Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Yeah the holiday 2017 announcement doesn't leave much contingency

I'm still not gonna be shocked if its delayed but they're really sticking with that right now, huh?

Tbh, I get some of the complaints, but it's still sooooooo much better than Tales of or Kingdom Hearts in that regard. Or god forbid, FFX.

For that matter, there's an early conversation between Shulk and Fiora that's also way worse than anything in this trailer, so I feel like I can give them the benefit of the doubt on this. Wish they showed more gameplay though. Story trailers are not always ideal if we don't know any of these characters.

I tried watching the Treehouse footage, but...I can't. The more I watch of this, more I hear about this, the more I hate it. It's not just different, it seems like a gross simplification of what made the first game special, IMO. Some much of it felt unique and different from other RPGs, that I couldn't help but love it on so many levels. Granted, XCX wasn't as well-rounted, but it instead put its focus on exploration, and I felt like it did an awesome job, not to mention Sci-fi JRPGs are rare enough that could easily stand out.

This, on the other hand, just feels pointless. Why are we back to fire level, ice level forest level, etc. that have no connections to eachother? Why does the combat and exploration look almost the same, but more simple, and less helpful in terms of exploration? Why do the main characters look so anime-esque that they don't even the general art design anymore?

And don't even get me started on the living weapons/excuse to have a bunch of characters standing around doing nothing story hook that I'm used to seeing in B-list Anime and RPGs...I think I'm just going to give this game a total pass. The previous ones are big enough, so I guess I coud say I'm satisfied.

It looks good. Just on a character design and gameplay level, it's so much nicer than the first game.

Still, I refuse to buy this before I complete XCX, and I haven't even started that (bought the SE back in 2015, no less), so... we'll see.

So, hey, where's that ignore button?

There's something about the trailer and gameplay footage that has me doubtful of this game. I love the greater focus on story, but I I haven't seen anything that makes me want to actually like the characters (with the terrible character design admittedly having a lot to do with that).

The character designs as dull as hell. Incredibly generic. And weirdly done by Tetsuya Nomura apparently? According to the credits.

Still, you can't judge too much at this point. JRPGs always succeed or fail depending on the story for me. Dull looking characters can be put into interesting roles in a good story and it works out great.
I think the setting is still quite interesting and the world design looks interesting. I hope the world is as massive as the previous 2 games.

The designs are typical anime stuff, but that's fine as long as the characters are enjoyable. It's when they're not where that becomes an issue. And the actual style is still done way better than the other Xenoblade games. The original Xenoblade had some great character designs but the in-game character models (outside of some cutscenes) didn't showcase that the best.

And in terms of generic anime designs, again, I've seen much worse. Pyra in particular I have a perfect comparison for. I've been watching this anime called Alice and Zoroku, which is filled with cute anime girls who should be generic based on their designs but it actually is genuinely cute and succeeds. I actually feel at this point that if you're gonna make a generic female character lead for your anime game, this is a good one to make. Basically.

Girls that turn into swords.

I call that objectification.

Heh

Rimshot

Or Soul Eater.

Soul Eaterfication

This game might actually be their first RPG to make a decent amount of profit, given that the previous 2 games were on consoles that Japan didn't buy, which has changed with the Switch.

I'm buying it because it's already awesome. I'm browsing for first impressions as we speak - it seems like a big one again

Here's a music sample, probably written by Mitsuda it sounds like: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/adena/assets/sound/bgm01.mp3

I wonder how much it'll be like Skies of Arcadia with the airships?

Master, There's a 60% chance a white man will use me as an example of sexism on a hackneyed gaming web site. Also, your batteries are low for the 1000th time.

Sorry if this was asked earlier in the thread, but if I want to start at the "beginning" of the series, what game would that be? The 3DS remake/port/whatever that came out recently?

@DiscoGentleman Ok I'm going to need you to start petitioning Nintendo or get some reality warping powers or something to make these games happen. I kept hoping the wiiu would get a BK duology HD version but alas...

Also, did you miss the MH meltdown?

It currently seems like this will be a separate story from previous Xenoblade games. But if it does have any direct, significant connection or continuation and they just don't want to ruin the surprise, it will be a continuation of the original Xenoblade Chronicles, the only one you would need to play. It is available on Wii (if you can find it), Wii U download, and New 3DS. There are no significant differences in terms of gameplay/story etc for any version.