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BotW (& Switch) makes me REALLY excited for Xenoblade 2

faridmon

Member
I just want a good deep story line with a lot of cool twists and interesting characters.

BOTW and even the previous Xenoblade games were cookie cutters in terms of storyline and plots.
 

Bulbasaur

Banned
It's going to be hard coming after Zelda flipped everyones wigs.

Personally I hope they change the mmo cooldown combat system of the two previous games.
 

Somnid

Member
Monolith really are open world gods. I don't think anyone quite expected that when Nintendo bought them but they have proved time and time again they can make the most interesting open worlds. I also love that they have a very distinct 3D designs with lots of verticality, versus the almost universally flat maps seen from other developers.
 

Strings

Member
OP is a bit delusional about what Monolith Soft did in Zelda. Monolith doesn't have Nintendo's physic and world programmers. Their game is not going to be the same despite having helped designed overworld terrain.

Err, didn't they have over a hundred Monolith employees working on it? I think you're definitely underselling their involvement.
 
Perhaps the BotW art team could help them with their character designs lol. Monolith are great at creating fantastic worlds and creatures, but their human designs are consistently poor for some reason.
 

Strings

Member
Considering Monolithsoft in total has barely a hundred employees... I don't think so? :p

Huh, looks like I went full retard. Didn't see the Miyamoto quote I read was later clarified.

Kind of baffled how their two teams are just ~109 people over two offices though. Makes them one of the smaller Nintendo companies :/
 

mindsale

Member
Their involvement on Breath of the Wild makes me expect either a compromised product in XB2 that was understaffed or a product delayed to 2019.
 
Well Monolith did help the BOTW team during its development which I feel they helped with the whole open world enviroments etc. I expect what they did in Xenoblade X with how big it is will be carried forward to Xenoblade 2. I just hope they emphasize the story more that is all.
 

kromeo

Member
I expect a lot of ridiculous posts about people claiming they literally cant play other open world games after BotW
 

norm9

Member
As long as there are no progression barriers. I stopped playing the last one because 20 hours in, I didn't have the requirements to move the story along to the next quest.
 
Note: I never played XB1, so treat this question as a curiosity.

Does everyone expect XB2 to be a more generic JRPG in its systems and combat, or transfer/become a more action based A-RPG, like FF15?
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I couldn't get through Xenoblade Chronicles on N3DS, and really don't like the art style of the sequel, so it's probably a pass for me.

I put nearly 30 hours into the first before abandoning it. The story just wasn't grabbing me enough to push through the combat that I hugely disliked. I just can't do turnbased games anymore (never really liked them TBH). So unless this ends up being more of an ARPG (and it doesn't seem like it from the reveal trailer) it just won't be for me.
 

cHinzo

Member
I couldn't get through Xenoblade Chronicles on N3DS, and really don't like the art style of the sequel, so it's probably a pass for me.

I put nearly 30 hours into the first before abandoning it. The story just wasn't grabbing me enough to push through the combat that I hugely disliked. I just can't do turnbased games anymore (never really liked them TBH). So unless this ends up being more of an ARPG (and it doesn't seem like it from the reveal trailer) it just won't be for me.
They didn't even show combat on the reveal trailer. 🤔
 
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The character models are better than the garbage we got in Xenoblade Chronicles X so I'm happy. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 models but with more polish and in HD would have been nice though.
 
Xenoblade 1 was amazing on 3DS, despite the technical changes between the Wii and 3DS versions.

And since I have never been disappointed with a game in the xeno series, it can only be good.
Indeed, I didn't give Xenoblade enough of my time on Wii but I've finished it multiple times on 3DS. Handhelds are far more accessible for RPGs. I think playing Persona 5 on PS4 will feel like a bit of a step down from playing Persona 4 on Vita.
 

Korigama

Member
I'm not a fan of the models in X, but I'm still disappointed with the decision to go with such a generic art style with this. And I absolutely hate the lead's design, along with the decision to skew so young for him (don't care for the look of the sword, either).
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I kinda wish they were picking up from where X left off, but I'm okay now that Zelda has picked up the open world exploration torch.

That said, the first Xenoblade was probably a better game overall.
 
I kinda wish they were picking up from where X left off, but I'm okay now that Zelda has picked up the open world exploration torch.

That said, the first Xenoblade was probably a better game overall.

Im still hoping for a direct sequel to XCX one day. Stupid cliffhangers.
 

Tesser

Member
The Xenoblade games are great. They are at times astonishing. They are also inelegant, persistently so, and in ways that I don't know if I'll have the patience to sit through for another hundred hours. There is just too much stuff, in systems and content both, and not all of it sticks. It's just that the things that do stick, like the environment design, are exemplary. And I don't know if that will be enough for me to make excuses for the rest of the package once more.

I have a lot of respect and admiration for XC as a game, but I appreciate people like yourself who bring to light the low-points and criticisms of the game - some of which I agree with and will certainly not try and defend. I think you hit the nail on the head as to the occasionally odd reaction XC gets as game that, clearly, has its flaws and yet is regarded so highly. I'm of course of the 'absolutely love it' crowd because as you state, the things it gets right are so exemplary and lasting on the mind that the not-so-good parts don't really offer that big of a dent on the overall experience. I will say one of my main gripes with XC was some of the item probability drops at points, especially involving quests that required items that could only be dropped by certain enemies at certain locations at certain times...and only had like a 20% probability rate. That and yes, if XC2 is to continue the whole 'every item is a floating orb' shtick, they need some kind of classification or means of giving the player a hint as to what category of item drop it might be.

Subtle tweaks and improvements to the item systems notwithstanding, I'm just hoping Monolith recognize the importance of character-led narratives not to mention the World-building and the way level design feeds into the overall experience of being someone exploring a vast World for the first time. I was genuinely shocked by how much I got invested in XC's main cast and it's one of the few JRPG's that seemed to reinforce the importance, especially in an RPG of that scale/calibre, of the whole 'band of brothers' set-up.

Even if I am speaking as a Brit, I'm not entirely sure having a British VA cast would objectively make or break its localized story; I won't deny that was part of the charm of XC, but above all else, I would prefer Monolith treat both the content and placement of XC2's story (within a figurative hierarchy if you will) in pretty much the same manner as before: present, but not beating players over the head with its tone/themes/direction. XC, imho, managed to strike a good balance between the plot itself, the characters involved in it and allowing the World/environments to fill in the gaps in-between.

-

And yeh, the change in art-style, characters and all, really doesn't bother me.
 

duckroll

Member
there are two teams of monolith essentially. one is making them games the other is generally supporting other teams

While Kyoto is a graphical assets farm for supporting other Nintendo titles, BotW was developed in a very different way. Monolithsoft didn't just assist with art assets from the Kyoto studio, instead the majority of the staff who worked on it are Tokyo staff from the Xenoblade team. Out of the 24 game designers on BotW, 12 (literally half!) were from Monolithsoft. A chunk of the lead animators are from Monolithsoft as well, and both assistant cinematic directors are from Monolithsoft. These are all people who worked on Xenoblade and Xenoblade X.

So it does beg the question of when Xenoblade 2 started actual full development.
 

zenspider

Member
I don't think Xenoblade 2 is anything like BotW or Xenoblade X though. It's probably a linear RPG like Xenoblade.

I really hope not. Xenoblade 1's world felt as limited by tech as by design. Would feel like a big step backward for me, but I guess if you're numbering your 3rd game '2', I shouldn't be surprised.
 
Xenoblade Chronicles X and XC2's artstyle have me more on the fence about XC2, than my great times with XC1 and BoTW have me excited, tbf

but we'll see I guess. I'm sure as hell not gonna write it off.
 

Really? I think this is a really welcome change and I'm sure I'm not alone. My biggest gripes with Xenoblade Chronicles X was the awful character designs, the so-so story, and the crazy grinding. If they fix those things I'd be really happy.

Let's be clear, I'm buying it nomatter what, and they seemed to have fixed the character models which I'm happy about but now they've got to focus on story. I don't mind the grinding as much so that's at the bottom of my list.
 

Kelegacy

XBOX - RECORD ME LOVING DOWN MY WOMAN GOOD
I would love it if they gave the first game the remaster it deserves. Not the demaster the 3ds version was. I tried so hard but it looks so bad on that tiny screen.

A Switch version, even if only an HD facelift, would be an instabuy for me. I dont want to play it on Dolphin nor will i play it on Wii or 3ds.
 

schopaia

Member
Monolith really are open world gods. I don't think anyone quite expected that when Nintendo bought them but they have proved time and time again they can make the most interesting open worlds. I also love that they have a very distinct 3D designs with lots of verticality, versus the almost universally flat maps seen from other developers.

They do magnificent outdoors scenography but totally unmemorable interiors. X had the Manon ship and a handful of nondescript caves, Zelda had the Hyrule Castle and... that's about all for gameplay areas (the Beasts also count but are all one big central body cavity - and not THAT different from one another inside). And Hyrule Castle was nowhere near a Dark Souls or Bloodborne castle. A "godly" open world would have great exterior AND interior areas.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
One thing about BOTW is how heavily physics-based it is... I don't really see how physics could gel with a more abstract game genre like the RPG (which tend to be much less based on holistic flow and more on state changes).
 
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