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[Starwolf_UK]

Interview with Adam Howden (Shulk, did a few voices in Dragon Age and Fable III too). Maybe mild spoilers (they sort of mention the themes of the game a; few of which mightI don't think are obvious from the start and a screenshot with some armour spoilers) but here are a select few quotes (hope RPGSite don't mind):

RPGSite: This year you took on perhaps your largest role to date, voicing lead character Shulk in the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles. When was your first audition and how long did you have to wait until you were told that the role was officially yours?
Adam: I auditioned for Xenoblade Chronicles in November 2010 and was told I got the part about two weeks later. It was all very secretive. I didn’t know what I was auditioning for. I just knew it was an RPG for Nintendo.

The Nintendo secrecy lives on. I'd guess the actual recordings were started more round (was it?) March time when the teaser Japanese video showed up (was it then?) and some of the other actors started tweets.

RPGSite: Western RPGs and Japanese RPGs are very different animals but having worked on both did that difference show behind the scenes, in terms of mentality, approach and what the writers and directors were trying to achieve?
Adam: Generally I would say they are fairly similar but I find with Japanese games the action and what is required of the voice actor is more heightened and dare I say ‘melodramatic’.

Thats a good way of putting it.

So um. I'm level 79, geeze this is slow. I want more quests. I tried the

Spoiler

Alcamoth area, those seem to be mid to higher 80's, can't do those. Same thing with the Tephra Cave. Anything about my level? I guess grind more in the last dungeon. I want to be 85 or so before trying last boss again.

Yes there is

Spoiler

Windy Cave on Bionis Leg and night time Satori Marsh. Though IIRC they're not much better than Prison Island.

 

[Zwei]

So, you guys who say you are idiots and were able to mod your Wii's, can you link to the exact walkthrough you used?

Click the pic:

And how exactly does it work if i want to play my regular games.

the ability to play regular games will be unaffected.

I heard that there is homebrew that is pretty much only active if you have the sd card with the homebrew on it actually IN the Wii? Is that correct?

this only applies to specific apps, I believe.

 

[SecretMoblin]

So, you guys who say you are idiots and were able to mod your Wii's, can you link to the exact walkthrough you used?

And how exactly does it work if i want to play my regular games. I heard that there is homebrew that is pretty much only active if you have the sd card with the homebrew on it actually IN the Wii? Is that correct? I just dont want to mess up the ability to play any of my other games by modifying the Wii.

EDIT: I've modified my PSP before with CFW, but that was because i had 2, and wasnt afraid if one of them bricked, but i'm a little scared of modding the Wii and somehow bricking it.

It won't affect anything if you want to play regular games; just pop in the disc and play it normally. You access the homebrew programs by clicking on a channel (the Homebrew Channel), which requires an SD card with the programs to be in the Wii.

If you have any questions, post in this thread. There are lots of people who are willing to help.

 

[LionFranco]

Cool, thanks guys. I'm going to look into setting that up this weekend, and maybe i'll get lucky and the package will arrive sooner than...6 weeks.

 

[RPGCrazied]

You could always start by trying to unlock the

Spoiler

4th and 5th skill trees for each character.

Some of them are at the end of long quest lines with lots of EXP, and some of the later ones have you fighting high-level uniques. Or you could always try and get some achievements, which give you EXP. But at your level, the Hoxes/Gogols on the Bionis' Leg should get you two or three levels pretty quickly without many problems.

I know about Shulks.

Spoiler

Getting Colony 9 to 4 stars? I only manage 3, and I don't see anymore quests at all. I managed to stumble on Fiora's, but I don't use her. I want to start on the replica manado quests, but I guess you have to be mid 80's to even start that. I just stumbled on Melia's quest, even had VA and she got a staff! Any thing like that for the other characters?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

I know about Shulks.

Spoiler

Getting Colony 9 to 4 stars? I only manage 3, and I don't see anymore quests at all. I managed to stumble on Fiora's, but I don't use her. I want to start on the replica manado quests, but I guess you have to be mid 80's to even start that. I just stumbled on Melia's quest, even had VA and she got a staff! Any thing like that for the other characters?

Did you do the running around and talking to named NPCs even if they have no quest marker? If you talk to them sometimes the affinity raises anyway
You can get 5 stars in Colony 9 pretty early on in

Spoiler

Before Alcamoth

so I don't see why you can only get 3?

 

[SecretMoblin]

Yeah, there should definitely be enough quests available to get Colony 9 higher than that. I think by this point it's safe to use the master spreadsheet without worrying about spoilers. Every quest, the locations of the NPCs, help in completing quests, a list of uniques around your level, etc.

 

[Phenomic]

I know about Shulks.

Spoiler

Getting Colony 9 to 4 stars? I only manage 3, and I don't see anymore quests at all. I managed to stumble on Fiora's, but I don't use her. I want to start on the replica manado quests, but I guess you have to be mid 80's to even start that. I just stumbled on Melia's quest, even had VA and she got a staff! Any thing like that for the other characters?

Also I would start doing what you aren't doing because the damage output with said person is awesome.

 

[Oxx]

65 hours, Level 51:

Actually running into some tough battles now that I have reached

Spoiler

Sword Valley.

I was getting used to my party of

Spoiler

Melia/Dunban/Sharla

being an unstoppable killing machine, but I may have to change a few things.

 

[Gvaz]

So um. I'm level 79, geeze this is slow. I want more quests. I tried the

Spoiler

Alcamoth area, those seem to be mid to higher 80's, can't do those. Same thing with the Tephra Cave. Anything about my level? I guess grind more in the last dungeon. I want to be 85 or so before trying last boss again.

If you're 79 you can definitely take down mid 80s dudes if you spec properly

 

[Leeness]

Christ I want this game. Wtf is wrong w NOA???!!!! I refuse to mod my Wii, basically out of ignorance.

Just chiming in with it being the easiest thing in the world. I'm wretched with certain computer things and it was a cinch. You can do it! Don't bother waiting on NOA; they're useless.

 

[Hi2u]

Are you guys playing off a hdd after soft modding?

 

[Feep]

Are you guys playing off a hdd after soft modding?

I am. Loading times are reduced even further.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Are you guys playing off a hdd after soft modding?

I soft moded my wii. I used StartPatch, so it's basically just like playing any other game. You just put Xenoblade in and you start it from the Disc Channel like any other game.

 

[Leeness]

Are you guys playing off a hdd after soft modding?

I'm playing off disk. I didn't feel like trying to put it on an HDD and my computer is awful so I didn't bother.

 

[Hi2u]

I am. Loading times are reduced even further.

I have a pal wii and a pal game because I'm in uk. Is it worth the hassle of soft modding just to play it offa external hdd plugged into wii? I have no idea how to do any of it and hate doing stuff like this.

 

[Feep]

I have a pal wii and a pal game because I'm in uk. Is it worth the hassle of soft modding just to play it offa external hdd plugged into wii? I have no idea how to do any of it and hate doing stuff like this.

Probably not. It's not that significant an increase in speed, and unlike region unlocking, playing off of an HDD did require a little bit of work.

 

[Hi2u]

Won't bother then. Thanks for info.

 

[flyover]

Is it safe to assume the point of no return is coming up?

The game is very good about this and will tell you when you've reached the point of no return. Someone will say something to the tune of, "If we go past this point, there may be no turning back. Are you ready to go on?" Until you answer affirmatively, you can backtrack.

 

[Knux-Future]

Played a little of it...but didn't get a chance to save before leaving for stuff.

It's kinda blurry but I'm guessing that's just the wii on a 40 inch TV.

Will play later tonight.

 

[Leeness]

Played a little of it...but didn't get a chance to save before leaving for stuff.

It's kinda blurry but I'm guessing that's just the wii on a 40 inch TV.

Will play later tonight.

If you get component cables, it should look better.

Unless you already have them and just notice more than I do.

 

[Knux-Future]

If you get component cables, it should look better.

Unless you already have them and just notice more than I do.

I do have component cables hook up for it but I'm normally not the one to notice stuff like this. The close up on Shulk's eyes was pretty bad.

Was there any special settings I need for the homebrew or something?

 

[Leeness]

I do have component cables hook up for it but I'm normally not the one to notice stuff like this. The close up on Shulk's eyes was pretty bad.

Was there any special settings I need for the homebrew or something?

Well, the characters faces aren't ~great~ detail or anything, so it may just be the style.

If you have gecko, other than force NTSC, that should be it!

 

[Knux-Future]

Well, the characters faces aren't ~great~ detail or anything, so it may just be the style.

If you have gecko, other than force NTSC, that should be it!

That's what I'm not doing...lol.

Will do that later

 

[WanderingWind]

I have an odd problem for those of you using Dolphin to run this. (Yes, I bought the game) Anybody else have the music suddenly distort and start crackling?

 

[Clevinger]

I have an odd problem for those of you using Dolphin to run this. (Yes, I bought the game) Anybody else have the music suddenly distort and start crackling?

Yes. There's a fix.

http://forums.dolphin-emulator.com/showthread.php?tid=14356&pid=169677#pid169677

 

[Leeness]

That's what I'm not doing...lol.

Will do that later

You have to force it everytime you play, or at least I do, so just remember it when you boot up Gecko

 

[RPGCrazied]

Got to 82. Now I'm grinding on unique brogs at Eryth Sea. Aru Shore. Level 87. I tried fighting the 88 unique but couldn't get it. 3... more... levels!

 

[Knux-Future]

You have to force it everytime you play, or at least I do, so just remember it when you boot up Gecko

Thanks

 

[MetatronM]

I have an odd problem for those of you using Dolphin to run this. (Yes, I bought the game) Anybody else have the music suddenly distort and start crackling?

Yup. Unless you can run LLE audio (only plausible if you have a real beast of a CPU...my non-SandyBridge i7 can't handle it), you're going to have that problem pop up every now and then. Some zones seem to like to do it more than others too.

In my experience, the best thing I could do to limit its frequency was to reduce the number of active processes to a bare minimum, devoting as much as of my system as I can to Dolphin.

Beyond that, the garbling is almost always limited to just one aspect of the audio (usually the BGM), so the in-game solution is to just make that music change. Changing the time of day, getting into/out of battle, or changing zones clears it up right away. The only times you can't do this are the rare occasions where it happens in cutscenes, though even then it frequently fixes itself rather quickly.


It's pretty much the only real drawback to playing via Dolphin. A small price to pay for the best control scheme and a massive graphical boost. I'm 81 hours in now and consider it pretty much a minor annoyance at worst.




EDIT: Ooh, didn't even know they had finally worked out a patch to fix it. That's how minor my annoyance was.

 

[Clevinger]

Yup. Unless you can run LLE audio (only plausible if you have a real beast of a CPU...my non-SandyBridge i7 can't handle it), you're going to have that problem pop up every now and then. Some zones seem to like to do it more than others too.

In my experience, the best thing I could do to limit its frequency was to reduce the number of active processes to a bare minimum, devoting as much as of my system as I can to Dolphin.

Beyond that, the garbling is almost always limited to just one aspect of the audio (usually the BGM), so the in-game solution is to just make that music change. Changing the time of day, getting into/out of battle, or changing zones clears it up right away. The only times you can't do this are the rare occasions where it happens in cutscenes, though even then it frequently fixes itself rather quickly.


It's pretty much the only real drawback to playing via Dolphin. A small price to pay for the best control scheme and a massive graphical boost. I'm 81 hours in now and consider it pretty much a minor annoyance at worst.

There's a fix for this:

http://forums.dolphin-emulator.com/showthread.php?tid=14356&pid=169677#pid169677

Just use the build in that link, and it should never be a problem again. Hasn't been for me.

 

[WanderingWind]

Yes. There's a fix.

http://forums.dolphin-emulator.com/s...9677#pid169677

Helpful stuff

Thanks. To tell the truth, Clevinger, that thread helped perfectly, but not that fix. If you just disable idle skipping from the ISO right click menu, it clears it up perfectly! At least for me. Thanks again!

 

[Leeness]

Thanks

Not at all. Enjoy.

Also, does anyone know the name of the music that plays in (area level 55-60ish)

Spoiler

the Central Factory?

I really enjoyed that track.

 

[SlipperySlope]

HAHAHHA. I just got 500 XP for raping an enemy.

 

[Knux-Future]

So far so good.

Not to far in..want to say one hour in but not much has happened yet story wise.

a few points.

1. The start screen is awesome. Great song. I waited until it turned night to actual press a button.

2. I was fucking around and jumped/fell off of a cliff into the water...then got chaase but homicidal bunnies....awesome.

3. Brittish accents are a okay with me.


Looking forward to getting the main plot on the road..the worse part of most RPGs/games atre the tutorial stuff....here it's not so bad.

Just glad to have this game at this point...took long enough for me to get a copy. So even I don't like it i will force my ass to play it through.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

113 hours in, just about to return to CF for the second time
Level 71
5 star affinity in every area aside from C6 (Need items from future area to upgrade)

Spoiler

385

quests completed

Such a good game
Definitely feels like it's coming to an end soon, wish it didn't

 

[Elfforkusu]

Cool, thanks guys. I'm going to look into setting that up this weekend, and maybe i'll get lucky and the package will arrive sooner than...6 weeks.

Took 5 weeks for mine.

I think they must take the cheap option and send these things by hobbit.


Aside: this game is awesome. About 9 hours in, level 20. So good.

 

[Fomalhaut]

Not at all. Enjoy.

Also, does anyone know the name of the music that plays in (area level 55-60ish)

Spoiler

the Central Factory?

I really enjoyed that track.

You mean this?

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

I deliberately steered away from the forums because I really wanted to finish the game this week. Well, guess what, 102 hours in and still playing it

I think I'm, anyway, onto the final lap and MAN this game has become one of the most epic stories I've played. What happens after Agniratha left me literally breathless

Spoiler

Egil and Gadolt's final fights!
Zanza's true form!
Dixon's betrayal!
Mechonis lives!
Mechonis dies!
Lady Mayneth's sacrifice!
Shulk's death!
Alvis' mysterious role!
The origin of the titans, and the world itself! Lord Kallian's sacrifice!
And DIXON, THAT BASTARD

revelation after revelation, epic cutscene after epic cutscene, this game has raped me soul. There will be time to talk about the scandalous amount of effort and heart those guys put into this product. It's the most Nintendish non-Nintendo game. I want to finish this because I want to kill those two IMMENSE bastards, because I want to restore peace and faith, but I also don't want to finish it because it's the best game I played this year, because I love them characters and the world and everything about it

 

[XPE]

but I also don't want to finish it because it's the best game I played this year, because I love them characters and the world and everything about it

Done the exact same thing before the end, when I thought the end was coming I went off adventuring, I don’t do that often in games, Easily one of the best games of the year.

Also people talking about the music the song on the title screen is great as well =D

 

[Dascu]

113 hours in, just about to return to CF for the second time
Level 71
5 star affinity in every area aside from C6 (Need items from future area to upgrade)

Spoiler

385

quests completed

Such a good game
Definitely feels like it's coming to an end soon, wish it didn't

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

how do you see how many quest you've completed?

XPE, now it's definitely strolling time for me. Gotta find that Emmy Leater!

 

[HiddenAway]

how do you see how many quest you've completed?

XPE, now it's definitely strolling time for me. Gotta find that Emmy Leater!

1...2...3...4.........200...201 etc

Only way to find out is to count

 

[Sadist]

Started my new playthrough (not with my game cleared file, I'm way to overpowered. Especially with that one item) and found all the NPC's in Colony 9 within the hour and completed 33 quests already haha.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

1...2...3...4.........200...201 etc

Only way to find out is to count

:0 really?


daaaaamn

 

[BlazingDarkness]

1...2...3...4.........200...201 etc

Only way to find out is to count

An easy way is to press the right direction button, it slides down the page ten quests at a time

 

[GC|Simon]

Question: I'm at the very beginning of the game. I mainly want to finish the story without investing too much time in the game. My spare times is currently unfortunately very limited and I want to finish the game before Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart, Zelda, etc.
My question is: Do I need to do sidequests / level-up in order to beat all the bosses? Or is it possible to "just run through"?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Question: I'm at the very beginning of the game. I mainly want to finish the story without investing too much time in the game. My spare times is currently unfortunately very limited and I want to finish the game before Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart, Zelda, etc.
My question is: Do I need to do sidequests / level-up in order to beat all the bosses? Or is it possible to "just run through"?

It's definitely possible to skip most sidequests and run through the story I believe, it'll probably take you around 60 hours just focusing on the story stuff

 

[XPE]

My question is: Do I need to do sidequests / level-up in order to beat all the bosses? Or is it possible to "just run through"?

Not really, Its a very well levelled game, I can only think of 3 or 4 bosses that I had to level up to beat, only one was a stupid difficulty jump for me the rest only need an extra level, this was before I went questing to see the world.

 

[Mistle]

How far into the game am I? (without spoiling anything). About 35 hours so far.

Spoiler

Just got to Sword Valley I believe (haven't played in awhile so I can't remember exactly). I am on the Mechonis Sword.