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[SecretMoblin]

One of my favorite game reviews gave it a 3/5 http://metavideogame.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/xenoblade-chronicles-a-poor-mans-epic/


Is that a pretty accurate review?


Before anyone disses this reviewer she gave xenogears and xeonosaga high remarks and called xenogears a better game than ff7.

That was an incredibly frustrating read.

And much of it reflects matters of personal taste. Most of the first half slams the story for being too "anime" and Takahashi cliché, but some people like that quite a bit -- just read some of the posts above this one. Also, it's filled with questionable statements: "still sole 3D 'Zelda' masterpiece, Koizumi’s 'Majora’s Mask', "...exorbitant, opulent ambition in terms of set design (also a whim which Takahashi seems to revel in)", "...inherited from such ludic antichrists as “Monster Hunter”, “World of Warcraft” or “Dragon Quest IX”, etc.

Also, as much as I adore Ueda, not every post-Ico game that uses soft lighting is necessarily inspired by him. And calling the game "naive" and "safe" is the most absurd of backhanded compliments. Anyone who spends 10 minutes with the game understands the risks that were taken to make it happen.

 

[Laughing Banana]

they may not be avoidable, but melia can use reflection, which makes here invincible for 5 seconds and reflects all the damage back to the unique. I highly recommend unsing this when fighting them whilst playing melia. remember: timing needs to be perfect because it's only 5 seconds! but cooldown is fairly short, which makes this art really neat.
(sadly that does not protect the entire party ofc)

Huh, why wouldn't I think about that?

But 5 seconds... man that's flirting with death material. I'd rather play it safe with Monado Armor.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I found the diction in that review to be pretty ridiculous at certain points. As in using plenty of complex words just for the sake of it, or to really no effect. I kind of got the feeling that the reviewer was slamming the game for not being Xenogears.

Personally, I didn't really find that to be a well written review.

 

[mclem]

Reading the "About Metagame" is quite interesting:

I’m a critic of the worst kind (the ones who think highly of their opinions), so I apologize for sometimes seeming arrogant. Since criticism is a part of me, I love to be criticized; so you can have your revenge in the comments page. I myself, see criticism as the only way to improve oneself, so go ahead… just keep it civil.

So, this is my game blog. Here, I will review games and write about games’ aesthetic trends, their history and future. In my reviews, I will take a different approach than most media outlets and magazines. I will take a closer look into games’ art design, narrative, level and overall design. The authors behind the games will also be a special point of interest. Graphics, length, and other technocratic aspects will be completely overlooked, since I find it ridiculous to evaluate art on a mere technological or economical standpoint. Movies and records are never criticized for having small budgets, being too short, unpolished or not “fun” enough. They are evaluated for the quality of their workmanship, art, ideas, emotions and semantics. So should games.

Amusingly, I'm also a proponent of the 'games as art' idea - but unlike the blog's author, I don't believe the artistry is limited to the 'traditional' forms of artistry: the storytelling, the art style, the audio. I believe that there's an artistry of game design, too; It's quite possible to have a visually superb game that has no *soul* (By reputation, I'd say perhaps FF13, but I'm not qualified to talk about it directly). It's also quite possible to have an utterly visually bland game that nevertheless has an inspired design (Tetris).

I do take a little issue with the author's viewpoint in that it seems to completely take out the new things gaming *can* bring to the table. It's like watching a film with the video output off and reviewing it in terms of a radio play, and completely ignoring the visuals. It'd do some works more of a disservice than others.

 

[mclem]

Huh, why wouldn't I think about that?

But 5 seconds... man that's flirting with death material. I'd rather play it safe with Monado Armor.

This reminds me of the times I'd occasionally use a Monado art *just* before a vision, then having to spend the duration of the time limit desperately trying to get my talent art active again in time.

 

[Oxx]

So, what we are saying is that this reviewer is some kind of jokah?

 

[SomeDude]

Reading the "About Metagame" is quite interesting:



Amusingly, I'm also a proponent of the 'games as art' idea - but unlike the blog's author, I don't believe the artistry is limited to the 'traditional' forms of artistry: the storytelling, the art style, the audio. I believe that there's an artistry of game design, too; It's quite possible to have a visually superb game that has no *soul* (By reputation, I'd say perhaps FF13, but I'm not qualified to talk about it directly). It's also quite possible to have an utterly visually bland game that nevertheless has an inspired design (Tetris).

I do take a little issue with the author's viewpoint in that it seems to completely take out the new things gaming *can* bring to the table. It's like watching a film with the video output off and reviewing it in terms of a radio play, and completely ignoring the visuals. It'd do some works more of a disservice than others.

Yes, but even then most game reviewers still review games like they're refrigerators (or like consumer report). She's a breath of fresh air.

 

[Feep]

Movies and records are never criticized for having small budgets, being too short, unpolished or not “fun” enough.

Also, yes they are, all the fucking time.

 

[fabricated backlash]

In total completion, I only had to change my Enerloops twice. And one of those was *right* before the final dungeon.

Nice touch - there's an in-game low battery warning. And it turns off during cutscenes so it doesn't obstruct your view.

I'm normally happy of getting a solid 20 hours out of my rechargeable batteries on a Wiimote and about 25 hours from my Xbox 360 controllers.
So this is just absolute overkill lol.

Guess this shows just how much battery rumble really eats.

 

[exhume]

So, what we are saying is that this reviewer is some kind of jokah?

What I'm finding ironic is that the review is assigning a numbered score to a game they've tried to criticise as art...

"Yes, I give this picasso a 4 out of 5 for the use of texture" *sniffs cork*

 

[mclem]

Yes, but even then most game reviewers still review games like they're refrigerators (or like consumer report). She's a breath of fresh air.

Oh, I completely agree that it's a different approach to reviewing, and entirely valid. It's just not for me, since it disregards what I regard as important (and, in turn, dismisses what I regard as important as 'not relevant to the artistry of the game', which I strongly disagree with).

It's just a conflicting philosophy.

But I'm the one who's right.

Naturally.

 

[SecretMoblin]

What I'm finding ironic is that the review is assigning a numbered score to a game they've tried to criticise as art...

"Yes, I give this picasso a 4 out of 5 for the use of texture" *sniffs cork*

I think the problem is her antediluvian concept of post-structural metacriticism, which is in constant struggle against the intrinsic hominal infatuation with reductionism.

 

[exhume]

I think the problem is her antediluvian concept of post-structural metacriticism, which is in constant struggle against the intrinsic hominal infatuation with reductionism.

I am embittered by her socio-temporal dynamic

 

[donkey show]

Listen to this sentence. Seriously.

This is awful, awful writing. It's like the author just reached for a thesaurus and went to town. Does he/she even know what a ludomaniac is? It doesn't make any sense in context.

Let's throw some shit at the wall and see what sticks!

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

that review reminds me of this Monty Python sketch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw8ZL_gcTSM

 

[michaeltraps]

Finally got my copy last night and clocked about 6 hours. Not surprising, but I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm not going to repeat all of the things it does right, as they've all been praised time and time again in this thread and I don't want to rehash.

It just further blows my mind how this game isn't going to see a proper release in North America - it's such a damn shame.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

What unique monster you are trying for? Because some of them only appear during certain conditions.

Was trying to get Violent Andante to appear again, I heard you have to be just south of Vilirea Hill around 3am, but again, never showed up.

 

[Meier]

...keep us warm and comfy and dreamy and naive and childish at night.

We do have this thing called a comma.. Honestly, the reviewer is in the Tim Rogers school of trying to throw big words into paragraphs to sound smarter when it really just makes someone come off as an indulgent, pompous ass. Tim is a joke and she probably is too.

 

[Gvaz]

they may not be avoidable, but melia can use reflection, which makes here invincible for 5 seconds and reflects all the damage back to the unique. I highly recommend unsing this when fighting them whilst playing melia. remember: timing needs to be perfect because it's only 5 seconds! but cooldown is fairly short, which makes this art really neat.
(sadly that does not protect the entire party ofc)

Reflection does not work for talent arts.

Also that review: "Lost Odyssey is better" gahahaha

I fucking love LO but NOPE. Also this is not a safe rpg at all, maybe in the west, but in japan the game hats more western design elements than eastern, and japan hates lots of western design choices.

Maybe safe in terms of the story, because it's generally something the creator of xenogears/saga would make, but as someone who considers this game his GOTY, the story is slightly above average if not a little tropy with combat that is awesome as hell.

Also she gave FO:NV a 1/5, AC2 a 2/5, dead space a 2/5 calling it derivative LOLLL, and batman a 2/5. I simply can't agree with her.

 

[SomeDude]

She think takahashi is the best JRPG developer. So it's not like she hates his work. xenogears along with xenosaga 1 she said was the height of jrpgs.

...i agree.

 

[Gvaz]

I'm not going to disagree on that. She also gave LO a 5/5 which I feel is good, but LO and Xenoblade are two totally different styles of jrpg. One stays like a classic FF format, while being much better (appealing to older fans and new jrpg users), one tries to improve every facet that is wrong with jrpgs today (and imo succeeds) rather than trying to evolve within the basics (like LO did).

I just feel her other reviews put into question about the validity of her complaints with this, as it tells more about what she expected/wanted out of xenoblade rather than what it delivers. It's not really fair to judge a game based on that.

 

[Zornica]

Reflection does not work for talent arts.
[...]

it doen't work on the "white" ones, thats correct. but it should work on ALL physical and ether based arts ("red/blue").
As mentioned: reflecting that aoe fire attack worked fine. I never tried it with the lvl105 laser but I bet it will be reflected too (I am going to test it now)
edit: laser works too

there are red/blue attacks with roman numbers? oO never noticed them

 

[Gvaz]

No I mean, anything with a roman numeral, (I meant that by "art") cannot be reflected. Normal attacks can though. Spike damage can't be reflected iirc.

 

[Philia]

My game froze. Several times in the same amount of time spent from the beginning. Disc's flawless. Installing it on the usb now... hopefully it'll work fine.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

I'm not going to disagree on that. She also gave LO a 5/5 which I feel is good, but LO and Xenoblade are two totally different styles of jrpg. One stays like a classic FF format, while being much better (appealing to older fans and new jrpg users), one tries to improve every facet that is wrong with jrpgs today (and imo succeeds) rather than trying to evolve within the basics (like LO did).

I just feel her other reviews put into question about the validity of her complaints with this, as it tells more about what she expected/wanted out of xenoblade rather than what it delivers. It's not really fair to judge a game based on that.

she gave LO a full rating?

 

[Gvaz]

If you ask me, I would give Xenoblade a 6/5. The complaints I have don't even make up for how amazing and progressive for the genre this game is.

 

[peakish]

I'm just finishing up Satorl Marsh, it's a good game but I'm less excited about it than I was hoping. A lot of the systems are interesting, especially the relationship chart, heart-to-hearts and exploration bonuses from collecting stuff in areas. But the combat feels pretty shallow and there are just so many enemies moving around that I'm a bit sick of it at the moment. It doesn't feel as if there's any reason for them to be so many since they don't cost you valuable potions or anything other than the time required to beat them. And then there are the ton of the most boring types of quests imaginable, fetch and kill quests. Yeah, I could (and probably should) just skip these, it would certainly make the combat harder and maybe more interesting.

But whining aside, I am enjoying it. There's a lot of good stuff in here. Bonus points for having the equipped armour shown on the character, extra bonus points for this carrying over into cutscenes. Love it.

 

[tekumseh]

OK, broke down finally today and ordered this to the US. Shopto had it in stock so with shipping it was about $55. Seems like a decent price. Looking forward to playing it, but now the wait begins...

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Anyone who rates LO above Xenoblade for any reason, has terrible taste, pure and simple.

 

[StevieP]

Anyone who rates LO above Xenoblade for any reason, has terrible taste, pure and simple.

But but but look how much better it is

 

[Gvaz]

I hated the cities, but I loved the dream sequences and the combat. I just wish it didn't have random battles.

 

[Man God]

You know what game has really good cities? XENOBLADE.

 

[Franchuzas87]

You know what game has really good cities? XENOBLADE.

So true. Except maybe

Spoiler

Alcamoth

. Beautiful, but much space wasted.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

You know what game has really good cities? XENOBLADE.

You know what has some framerate issues? XENOBLADE.


That's honestly the only complaint I have about Xenoblade so far...actually the English voice acting is awful too.

 

[BorkBork]

That's honestly the only complaint I have about Xenoblade so far...actually the English voice acting is awful too.

I'm not a fan of Shulk's, but everyone else is pretty good, and Dunban is on another level.

 

[Gvaz]

.actually the English voice acting is awful too.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

I'm not a fan of Shulk's, but everyone else is pretty good, and Dunban is on another level.

I honestly can not stand the English VA. They speak a lot faster then the Japanese do, and instead of taking a small breather after finishing a sentence they just keep going on like the first sentence never ended, just bugs me.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

That's honestly the only complaint I have about Xenoblade so far...actually the English voice acting is awful too.

It.. really isn't
The english VA is some of the best this generation

 

[Dizzy-4U]

Should I go with the lastest Dolphin build or is there a better one for Xenoblade?

 

[Zornica]

I'm just finishing up Satorl Marsh, it's a good game but I'm less excited about it than I was hoping. A lot of the systems are interesting, especially the relationship chart, heart-to-hearts and exploration bonuses from collecting stuff in areas. But the combat feels pretty shallow and there are just so many enemies moving around that I'm a bit sick of it at the moment. It doesn't feel as if there's any reason for them to be so many since they don't cost you valuable potions or anything other than the time required to beat them. And then there are the ton of the most boring types of quests imaginable, fetch and kill quests. Yeah, I could (and probably should) just skip these, it would certainly make the combat harder and maybe more interesting.

But whining aside, I am enjoying it. There's a lot of good stuff in here. Bonus points for having the equipped armour shown on the character, extra bonus points for this carrying over into cutscenes. Love it.

you may want to change your characters. sticking with shulk, reyn and sharla gets tiresome pretty quick. just kick them all out one by one and combat will become more and more fun. at least that worked for me.
having sharla and reyn in the party slows everything down, and playing shulk isn't that much fun.

 

[EvilMario]

I didn't care for the English voice acting.. at first. But it's really grown on me quite a bit as my party expands, and I run into my and more characters. Shulk's voice still doesn't do it for me though.

 

[Meier]

I'm not a fan of Shulk's, but everyone else is pretty good, and Dunban is on another level.

I haven't minded Shulk at all but Reyn was pretty bad early on. No real complaints since.

 

[BorkBork]

Dunban's VA at its best: End of

Spoiler

Valak Mountains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFQfyAe5X2Y, 7 minutes in.

 

[Gvaz]

Shulk's VA is great, fuck the haters.

 

[Dynedom]

Topple and Daze Auras are the worst fucking thing in the world. So so god damn cheap.

 

[STG]

.actually the English voice acting is awful too.

 

[SnipeyMcGee]

Got this in the mail on Tuesday (thanks for hyping me, GAF!)- and I don't think I'll be able to play any other game until I beat it. I'm floored by how much fun I'm having, this is the JRPG I've been hoping for. In a lot of ways it makes me feel like a kid with a SNES/PSX again--real... 'Classic' feeling.

As for the VA? I'm about 9 hours in, so far there have been only a couple of flat lines, they've stood out because of how good the voice overs have been so far. There's some occasional weirdness but it's delivered with a lot of heart by good sounding voices. No real complaints, I'm actually surprised by how good the VA is to be honest, can't imagine the game without 'em.

 

[The Hermit]

The Valek Mountain night soundtrack is like nothing else I've heard in a game.

God damn.

I though after Gaur plains and Satorl Marsh the music and the environment couldn't be topped... the I saw stars falling in Eryth Sea and Valek Mountain at night.

Holy crap... I at Sword Valley and this game keep sounding and looking better and better, how?!

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

Valak and Eryth at night are by far my favourite themes...simply staggering

That's honestly the only complaint I have about Xenoblade so far...actually the English voice acting is awful too.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

Okay.
So when I started the game, I decided to start with English VA, and I thought it was awful, and that Shulk's voice didn't fit (still feel that way) so I changed it to Japanese right away. I've had Japanese on 'till about two hours ago. I decided to give the English VA another shot.

So it's not awful (as others were right, the more your party expands the better the VA gets), but I wouldn't say its amazing. I still prefer the Japanese VA.