Support NeoGAF

[Karsticles]

I'm trying my best to like this game, but I think it's kind of a mess when it comes to explaining stuff. There have been so, so many tutorial windows that it eventually seriously turned me off and I stopped caring about learning about everything.

It's also doing that fucking annoying thing I hate about many RPG's, where you have a lot of items and collectibles and stuff and you have no idea what's okay to sell and you need a shitload of money.

Maybe I'll come back to it later, it just really feels like a chore. It started off okay but kept adding new elements that seem over-complicated that I just don't care about at all.

I found everything in the game, aside from gem making, simple and intuitive.

No one should take a best game list seriously because it often won't be what you feel is worthwhile. It is unfortunate that a lot of Wii owners have not played Xenoblade Chronicles because they really are missing out on an impressive game.

Even though I may not like certain games, I'm able to admit that they're good and worth playing.

Progress update! On my way to Colony 6, currently looking for a little boy that had to abandon his sweet dune buggy.

I'm REALLY enjoying my time with this title. My passion for jRpgs has dwindled over the years, but this thing is lighting a fire in my loins. Just when I think I've got stuff down, the game piles on some more mechanics that really serve to enrich the experience, making it one of the deepest rpg's i've played. With 5 hours on the game clock, I can only say that this game is a fantastic work of art. I find myself just rotating the camera around in each new location just to take in the sights.

And I can also say that game amazes me with the stuff you can do. I'll be out exploring and think 'Hmm, would be sweet if you could actually swim in the water', then I decide to try to jump in and what do ya know?! You can swim! Come up to wall thats climbable I decide to jump at it just to see if I can latch on from above ground level, and yep, you can. It's the little things like that that make me smile and enjoy it that much more.

I get a strange pleasure in jumping half an inch off of the ground when I grip those vine ladders. Like "yeah, just a little bit less to climb!"

 

[cooljeanius]

pro tip: to uncover the whole map you only need to find all warp points. you can do it manually ofc, but there is one area in particular later on that will drive you crazy if you try it that way. That area alone is probably bigger than most game worlds.

Spoiler

Eryth Sea?

That was actually the first area I realized you only had to find all the locations; up until then I had been trying to explore all the maps manually. I think a big part of that area seeming so big is because swimming is so slow and boring, though.

 

[Karsticles]

Spoiler

Eryth Sea?

That was actually the first area I realized you only had to find all the locations; up until then I had been trying to explore all the maps manually. I think a big part of that area seeming so big is because swimming is so slow and boring, though.

There really should have been a Swim Speed +100% gem.

 

[Metroid Hunter]

Turns out this game is available at other stores too:

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Turns out this game is available at other stores too:

what does this mean? It sold bad and Nintendo.com / gamestop or well enough to print more

I am thinking about getting The Last Story this week but not sure if it will be as good as this game

 

[Karsticles]

My rule is: Unless it has competitive multiplayer to keep up with, or time-released content, any game can wait for a purchase until I'm done with what I'm playing right now. That said, TLS has online multiplayer.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

damn it again the boss is like 5 levels above me DOA

got take a trip this morning but I will be back to grind up

My rule is: Unless it has competitive multiplayer to keep up with, or time-released content, any game can wait for a purchase until I'm done with what I'm playing right now. That said, TLS has online multiplayer.

was there a limited release for TLS by Xseed? I forget... my Wii is not connect online these days. I might just pass on TLS but I wanted that game so bad.

I would have regretted Xenoblade so I better not miss this release I'll just shelve it for later just like I had my Xenoblade copy sit here for months until now

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I found this strange level up video, did they fix this (

Spoiler

Melia trick? push them off the cliff trick

) for the US?

I wanted to just try it once to see if I could do it but my party keeps fighting the monster before I can do my thing and we all get wasted

 

[Zornica]

why would you want to use such an exploit? If you keep playing normally, you should never be to low. just follow the path, and kill everything in your way. If you keep doing that, you'll end up at the right level.

 

[Karsticles]

was there a limited release for TLS by Xseed? I forget... my Wii is not connect online these days. I might just pass on TLS but I wanted that game so bad.

I would have regretted Xenoblade so I better not miss this release I'll just shelve it for later just like I had my Xenoblade copy sit here for months until now

XSeeD said in an interview that it's a limited print run, and they don't plan on reprinting.

I found this strange level up video, did they fix this (

Spoiler

Melia trick? push them off the cliff trick

) for the US?

I wanted to just try it once to see if I could do it but my party keeps fighting the monster before I can do my thing and we all get wasted

You can still do it, but it's pointless. It sucks to overlevel in this game. Beating the last boss just by autoattack because you want to be sure you get to see his moveset degrades your experience.

 

[Eggplant Wizard]

Lv. 39 and I've just reached the boss at the end of

Spoiler

High Entia Tomb

.

...I definitely need to do some quests or something since this boss is kicking my ass but quests are easily my least favorite part of the game. :/ Oh well, there should be some that don't take too long.

 

[Zornica]

Lv. 39 and I've just reached the boss at the end of

Spoiler

High Entia Tomb

.

...I definitely need to do some quests or something since this boss is kicking my ass but quests are easily my least favorite part of the game. :/ Oh well, there should be some that don't take too long.

I don't remember what lvl that boss was, but if he is just 1 or 2 levels above you, it shouldn't be a problem
but remember:

Spoiler

one of those two is a human, so having shulk in the party is probably not a good idea. Because he is useless against humans, you'd be fighting with just 2 people.

 

[chaosblade]

Lv. 39 and I've just reached the boss at the end of

Spoiler

High Entia Tomb

.

...I definitely need to do some quests or something since this boss is kicking my ass but quests are easily my least favorite part of the game. :/ Oh well, there should be some that don't take too long.

Roam Eryth Sea and kill the unique monsters. You'll probably gain at least 2-3 levels and get some good equipment, way better than anything you could get from quests.

I'd link the picture that shows where they are but I'm on my phone.

 

[Eggplant Wizard]

I don't remember what lvl that boss was, but if he is just 1 or 2 levels above you, it shouldn't be a problem
but remember:

Spoiler

one of those two is a human, so having shulk in the party is probably not a good idea. Because he is useless against humans, you'd be fighting with just 2 people.

Roam Eryth Sea and kill the unique monsters. You'll probably gain at least 2-3 levels and get some good equipment, way better than anything you could get from quests.

I'd link the picture that shows where they are but I'm on my phone.

Will keep these things in mind tomorrow, thanks!

 

[Smiles and Cries]

why would you want to use such an exploit? If you keep playing normally, you should never be to low. just follow the path, and kill everything in your way. If you keep doing that, you'll end up at the right level.

yeah I'll do it the hard way

 

[chaosblade]

Will keep these things in mind tomorrow, thanks!

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/994/erythsea.jpg

There's a map. Obviously you can ignore the level 80+ enemies, I'd recommend just starting from the weakest and working your way up to the strongest (Lightspeed Sonid at level 44, beware of spikes on that one too). That's 8 enemies, unless you've already killed some of them, so 8 gold chests with goodies and 8 affinity coins. And tons of EXP+AP+SP. You win all around.

There is also one in the tomb where you are that you should absolutely kill because it guards an advanced (not intermediate!) art book for Summon Bolt, which is extremely useful.

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9454/highentiatomb.jpg

 

[Karsticles]

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/994/erythsea.jpg

There's a map. Obviously you can ignore the level 80+ enemies, I'd recommend just starting from the weakest and working your way up to the strongest (Lightspeed Sonid at level 44, beware of spikes on that one too). That's 8 enemies, unless you've already killed some of them, so 8 gold chests with goodies and 8 affinity coins. And tons of EXP+AP+SP. You win all around.

There is also one in the tomb where you are that you should absolutely kill because it guards an advanced (not intermediate!) art book for Summon Bolt, which is extremely useful.

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9454/highentiatomb.jpg

What's the link for the full collection? I wouldn't mind double-checking so I have every affinity coin I can get.

Also, sometimes I kill a unique, and one character doesn't get the affinity coin. What gives?

 

[Smiles and Cries]

seems like there is no teleport for Yellow Flower at Makna Forest
Decayed Forest is where the Quest flag monster is but when I die it starts me over at Village Entrance

I get what you guys are saying about leveling up along the way the battles are fun but I am still 3 levels lower than the boss can't seem to beat him if I ever get to him that is... its a long walk with many monsters blocking the way. I am even dying at Yellow Flower with those caterpillars lol

Is it the quest that causes me not to warp to Yellow Flower and Decayed Forest?

 

[Karsticles]

seems like there is no teleport for Yellow Flower at Makna Forest
Decayed Forest is where the Quest flag monster is but when I die it starts me over at Village Entrance

I get what you guys are saying about leveling up along the way the battles are fun but I am still 3 levels lower than the boss can't seem to beat him if I ever get to him that is... its a long walk with many monsters blocking the way. I am even dying at Yellow Flower with those caterpillars lol

Is it the quest that causes me not to warp to Yellow Flower and Decayed Forest?

Just save right before you engage the boss, and reload. Saves you a bit of time. One boss, which took me 20-30 tries, I saved a lot of time on by doing that!

 

[chaosblade]

Just save right before you engage the boss, and reload. Saves you a bit of time. One boss, which took me 20-30 tries, I saved a lot of time on by doing that!

I found them here. Looks like the project was never finished, a few areas aren't completed and that post hasn't been updated in almost a year.

I'm probably going to do my own set of them with cleaner images. And probably color code them by level so people can easily see which ones to go after during the course of the game and which ones to wait on. I also wouldn't include quest-specific enemies, unless they give affinity coins and have 100% gold chest drops. There are only 157 "true" UMs that do that of the (apparently) 218 total.

 

[Karsticles]

I found them here. Looks like the project was never finished, a few areas aren't completed and that post hasn't been updated in almost a year.

I'm probably going to do my own set of them with cleaner images. And probably color code them by level so people can easily see which ones to go after during the course of the game and which ones to wait on. I also wouldn't include quest-specific enemies, unless they give affinity coins and have 100% gold chest drops. There are only 157 "true" UMs that do that of the (apparently) 218 total.

You rock. Small question:

Spoiler

In the new areas of Tephra Cave, I still can't get up behind the ledge of the first "new" area. It's right before you find the high level Bunnits. On the map I'm looking at here, Judicious Bunnitzol chills there. Am I missing something, or does a quest open it up more?

 

[chaosblade]

You rock. Small question:

Spoiler

In the new areas of Tephra Cave, I still can't get up behind the ledge of the first "new" area. It's right before you find the high level Bunnits. On the map I'm looking at here, Judicious Bunnitzol chills there. Am I missing something, or does a quest open it up more?

In the area before you run into the Gogols and Protective Torquidon, there are a few bunnits running around a hole. You have to jump down that hole and you'll land in some water on that ledge.

There's a part 2 to that map further down, I don't know why it's split up but you can see it there, labeled A.

 

[aceface]

I'm trying my best to like this game, but I think it's kind of a mess when it comes to explaining stuff. There have been so, so many tutorial windows that it eventually seriously turned me off and I stopped caring about learning about everything.

It's also doing that fucking annoying thing I hate about many RPG's, where you have a lot of items and collectibles and stuff and you have no idea what's okay to sell and you need a shitload of money.

Maybe I'll come back to it later, it just really feels like a chore. It started off okay but kept adding new elements that seem over-complicated that I just don't care about at all.

This is my main gripe about the game actually- too much unnecessary swag. By the endgame I would have to go into the menu and toss stuff away to get the new drops.

My advice would be don't sell anything until you have to. You don't really need to buy anything in this game except skill books IMO. Just buy every skill book you have not learned yet. Easy peasy.

The in-game systems seem daunting at first but soon become second nature.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Just save right before you engage the boss, and reload. Saves you a bit of time. One boss, which took me 20-30 tries, I saved a lot of time on by doing that!

thanks I found a warp a little closer by exploring but I'll use the save and reload trick since I see a few dinos in the area just before the boss that can help me level a bit more

not sure why the boss got a 1 hit kill on me when I just tried it
I've given gifts to Melia I see 1 heart and 2 hearts but I don't see a change in the bond how many gifts you have to give? I wish there were numbers for most of these and not just smileys

 

[Karsticles]

This is my main gripe about the game actually- too much unnecessary swag. By the endgame I would have to go into the menu and toss stuff away to get the new drops.

My advice would be don't sell anything until you have to. You don't really need to buy anything in this game except skill books IMO. Just buy every skill book you have not learned yet. Easy peasy.

The in-game systems seem daunting at first but soon become second nature.

I don't think there's too much stuff, I think there's too little inventory room. It's definitely the most annoying part of the game, though. I disagree on purchases - you definitely want to buy 7th's equipment.

thanks I found a warp a little closer by exploring but I'll use the save and reload trick since I see a few dinos in the area just before the boss that can help me level a bit more

not sure why the boss got a 1 hit kill on me when I just tried it
I've given gifts to Melia I see 1 heart and 2 hearts but I don't see a change in the bond how many gifts you have to give? I wish there were numbers for most of these and not just smileys

You have to give a lot of gifts. You might give 20 3-heart items and not see a change (but you'll probably be close by then). My advice is to not bother with gifts unless you desperately need a skill link, or have more than 10 of the collectible. You never know what will be needed for a quest. Plenty of later quests use earlier collectibles. It saves your butt time!

The best way to up affinity is really to just perfect the Battle Affinity timing. 3 hearts every time makes a huge difference over time. Also, Riki is the easiest character in the game to up affinity with. Just slap the Bedtime skill on him, which makes him fall asleep (along with all other enemies), and wake him up from his own ability - you get affinity every time.

No clue why the boss 1-shot you. I recall him being so easy that I didn't entirely process him being a boss at first. Feel free to post your setups/tactics if you're having problems.

 

[chaosblade]

The southeast part of Makna Forest is pretty terrible in terms of landmarks. Windmill Pavilion and the Triangle Gate thing are relatively close together, but they're the ONLY landmarks in that fairly large section of the map. Getting to the far east/southeast/south areas takes more walking than just about anywhere else in the game.

Only the shores/islands in Eryth Sea are worse. The floating areas aren't bad since there are semi-frequent landmarks, but the sea-level ones are awful, especially since swimming is so slow (even with quickstep).

And fighting the elemental/nebulea enemies are a good way to get affinity. Many of those lower your tension when you attack them physically, so find one that's semi-weak (strong enough to take hits, weak enough it won't be a real threat) and equip some junk weapons, and go at it. Party members will encourage you, and you can encourage them, and that gets you affinity. You can do the same with sleep, topple, and daze spikes which gets you affinity really fast but you'll want either a lot of resistance for the character you're using, or moderate amounts on each character.

 

[Karsticles]

Personally, I prefer not to gimmick the affinities. I take them all as a challenge to make teams of characters I might not have. I've used most of the game's possible combinations as a result, and have really improved my understanding and love of the game.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Riki is my favorite dude... damn he has lots of family

oh finally beat the boss, I should have used Riki sooner

what happens to the gems I put on Melia now that she left my party?

 

[chaosblade]

Riki is my favorite dude... damn he has lots of family

oh finally beat the boss, I should have used Riki sooner

what happens to the gems I put on Melia now that she left my party?

She never leaves permanently, equipment just stays on her.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

okay I got control of her alone too bad I cannot warp anywhere

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I'll need to take a break soon Eryth Sea is hard to get around

edit: Hit a dead end in the Tomb (room of trials?) arrow says I have 78 whatever steps to go arrow pointing no door

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I played this long to finish that tomb... so I am not sure how long those twin seals will take... I don't even know how to get to them so its time for bed

Can someone tip me off to how to upgrade Colony 6
I remember reading the note on the screen that said I should be and visit as the game progressed but here I been going on and on at Eryth Sea and forgot about it.

Where to teleport for this?

 

[Karsticles]

I played this long to finish that tomb... so I am not sure how long those twin seals will take... I don't even know how to get to them so its time for bed

Can someone tip me off to how to upgrade Colony 6
I remember reading the note on the screen that said I should be and visit as the game progressed but here I been going on and on at Eryth Sea and forgot about it.

Where to teleport for this?

Colony 6 will give you a list of stuff you need. Go talk to

Spoiler

Juju

.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I can't believe I put two more hours in... smh

level 40 and 49 hours played am I half way? Still have yet to hit the twin seals went for one but those lizards guys ganged up on me

 

[Karsticles]

I can't believe I put two more hours in... smh

level 40 and 49 hours played am I half way? Still have yet to hit the twin seals went for one but those lizards guys ganged up on me

Roughly halfway.

 

[Margalis]

Can someone tip me off to how to upgrade Colony 6
I remember reading the note on the screen that said I should be and visit as the game progressed but here I been going on and on at Eryth Sea and forgot about it.

Visit colony 6 and talk to the guy in front, he explains it all.

 

[djtiesto]

thanks I found a warp a little closer by exploring but I'll use the save and reload trick since I see a few dinos in the area just before the boss that can help me level a bit more

not sure why the boss got a 1 hit kill on me when I just tried it
I've given gifts to Melia I see 1 heart and 2 hearts but I don't see a change in the bond how many gifts you have to give? I wish there were numbers for most of these and not just smileys

The way I spammed affinity was -
-find a monster that counters your attack with sleep
-let the other party members fight that monster
-press "b" to wake the party members that fall asleep

The lizardman unique monster on the southern area of the Eryth Sea was good for this, but it requires a high level to battle without dying.

Took me about 3 or so hours to max affinity for everyone, then I went to view all the heart-to-hearts.

 

[ScOULaris]

Finally got that damned Light Rain Element and finished the Level 1 upgrades to Colony 6.

Now I can craft gems on the go!

Off to Prison Island next...

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I just turned it off, played a lot today but hardly made any progress... did not get those seals yet still dying... I'm on level 42 - I did not grind it out much today spent hours searching for Colony 6 stuff and trying to raise AP

Eryth Sea has one messy map... I would have to swim all that to clean that shit up? HELL NAH, I already find myself walking all of Alcamoth to get rid of gray areas... hate gray areas

who is the fastest swimmer?

what button do I press to trade? (using mote+chucks)


ONE MORE THING!
my inventory is FULL!

I had to leave a hole bunch of strong monster drops alone... I don't even know which crap to sell that won't break the game but I cannot collect new things so I have to do something

The way I spammed affinity was -
-find a monster that counters your attack with sleep
-let the other party members fight that monster
-press "b" to wake the party members that fall asleep

The lizardman unique monster on the southern area of the Eryth Sea was good for this, but it requires a high level to battle without dying.

Took me about 3 or so hours to max affinity for everyone, then I went to view all the heart-to-hearts
.

Are those the same guys protecting one of the gate Seals (Sister Seals)

I was wondering what they have been casing when I cannot move and I get an X out
it cannot be sleep sleep would be Z or something right?

I want to be able to make my stuff to I cannot see one Heart to Heart but the single one at the beginning

 

[Karsticles]

You only have to discover all the landmarks in an area to clear the whole map. Never bother to do it all manually.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

ah that is good to know I'm going to try another few hours

 

[Karsticles]

ah that is good to know I'm going to try another few hours

Are you dying, or...? It's not clear to me what's holding you up.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

My hold up was the lizard guys I am still not sure if the X means sleep or something else wanted to equip gems to deal with it. I am not a fan of losing so many battles

I'm still learning lots of things and testing out different parties, I traded for the first time just now.
Spent a lot of time on quests and exploring

It has been a while so, I'll go spend some more time on getting that door open again

 

[Margalis]

The X is probably Arts Seal.

 

[chaosblade]

Kill the "mage" ones first, they will use art seal and bind. You should be fine once you get rid of those.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

man that was rough but when the battle goes your way its refreshing

I have no reason to be up in this snow heap though... more leveling up for me

I have a feeling I do not know who the bad guys are lol

 

[Smiles and Cries]

70 hours! crazy mountain so much easier to see during the daytime

level 46 fighting the XMan with the claws, got to slow him down

 

[Karsticles]

70 hours! crazy mountain so much easier to see during the daytime

level 46 fighting the XMan with the claws, got to slow him down

Took me a minute to figure that out, haha.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I got to eat something and jump right back in... I am tempted to try The Last Story that came in today but I am so hooked on this...

Does HEART to HEART tell you more of the story?

I can't get all of those in my first play through

 

[Zornica]

I am not sure how you are doing it, but you are definitly at least 2 levels lower than you should be. Are you killing anything at all on your way? oO
Random Advice:

Spoiler

You shouldn't run past everything because there is a level spike comming up and than things will get really tough.
there are some higher level gems and materials available in the next area, you should get some, it will make things easier. (agility in particular)
don't bother with the weapons you can buy there, they aren't worth it.