Support NeoGAF

[Zenaku]

Spoiler: Mira

I am not talking about how Mira is boxed in every map in games has an edge or a box world you cannot go beyond that is a known factor in games, I am talking about what happens when you touch the edge. It is not that it does not loop I'm talking about the texture design mesh of blue lights showing you a grid like it is a holodeck

Xenoblade 1 has an edge of the map, Xenoblade 2 has an edge of the map mostly they will put something you cannot cross before you get to it. But you can swim in some areas to reach it, they don't do what Xenoblade X does. I wish I had a video I could link to but it has been such a long time it would take ages to find a video of someone flying a doll to the edge of the map to show the design of the forcefield you hit

Spoiler

Yeah, I know what you mean, but that effect isn't limited to the edge of the map. You see it in NLA in chapter 1 when you try to ignore Elma and Rins tour and wander off. I thinks it's mainly a design choice more than a clue.

 

[Zog]

The thread title didn't age well.

Edit: Cleared up confusion.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Spoiler

Yeah, I know what you mean, but that effect isn't limited to the edge of the map. You see it in NLA in chapter 1 when you try to ignore Elma and Rins tour and wander off. I thinks it's mainly a design choice more than a clue.

why must you kill my dreams?

Spoiler: still works

That it shows up elsewhere does not take away from a hint imo it is still Mira walking a way from a tour is out of bounds of the simulation just like the edge of the box

Whatever the case I would love to have a Xenoblade X2 as long as the Main is Elma not some silly no name. I want them to use her XB2 model it is cute

That title didn't age well.

You have not seen the fugly 3DS version

 

[Metnut]

Is the combat for this game smoother/less complex than Xenoblade 2? How about the side quests? Are they more interesting/less tedious than Xenoblade 2?

I like JRPGs but thought Xenoblade 2 was a mess. Side quests were tedious and the never ending overlapping systems just wasn’t fun to manage.

Loved Xenogears and XS, so am willing to give this a shot if I hear enough good things.

 

[HotPocket69]

Day 21

​

Hangin in a hallway in my place lol

 

[Zenaku]

why must you kill my dreams?

Spoiler: still works

That it shows up elsewhere does not take away from a hint imo it is still Mira walking a way from a tour is out of bounds of the simulation just like the edge of the box

Whatever the case I would love to have a Xenoblade X2 as long as the Main is Elma not some silly no name. I want them to use her XB2 model it is cute

Spoiler

Like I said, I do agree about Mira being simulated/created, it's definitely not a normal planet, with it drawing different species there, and how it auto-translates everything they say and the like.

Yeah, Elma's XB2 model is more faithful to her original design. Monolith made huge strides in their character modelling for XB2.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Is the combat for this game smoother/less complex than Xenoblade 2? How about the side quests? Are they more interesting/less tedious than Xenoblade 2?

I like JRPGs but thought Xenoblade 2 was a mess. Side quests were tedious and the never ending overlapping systems just wasn’t fun to manage.

Loved Xenogears and XS, so am willing to give this a shot if I hear enough good things.

depends on what you idea of a good thing is.

er don't thing anyone should try to sell you on X1 if that is the way you feel about X2, what you see as bad things is not so much how others might feel.
X2 is far more complex yes. X1 sidequests lol should be easier yes. Battle system is Xenoblade something that needs getting use to.

 

[Danjin44]

Is the combat for this game smoother/less complex than Xenoblade 2? How about the side quests? Are they more interesting/less tedious than Xenoblade 2?

I like JRPGs but thought Xenoblade 2 was a mess. Side quests were tedious and the never ending overlapping systems just wasn’t fun to manage.

Loved Xenogears and XS, so am willing to give this a shot if I hear enough good things.

If your issue is how it side quest done in XC2 then chances are you might not like it in this game as well and combat system less "complicated" but not by that much. My suggestion is watch some review or gameplay footage from Wii version to help you decide.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

^

I would add that they did seem to add a few tweaks to the battle system to make it easier

It seems they added a ( ! ) to the icons to tell you which arts you can use by what position you are in from the monster, things like side or back slash should be way easier

the sidequests seems tweaked too, it seems like you will know which NPC trades which item now it is listed instead of having to go looking them up on a wiki

So I would say the remaster is smoother

 

[BusierDonkey]

They did not release the Fantasy game yet imo.

I think Xenoblade 2 was very SCI-FI not as deeply modern as XCX but still (what the world tree is and the science in evolution is a pretty deep Sci-Fi theme)


I am going to spoiler tag a block of text but I'll try to stay within what we see in trailers anyway so it really is nothing we should not discuss openly

Spoiler: meh meh meh

The hints of what Mira is are already deep in the game it does not leave you with any doubt that is what it is, if you walk to the edge of the map in Breath of the Wild for example a game world Monolith Soft had a large part in creating they don't give you the same signals or feedback that Mira does on its map. If it is hinted in an Artbook even more reason not to doubt that is what they are going for. Mira is a simulation they did not have to show the edge of the map like it is a holodeck from Star Trek if they did not want you to think that. I think the planet is a Simulation, I am not saying the war and the Earth blowing up is, what they crashed on is a simulation world it consumed them. Something created Mira. Mira is connected to XB2 but the god had a different solution on how to handle things.

There is also no doubt that the games are connected, it is not fanservice at all that Elma shows up in XB2 although you need a season pass to get her. The devs want that connection no matter how faint it is.

I think the way the games are connected is less likely to solve or tell what is going on in one game's world, the story either tells you or hints at what is going on in each game world. Yeah they are triggered by one event but how that event shapes their worlds goes in very different directions.

2 large titans fighting dies (fleas living on them continue the hatered between them)

a war between 2 alien races destroys Earth, survivors try to escape in massive ships only to be chased down and blown out of space

a world tree tells of a mystery of long ago, a God is born he recreates evolution into a strange cycle of rebirth

it is very hard to boil down each game into those tiny confined elements because there is so much more complex stuff going on but none of out theories matter as long as the devs can just write in a God that simply snaps his finger to make something happen in that world.

I don't think the Lore of Xenoblade can ever come down to Earth like lore in Dark Souls or other games with deep but clear Lore.

Xenoblade tries very hard to borrow symbolism from very complex themes creating a muliverse that only has echoes of similarity

When each world has a different name for the same entity it makes it kinda hard to connect things and call it canon unless in this case the developers of that story try very hard to retcon connect the worlds anyway.

The inconsistency we find is deliberate though it always has been in Xeno games. It is like how different cultures or tribes create their own version of what God is and the lore around that god. Each has there own ideas.

Mira was also in an older Monolithsoft game, Baten Kaitos. In that game it was a floating nation that existed between dimensions and defied time and space.

Mira

Mira (known as City of Illusion) is a island floating in the Sky and one of the Five Great Nations. Mira is known for its constant fluctuation between this dimension and another. This gives Mira its mysterious glow and the feeling of impermanence where things appear and disappear at will. The...

batenkaitos.fandom.com

 

[KàIRóS]

I am not sure how Takahashi makes the distinction between those 2 terms.

He was kinda forced into combining Fantasy and Sci Fi early in his career, but that ultimately led to his unique writing style.

Xenogears started as the pilot for Final Fantasy VII and after the big success of Final Fantasy VI which combined Fantasy and Sci Fi elements, Takahashi was tasked to write a story with a similiar feel for the next FF, as far as I understand he actually wanted FFVII to be full Sci Fi but the higher ups at Squaresoft forced him to combine Fantasy and Sci Fi, in the end FFVII and Xenogears became their own separate thing but the Fantasy, Sci Fi and Philosophical elements mix he made for Xenogears have remained ever since in all of his other Xeno games, even things like how he structures narratives remain largely the same, like for example how the mechas in all the Xeno games are always the source of a big plot twist (Weltall in Xenogears, Zarathustra and the Vessels of anima in Xenosaga, the Artifices in XC2, etc.) or how most Xeno games start with a big Fantasy setting and slowly reveal Sci Fi elements, Mixing those 2 is simply his storytelling style I don't think there's much more than that.

We should get a sequel anyway, I believe Takahashi once said he'd switch between fantasy and sci-fi, so we should be due for an X sequel or prequel.

I have never read an interview of him saying that, but if it's a theory of yours I would say it's actually not far off.

Xenogears = Fantasy>Sci Fi

Xenosaga = Sci Fi>Fantasy

XC = Fantasy>Sci Fi

XCX = Sci Fi>Fantasy

XC2 = Fantasy>Sci Fi

You may be onto something here lol, i would certainly enjoy a XCX sequel I loved the Skell combat in that game.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Beware I don't what know the hell is this 4Chan leak going around is about but youtube is claiming leaks or something

 

[OutrageousFacts]

All Xeno-games are scifi. Star Trek doesn't become fantasy just because Picard visits a planet with medieval civilization level, right? Everything in all Xeno-games is rooted in scifi, it often only is revealed as a twist towards the end of the game.

In short: The Xeno-franchise is based around the famous sentence "A highly enough advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

 

[Zog]

why must you kill my dreams?

Spoiler: still works

That it shows up elsewhere does not take away from a hint imo it is still Mira walking a way from a tour is out of bounds of the simulation just like the edge of the box

Whatever the case I would love to have a Xenoblade X2 as long as the Main is Elma not some silly no name. I want them to use her XB2 model it is cute



You have not seen the fugly 3DS version

I was referring to the thread title not aging well. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[RaptorGTA]

i really want to play this game..but the combat system just seems so complicated...I wish there was a demo.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

He was kinda forced into combining Fantasy and Sci Fi early in his career, but that ultimately led to his unique writing style.

Xenogears started as the pilot for Final Fantasy VII and after the big success of Final Fantasy VI which combined Fantasy and Sci Fi elements, Takahashi was tasked to write a story with a similiar feel for the next FF, as far as I understand he actually wanted FFVII to be full Sci Fi but the higher ups at Squaresoft forced him to combine Fantasy and Sci Fi, in the end FFVII and Xenogears became their own separate thing but the Fantasy, Sci Fi and Philosophical elements mix he made for Xenogears have remained ever since in all of his other Xeno games, even things like how he structures narratives remain largely the same, like for example how the mechas in all the Xeno games are always the source of a big plot twist (Weltall in Xenogears, Zarathustra and the Vessels of anima in Xenosaga, the Artifices in XC2, etc.) or how most Xeno games start with a big Fantasy setting and slowly reveal Sci Fi elements, Mixing those 2 is simply his storytelling style I don't think there's much more than that.



I have never read an interview of him saying that, but if it's a theory of yours I would say it's actually not far off.

Xenogears = Fantasy>Sci Fi

Xenosaga = Sci Fi>Fantasy

XC = Fantasy>Sci Fi

XCX = Sci Fi>Fantasy

XC2 = Fantasy>Sci Fi

You may be onto something here lol, i would certainly enjoy a XCX sequel I loved the Skell combat in that game.

If I recall right it was Hironobu Sakaguchi who, despite turning down the pitch of Xenogears for FFVII, agreed (or vouched for) to make it a separate project. If that's the case (my memory is hazy), we owe this man so much.

Xenogears strikes me as more sci-fi than fantasy since there are pseudo-scientific explanations to many things in the game, like the non-human races being genetically engineered. I could be wrong but there's even an attempt to explain reincarnation. Also in the Perfect Works artbook there is an explanation for the ether abilities which amount to magic spells. And of course the anime intro of the game screams sci-fi.

I really want to play this game..but the combat system just seems so complicated...I wish there was a demo.

I used to think the same until I played it, the combat isn't really that complicated. Basically your character auto-attacks, and you can move around, and you select which skills to use, and each skill has a cooldown time. There are more intricacies to this battle system but the basics aren't hard to grasp. I'm sure it'll click with you when you play it.

 

[Wunray]

Huh, did notice the title change. Thanks mods.

 

[Wunray]

I......must protect that smile.

 

[KàIRóS]

Xenogears strikes me as more sci-fi than fantasy

Yeah overall it ends up being more sci fi, but the setting and the world is very fantasy like, similar to XC and XC2.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

i really want to play this game..but the combat system just seems so complicated...I wish there was a demo.

I have never ever played a Xenoblade game the way it should be played at first. I just mash buttons until something dies. I skip tutorials like a madman. Sure early on I was frustrated but I decided not to be as fancy as everyone else and had more fun that way.

It is only later after I am way overleveled that I go an look up a youtube guide

if you want to get geeky then the systems have guides you can find


^ example I doubt I'm going to be Topple Locking unless it just happens lol

but all of this is in the tutorials I skipped

it is really not that serious only the diehard play and take advantage of the complex areas of the battle systems in these games.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

people have review copies

 

[caffeware]

people have review copies

Any link to stream?

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Any link to stream?

Dunno, some people are saying street date broke in mexico not sure how true that is. Nintendo is not playing around these days, but I doubt people will resist this weekend or next week.

I would stay clear of 4chan

even if we already know all of this stuff there might be a few things I might not want spoiled

 

[D.Final]

The last few days

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

 

[Danjin44]

Day 20

​

 

[Wunray]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

Wow now that's impressive, I wish it wasn't so expensive to import game in my country it's the main reason I dont bother getting any collector editions.

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Wow now that's impressive, I wish it wasn't so expensive to import game in my country it's the main reason I dont bother getting any collector editions.

A lot of stuff I got on my trips to Japan. The xenosaga collections were like 20 and 30 Euro in Super potato in den den town Osaka. Also perfect works was cheap in super potato ikebukuro Tokyo . The US version from xenoblade chronicles x I got via a friend from the US.

And the most expensive stuff were the bring figures I go from Amazon Japan to be shipped to germany.

If you ever have the chance to go to Japan you can always find some xeno stuff. All my OSTs are from trips as well. Generally it was always a lot cheaper then ebay or any other online source with shipping.
I know travel there is also expensive but if you are already there why not get one luggage full of games back home that's what I always do. If it were not for covid19 I would have been in japan with my family last month and I am sure there would have been more xeno stuff on that photo

 

[Danjin44]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

This looks beautiful and......

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Nice collection, Ma-Yuan.

Hm, makes me want to post my Monolith Soft-collection ... but I wanted to wait for Xenoblade DE before I show it ...

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Nice collection, Ma-Yuan.

Hm, makes me want to post my Monolith Soft-collection ... but I wanted to wait for Xenoblade DE before I show it ...

Just do it. I want to see it. You can use Photoshop to add the new game later

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Just do it. I want to see it. You can use Photoshop to add the new game later

I'll maybe take a photo later. It's incomplete anyway because the new Kos-mos figure got delayed -_- And then there's the Pyra and Mythra figures coming end of year that I will not miss out on a second time

 

[German Hops]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

I don't think I've drooled harder in my life..

 

[D.Final]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

Cool collection

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Alright, here's my Monolith Soft Collection. The center where Fei and Elly are is kinda empty because that's where Kos-Mos, Pyra and Mythra will be placed eventually

 

[Danjin44]

Alright, here's my Monolith Soft Collection. The center where Fei and Elly are is kinda empty because that's where Kos-Mos, Pyra and Mythra will be placed eventually

 

[D.Final]

Alright, here's my Monolith Soft Collection. The center where Fei and Elly are is kinda empty because that's where Kos-Mos, Pyra and Mythra will be placed eventually

Holy God

 

[German Hops]

Alright, here's my Monolith Soft Collection. The center where Fei and Elly are is kinda empty because that's where Kos-Mos, Pyra and Mythra will be placed eventually

I am super jealous and I'm not afraid to admit it.

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Alright, here's my Monolith Soft Collection. The center where Fei and Elly are is kinda empty because that's where Kos-Mos, Pyra and Mythra will be placed eventually

Awesome love it

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Monolith Soft has some serious fans

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Monolith Soft has some serious fans

Hope some of you better understand now why I hate all the in-fighting between people who prefer this or that Xenoblade-title. I have preferences, too, but i love them all and none of them deserves to be shit on.

Thank you, Tetsuya Takahashi ❤

 

[Zenaku]

Missing a lot from my collection, hopefully I'll fill it in someday, but I've reduced my spending lately to save for a mortgage, so maybe a year or two. Haven't finished my Doll/Siren models either; you'd think I'd have plenty of time in the lockdown but alas.

I'd definitely recommend Xenosaga 3 Perfect Guide for Xenosaga fans, as it has somewhat of a mini Perfect Works at the end, with explanations and diagrams about how the Saga universe works, pictures of things and people we never saw (such as the Messiah), explanations of what happens after the game (some of the Gnosis that were sent to Lost Jerusalem will physically re-manifest and be reborn as humans) and some other cool stuff.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

I'd definitely recommend Xenosaga 3 Perfect Guide for Xenosaga fans, as it has somewhat of a mini Perfect Works at the end, with explanations and diagrams about how the Saga universe works, pictures of things and people we never saw (such as the Messiah), explanations of what happens after the game (some of the Gnosis that were sent to Lost Jerusalem will physically re-manifest and be reborn as humans) and some other cool stuff.

Aaand the hunt is on, lol. Thx.

Btw these Xeno Emission books you have, are they officially licensed books or fanart books? Quick google search doesn't help.

Anyway, nice collection! That big Xenoblade X box is that the Wii U console bundle?

 

[Zenaku]

Aaand the hunt is on, lol. Thx.

Btw these Xeno Emission books you have, are they officially licensed books or fanart books? Quick google search doesn't help.

Anyway, nice collection! That big Xenoblade X box is that the Wii U console bundle?

The Xeno Emission books are by Choco, the guy who designed KOS-MOS and T-ELOS, and a bunch of other stuff in Xenosaga, and he worked on Xenoblade X too (The 2 Blade twins, T-ELOS and some late-game armour; Tanaka handled the KOS-MOS Re design). I bought them on eBay a long time ago, never managed to buy the one for Episode 2 but I have a scanned version of that.

Yeah, the Xenoblade X box is the bundle. I have 4 copies of X, between that bundle, the Europe and US collectors editions, and a digital copy on my main Wii U.

 

[McCheese]

I've never played any Xeno games, is it worth picking up Xenoblade 2 at this point or should I just wait a couple of weeks and have this be my first entry? The art-styles between the two look completely different.

 

[KàIRóS]

I've never played any Xeno games, is it worth picking up Xenoblade 2 at this point or should I just wait a couple of weeks and have this be my first entry? The art-styles between the two look completely different.

IMO play them in order:

XC -> XCX -> XC2

or XC -> XC2 if you're skipping X

you will not fully understand the final parts of XC2 if you don't play XC1

 

[JORMBO]

I've never played any Xeno games, is it worth picking up Xenoblade 2 at this point or should I just wait a couple of weeks and have this be my first entry? The art-styles between the two look completely different.

Play XC1 first. XC2 will have a bigger impact on you if you do.

 

[EightBit Man]

I hoped we'd see a release on the Switch early in the platform's life. Not only do we get the game running at a higher resolution; we get a full visual upgrade as well. THE game I am looking forward to (yeah, outside Metroid Prime Trilogy and Super Mario 3D World too). One of the best, if not THE best JPRG of all-time.

 

[D.Final]

I hoped we'd see a release on the Switch early in the platform's life. Not only do we get the game running at a higher resolution; we get a full visual upgrade as well. THE game I am looking forward to (yeah, outside Metroid Prime Trilogy and Super Mario 3D World too). One of the best, if not THE best JPRG of all-time.

Would be great

 

[Ma-Yuan]

Since everyone here is in xeno boner / hype mode I thought this thread is as good as any to show of my small Xeno collection and imply with that how hyped I am.

Edit: what irony I forgot my two xenoblade games for wii

Small addition if I add my remaining Monolith games and my XC2 controller I forgot. But that's all then ><