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Xenoblade Chronicles combat

Rate the combat from 1-10

  • Total voters
    66
it's is fine, not great....the game unlocking it so slowly in hopes wide audience can understand and like is it a lot more a problem than the combat system itself.
so 6/10 more because of how they use it (could reach 7 or 8 otherwise)
 
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I only played Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and I loved it. Combat was really good. I love how the abilities work and how you can build so many strategies around them.
It allows a lot of experimentation with party members/skills combination.

9/10 for me.
 
I loved the combat in XC, it starts simple but there's a lot to manage and each character has a unique playstyle. It helps that the game is also fairly challenging when most JRPGs are just pushovers.

 
GymWolf said:
I only played xb2 and fucking hated the combat system.
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I was actually about to post a similar thread to this one to find out about XC2 combat as well since I intend on playing both at some point. What did you hate about it?
 
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Solid 1, the fucking thing plays itself with layers of bullshit that was poorly explained, and even when understood is fucking stupid and still doesn't require very much user intervention.
 
It's okay, very similar to standard MMO combat systems. I guess it's more engaging than your bog-standard turn-based system, if only for the time pressure and tactical positioning to consider. The longer you play though, the more repetitive and slow battles become.

It may be sacrilege, but I'd rather they went for a full-on button mashy realtime combat system, at the very least in Xenoblade Chronicles X and the like. Just let me whale and blast away from inside my awesome mech. Is that so much to ask?
 
I dont like the topple system . Or any combat system that make player dealt tiny damage for 90% of the time and 2-3 shot the monster in seconds .
 
Both XC and XC2 might be a 300-500+ hrs endeavor so if this series will take that amount of time I'm thinking the combat is either excellent or maybe the worlds are extensive as can be. Several people on my friends list have well over 300 hrs played with these two, and a couple of them have logged over 500 hrs. One even played XC2 for about 800 hrs. That same person defeated me in SSBU versus my main (Link) with Pyra/Mythra when they had just came out that week for over two hours before I got a win in. It was like this person studied Smash and XC2 like a scientist; was honestly incredible to watch this pro handle Pyra/Mythra and just run through waves opponents for hours

But my point is, people seem to really love these two games. And the combat is where most of the time is spent in a JRPG, so this thread is my attempt to figure out how great the combat can be
 
Cutty Flam said:
Both XC and XC2 might be a 300-500+ hrs endeavor so if this series will take that amount of time I'm thinking the combat is either excellent or maybe the worlds are extensive as can be. Several people on my friends list have well over 300 hrs played with these two, and a couple of them have logged over 500 hrs. One even played XC2 for about 800 hrs. That same person defeated me in SSBU versus my main (Link) with Pyra/Mythra when they had just came out that week for over two hours before I got a win in. It was like this person studied Smash and XC2 like a scientist; was honestly incredible to watch this pro handle Pyra/Mythra and just run through waves opponents for hours

But my point is, people seem to really love these two games. And the combat is where most of the time is spent in a JRPG, so this thread is my attempt to figure out how great the combat can be
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These game have good end game with lots of boss , but Monolith Soft so shit at balancing im not even kidding . Some of the skill is just like 100x better than others .

I had like 200 hours in xenoblade X but honestly I would enjoy the combat a lots more IF the game just use WOW combat and skill tree . AND I dont even like wow .

xenoblade X have one or two build (overdrive abuse) you can use it on 99% boss and kill the Boss in a minute without taking damage . Or build the "fun build" to kill the boss in 30-60 minute .
 
I enjoyed it. It shifted away from "Select attacks, watch them happen" and made positioning matter.

I enjoyed it enough to complete the game and its side quests, so it can't be that bad
 
I've only played XC2 and the DLC. I don't really like it in the base game tbh, like J jaysius said feels like the game plays itself most times and little involvement is required from the player. I wouldn't give it a 1 because of that but I would say it's a 3 or 4 for me personally, it's tolerable.

I thought the Torna DLC was better for combat tbh, it was still a little brain dead but I at least found myself paying more attention to it and had more fun
Cutty Flam said:
Both XC and XC2 might be a 300-500+ hrs endeavor so if this series will take that amount of time I'm thinking the combat is either excellent or maybe the worlds are extensive as can be. Several people on my friends list have well over 300 hrs played with these two, and a couple of them have logged over 500 hrs. One even played XC2 for about 800 hrs. That same person defeated me in SSBU versus my main (Link) with Pyra/Mythra when they had just came out that week for over two hours before I got a win in. It was like this person studied Smash and XC2 like a scientist; was honestly incredible to watch this pro handle Pyra/Mythra and just run through waves opponents for hours

But my point is, people seem to really love these two games. And the combat is where most of the time is spent in a JRPG, so this thread is my attempt to figure out how great the combat can be
Click to expand...
It took me around 100 hours to complete XC2 and Torna. I assume people are mainly getting hooked on either the grind to beat the lvl 90+ enemies, new game+ or the semi-gacha mechanics in XC2 (no actual microtransactions, just items that provide drops for rare blades).

The main draw for me was the characters and the big dumb anime story which was amazing imo. There's a lot of action scenes in XC2 that make up for the combat not being to my liking.
 
I never understood what you're supposed to do against enemies that have spike when toppled In XB1.

I liked XB2's better. I didn't fully understand all its possibilities, but it's much more varied and interactive.
 
Possibly my least favorite combat system in any rpg I've played. I'd rather it go full real-time or full turn-based instead of this half and half crappy hybrid system. I had to turn the difficulty all the way down just to finish XC2. What a slog.
 
For me its between 8 and 9, I love combat I especially like the XB2' system, but with that being said they kind of do a poor job teaching the players how combat works in the beginning.
 
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Haven't played 2...

But I hated the first game simply because MMO style combat does not do it for me, I hate ff12 for the same reason. My greatest wish for the series is either return to xenosaga style combat or go full kingdom hearts action.
 
Xenoblade 1 I'd say probably a 3 or 4, it was easily the worst part of the game for me.
It's rather monotonous and repetitive, your control over the rest of the party is very limited, the game doesn't require a lot of active input from the player, and most characters have a very specific role and play style. So unless you are constantly changing characters (in between battles, because you can't change during battles) you'll basically just be executing the same skills in the same order over and over in every battle.
The AI is also horrendous and can't effectively use any characters, so most of the challenge comes from your party being braindead.

Xenoblade 2 has much better combat, it's still not amazing but I think it goes up to a solid 7 and it's the main reason I enjoyed it more than 1 (even though I like the world and plot of 1 better).
Blades bring some much needed variety by giving characters a lot more flexibility and requiring more active inputs during combat since you are encouraged to swap between them often. Later on there's also a fun system revolving around building elemental combos and unleashing a big team up attack that does a lot of damage so you always get the sense you are actively building towards something. You are also given a bit more control over the party and the AI is overall more competent.
My only gripe with 2, and it's only indirectly linked to combat, is the terrible system to get new blades, which is build around a shitty and grindy gatcha style system for some reason.
 
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I give Xenoblade's combat an,

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The combat system is tricky to first come to grips with as a newcomer, but once you "get it" the combat system becomes simple, yet complex at the same time. the more you play the more you realize how differently each character plays and how you can take on battles in so many different ways.

The combat system felt to me like Dragon Age, but with a lot less control. You can only use the one member you've selected throughout the fight - something you decide before the fight. You can't switch on the fly. You can't just freely command your units around the place. The only way to issue commands is through a special bar that fills up - you can then use it to issue commands as to what skill to use and potentially set up some skill combos. It can be frustrating sometimes. You run into issues where you just wish you could order your units around more so they don't stand around and get exploded by some AOE attack. Since it's not a true action game, with lock ons and attack cooldowns - being in direct control of a character isn't always the most interesting of affairs.

The main character has a skill Backslash which does a shit load more damage from behind. If you want to use anybody else, he basically becomes kinda useless in the AI's hands as they do not know how to position. There's also a combo mage character which is totally amazing in the player's hands but kinda garbage in the AI's. Probably the most fun character to use in my opinion.
 
XC1: 7/10
XCX: 8/10
XC2:9/10
Torna :9/10

It always gets better, except Torna was faster and had less depth. I could go either way with XC2 or Torna, love them both.

I'll say that XC2/Torna has the best combat of any modern RPG. I hate the trend towards action like in FF7R.
 
I played XC1 which I thought was great. Dunno on a rating ... 8/10? I don't remember having any complaints other than thinking they kept piling on the complexity, seemingly endlessly.
 
In my opinion, it's shit, particularly in XC2. It's almost undecipherable unless you are in the game creators' brain frequency and even if you are, the fights are long, uninteresting, drawn out and sluggish.

XC with a regular turn based system or a regular action-RPG system would have been a GOAT. As it stands now, XC2 is a game I've dedicated 100h to, I have never finished it and I never will.
 
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Danjin44 said:
What I liked about Torna's cambat is switching between driver and Blade in middle of combat, I wish base game had this.
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Yeah I really liked that too. Plus the automatic art that's triggered when doing so. I hope Xenoblade 3 has the speed of Torna with the depth of 2.
 
I played XC remastered recently and didn't enjoyed the combat too much. It felt really chaotic and with some difficulty spikes which just required some grinding. Also the game has lot of mechanics like the crystals making that werea bit meh to me ... Overall I prefer classic turn based or things like FFXII or VII remake. It's the big reason that makes me not willing to play XC2 even though I really like previous Monolith games
 
These results are interesting. So many people think the combat is sort of easy and automatic, but then there rest claim it has great complexity and that each fight might present something a little different?

Did the developers intend to make the combat system vary for all of its players who will play the game? Sort of like how exploration in Breath of the Wild is going to be different for everyone based on their choices and where choose to go with Link?
 
jaysius said:
Solid 1, the fucking thing plays itself with layers of bullshit that was poorly explained, and even when understood is fucking stupid and still doesn't require very much user intervention.
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There is zero fucking chance you are getting far in the game by letting it auto battle. This is a bullshit hot take.
 
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10/10 for all the power at your fingertips, the creative strategic options available, the way you can develop tactics to fight higher leveled enemies, the nice variety of arts each character has that seem to also fit both their appearance and personality, and the way the chain attack mechanic and its damage multiplier allow the game to blend what's good about real time and turn based combat, something very few games can do.

3/10 for how poor a job xenoblade does of making you aware of the richness of its combat system with its tutorials and early challenges, you really will have a superficial understanding of the power at your fingertips unless you're a genius or you watch experts explain the battle mechanics on youtube

As an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, I couldn't understand how to use Melia back in the day and she seemed very weak. So I was amazed when I watched this video and realized she was extremely powerful and I was extremely clueless:




I recently started playing XC2 and I'm enjoying it a lot, it seems to have another great totally different battle system with some shared mechanics and lot of interesting new ones. It appears to be even more poorly explained by in game tutorials than XC1 so watching videos is really helping me understand things.
 
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Touch fuzZy. get BizZay said:
10/10 for all the power at your fingertips, the creative strategic options available, the way you can develop tactics to fight higher leveled enemies, the nice variety of arts each character has that seem to also fit both their appearance and personality, and the way the chain attack mechanic and its damage multiplier allow the game to blend what's good about real time and turn based combat, something very few games can do.

3/10 for how poor a job xenoblade does of making you aware of the richness of its combat system with its tutorials and early challenges, you really will have a superficial understanding of the power at your fingertips unless you're a genius or you watch experts explain the battle mechanics on youtube
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I highly agree with you, I really like the combat but man the the game does such a crappy job explaining its system to the players and their UI kind of sucks (XC DE improved a lot).
 
Cutty Flam said:
These results are interesting. So many people think the combat is sort of easy and automatic, but then there rest claim it has great complexity and that each fight might present something a little different?

Did the developers intend to make the combat system vary for all of its players who will play the game? Sort of like how exploration in Breath of the Wild is going to be different for everyone based on their choices and where choose to go with Link?
Click to expand...
The people calling it automatic only played for a few hours and wrote it off.

If anything I could see the complaint being that it's too complicated. Personally I like that there's a lot there to sink your teeth into and customize. There's some hard fights but usually multiple strategies/team compositions you can apply to win them. This is the kind of JRPG where you're making lots of combat choices while you're outside of battle.
 
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