[ZoddGutts]

Don't know how fugly it looked on Wii. But it looked great for the most part on my PC.

[Sadist]

SE? Square Enix? It's Monolith, dude. It's a first party Nintendo title.

You do realise it's Threi don't you?

[Dr.Palutena]

SE? Square Enix? It's Monolith, dude. It's a first party Nintendo title.

Yes he's aware of that(I think). He's saying blame someone else for not making a good jrpg on a HD Console. At least thats how I read it.

[Jake Tower]

The NES's hardware was not "cutting edge" even when the Famicom came out in 1983.

For the console market, it was. It continued to keep its edge for years through the expansion abilities of carts (memory mappers, etc.).

[Orayn]

Just because people haven't been doing it well doesn't mean it can't be done well. There also hasn't been a game that did open world environments on consoles near as well this gen before xenoblade came out but obviously it was still capable of being done.

Yeah, I don't disagree that more powerful hardware allows for more ambitious design on the mechanical side of things, just that we're living in a climate of big budget games being quite samey.

[FieryBalrog]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kluwe

Wow, this guy actually is the punter for the Vikings. I thought it was a joke.

[Dreams-Visions]

Would this game even exist in its current form if it required an HD-budget? Honest question. And whining about the Wii's hardware all these years after its release is just bizarre.

Seeing it on Dolphin suggests they could have used the exact same assets they used on the Wii version and been quite acceptable.

For the console market, it was. It continued to keep its edge for years through the expansion abilities of carts (memory mappers, etc.).

+1. NES was very advanced when it came to the US. SNES was neck and neck with the Genesis, and pulled ahead later in its life. N64 was technically more capable than the PSOne. The GameCube was only bested by the Xbox. The completely shifted gears and accepted a distant 3rd this generation as far as consoles go.

[jump_button]

Graphics don't = good I want to slap anyone that think like this

[aliencowz7]

Yeah go for a bigger scope and then still be blasted for being "ugly", unless they crank up the budget.

I don't think much of anyone is complaining about how ugly it is in dolphin and that is using the exact same scope and game. I'm not meaning it as a knock on the wii, I just dont know how you can say it couldn't have been better. I'm sure even monolith would say they could have made it better on pc or a HD console.

[2San]

For the console market, it was. It continued to keep its edge for years through the expansion abilities of carts (memory mappers, etc.).

Who cares about the consoles. I'm used to PC graphics! Everything that isn't up and par to that, seriously kills the experience!

I don't think much of anyone is complaining about how ugly it is in dolphin and that is using the exact same scope and game. I'm not meaning it was a knock on the wii, I just dont know how you can say it couldn't have been better. I'm sure even monolith would say they could have made it better on pc or a HD console.

Listing him going on about how crap everything looks I doubt a simple up rez and AA would satisfy him.

[RedNumberFive]

Games journalism folks.

[Hazanko]

I thought the game was beautiful. Would it of looked better in HD? Duh. I still prefer the look of Xenoblade to many HD games. Even with the limitations, there is a certain charm to it and the world is full of life and is colourful.

[Valnen]

Should have played the game in Dolphin. It's perfectly bearable graphically that way.

It's bad when emulation on a top end PC is the only way to enjoy a game.

[PhoReal]

*golf clap*

Game plays great, but who cares about that if the graphics suck, right?

[BlazingDarkness]

It's bad when emulation on a top end PC is the only way to enjoy a game.

Who said that?

[Cipherr]

It's bad when emulation on a top end PC is the only way to enjoy a game.

It isnt the only way to enjoy Xenoblade, lol.

[lowhighkang_LHK]

If they made the game on ps3 or 360, it wouldn't have the size and scope as it does now. Since so much money, time and power is used up on " pretty graphics "

Or maybe SE's excuses are really going to my head.

[bone_and_sinew]

Look at the comments. I wonder how moderated GI's site is.

Most of the mods quit because the site is a piece of shit.

[Khold]

If they made the game on ps3 or 360, it wouldn't have the size and scope as it does now. Since so much money, time and power is used up on " pretty graphics " Or maybe SE's excuses are really going to my head.

Yeah, I loved the game, but we can only hypothesis that the scope would not be held intact, it may have well been.

Kinda a moot point though, all we can do is look forward to MonolithSoft's Wii U title

[-GOUKI-]

Meh been playing on dolphin.

[inner-G]

I kind of agree with him.

It's mostly just being mad about N seemingly intentionally gimping their consoles. 64=cartridges, GC=small storage media, Wii=480p. It seems like the games are held back by the platform or could be better by default on another platform (or even an emulator of the current platform.)

[daycru]

"Games journalism" is still miles ahead of "NeoGAF's reading ability." The guy is a pro football player.

[Valnen]

It isnt the only way to enjoy Xenoblade, lol.

It is if you don't own an SDTV.

[Venfayth]

Looks fucking gorgeous when I'm playing on Dolphin - the art style and huge, open vistas look amazing in HD with great AA. ... But while a poorly written article, I can understand his point. I'm loving Xenoblade - it's a great game. But if I had to play this in 480p, poorly upscaled to 1080p on my LCD with jaggies everywhere, I don't think I would enjoy the game half as much. Yeah, yeah, gameplay is king. But graphics unquestionably help with immersion. Monolith put these huge, open vistas with brilliant lighting in here to awestruck the player - but it just doesn't work on its native platform. The game shines much, MUCH more brightly when emulated on Dolphin. And, I think that's true for a lot of games. Many games on the PS3 and the X360 - and of course the PC - would suffer and probably not be as enjoyable with worse graphics. The jaggies on Forza 4, for example, are already awful. But could you imagine if they were 4x worse? I think it'd be hard for anyone to argue the game would be just as good if that were the case.

Omg, wow, that looks amazing. I actually can't play Xenoblade exactly because what you mentioned: 480p upscaled on an LCD TV.

This might make me get Dolphin.

[Khold]

"Games journalism" is still miles ahead of "NeoGAF's reading ability." The guy is a pro football player.

And nearly everyone here realizes that

It is if you don't own an SDTV.

Then what the hell did I do this winter

[Dr.Palutena]

It's bad when emulation on a top end PC is the only way to enjoy a game.

wait what?! I've been enjoying it just fine on my wii. I will say that I did have the sentiment that I would have loved it to look better graphically but I channelled that into "Can't wait for Monolith's Wii U game" instead of a johnny come lately opinion piece that's written very juvenilely.

[SolidSnakex]

It's bad when emulation on a top end PC is the only way to enjoy a game.

I've yet to have any issue playing the game on my Wii. Games like Xenoblade, Skyward Sword and the Mario Galaxy titles demonstrate that high quality art can overcome any technical "issues". I'd say that it's one of this generations best looking games.

[Jake Tower]

Who cares about the consoles. I'm used to PC graphics! Everything that isn't up and par to that, seriously kills the experience!

Even on that level, I'm fairly certain the Famicon/NES was competitive with home computers of its time, at least when launched in 1983 in Japan.

But yeah. :D

[2San]

I kind of agree with him. It's mostly just being mad about N seemingly intentionally gimping their consoles. 64=cartridges, GC=small storage media, Wii=480p. It seems like the games are held back by the platform or could be better by default on another platform (or even an emulator of the current platform.)

True, but Sony and Microsoft does the same. 720p, really?

Even on that level, I'm fairly certain the Famicon/NES was competitive with home computers of its time, at least when launched in 1983 in Japan. But yeah. :D

:o

Honestly didn't know that. o_O

[FieryBalrog]

I've yet to have any issue playing the game on my Wii. Games like Xenoblade, Skyward Sword and the Mario Galaxy titles demonstrate that high quality art can overcome any technical "issues". I'd say that it's one of this generations best looking games.

Terrible jaggies every where, poor output to HDTVs and blurry textures ruin the aesthetics of a game. Like this one.

On Dolphin, maybe one of the generation's best looking games. On Wii, simply not possible.

[captmcblack]

Xenoblade is a fucking inarguably beautiful game.

So are the Mario Galaxy games.

So is Skyward Sword.

"Not in HD" is really not a fair critique of the graphics. The games were never made for HD systems, or made with HD assets. Look at the art. Look at the design. Look at the animation...there is great stuff in all of those titles.

If you are cutting these games down because they don't look like something on the HD twins or PC, I don't know what you were expecting.


That said, I'd love some bleeding-edge Nintendo console too, if only so that this argument can't be used to detract from how AMAZING these games are. Sad thing is, the way that people running businesses operate, we'd never get that bleeding-edge system at the kind of mass-market affordable price that would let it be a real success in this day and age. I hope the Wii U can get big visuals in $249 or something.

[Valnen]

Xenoblade is a fucking inarguably beautiful game. So are the Mario Galaxy games. So is Skyward Sword.

In Dolphin.

[BGBW]

I've always wondered how some people coped before HD consoles came out.

I'm usually more impressed with a good looking game on weaker hardware than a better looking game on stronger hardware since the former shows what can be possible when hardware is pushed. This doesn't mean HD games don't wow me, I just appreciate the efforts that go into pushing weaker hardware.

Then again I still play on a 28" SD CRT so Wii games have not been a problem for me.

[HigherLevel]

Look at the comments. I wonder how moderated GI's site is.

All their mods have left the site outside of like 2 or 3 because they are terrible at running a website. One of them recently had his mod status taken away because he commented on an article about the ME3 ending and because he was saying the ending sucked a bunch of members whined about it on twitter to Andy and he took away the dude's mod status. It's a very poorly run site.

[bernardobri]

The title of the article sounds like something out of the IGN story generator...

[24FrameDaVinci]

The people saying "just play on Dolphin LOLZ" are out of touch with reality.

1% of people who own a Wii likely even know about it or even have the capability to run it.

[BattleMonkey]

Some people like there games to be pretty. Why some of us continually buy new PC hardware when it's not really needed. I'm so shallow

[Dicer]

Jaded graphics whore write a crappy opinion piece, news at 11...


I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'm so glad I started gaming with the 2600 and worked on up, people are not happy with even the best looking games these days. Sure this game is "rough" in spots but the landscapes are awe inspiring.

It's Jaded lil cunts like this guy wanting to "punch a kitten" that really shouldn't be allowed to write anything...the gaming media is an embarrassment and such a shell of it's former self.

[Chacranajxy]

:o Honestly didn't know that. o_O

What computer systems were even out at the time? The MSX was... which couldn't even make things move smoothly. So the Famicom was definitely better than that...

I don't think the PC-88 was out by then, but that would've been comparable, IIRC.

[aliencowz7]

Xenoblade is a fucking inarguably beautiful game. So are the Mario Galaxy games. So is Skyward Sword. "Not in HD" is really not a fair critique of the graphics. The games were never made for HD systems, or made with HD assets. Look at the art. Look at the design. Look at the animation...there is great stuff in all of those titles. If you are cutting these games down because they don't look like something on the HD twins or PC, I don't know what you were expecting. That said, I'd love some bleeding-edge Nintendo console too, if only so that this argument can't be used to detract from how AMAZING these games are. Sad thing is, the way that people running businesses operate, we'd never get that bleeding-edge system at the kind of mass-market affordable price that would let it be a real success in this day and age. I hope the Wii U can get big visuals in $249 or something.

I don't think anyone is saying they aren't great games here, but graphics don't equal art direction and you don't have to pick one or the other. 720p xenoblade will always look better then 480p xenoblade and that doesn't change anything about the game itself.

If people are happy with it the way it is on wii that's perfectly fine but saying it couldn't be better is weird. even stuff on HD consoles can look better on pc.

[Rahxephon91]

It is if you don't own an SDTV.

The game looked pretty great in 480p on my HDTV. So did Skyword Sword. Those are some great lookinh games. Maybe your tv just sucks.

[Khold]

Jaded graphics whore write a crappy opinion piece, news at 11... I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'm so glad I started gaming with the 2600 and worked on up, people are not happy with even the best looking games these days. Sure this game is "rough" in spots but the landscapes are awe inspiring. It's Jaded lil cunts like this guy wanting to "punch a kitten" that really shouldn't be allowed to write anything...the gaming media is an embarrassment and such a shell of it's former self.

The figurative language in rants such as this is so uninspired. Almost more depressing than anything else.

Mail a severed unicorn's head? Oho look at you. Yes I know he's not a writer, but this type of crappy hyperbole is everywhere.

[branny]

There are plenty of "HD" games that have comparable area sizes and even similar pop-in. Locales in Xenoblade are impressive mainly because of music and gorgeous art direction, both having nothing to do with technical limitations. The sense of scale in each location is less spectacular to me than the near instant loading between landmarks. People who bitch about the game being on a weaker console are missing the point. None of it has any bearing on how the game plays beyond maybe not being able to see a group of monsters super far away.

It's an RPG worth playing, but it's not for OCD people who hate endless sidequest filler and need more from a battle system than it provides. The article is a missed opportunity to point out genuine shortcomings in something so critically overpraised.

[Valnen]

The game looked pretty great in 480p on my HDTV. So did Skyword Sword. Those are some great games. Maybe your tv just sucks.

Or maybe you think jaggies and blurriness look "great" somehow. Nothing wrong with that.

[Khold]

Or maybe you think jaggies and blurriness look "great" somehow. Nothing wrong with that.

Disingenuous much

[Orayn]

What computer systems were even out at the time? The MSX was... which couldn't even make things move smoothly. So the Famicom was definitely better than that... I don't think the PC-88 was out by then, but that would've been comparable, IIRC.

Commodore 64, dude. Not directly comparable because it was a lot more expensive and a computer system rather than a console.

[TheBanditKing]

What an awful and unprofessional way to do a write up about a game. Look we all would have preferred if the Wii was on par with PS360 when it launched but its not. That does little to change the fact that Xenoblade is one of the best RPG's this gen, and is still impressive graphically for what Wii is capable of in terms of scale alone, and thats pretty much how he should have phrased that. I can't think of a single Gamecube or PS2 game that is not "uglier" then todays games but I can think of plenty of GC/PS2 (and earlier) titles that crap all over todays games in terms of gameplay and story telling, now thats something to get mad about...imo

[The Technomancer]

i'm reading his twitter. he's not a graphics whore! he even says so. it just can't convey subtle emotions? idk http://twitter.com/#!/chrisWarcraft

Okay, that's a bullshit complaint. Complaints about the Wii's IQ dragging the graphics down? Valid. Complaints that the characters didn't display emotions as well as they could have because of low poly character models? No, that is entirely on either Monolithsoft or their budget. Nothing about the Wii's hardware made them use low poly character models in cutscenes.

[2San]

What computer systems were even out at the time? The MSX was... which couldn't even make things move smoothly. So the Famicom was definitely better than that... I don't think the PC-88 was out by then, but that would've been comparable, IIRC.

I have no idea, born 89.

[Chacranajxy]

Commodore 64, dude. Not directly comparable because it was a lot more expensive and a computer system rather than a console.

oh yeah, definitely the C64... I was just considering what would've been "competitive" in the Japanese market when the Famicom came out.