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[Tomat]

Shulk is a great character, and probably the best support and even all-around character in the game once you've gotten most or all of the Monado arts. That's why I mained him during my low-level post-game journey.

But it's a long game, especially if you do a lot of the optional content. Most people get bored just using Shulk after a while, and every character and party plays differently.

The main reason to switch things up is to increase affinity between party members though. The fact that system is in place and is used for a lot of different things (from skill links to gem crafting, even to the chance of continuing chain attacks) is a clear indicator that you weren't really intended to use Shulk for everything.

Does Shulk ever unlock anymore heals aside from the basic one they give you from the start?

 

[chaosblade]

Does Shulk ever unlock anymore heals aside from the basic one they give you from the start?

No, but once you get to the area Metroid Killer is at (not sure how far you are), you can do a couple quests and unlock an optional Monado art that is arguably more useful than any healing art. (I'd go as far as saying that it's the best/most broken art in the game.)

 

[Ra1den]

You don't need a dedicated healer as long as you plan for the fact you won't have one, you can cover healing with gems and skills/skill links, plus Shulk and Riki have healing arts that are sufficient in the vast majority of situations. When they aren't, it's not a matter of "needing a healer" so much as your strategy just didn't work. (I don't really want to keep "bragging" about it, but I did do all the post-game content including beating the level 100+ enemies at level 79/80, and I did it without using Sharla for the entire playthrough except where required by the game. Just to throw an example of the possibilities out there)

Essentially any party combination can be successful, but again, you'll have to put some thought into the less straightforward ones to work each character around the others' strengths. If you don't feel like you know the game well enough, then a DPS(Shulk,Melia,Riki)/Tank(Dunban,Reyn)/Healer(Sharla) setup is pretty much foolproof, if a bit boring.

And getting affinity between characters up is easy as long as you change out party members often. It's even easier if you fight unique enemies with topple/daze/sleep/low tension spikes, and those ether nebula enemies since a lot of them lower tension when you use physical attacks on them. That can lead to lots of opportunities to assist or encourage party members which increases affinity quickly.

Edit: And regarding the character you mentioned being the best, it's really up for debate who the BEST character is. It's all in how you use them.

Spoiler

Riki (and Melia) have powerful ether arts that also inflict damage over time (poison, chill, etc) and these ether arts are more accurate than physical attacks. This makes them good for fighting enemies that are higher level than you. It's negligible when fighting enemies of similar level though. Riki also has the HP to tank, but his defense is kind of weak and his agility doesn't make him a great avoidance tank like Dunban. Gets the job done with Sharla around though.

Thanks for the info. Nice knowing that pretty much any character is useful in a well selected party. I think I'll go with Shulk/Riki/Dunban for now and see where that takes me.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Am I at the point of no return?

Spoiler

I'm getting ready to depart for the Bionis' Interior through the hole in it's chest.

Man. This fucking game. Just when you think the stakes can't get raised any higher...

Spoiler

I wanted to just play a little bit today because I had a lot to do, but I ended up sitting there with my mouth open as I fought Egil, found out about Zanza, saw Shulk get sniped by that bastard Dickson, and then all the sudden two gods are battling it out, then all of the High Entia turn into Telethia, which attack you, but then Shulk rises from the dead and wrecks shit with a fake Monado. Jesus Christ. There was so much going on I think I'll YouTube the cutscenes again just to make sure I absorb it all.

 

[DragonGirl]

It makes named NPCs black dots on the minimap.

Not what I meant. In my example, you can see where anyone is on the entire map, not just your immediate vicinity, and they are individually identified, so you know exactly where every named individual is.

 

[Wichu]

Am I at the point of no return?

The game literally tells you when you get to it (and gives you the option to retreat). So no.

 

[The Awesomest]

Ugh, trying to find Gadada for the Dangerous Ambition quest. Everything says "NE of the village, using the bridge network" but I cannot fin this guy anywhere. Anyone know where he is?

 

[Exeunt]

That quest was really interesting in my case. Unfortunately, it didn't quite pan out how I hoped it would when things got crazy. Remember, I was level 79.

Spoiler

I had the right gems for the fights, so the spike effects weren't the problem. I started fighting the Gogol... but ended up in a fight with both at the same time. The spider's web was annoying, since I didn't have my usual debuff resist gems, and it made it really hard to revive/encourage characters when they needed it.

Dunban tanked the hell out of the fight, it was immensely impressive, I was trying to have him maintain aggro between the two of them by having the party switch between them occasionally. Had Shulk's "fill gauge on vision" skill which helped a lot, but in the end it all wasn't enough. The Gogol did go down, but the spider took me out when it was at around 1/4 HP. It's most devastating attacks were it's normal ones which don't give visions, the slow-web made it hard to revive allies, and daytime hit so my accuracy was too low to keep Monado Armor up consistantly enough to keep Dunban alive anymore.

Of course, if I HAD been successful on that attempt, I can only imagine how depressed I'd feel for not getting a good video.

Yeah,

Spoiler

that's the last skill I need to earn for Shulk, and I was definitely missing it during that battle. The web attack didn't help matters at all, and neither did the size of the beasts. I beat the spider on my first try but it took all night in-game, but I did have to try the Gogol again. The first time Shulk got stuck behind him and this was before I even knew about the Spike effect, so naturally he got knocked out before I could call him back. Before I could make it to him, a vision came up for the Gore attack and I couldn't get around to revive Shulk and put up Monado Armour which led to one thing after another and eventually we went down. The size of some enemies can be a huge hindrance sometimes.

Ugh, trying to find Gadada for the Dangerous Ambition quest. Everything says "NE of the village, using the bridge network" but I cannot fin this guy anywhere. Anyone know where he is?

It has been a while since I did this quest, but I think the bridge you want is not too far from the

Spoiler

Windmill Pavilion

. My memory could be faulty however, as I did that quest countless hours ago. What I can tell you is that he's on a patch of land that is inaccessible by any means other than one of the bridges, and that if you find this hill normally there will be an exclamation mark on the map during the day. I think it's near some water but again, my memory is failing me a tad here.

EDIT: Taking a quick break from playing right now to say that there is no water (though the land is next to

Spoiler

Clear Waterfall

) but you can reach the cliff from the

Spoiler

Windmill Pavilion

by navigating the upper levels as long as I'm remembering the right place. Look on your map for the bridge (it's lighter than the rest of the area) that takes you to a piece of land next to the

Spoiler

Clear Waterfall

.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Wait is there a point of no return at the end or not? I hear one person say post game content and others say there is a point that you cannot return to do side quests, which is it?

 

[Exeunt]

There is a very clear point of no return before the final boss/area as well as the smaller points when timed quests become unavailable. That said if you beat the final boss, you can start a New Game+ if you save but I don't know what carries over. What we're referring to as "post-game content" (in quotes) is more stuff that requires you to fight monsters at a higher level than the final boss itself. What I did was beat the boss and then start this content (and I think it's a fair recommendation) so it is in a way "post-game" but it's not only accessible after you beat the game. So it's not true "post-game content" but rather what we call it if you play a certain way.

 

[The Awesomest]

It has been a while since I did this quest, but I think the bridge you want is not too far from the

Spoiler

Windmill Pavilion

. My memory could be faulty however, as I did that quest countless hours ago. What I can tell you is that he's on a patch of land that is inaccessible by any means other than one of the bridges, and that if you find this hill normally there will be an exclamation mark on the map during the day. I think it's near some water but again, my memory is failing me a tad here.

EDIT: Taking a quick break from playing right now to say that there is no water (though the land is next to

Spoiler

Clear Waterfall

) but you can reach the cliff from the

Spoiler

Windmill Pavilion

by navigating the upper levels as long as I'm remembering the right place. Look on your map for the bridge (it's lighter than the rest of the area) that takes you to a piece of land next to the

Spoiler

Clear Waterfall

.

Heh, I realized what I was doing wrong. You need to talk to Bana before Gadada appears in the forest.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

There is a very clear point of no return before the final boss/area as well as the smaller points when timed quests become unavailable. That said if you beat the final boss, you can start a New Game+ if you save but I don't know what carries over. What we're referring to as "post-game content" (in quotes) is more stuff that requires you to fight monsters at a higher level than the final boss itself. What I did was beat the boss and then start this content (and I think it's a fair recommendation) so it is in a way "post-game" but it's not only accessible after you beat the game. So it's not true "post-game content" but rather what we call it if you play a certain way.

Gotcha! Makes sense to do it that way. Might as well create a second save and beat the game before doing all of this extra stuff. That way I at least make sure I don't burn out and not beat the game.

WHOA!!!!

Spoiler

There are 4th and 5th skill trees for other characters besides seven!?!?!?!? How did I miss this!? Is there an easy to follow guide for getting all of them unlocked?

 

[AlphaDragoon]

There is a very clear point of no return before the final boss/area as well as the smaller points when timed quests become unavailable. That said if you beat the final boss, you can start a New Game+ if you save but I don't know what carries over. What we're referring to as "post-game content" (in quotes) is more stuff that requires you to fight monsters at a higher level than the final boss itself. What I did was beat the boss and then start this content (and I think it's a fair recommendation) so it is in a way "post-game" but it's not only accessible after you beat the game. So it's not true "post-game content" but rather what we call it if you play a certain way.

By your avatar you are clearly someone with good taste. *thumbs up*

 

[chaosblade]

Gotcha! Makes sense to do it that way. Might as well create a second save and beat the game before doing all of this extra stuff. That way I at least make sure I don't burn out and not beat the game.

WHOA!!!!

Spoiler

There are 4th and 5th skill trees for other characters besides seven!?!?!?!? How did I miss this!? Is there an easy to follow guide for getting all of them unlocked?

The Google Document linked in the OP has a page that tells you how to unlock them. That document contains huge spoilers for pretty much the whole game, but that specific page should be fine if you're at a point where you have all 7 party members.

 

[aceface]

You don't need a dedicated healer as long as you plan for the fact you won't have one, you can cover healing with gems and skills/skill links, plus Shulk and Riki have healing arts that are sufficient in the vast majority of situations. When they aren't, it's not a matter of "needing a healer" so much as your strategy just didn't work. (I don't really want to keep "bragging" about it, but I did do all the post-game content including beating the level 100+ enemies at level 79/80, and I did it without using Sharla for the entire playthrough except where required by the game. Just to throw an example of the possibilities out there)

Essentially any party combination can be successful, but again, you'll have to put some thought into the less straightforward ones to work each character around the others' strengths. If you don't feel like you know the game well enough, then a DPS(Shulk,Melia,Riki)/Tank(Dunban,Reyn)/Healer(Sharla) setup is pretty much foolproof, if a bit boring.

And getting affinity between characters up is easy as long as you change out party members often. It's even easier if you fight unique enemies with topple/daze/sleep/low tension spikes, and those ether nebula enemies since a lot of them lower tension when you use physical attacks on them. That can lead to lots of opportunities to assist or encourage party members which increases affinity quickly.

Edit: And regarding the character you mentioned being the best, it's really up for debate who the BEST character is. It's all in how you use them.

Spoiler

Riki (and Melia) have powerful ether arts that also inflict damage over time (poison, chill, etc) and these ether arts are more accurate than physical attacks. This makes them good for fighting enemies that are higher level than you. It's negligible when fighting enemies of similar level though. Riki also has the HP to tank, but his defense is kind of weak and his agility doesn't make him a great avoidance tank like Dunban. Gets the job done with Sharla around though.

Eh, you can use gems and skill/skill links to heal? Mind explaining this? I don't really "get" gems or skills at all unfortunately. I hate having Sharla in the party all the time, enemies go down so much slower with her as opposed to Dunban. But against stronger enemies I die without her healing.

 

[chaosblade]

Eh, you can use gems and skill/skill links to heal? Mind explaining this? I don't really "get" gems or skills at all unfortunately. I hate having Sharla in the party all the time, enemies go down so much slower with her as opposed to Dunban. But against stronger enemies I die without her healing.

Depending on how far you are your options are probably limited, but there are gems like HP Steal (chance of healing on auto-attacks), aura heal (heals while auras are active), and Dunban has a skill that heals on critical hits, and another character has a skill that makes all double attacks critical, so combining those together can result in some good healing. None of them heal a lot of HP even with rank VI gems, but with the right setups it's sufficient against even the strongest enemies when combined with Light Heal or You Can Do It (and against really strong enemies that outlevel you,

Spoiler

Monado Armor

)

Damage heal too, but it's not worth it since you're probably going to take way more damage than you heal.

But even "early" in the game, you can get by without healing much. For example, I went out of my way to not use Sharla on my second playthrough. That meant using Shulk/Dunban/Reyn for a while. That party really excels at toppling - Reyn and Dunban both have topples, and Shulk and Reyn both have daze attacks. Taking advantage of that will allow you to drop even the most challenging enemies, provided they're not so high level you can't hit them.

(Remember: Topple and Daze stack! So two topple attacks and two daze attacks will leave an enemy down longer than just one topple and one daze. After you do that, start up a chain attack and repeat the process, and you've more or less won the battle since the enemy will be down so long you will either beat them before they get up, or you can just keep them "topple locked")

 

[aceface]

Thanks- about skills, are all skills characters have learned always active, or only the ones in the tree you have selected at the time?

 

[chaosblade]

Once you learn a skill, it's active. But each skill tree does give a unique bonus, so once you're unlocked all the skills you currently have available, it is beneficial to pick a specific tree.


And since I put up a better Abaasy video, I'm also uploading a better Sauros/topple lock video. Now with less spoilers, and more missed QTEs. :lol


Topple locking a Deinos Sauros. Works against essentially any enemy. No major spoilers in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dle8HX7lM-A

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

The Google Document linked in the OP has a page that tells you how to unlock them. That document contains huge spoilers for pretty much the whole game, but that specific page should be fine if you're at a point where you have all 7 party members.

Thanks, found it last night. Sucks that I am at the end of the game and just now finding out about this. I got 7's 4th and 5th without much effort or thought towards it and just assumed they were special to that character. Now with it being so late it is going to be very difficult completing those skills for all the other characters. I need to focus on that while I am at level 86 and have a chance to fight higher level enemies still.

 

[chaosblade]

Found a code to reduce my level to 1 for NG+, and apparently let me keep my skills and everything.

Awesome, but I need to see if it works.

So how far will minimum level characters be able to get with post-game equipment, arts, and skills/skill links? Shall we find out?

 

[Exeunt]

By your avatar you are clearly someone with good taste. *thumbs up*

Thanks; I do try!

(Remember: Topple and Daze stack! So two topple attacks and two daze attacks will leave an enemy down longer than just one topple and one daze. After you do that, start up a chain attack and repeat the process, and you've more or less won the battle since the enemy will be down so long you will either beat them before they get up, or you can just keep them "topple locked")

I can't believe I didn't know that before. I just maxed out Spear Break and Starlight Kick and thought that I was able to keep enemies down for a long time, but "topple locking" is something else altogether. I watched your Deinos Saurus video and saw how it was down for the entire battle... I might give it a try on something, but it doesn't seem like it would be much fun to play every battle like that.

It's funny you chose Deinos Saurus for the demonstration actually, as just last night I was thinking how surreal it felt to finally see a grey icon above that enemy's name. The sense of progression is pretty solid even in little moments like these.

Found a code to reduce my level to 1 for NG+, and apparently let me keep my skills and everything.

Awesome, but I need to see if it works.

So how far will minimum level characters be able to get with post-game equipment, arts, and skills/skill links? Shall we find out?

That sounds like it could be pretty interesting. I'm assuming you will make videos of some of the major fights if you're able to make noteworthy progress? I do enjoy watching a good self-imposed challenge from time to time (like knife-only kills in Resident Evil 4) but sometimes they can get a little repetitive since you do so little damage. I wonder how much the "post-game" stuff will help out. I'd definitely be interested to hear about your progress.

 

[chaosblade]

I might do some videos. And once I get truly stuck I'll probably level up just a bit. Maybe at whatever level I unlock Abaasy at after

Spoiler

Mechonis Core

I'll try and tackle him at that level.

And Starlight kick is unfortunately not helpful with topple locking, because it is the one topple art that does not stack on the others normally. It requires Spear Break to be used first no matter what, even if the enemy is already toppled, or has "break" status. Or at least I'm 99% sure that's how it worked when I attempted to use it on a pre-toppled enemy.

Anyway, I just rebeat the final boss to get my NG+ ready to try out. Even though I'm the same level people normally beat it at, what an absolute joke that and the fights leading up to it were. I beat the boss before him (

Spoiler

Dickson, both parts

) in like a minute total. 7th was able to 1HKO the enemies leading up to the final boss with the talent art. :lol

Edit: So it worked. Level 1 Shulk and Reyn, with awesome post-game gear. According to the author of the code, affinity coins for everyone but Shulk and Reyn will reset, but provided a code to fix that.

Quick glimpse at how it's going: the level 1 bunnits right where you start? Backslash did 16000 damage.

Level 38 Clinger Antol, it couldn't kill me (did 2 damage) but I couldn't hit it unless I managed to topple with

Spoiler

Cyclone

. So that is starting to give me a general idea of where the limitations are here.

 

[Exeunt]

Starlight Kick not fitting in a topple lock cycle wouldn't really surprise me, since Spear Break seems to have its own effect instead of setting up the standard "Break before Topple" effect on its target. The cooldown time is pretty short now so it still seems really powerful, and it's probably good enough for most of the enemies I'll be fighting until I get to the level 100+ stuff. I've been putting off gem crafting for a while and just going off the ones that are given from quests, so I'll probably aim to make some max-level gems in the next little bit to aid in my fight.

I'd imagine the first part of the game will pretty much be a breeze with all your new toys but does (late-game spoilers)

Spoiler

Fiora have any of her stuff from the last game when you get her? I'd imagine the game treats Fiora and "revived" Fiora as separate characters but I haven't done a New Game+ run let alone a forced level 1 version so I wouldn't know what to expect

.

I forgot that there were high-level enemies in Colony 9 that could give you an idea of what the level 1 limits are. You could approach it as a minimum-level run to see what the lowest level you can defeat the final and any optional bosses at. Though I suppose it sounds like that might be what you're going for anyway.

 

[Wichu]

I'd imagine the first part of the game will pretty much be a breeze with all your new toys but does (late-game spoilers)

Spoiler

Fiora have any of her stuff from the last game when you get her? I'd imagine the game treats Fiora and "revived" Fiora as separate characters but I haven't done a New Game+ run let alone a forced level 1 version so I wouldn't know what to expect

.

Partially correct.

Spoiler

They're two separate characters in all but skill trees; Fiora will be at whatever level she was before you left Colony 9 and with the equips you had at the time, but her skill tree is shared between the two.

 

[chaosblade]

Starlight Kick not fitting in a topple lock cycle wouldn't really surprise me, since Spear Break seems to have its own effect instead of setting up the standard "Break before Topple" effect on its target. The cooldown time is pretty short now so it still seems really powerful, and it's probably good enough for most of the enemies I'll be fighting until I get to the level 100+ stuff. I've been putting off gem crafting for a while and just going off the ones that are given from quests, so I'll probably aim to make some max-level gems in the next little bit to aid in my fight.

I'd imagine the first part of the game will pretty much be a breeze with all your new toys but does (late-game spoilers)

Spoiler

Fiora have any of her stuff from the last game when you get her? I'd imagine the game treats Fiora and "revived" Fiora as separate characters but I haven't done a New Game+ run let alone a forced level 1 version so I wouldn't know what to expect

.

Regarding that spoiler, you're right.

Partially correct.

Spoiler

They're two separate characters in all but skill trees; Fiora will be at whatever level she was before you left Colony 9 and with the equips you had at the time, but her skill tree is shared between the two.

But with

Spoiler

Medium equip instead of Mechonis.

Edit: Well, some unique enemies around level 10 are already difficult to hit. Shulk's agility at level 1 is about what Dunban's is at level 27 with no modifiers. But that penalty Will probably only make it to Bionis Leg before I can't kill anything at all without simply hoping a certain topple attack hits.


Edit2: Ridiculously easy battle with the first boss (just the second part where you actually kind of have to win):
http://youtu.be/GXYsMbrTi6U

Also easy, second boss, the spider:
http://youtu.be/iVAuVgsYMaM

Obviously I couldn't kill him, but I sure trolled Territorial Rotbart. Managed to stay alive against him for about 5 minutes (thanks primarily to last stand + unbeatable gems + reviving) before I just left because I couldn't win anyway. Did manage to get break on him once, if only I could have pulled off a topple...

I think I've more or less hit the point where I need to level some though. Took forever to kill the two enemies attacking Juju. I could probably beat any boss at least up to halfway through the game or more through pure attrition with spike damage, but that would be too time consuming.

Yep. Enemy at spiral valley just isn't going to go down unless I level up or leave the game on overnight. Will have to do this one level at a time until it gets reasonable!

 

[cooljeanius]

Finally got a chance to start playing this game! I'm not even out of Colony 9 yet, and I already think this game should be called "Jumping Off of Cliffs: The Game." Anyway, I'm having fun so far...

 

[Head of Vengarl]

What is a good level to face the final boss at? I'm level 71. I want to do a lot of sidequests but I also want the final boss fight to be satisfying.

The game literally tells you when you get to it (and gives you the option to retreat). So no.

Ok thanks. Everyone said it was obvious but there's been a few points where I thought I was at the end of the game.

And since I put up a better Abaasy video, I'm also uploading a better Sauros/topple lock video. Now with less spoilers, and more missed QTEs. :lol


Topple locking a Deinos Sauros. Works against essentially any enemy. No major spoilers in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dle8HX7lM-A

That was amazing. I gotta try that. I went up against a level 87 mob today and barely got 1/3rd of its HP down before getting wiped. I'll try this topple locking business out and see how it goes.

 

[Exeunt]

I watched your videos this afternoon, chaosblade; I forgot

Spoiler

how often the early boss fights ended when they still had a lot of HP

. It's quite a weird feeling to watch someone ace them at level 1, as I remember they were quite intense some eight or nine levels above that back when I was at that point over a hundred hours of playtime ago. Crazy stuff all around.

Finally got a chance to start playing this game! I'm not even out of Colony 9 yet, and I already think this game should be called "Jumping Off of Cliffs: The Game." Anyway, I'm having fun so far...

I had fun jumping off things at first, but the static falling animation kind of felt weird after a while. The environment is a joy to explore though! I hope you end up enjoying the rest of the experience; depending on how you play, there's a lot to see.

What is a good level to face the final boss at? I'm level 71. I want to do a lot of sidequests but I also want the final boss fight to be satisfying.

I was at level 80 or 81 (I finished at 81 so I'm pretty sure that was my level going into the fight) when I beat the final boss, and I lost to him/her/it/them once. Depending on your team set-up and strategy, I'm guessing that the optimal level is somewhere between 75 and 80. Possibly lower, but I wouldn't really recommend higher; others might be able to give a more accurate picture depending on when they beat the game.

Everyone said it was obvious but there's been a few points where I thought I was at the end of the game.Ok thanks. Everyone said it was obvious but there's been a few points where I thought I was at the end of the game.

I wondered during my playthrough as well. If you want a pretty much spoiler-free idea of why it's so obvious (just the format), you will get

Spoiler

a voiced exchange between two of your characters that explicitly tells you that if you proceed, there is no turning back. You can choose to turn around, which leaves you free to do whatever you want until you come back and trigger the scene again.

It's a really generous way to do the point of no return, so you don't have anything to worry about.

 

[chaosblade]

What is a good level to face the final boss at? I'm level 71. I want to do a lot of sidequests but I also want the final boss fight to be satisfying.

That was amazing. I gotta try that. I went up against a level 87 mob today and barely got 1/3rd of its HP down before getting wiped. I'll try this topple locking business out and see how it goes.

The final boss is level

Spoiler

82, but like the Fiora vs Zanza fight it just displays ???

. A lot of people seem to find it very difficult and need to level up at

Spoiler

78

, but of course I did beat it a level lower than that extremely easily when I first tackled it on my second playthrough, but that probably doesn't mean much. Starwolf_UK beat it 2-3 levels lower than that IIRC with the "cheap" party (Riki, Shulk, Sharla).

Spoiler

79-80

is probably the best balance of challenge and a legit chance to win for the average player. That's what level I was on my first playthrough.

And getting a third of the HP off a level 87 enemy is really good for that level with what's likely an unoptimal setup. Like I said in the description of the video, when topple locking high level enemies you want to focus on party gauge building as much as possible while still throwing your topple/daze arts in to keep them down. Because if they get up, it's likely over. That's why I did that example during the day - I likely still could have won if it got up, but it would be pretty difficult, especially if I was unable to re-topple him. At night with NV gems it would have been easy no matter what.

I watched your videos this afternoon, chaosblade; I forgot

Spoiler

how often the early boss fights ended when they still had a lot of HP

. It's quite a weird feeling to watch someone ace them at level 1, as I remember they were quite intense some eight or nine levels above that back when I was at that point over a hundred hours of playtime ago. Crazy stuff all around.

Only the first one ended early (I think it ends around half HP, I was hoping to do more damage or even finish him off!). The second boss does require you to completely kill it. Sword Drive just took off over half it's HP in the chain attack!

I guess I'll just see how low level I can go and continue playing though. I do need to level up now. Due to my "low" agility stat I'm not really able to compensate for the big penalty for fighting enemies 10+ levels higher than me. My agility is probably near 0 against this particular mini-boss. As I level up I should be able to compensate for it more, just like I was able to easily at 79 for the post-game content.

The game really moves quickly when you're skipping cutscenes, side quests and normal battles and just running from point A to point B, so I can probably finish most of it over the course of next week before giving Ys Origin another go. Just killing some UMs (affinity coins!) and doing the story bosses.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I wondered during my playthrough as well. If you want a pretty much spoiler-free idea of why it's so obvious (just the format), you will get

Spoiler

a voiced exchange between two of your characters that explicitly tells you that if you proceed, there is no turning back. You can choose to turn around, which leaves you free to do whatever you want until you come back and trigger the scene again.

It's a really generous way to do the point of no return, so you don't have anything to worry about.

Ha, well I suppose there hasn't been anything that obvious yet! Reminds me of Okami, where you are basically told the same thing.

I was at level 80 or 81 (I finished at 81 so I'm pretty sure that was my level going into the fight) when I beat the final boss, and I lost to him/her/it/them once. Depending on your team set-up and strategy, I'm guessing that the optimal level is somewhere between 75 and 80. Possibly lower, but I wouldn't really recommend higher; others might be able to give a more accurate picture depending on when they beat the game.

The final boss is level

Spoiler

82, but like the Fiora vs Zanza fight it just displays ???

. A lot of people seem to find it very difficult and need to level up at

Spoiler

78

, but of course I did beat it a level lower than that extremely easily when I first tackled it on my second playthrough, but that probably doesn't mean much. Starwolf_UK beat it 2-3 levels lower than that IIRC with the "cheap" party (Riki, Shulk, Sharla).

Spoiler

79-80

is probably the best balance of challenge and a legit chance to win for the average player. That's what level I was on my first playthrough.

Thanks for the info. I think

Spoiler

79

sounds good. The last few bosses have been exactly my level and I pretty much breezed through them. Especially those

Spoiler

Telethia

bosses — were they supposed to be that easy? I kicked their asses. The hardest boss fights of the game so far were

Spoiler

Xord

and

Spoiler

Jade Face

. I refuse to use the "cheap" party, mostly because I prefer using the beastly physical offense party (Shulk, Dunban, 7th).

And getting a third of the HP off a level 87 enemy is really good for that level with what's likely an unoptimal setup. Like I said in the description of the video, when topple locking high level enemies you want to focus on party gauge building as much as possible while still throwing your topple/daze arts in to keep them down. Because if they get up, it's likely over. That's why I did that example during the day - I likely still could have won if it got up, but it would be pretty difficult, especially if I was unable to re-topple him. At night with NV gems it would have been easy no matter what.

Yeah my party was Riki, Dunban and Reyn. It was against

Spoiler

one of the Telethias in Alcamoth

. That was a bummer to see.

Spoiler

Poor High Entias.

I also had my sidequest gems equipped (Lightning Attack, Quick Step, Strength Up), which didn't help. It basically came down to Riki whittling down its HP with his DoTs while Reyn and Dunban traded aggro. I couldn't believe they lasted as long as they did. Riki's heal is really good.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah my party was Riki, Dunban and Reyn. It was against

Spoiler

one of the Telethias in Alcamoth

. That was a bummer to see.

Spoiler

Poor High Entias.

I also had my sidequest gems equipped (Lightning Attack, Quick Step, Strength Up), which didn't help. It basically came down to Riki whittling down its HP with his DoTs while Reyn and Dunban traded aggro. I couldn't believe they lasted as long as they did. Riki's heal is really good.

Those are actually great enemies to kill if you can pull it off since they drop Haste V crystals, but I think it's their "rare" gem and not the common one. Not hard to get either way since you can farm chests for them, and Haste VI is essential for post-game stuff IMO, at least until you get glory gauntlets which puts haste in an armor slot for any character.

You can't topple lock them like the Sauros because there aren't any weak enemies around, but with NV gems (you can trade Scarlen for rank V ones) you can probably beat the individual enemies around the time you beat the final boss. The mobs of 3 will probably be a bit too tough though.


And those bosses you mentioned were actually really annoying for me! Primarily because they were total assholes and would

Spoiler

Talent Drain Shulk, then use Soul Read.

That's just not a fair combo.


Update: Boss 3 down at level 3, except Sharla. Explaination from the description:

Sharla is not level 3, her base experience and stats are hard-coded into the game. So even at level 1 she would have the same stats. When I leveled up Shulk and Reyn she automatically jumped to 13, so I didn't bother changing it back.

So naturally that's going to apply to all future characters as well.

http://youtu.be/P1_dlOtCZI4

 

[Head of Vengarl]

So chaos, I did find a Telethia with weak enemies around. Took several tries to successfully open with a killing Demon Slayer blow, but I finally got it. I topple locked to the best of my ability, but I ran out of chains and it broke free before the next one. I managed to snap this with my phone about a second before I was finished off:

It had about a millimeter's worth of HP left. You can't even see it in the pic. And I just needed a little more of the party gauge to revive someone. I was praying that one of my arts would connect but I whiffed about 6 consecutive attacks and finally got killed. Goddamn. I would have raged if I wasn't so surprised that I even made it that far. I really wanted one of those Haste gems. >:[

 

[The Awesomest]

So, I'm at Agniratha now. Just got there. I figured I'd do a bunch of sidequests before continuing. When would be a good time to do Colony 6

Spoiler

level 4 and 5?

Would it be a little easier if I progressed a little?

 

[Exeunt]

Interesting tidbit about Sharla, chaosblade. I wonder why her level was coded like that... unless it's a side effect of the code? I also noticed that you have Battle Soul disabled for Shulk; I did the same thing because the AI would always abuse it and cause trouble. Does Shulk have an Unbeatable gem, or did you just get lucky with that hit that left you with 1 HP?

So chaos, I did find a Telethia with weak enemies around. Took several tries to successfully open with a killing Demon Slayer blow, but I finally got it. I topple locked to the best of my ability, but I ran out of chains and it broke free before the next one. I managed to snap this with my phone about a second before I was finished off:

It had about a millimeter's worth of HP left. You can't even see it in the pic. And I just needed a little more of the party gauge to revive someone. I was praying that one of my arts would connect but I whiffed about 6 consecutive attacks and finally got killed. Goddamn. I would have raged if I wasn't so surprised that I even made it that far. I really wanted one of those Haste gems. >:[

Ouch. I had a strong enemy down to a sliver before just like you did, but in my case I had been fighting for so long that some enemies I cleared out previously respawned and I got wiped out before I could land the final blow.

So, I'm at Agniratha now. Just got there. I figured I'd do a bunch of sidequests before continuing. When would be a good time to do Colony 6

Spoiler

level 4 and 5?

Would it be a little easier if I progressed a little?

You won't be able to complete

Spoiler

Colony 6 just yet, but now is an excellent time to go back and get materials from Mechonis Field/Central Factory as well as Agniratha as they pop up. I think you should be able to get most of level 4 completed with this approach, so now is probably as good a time as ever. I'd go so far as to say doing level 4 now is a solid idea.

A bit more spoilerish, so highlight at your discretion:

Spoiler

something might happen that makes those materials harder to get.

 

[Effect]

After messing around in the marsh for some time I finally made it to

Spoiler

Makna Forest

. Saved at the bridge overlooking the waterfall for the night. I think I made some progress today. Was off so I was able to get a few hours in. Level 32 now. Think I'm going to try and get at least an hour a day in with the game. It's going to slow for my liking. At least as far as completing the game. Would like to be done with this before The Last Story comes out. Out the three Operation Rainfall games that was the one I was looking forward to the most and I still am. However I don't want to toss this aside when it comes. I think I'll stop seeking out side quest for a while and see how far that gets me.

 

[nintendoman58]

So I finally beat the game.

Holy shit. Holy Shit

I could not believe how perfect this ending was. Mega-Spoilers below so watch out.

Spoiler

The fact that the entire world that your on was created by two humans who turned out to be the titans for this game was a nice twist. It raises questions, but in a good way. It lets the player's imagination fill in what happened when the world of Xenoblade was created. After doing some grinding to level 79, the final boss didn't become a struggle (thanks to Melia, whom I underestimated greatly). It was great to finally see a happy video game ending done right after the failed endings in Mass Effect 3 and Tales of Graces F.

What a masterpiece. I really hope that this game will get a sequel.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Ouch. I had a strong enemy down to a sliver before just like you did, but in my case I had been fighting for so long that some enemies I cleared out previously respawned and I got wiped out before I could land the final blow.

Heh, that sounds awful. But the good news is that I finally beat one! It dropped an ordinary chest though, so I didn't get any gems. :[ Still, I couldn't believe I took one down.

You won't be able to complete

Spoiler

Colony 6 just yet, but now is an excellent time to go back and get materials from Mechonis Field/Central Factory as well as Agniratha as they pop up. I think you should be able to get most of level 4 completed with this approach, so now is probably as good a time as ever. I'd go so far as to say doing level 4 now is a solid idea.

A bit more spoilerish, so highlight at your discretion:

Spoiler

something might happen that makes those materials harder to get.

I really wish I had read this before I proceeded. -_- Eryth Sea

Spoiler

is a huge pain in the ass to traverse now. Stupid level 86+ Telethias. They aggro like crazy.

 

[Exeunt]

After messing around in the marsh for some time I finally made it to

Spoiler

Makna Forest

. Saved at the bridge overlooking the waterfall for the night. I think I made some progress today. Was off so I was able to get a few hours in. Level 32 now. Think I'm going to try and get at least an hour a day in with the game. It's going to slow for my liking. At least as far as completing the game. Would like to be done with this before The Last Story comes out. Out the three Operation Rainfall games that was the one I was looking forward to the most and I still am. However I don't want to toss this aside when it comes. I think I'll stop seeking out side quest for a while and see how far that gets me.

For what it's worth, I thought that was one of the slower areas in the game; that said, there will be a couple events coming up that will hopefully make things a little more interesting. In about two more areas, the story will start to ramp up as well if that's what keeps you hooked. If you do a lot of sidequests right when they're given to you, I can imagine that it is pretty easy to get burnt out and lots of exploring or questing (or both) has the potential to slow you down a lot. If you're not obsessed with completing every singe sidequest the game throws at you, the pace should pick up accordingly and the balance shouldn't be thrown off as long as you keep battling monsters as you push forward. However, it isn't a game I recommend rushing through.

So I finally beat the game.

Holy shit. Holy Shit

I could not believe how perfect this ending was. Mega-Spoilers below so watch out.

Spoiler

The fact that the entire world that your on was created by two humans who turned out to be the titans for this game was a nice twist. It raises questions, but in a good way. It lets the player's imagination fill in what happened when the world of Xenoblade was created. After doing some grinding to level 79, the final boss didn't become a struggle (thanks to Melia, whom I underestimated greatly). It was great to finally see a happy video game ending done right after the failed endings in Mass Effect 3 and Tales of Graces F.

What a masterpiece. I really hope that this game will get a sequel.

I'm with AniHawk in that I really preferred the beginning of the story to what we got as the final act. (Ending spoilers.)

Spoiler

The last bit with the exposition was rather drawn out when it was pretty clear that Shulk was fighting for a world with no gods, and I thought Zanza talked way too much in every cutscene after his dramatic reveal. I don't find much fault with the final cutscene in Colony 9 except that it drags out the "Fiora's body" reveal for far too long, but it really highlights what I preferred about the story—the smaller focus on the characters, their goals, and their relationships. The "scientist" reveal was at least foreshadowed when you're fighting spirits on planets from the solar system, but Alvis as the computer was a little much for me... I just wasn't as invested in the "gods" plot as I was in the revenge plot at the beginning, or even Dickson's betrayal near the end.

To each his or her own; we both enjoyed the game so that's what really matters in the end.

Heh, that sounds awful. But the good news is that I finally beat one! It dropped an ordinary chest though, so I didn't get any gems. :[ Still, I couldn't believe I took one down.

I really wish I had read this before I proceeded. -_- Eryth Sea

Spoiler

is a huge pain in the ass to traverse now. Stupid level 86+ Telethias. They aggro like crazy.

It wasn't that bad since

Spoiler

Riki's Talent Art grabbed some experience from the monster, meaning it wasn't a complete waste of time.

It is really satisfying when you take out an enemy that is notably stronger than your party; I spent most of the game at around the same level as the monsters I was fighting, so the latter bits of the game were pretty refreshing. In fact,

Spoiler

I think the encounter that gave me the first hihg-level monster achievement was when I was attacked on sight by a Telethia in Eryth Sea, so I can definitely relate to your current position

.

As for my own playthrough post-final boss, I've completely

Spoiler

rebuilt Colony 6

and played through all the Heart-to-Hearts now between fighting unique monsters and completing the last (?) few quests. I found the former feat to be rather anti-climactic in the end, with little fanfare aside from the achievements. I expected a cutscene or at least another dialogue, but I suppose

Spoiler

seeing the end result is good enough

.

On the subject of dialogue, I found the Heart-to-Hearts to be rather hit-and-miss all around. The ones that actually centre around the characters and develop their relationships outside the story are great, and there were a few that I thought were rather humorous or well-written. Others dwell too much on plot threads that are pretty well tied up in the main storyline and lose their effect if you first complete them after you've already advanced, and I found that a couple just felt like filler and didn't really contribute to anything other than the checklist. It's a tad disappointing to have a generic "we like you for who you are" session when others actually go into characters' backstories. Maybe it's a result of the dialogue options I chose in some of them and it's not a huge issue for me given that 99% of Heart-to-Hearts are optional—it just seems that they could've limited the Heart-to-Hearts to ones that are less generic rather than creating filler optional content.

 

[chaosblade]

So chaos, I did find a Telethia with weak enemies around. Took several tries to successfully open with a killing Demon Slayer blow, but I finally got it. I topple locked to the best of my ability, but I ran out of chains and it broke free before the next one. I managed to snap this with my phone about a second before I was finished off

Yeah, as soon as I saw the picture I remembered that those were the same type of Telethia. Not a lot of room to work with, probably easy to accidentally gain aggro while getting ready to use Demon Slayer.

The kind of sad part is that if you had the gems that those enemies and the Deinos Sauros dropped, it would be a lot easier to keep high level enemies topple locked. I ran into that problem and posted it IIRC, needing to kill the high level enemies so I would have the stuff to kill the high level enemies. (Edit: Yep!) Double attack V would help if you have those and can link 7th double attacks critical skill.

And regarding dying to a practically dead enemy, I think we've all been there. Happened a couple times to me against Abaasy when initially trying to beat him at a low level. Then after I did win, it was like an epiphany and I was slaying everything left and right.

For what it's worth, I thought that was one of the slower areas in the game; that said, there will be a couple events coming up that will hopefully make things a little more interesting. In about two more areas, the story will start to ramp up as well if that's what keeps you hooked. If you do a lot of sidequests right when they're given to you, I can imagine that it is pretty easy to get burnt out and lots of exploring or questing (or both) has the potential to slow you down a lot. If you're not obsessed with completing every singe sidequest the game throws at you, the pace should pick up accordingly and the balance shouldn't be thrown off as long as you keep battling monsters as you push forward. However, it isn't a game I recommend rushing through.

The events in that area aren't really interesting, and it comes after the marsh where nothing happens at all. Good time to do some side quests, but for the most part you're best off just pushing through it and getting to the next major area since it's where the story really starts to intensify and confuse you, since you'll probably feel like you have a good grasp of the story at that point.

My summary of most people's thoughts for PI:

"Oh, well, obviously spoilerspoilerspoiler. I know exactly what's going to happen."
[stuff happens]
"Now I'm lost again."

It is really satisfying when you take out an enemy that is notably stronger than your party; I spent most of the game at around the same level as the monsters I was fighting, so the latter bits of the game were pretty refreshing.

The bolded is probably the entire reason I'm still playing this game. I probably would have quit before finishing my goal of beating every unique monster if I hadn't stopped leveling up. But limiting myself to level 79/80 made a huge difference and as a result I ended up doing even more post-game content than I did on my first run through the game where I went to level 99. Sure, I beat Abaasy and the other 100+ enemies, did a lot of the quests and stuff, but this time it was much more interesting due to that level restriction (plus the fact I still refused to let myself use Sharla).

I found the former feat to be rather anti-climactic in the end, with little fanfare aside from the achievements.

Most of the late and end game stuff does a poor job of rewarding the player, and I do think that's one of the things where they did an especially poor job. I felt most insulted when

Spoiler

Juju didn't even have much to say about it, and still showed the reconstruction menu when you talked to him.

 

[Effect]

I don't actually want to rush through the game but would like to put more time into the game in general so I do finish sooner rather then later. That and sometimes the completionist in me comes out. So if things will pick up sooner I'll just keep pushing forward.

 

[chaosblade]

Saw that apparently S.S.H. did a remix of Those Who Bear Their Names/You Will Know Our Names. Anyone know if this is true, or is some asshat on youtube making me search around for something that doesn't exist?

 

[Exeunt]

Most of the late and end game stuff does a poor job of rewarding the player, and I do think that's one of the things where they did an especially poor job. I felt most insulted when

Spoiler

Juju didn't even have much to say about it, and still showed the reconstruction menu when you talked to him.

Yeah, I agree so far. There was that one surprise quest which was pretty good, but most of the satisfaction I have derived from the final bits of contact has been more self-driven rather than any rewards given by the game. I mean, the

Spoiler

fifth skill trees aren't really that different from the fourth

except the enemies are higher; they could have really given each character a significant sidequest to complete that ties into their character arc like

Spoiler

Melia and the surprise quest

. Instead it's the same sort of thing that's been done already. You're really only given

Spoiler

one expanded area to explore

and unless you're really driven to defeat the "bonus" unique monsters I can see how a lot of people could put down the game at this point and not feel like they're missing much. I would've been happy if they skipped some of the later quests—many of which felt rather elementary after you've come so far—and poured those resources into spicing up the "post-game" content a little.

Speaking of final content, does anyone know if Art manuals are harder to come by if you have lots of open space for equipment? I recently sold a bunch of outdated weapons and armour but now I'm seeing less Art books pop up—even the common ones. It's probably just chance, but I definitely saw a marked decline after I had more room for the equipment drops and wanted to see if such a relationship actually exists.

 

[chaosblade]

Several of the post-game quests that actually had some real potential were really mishandled as well.

For example,

Spoiler

Shura's quests in Tephra Cave, they could have done some really interesting stuff with those, but it ended up being a bunch of fetch quests, one high level monster kill, and then it gives you a brief explanation of the giants and spiders. They could have done something interesting with that like finding information about some surviving giants in another hidden area, maybe they would be hostile enemies, or maybe it could be like a small town to visit and get some high level quests from.

Another similar example was

Spoiler

Melia's 5th skill tree quest. The quest itself was pretty silly, just checking out a statue, but the revelations at the end cut off right as they were starting to get interesting. They could have done interesting things with that as well. In the end it just left unanswered questions. Why did the high entia have a war god when Zanza/Bionis was clearly "god" and what was it's significance? Why did the high entia leave the lower levels of the Bionis? What's the real reason for Valak Mountain being frozen? Etc.

But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on why the post-game content feels rushed - it probably was. It's important to remember this game was internally delayed (had no release date yet) so that the dev team could achieve their original vision. Nintendo actually gave them more development time rather than telling them to scrap content and piece a game together as their deadline was approaching. I'd guess this is also why the latter half of the game is more linear than the first half, they didn't have time to flesh those areas out as much as the early areas that were probably being planned and worked on earlier.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

It wasn't that bad since

Spoiler

Riki's Talent Art grabbed some experience from the monster, meaning it wasn't a complete waste of time.

It is really satisfying when you take out an enemy that is notably stronger than your party; I spent most of the game at around the same level as the monsters I was fighting, so the latter bits of the game were pretty refreshing. In fact,

Spoiler

I think the encounter that gave me the first hihg-level monster achievement was when I was attacked on sight by a Telethia in Eryth Sea, so I can definitely relate to your current position

.

It is very true that fighting high level monsters (and finally beating them!) makes the game a lot more fun. Like you, I have been the same level or a little above most of the monsters so far in the game. And now because I've taken the time to get decent gems and have unlocked the 4th skill trees for my characters, I'm rolling over same-level bosses like nothing. So I'm gonna stop leveling up for a little to make sure the rest of the main game stays interesting.

Yeah, as soon as I saw the picture I remembered that those were the same type of Telethia. Not a lot of room to work with, probably easy to accidentally gain aggro while getting ready to use Demon Slayer.

The kind of sad part is that if you had the gems that those enemies and the Deinos Sauros dropped, it would be a lot easier to keep high level enemies topple locked. I ran into that problem and posted it IIRC, needing to kill the high level enemies so I would have the stuff to kill the high level enemies. (Edit: Yep!) Double attack V would help if you have those and can link 7th double attacks critical skill.

You got that right. But pulling aggro actually saved my ass halfway through the fight because the Telethia escaped my topple, so I chain attacked a side mob and finished it with Demon Slayer, which led to another topple lock and my eventual victory.

Heh, yeah that is very true. Just the thought of having Haste VI gems... drool. I did manage to make one Double Attack V gem, and I have several IV ones. I also got an awesome Mega Heat yesterday to make 2 Haste IV gems (pretty sure I got the level III Haste gems from Apis in Valak Mountain), so I am really stoked about that. It's a good start. I definitely need to get some Night Vision gems though. I only have one, and it's level II. :S

And regarding dying to a practically dead enemy, I think we've all been there. Happened a couple times to me against Abaasy when initially trying to beat him at a low level. Then after I did win, it was like an epiphany and I was slaying everything left and right.

There's really nothing worse. Yeah I remember that post lol. Heartbreaking.

I felt the same way after taking out that Telethia, but I got humbled a little while later when I tried to take on the Telethia from

Spoiler

that surprise quest with Tyrea

. Got my ass thoroughly kicked. Twice. Even with a pretty decent topple lock I only managed to make a small dent in its HP. So I suppose that quest will have to wait until later.

But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on why the post-game content feels rushed - it probably was. It's important to remember this game was internally delayed (had no release date yet) so that the dev team could achieve their original vision. Nintendo actually gave them more development time rather than telling them to scrap content and piece a game together as their deadline was approaching. I'd guess this is also why the latter half of the game is more linear than the first half, they didn't have time to flesh those areas out as much as the early areas that were probably being planned and worked on earlier.

Oh god, I'm actually kinda glad that the latter half is more linear. I haven't even beat the game yet and I'm at 120 hours...

 

[chaosblade]

I definitely need to get some Night Vision gems though. I only have one, and it's level II. :S

If you have 5 star affinity with upper Bionis, you can trade Scarlen for rank V ones. I couldn't find any information at all about enemies dropping crystals, so that's probably your best bet until you can kill Ancient Daedala (drops V crystals). Barring that, someone in Colony 6 trades rank IV gems IIRC.

Most of my run through the post-game content was with those rank V gems I traded for (36-37%), only used the megaheated VI (50%) ones for my second Abaasy kill with no chains/topples.

 

[Seanspeed]

I'm completely unable to find 'Forget-You-Nots' in Satorl Marsh. I've read where they should be, but after about 10 romps through the alleged areas where they pop up, I've not once got one. Well...I apparently got one a long time ago when doing the collectables stuff for the area, but I cant find another one. I'm trying to up my affinity with Colony 9 for Shulk's 4th skill tree(trying to get Desiree's quest), but its just sucking up so much time and its not fun. Much of the farming required for the good stuff in the game isn't as bad as some other JRPG's, but its still starting to test my patience.

I gave up on that for a while and am currently slogging through

Spoiler

Mechonis Field

, but its also proving a grind. I think the Mechon-infested areas have to be the worst parts of the game for me. I really just hate fighting them. It wouldn't be so bad if there were other enemies to fight with them, but its usually just straight Mechon after Mechon after Mechon after Mechon. I suppose its not going to get much better

Spoiler

considering that I'm on Mechonis

, but I hope it does.

Still having a great time with the game overall. I think I miss how original and fresh everything felt during the first 30-50 hours or so, though.

 

[Exeunt]

Several of the post-game quests that actually had some real potential were really mishandled as well.

...

But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on why the post-game content feels rushed - it probably was. It's important to remember this game was internally delayed (had no release date yet) so that the dev team could achieve their original vision. Nintendo actually gave them more development time rather than telling them to scrap content and piece a game together as their deadline was approaching. I'd guess this is also why the latter half of the game is more linear than the first half, they didn't have time to flesh those areas out as much as the early areas that were probably being planned and worked on earlier.

The biggest example I can think of is the conclusion to the

Spoiler

Three Giants' Treasures

quest. All that build-up with the separate quest lines and in the end all you get is

Spoiler

a fight against what amounts to a regular enemy and a treasure chest that isn't that much different from the ones you find using the High Entia Crest.

Compared to how

Spoiler

the first two treasures

were handled, it feels like they simply ran out of time to give that quest a satisfying conclusion.

And that's an interesting development tidbit I'd never heard before. I haven't followed the development process but this post prompted me to start reading those Iwata Asks interviews that I put off until I finished the game. That said, I think the decision to make the second half of the game more linear—whether by original design or necessity—was a wise one in terms of pacing. I'd imagine it would be too easy to lose that sense of urgency they were going for if they gave you too many sidequests in the latter half; I suppose they could have made them available to be completed along the way, but at that point I think that more surprise quests would've filled that void. Though I do find it rather odd that

Spoiler

Hidden Machina Village can be cleared rather quickly in comparison to all the other areas in the game, and the Agniritha Terminal sidequests with the rather mundane "secret area" also feel rather out-of-place

.

I'm completely unable to find 'Forget-You-Nots' in Satorl Marsh. I've read where they should be, but after about 10 romps through the alleged areas where they pop up, I've not once got one. Well...I apparently got one a long time ago when doing the collectables stuff for the area, but I cant find another one. I'm trying to up my affinity with Colony 9 for Shulk's 4th skill tree(trying to get Desiree's quest), but its just sucking up so much time and its not fun. Much of the farming required for the good stuff in the game isn't as bad as some other JRPG's, but its still starting to test my patience.

I gave up on that for a while and am currently slogging through

Spoiler

Mechonis Field

, but its also proving a grind. I think the Mechon-infested areas have to be the worst parts of the game for me. I really just hate fighting them. It wouldn't be so bad if there were other enemies to fight with them, but its usually just straight Mechon after Mechon after Mechon after Mechon. I suppose its not going to get much better

Spoiler

considering that I'm on Mechonis

, but I hope it does.

Still having a great time with the game overall. I think I miss how original and fresh everything felt during the first 30-50 hours or so, though.

I don't remember ever having to collect Forget-You-Nots, but I know I was able to find the collectables I was missing by going to the places I was told they would appear. You might have to make a couple trips there I suppose, but I didn't find the "rare" collectibles to be too challenging. Keep trying (time of day counts too) and I'd imagine it shouldn't take you that long before you get them.

As for your issue with the area you are in, I thought that

Spoiler

the atmosphere of Mechonis was quite different from that of Bionis, which made it interesting

but I do agree that more types of Mechon (rather than just new nonsensical names for old models) would have been nice. I liked that area overall though, and recycled enemies (albeit with different names and colour schemes) was a trope that this game unfortunately didn't avoid all the time. You do still have

Spoiler

a couple areas to go through that are filled with Mechon

, but hopefully you can still enjoy them.

 

[kayos90]

Finally started on the game. Six hours in and I'm freaking loving it. I already know the music is good. Everything about the game I like so far. The only thing I'm not enjoying is the way I have to scroll through skills to use in combat and the faces. They look ugly.

 

[StAidan]

Well, a bit over 60 hours in, on Dolphin, and my danged hard drive crapped out on me today. Like, the kind of crap where the computer can't even tell there's a hard drive connected.

/die

 

[nintendoman58]

Well, a bit over 60 hours in, on Dolphin, and my danged hard drive crapped out on me today. Like, the kind of crap where the computer can't even tell there's a hard drive connected.

/die

Ouch, that stings.

Anyways, I started NG+. I gotta say, I liked Tales of Graces F's NG+ system a lot better. I liked that you could purchase perks for your next playthrough like 5x Exp, inherit money and other stuff based on the things you did on your first playthrough. This just feels like a mode where you just want to see the story again but faster. Or for people who want to finish some extra sidequests

Spoiler

they couldn't finish before due to plot events

. Whatever though. Might as well experience that awesome story again and get the bulk of the game's experience.