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I'm 28 hours in now, at level 44. Just finished

Spoiler

Prison Island

which was just amazing. That whole region was really. Exploring it was magnificent. I figured out the twist

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homs = Mecha

about ten hours in but the reveal of

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Fiora being the pink Mecha

didn't hit me until it

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spoke

. I am disappointed to find out that this is around the halfway point. I had original heard it was around the 33% point, but I'm guessing that is incorrect. I don't want this to end anytime soon. :/

I have one question for those that have finished; does this have any connection to

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Xenogears

? My mind has been trying to put potential connections/nods to it together lol. A one word answer would be appreciated.

Halfway point is about 45 hours in if you take you time about 35 if you rushing

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Fallen Hand I would say when every one have to rethink why they fighting and need to find everyone

 

[Lonestar]

Halfway point is about 45 hours in if you take you time about 35 if you rushing

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Fallen Hand I would say when every one have to rethink why they fighting and need to find everyone

wait wait wait

halfway point is

Spoiler

Fallen Hand? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeetttttt

 

[WrenchNinja]

So I picked this up, have played a good chunk of it, I'm at the

Spoiler

Marshes

. Have a few complaints.

What is the point of the day and night system if you can just change it at any time? Just seems arbitrary setting up npcs at specific times and letting you change the time like that. Why not just have them all accessible at any time? And if you're giving this option, why not give a weather option too?

The game is really weird about sidequest monsters. Like sometimes I'll kill it before a quest, but then when I acquire the quest, the monster won't be there. So like I have to come back later or reload multiple times for it to appear. Kind of dumb. Especially annoying with the timed quests, and sometimes monsters I haven't defeated don't even appear even though I keep checking at different times. Also kind of dumb.

Is it just me or does the Wii go into overdrive trying to read off the disc?

Anyway, things that I love about the game:

The battle system. Really fun just trying to raise up morale while queuing up attacks. The chain system is cool too.
Equipment and armor showing up in real time. Makes some of the cutscenes look hilarious, or awesome

Spoiler

Shulk cutting down fools without a shirt looks pretty badass

The music is amazing.
The big ass world. RPG developers am cry, Monolithsoft shits all over you guys.
This game looks pretty great for a Wii game.

 

[zlatko]

Putting this game down is a challenge. I just never want to. It's like when you first figure out masterbation and you have to put your pecker down.

 

[jump_button]

wait wait wait

Halfway point is

Spoiler

Fallen Hand? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeetttttt

Well you still got spoilers

Spoiler

Mechonis

Major spoilers

Spoiler

Inside Bionis and new name monsters.....and well you find out

 

[Lonestar]

Well you still got spoilers

Spoiler

Mechonis

Major spoilers

Spoiler

Inside Bionis and new name monsters.....and well you find out

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Up to the beginning of the Chest of Mechonis, after the Gadoit battle

 

[jump_button]

Spoiler

Up to the beginning of the Chest of Mechonis, after the Gadoit battle

Spoiler

Take your time really its to easy to rush pass most of them areas

 

[chaosblade]

Maybe it would be easiest to just go by level. "Oh, at that level you're about halfway through the game." I have no idea why they didn't define the chapters in-game, that would make things so much easier.

I don't really think the pacing of the story varies as much as others do. It just feels like it moves faster in the second half/last third of the game because there aren't as many side quests or areas to explore. If you shoot straight from the beginning to the end without exploring a whole lot or doing many sidequests, it would probably all feel pretty even.

Also:

 

[Ultratech]

Finally beat Mordred!!!! Riki-Sharla-Reyn. YESSSSSS!!!!! Tough unique. I'm 138 in not 160. Wasted a good 10 hours on stupid stuff. Shocked to see under 100 though. Must not have done many quests.

138 hours? Just what HAVE you been doing?

I beat the game at about 116 hours with something like 90% of all the quests done. It's a rough estimate, but I had maxed affinity for every area and done pretty much most of the quests for each area.

The only thing I really didn't do was go after the super-powerful Uniques (Lv100+).

 

[Lonestar]

Haven't seen a "completion %" rating in the game, and not sure if it has a "number of completed quests" stat or not.

Still working on rebuilding Colony 6, but only have had enough material to get to level 3 residental, and like level 2 on..one of the other 3 options.

At about 50-55 hours, and my characters are at about level 59-60

 

[Solune]

If you don't mind me asking, is there concept art of the townsfolk from Colony 9/6 etc, in the archives?

 

[chaosblade]

If you don't mind me asking, is there concept art of the townsfolk from Colony 9/6 etc, in the archives?

No concept art, it does have a character section with many or all of the named NPCs and some details, but it just shows the affinity chart portrait and a screengrab of their character model.

 

[Jokeropia]

Haven't seen a "completion %" rating in the game, and not sure if it has a "number of completed quests" stat or not.

I don't think it has either, but since you can view your completed quests and scroll down a full page at the time it's relatively easy to count them manually. I completed 453 quests all in all, and my final savefile landed at 225 hours.

 

[0 HP]

so are they doing multiple print runs? my local gamestop had it, sold out of them, now they're back again. gamestop.com was out of stock a couple of days ago too, but now its off backorder.

 

[burgerdog]

Does the wii load the entire zone you're in into memory? I'm amazed that there's no load times when quick traveling outside of going from zone to zone. Just something I've been wondering since I started playing.

 

[ZenaxPure]

Does the wii load the entire zone you're in into memory? I'm amazed that there's no load times when quick traveling outside of going from zone to zone. Just something I've been wondering since I started playing.

It pretty much has to. As someone who is playing with the disc on the wii itself the only thing I can figure is it loads the area, characters, and that's it. You can clearly hear the disc spinning/loading every time you get near a group of monsters or you pull up the main menu (which takes like 2-3 seconds to pull up sometimes). It's an interesting design choice but it makes me scared for my Wii's life since it constantly sounds like it's dying.

I don't really think the pacing of the story varies as much as others do. It just feels like it moves faster in the second half/last third of the game because there aren't as many side quests or areas to explore. If you shoot straight from the beginning to the end without exploring a whole lot or doing many sidequests, it would probably all feel pretty even.

I don't know about that. The second half of the game has major cutscenes all the time. Compared to the start of the game where you leave colony 9 pretty much nothing major happens until

Spoiler

the fight with xord and then seeing a telethia for the first time

which in my case was almost 20 hours in despite not doing any sidequests really.

 

[jorgeton]

The game isn't paced the same the whole way through; the early parts are relatively light on story and emphasize exploration and questing, while the later parts get very story-heavy and move much quicker. So it's not necessarily the case that if after 20 hours you've seen 25% of the game, the game will take you 80 hours.

So glad to read this. I've literally spent 80% of my playtime doing sidequests and was worried I'd get burned out. Good to know the game tightens its reins a little bit.

I'm about done with the

Spoiler

Nopon village and forest section

and good god that was painful. I cannot stand those little things, and the layout of the town gave me a headache. I guess it's a written rule that every JRPG must have a fuzzy sidekick with an annoying voice.

Also, the game suddenly decided to make me track down quest givers to complete a quest, instead of giving me the rewards on the spot like it has been for the last 20 hours. It was painful. Part of me was like "fuck it, I'll do these later" but the other part (the one that won out) had me stay until I completed as many of the active quests as I could. Looking forward to GTFO of there when I play later this evening.

 

[chaosblade]

I don't know about that. The second half of the game has major cutscenes all the time. Compared to the start of the game where you leave colony 9 pretty much nothing major happens until

Spoiler

the fight with xord and then seeing a telethia for the first time

which in my case was almost 20 hours in despite not doing any sidequests really.

20 hours without doing sidequests? It's been a while, but all that really happens in that section as far as the main story goes is

Spoiler

Tephra Cave, which has some foreshadowing and Shulk learning Shield, then going to the buggy/refugee camp. After that with the main story you go straight to the upper part of Bionis Leg and fight that tentacle boss and meet Xord? After that you just run through the Ether Mines before you fight him again.

I'll probably end up rushing through that part when I replay the game, but it seems doable in around a few hours. I don't really think it's all that different than the time you spend at (late game areas)

Spoiler

Mechonis all the way up to the very end of Agniratha

. In fact I'd say that was a bigger lull since the only thing that happened there was

Spoiler

one fight with Gadolt.

IIRC.

Admittedly, the cutscenes later in the game are typically "bigger" in a number of ways, but I don't really think there are more of them or that the story really moves all that much faster. It's just that a lot of the early scenes are setting things up.

 

[Lonestar]

So glad to read this. I've literally spent 80% of my playtime doing sidequests and was worried I'd get burned out. Good to know the game tightens its reins a little bit.

I'm about done with the

Spoiler

Nopon village and forest section

and good god that was painful. I cannot stand those little things, and the layout of the town gave me a headache. I guess it's a written rule that every JRPG must have a fuzzy sidekick with an annoying voice.

Also, the game suddenly decided to make me track down quest givers to complete a quest, instead of giving me the rewards on the spot like it has been for the last 20 hours. It was painful. Part of me was like "fuck it, I'll do these later" but the other part (the one that won out) had me stay until I completed as many of the active quests as I could. Looking forward to GTFO of there when I play later this evening.

Said the same thing a few days ago!
You know there's probably a trope on TVTropes, on this. :lol

 

[ZenaxPure]

Why do people have to hate

Spoiler

Riki! Riki love DunDun

(late game areas)

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Mechonis all the way up to the very end of Agniratha

. In fact I'd say that was a bigger lull since the only thing that happened there was

Spoiler

one fight with Gadolt.

IIRC.

Spoiler

Mechonis

certainly stands out

Spoiler

mostly because I hated it and felt like it never ended. You're description if pretty close but what makes it stand out from the start of the game when you're going through large areas is there are a bunch of random interludes to see what other characters are doing, 2 fights with Gadolt, and then a bunch of Bionis/Mechonis lore related scenes

. Though I was mostly talking about major events in the story, but I guess it could be pretty subjective as to what is major.

 

[Lonestar]

Why do people have to hate

Spoiler

Riki! Riki love DunDun

Spoiler

Mechonis

certainly stands out

Spoiler

mostly because I hated it and felt like it never ended. You're description if pretty close but what makes it stand out from the start of the game when you're going through large areas is there are a bunch of random interludes to see what other characters are doing, 2 fights with Gadolt, and then a bunch of Bionis/Mechonis lore related scenes

. Though I was mostly talking about major events in the story, but I guess it could be pretty subjective as to what is major.

His skills, HP, and just around fighting aspect, is great.
But he's Chu-Chu 3.0!

 

[jorgeton]

His skills, HP, and just around fighting aspect, is great.
But he's Chu-Chu 3.0!

I refuse to put him in my party. I have to draw the line somewhere!

 

[Solune]

No concept art, it does have a character section with many or all of the named NPCs and some details, but it just shows the affinity chart portrait and a screengrab of their character model.

Ahh damn, thanks for the answer.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Why do people have to hate

Spoiler

Riki! Riki love DunDun

Spoiler

Because his horrible VA sticks out like a sore thumb, and they completely forgot to integrate him into story after you leave the forest.
He just pops up every now and then to say a "pon-something"-one liner and then disappears again. He's like a fifth wheel that gets dragged along for no reason.

 

[ivysaur12]

Anyone have any more anecdotal sales data that I can use to say that the game is a smashing success?

 

[Junie12]

Wow I just defeated a unique monster and I received

Spoiler

Riki's lv 3 Freezinate and Reyn's lv 3 Berseker

The loots gets a lot better late in the game!

 

[Poyunch]

So I'm having trouble trying to prioritize what stats I should be focusing on for each character. So far I only have three:

Spoiler

Reyn, Shulk, and Sharla. I understand defense should be a priority for Reyn since he's a tank, but should I even be bothering with ether for these three? None of them seem to have "magic" unless Sharla's bullets count (which I don't think, right?).

 

[Bisnic]

Do Skill links like "increase chance of finding rare crystals" or "increase chance of finding silver chest" only work if you control the character with it?

Say i control Dunban, but Melia in my party is the one with the "increase chance for silver chests", do i still get that increased chance?

 

[Ultratech]

Spoiler

Mechonis

certainly stands out

Spoiler

mostly because I hated it and felt like it never ended. You're description if pretty close but what makes it stand out from the start of the game when you're going through large areas is there are a bunch of random interludes to see what other characters are doing, 2 fights with Gadolt, and then a bunch of Bionis/Mechonis lore related scenes

. Though I was mostly talking about major events in the story, but I guess it could be pretty subjective as to what is major.

Yeah, you're right about some of those points. It really is pretty straightforward and different compared to most every area to that point. At least it makes up for it with some absolutely good music.

 

[massoluk]

His skills, HP, and just around fighting aspect, is great.
But he's Chu-Chu 3.0!

I refuse to put him in my party. I have to draw the line somewhere!

What the hell you people! He's the reason I switched English Voice to Japanese Voice. Heropon is awesome. The whole race is awesome

Spoiler

randomly picked the Chosen One. Racketeering backstabbing drug lord. Greedy smuggler. bug/mushroom eating connoisseurs. Drama! Love triangles! Broken Friendship! Rival Scientists! Magic Sage! Crime mystery and intrigue! Oh my!

 

[fallingdove]

I am about 20 hours in. I just finished

Spoiler

the Eryth Sea area and am on my way to Prison Island.

It is a decent game so far but I am having a hard time seeing how this game is JRPG Jesus. There are some great ideas here but overall, it feels like it lacks the polish that transforms an average game into a classic.

Bad -
Presentation - I can look past some of the graphics because it is on the Wii but the character animations are pretty bad. As well, the armor design is not only horrendous, but pretty inconsistent from an art direction perspective.

Enemy Placement - I don't know how many times I have been fighting a low level enemy and get ambushed by a wandering high level enemy that kills my party in just a few attacks. It seems like they could have used logic to prevent these high level enemies from attacking unless they were provoked.

Shops - I would have really appreciated a UI that allowed me to see what I am purchasing. Too often have I regretfully blown money on weird looking armor that offerred only minor stat gains.

Ok -
The battle - I really enjoy queuing. Your alies are generally pretty intelligent as well. I am not the biggest fan of the targeting system though.

The Story - The story starts out pretty well and mostly avoids the standard JRPG cliches.

Side Quests - I appreciate that there are side quests that actually matter.

Spoiler

Rebuilding colony 9 feels rewarding.

Great -
The Music - Best music I have heard in a JRPG in a while.

The World - It is large, explorable, and visually appealing. They really got this right.

 

[ZenaxPure]

Spoiler

Because his horrible VA sticks out like a sore thumb, and they completely forgot to integrate him into story after you leave the forest.
He just pops up every now and then to say a "pon-something"-one liner and then disappears again. He's like a fifth wheel that gets dragged along for no reason.

Certainly can't disagree with any of that, though I find his VA to be amazing. Honestly one of my favorite characters in the game. A lot of fun to play as well. I'd probably be playing him if the tanking AI wasn't so god awful in the game.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Riki is awesome! ;(

 

[B.K.]

I guess it's a written rule that every JRPG must have a fuzzy sidekick with an annoying voice.

Every shounen story has to have a mascot character.

 

[Sadist]

Everyone loves the heropon.

And the village chief because he looks like a giant featherduster

 

[Lonestar]

What the hell you people! He's the reason I switched English Voice to Japanese Voice. Heropon is awesome. The whole race is awesome

Spoiler

randomly picked the Chosen One. Racketeering backstabbing drug lord. Greedy smuggler. bug/mushroom eating connoisseurs. Drama! Love triangles! Broken Friendship! Rival Scientists! Magic Sage! Crime mystery and intrigue! Oh my!

All undone

Spoiler

Because one of them gets scared of a ghost, even though its really a cook in the kitchen. He has a sore throat, which they misinterpret as a ghost moan

 

[AGITΩ]

I finally got in my copy from NOA yesterday.

But having beat the Euro version back in January, and having a currently huge backlog, I'll wait a bit before going in for a replay. Fist playthrough took me around 78 hours, Level 83 to beat, having only done ~20% of Sidequests and Focusing more an Affinity levels.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Got my wii component cables from amazon($5) and I can see a difference between composite and component

I can even see a difference in the pics I taken from a phone's camera.
----

I am currently at the

Spoiler

marsh

and I think I am too low of a level to continue so, gonna do some quests.

 

[ZenaxPure]

I just beat the game.

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

For some reason I am OK with it though.

 

[ErasureAcer]

I'm LVL 73 now but I'm missing 22 intermediary art books!!!! So where's the secret shops? Still have 1 level of commerce to open up which should get me 7-8. So it looks like I'm missing 2 shops.

Just about to finish

Spoiler

Arginathia...up the elevator after those quests from mechon consoles

. And after that MF gets locked out and perhaps advanced Art Books as well? My guess is advanced books won't drop if you don't have intermediate. Thus I could be losing many advanced books if that's where they drop.

 

[The Hermit]

Think I'm over 160 played. LVL 72. Majestic Mordred is a pain in the ass.

I think that's the only unique I know by name alone... bastard. I cheated thoug

Spoiler

killed him on the second floor

I'm LVL 73 now but I'm missing 22 intermediary art books!!!! So where's the secret shops? Still have 1 level of commerce to open up which should get me 7-8. So it looks like I'm missing 2 shops.

Just about to finish

Spoiler

Arginathia...up the elevator after those quests from mechon consoles

. And after that MF gets locked out and perhaps advanced Art Books as well? My guess is advanced books won't drop if you don't have intermediate. Thus I could be losing many advanced books if that's where they drop.

Some books are only obtainable through uniques or quests, especially the really strong ones. And some unlock all the way trough (I guess...)

 

[burgerdog]

Not a fan of frontier village at all, the layout sucks.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Also keep in mind that if you get an advanced book for any given art, it maxes out that art's bar regardless of whether or not you used the intermediate book.

So later in the game it can be worth it to just grind for the advanced books for the art you want.

 

[backlot]

Also keep in mind that if you get an advanced book for any given art, it maxes out that art's bar regardless of whether or not you used the intermediate book.

So later in the game it can be worth it to just grind for the advanced books for the art you want.

I've found a couple advanced books so far. How rare of a drop are they?

 

[ErasureAcer]

Also keep in mind that if you get an advanced book for any given art, it maxes out that art's bar regardless of whether or not you used the intermediate book.

So later in the game it can be worth it to just grind for the advanced books for the art you want.

Ahh, great! So I don't have to hunt down intermediate books. Thanks. Just found 3 that I missed or were added at FV. 19 to go but really zero.

 

[MetatronM]

I've found a couple advanced books so far. How rare of a drop are they?

Depends on the book, but for the most part, pretty rare.

 

[Hiltz]

Advanced books are from gold treasure chests. You can use

Spoiler

Rikki's

skill tree link to increase the chance of silver and gold treasure chests appearing.

According to the Wiki guide, it mentions the monster/npc shop and map location of where to get intermediate and advanced books . Just so you know, it lists ALL of the characters and their movesets.

http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Levelling_Battle_Arts

 

[Hecatonchires Custom]

Can someone tell me where the enemy that drops Dust elements is?

 

[Rebel Leader]

Can someone tell me where the enemy that drops Dust elements is?

Caris Nebulae

 

[MetatronM]

I am about 20 hours in. I just finished

Spoiler

the Eryth Sea area and am on my way to Prison Island.

Bad -

Enemy Placement - I don't know how many times I have been fighting a low level enemy and get ambushed by a wandering high level enemy that kills my party in just a few attacks. It seems like they could have used logic to prevent these high level enemies from attacking unless they were provoked.

Wow, that's really fast for a first playthrough to that point.

As for enemy placement, the game gives you Lure for precisely that reason. For the most part you might just need to pick your battles better. I can only think of a couple of places where there's a real uber badass just wandering around that could interfere in your battles, and those are pretty easily avoided.