Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Do you guys reckon this game would be enjoyable enough in handheld mode?
Or do you really need to play it on a television?

@Uncle_Franklin Yes, you'll be fine.

I played a fair amount of it handheld on the Wii U, even, as it'll run entirely from the GamePad without having to turn the TV on.

The Switch version just does it better. It's running at a higher resolution, the HUD has been redesigned to be more readable, and there are a bunch of extra quality of life features. It's quite possibly the best Xenoblade to be playing handheld now.

@Uncle_Franklin I played the entirety of the game in handheld mode just fine.

Cheers gang.

I feel like this game is a blackhole of content for me. I am 210 hours in and just now have gained access to chapter 13. I have done all side quests and completely mapped mira with only like four segments across the entire map exempted atm. Got all my allies to max hearts. Am of course very highly overly leveled. I dunno why but I vastly preferred the way the game felt on foot, so unless the game forces you to use a skell to reach something or on a mission then I always just hoof it on foot.

And half the time don't bother to use fast travel lol

@Quantumz00 Trust me, being over-leveled with a good build by Chapter 13 is where you really should be. I wasn't, and I couldn't even beat Chapter 13.

45 hours, level 35, chapter seven, finally took the time to get the skell license.

Questing. Oh so much questing.

@Magician
I'd definitely suggest doing the "New Skell on the Block" affinity mission asap, the Skell you unlock from clearing it is very useful for exploration as it has great mobility pre-flight upgrade.

Damn, only just started this game and I'm constantly dying.

Are you taking on mobs higher than your level? If the enemy level is in red text, you'll have a tough time early on. Your priority should be locating and unlocking the drill sites. Level up your manufacturing for better gear options. And fighting mobs at or slightly above your level.

@Uncle_Franklin
Like Magician said, don't pick fights you can't win.
Do however try to beat enemies with yellow health since they'll yield lots of EXP.
Early game, just making sure that you respond to "Soul Voices" by using an art of the same colour is good enough to help keep you and your team alive. This is how you replenish HP mid-battle, outside of using special green arts.

Be sure to check your party often, make sure you're equipping newer and better ground gear, make sure you're upgrading your arts and your skills with the battle points you're earning, and also make sure to actually equip the skills too.
Also, when your current class reaches max rank, it's strongly recommended to change your class so you can work on a new one, which lets you unlock new skills and new weapons. Mastering classes lets you use different melee and ranged weapon combinations.

Yellow, not red.

Cheers guys.

@Uncle_Franklin
In the Xenoblade games, the level system incurs penalties when you're a certain number of levels below an enemy. For Xenoblade X, your attack accuracy and your evasion gets nerfed when you're facing a higher level enemy, with yellow, red, and purple indicating they're 10, 20, or 30 levels above your party leader. You can always equip weapons or augments that increase your melee or ranged accuracy too.
There's also the Night Vision augments that boosts both, but only during night time (9pm to 5am).

Enemies with yellow levels are usually manageable, and enemies that you might expect to be easier in general (like smaller flying insects) are good targets, compared to really big scarier looking beasts of the same level.

In the original Wii U release, the player's maximum level was 60, but monsters went up to level 99.
In Definitive Edition, you too can reach level 99 now, so you can be on a level playing field with the optional super-bosses. Throughout the Xenoblade series, there famously are a lot of super-bosses with levels that exceed the player's maximum level of 99, so you need to fight at a disadvantage and figure out how to get around the accuracy penalties.

As LA has been destroyed along with the rest of planet earth,
could they not simply call the new city LA?

NLA doesn't really roll off the tongue.

I'd think it just a nod to the colonial tradition of naming a place after somewhere else that it doesn't resemble in the slightest and slapping New on the front. You might as well ask why New York isn't just called York.

@Matt_Barber
Because York still exists.
In this game's scenario, LA no longer exists.

@Uncle_Franklin Tell that one to the residents of York, New York, I suppose.

So, would New New York be populated by the cast of Futurama?

Fry in a giant Bender Skell?

@Matt_Barber
I'm not sure what you're not grasping.

New York differentiates from York, which exists.

In the Xenoblade Chronicles X universe, LA no longer exists, so no such differentiation is needed.
NLA is the only LA in that reality.

EDIT: perhaps 'distinguish' is a better word to use than 'differentiate';
the 'New' prefix is clearly to distinguish from cities that would otherwise have the same name; in this universe, there is no other city to distinguish from with such a prefix.