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My first time journey through Xenoblade Chronicles(Definitive Ed.)

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Started it recently. Played a little bit of it when it first came out on Wii. My Wii had issues with dual layered discs, so I stopped. Put it off when it came out on Switch until now.

So far I'm finding the story interesting. I don't think it's as good as some of my all-time favorite JRPG stories, but I am intrigued. Voice acting is solid enough.

Love the world. Not "open world" per se, but I think I actually prefer this format of a bunch of massive areas connected to one another than say your typical open world. I like the day/night cycles and how things look different at night. Was very impressed by weather effects too, not common for a JRPG. Wish there were treasure chests and stuff to find on the map instead of just collectible spots, that would give more of a sense of discovery and reason to explore every corner of the area, though. So far I feel like I'm only exploring to fill out the map and see sights, as most quests-givers are concentrated in specific areas.

Battle system: started off not liking it at all. Had to get used to you not being able to control your basic attacks and only control your arts. I've gotten used to it. It's... fine. Not close to my favorite battle system, far from bad though.

Gotta say, the biggest disappointment for me with this game has been the music. I heard people rave about the soundtrack and it started off great. Love the track for Colony 9 outdoors and town. Felt like playing an old school RPG. Then, kinda settled in and not a ton of memorable stuff since. Maybe that will pick up as I progress.

Have spent 90% of my time on side quests. There's so many. Almost too many. Most are dumb, but there have been several I found interesting. The more elaborate path choice ones.

So far, boss fights haven't been super memorable, but there is some challenge here if you aren't leveled enough.

Love the customization. Might be my favorite thing combined with the world. Steep learning curve, tons to alter, adjust, and customize. Like the heart to hearts, affinity, and developing Colony 6 too.

So far I'm liking it a ton. Best JRPG ever? I don't think so. But one of the best I've played in recent memory. After this, I'll be diving right into 2. Then depending on what's on my docket, I'll probably wait a bit to play 3. Right now I'm probably 40-50% through the game.
 
I'm still not blown away by any of these games, but they're worth buying for me (barely).

The thing that keeps me coming back is that so far each one has been a small improvement over the previous games. Xeno < Xeno X < Xeno 2.
After Xeno 3, I'm ready for them to try something new. But it's an impressive accomplishment to release so many large games.

The OST for me always seemed overrated. It's good, and from a great composer. Has a few standout tracks, and the rest is average to good. But it's never been in the upper echelon of OSTs for me like FFX, FFXI, FFXIII, NieR, NieR Automata, and on and on. Mid-tier JRPG OST.
 
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DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
How far are you actually in the game? Sounds like you haven't even reached Gaur Plaines.

It's puzzling to hear things like the being disappointed with the soundtrack... 👀
Saved at Prison Island. That's where I last left off. I liked the music at Alcamoth a lot. The unique monster and boss tracks haven't stood out to me. A lot of the music is very quiet and subtle. It's not bad, I just went in expecting it to be like Chrono Cross level, and I don't think it's been close to that. But it blends in with exploration well subtly so far.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I'm still not blown away by any of these games, but they're worth buying for me (barely).

The thing that keeps me coming back is that so far each one has been a small improvement over the previous games. Xeno < Xeno X < Xeno 2.
After Xeno 3, I'm ready for them to try something new. But it's an impressive accomplishment to release so many large games.

The OST for me always seemed overrated. It's good, and from a great composer. Has a few standout tracks, and the rest is average to good. But it's never been in the upper echelon of OSTs for me like FFX, FFXI, FFXIII, NieR, NieR Automata, and on and on. Mid-tier JRPG OST.
I've heard XCX is a lot different. More like an MMORPG with a custom protagonist and one large world instead of large areas divided by waypoints. I have it, I'll get to it eventually. Probably next year.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
I'm still not blown away by any of these games, but they're worth buying for me (barely).

The thing that keeps me coming back is that so far each one has been a small improvement over the previous games. Xeno < Xeno X < Xeno 2.
After Xeno 3, I'm ready for them to try something new. But it's an impressive accomplishment to release so many large games.

The OST for me always seemed overrated. It's good, and from a great composer. Has a few standout tracks, and the rest is average to good. But it's never been in the upper echelon of OSTs for me like FFX, FFXI, FFXIII, NieR, NieR Automata, and on and on. Mid-tier JRPG OST.

I think Xenoblade 2 is really interesting to me largely because it shows what could happen if you released a gatcha game for a set price, you earn blades just like some mobile game but you have to work for the pulls and its really enjoyable to see that rainbow glow and see what new unique blade is going to pop out for you.

then there's of course...

 
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Does that mean it's bad?

If so, I've been prepped by dealing with Dragon Quest XI for 90+ hours. Amazing game, maybe worst JRPG soundtrack I've ever heard.
I haven't played it for years so I'd have to review it, but it definitely has a least a few super cringe tracks lol. Didn't impact my enjoyment of the game at all though, but I laughed.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Does that mean it's bad?

If so, I've been prepped by dealing with Dragon Quest XI for 90+ hours. Amazing game, maybe worst JRPG soundtrack I've ever heard.

time for battle... prepare to be rapped to about Tar for the 60th time today



3:46 to see the singer become actually confused, I don't think that was lyrics, some guy just wandered into the recording studio high because they forgot to lock the door.
 
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Shifty1897

Member
As someone who is 60 hours in, most of the side quests are just there to give you money and exp, but some unlock even more customization for your party (not going to spoil more than that) so either use a guide for those or just do every quest you find. Also change the time between 9am and 9pm in towns because some quests only appear at night, and a lot of quests have prerequisites such as completing previous questlines or increasing that area's affinity. You should also talk to anyone in a town or field that is marked with a green dot on your minimap, these are people who can be added to your affinity chart.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
And then get hit with this everything you're in the main hub





There's no music volume slider in the game btw



When I saw the limited edition Wii U version in the USA came with a digital soundtrack on a USB drive and the EU limited edition didn't even get a copy of the sound track I felt a little bit miffed when I put my preorder down in the UK. I felt a lot less miffed about 3 hours into the game.
 
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Mister Wolf

Member
I've heard XCX is a lot different. More like an MMORPG with a custom protagonist and one large world instead of large areas divided by waypoints. I have it, I'll get to it eventually. Probably next year.

Yeah story takes a backseat in X and ends on a cliffhanger that will likely never see a resolution.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Saved at Prison Island. That's where I last left off. I liked the music at Alcamoth a lot. The unique monster and boss tracks haven't stood out to me. A lot of the music is very quiet and subtle. It's not bad, I just went in expecting it to be like Chrono Cross level, and I don't think it's been close to that. But it blends in with exploration well subtly so far.
Oof, you still have half the game left to change to mind. :messenger_winking_tongue:
 
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Nautilus

Banned
Does that mean it's bad?

If so, I've been prepped by dealing with Dragon Quest XI for 90+ hours. Amazing game, maybe worst JRPG soundtrack I've ever heard.
There are some really good tracks, and some really weird ones.

I feel like, at the end of the day, it's really interesting and good. But it's certainly divisive.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
I only own the first Xenoblade and everytime I try to play it I get super annoyed by the constant character announcements and grunts during battles with apparently no way to turn that crap off. Im not listening to that for a 100+ hours.
Its a critical flaw to the game.
 
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DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
What does Xenoblade 2 do better than 1? Have they tweaked the battle system a bit to give the user a little more control?
 
What does Xenoblade 2 do better than 1? Have they tweaked the battle system a bit to give the user a little more control?
More T&A. Battle system seems streamlined and more accessible, with better UI design. Characters were more enjoyable in my opinion. Graphics were better.

Similar hands off MMO style combat, but there's combos and other things to keep you occupied.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I'm 22 hours in and just started repairing colony 6. There is so many side quests but I remember Xeno 2 being similar.

I want to smash through it in time for 3 but I just cant help myself doing side stuff.

I guess it takes over 100 hours to do it all? I have a long road ahead lol

I like the music, and Im not that far in.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
What does Xenoblade 2 do better than 1? Have they tweaked the battle system a bit to give the user a little more control?
For one you arts in face button instead of trying cycling through like you do in 1st game, you also have little more control what elements arts use to complete your fusion combo, you also have much options to customize your party based on which Blade they equip.

But biggest improvement is in XC1 almost everything tied to character affinity, from heart to heart to gem crafting to skill tree link and even chain attacks. Increasing each party affinity can be grindy, this is no longer the case with XC2.

XC2 has best combat in my opinion but the problem is it has terrible tutorial and the game starts vey slow.
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
time for battle... prepare to be rapped to about Tar for the 60th time today



3:46 to see the singer become actually confused, I don't think that was lyrics, some guy just wandered into the recording studio high because they forgot to lock the door.

Lol I never paid close attention to the lyrics. Wtf? You’d think they’d get some native English speaker to write these songs. I would love to see the singer’s face when they asked him to perform this song.

Guess this is about what I’d expect from a game where you set aside your quest to literally stop a fucking doomsday clock so you can help someone open up their designer alien lingerie store.
 

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
Gotta say, the biggest disappointment for me with this game has been the music.
eL6BSye.gif
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I’ve found Yoko’s earlier work much better than recent work. I heard the same thing about FFXV and I thought FFXV’s soundtrack was so boring that I found myself using the music player to play FFVIII’s soundtrack while exploring and playing. I think she’s super talented, but I’ve enjoyed her earlier stuff a lot more. I’ll see what the 2nd half of the game has in terms of music.
 

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
I’ve found Yoko’s earlier work much better than recent work. I heard the same thing about FFXV and I thought FFXV’s soundtrack was so boring that I found myself using the music player to play FFVIII’s soundtrack while exploring and playing. I think she’s super talented, but I’ve enjoyed her earlier stuff a lot more. I’ll see what the 2nd half of the game has in terms of music.
I'll agree that FFXV's was pretty boring, truth be told, but Xenoblades was quite fantastic compared to the normal JRPG fare.

I'll check out the earlier stuff now you've said 👍
 

Brigandier

Member
Gotta say, the biggest disappointment for me with this game has been the music. I heard people rave about the soundtrack and it started off great. Love the track for Colony 9 outdoors and town. Felt like playing an old school RPG. Then, kinda settled in and not a ton of memorable stuff since. Maybe that will pick up as I progress.

Have you got the OST set to original or remastered?.

The original is absolutely different class to the remastered version.

Yoko Shimomura only composed the main theme and Colony 9 day/night the rest was ACE+.
 
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daveonezero

Banned
I’m working through it as well. I really like it. I’m getting a bit bored though with the combat.

I just got past the
Screaming magic dino thing and picked up arhat weird pon dude

What do you guys suggest as a party? I’ve been playing Sharla while Shulk and Dunbar take things out. I like it but feel like I’m just running through the areas. I’m not too far in but wondering if I should mix it up.

I didn’t like how I had to switch up the party to get certain abilities for that boss fight.
 
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I just started playing too. I’m not crazy about it but definitely the best jrpg I’ve played in years. Buying Xeno 2 as soon as I’m finished.
 

NanaMiku

Member
I’m working through it as well. I really like it. I’m getting a bit bored though with the combat.

I just got past the
Screaming magic dino thing and picked up arhat weird pon dude

What do you guys suggest as a party? I’ve been playing Sharla while Shulk and Dunbar take things out. I like it but feel like I’m just running through the areas. I’m not too far in but wondering if I should mix it up.

I didn’t like how I had to switch up the party to get certain abilities for that boss fight.
You can also use Melia's art Mind Blast to stop the Soul Read skill. You can also Daze them to stop it. Try no Sharla to make the fight more challenging.
 

Rykan

Member
How far are you actually in the game? Sounds like you haven't even reached Gaur Plaines.

It's puzzling to hear things like the being disappointed with the soundtrack... 👀
For what it's worth, I'm currently playing through the first game as well (I think I'm about halfway?) And I don't think the soundtrack is anything remarkable either.
 

Rykan

Member
I’m working through it as well. I really like it. I’m getting a bit bored though with the combat.

I just got past the
Screaming magic dino thing and picked up arhat weird pon dude

What do you guys suggest as a party? I’ve been playing Sharla while Shulk and Dunbar take things out. I like it but feel like I’m just running through the areas. I’m not too far in but wondering if I should mix it up.

I didn’t like how I had to switch up the party to get certain abilities for that boss fight.
Get rid of Sharla. She's the worst character in the game. Her damage is bad and you don't need her for healing when you have access to Riki.

I suggest one of two parties right now:
Shulk/Dunban/Reyn.

This is a damage powerhouse. Make sure that you control Shulk. Keep in mind that not every character is controlled well by the AI: Some characters, such as Shulk or Melia, are actually not very good unless you pilot them yourself. The biggest issue with this team is that you don't have a lot of healing. That won't be an issue at all for normal enemies as your damage will be so high that you'll plow through everything, but it might be a bit of an issue with bosses if you're not properly level'd or equip'd.

Shulk/Dunban/Riki. Dunban is widely considered to be the best tank. Stack him up on agility gems so that he will dodge every attack. This is a very balanced team as Riki can both be your ether damage dealer and your healer. He will fulfill this role much better than Sharla can. This won't reach the damage heights of the other comp I've mentioned, but its a safer option for boss fights as you'll have plenty of healing from Riki.
 

sigmaZ

Member
Started it recently. Played a little bit of it when it first came out on Wii. My Wii had issues with dual layered discs, so I stopped. Put it off when it came out on Switch until now.

So far I'm finding the story interesting. I don't think it's as good as some of my all-time favorite JRPG stories, but I am intrigued. Voice acting is solid enough.

Love the world. Not "open world" per se, but I think I actually prefer this format of a bunch of massive areas connected to one another than say your typical open world. I like the day/night cycles and how things look different at night. Was very impressed by weather effects too, not common for a JRPG. Wish there were treasure chests and stuff to find on the map instead of just collectible spots, that would give more of a sense of discovery and reason to explore every corner of the area, though. So far I feel like I'm only exploring to fill out the map and see sights, as most quests-givers are concentrated in specific areas.

Battle system: started off not liking it at all. Had to get used to you not being able to control your basic attacks and only control your arts. I've gotten used to it. It's... fine. Not close to my favorite battle system, far from bad though.

Gotta say, the biggest disappointment for me with this game has been the music. I heard people rave about the soundtrack and it started off great. Love the track for Colony 9 outdoors and town. Felt like playing an old school RPG. Then, kinda settled in and not a ton of memorable stuff since. Maybe that will pick up as I progress.

Have spent 90% of my time on side quests. There's so many. Almost too many. Most are dumb, but there have been several I found interesting. The more elaborate path choice ones.

So far, boss fights haven't been super memorable, but there is some challenge here if you aren't leveled enough.

Love the customization. Might be my favorite thing combined with the world. Steep learning curve, tons to alter, adjust, and customize. Like the heart to hearts, affinity, and developing Colony 6 too.

So far I'm liking it a ton. Best JRPG ever? I don't think so. But one of the best I've played in recent memory. After this, I'll be diving right into 2. Then depending on what's on my docket, I'll probably wait a bit to play 3. Right now I'm probably 40-50% through the game.
Most of your criticism is fair. I think what was important about this game is that it did something drastically different from what other RPGs were doing in a really aesthetically pleasing way. The battle system wasn't amazing (though I did like how they tied the story to battle system abilities) and the questing was alright, but I really hated how many quests there were. Felt like content bloat, which is something I despise in games as its just padding. You finish a quest with an NPC and they give you four more. You should have one or two quests per NPC max imo unless you do a detailed side story or something. The story started out great, with great plot action, but falls apart in the third act due to unnecessary exposition. By the end of the game the exposition and questing wore me out despite the beauty of the different areas and the music. And I somewhat agree with you about the music. I think it's a fantastic OST, but the songs towards the beginning are just so good and stand out that everything else pales in comparison. I'm assuming you'll play 2 next? It's actually quite different in almost every way. Besides the starting areas, overall, I would say it's the better game as I had no trouble completing it. The story is OK, like generic anime OK. I really like the concept behind the blades, but the gatcha mechanic and the sure amount of grind necessary was ill concieved imo. I'm pretty sure looking at what they've refined, that 3 will be the best. The artwork looks much better, the world design has the scale of part 1, and the music sounds amazing. Really looking forward to it.
 

sigmaZ

Member
I’ve found Yoko’s earlier work much better than recent work. I heard the same thing about FFXV and I thought FFXV’s soundtrack was so boring that I found myself using the music player to play FFVIII’s soundtrack while exploring and playing. I think she’s super talented, but I’ve enjoyed her earlier stuff a lot more. I’ll see what the 2nd half of the game has in terms of music.
I don't think this is Yoko's quality of composition. The music she did for the game was among her best I would say. It was the dumb decision to follow the BotW trend with minimal music which made things feel really strange and even more hollow than they were. Looks like 16 won't this problem thankfully.
 

Shifty1897

Member
Melia is powerful (ONLY IF YOU CONTROL HER) and quite fun to play, slap a few Ether Ups on her, then Summon Lightning, summon copy, summon earth, discharge the earth for some damage over time, then just keeping summoning the next element in your list and discharge it, while keeping your two thunderbolts stocked. You'll tear through most enemies your level with that.
 

Mistake

Member
The side quests were pretty lame and felt like a giant waste of time. I wouldn’t have done them if it didn’t improve character abilities. Outside of that, I enjoyed the battle system and storyline. Keep in mind, that if you’re a completionist, there is a “point of no return” around the 85% mark.

I originally played the wii version with component cables. It was hard as hell to read any text without them, so I was glad for the switch rerelease. A shame we probably aren’t getting Xenoblade X ported though. My only real gripe is that there is no couch coop option in any of the series
 

sigmaZ

Member
The side quests were pretty lame and felt like a giant waste of time. I wouldn’t have done them if it didn’t improve character abilities. Outside of that, I enjoyed the battle system and storyline. Keep in mind, that if you’re a completionist, there is a “point of no return” around the 85% mark.

I originally played the wii version with component cables. It was hard as hell to read any text without them, so I was glad for the switch rerelease. A shame we probably aren’t getting Xenoblade X ported though. My only real gripe is that there is no couch coop option in any of the series
Indeed. I feel like this is something the creators need to be better aware of. I'm ok with lots of sidequests if they are instant and you don't have to return and talk to the quest giver and such. Then, it's just gameplay. I hate how they will make do the quest, come all they way back, go through some meaningless dialogue, only to be given another quest. Rinse, wash, and repeat. This is what traumatized me playing through FF14 as well.
 
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