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Xenoblade Chronicles X - Twitter & Website updates thread
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theprodigy
Member
lol guys the Famitsu score is indicative of nothing except a lack of moneyhatting
Nothing weird about that. Sidequests in Xenoblade help to understand the world, the ecosystems and the relationships between people (and different races as well). They give an incredible sense of exploration, they show you how deep and well done the lore is (especially towards the end of the game), and are very satisfying to complete. Sure, many of them are too much dispersive, and lack proper info about the location of what you're looking for, but i found the vast majority of them to add a lot to the experience. A lot.
I understand what you're saying but we're talking about Takahashi here. I'm pretty confident that the story won't disappoint and won't feel like it's "trying to be something that it's not", because this game was born as something where the plot is very important, as stated by Takahashi himself (who said it will feature a "deep sci-fi story" compared to the "basic fantasy story" in Xenoblade), and when he wants to tell something deep, he does it, and does it properly (Xenogears). Wherever i look i see improvements, aside from initial setting and music, but it's very hard to top two giant gods and that soundtrack from the original XB, so this doesn't necessarily mean that setting and music in XenoX will be bad, just not on par with something that beats pretty much anything else on the market in these particular departments. The main character doesn't talk, yes, but neither did Crono, and we all know how Chrono Trigger turned out to be. The art direction is the same as the first game but has a sci-fi tone in it, which i don't think is ruining anything for anyone, especially considering that this time it can benefit from better hardware and HD. So yeah, the score from Famitsu may not be too hot for their standards, but from what i understand their reviews aren't in depth, they're made of a few lines from 4 different reviewers who give their score to the game and the sum of this four numbers represents the final score. The magazine is supposed to be good for news and previews articles, but not for actual reviews (and stuff like Nintendogs and FFXIII getting 40/40 is there to show it), so you shouldn't worry about that as it doesn't really say anything about the game. So while i understand there are some points that can be seen as negatives (hey, every single game in history has them), the game as a whole from what we've seen until now seems to be nothing short of amazing. Then of course it can disappoint, anything can, really, but i think we have to play through the whole thing to say if it lived up to the expectations or if it wasn't what many of us expected it to be.
So? That won't lower Xenoblade's score
Other M is a different concept than the original games. FFXIII is just a bad design. Both comparison are invalid in this case, really. X is following the same concept as Xenoblade. Even the art direction is quite the same, because you brought that into the discussion, where do you see a different art direction? Just because it's a Sci-Fi instead of just Fi? The gameplay is the same, the structure is the same. Is this because it's open world? Because if that's the complain, i don't understand how you didn't like FFXIII?
It's the same game in everything with a bigger world and more quests, better fights and mechs. The music is worse in your opinion and that's fine.
We don't know too much about the story, but there is one and there are a lot of cutscenes to emphasize it. The fact that you immediately put this as "shove way too much" (although this also similar with the first game) without even knowing more about them made be draw the conclusion that you really want to hate it.
Hard to believe since Xenoblade was piss easy to begin with, the Dolls likely make certain open world encounters far simpler but there are Doll-based raid bosses that Xenoblade did not have. Set-up triple water elemental + healing gear + Dunban dodge tanking = walk away from game.
The end-game here seems far expanded upon than Xeno's.
I don't think I've ever seen a famitsu score that uses any part of the scale outside of 8-10. I'm sure they sometimes give low scores but I don't follow the magazine enough to know.
Over time, I've begun to care less and less about reviews. Generally, I'll know enough about a game to make a decision about it. This is 2015; there's information on the internet, sometimes demos etc. I rarely need a professional opinion when I can even wait until it's out and check out what other people who BOUGHT the game are saying.
That brings me to the next point. I wonder whether getting games for free and being paid to review them (with a deadline) gives professional reviewers different priorities and affects their opinions. Somewhat complicated systems and long movies may very well make a game less fun if you have to finish it and write a review by a certain date. OTOH, after I've paid $$ for the game I'd probably consider deep gameplay systems and a meaty story "value for money".
Anyway, famitsu's score is pretty good. The cutscenes would have to be very frequent and long to annoy me. That doesn't seem likely with the amount of questing that the player will need to do. In Xenoblade, cutscenes felt like a reward instead of a chore to sit through. I'm hopeful (and pretty confident) that they got the balance right again.
Over time, I've begun to care less and less about reviews. Generally, I'll know enough about a game to make a decision about it. This is 2015; there's information on the internet, sometimes demos etc. I rarely need a professional opinion when I can even wait until it's out and check out what other people who BOUGHT the game are saying.
That brings me to the next point. I wonder whether getting games for free and being paid to review them (with a deadline) gives professional reviewers different priorities and affects their opinions. Somewhat complicated systems and long movies may very well make a game less fun if you have to finish it and write a review by a certain date. OTOH, after I've paid $$ for the game I'd probably consider deep gameplay systems and a meaty story "value for money".
Anyway, famitsu's score is pretty good. The cutscenes would have to be very frequent and long to annoy me. That doesn't seem likely with the amount of questing that the player will need to do. In Xenoblade, cutscenes felt like a reward instead of a chore to sit through. I'm hopeful (and pretty confident) that they got the balance right again.
Well I hope the world bosses they talked about in the video are similar to the Superbosses from the previous game, would be disappointed in a really easy story mode, but wouldn't mind if the combat at least shines with the optional super bosses in online mode.
theprodigy
Member
Other M being different or FFXIII having bad design is irrelevant. I have already said that the gameplay part is not what's bothering me.
Look it's the same thing for a movie trailer. You don't know every detail about the story but what they've shown you can displease you and you can take a disliking of the overall idea and how it is done.
Cutscenes/storywise, I don't like how they look, how they are directed, what it is said and how it is said, and everytime they have shown something on that front I have been bored or rolled my eyes.
I don't see anything either smart, concise, interesting or even visually pleasing. As far as I'm concerned it's the opposite. It's more shit like what's in the late xenoblade parts. I have endured way too many games (especially japanese) like that to not recognize it when I see it.
Maybe it'll be like Xenoblade and the worst chunk will be confined to the later parts (after all considering who's behind it it's a given) and it'll be fine. Only this time for me characters won't get me to swallow it because bleh, they seem more annoying than anything else.
Xenoblade isn't "piss" easy lol. Unless you are actively keeping up with at least half or more of the sidequests, it's easy to end up a bit lower leveled and getting your ass whooped. Or at least I am
I probably suck at this game
You don't need Earth or Ice if Dunban never gets hit, just needs a passive to counter Spike.
Xenoblade isn't "piss" easy lol. Unless you are actively keeping up with at least half or more of the sidequests, it's easy to end up a bit lower leveled and getting your ass whooped. Or at least I am
I probably suck at this game
Agility stack Dunban. Wear only light armor. Proceed to win game. You may run into some trouble from a few of the ether bosses.
Grabbed a digital copy of the latest Dengeki Nintendo from Amazon JP. There's some details about the intial classes (Assault, Command, Forcer) branching out even further.
Probably plenty of romanization/spelling errors with some of the class names. Spoiler tagged just in case. I'll do a quick translation on what the classes specialize with later tonight, need to head out and do other stuffs.
Assaulter (assault gun & long sword) ->
Assaulter ->
Command (dual gun & dual sword) ->
Command ->
Forcer (raygun & knife) ->
Forcer ->
Probably plenty of romanization/spelling errors with some of the class names. Spoiler tagged just in case. I'll do a quick translation on what the classes specialize with later tonight, need to head out and do other stuffs.
Assaulter (assault gun & long sword) ->
Samuraigun (sp?) - > General Sword (sp?) (same weapons as Assaulter)
Shield Battler -> Heavy Striker (both use gatling gun & shield)
Sword Fang (sp?) -> Full Metal Jaguar (sp?) (same weapons as Commad)
Long Lancer -> Star Crusader (both use sniper rifle & javelin)
Psyseeker (sp?) -> Elite Planner (same weapons as Forcer)
Blast Fencer -> Galaxy Knight (both use psycho launcher and photon saber)
theSlacker
Member
I got to admit, the interaction/dialog/setup in one of the trailers with the antagonist alien lady with the weird head in the mech was cringe worthy. Trying hard not to judge too hard just on that though.
I thought Xenoblade was one of the harder JRPGs I've played. I remember having immense problems with Xord the last time you face him. I admit I kind of totally ignored some of the systems though, like gems, and I stopped doing sidequests early cause they were so exhausting, so it's possible I've been making the game way harder for myself lol
some stuff from famitsu review
-to play this enormous world and story you need time and effort
-the cutscene is too long so sometimes it feels like watching a movie
-the explanation for the world is good but too much cutscenes
-the tempo of dialogue is slow
-lack of explanations for game systems
-to play this enormous world and story you need time and effort
-the cutscene is too long so sometimes it feels like watching a movie
-the explanation for the world is good but too much cutscenes
-the tempo of dialogue is slow
-lack of explanations for game systems
That's our Xeno alright!
Seriously though I admit I'm not a fan of long cutscenes anymore but I never thought it would be a complain for this game. But what worries the most from those detail is the tempo of dialogue...
Ooccoo
Member
So no real negatives right? To me the biggest problem seems to be a lack of focus thanks to a random character (you) vs. Shulk. The game already feels like FFXII but I liked that game so I'll probably love it.
I'm having bad flashbacks from Fantasy Life reviews...
A : "The story arc is too long, it was boring"
Me : "One story is 1 hour long, that's nothing compared to the 20 hours+ of gameplay you've between each story arc, lol"
tonyh24613
Member
Sounds fair enough, considering famitsu's review always feels like they only play 10% of the game before they review it. The third point is predictable since you can already see lots of them on the official website. And you can hardly play professionally even you read all the tutorials in Xenoblade.
Xenoblade had a lot of cut scenes too. Yeah, combat was easy for the most part. Few story-based bosses presented a challenge as I remember, but the unique monsters were generally more dangerous in my experience. This is provided you weren't always over- leveled and didn't always bring the right gems to counter a monster's spike effect damage.
StarStabbedMoon
Member
All these complaints are music to my ears.
34/40 is not a bad score at all, regardless of what Assassin's Creed got, and certainly doesn't worry me (honestly I kind of love seeing polarizing games. We don't get enough of them, but until we see more reviews this isn't even close). I've learned not to put too much stock into Famitsu however, so there's still no telling how it'll rate among western critics and audiences.
Yesssss. Faith restored. Thank you, Famitsu!
Its a Xenogame. Really THE Xenogame. On the bright side, those freinds you are referring to have gotten a LOT better since xenosaga, but they will always be a large part of the experience, despite what 'custom character armageddon' conspirasts are fearing. The characters and their stories are going to be a huge part of the game.
On the otherside, its going to be balanced by a massive wealth of gameplay content. So you can take what you want, and skip what you dont, and still end up with a very content rich experience.
Vincent Grayson
Member
Would you guys say there were a lot of cutscenes in XBC? It's been a few years since I played through it, but I don't remember thinking there were a lot (and certainly not "too many"), especially compared to how cutscene-heavy the Xenosaga titles were.
Speaking of this, they didn't even comment on X's music. What's the verdict on that, Famitsu?
Compared to Xenosaga? Practically nothing.
XBC was cutscene heavy too, but what I think it did well is to have them spaced in pretty good intervals. It may take you a good bit of a walk before you'll get another cutscene rather than bombard you with them every few minutes. It's not Xenosaga-level though, because that series just have like 50% of the game in cutscenes lol.
I wanted a fair few more, myself. I suppose there are a good amount but they're spaced too far apart for my interests.
I'm that crazy niche dude who'd take another Xenosaga project though. In the grand scheme of things I would say Xenoblade had enough.
pinkurocket
Member
I do recall some lengthy expositions, not MGS long though. I looked through a playlist of all cutscenes on Youtube (here), and together they're about 10,5 hours long. It sounds like a lot, but it's not that long compared to the length of the game. However if you rush through the story, which would take you like 40 hours (?) it is a lot, I guess.
But you gotta get into Xenoblade X expecting a grand epic JRPG adventure, and with that in mind lengthy cutscenes and lots of dialogue sounds perfect.
Vincent Grayson
Member
Yeah, 10 hours out of the 100 I put into it is probably why I don't remember them begin a huge part of it.
Sounds good.
Well, except for the last part, of course. Can't say I very much like having obscure game mechanics in my JRPGs.
What?
Smoothice65
Member
This sounds like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 alright ! Cant wait !
I added up all the cut scenes from the game on Youtube which had them spread out across multiple videos of various lengths. I'll have to double check it though.
Alcoholikaust
Member
Edit:NVM
Alcoholikaust
Member
ah ok- well those numbers make sense sorry for my lame link-haha
tonyh24613
Member
Elma is
, from today's information.
29 years old
That's hilarious, those "negative" points (2 & 3 in particular), are things I was worrying wouldn't be in the game. Yay!
bobbychalkers
Member
Didn't they give MGS4 perfect scores?
theprodigy
Member
where did you find that? link if it's not a scan
Reading the Dengeki Nintendo "XenobladeX Handbook" translations from Gessenkou, and
Also,
Finally, good to hear there's a good amount of content in the game. Gonna space that out with exploration and such.
I need to get to Chapter 4 ASAP; Lao must be in my party
Also,
Doll obtained in Chapter 6? Colour me hyped.
Finally, good to hear there's a good amount of content in the game. Gonna space that out with exploration and such.
I'm so here for this and slightly screaming that this things are considered negatives =D
SoraanTribal
Member
Same here. I was more worried about the lack of a story/cutscenes than having too many. All that sounds good to me. Then again, I loved Xenogears Disc 2 and Xenosaga too.
Vincent Grayson
Member
I'm so here for this and slightly screaming that this things are considered negatives =D
I was with you up to the last bit. Poorly explained system is a negative, no matter how you slice it. Whether their definition of "poorly explained" matches mine, or yours, or other actual players is another question though.
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