Same here. I think it will happen. The series seems to be selling very well on Switch and porting this over should be some easy $ for Nintendo and Monolith Soft.
@@blastedmcgraw152 been replaying the game on CEMU for the last few day (since my wii u stopped working) just as great as i remember it, would still buy a switch port if they ever bring it over
There are many other things I wanted to mention, but had to cut out in order to avoid a video that ran longer than 30 minutes! I'll list a few of those things below. 1. Basic Missions were the most lackluster part of the game's quest structure to me. They are the ones that basically boil down to fetch questing. I feel this game could have totally done without them. They are completely optional, and if you collect enough of the blue orbs as you play you'll likely fulfill the requirements for lots of them before even accepting the mission, but they really serve no purpose other than to waste time. The rewards are terrible for the most part. 2. I really like the story concept, but I think it could have been executed better down the stretch. The last two chapters had some poor writing, which disappointed me a lot. This only made me more resentful that online capabilities and unnecessary side content exist in the game. Really wish they would have focused more on tightening the story and making it feel a little more self-contained. I don't like it when stories rely on future installments to answer important questions. If Xenosaga is any indication, we may never have answers to those questions if they tell stories in this way. 3. Obtaining a Skell license freaking sucks. It is an example of the most tedious, pointless kind of side quest that exists. It has no relevance whatsoever to piloting a Skell. Once you get one though... you almost forget how much pain you went through. Skells are really awesome! 4. The mid game was an absolute blast. I can't emphasize enough that I really enjoyed playing this game despite all these problems I'm talking about. Most of my complaints come from the late game. The mid game was A TON of fun, and I never wanted to put the game down. Even during the grind heavy end game, when I would step away for a while, I always wanted to come back to play more. I never actually wanted to stop playing the game until I finished the story. 5. There's some interesting touch screen functionality that works well enough, but I would have preferred to have the option to play without it. Fast travel and FrontierNav are only accessible with the touch screen. I really wish that the touch screen map could have been accessed on the TV through the menu or something. I like playing with the gamepad pro, but always had to have the touch screen off to the side so that I could fast travel and switch probes on FrontierNav. 6. I can't speak for post game yet, because I actually started on a second playthrough right after finishing my first run. I apologize for not at least attempting some of it, but I wanted more perspective on other things before writing this review. 7. There can be only one save file... I have no idea why. This is partly the reason why I haven't tried any post game content. I wanted to start over and analyze some things. 8. Affinity is another feature that I feel serves little purpose other than to bar the player from doing certain quests. I feel this game has a lot of that kind of thing... halting your progression or stopping you from doing something you want to do arbitrarily. If I can think of more I'll write them in another comment. Thanks for watching!
+Dark Pixel Gaming Would you say this is better than the first? Because although I played the first I wasn't crazy about it. I had a lot of the same problems you mentioned and it dragged down the game for me.
+Son of Tiamat If you didn't like the first game you most likely won't like this one either. It's less story focused and contains more of the annoying stuff. However there's a lot here that I personally like better than the first one, mainly the battle system and story concept. It's hard to really pick out specifically what you may like better if you gave this one a try, but I would say overall that if the first game wasn't your thing then this one very likely won't be either.
Dark Pixel Gaming That's a tough one. I wanted to like the first but some aspects of it ruined it for me. The second certainly looks like fun but if it's like you say I might just be wasting my time. I might try it one day, but with a used copy.
because he actually takes his time with the game and isn't playing 20-30 hours of the game and pumping out a review to get ahead of the curb. That's what makes a good review, not only passion but also having the knowledge about what you talk about, something IGN constantly fails at.
I wasn't aware people hated the NLA day theme, I always liked it. I needed some time for the night theme to grow on me I must admit but now even that is sort of endearing to me. I would like to see this game get an enhanced edition on the Switch at some point because I'm not too crazy about how Xenoblade 2 looks so far.
I agree; I loved the NLA themes. I also disagree that there was even any animosity towards these tracks. From what I see online, the consensus was overwhelmingly positive for this game. Also, I disagree with RA that this OST was much worse than XC1. I put it in the same league. Some tracks for this game are just…..breathtakingly incredible, even beyond XC1 tracks (Sylvalum night theme comes to mind).
13:55 - 14:00 may be the most awesome 5 seconds of my entire life. Like, I have the feeling that even when my first born child holds my finger for the first time, these 5 seconds will play in my mind, and I'll start nodding my head.
Very, very well done review. Your style is polished and thorough. You support your opinions and keep the pros and cons balanced. Between you, Superbunnyhop and Matthewmatosis I don't think I have to visit AAA review sites anymore.
This is the game that Anthom and No Man's Sky wishes they had been and it was on the Wii-U. I like Chronicles 2 and I really liked X. I would like and X-2 to be on the Switch one day.
Honestly you're kinda on point with Anthem but No Man's Sky is something else entirely, and (albeit late) did eventually come into its own and is pretty impressive now.
They'd have to re-design a huge chunk of the UI to work on the main screen rather than the gamepad screen....You can emulate it these days if you really want to play it...
Great review, you've done an good job at really delving into what makes the game work and what doesn't quite work, and I agree with pretty much everything.
You are one of the best reviewers in youtube, I subscribed to you when you did the first xenoblade game because it was a well explain and in depth review compare to sites like ign and you did it again with this review, good job.
I was also part of the letter writing campaign for Operation Rainfall back in the day. Amazing to see how we possibly made a difference and are still getting Xenoblade games today.
The most thrilling part of the game, is when you learn how to combine your arts with Infinite overdrive, and beating a chunk of tyrants and large enemies on foot solo.
Nice review. I actually bought the first Xenoblade on the strengths of your review. Got it for the New 3DS and really liked it. Was the first JRPG I played since Infinite Undiscovery (no idea either). However, this looks way too time consuming for me. If I were a teen again, I'd spend moths with a game like this. But as a thirty year old who gets home from work exhausted, I'd rather play something in short bursts. I think that's why Telltale games exist - for old farts like me!
Aw man. I love that dialogue with Nagi at the beginning of the game where he asks you to join BLADE. Did you do his affinity missions? They're so worth. Reporting for Duty is one of the most badass missions in the game.
I played this game with an emulator No online mode or manual But it was a sooo amazing Didn't stop til 100% achievement One of the best games i ever played
I definitely liked XCX more than XC. My problem with the original XC was the the story and plot seemed a little wooden, the premise was no where near as interesting as XCX. To say XC had better pacing is ridiculous, XCX always had interesting things to do; while XC had a lot of really oversized and agonizingly bland areas like Valak Mountain, Aerith Ocean, pretty much all of Mechonis (minus the Fallen Hand, which is a brilliant location). XCX's world is, in my opinion, significantly better than XCs. Also, the ever evolving NLA was one of the most interesting city locations in a game I have ever come across. I also much preferred the gameplay of XCX, I never quite liked the whole time BS in XC, I liked the different classes and systems to advance through. As far as side content goes, while I felt the main story of XC was a little wooden, to say the side quests were wooden is giving them too much praise. XCX's side quests are all like extensions of the main story, they flesh out the story of NLA's survival on a truly massive scale; and this ties in with the constantly evolving city-scape. XCs are a bunch of incredibly dry side quests with an even drier delivery. Last point of why I definitely liked XCX more is the fact that the story is very relatable to Xenogears and Xenosaga. XC was really disappointing in the fact that it didn't seem to bring any of that to the table, there's not much to talk about with XC's story, whereas XCX has lots to discuss both in the scope of the game and beyond; similar to XG and XS. I agree with you on the audio-design with XCX, it's kind of atrocious, XC was better audio-wise by leaps and bounds. My other big complaint was font size in the UI, it was a lot smaller than other games. I liked both Riki and Tatsu, but I disliked Riki's gross voice acting, especially when it got repetitive in battles.
Xenoblade X is probably among my top 3 RPG's of all time. I adore it so so much. The characters, the premise, planet Mira, the Skells, The combat, the story. My God I get emotional thinking about this game, it means so much to me. 💖
A little late in posting a comment but I thought I would bare my woes for this game since I really was excited for it and anticipating greatness. But one thing absolutely killed it for me. In retrospect, after playing Mass Effect Andromeda (great game, ignore the bad reviews) and Cosmic Star Heroine, and replaying FFVII, I really don't understand how this game all fell apart for me. This is what happened. I was 15-20 hours into the game, and I found this HUGE Lifehold in the water! I saw it from a distance and I was REALLY excited to discover what mysteries lied within the story for this thing. I ran quite a ways, just scraping by battle after battle. Swam for a bit and finally got to it....and....nothing. I swam around it, tried to jump on it...nothing. What the hell? Was getting these things NOT the entire objective of the plot? I was AT one! And...nothing. I was crushed. I put down my controller and thought for a few minutes. What was I doing wrong? I could not muster the motivation to continue after this dissapointment. What the hell happened? I lost all interest. I read later that I needed to be IN A QUEST for this thing to mean something. WHAT? I later traded it in. I found no interest in this game since the story is usually the primary focus of a JRPG. I was crushed. The End.
I'm over 200+ hours playing Xenoblade X. I think it's a very good game, but certainly not for everyone. If you don't like RPG's and / or spending hundreds of hours for 100% completion, might not be the game for you. Xenoblade X in general is extremely tedious with the side missions: Go to X location, talk to X person, some indigents appear. Kill X creatures. Something broke or someone got sick? Bring a number of X materials / collectibles. I guess this is generally basic for a JRPG, but it sometimes sucks some of the fun I have with Xenoblade X. Although my main complaint with Xenoblade X which apparently also happens with the original Xenoblade Chronicles (Never played the original, but have seen a bit of gameplay.) is the annoying Indigent placement. Many times I'm fighting an Indigent appropriate of my current level, only for some massively strong indigent to zoom on you, attack you and wipe out your team. The same can also be said when exploring Mira, it can get annoying when your in a segment that contains Indigents that are 20+ levels higher than you. Sure this problem gets smaller and smaller later in the game, but it can be really frustrating. Especially when your exploring Mira looking for the Data probe locations for installation and near the location there are strong Indigents. Don't get me wrong, Xenoblade X is worth the 50'ish dollars. You get a relatively good story, a ton of content and exploration.
"So as long as the developers didn't try to fix that wasn't broken, they were sure to have another solid RPG on their hands" *cough* Paper mario sticker star and Color Splash.
Spoder Man Nah, not for a $60 game. I didn't even finish it. I had no motivation for the game and rpg/battle mechanics sucked. They took so much stuff out. No original characters either because they wanted to save money and be lazy. Boring boss battles too that made you play a specific way and worse story you didn't care about.
Played this over Christmas 2015 and well into March 2016. Absolutely phenomenal. The music, world, atmosphere and battle system were all perfect. I was devastated to finish it at around 100+ hours. I know that really, I'd barely scratched the surface of how deep the game is but what a ride. I played XC2 when it released and loved it. I've never played the first game so I'll definitely be playing the Remaster when it releases in May.
Man... Nice job! The branding of your videos with the new intro graphics and end card slate make your content look very official. Honestly it felt as if I were watching an IGN video although it not being a review limited on having less than a week to play the game and understand it. Props to doing online tutorials in after effects? lol I really appreciate that you take up the role of doing your best to give an honest and intelligent review, which I don't see enough of these days. Super Bunnyhop and TerraMantis (
Sawano's music is not "awkwardly translated". They are just writen like that. As far as I know the music is the same for international and japanese versions. Sawano likes to combine languages without really caring for how compatible they are, their grammar and nuances. Sometimes the lyrics have some sort of "meaning" but it is more in the thematic feeling, than actual comprehensive text. I mean, listen to his famous piece Aliez from anime Aldnoah Zero (oh what a waste of potential that one): th-cam.com/video/VVaRSPaBlDc/w-d-xo.html
Funnily enough I really love the OST and still listen to it to this day. I especially like the vocals and the way it sets itself apart vom Xenoblade 1's OST in this way. Watching your video I just went with every song, even the NLA theme, which is just endearing to me by now. The titan battle theme especially had my blood pumping and made every encounter special. I fully understand that this is a personal preference, but I feel like Sawano truly understands how to empower certain scenes and his songs give them this epic touch. It does remind me of Persona's approach to battle music and an OST in general, going for vocals in most places, using them to enhance the experience. This is why I hope that a possible Xenoblade X2 might go down this route again.
A couple of things. Thanks for being apart of the movement that got this released outside of Japan, as it is Amazing! I bought one of the Xenoblade Chronicles X Wii U Bundles 2 weeks ago.. Its amazing. I love the art style, and just exploring the map, running up trees, jumping off cliffs, getting slaughtered by High level Monsters.. Everything about it is Amazing. I love this game. Secondly, thanks to all of you for showing me the amazing games on Nintendo Systems. Since watching this chanel about a year and a half ago, I have bought a 3DS last Christmas, and then The Wii U and I have played some of the best games since FF7-11. You guys are great. Keep up the good work. I now have so many games to get and play, Its hard just picking which one I want next. Not enough time in the day I swear. That is a great problem to have.
Review is spot on. I do not regret playing this, despite not having a very well written story, it had some genuine moments, concepts that were genuinely soul connecting. Add to that the music and it becomes a truly memorable experience.
This guy deserves way more views and subs. This is my first review of his that I've viewed and it is so much more in-depth than IGN and Gamespot..I have subbed. Thank you.
Superb review. I didn't know u were part of Operation Rainfall. Cheers for that. I agree with many of your points made here. I definitely have to read that manual as i've been winging it so far with some success. I'm totally enjoying the game though.
+Dark Pixel Gaming I wasn't but backed u guys all the way. I even purchased the special cover for all 3 games that Operation Rainfall successfully got localised.
I recently dumped some cash on a used wii u, an external hdd, and a freakin 2 male/1 female y cable so I can finally own every Xeno game... legally lol I agree with almost everything that was said here. The only major point I wish was spoke about is how often this game will have absurd difficulty spikes. XC1 (which has the most similar combat system) would allow you to challenge yourself by playing the game underleveled as long as you had a good grasp on party makeup and proper art usage. One way I heard it explained was: You are either curb-stomping everything or you are getting curb-stomped by the difficulty curve. Even so... this game still gets an 8/10 from me. It's also my favorite of the entire Xeno series.
Here's one thing I noticed: Xenoblade X is actually *two* storylines. The Main questline about the Lifehold is Elma's story, while the sidequests and Affinity Missions are Cross/Rook(your character)'s.
A year later from your post and no XCX on Switch. It's blatantly obvious that it will release at some point but it's the sole reason my WiiU is still under my TV and it's not going anywhere until it does. That said i have to be completely honest, if for whatever reason the game proves too difficult to port to Switch (not from a technical standpoint) and they decide to bypass it completely then a WiiU is a definite buy just for this game. It's so damn worth it. If you are a Jrpg player and like you Jrpg games heavy then this is a reason to own a WiiU. Same as Persona 5 is (now Royal) to own a PS4 just for this game.
Dude, your finger skating videos are awesome! I used to have a few of those and a mini skate park when I was a kid but I wasn't anywhere near as good as you.
If there's ever a port of this game, I hope that they implement actual coop and lobby systems. It would be so awesome to explore Mira with a group of friends.
I am an enormous Xenosaga fan, and the art design of this game really resembles and speaks to me. But the time investment for busy work just sounds wholly unteneble. If I was going to be trapped on a desert island (with electricity, apparently) and could only take one game with me, this sounds like a solid choice. But as it is there's no way I could justify the time this game would steal from other games on my list...which is a shame. Because I love the LOOK of it. Also I want more Xenosaga :(
Excellent review, covered everything you need to know to make a informed decision (haha I'm so funny) to buy it or not. One thing you didn't mention I don't like, and that's the case for many Nintendo games (so I assume it's their doing?), is the fact that once you die a few times the game asks you if you wanna lower the difficulty. That's just like saying: "Hey you suck, wanna turn on pussymode so you can advance without crying?" ... I really don't like that in any game that has a feature like that. Oh and one more thing, I - so far - love how you work/plan to work with your channel this year, and the quality of the videos doesn't even suffer through it. So keep that up, I always enjoy seeing a new video from you when I turn YT on.
every nintendo game Ive ever played (including this one at the current moment) XCX=I've never seen pussy mode...even after a few deaths...you can just grind your XP and acquire a level far above the monsters in the region, IE doing lvl 16 quests with a group of lvl 40 characters w. top notch gear, big huge world to explore, fun and amazing, but like anything you can grind your way up and do anything that feels too hard, too challenging, no need to put on any "easy mode" just grind out a few more levels, acquire alittle better gear, scout some better 4th players for your party, and boom (you can scout online players like lvl 50-55's to join your team...30 mins, 60 mins, you essentially "rent" high level players, who join your 3-mann'd team, a lvl 43, 43, 43 and 55 go take on a lvl 38 quest/affinity quest 5 regions across the games MASSIVE world (I mean literally Take Skyrim, Take Just Cause 3, and take GTA V, and smoosh all 3 together, then you get 80% of XCX) with a MULTITUDE of overlapping systems, and a huge (almost MMO-like world) you get a 300-400+ hour massive world to explore, mobs ranging from lvl 1 flying "gnats" to lvl 82 elite beasts that are as tall as the sky (your character is about the size of its toenail) online competitions, regular updates, 5 massive continents, tons of overlapping systems (for the casual, or the new comer this game is quite DAUNTING) im 88.5 hours in, and have yet to complete 40% of "any" of the 5 continents, I'm on chapter 5 (of the main story) and theres 40 chapters (not to mention 100s of side missions, affinity missions, progression missions, basic missions) 4-5 mission types, build a city, build a group, romance, affinity, progression, build your own gear, acquire new gear, buy parts, splice parts, create new parts, use "tickers" acquired in battle or "credits" (the games equivalency to money) infact you have 2 sources of income, no 3....Miranium (like oil) Tickets and Credits, 3 forms o f currency, for 3 systems, I am almost 90 hours and like (wipes forehead take a deep breath everytime I turn the system on like ) "man this is going to take months...I thought Skyrim, or Witcher 3 was big...those games are only 20% of 1-2 of this games continents) and you can fly/jump/auto-run ANYWHERE anytime, you can see a mountain in the far distance ? you can probably scale it single-handedly at any level 90 degree perpendicular runs straight up the side of the mountain, so high up you can see 1/2 of this 1 (out of 5) continents, and then jump down, and you get that stomach feeling (like your stomach is up in your heart) as you fall from a very very high distance....then land (no damage, no death) auto-run 15 mins straight across a single continent, only to have tons of baddies chasing you, for what seems along time (they dont let go easy) this game has its issues no doubt, but honestly I can look past all of it, im really really enjoying it, for me its been the best game I've played the past 2 years (easy).
For me XX is my favourite Xeno game so far. The game is totaly engrosing, designed with such detail and a story that fits perfectly within the context of the philosophical and religious themes that the series is known for that i simply could not do otherwise. The game is excellent in spite of its many issues. The game is so massive that even a 30 minute review can not hope to "capture" its grandiur. As for the music...i had doubts before i got to grips with it but in the end and while playing i must say that i really really liked it and it fits too. Sure the vocals can be cheesy and corny but even those i felt they fit.
Man I loved Xenoblade Chronicles X, the side quests were so fun to do I even liked the story of them better than the main game lol. Exploration, killing large and hard monsters and customising your character and building the best mech was what took most of my time and my fav gametime in it. What do you think of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Nintendo? is it any good?
I wonder if we'll get a podcast now that this is coming to switch 🤔. XCX's storytelling has some definite shortcomings but it's one of my favourite sci-fi stories on a thematic level
I honestly just finished the game earlier tod... i guess it would be yesterday considering I am posting this at like 1:30 am. but I do agree that the issues you had with the sound design and soundtrack rang true for me too, especially both versions of the NLA theme being so weird. I am not disappointed I bought this game, even if many of grievances you had were the same as myself. also the Sword of Legendary-ness mission had me grinning from ear to ear when I saw the sword.
+TheSaskOtaku The Sword of Legendary-ness :) What an amazing quest line. That is one thing that I feel this game can say it got so much better than the first one, the non basic quests. In the first game, in order to get to the good quests, you had to complete the boring quests. Not so here, and while there are some that involve a few minor basic quest requirements (usually just accepting a basic quest with a social designation) all of the regular side-quests (normal missions) fleshed out the NPCs and the world of Mira in so many ways. Each and every one of those quests helped to show the emotional, psychological, and physical effects of the crisis that humanity was now facing. They helped show the difficulties of knowing that the planet you lived on was completely gone and that you had to start anew. Just wonderful world-building. After all, that is what MonolithSoft does best.
i say this when ppl ask comparing the two xenoblade chronicles = better story, better soundtrack (mostly) xenoblade chronicles x = bigger, better exploration, overall (i like the combat about...the same) but far better exploration, and far better non basic/side missions/basic missions (even the affinity system I like better) and I like just not exploration, but HOW you can travel (auto-run, and the no-death-upon-landing-from-any-distance) etc, etc...you can literally get anywhere almost even w/o a skell (minus the obvious high up areas that involve a Skell) which ironically at 90 hours I dont even have yet (thats how much I grind, and shit I'm doing lvl 17 affinity quests when I'm lvl 40 LOL) 90 hours, level 40 for my char/elma/lin and no skell yet...lol still wondering what main mission/story chapter is it when I get to finally pilot a skell (im on chapter 5) lol
Very very late with this comment but this is a fantastic review. Excellent job mate. I love this game but agree with your points. Really hope Nintendo bring to switch. I would love to play it again and go for full completion this time. Loved this game a lot more than 2 and even 3.
I'm glad Xenoblade X is such a mixed bag in regards to its gameplay. While the world is breathtankingly vast and full of content, it overwhelms the player with missions, side objectives and loads of sub menus. Brings up fun discussions about how much effort a game should demand to the average player while limiting conventional tutorials.
+JoJo Rama (JoJoRama) I'm all for limiting conventional tutorials! Tutorials, for the most part, just completely kill immersion for me. I think Nintendo is one of the best developers out there when it comes to teaching the player the game mechanics in a creative, non-intrusive way. Mario games are beautiful examples of that. Now, big RPGs like this are much more complex than Mario, and require at least SOME amount of explanation, but I feel like building those lessons into missions a little at a time is the best way to go, rather than dumping a million paragraphs of instruction at once.
I was lost at the first 5 hours of the original Xenoblade, tbh hahahaha! Loads and loads of text teaching me the combat mechanics, collectables and such... I'm still enjoy it a lot! Going to 100% this baby!
Good luck! I started a second playthrough after finishing the main story to try some other tactics and pick up on some things I missed the first time. I doubt I'll ever 100% this game though.
I consider not having individual sliders for music, sound effects, and dialogue one of the seven deadly video game sins. In every game that has them, I almost always change them immediately, as they are NEVER balanced reasonably. Good on you for pointing this out here.
That was a great review. I think you hit most of the edgy spots this game has. On one of my comments on another video of yours I told you I was at chapter 9. Well, now I'm at chapter 10. Why am I saying this? It's because this game has just that: I don't want it to end. It's just that great. I'm taking forever to get to the next chapter. Anyways, I applaud the review. It's not an easy game to review correctly because of how divisive many elements can be. I for example like Tatsu (granted I don't like him as much as I did Riky) but I couldn't help but chuckle sometimes with those stupid dinner situations. And talking about that. My whole experience with the story was pretty much like dinner. You see, I feel like Mira is a playground to me, and to go out and explore everything and try to do as many sidequests as I can is the main thing for me. I find the game FUN more than engaging (if that makes any sense). So the story chapters were like dinner for me. It's a nice time, you taste some good scenes and plot twists, and then you're pretty much off until the next one. I understand not everyone likes that, of course, but it's totally been working for me. I think the soundtrack was a huge step back. I still don't understand why the original Xenoblade would lock on certain soings while another played and then when that one ended it would continue where it left off, but here every single track just restarts from the very beginning. It's annoying. The Flight theme is actuall very good when you get to the chorus, and makes you feel like flying in the skell is so awesome, but you barely ever get to hear it because everytime you step on the ground the song stops and restarts from the beginning the next time. I've just started to experiment and discover how overdrive can be used effectively, as well as abilities and specific arts. I can experiment with my own takes on combat, and that's pretty neat. The combat system doesn't disappoint. Anyways, good job! I don't agree with everything, but you make good points and give praise where praise is due. Keep it up! -Geez, that mission with Corwin's team. So dark.
I will admit this though i love the game and its amazing in almost every way, there are only 3 issues I ever had with it, 1- The online multiplayer mode could of been way better it could of been a full world exploration upto 4 players splitting up looking for missions all over the map, when one finds one you can tell the others and then warp around the world how they see fit getting things done, and do quests/mission for hours, and just quit when you want, but instead its some quick small missions that are over too quick in a small zone like really quick matter of 1-5 minutes, its rather sad. 2- They could of let you customize the final prototype skells to with weapons and armor of your choice but its predefined gear kinda sad. 3- Because you can't go around the world in 4 player co-op finding missions is rather hard, A/ Time of day can unhide missions and location and the game only shows a white dot on the mini map if its in your scan area in this huge world is kinda hard you have to explore it alone so finding them is rather difficult even after 500 hours of gameplay and I have over 15,000 hours lol. clock stops at 9999 but I know mine is over NINE THOUSAND!!!
I really want to try this game out. I bought another Wii U recently (sold my launch console back in 2013) and I've been scooping up games for cheap. The Wii U is a really underrated system IMO and this game looks epic as can be. I've been having a hard time determining what this game is all about though. I played a bit of Xenoblade on the Wii so I have an idea, but I know this title is different and I've heard positives and negatives. Been trying to watch Let's Plays of it to get an idea but the commentators are really annoying unfortunately. I hope this review gives me the info I'm looking for.
All of the negative points you raise are 100% on point. I felt the same way after playing for 2.5 hours. I'm going to keep playing, but yeah, you really appreciate just how amazing xeno chronicles 2 is (the only other game I've plasyed from them, which was already amazing, but clearly monolithsoft listened to fans if this was their previous effort).
Actually, if you play the game you'll realize that you can do much more WITHOUT your skell. I'm assuming that you probably didn't get very far in. But some of the bosses are way better to fight on foot, and the fast paced action makes it an amazing experience.
There definitely should be sound options but for times when the music is just too much, I make the tablet the main screen so that the music plays from the tablet instead of the TV, and then I turn the tablet volume down. It still displays on the TV, just no audio. This game has so many things that you can tweak.
First time you play this "What the hell Is this music? It's so bad!" Weeks after "I CANT HEAR YOU! I CANT SEE YOU!" Lmao I've grown to just love the music It has become nostalgic. I miss this game
Looking back at this game again, it truly was a big "what-if". What if Monolith actually made the UI and story competent, and Sawano reverting to his Taiyou no Uta and Team Medical Dragon roots. I have spent 400+ hours on this game, got every single achievement, and completed all quests in the game. I really loved this game. The exploration was the defining factor of this game. Scaling a very vertical landscape in Noctilum and Sylvalum were truly breathtaking. The gameplay was fine for the most part, but often, there's just a lot more going on compared to the first Xenoblade it's hard to keep up at first. The main problems I had were the story, a portion of the music, and the damn UI. Story is very barren, had forced choices (choosing to stand up for Lao), damn Tatsu, and the whole thing with Lao was just really stupid in hindsight. The less said about the NLA theme and music during cutscenes, the better. The UI is where the game is just brutal. In XC, you can see the traits or gems and their effects in the menu. However, you only have a vague idea of what a trait is from its name, as the UI does not show its effects. You have to go to the augment creation terminal and see what the damn trait does. Even then, some traits do not have augments, so you may not even know what something does. This really infuriated me. I am very critical of this game because I really love this game. The open world exploration to the fast paced combat complements each other really well. It's such a shame that some of the rather big blemishes truly bring the game down a notch. Again, this game is a huge "what-if", if Monolith actually addressed these concerns.
I have played through and finished this. Have played the XC 1 (original), 2 and now the 1 DE and I'm still in awe of the massive world these games have to offer. I would really like XCX to be at least remastered as well tweaked to make it optimal for Switch. I am hoping really because nothing beats the "open-worldness" of this game!
This is the best review of this game that I have found. Everyone else either fanboys all over it, ignoring the games many issues. Or, they just didn’t appreciate the game hardly at all.
Sheesh there is no volume control?!?!?! That's gonna be interesting... Im downloading it now. I love music but yeah... that sounds funny! Lol! And not being able to hear characters speak on a talking game will make me just want to use he subtitles. When I was a child I had all the time in the world but now I don't. I love to train (grind) all day especially when I see improvements my time just isn't as free as it used to be. I'm looking forward to it overall. I still need to beat Xenoblade Chronicles. Nice review man way more in depth than IGN's review.
I personally think the volume on the music is just fine, I've never had that thought cross my mind. His sound output may have some quirks to it or something, or maybe he's just sensitive to such things. Hard to say but It's not a complaint I had ever heard before seeing this video today.
Yotsuba Yes it's not as bad as the guy in the video was making it sound. I play this game all the time and it's not an issue... I commented on this before I played it. I should know you can't always rely on these reviews until you play the game yourself. Yep your basically right. The music is good anyways! Lol!
Our opinions on the soundtrack seem to mostly align. The sound issues and soundtrack were honestly one of my biggest issues with the game, as someone who also considers both sound and music to be incredibly important in most video games, and also someone who also adores the first Xenoblade's incredible OST. There are a number of tracks that are exhilarating and a joy to listen to, some that are wonderfully atmospheric and perfectly suiting (I love the haunting Divine Roost theme), and for the most part, the main continent themes are great (though they did get repetitive and tiring after hours upon hours of exploration). But I found the NLA theme (daytime especially) to be egregiously irritating, especially after playing the game for so long and spending so much time there, and perhaps even worse for me was the Skell flight theme, which perfectly suited the breathtaking and magical moment when you first take flight, but quickly became enormously tiring, especially with it constantly starting and stopping as I frequently landed and took flight again while exploring. And yes, the sound mixing is pretty terrible, and I was forced to turn subtitles on partway into the game when normally I don't use them for English vocals. I also found battle sound effects to be ear-gratingly loud at times, like the shrill cries of certain creatures such as Mephites. I have plenty of other issues with the game both large and small, like the tiny text size that made me have to constantly lean towards my TV to read things, but I did find myself enjoying the game's battle system more than the first game mainly due to the class system which I thought added a lot of variety, got quite lot of enjoyment out of the normal missions, several of which have pretty entertaining stories (though I unfortunately missed out on a lot of affinity missions for optional party members simply because I didn't want to spend the time raising their affinity), and above all was frequently wowed by the majestic world, which I made the effort to thoroughly and completely explore. The game is a giant mixed bag for me overall. I don't regret playing it overall, but I do regret spending so much time with it, and I wish I had known to not waste my time with certain aspects like basic missions early on. Overall, I definitely prefer the original Xenoblade for many reasons and think it just feels more special (to me anyway), but Xenoblade X is certainly an ambitious title with its own merits, and worthy of existing if for no other reason than to Skell around the place with wild abandon. I feel like this is a game that I'll have a lot of fun discussing as time goes on, both its flaws and triumphs. EDIT: Just wanted to add that I thought this was a great review; informative and focused with a strong critical voice, and I think your personal approach to reviewing that you discussed in your "cognitive bias" video was very evident and really paid off here. I write reviews myself (currently just for a personal blog), and will definitely be taking your approach and philosophies into consideration in the future. I don't personally believe that review and criticism should follow one absolute rulebook, and I love seeing different approaches to the whole art of critical discussion. :)
+Green Hat Hero Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts! You've pretty much described exactly how I feel about this game. Where can I find your blog? I'd be interested in reading your reviews!
sounds like you totally missed the online because aside from what you mentioned there were these really awesome boss battles, that you join if you wanted
Thank you! I really liked The Last Story. It's not a perfect game by any means, and I'd agree with the consensus that Xenoblade Chronicles is definitely better, but there was a lot to like. I enjoyed it at least!
Given the Wii U's issues, I feel this should be ported to the Switch, unless Xenoblade 2 just renders it moot. I haven't played 2 yet so I don't know, but I plan to in the future. While I managed to grind through most obstacles by exploring, I have started to run into an issue with a number of the really high level enemies, the specifically the giant ones. I admit I'm not very good at the game and mostly just brute force everything, but even with the highest level skells that you don't need to unlock, I keep coming across some enemies that keep killing me. Are those giant level 60 and up enemies supposed to be saved for the post game? If so, even after that how am I supposed to kill them? My first guess would to be rely on the OP overdrive builds or get some good weapon augments, but most all of the good augments are only dropped by the enemies I can't kill. Then again, I haven't done a lot of exploring the final area since I haven't got skells for everyone. I mean to do that so I don't have to worry about my squad dying in lava.
For your information, sound balance is pretty off in th original Xenoblade Chronicles as well. I remember some cutscenes where I could barely hear the voices. Nevertheless, I totally agree that a volume and sound effect slider would be a great addition. It would also be nice if you could turn on/off changing music when flying with a skell. I found that to be an immersion breaker. I love the soundtrack in Xenoblade Chronicles X. It just feels so fresh, and at many times alien (like the world itself). Something I am less fond of though, is that there is only one city. OF course, XCX does not have as good soundtrack as XC, but considering how the soundtrack in XC is a masterpiece, I prefer that XCX is taking on a new route. I am not a super big fan of the English dub. I would prefer to play it in Japanese, as I did with XC. Why no dual audio?? Personally I feel like the side missions (the green ones) are the best kind of missions in the game. Mostly because of the lack of really good characters (most are mediocre, and some few are nothing more than just good). Many side missions can be done in different ways, many of them have fun and interesting dialogue, and many of them gives a lot to world building of the mysterious planet Mira. Woah! You did the end game grind without the internet.. I feel bad for you. Anyway, great review. I agree with mostly everything after playing the game several hundreds of hours. It really is a great game, despite its many flaws. Say, did you think anything about similarities between the different Xeno games while laying XCX? Please do not spoil anything about Xenosaga though since I am yet to complete that one.
Thanks for the comments, Eirian! I actually hadn't played Xenogears yet when I played this, so I wasn't aware of the similarities until much later. It's nice to have that background now. I haven't played any of the Xenosaga games either, so I definitely can't speak for those.
Speaking of Xenogears, you said in your retrospective for that game, that the flaws makes the game feel more personal and that you think it does not matter whether they are there or not. Although I think that Xenogears have some major flaws that would be nice if they were fixed, I definitely agree that flaws makes a game feel more personal. This is something I have noticed with other jrpgs as well (mostly, obscure ones like Earthbound and opoona). I do not really mind the flaws in these games since they indeed make the game feel more personal. Actually, this is one of the aspects I like the most in jrpgs.
Been replaying multiple times since launch while waiting for them to port this amazingly underrated game to switch. While it is inconvenient, XCX's tutorials being badly explained leading the game to have "no hand holding" makes the game much more enjoyable when you do discover things similar to Dark Souls. Edit: LETS GO ASSCAVES!!!!!
Other than the NLA theme, I love the soundtrack to this game. The same composer who did the music for such animes as Kill La Kill and Attack on Titan. But I'm some who likes things like an upbeat metal song playing during a boss fight, I know not everyone likes that. But this is one soundtrack I listen to outside the game. As for voice actors... nobody stands out as being truly excellent? MATT FREAKING MERCER?!
So, which do you prefer overall, Xenoblade Chronicles or Xenoblade Chronicles X? I know they are each very much their own games with their own strengths and weaknesses, but it'd be cool to know which you enjoyed the most. I think X was a marked improvement in many areas over the original, especially the combat, which was even more intricate and enjoyable thanks to the inclusion of Skells and the overdrive system. But the original had greater pacing, a far better story and more likable characters. Both games look simply gorgeous given their hardware. Mira is a lot more expansive than the Bionis or Mechonis, and doesn't have the same restrictions placed upon it that the world in the original had, but I can't say which I preferred exploring. They were both magnificent. Overall I'd say the original was the better game, because when the pros and cons were weighed against each other I'd say it had the least flaws. Even the side missions in the original weren't as repetitive as in X. But I loved both games.
I dont like Xenoblade has turn into Science Fiction. I know the franchise roots with Xenosaga is clearly grounded in SciFi, but i prefere stupid crazy magic for Xenoblade. Magic is alot more fantastic for a JRPG
I probably liked X way more than most people. It might be that I while I really like Chronicles I don't have the same manic love for it like other people do and can therefore more easily accept X's flaws and differences. It probably also ties in with my strong hatred towards people that first got into FF with 7 and 8 and can therefore not accept anything FF that isn't exactly like those games. A developer should not ever feel forced to adhere to what the fans think they want and I'm glad that Monolith Soft continue to make the games they want to make and that they've never been afraid to experiment.
Love this game. I like it as much as Xenoblade Chronicles. It has one of my favorite video game worlds ever. Oddly I easily like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 far less than this.
Sans some of the story elements earlier on and some itemization issues forcing you spend countless hours farming a la Diablo in endgame, it has best open-world RPG gameplay of all time. Maybe its sequel will improve a lot of things, because for a second try and a redeux of the alpha game (just an open world demo model), it was mighty fine. Still at least a 9.5/10 or a 10/10 for me. I have over 300 hours put into this game, and despite said gripes, I have enjoyed every moment of the game.
Most of the vid was great, but the biggest disservice was comparing 1 and X’s stories. One of them is part of a trilogy that builds upon writing quality from two previous series, elevating it to not just a top tier game but top tier writing in fiction too. The other is X lmao
I adore the game. It captures perfectly to explore and tame a completely alien planet including being completely outlevelled and instagibbed by gigantous monsters. You can walk or fly around in a battle mech or kill stuff traditionally. Savage soundtrack. Only problems were the MMO-like quests and the constant backtracking over the map not to miss any quest or story scene. This is open world gaming unlike Ubisoft's boredom fiestas.
Old video, but man... I remember when OPRainfall was sending those letters to Nintendo. Not only did I send Nintendo letters, but they were all handwritten and I added some kind of visual flair to each of them, including something like the full logo or such penned out. I also ended up buying multiple copies of most of the core 3 games and (perhaps oddly) in the end the Japanese version of _Pandora no Tou_ was the only one I actually played to completion, while my favorite of the bunch, _Xenoblade_ was the only one I didn't actually purchase when I visited Japan at the time. Still, _The Last Story_ was the one that stuck with me due to it's visual and audio design. Y'know what? I should make a point to complete these games. I already love them, but I guess I'm always finished before they are... *sad face* [Edit] I'm the kind of player that enjoyed the running gag with Tatsu being a vegetable. Not that I particularly liked the character overall, but I could at least appreciate how he was used to break up the otherwise quite serious tone of the game. There were certainly lighthearted moments throughout the game, but Tatsu fell into this comfortable spot where it didn't feel out of place for jokes to be involved.
This is the only game I had to go look up a review after I bought it and had played some of it. I'm having a very Zotto one this experience with it due to the fact I get little to no use out of the map that is provided on the gamepad. I do like no handholding when it comes to open world exploration,, Puzzle solving, and fighting enemies, however in an RPG like this, I tutorial is nice for those menus. I think that's part of what made final fantasy is seven and eight so great. I had to look up a review after I had played some of the game because I felt like I wasn't playing the game right. Much like Skyrim I kept having problems navigating through the world. Here's where I wish the gamepad was just a little bit more useful, but I know people who can use the map on the gamepad if I trouble navigating the world as well. And I say like sky room because of all the mountains and stuff. I'll be trying to get to a story destination, and all of a sudden I'm running into a big ass wall of prayer rock or a mountain.
Derek Spradling Possible Spoilers later in the game, the map becomes extremely useful for warping and building revenue. It is one of the most time consuming things in the game. I finished it btw
2020, and still waiting for a switch port. I really, really want to play this game.
Edit 2024: LETS GO!!!!!!
yeah, maybe after XCDE ;)
Same my friend still waiting
Same here. I think it will happen. The series seems to be selling very well on Switch and porting this over should be some easy $ for Nintendo and Monolith Soft.
@@blastedmcgraw152 been replaying the game on CEMU for the last few day (since my wii u stopped working) just as great as i remember it, would still buy a switch port if they ever bring it over
im more interested in it getting a sequel
There are many other things I wanted to mention, but had to cut out in order to avoid a video that ran longer than 30 minutes! I'll list a few of those things below.
1. Basic Missions were the most lackluster part of the game's quest structure to me. They are the ones that basically boil down to fetch questing. I feel this game could have totally done without them. They are completely optional, and if you collect enough of the blue orbs as you play you'll likely fulfill the requirements for lots of them before even accepting the mission, but they really serve no purpose other than to waste time. The rewards are terrible for the most part.
2. I really like the story concept, but I think it could have been executed better down the stretch. The last two chapters had some poor writing, which disappointed me a lot. This only made me more resentful that online capabilities and unnecessary side content exist in the game. Really wish they would have focused more on tightening the story and making it feel a little more self-contained. I don't like it when stories rely on future installments to answer important questions. If Xenosaga is any indication, we may never have answers to those questions if they tell stories in this way.
3. Obtaining a Skell license freaking sucks. It is an example of the most tedious, pointless kind of side quest that exists. It has no relevance whatsoever to piloting a Skell. Once you get one though... you almost forget how much pain you went through. Skells are really awesome!
4. The mid game was an absolute blast. I can't emphasize enough that I really enjoyed playing this game despite all these problems I'm talking about. Most of my complaints come from the late game. The mid game was A TON of fun, and I never wanted to put the game down. Even during the grind heavy end game, when I would step away for a while, I always wanted to come back to play more. I never actually wanted to stop playing the game until I finished the story.
5. There's some interesting touch screen functionality that works well enough, but I would have preferred to have the option to play without it. Fast travel and FrontierNav are only accessible with the touch screen. I really wish that the touch screen map could have been accessed on the TV through the menu or something. I like playing with the gamepad pro, but always had to have the touch screen off to the side so that I could fast travel and switch probes on FrontierNav.
6. I can't speak for post game yet, because I actually started on a second playthrough right after finishing my first run. I apologize for not at least attempting some of it, but I wanted more perspective on other things before writing this review.
7. There can be only one save file... I have no idea why. This is partly the reason why I haven't tried any post game content. I wanted to start over and analyze some things.
8. Affinity is another feature that I feel serves little purpose other than to bar the player from doing certain quests. I feel this game has a lot of that kind of thing... halting your progression or stopping you from doing something you want to do arbitrarily.
If I can think of more I'll write them in another comment. Thanks for watching!
+Dark Pixel Gaming Don't bother about lenght. Your reviews are unique enoguh to hold for a long time. Don't cut out content.
+Catralitos After this amazing review, next Xenogears ^_^
+Dark Pixel Gaming Would you say this is better than the first? Because although I played the first I wasn't crazy about it. I had a lot of the same problems you mentioned and it dragged down the game for me.
+Son of Tiamat If you didn't like the first game you most likely won't like this one either. It's less story focused and contains more of the annoying stuff. However there's a lot here that I personally like better than the first one, mainly the battle system and story concept. It's hard to really pick out specifically what you may like better if you gave this one a try, but I would say overall that if the first game wasn't your thing then this one very likely won't be either.
Dark Pixel Gaming That's a tough one. I wanted to like the first but some aspects of it ruined it for me. The second certainly looks like fun but if it's like you say I might just be wasting my time. I might try it one day, but with a used copy.
This review is way more professional than IGNs. Great job dude!
Agreed!
because he actually takes his time with the game and isn't playing 20-30 hours of the game and pumping out a review to get ahead of the curb. That's what makes a good review, not only passion but also having the knowledge about what you talk about, something IGN constantly fails at.
I wasn't aware people hated the NLA day theme, I always liked it. I needed some time for the night theme to grow on me I must admit but now even that is sort of endearing to me. I would like to see this game get an enhanced edition on the Switch at some point because I'm not too crazy about how Xenoblade 2 looks so far.
I agree; I loved the NLA themes. I also disagree that there was even any animosity towards these tracks. From what I see online, the consensus was overwhelmingly positive for this game.
Also, I disagree with RA that this OST was much worse than XC1. I put it in the same league. Some tracks for this game are just…..breathtakingly incredible, even beyond XC1 tracks (Sylvalum night theme comes to mind).
If SquareSoft doesn’t intend to make a direct sequel to Xenogears, then they should give the rights back to Takahashi and Monolithsoft who will.
Amen. Xenogears is the best sci-fi plot ever. I want a real episode 1 through 4 and then remake the original episode 5!
@@Nomadmandude you mean xenosaga
@@demetriuspowell29 no xenosaga its not xenogears universe, dont you dare
@@washoywa lmao
Why go through all that unnecessary trouble? Just use the prefix "Xeno", like what Monolith is doing right now.
13:55 - 14:00 may be the most awesome 5 seconds of my entire life. Like, I have the feeling that even when my first born child holds my finger for the first time, these 5 seconds will play in my mind, and I'll start nodding my head.
I've got 90 hours racked up on this game and it's only from watching this video that I realized I can take control of other characters.
+dave19941000 Haha, yeah the game leaves a lot for you to discover on your own.
I agree overall with your review, but man, i'm glad Monolith now has the budget to do all this weird shit. My fave game from last year with mgsv.
Very, very well done review. Your style is polished and thorough. You support your opinions and keep the pros and cons balanced.
Between you, Superbunnyhop and Matthewmatosis I don't think I have to visit AAA review sites anymore.
+Kosmickrunch Thank you! That means a lot. I'm glad to have you here in the community. Thanks for watching!
This is the game that Anthom and No Man's Sky wishes they had been and it was on the Wii-U.
I like Chronicles 2 and I really liked X.
I would like and X-2 to be on the Switch one day.
Judging on how X ended, we'll definitely get one. I still want a port of X on Switch so badly.
Tim Timuri getting the remake on Switch, right?!
Honestly you're kinda on point with Anthem but No Man's Sky is something else entirely, and (albeit late) did eventually come into its own and is pretty impressive now.
They'd have to re-design a huge chunk of the UI to work on the main screen rather than the gamepad screen....You can emulate it these days if you really want to play it...
Great review, you've done an good job at really delving into what makes the game work and what doesn't quite work, and I agree with pretty much everything.
You are one of the best reviewers in youtube, I subscribed to you when you did the first xenoblade game because it was a well explain and in depth review compare to sites like ign and you did it again with this review, good job.
I was also part of the letter writing campaign for Operation Rainfall back in the day. Amazing to see how we possibly made a difference and are still getting Xenoblade games today.
Can't believe they finally did it! Switch is officially my fav console of all times!
The best thing about the game is end game gear after grinding, the overpowered skells and overdrive builds are so awesome to use XD
The most thrilling part of the game, is when you learn how to combine your arts with Infinite overdrive, and beating a chunk of tyrants and large enemies on foot solo.
Nice review. I actually bought the first Xenoblade on the strengths of your review. Got it for the New 3DS and really liked it. Was the first JRPG I played since Infinite Undiscovery (no idea either). However, this looks way too time consuming for me. If I were a teen again, I'd spend moths with a game like this. But as a thirty year old who gets home from work exhausted, I'd rather play something in short bursts. I think that's why Telltale games exist - for old farts like me!
You deserve way more subs than you have, your reviews and videos are exceptional!
Nintendo are sitting on bank by not re releasing this. I can't believe we're still waiting for this one.
Wait no more
Aw man. I love that dialogue with Nagi at the beginning of the game where he asks you to join BLADE. Did you do his affinity missions? They're so worth. Reporting for Duty is one of the most badass missions in the game.
I played this game with an emulator
No online mode or manual
But it was a sooo amazing
Didn't stop til 100% achievement
One of the best games i ever played
I definitely liked XCX more than XC. My problem with the original XC was the the story and plot seemed a little wooden, the premise was no where near as interesting as XCX. To say XC had better pacing is ridiculous, XCX always had interesting things to do; while XC had a lot of really oversized and agonizingly bland areas like Valak Mountain, Aerith Ocean, pretty much all of Mechonis (minus the Fallen Hand, which is a brilliant location). XCX's world is, in my opinion, significantly better than XCs. Also, the ever evolving NLA was one of the most interesting city locations in a game I have ever come across. I also much preferred the gameplay of XCX, I never quite liked the whole time BS in XC, I liked the different classes and systems to advance through.
As far as side content goes, while I felt the main story of XC was a little wooden, to say the side quests were wooden is giving them too much praise. XCX's side quests are all like extensions of the main story, they flesh out the story of NLA's survival on a truly massive scale; and this ties in with the constantly evolving city-scape. XCs are a bunch of incredibly dry side quests with an even drier delivery.
Last point of why I definitely liked XCX more is the fact that the story is very relatable to Xenogears and Xenosaga. XC was really disappointing in the fact that it didn't seem to bring any of that to the table, there's not much to talk about with XC's story, whereas XCX has lots to discuss both in the scope of the game and beyond; similar to XG and XS.
I agree with you on the audio-design with XCX, it's kind of atrocious, XC was better audio-wise by leaps and bounds. My other big complaint was font size in the UI, it was a lot smaller than other games.
I liked both Riki and Tatsu, but I disliked Riki's gross voice acting, especially when it got repetitive in battles.
Xenoblade X is probably among my top 3 RPG's of all time. I adore it so so much. The characters, the premise, planet Mira, the Skells, The combat, the story. My God I get emotional thinking about this game, it means so much to me. 💖
I want it for my Switch so badly.
A little late in posting a comment but I thought I would bare my woes for this game since I really was excited for it and anticipating greatness. But one thing absolutely killed it for me. In retrospect, after playing Mass Effect Andromeda (great game, ignore the bad reviews) and Cosmic Star Heroine, and replaying FFVII, I really don't understand how this game all fell apart for me.
This is what happened. I was 15-20 hours into the game, and I found this HUGE Lifehold in the water! I saw it from a distance and I was REALLY excited to discover what mysteries lied within the story for this thing. I ran quite a ways, just scraping by battle after battle. Swam for a bit and finally got to it....and....nothing. I swam around it, tried to jump on it...nothing. What the hell? Was getting these things NOT the entire objective of the plot? I was AT one! And...nothing. I was crushed. I put down my controller and thought for a few minutes. What was I doing wrong? I could not muster the motivation to continue after this dissapointment. What the hell happened? I lost all interest. I read later that I needed to be IN A QUEST for this thing to mean something. WHAT? I later traded it in. I found no interest in this game since the story is usually the primary focus of a JRPG. I was crushed. The End.
I'm over 200+ hours playing Xenoblade X. I think it's a very good game, but certainly not for everyone. If you don't like RPG's and / or spending hundreds of hours for 100% completion, might not be the game for you. Xenoblade X in general is extremely tedious with the side missions: Go to X location, talk to X person, some indigents appear. Kill X creatures. Something broke or someone got sick? Bring a number of X materials / collectibles. I guess this is generally basic for a JRPG, but it sometimes sucks some of the fun I have with Xenoblade X. Although my main complaint with Xenoblade X which apparently also happens with the original Xenoblade Chronicles (Never played the original, but have seen a bit of gameplay.) is the annoying Indigent placement. Many times I'm fighting an Indigent appropriate of my current level, only for some massively strong indigent to zoom on you, attack you and wipe out your team. The same can also be said when exploring Mira, it can get annoying when your in a segment that contains Indigents that are 20+ levels higher than you. Sure this problem gets smaller and smaller later in the game, but it can be really frustrating. Especially when your exploring Mira looking for the Data probe locations for installation and near the location there are strong Indigents.
Don't get me wrong, Xenoblade X is worth the 50'ish dollars. You get a relatively good story, a ton of content and exploration.
"So as long as the developers didn't try to fix that wasn't broken, they were sure to have another solid RPG on their hands"
*cough* Paper mario sticker star and Color Splash.
Spoder Man Nah, not for a $60 game. I didn't even finish it. I had no motivation for the game and rpg/battle mechanics sucked. They took so much stuff out. No original characters either because they wanted to save money and be lazy. Boring boss battles too that made you play a specific way and worse story you didn't care about.
Played this over Christmas 2015 and well into March 2016. Absolutely phenomenal. The music, world, atmosphere and battle system were all perfect. I was devastated to finish it at around 100+ hours. I know that really, I'd barely scratched the surface of how deep the game is but what a ride. I played XC2 when it released and loved it. I've never played the first game so I'll definitely be playing the Remaster when it releases in May.
Your reviews are incredible and so in-depth. I sure wish you'd review Skyrim, FF 13, FF 13-2, and FF 12. Keep the good videos coming!
Man... Nice job! The branding of your videos with the new intro graphics and end card slate make your content look very official. Honestly it felt as if I were watching an IGN video although it not being a review limited on having less than a week to play the game and understand it. Props to doing online tutorials in after effects? lol
I really appreciate that you take up the role of doing your best to give an honest and intelligent review, which I don't see enough of these days. Super Bunnyhop and TerraMantis (
+NETRO Always glad to hear from you, NETRO. Thanks for watching!
I was on the fence about this one. Thanks for the review. I'll be picking the game up this evening!
Sawano's music is not "awkwardly translated". They are just writen like that. As far as I know the music is the same for international and japanese versions. Sawano likes to combine languages without really caring for how compatible they are, their grammar and nuances. Sometimes the lyrics have some sort of "meaning" but it is more in the thematic feeling, than actual comprehensive text.
I mean, listen to his famous piece Aliez from anime Aldnoah Zero (oh what a waste of potential that one): th-cam.com/video/VVaRSPaBlDc/w-d-xo.html
Yea, I'm not sure what this guy was talking about when he said that. It's obviously done on purpose.
My favorite reviewer on TH-cam because the ending and most plot points aren't spoiled. Very well done!
Funnily enough I really love the OST and still listen to it to this day. I especially like the vocals and the way it sets itself apart vom Xenoblade 1's OST in this way. Watching your video I just went with every song, even the NLA theme, which is just endearing to me by now. The titan battle theme especially had my blood pumping and made every encounter special.
I fully understand that this is a personal preference, but I feel like Sawano truly understands how to empower certain scenes and his songs give them this epic touch. It does remind me of Persona's approach to battle music and an OST in general, going for vocals in most places, using them to enhance the experience. This is why I hope that a possible Xenoblade X2 might go down this route again.
Okay, but the battle theme is hilarious to listen to
A couple of things.
Thanks for being apart of the movement that got this released outside of Japan, as it is Amazing! I bought one of the Xenoblade Chronicles X Wii U Bundles 2 weeks ago.. Its amazing.
I love the art style, and just exploring the map, running up trees, jumping off cliffs, getting slaughtered by High level Monsters.. Everything about it is Amazing. I love this game.
Secondly, thanks to all of you for showing me the amazing games on Nintendo Systems. Since watching this chanel about a year and a half ago, I have bought a 3DS last Christmas, and then The Wii U and I have played some of the best games since FF7-11.
You guys are great. Keep up the good work.
I now have so many games to get and play, Its hard just picking which one I want next. Not enough time in the day I swear.
That is a great problem to have.
Review is spot on. I do not regret playing this, despite not having a very well written story, it had some genuine moments, concepts that were genuinely soul connecting. Add to that the music and it becomes a truly memorable experience.
8:56
"Nobody reads the manual"
"Reading's for yellow bellies, let's go over there and not read, like real men"
This guy deserves way more views and subs. This is my first review of his that I've viewed and it is so much more in-depth than IGN and Gamespot..I have subbed. Thank you.
+TaskForce Faith Thanks, TaskForce! Glad to have you with us!
I agree on the sound balancing, and the soundtrack definitely grew on me as well
Superb review. I didn't know u were part of Operation Rainfall. Cheers for that. I agree with many of your points made here. I definitely have to read that manual as i've been winging it so far with some success. I'm totally enjoying the game though.
+zedo0 Were you part of Operation Rainfall as well? Yeah man, it's crazy how long its been since we were campaigning for Xenoblade... hard to believe.
+Dark Pixel Gaming I wasn't but backed u guys all the way. I even purchased the special cover for all 3 games that Operation Rainfall successfully got localised.
I recently dumped some cash on a used wii u, an external hdd, and a freakin 2 male/1 female y cable so I can finally own every Xeno game... legally lol
I agree with almost everything that was said here. The only major point I wish was spoke about is how often this game will have absurd difficulty spikes. XC1 (which has the most similar combat system) would allow you to challenge yourself by playing the game underleveled as long as you had a good grasp on party makeup and proper art usage.
One way I heard it explained was: You are either curb-stomping everything or you are getting curb-stomped by the difficulty curve.
Even so... this game still gets an 8/10 from me. It's also my favorite of the entire Xeno series.
Just binge watched some of your videos. Awesome content! You've got one more subscriber now.
Here's one thing I noticed: Xenoblade X is actually *two* storylines.
The Main questline about the Lifehold is Elma's story, while the sidequests and Affinity Missions are Cross/Rook(your character)'s.
+Damien Hailey That's actually a pretty great insight! Never thought about it that way before.
I love your review because you're honest. Though I had a differing experience from you
Waiting for Switch port, then I'll buy it
A year later from your post and no XCX on Switch. It's blatantly obvious that it will release at some point but it's the sole reason my WiiU is still under my TV and it's not going anywhere until it does. That said i have to be completely honest, if for whatever reason the game proves too difficult to port to Switch (not from a technical standpoint) and they decide to bypass it completely then a WiiU is a definite buy just for this game. It's so damn worth it. If you are a Jrpg player and like you Jrpg games heavy then this is a reason to own a WiiU. Same as Persona 5 is (now Royal) to own a PS4 just for this game.
Dude, your finger skating videos are awesome! I used to have a few of those and a mini skate park when I was a kid but I wasn't anywhere near as good as you.
@@birchmahogany2718 haha didn't expect this. Thanks. I actually still do it when I'm sitting in my computer desk watching TH-cam or something.
Still waiting for a Switch port in 2021...
absolutely love love lovvvve this game omg! its so good
I actually like Riki especially when you get to the island when you’re team gets separated. I love how he looks up to Dunban and wants to be like him.
If there's ever a port of this game, I hope that they implement actual coop and lobby systems. It would be so awesome to explore Mira with a group of friends.
I am an enormous Xenosaga fan, and the art design of this game really resembles and speaks to me. But the time investment for busy work just sounds wholly unteneble. If I was going to be trapped on a desert island (with electricity, apparently) and could only take one game with me, this sounds like a solid choice. But as it is there's no way I could justify the time this game would steal from other games on my list...which is a shame. Because I love the LOOK of it. Also I want more Xenosaga :(
This game was almost perfect
Excellent review, covered everything you need to know to make a informed decision (haha I'm so funny) to buy it or not. One thing you didn't mention I don't like, and that's the case for many Nintendo games (so I assume it's their doing?), is the fact that once you die a few times the game asks you if you wanna lower the difficulty. That's just like saying: "Hey you suck, wanna turn on pussymode so you can advance without crying?" ... I really don't like that in any game that has a feature like that.
Oh and one more thing, I - so far - love how you work/plan to work with your channel this year, and the quality of the videos doesn't even suffer through it. So keep that up, I always enjoy seeing a new video from you when I turn YT on.
every nintendo game Ive ever played (including this one at the current moment) XCX=I've never seen pussy mode...even after a few deaths...you can just grind your XP and acquire a level far above the monsters in the region, IE doing lvl 16 quests with a group of lvl 40 characters w. top notch gear, big huge world to explore, fun and amazing, but like anything you can grind your way up and do anything that feels too hard, too challenging, no need to put on any "easy mode" just grind out a few more levels, acquire alittle better gear, scout some better 4th players for your party, and boom (you can scout online players like lvl 50-55's to join your team...30 mins, 60 mins, you essentially "rent" high level players, who join your 3-mann'd team, a lvl 43, 43, 43 and 55 go take on a lvl 38 quest/affinity quest 5 regions across the games MASSIVE world (I mean literally Take Skyrim, Take Just Cause 3, and take GTA V, and smoosh all 3 together, then you get 80% of XCX) with a MULTITUDE of overlapping systems, and a huge (almost MMO-like world) you get a 300-400+ hour massive world to explore, mobs ranging from lvl 1 flying "gnats" to lvl 82 elite beasts that are as tall as the sky (your character is about the size of its toenail) online competitions, regular updates, 5 massive continents, tons of overlapping systems (for the casual, or the new comer this game is quite DAUNTING) im 88.5 hours in, and have yet to complete 40% of "any" of the 5 continents, I'm on chapter 5 (of the main story) and theres 40 chapters (not to mention 100s of side missions, affinity missions, progression missions, basic missions) 4-5 mission types, build a city, build a group, romance, affinity, progression, build your own gear, acquire new gear, buy parts, splice parts, create new parts, use "tickers" acquired in battle or "credits" (the games equivalency to money) infact you have 2 sources of income, no 3....Miranium (like oil) Tickets and Credits, 3 forms o f currency, for 3 systems, I am almost 90 hours and like (wipes forehead take a deep breath everytime I turn the system on like ) "man this is going to take months...I thought Skyrim, or Witcher 3 was big...those games are only 20% of 1-2 of this games continents) and you can fly/jump/auto-run ANYWHERE anytime, you can see a mountain in the far distance ? you can probably scale it single-handedly at any level 90 degree perpendicular runs straight up the side of the mountain, so high up you can see 1/2 of this 1 (out of 5) continents, and then jump down, and you get that stomach feeling (like your stomach is up in your heart) as you fall from a very very high distance....then land (no damage, no death) auto-run 15 mins straight across a single continent, only to have tons of baddies chasing you, for what seems along time (they dont let go easy) this game has its issues no doubt, but honestly I can look past all of it, im really really enjoying it, for me its been the best game I've played the past 2 years (easy).
For me XX is my favourite Xeno game so far. The game is totaly engrosing, designed with such detail and a story that fits perfectly within the context of the philosophical and religious themes that the series is known for that i simply could not do otherwise. The game is excellent in spite of its many issues. The game is so massive that even a 30 minute review can not hope to "capture" its grandiur. As for the music...i had doubts before i got to grips with it but in the end and while playing i must say that i really really liked it and it fits too. Sure the vocals can be cheesy and corny but even those i felt they fit.
Man I loved Xenoblade Chronicles X, the side quests were so fun to do I even liked the story of them better than the main game lol.
Exploration, killing large and hard monsters and customising your character and building the best mech was what took most of my time and my fav gametime in it.
What do you think of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Nintendo? is it any good?
I wonder if we'll get a podcast now that this is coming to switch 🤔. XCX's storytelling has some definite shortcomings but it's one of my favourite sci-fi stories on a thematic level
I honestly just finished the game earlier tod... i guess it would be yesterday considering I am posting this at like 1:30 am. but I do agree that the issues you had with the sound design and soundtrack rang true for me too, especially both versions of the NLA theme being so weird. I am not disappointed I bought this game, even if many of grievances you had were the same as myself. also the Sword of Legendary-ness mission had me grinning from ear to ear when I saw the sword.
+TheSaskOtaku The Sword of Legendary-ness :) What an amazing quest line. That is one thing that I feel this game can say it got so much better than the first one, the non basic quests. In the first game, in order to get to the good quests, you had to complete the boring quests. Not so here, and while there are some that involve a few minor basic quest requirements (usually just accepting a basic quest with a social designation) all of the regular side-quests (normal missions) fleshed out the NPCs and the world of Mira in so many ways. Each and every one of those quests helped to show the emotional, psychological, and physical effects of the crisis that humanity was now facing. They helped show the difficulties of knowing that the planet you lived on was completely gone and that you had to start anew. Just wonderful world-building. After all, that is what MonolithSoft does best.
i say this when ppl ask comparing the two
xenoblade chronicles = better story, better soundtrack (mostly)
xenoblade chronicles x = bigger, better exploration, overall (i like the combat about...the same) but far better exploration, and far better non basic/side missions/basic missions (even the affinity system I like better) and I like just not exploration, but HOW you can travel (auto-run, and the no-death-upon-landing-from-any-distance) etc, etc...you can literally get anywhere almost even w/o a skell (minus the obvious high up areas that involve a Skell) which ironically at 90 hours I dont even have yet (thats how much I grind, and shit I'm doing lvl 17 affinity quests when I'm lvl 40 LOL) 90 hours, level 40 for my char/elma/lin and no skell yet...lol still wondering what main mission/story chapter is it when I get to finally pilot a skell (im on chapter 5) lol
Very very late with this comment but this is a fantastic review. Excellent job mate. I love this game but agree with your points. Really hope Nintendo bring to switch. I would love to play it again and go for full completion this time. Loved this game a lot more than 2 and even 3.
You're review on this pretty much completely mirrors my feelings on this game to a tee. I don't think a disagreed with a single point you made.
I'm glad Xenoblade X is such a mixed bag in regards to its gameplay. While the world is breathtankingly vast and full of content, it overwhelms the player with missions, side objectives and loads of sub menus. Brings up fun discussions about how much effort a game should demand to the average player while limiting conventional tutorials.
+JoJo Rama (JoJoRama) I'm all for limiting conventional tutorials! Tutorials, for the most part, just completely kill immersion for me. I think Nintendo is one of the best developers out there when it comes to teaching the player the game mechanics in a creative, non-intrusive way. Mario games are beautiful examples of that. Now, big RPGs like this are much more complex than Mario, and require at least SOME amount of explanation, but I feel like building those lessons into missions a little at a time is the best way to go, rather than dumping a million paragraphs of instruction at once.
I was lost at the first 5 hours of the original Xenoblade, tbh hahahaha! Loads and loads of text teaching me the combat mechanics, collectables and such... I'm still enjoy it a lot! Going to 100% this baby!
Good luck! I started a second playthrough after finishing the main story to try some other tactics and pick up on some things I missed the first time. I doubt I'll ever 100% this game though.
+Dark Pixel Gaming I'm sure Xeno will be one of my favorite RPGs, along with FFVI and Paper Mario TTYD : ]
Hey Dark Pixel. It seems that changing the WiiU sound setting fixes the sound balance issues... I have no idea why...
I consider not having individual sliders for music, sound effects, and dialogue one of the seven deadly video game sins. In every game that has them, I almost always change them immediately, as they are NEVER balanced reasonably. Good on you for pointing this out here.
That was a great review. I think you hit most of the edgy spots this game has.
On one of my comments on another video of yours I told you I was at chapter 9. Well, now I'm at chapter 10. Why am I saying this? It's because this game has just that: I don't want it to end. It's just that great. I'm taking forever to get to the next chapter.
Anyways, I applaud the review. It's not an easy game to review correctly because of how divisive many elements can be. I for example like Tatsu (granted I don't like him as much as I did Riky) but I couldn't help but chuckle sometimes with those stupid dinner situations. And talking about that. My whole experience with the story was pretty much like dinner. You see, I feel like Mira is a playground to me, and to go out and explore everything and try to do as many sidequests as I can is the main thing for me. I find the game FUN more than engaging (if that makes any sense). So the story chapters were like dinner for me. It's a nice time, you taste some good scenes and plot twists, and then you're pretty much off until the next one. I understand not everyone likes that, of course, but it's totally been working for me.
I think the soundtrack was a huge step back. I still don't understand why the original Xenoblade would lock on certain soings while another played and then when that one ended it would continue where it left off, but here every single track just restarts from the very beginning. It's annoying. The Flight theme is actuall very good when you get to the chorus, and makes you feel like flying in the skell is so awesome, but you barely ever get to hear it because everytime you step on the ground the song stops and restarts from the beginning the next time.
I've just started to experiment and discover how overdrive can be used effectively, as well as abilities and specific arts. I can experiment with my own takes on combat, and that's pretty neat. The combat system doesn't disappoint.
Anyways, good job! I don't agree with everything, but you make good points and give praise where praise is due.
Keep it up!
-Geez, that mission with Corwin's team. So dark.
I've been playing JRPGs for 35 years (29 years when this video was made). Hold my beer, Resonant Arc.
The BEST review I've seen for this game. Period.
+Spectre Mustang Thanks! I appreciate that!
Far from. All this guy does it bitch bitch bitch. He doesn't understand anything. Horrible channel and I hope he stops.
Luke I would if I didn't have a full time job and work 65+ hours a week. If I did have the time I would be 1000x better than this shit.
I will admit this though i love the game and its amazing in almost every way, there are only 3 issues I ever had with it,
1- The online multiplayer mode could of been way better it could of been a full world exploration upto 4 players splitting up looking for missions all over the map, when one finds one you can tell the others and then warp around the world how they see fit getting things done, and do quests/mission for hours, and just quit when you want, but instead its some quick small missions that are over too quick in a small zone like really quick matter of 1-5 minutes, its rather sad.
2- They could of let you customize the final prototype skells to with weapons and armor of your choice but its predefined gear kinda sad.
3- Because you can't go around the world in 4 player co-op finding missions is rather hard, A/ Time of day can unhide missions and location and the game only shows a white dot on the mini map if its in your scan area in this huge world is kinda hard you have to explore it alone so finding them is rather difficult even after 500 hours of gameplay and I have over 15,000 hours lol. clock stops at 9999 but I know mine is over NINE THOUSAND!!!
I really want to try this game out. I bought another Wii U recently (sold my launch console back in 2013) and I've been scooping up games for cheap. The Wii U is a really underrated system IMO and this game looks epic as can be. I've been having a hard time determining what this game is all about though. I played a bit of Xenoblade on the Wii so I have an idea, but I know this title is different and I've heard positives and negatives. Been trying to watch Let's Plays of it to get an idea but the commentators are really annoying unfortunately. I hope this review gives me the info I'm looking for.
great review! I have a question, have you ever played any games from the persona franchise? if you have, what is your opinion on it?
+Jacob Mauldin I've never played Persona, unfortunately. I'll gave to review one of those games soon!
All of the negative points you raise are 100% on point. I felt the same way after playing for 2.5 hours. I'm going to keep playing, but yeah, you really appreciate just how amazing xeno chronicles 2 is (the only other game I've plasyed from them, which was already amazing, but clearly monolithsoft listened to fans if this was their previous effort).
It's a darn shame that Skells make your characters useless unless you're forced to go into a cave that can't use Skells.
Until you get to the final boss and you realize your ground game is absolute shit
Actually, if you play the game you'll realize that you can do much more WITHOUT your skell. I'm assuming that you probably didn't get very far in. But some of the bosses are way better to fight on foot, and the fast paced action makes it an amazing experience.
I always get out of the skell whenever im battling super bosses, potential blossom build is broken af
Damn you know your stuff. You earned a sub
How the hell has this not been ported to Switch yet?
Honest I don't want a port I need a sequel
Considering almost no one owned a Wii U, I think a port is more likely to happen before a sequel.
There definitely should be sound options but for times when the music is just too much, I make the tablet the main screen so that the music plays from the tablet instead of the TV, and then I turn the tablet volume down. It still displays on the TV, just no audio. This game has so many things that you can tweak.
First time you play this
"What the hell Is this music? It's so bad!"
Weeks after
"I CANT HEAR YOU! I CANT SEE YOU!"
Lmao I've grown to just love the music It has become nostalgic. I miss this game
Looking back at this game again, it truly was a big "what-if". What if Monolith actually made the UI and story competent, and Sawano reverting to his Taiyou no Uta and Team Medical Dragon roots.
I have spent 400+ hours on this game, got every single achievement, and completed all quests in the game. I really loved this game. The exploration was the defining factor of this game. Scaling a very vertical landscape in Noctilum and Sylvalum were truly breathtaking. The gameplay was fine for the most part, but often, there's just a lot more going on compared to the first Xenoblade it's hard to keep up at first. The main problems I had were the story, a portion of the music, and the damn UI. Story is very barren, had forced choices (choosing to stand up for Lao), damn Tatsu, and the whole thing with Lao was just really stupid in hindsight. The less said about the NLA theme and music during cutscenes, the better. The UI is where the game is just brutal. In XC, you can see the traits or gems and their effects in the menu. However, you only have a vague idea of what a trait is from its name, as the UI does not show its effects. You have to go to the augment creation terminal and see what the damn trait does. Even then, some traits do not have augments, so you may not even know what something does. This really infuriated me.
I am very critical of this game because I really love this game. The open world exploration to the fast paced combat complements each other really well. It's such a shame that some of the rather big blemishes truly bring the game down a notch. Again, this game is a huge "what-if", if Monolith actually addressed these concerns.
I have played through and finished this. Have played the XC 1 (original), 2 and now the 1 DE and I'm still in awe of the massive world these games have to offer. I would really like XCX to be at least remastered as well tweaked to make it optimal for Switch. I am hoping really because nothing beats the "open-worldness" of this game!
Subscribed! You definitely should have more subscribers. Great review!
This is the best review of this game that I have found. Everyone else either fanboys all over it, ignoring the games many issues. Or, they just didn’t appreciate the game hardly at all.
Came back to this after the XCX DE Announcement. Hoping they'll do something about the not so good music.
Played it on Wii U and I want it on the Switch again. It's just such a good game
Sheesh there is no volume control?!?!?! That's gonna be interesting... Im downloading it now. I love music but yeah... that sounds funny! Lol! And not being able to hear characters speak on a talking game will make me just want to use he subtitles. When I was a child I had all the time in the world but now I don't.
I love to train (grind) all day especially when I see improvements my time just isn't as free as it used to be. I'm looking forward to it overall. I still need to beat Xenoblade Chronicles. Nice review man way more in depth than IGN's review.
I personally think the volume on the music is just fine, I've never had that thought cross my mind. His sound output may have some quirks to it or something, or maybe he's just sensitive to such things. Hard to say but It's not a complaint I had ever heard before seeing this video today.
Yotsuba Yes it's not as bad as the guy in the video was making it sound. I play this game all the time and it's not an issue... I commented on this before I played it. I should know you can't always rely on these reviews until you play the game yourself. Yep your basically right. The music is good anyways! Lol!
Possibly my favorite game in the past decade.
Our opinions on the soundtrack seem to mostly align. The sound issues and soundtrack were honestly one of my biggest issues with the game, as someone who also considers both sound and music to be incredibly important in most video games, and also someone who also adores the first Xenoblade's incredible OST. There are a number of tracks that are exhilarating and a joy to listen to, some that are wonderfully atmospheric and perfectly suiting (I love the haunting Divine Roost theme), and for the most part, the main continent themes are great (though they did get repetitive and tiring after hours upon hours of exploration). But I found the NLA theme (daytime especially) to be egregiously irritating, especially after playing the game for so long and spending so much time there, and perhaps even worse for me was the Skell flight theme, which perfectly suited the breathtaking and magical moment when you first take flight, but quickly became enormously tiring, especially with it constantly starting and stopping as I frequently landed and took flight again while exploring. And yes, the sound mixing is pretty terrible, and I was forced to turn subtitles on partway into the game when normally I don't use them for English vocals. I also found battle sound effects to be ear-gratingly loud at times, like the shrill cries of certain creatures such as Mephites.
I have plenty of other issues with the game both large and small, like the tiny text size that made me have to constantly lean towards my TV to read things, but I did find myself enjoying the game's battle system more than the first game mainly due to the class system which I thought added a lot of variety, got quite lot of enjoyment out of the normal missions, several of which have pretty entertaining stories (though I unfortunately missed out on a lot of affinity missions for optional party members simply because I didn't want to spend the time raising their affinity), and above all was frequently wowed by the majestic world, which I made the effort to thoroughly and completely explore. The game is a giant mixed bag for me overall. I don't regret playing it overall, but I do regret spending so much time with it, and I wish I had known to not waste my time with certain aspects like basic missions early on. Overall, I definitely prefer the original Xenoblade for many reasons and think it just feels more special (to me anyway), but Xenoblade X is certainly an ambitious title with its own merits, and worthy of existing if for no other reason than to Skell around the place with wild abandon. I feel like this is a game that I'll have a lot of fun discussing as time goes on, both its flaws and triumphs.
EDIT: Just wanted to add that I thought this was a great review; informative and focused with a strong critical voice, and I think your personal approach to reviewing that you discussed in your "cognitive bias" video was very evident and really paid off here. I write reviews myself (currently just for a personal blog), and will definitely be taking your approach and philosophies into consideration in the future. I don't personally believe that review and criticism should follow one absolute rulebook, and I love seeing different approaches to the whole art of critical discussion. :)
+Green Hat Hero Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts! You've pretty much described exactly how I feel about this game. Where can I find your blog? I'd be interested in reading your reviews!
+Dark Pixel Gaming You can find it here: stockpotinn.blogspot.com/ Though I'll warn you, my Xenoblade X review is a doozie!
sounds like you totally missed the online because aside from what you mentioned there were these really awesome boss battles, that you join if you wanted
Excellent review. I'll have to steer clear of this one, but I still want to try the first Xenoblade. Anyone have thoughts on "The Last Story"?
Thank you! I really liked The Last Story. It's not a perfect game by any means, and I'd agree with the consensus that Xenoblade Chronicles is definitely better, but there was a lot to like. I enjoyed it at least!
Given the Wii U's issues, I feel this should be ported to the Switch, unless Xenoblade 2 just renders it moot. I haven't played 2 yet so I don't know, but I plan to in the future.
While I managed to grind through most obstacles by exploring, I have started to run into an issue with a number of the really high level enemies, the specifically the giant ones. I admit I'm not very good at the game and mostly just brute force everything, but even with the highest level skells that you don't need to unlock, I keep coming across some enemies that keep killing me. Are those giant level 60 and up enemies supposed to be saved for the post game? If so, even after that how am I supposed to kill them? My first guess would to be rely on the OP overdrive builds or get some good weapon augments, but most all of the good augments are only dropped by the enemies I can't kill.
Then again, I haven't done a lot of exploring the final area since I haven't got skells for everyone. I mean to do that so I don't have to worry about my squad dying in lava.
For your information, sound balance is pretty off in th original Xenoblade Chronicles as well. I remember some cutscenes where I could barely hear the voices. Nevertheless, I totally agree that a volume and sound effect slider would be a great addition. It would also be nice if you could turn on/off changing music when flying with a skell. I found that to be an immersion breaker.
I love the soundtrack in Xenoblade Chronicles X. It just feels so fresh, and at many times alien (like the world itself). Something I am less fond of though, is that there is only one city. OF course, XCX does not have as good soundtrack as XC, but considering how the soundtrack in XC is a masterpiece, I prefer that XCX is taking on a new route.
I am not a super big fan of the English dub. I would prefer to play it in Japanese, as I did with XC. Why no dual audio??
Personally I feel like the side missions (the green ones) are the best kind of missions in the game. Mostly because of the lack of really good characters (most are mediocre, and some few are nothing more than just good). Many side missions can be done in different ways, many of them have fun and interesting dialogue, and many of them gives a lot to world building of the mysterious planet Mira.
Woah! You did the end game grind without the internet.. I feel bad for you.
Anyway, great review. I agree with mostly everything after playing the game several hundreds of hours. It really is a great game, despite its many flaws. Say, did you think anything about similarities between the different Xeno games while laying XCX? Please do not spoil anything about Xenosaga though since I am yet to complete that one.
Thanks for the comments, Eirian! I actually hadn't played Xenogears yet when I played this, so I wasn't aware of the similarities until much later. It's nice to have that background now. I haven't played any of the Xenosaga games either, so I definitely can't speak for those.
Speaking of Xenogears, you said in your retrospective for that game, that the flaws makes the game feel more personal and that you think it does not matter whether they are there or not. Although I think that Xenogears have some major flaws that would be nice if they were fixed, I definitely agree that flaws makes a game feel more personal. This is something I have noticed with other jrpgs as well (mostly, obscure ones like Earthbound and opoona). I do not really mind the flaws in these games since they indeed make the game feel more personal. Actually, this is one of the aspects I like the most in jrpgs.
that crazy music sounds like it came out of "jet set radio".
This, and only this, is the reason that I love my wii u
Just started this game on the wiiu. Looks like the game pad dont work with the game other than the logo... whats with that????
Been replaying multiple times since launch while waiting for them to port this amazingly underrated game to switch.
While it is inconvenient, XCX's tutorials being badly explained leading the game to have "no hand holding" makes the game much more enjoyable when you do discover things similar to Dark Souls.
Edit: LETS GO ASSCAVES!!!!!
Other than the NLA theme, I love the soundtrack to this game. The same composer who did the music for such animes as Kill La Kill and Attack on Titan. But I'm some who likes things like an upbeat metal song playing during a boss fight, I know not everyone likes that. But this is one soundtrack I listen to outside the game.
As for voice actors... nobody stands out as being truly excellent? MATT FREAKING MERCER?!
it has the original name in the title, is a sequel. Like how chrono cross is a sequel, in spite of what the devs say.
Great review!
Edit: I was rude.
So, which do you prefer overall, Xenoblade Chronicles or Xenoblade Chronicles X? I know they are each very much their own games with their own strengths and weaknesses, but it'd be cool to know which you enjoyed the most. I think X was a marked improvement in many areas over the original, especially the combat, which was even more intricate and enjoyable thanks to the inclusion of Skells and the overdrive system. But the original had greater pacing, a far better story and more likable characters. Both games look simply gorgeous given their hardware. Mira is a lot more expansive than the Bionis or Mechonis, and doesn't have the same restrictions placed upon it that the world in the original had, but I can't say which I preferred exploring. They were both magnificent. Overall I'd say the original was the better game, because when the pros and cons were weighed against each other I'd say it had the least flaws. Even the side missions in the original weren't as repetitive as in X. But I loved both games.
+widdowson91 Overall I like the first one better, for similar reasons you mentioned but also because the soundtrack is far and away superior.
Good review. Sorta makes me want to play it. If only I had a Wii U
Cemu and you can play 60fps and in 4k.
I dont like Xenoblade has turn into Science Fiction. I know the franchise roots with Xenosaga is clearly grounded in SciFi, but i prefere stupid crazy magic for Xenoblade. Magic is alot more fantastic for a JRPG
I desperately want a Switch port. This is probably my favorite game of all time. Elma in Smash would be awesome too
I probably liked X way more than most people. It might be that I while I really like Chronicles I don't have the same manic love for it like other people do and can therefore more easily accept X's flaws and differences. It probably also ties in with my strong hatred towards people that first got into FF with 7 and 8 and can therefore not accept anything FF that isn't exactly like those games. A developer should not ever feel forced to adhere to what the fans think they want and I'm glad that Monolith Soft continue to make the games they want to make and that they've never been afraid to experiment.
Love this game. I like it as much as Xenoblade Chronicles. It has one of my favorite video game worlds ever.
Oddly I easily like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 far less than this.
I just couldn't really get into xc2 but I love xc1
Sans some of the story elements earlier on and some itemization issues forcing you spend countless hours farming a la Diablo in endgame, it has best open-world RPG gameplay of all time. Maybe its sequel will improve a lot of things, because for a second try and a redeux of the alpha game (just an open world demo model), it was mighty fine. Still at least a 9.5/10 or a 10/10 for me. I have over 300 hours put into this game, and despite said gripes, I have enjoyed every moment of the game.
same here man
Most of the vid was great, but the biggest disservice was comparing 1 and X’s stories. One of them is part of a trilogy that builds upon writing quality from two previous series, elevating it to not just a top tier game but top tier writing in fiction too. The other is X lmao
I adore the game. It captures perfectly to explore and tame a completely alien planet including being completely outlevelled and instagibbed by gigantous monsters. You can walk or fly around in a battle mech or kill stuff traditionally. Savage soundtrack. Only problems were the MMO-like quests and the constant backtracking over the map not to miss any quest or story scene.
This is open world gaming unlike Ubisoft's boredom fiestas.
Old video, but man... I remember when OPRainfall was sending those letters to Nintendo. Not only did I send Nintendo letters, but they were all handwritten and I added some kind of visual flair to each of them, including something like the full logo or such penned out. I also ended up buying multiple copies of most of the core 3 games and (perhaps oddly) in the end the Japanese version of _Pandora no Tou_ was the only one I actually played to completion, while my favorite of the bunch, _Xenoblade_ was the only one I didn't actually purchase when I visited Japan at the time. Still, _The Last Story_ was the one that stuck with me due to it's visual and audio design.
Y'know what? I should make a point to complete these games. I already love them, but I guess I'm always finished before they are... *sad face*
[Edit] I'm the kind of player that enjoyed the running gag with Tatsu being a vegetable. Not that I particularly liked the character overall, but I could at least appreciate how he was used to break up the otherwise quite serious tone of the game. There were certainly lighthearted moments throughout the game, but Tatsu fell into this comfortable spot where it didn't feel out of place for jokes to be involved.
This is the only game I had to go look up a review after I bought it and had played some of it. I'm having a very Zotto one this experience with it due to the fact I get little to no use out of the map that is provided on the gamepad. I do like no handholding when it comes to open world exploration,, Puzzle solving, and fighting enemies, however in an RPG like this, I tutorial is nice for those menus. I think that's part of what made final fantasy is seven and eight so great.
I had to look up a review after I had played some of the game because I felt like I wasn't playing the game right. Much like Skyrim I kept having problems navigating through the world. Here's where I wish the gamepad was just a little bit more useful, but I know people who can use the map on the gamepad if I trouble navigating the world as well. And I say like sky room because of all the mountains and stuff. I'll be trying to get to a story destination, and all of a sudden I'm running into a big ass wall of prayer rock or a mountain.
Derek Spradling
Possible Spoilers
later in the game, the map becomes extremely useful for warping and building revenue. It is one of the most time consuming things in the game. I finished it btw