Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@kkslider5552000 I actually wonder if the people who say it's "Boring" or "Worse than 2".. played more than the first hour of the game. If they gave the full game a shot, then that's perfectly fine.. but it just seems weird that some people are adamant that the original game sucks, and that 2 is better.. when 2 has even more issues with it's story/characters.

I remember people saying Xenoblade gets good after 10-15 hours so when I got to 10ish hours in and found I wasn’t having fun I gave up. Luckily the price of the game actually increased when I sold it on.

Out of all the Operation Rainfall games I always liked Pandora’s Tower the most to be honest.

the one thing I don't really like is when someone's like "This game's bad!" to a JRPG, just because they got two hours into it, and it didn't grip them story-wise or gameplay wise, despite still being in the tutorial. If a JRPG doesn't grip you, it's not bad per say, but moreso it's because you don't like JRPG's. Now if the combat is terrible past the tutorial.. and the game is drawn out artificially, that's where I agree it's probably not a good game.

I disagree with that, it basically implies fans of JRPG should be happy playing any old rubbish just because it’s a JRPG.

@jump I'm not saying that, I'm saying that JRPG's all take a while to get actually good. Things like Persona 5 or Xenoblade 2 take more than 2 hours to get good.

10 hours is a decent amount of time to see if a game works for you or not, even for a game like Xenoblade.

And I don't agree that it takes that long to get good. Xenoblade is better as it goes on but the very beginning of it was great. The early, slow parts, even at worst, were ok. When things are happening and you have a decent enemy to fight, it is fun. So if someone isn't into that, they're not gonna magically love the game 50 hours in (well they might, but that's far from certain).

@kkslider5552000 Yeah, I'd say 10 hours is a fair amount of time to give a JRPG.

If an rpg doesnt have something compelling within 10 or 15 hours of gameplay I'd say that's more likely than not the fault of the design. By then there really should be something compelling.

Edit: I also think it's plausible to know whether or not you like an rpg within a couple hours. I knew pretty quickly Xeno 2 was not for me and I would've saved myself some time if I had just moved on then.

Well I played XC both on 3ds and switch to credits (and completed nearly all sidequests on switch where is much easier to navigate them).
In general I don't like the characters of the first game (apart from dumban that I feel it would be a much better main characters) with poor highlights on melia and shulk (one note character or the yelling one).
I understand the criticisms on XC2 (mostly on the pervy style but I watch anime occasionaly so nothing too strange on that regard and while is not something I am looking for I just don't care if it is there or not). I love Nia as a character and the voice actor (I was in absolute Joy when I found that Martha in bravely default 2 was her too) and yes the voice actor for Rex has some ups and downs but there are no moments in the first game like the cemitery one (and I could mention others too). I find the story much more compelling overall.
On gameplay and music I just cannot understand how can someone disagree though and I would even say the gameplay of the first one sucks (apart from the whole see the future thing but that grows old really fast)

Edit: I will add that I played XC2 first and that may give the edge of preference.

@Balta666 To me, the combat in 2 is the worst in the series, frankly because you can't move freely unless you want to die. The fights are extremely slow, and auto-attacks seem to take forever. The gacha itself is annoying, and I honestly just wish they focused on a few blades instead of forcing you to rely on what's basically "Free lootboxes". I vastly prefer the combat in Torna, and I think that Torna is what Xenoblade 2 honestly should've been.

Nia's voice actress is alright, and I like Zeke, but other than that.. I just felt pretty meh about the characters. To me, the original game's characters didn't really feel one-note at all, and I enjoyed them. I also enjoyed the serious nature of Xenoblade 1's story over the goofy nature of 2's.

With 2, I can't really get into it because one moment something serious happens, and then it gets ruined by a non-sensical gag. For example: part ways through 2, there's an assassination plot, where they find out that the Mor Ardain leader is being targeted. There ends up being this fight between a giant chibi maid robot and the party, with the maid killing the leader, and Nia having to revive him. I couldn't take that moment seriously for the life of me honestly.. it just felt like the scene wanted to do something serious, but failed mainly since the boss itself isn't serious at all.

The only actual part I liked was Chapter 10, aside from Pneuma's sacrifice not mattering in the end, as Rex still gets both girls anyways.

@VoidofLight I need to get the XB games.

@Snatcher They're pretty good honestly. I'd start with the first one though for.. obvious reasons, then 2, then Torna. X is stand alone, so you don't have to play it, but I heard it improves the original game's combat.

@VoidofLight Ok ok I might get 2 first tho since its harder to find but if I can't I will go with 1.

@VoidofLight I played XC1 for 60 hours or so. Didn't quite finish it, but I think I got a pretty good feel for it. Also plan on playing through XCDE in its entirety soon.

One of my issues with the game is that I found the plot and pacing to be weird. Like, the attack on your town was exciting, but then the plot progression just seems to slow to a crawl for a while. Tbh, the game doesn't really re-capture its original energy until the (excellent) prison island sequence. In general, I also find the revenge motivation behind Shulk's journey to be unengaging.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 does a better job of giving the rest of the cast more stuff to do throughout the game, in my experience.

Also, pretty much every location type in XC1 is done better in Chronicles 2. Both aesthetically and functionally. I also really liked how loot was contextually situated in XC2 instead of just... puked out across the map randomly like in the first game.

And some locations in XC1 are just awful. Satorl Marsh? Valak Mountain? Sword Valley? All range from excruciating to merely boring locations. I can't think of a comparably poorly designed environment in XC2.

As to the cast, I never really clicked with Shulk, Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, etc. Whereas I almost immediately liked Zeke, Morag, Nia, Pyra, Mythra, Brighid, Gramps, etc.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also makes heart-to-heart encounters far more accessible and (resultantly) enjoyable. I've always hated how the first game gated those behind its obtuse affinity requirements.

I also tend to like XC2's more engaging, timing-based battle system, and how it gives you fuller control over chain attacks.

Which isn't to say the gacha crap and the way field skill deficits cockblock side-quest progression doesn't suck, but... in general, I found XC2 to be the far preferable experience.

I don't think the battles in Xenoblade 2 are necessarily that slow. It's just that combat tutorials in the game are really bad and don't tell you about very basic things that'd speed them up such as shuffling on the spot after an autoattack connects to launch another really quickly, and using dessert items to recharge your arts. If you're prepared to take a deeper delve into the game mechanics it's possible to come up with builds that'll melt through even the toughest superbosses relatively quickly.

The other games in the series - Torna included - do a much better job of explaining the basics.

@Ralizah I'll give 2 that it has the better locations and better heart to hearts, but from what I remember the cast really didn't stick out to me. Most of the characters in 2 just felt sort of like one-note anime stereotypes except for probably Zeke.

All I could remember from 2 is that the battle system isn't well explained, and so that's probably why I despise it, since they don't tell you things that'll make the combat go by faster. For example, the elemental orb thing was never actually explained all that well, and because of that, I never actually pulled it off at all.

@VoidofLight Oh, definitely. The combat tutorials suck. I had to look up videos on youtube to figure out how combat works. Granted, once you get the hang of it, it's fun, and I don't find it inherently kinda broken like combat in XCX (still have never found out how to restore TP while out in the field in that game other than attacking, which breaks the combat, and the reliance on soul voices for healing is the dumbest thing, I swear to god), but they could and should have done a better job of explaining the systems.

Actually, I think the reliability of healing skills in XC2 compared to the other games is probably what I like most about it. I'd still prefer actual healing items, but those little flasks that pop out when you use certain abilities are very nice.

Another thing I liked in XC2 is the setting. I found the Bionis/Mechonis setting in the first game to feel too... mythical. It kinda destroyed my suspension of reality. The idea of humans being dependent on living landmasses like titans and the inevitable wars for resources and military dominion that'd result from such an arrangement really fascinated. In general, I LOVE the worldbuilding.

None of them are bad games, and, frankly, I'll admit that I like Torna: The Golden Country even more than XC2. It's an almost perfect Xenoblade game and addresses all of the faults in XC2. Great characters, no fanservice, best side-quests in the series, the fun camping mechanic... it's my favorite Monolith Soft game overall (Xenogears suffers due to Disc 2, IMO). It's a bit short compared to the main games, but I still found it satisfying. Maybe they just need smaller, more focused projects?

I mean, considering it took them 3 different attempts at a Xeno IP to be able to put out a finished story like they wanted, maybe. I'd probably say they should go back and forth between big and small games (and by "they" I mean maybe the entirety of AAA game studios)

@Ralizah I actually watched a friend play 2 recently, and I will say that the skill system in 2 is handled pretty well. With the blades getting new skills as achievements, while the humans level up like normal.

Also, Torna itself is really good from what I've played, and I'm hoping they take their time with Xenoblade 3 to deliver a even better product honestly.

@VoidofLight I agree on the gacha system (after 250h I still don't have all blades). I heard other people complaining about the fact moving stopping the auto attacks but I really never noticed it as a fault (probably because it was the system I got introduced to) and I am allways engaged with cancelling arts, checking trees to build orbs, etc. It is sort of a dance that allways get my full attention. In the first one I feel I am just using my skills as they get available and the AI is dumb as hell. Torna there are things I like as the changing btw blade and driver for instance but I do not like that you can build orbs freely as it removes the strategy.