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[Jotamide]

Summary:

• Developer: Arc System Works
• Publisher: Arc System Works (JP) / Aksys Games (NA)
• Release Dates and Platforms:
  • Japan: April 9, 2015 (PS3, Vita)
  • North America: August 11, 2015 (PS3, Vita)
  • Europe: TBA
• Official Websites: Japan | International

Synopsis:

The protagonist, "Me", lives on the outskirts of the city of Ishana with her little sister in idyllic peace. However, that peace is shattered when "Me’s" sister disappears without a trace.

As panic begins to take a hold, "Me" starts running through increasingly more horrible scenarios in her mind: was she kidnapped? Or is her father, who performed dangerous experiments on his wife and eldest daughter, somehow behind it all? Rushing to her father’s workshop only served to confirm her fears, as the same strange azure light that appeared when her mother died was leaking once again through the cracks of the door...

After a single deep breath, "Me" opens the door and then wakes up without her memories in the "Phantom Field", a strange parallel world inhabited by a single person, the mysterious girl "Nobody". It is from this point that the protagonist begins her quest to find her sister, her memories, and uncover the origin of the Phantom Field.

Who is “Nobody”?

What is the “Phantom Field”?

A new story of the “Azure” will be uncovered…

Characters

Most of the characters from the first Xblaze seem to return, mostly for gag scenarios. Characters new to Xblaze are:

One of the major protagonists of the game. While searching for her missing sister she was engulfed in a brilliant blue light and was transported to the Phantom Field, where she met the enigmatic girl “Nobody”.
She harbors a fierce resentment towards her father for his experiments on her mother as well as herself.

The sole occupant of the mysterious Phantom Field. As the concept of time doesn’t seem to exist in that place, she could’ve been there for five seconds or five thousand years. She loves thinking up riddles.

The precocious younger sister of the protagonist “Me”.
Always cheerful and upbeat, she idolizes her older sister and wants nothing more than to be just like her when she grows up. Unfortunately, her zealous desire to help often gets her into trouble and on her sister’s nerves.

A remarkable-looking young man who suffers from amnesia. He is somewhat skittish and high-strung, but is generally a peaceful person with strong opinions about what is right and wrong. Other than his name, he knows absolutely nothing about himself. He hates being touched. Is never seen without his prized cat plushie.

The quasi-official mascot of XBlaze 2. The plushie that Ripper carried around with him. Is somehow able to speak, but it is unknown just how it gained this ability.

Gameplay

The protagonist unintentionally wanders into a mysterious alternate world known as the "Phantom Field" while searching for her missing sister. The Phantom Field is a strange place full of shifting pathways and traps to snare the unwary. Strange crystalline objects known as “Memory Fragments” are strewn throughout this place. In order to move on to the deeper levels of the field, players will have to find and gather these mysterious artifacts. Once you have gathered a certain number of Memory Fragments and make your way to the end of the level you’re on, Nobody will appear to quiz you on what you’ve learned.

DLC

It appears that all of the free DLC gag scenarios from the Japanese release are already included in the cart. However, the DLC scenario starring Sechs from the previous game is still paid ($2, PS3 and Vita links).

Screenshots

Reviews

• The Vita Lounge 4.3/5
• PlayStation Lifestyle 7.5/10
• Gamecritics 5/10

Links

• Launch Trailer
• Original Soundtrack: AmiAmi, CD Japan, Play-Asia, Amazon Japan
• Nobody figure (pre-order): AmiAmi, CD Japan, Play-Asia

Credits to calc84maniac for the OT subtitle!

 

[UCBooties]

Thanks for posting the OT. I never played the first game because of complaints that it was short and lacked interaction. Now I'm getting a bit more into visual novels so I'm wondering if this will be worth trying. So two questions:

1. Is this game any good? I know the story ties into BlazBlue but I don't really follow that series. So when I ask if the game is good I mean does it (and the XBlaze series I guess) stand on its own?

2. If I want to get this game how essential is its predecessor? It sounds like its not necessary if the characters are mostly back for gag scenarios.

 

[Tohsaka]

Nice OT. I started playing it last night, and there is a ton of recap from the first game so far. It feels like there's more recap of old stuff than new content at the point I'm at (chapter 6, I think). I'm enjoying it, but I hope it picks up.

 

[calc84maniac]

Thanks for posting the OT. I never played the first game because of complaints that it was short and lacked interaction. Now I'm getting a bit more into visual novels so I'm wondering if this will be worth trying. So two questions:

1. Is this game any good? I know the story ties into BlazBlue but I don't really follow that series. So when I ask if the game is good I mean does it (and the XBlaze series I guess) stand on its own?

2. If I want to get this game how essential is its predecessor? It sounds like its not necessary if the characters are mostly back for gag scenarios.

1. You don't need Blazblue, the XBlaze games do stand on their own. I've heard that there are a number of references that Blazblue fans would appreciate, but that's not too important.

2. The characters are back for much more than gag scenarios, due to the whole "memory" element. The memories you unlock do more-or-less cover the story of Code: Embryo (which is very important to the story of Lost: Memories) and tie up a lot of loose ends, but you'd have to sort of piece the story together yourself if you haven't played the first game. I would recommend playing Code: Embryo first, since even if it's not quite as good as the second game, it does make the second game a lot more impactful if you know the story.

Nice OT. I started playing it last night, and there is a ton of recap from the first game so far. It feels like there's more recap of old stuff than new content at the point I'm at (chapter 6, I think). I'm enjoying it, but I hope it picks up.

It definitely picks up, just wait! Some really interesting plot elements.

 

[JPS Kai]

No review code, but I ended up just buying it last night from a mom and pop store.

 

[Basileus777]

I'm on floor five of this and so far it feels more like a fandisc than a real sequel. There's been way too much recapping of events from the first game with only a few extra lines of dialogue. And most of it is just telegraphing stuff that worked perfectly well when it was just implied during the first game, seeing it directly doesn't add a whole ton. We'll see how things turn out in the end, but as of now I'm not very impressed.

2. If I want to get this game how essential is its predecessor? It sounds like its not necessary if the characters are mostly back for gag scenarios.

This one recaps a lot of the first game, but it skips around a lot and I'm not sure it's really a good way to experience the plot of the first game. I probably wouldn't recommend this as a standalone game.

 

[calc84maniac]

I'm on floor five of this and so far it feels more like a fandisc than a real sequel. There's been way too much recapping of events from the first game with only a few extra lines of dialogue. And most of it is just telegraphing stuff that worked perfectly well when it was just implied during the first game, seeing it directly doesn't add a whole ton. We'll see how things turn out in the end, but as of now I'm not very impressed.

Have you been watching all the optional memories too? I feel like those had a lot more new content and character development than the main memories.

 

[Basileus777]

Have you been watching all the optional memories too? I feel like those had a lot more new content and character development than the main memories.

I've watched everything available so far. It does add to the characterization of Kuon/Mei, but even there there's a lot of repetition from the first game. What do things like seeing how long Mei was eavesdropping before joining a conversation really add? Thankfully it's been like 14 months since I played the first Xblaze so I don't mind seeing some of these scenes again, but I wouldn't recommend anyone play these back-to-back.

 

[calc84maniac]

I've watched everything available so far. It does add to the characterization of Kuon/Mei, but even there there's a lot of repetition from the first game. What do things like seeing how long Mei was eavesdropping before joining a conversation really add? Thankfully it's been like 14 months since I played the first Xblaze so I don't mind seeing some of these scenes again, but I wouldn't recommend anyone play these back-to-back.

Yeah, to be honest... I kind of had the same feeling, that I wouldn't want to play the games back-to-back. But I didn't really mind the repetition because I forgot a lot of the details, and most of the scenes are executed differently anyway.

 

[Suzushiiro]

I though the original XBlaze was kinda blah, despite usually being into visual novels and other weeb-ey stuff. Is this an improvement over the original, or about the same quality-wise?

 

[Jotamide]

Thanks for posting the OT. I never played the first game because of complaints that it was short and lacked interaction. Now I'm getting a bit more into visual novels so I'm wondering if this will be worth trying. So two questions:

1. Is this game any good? I know the story ties into BlazBlue but I don't really follow that series. So when I ask if the game is good I mean does it (and the XBlaze series I guess) stand on its own?

2. If I want to get this game how essential is its predecessor? It sounds like its not necessary if the characters are mostly back for gag scenarios.

Tbh there are way superior VNs on Vita like VLR or Steins;Gate, so personally I would recommend this if you're tangentially related to the Blazblue lore. Otherwise, everything would be a tad confusing.

I though the original XBlaze was kinda blah, despite usually being into visual novels and other weeb-ey stuff. Is this an improvement over the original, or about the same quality-wise?

The TOi system has been scrapped, so it definitely is more of a VN than the previous game. It also seems to reviewing much better than Code Embryo.

 

[Basileus777]

Tbh there are way superior VNs on Vita like VLR or Steins;Gate, so personally I would recommend this if you're tangentially related to the Blazblue lore. Otherwise, everything would be a tad confusing.

Eh, this is so loosely connected to Blazblue and it works fine as a standalone series.

The TOi system has been scrapped, so it definitely is more of a VN than the previous game. It also seems to reviewing much better than Code Embryo.

The TOI system doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not it's more of a VN.

 

[Tohsaka]

Got the platinum trophy. It ended up being pretty good, still too much recap for my liking though. It felt like they were setting up for another game, I'd probably buy it if it happens.

 

[Basileus777]

I had forgotten how poorly Xblaze handles transitions and loading screens. It's pretty comical how you have scenes where half the time you are looking at a black screen. Though the first game as a lot worse with this.

I'm on floor 7 now and if anything the recap problem has been getting worse. Hopefully the ending delivers otherwise this just seems like a really over priced fan disc that spends most of its time rehashing old material.

 

[crimilde]

Is it worth buying if I have no previous experience with Blazblue/XBlaze etc. but I enjoy VNs? Or should I rather buy Code: Embryo?

 

[Basileus777]

Is it worth buying if I have no previous experience with Blazblue/XBlaze etc. but I enjoy VNs? Or should I rather buy Code: Embryo?

You don't need to know anything about Blazblue. I'd start with Code: Embryo, Lost Memories sits in a weird place of spending way too much time recapping the first game, but skipping around too much to be a good standalone experience.

Code: Embryo is $20 on Amazon, that alone is probably a compelling reason to start there. Play Code: Embryo and if you like it wait until Lost Memories' inevitable discount and then play that.

 

[Kresnik258]

Since I didn't get an answer in the PS Nation thread, I just thought I'd try here - is there any save transfer from Code Embyro? I haven't bought it yet, but there's a European version releasing soon. I'll import if there is save transfer stuff though.

 

[crimilde]

You don't need to know anything about Blazblue. I'd start with Code: Embryo, Lost Memories sits in a weird place of spending way too much time recapping the first game, but skipping around too much to be a good standalone experience.

Code: Embryo is $20 on Amazon, that alone is probably a compelling reason to start there. Play Code: Embryo and if you like it wait until Lost Memories' inevitable discount and then play that.

Thanks! I'll get Code: Embryo then.

 

[Basileus777]

Since I didn't get an answer in the PS Nation thread, I just thought I'd try here - is there any save transfer from Code Embyro? I haven't bought it yet, but there's a European version releasing soon. I'll import if there is save transfer stuff though.

There's no save transfer or use of saves from the first game.

 

[hersheyfan]

Guys, to anyone who bought this - how do you begin moving after you activate the teleporting thing in the picture below? It brings you to another map but i seem to be stuck on the portal itself after warping, and cannot move in any direction. Tried pressing all the buttons and looking up the controls, nada.

http://aksysgames.com/xblaze2/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/img-ss-special03.jpg

Edit: nvm, figured it out. Apparently you have to go into a replay menu and play a memory before you can start walking. Yeesh.

 

[Jotamide]

This is insane, the game really opens up after

Spoiler

you clear the last level of the Phantom World, I thought that the story was pretty much done once you were back home with Celica. It would have been awful though.

I guess the game is back on track on its way to redemption, because so far I wasn't liking it very much.

 

[Jotamide]

I pretty much marathoned the last half. The game started really bad but got progressively better IMO. The ending

Spoiler

was not as bittersweet as the one from the previous game. I liked how they tied Nine/Celica's story with the Xblaze cast story, the dialogue between Es and Nine was very touching at times.

I would definitely be in for a third entry, but plot-wise I don't even know where ASW can go from here.