it works the best. But X was also satisfying because the world and its creatures you encounter were interesting.
@Razer If you want to see an overpriced minor improved game, just look at The Wonderful 101. Lol PlatinumGames.
I bet that game sells worst than it did on Wii U. Lol.
@NEStalgia The one thing I will give you is that you're right, I agree that XC2 does come close to 1. It doesn't match it, but it gives it a run. And I'm not saying other JRPGs are bad, it's my favorite genre. Simply that XC1 is the pinnacle that has not been matched in my eyes.
I'm hoping to finally get all the way through this game. I got about halfway through the Wii version and about a third of the way through the 3DS version. The 3DS version was a technical achievement, but Xenoblade is something that deserves a larger screen.
@roboshort @Debo626 the story in 1 is better, hands down, I'll give you that. Though 2 it's full of feels when I think back.
Regarding combat, it's been a while and I don't remember the correct terms for all of it, but were you fully utilizing chain bursts with loaded orbs? Most enemies, even bosses go down fast of you are pulling off full bursts.
If i have 1 major complaint about 2, other than depending on "HM slaves" just as Pokemon got rid of them, it's that they don't explain anything properly at all. Hm slaves weren't explained right, blade raising wasn't explained right, but worse, combat wasn't explained right and the tutorial let's you through without you actually grasping it. I continued playing it like 1, until the massive difficulty spike boss on Temperantia makes it almost impossible without knowing your burst combos. Took this forum to explain it to me. After that battles were fun, fast, and less sloggy than, break, topple, repeat. Combat and character dialogue go to 2. Overall storytelling and environment goes to 1.
@Heavyarms55 The fanboy is real.
@Razer Lol what game have you been looking at?? This is a remake and it has massive improvements and changes such as the visuals which in itself is enough to pay $60. It took 3 years to recreate this masterpiece in a new engine and now with all the new improvements in the gaming industry, they are able to streamline things such as the side quests and all the menus making for an overall better experience. Also, they remastered the whole soundtrack and added a pretty solid epilogue. To say this game isn't worth your money or it just has some minor improvements would be undermining 3 years of hard work that they clearly put there heart and soul into
@playstation_king Yeah that's how I feel. A review like this is only useful to pre-existing fans who want to make sure it's up to snuff.
every other site is giving this a solid 9 except for ign they gave a 8 but wat bugs is that ign in the past gave the wii version a 9 so something is not right about the switch version score.
What's up with the console wars? Come on, you guys. Sony and Nintendo are both badass gaming companies. They both make good consoles with radically different visions. They both get good games, again with their own strengths and styles. And both are occasionally absolutely infuriating and anti-consumerist.
Can't we all just get along?!?
@graysoncharles nope it wasnt.
@JayJ I'm legitimately curious, what would constitute a 'fair' review for you? I understand that opinions always differ and that there will always be people who diverge from the norm, but anybody can see that the acclaim for Xenoblade is about as close to unanimous as possible. If I was part of only a few claiming this is one of the best RPGs, that would be one thing, but it seems that's the general consensus here. Don't you think there might be a reason for that?
I can’t wait to play this, been waiting for months and it’s finally here!
@Ralizah No there's still affinity requirements. Kind of annoying I guess, but I never paid much attention to heart to hearts anyway.
@SwitchVogel Darn it! Thanks for confirming.
Well, still a solid improvement from the Wii/3DS versions.
shrug
@SwitchVogel Hey I have no problem with people being a fan of what they're a fan of, but the general consensus seems to be among fans of the genre. Personally it isn't a genre that I am a particular fan of, I can get into them on occasion but the only problem I have with the review is simply that it is coming from someone with different taste from me. I think you have a good review for people who have the same taste in video games as you but the perspective is really coming from someone who is into this kind of game. Just my two cents, it's nothing personal just that I can tell how I probably won't enjoy it as much as you did.
@NEStalgia @roboshort
TBH I don't really have a preference as far as story and emotion goes. XC1 and XC2 have, IMHO, equally great and amazing stories, full of twists and unexpected turns, and full of tons of feels. My biggest gripe with 2 is the combat. Neither game explains the combat well, for a start, but XC1 is more intuitive, IMHO, than 2. Plus, I prefer the arts palette of 1 and X to the limited number of arts you're allowed to have available at a time in 2. Plus, again, and not to beat a dead horse, your character literally stops attacking when you move him/her in battle. That doesn't happen in 1 or X, and in 2, when you're in battle, your character moves like they're trying to run through quicksand. So freaking slow! In 1 and X, when you move to reposition your character to the side or back of an enemy to take advantage of position-specific arts to get critical hits, your character continues attacking while you're moving, and doesn't move so much dreadfully slower than they would normally walk/run while exploring the world, so it doesn't seem so jarring. Those two elements really ruined the combat in 2 for me. I don't hate 2, I played it twice, couldn't really get into T:T-g-C since it was a lesser version of combat I didn't enjoy in the first place (2's) but I am glad the game and its DLC were successful for Nintendo/MonolithSoft, as that's the best way for them to be most likely to continue the series. I just didn't enjoy the combat. I did use some of the orb/burst/whatever mechanics, but again, since nothing is ever deeply explained, I'm sure I didn't make the most of it. But as in all things, there is little accounting for subjective preference. I just prefer a proper arts palette with more than 3 arts, a character that doesn't stop auto-attacking when I reposition them, and the character to move in battle more quickly around the enemy. That's no one's fault, it's just my preference. Here's hoping XC3 and XCX2 are eventually made. 😁
@rdm22 The two can be played in either order. They only have a very very very loose direct story connection and for major spoiler reasons I can't tell you why but don't worry about it either way.
But you absolutely should play both at some point!
@NEStalgia It's been a long time since I played 2 so I don't remember exactly but there is a possibility that I did not play it like you said I should. Still, though, 2 was overly complex (not just the combat). Given the excruciating amount of time spent on tutorials in 2.. I'll look for more info to see if I could have been playing it better.
I was hoping that Monolithsoft would learn how to simplify their games from working on Zelda, but instead they just seem to get more complex which makes them feel a bit clunky. 2 was the clunkiest of the bunch, but perhaps that was cause it was rushed.
I liked 2 better than 1 in terms of role playing, though, cause 1 was overloaded with fetch quests. But X had much more fleshed out role playing than both.
Despite my gripes, I loved all three and hope we see another entry.
@Arglas_ lmfao you have an extremely low expectation bar if you think the Switch version is an upgrade to the Wii version.
It looks slightly sharper but they cell shaded it, made it more anime like. That won't be to everyone's liking, so visually it's not even close to being worth £60.
That's not even including fidelity, which hasn't really improved that much.
If you think minor improvements like this warrant £50 then the upcoming Burnout Paradise will be a steal.
If you are trying to convince me this is a good deal, then every over priced old 3rd party port we get are also good deals.
Like when Capcom puts 8 year old games on here and try and charge us full price for them when they're being sold elsewhere for a fraction of the price... If this is a good deal, then those are also good deals.
Look, if you've deluded yourself into believing this is a good deal, all the more power to you, but I don't suffer from the same problem.
@mesome713 lol I know, I don't even know why they made that game to begin with, it's not like it was that good to begin with anyway.
But this is Platinum we are talking about here.
There's a clown running the show over there so we're going to see a lot of circus acts.
Should this be played before Chronicles 2, or perhaps it doesn't matter? I have yet to touch any of these games.
@RPGamer Just look at how poorly it looks on handheld. It was one of the most critised points in Xenoblade 2, why wouldn't it be here too? It's actually much worse, because now they should know the console already, and they were making a remaster, not a full new game...
Plus, in docked mode the resolution is just 720p (and even from time to time goes below HD), the fps not only are far from being the 60fps expected, but it's not even a solid 30fps (there are cases where it goes under 30), etc. That's why I'm saying that it's still a brilliant game, that's undeniable, but the effort put remastering it could've been way better. In my opinion, the game deserved it.
Anyway, for people that never played the game, this is the best opportunity to do so. Not for me, though; I'll wait for a substancial sale
"Most importantly, Xenoblade Chronicles looks great whether you’re playing docked or handheld, running at 30fps in both modes."
Are we looking at the same game? Half of the screenshots I genuinely wouldn't be able to tell whether it was the 3DS version at a slightly higher resolution or the Switch game, if it weren't for the HUD. The game is extremely impressive on the 3DS (enormous environments, stable frame rate even in 3D, no drops in resolution, loading a new environment takes a whole second and fast travelling in an environment is instant, etc), but the Switch version is basically all blur with a bit of game mixed in. The Witcher 3 runs at a higher resolution!
The improvements to the UI and questing system seem to be really great and exactly what the game needed, but these graphics are just really ugly, and I can't believe that it doesn't detract a point from the score. It goes well below 720p in docked mode (and 720p is the maximum it can ever reach!), which is absolutely ridiculous. Handheld it goes below 480p! Let me rephrase that: the remaster of a 480p Wii game for a much more powerful console runs at a lower resolution than it originally did!
@boneyard I'd say play this first, just because it's easier to get into and overall feels like a more consistently high quality game. There are many aspects of 2 that I would say are better than their equivalent in 1 (like the battle system), but there are also many aspects that are much worse. You can't go wrong either way, but I'd still recommend this one.
It's alright but nothing special, I have no interest in replaying it. Call me when they decide to port Xenoblade X.
@playstation_king
By cheap i mean around 40 dollars. I buy from private sellers on Finn.no (Norwegian «eBay») Price for a new Nintendo game in Norway is around 60-70 dollars in store. People usually sell their Used games for 40 dollars after 2 months or so.
Thank you, I just bought this game
@the_beaver shhh
You can't point out how bad Monolith are at game development.
The fans boys will lose their ***** over it.
For real though, if Capcom released Dragon's Dogma and it dropped down to 378p in handheld mode, we'd have hung them up by their ears.
If Skyrim didn't run at 720p handheld we'd have said "Bethesda are bad"
But Monolith can't get an 8 year old game to run in HD. NAAAHHH that's okay, it's worth £50 because reasons.
Monolith are downright rubbish at video game development, every game they have ever made has sold a combination of less than 10m.
I do not, for the life of me, know why Nintendo fans defend them so fiercely. Any other developers would have been skinned alive by us for trying to sell us an 8 year old game with next to no improvements at full price.
EA are basically trying to do the same thing as Monolith by selling Burnout Paradise for full price... Look at the replies on there 😂...
But Monolith does it and they get praised.... Right...
@graysoncharles reason why i dont trust ign reviews anymore especially if they get someone that hasnt even played or gotten half way through the game to give it a proper score.
@Razer dont be salty over resolution dude you sound like some of those butthurt sony/xbot trolls and let me ask you this which one you prefer resolution or fps because i rather have a very smooth game running at 30fps over having high resolution besides the game will look great.
@RiasGremory hey if I'm going to call out EA for selling us a 12 year old game at full price in HD.
I'm also going to call Monolith out when they try and sell us an 8 year old game that can't run in proper HD, at full price.
I don't pick favourites there, I'm not two faced. I'd call Nintendo out too if they tried to do the same thing.
I'm not butt hurt, I never gave two ***** about this game to begin with. I haven't been able to ever complete it and I own it twice.
@Heavyarms55 @rdm22 to second what Heavy said, there is a story connection that all makes sense as a retrospective, but to effectively understand the depth of the connection, you essentially have to complete both games through to the end (and post-credits in the one case.) There is information there that answers questions that don't get answered during the quest itself. Once you see that, you can play through both games again with a totally different understanding of what you're seeing than the first time though. I don't think it's spoiler-ish to say both are totally separate events in totally separate places, featuring totally separate people that are both occurring simultaneously in the same story universe, and are ultimately connected in big ways that you don't understand until you've completed both. HOWEVER, the last chapter of 2 is more interesting if you've played the first, I think. Rather than "wait, what is going on here?" moment it can be a "oh wow, so THIS is THAT moment." Additionally some close details (if you're paying attention) near the end of 2 can actually sort of resolve (or just raise more questions about?) things you are left unresolved with after 1.
Torna and XC2 however are a direct connection, with Torna as a prequel involving the events that are little more than legend from 500 years ago, except to a few characters that were there for both times, in the main game. It's both a look into the events of the past, as they really were, the characters of legend as they really were, and also an "origin story" for the antagonist group by the same name in the main game. Some prefer playing those in STORY order (prequel first, then continue the story in linear fashion from past through present.) I prefer the release order. I find prequels like that have more impact seeing them after. I find it's more interesting hearing about past events and people in their "legend" form as people understand them, then going back in time and seeing how it really happened and being amazed at how different romanticized legend and reality are. Like if you could go back and spend a month in the Roman Empire, it would look and feel nothing like the depicted version of it you've known forever, and none of the events that happened would feel the same in real-time instead of in history books, it would all seem so "ordinary" rather than the larger than life view history books give things. So I like going back in time to see how things were before after I see the "present" in a story rather than just following from beginning to end. Same story, but a different view and understanding of it all.
So XC1, XC2, simultaneous events in different places with a strong direct connection that you cant understand until you've played through both of them completely, but if you never completed them and found out about the connection they are both enjoyable as entirely unrelated stories. XC2 Torna, a prequel for the events and locations of XC2 and is a direct connection to several characters/events/groups between XC2 and XC2:T.
@roboshort @Debo626 Yeah, at least from my own experience, I think the terrible explanations, terrible tutorials, and high complexity of some elements were really the big failures. I had the same thoughts as you on combat until someone here (I forget who, otherwise I'd ping them to chime in!) explained it much much better than the in-game tutorials. Once they did, it all made sense and became so much easier, faster, and more fun.
I think the two big mistakes with combat the game leads you to make are: 1 - continuing to play it like it's XC1. That's a bad habit to walk in with. Break/topple are irrelevant in 2. They exist, but they're almost pointless. Art's aren't used for the same reason, and neither are auto-attacks. The entire battle system revolves around slapping orbs on enemies and unleashing chain combos, and for bigger enemies, full bursts. Getting to full burst also I believe boosts affinities faster. It's like lining up full Tetrises.
2: The tutorial in game treats the full chain/burst tutorial as an "oh by the way, here's an excessive thing you can do" moment. It lets you press a few buttons in sequence, with the orbs already on the enemy, and ends the tutorial. They never step you through the total sequence from beginning to end, they don't verify you understand it, and worse, they present it as an optional over the top thing, rather than presenting it, 1/4 through the game as the main battle system you need to be using every single battle.
If you don't do that, battles are a slow slog that goes on forever. If you properly utilize the combos, you're a 6 member raining Armageddon squad that can blow up any enemy in minutes (except those legendary/gold monstrosities that RNG OHKO you....screw them... ) But the game leaves you to find this out on forums rather than properly showing this to you as part of gameplay progression. The tutorials are it's true weakness!
After you get used to that, it's 1 that feels like a slow slog. Stun & topple end up feeling slow and grindy after the fast action pyrotechnics (Pyratechnics?) display that is 2's burst system.
The short summary of 2's combat is: Use your different colored arts from your different blades to attach as many different colored orbs onto the enemy is possible. As you stack the chain right, you get extra turns from your party members. When you complete the chain and "pop" the orbs, they go boom and do massive damage. Auto-attack exists only to charge the gauge to get to the more powerful "boom" as a finisher. It's almost a puzzle game as part of the battle system.
But, again, the game never, ever properly explains that. They probably spent a year designing an intricate, but easy to use, fun battle system. Then spent 5 minutes telling you about it. Once you get it, it's so simple to do. It takes longer to explain it than do it. It's not actually complicated....it's just detailed.
But IMO they did a worse job with explaining "raising your pokeblades" and basically no job at all explaining the "HM slaves" (I got, literally, brick wall stuck in Leftheria mid-way through the game unable to pass an obstacle I had absolutely no idea how to pass. I found out i had to "breed" my blades and raise their affinities, and find "special" blades by RNG and some of them by completing certain series of poorly explained quests, the completion of which often depended on completing OTHER quests (that you might not be far enough to complete yet, even though you got the quest at the beginning of the game, but the game doesn't tell you this), some of which you can't pick up unless you happen to be in a certain place at a certain time. That is horrid design. I can't forgive the game for that part.
But on the other hand, XC1, dosn't need so much internet searching to figure out how the systems work, but the side quests are so irrelevant they probably ought not to exist. At least in 2 the side quests have great stories usually. After you find out what to do by searching online.
Typical Monolith. Amazing games, but let down by glaring over-complexities and seemingly pointlessly over-complicated systems that should be simple, and explaining none of it. It wouldn't be Monolith otherwise. They've actually improved since Xenogears and Xenosaga.
(Ok, seriously, Ant....the post length restrictions are annoying... )
@NEStalgia
Well said, and thank you for the most detailed and informative explanation of the combat mechanics in XC2 that I've heard to date. I remember the tutorials for the orbs and bursts being almost an afterthought, and tbh I may have simply felt a little overwhelmed by everything given the aforementioned complexities of the combat plus all the little intricacies of the Blades themselves, plus all the accessories and augments you can apply to each Blade. It didn't hit the right "energy returned on energy invested" ratio for me to immerse myself deeply enough to enjoy it. That said, I didn't find XC1 to have such confusing combat; it was much more intuitive from the start. I think you may have hit on one of my unintentional "mistakes" as it were from the start: I expected XC2 to play like XC1, and when it didn't, it set my whole experience up for a certain, albeit small, level of disappointment. Again, it's all subjective of course, so there's no wrong game to like. I just wish they would move faster around the enemies in battle and not stop auto-attacking when they do.
Just tried playing XCX for the first time in over a year and boy are there so many things in that game I've completely forgotten while playing BotW. The menus go on forever lol.
@Razer LMAO. I'm sorry you can't see the massive improvements to the visuals. Sad to see another person push off one of the best RPG's ever created. Go play the games you enjoy and don't put down games that are 100% worth the money just because you don't like them anymore or they are "anime"
@Arglas_ well look, you can see my previous posts on other subjects like this.
It doesn't matter how good the game is or was, old games shouldn't be sold for new game prices unless it's situations like Zelda Links Awakening or Final Fantasy 7. Both are totally redeveloped games.
Outside of that, old games do not warrant new game prices. It's a bad practice that is getting way out of hand now.
I'll put down any game that does that, I have done before and I will do again, it really doesn't matter what you say to convince yourself, the small improvements here do not warrant a new game price.
Edit: and before you try to say "this has been redeveloped". No, it has not. This is a remaster. There is a huge difference.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2020-xenoblade-chronicles-definitive-edition-tech-analysis
@RPGamer Idiot...??? What the hell??? I'll report you, and I hope they get you out of here, honestly. I've never said anything that could offend you. You have no respect at all.
@Razer So what if an old game gets remade and has the price of a new game? It's not like they didn't put the same or maybe even more work it would take to make a new game. Once again your undermining 3 years of hard work and dedication to recreating Xenoblade on the switch which is a bigger game then some modern games
@NEStalgia and @Heavyarms55 — Thank you both for taking the time to provide me with further food for thought (a veritable FEAST for thought in the case of @NEStalgia). I will mull it over in terms of the order (XC2 has the edge in so far as I already own it), but I definitely plan on and look forward to playing both! Just have a bit of a backlog before then....
@Arglas_ when you say remake, you have to be specific. First off, this game did not take 3 years for them to do, it didn't even take 1 year.
There's different levels of remake.
There's a remaster which is normally when they take an old game and they upscale some of the assets to match new specifications and add a few bells and whistles. They normally don't mess around with the source code in those instances. (This game falls under this category)
Then there is a total redevelopment, which takes years and the entire game is being recorded from scratch using the old game as a blueprint.
Zelda Links Awakening and Final Fantasy 7 fall under this category. This Xenoblade version is just a remaster, it's not a redevelopment. It didn't take them 3 years, I don't know where you heard that.
Simply put. This game is an upscaled port of an old game with a few extra features. It doesn't warrant the price of a new game.
@Razer You should do more research buddy. In an interview, they said this game took them 3 years to make and is recreated in the new Xenoblade 2 engine. Before we got games such as ff7 remake this would be the definition of a remake. Once again your undermining 3 years of hard work. Also "upscaled port" LMAO you seriously have no clue what you're talking about. You're clearly here just to pick a fight and be all "cool" and "edgy" for trashing on an amazing game
I've been so looking forward to this! This is one my favourite two games. The only unfortunate thing is I broke my arm three days ago so I don't imagine I'll be able to play for a while.
@Arglas_ I'll wait for you to send me a link of this "interview". Because I have done my research and I haven't seen any sources that claim this game took 3 years to develop.
Until I see some proof from you, I'll assume you are lying.
It's great that this remaster turned out so well, but I have no reason to double dip when I can just eventually borrow it from the library just to play the new epilogue (since you can play it immediately). (Plus, I still think the art design was downgraded in some areas.)
@Razer The interview was on this website dude. This has to be some of the most fun I have had on this website. If I were you I would just stop making a fool of yourself and stop talking about something you don't understand nor care about. Go back to whatever you enjoy and stop spreading false information
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/05/monolith_softs_takahashi_tetsuya_talks_xenoblade_chronicles_definitive_edition_in_this_translated_famitsu_interview
@Arglas_ Lmfao.
Oh wow.
Have you read the whole article?
Here... I'll copy this part for you.
"We officially started development in August 2018, after development of Torna – The Golden Country wrapped up"
Launching the project has nothing to do with beginning development.
You said this is the funniest thing you've experienced on this website? You find it funny when you are wrong? Who's spreading false information?
So it took them 1 year and 7 months to do this, actually I believe the game was completed in April, so 1 year and 6 months. Not 3 years. So NOT worth full price.
@Arglas_ thanks for that. It wasn't quite the funniest thing I've experienced on this website.
But close.
😂
@NEStalgia Well explained!
@Razer you also need to understand that you shouldnt be making assumptions that monolith didnt put much of work into this game which they have and dont forget their also working on other projects as well at the same time helping with botw 2 and working on a new rpg ip for switch.
@RiasGremory as you can see in the above posts. What I actually assumed was indeed correct.
They had started developing the game in August of 2018, also we know they hadn't allocated all of their resources to the project as well, as they stated that they are also developing a new game.
So the games been in development for under 2 years, it isn't even in full HD and they are selling it as a full price game.
In the last 8 years this will be the 3rd installation of the exact same game, and it's full price.
So what I said is 100% true. It's not worth the money and they have not done enough work to merit a full price game.
@Razer like i said their busy with other projects reason why to give them a break also their team is stretch thin reason why the did their best to updated the first xenoblade chronicles plus botw 2 is taken priority along with the new rpg ip their working too.
@the_beaver When did you play this game handheld exactly my dude?
@RiasGremory so when EA try and shaft us with over priced old ports, we should give them a break too because their working on FIFA and Star Wars games.
Yep... Makes sense.
😂
To be honest I rather Nintendo part ways with Monolith. There's more demanding games on the Switch that run much better than what these clowns could manage in a little under 2 years.
They couldn't even get an 8 year old game to run in full HD.
There's developers out here getting The Witcher 3 to run at better resolution than this 8 year old port.
Please don't give me that "they're helping Nintendo" with what? Selling consoles?
All their games ever have sold less than 10m. Nobody purchased their Switch to play games these jokers make. They can't even port old games to run in full HD and let's be real... It took them nearly 2 years to do a few minor updates to the game.
Nintendo will be better off without these clowns.
@Knighty_IX That's some really good information. In same ways that shows even more how well designed 2's battle system is compared t 1. On the other hand it also exemplifies the points of others than 2 is far too needlessly complicated for its own good.
I wasn't aware of all of that detail. On the other hand, that level of detail is absolutely not necessary to complete the full game (+ Torna) 100% story and sidequests in a fun and engaging, and more importantly, efficient way. To build a party out to be perfect at break/topple + orb chains would take "pokeblade breeding" on a scale similar to hardcore Pokemon players. It's definitely not necessary for story content, but I imagine becomes much more important for the post-game content with high-starred legendary monster hunts and such. If you're going to pick one system to make the game play well, I'd still say orbs are essential to focus on. Combining that with full use of break/topple may be important for post-game legendaries, but definitely is not needed for 100%'ing the main (non-post-game) content.
That's cool info though, as, I, myself never did go back and do the post-game hunts in either game.
@Razer I haven't been following this whole thing, but overall I'm going to guess you're not an RPG guy? Monolith's games are giants among the RPG genre, and their core staff are some of the who's who of the entire JPRG world. Former Squaresoft guys that worked on FFV-FFVII, Chronotrigger, and contributed to FFX and FFXII even as contractors at Monolith. They broke off from Square and formed Monolith explicitly because they wanted to continue the Xenogears series games, but Square kept forcing them to make more FF games endlessly and ignoring Xenogears.
and , and they manage to pull it off with fairly thin budgets given to them by Nintendo. Nintendo treats them much better with creative freedom, albeit without the "sky's the limit" budgets that gets Squeenix in over their heads more often than not, and the Monolith team is skilled enough to make amazingly huge games on that budget, and they run on hardware a game of that scope ought not to. These guys aren't "clowns" Or even a bunch of jokers. They're some of the best of the best in the genre.
They aren't perfect. They design overly complex systems for no reason, they are terrible at explaining their games' systems in-game. And some of their design approaches are archaically dated at times (they are SNES era "golden age" RPG devs after all....)
XC1 running on Wii was a technical marvel of its day. XCX was a technological marvel for the WiiU (if a deeply flawed, but cool, game.) Their problem on Switch has been that their engine was designed for the PPC processor and separate GPU of the Wii/WiiU, but is far too massive to rewrite from scratch so they've been adapting it piecemeal. To use your EA example, rather than adapt their engine to the different architectures, they just abandon Nintendo's platform entirely, stick only to PC architecture, and try to use their PR clout to con the public, and other devs into believing Nintendo is irrelevant to protect their choice to ignore it. Why do that? Because porting the engine is expensive and time consuming and still doesn't always give great results.
With XC1 remastered, they remade the art assets from the ground up like a new game. They even changed the art style. They were restricted by level geometry as it existed due to the engine design, but it's hard not to call a game a total remaster that went so far as to actually change the art style, UI, quest management, etc. Maybe that should be full price, maybe it should be somewhat discounted, I won't enter that debate, but it's very wrong to undersell this being a total remaster, or to put down Monolith itself, one of the top studios of the Genre, featuring some of the most renowned designers in the genre.
RPGs always have "worse" graphics and performance than something like shooters for a myriad of reasons. Budget is one. RPGs cost a lot more to make in terms of time and asset creation because there's just so much of it. Second is scope, RPGs usually have vast areas with tons of moving objects to keep track of simultaneously. Third is design diversity: With so many people and teams required to make all of the above, few of the components end up perfectly optimized to work well together so performance tends to have to average out with crude ways of plugging it all together. This has always been true for 3D RPGs, even on PC. Even MMOs. Not since the 2D golden age have RPGs been at the top of the graphics game.
You may not like RPGs and the related compromises but Monolith is definitely one of the top JRPG studios, and I'm glad Nintendo has been supportive of genres other than the top sellers, otherwise we'd see nothing but Kart and Pokemon rehashes every year. Like EA does with sports. 10M sales isn't bad at all in the genre. And unlike what Squeenix does with games (See FFXIII, FFXV, and Tomb Raider (2013) ) They don't spend far too much making the game, then complain they lost money when they "only" sell 3M in a month and expected to sell 6M. They set a medium, not AAA budget, design a huge, tremendous, well designed game on that budget, then make a profit on the sales. Smart business instead of bombast. Good product, good value, good return. Not spectacle in hopes of a sales explosion.
Hmmm, wait until my creditcard bill is paid or buy now and pay a bigger creditcard bill later?
@Knighty_IX Well, I can say definitively that with just a focus on orb combos and bursts, most battles (excluding post-game) go pretty smoothly and quickly, and if doing side-quests, there is no grinding even with just that. You can smoothly complete all main content with just the orb/burst combos without battles becoming long or grindy (remember most people's complaints are from not using either system, and not understanding the orbs at all, thus relying on basic arts topple/break without the orb bursts, and auto attacks and thus battles are really slow.) I'm not saying that that complete system you just described isn't great, but that it's not essential to make the game smooth and "easy" through to the end. But the fact that we're debating at all between the necessity of a combination of systems, many players don't know that the second (and more important one) really exists or how it works, and even many of us that understand that system apparently don't understand combining it with the first system does hint at how poorly explained everything in the game is, and how needlessly complicated it was made (however good it may be once you get it.)
So playing both sides: XC2 has a fantastic battle system, way better than 1, way more fun, way faster. XC2's battle system is disastrously explained in game. And XC2's battle system is probably much more complicated than it should be, either way, though XC1's battle system is underdeveloped in contrast (and not accounting for it's mid-'00's pedigree.)
It reads like a 10/10 game in the review. What was the 1/10 knocked off for this, by the way?.
@Knighty_IX Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm sure your methods are indeed a much more optimal approach. It's just that I don't think one needs to go quite that far to accomplish playing the game at a pacing more or less as designed through the main story. It may be even smoother that way, but I don't think it's at all essential. I do think it probably is essential for the post-game and some NG+ content, however.
But yeah, we can all agree that the explanations were terrible. and the problems people have with the game nearly always stem from that, not the actual game itself. Which is a shame. Poor instructions really lowered the opinions of the game overall, and still has a lot of people preferring XC1's battle system not so much because they actually prefer the mechanics, but because they didn't actually know 2's mechanics and tried playing it without actually using the systems. A mistake I think most of us probably made for at least the first half of the game. There's deinitely not one "right" way to use the systems - the full gambit like you are, or just a part of them like I did. But there's lots of folks not using any of those systems because they don't really know they exist.
@LEGEND_MARIOID I originally gave it a 10, and a point got taken off in the editorial phase. I still stand by a 9, tho, the points aren't real anyway and it's still a near-peerless game.
@SwitchVogel Fair enough, I was just curious. Thanks for the reply and the review. 👍
@Zuljaras
Haha Xenoblade 2 literally has that exact problem and other such cringey tropes.
Xenoblade 1 is much more restrained and less fan servicey (as far as I can remember).
You can put both the male and female playable characters in what amounts to swimwear (hence the smash bros pants option for Shulk) but at least that is optional and in no way pushed on you...
Campy dialogue is a con?
What a bunch of jokers!
Played several dozen hours now and my Lord it is good. No problem in playing this through a third time. The remaster breathes new, vibrant life into the game. The new additions & hints help you 'manage' your game as a whole as well.
(And the dialogue is "legendary"!)
I have no idea why the reviews are so high for this game, the horrific dialog and very irritating and repetitive character comments made me quit this game at level 42. I'm not sure why I lasted so long.
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