Fierce_LiNk Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 Not just the music. I didn't even finish this game and it was still a better experience than Skyward Sword. The sense of scale in this game is incredible. You genuinely do feel that you are travelling over a vast land, rather than a series of places joined together randomly. It's cohesive. And...oh my God, the lack of loading times...how?! How is this possible?
Mokong Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 I've put a few more hours into this and am on my way to save JuJu. Loving the game, it's really addictive. The music is just heaven. Puts the music in Skyward Sword to shame. Ah now that I know where you are, what was your reaction when you first got to the Bionis Leg.... and did you run into any erm... shall we say...."large" roaming creatures? Not just the music. I didn't even finish this game and it was still a better experience than Skyward Sword. Get back to your Wii now mister and finish the game
Hero-of-Time Posted July 24, 2012 Author Posted July 24, 2012 Get back to your Wii now mister and finish the game I know. I know. I burnt myself out of it by doing all the sidequests and then I left it for a while and never went back to it. Problem is that if I did want to play it again I would want to start from scratch, which means losing the 20-30 hours I already put into it. The same thing happened to me when playing Dragon Quest VIII. I took a break from it and then just never went back.
Mokong Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 @Zechs_Merquise hates this game... he has no soul! you serious? he enjoyed Last Story (which I enjoyed too) but Xenoblade is like Last Story on some sort of drug that makes it 100 times more awesome. been wondering why he hasn't posted since getting the game. thought maybe he either hadn't started yet, or can't stop playing.... if he truely does hate it he probably should make an appointment at his local hospital for a check-up and catscan, haha Say it ain't so Zechs And...oh my God, the lack of loading times...how?! How is this possible? Again I say it really makes Monster Hunter 3 look a bit lazy, haha
Zechs Merquise Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 It's just over rated and not particularly fun. It's very complicated and involves lots of running around in large fields grinding against really shitty enemies in order to kill the enemies who own you. It thows loads of tutorials at you and just expects you to understand all the complexities. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone at the moment. I actually feel pissed off I wasted thirty quid on it! I've been playing it for 6 and a half hours now, and nothing has really grabbed me. The main quest has really not developed, the characters so far are shit and the side quests are rubbish and usually involve killing x number of a certain animal! I played Fallout 3 and the side quests in that were amazing! The combat is also crap - you just spam abilities. Which you have loads of, so you're not really arsed which ones you develop and most battles revolve around Reyn being a tank and absorbing the hits whilst you backslash and spam attacks to lead to a topple. I'm actually considering giving up on this it's so disappointing.
RedShell Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 It's just over rated and not particularly fun. It's very complicated and involves lots of running around in large fields grinding against really shitty enemies in order to kill the enemies who own you. It thows loads of tutorials at you and just expects you to understand all the complexities. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone at the moment. I actually feel pissed off I wasted thirty quid on it! I've been playing it for 6 and a half hours now, and nothing has really grabbed me. The main quest has really not developed, the characters so far are shit and the side quests are rubbish and usually involve killing x number of a certain animal! I played Fallout 3 and the side quests in that were amazing! The combat is also crap - you just spam abilities. Which you have loads of, so you're not really arsed which ones you develop and most battles revolve around Reyn being a tank and absorbing the hits whilst you backslash and spam attacks to lead to a topple. I'm actually considering giving up on this it's so disappointing. *awaits the wrath of @Mokong X\-C* Must say, I'm surprised you don't like the combat system though. I thought it was genius. And the mid-battle levelling up... so slick.
Mokong Posted July 25, 2012 Posted July 25, 2012 :o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o Hold on just gonna make a phonecall first... *dails phone number* (note this is actually my 2nd time type this post....laptop decided it wanted to shut down earlier on me...must look into that later ) Now while we're waiting for Liam to arrive.... WHAT THE FRAK.... Are you and Kav having a joke or something? It's just over rated and not particularly fun. It's very complicated and involves lots of running around in large fields grinding against really shitty enemies in order to kill the enemies who own you. It thows loads of tutorials at you and just expects you to understand all the complexities. Ok yes I agree it does seem very complex at the start but I certainly did not feel the game expected or required me to understand everything 100% in one go. I think didn't even read some of the early stuff properly but you just learn things naturally anyway as you go. Don't worry so much "if I don't understand this now I'm not gonna be able to the game", you will and if you don't get something you'll eventually just naturally start to understand things more as you play. As for the side quests, yeah there is a lot of minor "find x of this" and "Kill x of that" but as I said these are minor. When I worked this out I tended to on finding a new area collect as many side quests as I could find before setting out to explore and/or follow the story and you'll just end up completing the minor ones as you play. There might be a few where the item or creature is rare or only appears in certain conditions but you don't have to find everything if you don't want to. And the beauty is you don't have to return to the quest giver anyway so it is just a nice way to get some extra XP and cash. But as you progress the story and get to new areas you'll come across the more complex, different and "major" side quests too, there's probably some of those early the game too, can't fully remember but any "named" NPC with a side quest usually has something that is not "find or kill x of something". I've been playing it for 6 and a half hours now, and nothing has really grabbed me. The main quest has really not developed, the characters so far are shit and the side quests are rubbish and usually involve killing x number of a certain animal! I played Fallout 3 and the side quests in that were amazing! Just where in the story are you now? Cause reading your post I get the feeling you've not progressed that much at all and are just focusing on side quests and yet still expecting the story to move on at the same time. For someone who enjoyed games like Monster Hunter 3 and Last Story I would have pegged Xenoblade as the perfect game for you. I enjoyed Last Story too and I know you finished it what twice? The story in that was good yes, but Xenoblades is so much more, it has some great set pieces, lovely twists and great development of story and characters...and you get to explore a lot more than the one city. I gotta say I cared about pretty much every character in Xenoblade but Last Story only really had the one stand out character (Syrenne). MH3 offered what at the time seemed like large areas to explore and created a beautiful world yes. But in comparision Xenoblade goes so much further it is unreal. One area in Xeno is probably as big or bigger than all the maps in MH3 combined and there is no loading between different parts of an area. I remember when I first played Xenoblade and you first arrive at Colony 9 I expected a loading screen to appear when I went over that little bridge.... my god was I amazed when none appeared and I began to realise the true scope of the size of a world that did and does create a living ecosystem that MH3 tired to do but Xeno fully achived it on a much grander scale. You have this large open world that you are just free to explore as much or as little as you want. The combat is also crap - you just spam abilities. Which you have loads of, so you're not really arsed which ones you develop and most battles revolve around Reyn being a tank and absorbing the hits whilst you backslash and spam attacks to lead to a topple. Again I ask just where in the story are you? Cause that sounds like you are still very early in the game, you mention "backslash" which if I remember right gets replaced reletively "early" in the narrative by another move if you moved the story on far enough. Early in the game it did feel a little spammy for me too, but as you move forwards and gain more characters and come across a lot of different kinds of enemies the battles start to get more and more tacticle as things move on. You will start to see advatages and disadvantages of some moves in different situations or aggainst different enemies. Along with the actual attack moves then you got the different skills a character could have depending on their armour and gems (yeah gems... think MH3 and multiply it by 10) plus skill linking from the skill trees (which I only fully understood about halfway into the story) and the amount of depth to the combat system is amazing. I'm actually considering giving up on this it's so disappointing. Again I ask where in the story are you (like what have you last done that affected the story, where are you meant to go next and what characters are in your team)? Because from what I think I understand of what you posted I get the feeling you are still early on and have just been doing a lot of side quests and exploring (which is good) but you maybe expected some side quests to lead to a furthering of the story instead of actually following the proper story path. If I am right I would urge you to stick with it and once you start getting further and meeting new characters and seeing new areas you'll likely start to enjoy it more. Also maybe you are just so overwhelmed by the sheer size of the games world and depth of the technicalities of the game you just can't yet get your head around it properly.... or maybe you still hold that grudge you had aggainst the game when as you said... "Xenoblade took my friend away from CoD, I hate that game" :wink: *cough* K, I can understand not everyone will like it, but as I said I know you enjoyed MH3, Last Story and other games like Zelda. Which is why I expected you would fully enjoy this too cause Xenoblade is like all of those but it's spent alot more time in the gym and is much much fitter (Best anology I can think of without resorting to "on steroids" )
Zechs Merquise Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Well I played it some more last night. I am also starting to enjoy it a little more as well. I have just bumped into Sharla and JuJu and JuJu ran off. We chased after him and got to a boss fight with a large Mechon Octopus which I defeated on my first attempt - at which point another Mechon with a face appears and takes JuJu. At that point something came up and I had to leave it. I will play more tonight. My main problem with the game stems from the amount you have to take in at the beginning. I think the developers are completely out of touch with most gamers and need to take people a little more by the hand in the early stages of the game. I understand what you are syaing about loving The Last Story and MH3, but if you remember I had the same problem with them - however their scale and the level of complexity was nowhere near the same as in this. I really do appreciate the size of the locales - especially as there are no loading screens and you can literally explore the beautiful areas. In MH3 you kind of felt that you were fighting the monsters in an arena that was surrounded by beauty that was off limits. The other thing that I dislike about this game is the large spikes in difficulty. I went down a path and was jumped y around 12 Mechon - this was impossible. Until I ran off and spent some good time grinding. I'm now up to lvl 21. This was another feature in The Last Story. I would find bosses really hard and some regular battles frustrating - until I learned to use the enemy spawn points for some grinding - then it al came easily after that. I think these games require too much grind. I finally beat the Mechon after a serious wolf killing sessions. You mention the Gem crafting - this to me is just too much confusion at the moment. I'm only just getting to grips with the combat system and learning how to efficiently use combos, which is far better now I have Sharla who can heal us all mid combo! I've been trying to manage my skill points and ugrade all my skills and change my gear to make me as powerful as possible, but I didn't understand any of the crap about gems, so have left that for now. I'll keep playing until the end, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it more. These games should be more accessible though. When the developers feel the need to erect such immense barriers to entry for regular gamers is beyond me. They should do more to lead you by the hand early on.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 My main problem with the game stems from the amount you have to take in at the beginning. I think the developers are completely out of touch with most gamers and need to take people a little more by the hand in the early stages of the game. I totally disagree with you on this. What I have enjoyed most about this game is that you have to use your head. You are given a world and it is up to you to go out and explore it. There's a lot to learn. Hand holding wasn't needed in the past for games such as A Link To The Past or Super Metroid. This game is old school in that respect, but so incredibly welcome. There is a lot of information to take in. No doubt about it. But, like anything that is worthwhile, it makes sense the more time you invest in it. It's a very deep game, and there are a million things I still don't understand, but I know that I will eventually.
Zechs Merquise Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 I totally disagree with you on this. What I have enjoyed most about this game is that you have to use your head. You are given a world and it is up to you to go out and explore it. There's a lot to learn. Hand holding wasn't needed in the past for games such as A Link To The Past or Super Metroid. This game is old school in that respect, but so incredibly welcome. There is a lot of information to take in. No doubt about it. But, like anything that is worthwhile, it makes sense the more time you invest in it. It's a very deep game, and there are a million things I still don't understand, but I know that I will eventually. A Link to the Past and Super Metroid never introduced anywhere near as much early on as this does. In fact, both those games held you hand a lot more by gradually introducing techniques to you and showing you their application before allowing you to use them in the more open environments. For example, in every Zelda game a new technique is introduced in a dungeon and you learn to use it in that dungeon before applying it in the wider world. In fact I played both of those games in my early teens and loved them. I also beat them and the challenge came from beating the game - not understanding how to play it. The equivalent would be a Zelda game starting you in Hyrule Field with everything thrown at you at once and you figuring it all out and learning where it was all needed yourself. This doesn't happen. The world of JRPGs seems a very closed one where knowledge seems assumed. I don't want any of it dumbed down, just explained properly and fed to me in manageable pieces at logical intervals. At the moment they just seem to present a very high learning curve at the outset, which is a major barrier to getting into the game!
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 A Link to the Past and Super Metroid never introduced anywhere near as much early on as this does. In fact, both those games held you hand a lot more by gradually introducing techniques to you and showing you their application before allowing you to use them in the more open environments. For example, in every Zelda game a new technique is introduced in a dungeon and you learn to use it in that dungeon before applying it in the wider world. True, but if you compare that to some of the more recent Zelda games, there is a far greater degree of hand-holding. It almost makes things too simple. With Super Metroid, you're never really told at any stage where to go or what to do. There's a fantastic article that is in the Super Metroid thread in the VC board which emphasises this. With Xenoblade, you are told how things work, but like many games, you learn more through doing. This is definitely one of those games where you pick things up as you go along. Therefore, the hand-holding isn't necessary. In fact I played both of those games in my early teens and loved them. I also beat them and the challenge came from beating the game - not understanding how to play it. The satisfaction comes from beating the games, yes. But, you must first understand how it works before you can beat it. It's like learning a song on the guitar, you can't learn anything unless you figure out first how to make the different sounds. Exactly the same in this, you figure out what the strengths of each character are, what the benefits of using certain moves are, etc. The equivalent would be a Zelda game starting you in Hyrule Field with everything thrown at you at once and you figuring it all out and learning where it was all needed yourself. This doesn't happen. The world of JRPGs seems a very closed one where knowledge seems assumed. I don't want any of it dumbed down, just explained properly and fed to me in manageable pieces at logical intervals. At the moment they just seem to present a very high learning curve at the outset, which is a major barrier to getting into the game! Nothing is "thrown" at you at once. That's a pretty big exaggeration. Yes, it's not an experience where you can just sit back and coast. This game isn't about that. You will need to invest time in it and your full attention. Just for the record, I hardly ever play JRPGs and I'm roughly at the same place you are in the game. It's definitely a breath of fresh air and it's a marvel on multiple levels. Give it time and attention, and you'll probably love it. Also, bear in mind, we are barely through the game at all, so it's wrong to assume we'll know it inside out by now...
MindFreak Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Could anyone perhaps explain the chain-thing to me? To me it seems random when you are allowed to continue a chain after the first three hits.
Magnus Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 This discussion reminds me of a review of Kingdom Hearts 3D I read the other day, where the game got 2/5. The reviewer had two main complaints. The first was that he couldn't understand the story, which, erm, it's the seventh game in the series, so that's his own fault. The second was how confusing the gameplay was, as Kingdom Hearts 3D also throws a lot of things at you near the start and then expects you to learn how to use them as you go along. I agree that the game is really heavy on confusing tutorials when you first start playing and it's a bit daunting that there's so much information, but you don't need any of that stuff to continue playing at that moment and you can just experiment and figure everything out later. Do you know how to kill enemies? Then you can play Kingdom Hearts 3D/Xenoblade Chronicles. Besides, both games let you access the tutorials again at any time, so I really don't see how anyone could find the games hard to understand. Could anyone perhaps explain the chain-thing to me? To me it seems random when you are allowed to continue a chain after the first three hits. From the Xenoblade wiki: After the third/second attack (number of active party members) a B might appear on the screen, depending on the affinity between the party members. (For instance, a strong affinity between Shulk, Reyn and Sharla will lead to more chances for more chains.) Press it when the circle line is in the blue circle. It then goes back to the starting party member. Every attack after that will have the B. Chain attacks usually do more damage than the attack normally does. A character with higher tension will do higher damage. Defeating an enemy during a chain attack fills the party gauge by 1 bar.
Zechs Merquise Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 I'm sure I will start to enjoy it more as I play it more. I had the same issues with The Last Story. I found it frustrating at first and many of the bosses seemed really difficult - then I discovered the purpose of the enemy spawning circles and instantly I was far better equiped as I levelled up more. By the time I figured everything out and understood the structure of the game I enjoyed it far more and started to love it. I'm sure the same will happen with Xenoblade, however at the moment I'm still in the frustration zone - although I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just believe that the genre would benefit from a more structured and helpful opening. I'm not just a COD and Mario gamer - I put literally hundreds of hours into Fallout 3 and loved it - completing most of the side quests and spending hours just walking the map. Fallout 3 is the most amazing experience and is very complex - but I never felt everything was thrown at me at once and the opening tutorials in the Vault set you up for the game. I shall play Xenoblade through to conclusion, as I do I will post up my thoughts on here so you can see how I progress and how my feelings toward the game change. I've put in 8 hours and 30 minutes so far. As for Magnus's point about Kingdom Hearts 3D - I personally don't believe that anyone who isn't familiar with that game should be reviewing it. It would be like me reviewing a FIFA game - I have little or no interest in FIFA games, haven't palyed any of the recent iterations and am not at all qualified to speak out the direction, progression and development of the series. I do however provide the COD reviews for this site, because I've played every Wii COD game to death, played them again on my PC and understand the series. Reviewers do need to have an appreciation and understanding of the material they're reviewing for the review to be more relevant. Whilst a total newcomer to a series can still write a review, that review won't have the same level of understanding or context as a review written by a veteran of that series. Finally, I already think there's plenty of things that are good about Xenoblade - the graphics, the size and scope of the game, the backstory and the setting, the art and the sheer level of detail present. I just find it all a bit overwhelming at the beginning and find the learning curve very steep and unforgiving. In summation, I'd prefer that my struggles came from actual in game challenges rather than struggling to understand how to play the game! And no matter what anyone says about Zelda or Metroid, they were very open games but I never struggled to understand the basic mechanics which governed them!
thomaschung Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Stick with Xenoblade!! It is my favourite game of ALL time. Well Up there with Ocarina of Time. It does have quite a lot to take in at the beginning, sure, but you will soon get used to the battle and it will be fun. I loved the game, spent over 130 hours on it, and the end battles are amazing. Now I've started the Last Story and have yet to really love it yet
Wii Posted July 27, 2012 Posted July 27, 2012 Love this game but right now I want to batter the shit out of it. Regarding skill trees, I'm only now looking at them properly. I'm level 53, yet for each character I've only 1 full skill branch for each character. Where the fuck is the rest of my hard earned SP? Why didn't it start filling up another branch automatically or store it for me to use later? Is all my previously earned SP pissed down the toilet?
Magnus Posted July 27, 2012 Posted July 27, 2012 Is all my previously earned SP pissed down the toilet? Pretty much, yeah. Sucks to be you right now.
Mokong Posted July 27, 2012 Posted July 27, 2012 Righty alots been posted since my last post so not gonna go over everything just gonna pick out a few things here... You mention the Gem crafting - this to me is just too much confusion at the moment. I'm only just getting to grips with the combat system and learning how to efficiently use combos, which is far better now I have Sharla who can heal us all mid combo! I've been trying to manage my skill points and ugrade all my skills and change my gear to make me as powerful as possible, but I didn't understand any of the crap about gems, so have left that for now. Yeah it took me a while to understand the crafting part too (but surely the "ready made" gems you find and the slots in armour will be familiar to you from MH3 anyway. As for the crafting, my advice ignore it for now and just use full made gems you end up finding in the game. But if you see mining spots do continue to mine them dry :wink: A bit later in the game as part of a major side quest (assuming you don't miss it.... you want a hint to make sure you don't miss it? I'll make it as non-spoilery as I can ) you'll end up with a portable gem crafting device so you'll be able to make gems where ever you are without needing to return to Colony 9. On a basic level just do your best to improve your affinities between characters. I shall play Xenoblade through to conclusion, as I do I will post up my thoughts on here so you can see how I progress and how my feelings toward the game change. I've put in 8 hours and 30 minutes so far. Well 8 hours is still fairly "early" I think most people (who didn't do all the side quests they found and didn't level up to 99) topped out at 80-90 hours. I think I pumped 120 odd hours into it and I did go to 99 and maxed all the skill trees and did all the side quests I found (though I later learned I missed a few which ended up locked out on me at that late stage in the game ) Love this game but right now I want to batter the shit out of it. Regarding skill trees, I'm only now looking at them properly. I'm level 53, yet for each character I've only 1 full skill branch for each character. Where the fuck is the rest of my hard earned SP? Why didn't it start filling up another branch automatically or store it for me to use later? Is all my previously earned SP pissed down the toilet? Yeah same thing happened to me. I mistaking thought whichever tree branch you had selected you only had those skills active...when you learned them (and I didn't really understand some of teh advantages of many skills in other trees till later too). And though if I changed branches I wouldn't have the learnt skills from the previous branch. But it is only the branches "Trait" skill that is specific to which branch you have selected. Any skills you have learned no matter which branch is picked will remain active and will be linkable to other characters. @Zechs (and anyone just "starting" too) If you find you don't yet full understand the Skill Trees just try to keep an eye on them anyway and when you've learned the last skill in a branch just switch to another branch to make sure you're not wasting points. You'll end up with more skills and if you don't yet understand the trees and the linking it'll probably become more obvious when you have more skills learnt (thats how it was for me anyway)
MindFreak Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 So, 24 hours in: Nopon Village with Riki now active in my party instead of Reyn, and Melia as my third instead of my trusty Sharla. I think I grew an entire level when I explored Nopon Village. That was awesome. Yesterday I got sidetracked by side-quests so even though I put in five hours, I didn't progress the story at all. That resulted in me being level 39 now, while I was 35 when I entered Makna Forest, thus being quite overpowered for (most of) the creatures there. I can't say that I enjoy the side-quests that much, though, as they are usually just "go there, find this / kill this, (return to me)" which gets rather tedious after a short while. I do activate as many as possible so I complete them randomly when searching the regions. One thing nagging me, though, is that it's difficult to compare armors when they have Gems equipped. It would have been nicer if the game showed us how the armor would be on a party member if the gems were "transferred" so the comparison would be clearer. Overall, I really like this game.
Magnus Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 Yesterday I got sidetracked by side-quests so even though I put in five hours, I didn't progress the story at all. That was pretty much how my time with the game went. One day progressing the story, then one day doing nothing but sidequests. While the sidequests usually weren't that interesting, I did find it very satisfying to fill out the affinity chart.
Ville Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 I didn't really concentrate on the sidequests at all, until I met a level ~70 boss I just couldn't beat. At that point, I just went back and did everything I could...Pretty good strategy, although the first quests gave me so little exp they were basically worthless >.> Oh well, at least most of them were fun...
Zechs Merquise Posted August 2, 2012 Posted August 2, 2012 I've now put in over 18 hours and it's time for my second impressions. I've reached Makna Forest and have just entered the Nopon Village. I'm around lvl 35. I've been grinding quite a lot and exploring as well as doing the monster quests. I've found most battles OK, but a few have been tough. Graphically this game is amazing and nothing has shown this off as much as Makna Forest. The game has really started to become enjoyable and I like it a lot more now. I've got to grips with most things, other than the crystals. I still haven't fashioned any as I have just been on a steady journey up the Bionis. I take it that you go back to Colony 9 at some time? Or are you just free to trek back whenever you wish as it seems an awful long way to just make a few crystals. Anyway, liking this now and am playing it every night. At the weekend I'm gonna put some major playtime into it.
Hero-of-Time Posted August 2, 2012 Author Posted August 2, 2012 I've now put in over 18 hours and it's time for my second impressions. I've reached Makna Forest and have just entered the Nopon Village. I'm around lvl 35. I've been grinding quite a lot and exploring as well as doing the monster quests. I've found most battles OK, but a few have been tough. Graphically this game is amazing and nothing has shown this off as much as Makna Forest. The game has really started to become enjoyable and I like it a lot more now. I've got to grips with most things, other than the crystals. I still haven't fashioned any as I have just been on a steady journey up the Bionis. I take it that you go back to Colony 9 at some time? Or are you just free to trek back whenever you wish as it seems an awful long way to just make a few crystals. Anyway, liking this now and am playing it every night. At the weekend I'm gonna put some major playtime into it. The game has a fast travel feature. I didn't know about it either until I was about 10-15 hours in.
Fused King Posted August 2, 2012 Posted August 2, 2012 Me and my pal just keep getting annoyed at encountering all these 'heart-to-hearts', but being unable to do anything with them. I guess we need to pump up that affinity. Is it true that you get that by doing sidequests and fighting with your party?
Recommended Posts