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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 previews

duckroll

Member
Why is November impossible? ARMS's release date was announced just a little over two months before it came out.

I expect at least a 3 months window for preorders, especially in Japan, given that this is a core RPG which is generally heavily front loaded. It's not something that can depend on legs to sell. Plus, I expect it to have an LE of some sort.
 
Only real concern I have about the game now is story, characters, and voice acting. I don't particularly like the character designs for the main two and the voice acting from the trailer was... spotty at best, world design, combat, and general gameplay look excellent though.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Can you, like, for real, explain how these games work from a battle system perspective? Do I control inputs? How does action selection work? Is it active or passive I can not grasp it at all from anything I have seen. I really like sci-fi and RPGs as well, sorta want an RPG hard for the Switch too.

You control you players movement, but you can only attack while standing still.
The game will automatically do basic attatcks, but the real meat of the combat system is in using special attacks and trying to chain them together into combos. These are done via hotkey style button presses.



Edit. The combat system in Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 all appear to be slightly different. So i'm not sure how XC2s system will fully work.

Most describe Xenoblade Chronicles combat as MMO like
 
Why is November impossible? ARMS's release date was announced just a little over two months before it came out.

Even putting aside the whole tightness angle, there's a lot of other things happening in November.

- Third-party games/ports like Skyrim, LA Noire on Switch
- Games like COD on other consoles to contend with
- Nintendo pushing Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon on 3DS, Zelda DLC on Switch
- Super Mario Odyssey will pretty much do a ton of its sales in November thanks to Black Friday. October 27 will grab hardcore players and early adopters. Newcomers buying a Switch in November will get Mario then.
- They could also do a Switch bundle or something around then too. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would be a good choice.

December is a nice, clear time for Xenoblade 2 to come out. It worked well for Xenoblade X in NA/PAL too. It was pretty clear even by E3 that if Xenoblade 2 makes 2017, it more or less has to be December by default.
 
Can you, like, for real, explain how these games work from a battle system perspective? Do I control inputs? How does action selection work? Is it active or passive I can not grasp it at all from anything I have seen. I really like sci-fi and RPGs as well, sorta want an RPG hard for the Switch too.

It's basically like an MMO. You only directly control one character and the others are controlled by AI. You have auto attacks that are your primary way of inflicting damage and then you have special attack that have cooldown periods where you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can use them again. You also have agro which is basically who the monster focus their attacks on. Positioning also matters because certain special attacks grant bonuses if you use them in certain positions. Back attack, side attack etc. They also fill the party guage if you actuvate the special effect which we will get to later. You also have status effects called break and topple (in xenoblade 2 you also have launch and smash in addition to break and topple). Break puts an enemy in a vulnerable positio where if you hit them with a toppling move they basically can't act. So it's a big advantage.

In Xenoblade Chronicles you're auto attacks charge you character specific special ability. Those abilities sorta guide what each character is about. So Shulk can use his ability which is Monado Arts. He is kind of your all around character. Reyn is a tank and his special ability draws agro etc etc. You also have a meter called the party gauge. It has 3 levels. You use this guage to revive fallen characters in battle. You can also use it to trigger chain attacks. Chain attacks basically give you full control of each characters actions for a turn with bonus effects for matching certain types of attacks.

To put it all together in combat auto attacks charge special abilitlies. Special avilities charge the party gauge and also are used as a way to inflict character specifc effects. Tge party guage helps you revive characters or use chain attacks which help you do big damage or inflict status effects on enemies.

That is the basis of it. It will vary a bit in XC2 but this is basically the just of it.
 
So pretty much we need a Fall Nintendo Direct before September ends.

Nintendo will do be doing a Direct the week of Tokyo Game Show (two weeks from now), just as they always do. At this point it feels like it's gonna be, literally like a December 30th release though.
 

Fireblend

Banned
I think I'm in for any special edition unless it's literally a pile of trash.

A Xeno-focused direct during TGS would be so good. Really hope. It happens. Late November/early December would be dope.
 
Even putting aside the whole tightness angle, there's a lot of other things happening in November.

- Third-party games/ports like Skyrim, LA Noire on Switch
- Games like COD on other consoles to contend with
- Nintendo pushing Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon on 3DS, Zelda DLC on Switch
- Super Mario Odyssey will pretty much do a ton of its sales in November thanks to Black Friday. October 27 will grab hardcore players and early adopters. Newcomers buying a Switch in November will get Mario then.
- They could also do a Switch bundle or something around then too. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would be a good choice.

December is a nice, clear time for Xenoblade 2 to come out. It worked well for Xenoblade X in NA/PAL too. It was pretty clear even by E3 that if Xenoblade 2 makes 2017, it more or less has to be December by default.
More games on competing platforms will not mean them cutting back on releases. Also I dont think they will delay because of third party ports.

The main factor is how ready the game itself is.
 
More games on competing platforms will not mean them cutting back on releases. Also I dont think they will delay because of third party ports.

The main factor is how ready the game itself is.

Those are just a couple factors I listed. The other ones involving Nintendo's own other releases are important to consider along with them.

Nintendo also sit on finished games in order to find more strategic launch windows all the time. At E3 they admitted Samus Returns was actually already done. Xenoblade 2 could easily be done in time for November but they would still go with whatever release window makes the most business sense to them.
 

WestEgg

Member
Out of curiosity, why is everyone so absolutely sure this game will be delayed? Even Gamexplain in their Direct predictions video said they're expecting a delay against all evidence. I mean, I understand that past games have been delayed, but it seems they're doing absolutely everything they can to communicate to a Holiday date instead of a general "sometime this year" like BotW had. It just seems too specific and too close now for them to pull a last minute delay.
 

Scrawnton

Member
I could see them either putting it out right before Christmas or dropping it to January sometime.

So February 2018 then?
Didn't XCX drop the first week of December? I can't see why that can't happen again. I think if this game was going to be delayed to next year Nintendo wouldn't have doubled (tripled or quadrupled) down on a 2017 release date at gamescon. They know that promising a 2017 release date all year just to do a last minute delay is bad for business.

IF there would've been a delay it would've been at E3 or gamescon, not in a Direct that's supposed to be good news.
 

MomoQca

Member
Out of curiosity, why is everyone so absolutely sure this game will be delayed? Even Gamexplain in their Direct predictions video said they're expecting a delay against all evidence. I mean, I understand that past games have been delayed, but it seems they're doing absolutely everything they can to communicate to a Holiday date instead of a general "sometime this year" like BotW had. It just seems too specific and too close now for them to pull a last minute delay.

Because they disregard all evidence, no matter how convincing they are.
 
Out of curiosity, why is everyone so absolutely sure this game will be delayed? Even Gamexplain in their Direct predictions video said they're expecting a delay against all evidence. I mean, I understand that past games have been delayed, but it seems they're doing absolutely everything they can to communicate to a Holiday date instead of a general "sometime this year" like BotW had. It just seems too specific and too close now for them to pull a last minute delay.

Because it's September and the game has barely had any promotion, the game performance we've seen so far is pretty janky (though they insist it's a build from before e3), and rememberin how long it took 1 and X to be released after their announcement.

Isn't there a direct tomorrow? Will we get a release date during it?

If we don't get a date this week or next I'm assuming it isn't making the 2017 release.
 

Ridley327

Member
Because it's September and the game has barely had any promotion, the game performance we've seen so far is pretty janky (though they insist it's a build from before e3), and rememberin how long it took 1 and X to be released after their announcement.
Nintendo really isn't about the long hype cycle for games these days, largely due to how long it took for their Wii U projects to release.
 

Harpoon

Member
Because it's September and the game has barely had any promotion, the game performance we've seen so far is pretty janky (though they insist it's a build from before e3), and rememberin how long it took 1 and X to be released after their announcement.

Not really seeing how this has had any less promotion than a lot of other Nintendo games three months or so out from their release dates. It's had a couple of trailers and also previews at E3, Gamescom, PAX... seems like the norm to me.
 

Shahadan

Member
Because it's September and the game has barely had any promotion, the game performance we've seen so far is pretty janky (though they insist it's a build from before e3), and rememberin how long it took 1 and X to be released after their announcement.



If we don't get a date this week or next I'm assuming it isn't making the 2017 release.

Regardless of the year it'll be released it's a xenoblade game you can bet that framerate will be shit in a few huge areas
 

Ridley327

Member
It's not so much "long hype cycle" as it is "any hype cycle at all"

They're just now starting to get into the advertising for Fire Emblem Warriors, which amusingly is having its final character reveals just a couple of days before it releases in Japan. This really isn't anything new for them.
 

Malyse

Member
I expect at least a 3 months window for preorders, especially in Japan, given that this is a core RPG which is generally heavily front loaded. It's not something that can depend on legs to sell. Plus, I expect it to have an LE of some sort.

I think that with what Square Enix is doing with FF15, (and to a different extent what is happening with Breath of the Wild), Xenoblade 2 could manufacture legs for itself.
Isn't there a direct tomorrow? Will we get a release date during it?

Soraya Saga retweeted it, so...
 
They're just now starting to get into the advertising for Fire Emblem Warriors, which amusingly is having its final character reveals just a couple of days before it releases in Japan. This really isn't anything new for them.

Warriors was announced the same day as Xenoblade 2, they gave a full reveal at the end of May, and have been trickling out new information and revealing new characters roughly every two weeks since then. That's four months of promotion for Japan.
 

ika

Member
Out of curiosity, why is everyone so absolutely sure this game will be delayed? Even Gamexplain in their Direct predictions video said they're expecting a delay against all evidence. I mean, I understand that past games have been delayed, but it seems they're doing absolutely everything they can to communicate to a Holiday date instead of a general "sometime this year" like BotW had. It just seems too specific and too close now for them to pull a last minute delay.
Because some unreasonable people thinks that XC and XCX were delayed multiple times, which is false: XC was not planned to be released on US and after European success they decided to release it years after; and XCX was just pushed back a few months in Japan, but the game didn't ship globally so they think XC2 will do something similar.

Contrary to the popular belief on NeoGAF, XC series are NOT known to be usually delayed.
 

Ridley327

Member
Warriors was announced the same day as Xenoblade 2, they gave a full reveal at the end of May, and have been trickling out new information and revealing new characters roughly every two weeks since then. That's four months of promotion for Japan.

Nintendo isn't doing the promotion for the game in Japan, as they're not publishing it. In the west, we get a trailer every so often and a trade show demonstration, and that's about it.

And that's on top of other games they've done this year with super short marketing cycles, for both software and new hardware. It's just how they roll.
 

Reki

Member
Because some unreasonable people thinks that XC and XCX were delayed multiple times, witch is false: XC was not planned to be released on US and after European success they decided to release it years after; and XCX was just pushed back a few months in Japan, but the game didn't ship globally so they think XC2 will do something similar.

Contrary to the usual belief on NeoGAF, XC series are NOT known to be usually delayed.

While that's true, another precedent is that both XC and XCX had long dev times (including localization). That's why everyone was surprised when a new entry was announced for this year, even though having the engine can help a lot.

I don't think it'll be delayed, just to be clear.
 

Malyse

Member
While that's true, another precedent is that both XC and XCX had long dev times (including localization). That's why everyone was surprised when a new entry was announced for this year, even though having the engine can help a lot.

I don't think it'll be delayed, just to be clear.

GamesBeat: With Zelda moving into next year, it seems like Xenoblade Chronicles X is a tentpole release for the Wii U this holiday. Does that add any more pressure for you?

Takahashi: To be honest, I don’t feel much pressure in this situation. Maybe it’s just one of my idiosyncrasies, but as soon as I’ve finished a development project, all I can think about is the next one.

GamesBeat: Are you already working on your next game?

Takahashi: Yes, that’s always the case, every time

https://venturebeat.com/2015/06/22/...or-on-building-an-rpg-for-multiple-audiences/

As of June 22, 2015, Takahashi was working on his next game.
 

Reki

Member

It's known that work on XC2 started before the launch of XCX (April of that year). However...

Iwata Asks said:
Takahashi: Yes, that's right. We began by making models of the two titanic gods, Bionis and Mechonis, and the planning developed from there.
Iwata: At what point did you make the models?
Takahashi: In July of 2006.

It's true that full production probably started later, as Yamagami recognizes in the same interview:

Yamagami said:
So from the latter stages of the development of Disaster, we were steadily moving towards the development of Xenoblade Chronicles.

And that game released in 2008. Moving to X...

Takahashi said:
After the completion of the previous Xenoblade, when I told [Hitoshi] Yamagami-san’s team at Nintendo that I wanted to create something a little more sci-fi using Xenoblade as a base, they said it could be worth the challenge.

So around 2~3 years for the first one and more than 4 for the second (almost 5 in the worst case). Even if they started at the beggining of 2015, that's almost 3 years for their new HD game, considerably less than their last one, which had to cut ideas like the NLA reconstruction due to resources.

Again, they have the engine and know-how now, so I believe it's reasonable for a release this year, but I wouldn't be surprised at the doubts considering their past development cycles.
 
Because it's September and the game has barely had any promotion, the game performance we've seen so far is pretty janky (though they insist it's a build from before e3), and rememberin how long it took 1 and X to be released after their announcement.

Hm, in my perception, XC2 is already quite present in the Switch news section. Points to a 2017 release imo. Would be rather silly to miss holiday season with a front loaded title like this. You never know for 100% of course.
 

Fireblend

Banned
At this point I'm willing to do an avatar bet that it will release in 2017. No way they miss the Winter release window after repeating it this many times.
 

nelo_inc

Member
Xenoblade Chronicles is one of my favourite games, that OST alone..

I got Xenoblade Chronicles X, but barely played it, what's intriguing me is how did they
were able to make this game so quickly?
I mean isn't this the same team?
 
Xenoblade Chronicles is one of my favourite games, that OST alone..

I got Xenoblade Chronicles X, but barely played it, what's intriguing me is how did they
were able to make this game so quickly?
I mean isn't this the same team?

It started development in early 2015, plus they got most of the engine work out of the way and they're reusing assets and base models from both Xenoblade and X.
 
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