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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 previews

Mister Wolf

Member
As optional stuff sure, but...I dunno, to me there's still a difference between this:

and what basically looks like a Neptunia character


Maybe I'm overreacting, but I have a viscerally negative reaction to her "an inch of cloth across the crotch and two individually shrink wrapped melon breasts" design

6fdb9a7d497736af3565ebda4ee308f2.jpg


latest


latest
 
I think the gif was more about the xenoblade Chronicles in name only assertion and less about the sales.

I didn't say it's Xenoblade in name only, I said they attached the Xenoblade name to it despite Takahashi thinking of it as a different franchise because it would help it sell better, which as far as I can tell is just an accurate description of events.

(FWIW, I enjoyed XCX a lot and probably racked up 100+ hours in it.)
 
I'm not sure if I like the changes to the mobility of the battle system particularly the fact that it not only can you not auto attack during movement, but you need to stay in place for a while until your AA damage is maximized due to blade shackling.

I would be more fine with it it there were arts that gave you movement options.



I do like the fact that you have to position yourself to heal, but I hope there is an indicator for when one appears behind your camera. Another nitpick is that I'm actually not sure what the benefits of launch are besides being an extended topple.
 

duckroll

Member
I didn't say it's Xenoblade in name only, I said they attached the Xenoblade name to it despite Takahashi thinking of it as a different franchise because it would help it sell better, which as far as I can tell is just an accurate description of events.

(FWIW, I enjoyed XCX a lot and probably racked up 100+ hours in it.)

To be fair, Xenoblade itself was only Xenoblade instead of Monado because they thought putting XENO on it would get more fans on board. So this is historically a silly brand they are building! :D
 

Kanann

Member
Silly but work.

Even they were name Xeno.......blade, I still need a game shoving on my ass by my friend before I know It's a great game.

Anyway, how come y'all start judging people from look and clothing choice? huh? progressive social community huh? huh?
 

Mory Dunz

Member
When going in the menu there's an option of customizing your Cosmetics for characters and there was a Cosmetics shop in the town. That's our best chance for changing equipment.
.

hopefully.
And hopefully it applies to blades as well. >_>

no cutscenes have been CG yet I believe, which is a decent sign.
 

Gsnap

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't change clothes in this game. Half the characters are blades which shouldn't be able to change at all. But the main reason it wouldn't surprise me is because the main character has a little pet in his hat. It animates and I believe it shows up in cutscenes. So unless every single headpiece the main character can equip has a place for the little creature to sit in, wouldn't it be too difficult to add and remove the creature from cutscenes or move it around the character model?
 
I didn't say it's Xenoblade in name only, I said they attached the Xenoblade name to it despite Takahashi thinking of it as a different franchise because it would help it sell better, which as far as I can tell is just an accurate description of events.

(FWIW, I enjoyed XCX a lot and probably racked up 100+ hours in it.)

I think 'Xenoblade' was put there to highlight that there are in fact plenty of similarities in how they both function. The battle system, equipment system, the way pickups work, etc. are all clearly based on XC in XCX. The differences are more in what the two titles focus on, and what they use these systems to accomplish, resulting in an entirely different experience despite how similar the individual systems are and the moment-to-moment gameplay can be. It's for that reason, I think, that they designated it as a sort of parallel-series with the X moniker.

Unfortunately, without the knowledge that there was in fact XC2 coming, XCX looked as if it was supposed to be the successor. In retrospect, the naming scheme makes sense, but I think the confusion at the time only added to the backlash among the fanbase. If/when they make XCX2, at least everyone will know what they're in for this time.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't change clothes in this game. Half the characters are blades which shouldn't be able to change at all. But the main reason it wouldn't surprise me is because the main character has a little pet in his hat. It animates and I believe it shows up in cutscenes. So unless every single headpiece the main character can equip has a place for the little creature to sit in, wouldn't it be too difficult to add and remove the creature from cutscenes or move it around the character model?

Yeah, that little guy in Rex's helm (actually a pretty cute use for the character design) is the main reason why big changes in Cosmetics are probably unlikely this time around. Another one would be the Anchor Shot Art which actually uses the Hookshot on his arm. I actually don't have too much of an issue with that. Xenoblade could stand to have a game where scenes aren't utterly ruined by out of place armor designs (though Xenoblade 1 tracking which armor you used from flashbacks and effectively "canonizing" them is kinda rad). Another solution would be to make better armor designs and while that can happen, for once in this series I just want to see the character in their consistent design go through the game in their proper scenes.

I'm not sure if I like the changes to the mobility of the battle system particularly the fact that it not only can you not auto attack during movement, but you need to stay in place for a while until your AA damage is maximized due to blade shackling.

I would be more fine with it it there were arts that gave you movement options.

I do like the fact that you have to position yourself to heal, but I hope there is an indicator for when one appears behind your camera. Another nitpick is that I'm actually not sure what the benefits of launch are besides being an extended topple.

I like that the Autoattack changes establish a clear and consistent rule for Auto attacking instead of just having it happen as Base DPS with no real choice. Even if it's minor, it is a level of decision making to be had and puts more consistent control in the player's hands.

As for the Launch Status, there could be more we don't know but I do know that unlike the Daze status in Xenoblade 1, enemies can actually enter the Launch Status on their own and the player can presumably respond with a Smash. There's also more stuff in how they connect with Blade Arts for bonus effects.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Silly but work.

Even they were name Xeno.......blade, I still need a game shoving on my ass by my friend before I know It's a great game.

Anyway, how come y'all start judging people from look and clothing choice? huh? progressive social community huh? huh?

Because we are humans and humans tend to judge things.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't change clothes in this game. Half the characters are blades which shouldn't be able to change at all. But the main reason it wouldn't surprise me is because the main character has a little pet in his hat. It animates and I believe it shows up in cutscenes. So unless every single headpiece the main character can equip has a place for the little creature to sit in, wouldn't it be too difficult to add and remove the creature from cutscenes or move it around the character model?

...eff
 

Exentryk

Member
Blades don't really need to be seen during the whole combat sequence. Just make them appear when needed. Will help declutter the screen and help in performance as well. Can potentially hide them while exploring too (excluding mounts etc).
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Blades don't really need to be seen during the whole combat sequence. Just make them appear when needed. Will help declutter the screen and help in performance as well. Can potentially hide them while exploring too (excluding mounts etc).

With all the Xenoblade usually move on screen and behind the scene, I don't think Blades (that increase the count of visible characters from 4 to 6) do any kind of performance issue
Plus, they are very crucial characters (you'll discover the bon between stones, weapons, humanoid/animal Blades shapes and the world and the story) and not seeing them alongside you during exploration....would be weird.
 

Exentryk

Member
With all the Xenoblade usually move on screen and behind the scene, I don't think Blades (that increase the count of visible characters from 4 to 6) do any kind of performance issue
Plus, they are very crucial characters (you'll discover the bon between stones, weapons, humanoid/animal Blades shapes and the world and the story) and not seeing them alongside you during exploration....would be weird.

Don't agree with any of what you've posted. Also, they could be visible during exploration as I mentioned earlier if this would help with immersion.
 
Shulk looks great in art, but awful in game, older or. not. Elma is obviously a better design than either of them, but she also got replaced by a create-a-character. Rex isn't a great design, but I personally find him inoffensive. If we can change his clothes (which I am inclined to think we can) he might even have a chance of looking cool.

He looks a hell of a lot better than anyone in this.
 

aravuus

Member
With all the Xenoblade usually move on screen and behind the scene, I don't think Blades (that increase the count of visible characters from 4 to 6) do any kind of performance issue
Plus, they are very crucial characters (you'll discover the bon between stones, weapons, humanoid/animal Blades shapes and the world and the story) and not seeing them alongside you during exploration....would be weird.

I.. Can't say agree with either of these points, actually.

Having three extra characters on the screen might actually have a pretty big impact on the performance, however this is obviously purely speculation so it's impossible to say one way or the other. I would imagine the Blade's are much more detailed than your typical monster, for one.

As for being crucial characters - they are, but they really don't need to be visible during battles which is the crux of the matter. They don't seem to offer anything during combat, gameplay or narrative wise, they don't do anything. They could very well be invisible during combat, only coming in for the special attacks. As it is, all they to do is distract you and there's enough distracting shit already.

Having them visible at all times outside of battle is fine by me.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Don't agree with any of what you've posted. Also, they could be visible during exploration as I mentioned earlier if this would help with immersion.

Xenoblade has tons of things on screen, even during battles the world and the monsters are still "there", as you can see when a big monster starts attacking you and you can continue running away, with everything still visible.
Previous games had 4 party members; this has 3, plus companions, so the number go up from 4 to 6
If 2 more players during battles is in your opinion the issue causing frame rate problems (in a non final build, and with previous games still not being optimized at a firm and stable frame rate in every occasion in their final builds) I don't know what to say

They (Blades) being additional element on screens creating a more crowded image alongside enemies and HUD is true, on the other hand, of course.

Still, they are prevalent and I really appreciate to see them also in their humanoid forms and not only as weapons. They are a crucial part of everything in this game.

You'll probably discover it later, I can't comment further on story elements in this moment.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
With all the Xenoblade usually move on screen and behind the scene, I don't think Blades (that increase the count of visible characters from 4 to 6) do any kind of performance issue
Plus, they are very crucial characters (you'll discover the bon between stones, weapons, humanoid/animal Blades shapes and the world and the story) and not seeing them alongside you during exploration....would be weird.

Isn't from 3 to 6?

And of course increasing the number of characters on the screen has an impact on performance.

They could show in the cutscenes and in exploration where relevant. There's really no reason for them to show in the battle other than as some effects.

Edit: oh, I just saw how you calculated the 4 now. But if you don't have the blades you need to show just half of them in this game. You have better lighting and physics in this game so you can't really compare it like this with the previous one.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Isn't from 3 to 6?

And of course increasing the number of characters on the screen has an impact on performance.

They could show in the cutscenes and in exploration where relevant. There's really no reason for them to show in the battle other than as some effects.


Previous games had 4, not three characters.
Now we have 3 characters, each with its own Blade.
I don't think that 4 to 6 is what is causing frame rate issues here.
Always considering how we still have to see how the frame rate (not disastrous here) will be compared to previous games (not perfect neither) in the final build
Plus, it's not true that there isn't any narrative going on during battles: you can clearly see how the "energy flux" that bonds the character and the Blade is interrupted if the character move too far away from the Blade, and that he can re-start the attacks once, stopping the movement, the Blade re-start the energy flux. Plus, the heavy super attacks are done in combo, with the characters and the "humanoid" Blade handling the Blade weapon-shaped together.
 

Exentryk

Member
Xenoblade has tons of things on screen, even during battles the world and the monsters are still "there", as you can see when a big monster starts attacking you and you can continue running away, with everything still visible.
Previous games had 4 party members; this has 3, plus companions, so the number go up from 4 to 6
If 2 more players during battles is in your opinion the issue causing frame rate problems (in a non final build, and with previous games still not being optimized at a firm and stable frame rate in every occasion in their final builds) I don't know what to say

Oh yeah I see. Star Ocean had like 7 characters on screen, so this game is actually getting bonus fps. It's all good, man!
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Previous games had 4, not three characters.
Now we have 3 characters, each with its own Blade.
I don't think that 4 to 6 is what is causing frame rate issues here.
Always considering how we still have to see how the frame rate (not disastrous here) will be compared to previous games (not perfect neither) in the final build
Plus, it's not true that there isn't any narrative going on during battles: you can clearly see how the "energy flux" that bonds the character and the Blade is interrupted if the character move too far away from the Blade, and that he can re-start the attacks once, stopping the movement, the Blade re-start the energy flux. Plus, the heavy super attacks are done in combo, with the characters and the "humanoid" Blade handling the Blade weapon-shaped together.

Read my edit. All you wrote are design choices that could have been done differently, through visual indicators for example. Plus they make the system complex just to be complex (the broken link for example).
 
Finally got around to watching the preview video and while I'm no graphics whore my hype is somewhat diminished. Can't understand how this looks worse than Xenoblade Chronicles X.
 
I just noticed this but it seems the UI isn't quite done. There's a pretty serious issue with the Blade Arts in that they're missing the orbs that surround them for the base art (stuff like Stone, Heat and Aqua). This is pretty important because a level one base art is different from a level 3 art and it's inconsistent considering they show these orbs for the next tier of arts so you know what you're doing for those ones. This is also pretty weird because this was fine in the E3 demo so I hope they fix that.
 

theofficefan99

Junior Member
What is it with the Xenoblade games and every enemy having seemingly obscene amounts of HP? Seriously, I have never seen a clip of an enemy taking less than an eternity to kill.

Aside from that, I'm sadly not really impressed with this game. A shame, considering I was hoping this would be the game that would push me to buy a Switch.
 

Xbro

Member
What is it with the Xenoblade games and every enemy having seemingly obscene amounts of HP? Seriously, I have never seen a clip of an enemy taking less than an eternity to kill.

Aside from that, I'm sadly not really impressed with this game. A shame, considering I was hoping this would be the game that would push me to buy a Switch.

I thought I heard somewhere that they either chose certain enemies with a lot of health or bumped the health up for the demo so they could show all the setups.
 

theofficefan99

Junior Member
I thought I heard somewhere that they either chose certain enemies with a lot of health or bumped the health up for the demo so they could show all the setups.

I mean, it isn't just with this game, though. With every XC and XCX video I've watched, every enemy had tons of HP too.
 
I mean, it isn't just with this game, though. With every XC and XCX video I've watched, every enemy had tons of HP too.

I've never had that experience with any Xenoblade game I've played. They did say they bumped up the HP for the enemies in this demo to show off the combat.
 

theofficefan99

Junior Member
Then the series isn't for you. Not sure why this one would change and get you to buy a Switch.

I mean I wasn't expecting enemies having boatloads of HP to be a series tradition. Like I've never seen footage of an enemy taking less than 10 hits to kill in any of the games.
 

MomoQca

Member
I mean I wasn't expecting enemies having boatloads of HP to be a series tradition. Like I've never seen footage of an enemy taking less than 10 hits to kill in any of the games.

If the enemy is the same level as the player, then of course they're not going to be KO'ed in one hit.
 

theofficefan99

Junior Member
Maybe actually try the games? It certainly doesn't feel like it takes forever to defeat enemies when you are playing.

I mean it's not really, from someone who's played the game versus watched a clip of it.

Fair enough. Though if I can find a clip of an enemy taking 1-5 hits to be killed that would alleviate my concern.

If I ever end up buying a Switch I'll have this as part of my library since JRPG's are my favorite type of game, but yeah I'm just not impressed with what I've seen so far. Story and voice acting seem cringe-worthy (certainly a giant step back from Xenogears and Xenosaga) and the combat doesn't look very interesting. Seems like it needs a FF option like with XII:TZA IMO.
 
GameInformer

Those who weren't fans of Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U should find peace of mind in the direction of this entry, as several elements look like it's veering closer to the original Xenoblade Chronicles.

For many RPG-loving Switch owners, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the title they've been dying to get their hands on ever since its initial announcement in January. If what I played is any indication, players will have plenty of sights to see when the game launches on Switch later this year.
 
Yes. I'm ready.

Battles in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are fun and engaging; even though Rex auto-attacks, managing your positioning, blades, and arts is satisfying when you combo them just right. The most exciting moments came as my party gauge filled up and I began chaining attacks together. Stringing together attacks proved most satisfying as I churned through several lengthy battles.
 
I usually hate jrpgs but I almost always give them a chance. WAiting for that one that will change my mind... Do I need to play the original to understand this? Would I be utterly lost?
 
I usually hate jrpgs but I almost always give them a chance. WAiting for that one that will change my mind... Do I need to play the original to understand this? Would I be utterly lost?

You'll be fine. This series is like Final Fantasy where the games don't relate. You can play the first one to get understanding of the series and it's an amazing game.
 

jdstorm

Banned
I usually hate jrpgs but I almost always give them a chance. WAiting for that one that will change my mind... Do I need to play the original to understand this? Would I be utterly lost?

Xenoblade Chronicles is like Final Fantasy in the respect that all games are stand alone stories with no linked plot.

Just jump in for XC2. Or start with Yakuza 0/Nier Automata you have access to either of them.
 
I usually hate jrpgs but I almost always give them a chance. WAiting for that one that will change my mind... Do I need to play the original to understand this? Would I be utterly lost?

You don't need to play the original but it's a damn good game so give it a shot if you have a chance. Also on the Gameinformer preview, glad to hear that Monolith Soft's penchant for genuinely alien and awe inspiring environment design is still retained.
 

NoName999

Member
I think the gif was more about the xenoblade Chronicles in name only assertion and less about the sales. I mean, the games practically share the same battle system, have different takes on the central tension between what it means to be human via the context of androids, and they even share the same collectables. So reducing it down to "they put the Xenoblade name on it" is the type of hyperbolic dismissal that wouldn't normally be taken at face value.

No the gif was reaction about tagging the Xenoblade name on it would increase sales. :p
 

Waggles

Member
Real excited for this, especially if it's more akin to XC than XCX.

Hopefully ninty delivers unto us the XC HD/ X HD collection next year, to round out the entire collection on switch.
 
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