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Xenoblade Chronicles 3D: reviews thread
- Thread starter Aostia
- Start date
Hey guys, Ash from GameXplain here! I reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and came to post a link, but it looks like you all long since beat me to it.
That said, I also have a written review published on Game On/Examiner that's slightly longer than my GameXplain one and hasn't been added to the OP yet, so here's the link for that. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars (numerical scores are required there):
http://www.examiner.com/review/xeno...view-still-feeling-it-but-maybe-a-little-less
Added to the OP!
patrickthehedgehog
Member
Hey guys, Ash from GameXplain here! I reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and came to post a link, but it looks like you all long since beat me to it.
That said, I also have a written review published on Game On/Examiner that's slightly longer than my GameXplain one and hasn't been added to the OP yet, so here's the link for that. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars (numerical scores are required there):
http://www.examiner.com/review/xeno...view-still-feeling-it-but-maybe-a-little-less
Not quite faked - there is an incredibly subtle 3D effect with the slider engaged - but yeah, it's so slight and shallow that it almost might as well not even be there. It certainly doesn't add anything. That's not too surprising based on what Nintendo's been saying about how difficult the porting process was, but it's still kind of a shame.
I didn't spend a lot of the time with the demo so I hesitate to say for sure, but I felt like Codename STEAM had very shallow 3D as well. EOIV's completely faked 3D really ticks me off because the game would have been SO much more immersive with it.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Sounds like a good port of a great game. I'll be glad to add this to my collection next month. Xenoblade is one of the best games I've played in recent memory.
I'm wondering if there is some kind of MPO screenshots around, just to appreciate the effect. Or I'll just wait the Miiverse posts...
MaverickHunterAsh
Member
Yeah, I'm a big fan of the 3DS's stereoscopic 3D and always consider it a disappointment when a game doesn't utilize it well. For reference, though, I played the Code Name STEAM demo quite a bit and even the 3D there, somewhat shallow as it is, has more of an effect than the 3D in Xenoblade Chronicles 3D.
Jo Shishido's Cheeks
Member
Can you customise the battle UI?
It looks so messy, not sure why I need to be told what each attack does or that I can hit start for 100 hours...
It looks so messy, not sure why I need to be told what each attack does or that I can hit start for 100 hours...
ratcliffja
Member
I am slightly tempted to get it even though I hated the voice acting, since I could definitely use a long game on my bus rides. Right now I'm trying to decide between this, Pokemon Omega Ruby, and Majora's Mask 3D.
wat
patrickthehedgehog
Member
I'd love more information about how all of this works from a dev standpoint. I have noticed for example that in a game like Pilotwings where the depth is HUGE it makes it to where you can either focus on the background or focus on your character. Just like real life the one you aren't focusing on doubles. It's a little weird at first in Pilotwings, but ultimately I prefer that as it closely mimics real life.
Perhaps in a long RPG they opted to cool the 3D depth to keep you from getting eye strain -- or it's just too difficult for the hardware.
I have to say I'm impressed by those reviews.
Not because the game is bad but I was expecting a lot of "it's not like the original" "3DS can't handle all of this without some major compromise" and stuff among those lines.
Good to see some real effort went into this port. Nice job Nintendo.
Not because the game is bad but I was expecting a lot of "it's not like the original" "3DS can't handle all of this without some major compromise" and stuff among those lines.
Good to see some real effort went into this port. Nice job Nintendo.
If I remember correctly the Wii version has display settings to disable that stuff. Don't know if that made it onto the 3DS.
MaverickHunterAsh
Member
Same here, I'd love to know more about the challenges and limitations devs face when implementing stereoscopic 3D.
That said, I'm 99% sure the reason for the 3D being so shallow in XC 3D is hardware limitations. The scale of the game's environments and just the game itself is so massive that I imagine porting it from the Wii to the slightly-weaker New 3DS was very difficult to begin with, and that's before even considering how to implement 3D and maintain the frame rate... all while preserving the all-important sense of scale and draw distance.
Ironically, it's pretty amazing that this port exists at all, even if it does look kind of assy.
Linkstrikesback
Member
I'm having to fight the urge to buy this despite having no plans to get a n3DS. Basically trying to decide whether it's worth it to gamble on seeing if the next nintendo handheld will be backwards compatible (history does suggest it would be...), and whether Xenoblade 3D will be in stock at all whenever that next handheld comes around
Considering the sidequests are all entirely optional I don't see why they should have. I mean what did you want them to do, just cut some of them?
……forgetit
Member
Guess you really weren't feeling it, so you didn't have a fine time. The voices must've sounded like a bunch of jokers to you.
I'm done.
Jo Shishido's Cheeks
Member
Ahh good stuff, fingers crossed we can do the same here.
It's baffling how badly the bottom screen seems to have been utilised in regards to menus and such.
Vampirolol
Member
I gave it an 8.8 on nintendOn.it. It's a really good porting, you can see the worse LOD but the game works right on a portable, gameplay wise. Sadly the little screen is a problem, especially when the HUD covers the action during crowded battles.
Extra mode sucks, it's so hard to gain coins.
Extra mode sucks, it's so hard to gain coins.
……forgetit
Member
Why?
Just so it's clear, I'm referring to the exp gain from sidequests vastly overleveling the player for story content. There's no way to do lots of sidequests and still get a satisfying challenge out of the story.
The easiest thing they could have done was lower the exp gained from sidequests.
The Elite
BOSS
I am hoping for a different colour cart.
threelights
Member
Wii for sure. 3DS is a nice way since the Wii version is hard to come by, but if you can get the Wii version, get that.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
if you've never played the wii version, any loss of visual fidelity will go completely unnoticed by you. So really, it becomes an issue of which is easier for you to acquire and if you like suspend/resume because that's something you can do on the 3ds and is a hell of a feature for rpgs.
Wii, if you have the means
Right I see what you mean now. Yeah the story stuff was easy after doing the sidequests but I always found those optional mini bosses that roamed areas sufficiently challenging.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
Xenoblade 3D and Etrian Mystery Dungeon launching so close to each other does not bode well for my free time.
Hell, I just bought Codename STEAM, Fossil Fighters Frontier and Lufia on VC too and I've barely scratched the surface on the latter two games and haven't even started STEAM.
Hell, I just bought Codename STEAM, Fossil Fighters Frontier and Lufia on VC too and I've barely scratched the surface on the latter two games and haven't even started STEAM.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
same, I just bought it because Xenoblade is one of my favorite games ever, but I'm not going to play it for a 4th time haha.
I need to finish Shallie and other stuff before Etrian Mystery Dungeon drops!
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/xenoblade-chronicles-3d-review-in-progress-big-adventure-tiny-screen
USgamer has a review in progress. They seemed positive so far, but wishes the port was a bit better. Framerate isn't the smoothest, UI font graphics are a mess.
USgamer has a review in progress. They seemed positive so far, but wishes the port was a bit better. Framerate isn't the smoothest, UI font graphics are a mess.
Thanks for the responses. I'll get the Wii version.
ShadowKingpin
Member
I am truly excited for this. I missed out on the Wii and am so glad I nabbed a N3DS. I didn't get it specifically for Xenoblade, but it was a factor nonetheless and can't wait to finally enjoy this story so many are hyping up! I have listened to the soundtrack so many times and it's phenomenal.
Man this comes out in just 2 weeks, that's awesome. I think by then my all-consuming lust for Bloodborne will have abated somewhat so I can give some time to it (I won't be DONE with Bloodborne by then surely, but I'll be to a point where it's not the only game I want to play I think).
I went straight from beating Persona 4 Golden to Persona Q, which I'm still not finished with, I'm thoroughly enjoying it but it will be nice to take a break from the Persona world for awhile. This will be my first time with Xenoblade and I'm looking forward to it.
On a side note, here's something I anticipate happening: Once I start playing Xenoblade and fall in love with it, I predict that I will be compelled to shell out the cheese to purchase the Shulk amiibo. It's a nice looking figure but right now I feel no need to pay the $30~ asking price for it. But once I get into the game the rare opportunity to purchase ANY jrpg merch in the US will be too much to resist. I've been called callow and weak-willed before and I fear that in this case it will turn out to be true.
I went straight from beating Persona 4 Golden to Persona Q, which I'm still not finished with, I'm thoroughly enjoying it but it will be nice to take a break from the Persona world for awhile. This will be my first time with Xenoblade and I'm looking forward to it.
On a side note, here's something I anticipate happening: Once I start playing Xenoblade and fall in love with it, I predict that I will be compelled to shell out the cheese to purchase the Shulk amiibo. It's a nice looking figure but right now I feel no need to pay the $30~ asking price for it. But once I get into the game the rare opportunity to purchase ANY jrpg merch in the US will be too much to resist. I've been called callow and weak-willed before and I fear that in this case it will turn out to be true.
ratcliffja
Member
It's easily the worst voice acting I've heard in a JRPG. It's just awful. It's not surprising that this came from the people who made Baten Kaitos, which also had terrible voice acting.
I wonder if they could have gotten this game to look better if they scraped the 3D option all together...
Anyways here's my current pro con list for possibly picking this up:
Pros:
JRPG with massive world
Seemingly likable characters
Seemingly solid story
Non-random battles
Critically and universally acclaimed
Cons:
I would need to buy a new SD card
It looks exhausting; the deep intricacies of the battle/inventory system may very well turn me off
I have to spend money
....
Hmmmm... A lot to consider
Anyways here's my current pro con list for possibly picking this up:
Pros:
JRPG with massive world
Seemingly likable characters
Seemingly solid story
Non-random battles
Critically and universally acclaimed
Cons:
I would need to buy a new SD card
It looks exhausting; the deep intricacies of the battle/inventory system may very well turn me off
I have to spend money
....
Hmmmm... A lot to consider
zero shift
Banned
Outside of balancing issues Xenoblade was more or less the best JRPG made.
Get the Wii version and then rip or download the ISO and play it on Dolphin.
Get the Wii version and then rip or download the ISO and play it on Dolphin.
Question:
Do the sidequests add anything of substance to the experience, or do they simply exist for grinding? FE:Awakening had side missions that varied in depth, some of which purely existed for gaining experience and money. Should I just skip the sidequests?
For context, I haven't played any of Xenoblade and I'm looking for advice as to how I should approach my first playthrough.
kuroneko0509
Member
I heard someone mentioned on twitter that the gamecard is the same as normal 3ds one
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
As a admitted xenoblade fanboy, power unlimited's review score offends me.
shark sandwich
tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Completing sidequests boosts your affinity with the town they are issued from. This unlocks...more sidequests. Eventually this way you can unlock quests that grant your characters their 4th and 5th skill tree.
So yeah they do provide a pretty huge reward if you keep at it. The good news is that you will naturally complete a ton of them just by exploring the environments, which are beautiful and compelling enough where exploration doesn't feel like a chore.
There is always one for just about every game.
The same reviewer also reviewed the Wii version and gave that a 9.2 strangely
Quests for the most part are very simple. MMO stuff like kill x enemy or get 3 items for whatever. The good thing is most of the generic quests can be accepted and one doesn't need to return to the quest giver to end them.
For example if someone asks you to kill 5 "enemy crabs" The quest reward will unlock as soon as you kill the fifth, which will most likely happen just by playing the game normally.
A few number of the sidequests are very good, few add lore to the game, like the one about the ruins of the
giants
drug-smuggling ring are very good too, plus that one has an hilarious ending.
The problem thought is that those are buried underneath a lot of very simple and repetitive quests. Plus the interesting quests are greatly outnumbered by the repetitive ones.
I recommend to just go about accepting whichever quests, see what you complete on the way, and once you feel like changing the pace a bit, go out of your way to complete whatever sidequests you want.
Personally I would recommend skipping any quests that aren't timed (these expire when you hit certain points in the story) or ones that don't sound appealing to you. You can always go back and do quests later, and since many of them are fetch quests or "go kill x number of y monster" quests, it makes them a bit less tedious.