Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Just going to say, the connections to XC1 was gonna happen right as Monolith said "you'll know why we called it Xenoblade Chronicles 2 by the end". That phrase "by the end" really says a lot in hindsight, don't you think?

@Late Yeah, I've been holding onto it for a while now. Thanks.

I still stand by my previous statements about Field Skill checks being pace-breakers however.

You'll get better at avoiding high level enemies.

You have to strategically throw a rock to get an enemies attention and draw them out. I always draw enemies away from the high-level enemies and I always observe the high-level enemies roaming patterns before hand so that I know where they're going to go.

Even so, every now and then I still get enemies the flock to me while I am in the middle of a fight. But usually it's enemies that aren't that high level and I can take on, just makes it a really good fight and I love that.

@JaxonH Guess what, mate!

What about the new patch? What are your thoughts about it? I haven't tried it yet!

@rewindxrepeat oh yess.. i was wondering why nobody was talking about the patch here.. my internet was out last night and I was playing xeno thinking "wait, isn't that new patch supposed to be out?"
I'm about to go download it now

@GoldenGamer88
Dude that's awesome!

Good for you. I hope I can be as lucky.

@GoldenGamer88 Cool. Use any boosters? What kind of core crystal did you use?

It all seems so random to me. I opened a few rare core crystals and got commons, but my first extra rare blade came from a common crystal.

@Ralizah Gave her Driver some luck-increasing gear, didn‘t use any Boosters and she came from a Rare Core Crystal that I got as an Expansion Pass gift.

Yeah, I‘ve always been pretty unlucky with Rare Core Crystals until her, too. Seem to have a much better luck with Common ones, though, this may be simply because you typically have a larger number of them than Rare ones.

I used a +20 Luck and +20% Luck accessory before bonding with my crystals. And I got 5 rare blades out of 60 common/9 rare. That seems pretty good to me.

I plan to save up again until I have another 60 common and at least 10 rare, and I'm going to do the same thing again where I equip the +Luck accessories and open them all at once.

The DLC just gave me 10 rare crystals and 1 legendary, so I just need to build up some commons.

Speaking of the update, The map now opens to your current location which is fantastic, and the in game mini map has a new zoomed out option. It's the perfect size to show the entire area on the screen rather than being so zoomed in you can't see anything around you.

@Galenmereth The thing is I didn't see them at all until later in the original battle...

Can legendary core crystals be farmed in game?

It's amazing how that map patch makes all the difference!

Hey everyone I have not played the game yet cause I'm not allowed to open it until Christmas but in your opinions how would you say this game compares to the original Xenoblade game? I played the first one and loved the story, gameplay and scenery.
I would prefer if you wouldn't spoil anything also.
Thanks.

@iLikeUrAttitude I vastly prefer this entry. The story is way faster-paced, the art style is lovely, the combat is more engaging and involved (there's a big focus on timing attacks just right and comboing various elemental attacks together), the environments are more evocative, the characters are fun, side-quests are more substantive, etc.

@iLikeUrAttitude I‘d say it‘s pretty similar to the first game, just with some added elements like salvaging or the Blade mechanics, which are more or less the very core of combat. The story is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions (you‘ll laugh, you‘ll cry, you‘ll cheer). The facial animations and the music really bring the characters to life for me and some definitely have the most depth out of all three XC games. Speaking of the soundtrack, wait, there are no words that justify the grandness of this soundtrack. I will give my final thoughts on it once I‘m done, which should be done this year, but just saying that this is already ranking higher than Splatoon 2 and BotW in the 2017 rankings and definitely higher than XC1 and XCX for me.

@Ralizah Thats good to hear, although I heard a lot of opposite opinions on the art style and imo I prefer the art style of the original, but this isn't bad.
Did you notice a lot of a performance issues in docked or portable mode? Does the game look alright in portable mode? Is the fanservice in the game all up in your face throughout the game? And finally are there a decent amount of male blades? From what I seen it's mostly or all females.
Sorry for all the questions.

@GoldenGamer88 I'm glad to hear the story is good, I was worried it would be mostly fanservice judging from what I seen. That brings me to ask; is the fanservice all up in your face during your playthrough of the game?
I expect the soundtrack to be nothing short of a masterpiece considering this is monolisoft we're talking about.
Thanks for your thoughts

@iLikeUrAttitude Generally 720p docked, although it can dip somewhat lower in stress areas, I believe. A few framerate hitches here and there, but nothing game-breaking. The worst aspect of the performance is how low the resolution can dip in handheld mode in certain areas. It generally looks fine most of the time (definitely not native res, but okay enough), but there are a few busy areas where the resolution drops like a rock. The worst drops happen in the first big open area a few hours in.

So not the most polished game in the world, but none of the issues have ruined the experience for me.

Pyra's outfit is a bit revealing, and there are some moderately risque looking blades, but it's hardly a fanservice fest.

Even at its worst, it still looks better than any version of Xenoblade Chronicles 1.

@Ralizah I see. Are there a decent amount of male blades available in the game?

True, even when Xenoblade Chronicles first came out, the graphics already looked outdated. Still love it though.