Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 02:49:19 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (Switch version for Switch Console)

Started by Consignia, May 30, 2020, 06:15:27 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Consignia

So this came out for the Switch yesterday:



I quite enjoyed XC2, and since never playing the original and fancying a longish JRPG, I snapped it up.

I'm a bit mixed on it so far. It's clearly a 10 year old game for a system that was using dated hardware at the time. Not a lot has been done to upgrade it, and the performance is almost as bad as XC2. I'll get used to the presentation eventually, but it's quite striking for a full price release that it looks like this.

The gameplay has yet to click with me. I reckon it's because it's got quite a complex battle system(or appears at the moment) and it's not the most natural to pick up. I recall having the same issue XC2, but not really dying the amount of times I seem to be against enemies roughly my level.

All said so, the world does look great. Despite being a Wii game the fields are vast just like XC2, which makes it feel great to traverse in. I also like the story dumps you straight into the action, rather doing menial busy work early on. It's really quite complelling and once it clicks I think I'll really get on with this game.

Probably not one for those who have already played it, but certainly worth a look to those who missed earlier releases.

Abnormal Palm

I've tried to go back to XC2 so many times since release date but I fundamentally think it's bloated with a lot of absolute dogshit. At its best, it's a cracking game but most of it is tiresome to me.

I heard this is better so uninstalled 2 and downloaded this. The Digital Foundry analysis was pretty disappointing to be honest, staggering how little they've updated it or learned from XC2 but so be it. I heard the characters, story and music are well better than XC2

Consignia

I liked XC2, but yeah it was tough love. Have got high hopes for this though, in comparison.

I did watch the DF video, and it is disappointing. But it does feel like playing a PS2-era game, rather than a poorly conceived modern one. You almost have to come at from retro point of view. It's certainly not a deal breaker for me at least.

Abnormal Palm

Yeah, and I am happy to do that. I wish it performed better than XC2 but so be it. I didn't really mind the XC2 resolution etc, it was more the terrible quest structure and abysmal maps and tutorials and stuff like that. I loved a lot about it, including the locations and music and some characters, but there was just a lot of fuckin crap in there.

This is supposed to be a purer experience, with better story, pacing and music. I'm up for that.

Kelvin

Why, in the name of god, does the Wii U game, Xenoblade X, look and run better than this ugly port of a game from the wii era? It's ridiculous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvpNXhzscjQ

That game was one of the best games on Wii U. Genuinely superb. I can't understand why their subsequent releases both fall so short, visually. 

Bazooka

I only ever played it through once on Wii and it was a really great experience.

Timothy

QuoteI didn't really mind the XC2 resolution etc, it was more the terrible quest structure and abysmal maps and tutorials and stuff like that. I loved a lot about it, including the locations and music and some characters, but there was just a lot of fuckin crap in there.

This is supposed to be a purer experience, with better story, pacing and music. I'm up for that.

Same here. I didn't like XC2 and sold it quite quickly. Bought this yesterday. Looking forward to try it tomorrow.

peanutbutter

Xenoblade Chronicles has been released on every Nintendo machine since the Wii now? Why is it always kinda high profile?
Tried playing it on the 3DS but got the vibe that it was gonna be a fucking monstrous length so packed it in.


Is there a reason the Last Story (the other big RPG from the dying days of the Wii) has never had any kind of reissue?

Pink Gregory

Speaking of complex combat systems, did anyone else play Resonance of Fate?  What were that about eh?

Bazooka

Good shout, The Last Story is excellent, cost about £60. Looks like the developers haven't released anything big outside of Japan. Pandora's Tower was also good despite its time limit system.

Ah Resonance of Fate, ha yes I have it on disc for PS3, I didn't really pay too much attention to all the inside and outside of the combat system and kind of just winged it and spammed hoping for the best.  That game was so grey.


Consignia

Think I'm getting into it now, after about 5 hours. Combat is feeling more manageable, but still struggle at times when the screen gets to busy, and flicking between skills and enemy targets and seeming beyond my co-ordination. Almost clicking but still not quite there.

Not bothering the MMORPG style busy-work side quest busy work, though. I've done enough "go here kill 5 rabbits" to last me a life time, thank you.

Timothy

Really enjoying the game so far.

One bit of advice about the sidequests; Accept most of them anyway. The game makes it quite easy to complete a lot of them without stepping away from the main quest and you dont need to return to the questgiver to complete it. Its a pretty easy way to gain xp.

peanutbutter

Totally unrelated to the topic at hand but I don't want to start a thread, are the Professor Layton games any good?


Quote from: Bazooka on May 30, 2020, 09:05:03 PM
Good shout, The Last Story is excellent, cost about £60. Looks like the developers haven't released anything big outside of Japan. Pandora's Tower was also good despite its time limit system.
Extra bizarre when it's Hironobu Sakaguchi, he's got the name value that even if no company wanted to make his next game, he could swindle a few million from a kickstarter campaign easy.

Even if the Last Story were regarded as absolute dogshit he could probably fund a remaster via kickstarter just from his name value and the fact loads of people missed it, actually.

Abnormal Palm

Quote from: peanutbutter on May 31, 2020, 07:39:53 PM
Totally unrelated to the topic at hand but I don't want to start a thread, are the Professor Layton games any good?

OG DS games were really good, lovely art and music and good puzzles for the most part. Later games were less good and the Switch one is meant to be quite poor in terms of puzzle quality. I'd love to have a good Switch Layton but apparently that's not it.

I'm enjoying XC:DE as well, by the way. Much less convoluted than XC2, it seems.

peanutbutter

Quote from: Abnormal Palm on May 31, 2020, 07:56:21 PM
OG DS games were really good, lovely art and music and good puzzles for the most part.
Cool, I'll give the first one a shot. The whole series seems kinda awkward, each game is only a third of a story? The second story is a prequel and occurs across two machines then somehow Pheonix Wright gets involved at some point.
Between it, Yo Kai Watch and Inzuma Eleven, I get the impression Level 5 have an issue with making loads of sequels that don't do a lot to differentiate themselves and ultimately run the risk of making the quality of the original games be watered down

Reckon I'll just approach the first one like it's a self contained game.

Bazooka

Quote from: peanutbutter on May 31, 2020, 07:39:53 PM
Totally unrelated to the topic at hand but I don't want to start a thread, are the Professor Layton games any good?

Extra bizarre when it's Hironobu Sakaguchi, he's got the name value that even if no company wanted to make his next game, he could swindle a few million from a kickstarter campaign easy.

Even if the Last Story were regarded as absolute dogshit he could probably fund a remaster via kickstarter just from his name value and the fact loads of people missed it, actually.

I thought it reviewed pretty well, and everyone who played it thought it was solid.

peanutbutter

Quote from: Bazooka on May 31, 2020, 08:52:26 PM
I thought it reviewed pretty well, and everyone who played it thought it was solid.
Exactly, I remember at the time it was getting reviews like "MistWalker have come close a few times but they've finally shown what they're capable of with the Last Story".

Odd that Lost Odyssey hasn't appeared on anything since either. MistWalker must have some weird legal shit going on the last few years

Bazooka

I've never owned an Xbox since the original, so missed out on Lost Odyssey on 360, but I've heard good things and I'm sure it's all true.

Timothy

I really disliked XCII. The story, most of the characters, the terrible quests. XC seemed more of the same. I found the trailers incredibly dull and didn't plan on buying the game.

Then Friday, with it being lockdown and all, I just decided to try it out. If I didn't like it I could sell it and it seemed that everybody said that XC was the better game so I could atleast try it out.

I absolutely love this game. The story, the combat, the fact that you gain XP by just wandering around, the fact that for most sidequests you don't have to go back to the questgiver after you complete them (the one thing I disliked about Dragon Quest)....

So if you didn't like II but are a fan of JRPGs, just try it. I expected nothing and am having a blast.

QuoteOG DS games were really good, lovely art and music and good puzzles for the most part. Later games were less good and the Switch one is meant to be quite poor in terms of puzzle quality. I'd love to have a good Switch Layton but apparently that's not it.

I'm a huge fan of the Layton games but the Switch version was indeed a bad bad puzzle game. Lots of puzzles didn't make sense or had some sort of joke you didn't expect did did you gotcha solutions. Most puzzles were badly explained. The story was also quite dull and Katrielle was quite an annoying character. Skip that game.

Quote from: peanutbutter on May 31, 2020, 10:14:32 PM
Exactly, I remember at the time it was getting reviews like "MistWalker have come close a few times but they've finally shown what they're capable of with the Last Story".

Odd that Lost Odyssey hasn't appeared on anything since either. MistWalker must have some weird legal shit going on the last few years

Microsoft provided most of the budget for Lost Odyssey, so I wouldn't expect that to turn up anywhere other than Xbox. It's backward compatible, though, so you can play the Xbox 360 version on Xbox One and Series X.

Consignia

Just finished the main game a couple of days ago. Plodding through the extra chapter a bit now, but it really does pale compared to the main game.

Firstly, it does take a while but once the gameplay clicks, it really does get fun. It becomes a bit of a rythmn game, you have time your attacks with enemys and get into the right pattern, and type of enemy requires different tactics. Towards the end of the game I was actively seeking out fights rather than running past them early game.

Visualy, I don't think played such a beautiful yet ugly game. The art direction is fantastic, and the giant fields are amazingly fun to traverse and explore. It would been amazing to play this on a Wii. However this is the Switch and the poor resolution and quality hit it right in the balls.

Music was pretty good and hit all the right notes.

Story was fine, I guess. Functional. I'm surprised how much shit Xenoblade 2 got for being anime stylee, when in many ways this is just as bad.

Overall, I wish they'd put more effort into porting, maybe remaking it to look a little less shitty. However it fun romp and worth playing if you haven't already and can get past the lacklustre presentation.

Rating: Rex out of a Possible Shulk.