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[MaverickHunterAsh]

From this explanation I would wager you liked FFX?

Because I liked FFX.

And I liked Xenoblade.

But I also liked FFXII.

But still, I liked Xenoblade.

So Xenoblade is easy to like I guess.

Why is my post like this. Idk

Haha yes, I loved FF X. It's actually my favorite game in the series, so yeah.

But thanks for the insight. The overall feeling I'm getting is that while Xenoblade does share quite a few similarities with FF XII and MMOs in general, Xenoblade is different enough and does enough of its own thing that it's possible to enjoy one but not the other. Sounds like I should give it a shot.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Okay GAFers, level with me here.

I know Xenoblade Chronicles is supposed to be one of the best and freshest JRPGs of this generation. I know it's got one of the best soundtracks ever, with a ridiculously amazing lineup of composers. I know I'm supposed to be super-excited that it finally got a U.S. release, and I am.

But here's the thing. This was all set to be a day-one purchase for me because I love JRPGs and I want to support Nintendo's bringing this over here, but several times now I've heard this game described as an "offline MMO" and likened to Final Fantasy XII and MMOs in general, all of which I couldn't/can't stand. I just don't enjoy those kinds of games. That, of course, has led to me wondering if I actually will like Xenoblade, so I haven't made the purchase yet.

That said, I do like/love most of the Xenoblade producer's previous works, so there's that.

Now I know all of you in this thread are obviously huge fans of Xenoblade, and I'm sure it's amazing, but what if I don't like MMO-style gameplay? What if I didn't like FF XII? Will I still be able to enjoy Xenoblade? I have faith that you guys will give me honest answers that aren't clouded by Xenoblade love.

Thanks guys!

Tbh, the only similarities between the two games is that both have open environments(though FFXII doesn't come anywhere near the scope of Xenoblade), that you don't fight enemies on a separate map like most JRPGs and that you only control one character directly.
The battle system in Xenoblade is much deeper and much more involving than FFXII, you can't just set up your characters and watch the game play itself.
The story is very different in tone, much more personal, epic and emotional than the dullness of FFXII. Except for the open environments and the battle system it's very much a traditional JRPG at its core.

If you like JRPGs you really should give this a try IMO, don't let the comparisons to FFXII fool you, the games aren't much alike. FFXII is by far my least favourite FF and Xenoblade is easily my favourite JRPG since the PS1 days. ;-)

 

[MetatronM]

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

What I mainly don't like about FF XII and MMOs in general is their emphasis on tasking you with doing tons of story-light quests over presenting an overarching, linear narrative, and their tendency to be wildly open-ended with a lack of focus on a linear, story-driven path through the game.

FF XII also had a digustingly boring story and cast of characters as well in my opinion, so there's that. From the responses I've gotten so far, it does at least seem like Xenoblade is a bit more linear and story-focused than FF XII.

I'll be honest, I'm in the minority that quite loved FF XIII and XIII-2 and couldn't stand XII. I'm not saying XIII's story was art or anything, but as a whole I found the XIII games to be far more enjoyable than XII, and I'm not of the belief that the JRPG genre needs a "breath of fresh air" as it were; I don't mind linear games in the least, so Xenoblade being open-ended isn't exactly a huge draw for me. That said, I didn't mind XIII-2's level of open-endedness, and it does sound like Xenoblade, while it's got a huge world with tons of optional stuff to do, does have the overall focus on a linear narrative that's characteristic of traditional JRPGs. If that's the case, I may yet take the plunge...

You might be interested in Xenoblade then. Xenoblade DOES present a whole shit load of sidequests that have little or nothing to do with the main plot, but they are 1) completely and totally optional, and 2) are frequently easily completed within the normal flow of play.

The game can be played with a pure focus on the main plot, and in this sense it is very story driven. If you don't dick around with sidequests and are just going from A to B in the plot, then the story actually moves along pretty briskly and in a relatively linear fashion. The world itself, while open via fast travel once you discover landmarks, is almost completely linear in design, with one zone coming logically after another as you make your way up the Bionis.

At the same time, it is also possible to walk away from that plot and spend hours and hours doing nothing but side quests and exploration, if you so desire. There are whole huge regions of almost every major zone that you would likely never ever see if you were just following the main story progression, so the game is really accommodating to whatever play style you feel like at the time.

Basically, you can play it at your own pace and in your own ways. If you want to do lots of side questing and exploration while taking a break from the main plot, it's available to you. If you want to just stick to the story-driven path and see what happens next, new major events are rarely far away. I was actually surprised on my second playthrough by just how densely packed the story near the start of the game is, because I, like many people, had spent a lot of time with side quests and exploring and taking my time going through the plot the first time around.

 

[ZenaxPure]

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

What I mainly don't like about FF XII and MMOs in general is their emphasis on tasking you with doing tons of story-light quests over presenting an overarching, linear narrative, and their tendency to be wildly open-ended with a lack of focus on a linear, story-driven path through the game..

Hmm, this confuses me a bit. In FF12 you can very simply follow the main storyline without doing any side stuff, unless that is not specifically what you're asking? I am a bit confused by that but I will say personally I find that both FF12 and Xenoblade have a very similar main story in pure structure in that you are tossed into huge open areas to explore and kill things but can simply follow your map if you just want to get to the next story beat if you wish.

This is not like FF13 or 13-2 (which I will note I enjoy a lot as well) where you are constantly being funneled down paths to the next story section or boss. For comparison sake I would say that Xenoblade is structured very similarly to the Gran Pulse section of FF13 in pure map design. Most areas in Xenoblade are wide and open and often encourage/reward you for going off the path to fight numerous side bosses and such.

 

[Lonestar]

It's like Xenoblade is like a game of just "The Calm Lands" from FFX, but way more detailed and better looking.

It's less linear than FFX, though.

 

[Evlar]

Next time you're in Big Box Electronics Store, walk past the Wii section packed with shelves of utter shit licensed games, and reflect on the truth that all of them got a wider release than Xenoblade.

Nintendo of America's treatment of this game is simply madness.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

Awesome, thanks for all the honest replies everyone. You've convinced me to take the plunge. It sounds like, while there are some similarities with FF XII and MMO gameplay, Xenoblade does have enough "traditional JRPG" in it as well such that there is an overall linear focus to the game and a strong enough overarching story to carry the open-ended game structure, both of which are things FF XII lacked IMO.

So it's settled. I'm looking forward to checking this out, especially for all the amazing music.

 

[Antagon]

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

What I mainly don't like about FF XII and MMOs in general is their emphasis on tasking you with doing tons of story-light quests over presenting an overarching, linear narrative, and their tendency to be wildly open-ended with a lack of focus on a linear, story-driven path through the game.

FF XII also had a digustingly boring story and cast of characters as well in my opinion, so there's that. From the responses I've gotten so far, it does at least seem like Xenoblade is a bit more linear and story-focused than FF XII.

I'll be honest, I'm in the minority that quite loved FF XIII and XIII-2 and couldn't stand XII. I'm not saying XIII's story was art or anything, but as a whole I found the XIII games to be far more enjoyable than XII, and I'm not of the belief that the JRPG genre needs a "breath of fresh air" as it were; I don't mind linear games in the least, so Xenoblade being open-ended isn't exactly a huge draw for me. That said, I didn't mind XIII-2's level of open-endedness, and it does sound like Xenoblade, while it's got a huge world with tons of optional stuff to do, does have the overall focus on a linear narrative that's characteristic of traditional JRPGs. If that's the case, I may yet take the plunge...

While I haven't played FFXIII, it's kinda like you describe. There's a ton of optional side stuff, though mosts quests are of the kill / fetch variety and can get pretty boring. You don't really have to do them to proceed though and if you focus on the main story you should still get at least 40 - 50 hours of gameplay out of it. There are also always pretty big plot points around the corner, so it's not like FFXII where there's a long stretch with no real story development at all.

That said, the open areas are a large draw and if you don't like exploring you will miss a large part of the game.

 

[raven777]

Ok, I will be getting the component cable for Wii today. What is the best setting to play xenoblade with component cable on my HD LCD TV?

Do I set the resolution on wii setting to 480P and 16:9 since my TV is 16:9?
Is there anything else I should change around?

 

[Evlar]

Ok, I will be getting the component cable for Wii today. What is the best setting to play xenoblade with component cable on my HD LCD TV?

Do I set the resolution on wii setting to 480P and 16:9 since my TV is 16:9?
Is there anything else I should change around?

That should do it.

 

[ShadowgeistX]

I got this game, despite being worried about the comparisons to FFXII. I spent almost the entire easter weekend playing this game and I do not regret it at all.

Anyways, currently I have 6 characters in my party, although I've been using the original 3 for most of the time since they work so well. I'm just wondering if there are any decent teams that don't involve Sharla. Not that I hate her, but her healing abilities kinda seem like a necessity no matter who's involved in the party.

 

[Seanspeed]

I think I've finally found something to complain about with this game:

- the names of everything, especially the people

Having a blast so far. I need to figure out the battle system a bit better, though.

 

[Hiltz]

I got this game, despite being worried about the comparisons to FFXII. I spent almost the entire easter weekend playing this game and I do not regret it at all.

Anyways, currently I have 6 characters in my party, although I've been using the original 3 for most of the time since they work so well. I'm just wondering if there are any decent teams that don't involve Sharla. Not that I hate her, but her healing abilities kinda seem like a necessity no matter who's involved in the party.

Spoiler

You can replace Sharla with Rikki as the main healer. The other characters are not good enough to rely on healing the rest of the party members. In addition, Rikki's list of moves provides some very useful support attacks and he hs more hp than Sharla so he can withstand more hits.

 

[blackflag]

I love this game but it is a bit easy when you do all the quests, seems like you are a little over leveled for everything. Wish there was a difficulty setting.

 

[kswiston]

So I played Xenoblade about 18 hours before realizing what the Collectapedia was for... This game has a crazy amount of features. I feel like I am just starting to get a good handle on the battle system.

A question to those who have beaten the game. I now have my six party members. Which teams are viable other than Shulk/Reyn/Sharla? I guess when I am not fighting Mechanis I could swap out Shulk, but there doesn't seem to be many tank and healer options.

 

[Salih]

If you rely on healing (aka Sharla) all the time you haven't understand the game mechanics.
Sharla is the most worthless character in the game. She is the reason why alot of fights just keep on dragging.

btw. i am pretty sure a good chunk of people don't know that you can choose a character to give presents to another playable character to raise the affinity between them. it's in the item menu.

 

[MetatronM]

I got this game, despite being worried about the comparisons to FFXII. I spent almost the entire easter weekend playing this game and I do not regret it at all.

Anyways, currently I have 6 characters in my party, although I've been using the original 3 for most of the time since they work so well. I'm just wondering if there are any decent teams that don't involve Sharla. Not that I hate her, but her healing abilities kinda seem like a necessity no matter who's involved in the party.

Sharla's healing abilities seem necessary because Sharla is in your party, meaning you're doing a lot less damage per second and, subsequently, taking a lot more damage than you could with other configurations. Also, Reyn's tanking style is based on him taking as much damage as possible to keep the other characters safe, which makes some decent healing something of a necessity.

Where you are, to mix it up, you might want to try a party like

Spoiler

Melia-Dunban-Shulk or Shulk-Riki-Dunban. Dunban is an amazing tank, but unlike Reyn, his tanking style is based all around agility. Basically, he keeps aggro on himself but through his agility dodges most of the attacks that come at him. As a result, he rarely needs any healing in most normal battles. Riki is also a capable healer and is one of the most well-rounded party members on the team, with ridiculously high HP, a variety of status and ether attacks, and some decent physical attacks. He's the second best healer and, by virtue of his HP, the third best tank, which makes him very versatile. He's not going to draw a whole lot of aggro, usually, but Dunban is going to cover that anyway, especially if Shulk is using Shadow Eye whenever he seems to draw attention to himself.

Melia is also a lot of fun, but the AI tends to use her less effectively than the player can. Her ether abilities provide buffs and a unique method of attack which can, at times, be the most devastating abilities in your arsenal. The trick with her is to basically just spam away with her summons. She can have 3 elemental summons out at any time, and you can dismiss them with her talent art button one at a time. The AI likes to let her sit around with those buffs for a while, but it's better for you to just discharge and then rebuff as frequently as possible to maximize your damage output. She is by far the most unique character to play as, so putting some time in with her as party leader can be a nice way to mix combat up a bit. If you do play as Melia, I highly recommend going through the tutorial pages about her.

 

[kswiston]

If you rely on healing (aka Sharla) all the time you haven't understand the game mechanics.
Sharla is the most worthless character in the game. She is the reason why alot of fights just keep on dragging.

I am not claiming to have mastered anything. Just that I understand the purpose of (most of) what I am doing finally. The learning curve in this game is steeper than a lot of jrpgs.

If Sharla is a waste, give me a hint on what I should be doing. I just received my last two party members within the previous half hour of playing, and I haven't tried out Dunban (who joined pretty recently as well).

EDIT: Thanks for the tips MetatronM

 

[Antagon]

So I played Xenoblade about 18 hours before realizing what the Collectapedia was for... This game has a crazy amount of features. I feel like I am just starting to get a good handle on the battle system.

A question to those who have beaten the game. I now have my six party members. Which teams are viable other than Shulk/Reyn/Sharla? I guess when I am not fighting Mechanis I could swap out Shulk, but there doesn't seem to be many tank and healer options.

Spoiler

Dunban is a tank as well and uses dodging instead of high health / defence. If you use him, there's a ton of options that come available. Personally been using Dunban / Shulk / Riki for a while and that works great. Huge amount of damage, and the smaller heals of Shulk and Riki are enough to keep everyone alive. I've been controlling Riki btw, Shulk's AI seems to be among the better in the game.

 

[Firemind]

Nah, Sharla is fine. It entirely depends on your play style and strategy. Do you for example save your party gauge for revives or do you use up the bar for maximum damage? There's no right or wrong.

 

[Lonestar]

I think I've finally found something to complain about with this game:

- the names of everything, especially the people

Having a blast so far. I need to figure out the battle system a bit better, though.

Yeah, as "nameless" people, the core characters are ok.

But Shulk? Really? I either think of She-Hulk or "Shucking" Oysters.
Reyn...Maybe Rein would be better. But hey, who am I to disagree with Reyn Time.

Colony 9/Colony 6 are basic terms, but aren't too bad. The naming of most places aren't too bad, until the name of the

Spoiler

Empire City, which I literally can't remember what it is, so it will always be Empire City to me.

Only just recently tried playing with other characters besides Shulk. Look forward to trying this Dunban/Shulk/Riki party. I too fell to the tried and true Tank/DPS/Healer party motif.

 

[ShadowgeistX]

Sharla's healing abilities seem necessary because Sharla is in your party, meaning you're doing a lot less damage per second and, subsequently, taking a lot more damage than you could with other configurations. Also, Reyn's tanking style is based on him taking as much damage as possible to keep the other characters safe, which makes some decent healing something of a necessity.]

I guess my party kinda required a healer with Reyn sitting around sponging attacks. I'll probably remove him and Sharla in favor of another two, just for a change in scenery. For the sake of this first playthrough though, I'll probably keep on using Shulk until the end. Thanks for the help.

 

[Salih]

If Sharla is a waste, give me a hint on what I should be doing.

No need to - MetatronM summed up perfectly. My tip:

Spoiler

play as Melia, and have Dunban and Shulk in your group. agility gems are key to very fast victory - give them to everyone. Also give Melia lightning damage up (because her lightning attack does the most damage) as well as ether dmg up.

 

[Antagon]

Quick question. Regarding the 'naked dunban' skills, do these work if he has armor on with 0 weight or does he really have to be naked?

 

[raven777]

Ok, I just got my component cable. Is there reason why the screen resolution is stuck to 4:3, even when I change the widescreen settings to 16:9?(meaning there is black letter box on each side no matter how I change the resolution.
I changed to 480P as well, but its stuck 4:3 no matter how I change the resolution

 

[Firemind]

Quick question. Regarding the 'naked dunban' skills, do these work if he has armor on with 0 weight or does he really have to be naked?

Entirely naked excluding weapon.

 

[Evlar]

Ok, I just got my component cable. Is there reason why the screen resolution is stuck to 4:3, even when I change the widescreen settings to 16:9?(meaning there is black letter box on each side no matter how I change the resolution.
I changed to 480P as well, but its stuck 4:3 no matter how I change the resolution

Probably your TV settings. Most HDTVs have a "Ratio" setting for analog inputs, including Component. You have to manually toggle it because there's no method to automatically detect the correct ratio from the composition of the signal.

 

[Antagon]

Entirely naked excluding weapon.

Guess those skills are pretty useless then

Spoiler

outside of it being awesome

as I can't see those bonusses outweigh the bonusses from gems.

 

[MetatronM]

Quick question. Regarding the 'naked dunban' skills, do these work if he has armor on with 0 weight or does he really have to be naked?

Naked.

Honestly, my experience is that it's not really worth it. Gems will pretty much always outpace the percentage gain you would get from his no armor skill, and even linking

Spoiler

Melia

's no gems skill doesn't really beat loading up on rank V and VI gems. Using light armor and a range of gems, with a focus on agility, always seemed to be the best approach to me with Dunban.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't go for it.

 

[Firemind]

Guess those skills are pretty useless then

Spoiler

outside of it being awesome

as I can't see those bonusses outweigh the bonusses from gems.

Lvl. 1, 2 and 3 gems are pretty shitty, whereas the naked skill gives a sizeable agility bonus, so it's not horrible early to mid game.

 

[raven777]

Probably your TV settings. Most HDTVs have a "Ratio" setting for analog inputs, including Component. You have to manually toggle it because there's no method to automatically detect the correct ratio from the composition of the signal.

Ok I changed it on my TV setting and it works now. Thanks!

 

[Ricker]

Oh yeah,got the e-mail from Nintendo that my game is shipped and I will be able to track it as soon as Canada Post scan it...should be here by Thursday hopefully.

 

[PsychoCandy]

This is the first RPG where I don't spam the A button during cutscenes

 

[Eteric Rice]

So I just figured out how to upgrade my abilities. -_-

Is there a way to reset them if I ever want to change character roles?

 

[Leezard]

So I just figured out how to upgrade my abilities. -_-

Is there a way to reset them if I ever want to change character roles?

Nope. You'll get enough AP for it to not be a major problem, but you should decide (at least in the beginning) which role you like best for each character.

 

[dancrane212]

Quick question, is the item that allows you to level up your arts past the starting limit something that you buy or is it tied into plot progression? I've started hitting the cap with most of the group and I've

Spoiler

just met Melia.

 

[B.K.]

Quick question, is the item that allows you to level up your arts past the starting limit something that you buy or is it tied into plot progression? I've started hitting the cap with most of the group and I've

Spoiler

just met Melia.

Arts Books. You can buy Intermediate level books at towns and other shops throughout the game. Advanced level Arts Books have to be won from Unique Monsters at the end of the game.

 

[dancrane212]

Spoiler

You mean the art books ? You'll be able to buy better art books as the plot progresses, though the highest/best/last art books can only be obtained as loot from high-lvl monsters very late in the game.

Arts Books. You can buy Intermediate level books at towns and other shops throughout the game. Advanced level Arts Books have to be won from Unique Monsters at the end of the game.

Would all of the merchants carry the artbooks currently available or is it only specific ones?

 

[Chris R]

Game shipped today, going to have to cram Graces f if I'm to have it done by the time this arrives

 

[Infamous Chris]

This is the first RPG where I don't spam the A button during cutscenes

This. I can't believe I played FF XII2 before this /shudder

 

[slaughterking]

I haven't followed this thread at all because I played the European version last year, but I'm curious to know what US GAF thinks of the game now that it's out. Do people generally feel like the hype was justified?

 

[kswiston]

I haven't followed this thread at all because I played the European version last year, but I'm curious to know what US GAF thinks of the game now that it's out. Do people generally feel like the hype was justified?

The game is quite good. I am only 18 hours in, but I think it has a shot at being my favourite jrpg this generation. Definitely on consoles anyhow. However, I don't think it is as revolutionary to rpgs as some people made it out to be.

 

[B.K.]

I think it has a shot at being my favourite jrpg this generation.

That's not really saying much though. RPGs this generation have been horrible.

 

[Liferebooted]

Ugh kinda stuck on a fight involving Melia.

Spoiler

I'm in her home town before the Tomb stuff. I go to leave my room and get jumped by 6 or so assassins or guards. It claims theyre only level 32 and I still get raped at level 35.

 

[Zornica]

Ugh kinda stuck on a fight involving Melia.

Spoiler

I'm in her home town before the Tomb stuff. I go to leave my room and get jumped by 6 or so assassins or guards. It claims theyre only level 32 and I still get raped at level 35.

if shulk is in your party, you should replace him with someone else because he is pretty much useless in that fight. I'd use

Spoiler

riki dunban and reyn

but this choice depends heavily on your equipment and your gems.

 

[L00P]

So many freakin' side quests. I finish one, another two pop up. I'm getting tired of em

Maybe I should ignore them for a little while and get on with the main quest...

 

[RedRedSuit]

Oh yeah,got the e-mail from Nintendo that my game is shipped and I will be able to track it as soon as Canada Post scan it...should be here by Thursday hopefully.

I couldn't stand it. I canceled it and got the game + classic controller at GameStop. *feels dirty*

 

[bluedeviltron]

Hour 3 - not that into it. Largely ugly, terrible side quests, lots of running, frustrating camera.
Hour 10 - OOPS I'M ADDICTED

 

[Einhander]

I couldn't stand it. I canceled it and got the game + classic controller at GameStop. *feels dirty*

I'm going to give them a week. Sometimes this happens with certain games.

 

[SecretMoblin]

lots of running

Quick Step gems are your best friend.