Xenoblade Chronicles

[The Shoemaker]

Back in April I picked up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D for new 3DS. I didn't actually touch it until early July due to other commitments, but now that I have I love it. It seems to be the game that just keeps on giving. I'm in the middle of Sword Valley now with 74 hours clocked in. It's one of those games where it's fun to just explore and run around, it always seems like you're progressing in a some way. I don't think the game does anything particularily different for an RPG, but everything it does, it does very well.

I'm especially interested in the affinity between characters - their relationship level. This game really emphasizes its characters, and the affinity mechanic embodies that. the relationship between characters increases as they fight in battle and preform well. The higher the relationship between the characters you're choosing will increase the amount of times you can use chain attacks - which essentially allows you to deal a lot more damage. Every time the affinity increases between two characters they also get an extra slot where they can "borrow" skills earned by the other character, as well as view optional story segments which increase their affinity further. It's just a well implemented mechanic that encourages you to try out all the characters in different combinations, which ultimately increases the variety of gameplay.

Not sure how much game there is left but I'm sure I'll be playing it for a while longer, and it has me even more hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U now.

I'm definitely a little late for the party but that's what remakes are for I suppose. On an interesting note, the original Wii Xenoblade Chronicles is available to download on Wii U in Europe. It's a lot cheaper then the retail copy, hopefully they bring it to NA soon for those who still want to try it.

[Jordan]

Xenoblade is a great game. I played it on the Wii. I'm not sure if the 3DS version changes anything, but I did highly enjoy the original. I felt that the gameplay was really solid. A lot of people compared it to an offline mmorpg, but I think that's a bit harsh. It does, however, borrow a lot of concepts from the better MMORPGs out there and utilizes terms from them such as "aggro," "cooldowns," etc.

I did kind of feel that the plot was shallow though, especially compared to Xenosaga. I liked the characters, but in the end the final villain and overarching story just seemed kind of...lame. I almost quit playing after the parts on Mechonis/when the final villain is revealed. I'm glad I kept going though because there is some fun post-game/endgame content.

[The Shoemaker]

Xenoblade is a great game. I played it on the Wii. I'm not sure if the 3DS version changes anything, but I did highly enjoy the original. I felt that the gameplay was really solid. A lot of people compared it to an offline mmorpg, but I think that's a bit harsh. It does, however, borrow a lot of concepts from the better MMORPGs out there and utilizes terms from them such as "aggro," "cooldowns," etc.

I did kind of feel that the plot was shallow though, especially compared to Xenosaga. I liked the characters, but in the end the final villain and overarching story just seemed kind of...lame. I almost quit playing after the parts on Mechonis/when the final villain is revealed. I'm glad I kept going though because there is some fun post-game/endgame content.

I've just reached the part where

Spoiler

you fall on a beach off mechonis and Fiora joins your party

. So far the story has me intrigued, seems like there's a lot of little things about the story I'm still itching to know. I can see it getting a bit over the top though.

But the gameplay really is solid. When people ask me what it's like, I describe it as a real time turn based RPG. Where cooldowns act as turns, very engaging combat.

[Humphries90]

I actually really enjoyed this game on the 3DS. One of the best RPG's in a long time and I love how accessible it is. It's so considerate to gamers time, like fast travel, instant respawn after death, health regeneration after battle. Just small simple things that make it less of a chore to play than many other RPG's out there. This game was actually the first one I reviewed. I specifically wanted a game that was awesome to start off with.

Seriously looking forward to playing Xenoblade Chronicles X. I don't know where I'm going to find those 300 hours to play it though...

[Kong Wen]

One of my main problems with the Wii version is that fans touted it as being this resplendent visual masterwork, but in actuality it just looked like a PS2 game. The hype was hilariously overstated. Aside from that, it plays like a basic RPG from that era. Entertaining enough, but nothing particularly innovative. Anyone who cares about RPGs has already walked down this road before.

I can't speak to the 3DS version, but from what I understand, it's a fairly faithful port.

[The Shoemaker]

One of my main problems with the Wii version is that fans touted it as being this resplendent visual masterwork, but in actuality it just looked like a PS2 game. The hype was hilariously overstated. Aside from that, it plays like a basic RPG from that era. Entertaining enough, but nothing particularly innovative. Anyone who cares about RPGs has already walked down this road before.

I can't speak to the 3DS version, but from what I understand, it's a fairly faithful port.

I don't think it's the best looking game ever, it looks fine for the scope of the game. Stylistically I think the large areas look very nice. Even if they're big open fields, each area is very disticntly different, the arching hills on Guar Plains is great. But I will say the design for towns and interior buildings/caves is pretty weak. That's when the game turns to all grey mode.

Like I said I don't think it's doing anything new, but what it does do, it does very well. It's an experience where every feature works together very well, which makes for a very good experience. I'm also more used to old school RPG's than new school one's like this, so perhaps that's why this experience feels fresh to me

It's so considerate to gamers time, like fast travel, instant respawn after death, health regeneration after battle. Just small simple things that make it less of a chore to play than many other RPG's out there.

Another thing I really appreciate about the game. I've heard complaints that the instant respawn thing takes away some of the difficulty in the game because there's not really a punishment for losing. In a game like this, I don't want there to be a huge punishment. I like that I can explore freely and try and take on higher leveled enemies without trying to remember when the last time I saved was.