Xenoblade Chronicles

[DjMystix]

Quick question: does this game have traditional controls?

I generally enjoyed Skyward Sword (not the best Zelda in my personal opinion, but a good entry in the franchise all the same), but I'm just as happy to never play a motion controlled game again if I can avoid it. I want to get Xenoblade partially because I know it to be a solid game and partially to show Nintendo that it has fans who want this type of content and will actually shell out the cash for it if they make it available without importing it. If it has traditional controls, that makes it infinitely more appealing.

Oh yes, it supports the classic controller. and I totally, totally recommend it becuase it looks like the game was designed for classic controller use. With motion controls, you can't adjust the camera freely/easily.

seriously guys, DO NOT play this game without classic controller (good thing you brought up the question)

Edited December 3, 2011 by DjMystix

[Overflow]

Honestly I've never been too interested in this game. But it seems to be something unique for Wii - plus, it would be a good show to support Nintendo for brining it overseas even If I never really cared much.

However, I live in Canada, and so far it seems like it's going to be a US gamestop exclusive. So now what? :S

[BardicKnowledge]

I wish my computer would run Dolphin at more than 19 fps while this game is going

[The Phalanx]

I can't wait until nobody buys this

I can always count on you to brighten a thread.

But yeah, he's got it in the right. Anyone that wanted this game already got the import and hacked their Wii in order to play it. Nintendo shot themselves in the foot by not releasing it earlier, and I doubt the sales of a jRPG on a flagging console is going to be good.

[Soul Splint]

Honestly I've never been too interested in this game. But it seems to be something unique for Wii - plus, it would be a good show to support Nintendo for brining it overseas even If I never really cared much.

However, I live in Canada, and so far it seems like it's going to be a US gamestop exclusive. So now what? :S

So you ask one of your US based OCR-buddies to be a pal and get one for you, then ship it to you. I for one would do it, and I'm sure there are others.

By the way, it can also be pre-ordered from Nintendo of America starting Dec. 12.

[Calpis]

A little bit of a resurrection here but I've been playing the crap out of this game and loving it. I haven't enjoyed a JRPG in a long time (probably since the middle of the PS2's lifecycle), but this one is pretty incredible. One major annoyance, however, is the battle voices. Can I go 5 seconds in battle without hearing someone scream something unnecessary? Other than that, everything about the game is pretty incredible. I'm only just a little bit into Gaur Plain. First game in a long time that I actually want to explore and take my time finishing. Anyone else in the U.S. finally buy it? Or did everyone just use Dolphin?

[Thalzon]

I bought it, and played (and beat) it in 145 hours. I didn't fight every single optional boss but got pretty close.

The only downside is, at level 97 the final boss was a cakewalk. I defeated him in all of one minute, minus cutscenes.

Story was grand, with legitimate twists, and I loved the cast. It's worth buying, even if you played it via emulation.

[Binarymein]

A little bit of a resurrection here but I've been playing the crap out of this game and loving it. I haven't enjoyed a JRPG in a long time (probably since the middle of the PS2's lifecycle), but this one is pretty incredible. One major annoyance, however, is the battle voices. Can I go 5 seconds in battle without hearing someone scream something unnecessary? Other than that, everything about the game is pretty incredible. I'm only just a little bit into Gaur Plain. First game in a long time that I actually want to explore and take my time finishing. Anyone else in the U.S. finally buy it? Or did everyone just use Dolphin?

I completely understand that complaint! Battle shouts per minute needs its own slider to crank down lol. Not sure which version you are playing but the European version has a Japanese voice option and personally I found that way more liveable. Partly because you can't tell exactly what they are saying (so its not painful) and also because I enjoy anime and the Japanese language in general.

Glad to hear people are getting into this game. It'll show up on IGN's 2017 "Great games you didn't know existed" list and we'll be cool because we played it back in the 3D days!!!

[Binarymein]

I bought it, and played (and beat) it in 145 hours. I didn't fight every single optional boss but got pretty close.

The only downside is, at level 97 the final boss was a cakewalk. I defeated him in all of one minute, minus cutscenes.

Story was grand, with legitimate twists, and I loved the cast. It's worth buying, even if you played it via emulation.

Wow you played the hell out of it! That's fantastic it sucked you in for that long.

As blasphemous as it sounds, I can't help but wonder how many WOW players would convert if you stuck the controller in their hands at the start of Guar Plains.

Lovin' your Sig btw

[ad.mixx]

This is very good for me.

I've never really been into RPG's until recently (except for maybe Pokemon and Final Fantasy X until it stopped working on me half way through the game.. that being the last time I played a true JRPG about 10 years ago)

I played Chrono Trigger for my first time a couple months ago and it was freakin' awesome. And just today I beat Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (and I just ordered the original ToS in mail today, so hopefully that comes in by next week )

So yeah, this Xenoblade game might very well be the next thing on my list to play. (Either that or FF6) It looks super different from most other JRPG's, but as long as it has a focus on a good character driven plot, then I can't wait for it. : D

[avaris]

Can't wait to to start playing this! I just replayed Chrono Trigger for the first time in over 10 years. (it might be even better now than I remember) Have to beat Skyward Sword or the original Mass Effect first. I don't have a lot of time to play games anymore, plus I only like to play one at a time and get really invested in it.

[EC2151]

anyone else having problems with their wii reading the disc?

My older brother bought the game and it WAS working but then it suddenly stopped after several days, saying it could not read the disc.

[Calpis]

Can you play other disc-based games as normal? I've had to send my Wii to be fixed twice before.

[EC2151]

I checked using Sin and Punishment 2, and that had errors as well. I suppose my older bro's first-gen Wii is slowly dieing on him.

[Thalzon]

I had errors, but they occurred exclusively in Makna Forest (leading me to believe Makna is on the game's second layer). So, my Wii is just dirty, but finding the cleaning disc is nigh impossible without ordering it online. So I made do and saved frequently to avoid disaster.

[SwordBreaker]

170 hours...beat it for the first time. Aimed for a 100% completion and was satisfied with everything the game has thrown at me in terms of side-quests. The only thing I didn't complete was defeating the superbosses which were over level 100. The game single-handedly restored my love for JRPGs and it's in my top 10 favorites of all time. I've been playing games for over 20 years and Xenoblade holds the record for the most amount of hours I've spent playing a single game. I've been playing it since the UK November launch of last year...on and off. That's just shy of a year of gameplay.

Yeah, I think very highly of this game. Anyone who loves JRPGs and MMOs should give it a go. I'm not even a fan of MMOs and I loved every minute of gameplay.

Since OCR love its game music, I've also gotta say that the soundtrack is phenomenal! Satorl Marsh Night, Colony 9 Day and Night, cut-scene music...really great stuff here!

[Arrow]

Oh hey, resurrected topic!

I'm at 160 hours at the moment. I don't have much left to do: I've capped my party's levels and am trying to earn enough AP and SP to finish leveling their arts and skill trees. May or may not fight the superbosses besides Final Marcus (who's stupid easy); still debating that. The only reason I really need to go after them besides bragging rights is to pick up the Veritas Glyph item you need to trade for the final collectible in the Other group. Definitely looking forward to trouncing all the early enemies in New Game + with a level 99 party. My only concern is the fact that I should've fought the final boss 20 to 30 hours ago, and since I waited and capped, I'm probably going to end up curb-stomping the guy. I should've fought him back when he would've been a challenge, even if I wasn't going to start NG+ right then.

Anyways, long story short, absolutely amazing game, worth every cent I paid.

PS: Favorite songs on the OST are Monado Reacts, Unfinished Battle, Colony 9, Gaur Plains, Satorl Marsh night, Valak Mountain night, Those Who Bear Their Name, (spoiler) Field, and Mechanical Rhythm. My god, such a delicious soundtrack.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Arrow

[Thalzon]

Yeah, the final boss is supposed to be fought around level 80. He won't be able to hit you, much less beat you.

Also leads to some narm in the cutscenes.

The level 120 monstrosity requires a rather precise setup, since he does 100% spike damage. If you do attempt it, good luck.

[Avatar of Justice]

I gave up around 25 hours in and Ebayed my copy. The music and visuals were excellent, but I found the side quests to be repetitive and silly. I'm not an MMORPG guy so maybe that's why they didn't appeal to me. However, the straw that broke the camel's back was the inventory management system. The game constantly drops weapons and armor at you. Rather than giving you "EQUIP THE BEST SHIT" option, you have to go through pages of items for each character and find out which piece of equipment is best. On top of that, you have to deal with all the gems and gem crafting. It's too bad, I really would love to have played the area that went with the Mechonis Field music.

I honestly can't say I actually ever lost my faith in JRPG's. Valkyria Chronicles, Radiant Historia, and SMT: Devil Survivor are all JRPG's from the past few years that kick all kinds of ass. Honestly, if JRPG's decide to go all MMO, I'll tune out.

[Arrow]

Yeah, the final boss is supposed to be fought around level 80. He won't be able to hit you, much less beat you.

Also leads to some narm in the cutscenes.

The level 120 monstrosity requires a rather precise setup, since he does 100% spike damage. If you do attempt it, good luck.

You're right; he couldn't even touch me. It was ridiculous. Though I quickly forgot about it once the ending started rolling.

As for Avalanche Abassy, I'm terrified of even going near him, but I megaheated a bunch of Spike Resist VI gems 15 hours ago (and linked the spike resist skill branches), so nobody can do me any spike damage ever again minus the ones that do counter status spike. And for that, I megaheated Debuff Resist VI gems while I was at it. XD Still need to make some Topple and Daze Resist to round it all out though.

[avaris]

Okay so I am 40 hours into this game. Love the gameplay and expansive world. I could absolutely care less about the individual characters. The story is average to above average but the pace is really slow. Probably just gonna stop playing and play something else. I can't imagine devoting another 40hrs to beat the game with this set of characters and the slow pacing of the story. In the story I have been on the foot of the mechonis for awhile. I am level 55.

Anyone share or shared the same sentiments?

[XPRTNovice]

I can't find this game aaannnnyyywwwaarrree without paying stupid money for it. Every time I ask at Gamestop they laugh at me.

[audio fidelity]

Okay so I am 40 hours into this game. Love the gameplay and expansive world. I could absolutely care less about the individual characters. The story is average to above average but the pace is really slow. Probably just gonna stop playing and play something else. I can't imagine devoting another 40hrs to beat the game with this set of characters and the slow pacing of the story. In the story I have been on the foot of the mechonis for awhile. I am level 55.

Anyone share or shared the same sentiments?

Shaun, it's worth it to persevere for the story. The next set of events is really neat. It took awhile for the characters to grow on me as the development is slow. But that's it's charm too. I was already much hooked by the time of getting where you are now so if you find it terribly dreadful then maybe another game would be better for you. But I will say that the pace changes so it won't be much of the same. Don't expect the same amount of time moving up the Bionis.

[Meteo Xavier]

I can't find this game aaannnnyyywwwaarrree without paying stupid money for it. Every time I ask at Gamestop they laugh at me.

Well yeah, don't you remember the incredibly high amount of hype this game got? Combine that with Gamestop being the only place to get it conventionally and one wonders why you didn't get it when you had the chance.

[avaris]

Shaun, it's worth it to persevere for the story. The next set of events is really neat. It took awhile for the characters to grow on me as the development is slow. But that's it's charm too. I was already much hooked by the time of getting where you are now so if you find it terribly dreadful then maybe another game would be better for you. But I will say that the pace changes so it won't be much of the same. Don't expect the same amount of time moving up the Bionis.

Hey Jay thanks for info. I took a quick look through an overview of a walkthrough. Looks like I am prob 2/3's the way done instead of 1/2. I might keep on playing it's only another 20hrs. I basically don't care for side quests. I never really have in any game, I really play a game for the story 1st and foremost. To me side quests just get in the way of enjoying the main game.

I find Rikki, Melia, and Shulk to be pretty annoying characters overall. Also the party basically relies on Shulk for everything (decisions as well). I liked the game alot more before Rikki and Melia joined the party.

I'm just really on the fence about the whole thing. I am probably in the minority here, but Last Story was a much better game overall IMO.