Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

@Anti-Matter You can pretty easily take out mechs in XCX without being in one yourself. (Maybe spoiler) There's also a mech Blade you can get.

It's been mentioned before, but there are fairly consistent and frustrating AI issues concerning party members. These issues are most apparent in long fights, specifically superbosses. For example, I have Azami set to Zeke. I often see Zeke will get stuck with Azami and completely ignore any possible setups for Blade combos. Additionally, they'll also refuse to acknowledge my character's death and revive him/her. I previously had this issue with Tora and Poppi, so it isn't exclusive to one character. Maybe we can expect this to be fixed with the upcoming patch.

@JTMnM
So, what do you think about Xenoblade 2 ?
Because right now i have a doubt to buy or not that game after i dare myself to watch some spoilers to getting know more about Xenoblade 2.
Well, my complaints are :
1. Quite disturbing Sexy girls as Blades. They are looks like "Fanservice" for Male gamers. I would rather give Pyra or Sexy girls with some Fabrics to cover her body or put Males as my Party and Blades / Drivers. Btw, who are playable Male protagonists in Xenoblade 2 ?
2. Very very annoying Comments during Battles, like Bunch of peoples shouting each other.
3. The Battle system itself, looks Complicated compared with Kingdom Hearts or Zelda BOTW or FF XII or FF XIII. It took soooo long duration for just beat Giant enemies.

If only i could understand the Battle system, character's growth, Customize the party members by putting more Males than Females, i might consider that game for sure.

Btw, can i switching to other character during Battles like FF XII ?

@Anti-Matter I can certainly say it's my favorite game right now. If you like JRPGs, you owe it to yourself to get this game.

The only criticism I can agree to is the inability to switch between party members on the fly. The combat is driven by combos between party members, and the AI is occasionally unreliable. I imagine (or hope) the AI will eventually be patched.

On the battle system, there is going to be a learning curve if you're coming from a game like Kingdom Hearts. It does a fair job of explaining the mechanics in the beginning through tutorials, though you won't be able to reference them in the future. Fortunately, tips and tricks have been popping up online.

If you don't like the voices during combat, you can turn them off. Personally, I enjoy them and appreciate that party members provide cues announcing they're ready to initiate a combo.

Male characters are Rex and Zeke. There are a few male Blades, but they're greatly outnumbered by anime waifus. A few of the males have awesome designs. Godfrey has become one of my favorite Blades. As a closing note, I wouldn't mind seeing more diversity, but it's not that important to me.

@Anti-Matter
1. If you’re a male and you found sexy girls disturbing.. you got a problem mate 😉
2. I play with Japanese voices and never ever feel annoyed in battle or outside.
3. It’s not complicated but also, it’s not spamming just one button technique. I think combat is very satisfying once you get hang of mechanics.

And no, you can’t change drivers during battles - unfortunately

Just buy it. Its great. GOTY imo.

What's everyone's party and Blade loadout look like? I'm running Rex with Pyra/Mythra, Roc, and Nia; Zeke with Pandoria, Wulfric, and Azami; and Morag with Brighid, Aegaeon, and Godfrey.

@CroRock
Hm... okay.
I think i will stay in my plan to buy Xenoblade 2.

Btw, i realized if Tora was such of a ......Pervert.
Did you remember when Pyra and Rex noticed about the Maid outfits from Tora's cupboard when he was making alive his Artificial Blade, Poppi ?
Those Pyra and Rex's eyes when they saw Tora's Very Secret collections, tho...

@Anti-Matter
Yes, Tora seems to be kind of wierdo but I like it. There are many hilarious animations and dialogues in XBC2 that made me actually lough (not many games accomplished that). And then, there are some WTF moments.. like I said before on this thread, this game is roller coaster of emotions for me.
You are regally missing it if you don’t buy. So wait no more 😉

Edit: and be patient when you start playing. This one is getting better more you play it. You get most of the gameplay features after a while..

Whilst enjoying this game, the only bit I outright hate is the gacha system fr acquiring blades. I have a success rate of only 2 Rare Blades and all from common cores; every Rare Core I use has resulted in a Common Blade and have wasted tonnes of boosters with Rare Cores.

I would hve preferred Rare Cores to be even rarer as long as it guaranteed a Rare Blade. I even hear now that there may be a higher level core and it too can spout Common Blades. This is some real FTP lucks levels, thankfully without microtransactions. But seriously, Nintendo better not be thinking of adding them in.

@FX102A
I think the reason for this is that XC2 is ment to be played for a long time. If you get most of the blades in first 20-30 hours you wouldn’t get most of them or their abilities. I have 45 common cores few rare ones and only got 5 rare blades out of story related ones. I’m fine with that but my complaint is no enough Overdrive Protocols at this stage of game where I am (chapter 5).
God forbid micro transactions in this one.. like Season Pass isn’t enough... wash your mouth with holy water 😁

@CroRock Thats another thing I've yet to use, as the game didn't explain to me what they were.

@Galenmereth Hoping for that, even though my game says I've played 85 hrs when really closer to 25 hrs; had two random 30 hr jumps.

@FX102A
You need to hit home button before sleep mode to stop counting playtime

I just got to chapter 4. 40 hours and lvl 27, no bonus exp used. Been grinding too much lol.

@Tsurii I just enjoy the combat and farming. Also just saving the bonus experience until I hit a wall. I do like how they set the game up. It's a very clever system.

@Snaplocket
"I will say that there was a lot of sexual stuff that made me really uncomfortable."

Eh ?!
What was that sexual stuffs ?
Sexy butts ? Big boobs from Blades ??

I just finished the game and I've got to say it's definitely my favourite story out of all the Xenoblade games. Right now I'm aiming to get the rest of the rare blades, only 8 left to go (although all of them are random chance ones so it might take a while).

I especially like how many of the rare blades have their own side stories and some of them are actually pretty interesting, like Theory and Praxis. Brought a tear to my eye at the end.

So far I'm 90 hours into the game but I can see myself playing for a while longer to finish all the side quests and max out the affinity charts. The most addicting part of the game for me is the core crystals. I get addicted pretty easily to things like loot boxes, or random summons like in Fire Emblem Heroes. These are especially great because it involves no micro transactions, otherwise I probably would have dumped a lot of money into the game. Also, I'm kind of curious which rare blade people got first from a non story/sidequest core crystal. My first one was Perceval.

@Snaplocket The only points I'll yield to you are those regarding general QoL issues and the Blade system. The map, issues with rendering, and others are all likely to be patched. It wouldn't be too dubious to assert the Blade system might get more generous in time.

Anyway, the remainder of your criticisms are completely subjective . . . which is pretty funny because you close with mentioning you'll spare me your personal complaints. Quickly going over them --- Your problem with the game's pacing is an opinion and also unfounded, for starters. Most RPGs begin with a weak protagonist that builds strength over time. It's not a wild observation to state an RPG's mid/end-game mechanics are more entertaining than its prologue. Your stance on cutscenes is actually ridiculous. You want to speed through cutscenes but don't want to miss them. If they're too long, there is a skip function. Given that you can pull up quest information at nearly any time, you'll never be left helpless in terms of what you're supposed to do. Later, you can pull up the cutscenes either on Youtube or through the game itself should you want to refer to them. Finally, the only times in the main story when the player is required to exercise traits from Affinity Charts (that may have not been built up) are also granted with branching paths so players can continue the story without grinding. Maxing out these trees often make Blades OP. Myrtha basically becomes a god, for example. It makes sense they would be a little tedious to complete. They aren't a requirement. They only serve to make the game easier and as additional fluff for completionists.

@Snaplocket I already granted your opinion on the combat, though I did say it's pretty common for an RPG to steadily build up the mechanics. Anecdotally, I haven't seen people share your position, but that's the beauty of opinions. Even if you're the only one thinking that way, it's still your opinion. Also, I'm not telling you to ignore the problems you have. I'm just saying and explaining why I think they're silly.

Take your complaint on Affinity Charts: Essentially, your complaint is that maxing out traits is too hard. That's silly, because you're basically saying that it's too hard to make your character OP. I'd continue with your other criticisms, but I think I already said enough.

@Snaplocket You're doing something wrong if you need to max out your Blades to get through the game and even handle superbosses. Review your Blade loadout, accessories, and aux cores. Make sure you can easily create seals. Build out your tanks for either block or evasion, and assure they can build aggro quickly. Attackers should have critical HP absorb and things to improve critical rate. I don't have a dedicated healer, and I'm able to take out superbosses pretty easily. It's worth noting the only Blade I maxed out so far is Mythra.

@Snaplocket I think you're just QQ about the blade system. To me, I think its great... Like I've played FF6 probably 20 times in my life... I know where everything is. It's the same every time I play it. I think this system is great. It will NEVER be the same each time you play through. You will always get different party members at different times.

The cutscenes.. well I love cutscenes in JRPG... Xenosaga is practically my favorite ever, so I think it's great. 100 hour games I enjoy the downtimes.

@Anti-Matter I basically described all this a few pages ago and other members were basically arguing this game isn't perverted but it really is.

I really can't wait to play this game (I can't open my Switch or the copy until Christmas). And I'm going to take my time playing it instead of rushing the story, I'll take my time to explore, do quests etc. I learned my lesson after playing the first Xenoblade game, the bosses out-leveled me and I couldn't even hit them.