Xenoblade Chronicles

[XPRTNovice]

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.

As much of a geek as I am, I don't follow the pulse of the video game market to really have understood what was going on, unfortunately. I'll get it eventually.

[The Derrit]

As much of a geek as I am, I don't follow the pulse of the video game market to really have understood what was going on, unfortunately. I'll get it eventually.

the price is only gonna go up, if i were you i'd bite the bullet and pay the 120 for it now rather than 300 later

i made the same mistake with the metroid prime trilogy

[Meteo Xavier]

i made the same mistake with the metroid prime trilogy

But you can still get the individual games rather cheaply, right?

[XPRTNovice]

the price is only gonna go up, if i were you i'd bite the bullet and pay the 120 for it now rather than 300 later

Yeah, you might be right. I just can't justify that...I'm going to have to mug someone at a con or something.

[Argle]

Is this game still an import?

[Meteo Xavier]

No, it's been localized and released in America for quite a while now.

Yeah, you might be right. I just can't justify that...I'm going to have to mug someone at a con or something.

No game is worth more than $80. Xenoblade is pretty good, but it's not $120 good. Save that money for your young'un.

[Argle]

Bloody balls, and its still so expensive. Guess this is one game I'll never play.

[Meteo Xavier]

Just give it a decade or so and emulation will catch up with it.

[Gollgagh]

Just give it a decade or so and emulation will catch up with it.

Emulation caught up to it within a week of release

Edited May 28, 2013 by Gollgagh

[DJ Mighty]

I finally finished this game last week. I have to admit, as much as I liked it, it was a struggle. The side quests got repetitive and was a but slow at times. I used the same 3 characters for 90% of the game. No other combo seemed to work well and most of them were not very interesting. I do not have the time for long games like this anymore which I am sure impacts my feelings towards the game.

Glad I finished it though, best RPG ive played in a long time.

[Brandon Strader]

Emulation caught up to it within a week of release

Damn, now I feel like I should wait for an HD port instead of a re-release of the Wii version

[ectogemia]

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.

I played through it all the way up til the final area. Meh. I thought it was a typical JRPG. Typical paper-thin characters, poopy story where characters about-face their moral code on a dime with no strong impetus, hundreds of senseless quests. Dunno man, I think I just grew out the genre. I loved JRPGs so much as a kid, but over the past 6 years or so, I just haven't been able to enjoy them at all. Just not much gameplay or honest challenge to 'em.

That being said, to the game's credit, it has one of the best VGM soundtracks of all time. Period. Mechonis Field? Mechanical Rhythm? Agniratha? Mount Valas (or whatever it's called)? Yes, please. Just amazing tunes.

And spoiler alert (highlight after this to reveal the white text): What the FUCK is up with JRPGs making the final boss some villain you've never heard of til the final 5% of the game?

[Meteo Xavier]

I played through it all the way up til the final area. Meh. I thought it was a typical JRPG.

That was kinda the point I thought.

[ectogemia]

That was kinda the point I thought.

The game got a lot of hype, though, for allegedly "redefining" the modern JRPG. I said it was a typical JRPG because I missed how it was any different than the rest of the pack.

[Necrotic]

Emulation caught up to it within a week of release

Incredible. I own the game and couldn't help but think how nice it would play in HD. Looks like it's time to set up Dolphin.

[ftninja]

Despite the usual bashing of games being 'typical JRPG" why isn't this game getting remixed? I mean seriously, this music is amazing, and considering you can't freaking find this game anywhere anymore (only sold at Gamestop and those who bought it aren't selling it back, apparently), that's got to count for something.

I'm not saying anything against people who didn't like the game or don't like JRPG's in general, I'm merely pointing out "HEY. AMAZING SOUNDTRACK, Y U NO REMIX!"

[ectogemia]

Despite the usual bashing of games being 'typical JRPG" why isn't this game getting remixed? I mean seriously, this music is amazing, and considering you can't freaking find this game anywhere anymore (only sold at Gamestop and those who bought it aren't selling it back, apparently), that's got to count for something.

I'm not saying anything against people who didn't like the game or don't like JRPG's in general, I'm merely pointing out "HEY. AMAZING SOUNDTRACK, Y U NO REMIX!"

Didn't like the game, and I agree 100%. I'll definitely be remixing it at some point.

edit: Whoa, what? When did this game become so valuable? It was being sold at a local used-games chain for like $25 not 8 months ago when I bought it, and I sold it back to them for $15 or so figuring it wasn't much of a loss. Now it's worth $80. Shit.

Edited May 28, 2013 by ectogemia

[ftninja]

Didn't like the game, and I agree 100%. I'll definitely be remixing it at some point.

edit: Whoa, what? When did this game become so valuable? It was being sold at a local used-games chain for like $25 not 8 months ago when I bought it, and I sold it back to them for $15 or so figuring it wasn't much of a loss. Now it's worth $80. Shit.

Yeah. I was called by my local Gamestop and they were all like "hey wanna sell Xenoblade?" I was like, "lol, fuck no'.

Seriously nobody's selling this game back and now everyone wants it. Ya'll shoulda known better.

Ecto, i will be excited to hear any wips, bro. This soundtrack needs hella love.

[Annie Felis]

Holy crap, that's beautiful. I had gotten Dolphin a while ago to play around with Metroid Prime in HD, but never got around to actually configuring it. I really should, considering they have a demo of how Metroid Prime looks on Dolphin. It still looks pretty good, considering it's a game from eleven years ago. You can even see the radioactive haze on the phazon suit.

Also look at how pretty Wind Waker looks. To hell with the realistic shading HD release that's due for Wii-U, I want to play the original game on this emulator.

I'll bet The Last Story looks damn pretty on Dolphin, too.

[ectogemia]

Yeah. I was called by my local Gamestop and they were all like "hey wanna sell Xenoblade?" I was like, "lol, fuck no'.

Seriously nobody's selling this game back and now everyone wants it. Ya'll shoulda known better.

Ecto, i will be excited to hear any wips, bro. This soundtrack needs hella love.

Yeeeep, but I don't play games much anymore. Figured I'd get rid of it since I knew I'd never play it again. Then again, I still have Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire 1 & 2, FF6, etc. for SNES, and I haven't played them for a good 6-8 years. I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.

Gonna be a long time before I get to Xenoblade, dude, sorry I have a lot of projects going on right now + school and general life stuff. But rest assured, it's definitely on my list, and it's going to happen.

[Chimpazilla]

Despite the usual bashing of games being 'typical JRPG" why isn't this game getting remixed? I mean seriously, this music is amazing, and considering you can't freaking find this game anywhere anymore (only sold at Gamestop and those who bought it aren't selling it back, apparently), that's got to count for something.

I'm not saying anything against people who didn't like the game or don't like JRPG's in general, I'm merely pointing out "HEY. AMAZING SOUNDTRACK, Y U NO REMIX!"

Xenoblade is one of my favorite games ever. I think I put in 150 hours, and after I beat the game, I sort of grieved for the characters, I missed seeing them every day. Good news though, Nintendo is actively working on Part Two.

BUT there is a reason we aren't seeing too many Xeno remixes... it's nearly impossible to improve on this music. I've made a couple of false starts myself... it just feels wrong... this music is so good, the remixes of it are going to have to be super high quality to do justice to the OST!

[Meteo Xavier]

Wait wait wait. How is Xenoblade a typical JRPG again?

Go compare it to Skies of Arcadia, Lufia and Dragon Quest and let me know whats so typical about it. If anything, that game plays more like Final Fantasy XII than any other game I can think of.

[ectogemia]

Wait wait wait. How is Xenoblade a typical JRPG again?

Go compare it to Skies of Arcadia, Lufia and Dragon Quest and let me know whats so typical about it. If anything, that game plays more like Final Fantasy XII than any other game I can think of.

Check it, yo.

The game got a lot of hype, though, for allegedly "redefining" the modern JRPG. I said it was a typical JRPG because I missed how it was any different than the rest of the pack.

edit: But I'll take the bait anyway. Maybe I'm expecting something out of the genre that can't happen within the constraints of the genre. Xenoblade just feels like most other JRPGs in terms of gameplay. You press A a lot til the thing dies. When I imagine an innovative RPG, I guess I picture something with a real, skill-based challenge, like a platformer, but still within reasonable genre constraints of an RPG. I don't picture AI-controlled cohorts, a schedule for villagers, and infini-quests as particularly revolutionary or game-changing attributes. Sure, they're innovative in that they're not common among modern JRPGs, but to go a step further and a couple decades earlier, does it really feel like anything has changed from Lufia I to Xenoblade in terms of the gameplay experience? My opinion is that no, I don't really think the core mechanics of JRPGs have really *ever* changed, just superficial dressings, conveniences like quick-travel, and some AI control (which I think is detrimental, actually).

My main contention in this thread is simply that the core gameplay mechanics of JRPGs just don't do it for me anymore because there's no *real* challenge associated with them, only a game of persistence and number-increasing which can *only* be won if enough time is invested. This is not true of other genres which rest on skill-based gameplay mechanics, not RNGs and stats. If I do the same unsuccessful thing in Mario a billion times, I'll still never save the princess. In an RPG, if I do the same unsuccessful thing enough times, I *will* ultimately succeed, no matter the state of my party, gear, stats, level, etc. That sort of gameplay just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I don't feel like I've done anything noteworthy when I reach the end of a JRPG.

There's nothing wrong with liking JRPGs. They were my preferred genre for my whole childhood, and I've got nothing but fond memories of them. As I said in another post, I just grew out of them. It happens.

Edited May 29, 2013 by ectogemia

[Arrow]

edit: But I'll take the bait anyway. Maybe I'm expecting something out of the genre that can't happen within the constraints of the genre. Xenoblade just feels like most other JRPGs in terms of gameplay. You press A a lot til the thing dies. When I imagine an innovative RPG, I guess I picture something with a real, skill-based challenge, like a platformer, but still within reasonable genre constraints of an RPG. I don't picture AI-controlled cohorts, a schedule for villagers, and infini-quests as particularly revolutionary or game-changing attributes. Sure, they're innovative in that they're not common among modern JRPGs, but to go a step further and a couple decades earlier, does it really feel like anything has changed from Lufia I to Xenoblade in terms of the gameplay experience? My opinion is that no, I don't really think the core mechanics of JRPGs have really *ever* changed, just superficial dressings, conveniences like quick-travel, and some AI control (which I think is detrimental, actually).

All good points. That said, the battle system does provide a huge amount of skill if you're not over-leveling. A combination of putting thought into advance gem setups and strategizing your choice of characters and attacks makes for some amazing battles. The problem is that in most cases, you don't need to do any of that. The other problem is, you'll never realize this is even a thing unless you forever remove Sharla from your party (she's a crutch for people who are stuck on the mentality that you have to have a healer in your party, and artificially extends battle time in the process). But if you know what you're doing and use this to its full, you can take on enemies 20 levels over your party successfully. It's pretty much required knowledge for the optional super bosses, of course.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Arrow

[ftninja]

Xenoblade is one of my favorite games ever. I think I put in 150 hours, and after I beat the game, I sort of grieved for the characters, I missed seeing them every day. Good news though, Nintendo is actively working on Part Two.

*ALMOST GETS REALLY HAPPY* Is this going to be a true sequel I wonder? Same characters, continuation of story/world? Or is this a Final Fantasy-ish thing where they get new characters, completely different world map and slap a number on it? *thinks* HMMM.