Neoleo2143
Member
So Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was shown off at E3 2017 and while the showing had its issues with some questionable character design and unpolished graphical aspects, I came away from the show looking forward to the advancements from Xenoblade Chronicles' Gameplay and progression.
Xenoblade Chronicles X came across as largely divergent in combat design and gameplay progression while retaining some of the base elements of the original such as the arts palette, huge combination attacks, and location based bonuses. It was rather ambitious in all the systems that it was trying to to do even if it was insanely busted balance wise. Xenoblade 2, by comparison, is much more similar to the original but approaches the design as less an experiment and more a refinement of Xenoblade's and XCX's efforts (though there is much experimentation still)
Combat
The strengths of Xenoblade's combat were in that every character having unique aspects to their playstyle making experimentation enjoyable, the real-time movement kept playing engaging and important due to location based damage bonuses, buffs and debuffs. It Involved the core element of the story by giving a heavy role in dictating battles (the monado) in addition to allowing the player to pull off immensely satisfying combos with chain attacks. Spikes also changed up the strategy forcibly which introduced meaningful variety. Situational timing elements of the original however were the best part of it and in my opinion the most strategic and skillful.
The Weaknesses came in the form of limited party play outside chain attacks, the mechanical layering while satisfying was ultimately a bit too slow which made the experimentation less enjoyable than it could have been, auto attacks begin lacking strategic value and the UI was more difficult to read and access than it really ought to be. It was also surprisingly simple as topple locking, while a basic strategy was also a bit too dominant. In addition, while notable, the overcentralizing nature of the monado made party set ups more rigid than they should have been.
Now let's actually talk about XC2 from the basic elements up.
UI
The most significant change is the UI and I consider it a much-needed upgrade over the original. For a controller, the Arts palette was a clunky solution that needlessly increased the number of buttons that a player needed to press to do anything. Here, 3 normal arts and the blade art (will get to this later) are assigned to the face buttons while swapping between your 3 blades and a yet unknown party related function is handled by the d-pad. When your allies blade arts are available, they can be triggered with ZL and ZR, Naturally this indicates a return to the 3 person party, Switching Targets is either L or R and the function of the remaining button is probably to disengage. All the buttons have important functions that you will end up using over the course of the game and every action by the player is easily accessible within 2 button presses or less.
You are also now given explicit bars for the length that status effects last for which is important for emphasizing the timing elements of combat that we'll go into later.
Numbers in the early game are much smaller than usual both in font size and number size which I like a lot more than the bigger number of XCX and XC1. Keeps things more readable.
You can also quick swap through your equipped blades so you can quickly pick what you want to start out with in a fight. This would have been a very costly mistake if you could not do this and had to go through a menu all the time.
The Aggro ring from XC1 returns which is great. The visual information provided by the aggro ring was quite readable and was one of a number of UI aspects that did not need to change.
The last notable change is the removal of AI descriptors from enemies (that sometimes weren't that helpful). While previous games simply told you how enemies act, this time around you are asked to actually observe how each enemy works and thus gain an intuition like an adventurer. In this case, there's more depth than the other UI changes here because of the learning elements introduced by hiding information from the player. It just so happens to remove some visual clutter as well.
Auto Attacks
Auto Attacks have played an increased importance over the course of the games and they've been increased in both importance and decision making this time around following that pattern. In XC1, they were needed to power up your character's signature ability. In XCX, the player could choose between close ranged attacks that increased points needed to use certain arts and abilities but also increased aggro potential or ranged auto attacks that did the opposite. In addition, the player could run which stopped the player from auto attacking, though I think this mechanic was understated and underutilized.
XC2 in this regard borrows much from XCX with its own twists. First, off the biggest change is that you can no longer move while auto attacking. Movement in combat is also slow and therefore takes a notable amount of time. This makes auto attacking an actual choice that the player makes and can make errors on and consequently waste valuable time. Second, while auto attacking in XCX charges some of your arts, auto attacking in XC2 is needed to use any of your arts as opposed to traditional time based cool down and different arts charge at different rates which introduce some additional complexity as you would expect. Third, you can change your auto attack as changing your blade will also change your auto attacking weapon and different weapons attack at different rates with different damage potentials.
However, XC2 also notably has its own important elements that are unique. Auto attacks actually do notable damage at least in the early game. Auto attacks are now much more consistent animation wise and many are broken up into a 3 part combo that escalates in damage, with the last hit being comparable to the damage that some arts would deal. Auto attacks are also important to making your arts do more damage, by timing the use of an art after an auto attack you can power it up but this also has the effect of charging your blade art and resetting your auto attack string. Since each auto attack weapon for each blade is different in timing, the timing to power up the art is also different. This all stacks up to create the most readable and mechanically diverse auto attack system yet as it loops into every other mechanic more clearly than it has ever done before.
Arts, Blades and Blade Arts
Arts in function are really not that much different than past games aside for starting out not available. Proper timing and positioning are once again pivotal aspects of gameplay. What did get added here are new effects that each art can have. Break, Topple, Daze has been changed to Break, Topple, Launch which looks way cooler and hilarious but also has more potential following the launch as certain arts like that of Kirim's are powered up while an enemy is launched, meaning, even more, bonuses can be had with good timing (which is somewhat tight because launches are kinda short). The nature of the auto attack cooldown system also seems to make Topple locking more difficult to pull off but once again, early game footage and so may not be representative of later on. Healing arts, for the most part, have been made more interesting, however, while some mass heals remain, most healing arts spawn healing potions from the enemy that you have to move in order to collect which in turn notably slows down momentum as you interrupt your auto attack string which slows down your arts charging which slows down your blade art charging. This creates a choice between going for healing or not as the potions don't stick around and they may be in awkward spots occasionally. There's not much else to be said about this aspect as we need to get our hands on the game to see the new arts.
Blades, however, are more interesting because they exist on their own automatic timers though their arts are still charged according to your auto attacks. You're not always going to have every option and switching to another blade changes auto attacks and causes your previous blade to need to recharge. Once again, more choice making complexity. But you're also encouraged to switch blades because the switching blades with the correct timing much like properly timing your arts according to an auto attack also charge your blade arts. Ambiguous timing elements are all over the place here and mastering the system will demand understanding all of them in the middle of a chaotic fight at times with potentially different boss mechanics.
Now we get to the big new combo mechanic, Blade Arts. Blade Arts are where the Affinity QTEs of past games have gone. Blade arts can be charge from levels 1 to 3 with 3 doing the most damage and status length. Each blade has its own blade art but more importantly can combine with other blade arts. For Example, Pyra's base blade art is Flame but upon use, it creates a tree where the next options are available. Dromarch, Nia's Blade normally has Toxin as his blade art but after casting Flame, Toxin becomes Steam and has different properties than the norm. These new properties replace the old art's properties so occasionally you may want to hold off on creating the most awesome combo as quick as you can to take advantage of the effects of the blade art. In one case, following up Toxic with Virus produced some rather debilitating effects (such as randomly induced staggers and Topples) that would get immediately removed by Kirim's Plague if you choose to follow up. There is immense potential here for combinations and status effects (and once again introduces more ambiguous timing elements) so I can't wait to see what happens in more of this system.
Other Stuff
I like that Nameless NPCs no longer can be talked to. Tells me most of the Generic nameless quests are gone or something.
There are spots called "Salvage Spots", they seem special and tied to Rex's profession so I wonder what they'll do with them.
I want to see more of Driver vs Driver Boss battles since we only saw one so far and wasn't very interesting and there were some in the trailer.
The Run speed is in between XCX and XC1 which is good. I don't think you can run at 80 MPH like XCX though or super jump up mountains. Though jumping is still there.
The relatively flat Plain of Evening Calm is a relatively uneventful intro area but it is one that gives the player space to learn the systems and get introduced to some interesting enemies like the classic Territorial Rotbart. I'm hoping later areas ramp up level design complexity like Noctilum from XCX.
The town, by comparison, looked somewhat bustling and novel.
The generic boring collectibles are back but they seem specifically placed in certain spots as usual which are nice. They also give you more than one thing at a time.
There seems a Gatcha esque system for collecting new blades it seems but I don't really mind since I like randomness that takes progression in weird ways plus it can reward new abilities for going after bosses and quests. But take that as you will. There seems to be no way to save scum it since it saves the game state on assigning a new blade to a character though I don't think there are any microtransactions of any kind. There might be DLC of a bigger size later on though.
Each character seems to be able to hold a maximum of 30 ish blades.
Each blade has its own stats for defenses that augment the main character so more things to think about when switching blades.
There are way more status effects this time around than in XC1 it seems.
The affinity system of any kind seems to be gone?
Customizing armor seems to be unknown but new weapons seem unlikely given the Blade system.
There is a command for the Left button on the D-Pad that seems party related. It might be the chain attack or something else entirely. But it's definitely related to party related stuff as it was not available when Rex and Pyra were by themselves.
The Party Gauge from XC returns and spending one bar next to a KO'd character can revive them.
I don't know what other defensive mechanics are there but there was one used by a Driver that caused Rex's auto attack to bounce off.
There's a surprising amount of complexity at the start which makes me wonder about tutorials or whether it's just that this is a demo.
I can't wait for people to meet Territorial Rotbart and it seems Unique Monsters aren't going anywhere.
We don't know anything about quest design or any of that Jazz. I just hope it takes us to some interesting spots.
There seems to be some sort of conditional Buff mechanic based on what blade you have on the field. For example, the ability Eagle Eye Triggers when you miss an attack.
If anyone has more to add, please do so!
Xenoblade Chronicles X came across as largely divergent in combat design and gameplay progression while retaining some of the base elements of the original such as the arts palette, huge combination attacks, and location based bonuses. It was rather ambitious in all the systems that it was trying to to do even if it was insanely busted balance wise. Xenoblade 2, by comparison, is much more similar to the original but approaches the design as less an experiment and more a refinement of Xenoblade's and XCX's efforts (though there is much experimentation still)
Combat
The strengths of Xenoblade's combat were in that every character having unique aspects to their playstyle making experimentation enjoyable, the real-time movement kept playing engaging and important due to location based damage bonuses, buffs and debuffs. It Involved the core element of the story by giving a heavy role in dictating battles (the monado) in addition to allowing the player to pull off immensely satisfying combos with chain attacks. Spikes also changed up the strategy forcibly which introduced meaningful variety. Situational timing elements of the original however were the best part of it and in my opinion the most strategic and skillful.
The Weaknesses came in the form of limited party play outside chain attacks, the mechanical layering while satisfying was ultimately a bit too slow which made the experimentation less enjoyable than it could have been, auto attacks begin lacking strategic value and the UI was more difficult to read and access than it really ought to be. It was also surprisingly simple as topple locking, while a basic strategy was also a bit too dominant. In addition, while notable, the overcentralizing nature of the monado made party set ups more rigid than they should have been.
Now let's actually talk about XC2 from the basic elements up.
UI
The most significant change is the UI and I consider it a much-needed upgrade over the original. For a controller, the Arts palette was a clunky solution that needlessly increased the number of buttons that a player needed to press to do anything. Here, 3 normal arts and the blade art (will get to this later) are assigned to the face buttons while swapping between your 3 blades and a yet unknown party related function is handled by the d-pad. When your allies blade arts are available, they can be triggered with ZL and ZR, Naturally this indicates a return to the 3 person party, Switching Targets is either L or R and the function of the remaining button is probably to disengage. All the buttons have important functions that you will end up using over the course of the game and every action by the player is easily accessible within 2 button presses or less.
You are also now given explicit bars for the length that status effects last for which is important for emphasizing the timing elements of combat that we'll go into later.
Numbers in the early game are much smaller than usual both in font size and number size which I like a lot more than the bigger number of XCX and XC1. Keeps things more readable.
You can also quick swap through your equipped blades so you can quickly pick what you want to start out with in a fight. This would have been a very costly mistake if you could not do this and had to go through a menu all the time.
The Aggro ring from XC1 returns which is great. The visual information provided by the aggro ring was quite readable and was one of a number of UI aspects that did not need to change.
The last notable change is the removal of AI descriptors from enemies (that sometimes weren't that helpful). While previous games simply told you how enemies act, this time around you are asked to actually observe how each enemy works and thus gain an intuition like an adventurer. In this case, there's more depth than the other UI changes here because of the learning elements introduced by hiding information from the player. It just so happens to remove some visual clutter as well.
Auto Attacks
Auto Attacks have played an increased importance over the course of the games and they've been increased in both importance and decision making this time around following that pattern. In XC1, they were needed to power up your character's signature ability. In XCX, the player could choose between close ranged attacks that increased points needed to use certain arts and abilities but also increased aggro potential or ranged auto attacks that did the opposite. In addition, the player could run which stopped the player from auto attacking, though I think this mechanic was understated and underutilized.
XC2 in this regard borrows much from XCX with its own twists. First, off the biggest change is that you can no longer move while auto attacking. Movement in combat is also slow and therefore takes a notable amount of time. This makes auto attacking an actual choice that the player makes and can make errors on and consequently waste valuable time. Second, while auto attacking in XCX charges some of your arts, auto attacking in XC2 is needed to use any of your arts as opposed to traditional time based cool down and different arts charge at different rates which introduce some additional complexity as you would expect. Third, you can change your auto attack as changing your blade will also change your auto attacking weapon and different weapons attack at different rates with different damage potentials.
However, XC2 also notably has its own important elements that are unique. Auto attacks actually do notable damage at least in the early game. Auto attacks are now much more consistent animation wise and many are broken up into a 3 part combo that escalates in damage, with the last hit being comparable to the damage that some arts would deal. Auto attacks are also important to making your arts do more damage, by timing the use of an art after an auto attack you can power it up but this also has the effect of charging your blade art and resetting your auto attack string. Since each auto attack weapon for each blade is different in timing, the timing to power up the art is also different. This all stacks up to create the most readable and mechanically diverse auto attack system yet as it loops into every other mechanic more clearly than it has ever done before.
Arts, Blades and Blade Arts
Arts in function are really not that much different than past games aside for starting out not available. Proper timing and positioning are once again pivotal aspects of gameplay. What did get added here are new effects that each art can have. Break, Topple, Daze has been changed to Break, Topple, Launch which looks way cooler and hilarious but also has more potential following the launch as certain arts like that of Kirim's are powered up while an enemy is launched, meaning, even more, bonuses can be had with good timing (which is somewhat tight because launches are kinda short). The nature of the auto attack cooldown system also seems to make Topple locking more difficult to pull off but once again, early game footage and so may not be representative of later on. Healing arts, for the most part, have been made more interesting, however, while some mass heals remain, most healing arts spawn healing potions from the enemy that you have to move in order to collect which in turn notably slows down momentum as you interrupt your auto attack string which slows down your arts charging which slows down your blade art charging. This creates a choice between going for healing or not as the potions don't stick around and they may be in awkward spots occasionally. There's not much else to be said about this aspect as we need to get our hands on the game to see the new arts.
Blades, however, are more interesting because they exist on their own automatic timers though their arts are still charged according to your auto attacks. You're not always going to have every option and switching to another blade changes auto attacks and causes your previous blade to need to recharge. Once again, more choice making complexity. But you're also encouraged to switch blades because the switching blades with the correct timing much like properly timing your arts according to an auto attack also charge your blade arts. Ambiguous timing elements are all over the place here and mastering the system will demand understanding all of them in the middle of a chaotic fight at times with potentially different boss mechanics.
Now we get to the big new combo mechanic, Blade Arts. Blade Arts are where the Affinity QTEs of past games have gone. Blade arts can be charge from levels 1 to 3 with 3 doing the most damage and status length. Each blade has its own blade art but more importantly can combine with other blade arts. For Example, Pyra's base blade art is Flame but upon use, it creates a tree where the next options are available. Dromarch, Nia's Blade normally has Toxin as his blade art but after casting Flame, Toxin becomes Steam and has different properties than the norm. These new properties replace the old art's properties so occasionally you may want to hold off on creating the most awesome combo as quick as you can to take advantage of the effects of the blade art. In one case, following up Toxic with Virus produced some rather debilitating effects (such as randomly induced staggers and Topples) that would get immediately removed by Kirim's Plague if you choose to follow up. There is immense potential here for combinations and status effects (and once again introduces more ambiguous timing elements) so I can't wait to see what happens in more of this system.
Other Stuff
I like that Nameless NPCs no longer can be talked to. Tells me most of the Generic nameless quests are gone or something.
There are spots called "Salvage Spots", they seem special and tied to Rex's profession so I wonder what they'll do with them.
I want to see more of Driver vs Driver Boss battles since we only saw one so far and wasn't very interesting and there were some in the trailer.
The Run speed is in between XCX and XC1 which is good. I don't think you can run at 80 MPH like XCX though or super jump up mountains. Though jumping is still there.
The relatively flat Plain of Evening Calm is a relatively uneventful intro area but it is one that gives the player space to learn the systems and get introduced to some interesting enemies like the classic Territorial Rotbart. I'm hoping later areas ramp up level design complexity like Noctilum from XCX.
The town, by comparison, looked somewhat bustling and novel.
The generic boring collectibles are back but they seem specifically placed in certain spots as usual which are nice. They also give you more than one thing at a time.
There seems a Gatcha esque system for collecting new blades it seems but I don't really mind since I like randomness that takes progression in weird ways plus it can reward new abilities for going after bosses and quests. But take that as you will. There seems to be no way to save scum it since it saves the game state on assigning a new blade to a character though I don't think there are any microtransactions of any kind. There might be DLC of a bigger size later on though.
Each character seems to be able to hold a maximum of 30 ish blades.
Each blade has its own stats for defenses that augment the main character so more things to think about when switching blades.
There are way more status effects this time around than in XC1 it seems.
The affinity system of any kind seems to be gone?
Customizing armor seems to be unknown but new weapons seem unlikely given the Blade system.
There is a command for the Left button on the D-Pad that seems party related. It might be the chain attack or something else entirely. But it's definitely related to party related stuff as it was not available when Rex and Pyra were by themselves.
The Party Gauge from XC returns and spending one bar next to a KO'd character can revive them.
I don't know what other defensive mechanics are there but there was one used by a Driver that caused Rex's auto attack to bounce off.
There's a surprising amount of complexity at the start which makes me wonder about tutorials or whether it's just that this is a demo.
I can't wait for people to meet Territorial Rotbart and it seems Unique Monsters aren't going anywhere.
We don't know anything about quest design or any of that Jazz. I just hope it takes us to some interesting spots.
There seems to be some sort of conditional Buff mechanic based on what blade you have on the field. For example, the ability Eagle Eye Triggers when you miss an attack.
If anyone has more to add, please do so!
