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Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Started by Shay Chaise, December 01, 2017, 05:29:09 PM

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Shay Chaise

I got this to round off the Switch launch announcement releases, everything in that first Direct is now out, and it was about thirty quid on the SA eShop so a good saving, too.

World looks colossal. Characters look well dodgy, chapless kecks, hot pants and skin tight everything, no facial features. Not cool on any level, and this is from someone who had several wanks over Quiet in MGSV (a sexy adult) and Bayonetta (a sexy witch adult). I know it's anime and impressionistic etc but at least make them look like adults if you're determined to dress characters in such a gross way. Kind of killing my enthusiasm at the moment.

Anyone else pick this up? Any costume changes available?

Kelvin

You forgot your bath wank over a fairy in botw. Its amazing you get any gaming done with a libido like yours.

As for Xenoblade 2, I'm definitely going to pick it up, as Xenoblade X on Wii U is one of the best games I've played in years. As I said in the Switch thread, though, the trailers and art style for this game have both failed to excite, or even interest me at all. I'll probably pick it up in the next few weeks, and play it over Xmas.

Oh, and in Xenoblade X, there were countless unlockable outfits, but I think this time the costume changes are tied to story progression.

Shay Chaise

Excellent point, not sure how I forgot that. One of many, drop in the ocean, so to speak.

I'm now waiting for the Japanese voice update to play more of this. Virtually every character I've come across is abysmally voiced. Sub-Hollyoaks filth.

Z

This really strikes me as a game people will make jokes in the future about everyone owning only because Mario coming out in October left a ton of switch players needing a big release before Christmas.

brat-sampson

There are no character outfit changes, but you can choose who you control on the world map and which Blade you have out, so if you want to keep Pyra in her Pyroball (or however these things work eventually, I've still only got the one) you can. Also, the Japanese DLC should be out already. As in, I downloaded it this morning.

I'm into it so far, just near the start of Chapter 2 so still waiting for things to open up. Combat's already gotten more multi-layered and interesting, but at the moment it feels like Puyo combos in a ten second game and most of the enemies have been dead before my third art even charged, let alone the idea of using specials or, heaven forbid, sequences of specials. It looks like there's a time window for sequencing them too, so in the tutorial for what happens when you link enough, I couldn't get another one ready before the time ran out (my fault) and by the time I'd rigged up a second one the beast was dead. So yeah, potentially interesting, but weird at the moment. I hope it gets better. It's certainly got the potential to.

The story's Anime, but the writer's got credence for his past stuff always starting off tropey before moving off into far more interesting ideas so I'll happily give him the benefit of the doubt for now. As it is though, I'm a charming young bloke helping a magical girl on a journey while darker forces want her for themselves. So yeah. It better improve at some point.  I do want to say that in this year of Persona 5, the translation team seem to have done a really great job. The English VA can be whatever*,  but at least the writers know how to use grammar correctly.

World looks lovely, and playing it on the metro was a marvel, as ever.

*for what it's worth, I like the range of accents and think the main characters seem fine, but have heard that later it gets... bad.

Kelvin

#5
Quote from: Z on December 01, 2017, 07:34:50 PM
This really strikes me as a game people will make jokes in the future about everyone owning only because Mario coming out in October left a ton of switch players needing a big release before Christmas.

I doubt it. The Xenoblade series is pretty widely respected and critically well recieved, if not especially well known. I actually think it's a real shame that the trailers have done such a poor job of selling the game to a new audience, as this is a series that deserves much wider appreciation, in my view. It's a shame that after a game as wonderful as Xenoblade X, the series has put out something so easily dismissed (at first glance) as generic anime/jrpg filler. The series deserves more respect and attention than that. 

brat-sampson

#6
I'm further in! It turns out you get more time to try out the combat options pretty quickly, so I retract my previous statement regarding how low level things die too quickly.

As for new opinions, I love how it's occasionally *genuinely* funny. I think I have a better feel for the combat than I did in the original. I like the world. I have an issue with it adding side-quests in towns that, if you try to pursue them immediately, are essentially impossible. I tried to take a break and explore and simply met death or failure many times. I'd suggest if you're ever 'narratively limited'* in your combat abilities, you should progress the story rather than explore. I also don't appreciate the level of randomness in numerous aspects of the game, from salvaging to what is essentially a Gatcha system when it comes to obtaining new blades. There's no money involved, obviously, but it still hate the feeling that, assuming I casually play through the game only once, I might well miss out on very interesting features purely via luck, and that even if I decided I wanted to 100% it, that luck factor would still be the main barrier to doing so. But yeah, other than those caveats, so far, fucking love it.

It definitely seems like one of those games that's genuinely brilliant but won't appeal to everyone, and that's speaking as someone who put a lot of hours into the first** but never clicked with it. This one seems better.

*a phrase that I now claim to own entirely
**I never played X

Consignia

Yeah, yeah. I caved and bought it. I've only played a bit, but the battle system has taken a bit to get into but it's actually not too bad. Haven't really engaged with the story yet, but I've probably only got about an hour under my belt. The issues with the character design seem rather exaggerated, it's only really a couple of the main characters than the generic label would really apply. Otherwise the art direction seems fine, if still generic in a different way.

Shay Chaise

I've played a bit more of this and somehow got past the voice acting (which bothered me in Japanese, too, so I switched back) and some voices are quite funny/unusual. The costumes bother me less too. I guess you get accustomed/desensitised to this stuff. I don't think it looks particularly good, doesn't seem much more impressive than XCX but it's good enough.

Positive notes: The music is amazing! Some of the dialogue is actually funny. I'm really looking forward to throwing myself into an absolutely massive world and 100-hour game. The environmental designs are great so far, lots of charm and atmosphere.

Consignia

I wrote my previous message before meeting Homura in game. I can see where people are coming from, the designs are alienating to say the least. I was judging mostly by the 2D artwork, where it's not as bad. Still finding it a bit tricky to get into, I really struggled in the first boss battle.

brat-sampson

I don't know how far through you are, Shay,  but I've seen at least one area that was breathtaking. Also, I get the combat now! It's really satisfying when it all flows together to dish out 50k+ damage on some huge fucker, but wolves that reach near death then decide to call out for further wolves can piss off.

Kelvin

The world design has always been the most impressive, and genuinely remarkable, aspect of the xenoblade series imo. The actual designs of the different regions in Xenoblade X really are among the most impressive I've ever seen in a game, even though on a technical level it couldn't compete with more powerful games.

falafel

Not shit then? Cause it looks really shit.

Shay Chaise

Falafel, you basically need to have a certain tolerance for anime type shit, or you need to become desensitised to it. It's all about tactical battles and a colossal open world. It's big in terms of size but what's most amazing is the scale of the landscapes and scenery and geography. It's really really cool to see these kind of alien rock monoliths and gigantic beasts and to roam around in that world. At least, that was my experience with the previous game, and I understand that this has a similarly epic approach to the world design.

I really started to get into the combat last night, it's very satisfying, albeit a bit confusing still. I'm not into tactical RPG stuff or JRPG mechanics really but this is starting to click with me.

DocDaneeka

I like the way the evil empire is Scottish.

Some of the acting & story is annoying but I like that half the characters are Snarf-esque comic relief.

Bazooka

Are all the material drops still blue little orbs?

Thursday

Quote from: Shay Chaise on December 04, 2017, 10:49:31 AM
Falafel, you basically need to have a certain tolerance for anime type shit, or you need to become desensitised to it.

I do, I mean I love Persona games, but this just seems impossibly bad

https://twitter.com/Kotaku/status/936347149209669632

(I know you can switch to Japanese voices that would minimise this a bit)

brat-sampson

You can also change the volume of battle cries in the menu in either language, including down to zero ;)

Consignia

Apparently the graphics are terrible in handheld mode: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-does-xenoblade-chronicles-2-push-switch-mobile-mode-too-far . I don't know, I play exclusively in handheld, and whilst it's no Nintendo game for smoothness, it looks fine to me. The scale of the environment is phenomenal.

brat-sampson

This is a pretty frustrating game to love at times, but I still do. Yes, the combination of 'map' and 'compass', along with the scale and verticality of the environments can leave you pretty lost. Yes, needing to have some specific combination of blade/field skills to achieve something you didn't expect while exploring or even when pushing the crit path is a faff. Yes, the English VA during battles is tuned, let's say, a little high. But it's a grand old time with a fun cast, some ridiculous set-pieces, fights where you set up your enemy to fail then smash them for like half a million fucking damage at once, utterly gorgeous vistas and it's all just really... satisfying. There aren't many JRPGs I've enjoyed this much, and I've played a good amount.

Just starting Ch. 5, for reference.

Shay Chaise

^ Oh, nice timing!

I'm really enjoying this now. I've barely scratched the surface at around seven hours and only the second chapter but I've been learning the earliest intricacies of combat and while I'm getting battered by most things in the open areas, it's just fun and much more involving than I thought.

I would have been pretty happy with just a big open world to explore and sink into, with lots of little quests and JRPG cheese, perfect complement to a wintry Sunday, but it's not like BotW or Skyrim at all, really. The combat is thrust upon you and there are relatively few options to explore for the sake of it at this stage. Areas seem gated by enemy levels or story obstacles. Usually, this would be a bit of a turnoff for me (I certainly felt that The Witcher 3 suffered from having level 100 dogs to impede your exploration, and the like) but I'm happy enough plodding along here, racking up a long list of side quests, many of which I find I can't do yet, and just following the main story, being fed new mechanics and customisation options along the way. I expect I'll have much more freedom at some stage in the near future when I can gallomp across the map getting battered by mobs but for now I'm loving the cosy atmosphere.

It's a brilliant Christmas game, if you know what I mean. Very cosy and friendly, wonderful music and atmosphere. The towns are great, lots of charm and JRPG stock character stuff with some genuinely funny lines, at times. The voice acting is still kind of dreadful, but I'm totally used to it now and it wouldn't be the same game with a more serious tone. It's not like it's all tongue in cheek and knowing, far from it. It's that cheesy sincerity and teenage sense of integrity which really appeals to me now, as a drifting husk of what I once believed possible. It's rejuvenating in that sense, not really childlike wonder, like Mario or Zelda inspired, but a sense of camaraderie and determination and idealism and optimism.

For me, at this stage, this sits at A-tier below BotW and Odyssey, on the same level as MK8D, ARMS and Splatoon 2, all of which I love.

Consignia

The fighting system really takes some getting used to. It's not well explained how you do things like those combos or those chains where you can knock over and launch enemies. I'm really cycling between fun and frustating.

Also, the map system is sooooooooooo shit. I've lost loads time not knowing where to go, partially because I'm not paying attention in a key cut scene, but also locating the next goal can be such a pain.

And the Gacha system for obtaining blades is really silly. I suppose I've only had one non-rare out of a rare attempt, but it's stupid it involves luck.

It just lacks polish, I think there's a more fun game hiding in here somewhere, it just needed a bit more development time.

Consignia

There's a scene where Byakko, the white tiger, is wearing comedy striped pajamas. I think that sums up the general tone of the game.

Consignia

Oh bugger this just crashed on me losing about 7 hours of gameplay (The switch's sleep mode is both a blessing and a curse). Don't know if I've really got the energy to go through the same bits again, despite being fun on the way.

Kelvin

How did it crash? I'd like to know if it's avoidable, as that's pretty off putting.

Consignia

I was just walking in a dungeon, in the sandy/industrial forth island in chapter 4, and the Switch just popped up with a message saying the game had crashed. There didn't seem to be much rhyme nor reason to it. It's just another sign the game was a bit rushed, a bit more testing probably would have trapped issues like this. I hear there's a patch out soon for it, hopefully that will sort it out.

The bottom line is; save often.

Thursday

How can you go 7 hours without saving though, even with sleep mode? What's WRONG with you?

Consignia

I'm struggling to drop this game entirely, it's easy to pick up and the battle system, whilst really really poorly explained is quite fun despite the really clunky interface. Not paying attention to the story, though. Really have no clue what's going on, or who half the people in the party are.

Kelvin

I just can't bring myself to buy it, despite my utter love for Xenoblade X. Just every single piece of footage looks ugly as all hell; terribly animated, near-nude characters float-walking between blurry enemies, getting one-shotted by even the smallest creatures and partaking in long, repetitive combat cycles. I'm so disappointed by everything I see.   

Consignia

It's certainly a hard recommendation. The worst thing about the character designs isn't the most obvious one though, but the fact they are so wildly inconsistent, pretty every single one feels like they should be in a different game. It's pretty bad when you've got your cartoony main dude and gal, and you come up against baddies (well, I assume they are baddies I think there's been some sympathetic plot in there at some point) who look fairly realistic (relatively, obs.).