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[JustSomeone]

I still can't get over my disappointment with the first xenoblade. I have been waiting years for another masterpiece from the creators of the baten kaitos series, and all I got was this lousy game. It didn't help that operation rainfall hyped it like hell.

 

[supermetfreud]

I think the most crushingly disappointing thing for me so far is how little mech customization there seems to be. I was so ready to trick out all of my Skells and make them look like dingy, fucked up military mechs, but the options are just super underwhelming so far. There's such a dearth of compelling equipment and armor.

 

[MomoQca]

Here we go again. This is like the FIFTH topic you've made here on NeoGAF. You claim to enjoy the game for certain things, but yet you constantly trash the game all the time.

I've asked you before but didn't get an answer, so I'll repeat this - is there anything you like about this game?

 

[djplaeskool]

You'll get over it. I eventually did.
Just give it some time.
*sigh* Just give it some time...

 

[RedZaraki]

It was a step back in a lot of area, yeah. I actually preferred the character customization stuff in the first game a lot more.

 

[Dee Dee]

I agree with a lot of the criticism, but I put around 120 hours into the game, which I thouroughly enjoyed and wouldn't want to spend any other way. I never managed to beat the boss in chapter 8 (or 9?), but I hope to finish it eventually. The flaws are apparent, with the music and the lackluster story and facial animations being the most glaring to me. Still, a lot of the side characters grew on me, especially Gwin for some reason, as well as H.B. and of course L. Not Tatsu though, never Tatsu.

It's one of those "it gets good 12 hours in" games, which is clearly never a sign of good game design. The game lacked many convenience features, i.e. volume controls for the BGM, font size options, loot tables and a way to track monster populations on the huge map, quest markers for collectibles... This thread will fill the list.

But still to this day I sometimes just throw it on and walk around Sylvalum a bit every once in a while. The world design is really powerful stuff. Shame about the way the main quests are handled, but the freedom of exploration you gain from it was clearly something else.

 

[Greddleok]

The soundtrack was great, I've never laughed so hard at a soundtrack before. Really unique and dumb.

The story...yeah, it was terrible. The characters were insufferable.

 

[bulletbill10]

I really enjoyed the music for the game. I feel like it gave the game a lot of character and stood out in my mind. I wished they would have changed the sound mixing in the cutscenes though, sometimes the lyrical track covers up the dialog.


I enjoyed the story, but wish it had been a bit more... densely packed? There are some interesting twists and beats, but they are so far apart, and don't really get followed up on as well as they should in the actual story.

Spoiler

Getting my whole arm ripped off in that fight

and then finding out that

Spoiler

everyone was a robot

really threw me for a loop, but then the story didn't really address that. Since ending the game I have run across side stories that flesh out that idea a bit more, but it's hard to separate the interesting missions from the ones that are, say, fighting a monster that was hand raised by a guy.

Related to that, the sidequests are where it really shines overall. When I started the game, I thought they were all throwaway missions, but most of them have some minor change to the world, or reveal some intriguing mystery. Exploration is really key to this game too. I went in relatively blind, so I had no idea about the world. The first few times exploring, I thought "can I really go all the way out there?" and I could! It just took forever to swim across an ocean, and I had to dodge level 90 enemies by jumping across the rocks on the side of a mountain. Every upgrade to your exploration (skells, and then flight) feels like it makes it a whole new game.

I think the game is very good at feeling mysterious, which can be unfulfiling when it's all over because things don't get wrapped up. There are still some glaring unresolved plots. I'm really hoping for a follow-up.

 

[dtm808]

GAF is the only place boring enough to think a game as dull as XCX is any good.

Good to know you have such superior intellect that what you say is automatically a fact. If you do not like it that's ok, but why act like an asshole about it.

Anyway, this is like the third thread i think we have had on someone not liking XCX.

 

[Kysen]

That was a) in the first game and b) anything but rubbish.

I never had a wii or used one.

 

[botty]

GAF is the only place boring enough to think a game as dull as XCX is any good.

Most... I'd say 95% of gaf didn't buy XCX. It's a very small population of people here who praise it.... Often Nintendo stans

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

I hate the story, the characters, the switch from British dub to American dub, the switch from ACE+ to the Linkin Park rap rock rhythms of commercial-sounding Sawano music, the abundance of collectable quests (an absolute slog!), the switch from a defined protagonist to a blank slate avatar, the Saturday morning anime writing, the forgettable antagonists, Tatsu, Lao.

It's my least favourite Xeno game. I hope Takahashi really knocks it out of the park with his next game because another XCX & I'm ready to leave the Xeno (meta)series behind.

Sawano has turned into a gimmick ;___;
I used really like his scores.

 

[Messofanego]

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

 

[Born2Live]

Wanted to love it but something about it didn't click with me. Started to get bored 20 hours in and couldn't bring myself to play it anymore. I learned a valuable lesson with XCX, and that was never to buy a console for one game!

 

[TheMoon]

I never had a wii or used one.

You have/had a Wii U (since I assume you playex XCX, hence the comments) which means you have/had a Wii

Here we go again. This is like the FIFTH topic you've made here on NeoGAF. You claim to enjoy the game for certain things, but yet you constantly trash the game all the time.

I've asked you before but didn't get an answer, so I'll repeat this - is there anything you like about this game?

Oh wow, you're right. OP clearly has some kind of xenotrauma.

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

No? People just want, expect, and like different things.

 

[keero16]

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

Yep, because mecha combat turned out to be kind of dumb.

At least I personally preferred ground combat

 

[-Horizon-]

Most... I'd say 95% of gaf didn't buy XCX. It's a very small population of people here who praise it.... Often Nintendo stans

Glad to know I'm a stan I guess?

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

Not for me.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Horses for courses i suppose. I'm really enjoying it and the English dub is a breath of fresh air to me as i'm a brit and it's nice to hear non-american accents for a change.

I can see how some won't take to it though.

edit: Ha ha ha ha, just read some of the later comments. Only Nintendo-stans can like it? ha ha ha. Comedy Gold.

 

[jrush64]

Well I just got into it and I am also extremely disappointed in it. It doesn't even come close to the original.

I'm on chapter 6 so I hope it picks up though.

 

[Koozek]

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

It's frustrating. Xenoblade Chronicles is my favourite Ninte do game ever, but I didn't play more than 10 hours of X. It doesn't help that it came at a time where I couldn't get into a huge game that takes a long time, but if it were engrossing enough I couls have beat it. I still like it and I plan to beat it one day, but what a nise dive coming after the first one. Quote disappointing. The whole structure of the game felt wrong.

 

[BlueEyedBeast]

While I certainly agree that some elements of the game are an acquired taste, I thoroughly enjoyed every last hour I put into the game and can feel an itch for a second playthrough in the near future.

I like the MMO feel and the fact that so many of the game systems tie into one another appeals to the spirit of efficiency that rests deep within me.

 

[Fandangox]

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

The funny thing is that the exploration is possibly the game's strongest aspect, but getting the mech just ruins the whole "lost in an uncharted planet" feel. It ruins the way the exploration is approached too, part of the fun was finding ways to reach new areas on foot, and getting around the high level enemies. Also they completely murder the good exploration music once they are usable thanks to the odd way the music was implemented in this game.

Yep, because mecha combat turned out to be kind of dumb.

At least I personally preferred ground combat

Ground Gear was definitely better, especially once Overdrive became a thing. The mechs look pretty cool though, and flying around with them still feels fun.

 

[Clov]

Only area I was really disappointed in was the music. The original Xenoblade's music was much better, I thought. Well, that and I missed the British accents from the original's dub. I found the original Xenoblade's plot to be pretty silly and nothing special in the first place, so I didn't care about X's that much. Is the story worse? Definitely, but I didn't mind. That's because I still had a lot of fun with the game itself.

I loved the massive world, the main and side missions were enjoyable, and the mechs were pretty fun to use. It felt great just to fly around in them! Some of the missions were pretty challenging too. I remember having so much trouble on that side mission where you have to fight the

Spoiler

Rexo-Skell without your own Skell.

Tough, but enjoyable.

Overall it was a disappointment in some aspects, but exceeded my expectations in others. I think there's a lot Monolith could improve upon in a sequel, so I'm looking forward to whatever they're making next.

 

[Madao]

it's funny to me since i played the first Xenoblade first and stopped before 20 hours and for XCX i only finally put it down after spending 400+ hours and doing everything that could be done (except farming some useless weapons)

i guess different strokes for different people.

 

[Greddleok]

I just wish the quest for the mech wasn't so boring. I put it down with 1 thing left to do thinking "I'll do it this weekend" and that was like 3 months ago.

 

[Garlador]

Right now... yeah, I'm in a similar boat.

Xenoblade Chronicles, to my surprise, became my favorite game of all time, dethroning Ocarina of Time's long reign. The visuals, music, story, characters, gameplay, world... it all worked for me.

Xenoblade Chronicles X was an insta-buy and I gladly snatched up the Collector's edition. I heard it was a tad lighter on story, but it still looked great, the gameplay looked familiar, and the art direction was off the hook (sans weird character models).

... But... after 10 hours or so... I just don't love it.

The voice acting is servicable, but a big step back from the British voice cast (and the way they pronounce Nopon as "No-pon" instead of "Nah-pon" bugs me far more than it should). The cast thus far is exceedingly bland. The story I'm sure picks up, but after ten hours feels utterly aimless and directionless. The world is pretty but doesn't feel as cohesive as Xenoblade's was; it's pretty but far less engaging to traverse. The MMO quest system, one of Xenoblade's weaker elements, is even worse in XBX. Things that were simply and clean in the original, such as choosing party members, are no convoluted and time-consuming (you have to run around the city to pick who you want in your party at any given time). A lot of mechanics are poorly explained. The music alternates from pretty good to downright awful ("Unnngh.... yeah.... unghhh.... yeah..."). The lack of a strong central protagonist hurts (Elma isn't half-bad, but my main character feels so inessential).

Small quirk for me that is actually my pet peeve, but the camera seems outright broken in this game. No matter how many settings I adjust, the camera speed alternates from a snail's pace to whipping around like it's controlled by a drunk monkey. I have no idea why the camera doesn't rotate or turn at a consistent speed and I haven't been able to ever get it to track properly. It works just fine in Xenoblade Chronicles, but it's a mess in XBX to the point I feel like my copy is bugged.

 

[Dark_castle]

How dare you insult Sawano da g0d.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Everybody has a game in a series they love that hurts them in ways that never heal.

For me, it's Dead Space 3.

For a friend of mine, it's Halo 5.

For you, it's XCX.

But it gets better. Don't give up. Nobody can ever take the games you did enjoy away from you.~~~

 

[Letep]

The game is so big. I was playing it a lot upon release, never got so far as to get a mech, but I kept reading it should be approached as an MMO. Idk. Beautiful game, but I just haven't gotten too into it.

 

[Sylas]

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

I started giggling like a dumb idiot when I got my mecha and it gave me a feeling that a lot of JRPGs have failed to instill since they got rid of grand overworld exploration in lieu of more ground-driven experiences (i'm talking about FF games giving you airships/vehicles mostly). I adored Xenoblade Chronicles X and absolutely loathed Xenoblade Chronicles so, hey.

For every single thing you didn't like I loved the game, really. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the collectible stuff--but even then I just didn't do it. Plus, Xenoblade Chronicles was rife with shitty sidequests. The recommended way to play the game is to ignore most of the quests!

 

[nynt9]

Weren't people losing their shit over only just the mechas? That it'd be GOTY?

Does the game lose that awe?

What looks good in a gif doesn't always translate to what is fun to play, especially what looks good in a 2 second gif generally doesn't translate to what is fun to play for 60-80 hours.

 

[oni-link]

After I got over my initial disappointment (It wasn't the sequel I wanted from Xenoblade) I had a good time with it, took me 85 hours to beat it

I did all the side quests I wanted to, and the world was an amazing place to explore, but overall the story was sadly lacking, as were the characters

It's a fantastic open world game and it looks beautiful but the music is extremely inconsistent and the best tracks are rarely ever heard for more than a few seconds at a time

It would have fared better if it was released as a new IP and not under the Xenoblade name.

Calling it Xenoblade X was just inviting comparisons with the first game, and it's an altogether different beast

 

[jrush64]

Also fuck Tatsu!! Ricki was annoying enough but Tatsu is just a million times worse.

 

[E_Darkness]

I was never disappointed. I never expected a Xenoblade 2. The only thing I didn't like about Xenoblade X was the story and the characters. But the world exploration and combat were what made me keep playing. The story and characters acted more like a framework so the game would move forward.

One of the reasons I got a WiiU and I still don't regret it.

 

[Dunkley]

Xenoblade X is good on its' own merits, issues are just that almost none of them intertwine with what made Xenoblade Chronicles good short of exploration which X massively expanded on.

Honestly I think the best way to see Xenoblade X is how a western developer would have approached gameplay. Instead of a linear story there's quests of varying levels you take up in this massive open world until you get to the next main mission, and if you see it as that and not a better Xenoblade Chronicles it's pretty enjoyable.

At least I expected to be way more disappointed with X than I ended up, it's not Xenoblade Chronicles beyond just the combat, but the class system, combat changes, Skells and the relatively non-linear approach to storytelling with the affinity missions coming inbetween the main story segment made me appreciate what X was for what it is.

Soundtrack's tolerable too, although it lost some points with me when I found out some of those tracks are meant to be in German. I mean as a native speaker I couldn't even understand the singing even while reading the freaking lyrics because just about everything about the pronunciation is wrong by every extent. It's so bad and honestly really ruined part of the OST for me since I have heard a lot of bad attempts at singing in German but honestly they didn't even fucking try with these tracks as the singer literally tries to pronounce the entire German text in English while screwing that up too. Makes me salty all over again just thinking how bad those tracks are.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Also fuck Tatsu!! Ricki was annoying enough but Tatsu is just a million times worse.

Fuck him!? No! You're supposed to marinade and then eat him! Did you pay no attention at all during the game?

I like Tatsu, well, i don't hate him so i'd say i'm apathetic about Tatsu.

 

[Messofanego]

What looks good in a gif doesn't always translate to what is fun to play, especially what looks good in a 2 second gif generally doesn't translate to what is fun to play for 60-80 hours.

A satisfying mechanic or system can translate to still being fun over that many hours. It seems that it wasn't the case here.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

If it makes you feel better Takahashi said he's probably going to backpeddle on the lack of story focus if XCX2 happens

 

[skypunch]

Soundtrack's tolerable too, although it lost some points with me when I found out some of those tracks are meant to be in German. I mean as a native speaker I couldn't even understand the singing even while reading the freaking lyrics because just about everything about the pronunciation is wrong by every extent. It's so bad and honestly really ruined part of the OST for me since I have heard a lot of bad attempts at singing in German but honestly they didn't even fucking try with these tracks as the singer literally tries to pronounce the entire German text in English while screwing that up too. Makes me salty all over again just thinking how bad those tracks are.

Sawano is absolutely God awful. There's a distinct lack of thought & substance that goes into his music. And his music always leads to the same thing. Absolutely atrocious composer. I wish the world would rid itself of his music. He's only good for producing commercial-sounding shlock.

 

[PulseONE]

Well I was gonna get this, but now this thread is making me rethink it :/

Also fuck Tatsu!! Ricki was annoying enough but Tatsu is just a million times worse.

More annoying than Ricki? That's...an achievement

 

[Dunkley]

A satisfying mechanic or system can translate to still being fun over that many hours. It seems that it wasn't the case here.

Depends on who you ask, personally for me Skell traversal just turned out to be as awesome as the gifs hinted at, combat in Skells was meh but I can't say I spent a minute of playtime traversing in a Skell where I didn't feel completely badass.

 

[EhoaVash]

I loved it. It started out pretty slow but man exploring the landscape of the game was really fun.

Only thing I didn't like is the finale of the game. Story felt Super rushed at the end.

 

[Piers]

Mentioned it before, but enemy placement constantly stopped me from 'relaxing' into the experience. If they could perhaps give you a countdown before the battle begins, that would of saved a lot of unwarranted deaths. You are exploring a hostile alien planet, but it shouldn't feel like MGSV either.

 

[Memory]

Other than the soundtrack I like it more than the first Xenoblade.

This, I genuinely loved this game and played the shit out of it.

 

[Serge85]

I loved the game, it is awesome, not as good as xenoblade chronicles, but it's right there.

 

[Calvero]

Vastly prefer it to Xenoblade

 

[Akhe]

Well...I'm still playing it = D

 

[SoraanTribal]

The game as a whole is pretty good, but it was a big disappointment compared to the first Xenoblade for me. The first one was magical - loved the characters, the world (one of the best in gaming imo - the concept is just so damn unique/cool), the story, the music (one of my favorite soundtracks), and the battles were fun too (not perfect, but fun). I feel like Xenoblade X really only had a great world and decent battle system. The characters were meh - kinda boring and only Elma was particularly interesting (and even she was very flat most of the time). The villains were... very meh - they didn't really even get much screen time to develop and make me see them as a real threat. Didn't care for most of the music; there are some pretty good tracks here and there. The story had potential, but it never really took off for me until the VERY end of the game and at that point, all it did was

Spoiler

set up for a sequel

.

If they continue with it, I hope Takahashi goes back to making the story a primary focus like it was in his other games. I found the first Xenoblade to be a near perfect balance of lots of gameplay with a lot of story to go along with it. X just lacked an interesting narrative and felt extremely barebones.

 

[Zalman]

Oh wow, you're right. OP clearly has some kind of xenotrauma.

Alright OP, we get it.