@Indielink you would be surprised by how many "professional" reviews let mistakes slip in. I will never forget the one from Astral Chain (not from Nintendo Life) where the reviewer claimed the game has no reward/trophy system on the battles like other platinum games, only for people to find out that is the case only when you play on easy mode...
A few heads up for reviewers with the upcoming release of Xenoblade X definitive edition.
The game is not a spin-off, never was, never was called as such by the developers. Was never a black sheep either, its critical reception is higher than 2 and torna, and its user reception is as high as 1 definitive edition.
Also, careful with strong statements such as has no connection with the rest of the franchise. This does not match what said by developers in interviews around the time of 1 definitive edition. Instead, just say "you don't need to play other games to play and understand this one", which can also be said for each entry in the blade franchise, and is a more future proof statement.
On the game, please remember to check the options menu, there may be options there to customize the battle UI to make it even more clear.
For performance, remember that Zelda BOTW (which is also a Wii U game) and TOTK have several instances of noticeable frame drops, from kakariko, deku tree, launching enemies with two-hand sword, and going a bit over the top on crafting. If you guys mostly ignored these problems in Zelda, you won't mind any minor potential rare drops in XDE, for consistency, right, right?
And since I mentioned Zelda, let's talk about the silent avatar. Not all modern games put voices in the avatars, you guys are fine with Zelda and Baldur gates 3 doing silent avatar, so it comes to reason you should be fine with a silent avatar in XDE as well.
On Story and open world structure, remember that in Zelda TOTK, if you do tear of the dragon sidequest early you basically breaks the story, because then you are forced to watch characters making a bunch of dump questions or statements regarding Princess Zelda, and cannot do anything about because link, who is supposed to be you in the world, is not given an option to tell them what he/we already figured out eons ago, and yet many of you call that game an open world masterpiece. TOTK story is also full of inconsistencies regarding the events of BOTW, its direct prequel. Yet many of you fully ignored that. So I very much hope that, for consistency sake, I will not see some of you making a big deal of the Avatar in X not having much agency in the (main) story or about story quality...
Also, the avatar in X is effectively the Point of View character, but not the main character of the story, that, is clearly Elma. And that is FINE. There is no hard rules that says that the PoV char also has to be the main character. And if you, for some reason, needs to feel like the main character of the story, simply put Elma as the leader in the menu and play as her, done, simple as that. The avatar has a lot of weight however on the sidequests (normal and affinity missions), which is also story, regardless of not being mandatory, and are a big part of the experience.
On X being "too different" from the other Xenoblade, please, please be careful with hyperboles. While yes, it is different, it is not THAT different, we had entries in the Zelda series that are less alike between each other than that, and most of you don't make a big deal out of it. Not to say then of Final Fantasy where the games can vary widely. So again, not a huge deal.
O large deal of XCX sales in Japan came from digital version for precise reasons (the director told it was the best way to enjoy XCX). It is very possible that the same happened all around the world, as many people following this game were aware of Monolith soft annoucements.
I recall the game doing good but not great in Japan (physical version) but then Nintendo released the eshop sales of the month and bang, XCX was in the top.
Great review Mr. Thomas whitehead!!! very detailed and complete, nice to see a review who dedicates his time to make the most of a game. Now let me just ask you, why is not your review added to metecritic and opencritic of Xenoblade Chronicles X? Such a great review show be added there for the game overall score.
Comments 6
Re: Hands On: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - A Decade On, Mira's Still Got It
@Indielink what I cannot do however is protect you from your stupidity.
Re: Hands On: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - A Decade On, Mira's Still Got It
@Indielink you would be surprised by how many "professional" reviews let mistakes slip in. I will never forget the one from Astral Chain (not from Nintendo Life) where the reviewer claimed the game has no reward/trophy system on the battles like other platinum games, only for people to find out that is the case only when you play on easy mode...
Re: Hands On: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - A Decade On, Mira's Still Got It
A few heads up for reviewers with the upcoming release of Xenoblade X definitive edition.
The game is not a spin-off, never was, never was called as such by the developers. Was never a black sheep either, its critical reception is higher than 2 and torna, and its user reception is as high as 1 definitive edition.
Also, careful with strong statements such as has no connection with the rest of the franchise. This does not match what said by developers in interviews around the time of 1 definitive edition. Instead, just say "you don't need to play other games to play and understand this one", which can also be said for each entry in the blade franchise, and is a more future proof statement.
On the game, please remember to check the options menu, there may be options there to customize the battle UI to make it even more clear.
For performance, remember that Zelda BOTW (which is also a Wii U game) and TOTK have several instances of noticeable frame drops, from kakariko, deku tree, launching enemies with two-hand sword, and going a bit over the top on crafting. If you guys mostly ignored these problems in Zelda, you won't mind any minor potential rare drops in XDE, for consistency, right, right?
And since I mentioned Zelda, let's talk about the silent avatar. Not all modern games put voices in the avatars, you guys are fine with Zelda and Baldur gates 3 doing silent avatar, so it comes to reason you should be fine with a silent avatar in XDE as well.
On Story and open world structure, remember that in Zelda TOTK, if you do tear of the dragon sidequest early you basically breaks the story, because then you are forced to watch characters making a bunch of dump questions or statements regarding Princess Zelda, and cannot do anything about because link, who is supposed to be you in the world, is not given an option to tell them what he/we already figured out eons ago, and yet many of you call that game an open world masterpiece. TOTK story is also full of inconsistencies regarding the events of BOTW, its direct prequel. Yet many of you fully ignored that. So I very much hope that, for consistency sake, I will not see some of you making a big deal of the Avatar in X not having much agency in the (main) story or about story quality...
Also, the avatar in X is effectively the Point of View character, but not the main character of the story, that, is clearly Elma. And that is FINE. There is no hard rules that says that the PoV char also has to be the main character. And if you, for some reason, needs to feel like the main character of the story, simply put Elma as the leader in the menu and play as her, done, simple as that. The avatar has a lot of weight however on the sidequests (normal and affinity missions), which is also story, regardless of not being mandatory, and are a big part of the experience.
On X being "too different" from the other Xenoblade, please, please be careful with hyperboles. While yes, it is different, it is not THAT different, we had entries in the Zelda series that are less alike between each other than that, and most of you don't make a big deal out of it. Not to say then of Final Fantasy where the games can vary widely. So again, not a huge deal.
Re: Evergreen Nintendo Releases Hang Tough in the UK as Xenoblade Chronicles X Tumbles Out of Top 40
Lets wait for the digital sales. pretty sure there is where it is going to shine.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles X Earns Modest UK Chart Position But Outsells Predecessor
O large deal of XCX sales in Japan came from digital version for precise reasons (the director told it was the best way to enjoy XCX). It is very possible that the same happened all around the world, as many people following this game were aware of Monolith soft annoucements.
I recall the game doing good but not great in Japan (physical version) but then Nintendo released the eshop sales of the month and bang, XCX was in the top.
Re: Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
Great review Mr. Thomas whitehead!!! very detailed and complete, nice to see a review who dedicates his time to make the most of a game. Now let me just ask you, why is not your review added to metecritic and opencritic of Xenoblade Chronicles X? Such a great review show be added there for the game overall score.