Topic: Xenoblade Series chat

@Vortexeo Right! Ok thank you I had forgotten lol! That’s what happens when you play torna after playing two, one, future connected then torna lol! I totally forgot! Man the dlc adds so much context it’s crazy

@Snatcher Oh yeah there is a lot of lore across these games lol. Torna is such a wonderful experience! Did a 100% completion playthrough prior to Xenoblade 3s release and I'd have no problem doing it again 😂.

@Vortexeo I think I will do a new game + only after I get all the blades, earn shulk and fiora, and get all the challenge skins, only then will I replay it. Which I will do…..right after three! I’m going to play it later today! I’m so excited!

@Snatcher keep me posted on your playthrough!

@Snatcher Have fun with XC3! I’m currently at the endgame of it and it has easily been my favorite experience with the series yet. The 70 hours I’ve played have absolutely flew by.

But… related to your earlier post, get ready for some emotion. That’s all I’ll say

@Vortexeo I will! I just started it and dang, from the first 20 minutes it’s already kinda dark.

@StarPoint people say so! It’s a different feel to it and I’m so confused lol!

Aw come on, torna already made me cry!

Oh I should have asked this here, but is the artist in xenovlade 3 the same artist who designed 2’s characters?

@Snatcher To my knowledge it is the same character designer!

Masatsugu Saito is the main character design for both games.

A lot of the rare blades in XC2 were given to external designers though, hence the wide variety of styles.

@Vortexeo That’s crazy, the style feels familiar, but different. It sucks that people rag on him because of some of twos designs, and call him a bad artist when that couldn’t be further from the truth, I love the different direction in this game!

@Snatcher @Vortexeo Side note but I think 3’s art style is the best in the entire series. It’s so distinctly cartoon and cel shaded but not overbearingly anime to the point that it turns some people off. The eyes especially are incredibly detailed, meaning there’s a much bigger range of expression than ever before. And the designs themselves are stylish and unique, without any explicit fan service that also turns some people away.

@TheJGG Oh yeah the balance is perfect, it’s taking me some getting used too because I’m so used to the more anime art style. But three blends ones and twos art styles, it’s kinda freaky, in a good way, I’m warming up to it, the key word here is warming up because I am really just that used to twos artstyle, and I really loved it honestly lol.

Makes sense, considering the whole Iris thing and all. Honestly I notice anime’s and games that give characters ocular powers are most likely going to have more beautiful eyes, and 3 does not disappoint!

I have a question How important is the class mechanic? Because I want to use it but boy does it make things way more complicated, and give the game waaay more depth. I was thinking of keeping it on till they master the classes and they can use arts with there original classes, but at some point I will unlock even more, and some will be better with this then that, and it’s just confusing me a lot lol, I’m gonna take time to think about it but in the meantime I thought to ask this question. Is it important? Should I pay attention to it? And any tips for it?

@EaglyBird Ok so they are important good to know! So should I keep the classes that I have (this is when they first figured it out, and they’re still learning) for a while then? And keep them till I master it? Or at least fill it up the meager to use other classes?

It sounds broken honestly, there’s so much to mix and match is crazy! And a little overwhelming.

Yeah, they gave them the xenoblade 1 recharges and I like it in lore and concept but it does make them feel slower. I’m just glad that wasn’t the main mechanic because I was worried they completely got rid of twos recharges, they were the better ones in my opinion! So pretty much what you’re saying is I can turn all of them into Agni classes! And give them 2’s recharge mechanics?

Also also! The fact that there’s like 6 different characters on field is insane! I don’t have to pick between one or the other! It’s great! And I wonder how the rest of the game balances 6 people! Also I can’t believe we have a gigachadpon! I’m going to stop here before I gush over this game over again!

The class learning system is confusing me so much. How exactly does it give arts? I have some of the classes level ten but I don’t seek to gain the arts? So do only defense arts gain defense arts? Or is it weapon dependent? I am a little confused on what I should level up for each character, like would it be a good idea to have Eunie be the defense blocker? I know that’s probably isn’t the best role for her but I only do it for the arts, Or is that just a bad idea because she wouldn’t even use the skills later?

It’s confusing me now but I can’t wait to get all these mechanics down! I know I just asking question, but it really is confusing me.

I figured this would be the best place to ask a question I've been asking myself for a little while now. I'm very interested in the Xenoblade series, mostly for having a big world with a sprawling story that apparently all gets connected by the end of the third game and its DLC. Add to that that it's often mentioned as having some of the best narratives in the JRPG space and I've had no choice to take note. I've been wanting to take the jump, but some stuff keeps holding me back.

Mainly, I'm not at all well versed with JRPG's. My exposure to them is limited to some Illusion of Gaia when I was a small child basically not knowing what was going and then, more recently, Octopath Traveler II where I pretty much instantly stopped after my second origin story because the repetitive combat within random encounters was getting on my nerves. Now, it is my understanding this series does not include random encounters (God bless!) and has a combat system considered unusual for your typical JRPG. A mix of real-time automated fighting and using your own spells at opportune points? Do you all feel like someone who is not into the turn-based format might be more open to this type of combat or does it have drawbacks on its own to someone not used to the genre?

And besides that concern, I am also not someone who is very into open world games. I love narratives in big worlds, but I don't love constantly traversing them and prefer to have more linear experiences. Now of course that doesn't mean I cannot play open world games at all, but I need an open world game to be free of the usual trappings like constantly quest markers or inconsequential fluff demanding/begging for your attention. This is why I will never be able to play a Ubisoft-style open world. Once again, it is my understanding that this series is filled with side quests and that many of them are fluff, but that they can safely be skipped? Can I really just limit myself to the more narratively driven side content and not be punished for it in terms of difficulty? I'm also a very bad completionist, which is a habit I've been trying to break. It'll be hard for me to ignore any content (hence why open world games are often hell for me), but if much of it here is known to be without much substance it might be an easier time for me.

Any advice on either of my concerns is highly appreciated! I'd love to try out this franchise, but I'd hate to spend money on something only to find out it checks many of the boxes that'd make me dislike a game. Thank you for the help.

@Tjuz I think these games can still be enjoyable even if you aren't super familiar with RPGs. In my experience I did play a few RPGs here and there but I didn't start saying I was a fan of them until after I played XC1 and XC2 lol.

The combat is very unique. It has a little bit of a learning curve but it's very satisfying once it all comes together and you fully understand it. Your analysis on the combat is pretty good. There are auto attacks and arts (arts can be viewed as spells if it makes more sense that way). Your auto attacks are used to recharge your arts but as the game progresses the need for auto attacks becomes less frequent. Xenoblade let's you be very creative with it's combat system. For example, in XC2 and XC3 you can build characters to recharge their arts everytime they land a critical hit. If you build your character to have a high critical hit rate then their arts will recharge almost instantly and you won't be using auto attacks nearly as much. Of course this is just one of many examples, if you want a deeper dive into the combat I can try and explain a bit more.

Now if you don't like open world games I don't know how well you'll like these. Most traversal is done on foot and the world is full of secrets (Xenoblade X let's you drive, fly, etc. but that's not on switch 😮‍💨). Now I will say the game never actually FORCES you to explore. You're allowed to just cruise the main story if that's what you prefer. HOWEVER part of what makes Xenoblade stand out from other JRPGs is that it actually gives you rewards for exploring. You can level up your characters and unlock new fast travel points from discovering new locations. But again, it's completely optional.

As for the side quests that you're worried about, XC1 is the game that really had the filler side quest problem. It's less of a problem in XC2 and XC3. For reference, XC1 has 480 side quests and 80% of them are just collecting items and killing monsters. You most definitely don't have to do all the side quests in XC1 but it will help doing some here and there as they help keep your characters leveled. I normally recommend people just accept a few and do them casually as they progress the story. In the switch version of XC1 most quests will complete automatically once you get everything you need so you don't have to report back to the quest giver. But yeah as someone who completed XC1 to 100% completion I definitely do not recommend trying to do everything on your first playthrough lol. If you REALLY want to I think there's actually a setting in the game that lets you turn off quest icons on the map.

I will say if you want to avoid side quests altogether each game does feature an easy mode which really helps with just steam rolling through the story. This is what I used in my first playthrough of XC2 😂. I think I did like 10 side quests by time I finished the game lol.

XC3 is the only game in the series where I'd recommend not skipping quests too much because they actually contribute a lot to the main story.

@EaglyBird @Vortexeo Thank you both for your very helpful advice! I was very glad to hear that the open world is mostly set dressing and that while you can choose to explore, you also won't feel forced to. That's always my biggest issue with open worlds. I have no issue with going off the beaten path occasionally and finding something out of the way, but it's the maps filled with markers like I'm supposed to cross off a laundry list that really get on my nerves. Even if the icons may be present here, it's good to know that they can safely be ignored in favour of whatever I feel like doing in the moment. At least for the first game!

The Vampire Survivors comparison pretty much instantly sold me on the combat, as I've found that game highly addicting and satisfying when I played it. Overall though, it really just sounds like a combat system made to be experienced. I have nothing against trying something totally new which it sounds like this series offers! And thanks to both of those concerns being lessened (and being able to find it for an all-time low price)...

I'm ready to give it a shot! Not entirely sure when I'll first boot it up, but probably will be in the next few days. I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes. Thanks again!

@Tjuz IMO Xenoblade 1 sidequests are useful for gaining XP and whatnot. I wouldn't skip them. I just wouldn't go out of my way to complete them. Basically, run around and take all the available side-quests, then just play through the game like normal. You'll complete a bunch of them through the course of normal gameplay, and the quests don't require you to go back and turn them in, so it's essentially just free resources that'll lessen any grinding needs later in the game.

But the quests are trash quality-wise. MMO quality, so best not to waste mental effort on them.

But yeah, XC1 is a linear JRPG with pointlessly large and empty open spaces separating new locations. Only XC3 makes proper use of its world to deliver compelling side content to the player.