The fun thing about this game's battle system, is that everything leads into another thing. Auto-attacks lead to arts, arts lead to specials and driver combos, special lead to blade combos, driver and blade combos lead to fusion combos, blade combo finishers lead to orb set-ups and orbs lead to high damage in chain attacks. Pretty much everthing in this game has some influence on something else and that makes learning about new things and understanding them more rewarding.
It's quite a fascinating dynamic. Auto-attacks do so little damage on their own that they're basically only useful as a stepping stone to greater things, and chain attacks aren't even the end of it as element orbs contribute toward getting a Full Burst, which is so far along the chain of mechanics that the opportunity to use it arises only on very rare occasion.
At last a video praising Xenoblade 2 for it's strength and not just a blind hate video about Oversized Waifu boobs and unneccessary comparison to the first game. Great Content man. 👍😊 Edit: And bruuuhhh less than 200 subs? What the heck is this? You deserve millions man.. Hoping to see your channel grow soon.
Yeah that dunkey vid also really cause hate to this game, saying it's too anime(although people also love persona 5 even though it's also an anime jrpg😂) but luckily chuggaaconroy started to let's play it, I hope people will start loving this game too😆
@@betarise2772 Eh, I honestly take Dunkey’s review as more of joking around than a genuine review, since those always have “dunkview” in their titles. Basically, while he doesn’t like the game, he’s just horsing around. Captain Astronaut, on the other hand... yikes!
+Smashster 1 Captain Astronaut? Lmao, not only does that name make me cringe, but that guy genuinely just sounded like he *wanted* to hate on it for fun. “The music is TOO good” like WTF.
@@ametrine7462 Yeah. While I will say that his Splatoon 2 videos are pretty good( and possibly his Monster Hunter Rise videos, as I haven’t watched those), his Xenoblade 2 videos were not good. Complaining about stuff in the story that he just didn’t understand(to the point of making rewrites that would’ve made the story worse without changing the story and world more), making potentially harmful comments about women’s bodies, insulting people who do like the game by calling them raccoons, comparing the blade designs of professional artists to Middle School OCs, etc. You could honestly make a list of the problems in his videos.
and then you have Beatemups and the only thing I remember he does not like is that you get no Auto-attack if you move and I still do not understand why He has a big problem with it
I liked Xenoblade 1 more, but that was solely for the story. Story is a huge selling point for me in games. I could have zero fun at all in a game, but if the story is good, I like it. I may stop the game out of boredom, but I’ll search up an all cutscenes video to finish the game. The combat in XC2 is so complicated and engaging that it makes the game more fun than the first one. That’s why i could do more than 2 playthroughs of the game (new game and new game plus), but I was only able to do two for XC1. I liked XC1 more, but the game is a one time deal. You play the game for the story, not the gameplay. At the same time, XC2’s story was really cool as well. The individual cutscenes have more value than the games backstory and development as a whole. In other words, some of those scenes that were more about character development than story development are just better. That one cutscene at the start of chapter 7 where Rex almost gives up is easily one of the best cutscenes in all of gaming. It had me to the point where I was crying. That doesn’t happen often, but this game made me on the verge of or even already crying more times than I could count. The cutscenes that make you cry have no story development involved, but instead focus on the characters. As I’ve said, I prefer games with really good story development. This is why I have spent more time on the second game, but I still think the first one is the better of the two overall.
@@squibster81 I agree, I would probably not replay the first one because I know the story + the combat/build potential is very limited. #2 on the other hand has ton of combat variety that you could have a totally different experience the sceond time around. That is why I prefer #2.
I remember that before I ever looked up any combat info online, I thought the combat was really basic and the tutorials made it needlessly complicated. But after looking up more on the combat earlier this year, I was kinda shocked how great Xenoblade 2's combat was. I really wish the tutorials were better, but I'm glad I can finally realize its depth and appreciate it more because of the community. Also I'm intrigued about the non-Xenoblade content now, so I'm looking forward to that!
"Basic"? If there's anything it's not it's basic. There are so many layers with the different drivers, different blades, blade arts, driver arts, blade skills, battle skills, equipment and so forth. Also many things that aren't really explained or at least not very well. There's a lot of stuff you have to look up and also a lot of things you pretty much have to memorize. In comparison Xenoblade 1 was a lot more straightforward. You had agro to think about and the arts and that was pretty much it.
What!? A positive video on Xenoblade 2!? This is a miracle. Really thought, you touched on a lot of points I agree with on the combat. I always find myself sometimes getting on the game and fighting a few bosses just for fun because of how entertaining the combat is.
I'm a fighting game fan and the way xc2 takes influence from them makes me just dream about what a xenoblade fighting game spinoff could look like. If persona can get a fighting game then theres no reason xenoblade couldnt. Having a 3v3 XC fighting game would be absolutely incredible, cuz you could have mechanics like using a series of combos that end in blade specials to set up orbs, party meter to facilitate character switching and chain attack supers, and rather than the traditional instant kill moves you have in games like guilty gear and under night, you would have a combo system with chain attacks where upon activating chain attack your opponent is set up so that they cant move and you are free to combo them, and by hitting them with elements that exploit the weakness of the orbs you generated, by performing a strong enough combo, you can smash the orb and as soon as the combo drops your next party member switches in and if you keep smashing orbs they will stay in this sandbag state where you can just go to town showing off you sick ass combos with your party with the chance to kill one of their characters in a single chain attack if you are consistant with your orb setups and have good combo execution. Of course you would have to save your party meter up throughout the match and not use it up switching characters excessively but those few games where you really build the momentum and pop off with a chain attack that just keeps on going and going as you nail your execution on a variety of combos would be insane to witness.
Great video! I felt very similarly after playing XCDE after XC2 - the combat in the original just can't sustain me for too long while XC2 feels like there's way more fun options and room for creativity
Xenoblade 1's combat is fine for one playthrough, even a hundred percent playthrough, due to all the different party combinations available and all the Unique Monsters to fight. By the end of such a playthrough tho, you'll probably feel that you've done pretty much everything there is to do in terms of combat (the weak Challenge Mode in DE, and the relatively easy Superbosses doesn't help the matter). Xenoblade 2's combat by contrast offers almost infinite customization options and countless strategies, and each Rare Blade just has so much to it that fully optimizing and mastering even a single Blade will take a long time. Even after nearly 600 hours, I'm still replaying Xenoblade 2 just for the combat, in fact, these last two days I've been playing some Challenge mode again. Managing to beat Serious Showdown on the Bringer of Chaos difficulty was extremely satisfying, and required me to use one Blade (Corvin) to not only deal a lot of damage, but also frequently heal and very quickly build up the party gauge. Earlier I had been getting some good mileage out of Shulk, both his evasion boost and his Vision mechanic proving crucial in some earlier BoC challenges. Those aren't even super-optimal strategies, but they were fun, satisfying and suited my playstyle. Xenoblade 2's combat allows you to play basically however you want, if you understand how the Blades and the combat work. One bad thing about the combat though: The AI is not good at all, in terms of optimal play you're basically dealing with AI Melia times 5. Some more control over party member strategies, let alone the option to switch between Drivers during battle, would have went a long way.
Yeah, that's the unfortunate part. I also seen people just running 1 blade per character so that the AI doesn't screw them over switching to the wrong blades or something.....or ya know.....just cheese the game.....Zeke and Pulverizing Dunk is fun!
@Arthur Pilgram tora’s AI is the same with driver combos as well so he’s probably going to be on qt pi all the time and almost never switch off because of her break art even if you have him start the match with one of the other forms he’s going to switch to her as soon as he can (which won’t take long thanks to qt pi’s short cool down) and stay on her for 98% of the fight
This is such a good analysis of the system. Xenoblade 2's combat is sooooo dense, and I get people not liking how long it takes to ramp up or get a feel for it, but once you get into that flos, it's phenomenal. I honestly do feel like when I hit an enemy, the crunchy feedback makes auto attacks feel like I'm fighting to a rhythm. It really is a CRAAAZY game when you break it all down, but you did very well in explaining why it flows together so well in really fun ways. I especially like the Xeno 1 comparison, because I feel like some diehard fans of that game in the community don't really grasp why the Xeno2 fans prefer the more complex system. A simple system may make starting a game up easier, but it makes going back to it for the gameplay alone harder.
Great video man. I usually have a problem with explaining to other people what I love about the xenoblade 2 battle system. You’re an inspiration, keep up the good work.
I've had this game for years and I never knew you could ride Dromarch with Nia. But real talk this is an interesting analysis of Xenoblade 1 and 2's combat systems. Makes me want to pick up Xenoblade 2 again.
The engaging combat this games provides plus the amazing atmosphere and the strong emotional story and characters are what made me fall in love with this game.
The fact I beat Xenoblade 2 without knowing how to do any of this, yes I got through the final boss, is both nuts and depressing, especially after learning more about it over time
What makes a ‘2’ a great title and increase its value despite being a sequel is changing and evolving game mechanics along with upgrading and fixing problem of its sequel. And xenoblade 2 does exactly this, not just taking xeno1 and improving it in some points, but creating a brand new better game with the feeling of the previous one. The combat is the most clear example of this, but I think it applies also for exploration, writing and questing.
Probably one of the deepest combat system, bringer of chaos brings the experience to a new level, after 400 hours i'm still discovering things and improving, great video !
I love this essay, great work on it. I never noticed how much inspiration the combat took from fighting and action games, you definitely did your research! Although, I would’ve loved if you covered how the combat relates to the story as well, since most of the story is based on the roles of both blades and drivers, and how the cast feels about them. You have an amazing game when the combat and story synergize so well!
Honestly think when challenge mode was introduced I honestly believed we were going to get a Online battle mode Along with the challenges in challenge mode Like it could be separated into challenges and Online battle mode They both get you NoponsStone And flawless NoponsStone And Gold and accessories And so on
I loved this video! Good job! Man, this summer I started to play Xenoblade DE, I had already played the original, but this time I didn't get to finish it... I still want to, I just don't get the urge to play it, after the gameplay and all the quality of life changes made in 2 going back to 1 feels so boring, especially at the beginning... I've never gone too deep into XC2's gameplay, I don't usually play games too much after beating them, and especially if they are as long as XC2 is, but it's a game I've always wanted to go back someday, it's not that weird for me to want to replay an RPG, but this is the only one that I want to replay for not only the story but also to get deep into the combat, but whenever I see videos explaining the gameplay my mind just overloads thinking of how many things you have to be aware of... I envy people like you that can understand it without melting your brain xD(and also that have the dedication to play it that much)
I was genuinely surprised you're a fairly small youtuber. Hope you gain traction soon. You explained the combat mechanic well enough that it'd made me wanna buy xc2, I've been on the fence about it for quite some time now.
@@wesnohathas1993 spike damage is incredibly minor in XC2, though. And in XC1 the only way to know if an enemy had a spike beforehand was to already know in advance. DE fixed the problem of not knowing what enemies have spikes, but they're just as terrible as they were back on the Wii and are literally just free damage the enemy gets that you have no way of stopping without specifically slotting in spike resistance.
amazing video!! i think that the biggest problem with the combat system is just how its introduced to the player, most of my friends who like 2 more than 1 almost always complain how its "needlessly complicated" and i can see why; the game doesnt even try to help you understand. ive put over 450 hours in the game it makes me sad that this game basically gatekeeps its own combat system lol.
I just finished Xenoblade 2 yesterday and I loved the game but had a lot of issues with the combat, but it was awesome to see someone else’s perspective and try to understand its appeal. Great video!
My problem with the combat is that you will have to grind sometimes if you only want to progress in the story and dont care about the side quests Outside that I really like the combat, but sometimes I am only wanting to know what happens next
Xenoblade 1 is my favorite game of all time and when I moved to Xenoblade 2 I had fun with it but the combat always felt pretty slow and clunky until like 30-40ish hours in. But after watching Chuggaaconroy play through the game again to explain how to make combat quicker, (because the tutorials sucked, especially on day 1 with no internet guides), as well as seeing this video pop into my recommended today has really made me excited and want to return to Xenoblade 2 to give it a chance again with all of this new information. Awesome video and I hope more people can see it to give the game a chance again if they did not enjoy the combat all too much at first like me 👍
As someone who's beaten Xenoblade 1 4 times and Xenoblade 2 3 times, Xenoblade 1 is mainly fun if you force yourself to be underleveled. Which the expert mode in DE actually helps. Xenoblade 2 was more fun to replay than Xenoblade 1 was, but fighting enemies in red tags is very exhilarating though.
Yeah I really like the combat in xenoblade 2, there are only a few gripes I have with the combat. Personally I don't like using consumable items in games often, however xenoblade lightens the blow by making fund gathering pretty easy and there's no negatives to fast travel. I wish the "vision" mechanic returned from xenoblade 1 in a more meaningful way than just increasing your evasion or a button prompt as it introduced a sense of urgency in a fight and it led to some pretty cool setups. The most irritating thing is the lack of mobility when not at max affinity, I feel like giving the ability to move around at a more reasonable pace would have really made positional combat more interesting since even when you're aggro'd you can still land side attacks for a short period.
One of the most reasonable complaints this game has is the tutorials suck. Hey it took me until chapter 8 until I learned how chain attacks work, elemental weakness and art canceling & proper placements. Now one thing I did not see you point out how slow you feel moving around the enemies in the game (at least early on) it was one of the things I could not stand due to not knowing how to flee properly at the time. You by the way great video I really enjoyed the listen to and I hope to see more from you
I’m really surprised your subscriber count isn’t far greater. Everything you’ve said here is spot on and demonstrates how good the battle system in this game is. However, the game does not do itself any favours. I’m currently on chapter 3 and the game is still explaining the combat system. Most people probably wouldn’t have got that far before giving up on it. I am only now starting to see the full richness of the battle system and how you have so many options to at your disposal. I had initially put the game aside through sheer frustration, however. The rather drawn out battle system explanation in the game, coupled with what has to be one of the worst navigation systems in an RPG, makes a damn good attempt at putting people off. Hopefully, many more gamers who have been disappointed with this game will see this video and give XC 2 another go.
One of the things I feel is another element borrowed from character action games is how overpowered the party can be while still making the combat feel satisfying and rewarding. Even the hardest challenges can be reduced to powder with all the options you have, but the game knows how to make these options very fun to use even then.
Xenoblade 1 fans: oh dear god it’s so slow I’m gonna stab my Switch Xenoblade 2 fans: oh lawdy it’s so complex and in-depth I’m gonna make out with my Switch Me: haha chain attack go Awesome
To bad it takes until chapter 4 to actually unlock the combat system. The game literally starts you with just auto attacks and one art. Meanwhile, the game continuously fails at explaining its own mechanics.
Great job explaining how the combat works and why it is so special. Though my views on it differ from that quite a bit. Xenoblade 2 definitely has a very unique combat system and in its basis, I should love it. But there are so many points AROUND the combat that turn me off from it. 1. Until you can have a remotely optimized party to really use all the mechanics, you have to work your way through a slog of exhausting grinding (Merc quest requirements and TigerTiger!! are the strongest examples for this case). Overall, the main problem is that it feels very messy to complete a bunch of Blades' affinity charts and all that just so you can have a functional party. It is almost impossible to structure your progress this way. 2. The combat is not explained by the game in the slightest and even when you look up guides and teach it yourself, the game's messy menu design makes it unnecessarily difficult to do so. Even inside of combat, the game does a bad job at telling you what exactly is going on (though that is something that the whole series beside DE is guilty of). 3. I feel like the Blade combo system and especially the fusion combo component of it hinder the player's options to customize their experience. X forces you to use Overdrive but you can build your character around a lot of different play styles, 2 basically forces you to build around driver combos and special attacks. It sometimes feels like topple-locking with a lot of extra steps to me. Overall, I like the approach of a slower combat system with a strong focus on building up to special moves and keeping a certain rhythm, but imo they MS should either go full on slow, strategic combat with something like that or they should stick to the dynamic, fast-paced combat of X and build upon that with more real-time elements. Even though I am not the biggest fan of it, I see why the combat in 2 is so beloved by many and how creative it is. And I am very hyped to see what MS will come up with for potential future Xenoblade titles. Have a good day!
first I'd like to say that I loved Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and enjoyed every aspect of it, even the gameplay despite anything I might say I have against it. But my main complaints about XC2's combat come down to 2 points. short version: Difficulty deals in extremes rather than balance and combat system complexity leads to less active gameplay time. 1: It is amazing to have all this customisation and in-depth mechanics and interaction between all of the various techniques in combat, but one consequence of this as far as I see is the fluctuating difficulty of battles. Fights in my natural progression felt like I either had a good setup and I decimated the boss or I didn't and I hit the floor hard. It feels like the combat is based on momentum where if the battle sways in one direction it becomes difficult for the losing party to turn it around. There are still a few bosses I enjoyed fighting because of special mechanics they had that specifically worked to throw a wrench into my gears whenever I felt like I was doing good but I had to go out of my way to find them most of the time and I didn't feel like the game had enough of them. 2: This isn't a fault within XC2 itself, its more of a general issue with modern game design I have. I just feel like these "epic games with insane customisation, loads of characters, large roster of weapons with unique properties, super-developped skill tree/stat distribution system" are oversaturating the market. Most of what I see are games trying to 1-up each other on how in-depth they can go or how chocful of options they are. XC2 does a fantastic job for all its worth but it always ends up the same way with me. I end up spending more time micromanaging/menu navigating/theory crafting than I actually do playing and XC2 was no exception. Which is why I find action based games like Ys so refreshing. The game can be blamed for oversimplification such as a linear equipment system, few combat actions, lack of customisation etc. but it can't be blamed of spending hours in menus figuring what to do. At most I'll pause a few seconds to check a new skill or accessory I acquired or if I have enough materials to upgrade my gear, alternatively to check the map, but 99% of the time I spend on the game is actually playing the game.
Hate to be that guy but..... I enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles X much more knowing you can move while doing auto attacks and the Mechs feel so OP so easily obtainable
Actually it's potential was realized in Xenoblade X. Its combat is Xenoblade combat on crack. I find the combat in 2 to be really stale as it all flows in one direction. I feel like it doesn't allow for much experimentation, it follows a very specific flow chart of auto attacking to build up arts, so you can then charge specials and then chain attack. At leadt there's not rng involved in chain attacks in Xenoblade 2
i do indeed enjoy XC2 combat but there was always 3 major reasons why i hate early on which will always sour anyones first time playing the game untell they get late enough to just beable to brute force better stuff or just unlock certain things. 1:the out right limitations of combat options, tora single handedly prevents you from fully executing a chain attack till you get poppys second form(there might be some extream setups but still requiers knowladge) and thats not even considering the fact that the ONE FIGHT after you get it you get morag who doesnt even have the limitation of blade restrictions making him one of the most frustrating third party member(maybe considerd second since nia is locked till you save her) 2:the gacha for blade pulling, this is one where the later you get the more you can just medigate this from pure brute force for rares, well some commons can do the job quight well 3: the lack of out right infomation asotiated with over half of the related abilitys and skills where you just kinda take wild guesses what might be better or not, infact if it wasnt for data mines some aspects of lvl 4 specials would be unknown
You said that you cannot stop your auto attacks in XC1, but there are ways to do this. Either just run out of auto attack range or cancel your auto attacks by using arts. After the first auto attack, your auto attacks happen naturally after a fixed number of seconds, but if you use an art right before your auto attack occurs, it will reset the auto attack timer. If you do this a few times in a row using arts that do not make contact with your enemy, then you can go several seconds without taking spike damage
I love the Xenoblade 2 combat system but I found it hard to play the game I wanted to with the core system and requiring overdrive to bind blades to the drivers i want :(
I'm glad people made videos explaining XC2's combat. I love the combat to death in this game (I actually kind of prefer it over XC1's, though that might be because I played XC2 first). But dear God the tutorials are awful in this game - something XC1 did a better job at.
I'm 400 hours into Xenoblade 2, and at this point it honestly feels like me and the combat are one. It's one of the few games that I can play on autopilot while doing/watching something else, but that's only because I've dedicated so much time to it I know it inside and out. I'm glad someone's made a video explaining how great it is!
Was trying to decide on a new game to get for the switch, and most of how people had described the combat in this game until now made it sound really boring. After watching your video, I think I may go ahead and give it a try. The DMC comparison definitely got my attention 😎
The combat really is amazing, unfortunately for some reason it couldn't make up for the rest of the game, in my opinion of course. There's just something so "intrusive" about XC2's characters and story (for 90% of the game) that I couldn't ignore, to my surprise because I usually can. I also disliked the side quests compared to XC1 and XCX, believe it or not. I agree that the side quests in both previous games were pretty much just "fetch quest #2" or "kill 10 monsters #12" but to me it felt like a big just turn off your brain and experience the cool combat system while getting some reward for killing stuff, moment. XC2 on the other hand, every single quest is plagued by the horrendous map/waypoint system and most quests make you backtrack like 2 or 3 times, talk to 5 NPCs, only to at the last step, cockblock you with a field skill that will either require you to grind a bit, come back later or reorganize your entire blade roster to unlock. At the end of the day, XC2 combat is amazing but it's not like XCDE and especially XCX combat system is bad so I can always go back to them.. as if I haven't played like 600 hours of XCX.
3:35 Also they're not all that well balanced. Most have several arts that are pretty much useless and several that are pretty much mandatory. With most you have at most 1 or 2 slots that actually vary.
0:52 I'm going to disagree with you here, slightly. While the combat in XC2 is great, and far more developed than XC1, though there isn't anything wrong with that games combat at all, I would say that, in my opinion, the best combat in the series belongs to XCX simply because of the sheer number of options that are offered and the much faster pace the combat can move at. Also, being able to auto attack while moving. Don't get me wrong, I love XC2's combat for all the same reasons you mentioned, I just like X's a bit more. Also, X doesn't lock party members behind an annoying Gatcha mechanic and just give me Kos-Mos already game! Gahh! Though I will concede that the element of needing to deal with a certain randomness to which blades each character gets can be interesting, it's just so frustrating trying to get all of them. Oh, and great video by the way.
I believe the point of the gatcha system is really meant to create new experiences with repeated playthroughs since there is no guarantee you will have certain blades at the same point. However, it would be nice if they gave more info on ways to improve odds instead of relying on data mines.
X has the best character customization by far. The player character has access to 42 different weapon combinations with almost 150 arts and 100 passive skills. Best of all, most combinations of weapons had the potential to solo many superbosses.
@@hawtlava I'd personally argue that 2 is more customizable than X. Yes, Cross is more customizable than a given party member in 2, but on the flip side you pretty much can't customize literally any other party member in X beyond equipment. Every party member in 2 is equally customizable (with the possible exception being Tora, but you can customize him differently than the others so I'd say that makes up for it)
When they announced Xenoblade DE I was excited at a remake with a new battle system that could take what they did with X2 and Torna to the next level. Such disappointment.
![Everything I wish I knew about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 [NO SPOILERS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/b8P7KhFSA2w/mqdefault.jpg)
The fun thing about this game's battle system, is that everything leads into another thing. Auto-attacks lead to arts, arts lead to specials and driver combos, special lead to blade combos, driver and blade combos lead to fusion combos, blade combo finishers lead to orb set-ups and orbs lead to high damage in chain attacks. Pretty much everthing in this game has some influence on something else and that makes learning about new things and understanding them more rewarding.
It's quite a fascinating dynamic. Auto-attacks do so little damage on their own that they're basically only useful as a stepping stone to greater things, and chain attacks aren't even the end of it as element orbs contribute toward getting a Full Burst, which is so far along the chain of mechanics that the opportunity to use it arises only on very rare occasion.
At last a video praising Xenoblade 2 for it's strength and not just a blind hate video about Oversized Waifu boobs and unneccessary comparison to the first game.
Great Content man. 👍😊
Edit: And bruuuhhh less than 200 subs? What the heck is this? You deserve millions man.. Hoping to see your channel grow soon.
Yeah that dunkey vid also really cause hate to this game, saying it's too anime(although people also love persona 5 even though it's also an anime jrpg😂) but luckily chuggaaconroy started to let's play it, I hope people will start loving this game too😆
@@betarise2772 Eh, I honestly take Dunkey’s review as more of joking around than a genuine review, since those always have “dunkview” in their titles. Basically, while he doesn’t like the game, he’s just horsing around.
Captain Astronaut, on the other hand... yikes!
+Smashster 1
Captain Astronaut? Lmao, not only does that name make me cringe, but that guy genuinely just sounded like he *wanted* to hate on it for fun. “The music is TOO good” like WTF.
@@ametrine7462 Yeah. While I will say that his Splatoon 2 videos are pretty good( and possibly his Monster Hunter Rise videos, as I haven’t watched those), his Xenoblade 2 videos were not good.
Complaining about stuff in the story that he just didn’t understand(to the point of making rewrites that would’ve made the story worse without changing the story and world more), making potentially harmful comments about women’s bodies, insulting people who do like the game by calling them raccoons, comparing the blade designs of professional artists to Middle School OCs, etc. You could honestly make a list of the problems in his videos.
and then you have Beatemups and the only thing I remember he does not like is that you get no Auto-attack if you move and I still do not understand why He has a big problem with it
THIS is why I spent 150 hours in XCDE + 350 hours in XC2
My Switch said I have 600+ hours.
I liked Xenoblade 1 more, but that was solely for the story. Story is a huge selling point for me in games. I could have zero fun at all in a game, but if the story is good, I like it. I may stop the game out of boredom, but I’ll search up an all cutscenes video to finish the game. The combat in XC2 is so complicated and engaging that it makes the game more fun than the first one. That’s why i could do more than 2 playthroughs of the game (new game and new game plus), but I was only able to do two for XC1. I liked XC1 more, but the game is a one time deal. You play the game for the story, not the gameplay. At the same time, XC2’s story was really cool as well. The individual cutscenes have more value than the games backstory and development as a whole. In other words, some of those scenes that were more about character development than story development are just better. That one cutscene at the start of chapter 7 where Rex almost gives up is easily one of the best cutscenes in all of gaming. It had me to the point where I was crying. That doesn’t happen often, but this game made me on the verge of or even already crying more times than I could count. The cutscenes that make you cry have no story development involved, but instead focus on the characters. As I’ve said, I prefer games with really good story development. This is why I have spent more time on the second game, but I still think the first one is the better of the two overall.
@@squibster81 I agree, I would probably not replay the first one because I know the story + the combat/build potential is very limited. #2 on the other hand has ton of combat variety that you could have a totally different experience the sceond time around. That is why I prefer #2.
@@jhon1406 Nah 1 is better, it just doesn’t have re-play value
I have 75 hours on Xenoblade 1, and Xenoblade 2 has a small 235, not counting my second NG playthrough
Damn this really puts into perspective how lacking 1's combat is and I love 1's.
I remember that before I ever looked up any combat info online, I thought the combat was really basic and the tutorials made it needlessly complicated. But after looking up more on the combat earlier this year, I was kinda shocked how great Xenoblade 2's combat was. I really wish the tutorials were better, but I'm glad I can finally realize its depth and appreciate it more because of the community.
Also I'm intrigued about the non-Xenoblade content now, so I'm looking forward to that!
"Basic"?
If there's anything it's not it's basic. There are so many layers with the different drivers, different blades, blade arts, driver arts, blade skills, battle skills, equipment and so forth. Also many things that aren't really explained or at least not very well. There's a lot of stuff you have to look up and also a lot of things you pretty much have to memorize.
In comparison Xenoblade 1 was a lot more straightforward. You had agro to think about and the arts and that was pretty much it.
What!? A positive video on Xenoblade 2!? This is a miracle.
Really thought, you touched on a lot of points I agree with on the combat. I always find myself sometimes getting on the game and fighting a few bosses just for fun because of how entertaining the combat is.
I'm a fighting game fan and the way xc2 takes influence from them makes me just dream about what a xenoblade fighting game spinoff could look like. If persona can get a fighting game then theres no reason xenoblade couldnt. Having a 3v3 XC fighting game would be absolutely incredible, cuz you could have mechanics like using a series of combos that end in blade specials to set up orbs, party meter to facilitate character switching and chain attack supers, and rather than the traditional instant kill moves you have in games like guilty gear and under night, you would have a combo system with chain attacks where upon activating chain attack your opponent is set up so that they cant move and you are free to combo them, and by hitting them with elements that exploit the weakness of the orbs you generated, by performing a strong enough combo, you can smash the orb and as soon as the combo drops your next party member switches in and if you keep smashing orbs they will stay in this sandbag state where you can just go to town showing off you sick ass combos with your party with the chance to kill one of their characters in a single chain attack if you are consistant with your orb setups and have good combo execution. Of course you would have to save your party meter up throughout the match and not use it up switching characters excessively but those few games where you really build the momentum and pop off with a chain attack that just keeps on going and going as you nail your execution on a variety of combos would be insane to witness.
Great video! I felt very similarly after playing XCDE after XC2 - the combat in the original just can't sustain me for too long while XC2 feels like there's way more fun options and room for creativity
Xenoblade 1's combat is fine for one playthrough, even a hundred percent playthrough, due to all the different party combinations available and all the Unique Monsters to fight. By the end of such a playthrough tho, you'll probably feel that you've done pretty much everything there is to do in terms of combat (the weak Challenge Mode in DE, and the relatively easy Superbosses doesn't help the matter). Xenoblade 2's combat by contrast offers almost infinite customization options and countless strategies, and each Rare Blade just has so much to it that fully optimizing and mastering even a single Blade will take a long time. Even after nearly 600 hours, I'm still replaying Xenoblade 2 just for the combat, in fact, these last two days I've been playing some Challenge mode again. Managing to beat Serious Showdown on the Bringer of Chaos difficulty was extremely satisfying, and required me to use one Blade (Corvin) to not only deal a lot of damage, but also frequently heal and very quickly build up the party gauge. Earlier I had been getting some good mileage out of Shulk, both his evasion boost and his Vision mechanic proving crucial in some earlier BoC challenges. Those aren't even super-optimal strategies, but they were fun, satisfying and suited my playstyle. Xenoblade 2's combat allows you to play basically however you want, if you understand how the Blades and the combat work.
One bad thing about the combat though: The AI is not good at all, in terms of optimal play you're basically dealing with AI Melia times 5. Some more control over party member strategies, let alone the option to switch between Drivers during battle, would have went a long way.
Yeah, that's the unfortunate part. I also seen people just running 1 blade per character so that the AI doesn't screw them over switching to the wrong blades or something.....or ya know.....just cheese the game.....Zeke and Pulverizing Dunk is fun!
@Arthur Pilgram tora’s AI is the same with driver combos as well so he’s probably going to be on qt pi all the time and almost never switch off because of her break art even if you have him start the match with one of the other forms he’s going to switch to her as soon as he can (which won’t take long thanks to qt pi’s short cool down) and stay on her for 98% of the fight
Maybe when monolith soft creates Xeno blade three, that can be a new addition to combat?
This is such a good analysis of the system. Xenoblade 2's combat is sooooo dense, and I get people not liking how long it takes to ramp up or get a feel for it, but once you get into that flos, it's phenomenal. I honestly do feel like when I hit an enemy, the crunchy feedback makes auto attacks feel like I'm fighting to a rhythm.
It really is a CRAAAZY game when you break it all down, but you did very well in explaining why it flows together so well in really fun ways. I especially like the Xeno 1 comparison, because I feel like some diehard fans of that game in the community don't really grasp why the Xeno2 fans prefer the more complex system. A simple system may make starting a game up easier, but it makes going back to it for the gameplay alone harder.
"Wulfric hits you REAL hard with the pokey stick."
Oh boy...
"you can't keep an enemy in topple" poppi qt pi goes brrrrr.
Kay's a good buddy of mine! Glad to hear he gave you hand with this video, which by the way is EXCELLENT.
Keep up the good work
Great video man. I usually have a problem with explaining to other people what I love about the xenoblade 2 battle system. You’re an inspiration, keep up the good work.
I've had this game for years and I never knew you could ride Dromarch with Nia. But real talk this is an interesting analysis of Xenoblade 1 and 2's combat systems. Makes me want to pick up Xenoblade 2 again.
The engaging combat this games provides plus the amazing atmosphere and the strong emotional story and characters are what made me fall in love with this game.
Xenoblade Chronicles X:
"Why are we still here, just to suffer?"
I reaaaaally hope XC3s combat system is going to get a video like this as well!
This video shows why I like xb2 so much, thanks for making it :)
"Nohawk" is canon now
The fact I beat Xenoblade 2 without knowing how to do any of this, yes I got through the final boss, is both nuts and depressing, especially after learning more about it over time
I've played this game for nearly 500 hours and I had no idea weapons had sweet spots
What makes a ‘2’ a great title and increase its value despite being a sequel is changing and evolving game mechanics along with upgrading and fixing problem of its sequel. And xenoblade 2 does exactly this, not just taking xeno1 and improving it in some points, but creating a brand new better game with the feeling of the previous one. The combat is the most clear example of this, but I think it applies also for exploration, writing and questing.
Probably one of the deepest combat system, bringer of chaos brings the experience to a new level, after 400 hours i'm still discovering things and improving, great video !
I love this essay, great work on it. I never noticed how much inspiration the combat took from fighting and action games, you definitely did your research!
Although, I would’ve loved if you covered how the combat relates to the story as well, since most of the story is based on the roles of both blades and drivers, and how the cast feels about them. You have an amazing game when the combat and story synergize so well!
Honestly with so many Blades and ways to customize characters
I feel like XB2 Shouldve had an online battle mode.
Honestly think when challenge mode was introduced I honestly believed we were going to get a Online battle mode Along with the challenges in challenge mode Like it could be separated into challenges and Online battle mode They both get you NoponsStone And flawless NoponsStone And Gold and accessories And so on
Imagine a Xenoblade Chronicles X 2 with Xenoblade 3 combat?
Finally someone gets how badass and flexible this game is
I loved this video! Good job!
Man, this summer I started to play Xenoblade DE, I had already played the original, but this time I didn't get to finish it... I still want to, I just don't get the urge to play it, after the gameplay and all the quality of life changes made in 2 going back to 1 feels so boring, especially at the beginning...
I've never gone too deep into XC2's gameplay, I don't usually play games too much after beating them, and especially if they are as long as XC2 is, but it's a game I've always wanted to go back someday, it's not that weird for me to want to replay an RPG, but this is the only one that I want to replay for not only the story but also to get deep into the combat, but whenever I see videos explaining the gameplay my mind just overloads thinking of how many things you have to be aware of... I envy people like you that can understand it without melting your brain xD(and also that have the dedication to play it that much)
Im happy the Game gets some more love recently. The Battle System is also my favourite.
I was genuinely surprised you're a fairly small youtuber. Hope you gain traction soon. You explained the combat mechanic well enough that it'd made me wanna buy xc2, I've been on the fence about it for quite some time now.
YES! The Spike damage problem. My gosh...
At least XC1 made it obvious when it was happening. Took me years to figure out how to spot spike damage in XC2.
@@wesnohathas1993 spike damage is incredibly minor in XC2, though. And in XC1 the only way to know if an enemy had a spike beforehand was to already know in advance. DE fixed the problem of not knowing what enemies have spikes, but they're just as terrible as they were back on the Wii and are literally just free damage the enemy gets that you have no way of stopping without specifically slotting in spike resistance.
i just noticed that whenever i hit the enemy my health bar went down. @wesnohathas1993
“Subaluwa!”
Buys video-game on Black Friday sale because it looks fun...
*requires PhD to play*
finally somebody explains clearly the whole driver/blade/fusion combo thing!!!
amazing video!! i think that the biggest problem with the combat system is just how its introduced to the player, most of my friends who like 2 more than 1 almost always complain how its "needlessly complicated" and i can see why; the game doesnt even try to help you understand. ive put over 450 hours in the game it makes me sad that this game basically gatekeeps its own combat system lol.
This is a really good breakdown and I totally agree. The combat is a lot more fun and engaging in 2 for sure.
I just finished Xenoblade 2 yesterday and I loved the game but had a lot of issues with the combat, but it was awesome to see someone else’s perspective and try to understand its appeal. Great video!
My problem with the combat is that you will have to grind sometimes if you only want to progress in the story and dont care about the side quests
Outside that I really like the combat, but sometimes I am only wanting to know what happens next
Good explanation but you forgot to mention chain attacks which is where the real numbers are at.
Lol bringer of chaos would like to have a word with you
@@mountchoco8174 I have him blocked idk.
Xenoblade 1 is my favorite game of all time and when I moved to Xenoblade 2 I had fun with it but the combat always felt pretty slow and clunky until like 30-40ish hours in. But after watching Chuggaaconroy play through the game again to explain how to make combat quicker, (because the tutorials sucked, especially on day 1 with no internet guides), as well as seeing this video pop into my recommended today has really made me excited and want to return to Xenoblade 2 to give it a chance again with all of this new information. Awesome video and I hope more people can see it to give the game a chance again if they did not enjoy the combat all too much at first like me 👍
As someone who's beaten Xenoblade 1 4 times and Xenoblade 2 3 times, Xenoblade 1 is mainly fun if you force yourself to be underleveled. Which the expert mode in DE actually helps. Xenoblade 2 was more fun to replay than Xenoblade 1 was, but fighting enemies in red tags is very exhilarating though.
Yeah I really like the combat in xenoblade 2, there are only a few gripes I have with the combat. Personally I don't like using consumable items in games often, however xenoblade lightens the blow by making fund gathering pretty easy and there's no negatives to fast travel. I wish the "vision" mechanic returned from xenoblade 1 in a more meaningful way than just increasing your evasion or a button prompt as it introduced a sense of urgency in a fight and it led to some pretty cool setups. The most irritating thing is the lack of mobility when not at max affinity, I feel like giving the ability to move around at a more reasonable pace would have really made positional combat more interesting since even when you're aggro'd you can still land side attacks for a short period.
Awesome video!! 😊 I love the combat in this game, It's fun!!
One of the most reasonable complaints this game has is the tutorials suck. Hey it took me until chapter 8 until I learned how chain attacks work, elemental weakness and art canceling & proper placements.
Now one thing I did not see you point out how slow you feel moving around the enemies in the game (at least early on) it was one of the things I could not stand due to not knowing how to flee properly at the time.
You by the way great video I really enjoyed the listen to and I hope to see more from you
I’m really surprised your subscriber count isn’t far greater. Everything you’ve said here is spot on and demonstrates how good the battle system in this game is. However, the game does not do itself any favours. I’m currently on chapter 3 and the game is still explaining the combat system. Most people probably wouldn’t have got that far before giving up on it. I am only now starting to see the full richness of the battle system and how you have so many options to at your disposal. I had initially put the game aside through sheer frustration, however. The rather drawn out battle system explanation in the game, coupled with what has to be one of the worst navigation systems in an RPG, makes a damn good attempt at putting people off. Hopefully, many more gamers who have been disappointed with this game will see this video and give XC 2 another go.
One of the things I feel is another element borrowed from character action games is how overpowered the party can be while still making the combat feel satisfying and rewarding. Even the hardest challenges can be reduced to powder with all the options you have, but the game knows how to make these options very fun to use even then.
Dang all this and you didn’t even talk about chain attacks!
The combat is really good but dawm some tutorials are really really really bad but i love this game
Xenoblade 1 fans: oh dear god it’s so slow I’m gonna stab my Switch
Xenoblade 2 fans: oh lawdy it’s so complex and in-depth I’m gonna make out with my Switch
Me: haha chain attack go Awesome
To bad it takes until chapter 4 to actually unlock the combat system. The game literally starts you with just auto attacks and one art. Meanwhile, the game continuously fails at explaining its own mechanics.
Thank you for reassuring me. I’m still in Chapter 1 and I’m like “damn is this it for the combat?”
Great job explaining how the combat works and why it is so special. Though my views on it differ from that quite a bit.
Xenoblade 2 definitely has a very unique combat system and in its basis, I should love it. But there are so many points AROUND the combat that turn me off from it.
1. Until you can have a remotely optimized party to really use all the mechanics, you have to work your way through a slog of exhausting grinding (Merc quest requirements and TigerTiger!! are the strongest examples for this case). Overall, the main problem is that it feels very messy to complete a bunch of Blades' affinity charts and all that just so you can have a functional party. It is almost impossible to structure your progress this way.
2. The combat is not explained by the game in the slightest and even when you look up guides and teach it yourself, the game's messy menu design makes it unnecessarily difficult to do so. Even inside of combat, the game does a bad job at telling you what exactly is going on (though that is something that the whole series beside DE is guilty of).
3. I feel like the Blade combo system and especially the fusion combo component of it hinder the player's options to customize their experience. X forces you to use Overdrive but you can build your character around a lot of different play styles, 2 basically forces you to build around driver combos and special attacks. It sometimes feels like topple-locking with a lot of extra steps to me.
Overall, I like the approach of a slower combat system with a strong focus on building up to special moves and keeping a certain rhythm, but imo they MS should either go full on slow, strategic combat with something like that or they should stick to the dynamic, fast-paced combat of X and build upon that with more real-time elements.
Even though I am not the biggest fan of it, I see why the combat in 2 is so beloved by many and how creative it is. And I am very hyped to see what MS will come up with for potential future Xenoblade titles.
Have a good day!
first I'd like to say that I loved Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and enjoyed every aspect of it, even the gameplay despite anything I might say I have against it. But my main complaints about XC2's combat come down to 2 points.
short version: Difficulty deals in extremes rather than balance and combat system complexity leads to less active gameplay time.
1: It is amazing to have all this customisation and in-depth mechanics and interaction between all of the various techniques in combat, but one consequence of this as far as I see is the fluctuating difficulty of battles. Fights in my natural progression felt like I either had a good setup and I decimated the boss or I didn't and I hit the floor hard. It feels like the combat is based on momentum where if the battle sways in one direction it becomes difficult for the losing party to turn it around. There are still a few bosses I enjoyed fighting because of special mechanics they had that specifically worked to throw a wrench into my gears whenever I felt like I was doing good but I had to go out of my way to find them most of the time and I didn't feel like the game had enough of them.
2: This isn't a fault within XC2 itself, its more of a general issue with modern game design I have. I just feel like these "epic games with insane customisation, loads of characters, large roster of weapons with unique properties, super-developped skill tree/stat distribution system" are oversaturating the market. Most of what I see are games trying to 1-up each other on how in-depth they can go or how chocful of options they are. XC2 does a fantastic job for all its worth but it always ends up the same way with me. I end up spending more time micromanaging/menu navigating/theory crafting than I actually do playing and XC2 was no exception. Which is why I find action based games like Ys so refreshing. The game can be blamed for oversimplification such as a linear equipment system, few combat actions, lack of customisation etc. but it can't be blamed of spending hours in menus figuring what to do. At most I'll pause a few seconds to check a new skill or accessory I acquired or if I have enough materials to upgrade my gear, alternatively to check the map, but 99% of the time I spend on the game is actually playing the game.
Hate to be that guy but.....
I enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles X much more knowing you can move while doing auto attacks and the Mechs feel so OP so easily obtainable
What I want to know is, how did you find Torna's battle system :D
Great video!!! ❤
Bro you didn't even talk about chain attacks and bursting orbs
Great vid... Torna tho. That makes me excited.
Actually it's potential was realized in Xenoblade X. Its combat is Xenoblade combat on crack. I find the combat in 2 to be really stale as it all flows in one direction. I feel like it doesn't allow for much experimentation, it follows a very specific flow chart of auto attacking to build up arts, so you can then charge specials and then chain attack. At leadt there's not rng involved in chain attacks in Xenoblade 2
i do indeed enjoy XC2 combat but there was always 3 major reasons why i hate early on which will always sour anyones first time playing the game untell they get late enough to just beable to brute force better stuff or just unlock certain things. 1:the out right limitations of combat options, tora single handedly prevents you from fully executing a chain attack till you get poppys second form(there might be some extream setups but still requiers knowladge) and thats not even considering the fact that the ONE FIGHT after you get it you get morag who doesnt even have the limitation of blade restrictions making him one of the most frustrating third party member(maybe considerd second since nia is locked till you save her) 2:the gacha for blade pulling, this is one where the later you get the more you can just medigate this from pure brute force for rares, well some commons can do the job quight well 3: the lack of out right infomation asotiated with over half of the related abilitys and skills where you just kinda take wild guesses what might be better or not, infact if it wasnt for data mines some aspects of lvl 4 specials would be unknown
You said that you cannot stop your auto attacks in XC1, but there are ways to do this. Either just run out of auto attack range or cancel your auto attacks by using arts. After the first auto attack, your auto attacks happen naturally after a fixed number of seconds, but if you use an art right before your auto attack occurs, it will reset the auto attack timer. If you do this a few times in a row using arts that do not make contact with your enemy, then you can go several seconds without taking spike damage
Dat thumbnail.
You can't stop auto attacking
Me: to be fair you can back up out of Melee range..... But I get it.
Not when the enemy is aggro'd on you and Reyn/Dunban are down. Worse if the enemy is spiking.
I talk from experience.
I love the Xenoblade 2 combat system but I found it hard to play the game I wanted to with the core system and requiring overdrive to bind blades to the drivers i want :(
I'm glad people made videos explaining XC2's combat.
I love the combat to death in this game (I actually kind of prefer it over XC1's, though that might be because I played XC2 first). But dear God the tutorials are awful in this game - something XC1 did a better job at.
Azurda was hyper underutilized, he could have voice over the tutorial and maybe have little cute notes for review at inns.
16:18 wait what, when?
I'm 400 hours into Xenoblade 2, and at this point it honestly feels like me and the combat are one. It's one of the few games that I can play on autopilot while doing/watching something else, but that's only because I've dedicated so much time to it I know it inside and out. I'm glad someone's made a video explaining how great it is!
Was trying to decide on a new game to get for the switch, and most of how people had described the combat in this game until now made it sound really boring. After watching your video, I think I may go ahead and give it a try. The DMC comparison definitely got my attention 😎
The combat really is amazing, unfortunately for some reason it couldn't make up for the rest of the game, in my opinion of course. There's just something so "intrusive" about XC2's characters and story (for 90% of the game) that I couldn't ignore, to my surprise because I usually can. I also disliked the side quests compared to XC1 and XCX, believe it or not. I agree that the side quests in both previous games were pretty much just "fetch quest #2" or "kill 10 monsters #12" but to me it felt like a big just turn off your brain and experience the cool combat system while getting some reward for killing stuff, moment. XC2 on the other hand, every single quest is plagued by the horrendous map/waypoint system and most quests make you backtrack like 2 or 3 times, talk to 5 NPCs, only to at the last step, cockblock you with a field skill that will either require you to grind a bit, come back later or reorganize your entire blade roster to unlock.
At the end of the day, XC2 combat is amazing but it's not like XCDE and especially XCX combat system is bad so I can always go back to them.. as if I haven't played like 600 hours of XCX.
My only problem with this game was how damn easy everything becomes when you git gud.
Then again, I haven’t tried bringer or chaos mode yet….
I can't get myself to keep playing xc1 I just don't enjoy the combat.
Xc2 thought... 400+ hours
3:35
Also they're not all that well balanced. Most have several arts that are pretty much useless and several that are pretty much mandatory. With most you have at most 1 or 2 slots that actually vary.
I think the auto combat turned me away too quickly. Maybe I should try this game again
Now explain overdrive.
Haven’t watched the video yet but my ass hurts.
0:52 I'm going to disagree with you here, slightly. While the combat in XC2 is great, and far more developed than XC1, though there isn't anything wrong with that games combat at all, I would say that, in my opinion, the best combat in the series belongs to XCX simply because of the sheer number of options that are offered and the much faster pace the combat can move at.
Also, being able to auto attack while moving.
Don't get me wrong, I love XC2's combat for all the same reasons you mentioned, I just like X's a bit more. Also, X doesn't lock party members behind an annoying Gatcha mechanic and just give me Kos-Mos already game! Gahh!
Though I will concede that the element of needing to deal with a certain randomness to which blades each character gets can be interesting, it's just so frustrating trying to get all of them.
Oh, and great video by the way.
I believe the point of the gatcha system is really meant to create new experiences with repeated playthroughs since there is no guarantee you will have certain blades at the same point. However, it would be nice if they gave more info on ways to improve odds instead of relying on data mines.
I preferred X 's combat and character class system to be honest. Though 2 definitely has a leg up on 1.
X has the best character customization by far. The player character has access to 42 different weapon combinations with almost 150 arts and 100 passive skills. Best of all, most combinations of weapons had the potential to solo many superbosses.
@@hawtlava I'd personally argue that 2 is more customizable than X. Yes, Cross is more customizable than a given party member in 2, but on the flip side you pretty much can't customize literally any other party member in X beyond equipment. Every party member in 2 is equally customizable (with the possible exception being Tora, but you can customize him differently than the others so I'd say that makes up for it)
When they announced Xenoblade DE I was excited at a remake with a new battle system that could take what they did with X2 and Torna to the next level.
Such disappointment.
Well it was supposed to be a remaster/remake. Not a re imagining like FF7 Remake
nah xenoblade X has clearly a better more complex combat, the gamebreaking thing you can do in that game are absolutely hylarious
The combat is fucking boring
Sorry but really.. I don’t see how a game this boring in combat could be so old and boring
You clearly didnt understand the system then, do ypu even know what blade combos even are?
@@skylandersfan6954 lol you think blade combos are how you will figure out if he knows something :D
@@genericyoutubeusername6462 I feel like asking about a basic combat feature is pretty easy to tell if someone understood it or not