re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch JRPG Official Thread (84/100 Metacritic)

so far this thread has told me it's basically going to be me and you discussing this game

I'm going to pick it up after work today.

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Is it bad that i look at every negative in this review as a positive and a reason i like the game?

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Well this is how I read this:

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Xenoblade 2 consistently displays a frustrating lack of respect for the player’s time. Everything takes significantly longer than it needs to, in part because the game contains such an overwhelming number of features.

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Lots of Customization

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The mini-map is vague and often feels like it’s withholding information. There are no larger maps to be found, so you’ll have to rely upon UI markers to figure out where you need to go.

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This is wrong, as I watched a video review where they click into a larger map with lots of points visible.

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Battles are long and tedious, and many of them dragged on even after I’d fully learned how the combat system worked.

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He learned how it worked, but probably didn't execute well enough. A hallmark of the the Xenoblade games is that even a Level 20 character against a group of level 17-19 creatures can be a difficult battle if you aren't careful. They can and will wipe you. In these games you either have to be "Careful and Overleveled," the way you might have treated RPGs on the SNES, always ere on the side of caution and gain a few levels before going to the next area. Or "Careful and Skilled," either of those can shrink the time it takes in combat. Notice the word careful....no matter how good I got there's no answer for a level 25 or 30 creature coming into a fight and bringing the pain.

I actually really like the power curve in the Xenoblade games, it isn't for everyone but I find it to be the most controllable that I've seen in any game....unless you try to complete every sidequest prior to the end of the game, then and only then does it get out of whack.

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final fantasy 6...that game is a piece of shite

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Listen, Fox, don't make me kill you.

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I’ve seen the negative reviews

Mostly hits it on things either people don’t like about it or efficiency (such as map) or things I just flat out like about JRPGs and some things I miss about JRPGs

So I’m not getting a good sense of things from the reviews

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What do you feel is missing?

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A lot of the good reviews are clearly just fans of series or Nintendo and the bad ones have too many reviewers that don’t like these kinds of games or things that I like about the older ones

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That's pretty fair.

Watch this review: LINK GameXplain can be Nintendo Fanboys, but this particular reviewer, while liking Xenoblade 1, saw a lot of flaws. He breaks down every major system in the game without going into Spoilers. Might be worth it.

This will make it sound complicated however, but again, you don't have to master everything.

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I like basic and melodramatic exposition, I like weird shite. I like the “world is dying” tropes

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Then you'll probably like the story. If you like Exploration, I'd almost say there's no way you won't like this game. The environments and the way they are presented even from the videos looks epic.

I'd say then it depends on how much you like Combat/Customization. There is a lot of nuanced customization in the game to drive combat, both in the setup, leveling up, Blade Affinities (opening up extra skills and stats on Blades), and in combat through the combos and statuses. If you can get into stuff like that then you'll enjoy it. This is where people say it might feel tedious. And they aren't wrong, it depends on if you like this stuff, or if its a draw.

Xenoblade sits comfortably between Final Fantasy X/XII and Disgaea in the Customization question. FWIW, I don't like the level of Customization in Disgaea, it's often just way too much. I find Xenoblade to be jut right, where most RPGs fall short. XCX was probably closer to Disgaea.

The first game did a really good job of having a complex combat system that you didn't need to master to beat it. You probably need to be relatively good at it, but you certainly don't have to min/max your way to the end. The dev team seems skilled at creating a rewarding system like this where mastery of the full scope is not required, but it's there if you want it.

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In the last one it was a alot of fun to not only combo moves, but to learn which moves boost which combos and when to properly use them.

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XCX? Yeah I thought the combat in that was a step up from XBC. Although I still put both at the top of my favorite combat styles in an RPG not named Chrono Trigger.

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You can figure out the combat system in like 30 minutes but it'll take 30 hours to feel comfortable fighting a hoard quickly

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But you don't have to spend those 30 hours, that's the key.

I found this quote in one of the 7/10 reviews interesting....

LINK

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but this is still a fascinatingly complex Japanese role-player with the best open world since Breath Of The Wild.

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Xenoblade 1 had one of my favorite worlds to explore in a game ever. Super unique and creative in presentation with a world that felt alive. Towns that build and relocate, animals that roam, etc.

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was exactly what I was talking about. they're known fanboys

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I was only pointing at that review because he literally dives into every system and all of the big differences from Xenoblade 1 - because like you said, many of the positive reviews are from fans of the series. But that reviewer was actually less excited than some of the fanboys about X1. It might give you what you need. They are fanboys, but that's a different review.

He explores the tediousness and the key upgrades from X1, which might be valuable.

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i'm really excited to play this. the ambiance with the visual presentation and the music gives me the final fantasy feels. the good final fantasy feels.

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If that's the case then buy it I actually did the same for Xenoblade 1. I had no idea what I was getting into but it had that FF vibe that hasn't existed since FF 10. And I'd argue it was a better game.


Or just read this line from a 75/100 review "The slog is real, but worth it for hard core JRPG fans."

i'm not a hardcore JRPG fan, but for mainstream releases like this i find that it takes me a while to settle in and then i'm hooked after i get into it for a bit


there was an episode of Brooklyn 99 that kind of explains it for me. rosa thinks sci fi fantasy novel epics are nerdy and looks down on them. then she reads it, and is begrudgingly hooked

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i'm not a hardcore JRPG fan, but for mainstream releases like this i find that it takes me a while to settle in and then i'm hooked after i get into it for a bit


there was an episode of Brooklyn 99 that kind of explains it for me. rosa thinks sci fi fantasy novel epics are nerdy and looks down on them. then she reads it, and is begrudgingly hooked

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Given everything. Yes buy it. Because like Breesus said we just need someone else to talk about it with.