Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017)

This one is super disappointing. The combat isn't well-explained, but eventually got a little better. The story has neat ideas, but lackluster execution (for what it's worth, the last two chapters had a better story). The characters are generic and really expect the player to care when those moments aren't earned at all. Even the quests weren't fun. They're even more fetch-questy than Xenoblade 1 and X's quests and offer more obstacles with the awful field skills. The rewards are mild experience points and mild development points, which you could just get by fighting monsters and buying items anyway. The exploration that defined Xenoblade 1 and X is reduced heavily. You basically explore a bunch of small islands now.

Tier list is Xenogears > Xenoblade 1 > Xenosaga III > Xenoblade X > Xenosaga I > Xenosaga II > Xenoblade 2

I played 30 hours of this game last year then i gave up on it when i found some parts to be super annoying like the quest system, especially for the sidequests. I also disliked the field skills and some of the voice acting. The characters were quite interesting but the story only picks up after about 20-30 hours of gameplay for me.

The game also had many mechanics and systems that were hard to get at first as its my first xenoblade game. But i came back to it for the combat which was super fun and never got old as i spent another 30-40 hours to finish the story. Also the graphics and world design were excellent. Especially considering it's on the little switch.

I've finished quite a few rpgs but ive never played a game quite like this. It is truly unique but you need to be really patient and stick with it.

Still need to actually write my review for the XC:DE, but I haven't been on my computer much lately...

Been playing this sporadically since I finished the first game.

I really like all of the different Blades, the setting, the music, and, from what I've seen at around 40 logged hours, the plot. It's a little more fanservice-y than the first game and definitely more anime with the character design, but that's kind of whatever.

However, I HATE the mini map/menu map. It's complete garbage. The first game had all of the layers that you could cycle through, and moving around was simple and functional. Everything about this map and the zoomed version sucks.

Map aside, I think the affinity system has gotten a little tedious, and that (plus probably going from 130 hours on one JRPG right into another one) is why I'm not playing it a lot. I don't mind systems where you unlock skills based on completing tasks (defeating a certain monster, cooking, using a certain move a given number of times, etc.), but I have to keep checking it to see who needs what so that I don't waste time fighting a certain monster with one Blade when another needs it for their chart, or something similar.

I've also been reading a lot, since I tend to cycle through my hobbies when it comes to which one I'm mostly focusing on, so that could also be part of it.

So with all the hype for the Definitive Edition, I went back to finish 2. I may be editorializing, but I feel like this game was rushed. Some of the animations and character models lack the polish that X and even the original Xenoblade have. It's still fun. I'm still having a blast! I just feel like every cutscene is a drag. I'd almost rather just have still renders of the characters with text boxes. I like the story, I just don't like the way it is being delivered.

Also did Monolithsoft get like really horny since making 1? Haha like what is going on?

Been getting sucked into this one. I tend to 'save' my Switch games for night but I found myself playing this one during the day on the TV. Visual quality is definitely much better when the console is docked. Game says I'm about 35 hours in. HLTB lists the game as being around 45-50 hours if you focus on the story so I'm pretty far away from completion since I've been exploring and doing side-quests as I'm going.

Playing this has been getting me excited for the definitive edition of the original Xenoblade Chronicles. I never managed to finish that game - I got stuck on the Lothlorita fight for ages and when I did go back to the game, the graphics really made my eyes bleed (still impressive they jammed a Wii game onto the 3DS).

Been plugging away at this one. Kept me up a couple of nights. It's been a lot of fun. I can tell they've tried to make it more epic than the first two - there seems to be new characters rocking up every hour as the stakes continually get higher. Combat is a blast, I'm playing on easy mostly to enjoy the story and atmosphere.

My main criticism of the game is its horrible map management. It can be a nightmare to navigate and work out where you need to go. Even the icons at the top of the screen don't give you much indication of the direction you need to go, they don't move as much as they should.

Just to preface, I liked exploring the world and the combat system was interesting enough to keep me engaged.

Just a few of the many problems with XBC:2—oversaturated with lifeless, pointless, mind numbingly boring cutscenes (this is more of an issue I have with dated JRPG design in general, but XBC:2 is a huge offender and refuses to modernize/take a different narrative approach/take advantage of the fact that video games are an interactive medium and stories can be explored and engaged in an interactive way), terrible localization, terrible naming schemes for gameplay mechanics, baffling implementation of a gacha system, bad overworld map/mini map design and implementation—actually the UI/UX in general is so abysmal that it feels like they pushed the job of creating it onto one woefully unqualified intern graphic designer and then never playtested it—nothing about it is quick (to read, to load, to navigate, etc), and so it doesn't complement the gameplay in a seamless manner.

One of the biggest annoyances in the game is everything related to the blade management, but more specifically the tedious process of constantly changing blades out just to meet field skill requirements. This could've been alleviated in many ways. The simplest one that comes to mind is to have some sort of quick menu pop up at the numerous field skill "challenges," or whatever the hell they're called, that allows you to either "attempt with current layout" or choose the blades whose skills you'd like to apply.

Of course this solution would make players question even further, "what the hell is the point of these common blades in the first place?" As of now, the only reason to equip them is for their field skills (unless you happen upon an rng blessed 4 star common that outclasses the uniques—the odds of this happening is basically equivalent to winning the lottery, as in, it's not going to happen). Back to the point, I like the idea that the devs didn't want their failed gacha mechanic to feel even less pointless than it already is, and so they willfully kept it and chose to implement bad game design choices in order to force the player to "use" common blades who otherwise only exist for the sake of the gacha.

I don't have the time or patience to go over all the problems with this game as I'd end up writing a 20 page essay. And so ends my mini-rant.

The game was absolutely fantastic to say the least To think that I expected this to bad prior to the release is hilarious to me, I cried for 4 minutes straight during the end scene, last time that happened was with Nier Automata. The gameplay seemed like it would get repetitive at first, but honestly? It's super fun and addictive. As for the localization? It's somewhat bad, they fit the dialogue to the british dub and made dumb changes with names, like morag and tora calling rex 'rex-rex' instead of 'big bro' (aniki). However i'm glad nothing plot relevant was changed, the personality of characters seemed intact, I love the entire cast, even the two characters I hated got a really good redemption. I also really appreciate the dual audio and applaud the devs for including it. Because of some minor annoyances like field skills affecting story progression and my playtime glitching,

I rate Xenoblade Chronicles a 9/10.

Playtime: 85+ hours according to switch profile 107:52:18 In-game time

“Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?” -Isaiah 10:15 [ESV]

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2017 was a great year for games. From Nintendo’s new hybrid console/handheld to a variety of award-winning exclusives all around to the little gems that popped up here and there, it the first year in decades where I played more brand new games than retro ones. In 2017 I enjoyed amazing titles like Final Fantasy XV (to an extent), Wulverblade, SteamWorld Dig 2, Super Mario Odyssey and GOTY The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There is much more for me to sample from 2017, besides, like Horizon Zero Dawn and Cuphead.

So where does Xenoblade Chronicles 2 stand among the giants? Let me begin with what Xenoblade 2 is and then I’ll explain my level of interest leading up to its launch, and finally I’ll discuss my impressions on the game.

Closing out our terran solar cycle, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a sprawling, open-world JRPG developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo as an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch. It follows on the heels of the first Xenoblade Chronicles as its sequel and it belongs to the Xeno metaseries, which began way back in ’98 with Xenogears on the PlayStation One. This series is noted for tackling psychological, philosophical, and theological themes in their separate and frequently unrelated stories.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 began development as a response to fan feedback concerning Xenoblade Chronicles X, an intermediary title between the first game and its direct sequel. Xenoblade X altered the structure of the original Xenoblade by swapping out the traditional JRPG flavor for a mission-based framework. Xenoblade 2 was developed with an emphasis on anime appearances versus the more realistic art in the previous games and special attention was taken to telling the story in Xenoblade 2 with a cinematic approach. This is plain to see in the expressive and vibrant (if sometimes stereotypical) anime-influenced characters as well as numerous cutscenes.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 follows a new cast that lives in a dying world. Rex is a young orphan boy who becomes involved in the hunt for the Aegis, Pyra, a powerful and ancient entity known as a Blade. Briefly, Blades are weapon-entities that are attached to Drivers who use their abilities for combat.2017-09-03-23_18_25-Xenoblade-Chronicles™-2-for-the-Nintendo-Switch™-console-Official-siteRex and Pyra begin their search for paradise, Elysium, which Rex believes resides at the top of the World Tree. The existence of such a place is his hope for the world as people are living on the backs of gigantic living islands called Titans floating around in the Cloud Sea. The Titans are reaching the end of their long lifespans so a new home for civilization must be found.

Think Waterworld where Kevin Costner is Rex, Pyra is that little kid with the map tattoo, and the myth their looking for is dry land: Elysium.

However, Rex finds himself in the middle of a power struggle for the Aegis with a host of villains out to get Pyra and use her abilities for their own whims. Along the way, Rex and Pyra begin to encounter questions of destiny, free will, and ontology. Drivers are mortal but Blades live forever, though if their Driver dies then a Blade returns to its original crystalline state. The next time a Blade is awakened from their crystal, they will have forgotten everything that happened previously, including their former Driver. This is too much to bear for many Blades, driving the quest for several characters to reach ascend the World Tree, reach Elysium, and question the Architect, the creator of this world.

Catching hints of the theological questions raised by Xenoblade 2 piqued my interest, and I already knew that the Xeno games were known for this. However, my interest in the game first began when Nintendo unveiled the game as part of the Switch’s reveal in January of 2017. It immediately appeared to be a robust JRPG and mainline title, and I’ve got a soft spot in my heart of hearts for the JRPGs of yore. Further, the initial trailer revealed that Yasunori Mitsuda was attached to the project. That got me excited.

Mitsuda is known among video game music fans as the composer of the soundtracks for Chrono Cross, Shadow Hearts, and Xenogears. His passionate, intense labor on the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger is legendary and the end result is one of the most beloved scores in gaming. Seeing his name as composer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sent a thrill right through me! But Xenoblade 2 wouldn’t be arriving for a long time, though I in January. All I had to do was wait.

As Breath of the Wild came and rocked the world, then Arms, Splatoon 2, and eventually Super Mario Odyssey, December neared and with it Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Along the way an extended gameplay presentation for Xenoblade 2 appeared. This is where a little apprehension set in.

I suppose it was hard to maintain interest in the gameplay while the presentation was being narrated by Sterling Holloway’s Winnie the Pooh. This soft-spoken voice that was at times barely audible ended up belonging to Gramps, one of the smaller Titans and Rex’s own personal mode of transport at the start of the game.

Then came the controversy.

Click here for the full review... https://thewellredmage.com/2018/01/19/xenoblade-chronicles-2/