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Xenoblade Chronicles |OT| Man, what a bunch of jokers.

Zornica

Banned
Xenoblade Chronicles is the greatest RPG of all time.

Does anyone agree?

I'd definitely agree.
For me it's the perfect blend of story AND gameplay, something most (j)rpg´s are lacking.
The battle system fitted my needs perfectly. It is real time, it is deep, and most importantly: it offers 7 unique characters, and everyone of them offers a different approach to combat. I really enjoyed mixing talents, arts and gems to creat the perfect party. To bad there aren't enough really hard enemies in the game. I wish they would have included some sort of hard mode where all enemies are like lvl 100+ for new game ++ :p I'd have really enjoyed that.
There are some bad dessicions here and there, but in my opinion, this game and it's gameplay is a HUGE step for the entire genre, and especially for Takahashi - finally a game that was playable, and not just watchable :p (I know there was more to those games than just looking Videos but come on...)
The story in Xenoblade was much more focused and written for ONE game and that really shows. It may be not as deep as some of his other games, but it's much better told.

there are very few other games I could enjoy as much, Terranigma was one of them and Infinite Space came close (sadly not on the gameplay front)

So basically... yeah, its my favorite rpg, if not my favorite game overall so far.

edit: lol, well it's pretty late over here
 

Sokantish

Member
I'd definitely agree.
For me it's the perfect bland of story AND gameplay, something most (j)rpg´s are lacking.

Pretty funny typo, or was it intentional?

I definitely don't think it's the greatest jRPG of all time, probably up there on the list with best of this gen though.
 

Tess3ract

Banned
Xenoblade is my favorite game in this genre. Easily takes the cake for best JRPG in the last ten years. Xenosaga used to be my favorite series, and they really improved the mechanics for ep 3 (though they ruined the story). Dragon Quest 8 was pretty fucking awesome too, but this shits over everything.

Never played Xenogears except for a bit at the beginning and it's just all kinds of clunky, like ff7 and the rest of that crap.
 
Xenoblade Chronicles is the greatest RPG of all time.

Does anyone agree?
No, because Chrono Trigger is the greatest RPG of all time.
YYvCJ.gif


But it's the most I've played an RPG, ever. And it never got old.
 

Tess3ract

Banned
Episode 1: Some cool things happen, lots of characters were set up, kind of clunky but makes sense
Episode 2: some backstory and other things that no one remembers or cares about, holy fuck that combat system
Episode 3: Kevin is alive? A bloo bloo pls take me back, no I hate all of you that I've partied with for games and games and I sound like a total reversal of character from the past two games

The mechanics were good though
 

Leeness

Member
I'd go with it's one of my favourite RPGs ever, up there with Final Fantasy IX, Earthbound and Mother 3.

I loved Xenosaga back in the day, and still do, but I really can't play it anymore. The melodrama is just too much. "I WANTED TO TAKE HER PAIN. AND MAKE IT MINE. JUST ME. AND THEN SHE WOULD NEVER BE SAD AGAIN". kay boo, it's sweet, but dial it back a tad... And all the waxing poetic with all seriousness. It's just too much for me nowadays. Ate it up when I was a melodramatic teen, but not anymore. I keep the very fond memories in my heart.

Xenoblade never really veered into that melodrama to me. Sometimes it triiiied, but didn't hit the ~*~DEPTH AND FEELING~*~ of Xenosaga. And in that, it made it much more emotional to me, haha. Because the characters felt a bit more like they were feeling something real. Not even lying, (60%ish spoilers, F.A. area)
Shulk reuniting with Fiora really touched me. I just felt like it had been so long since we'd really seen her (and really, it had been like 50 hours haha) that I felt so relieved and I cried a little bit haha.

Character relations were done pretty well, too. I became a Reyn/Sharla shipper, haha. Loved Melia. Even loved Riki (especially Riki?!).

It just felt so complete to me, and so well done. It isn't as ~omg life the universe and everything~ as the other Xeno games, but that's not really what I want from a game anymore (again, I contemplated ~life the universe and everything~ when I was a teen, and EVERYTHING IS DEEP was the epitome of cool to me).

Yep. TL;DR: Xenoblade is one of my favourite games. The End.
 

flyover

Member
I love Xenoblade just because it exemplifies what I imagine when I think of what an RPG is. I don't know that it's the best at any one thing, and I don't know that many people would call it the greatest RPG ever. I don't know that I would, either. But if I were given the chance to spend the next two weeks playing any game I'd played before, Xenoblade would be an easy choice. I just plain enjoyed it. It made me happy.

Kind of like if you asked some movie critics what the greatest movie of all time is, they might say Citizen Kane. Then tell them they can watch any movie they want for the next couple hours. I have a feeling most will pick something else. That's how I feel about Xenoblade. It's not Citizen Kane. It's what I'd rather watch instead of Citizen Kane.
 
For the first half of the game, it really felt like they went inside my head, found out nearly everything I wanted from an RPG, and gave it to me. No time limits, no level scaling, not many invisible walls, lots of customization, an emphasis on exploration, gorgeous locales, fun enemies, and a story that didn't get in the way of the gameplay. There are plenty of issues I have with it here and there, but it's really a remarkably good game.

I've said it here before, but I felt a bit let down by the second half - and especially the final third - of the game. It's still great and worth playing, but the shift to focus on the story and the frustrating funneling of the environments was kind of a turn-off.

Still, I really bristle when people say JRPGs don't have anything to learn from Xenoblade. It's proof positive that you can make a very linear game that doesn't feel claustrophobic.
 

Leeness

Member
I'm 22 and I still like things that are ~deep~ and probably always will :(

Haha, nothing against anyone who likes it! I guess I kind of came off that way, haha. On the contrary, my tastes just changed as I got older. I just like things kind of toned down and simple but effective now. If you enjoy melodrama, all the power to you! You don't need to be a teen to enjoy it at all! :) I still enjoy it sometimes.
 

Oxx

Member
I wonder if Xenoblade will do better in the 2012 GAF GOTY voting than in the 2011 version?

It will be available to a wider audience, but a large number of those people most inclined to love the game will have been first in line to import the European release.
 

Tess3ract

Banned
Haha, nothing against anyone who likes it! I guess I kind of came off that way, haha. On the contrary, my tastes just changed as I got older. I just like things kind of toned down and simple but effective now. If you enjoy melodrama, all the power to you! You don't need to be a teen to enjoy it at all! :) I still enjoy it sometimes.
Well not as much as I used to, but I still enjoy all that technobabble stuff, that's more of what I was getting at.
 

Wichu

Member
Valak Mountain at night. OMG!

Every time I think I found my favourite track the game manages to one up itself.

Yeah, the sheer number of amazing songs in the soundtrack is probably the thing I like most about this game.

The
Mechonis
areas are a bit linear, but the music easily makes up for it.

My top three tracks:
1.
Engage the Enemy
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAW4xlbyu28
2.
Gaur Plain
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweRl4LZlmo
3.
Mechonis Field
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45gdP2OKmU

Xenoblade definitely deserves GAF's soundtrack of the year 2011 - I'm now worried that Monolithsoft won't live up to this in their next game :(
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, the sheer number of amazing songs in the soundtrack is probably the thing I like most about this game.

The
Mechonis
areas are a bit linear, but the music easily makes up for it.

My top three tracks:
1.
Engage the Enemy
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAW4xlbyu28
2.
Gaur Plain
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweRl4LZlmo
3.
Mechonis Field
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45gdP2OKmU

Xenoblade definitely deserves GAF's soundtrack of the year 2011 - I'm now worried that Monolithsoft won't live up to this in their next game :(

Second best sound track of the year IMO, but Xenoblade wasn't a distant second and nothing else even came close to the top 2.

And it's a shame this song was only used what, once during the entire game? At least that one time it was used was pretty great.

Unfinished Battle
 

Kaizer

Banned
So I just got to Sword Valley for the first time. Should I be buying these Anti-Mechon weapons? Do they automatically hurt mechon rather than having Shulk use "Enchant" in every fight?
 

Ultratech

Member
So I just got to Sword Valley for the first time. Should I be buying these Anti-Mechon weapons? Do they automatically hurt mechon rather than having Shulk use "Enchant" in every fight?

You can if you want. Definitely wouldn't hurt.

And yeah, they auto-pierce through Mechon without having to use Enchant, so that's useful.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
So I just got to Sword Valley for the first time. Should I be buying these Anti-Mechon weapons? Do they automatically hurt mechon rather than having Shulk use "Enchant" in every fight?

Those types of weapons are weaker than your normal weapons, but they are pretty necessary if you don't want to use Shulk. If you do have him around, enchant is still useful since it not only lets you damage Mechon, but also provides a damage boost, unlike the anti-Mechon weapons that reduce your damage output.

But in general, I don't think buying weapons in the game is ever worth it, because you can always find better weapons in the field than you will from the shops available to you.
 

Kaizer

Banned
I decided to just stick with Shulk, as the Anti-Mechon weapons were vastly underpowered to my current gear. But bahgawd, the boss fight against
Mumkhar and his mechon cronies
is killing me! Any tips? Currently everyone is at Lvl. 53
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I decided to just stick with Shulk, as the Anti-Mechon weapons were vastly underpowered to my current gear. But bahgawd, the boss fight against
Mumkhar and his mechon cronies
is killing me! Any tips? Currently everyone is at Lvl. 53

I used Shulk and took out the minions, and let Dunban handle the big guy. Had Sharla around and she did whatever she felt like.
 

ajim

Member
I decided to just stick with Shulk, as the Anti-Mechon weapons were vastly underpowered to my current gear. But bahgawd, the boss fight against
Mumkhar and his mechon cronies
is killing me! Any tips? Currently everyone is at Lvl. 53

I was under leveled too and just went headstrong and focused on
Mumkhar with everyone, because his HP is easy enough to bring down, and when you defeat him you don't need to worry about his minions, the battle just ends. I was using Shulk, Reyn and Sharla.
 
Holy FUCKING SHIT. Just started this - about 8 hours in so far.

AMAZING.

It's easily the best JRPG this generation... makes everything Square has done for the last 6 years seem pretty ridiculous by comparison.

off to get a component cable and classic controller pro!
 
Ok so I took your advice and I mainly concentrated on making Agility gems and making a party of offensive characters.
And holy shit the difference with the agility stat pumped up is so significant it's not even funny, now my ennemies are barely able to touch me...it's such a wonderful feeling when you see a bunch of "MISSED" onscreen and that your characters have full health...

So, I'm about
to fight Gadolt, but he handed my ass to me at level 68
, so I guess I'm going to to some more sidequests and some grinding in Bionis' Leg (Wind Cave I think). It's regrettable that there aren't more exploration-focused sidequests and that you can't pause at any moment during a fight...
 
Ok so I took your advice and I mainly concentrated on making Agility gems and making a party of offensive characters.
And holy shit the difference with the agility stat pumped up is so significant it's not even funny, now my ennemies are barely able to touch me...it's such a wonderful feeling when you see a bunch of "MISSED" onscreen and that your characters have full health...

I suppose one could make the argument that it effectively breaks the game to pump up the agility stat so much, but there's one thing that it allows you to do: ditch Sharla. No need for a dedicated healer with so much agility, and it really opens the game up to interesting party configurations.
 
Shulk + Dunban + 7th = Delicious 5-digits damage combo.

Anyways, I passed the moment
where Mekonis awakens, so should I search for the hidden dungeons right now before going on the Junk or should I advance a little in the story ?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Shulk + Dunban + 7th = Delicious 5-digits damage combo.

Anyways, I passed the moment
where Mekonis awakens, so should I search for the hidden dungeons right now before going on the Junk or should I advance a little in the story ?

Not really much to do at that point, might be a good idea to tackle any timed quests you want to do but that's about it.
 

Oxx

Member
Endgame/postgame side-quests:

Dazzling Tolosnia just got massacred. I was worried that he might have been a tough one, but it was all fairly quick. He kept targeting Shulk and Melia with his Virgin Attack (lol), but I kept him of balance for the most part.

Now to get on with the rest of the side-quest
 
Endgame:

Just cleared "Battling Brutes", all 5th skill trees unlocked! Not sure what the point was at level 95, but whatever. Didn't have any good Daze Resist stuff, so that was annoying, but OTOH Melia doesn't give a single eff about spike effects.

Finished the Alcamoth stuff, and I think I've cleared out Tephra Cave now. Did the thing at Valak Peak too.

So, is there anything left? Hunting uniques, I guess?
 

Oxx

Member
Endgame:

Just cleared "Battling Brutes", all 5th skill trees unlocked! Not sure what the point was at level 95, but whatever. Didn't have any good Daze Resist stuff, so that was annoying, but OTOH Melia doesn't give a single eff about spike effects.

Finished the Alcamoth stuff, and I think I've cleared out Tephra Cave now. Did the thing at Valak Peak too.

So, is there anything left? Hunting uniques, I guess?

What's at
Valak Peak
?
 

Oxx

Member
Running around Frontier Village trying to cash-in quests is the worst.

This
Valak Mountain quest (and what's behind the door)
had better be good.
 

Zornica

Banned
Running around Frontier Village trying to cash-in quests is the worst.

This
Valak Mountain quest (and what's behind the door)
had better be good.

actually; frontier village is the most convenient town (aside from the 5th one) to look for npcs because they all the important ones spawn at 6 or 18 o´clock (except for the 1st floor, they spawn at 9/21).
the location is compact and if you are working with the clock, you can find npc´s in less than 5 minutes. start at the bottom, go up in a circle and reset the clock in each floor to 6 and 18, you could also use a map (i know it's japanese, but with a little common sense, it's not hard to understand.) It shows all npc spawnpoints and times in dark green. I used it quite often.


btw: colony 9 was much worse imo because of it's vast layout, or colony 6 with it's random spawntimes.
 

Oxx

Member
It was just annoying that the one character I had to speak to was on one of the levels that different have a landmark to warp to.
 
actually; frontier village is the most convenient town (aside from the 5th one) to look for npcs because they all the important ones spawn at 6 or 18 o´clock (except for the 1st floor, they spawn at 9/21).
the location is compact and if you are working with the clock, you can find npc´s in less than 5 minutes. start at the bottom, go up in a circle and reset the clock in each floor to 6 and 18, you could also use a map (i know it's japanese, but with a little common sense, it's not hard to understand.) It shows all npc spawnpoints and times in dark green. I used it quite often.


btw: colony 9 was much worse imo because of it's vast layout, or colony 6 with it's random spawntimes.

With quick travel, five minutes is an eternity to find a single NPC. And Frontier Village isn't compact! It may not be as open as Colony 9, but it has a massive amount of vertical space and tons of little areas. It's frustrating to have to be reading a guide and quick travel all over the place to talk to the endless number of named NPCs. Plus, the other cities' openness is a relief after Frontier Village.
 
Finally finished it. Definitely the best JRPG of this generation, I have very few qualms on it, it's mainly picking : the absence of a real pause option during fights (well the Home button is sufficient at least), there are few Boss Music (I only remember Those Who Bear Their Name), the endless talking (WOULD YOU SHUT UP WHEN YOU FIGHT PLEASE) that gets a bit old after +80 hours, and some issues in the scenario could've been more developped.

About the NG+ : why can't we just keep everything instead of choosing ? That would've been nicer and easier. Ah well.

About the ending :
I nearly expected the party to just start applauding and saying "Congratulations !" with this music...ahem. It would've been nice to develop a little about the "experiment" that went wrong, but hey, knowing Takahashi it must be something related to Xenogears/Xenosaga timeline stuff but hey who cares. At least the fact that Zanza isn't a real god justifies the fact that, well, Shulk's party beat his ass.

EDIT : A question about the ending :
How did Fiora get back her human body ? I read somewhere she rested 6 months in some kind of machine which restored her to her original form, but how did I miss that ? Also I firstly thought that Shulk rewrote reality in order to restore Fiora's body, but it seems it's not it...

I'm expecting great things of Monolith's future game.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
EDIT : A question about the ending :
How did Fiora get back her human body ? I read somewhere she rested 6 months in some kind of machine which restored her to her original form, but how did I miss that ? Also I firstly thought that Shulk rewrote reality in order to restore Fiora's body, but it seems it's not it...

They pretty much implied that it was going to happen earlier
when that one Machina doctor said it "might be possible, but very difficult" to restore her body. I'd assume that's what happened, but I don't recall the game having a specific explanation.
 

Ultratech

Member
With quick travel, five minutes is an eternity to find a single NPC. And Frontier Village isn't compact! It may not be as open as Colony 9, but it has a massive amount of vertical space and tons of little areas. It's frustrating to have to be reading a guide and quick travel all over the place to talk to the endless number of named NPCs. Plus, the other cities' openness is a relief after Frontier Village.

The one thing I learned from reading some of the guides is that most NPCs you need to talk to are usually around at 10AM or 10PM. There are a few that deviate from that (only popping up at specific timeframes), but it's something that worked for me.

They pretty much implied that it was going to happen earlier
when that one Machina doctor said it "might be possible, but very difficult" to restore her body. I'd assume that's what happened, but I don't recall the game having a specific explanation.

I think it also gets mentioned a bit during a Heart-to-Heart in the final dungeon, where Shulk tells Fiora he's been studying up on how exactly to restore her body by reading books during his downtime that he got from the Machina. I don't remember if it went into any specifics though...
 

Zornica

Banned
The one thing I learned from reading some of the guides is that most NPCs you need to talk to are usually around at 10AM or 10PM. There are a few that deviate from that (only popping up at specific timeframes), but it's something that worked for me.

most guides use 10/10 because, as I said, npc´s can spawn at 6,9,18 and 21. so most of them are awake at 10 or 22. BUT there are a few (c6/9) which spawn at 12, or some other random time, and you need an extra guide to find them, 10 hours later.
Its much easier to look for their spawn location (like on those maps) and catch them there.

maybe I should "translate" them quickly, seems that noone has done it yet.
 
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