Famitsu Unleashes Xenoblade Chronicles X Score

okay i guess, i was thinking it would get higher

@GoombaJMR They gave kid Icarus I believe all 10's so I was thinking the same. Maybe they've had reviewer changes.

Still not a bad score at all but I was thinking all 10's from past scores as they seem to score on the heavy side meaning great scores are commen from them.

I'm also interested in the Puzzles and Dragons score???

Given the hype and Famitsu's generally generous scoring policy, the score really doesn't seem that high. However, the first Xenoblade got "only" 36/40 (9/9/9/9) too (source: wikipedia). So 34/40 shouldn't mean anything bad.

30/40 would (I think) be a 75 so a 34/40 is probably barely higher than an 80. Was expecting some more impressive scores.

I think the reasoning behind the score would be more informative to me than the score itself.

@DBPirate - it's an 85 or 8.5 depending on what you like better as a score

@GoombaJMR yeah, I'm kinda the same. I can only guess maybe the huge overworld that takes forever to travel may have lowered it's score some. I guess it all depends on the reviewers

@BenAV Might of been one 9 in there but still it scored extremely high and as I agree with that score many thought it was too high.

i seem to loose more and more interest in this game the more i hear about it. i was so excited for this but now im just kinda excited. i think ive been washed out with all the videos and directs and hype and now this average review. it went from a day one purchase to ill get it some time soon.

Am I the only one that was hoping for a link to the music?
Ah well.

50% of my excitement for this depends on the review scores it gets.

The remaining 50% depends on its sales.

Sarcasm aside, I am eagerly anticipating this game. Looks huge and beautiful.

For those interested puzzle and dragons got all 9's so a 36.

The reasons xenoblade got rated low are too many and too long cut scenes which is great in my eyes and the second reason was it does not teach some mechanics well or something along those lines

@BenAV In spite of my love for MH4U I still think it's the best 3ds game and now it's 3 years old. Great experience from beginning to end and really nice multiplayer as well.

@T00N_LINK Thanks for those scores. I'm excited for that as well.

Take into consideration that japan has way more JRPGs and therefore, are probably a bit saturated when it comes to this.
And so, games like the above mentioned Kid Icarus, a bold mixture of Hack & Slay / 3rd Person Shooter and on-rails flying shooter obviously does better just because its rather unique and fresh.

And i personally played a lot of "75"s that actually really blew me away. Thats why i never really go by the score anyways. I read reviews to pinpoint certain mechanics that i might or might not like.

I will be picking them both up day 1. The demo for puzzles and dragons seems fun, but I only played one round as Ill wait for full release. I missed Xenoblade on wii but have put 47 hours into it on 3ds. I usually do not play a game this long like ever. One of my favourite games maybe ever so far. Cant wait for X. This review has done nothing to kill my hype

Lower than I was expecting. The original was rated higher...

I've never understood why anyone thinks Famitsu's scores are so damn important. It's one place.

This game should get perfect score, seriously what is it holding back? nothing at all. Famitsu doesnt even have good points why its bad

Although I won't try to blindly protect a game I have not played yet, famitsu's reasoning behind the score seemed somewhat strange. It was apparent that in one way or another they tried rushing the game, and I think that might of affected the score (they played for 100 hrs and although that should technically be enough to evaluate the game, they attempted to finish it in that time, and from what I have seen in other jap sites, that isn't enough.) I just suggest you all look into other Japanese reviews ( they are just being translated) which are far more specific and understandable.

Honestly this score doesn't even matter anyways. Information coming from Japan indicate that this game might be even bigger than we thought so we just gotta wait for a release here I guess:(

@Spoony_Tech - "I'm also interested in the Puzzles and Dragons score???"

2 points higher than this, a 36. No, I'm not kidding, though I did purposely type it as sarcastically as I could. I think the Japanese gaming community is still in it's honeymoon phase w/ app games.

Just click on the Gematsu link at the end of the article for all the scores:

http://gematsu.com/2015/04/famitsu-review-scores-issue-1377

@sinalefa - Could have had some interesting replies if you had left out that "sarcasm aside" part. Still funny though.

You really shouldn't take Famitsu scores to seriously.

Why do you guys care about review scores so much?

puzzle and dragons got four 9s

@rjejr

Yes, but I would have been regarded as an idiot, a troll or both. Except for people who know me like you

Now, I was looking up your avatar and I found that Mr. Red and Mr. Met are way too similar. At first I thought it was the former, but since you are from NY and the color did not match I concluded it was the latter. Sorry for going so offtopic.

@sinalefa - Yeah it's Mr Met, I changed it when they won opening day. It's also the patch they put on the free baseball caps my family all got last year at a game so it's a happy family symbol for me now.

8.5/10 is a good score. Looking forward to the release in NA!

@mjharper You don't want to know. They were so lame it makes you cry.

@Einherjar
Almost, but not quite. We're saturated with what would be Turn-Based battles. They still gave Final Fantasy XIII a 40/40 and the sequel a 39 or 38/40.

Hey, Hyrule Warriors got a 7/10 (from a bunch of places) and I'm still playing that. It is and has been my favorite Wii U game, so scores don't freking matter. As long as it's above a 6, it tells you the game is good, and it doesn't matter if they get a 7/8/9/10, they are just opinions of the reviewer.

@Mr_G

Famitsu isn't a very reliable or trustworthy review source.

Not sure why informational videos would kill your hype.

In other news, http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/dengeki-online-calls-xenoblade-x-an-rpg-masterpiece.454455795/

The interesting thing about Famitsu review scores is that they're 4 opinions in one. So you have a little statistic on how scores could trend in general.

I was thinking it might get straight 9s, but two 9s and two 8s isn't bad. The criticisms of it included being complex without sufficient explanation (similar to Xenoblade IMHO) and too many cutscenes (not a problem for me). I still haven't seen anything that suggests this won't be a bigger, better Xenoblade, and that has my hype meter still pegged. Now we just need a release window for North America!

@gsmaciel Indeed, a review "panel" is a better approach IMO.

@Mr_G

Two 9's out of 10 is a mediocre score? If a game gets a 9 that's damn near perfect. 8/10 means it's very good. I know Famitsu can give high scores but they also seem to mostly play good games, 8's and 9's aren't mediocre no matter how you look at it.

I was expecting at least 35

It's a Day 1 purchase for most of us anyway. Now just give us a damn date for it here in the States!

Prediction: When the time comes Nintendo fails to promote this game in any meaningful way leading to lackluster sales.

How cool would it be if Nintendo started promoting this game months before release with short TV teaser spots? Some dramatic short teasers would go a long way in drumming up some hype around this game. This game deserves it.

Seems like a good score.

@BenAV Agreed. Uprising is a phenomenal game.

@Mitsukiba And im still not sure why anyone would give that game more then 1 or 2 points out of a hundret, just because it looks nice but was wrongfully labeled a game instead of a bluray

"Unfortunately, the Western release date is still alluding us..."

Allude: suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at

Elude: evade or escape from (a danger, enemy, or pursuer), typically in a skillful or cunning way; (of an achievement, or something desired or pursued) fail to be attained by (someone).

I think you meant the latter.

I DEMAND ONLY 10s!

Once pre-orders are available go on GS I'll get it. I can't wait to play this game, with all the Japanese trailers my hype is high. Can't wait to dive into the customization of dolls and explore the world Mira.

@TwilightAngel
I don't personally, but knowing lots of people do, it can totally make or break a game. When a 100+ hour game gets the same score as a 2d AC game, you might think twice about commiting yourself to it. An RPG this big has to be really good in every aspect to make a dent saleswise and scoring an average score on Famitsu (where 8,5 is quite average weirdly enough) doesn't help.
Will I buy this game regardless of the scores? I sure will, just like most people visiting this site...but scores like these probably mean it won't be a best seller, let alone a game that moves consoles.

No 10/10? Cant buy this game in good conscience anymore. I'll stick with tried and true like Assassin's creed and Call of Duty and Skyrim.

All reviewing aside, it will be a good game. Critics are held to standards when writing reviews, and in the end it's still just an opinion. Same with movies, don't base your purchase solely on a magazine's review >.> With the lack of quality in today's RPGs I think this will be a great addition.

This is why numbers mean nothing. Absolutely nothing. Number ratings give the reader an arbitrary sense of what how good the individual finds the game to be, but does not define what is good or bad about the games. Scores are a nice touch if added to the wealth of what the reviewers think, but ideally, it's best to have reviews without ratings.

@Boerewors: The world is full of sheep

@Bi-Mabeobsa
Alrhough that is most certainly true, I can't blame a casual gamer for depending mostly on reviews. People who frequent sites like this have a better understanding of how the industry works and are better aware of what reviews represent; but your regular Joe Sixpack isn't watching translated Nintendo Directs and isn't participating in discussions like these....they just want a score and the name CoD or an 8,5 and up means "buy" and everything else is crap anyways, at least to them.

This game should have a least got a 35.46547090. Very disappointed...

My friendly neighborhood ant queen gave it a 34395234 out of 41245632.

What did they give the original?

34/40 is often given to games that I like and often given to games I don't. The real quiz is the Metro Gamecentral... I mean Nintendo life score!

@Nintenjoe64 The original received a 36/40.

@Quorthon It is one place but the Western games media - a) have no taste in games generally or b) don't even like games but are in it because it has no standards really.

The Famitsu guy was the only guy in the E3 press tournament who looked as if he had ever touched a Smash Bros game before.

Is there an actual review of the game and not just scores? I'd like to know what they didn't like about the game and what they liked.

Xenoblade Chronicles X confirmed to be worse than Nintendogs.

Loving Xenoblade on 3DS right now!

@mjharper
They docked the game for having too many cutscenes in the beginning (seriously?) and for not explaining all the mechanics to the degree they felt it should have been explained.

So basically, it's a perfect game (and by perfect I mean as close to perfect as a game feasibly can be) with the exception of cutscenes and a few mechanics not covered in the tutorial.

If that's the worst they can dig up against this game, I think it's fair to say Xenoblade X is going to be one of the all time greats.

@Stucazzo See above post

@JaxonH Cool, Thanks!

@JaxonH I was thinking the same, those are the bad points? And they really complained about cutscenes? FFXIII, which scored a 39, had like 9+ hours worth, so they can't dislike them that much lol.

Yeah. Virtue's Last Reward got a 34/40 from this outlet as well. And Final Fantasy XIII got a 39/40. FFVI only got a 37/40 from them. According to Famitsu, FFXIII > FFVI.

In other words, their scores are somewhat worthless.

@Ralizah I look at reviews to get a very general idea, and in particular I try to find out what exactly they dislike, as sometimes their complaints can be ridiculous (this goes for other products too).

But when it's just a number? Not that helpful, not until you read why, or as you did, compare it to other games they scored that you're familiar with to get an idea of what they consider to be good.

Here's a crappy google translation of Dengeki's review: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdengekionline.com%2Felem%2F000%2F001%2F040%2F1040729%2F&edit-text=

I have a hard time believing that they've had enough time already for four reviewers to fully experience a 300-hour-ish game to give a fair review.

I was expecting higher, I expected at least 9's from each reviewer. I guess two out of four ain't bad, but I'd like to know the reason behind the two 8's.

@pyrotek85

I know...FFXIII (and Tales of/Kid Icarus scores) make it hard for me to take Famitsu seriously. FFXIII in particular. I don't hate it as much as some people...but no, just no.

IMO Famitsu is the IGN of Japan. Tons of thoughtless masses will flock to them, to other people they're just a joke.

@Crimzonlogic Personally, I think the shorter and/or simpler a game is, the easier it is to get a good score if it does everything right. I mean, how do you even accurately score a game when it takes so many hours to see it in it's entirety? And if just a few things out of all those dozens or hundreds of hours was bad, is that enough to knock whole points off a possible score of ten?

I just don't think you can boil down games this big to a score like that. That might have worked back in the NES/SNES era, but games are a lot longer and more complex now.

@R_Champ IGN of Japan, lol I'm gonna steal that

@pyrotek85 At the same time though, if the reviewer gives the game a good score despite not having played enough hours to fully grasp the game, it can be (not always though) indicative of a really great game. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a great example of this. They definitely didn't play enough to get the full idea of the game, yet gave it a great score based on the few hours they did play.

@IceClimbers Yeah, and I don't necessarily expect them to 100% complete a game or anything, I just don't like scores in general because often people will rush to judge it without understanding it. It's one of the reasons some developers hate metacritic. You're right that it should be apparent fairly quickly whether the game is good or not though.

For me, being that I'm familiar with the previous game and having seen the large amount of footage that they've shared, I don't think there's anything that will prevent me from loving the game to pieces, even if it has some things that bother me. It just looks too good.

For guys complaining about the score rating, you shouldn't trust Famitsu too much. They gave Metroid Prime, Chrono Trigger, and Demon Souls all average scores. All of those games are often candidates for GOAT (with the possible exception of Demon Souls). Simultaneously they give perfect or near perfect scores to games that don't deserve it like RE6 a 39/40, FF13 39/40, and Nintendogs a 40/40.

Also just read their complaints on Xenoblade Chronicles X and you'll see that their complaints are actually things that reviewers would usually find positive. "Their world is deep and takes effort to understand." Wow, you actually needed effort huh? I guess we should just be playing Angry Birds which takes no effort instead. "The battle system is complex." Get someone who is not a casual gamer then. It feels like these guys only played the game for 10 minutes to an hour before making this review, it's pretty terrible.

Japan is the same place where people hates Mother 3 for not being Mother 2 2.0 (hehe) , I thought we learned to not trust any japanese review when it comes to JRPGs.

Game has too many cutscenes. 4/10 plox

@pyrotek85

Feel free to steal it and spread the word to the world! Now if I can only get that and my "disbelieber" to go viral...:3

@BenAV Agree, uprising is sorely under appreciated. It makes me wish sakurai focus more on action-adventure games and revive older forgotten Nintendo titles like the mysterious castle ninja game or star tropics.

That's generally a great score, can't wait until it comes over here.

Just like with Western reviews, Famitsu numbers are pretty meaningless without being able to read the text of the review.

Lol they gave Assassins Creed: Chronicles the same score. Can't and won't believe them there, sorry.

Oh! I thought you meant its soundtrack. Ah, well. Numbers. Whatever.