• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Xenoblade |OT| Sorry I Kept You Waiting!

S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
Did you get Monado Shield on
Fallen Arm?
You'll have to do some quests to raise affinity, then there should be an NPC right outside the village entrance who asks you to destroy some Mechon. After a couple of the quests, you'll get the skill book for it, then you should put some points into it.

If you already have it and you're still getting wrecked, you're in trouble.
 
B

BriareosGAF

Member
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
Did you get Monado Shield on
Fallen Arm?
You'll have to do some quests to raise affinity, then there should be an NPC right outside the village entrance who asks you to destroy some Mechon. After a couple of the quests, you'll get the skill book for it, then you should put some points into it.

If you already have it and you're still getting wrecked, you're in trouble.
Click to expand...

Is that the one that reduces physical and ether damage? I think by the last 15 hours or so
once you''re done with Mechons as the primary villains
it's the only Monado art I used with any frequency. Should have included "almost all of the Monado arts" in my list of "things that aren't really necessary or useful for most of the game".

Re: the
second Gadolt fight
as I remember it he had an attack that did essentially fatal damage to a party member so it was a matter of keeping interrupts up in order to avoid him using it. Otherwise your normal heal/dodge cycle should keep you free of damage for the most part (everyone has +50 agil, right?). My rampant questing made me +2 level for most of that section, though; the game didn't really catch up with my over-levelling until I hit
Bionis Interior
for the second time.
 
H

Henke

Member
Unfortunately I missed the monado art. I'll just have to grind a bit and follow advice wuth regards to agility levels. I really don't want to hit a brick wall 60 hours into this game...
 
J

Jintor

Member
Man, the armour in this game is so nonsense sometimes. I just had a heartwarming scene between Dunban and
7th
ruined because it starts with the two of them staring at a beautiful landscape... but
7th's weird armour has some kind of... butt-window thing going on

Yes, I know it's all metal...
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Henke said:
Unfortunately I missed the monado art. I'll just have to grind a bit and follow advice wuth regards to agility levels. I really don't want to hit a brick wall 60 hours into this game...
Click to expand...

You probably want to get Monado Armor. It's by far the best art in the game, only Serene Heart comes close. If you know what you're doing it pretty much makes anything possible. That has spoilers for anyone who isn't to the point where you have all seven characters (and some other light spoilers in the description).

Jintor said:
Man, the armour in this game is so nonsense sometimes. I just had a heartwarming scene between Dunban and
7th
ruined because it starts with the two of them staring at a beautiful landscape... but
7th's weird armour has some kind of... butt-window thing going on

Yes, I know it's all metal...
Click to expand...

The one downside to customizable armor + realtime cutscenes. One certain scene toward the end of the game had me facepalming.
 
A

Anustart

Member
Just got to
Eryth Sea
and this game you guys, this game.

Some questions:

What's up with this damn 'Kill 3 Light Skeeters' quest in colony 9? I've killed so many light skeeters I'm fed up! Is there a specific place to kill those?

Also, I've been switching up what characters I have in my active party to raise affinity all around, good idea?
 
C

Celegus

Member
I really screwed up big time... I've been waiting for this to finally get cheaper somewhere since it came out, only to check the prices last night and it's like $70-80 everywhere. Let alone a sale price, can't even find it for MSRP anymore! Unless a highly unlikely reprint were to occur, looks like I'm missing out on this one.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
Celegus said:
I really screwed up big time... I've been waiting for this to finally get cheaper somewhere since it came out, only to check the prices last night and it's like $70-80 everywhere. Let alone a sale price, can't even find it for MSRP anymore! Unless a highly unlikely reprint were to occur, looks like I'm missing out on this one.
Click to expand...

I am not sure why you'd want to wait for one of the most contant packed games of this gen to get cheaper in the first place, especially considering its rumored low printrun.
besides that there is always the option to get the EU version.
for example:
about 50$ @ 365games, free shipping
If you own an sd card, there is no reason to miss out on this one.
 
C

Celegus

Member
Zornica said:
I am not sure why you'd want to wait for one of the most contant packed games of this gen to get cheaper in the first place, especially considering its rumored low printrun.
besides that there is always the option to get the EU version.
for example:
about 50$ @ 365games, free shipping
If you own an sd card, there is no reason to miss out on this one.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize at the time how rare it really was/would end up being. I was completely hooked to Diablo 3 to care about any other games until a week or two ago. I figured since I wasn't going to be playing it then, I could wait till later... then I finally checked and was honestly pretty surprised it was so expensive.

Is the EU version exactly the same as US?
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Celegus said:
I didn't realize at the time how rare it really was/would end up being. I was completely hooked to Diablo 3 to care about any other games until a week or two ago. I figured since I wasn't going to be playing it then, I could wait till later... then I finally checked and was honestly pretty surprised it was so expensive.

Is the EU version exactly the same as US?
Click to expand...

Yes, NoA basically changed the region code and that's it. But since the Wii is region locked you will need to mod it to play the PAL version on a US Wii. (Edit: Actually, the framerate might be 25FPS vs 30FPS? I remember noticing that on Dolphin but not with the actual Wii).
 
J

Jintor

Member
This game is such a great podcast game. I just got through six hours of Octobercast just grinding sidequests on the Arm.
 
olimpia84

olimpia84

Member
Celegus said:
I really screwed up big time... I've been waiting for this to finally get cheaper somewhere since it came out, only to check the prices last night and it's like $70-80 everywhere. Let alone a sale price, can't even find it for MSRP anymore! Unless a highly unlikely reprint were to occur, looks like I'm missing out on this one.
Click to expand...

Check out your local Best Buy, they might have some copies for the usual MSRP in store (mine does at least). You can't afford to miss this game, it's so damn good.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
Celegus said:
I didn't realize at the time how rare it really was/would end up being. I was completely hooked to Diablo 3 to care about any other games until a week or two ago. I figured since I wasn't going to be playing it then, I could wait till later... then I finally checked and was honestly pretty surprised it was so expensive.

Is the EU version exactly the same as US?
Click to expand...

sry, I was under the impression that it is mandatory for a gaf member to have an enormous backlog. my bad.
regarding the eu version: it's exactly the same, you could argue it's even better because it supports more languages and has the, I like to call, "hd console mode" where you get a higher resolution with a lower framerate, like on every other console this generation :p
everything you need is an sd card.

olimpia84 said:
Check out your local Best Buy, they might have some copies for the usual MSRP in store (mine does at least). You can't afford to miss this game, it's so damn good.
Click to expand...

also this
 
C

Celegus

Member
I'll check Best Buy then and see. The only time I'll ever add to my backlog is if a game is super duper cheap. Otherwise, I'll wait until I'm done playing what I'm currently playing. I might pay full price for one or two games a year, which this year it was Diablo 3. I'm sure I'd love Xenoblade though and really want to check it out.
 
V

Velti

Neo Member
I got mine for like... 52$ used at Gamestop, and you can buy it directly from their site. Is GAF boycotting them or something? ............. oh, wow, just kidding, "not available."

I guess I'm lucky! Just bought it over the weekend. TBH, I was pretty displeased with my initial couple of hours. The graphics, fight mechanics, and a lot of the character animations look and feel super clunky. There are design choices that just sort of piss me off. (Attack selection is BS. And why can't I clamber onto low ledges? And where's my "look" button?! YOU FOOLS!!) What's the value of these skill trees? Should I be, like, working on all of them? Do they level automatically? When am I collecting art upgrade points? WTF is a dance apple supposed to be? Why is there a cool potato in the middle of the worst textured lake I've ever seen?

The landscapes in the game are SO cool and thought out, I wish they'd gone more of an ICO/SOTC route in terms of character animations and environmental exploration. (IE - not janky/useless jumps, climbing and clambering over stuff, swimming and diving...) Poor textures, no water animation...

I guess.. is the game just too big, and they had to cut stuff on the visual end?? Yeesh..

And how about in game story explanations for mechanics?? Like, you have a magic teleportation ball, or something. SIIGGGGH. Just.. guhh.. after playing lots of polished games, I don't understand how a developer with a game like this can let that stuff fall short.

Anyway, to cap all that griping, the game is beginning to grow on me. Fiora and Reyn are cool, but Shulk is the lowest on the totem pole b/c of his dumb name and horrible fashion sense that remind me of Sora. BUT. He's not completely insufferable, like some RPG protags I've heard of. So, gold star. I already feel bad for Reyn b/c I'm betting he's got a crush on Fiora. It's okay, Reyn, I'll comfort you with my body.

Unless he's actually gay for Shulk. "No one's touching you while I'm around!" Orly? Thanks, anyhow. Reyn's my main-man-meat-shied.

Guys who should I be giving what? I hear the strengths on some aren't what you'd expect..
 
J

JEKKI

Member
whaaaat the price of this game went up?!?!

I picked up the UK version back in the days that I'm playing now,

was gonna sell it once they announced the US version but the resale price on it plummeted hard!
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
Velti said:
I got mine for like... 52$ used at Gamestop, and you can buy it directly from their site. Is GAF boycotting them or something? ............. oh, wow, just kidding, "not available."

I guess I'm lucky! Just bought it over the weekend. TBH, I was pretty displeased with my initial couple of hours. The graphics, fight mechanics, and a lot of the character animations look and feel super clunky. There are design choices that just sort of piss me off. (Attack selection is BS. And why can't I clamber onto low ledges? And where's my "look" button?! YOU FOOLS!!) What's the value of these skill trees? Should I be, like, working on all of them? Do they level automatically? When am I collecting art upgrade points? WTF is a dance apple supposed to be? Why is there a cool potato in the middle of the worst textured lake I've ever seen?

The landscapes in the game are SO cool and thought out, I wish they'd gone more of an ICO/SOTC route in terms of character animations and environmental exploration. (IE - not janky/useless jumps, climbing and clambering over stuff, swimming and diving...) Poor textures, no water animation...

I guess.. is the game just too big, and they had to cut stuff on the visual end?? Yeesh..

And how about in game story explanations for mechanics?? Like, you have a magic teleportation ball, or something. SIIGGGGH. Just.. guhh.. after playing lots of polished games, I don't understand how a developer with a game like this can let that stuff fall short.

Anyway, to cap all that griping, the game is beginning to grow on me. Fiora and Reyn are cool, but Shulk is the lowest on the totem pole b/c of his dumb name and horrible fashion sense that remind me of Sora. BUT. He's not completely insufferable, like some RPG protags I've heard of. So, gold star. I already feel bad for Reyn b/c I'm betting he's got a crush on Fiora. It's okay, Reyn, I'll comfort you with my body.

Unless he's actually gay for Shulk. "No one's touching you while I'm around!" Orly? Thanks, anyhow. Reyn's my main-man-meat-shied.

Guys who should I be giving what? I hear the strengths on some aren't what you'd expect..
Click to expand...

You mean no attack selection is bs? Because the AI not using their topple move in time is definitely a running issue. It's also still an RPG, not an action game. You aren't supposed to be clambering on ledges and and fluidly prancing about, they don't bother with that. And the skill trees are pretty self-explanatory. If you see a skill that looks useful, pick that tree and you'll eventually level up automatically and get it. You get points for arts after every level up, I think that should be pretty obvious. The items you collect just have funny names, all they're good for is selling and sidequests.

Are you not playing with component cables? If you're using the default Wii cables, the game is a blurry mess. I'm not expecting some Unreal 3 bump-mapping going on, and the unexceptional textures are a small price to pay for minuscule loading times and the ridiculously huge areas.

I'm not going to complain about quick travel not having an in-game explanation because the game would be an incredible nuisance without it, so all I care about is that it's in.

Reyn gets his own "love interest" soon enough. It's obvious they're pushing it, but it never comes to anything because nobody matters in this game except Shulk and Fiora. It's kind of annoying, actually, and part of the reason I don't think the story is very satisfying.
 
V

Velti

Neo Member
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
You mean no attack selection is bs? Because the AI not using their topple move in time is definitely a running issue. It's also still an RPG, not an action game. You aren't supposed to be clambering on ledges and and fluidly prancing about, they don't bother with that. And the skill trees are pretty self-explanatory. If you see a skill that looks useful, pick that tree and you'll eventually level up automatically and get it. You get points for arts after every level up, I think that should be pretty obvious. The items you collect just have funny names, all they're good for is selling and sidequests.

Are you not playing with component cables? If you're using the default Wii cables, the game is a blurry mess. I'm not expecting some Unreal 3 bump-mapping going on, and the unexceptional textures are a small price to pay for minuscule loading times and the ridiculously huge areas.

I'm not going to complain about quick travel not having an in-game explanation because the game would be an incredible nuisance without it, so all I care about is that it's in.

Reyn gets his own "love interest" soon enough. It's obvious they're pushing it, but it never comes to anything because nobody matters in this game except Shulk and Fiora. It's kind of annoying, actually, and part of the reason I don't think the story is very satisfying.
Click to expand...

Whatever! I'll keep my opines... I think they could've smoothed the attack selection out somehow. And even if it isn't an action game, having those kinds of options available to me makes me feel more connected to the land, like the area matters more, could hold more secrets. That it's mine. And the collectables could've been actual items, like with Skyward Sword's bugs and drops. But that's just me.

Shulk and Fiora, huh? Not gonna lie- I was sad when she bit it. Then I prayed that they looted her corpse, b/c she had a lot of good gems on her. When I talked to a colonist and he was all "She had a long life ahead of her, filled with marriage and babies!" I wanted to be like "#$@% you, sir." And the face mechon looked TOTALLY badass.

The game has grown on me. I'll forgive it's glaring faults and enjoy what I have.
 
H

Henke

Member
Velti said:
Whatever! I'll keep my opines... I think they could've smoothed the attack selection out somehow. And even if it isn't an action game, having those kinds of options available to me makes me feel more connected to the land, like the area matters more, could hold more secrets. That it's mine. And the collectables could've been actual items, like with Skyward Sword's bugs and drops. But that's just me.

Shulk and Fiora, huh? Not gonna lie- I was sad when she bit it. Then I prayed that they looted her corpse, b/c she had a lot of good gems on her. When I talked to a colonist and he was all "She had a long life ahead of her, filled with marriage and babies!" I wanted to be like "#$@% you, sir." And the face mechon looked TOTALLY badass.

The game has grown on me. I'll forgive it's glaring faults and enjoy what I have.
Click to expand...

Metal Face is an incredible villain. So, so sinister.
 
A

Anustart

Member
At first I was quite disappointed with quests, finding them boring and not worth my time. That was before I decided to do the quests in each area as I get there instead of going back a couple zones to do the quests after I was leveled higher than needed.

Quests add a lot of fun as long as I'm not over leveled and have to tread lightly! I'm worried I'm burning through the story too quickly so I've been focusing on side stuff a lot lately.

If anyone would be so kind, how much story would I have left if i'm about to go to the Tomb?
 
E

Elfforkusu

Member
KMD said:
At first I was quite disappointed with quests, finding them boring and not worth my time. That was before I decided to do the quests in each area as I get there instead of going back a couple zones to do the quests after I was leveled higher than needed.

Quests add a lot of fun as long as I'm not over leveled and have to tread lightly! I'm worried I'm burning through the story too quickly so I've been focusing on side stuff a lot lately.

If anyone would be so kind, how much story would I have left if i'm about to go to the Tomb?
Click to expand...
More than half.
 
V

Velti

Neo Member
SOYLENT GREEN/FACE MECHON ARE PEOPLE SHULK QUIT BEING DAFT. That's why we can't hit 'um, I would bet. MONEY. And Reyn and Sharla need to make a babby. Although maybe it is too soon... I will max their affinity. Yesss... Reyn just saved Otharon's butt, b/c he is Reyn.

What time is it?!

Time for Juju to get a new name.
 
S

Samyy

Member
I never got to finish this game since summer ended and I had to get back into Uni mode, just 6 more weeks till I can finish this up and get back to my Xenoblade <3 :(
 
R

Ra1den

Member
Finally completed this at 78 hours. What an amazing game. I was fairly lukewarm on the story until
the ending HOLY SHIT that was an amazing plot twist. As soon as I saw Saturn, I knew things were taking a turn for the awesome. However I think that plot twist should have come around half of the way through the game, would have made the second half much more interesting. Was also hoping for some homages or connections hinted at with Xenogears/Xenosaga, but I didn't spot any...I could have missed them though.
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
I guess I'm too jaded on the whole
I'm God and this is the entire reason this world exists
story direction.

I really would have preferred to see more focus on characters other than Shulk. Especially Dunban. Late game spoilers:
The guy cripples himself protecting everyone, one of his friends is a whiny brat who betrays him out of spite, the other was never actually his friend, he probably had to raise Fiora himself, and then she gets killed. I'm surprised they didn't just go even further and give him a wife who had been killed by the Mechon before the start of the game.

It seems like the character development simply ends after
Shulk wakes up after the Mechonis Core.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
It seems like the character development simply ends after
Shulk wakes up after the Mechonis Core.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, but most of the character development in the 2nd half is done through heart to hearts which most people never see because it's optional.
It's clear they wanted to tell a stroy about gods and fate though. Looking back, the first half of the game was bassically character development, but those cutscenes just weren't as memorable compared to the exciting ones which drove the main story. That's something I only realized on my 2nd playthorugh.
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
Character development shouldn't happen exclusively outside of the main story unless your game is built around it. Like Mass Effect 2. The game only has 4-5 main story missions. The entire rest of the game is character stories. A number of them are technically "optional," but they're all actual missions, some of them rather substantial. The closest Xenoblade has to that is a certain sidequest for Melia. It might not seem like a fair comparison, but then again, there's nothing "fair" about Xenoblade relegating everyone who isn't Shulk to text-only conversations that can only be accessed in specific locations when specific criteria have been met.

To me, the story in the first half of the game was more memorable.
Fiora actually dying, as obvious as it is that she will be back, was a pretty dark turn. And Reyn and Shulk setting off not because they have to "save the world," but because they just really want to kill Metal Face. Not like revenge is an original motivation, but it's less wholesome and a little more interesting than the average JRPG teenager's quest. Dunban joining the party, finally killing that bastard Xord, Satorl Marsh at night, entering Makna Forest, all pretty good stuff. But the last section of the game, what do we get? Dickson shows up, antagonizes the party, WE'LL NEVER GIVE UP, Telethia boss fight. And repeat that about 3 times. And while Dickson had the potential to be an interesting twist, the game sees fit to foreshadow its plot twists at every opportunity. Dickson never stops talking to himself, so it's obvious he's going to do something. It got really tired, and if you couldn't see Zanza being the final boss as soon as you reached that cutscene in the Agniratha tower, you must not have ever played a JRPG before.
 
R

Ra1den

Member
The only heart to heart I saw in the entire game is the one at the beginning with Fiora. I never met the requirements for a single one after that. I wasn't really doing many sidequests(fetch quests drive me insane), but still, those requirements should have been lower. Overall I felt the second half of the game wasn't nearly as fun as the first half because the areas were not as fun to explore.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
I think the idea with heart to heart was getting to know your favorite characters better so if you kept relatively the same party for most the game you would see those and do the others either post game or in subsequent playthroughs.

Which of course means you won't be seeing too many if you switch your party a lot. In the grand scheme of things exploiting helping (as in encourage or status effect recover) gets affinity faster than accepting/turning in quests but its still a bit grindy.

Personally, gifting collectibles could have been worth a bit more maybe with more negative or neutral outcomes or to compensate for them being worth a lot maybe only being able to give the same gift once.
 
B

BriareosGAF

Member
The game is definitely exuberantly systematic in many opaque/awkward ways. It's not hard to imagine going back and spending six months to get everything more lined up in the same direction and avoid some of the grind and what not, but it's a difficult balance. Would I spend another 90 hrs of my life on a Wii U up-port/polished edition that could access my old savegame for NG+. Probably :).
 
T

TheApatheticOne

Member
So no Gamestop has this really in my area, and eBay prices are above what Id like to pay for this. Just got a Wii U on a whim, with one of the reasons being that I want to play this. Any tips or suggestions on scoring a new copy of this for anything around retail? Haven't really been following it, but very sad to find that I may not be able to play this now.
 
B

BriareosGAF

Member
TheApatheticOne said:
So no Gamestop has this really in my area, and eBay prices are above what Id like to pay for this. Just got a Wii U on a whim, with one of the reasons being that I want to play this. Any tips or suggestions on scoring a new copy of this for anything around retail? Haven't really been following it, but very sad to find that I may not be able to play this now.
Click to expand...

I see it for $60 on Ebay, are you expecting lower? There's also 1-month free trial of Gamely -> Xenoblade rental. Otherwise if any GAFers are really hard up maybe we should setup a disc swap via post. I'd be happy to lend out a copy.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Slugs =
The path from Distant Fingertip down to the ground, I found them to be more common toward the top. Apparently the coast NW of the Machina Village is decent too.
IIRC they are more common at night during thunderstorms but I'm not 100% sure.

Bean = I forgot what it's called, but that second corridor off the main area has the best chance for them, using that area I was able to get them fairly quickly, much faster than using the spot by
the heart
I've seen recommended elsewhere.
 
J

Jintor

Member
I got them finally, now I'm just loading up on quests to finish before I head to the penultimate level. Sucks that some of these 5th tier skills are super high level though :T
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Well, those are intended to be some of the last things you get.

And as a whole the 4th trees are better anyway, but you would still want all of them for Abaasy and whatnot.
 
T

TheApatheticOne

Member
BriareosGAF said:
I see it for $60 on Ebay, are you expecting lower? There's also 1-month free trial of Gamely -> Xenoblade rental. Otherwise if any GAFers are really hard up maybe we should setup a disc swap via post. I'd be happy to lend out a copy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, but despite not showing any, my local Gamestop still had a brand new shrinkwrapped copy for sale for $50! : )
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
So, after a year or so, I'm going to do another run through. I think I'll just start from scratch. Playing through the game at level 85 would be just to easy, easier than its already easy at the levels the game wants you at. Only had one real trouble with a boss.

I think I'll use some Riki this time. Didn't touch him at all first time through.
 
J

Jintor

Member
Took me almost a year of on-again off-again play (thanks, Dolphin crashes), but I finally cleared Xenoblade Chronicles. What an excellent game. I hope more games get VA'd in England, and that MonolithSoft bring their A-game to whatever they're working on next.
 
H

Henke

Member
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Disciple Lorithia in the Bionis Heart
is totally kicking my ass. I had her down to a fraction of her health once, but ever since I get just destroyed before I can take even 1/3 off her. Why oh why is there so much fucking ether lying around the arena though, and why do my party members always run in there and die, thus making me go in after them? Fuuuuuck.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Henke said:
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Disciple Lorithia in the Bionis Heart
is totally kicking my ass. I had her down to a fraction of her health once, but ever since I get just destroyed before I can take even 1/3 off her. Why oh why is there so much fucking ether lying around the arena though, and why do my party members always run in there and die, thus making me go in after them? Fuuuuuck.
Click to expand...

What party are you using? That boss is practically immune to physical attacks so you will want a character like Riki or preferably Melia as your primary damage dealer. Topple and daze are also effective since it removes the physical damage down aura, Shulk/Reyn/Dunban is the best party for that (and if you have high affinity with those characters and the right arts leveled up you should be able to topple lock by that point).

You can also use the mostly useless party commands to call your party to you or something to keep them out of the ether.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Xenoblade 3 Artbook releasing in April | 448 pages covering main game + DLC
News Deals 2
51
3K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
LTTP | Valkyrie Profile 2 : Silmeria
LTTP
15
680
DelireMan7 replied
I have grown to despise maps in video games
2
51
2K
ReyBrujo replied
Dragon Age: Veilguard New Details
News 2 3 4
156
9K
Hudo replied
Unicorn Overlord Details Quests, Town Rebuilding, Mock Battles & Mining Minigame
News
46
4K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Top Bottom