• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 |OT| On the backs of Titans we go!

Kimawolf

Member


tumblr_ojqo3ibaZ11vnqygwo9_500.gif


Platform: Switch
Release: December 1
Developers: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Price 59.99
Season Pass YES​

SYNOPSIS:

As the giant beasts march toward death, the last hope is a scavenger named Rex—and Pyra, a living weapon known as a Blade. Can you find the fabled paradise she calls home?
Command a group of Blades and lead them to countless strategic victories before the world ends.

During these escapades you'll get to know a large cast of eclectic characters, including the weaponized life forms known as Blades.
Gather these allies, bond with them to increase their power, and utilize their special ARTS to devastate enemies. But to save the world of Alrest, you must first demystify its cloudy past.



FEATURES

  • A new story in the Xenoblade Chronicles™ series
  • The next adventure is on the Nintendo Switch™ console—set on the backs of colossal, living Titans
  • Discover each Titan's diverse regions, culture, wildlife, equipment, and hidden secrets
  • Find, bond with, and command weaponized life forms known as Blades to earn abilities and enhance them
  • Uncover the history of Alrest and the mystery of its endless ocean of clouds

COMBAT



Xenoblade 2 combat works on a duo system of drivers and blades. Drivers are those in control, and use the blade to get access to special skills called Arts. These arts are the keys to your success. There are regular arts which are auto attacks, and special arts, combos.

MAIN CAST


https://imgbb.com/

Rex- is the main protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is a Driver who harnesses the power of a Blade named Pyra. She is also known as the legendary sword Aegis for which Rex is devoted to protect it. Together with Pyra, he goes on a quest to find her long-lost home, Elysium. Due to the Aegis' duality, Rex can drive the other incarnation of the weapon, the Blade Mythra.
Rex has been designed by Masatsugu Saitō.

Prya- is the heroine of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. She is a Special Blade who grants tremendous fire-elemental power to her Driver named Rex. Pyra and Rex embark on a journey to search for her long-lost home, Elysium. It is said that she is immortal and has the ability to recover from injuries quickly. However, she will die if the core on her chest is destroyed or when Rex dies. She is one of the two forms of the Aegis, and Rex can switch between her and Mythra at any time.
Pyra was designed by Masatsugu Saitō.

Mythra-  is a Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. She can grant tremendous power to her DriverRex, and his allies. She uses the power of light. She is one of the two forms of the Aegis, and Rex can switch between her and Pyra at any time.


https://imgbb.com/

Nia-  is a main playable character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. She is a Driver and is accompanied by her special Blade, Dromarch, who calls her "Lady" (お嬢様, Ojōsama) like a butler. She comes from the Imperial Province of Gormott and is a friend of Rex. With Nia in the lead riding Dromarch, the player can control him to move faster on the field.

Dromarch-  is a Special Bladein Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He has the power to heal allies while attacking when bonded to his Driver named Nia. He uses the power of water. He looks like a tiger and speaks with a shivery voice. He refers to Nia as "Lady" (お嬢様, Ojōsama), as if he were a butler. With Nia in the lead riding Dromarch, the player can control him to move around the field faster.



Tora-  is a main playable character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is a Nopon who comes with a designated robotic companion called Poppi α. Poppi α calls him "Masterpon". As shown by its outfit, Tora is a boy who loves mechanic. He would have been a Driver but he is not. Nevertheless, he secretly holds several trumps, like Poppi α who works as his artificial Blade, in order to fulfill his goal of becoming a Driver. He craves for calling Rex "Big Brother" (Japanese: アニキ, Aniki). In battle, Tora can fight using the "Poppi α shield" with drills. He can attract enemies and direct their attacks on him while protecting his allies offering them offensive opportunities.

Poppi a-  is an artificial Special Bladein Xenoblade Chronicles 2. She was built by Tora as a robotic companion whom she calls "Masterpon". She has a powerful metallic body and perfectly practices the Nopon language. Although Poppi α is not a natural Blade awaken from a Core Crystal and Tora is not a Driver, they work as a kind of Driver and Blade duo during battle. She starts using the power of stone, then she can use any element. In battle, Tora can fight using the "Poppi α shield" with drills, particularly to attract enemies and direct their attacks on him while protecting his allies offering them offensive opportunities. Poppi α can be upgraded through the Poppiswap mechanism.

SPECIAL EDITION:




This special edition includes a 220 page premium hardbound art book containing beautifully illustrated concept designs and artwork of the characters, landscapes and objects from the game, a special metal game case, plus game, and a sound selection CD featuring memorable music tracks from the game!

f49.gif
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Lets do this!

I have to wait until Monday to get my SE, so have fun you guys that get to play this weekend.
 

Sojiro

Member
Awesome OT! Well done! Very pumped for this game, but man I still haven't finished a single playthrough of Skyrim yet so I need to pick up the pace to get into this next lol. It's a good problem to have though!
 

sublimit

Banned
Awesome OT Kimawolf.Informative,simple and to the point.And i love those gifs. :)

As for the game enjoy your long journey guys.I will join you at some point next year when i get my Switch. For the record the first Xenoblade was one of my favorite games of all time. :)
 

nick_b

Member
Awesome OT! Well done! Very pumped for this game, but man I still haven't finished a single playthrough of Skyrim yet so I need to pick up the pace to get into this next lol. It's a good problem to have though!

I haven't made much progress in Skyrim either. I've been lost in the quests that I keep stumbling upon. Every time I try to start climbing the steps to high hrothgar a new quest appears and I run off again.

That being said, Skyrim is closed, the switch is on the dock, and I'm gonna spend the next hour watching more Skyrim for Pimps until Xenoblade unlocks.
 

czk51

Member
Excellent OT. I'm 5 hours in and loving it! To the above post, 4 hours hand held, 1 hour docked.
 

Sojiro

Member
I haven't made much progress in Skyrim either. I've been lost in the quests that I keep stumbling upon. Every time I try to start climbing the steps to high hrothgar a new quest appears and I run off again.

That being said, Skyrim is closed, the switch is on the dock, and I'm gonna spend the next hour watching more Skyrim for Pimps until Xenoblade unlocks.

Yep I hear you there. It is hard sticking to the main quest when everyone in Skyrim has something that needs done. I need to start being a dick to everyone and not accept anymore side quests lol.

On topic about Xenoblade, is handheld mode that much of a trade off in visuals or is it not too bad, plan to be playing this in handheld quite a bit.
 
I got this game because of GAF. I've never played any game in the series. I don't know what I'm getting into. Arriving tomorrow from Best Buy, hopefully I like it.
 
Great OT, good job :)

Waiting for the game to arrive now. Probably 4-5 hours. Freeze me ;/

First time I saw Mithra's artwork - how to decide between her and Pyra ;o
 

Pilgrimm

Member
Swiss person here.

Just came off the phone with the biggest retailer - they didn't get a single copy of the game.

They said first they expect to get games late always now due to new policy of leaks, but "their source at Nintendo told them it's also to capture sales on digital e-shop to get bigger margins first for those that simply cannot wait"


Had to cancel and pay 10 bucks more going digital. 10 bucks dude.

It's the only weekend for weeks I can play a game either. Damn u Nintendo! Really grinds my gears.

Edit
:

Paid 79.90.
 

Andyliini

Member
I'm still awaiting for my Special Edition. It has been mailed, and with a little luck, it will arrive on saturday. I'm still playing Fire Emblem Warriors, though, so I probably can't start it yet,
 
Bought this morning for only £24.99!! (Thanks Argos)

Now I just need to get home from work!! Loved X but never finished it, the end boss was too high a level and never bothered to grind it out.
 

Portugeezer

Member
Bought this morning for only £24.99!! (Thanks Argos)

Now I just need to get home from work!! Loved X but never finished it, the end boss was too high a level and never bothered to grind it out.
£29.99 on argos, cheaper than anywhere else wtf. Our of stock now of course.
 
Yeah, I used a £5 discount code I got from Black Friday. Such a deal, even at £29.99!

Wonder when/if they fix it, clearly a pricing error.
 

Andyliini

Member
If you’ve never played an RPG before, is this an alright game to start with ?

Xenoblade games can get a bit complex, but if you want to try the series, I heard this game has the best learning curve for it's mechanics, so XC2 should be the best place to start. I know I was a bit lost with the original game (I only learned the mechanics better in Sword Valley) and would have been with X if I hadn't played the original game first.
 

crushy

Neo Member
Finally another Xenoblade title to anoy my household with. My husband is going to be warped back to “we’re Just getting started/must not loose out heads tough”
 

royox

Member
How's the party banter? I want to play with Jap voices but won't if that means I will lose some funny banter moments a.la Mass Effect/DA Inquisition
 

EvSOLO

Member
I've never played the original XC1 but I do own it on 3DS. While XC2 is getting good to great reviews I'm not getting the impression it is considered a slam dunk better than the original which is disappointing being I was really hoping to retire my 3DS for good and just jump straight to XC2. Looks like I'll have to dust it off and finally play the first one
 

Manus

Member
Awesome. Probably picking up my Switch next week with this, been waiting for this release to dive in on the Switch.
 
Dang it, I want to get interested in this but I'm struggling. XC did a fantastic job at making me have to pick my jaw up off the floor while exclaiming "that's so cool!" just by the gorgeousness, scale and originality of the environments. And that's playing it on a 3DS! The character designs weren't necessarily anything special, but they fit the mood of the game very nicely.

This looks to be quite a bit different in art direction however. I don't mind Anime style, but does it fit well with this series? Rex looks like he'd make a good Pokemon trainer, but would be totally out of place exploring the Bionis in XC1. Pyra's design is especially off-putting. Her ridiculous outfit and oversized chest make her look like she was designed by a giggling 13 year old boy.

I'd really love another epic adventure and world to explore like the original. I'm just not sure I could take these characters seriously. Or maybe that's the point and this game takes a very different direction from its predecessor? I guess I'll wait a bit for some more reviews and opinions on how well this works.
 
Finished playing for now, a good 2 hours. This is incredible so far. There's no fluff,no filler,no tedious. The cutscenes, while a bit stiff at times, always feel so amazingly ominous. Like something is quietly, yet dangerously brooding.

And this game truly is the opposite of Xenoblade X: Sooo many cutscenes,so much story. After BotW and Odyssey, that's exactly what I longed for.

The combat is actually much faster than its predecessors. Can't even say why, as it doesn't look that way in videos, yet playing myself battles go by in a flash.

Can those who use the Japanese voices talk about those? I like the English voices, but in scenes where Rex was shouting, he sounded a little too restrained. If the Japanese voices are better at delivering drama, I might switch.

Anyway, very exciting beginning. It feels as if I'm playing a high quality anime-movie.
 

Pejo

Gold Member
Finished playing for now, a good 2 hours. This is incredible so far. There's fluff,no filler,no tedious. The cutscenes, while a bit stiff at times, always feel so amazingly ominous. Like something is quietly, yet dangerously brooding.

And this game truly is the opposite of Xenoblade X: Sooo many cutscenes,so much story. After BotW and Odyssey, that's exactly what I longed for.

The combat is actually much faster than its predecessors. Can't even say why, as it doesn't look that way in videos, yet playing myself battles go by in a flash.

Can those who use the Japanese voices talk about those? I like the English voices, but in scenes where Rex was shouting, he sounded a little too restrained. If the Japanese voices are better at delivering drama, I might switch.

Anyway, very exciting beginning. It feels as if I'm playing a high quality anime-movie.

Thanks for the impressions. Is Rex the only character you can control?
 
Looks like Amazon will, yet again, screw up release date delivery on this for me.

Between this and Mario release date delivery they screwed up, and having another movie that was 2 days late even with Amazon Prime shipping, I'm about to do a live chat with them and chew them out and/or cancel my Amazon Prime.
 

kingbean

Member
I keep reading that the game looks like dog ass in portable mode. I haven't had the chance to boot it up and won't probably until Saturday night.

For anyone that's played in portable does it look that bad? Dragon ball xenoverse 2 looked pretty crap in portable but It didn't bother me that much. Hopefully it's not that Jaggy.

Also, only played like 4 hours of xenoblade on new3ds and I thought it was decent but had too many games to play so it's so backlogged like crazy.
 

royox

Member
.

For anyone that's played in portable does it look that bad? Dragon ball xenoverse 2 looked pretty crap in portable but It didn't bother me that much. Hopefully it's not that Jaggy.


Nope o.o it's ok for me and I'm ususally a graphic whore.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
yeah i don't feel bad to say it but this game looks bad in portable mode,
some real strange artifacts going on in portable.
it looks really low res, def not native 720p not a chance.
 

sublimit

Banned
Finished playing for now, a good 2 hours. This is incredible so far. There's no fluff,no filler,no tedious. The cutscenes, while a bit stiff at times, always feel so amazingly ominous. Like something is quietly, yet dangerously brooding.

And this game truly is the opposite of Xenoblade X: Sooo many cutscenes,so much story. After BotW and Odyssey, that's exactly what I longed for.

The combat is actually much faster than its predecessors. Can't even say why, as it doesn't look that way in videos, yet playing myself battles go by in a flash.

Can those who use the Japanese voices talk about those? I like the English voices, but in scenes where Rex was shouting, he sounded a little too restrained. If the Japanese voices are better at delivering drama, I might switch.

Anyway, very exciting beginning. It feels as if I'm playing a high quality anime-movie.

Thanks for the impressions! One other thing i wanted to ask is how slow is the game in the beginning in terms of tutorials?
I loved the previous Xenoblades but the tutorials especially in the first game felt a bit overwhelming and that they dragged too long.
 
Thanks for the impressions! One other thing i wanted to ask is how slow is the game in the beginning in terms of tutorials?
I loved the previous Xenoblades but the tutorials especially in the first game felt a bit overwhelming and that they dragged too long.

Definitely not overwhelming. They're spread out nicely in an eaay to understand way. But I still haven't learned all mechanics, so that fault might remain.
 

czk51

Member
I don't have a problem with the look in hand held but there is an obvious dip in quality. Definitely agree with the earlier comment about Rex sounding restrained but other than that I'm digging the English voices. I'll flick back to JP again soon anyway just to change it up.

There is an obvious issue with one particular enemy that repeats the same 2 lines over and over again, very annoying.

The tutorials have a nice personality to them, and the beginning hours of the game is streamlined somewhat to guide you through. I didn't find it a chore to do them.
 
really enjoying the 2.5 hrs or so I played already. I hope the storyline keeps up. It's a J-ass- JRPG though. Big boobed women, check, main character with weird clothes, check, bad guy with white hair and mask, check.
 
I don't have a problem with the look in hand held but there is an obvious dip in quality. Definitely agree with the earlier comment about Rex sounding restrained but other than that I'm digging the English voices. I'll flick back to JP again soon anyway just to change it up.

There is an obvious issue with one particular enemy that repeats the same 2 lines over and over again, very annoying.

The tutorials have a nice personality to them, and the beginning hours of the game is streamlined somewhat to guide you through. I didn't find it a chore to do them.

I actually like Rex's English voice, guessing Scottish accent, I can't really tell.
 
really enjoying the 2.5 hrs or so I played already. I hope the storyline keeps up. It's a J-ass- JRPG though. Big boobed women, check, main character with weird clothes, check, bad guy with white hair and mask, check.

Although I gotta say: the very first scene after starting a new game explains Rex' outfit so well that I cannot find it ridiculous anymore - it's what he wears for what he's doing.
 

royox

Member
Ok after seeing a cutscene with Mia's body yelling like crazy while her English voice actress was talkin as if nothing was happening i decided to sacrifice understanding party banter for a decent dub like the japanese one.

One of the worsts English dubs I've ever witnessed.
 

czk51

Member
9 hours in and I'm torn between this and Zelda for GOTY. Definitely surpassed Mario, though I'm probably a minority on this.
 
Top Bottom