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[fireflame]

I have bought this game during the E3 sales and while the srtory is decent, i feel restricted in my progression. I cannot grind freely to level up like i did in other rpgs, as the xp penalty is really important once you are above the level of monsters, and secondary quest lack a decent writing and feel generic most of times.
The game feels open world, but in a more frustrating way than games like the Witcher 3, where you could leave main quest and do side quests as much as you wanted. Even in Smt4 and Apocalypse, i feel i had much more freedom when i wanted to take a break on main quests.

Did you feel restricted while playing Xenoblade? Or maybe i am no longer able to enjoy old designed jrpgs, i dont know, though i can still enjoy Smt games.

 

[purseowner]

So I guess you're not really feeling it?

 

[Joe Condor]

How far are you?

 

[poodaddy]

I agree, I wasn't really too into it. I recognize that it's a well made game and I certainly see the appeal of it but I doubt I'll ever finish it. I just found the game boring :/

 

[Arthea]

old designed JRPGs? Xenoblade is designed nothing like old JRPGs, it's designed more or less like a MMO, so yeah most sidequests suck, and it is boring and repetitive, but a world is nice and instant fast travel helps a lot, it doesn't feel restrictive really, not sure what you mean by that.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

Are you sure you played Xenoblade? You can grind freely if you like and leave main quest. Xenoblade is far away from "old designed" JRPG, it was a revolution for the genre in many ways.

 

[The Greek Freak]

Xenoblade X was honestly awful in every way except mech design. I wish I had that time back.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Don't bother with side quests or grinding and you'll enjoy it more for what it does well.

 

[xealo]

The game gets better when party compositions opens up a bit somewhere around 10-15 hours into it. Well, at least the main story path does. It starts slow even for a JRPG.

Obviously this is not a good thing for any game trying to keep players, but there is a good game in there if you just stick with it.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

The combat is just okay. I played it for the story, characters and scale of the world. I think it is one of the best JRPG's ever created.

 

[Tyaren]

Which Xenoblade are we talking about here? Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii or Xenoblade Chronicles X for the WiiU?

 

[Joe Condor]

Which Xenoblade are we talking about here? Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii or Xenoblade Chronicles X for the WiiU?

They're both good!

 

[Arthea]

The combat is just okay. I played it for the story, characters and scale of the world. I think it is one of the best JRPG's ever created.

this doesn't compute

 

[texhnolyze]

It's boring because it feels like an MMO. Get quests from NPCs in a hub/city, finish them, report to NPCs, move on to the next hub/city, repeat 50x. I've been doin the same thing since WoW era.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

I stopped playing after the Makana Forest. Vistas were great though but I didn't like how I couldn't really interact with the land besides exploring and walking on it. Also didn't help that I already spoiled the story and really didn't understand the combat outside of Shulk. That said, the combat with Shulk was quite fun.

Then I bought Xenoblade X and had a much better time. Still struggled with the combat outside of my MC but the movement and climbing the land felt so much better than the original. Main story sucked but side missions were fun.

Edit: Actually I stopped after the Sea level. That was really beautiful even with the jagginess.

 

[jonjonaug]

I have bought this game during the E3 sales and while the srtory is decent, i feel restricted in my progression. I cannot grind freely to level up like i did in other rpgs, as the xp penalty is really important once you are above the level of monsters, and secondary quest lack a decent writing and feel generic most of times.
The game feels open world, but in a more frustrating way than games like the Witcher 3, where you could leave main quest and do side quests as much as you wanted. Even in Smt4 and Apocalypse, i feel i had much more freedom when i wanted to take a break on main quests.

Did you feel restricted while playing Xenoblade? Or maybe i am no longer able to enjoy old designed jrpgs, i dont know, though i can still enjoy Smt games.

Despite the huge environments Xenoblade is a fairly linear game. You'll always have a pointer pointing you to the next scene in the main quest, which is basically just a straight line from beginning to end. The main quest is great, one of the best in the genre. The sidequests though are largely lacking, despite the high number of them there's only a few really interesting ones in the entire game. Exploration can be fun, but the walk speed is fairly slow considering the large size of the world so it can be a bit draining at times if you don't have quick step gems or skills.

Xenoblade X is the opposite. The main story is merely "pretty good", but the side quests are great. You can travel anywhere in the world after you complete the first few tutorial chapters of the main quest and have a large amount of freedom when it comes to doing all of the side content. Exploration also feels much better than the first game, your run speed is super fast and the Skells that you get later in the game are cool as heck.

From your OP post, it sounds like you'd have a much better time playing Xenoblade X than playing the original Xenoblade. Both games are great, but Xenoblade's strength is in the story and characters while X's strength is in the side content.

 

[Sadist]

... but you can leave main quests to pursue side quests, any moment.

And calling Xenoblade an old designed JRPG is as far from the truth; it's one of the more modern RPG's; waypoints, when you fail against an enemy you won't lose any progress, its pretty great.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

The thing with Xenoblade is that grinding doesn't actually help that much early game. You get more benefits from upgrading arts, equipping gems to power up certain aspects of your character build, and especially party affinity. In that regard, it's nothing like classic RPGs where you could pretty much put in the hours to grind just to win.

(Disclaimer: I haven't played X so I'm assuming you're referring to XC).

 

[Fireblend]

I love the combat, but I've heard the sentiment about repetitiveness so I guess I was just lucky or wired differently enough to have enjoyed the game without feeling like that.

The original XC is easily one of my favorite games ever.

 

[Iamcorrupt]

The tedium really got to me by the time I wound up on Prison island for the first time, I was playing on 3ds so what I did was reduce the length of my sessions and the frequency. It was still pretty tedious but aside from a small number of really not fun bosses I managed to finally clear the game.

 

[Yukinari]

this doesn't compute

You say that but im pretty sure a lot of people feel the same way about the Mother series.

Cause Mother 1 is a fucking mess and Mother 2 is slightly better but i would never play those titles for their gameplay alone. Mother 3 is finally when the battling and navigation of the game got comfortable.

 

[The Hermit]

They're both good!

lol no

XC is one of the best JRPG ever.

XCX is a terrible and repetitive pseudo-MMO with awful music and confuse gameplay, with layer after layer of mechanics. After 80 hours enduring it I still couldn't feel in control of the gameplay like I did in Xenoblade


XC2 seems like an apology for that shit.

 

[HeeHo]

How to complete some of the side quest objectives can be pretty vague in a not-fun way. Even when trying to do them on my own, I'd have to resort to good ole google. Probably the worst part about the game, but other than that, I thought it was a really fun game.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

I found both games to be poorly presented, overwhelming and uninteresting after a few hours, I agree the (brief) amount of side quests I saw felt very 'filler'-ish.
The worlds were both intriguing though and I'm planning to go back in time for 2's arrival.

 

[silva1991]

Are you talking about the original or X?

this doesn't compute

many people love some games for the story even if the gameplay wasn't great for them and vice versa.

 

[Roldan]

Don't bother with side quests or grinding and you'll enjoy it more for what it does well.

Preeeeetty much.

Enjoy the exploration, main plot and the minutiae of the combat (managing aggro, positioning yourself correctly to pull off each attack, using break > topple > dazz, etc).

 

[Agent Gibbs]

I totally know what you are saying, i first played it on 3DS and found the side quests to be shitty fetch quests of go here kill x things. The main story seemed decent but there were a few steep level differences on bosses that made me feel like i should have grinded. Grinding however was more tedious than FF2 and it just killled my desire to progress with the game at all
I think i got up to the tower? you got a magic wielding woman and then i just gave in.
I was going to get X but this killed it for me.
Xenoblade 2 looks good, but i feel it will be more of the same so i'm just done with the series its not for me

 

[BadWolf]

My opinion of it is not very high tbh, I enjoyed The Last Story a lot more.

The world idea was neat and the story was decent but the battle system was meh and it was fetch quest galore. The characters weren't anything special as well.

Xenogears is still the best Xeno game.

 

[TheJoRu]

Xenoblade X was honestly awful in every way except mech design. I wish I had that time back.

OP is talking about Xenoblade Chronicles, not X.

Though speaking of Xenoblade Chronicles X, it does at least solve your problem of it feeling too restricted. X is a true open-world game; the game pulls you towards certain areas depending on what level you are and where you are in the story, but you can mostly disregard that and try to explore other areas anyway. It does suffer a bit in other areas compared to XC, but in terms of exploration and providing freedom it's very good.

 

[jb1234]

I was magnetized by the game's art design, exploration, story and music but I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone. The sidequests are helpful for keeping your levels at what the game expects but I stopped doing them halfway through the game.

I did end up having to grind at the very end because I was four levels under the final boss, haha.

 

[Lothar]

I'm with you except I disagree that the story was even decent. It and the characters were very bland. The gem crafting was tedious. The shopping system was badly designed. The side quests are pointless filler. Battles were repetitive fighting most enemies and for others, they were just impossible if you weren't on a high enough level, voices were annoying, and AI was terrible.

The music and atmosphere were great though. So much that I almost put up with the rest.

Xenogears is still the best Xeno game.

Yeah, easily, without a doubt.

 

[Tyaren]

lol no

XC is one of the best JRPG ever.

XCX is a terrible and repetitive pseudo-MMO with awful music and confuse gameplay, with layer after layer of mechanics. After 80 hours enduring it I still couldn't feel in control of the gameplay like I did in Xenoblade


XC2 seems like an apology for that shit.

This.

And we still don't know which Xenoblade OP is talking about.

 

[ryushe]

I finished Xenoblade Chronicles and I still don't understand the love it gets.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and the ending is actually worth it but that game has too many valleys and not enough peaks.

Xenoblade Chronicles X though!

 

[HStallion]

That's because it is. A lot of the game is very repetitive including the side missions and what not. Still its got a cool world, some incredible music and other good parts but yeah if you can't deal with the gameplay its gonna be a slog.

 

[SkyOdin]

Are you talking about the original Xenoblade? It is trivially easy to become overleveled in that game by doing even a fraction of the copious number of available sidequests. It simply isn't a game where you need to grind.

Why are you trying to grind in the first place? Are you having difficulty somewhere? If so, you might just be struggling with understanding some of the game's character development systems or not fully grasping the combat system (which I think is really good). If you gave more detail, it might help explain your position.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

I don't think the game gets any better (or worse) the more you play on. If you feel like this atm, it's likely not your game, you should move on. The best way to play it is basically only do the fun sidequests an then move to the next area.

 

[Thud]

While it is a linear game, I felt more freedom than in most open world games.

If you don't like exploration, this won't do much for you. That feeling when reaching Gaur Plains and that sweet music.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I'm with you except I disagree that the story was even decent. It and the characters were very bland. The gem crafting was tedious. The shopping system was badly designed. The side quests are pointless filler. Battles were repetitive fighting most enemies and for others, they were just impossible if you weren't on a high enough level, voices were annoying, and AI was terrible.

The music and atmosphere were great though. So much that I almost put up with the rest.

This is pretty close to my personal feelings about the game.
Combat was interesting for a while but eventually most of the game's systems revealed themselves to be shallow and uninteresting.

Exploration kept me going much more than story.

 

[danthefan]

I got about 50 good hours out of this, realised I still had 20 or 30 to go, and stopped. Was a really good game but it's much too long.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

GAF loves Xenoblade OP, but don't let that to keep you from hating it:

Quests, inventory, craft system and the story are some of the worst I've seen in years. The battle system can make up for it or it can ruin the game to depending on how you feel about it. To me: exploring the world and the sense of discovery where enough to make me play the game until the very end, but it can be repetitive and frustrating at times.

 

[fireflame]

Well for example i had a quest where i had to collect 5 pagnes for a lady. I had to chain kill giants in the jungle for 30 minutes. The restriction i am talking about is not that much about restriction in space, thatn about what you can do to raise your team freely. Maybe i got used too much about games with second quests which had a complex plot, but yes the nature of the quest reminded me about my few months in WoW.

In areas there are generally monsters around your level, and a few monsters way too too high levelled for you, but there does not seem, mostof times, to be an in between.(eg an area with level 35-39 monsters, and a fews level 80+ monsters, but once you get above level 39, you are kind of forced to focus on main quest again)

 

[silva1991]

While it is a linear game, I felt more freedom than in most open world games.

If you don't like exploration, this won't do much for you. That feeling when reaching Gaur Plains and that sweet music.

Seriously one of the best feelings I had while playing a video game

Running in that field with that music and then rotating the camera to admire that giant gorilla beast(while still running) just felt so good to me lol.

 

[James Scott]

Stick to the main quest. Side quests aren't very good in the first game and there's enough content in the main quest.
It's pretty well designed with minimal grinding. Think only one boss is poorly designed

 

[NESpowerhouse]

lol no

XC is one of the best JRPG ever.

XCX is a terrible and repetitive pseudo-MMO with awful music and confuse gameplay, with layer after layer of mechanics. After 80 hours enduring it I still couldn't feel in control of the gameplay like I did in Xenoblade


XC2 seems like an apology for that shit.

Lol, you mean like those three tracks that everyone bitches about?

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Seriously one of the best feelings I had while playing a video game

Running in that field with that music and then rotating the camera to admire that giant gorilla beast(while still running) just felt so good to me lol.

Yeah but then there's another 60 hours after that...

 

[MetatronM]

Did you feel restricted while playing Xenoblade?

No? "Restricted" is just about the last word I would ever use to describe Xenoblade. Nor does it much resemble old-fashioned JRPGs for that matter, aside from maybe some of the more trope-y beats of the story and the fact that you reach new zones for the first time in a very linear, story-driven way.

I also don't really know what you mean by being locked into the main quest, as I was constantly leaving the main quest to go exploring and do side stuff. The game even expects you to do this. That's why some quests are timed, in that you have to do them before certain story points or lose them forever (meaning you're going to HAVE to leave the main story for a while if you want to do those quests at all, because you won't be able to come do them later), and it's why the sprawling affinity chart exists, rewarding you for talking to NPCs all over the world and doing their quests, piecing together how everybody relates to one another and what kind of side stories are going on that have absolutely nothing to do with your main quest.

That said, a lot of the side quests are of the "just collect 4 of these and you're done" sort of variety, which can get pretty repetitive at best, and most of the side quests with actual interesting writing are pretty few and far between (and mostly pretty late in the game). So I could certainly understand the complaint that it can be tedious if you're getting bogged down in those more mindless objectives.

 

[mrk8885]

Man.

I was literally about to start this game tonight. And now I'm like hmmm maybe not!

I love JRPGS but I found the tediousness of earthbound a major turnoff and I couldn't finish it. Now I fear that with this game too! I've platinumed FFXV and beat persona 5 after putting 100 hours into BOTW. I can play long games. But I'm afraid this won't keep my attention

:/

Tell me not to worry!

 

[Aaronrules380]

Man.

I was literally about to start this game tonight. And now I'm like hmmm maybe not!

I love JRPGS but I found the tediousness of earthbound a major turnoff and I couldn't finish it. Now I fear that with this game too! I've platinumed FFXV and beat persona 5 after putting 100 hours into BOTW. I can play long games. But I'm afraid this won't keep my attention

:/

Tell me not to worry!

I think it can be tedious if you try to do all the side quests, but if you keep going at your own pace and don't worry about completing side quests that are too out of your way it's fantastic

 

[Ridley327]

Man.

I was literally about to start this game tonight. And now I'm like hmmm maybe not!

I love JRPGS but I found the tediousness of earthbound a major turnoff and I couldn't finish it. Now I fear that with this game too! I've platinumed FFXV and beat persona 5 after putting 100 hours into BOTW. I can play long games. But I'm afraid this won't keep my attention

:/

Tell me not to worry!

If you managed to put all that time into those games already, I don't think that there's anything that Xenoblade can throw at you that should dissuade you.

I do feel that the complaints about the side quest variety is valid, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that 95% of them really are just unabashed MMO-style checklists without any actual context. The remaining 5% isn't all that different in terms of what you're ultimately doing, but since they have proper storylines associated with them, you probably won't feel as harshly about them.

This was something that X went to great lengths to rectify, so even though the main storyline is weaker, I felt it more than made up for it with how generally fantastic the side quests were at fleshing the world and all of the various species living on it.

 

[SomewhatGroovy]

Man.

I was literally about to start this game tonight. And now I'm like hmmm maybe not!

I love JRPGS but I found the tediousness of earthbound a major turnoff and I couldn't finish it. Now I fear that with this game too! I've platinumed FFXV and beat persona 5 after putting 100 hours into BOTW. I can play long games. But I'm afraid this won't keep my attention

:/

Tell me not to worry!

Xenoblade Chronicles?! It's one of the best games of all time. Play away.