• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Xenoblade 3D |OT| Is that a Monado in your pocket or are you just really feeling it?

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Does level cap raise in NG+? What would be an incentive to run through NG? It was the only thing I never bothered with.

Nope. Unfortunately NG+ is really bad in this game. The only real incentive is to be able to go back and do all the quests easily because you are so overleveled. But most of the quests aren't really any fun anyway.
 

Parshias7

Member
Nope. Unfortunately NG+ is really bad in this game. The only real incentive is to be able to go back and do all the quests easily because you are so overleveled. But most of the quests aren't really any fun anyway.

It would have been fine if everything but levels carried over. At least then you'd have a power boost early game as you'd have awesome gear and gems, but you wouldn't completely one shot everything since you'd still be level 10. (well OK, maybe in that case you'd stop one shotting stuff around 20 or 30)
 

georly

Member
Nope. Unfortunately NG+ is really bad in this game. The only real incentive is to be able to go back and do all the quests easily because you are so overleveled. But most of the quests aren't really any fun anyway.

It's only good to pick up the game 2-3 years later when you want to replay the story but don't want to grind and do sidequests.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
It would have been fine if everything but levels carried over. At least then you'd have a power boost early game as you'd have awesome gear and gems, but you wouldn't completely one shot everything since you'd still be level 10. (well OK, maybe in that case you'd stop one shotting stuff around 20 or 30)

They should have just made everything optional. Level, arts, art levels, skills, if you could pick and choose, it could have been interesting.

I'd have also liked to see a "hard mode" where you can play the entire game balanced around NG+.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Ah, somehow I missed (mid-game spoilers) in my original playthrough..
Xord's origins, when Desiree is telling you about her Dad being a blacksmith and comments on him swinging his hammer, dying the battle a year earlier.
Pretty interesting stuff. Not really related to that, there's a lot of dialogue that gains a lot of importance and meaning on your second time through.
 
I have the game on the wii but somehow, it never really clicked. I only got around 10h gameplay and stopped playing at the gaur plains.

Now I bought it for the 3ds and it's been nonstop. What an adventure. I'm at
Agniratha
now and I think the
mechonis
part a is little boring though. I have around 50h of gameplay by now.
 

TheMoon

Member
I have the game on the wii but somehow, it never really clicked. I only got around 10h gameplay and stopped playing at the gaur plains.

Now I bought it for the 3ds and it's been nonstop. What an adventure.

It seems they were right on the money in putting this on a portable since I've now seen quite a few of these types of comments.
 
Oh god, the New 3DS XL's giant screen size + low res is brutal. Like playing through a screen door!

The crap I put up with for Xenoblade...
 

Renewed

Member
I mean, everything after
Valak
is a bit of a chore imo. I do not particularly like any of the environments from that point on. This is why it can feel like a grind despite the gameplay structure of everything that came before remaining intact.

Is it just me or does the Mechonis feel like a glorified dungeon?
 

TDLink

Member
I'm not a big fan of the
Mechonis
portion of the game as well. The game gets way more linear and not as fun during those sections. Although out of the main
Mechonis areas, Mechonis Field
, is alright (maybe because it was the first one, but also partially due to the music). The lack of real NPCs or quests may be part of it.

Fallen Arm
is alright though, but I don't really lump it in with
Mechonis
even though it technically is.

The big open world style zones which are found in the first half of the game are much more preferable to me. The only dungeon style zone I really enjoyed was
Prison Island.
 
Yeah, once I got to
Mechonis
I turned back and went on an endless-hour sidequest adventure to
rebuild Colony 6
and learn all the skill trees.

By the time I was done, seeing something new was a relief!

ps: thank baby jesus for that one enemy in Eryth Sea that makes it easy to grind affinity
 
I just got to
Gaur Plain
... I think I'm in love. Its so satisfying to win a fight that you almost lose. I think this game is going to steal a lot of my life from me. And I'm completely OK with that.
 
Hold thine hate, tis a matter addressed soon.

Oh how little you know

Keep playing. All will become clear.


Holy crap, they definitely did address it.
Not to sound overly negative though, but as awesome as that scene was, it doesn't quite change the fact that Shulk still acted like an idiot and Sharla was saved by the Monado unlocking a new power, which was something Shulk in no way planned for.
Also, is it just me, or does
that robot with a face and hammer sound hilariously miscast? He sounds like a working class bloke you'd meet at a bar, not a seemingly invincible, killer robot.

I almost wish the game was just a long series of cutscenes; the cinematography and art direction are some of the best I've seen in a JRPG.
 

A.J.

Banned
Am I only suppose to find three of my party members useful. I don't feel any reason to ever change Shulk, Dunban, or Sharla out because everyone else's skills seem useless or not worthwhile in comparison. Maybe Rein in place of Dunban because he can tank, but that is it.
 
Oh god, the New 3DS XL's giant screen size + low res is brutal. Like playing through a screen door!

The crap I put up with for Xenoblade...

Man you'd think its actually terrible in real life with the shit y'all post on the net.

Then again you all are always on your phone so it must be jarring to switch screens like that lol
 
Man you'd think its actually terrible in real life with the shit y'all post on the net.

Then again you all are always on your phone so it must be jarring to switch screens like that lol
It bothers me way more than I expected it to. I'll probably get used to it and be stockholm syndroming it with the rest soon enough though!
 

Brakke

Banned
Ah, somehow I missed (mid-game spoilers) in my original playthrough..
Xord's origins, when Desiree is telling you about her Dad being a blacksmith and comments on him swinging his hammer, dying the battle a year earlier.
Pretty interesting stuff. Not really related to that, there's a lot of dialogue that gains a lot of importance and meaning on your second time through.

Woah that's bonkers. What's the deal with Desiree anyway? I did a quest for him (the watch) at the beginning of the game and then tried to turn it in
after the attack on Colony 9 but I haven't been able to find him. I haven't really done an exhaustive search of Colony 9 since pressing on but he definitely isn't where he was when he gave me the watch quest. He's not dead, is he? Where'd he scamper off to?
 
Woah that's bonkers. What's the deal with Desiree anyway? I did a quest for him (the watch) at the beginning of the game and then tried to turn it in
after the attack on Colony 9 but I haven't been able to find him. I haven't really done an exhaustive search of Colony 9 since pressing on but he definitely isn't where he was when he gave me the watch quest. He's not dead, is he? Where'd he scamper off to?

I found this helpful NPC guide. It tells you every NPCs location, lots are dependent on the time of day.
 

alvis.exe

Member
Holy crap, they definitely did address it.
Not to sound overly negative though, but as awesome as that scene was, it doesn't quite change the fact that Shulk still acted like an idiot and Sharla was saved by the Monado unlocking a new power, which was something Shulk in no way planned for.
Also, is it just me, or does
that robot with a face and hammer sound hilariously miscast? He sounds like a working class bloke you'd meet at a bar, not a seemingly invincible, killer robot.

I almost wish the game was just a long series of cutscenes; the cinematography and art direction are some of the best I've seen in a JRPG.

If that's the last scene you got to, just know that they'll address it even further so keep playing.

Also totally agreed on the cinematography for the cutscenes. I don't really know many technical terms but I LOVE the camera angles, scene framing, pacing, shot transitions, action choreography, Engage the Enemy... it all feels like a really well-directed anime! So excited for XCX's cutscenes haha.

Also is it just me or are there not enough story reactions in here? :p
 

Zing

Banned
Am I only suppose to find three of my party members useful. I don't feel any reason to ever change Shulk, Dunban, or Sharla out because everyone else's skills seem useless or not worthwhile in comparison. Maybe Rein in place of Dunban because he can tank, but that is it.
I am 40 hours into the game, and I have decided that it isn't necessary to use all of the characters. They are there to play with if you like, but any combination seems viable. So switch it up or not, whatever is the most fun for you.

I spent the last few hours controlling Melia, and she bores me to tears. I think my next plan is Sharla, Reyn, and Riki.
 

ramyeon

Member
Am I only suppose to find three of my party members useful. I don't feel any reason to ever change Shulk, Dunban, or Sharla out because everyone else's skills seem useless or not worthwhile in comparison. Maybe Rein in place of Dunban because he can tank, but that is it.
I didn't use Sharla from the point I got Dunban onwards since I didn't find her skills useful. So it's really up to personal preference and play style. There aren't any really useless party members in this game.
 
Man the
Lorithia
boss fight is fucking ridiculous. The game was pretty much a cakewalk up until now and then this fight comes out of nowhere.
 

El Odio

Banned
My least favorite area in the game is probably the ether mines. Not only is it long, uninteresting, straightforward and easy yo fall off and lose progress in but its also full of mechon which are still a pain at that point.
 
My least favorite area in the game is probably the ether mines. Not only is it long, uninteresting, straightforward and easy yo fall off and lose progress in but its also full of mechon which are still a pain at that point.

Nah, Eryth Sea and the whole arc surrounding it is fucking annoying IMO. The amount of cutscenes and their length reminded me of the worst parts of JRPGs, and navigating Alcamoth and Eryth Sea felt like a chore.

Also, to people who have gotten Seven or beaten the game:

I'm past the first run of Prison Island, am I going to get Fiora for my party any time soon? I've been running Shulk+Dunban along with either Riki or Melia and those last to really aren't my thing considering their arcane handling when played and poor AI when not, but putting Reyn or Sharla back in rotation seems like a bad idea to me. I just want to get a solid straightforward Tank/DPS/DPS party going here instead of picking from straws to choose between Riki and Melia.
 

random25

Member
Also, to people who have gotten Seven or beaten the game:

I'm past the first run of Prison Island, am I going to get Fiora for my party any time soon? I've been running Shulk+Dunban along with either Riki or Melia and those last to really aren't my thing considering their arcane handling when played and poor AI when not, but putting Reyn or Sharla back in rotation seems like a bad idea to me. I just want to get a solid straightforward Tank/DPS/DPS party going here instead of picking from straws to choose between Riki and Melia.

A little more to go.
You have to go through Valak Mountain, Sword Valley and Galahad Fortress first. Once you reach Fallen Arm, you'll get her as a playable party member.
 
Now, this I can't understand.

They bothered to give Sharla FakeFactory-tier jiggleboobs, but they couldn't make it so movement animations sync with the ground properly instead of everyone sliding around while doing a generic run?

Priorities, animators.
 
Now, this I can't understand.

They bothered to give Sharla FakeFactory-tier jiggleboobs, but they couldn't make it so movement animations sync with the ground properly instead of everyone sliding around while doing a generic run?

Priorities, animators.

Those are the game's physics doing that automatically, not like the animators spent too much time on that
 

Overside

Banned
It bothers me way more than I expected it to. I'll probably get used to it and be stockholm syndroming it with the rest soon enough though!

No man. It is fucking brutal, and i am really not super sensitive to this stuff.

But fuck noa and forcing me to get this 92ppi shit when there is an already existing option.

Love Xenoblade. Its totally worth it, love the nub, love the beefed up processors and the speed of the os now.

Im fine with the 240x800 resolution. But fuck that god damned 92ppi screen with its lego sized pixels.
 

Mutagenic

Permanent Junior Member
Only played for a couple of hours but not sure I'm enjoying the fighting. It all seems like complete chaos and the graphics don't help me distinguish who's who and whose facing which way.
Same, honestly. Just made it to the first cave and I can't believe I have to navigate around an enemy with the analog stick and then switch to different arts with the dpad. And because the graphics are so muddy and there's lots of congestion at times, I don't always know if I'm on the side of an enemy or what.
 
I ended up turning the 3D off, at least instead of a screen door it's just scanlines. Progress!

re: combat, it does take a little while to adjust. I was having more trouble than I'd care to admit before I found the "center camera" button, which is ZL I think... and IIRC the same button that lets you give your party commands. Indispensable when you're fighting mobs, getting clowned, and Reyn is off screwing around rather than grabbing aggro like a good and honest tank!
 
I ended up turning the 3D off, at least instead of a screen door it's just scanlines. Progress!

re: combat, it does take a little while to adjust. I was having more trouble than I'd care to admit before I found the "center camera" button, which is ZL I think... and IIRC the same button that lets you give your party commands. Indispensable when you're fighting mobs, getting clowned, and Reyn is off screwing around rather than grabbing aggro like a good and honest tank!

Either use the other tank or play Reyn. I've found Reyn's AI to be crap at holding aggro compared to the other tank. And hell, even with the other tank, play him too, funnest character to play IMO.
 

TDLink

Member
Nah, Eryth Sea and the whole arc surrounding it is fucking annoying IMO. The amount of cutscenes and their length reminded me of the worst parts of JRPGs, and navigating Alcamoth and Eryth Sea felt like a chore.

Also, to people who have gotten Seven or beaten the game:

I'm past the first run of Prison Island, am I going to get Fiora for my party any time soon? I've been running Shulk+Dunban along with either Riki or Melia and those last to really aren't my thing considering their arcane handling when played and poor AI when not, but putting Reyn or Sharla back in rotation seems like a bad idea to me. I just want to get a solid straightforward Tank/DPS/DPS party going here instead of picking from straws to choose between Riki and Melia.

Riki is actually really good. The AI uses him well also. But yeah, you are a few zones away from getting that character.
 
Either use the other tank or play Reyn. I've found Reyn's AI to be crap at holding aggro compared to the other tank. And hell, even with the other tank, play him too, funnest character to play IMO.
Reyn eventually gets good at it (you just have to customize his moveset a bit), but yes, Dunban is clearly the best.

MISS MISS MISS MISS MISS

vZvod7H.gif
 
I really wish that the plot didn't shove off and forget the fact that Shulk's profession as an Engineer after Shulk fixes the buggy.

I mean, sure, he directs the reconstruction, but that's a completely optional thing on the side. It seems like beyond that, Shulk's practical skillset becomes 100% irrelevant and all that matters is his ability to Backslash everything in sight. I swear Gordon Freeman got more use out of his MIT education than Shulk gets out of his career as a Defence Force engineer.

(Err, his official post is an engineer for the colonial Defence Force, right?)
 

Overside

Banned
I really wish that the plot didn't shove off and forget the fact that Shulk's profession as an Engineer after Shulk fixes the buggy.

I mean, sure, he directs the reconstruction, but that's a completely optional thing on the side. It seems like beyond that, Shulk's practical skillset becomes 100% irrelevant and all that matters is his ability to Backslash everything in sight. I swear Gordon Freeman got more use out of his MIT education than Shulk gets out of his career as a Defence Force engineer.

(Err, his official post is an engineer for the colonial Defence Force, right?)

Every single word of this is blatantly false.
 

alvis.exe

Member
I really wish that the plot didn't shove off and forget the fact that Shulk's profession as an Engineer after Shulk fixes the buggy.

I mean, sure, he directs the reconstruction, but that's a completely optional thing on the side. It seems like beyond that, Shulk's practical skillset becomes 100% irrelevant and all that matters is his ability to Backslash everything in sight. I swear Gordon Freeman got more use out of his MIT education than Shulk gets out of his career as a Defence Force engineer.

(Err, his official post is an engineer for the colonial Defence Force, right?)

There's at least one more scene where he fixes/performs maintenance on stuff :p

Plus there are a few quests that touch on it. And he's delightfully nerdy in a couple of the Heart-to-Hearts.

Every single word of this is blatantly false.

And that. Though you really need to beat the game first to delve into the full reasoning behind it :p
 
I found myself sticking to Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla. I feel like i should switch out some people and try others. I did with Melia and shes alright, and i really dont want another swordsman out there.

suggestions?
 

ChrisD

Member
Some quick questions, thanks in advance.

Points of no return: Are they REALLY obvious? And are there more, or is it just the one that should be pretty easy to tell?

I just got to Eryth Sea. About how far am I into the game? A third or so? It feels like this is the start to the second act. More just a curiosity thing on this one.

Do Timed missions tell you before they disappear? I could have sworn there were still some Timed Quests in my menu, but after binge playing for hours on end maybe I finished them and don't remember. Do they just vanish?
 
There's at least one more scene where he fixes/performs maintenance on stuff :p

Plus there are a few quests that touch on it. And he's delightfully nerdy in a couple of the Heart-to-Hearts.

If you ask me, MonolithSoft missed a golden opportunity to cash in on the Mundane Task Simulator genre by not making Xenoblade solely about performing routine maintenance on things.

I found myself sticking to Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla. I feel like i should switch out some people and try others. I did with Melia and shes alright, and i really dont want another swordsman out there.

suggestions?

Sharla should probably be swapped out once you get the 5th and 6th members. Her DPS is dreadfully low, and with 3-man parties, DPS is GOD.

Some quick questions, thanks in advance.

Points of no return: Are they REALLY obvious? And are there more, or is it just the one that should be pretty easy to tell?

I just got to Eryth Sea. About how far am I into the game? A third or so? It feels like this is the start to the second act. More just a curiosity thing on this one.

Do Timed missions tell you before they disappear? I could have sworn there were still some Timed Quests in my menu, but after binge playing for hours on end maybe I finished them and don't remember. Do they just vanish?

As far as I know, the timed missions I've seen expire so far have had a yes/no option before you activate their point of no-return, with a proper in-universe explanation that they will expire, as opposed to a 4th-wall-breaking notification. So you'll have to pay attention to things, I guess.
 
Top Bottom