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

Fritz

Member
wrowa said:
In the video review they criticized that it doesn't look as good as Final Fantasy 13.

What also striked me, not a word on the infamous vistas of this game. That's one of the main selling points form me. They are fucking heartless PC supremasists.
 

LevityNYC

Banned
Luigiv said:
And a different shoulder button arrangement plus a slightly different feel to the buttons.

Though as far as software is concerned, they're exactly the same thing.

No wire coming out of the bottom.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
RPGCrazied said:
It's a fucking Wii game. ;/

Some people. The Wii isn't even capable of those graphics. Joke is on them.
Wii can do better than that. Tales of Graces looks more high qualitty overall in its textures and character models in particular and geometry in general and that's still a not very high budget production as usual. I'd personally be very disappointed if Dragon Quest X doesn't completely blow this out of the water. I didn't watch the video but I don't see the harm if they were like "obviously it doesn't look as good as FFXIII, but" or something, though I admit FFXIII might not be the best example given how far it is in concept and all its own flaws. Anyway, yeah, I can't wait for this game. What it lacks in visual polish (ugh @ those character models) it seems to make up for with the design of the world and its open nature. Not that it couldn't have had both, had it gotten a bigger budget and more talent in the development team, but it's still going to be great to have.
 

Sophia

Member
Alextended said:
Wii can do better than that. Tales of Graces looks more high qualitty overall in its textures and character models in particular and that's still a not very high budget production as usual. I'd personally be very disappointed if Dragon Quest X doesn't completely blow this out of the water. And I didn't watch the video but I don't see the harm if they were like "obviously it doesn't look as good as FFXIII, but" or something along those lines, though I admit FFXIII might not be the best example given how far it is in concept and all its own flaws. Anyway, yeah, I can't wait for this game. What it lacks in visual polish (ugh @ those character models) it seems to make up for with the design of the world and its open nature. Not that it couldn't have had both, had it gotten a bigger budget and more talent in the development team, but it's still going to be great to have.

I don't think "more talent in the development team" is something that can be accurately applied to Monolith Soft. The graphics were probably a design choice early on to allow for such detailed worlds.

What it lacks for in individual model detail it makes up for in an absolutely gorgeous world.
 

faridmon

Member
Totalriot said:
Just to let you know: Having the releasedate pushed forward to August 19. was done by Nintendo as a special gift to me, because I will marry on that day. Too bad they haven't thought this trough, as I won't be able to play it then ;-)
Congratulations. Hope you enjoy your wedding and the game at the same time.
 

wsippel

Banned
Alextended said:
Wii can do better than that. Tales of Graces looks more high qualitty overall in its textures and character models in particular and geometry in general and that's still a not very high budget production as usual. I'd personally be very disappointed if Dragon Quest X doesn't completely blow this out of the water. I didn't watch the video but I don't see the harm if they were like "obviously it doesn't look as good as FFXIII, but" or something, though I admit FFXIII might not be the best example given how far it is in concept and all its own flaws. Anyway, yeah, I can't wait for this game. What it lacks in visual polish (ugh @ those character models) it seems to make up for with the design of the world and its open nature. Not that it couldn't have had both, had it gotten a bigger budget and more talent in the development team, but it's still going to be great to have.
I'd argue that from a purely technical standpoint, Xenoblade is a lot more impressive than Tales of Graces. There's always a tradeoff to be made, and going with lower poly characters and pumping as much as possible in the environments instead was absolutely the way to go. When you actually play the game, you look at the world, not the characters.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Well, I'm not expecting it to look like Final Fantasy XIII, or anywhere near its quality. Specially since I'm going to play it on a 32" 720p TV. Thank god for Component Cables. Even then, I agree it does look bad.

I still dick with my TV settings for Wii games, nothing really helps. Though having a low sharpness really does help. Mine is like on 0 - 3 for sharpness.
 

faridmon

Member
Alextended said:
Wii can do better than that. Tales of Graces looks more high qualitty overall in its textures and character models in particular and geometry in general and that's still a not very high budget production as usual. I'd personally be very disappointed if Dragon Quest X doesn't completely blow this out of the water. I didn't watch the video but I don't see the harm if they were like "obviously it doesn't look as good as FFXIII, but" or something, though I admit FFXIII might not be the best example given how far it is in concept and all its own flaws. Anyway, yeah, I can't wait for this game. What it lacks in visual polish (ugh @ those character models) it seems to make up for with the design of the world and its open nature. Not that it couldn't have had both, had it gotten a bigger budget and more talent in the development team, but it's still going to be great to have.
Its a bloody huge open world game. FF XIII is a corridor game. easier to model. Tales of Graces is also a corridor game compared to Xenoblade.

Question: Do you expect GTA VI to look as good as Tekken 7?
 

Princess Skittles

Prince's's 'Skittle's
weeaboo said:
70/80 hours without sidequest. And looks like there are hundreds of sidequest :D
That's way too long for me, I don't feel so bad about waiting this out now. If it comes out in North America, I'll get it and give it a shot. Anyway, I think a friend of mine might import, so I'll probably get to try before I make a decision. At least, that's what I'm hoping.
 

Zwei

Member
weeaboo said:
70/80 hours without sidequest. And looks like there are hundreds of sidequest :D

EAIiI.png





Argh, the wait is gonna kill me.
 
Those Who Bear Their Name in OP! I love it :D

wsippel said:
400 sidequests if I remember correctly.

You can't complete all of them though, there are many where you have to choose which one to complete, like when more than one person wants the fetch item and you can only get one. Who do you give it to, and how does it affect their lives afterwards? Fun stuff like that.

But yes, even without doing any of them (and you'll be grinding monsters a lot if you don't, quests give lots of XP) Xenoblade is a loooooong game. Yes, the character models are of a much lower quality compared to the environments, but I found it didn't really detract from the game when I played it (I ragged on it early on and forgot about it as the story progressed). Rest assured this is a game you MUST play if you love RPGs, be they W or J.
 

Lissar

Reluctant Member
HisshouBuraiKen said:
Those Who Bear Their Name in OP! I love it :D



You can't complete all of them though, there are many where you have to choose which one to complete, like when more than one person wants the fetch item and you can only get one. Who do you give it to, and how does it affect their lives afterwards? Fun stuff like that.

But yes, even without doing any of them (and you'll be grinding monsters a lot if you don't, quests give lots of XP) Xenoblade is a loooooong game. Yes, the character models are of a much lower quality compared to the environments, but I found it didn't really detract from the game when I played it (I ragged on it early on and forgot about it as the story progressed). Rest assured this is a game you MUST play if you love RPGs, be they W or J.

I was pretty annoyed with the models as well, at first. Actually the worst offender was the lack of lip flaps in some areas, and just bad lip sync all around. I felt that I would have been happier if they spent a bit more time on the models themselves, rather than giving them such a large choice in armor. But honestly, by the end of the game, I don't think I'd have it any other way (unlike TLS where I still feel the customizable armor was for the worse.)

RPGCrazied said:
So does the new game plus mode let you keep everything? Level, gold, items? Is there a harder difficulty too?

Most things are kept, some items you have to choose which ones you want to keep. Levels and relationship between characters are kept, but of course relationships between NPCs are wiped clean.

edit: Oh, and no boost in difficulty. There is one level 120 monster though.
 

wrowa

Member
faridmon said:
Its a bloody huge open world game. FF XIII is a corridor game. easier to model. Tales of Graces is also a corridor game compared to Xenoblade.
That's the reason why I found the comparison so hilarious.

If they had said it looks worse than, say, Fallout 3 I wouldn't have had a problem with the statement. But saying that it looks worse than FF13 is hilarious.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
faridmon said:
Its a bloody huge open world game.
I thought I acknowledged that.
FF XIII is a corridor game.
And this.
Tales of Graces is also a corridor game
Not really, no.
compared to Xenoblade.
I guess, like the Wii is a Genesis compared to the PS3, right? Then what is the real Genesis (and a real corridor compared to Xenoblade)? There are instances of wide lush views showing the engine could handle such things, it's just not the game they wanted to make as it's a Tales of game and not Xenoblade (duh).
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47896.html

Question: Do you expect GTA VI to look as good as Tekken 7?
Lolwut? I just said Wii can do better, dude, what are you on about? For example, there's barely any fancy TEV use in Xenoblade, it's all done like PS2 tech, with a large scope. Hence why I said a bigger budget would have helped maintain higher quality throughout in some ways. And yes, more talent too, as low poly or not, some of those character models are just not appealing in any way and look very amateur hour to me, rather than awesome talent hindered by the technology.

I don't even know why I have to repeat and clarify my position, making it seem as if I'm bashing or ignoring the merits of a game I can't wait to play...
 

Effect

Member
Are there any customs fees from importing the game from Zavvi for example? Or is the price I pay on the site just it?
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Lissar said:
Most things are kept, some items you have to choose which ones you want to keep. Levels and relationship between characters are kept, but of course relationships between NPCs are wiped clean.

edit: Oh, and no boost in difficulty. There is one level 120 monster though.

Awesome. I saw a level 92 in that Lets Play video. He was only like 14 or 15. :lol. Talk about being raped.
 

wrowa

Member
Alextended said:
I don't even know why I have to repeat and clarify my position, making it seem as if I'm bashing or ignoring the merits of a game I can't wait to play...
Becasue you are ignorant, actually. You want them to improve the amounts of polygons even though it clearly isn't possible due to what the game is. And you fail to realize that. Your comparison to Tales of Graces doesn't make any sense either. Do you really think that Tales of Graces' engine (or the graphical fidelity, for that matter) would work with the scope of Xenoblade? Because there are some areas where you can see a "lush view"?
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I don't think I said they should use more polygons anywhere. Not that this is out of the question with more optimisation, it's not like the DS where it's fixed amounts and unless you counted the polygons and saw that it reached some theoretical max for the Wii, well, yeah, thanks for being an ass. I guess TEV use is also absurd to expect, I'm so sorry.
 

Lissar

Reluctant Member
RPGCrazied said:
Awesome. I saw a level 92 in that Lets Play video. He was only like 14 or 15. :lol. Talk about being raped.

Haha, yeah, there are a large variety of enemies in each area. You have to watch out or else you'll completely get your ass kicked even in the first area. Fortunately there isn't much of a penalty for dying, you just get sent back to the last landmark. Otherwise you'd constantly be cursing the game after you get jumped by level 70 monsters.
 
Nice, the official thread is put up! I'm sad I won't be able to join in on the discussion. Most everything about this game looks great, and I'm definitely going to play it when I have the chance. But that chance will probably be next year, unfortunately.
 

Zornica

Banned
Spielewiese.de Review
90/100
it basically says:

Pro:

+ awsome graphics
+ great music
+ next to no loadingtimes
+ English + Japanese audio
+ combatsystem is dynamic and complex
+ save and load everywhere
+ gigantic amount of content

Contra:

- controll over other partymembers is restricted
- some fights are too hard
- char.models are blurry
- no gamecube controller support
- camera while combat not perfect
- some minor aliasing.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Lissar said:
Haha, yeah, there are a large variety of enemies in each area. You have to watch out or else you'll completely get your ass kicked even in the first area. Fortunately there isn't much of a penalty for dying, you just get sent back to the last landmark. Otherwise you'd constantly be cursing the game after you get jumped by level 70 monsters.


I wonder if they have some phat loots. ^_^ Or maybe for a quest. If they just have XP, than meh.
 

Ultratech

Member
Marrshu said:
I don't think "more talent in the development team" is something that can be accurately applied to Monolith Soft. The graphics were probably a design choice early on to allow for such detailed worlds.

What it lacks for in individual model detail it makes up for in an absolutely gorgeous world.

Interestingly enough, FFXII does pretty much the same thing. Characters are less detailed to focus more on the environment.
 

Sophia

Member
Ultratech said:
Interestingly enough, FFXII does pretty much the same thing. Characters are less detailed to focus more on the environment.

Yup, it's a design choice. And frankly, as long as I'm not playing a self-made character ALA Elder Scrolls, it's one I'm perfectly fine with.
 

Zwei

Member
Effect said:
Are there any customs fees from importing the game from Zavvi for example? Or is the price I pay on the site just it?

I bought Tactics Ogre PSP from Zavvi and just paid the price listed, no customs fee. I did get a currency conversion fee from my bank, though. ($3)
 
RPGCrazied said:
Well, I'm not expecting it to look like Final Fantasy XIII, or anywhere near its quality. Specially since I'm going to play it on a 32" 720p TV. Thank god for Component Cables. Even then, I agree it does look bad.

I still dick with my TV settings for Wii games, nothing really helps. Though having a low sharpness really does help. Mine is like on 0 - 3 for sharpness.

>:| Where it always is, I'm assuming?
 

RPGCrazied

Member
PairOfFilthySocks said:
>:| Where it always is, I'm assuming?

For PS3 games it set at like 11 - 12. I like to have some, in Wii games I use none to hide the fact no Wii game uses any antialasing.
 

wsippel

Banned
RPGCrazied said:
I wonder if they have some phat loots. ^_^ Or maybe for a quest. If they just have XP, than meh.
Named mobs usually drop pretty good loot, yes. But not all those high level mobs you encounter are named mobs. Enemies are usually tiered. In the starting area for example, there are three or four tiers in different parts of the area. There's a cave you can theoretically enter right from the start, but it would be suicide considering you're level 2 and the standard mobs in there are level 40 or something. There's also an island with level 60 mobs if I remember correctly, and some level 80 mobs scattered around. Those are usually related to sidequests you get much later in the game. If you run in them underleveled, you're pretty much fucked, you usually won't even know what's hitting you.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Ultratech said:
Interestingly enough, FFXII does pretty much the same thing. Characters are less detailed to focus more on the environment.
FFXII models look way better than Xenoblade's though, except for stupid things like the main character's unfortunate case of tan lines. The detail in the environments is also higher iirc., at least in the closest LOD (which was really a bit too close, but hey, it's a damn PS2 game) and in the populated (and admitedly segmented) cities... Now I'm gonna get slammed for stating simple facts and told how FFXII is not open world either even though I didn't bring it up and even though the Wii is also not a PS2...
xtrasauce said:
Let's see another open-world game look as good as Xenoblade on the Wii.

Let's fucking see it.
So if Xenoblade hadn't even existed people could also sprout how open world RPGs aren't possible at all on Wii because nobody could show one, right? Great logic there.
 

weeaboo

Member
So, to summarize all the reviews so far

Pros
-Best JRPG in a non portable system since the glorious PS2 days.

Cons
-Lol Wii graphics
 
So for those who have played it, or who have been following it more closely than me:

Does the game allow for some level grinding? I played through Chrono Cross for the first time a few months ago and was frustrated as hell that I couldn't grind a bit before boss fights. I'm a longtime Dragon Quest fan, so I enjoy games where grinding isn't strictly necessary but can be useful.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
SecretMoblin said:
So for those who have played it, or who have been following it more closely than me:

Does the game allow for some level grinding? I played through Chrono Cross for the first time a few months ago and was frustrated as hell that I couldn't grind a bit before boss fights. I'm a longtime Dragon Quest fan, so I enjoy games where grinding isn't strictly necessary but can be useful.


I think you don't have to for Story? Long as you fight in the fields and dungeons when progressing story. Now if you want to fight those over-leveled monsters roaming the field I think its kinda necessary.
 
RPGCrazied said:
I think you don't have to for Story? Long as you fight in the fields and dungeons when progressing story. Now if you want to fight those over-leveled monsters roaming the field I think its kinda necessary.

Oooooh that makes me happy. I was one of those kids who spent hours at the Peninsula of Power, so I'll have fun with this.
 
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