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[branny]

I think it gets better as you keep playing, but I know how you felt and don't blame you for wanting to quit. My main gripes were the structure of the game and its battle system. I've grown accustomed to both after revising my expectations. There are still a few things that bother me immensely, but they're no longer annoying enough to make me stop playing like I'd originally contemplated doing.

I did have incentive, though (I was intrigued by the story and wanted to see every new area). It sounds like you're not enjoying anything at all, so it might be best to just put the game down if it doesn't start clicking. You shouldn't waste time forcing yourself to play something that you're not finding fun.

That said, there are some games that I originally had trouble getting into (this being a somewhat recent one) but was happy when I eventually did. The best example I can think of for me is Dragon Quest VIII. I started and restarted that game more times than I can remember but finally "got" it and look back on it quite fondly, even if it's not one of my favorite games or anything. I'm probably not even halfway through Xenoblade yet, but its world is already something I'll never forget, something I think is worth pushing through any nonsense to experience at least once.

 

[Gregorn]

I am 8 hours in and ready to quit. I absolutely hate the writing and voice acting, I find the battle system to be tiresome, the equipment system is a complete chore, the story is boring so far, I just don't like it at all. Does it get way better or am I just weird and dont like what everybody else loves? I am in the mines below Colony 6 having just met Otheron.

Try changing it back to English.

 

[AniHawk]

i'm having a hard time moving the story forward. instead i'm finding myself exploring for stupid glowy things and killing giant fucking enemies. i've made it my goal to do this instead of moving the story forward. so much like ffxii.

 

[wsippel]

Alright Xenoblade, you are now in my top 10 favorite RPG's ever. And I'm not even close to finishing the game yet.

Spoiler

Prison Island is the tip of the iceburg, Galahad Fortress and Fallen Hand sold me. And just for the record. I HATE ALCAMOTH! TOO DAMN BIG OF A CITY!

Oh yeah, Heropon awesome.

The whole Nopon race is awesome once you learn more about them. Background spoiler, nothing about the main story:

Spoiler

Nopons are everywhere, know everyone, control all trade routes, are leading in the field of science and archeology. Organized crime as well, of course. Not to mention they are probably the most powerful warriors on Bionis. They are also the oldest race still in existence, even older than the High Entia. The reason they speak funny? It helps being underestimated.

 

[Adam Prime]

I'm at about ~65 hours and in the second to last area. I'm at the point where I'm debating to myself whether I want to sink in another ~40 hours and go after all the high level enemies, Art Books, quests, etc. or just wrap up the game in the next ~5 hours or so.

I've loved the ride of the game, but this always happens to me when I play a single player RPG like this. You get near the end and all of a sudden I don't know if I want to invest more time than is needed to just beat the game.

... I have The Last Story waiting unopened for me. I haven't wanted to start yet until I was finished with Xenoblade.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

I'm at about ~65 hours and in the second to last area. I'm at the point where I'm debating to myself whether I want to sink in another ~40 hours and go after all the high level enemies, Art Books, quests, etc. or just wrap up the game in the next ~5 hours or so.

I've loved the ride of the game, but this always happens to me when I play a single player RPG like this. You get near the end and all of a sudden I don't know if I want to invest more time than is needed to just beat the game.

... I have The Last Story waiting unopened for me. I haven't wanted to start yet until I was finished with Xenoblade.

I left the endgame sidequests myself, it gives me more reason to go back and do NG+

 

[wrowa]

I'm at about ~65 hours and in the second to last area. I'm at the point where I'm debating to myself whether I want to sink in another ~40 hours and go after all the high level enemies, Art Books, quests, etc. or just wrap up the game in the next ~5 hours or so.

I've loved the ride of the game, but this always happens to me when I play a single player RPG like this. You get near the end and all of a sudden I don't know if I want to invest more time than is needed to just beat the game.

... I have The Last Story waiting unopened for me. I haven't wanted to start yet until I was finished with Xenoblade.

You can't save after the final point of no return anyway (don't worry, the game will tell you that explicitly), so there's no reason not to finish the story now and do the endgame-content afterwards.

But, well, that depends on where you are exactly in the game. One area has quite a bunch of timed quests -- if those quests haven't expired yet, you'd be in for 5-10 hours worth of sidequests before you can continue the story. That part of the game is the only one where the sidequests are a little too bothersome imo.

Oh, and don't finish Xenoblade just for Last Story's sake. That game isn't worth it anyway.

 

[SecretMoblin]

If you don't want to do all of the endgame stuff, at least do the quests in

Spoiler

the newly-opened area of Tephra Cave.

There are several hours of content, with good exploration, new enemies, and an interesting quest line.

 

[jgkspsx]

Has anybody who ordered through Gamestop received theirs? I preordered literally day 1 but they said they hadn't shipped yet because they weren't sure they had enough artbooks. Sounds like BS to me.

 

[Jive Turkey]

LOL

I nearly died at that part.

Yeah so did I but I saw it coming...And yet did nothing to stop it. High AGI was the only thing that kept my team alive.

i'm having a hard time moving the story forward. instead i'm finding myself exploring for stupid glowy things and killing giant fucking enemies. i've made it my goal to do this instead of moving the story forward. so much like ffxii.

Me too. And any time I have a timed quest in my queue I stop everything and do that quest. Even if it isn't an important quest it'll bug the hell out of me.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

The only time I found the quests to become overwhelming was when I reached A

Spoiler

lcamot

h, because that place was such a large single area, with so many named NPCs at different times I just got very snowed under by it - it doesn't help that the main story takes a back seat here for a while. I think a few of us who played last year got a little burnt out here, but once you pass that area the story really picks up.

 

[DrForester]

I thought I grinded enough between areas, but i'm starting to think I need to do more. Bosses are kicking the crap out of me.

 

[MetatronM]

Grinding is unnecessary. There is never a point in the game where you need to go kill enemies just for the sake of leveling.

What bosses are causing problems?

 

[burgerdog]

I'm done with the Ether

Spoiler

Mine and I don't have any side quests left, I've done every quest in Gaur and there's probably very few that I missed in Colony 9 outside of the 3+ affinity only quests. Is it normal to not have any side quests for the mine and Satorl Marsh(just entered this area)?

 

[Papercuts]

I'm done with the Ether

Spoiler

Mine and I don't have any side quests left, I've done every quest in Gaur and there's probably very few that I missed in Colony 9 outside of the 3+ affinity only quests. Is it normal to not have any side quests for the mine and Satorl Marsh(just entered this area)?

Spoiler

I'm at the same spot as you, a little bit into the Marsh. You'll run into a caravan with some more quests.

But yeah, the mine had a couple of unique enemies. I'm guessing there's a quest attached to each one? So there's probably quests later to return.

 

[Pancho]

Got the game yesterday and have spent a few hours pretty much wondering around the first area.
Any general advice/ pointers for a Xenoblade noob? The game is kind of overwhelming.

 

[SecretMoblin]

There are no quests for that area,

Spoiler

because it becomes unavailable right after you finish it.

Many uniques don't have a quest attached to them.


Edit:

Got the game yesterday and have spent a few hours pretty much wondering around the first area.
Any general advice/ pointers for a Xenoblade noob? The game is kind of overwhelming.

Read the FAQ in the OP. YOU CAN QUICK TRAVEL BETWEEN AREAS. Explore the menus, read the in-game tutorials (twice if you need to), change up your party leader every now and then to keep things fresh, don't worry about doing all the quests once you get them, don't sell collectibles, keep at least a few pieces of every bit of loot you come across.

 

[burgerdog]

Spoiler

I'm at the same spot as you, a little bit into the Marsh. You'll run into a caravan with some more quests.

But yeah, the mine had a couple of unique enemies. I'm guessing there's a quest attached to each one? So there's probably quests later to return.

Alright, I'll head to the camp. It just felt like I was missing something since I'm not used to NOT having side quests in the game.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Got the game yesterday and have spent a few hours pretty much wondering around the first area.
Any general advice/ pointers for a Xenoblade noob? The game is kind of overwhelming.

It's best to ignore any OCD tendencies you may have, because there's a LOT of content in there
Just play how you're most comfortable

Also, don't forget you can instantly fast travel to any discovered location/landmark in the game. And you can change the time of day!

 

[MetatronM]

I'm done with the Ether

Spoiler

Mine and I don't have any side quests left, I've done every quest in Gaur and there's probably very few that I missed in Colony 9 outside of the 3+ affinity only quests. Is it normal to not have any side quests for the mine and Satorl Marsh(just entered this area)?

I doubt you've actually done them all. I know there's at least one quest in Colony 9 that you can get early on that you can't actually complete for quite a long time, for example (it is impossible for you to have completed it at this point).

That said, some quests don't become available until you pass different points in the story, even if you have the necessary affinity.

 

[Pancho]

It's best to ignore any OCD tendencies you may have, because there's a LOT of content in there
Just play how you're most comfortable

I kind of noticed that...ignoring my OCD tendencies will be a huge challenge though xD

 

[cloudyy]

Oh, and don't finish Xenoblade just for Last Story's sake. That game isn't worth it anyway.

I beg to differ. At the end I loved Last Story WAY more than Xenoblade. Completely different games though.

 

[Papercuts]

There are no quests for that area,

Spoiler

because it becomes unavailable right after you finish it.

Many uniques don't have a quest attached to them.


Edit:


Read the FAQ in the OP. YOU CAN QUICK TRAVEL BETWEEN AREAS. Explore the menus, read the in-game tutorials (twice if you need to), change up your party leader every now and then to keep things fresh, don't worry about doing all the quests once you get them, don't sell collectibles, keep at least a few pieces of every bit of loot you come across.

Ah, good to know. I usually avoid uniques before a quest so I'll just start fighting all the ones I can take.

Also, I saw a lot of posts about timed sidequests. All the ones with a clock on it are timed, right? None just expire without that? I made sure to do all of the clock ones from the Leg.

 

[andylsun]

Picked this up today in the USA. Played about 2 1/2 hours and really enjoying it. Getting the hang of break/topple/daze and for my first real-time JRPG, I'm doing ok. Glad it's actually a game where you can die - so many games you can play through without this happening.

Finding the CC Pro is great for this. I may switch to running under Dolphin on my sandy bridge macbook pro, so I can free up the TV. Is the game playable all the way through with Dolphin?

 

[SecretMoblin]

Also, I saw a lot of posts about timed sidequests. All the ones with a clock on it are timed, right? None just expire without that? I made sure to do all of the clock ones from the Leg.

You can do the ones without clocks at any time. Don't worry about them.

Finding the CC Pro is great for this. I may switch to running under Dolphin on my sandy bridge macbook pro, so I can free up the TV. Is the game playable all the way through with Dolphin?

Yep!

 

[Zekes!]

The final areas in this game are exhausting.

 

[Pancho]

About the skilltree. Is every ability you've learned in the skilltree always active? Regardless of what branch you have selected?

 

[SecretMoblin]

About the skilltree. Is every ability you've learned in the skilltree always active? Regardless of what branch you have selected?

Yes.

 

[2San]

About the skilltree. Is every ability you've learned in the skilltree always active? Regardless of what branch you have selected?

Yes, but there's a small bonus in each tree that only counts when it's highlighted.

 

[The Technomancer]

The final areas in this game are exhausting.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the last ten hours or so. It feels like it trades the strengths of the game for a slog of attrition and grinding.

 

[ZenaxPure]

I assume I am nearing the end (right? Surely...) as well in

Spoiler

Agniratha

currently, while I don't find the areas exhausting it feels like they kinda phoned it in or something with the level design. Maybe that's a bit harsh but the areas are much smaller and just involve running around in circles hitting buttons and unlocking doors, it feels really different compared to the rest of the game. That said I've been having a blast with the last few areas because there are just unique mobs everywhere and even a lot of the normal enemies can be rough if you don't watch out, I have had a lot of fun with it.

 

[Ruas]

I'm 50 hours in and just

Spoiler

I entered galahad fortress.

Sometimes it takes hours only to complete a couple quests by the time i find the right items,person,location ect. I love every area but the

Spoiler

snow region

is kinda bland and uninspired.

 

[Seik]

I'm 50 hours in and just

Spoiler

I entered galahad fortress.

Sometimes it takes hours only to complete a couple quests by the time i find the right items,person,location ect. I love every area but the

Spoiler

snow region

is kinda bland and uninspired.

Even during

Spoiler

The night?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

I assume I am nearing the end (right? Surely...) as well in

Spoiler

Agniratha

currently, while I don't find the areas exhausting it feels like they kinda phoned it in or something with the level design. Maybe that's a bit harsh but the areas are much smaller and just involve running around in circles hitting buttons and unlocking doors, it feels really different compared to the rest of the game. That said I've been having a blast with the last few areas because there are just unique mobs everywhere and even a lot of the normal enemies can be rough if you don't watch out, I have had a lot of fun with it.

The second half of the game focuses more on the plot and less so on explorative freedom, I think this is a good decision personally. And, of course, a plethora of endgame content opens for those wanting more variety near the end.

 

[ZenaxPure]

The second half of the game focuses more on the plot and less so on explorative freedom, I think this is a good decision personally. And, of course, a plethora of endgame content opens for those wanting more variety near the end.

Yeah, I don't really have a problem with it personally but it's vastly different from the first half of the game and feels a bit weird.

 

[burgerdog]

Woah, question about Dèsirèe's father:

Spoiler

She said her father Xord disappeared one year ago during a mechon battle. Is it the same Xord that dies in the Mine?

 

[SecretMoblin]

Woah, question about Dèsirèe's father:

Spoiler

She said her father Xord disappeared one year ago during a mechon battle. Is it the same Xord that dies in the Mine?

Spoiler

No.

Xord is a common given name among the Homs of the Bionis.

Spoiler

OF COURSE IT'S THE SAME

 

[Ruas]

Woah, question about Dèsirèe's father:

Spoiler

She said her father Xord disappeared one year ago during a mechon battle. Is it the same Xord that dies in the Mine?

Spoiler

secret

 

[Ruas]

Even during

Spoiler

The night?

I dont remember, I'll check that next time.

 

[Bisnic]

Just got done with

Spoiler

Prison Island.

The twist was kinda expected, but still was nice to see.

I suppose im like at 60-65% of the game or something? Will i ever

Spoiler

step on Mechonis

or is that like just the last 5-10%?

Also, i feel like ignoring more and more of the sidequests unless they are on my way for the main story. There's just too many of them.

 

[burgerdog]

Spoiler

No.

Xord is a common given name among the Homs of the Bionis.

Spoiler

OF COURSE IT'S THE SAME

Spoiler

secret

Spoiler

Do you guys know what prompts this piece of dialogue? Story events or affinity?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Just got done with

Spoiler

Prison Island.

The twist was kinda expected, but still was nice to see.

I suppose im like at 60-65% of the game or something? Will i ever

Spoiler

step on Mechonis

or is that like just the last 5-10%?

Spoiler

I THINK you're more like 40% of the story. But 55-60% of the game. And yes, you will visit Mechonis

 

[The Technomancer]

I assume I am nearing the end (right? Surely...) as well in

Spoiler

Agniratha

currently, while I don't find the areas exhausting it feels like they kinda phoned it in or something with the level design. Maybe that's a bit harsh but the areas are much smaller and just involve running around in circles hitting buttons and unlocking doors, it feels really different compared to the rest of the game. That said I've been having a blast with the last few areas because there are just unique mobs everywhere and even a lot of the normal enemies can be rough if you don't watch out, I have had a lot of fun with it.

Yeah, I want to say you're nearing the end. My gripes with the end-game really start with the area you're going to go to after that.

 

[Effect]

Looks like I"m going to be doing a lot of the side-quest. The way combat is setup I get the feeling I'm going to be more comfortable playing this game and enjoying the story if I don't have to worry about struggling during combat outside of boss fights.

 

[MetatronM]

Just got done with

Spoiler

Prison Island.

The twist was kinda expected, but still was nice to see.

I suppose im like at 60-65% of the game or something? Will i ever

Spoiler

step on Mechonis

or is that like just the last 5-10%?

Also, i feel like ignoring more and more of the sidequests unless they are on my way for the main story. There's just too many of them.

You're around 50%. Give or take. Maybe slightly less.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

My tips that you probably don't know (Newbie tips)

1. You can talk to everyone twice.
2. Putting things in your collectopedia consumes that item.
3. People that have unique names can be traded with by pressing 2 on the wiimote when near them.
4. You can lure enemies from their groups if you don't think you can take them all on at once.
5. When switching out gear, the gem stays with that piece of gear. Remove the gem before you swap out allies gear.
6. Using the monado powers uses up the chain gauge. (I was wondering why I never have enough chain lol)

Thats all I got so far. Mind you, I'm only like 25 hours in, haha.

 

[branny]

Read the FAQ in the OP. YOU CAN QUICK TRAVEL BETWEEN AREAS. Explore the menus, read the in-game tutorials (twice if you need to), change up your party leader every now and then to keep things fresh, don't worry about doing all the quests once you get them, don't sell collectibles, keep at least a few pieces of every bit of loot you come across.

Can someone explain this a bit? I've been selling pretty much any equipment I don't need anymore. =\

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Can someone explain this a bit? I've been selling pretty much any equipment I don't need anymore. =\

You know those blue orbs you get that turn out to be "Beetle legs" or "Yellow Gear". He means don't sell all of those to a merchant. You will get a quest 50 hours down the road that will want "5 Beetle legs".

 

[Zekes!]

I'm 50 hours in and just

Spoiler

I entered galahad fortress.

Sometimes it takes hours only to complete a couple quests by the time i find the right items,person,location ect. I love every area but the

Spoiler

snow region

is kinda bland and uninspired.

It's not so much bland as it is just ugly. The music at night more than makes up for it, though.

 

[branny]

Oh, gotcha. Since "don't sell collectibles" was right before it, I was worried it extended to equipment for some obscure endgame reason about needing multiple pieces to smelt into a super armor or set or something, lmao.