[Threi]

dont blame xenoblade for being xenoblade but on the wii blame SE for not making a xenoblade for whatever system you wanted to jerk off to /shrug

[DR2K]

He's playing a Wii game, what did he honestly expect?

Mario Galaxy looks fantastic whereas Xenoblade looks very low end.

[SteeloDMZ]

This is some of the worst shit I've ever read.

Mario Galaxy looks fantastic whereas Xenoblade looks very low end.

You do realize that Xenoblade is pushing more that almost any other similar game out there, right? You can't expect the visuals to match Galaxy because the scale of the game is so astoundingly big, it would be almost impossible.

[Glorified G]

The game looks great. Some blurry textures here and there, but it is the Wii. The environments are massive and beautiful and the framerate is smooth. I guess I'm just not a graphics whore, but I'd rather play a nice looking, great playing game than a great looking, shitty game.

Why does it have to be one or the other? How about playing a great looking game AND a great playing game. I felt like I was playing a ps2 game in 2003 when I fired up xenoblade.

[Chacranajxy]

This smacks of the "NO MORE HEROES WOULD HAVE BEEN A HUGE GENERATION-DEFINING HIT IF IT HAD LAUNCHED ON PS3 AND 360!" argument that I'm oh-so-tired of hearing. Xenoblade is excellent, but the niche it fills is only so big. "This generation's FFVII?" Get outta here, guy.

Final Fantasy VII is a bit of an overstatement, but Xenoblade could've at least helped dig the genre out of its grave in the US.

But alas, we're still mired in NIS/Gust/Idea Factory shit.

[Hyuga]

"Why Xenoblade Chronicles Makes Me Want To Punch a Kitten"

Xenoblade Chronicles is the BEST GAME on the Wii!
Suck it, bitch!

[Man-is-Obsolete]

It's the Wii.....at 480p. Don't expect much.

[Threi]

Why does it have to be one or the other?

It doesn't.

but...ya know...HD towns aren't possible and all that jazz...

[Antagon]

Mario Galaxy looks fantastic whereas Xenoblade looks very low end.

What? Xenoblades character models aren't great, but the environments are easily among the best on the system. Alltogether the game looks really good, not low end atall.

[FieryBalrog]

The article is a complaint against Nintendo, not so much Xenoblade

Yup. And a very valid one, even if it was written like a dumbass gamefaqs screed.

[Dr.Hadji]

I like it how people don't even pretend anymore. If you're a graphics whore let it be known!

[Indyana]

From what I've seen, a real mixed bag. Beautiful, gorgeous landscapes, vistas, huge open scenery... the character models/textures seem positively repulsive, though. If I Google Xenoblade and check images, I get beautiful stuff, but I also get:

Yes, but Monolith didn't even make two models, one for the game and another for the cinematics. They just did one low polygon model. So, I think the budget wasn't that big either.

[Azar]

Game journalism.

More representative of the gaming fanbase at large than games journalism, actually.

[aliencowz7]

I cant say all his points are invalid, I do think the way he brought them about is only asking for trouble though.

Sure the game looks fine on wii but I still cant help but think what it could have been if it had been built from the ground up with HD consoles or even PC in mind. Art direction can carry a game just fine, but it can also take it even farther over the top when combined with powerful tech running it.

[Mithos]

Well I don't have the Wii hooked up to 50" HDTV so it looks way better then the blurry/jaggy mess people have shown from HDTV-shots.
32" CRT (Philips 32PW9551, with Wii on component and PS3 on HDMI ;P )

[PixyJunket]

Real journalism.

10/10.

[Derrick01]

Yup. And a very valid one, even if it was written like a dumbass gamefaqs screed.

Absolutely. If he had written it better then maybe more would have taken him seriously since it wouldn't be so easy to casually dismiss it.

[Durante]

I like it how people don't even pretend anymore. If you're a graphics whore let it be known!

Why would you "pretend"? Is it somehow a stain on one's character to prefer good graphics?

[ElTopo]

Xenoblade Chronicles is the BEST GAME on the Wii! Suck it, bitch!

Won't somebody think of the graphics ? THE GRAPHICS !

You can always complain about the graphics. If you only play on a $4000 PC you're probably gonna whine about the graphics of the HD consoles. Xenoblade looks good for a Wii game, as the fantastic world design makes up for some bad textures/low-detail models.

[BlazingDarkness]

Mario Galaxy looks fantastic whereas Xenoblade looks very low end.

Xenoblade also has one of the biggest scopes and variety of explorable areas than any other game this generation (regardless of platform)

[burgerdog]

I love this game's graphics, it looks good on my 50 inch tv. I appreciate what it's doing on wii and I don't expect HD twins or pc-like picture quality. Don't get me wrong, if my pc could run Dolphin at full speed I would have played it there no doubt.

[Orayn]

Well I have the Wii hooked up to 50" HDTV so it looks way better then the blurry/jaggy mess people have shown from HDTV-shots. 32" CRT (Philips 32PW9551, with HDMI input 720p/1080i)

Yeah, I rock an old-ish 55" rear projection HDTV, so my Wii games actually look pretty nice due to the native 480P support.

Why does it have to be one or the other? How about playing a great looking game AND a great playing game. I felt like I was playing a ps2 game in 2003 when I fired up xenoblade.

It doesn't have to be one or the other, it's just that anyone with a good head on their shoulders will realize that having good mechanics should contribute to your enjoyment much more than extras like pretty graphics and story.

[Cheska]

While I dont exactly agree with his statement, those Dolphin screen shots do leave me with more to be desired.

[hardcastlemccormick]

Why does it have to be one or the other? How about playing a great looking game AND a great playing game.

Not every game can be AAA. This game probably wouldn't have been made if they aimed too high.

I felt like I was playing a ps2 game in 2003 when I fired up xenoblade.

That's pretty much what Xenoblade is telling you it's offering, yeah, just on a much larger scope.

[Khold]

I've played actual ps2 games in 2012..

[FieryBalrog]

It's "video games". The video part is important. I'm not speaking of tech, but aesthetics & presentation. Tech is not an end in and of itself, it's an enabler. Lack of AA combined with blurry textures and proliferating jaggies, for example, is one of the worst offenders and is ruinous for your game's aesthetics.

[dani_dc]

I like it how people don't even pretend anymore. If you're a graphics whore let it be known!

Personally my issue with Xenoblade is an image quality issue, I don't mind the textures or even the models, it's the quality of the image that made my experience of playing the game on the Wii that much worse, it's also an issue I didn't had with most other Wii games such as SS.

Thankfully the Dolphin allowed my way around it. I'd still would had enjoyed the game either way, but for a game that's so focused on atmosphere and it's world I feel my enjoyment of it was greatly increased by playing it at a higher resolution with a much better IQ.

Well I don't have the Wii hooked up to 50" HDTV so it looks way better then the blurry/jaggy mess people have shown from HDTV-shots. 32" CRT (Philips 32PW9551, with Wii on component and PS3 on HDMI ;P )

I didn't play it on an HDTV and I still thought it looked like a blurry/jaggy mess, though I didn't use component cables (my TV doesn't support them).

I didn't say that... you have the wrong person quoted ;p I have a gorgeous Red Wii ;p

Seems I erased the wrong quote tags, sorry about that, fixed it.

[SteeloDMZ]

The comments section is pathetic:

Couldn't Agree More!!!!!!!11111 (of a game that I haven't even played)

The only repulsive thing here is the article and the legions of fanboys trying to bash an excellent game.

[.la1n]

I found nothing wrong with the game visually, it's a mix bag but really after you get into the story and game play you don't notice...unless you are just really cynical.

[Emitan]

While I dont exactly agree with his statement, those Dolphin screen shots do leave me with more to be desired.

Can't wait for Xenoblade HD on Wii U!

[ivysaur12]

I sometimes imagine what the guys who write stuff like this might be like in person. The image is never a welcoming one.

[Skel1ingt0n]

Seems I erased the wrong quote tags, sorry about that, fixed it.

Not a problem at all :)

[impact]

Can't wait for Xenoblade HD on Wii U!

Good call. I'm gonna go cancel my Wii preorder.

[Anth0ny]

I personally don't think it's that ugly on the Wii.

But an HD version on Wii U would be much appreciated. The dolphin shots of Xenoblade are gorgeous.

[massoluk]

I cant say all his points are invalid, I do think the way he brought them about is only asking for trouble though. Sure the game looks fine on wii but I still cant help but think what it could have been if it had been built from the ground up with HD consoles or even PC in mind. Art direction can carry a game just fine, but it can also take it even farther over the top when combined with powerful tech running it.

I think the cost of making it with HD consoles in mind at its current scope may very well sunk Monolith.

[Andrex]

This guy is a couple years late to the Wii graphics bashing party and a couple crayons short of a rainbow.

[Henry Jones Jr]

Yeah, I rock an old-ish 55" rear projection HDTV, so my Wii games actually look pretty nice due to the native 480P support. It doesn't have to be one or the other, it's just that anyone with a good head on their shoulders will realize that having good mechanics should contribute to your enjoyment much more than extras like pretty graphics and story.

Rear-projection TVs are fucking magic. I have a 56" DLP in my living room and EVERYTHING looks great on it. NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, PS3. It all looks fantastic. I have a 32" LED-LCD in my room and everything looks good except PS1 and Wii games for some reason. Wii games still look OK, but PS1 games look horrid.

[Atomski]

I actually really like the graphics in the game because I realize 1. It's on a wii 2. It was made in 2010

Because they could have done any better on the Wii in 2011-12 ????

[RedSwirl]

Didn't there use to be a time when game reviewers compared a game's graphics to those of other games on that platform?

[Crumpet Trumpet]

is this 2006?

[Dr.Hadji]

Absolutely. If he had written it better then maybe more would have taken him seriously since it wouldn't be so easy to casually dismiss it.

And what point is that? "Its too bad technology has crazy things called limits", or "Everything should be equally good in every way", or "The Wii is 5 years old and things look old on it".

[FieryBalrog]

I think the cost of making it with HD consoles in mind at its current scope may very well sunk Monolith.

No, no, no, no, no.

Look at this game on Dolphin. The very same game. The game is fucking beautiful with proper hardware and video output, no new assets or code or ANYTHING. The game is incredibly ugly on the Wii and it has nothing to do with HD assets. It has to do with some bare minimum graphical tech that the Wii fails to provide.

[aliencowz7]

I think the cost of making it with HD consoles in mind at its current scope may very well sunk Monolith.

Maybe, maybe not but I find it hard to believe that if they had pulled it off it wouldn't have been a better game for it.

[BorkBork]

Wasn't it established that the scope of the game would be impractical on a more graphically intensive platform? All about the tradeoffs.

[branny]

Its graphics are the least of Xenoblade's problems.

[Medalion]

is this 2006?

Graphic whores exist in any year

[Zeer0id]

Why would you "pretend"? Is it somehow a stain on one's character to prefer good graphics?

Maybe it's just me, but when I think about graphics in that way, it makes me feel really superficial and gross. I would hate to be the kind of person who couldn't play an N64 game, for example, just because it was an N64 game, even if I loved it 15 years ago.

I don't judge others for having certain preferences, but personally anyway, I would consider it a "stain on my character". But I'm weird like that, I guess.

[Aeana]

I think the game looks pretty good if viewed at 1:1, or on a CRT. We're throwing blame all over the place for why it doesn't look so great on Wii, but does anybody ever bother to blame fixed pixel display technology for these things? I mean, Wii games don't look great on most current HDTVs, but to be honest, 360/PS3 games at 720p also look pretty blurry on a 1080p TV too.

[Mauricio_Magus]

I loved how the game looked, the game is beautiful the way it is.

[Orayn]

Its graphics are the least of Xenoblade's problems.

You're right. Xenoblade had... One or two characters I didn't like, I guess? Oh, and it was way to easy to play it for 12 hours in a single sitting because it was too Goddamn fun.

EDIT: Xenoblade definitely runs at 30 FPS, people.