A new Xenoblade game is upon us and though the number two is in the game's title it's not a direct sequel. We've got new worlds to explore and all new characters.
You are Rex, the Aegis (whatever that means), and your companion is Pyra, who is a Blade. Your task is to get Pyra to Elysium, the mythical paradise. Along the way you'll gather companions and collect more Blades, who you can use in combat.
Some things have changed, but a lot has stayed the same. The UI and how you select arts has completely changed, likely for the better as it appears to be refined. I wanted to say simplified, but I don't know if that's true. Positioning is still important, as are status effects and stagger/topple is still important.
In the game there will be multiple Titans to explore. Civilizations have sprung up on the backs of certain Titans, with different biomes to each Titan. Some Titans are smaller and act as airships. How many and how varied they all are is to be seen.
The game is slated to be released simultaneously in all regions December 1st, 2017.
Note: There will only be English voices, no Japanese track. Nintendo changed course here and dual audio will be available at launch as free DLC.
Also, Nintendo of Europe is the lead for localization outside of Japan, just like with the original XC.
Nintendo Treehouse blog detailing combat: https://nintendotreehouse.tumblr.com...
Thread at ResetERA that's even better as describing combat: https://www.resetera.com/threads/xen...
///
Note: Spoilers abound in the below videos.
Watch and re-watch a number of times until it begins to make sense.
For those who aren't sure which voice acting to choose, give this a go. Note: You don't need to start a new game to change the language, can be done on the fly at any time.
Can't I at least get a downloadable Japanese track? Good lord people...
I don't know how to explain it but the footage left me unimpressed. The first one had such huge environments and monsters, and the 2nd seemed to add better graphics but this one....it looks pretty but it seems to lack (at least for me) the epic huge feel of the other games.
*And as I watch the second video again it is just as huge as the first two so I don't have any idea why it doesn't feel that way to me.
And, as usual, the combat seemed just overly complicated without any good payoff. It doesn't seem more fun because it is complicated.
I wasn't super impressed by the trailer I saw in the spotlight presentation either. I was also pretty annoyed that the two female characters had ridiculous sized chests.
I want a good Xenoblade game on the Switch (or ports of the Wii and Wii U games), so I'm hoping this turns out well.
I don't know how to explain it but the footage left me unimpressed.
I don't think much explanation is needed. I felt the same. I skipped Chronicles X on the Wii U, but really enjoyed the 40 or so hours I put into Chronicles on my 3DS.
Chronicles 2 doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look particularly exciting. Then again, I didn't think Chronicles looked exciting either until I started playing it, so maybe this will be similar. I will wait for reviews and impressions.
While I'm mostly just happy that people are continuing to pay Takahashi to make games, a good part of me wishes they had decided to do a more story focused game in the Xenoblade X setting. Xenoblade Chronicles (1) was certainly the best all around game his teams have ever made, but Xenoblade X sheltered the promise of a return to the complete madness that I loved so much in Xenogears (and Xenosaga, to slightly lesser extent). Also, I can't say I'm super jazzed by the character art direction they've shown so far, but anime is going to anime, I suppose.
Anyway, minor grumbles aside, I'm thrilled to get another Xeno game, and a bit surprised to be seeing it just two years after the previous one. Crazy!
That giant anime boobs probably means I will pass on this one.. If it was a full on ARPG I might look past it to play but this looks more like a turn based timing RPG which isnt my thing at all.
I'm working on this. Stay tuned.
Thanks Garion. Looking forward to what you have to say about Xenoblade Chronicles X.
I really enjoyed XCX despite a million serious flaws in it, largely because it is the best pure EXPLORATION game I've ever played. That has me watching this with interest. I wonder if they'll have a separate "lineage" and we'll get a Xenoblade Chronicles X-2, with each "line" emphasizing certain traits?
I am going to start thinking of these as Final Fantasy games. IE games that share a name and sort of a world but largely are separate.
Yeah, it has just taken awhile to really accept that. I kept trying to find some deep ties or continuation of story but there really are not any.
Way back in 1998, when Square was riding high on the success of Final Fantasy VII, they released a game directed by Tetsuya Takahashi titled Xenogears. What was important or different about Xenogears that we're still seeing "Xeno" games nearly twenty years later? The short answer is that the story brought in philosophy and religious concepts not usually seen in games. Xenogears mixed Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche with mechs. Basically, it's the game version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Most of the major plot points in the game are literally from the Book of Genesis.
Thanks for the awesome overview, I have heard of these games but had no idea what they are about.
This sounds like something I might really like so looking forward to checking it out when it is released.
I am going to start thinking of these as Final Fantasy games. IE games that share a name and sort of a world but largely are separate.
Isn't this true of many Japanese RPGs?
and every other Square-Enix project that is delayed repeatedly. :P
Hey now, I don't think The World Ends With You was delayed. And he definitely cooled it on the belts/zippers things a releases ago (although the world cannot forgive him the Vivi design in KH)
That said, top image definitely looks Nomura-esque specifically an expy from the KH Unchained Chi guild leaders.
I should still get through the original Xenoblade on my 3DS. So many things to be playing.
I should still get through the original Xenoblade on my 3DS. So many things to be playing.
I wish I could do that, but I'm not buying a new 3DS for it. Here's hoping they port the earlier games to the Switch at some point. Unlikely, but it'd be super sweet.
So I started playing Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii and when I thought about going back I started hearing about XCX. From Garion's post I surmise that they are different games and not just a remake/remaster? Will either game tie in story wise to XC2?
Definitely different games. Probably won't have any link to XC2. I can't tell you much more about either, because I've only put a few hours into each. XC I think got backburnered by something else. XCX turned out to have text that was small enough that playing on a 60" TV, I had to strain to read anything from my couch 13' away. And there's a LOT of text in that game.
If anyone wants to experience all of Xenoblade Chronicles, without the reptitive grinding and have someone who loves the game gush over most of it as he 100%'s it with tons of knowledge and highlights of the soundtrack and stuff, check out Chuggaconroy's Let's Play.
Another vote for Chuggaconroy. His Let's play is wonderful.
XC was one of my favorite RPG experiences ever whereas XCX was impressive technically but I stopped playing after 15hours or so, so I'm excited for a more story driven game. I've skipped all preview videos for this because I feel like JRPGs in general (even the first XC) come across surprisingly badly in videos compared to how they actually play. I think more than some other genres it's important to be drawn into the tone and context of the story to smooth over elements that are jarring out of context.
My fear is that Xenoblade Chronicles was lightning in a bottle and Monolith Soft isn't quite capable of bringing everything together in a cohesive package again.
I think we talked about this in another thread, but I had the opposite response to Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X. XC was good, but chained its more interesting open world sections together with boring, bland, extremely linear segments underground that abandoned just about everything that made the game fun.
My hope is that this release doesn't confuse "story-driven" with that same start/stop pacing. (And I desperately hope they cool it with the wiki-required materials gathering.)
That giant anime boobs probably means I will pass on this one.. If it was a full on ARPG I might look past it to play but this looks more like a turn based timing RPG which isnt my thing at all.
I'm confused. Passing because of character designs is fine, but I'm not sure what you mean about the gameplay. This isn't turn based.
Pages