Support NeoGAF

[chaosblade]

That's fucking glorious. Holy shit.

Also day/night cycles = win.

It sounds like Chrono / Xenogears. Same guy?

It's really too bad I have a freaking kid being born a month before this thing drops. Will I find a way to play? We will find out.

Mitsuda (Chrono/Xenogears) did the ending vocal theme.
Shimomura did a handful of songs, particularly toward the beginning of the game (Colony 9 songs, main battle theme?).
Most of the soundtrack was done by ACE+, and they did a fantastic job.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Guys,

What do we know of the US version? New voice actors? Will it also be compatible with UK ver save (not that it matters)?

Regardless, preordered. This game deserves to be bought twice

Should be with a bit of work. Some technical stuffs in the linked post. When the time comes someone with both versions can test.

 

[Luigiv]

It's a non issue 99% of the time.

Your party gauge which slowly depletes out of batte, however, is a much more interesting mechanic.

Who said it was an issue? It's all the better for it.

 

[heringer]

It's really too bad I have a freaking kid being born a month before this thing drops. Will I find a way to play? We will find out.

Congratulations to you sir. But I don't think you will be playing anything, sorry.

 

[chaosblade]

Preorders on Nintendo's store go up today, wonder if we'll get any new info. Box art reveal, maybe a preorder bonus? That's probably hoping for too much though

Spoiler

but I want that art book

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Preorders on Nintendo's store go up today, wonder if we'll get any new info. Box art reveal, maybe a preorder bonus? That's probably hoping for too much though

Spoiler

but I want that art book

It already was (unless you meant NOA exclusive). Same style as Japanese/Europeran one but using the new logo so Chroincles looks tiny compared to being nearly as big as Xenoblade.

Probably some small differences (things like more clouds, less clouds, angry mechonis, grass slightly higher/lower) but I've not bothered to look.

 

[Ricker]

Still can't seem to pre-order this from Nintendo,unless I'm not doing it right...anyone else?

 

[chaosblade]

Oh, I hadn't seen that yet for some reason. Was hoping for something different than the PAL box art, but oh well.

 

[Levyne]

I just turn the cover inside out anyways

 

[Wichu]

Oh, I hadn't seen that yet for some reason. Was hoping for something different than the PAL box art, but oh well.

What, angry eyes aren't enough for you?

 

[cajunator]

Oh, I hadn't seen that yet for some reason. Was hoping for something different than the PAL box art, but oh well.

I see what you did there. Subtle but hilarious.

 

[wakajawaka]

ahahaha, win.

RedRedSuit, congratulations, you should get him a Rik¡ plush.

You guys made me put the Xenoblade OST again.

 

[chaosblade]

Preorders up from Nintendo.

 

[Ricker]

Preorders up from Nintendo.

Yep,just pre-ordered,never thought I would get to play this up here in Canada but it's coming...now for the long 4 months wait hehe...

 

[thomaser]

Don't know if it has been mentioned but the OST is really good, each area has a night theme and a day theme.

Feast your ears on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SnxVgxDesY

Yeah, this game has the best music in years. So many favourite tracks. Another great one:

Field of the Machinae. Feels like a hybrid between Chrono Trigger and Donkey Kong Country 2.

Nothing beats Gaur Plains, though.

 

[chaosblade]

I really liked Mechanical Rhythm given where it played.

There weren't many things more satisfying than destroying the hell out of some Mechon without any anti-Mechon equipment while that played in the background.

Monado?! Who needs it.

 

[Levyne]

Unfinished Battle

My favorite. You can definitely hear Kingdom Hearts / Mario and Luigi 3 in there. Yoko Shimomura definitely has a certain flavor to her stuff.

Edit: I guess I don't know for 100% sure that she did this track, but I'd put money on it.

Edit 2: Ugh, It's right in the description, well I'll keep the post intact to chronicle my shame.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Meta question time: I assume we're having another OT for the NA release, like we did for the Japanese and PAL releases?

 

[chaosblade]

Meta question time: I assume we're having another OT for the NA release, like we did for the Japanese and PAL releases?

Assuming this one stays reasonably active until then, I don't really see a reason for another OT.

Somebody will probably make one anyway though.

Edit: Yeah, I didn't realize we were at over 16000 posts. So yeah, new OT it is.

 

[Oxx]

If more than a few people play the NA release we would be heading for an |OT2| anyway, so there will probably be another thread no matter what.

 

[RurouniZel]

Posted? Xenoblade Chronicles is Gamespot's Wii GOTY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2MWs8hV8c

 

[The Hermit]

deserved

 

[Elfforkusu]

Posted? Xenoblade Chronicles is Gamespot's Wii GOTY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2MWs8hV8c

Will be considered more Zelda trolling. And it probably is, like Gamespot would take the time to play a Wii RPG!

Still, they might be accidentally correct. Haven't beat Zelda yet, but Xenoblade is a high standard to match.

 

[ivysaur12]

Will be considered more Zelda trolling. And it probably is, like Gamespot would take the time to play a Wii RPG!

Still, they might be accidentally correct. Haven't beat Zelda yet, but Xenoblade is a high standard to match.

No, Xenoblade is a better game. And I never thought I would say that before I played them.

EDIT: The dislike/like ration is maddening. Fucking fanboys.

EDIT 2: Is that music from the game?

 

[wsippel]

Posted? Xenoblade Chronicles is Gamespot's Wii GOTY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2MWs8hV8c

And rightfully so. In fact, even overall game of the year would have been perfectly justifiable.

 

[Dr.Hadji]

No, Xenoblade is a better game. And I never thought I would say that before I played them.

EDIT: The dislike/like ration is maddening. Fucking fanboys.

Would be impossible for me to say. Got my import at the start of the month. A great RPG will always place lower than a great action,adventure,puzzle game for me.

 

[ivysaur12]

Would be impossible for me to say. Got my import at the start of the month. A great RPG will always place lower than a great action,adventure,puzzle game for me.

Skyward Sword has too many structural issues and basic design flaws to be considered "great." Xenoblade outclasses it in almost every single aspect except for control.

 

[wsippel]

EDIT 2: Is that music from the game?

It's a selection of tracks, but they're all from the game. Which one do you mean? The one that sounds somewhat out of place? Mechanical Rhythm.

 

[Dr.Hadji]

Skyward Sword has too many structural issues and basic design flaws to be considered "great." Xenoblade outclasses it in almost every single aspect except for control.

I don't agree but hey to each his own. But statements like this are ridiculous. There are so many facets that are mutually exclusive to each game that that statement can't be anywhere close to being true.

 

[ivysaur12]

I don't agree but hey to each his own. But statements like this are ridiculous. There are so many facets that are mutually exclusive to each game that that statement can't be anywhere close to being true.

How are statements like those ridiculous? Skyward Sword has some of the most asinine, backwards gameplay and designs decisions from even a modern Nintendo game. Beyond some incredible swordplay and decent dungeon structure, Skyward Sword pales in something as simple as its basic design to Xenoblade.

It would be one thing if Skyward Sword had a few bright spots on an otherwise amazing experience. But it's not. Comparing even their most basic similarities in structure and design reveals how much more eloquently Xenoblade was crafted. There are plenty of 3D Zelda games where this comparison might not have merit, but Skyward Sword is an egregious example.

 

[Oxx]

Xenoblade needed Motion+ gem-mining.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

WM+ Mekon Slicing with Monado. That'd be an awesome finisher move.

 

[Zornica]

And rightfully so. In fact, even overall game of the year would have been perfectly justifiable.

maybe next year...
(but I fear Me3 will win on principle :/ )

 

[heringer]

20 hours in and this game is quickly turning into one of my favorite RPG's (not just JRPG's) ever. What's not to like about this game? Interesting story, great characters, amazing world, awesome combat system, beautiful soundtrack, huge focus on exploration, tons of sidequests, etc etc.

This games gets almost everything just right. I say almost because I have a couple of nitpicks. Like some interface and UI issues, terrible human models (love the monsters and mechs though), some poor textures, etc. The textures are a tradeoff to the vast, seamless world though, so I say it's more than a fair tradeoff and I wouldn't want other way.

I'm always in awe with the backgrounds. Not only they are technically impressive due to the draw distance, but the art is also incredible. It's beautiful.

And the combat system just keeps giving. Back in 2006 I was in love with FFXII battle system, so I'm a little biased, but I was excited to see Xenoblade coming up with even better combat.

I also love how it constantly encourages you to explore. Not only the world is compelling enough, but they actually award you for finding new places.

This is my GOTY so far. So much better than the last two games I've played (Skyward Sword and Uncharted 3), and I loved both. I'm yet to play Batman and Skyrim though.

Granted, with 20 hours I still have a lot to see and I might be jumping to conclusions, but so far there was no boring moment to me. Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest VIII and Vagrant Story are the top 3 JRPG's on my list, and I can say that Xenoblade is well on it's way to making to that list.

I know I'm very late to the party, but I had to voice my love.

Glad this will get a US release, everyone should have a chance to play this.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Xenoblade needed Motion+ gem-mining.

:lol

Some sort of motion+ minigame for inventory management and gem crafting, too!

 

[heringer]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

 

[Luigiv]

Xenoblade needed Motion+ gem-mining.

In all seriousness, I do think that Xenoblade could have at least used IR pointer for selecting arts which would have freed up the dpad to be dedicated to the camera. Seems like such a waste that they didn't use it.

 

[Zornica]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

basically all charakters are somehow better than sharla, reyn (and shulk). but in the end it all comes down to personal preference. I would never play with a shulk, sharla, reyn party again, but most ppl are ok with it and stick with this combo for the entire game.

but if you want to make combat more fun, play melia, use dunban as "tank" and riki as DoT/heal type. Later you can mix it up with 7th. or try a tank only party by playing riki and having dunban and reyn helping you. It´s kinda fun too ^^. or a damage dealer only party with melia, 7th, dunban/shulk.
there aren´t any combos that won't work, just try and experiment.
(btw: you DON'T need a dd - tank - heal setup. most people think they do, because the game was teaching them to play that way)

 

[Hi2u]

I dunno without sharla I never get healed fast enough and just die in boss fights. Put sharla in and it was a breeze.

 

[sublimit]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

I was also mostly using Shulk-Reyn-Sharla but towards the end i started using Shulk-Dunban-Reyn for brute force.

 

[MetatronM]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

My main party is Shulk-7th-Riki.

Riki doesn't really excel at anything, but he's a great little jack of all trades with some really great situational abilities. 7th is just a ridiculous damage dealer, and Shulk is just really versatile.

Melia is a terrific damage dealer if you take control of her yourself.

 

[hutna]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

these were my parties:

Fighting Mechon: Melia / Shulk / 7th
Fighting Telethia: Shulk / Dunban / Reyn
Most bosses: Shulk / Reyn / Sharla
Everything else: Riki / 7th / Dunban

when you get to the end game your party for the ultimate challenges will likely be either Melia / Shulk / 7th or Melia / Shulk / Dunban.

Melia and 7th are probably overall the strongest characters. Reyn and Sharla are the most specialized so they excel in situations where you need to keep hate on one character or a lot of healing.

Personally I like Riki the best in terms of sheer fun to play, and you can see some ridiculously high damage if you combine his Freeze/Flame ether attacks with Lurge and a debuff gem + say sorry. I could go in depth about some combos with him and Dundun that can almost one shot level 99 monsters.

 

[SecretMoblin]

I think the best advice for party makeups is to experiment. I made the mistake of having a Melia (main)-Dunban-random party setup throughout most of the game and most battles felt routine. Just on a whim I decided to try maining Sharla, and the game played radically different. Play around, explore different arts, the game plays better when you're having fun.

 

[Elfforkusu]

So, what are the best characters?

So far I'm still using Shulk + Reyn + Sharla. Is Dunbam better than Reyn? Reyn has massive HP, which helps with tanking. What about Riki and Melia? Are they usefull?

Essentially, it breaks down something like this:

Tanks: Dunban, 7th, Reyn, Riki (somewhat)
Healers: Riki, Sharla, Shulk (somewhat)
Special: Shulk, Melia
High damage: Shulk, Melia, Dunban, 7th

Dunban and 7th have high agility, and when you give them gems to boost that stat even more they're the best tanks in the game (draw aggro -> dodge everything).

Generally I went with one tank, one healer, and whoever I felt like for the 3rd. Melia is awesome, but you have to play as her (and learn her unique attack pattern) because her AI is lame.


e: Most fun to play as for me were Melia, Dunban (Peerless, 5 straight specials including a break/topple, whateveritisthatcastsHaste, auto attack, repeat. Glorious), and 7th. Riki is interesting, but I never got the hang of how to use him effectively. Shulk is exciting for the Monado stuff, but after the first half of the game I was pretty burned out on playing as him.

 

[hutna]

I think the best advice for party makeups is to experiment. I made the mistake of having a Melia (main)-Dunban-random party setup throughout most of the game and most battles felt routine. Just on a whim I decided to try maining Sharla, and the game played radically different. Play around, explore different arts, the game plays better when you're having fun.

Best advice.

 

[Oxx]

Melia is definitely the most 'involved' character to play as, even if you are inputting the same attacks at the start of every fight.

 

[heringer]

Thanks for the tips guys! Will try a few different combinations. Though I was never one to change parties too much, I usually stick with the folks I like (story wise) for some reason.

I mean, I'm even avoiding using Dunbam because I don't want ugly armors ruining his cool effect on cutscenes. Yeah, I'm that silly, lol.

 

[Levyne]

For the end game UMs, I used Shulk Dunban and 7th.

 

[chaosblade]

For the end game UMs, I used Shulk Dunban and 7th.

Best party! Really overpowered if setup right.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

I got my artbook today, it almost got shipped back to France due to negligence on my part. So shiny. Time to study French ;//