Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017)

[Lens of Truth]

1 hour ago, liger05 said:

From Digital Foundry :

Undocked:
- Dynamic resolution, very low, down to 368p at its lowest and up to 552p;
- Worst image quality in a Switch game in portable mode;

That's unacceptable. 368p is ridiculous. Wasn't sure about this game but the handheld performance really keeps me from getting this.

 Can't believe they couldn't do stable 540p minimum. 

 

Wow. I was wondering if I was experiencing mental hyperbole in thinking at times it reminded me of 3DS resolution... turns out I wasn't 

The low res isn't even the whole problem with some sort of 'sharpening' applied across the board making it a complete mess akin to a heavily compressed jpeg!

I'm a little shocked that they got X running a stable 720p on the weaker Wii U. Quite why they went ahead implenting a whole bunch of extra lighting etc if it meant it displays like this is beyond me. Aren' they supposed to target handheld spec and then allow the extra grunt docked to bump it up?

The sad thing is the game is absolutely wonderful - a lot more accessible than the previous two entries, with more than enough depth. Story and chatacters have a wonderful freshness about them. Docked also looks great and the art style reminds me of Tales of Symphonia.

Hoping I haven't completed it by the time the patch is out!

Edited December 4, 2017 by Lens of Truth

[martinist]

Spoiler

So if anyone has Electra, there is a part on her development tree that says "speak to tow people in each region" to raise her field skill but it couldn't be less informative if it tried. I'm not really sure what the game considers regions, i've talked to pretty much everyone in the starting town and the traid guild and it's not advancing at all. >_>

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by martinist

[Hero-of-Time]

8 hours ago, martinist said:

  Rare Blade Help? (Hide contents)

So if anyone has Electra, there is a part on her development tree that says "speak to tow people in each region" to raise her field skill but it couldn't be less informative if it tried. I'm not really sure what the game considers regions, i've talked to pretty much everyone in the starting town and the traid guild and it's not advancing at all. >_>

 

I think this refers to her quest line. You need to find the people that need help with electricity and complete their task. I think the 1st one is in Argentium at the back of the area. This only requires level 1 thunder but needs level 10 electric mastery. Just remember that for the electric mastery you can use multiple Blades to achieve the desired level needed. This goes for all the field skills.

[S.C.G]

Well, I've finally put in just over three hours into the game and I've just got past the introductory part of the game...

...what an intro it was!

No spoilers obviously for anyone who is yet to play it but I kind of went into this game expecting a slight refinement of the earlier Xenoblade games, taking the best bits while probably compromising heavily in other areas; so far it has been nothing but pleasantly surprising.  

I see what @Hero-of-Time means now about the cutscenes being rather epic but in all the right ways.

Oh and I had my first "I'm knackered!" moment out of Nia which certainly got a chuckle out of me. 

Now I'm off to explore the world of Alrest for a bit before resting up for the night.

[Kounan]

I've decided that this should be my third game, but am reading about technical issues. Is it a big deal, or is it playable? I've played the first one on the Wii U gamepad. Is it better or worse portable?

[Hero-of-Time]

25 minutes ago, Kounan said:

I've decided that this should be my third game, but am reading about technical issues. Is it a big deal, or is it playable? I've played the first one on the Wii U gamepad. Is it better or worse portable?

It's playable, it's just that it's really rough looking when playing in handheld mode.

[MindFreak]

Once you're playing, you won't notice it. The technical issues are mainly in handheld mode but not at all game breaking or anything. As I said earlier, I think it's being made more of an issue than it really is.

[S.C.G]

Just over five hours in now and I finally reached the first "Open Plains" moment where you can see the world sprawled out before you...

...then I ran into a high level enemy and died pretty quickly.

I'm officially playing a Xenoblade game now!

[Hero-of-Time]

I'm now halfway through the final chapter of the game. I gotta say, the length and frequency of the cutscenes from chapter 7 onwards puts Kojima to shame. They may as well have just scrapped the gameplay and made the thing an anime movie or series.  

Edited December 7, 2017 by Hero-of-Time

[ArtMediocre]

Really looking forward to playing this early next year! Hopefully there's a new patch that fixes the sharpening in portable mode by then :).

[Hero-of-Time]

After 80 hours the adventure is over.

It took a while to get to grips with the last boss and when I finally brought it down the game decided to crash on the final cutscene! I took it on again and managed to get a Full Burst ( first time I've achieved that in the game ) which took off over half of its health and finished it off. I'm kinda glad it did crash, so I got to experience that special move.  

Despite its flaws and technical issues, I absolutely loved the game, especially the story. You have a massive world to explore in and an amazing story that drives you forward. It's pretty much given me everything I wanted that Zelda failed to deliver on.

The voice acting is ropey at times but there is so much character and charm in the delivery that you end up falling in love with it.

I play a lot of JRPGs but it's been a while since a whole cast of characters have been this great. Usually you end up with one or two characters who aren't developed or are just there to make up the numbers. I found this not to be the case with XC2. Each one of them has a good back story and a role to play.

The soundtrack for the game is simply outstanding. Some of the tunes are used at just the right times in cutscenes, either to get you hyped or bring out some other emotion. After the disaster of a soundtrack in XCX, this is a true return to form.

I can kinda see where the DLC may take place. There are one or two things that could be explored in future content and I may have to pick up the season pass once the substantial stuff arrives.

The credits may have rolled but this is a game I can see me dipping in and out of for a while. There's plenty of Blades to still unlock and side quests to complete but for now I think I'll move on to something else. 

This is probably my favourite Switch game. I love the little hybrid but it's lacked a game like this to truly get my teeth into. It's been great for smaller titles, or games that you can jump in and out of, so it's been refreshing to finally get a game that lasts a good 80 hours that I can enjoy. More JRPGs, please!

The Switch started strong at launch and has ended the year on a high with this game. Well played Nintendo/Monolithsoft. 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Hero-of-Time

[Dcubed]

There's an update for the game (Ver 1.1.1) arriving on Dec 22nd...

 

http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/xenoblade-chronicles-2-production-notes-6-ver-1-1-1-update/

 

Brings the following...

 

Quote

• if you watch the “Something in Common” (Chapter One: Encounters) cutscene in the Event Theatre, then return to the game, a glitch will make the camera sway and it will stay like that until you restart the game. If you happen to save, then you will be stuck in swaying camera hell. Therefore, if you happen to watch the cutscene, make sure not to save, and restart the game instead (even if that means losing progress);
• if you get the quest item Healing Herb (English name TBC) for one of the quests in the Gormott Province at 12:00, then it will not be added to the Quest Log (basically preventing you from completing the quest);
• if you get the quest item Pure White Helmet (English name TBC) for one of the quests in the Gormott Province at 7:00, then it will not be added to the Quest Log (basically preventing you from completing the quest);
• various other bugs

• Easy Mode will be added to the Tiger! Tiger! mini-game
• pressing the X button will immediately bring you to the map of the area you’re currently in, on the Skip Travel screen;
• improvements will be made to the mini-map overlay (by pressing the L stick), improving the visibility of your surroundings;

Speaking of the mini-map, an update to be released next year alongside the set of additional quests(in January) will bring further improvements to it. There will also be additional changes/additions for the game, such as being able to befriend specific Blades or add Pyra and Dromarch to a mercenary team, but also LV4 skills for Blades.

Those changes will be part of the update releasing alongside the DLC Pack, which will be available to all players, not just those who purchased the Expansion Pass.

Back to Ver. 1.1.1: players who purchased the Expansion Pass will receive a second set of bonus items:

• Driver’s Essentials Set: Rare Core Crystal (x10), Legendary Core Crystal (x1), Overdrive (x3)
• Materials for Poppy: Ether Crystals (x30 000)
• Pyra’s Favourite Pouch Item: Jenerossi Tea (x5)
• Nia’s Favourite Pouch Item: Ardainian Bear Carving (x5)

 

These changes do give me the impression that the game just isn't quite finished yet...

 

Might just wait till next year when all the DLC is out before I play it.  Maybe it'll be done by then 

[Hero-of-Time]

That's a nice middle finger to those of us who bought it and played through it already. It's Final Fantasy XV all over again. You may as well not bother playing games at launch these days.

[drahkon]

Meanwhile at Monolith Soft

37 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

You may as well not bother playing games at launch these days.

You know what? I'll make this my new year's resolution. Unless a game is from a developer I really trust (Supergiant Games, e.g.) I won't buy/play games at launch. Let's see how long it lasts

[Hero-of-Time]

Just now, drahkon said:

Meanwhile at Monolith Soft

You know what? I'll make this my new year's resolution. Unless a game is from a developer I really trust (Supergiant Games, e.g.) I won't buy/play games at launch. Let's see how long it lasts

Outside of Monster Hunter, I think I'm just going to take the wait and see approach with a lot of games next year. Far too many are launching that are either broken or have patches soon after release that changes the experience.

I'm dabbling with sacking off most new releases and just working on clearing my PS4 backlog and building up and playing retro games. My N64 collection is nearing completion so the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn will be where my focus is next.

[S.C.G]

So, I might as well just keep grinding in the first "Open" area without doing any quests until December 22nd then?

I hadn't planned it this way, I did want to play more of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 by this point, I've just been busy organising my games.

At this rate though, it'll be my joint-Christmas game along with Super Mario Odyssey.

Not that grinding is a bad thing in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 mind, I'll keep going until Nia is "knackered!"

[Kav]

Just finished Chapter 3...

[Kav]

Anyone know how many Overdrive Protocols there are in the game, or if you can farm them?

They seem to be quite the rare item which of course means they’re so bloody handy!

 

[Hero-of-Time]

6 hours ago, Kav said:

Anyone know how many Overdrive Protocols there are in the game, or if you can farm them?

They seem to be quite the rare item which of course means they’re so bloody handy!

 

That's the item that allows you to transfer Blades, right? If so then you can't farm them. There are a limited amount in the game. Of course if you were to buy the season pass then you get a bunch with that.

Sad to see Nintendo use such a sleazy tactic in one of their games. 

[drahkon]

59 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Sad to see Nintendo use such a sleazy tactic in one of their games. 

I really hope this isn't a trend Nintendo is going to continue.

I mean, it's clear that they are ready to implement more and more season passes but it looks like they might go down a slightly darker road.

Edited December 19, 2017 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

On ‎19‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 8:47 AM, drahkon said:

I really hope this isn't a trend Nintendo is going to continue.

I mean, it's clear that they are ready to implement more and more season passes but it looks like they might go down a slightly darker road.

I wouldn't be so sure. Fire Emblem Echoes, as much as I love that game, does lock all the best classes behind DLC. Xenoblade isn't the first one to do something like that.

Even Pokemon Mystery Dungeon almost went down that route with the first 3DS title, but it thankfully redeemed itself by completely dropping any DLC for Super Mystery Dungeon. The game was better for it.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Glen-i

[MindFreak]

New patch live.

Quote

• Fixed an issue occurring in the Gormott regular quest “One Step Ahead,” where acquiring the Healing Herb quest item at 12:00 caused the item to fail to be counted in the quest log, preventing completion of the quest. 
• Fixed an issue occurring in the Gormott regular quest “A Young Man’s Prize,” where acquiring the Snow-White Rhino quest item at 7:00 caused the item to fail to be counted in the quest log, preventing completion of the quest. 
• Fixed an issue occurring in the Gormott regular quest “The Riddle on the Wall,” preventing quest progression. 
• Fixed an issue occurring in Perceval’s blade quest “Failure and Success,” preventing quest progression. 
• Fixed an issue occurring in Gorg’s blade quest “Follow Your Passion,” preventing quest progression. 
• Fixed an issue occurring after viewing the “Something in Common” movie in the “Chapter One: Encounters” section of the Events Theater causing the camera to continue shaking after returning to the game. 
• Made adjustments to improve the stability of performing certain actions. 
  - Due to these adjustments, time required for Skip Travel and loading event cut scenes has become longer in some instances and shorter in others. 
• A Pro Controller can now be used when the Joy-Con Controllers are attached to the system in Tabletop Mode. 
• Added an Easy difficulty to the Tiger! Tiger! mini game. 
• Added a new size of map to the mini map. 
• Pressing X when in the field to open the Skip Travel screen, the map of your current location will open. 
• Added functionality to allow players to receive the second round of items associated with the Expansion Pass.

I'm up to Chapter 2 (took a break when Zelda DLC hit). I'm really feeling it but the battles so far have been a bit on autopilot. I don't get the combo-thing with the others and I feel there is too much customisation in the game for my taste. Would rather want one good weapon that I could just upgrade or buy a new version of rather than change the its abilities with the cores. But I'll manage and see if I can learn the deeper mechanics at some point.

[ArtMediocre]

Traded in a christmas present and got me this instead :D. I've been teased long enough.

Not sure if I'll play through it with English or Japanese voices, but I'm really looking forward to this gem :D. Glad I got to start with the new patch as well. Waiting seems to have paid off.

[Kav]

I don’t want to finish this game... I want every Rare Blade... I love it!!!!

[ArtMediocre]

I hear you Kav! This game is amazing, and even if I'm only 8 hours in, I am loving every single bit of it. Grinding is fun, the characters are great, and the story and setting is really good as well. I haven't had this much fun with a JRPG since I played Tales of Symphonia, and that might be my favourite JRPG of all time. So, what I am saying is that this is simply one amazing game. 

If anyone has been on the fence.. BUY IT!