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[Diffense]

I'm actually kind of blindsided by how much I'm enjoying this game. XCX is just so much better than XC.

I *loved* Xenoblade Chronicles and I think X blows it away just like a follow-up by the same developer should (and I'm only at Chapter 4). It's larger in scope, has deeper gameplay, is more addictive and is way prettier than its predecessor.

Story-wise, the SHTF earlier in Xenoblade Chronicles so people who like dramatic stories might still have a soft spot for that game. So far, X's main story focuses primarily on issues relevant to humanity as a whole rather than the journey of a particular character (that's left to affinity quests). As a consequence the main story has a less passionate or emotional characteristic early on. Shulk, OTOH, in typical JRPG fashion set off mainly on a personal mission to {early XC spoiler}-->

Spoiler

avenge Fiora's death

before getting caught up in matters of more far-reaching significance.

How you feel about the exposition is definitely a matter of preference but I think Monolithsoft did a fantastic job of improving on the Xenoblade formula. We even have multiplayer/online elements in a Monolithsoft RPG for the first time!

I don't have a tv so I have been playing off tv only. Only a bit annoying in that you have to touch the screen and send the image to the tv so you can access the map from the pad and some text is REALLY hard to read on the small screen, other than that, it plays just fine there.

I saw someone struggling with initiating off-tv play from the title screen because they didn't have a TV at all. If that's happening to anyone else here's a tip. Even though there is no explanation on the touchscreen during the title screen, you can touch and hold anywhere on the touchscreen to transfer the title screen to the gamepad. Once the game starts, you can touch again to get the map and there will be a specific icon on the right to switch the map view out for the 3D view when the map is up.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

For anyone that hasn't done the "Repair Job" Affinity Quest with Lin yet, just say NO to the second part, I wasted about 2 hours of my life on that. Just feed Tatsu and move on

Any quest that makes you "hope" for a certain random item to drop from an enemy is terrible.

 

[vareon]

Probably stupid but how do you remove fashion gear (set it back to the default equipment) ? I find the option to disable all but not one or some of them.

 

[Sölf]

Probably stupid but how do you remove fashion gear (set it back to the default equipment) ? I find the option to disable all but not one or some of them.

"Switch to Regular Gear" should replace the Fashion Gear option when you wear it. Press X in the equipment menu.

 

[shadow2810]

For anyone that hasn't done the "Repair Job" Affinity Quest with Lin yet, just say NO to the second part, I wasted about 2 hours of my life on that. Just feed Tatsu and move on

Any quest that makes you "hope" for a certain random item to drop from an enemy is terrible.

Actually for those quests, if you break off certain body parts of enemy, the chance of getting item you are looking for is quite high.

 

[Venfayth]

Probably stupid but how do you remove fashion gear (set it back to the default equipment) ? I find the option to disable all but not one or some of them.

If you're looking at the fashion gear screen for a character, hit x again and you should be able to hit "remove all gear" or something along those lines.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

For anyone that hasn't done the "Repair Job" Affinity Quest with Lin yet, just say NO to the second part, I wasted about 2 hours of my life on that. Just feed Tatsu and move on

Any quest that makes you "hope" for a certain random item to drop from an enemy is terrible.

Don't forget, you can buy most, if not all enemy drops from the Division terminal inside HQ. They cost reward tickets, but assuming you're playing the game normally, they'll build up. Just spend them when you need to, and it'll cut way down on grinding for a specific drop.

 

[kuroneko0509]

welp... plan didn't worked.... urghh i don't want to grind just to beat the story :<

 

[Fandangox]

Probably stupid but how do you remove fashion gear (set it back to the default equipment) ? I find the option to disable all but not one or some of them.

The option to disable the one you are currently looking/equipping should be on the same sub-menu where you are given the option to remove all gear.

 

[Jarmel]

I *loved* Xenoblade Chronicles and I think X blows it away just like a follow-up by the same developer should (and I'm only at Chapter 4). It's larger in scope, has deeper gameplay, is more addictive and is way prettier than its predecessor.

Story-wise, the SHTF earlier in Xenoblade Chronicles so people who like dramatic stories might still have a soft spot for that game. So far, X's main story focuses primarily on issues relevant to humanity as a whole rather than the journey of a particular character (that's left to affinity quests). As a consequence the main story has a less passionate or emotional characteristic early on. Shulk, OTOH, in typical JRPG fashion set off mainly on a personal mission to {early XC spoiler}-->

Spoiler

avenge Fiora's death

before getting caught up in matters of more far-reaching significance.

How you feel about the exposition is definitely a matter of preference but I think Monolithsoft did a fantastic job of improving on the Xenoblade formula. We even have multiplayer/online elements in a Monolithsoft RPG for the first time!

Part of the problem is that the presentation for story in XCX is pretty bad in general barring Chapter 8. Xenoblade Chronicles smokes XCX on this front. As a result, the narrative comes off as much more flat than it had to be.

Also the main character not being predefined was a total mistake on almost every single level.

 

[vareon]

Got it, thanks. Huh, didn't know why I missed it.

 

[jmizzal]

try shadowrunning past it?

How do you shadowrun? I need that sometimes

 

[Wiseblade]

Probably stupid but how do you remove fashion gear (set it back to the default equipment) ? I find the option to disable all but not one or some of them.

Press X (is it X?) on the fashion Gear screen and select "remove all gear".

I can't get on the train that XCX is undeniably better than XC. While it is superior in many ways, there are just so many quality of life issues that I largely consider them on par with each other. XCX definitely has higher highs than its predecessor but XC felt more complete and more polished overall.

Basically, to improve XCX I would fix things while in XC I would add stuff.

 

[Neoweee]

Actually for those quests, if you break off certain body parts of enemy, the chance of getting item you are looking for is quite high.

How do you cycle through body parts when targeting? I've been fiddling with the camera.

 

[NeonZ]

Part of the problem is that the presentation for story in XCX is pretty bad in general barring Chapter 8. Xenoblade Chronicles smokes XCX on this front. As a result, the narrative comes off as much more flat than it had to be.

Also the main character not being predefined was a total mistake on almost every single level.

Welll, apparently they went with a generic avatar and less story focus due to cutscenes being often the most expensive part of a JPRG, but they wanted to focus resources elsewhere.

Personally, for my overall game experience, I like the generic customizable avatar, and I'd take it over a by the numbers protagonist like Shulk. The multiplayer features also work better with the avatar system too, of course. However, as far as the main story itself goes, the avatar here is pretty much a big nothing based on the first 6 chapters, and it's not like that happens only due to the avatar being a mute character. Even in this game itself when you go to the Affinity quests for the former DLC characters, like HG's, the avatar seems to be written much more like an actual protagonist.

 

[aravuus]

How do you cycle through body parts when targeting? I've been fiddling with the camera.

Move closer to the body part and lock on when it's targeted. No way to actually cycle through them for some godforsaken reason afaik.

 

[shadow2810]

How do you cycle through body parts when targeting? I've been fiddling with the camera.

Just running around in circle until you target the part you want to break, then use lock-on (press R trigger)

 

[rockx4]

Part of the problem is that the presentation for story in XCX is pretty bad in general barring Chapter 8. Xenoblade Chronicles smokes XCX on this front. As a result, the narrative comes off as much more flat than it had to be.

Also the main character not being predefined was a total mistake on almost every single level.

Personally I find myself preferring either a silent protag or an undefined avatar over 99% of jrpg main characters. I'm fine with XCX's mc avatar. I just finished chapter 6, and i'm enjoying the story and exploration so far. I like most of the characters, except for Tatsu, fuck that guy. He annoys the shit out of me. I would have left him to die if it was an option lol (cough chapter 6).

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Just running around in circle until you target the part you want to break, then use lock-on (press R trigger)

I wish the body parts were highlighted easily because so many times I run around in circles thinking one body part should be a target and it's not lol.

Also is there a better way to cycle through enemy targets than constantly pressing R? It becomes a pain with multiple enemies as it isn't clear who is your target.

 

[desu]

Do I need a flying skell to get to the northern part? If not, where the heck CAN I get there lol? All I'm seeing is this big ass waterfall

Not sure, to be honest, I think I just went there the first time after getting the Flight Module.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Not sure, to be honest, I think I just went there the first time after getting the Flight Module.

it's been bothering me for a while now where's your avatar from? It looked like Dream from Sandman at first but I can't tell haha

 

[Rnr1224]

Last night was the first night that I actually didn't do any story quests because I wasn't the required level and it was great! I had so much fun just doing random quests and exploring the other regions. Using my skell to jump up mountains to get to some data probe locations was a blast. Now im just trying to hit that Lv. 30 so I can start chapter 8.

 

[saveweyard]

I wish the body parts were highlighted easily because so many times I run around in circles thinking one body part should be a target and it's not lol.

Also is there a better way to cycle through enemy targets than constantly pressing R? It becomes a pain with multiple enemies as it isn't clear who is your target.

Hold R and press Y/A to cycle left/right.

 

[Jarmel]

Personally I find myself preferring either a silent protag or an undefined avatar over 99% of jrpg main characters. I'm fine with XCX's mc avatar. I just finished chapter 6, and i'm enjoying the story and exploration so far. I like most of the characters, except for Tatsu, fuck that guy. He annoys the shit out of me. I would have left him to die if it was an option lol (cough chapter 6).

The problem is that the game gives options for the MC but they don't result in any significant deviations. It's just a complete waste. They implement the illusion of choice but then obviously break it with these scripted scenes literally the next few seconds later. So it comes off as to why the person is choosing any of these options in the first place, especially for some of the larger decisions. The game also asks the player for input on trivial shit that makes me ask "Why are you bothering me?" to which the answer is so that players can try and feel even remotely relevant.

In addition to that, the main character has nowhere near enough 'lines' for him/her to not be voiced. You mean to tell me that they couldn't have someone record dialogue lines for the MC instead of these awful cutscenes like in Chapter 5 where

Spoiler

the main character is supposed to be screaming but any sort of emotional impact is lost because he's dead quiet despite his arm being blown off and his character model writhing in pain

.

Not to mention, instead of having some sort of character work as a contrast to Elma, there's no real sort of character dynamic in the core team other than Lin and the MC following Elma's lead for the most part.

Other than the online stuff, it's a complete waste.

 

[The End]

I don't have a tv so I have been playing off tv only. Only a bit annoying in that you have to touch the screen and send the image to the tv so you can access the map from the pad and some text is REALLY hard to read on the small screen, other than that, it plays just fine there.

Having played both, off-tv is... serviceable. It's fine for running around and knocking out quests but it's a huge pain if you're messing with augments/AMs/etc and need to actually read the tiny text

 

[Brandon F]

I'm actually kind of blindsided by how much I'm enjoying this game. XCX is just so much better than XC.

30 hours in and the honeymoon period is beginning to transition into slight disdain as many of the flaws are eating at me leaving a bit of frustration. Not nearly to the degree that MGSV or Fallout 4 left me cold though. I am still thoroughly enjoying what is good.

 

[SoraanTribal]

You mean to tell me that they couldn't have someone record dialogue lines for the MC instead of these awful cutscenes like in Chapter 5 where

Spoiler

the main character is supposed to be screaming but any sort of emotional impact is lost because he's dead quiet despite his arm being blown off and his character model has the animations

.

Not to mention, instead of having some sort of character work as a contrast to Elma, there's no real sort of character dynamic in the core team other than Lin and the MC following Elma's lead for the most part.

Other than the online stuff, it's a complete waste.

Totally agree, especially about the Chapter 5 cutscene in particular. It was really weird and kind of took me out of the scene. If Shulk had been there, he would have

Spoiler

let out a very awesome sounding scream.

The silent protag is still very much a turn off for me in this game. It has FFXIV-syndrome where your character nods constantly to stuff and things just come off as really stilted. If they were going to do the "create your own character" thing, they should have just done it like Mass Effect or Dragon Age where your character still talks quite often and is part of cutscenes in a meaningful way (and isn't awkward in said cutscenes).

It's probably my biggest disappointment about the game. I'm still enjoying it, but compared to the first Xenoblade, it just doesn't have that special/charming feeling to me.

 

[okita]

Hold R and press Y/A to cycle left/right.

I think he meant the body parts of the enemies , not cycle through enemies

 

[NeonZ]

The problem is that the game gives options for the MC but they don't result in any significant deviations. It's just a complete waste.

There are some deviations in sidequests. The main story stuff is just a result of the avatar pretty much being written as a secondary character to Elma in the main story, rather than an actual protagonist. (Or at least, that's my experience up to chapter 6).

It's not only due to the lack of lines of the avatar either - note how in the main story the other characters often praise or comment on Elma when they're talking about something accomplished by the group. Speeches and explanations that could go to any member of the party also are often addressed to her, when they talk to a specific person, rather than the avatar.

 

[aravuus]

Not sure, to be honest, I think I just went there the first time after getting the Flight Module.

Dang. Looks like I gotta wait for the flight module before I get to grind like a mofo. When do you get one, again?

 

[Pejo]

So I finally got my C.E. in the mail yesterday and put in about 3 hours. So far I'm on chapter 3, and spent a lot of time just fighting enemies to learn the battle system and get some arts upgrades. I really like the battle system so far, and the stagger system is rewarding enough to "work". It took me a long time to figure out that targeting enemy parts can have effects on the battle.

I really like this game more than I thought I would. The world is great, battle is fun, (I like MMOs), and I can't wait to get a skell. There's plenty to do, and I like the angle the story is going.

But holy shit the lines are delivered really really poorly. Sometimes it's the voice acting, but usually it's the facial animations. Actually, everything about most of the faces in in the game is my biggest complaint. Most people look super derpy, their mouths only move in a "ma ma ma ma ma ma ma" way when they talk. There's no consistent style with the art of the faces, some of them look anime, some look hyper exaggerated realistic, some are just plain ugly. It feels like I'm watching a puppet show. Doug in particular reminds me of the puppets from Team America, World Police.

Anyways, it won't really ruin my enjoyment of the game, but you can tell already that the story won't be as good as XC.

One question I had, is there a way to cycle through various enemies/body parts on an enemy? I've been trying every button but the only way I've gotten it to work is by unlocking the target and moving around in circles until the cursor happens to appear where I want it to. There's gotta be a better way.

 

[Jarmel]

There are some deviations in sidequests. The main story stuff is just a result of the avatar pretty much being written as a secondary character to Elma in the main story, rather than an actual protagonist. (Or at least, that's my experience up to chapter 6).

It's not only due to the lack of lines of the avatar either - note how in the main story the other characters often praise or comment on Elma when they're talking about something accomplished by the group. Speeches and explanations also are often addressed to her, when they talk to a specific person, rather than the avatar.

Yes there are deviations in the sidequests but even a number of those are just window dressing.

Elma is indeed the 'main character' in that the story revolves around her but the player controlled 'character' is just a lump of meat at times instead of being an actual character in their own right.

 

[toadsworth]

Yeah, I was doing the same like you until I realise how super random the drop rate is and mostly no indication where to find them. Also If you don't have access to a fast travel location to refresh the map where the items are supposed to be it can become a real pain.

By the way, when you get a quest directly from an npc asking you to get an item be sure to talk to him again after you accept his quest. He will usually tell you where to find it.

If you ran out of quests and still a bit underlevel, you can go plant probes as much as you're able to, benefit :
- gather item on the way
- unlock fast travel location (pretty handy)
- get free money and miranium passively (probes)

Though a lot of npc quests unlock after completing chapter 4.
Don't touch any affinity quests before you do that chapter and do Kristy tuto quests about the probes.

I've been did a bunch of probes but didn't complete the Kristy quests. And I just started an affinity quest! Its the repair job one, shouldn't be too difficult. I wish you could drop those quests halfway through, but it is what it is. Maybe then I should be high level enough to do chapter 4. Thank you!

 

[NeonZ]

One question I had, is there a way to cycle through various enemies/body parts on an enemy? I've been trying every button but the only way I've gotten it to work is by unlocking the target and moving around in circles until the cursor happens to appear where I want it to. There's gotta be a better way.

To cycle between enemies, just press R again. For body parts, you can keep the lock and just run closer to the body part you want.

Yes there are deviations in the sidequests but even a number of those are just window dressing.

They add to the flavor though, considering how sometimes the choices can be important. The real issue is only in the main story, where the choices only matter to raise affinity points.

Elma is indeed the 'main character' in that the story revolves around her but the player controlled 'character' is just a lump of meat at times instead of being an actual character in their own right.

That's kind of what I'm saying though. The avatar in the main story, after the party is gathered, often doesn't even seem to be a co-lead, but just a secondary character. It's very telling that there are hardly any dialogue choices to antagonize or disagree with Elma.

 

[Chaos17]

The problem is that the game gives options for the MC but they don't result in any significant deviations.

Haven't you read anything in this thread ?
Of course choices do matter in this game, you just didn't gave them any attention did you ?

&#8211; raise the relationship with your companion
&#8211; decide the outcome of an affinity quest (ex : npcs can die)
&#8211; how you handle a story mission (testemonies said some choice can make your life more difficult)
&#8211; unlock skills

Again dude, stop ranting and get some infos or JUST PAY ATTENTION to the game instead of just ranting on anything you can.
Seriously... yes, that's not Witcher 3 level of choices but come on the devs were not that half faced when making all those side story quests.
They put effort into them and you just come and slap them saying nonesense!

 

[Munter]

I wonder if we'll ever see a Skell Amiibo

 

[Venfayth]

In game NPCs can live or die based on your decisions, so, maybe you don't feel like you're making a difference all the time but you certainly can make a difference.

 

[Makonero]

The cut scenes remind me of the awful, stilted cut scenes in Endless Ocean. At least in this game, the character is much more athletic on land. Although, what I wouldn't give to be able to explore the oceans of Mira too!

 

[Jarmel]

Haven't you read anything in this thread ?
Of course choices do matter in this game, you just didn't gave them any attention did you ?

&#8211; raise the relationship with your companion
&#8211; decide the outcome of an affinity quest (ex : npcs can die)
&#8211; how you handle a story mission (testemonies said some choice can make your life more difficult)
&#8211; unlock skills

Are you serious?

No shit. A number of those are extremely typical and other ones like the skills are completely irrelevant to what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about is the dialogue options that are mostly pointless like in Chapter 8

Spoiler

where any decision you make is immediately overridden by Elma anyway.

 

[Brandon F]

Haven't you read anything in this thread ?
Of course choices do matter in this game, you just didn't gave them any attention did you ?

This is true. The strategy guide even has a small section dedicated to describing the outcome of quest-related choices. Some are minor, others can be very dramatic.

 

[zroid]

How do you shadowrun? I need that sometimes

It's an art that unlocks at Commando rank 6. If you don't have it though you can switch to controlling Elma and use it with her.

I just got ambushed by a tyrant in a cave yesterday, went to pick up a treasure at a dead end, and then it suddenly appeared right behind me :lol. I would have been toast probably if I didn't shadowrun past it.

 

[Diffense]

I think in an ideal world we'd have the expanded gameplay and options of X with higher production values and voiced lines for the avatar in cutscenes etc (remember they'd need to do a different set for each of the voice options since they have different voice actors and personalities). My suggestion is to buy Xenoblade X in droves to convince Nintendo to raise Takahashi's budgets.

 

[TheMoon]

I wonder if we'll ever see a Skell Amiibo

Stop wondering. No, we won't.

 

[KdylanR92]

Man I really can't get used to this combat system. I think I spent 2 hours just "fighting" low level enemies, and I put that in quotes because I still don't know what to do.

So here are my questions about combat:

1. Is there a dodge or defend mechanic, or does moving around during the fight do anything beside get you closer to attack

2. What does that B button prompt that comes up mean.

3. Why is melee combat so slow

4. It tells me to target with the R button and draw with the A button, except i've never been able to target anything, most of the time i walk into the monsters line of sight and then they attack.

 

[aravuus]

Anyone here a high rank enforcer/psycorruptor/mastermind? I'm playing as a tank-ish DPS longsword character, but I have three extra art slots after assigning the melee arts I want and the assault rifle arts are practically worthless. So my question is, does the raygun get some good debuff arts I could use with my otherwise mostly melee build?

Haven't you read anything in this thread ?
Of course choices do matter in this game, you just didn't gave them any attention did you ?

&#8211; raise the relationship with your companion
&#8211; decide the outcome of an affinity quest (ex : npcs can die)
&#8211; how you handle a story mission (testemonies said some choice can make your life more difficult)
&#8211; unlock skills

Again dude, stop ranting and get some infos or JUST PAY ATTENTION to the game instead of just ranting on anything you can.
Seriously... yes, that's not Witcher 3 level of choices but come on the devs were not that half faced when making all those side story quests.
They put effort into them and you just come and slap them saying nonesense!

You're really passionate about defending the game, aren't you

 

[Jarmel]

I think in an ideal world we'd have the expanded gameplay and options of X with higher production values and voiced lines for the avatar in cutscenes etc (remember they'd need to do a different set for each of the voice options since they have different voice actors and personalities). My suggestion is to buy Xenoblade X in droves to convince Nintendo to raise Takahashi's budgets.

Then they probably shouldn't have done 20 different options.

 

[zroid]

There are some deviations in sidequests. The main story stuff is just a result of the avatar pretty much being written as a secondary character to Elma in the main story, rather than an actual protagonist. (Or at least, that's my experience up to chapter 6).

It's not only due to the lack of lines of the avatar either - note how in the main story the other characters often praise or comment on Elma when they're talking about something accomplished by the group. Speeches and explanations that could go to any member of the party also are often addressed to her, when they talk to a specific person, rather than the avatar.

to Justin I will be forever grateful

 

[Munter]

Stop wondering. No, we won't.

One can but hope

 

[Kissenkopf]

Just finished Chapter 5 and while the silent protagonist was a little bit awkward in one of the cutscenes, it was still a nice progress in the overall story. I enjoy the story so far and looking foreward to what happens next.

Btw after which Chapter it's possible to get your skell license?

 

[Dad]

Just finished Chapter 5 and while the silent protagonist was a little bit awkward in one of the cutscenes, it was still a nice progress in the overall story. I enjoy the story so far and looking foreward to what happens next.

Btw after which Chapter it's possible to get your skell license?

Chapter 6