Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (29th May)

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Set the time to 10 AM and run through the colony talking to everyone who has a name twice (Green dots on the mini map).

Done that but it didn't help. I eventually just progressed the story a little and it opened up two side quests in Colony 9. Completing them gave me access to Desireé's quest.

[Goron_3]

I've put another 4 hours in (I'm pretty addicted tbh!) and man, I wish the game looked better. I haven't had a single frame rate problem but there are areas of the game which look awful in docked mode. It's definitely the definitive version of the game, but I feel like a full on a remake instead of this style of upgrade would have been better.
That said, this game must have been mind-blowing on the Wii. The scale of the environments must have blown people away. I'm on chapter seven and I've been taken aback by the scale of some of the areas already.
I'm not surprised Monolith have staff working on Zelda - at this point I think they might be Nintendo's best team when it comes to world building. I'm looking forward to their next I.P as well as a potential XCX remaster.
 

[drahkon]

32 minutes ago, Goron_3 said:

I'm not surprised Monolith have staff working on Zelda

If they deliver, then the BotW sequel might actually be a great game. I'm cautiously optimistic that they can build upon the mediocre first game and enrich the world with meaningful stuff to do. They sure have the potential given what I've seen so far from Xenoblade Chronicles.

Sure, side quests are pretty much just fetch quests but most of them do have a small story behind them. The NPCs involved have issues with jobs, love, their personality, etc. and helping them not only rewards you with items but also with a little sense of "yeah, you're better now".

Finger's crossed

[Glen-i]

7 hours ago, drahkon said:

If they deliver, then the BotW sequel might actually be a great game. I'm cautiously optimistic that they can build upon the mediocre first game and enrich the world with meaningful stuff to do.

Wouldn't get your hopes too high there. They worked on the first one as well.

One of the things I like about Xenoblade is that it's not a true open world. There's plenty of room to explore, but there's always a concrete goal you have to work towards.

Anyway, something you newbies might have overlooked. Shops sell art books that let you level them up to 7 instead of 4.

But keep in mind that some of these shops add new ones as the story progresses, so it might be worth checking back on them from time to time.

[drahkon]

4 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Wouldn't get your hopes too high there. They worked on the first one as well.

Didn't know that. Well, looks like I'll have to settle with mediocrity again

4 hours ago, Glen-i said:

There's plenty of room to explore, but there's always a concrete goal you have to work towards.

Yup. I like this, as well. Sometimes I go around just exploring the world, sometimes I want to get back on track with the story. I also appreciate the option to view the path to objectives. Most of the time I turn them off, but occasionally I just want to go out there, grab the item/kill the monster and get back as quickly as possible.

 

[Glen-i]

Yesterday, I played so much Xenoblade, I gave myself a headache.

I'm really feeling it.

Spoiler

I'm not apologising for that joke. I'm in too good a mood to do so.

Eryth Sea is just full of opportunities for scenic screenshots, especially during shooting stars.

Of course, first time shooting stars happened, I had to make a mad dash to secluded Island because I knew a Unique Monster I needed for a quest spawned then.

And that's when I realised... I don't think a single Unique Monster has respawned after I killed it... That's different and worrying. Some of the best equipment only drops from the endgame ones...

 

[drahkon]

Couldn't play much yesterday

But I'm done with responsibilities for today so now I got time to dive in again

I'm at the end of Chapter 7 but not ready to move on with the story, yet. Lots of side quests from that Nopon village that need to be completed

Spoiler

Do all characters get more skill trees? I only got one more for Shulk after that Desireé side quest.

Edit: Reached chapter 8 just now. Still have one side quest open but I need to raise affinity between two female characters. Difficult given the fact that my team consists of Shulk, Reyn and a third character.

Anyways, sometimes the game can look kind of pretty:

Spoiler

Edit²: After 23 hours I've finally understood how chain attacks work...so far I've been using them to just break/topple/daze enemies but that's stupid. Once I've seen the chain damage number reach 100k after only using arts of one colour (or the talent art) it clicked

Thinking about changing my team...not sure if I want to trade Reyn, though. I will most likely keep controlling Shulk and have...

Spoiler

...Riki...

...in my party. Without Reyn I'd be missing a tank, though, (unless the character in the spoilers can be useful as a tank. He does have a lot of HP...). What to do

Edited June 9, 2020 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

20 hours ago, drahkon said:

Thinking about changing my team...not sure if I want to trade Reyn, though. I will most likely keep controlling Shulk and have...

  playable character spoiler (Reveal hidden contents)

...Riki...

...in my party. Without Reyn I'd be missing a tank, though, (unless the character in the spoilers can be useful as a tank. He does have a lot of HP...). What to do

Spoiler

Riki is probably the best character in the game. He can fill any role you want, set every art that gives a lingering damage effect on him (Lurgy, Bitey Bitey, Freezinate, etc.) and he'll be doing constant crazy damage over time.

You can do it is a solid healing move, while Happy Happy is great for spamming chain attacks. And of course, his high HP means he can take quite a bit of punishment.

He ain't all that with aggro though. You don't use Riki as a Reyn replacement, you use him as a Shulk replacement.

Sounds mad, I know. But as long as you don't fight Mechon, (although his purple arts ignore Mechon defense) Riki is normally more effective.

Also, don't sleep on Dunban. Way better tank than Reyn if you slap loads of Agility gems on him and keep him in light armour. If you do that and Dunban still manages to die, then you're way underleveled.

Melia is definitely the character for experts, the AI sucks at using her, but she's amazing if you control her and use her right. (Fill her talent guage until it's shining and then keep the elemental buffs up and let the other two party members wreck everything)

Spoiler

I actually think Valak Mountain is prettier than Satorl Marsh.

It also gets bonus points for flipping the typical "snowy mountain" on it's head and having the goal be to go down the mountain. Don't see that too often.

 

[drahkon]

35 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

  In regards to Team buildup. (Reveal hidden contents)

Riki is probably the best character in the game. He can fill any role you want, set every art that gives a lingering damage effect on him (Lurgy, Bitey Bitey, Freezinate, etc.) and he'll be doing constant crazy damage over time.

You can do it is a solid healing move, while Happy Happy is great for spamming chain attacks. And of course, his high HP means he can take quite a bit of punishment.

He ain't all that with aggro though. You don't use Riki as a Reyn replacement, you use him as a Shulk replacement.

Sounds mad, I know. But as long as you don't fight Mechon, (although his purple arts ignore Mechon defense) Riki is normally more effective.

Also, don't sleep on Dunban. Way better tank than Reyn if you slap loads of Agility gems on him and keep him in light armour. If you do that and Dunban still manages to die, then you're way underleveled.

Melia is definitely the character for experts, the AI sucks at using her, but she's amazing if you control her and use her right. (Fill her talent guage until it's shining and then keep the elemental buffs up and let the other two party members wreck everything)

 

I will never replace Shulk This is how I want to finish the game. Might not be the best choice, but I like it that way.

I thought about using...

Spoiler

...Dunban...

...as a tank and replace Reyn. Might achieve higher damage output if I do.

I haven't created a single gem, yet...never felt it was necessary. Should I start making them 27 hours in?

[Glen-i]

23 hours ago, drahkon said:

I will never replace Shulk This is how I want to finish the game. Might not be the best choice, but I like it that way.

I thought about using...

  character spoiler (Reveal hidden contents)

...Dunban...

...as a tank and replace Reyn. Might achieve higher damage output if I do.

I haven't created a single gem, yet...never felt it was necessary. Should I start making them 27 hours in?

Shulk is still a great character, he's the only one who can block talent arts, after all. But rigidly sticking to the same party of three all the time means you won't raise affinity between others and then you can't use affinity coins to share their skills around.

Spoiler

For example, one of Dunban's skills, Critical Drain, restores some HP whenever he lands a critical hit.

Now give that skill to Shulk with his natural high critical rate, shove some Critical Up gems on him and you'll find he doesn't need as much healing!

Dunban also gets a skill that reduces the damage he takes from Spike damage. I have that skill on everyone. Spike damage is proper dangerous.

I assume you've at least been using the gems you get from quests though? Please tell me you've at least been equipping them.

Anyway, it's not super necessary for getting to the credits if you're doing as much quests as you say you are. But it wouldn't hurt to make some Agility Up ones. Agility is the king of stats here and everyone does better with the extra 50 gems can give.

I also recommend Spike Defense if you can, Spike damage will kill you if you ignore it later on.

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

I assume you've at least been using the gems you get from quests though? Please tell me you've at least been equipping them.

Of course. I equip gems I assume are best for each character/role.

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

I also recommend Spike Defense if you can, Spike damage will kill you if you ignore it later on.

Yeah, I noticed. Have only died once to Spike, though. Didn't realize that some monsters activate spike once they're toppled.

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

But rigidly sticking to the same party of three all the time means you won't raise affinity between others and then you can't use affinity coins to share their skills around.

Hm, maybe I'll give different setups a chance while doing the next batch of side quests once I'm done with the current story segment. I'm way overleveled anyways, so it probably won't be an issue

Edited June 11, 2020 by drahkon

[drahkon]

I knew it. I knew they'd do this...

Spoiler

Of course Fiora is alive...

Thankfully the rest of the story and characters are interesting enough. Hopefully it'll stay that way to make up for this Fiora crap.

Gotta be honest...this does take away at least one point off the final score. So far it was a 10/10...

[drahkon]

On 6/11/2020 at 8:28 AM, Glen-i said:

But rigidly sticking to the same party of three all the time means you won't raise affinity between others and then you can't use affinity coins to share their skills around.

I changed up my party and combat is a little different. I'm currently controlling...

Spoiler

...Melia...

...and it's refreshing what she can do.

In other news, progressed the story a bit and now it's time for more of the good old "uncover the past, yadayada" section

[Glen-i]

Credits have rolled on my end. Yep, it's Xenoblade alright, but with faster menus. So it's better Xenoblade.

I've started Future Connected now and that warning isn't joking. Massive spoilers from the moment you start New Game on that.

Spoiler

I like Shulk's new clothes. I hope I get to wear that in the main game.

Monado REX? Groan...

But wow! Fighting at level 60 without visions or chain attacks or skill trees is proper hard! AI Shulk spamming all of his Monado arts like an idiot is now a lot more useful because there's no point in saving it for a vision emergency. They definitely wanted you to play as Melia here.

I hope those mechanics get replaced with something to play with here. It feels very limited so far and I'm not sure I dig that idea.

Jenna Coleman's Melia performance is... Off. I mean, I'm not entirely sure it's Jenna Coleman playing Melia sometimes...

Adam Howden still nailing the Shulk voice, mind.

 

[drahkon]

Made some more progress last night and have now reached chapter 11.

I have to say, while the scale/scope of the large areas was great at first, they've become annoying after a while.
Even with fast travel points you often have to walk a long time to the intended target for both side and story quests.

Speaking of side quests, I've completed 256 and currently have 6 active. Not sure if I'll bother with more once another batch opens up. Maybe I'll look up those that offer unique rewards like skill trees, but other than that...I'm burnt out.

Edited June 13, 2020 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

11 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Made some more progress last night and have now reached chapter 11.

I have to say, while the scale/scope of the large areas was great at first, they've become annoying after a while.
Even with fast travel points you often have to walk a long time to the intended target for both side and story quests.

Speaking of side quests, I've completed 256 and currently have 6 active. Not sure if I'll bother with more once another batch opens up. Maybe I'll look up those that offer unique rewards like skill trees, but other than that...I'm burnt out.

Quick step gems are your best friend.

[drahkon]

1 minute ago, Glen-i said:

Quick step gems are your best friend.

Meh.

I would rather have more focused/smaller areas.

[drahkon]

Every time with stories like these...

Spoiler

1. "kill" a person that's important to the main character
2. main character vows revenge
3. group around main character supports him
4. "killed" person actually wasn't dead - revenge plot loses its significance
5. main character changes his views because "Oh no, I could never kill one of my own kind" - lovey-dovey-speech to stop the group from going through with vengeance
6. "let's save everyone"

Urgh...predictable and boring.

Only redeeming part about the plot are a few characters with a certain mystery and intrigue around them.

Anyways, the side quests burnt me out. Should've just spread them out more. That's on me. Will most likely just follow the story now.

[drahkon]

The more I see the more I realize that everything just kind of blends together. Nothing really stands out. Monsters/enemies/bosses look painfully bland. Even the different environments are this weird blob in my mind.

The battles...maybe it's different end-/post-game... but is there any kind of strategy involved? There's no need to break/topple/daze enemies (unless a tutorial screen pops up saying "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NOW"), status effects are unnecessary and winning is just a matter of spamming arts, unleashing chain attacks and staying alive. I was hoping that it would be different now that I've reached a point where enemies are at my level but no...

The story took a turn for the worse (see the spoiler above).

There's nothing special about Xenoblade Chronicles, in my eyes. And I think I'm now at the point where I just can't go on. 40 hours in and looking at the number of chapters I'm 2/3rd of the way through but it drags and I find it utterly boring.

My initial enjoyment faded away and turned into indifference.

Maybe I'm spoiled by the old Final Fantasy games and especially the Dragon Quest series. Even though all the Dragon Quest share the same art and charm, each game still stands out in both presentation and game play.

 

I guess the Xenoblade series just isn't for me. I had to give up on the second game and now I've given the first one an even bigger chance but the result is the same. Deleted, cartridge packed away, game put on ebay.

[Mr-Paul]

On 11/06/2020 at 6:58 PM, drahkon said:

I knew it. I knew they'd do this...

  HUGE end of chapter 9 spoilers (Reveal hidden contents)

Of course Fiora is alive...

Thankfully the rest of the story and characters are interesting enough. Hopefully it'll stay that way to make up for this Fiora crap.

Gotta be honest...this does take away at least one point off the final score. So far it was a 10/10...

 

15 minutes ago, drahkon said:

The more I see the more I realize that everything just kind of blends together. Nothing really stands out. Monsters/enemies/bosses look painfully bland. Even the different environments are this weird blob in my mind.

The battles...maybe it's different end-/post-game... but is there any kind of strategy involved? There's no need to break/topple/daze enemies (unless a tutorial screen pops up saying "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NOW"), status effects are unnecessary and winning is just a matter of spamming arts, unleashing chain attacks and staying alive. I was hoping that it would be different now that I've reached a point where enemies are at my level but no...

The story took a turn for the worse (see the spoiler above).

There's nothing special about Xenoblade Chronicles, in my eyes. And I think I'm now at the point where I just can't go on. 40 hours in and looking at the number of chapters I'm 2/3rd of the way through but it drags and I find it utterly boring.

My initial enjoyment faded away and turned into indifference.

Maybe I'm spoiled by the old Final Fantasy games and especially the Dragon Quest series. Even though all the Dragon Quest share the same art and charm, each game still stands out in both presentation and game play.

 

I guess the Xenoblade series just isn't for me. I had to give up on the second game and now I've given the first one an even bigger chance but the result is the same. Deleted, cartridge packed away, game put on ebay.

From a 10/10 to selling the game in just over 48 hours!

Sorry to hear that, but you really should give it a chance... it sounds like you're just a little burnt out.

I know it's not a game for everyone, but it sounds like you were genuinely enjoying it before.

[drahkon]

2 minutes ago, Mr-Paul said:

I know it's not a game for everyone, but it sounds like you were genuinely enjoying it before.

1 minute ago, Mr-Paul said:

From a 10/10 to selling the game in just over 48 hours!

I was surprised, too, to be honest. Given my love for JRPGs.

1 minute ago, Mr-Paul said:

Sorry to hear that, but you really should give it a chance... it sounds like you're just a little burnt out.

Nah, I gave this one a 40 hour chance. And it's definitely not that I'm burnt out (I can grind exp/money/etc. for hours without being burnt out, if I find a game interesting ).
It's simple: To me, everything about this game is forgettable. Nothing stands out. And that's not worth more of my time.

 

[Glen-i]

10 hours ago, drahkon said:

I was surprised, too, to be honest. Given my love for JRPGs.

Nah, I gave this one a 40 hour chance. And it's definitely not that I'm burnt out (I can grind exp/money/etc. for hours without being burnt out, if I find a game interesting ).
It's simple: To me, everything about this game is forgettable. Nothing stands out. And that's not worth more of my time.

 

Seeing as you're not going back, can I ask you something?

How do you think the plot would have ended? Or maybe a more straightforward question would be, who do you think the final boss is? In spoilers, obviously.

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Seeing as you're not going back, can I ask you something?

How do you think the plot would have ended? Or maybe a more straightforward question would be, who do you think the final boss is? In spoilers, obviously.

Spoiler

Final boss: Zanza, Dickson, or both
Dickson is obviously going to betray the group.
I think both the Bionis and Mechonis have been created somehow. Either by nature or man. Zanza wants to be God of this world. He was given too much of an entrance to the game to just be "gone" 5 minutes after his introduction.

Not sure if I can correctly predict the overarching story given the fact that even 2/3s through the game way too many plot-lines and characters (mainly antagonists) are kept under wraps (something I really don't like).

Also: After Prison Island, Zanza obviously entered either the Monado or Shulk's body in order to take one (or both) over eventually to use the Monado to change everything.

Here's the thing: The game could've actually ended at the point I stopped playing...

Spoiler

You get reunited with Fiora and (urgh...) she regains her memories (or the equivalent "I've always still been there, and now I'm fully back"-explanation).
Then her body gets treated, whoohoo. Let it end. The world is at war, the characters have grown, let this be a "happy end" with world-wide conflicts. It would've been fine, in my eyes.

But wait: Jabba the Hut (an entirely new character at this point) tells you about this dude Egil (of course, he has to be Jabba's son...for whatever reason...EMOTIONAL). You've heard of him maybe twice but he's bad. Kill him.

With that, the entire premise of the first 2/3s of the game (revenge - and later getting Fiora back) is gone and it just turns into a "save the world" quest. It just doesn't work for me

Edit: Oh and here's one more thing:

Spoiler

OF COURSE, Gadolt is alive. Another one who died but actually didn't die.

Edit²: Here's one more prediction:

Spoiler

He will be given a choice between ultimate power (since he wields the Monado and is apparently the true heir to the weapon and is able to change the fabric of time/existence/ether) and "a normal life".

You can probably guess what I think Shulk will choose

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

6 minutes ago, drahkon said:

  My thoughts (Hide contents)

Final boss: Zanza, Dickson, or both
Dickson is obviously going to betray the group.
I think both the Bionis and Mechonis have been created somehow. Either by nature or man. Zanza wants to be God of this world. He was given too much of an entrance to the game to just be "gone" 5 minutes after his introduction.

Not sure if I can correctly predict the overarching story given the fact that even 2/3s through the game way too many plot-lines and characters (mainly antagonists) are kept under wraps (something I really don't like).

Also: After Prison Island, Zanza obviously entered either the Monado or Shulk's body in order to take one (or both) over eventually to use the Monado to change everything.

 

Spoiler

You're quite close. A few key points that differ. I'm gonna use another spoiler, just in case you don't want to know.

Spoiler

Yeah, it's Zanza. Dickson is the boss before him. Dickson is actually part of the Giant race that Zanza is part of, which is why he's helping.

Although, that said. Zanza already is God. Always has been. He created the Bionis. Mayneth (Who is currently possessing Fiora, she's effectively dead otherwise) is the God who created Mechonis.

You see, Zanza isn't really that Giant you met on Prison Island. After his fight with Mechonis, his soul was trapped in the Monado. A random giant called Arglas picked it up and Zanza took over.

Which brings me on to whether Shulk is suffering the same fate. Thing is, Shulk died on that Valak Mountain expedition 14 years ago along with everyone else there, Zanza took over the body and waited until Shulk was strong enough to use the Monado. So you got the plan right, but it was already well in motion long before Prison Island.

Egil plans on reawakening the Mechonis in order to stop Zanza from pulling his plan off. That goes tits up though.

(On a side note, in the last fight against Egil, there's a brilliant moment halfway through the fight when you get a vision and see the Mechonis whacking the Bionis with it's sword which does infinite damage and you've got 2 minutes to stop that or it's game over.)

Anyway, after that fight, Dickson shoots Shulk in the back and Zanza steals the Monado. The Mechonis gets destroyed and Zanza plans to recreate the world, which involves using Telethia to kill all the life on Bionis and use it as food for the energy the Bionis needs to do that.

Apparently, he's been doing that over and over. Which is pretty grim.

To make things worse, the Telethia turn out to be the High Entia. When the time comes for the Bionis to recreate the world, the High Entia transform into Telethia and go on that killing spree.

Think of it like this, the Bionis is God's body, the Telethia are it's immune system and everything living on it is the food it eats.

BTW, Melia doesn't transform because she's half Homs. That's why that voice in the tomb mentioned that the goal had been achieved. They wanted a High Entia that wouldn't become a Telethia.

Doesn't help most of Alcamoth though, which is now packed with crazy powerful Telethia to fight...

Oh, did I mention that Meyneth had a Monado as well? There's two of them and because Meyneth sacrificed herself to save Shulk and crew, Zanza has 2 Monados.

Anyway, Shulk has a near death experience where he has a typically cryptic conversation with Alvis and then decides to stop Zanza, even if he now has a cheap knock-off Monado that the Machina make for him. (It's pretty rubbish)

Final dungeon happens, and after you beat Dickson, the crew find themselves in space. You run through it (complete with finding landmarks like Jupiter and the Moon) until you get to Zanza.

Thing is, Shulk is still getting visions. This naturally confuses Zanza and halfway through the fight, Shulk literally wills a third Monado into existence. The one true Monado that has been hinted at throughout the game.

It's pretty badass too. 80% critical rate!

Anyway, Shulk kills Zanza and becomes the new God. Alvis shows reveals that Zanza used to be a scientist called Klaus that accidently destroyed and recreated the universe. Meyneth was another scientist working with him and both of them were forced into being the gods of this new world.

Shulk uses his new powers to make a world with no need for gods. Reyn comments "Too right, you're great and all, Shulk. But there's no way you're a God" cementing himself as best character in Xenoblade and everyone lives happily ever after with the Bionis being nothing more than a small mountain poking out of the ocean.

Anyway, New Game Plus carries over all your swag and skills. That includes the True Monado which makes that cutscene where Shulk talks about unlocking the secret of the Monado look really dumb when he has a massive sword of light on his back.

Yeah, that was pretty wordy. Sorry about that.

 

 

[drahkon]

So the story actually remains boring

Edited June 14, 2020 by drahkon