Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

@JTMnM You should use spoiler tags, that's a pretty major spoiler.

@Grumblevolcano Ah, wasn't sure if I should or not. Noted!

From what I hear, there's also:
New Game Plus, and finally, what you keep from game to game:
-levels
-equipment
-art levels
-all your blades(!)
-consumable items and gold
-gold
-dev level
-merc level
-event theater scenes
-unique monster tombstones

@darkfenrir Oh, so their intention wasn't for you to grind trust using pouch items but rather get it naturally via New Game+.

@Grumblevolcano Nah, you lost the trust at NG+.

So... I shall hear... "We are Ursula's New Groove! And we are doing what we can!"

(at least it's skippable now)

Oh yeah, on future update, it seems we'll be able to skip the blade pulling animation! THANK GOODNESS.

Holy ****. Amazing patch notes.

Just a shame the game was rushed to not have these QoL stuff, but it was probably for the best to keep up the Switch momentum.

At least it was better than Xenoblade X which STILL has a gamebreaking bug that can completely soft-lock your progress and was never patched out at all. Or even received any patches, come to think of it.

There's some more notes about the update from an article attached to a Nintendo UK tweet.

New Game+

• The extra Blades can be obtained either from the normal core crystal grinding approach or via quests (so if you already have all the other Blades, you don't have to do anymore core crystal resonating)
• Driver affinity charts get 15 more skills
• Bonus XP can be spent by talking to travelling bards for special items
• The affinity charts of all Drivers and Blades carry over to New Game+

All playthroughs

• More sorting options are available for Accessories, Aux Cores and Blades
• To access New Game+, you must have saved after the credits
• Those who have completed the game will get a small gift in the near future

Expansion Pass

• With next week's update, the next set of useful items will be distributed
• The DLC Blade will also have a quest attached

General

• Next update is after March

Think I've covered everything that hasn't already been mentioned in this thread. Of course the article has spoilers so be wary of that.

@Grumblevolcano thank you for sharing! This game just keeps getting better.

@AlternateButtons The main possible reasons are extra challenge and we don't know how enemy levels are going to be in the 2nd playthrough. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to be facing Chapter 1 enemies at level 99 if they're still the same level they were at in the first playthrough.

@AlternateButtons Well it says you can buy stuff from travelling bards using bonus XP but you could technically get infinite bonus XP from doing merc missions so unless the stuff is very expensive, I don't see the advantage of leveling down for the purpose of buying stuff.

Yeah, I loved Chrono Trigger and XC1's NG+ for just letting you go crazy and massacring anything that goes in your way. That in itself is fun.

However, the ability to level yourself down is also very awesome, as it'll allow me to try crazy stuff like a complete playthrough at only level 1 (like one of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia's Hard Mode selections).

That's why I'm gonna be doing two NG+ runs. One for that challenge run, the other as a "lol destroying everything" run.

Rip another 150 hours of my life lol.

@JTMnM Who are Zantez, Lago, Watch and Perdida? I haven't heard of or seen them before.

@Tsurii When were they used? I don't remember seeing them.
EDIT: Oh wait... they must just be Akhos, Mikhail, Patroka and Malos' blades. Sorry about my general unobservance.

@NinjaAceTrainer The main site included all the translated names in the article about the upcoming patch. The Torna Blades have incredible designs, in my opinion. Hype!

(Spoilers) I included images of the Torna Blades for anyone who wants them:

• Obrona
• Perdido and Cressidus
• Sever

What about that last one though? In your earlier post, you listed 4 blades and Obrona and the 'other three'. Zantez, Lago, Watch and Perdido, are their Japanese names, plus Kamui (Obrona) I think.

@NinjaAceTrainer You must be mistaken.

Translated:

• Yoshitsune (Akhos)
• Benkei (Patroka)
• Satahico (Mikhail)
• Kamui (Obrona)

That leaves Zantez, Lago, and Watch. To clarify, I don't know their individual translations. Thanks to the official UK report, we know these three are Perdido, Cressidus, and Sever. Everyone is accounted for.

Just to be clear, with this New Game+ mode, I can choose to lower my level, and spend the EXP on those accessories expansions. Thus, when I go to an inn, I couldn't just raise my level back to where it was before.

I wouldn't be particularly interested in playing a New Game+ if I just breezed through it.

@JTMnM

So if I am reading this correctly, then Perdido is infact the English name of either Zantez, Lago or Watch, right? If so, sorry about the confusion, my mistake, I just didn't get that from reading your initial post. Regardless, I am very excited for all of their blade quests.
Wait a second... If Mikhail can act as a blade, then could Zeke act as a blade too? Imagine Rex with Nia, Mikhail and Zeke altogether! But wait... didn't Akhos, Patroka, Mikhail and Obrona all die? How does that work?

@NinjaAceTrainer It's New Game+. The bizarro realm where you can one-shot a boss and then inexplicably lose to them in a cutscene. The devs are running with the assumption that you've already legitimately experienced everything in a normal playthrough, so they're allowing you to throw away most of the grunt work and logistics in the name of fun. That includes owning blades you have no right to obtain normally, setting levels as high or low as you please etc.

@meleebrawler In that case, I really want Zeke as a blade. Or Shulk. Or the Architect, why not?