Quick Look: Xenoblade Chronicles

Actually looks interesting, which is hilarious given this has been out for so long here.

@GunnBjorn said:

What word did Brad utter @10:13? Insperfulous? Forgive me. I'm Dutch.

Superfluous.

@vexidus said:

Thanks Patrick, you sold me on this game. Looks like a game where you can just have fun, instead of get frustrated.

It is really fun. The world is massive, a ton of optional side quests and unique monsters to hunt for gear, and you're living on a freaking giant titan... thing. Which they did an amazing job at reminding you of the sense of scale numerous times as it progresses. What's not to love!

@fisk0: I don't feel like arguing much for this because I'm totally on your side, but the part where you say "why bother playing foreign games if you don't want to be reminded of their heritage and the context that might provide for the game?" Well, my guess is that, that's the problem. People do not want to bother to play games that does that, and since games are products that usually has to appeal to as many people as possible, they are localized.

Why are people like that that? No clue. Also, I have no sources, I'm just assuming that is what's happening based on...well the reality of the situation.

As for jrpgs on the PS3 that have a Japanese language option I know Resonance of Fate had it, though it was weird in that you could only change it before starting the game. In Xenoblade you can change it whenever.

I appreciate that Patrick puts a lot of work into these quick-looks, but I think he works a little too hard. I don't really watch these to get an infodump about a game, I watch to get a sense of what it's like to play/discover the game and hear their thoughts as it unfolds. Patrick kind of sounds like a marketing guy for a lot of this.

This game seems to have a lot of good idea's but the overall art style seems kind of bland. The geliath mech-things that shape the landscape is a cool edition that makes the world seem more unique, but the rest of it seems like classic JRPG fair to me.

I know the same could be said for any WRPG fantasy and in some cases I feel the same way. (I actually respect what they tried to do with DA2, too bad they failed with the mechanics and recycled the enviroments far too often) That was actually my biggest problem with Kingdoms of Amalur it all looks pretty, but it was so derivative that it was hard to care about the world or any of it's inhabitants.

I would go on about the accents being kind of cringe worthy (british btw) but I dont wanna seem like i'm trolling. This doesnt seem like a bad game. I'm just frustrated that I cant look past these few things in order to play it, and the internet seems like the perfect place for me to vent my anger. Apologies ;p

@BoOzak said:

This game seems to have a lot of good idea's but the overall art style seems kind of bland. The geliath mech-things that shape the landscape is a cool edition that makes the world seem more unique, but the rest of it seems like classic JRPG fair to me.

I know the same could be said for any WRPG fantasy and in some cases I feel the same way. (I actually respect what they tried to do with DA2, too bad they failed with the mechanics and recycled the enviroments far too often) That was actually my biggest problem with Kingdoms of Amalur it all looks pretty, but it was so derivative that it was hard to care about the world or any of it's inhabitants.

I would go on about the accents being kind of cringe worthy (british btw) but I dont wanna seem like i'm trolling. This doesnt seem like a bad game. I'm just frustrated that I cant look past these few things in order to play it, and the internet seems like the perfect place for me to vent my anger. Apologies ;p

You know, I felt the exact same way about Dragon Quest 8. Generic ass setting and Dragon Ball art style that turned me off it initially and lots of British voice acting (well in my case I don't mind British voice acting, it's kind of a silly gripe.) But I borrowed it from a friend and it turned out to be one of my favorite JRPG's of all time. I went out and bought my own copy afterwards too.

So yeah, don't let those things prevent you from playing what could be a great game. Just do what I did with DQ8. Grit your teeth and jump in head first, you might enjoy it.

That said, I don't have a Wii and this game makes me really contemplate getting one.

@Saganomics said:

@devilzrule27 said:

@Hockeymask27 said:

@devilzrule27 said:

This is why I miss turn based RPG's. All these systems, yech. Just let me attack, use magic, or use an item. Thats all I need. Thats all I care for.

Yep that why I've always loved the Pokemon games.

High Five!

If you were referring to turn-based CRPGs then you'd have a point, and I would agree wholeheartedly.

Honestly, though, is there an actual scarcity of turn-based JRPGs? I mean, you've still got Dragon Quest (minus the weird spinoff shit), Persona (along with some of the other SMT stuff), the occasional Wizardry sequel that drifts over from Japan, the aforementioned endless stream of Pokemon, and probably some other assortment of lesser known games from Atlus, Namco, XSEED and whoever else. I know Final Fantasy jumped the shark or whatever, but that doesn't really signal the end times for the kind of stuff you like to play.

Haven't played Dragon Quest since the PS2 since there have been no releases of it for the PS3 or 360. The only place I can get my turn based RPG goodness is on the handhelds and that makes me sad. Last good one I played on the current gen systems was Lost Odyssey.

I used to be able to get 4 or 5 real good turnbased RPG's a real on consoles and I miss that. The portable stuff is a nice way to get a fix but recently its just been remakes of old ones. The original stuff has kind of dried up.

Y'know, this would be the perfect game for an Endurance Run... Just sayin'! They might of missed the Dark Souls zeitgeist, but there's still Xenobade!

Great Quick Look, Patrick.  Thanks for being thorough and positive.  Might try to check this out. 

It's been a long time coming, but Patrick and Brad may have found a JRPG that "gets it."

I just bought it today. Picked it up after watching the quick look. It's freaking amazing!!!

I worked while watching this and everytime i looked at the game it was a guy running through grass. Yeah, I dont miss JRPGs.

@andygazi: This is also a 25 minute quick look of a 100+ hour game, so that may have something to do with the fact that its all the same location...

Good quick look but far too short for such an epic game!

I had this game for a while and, despite the dated SD look, the game shows positive signs of "some" Japanese developer trying to make JRPG genre relevant with current and upcoming new gamers to the genre.

If you don't mind the presentation, this game will pleasantly surprise you. Thank GiantBomb for doing a QL on this! (I do think it should have been a bit longer though!)

P.S. you should totally do the QL on the Last Story too!

@mutha3 said:

@BigChief said:

Eh, there are more JRPGs that "get it" than people give credit for. Just got done playing Radiant Historia, that was a hell of a game. That said, I'm excited to start playing this one soon, it sounds great.

Highfive! That is a cool game that actually does some really neat stuff with its gameplay structure(and even its story, if you're into Crono Trigger). Xenoblade looks okay but its cut from the same cloth as stuff like FFXII/XIII and Monster Hunter. I guess I'm just not fond of single-player MMO-knock offs with an emphasis on grinding.

Haha I beat Radiant Historia right before I picked up my copy of Xenoblade at Gamestop. Fantastic game and deserving of the praise it has gotten over the past year..

I usually don't like English dubs in Japanese games, but the good British voice acting and the overall Britishness has totally sold me here.

Okay. I'm buying this fucking game.

I put a few hours into this last night and really enjoyed it. It reminds me of FFXII a lot but without the AI programming aspect. My back catalog is massive so I didn't initially want to get sucked into another big (very big in this case) RPG but I really want to make time for this game. I'm thankful for this long weekend.

Man, I LOVE the look of this game.

Not a lot of talk about the story itself. Is it good? Is it your deep, melancholic type of plot or a more peppy and bright style of story?

@kurtbro900 said:

@Lysergica33: I honestly can't tell if you're trolling. The music in this game is goddamned incredible.

I honestly just think it's abhorrent and hyperactive. The theme that was playing while they were running around the field exploring was driving me up the wall.

oh oh oh oh oh....splat

anyone selling a Wii?

Damn I really want to progress in this game, but I have been at this boss for months and I don't feel like spending like hours and hours grinding to beat him, because the supposed "strategies" online have not worked T_T. Ugh. It's too bad, because I really like the story and the idea of the combat system, I just never feel in control when actually in combat though.

I worked while watching this and everytime i looked at the game it was a guy running through grass. Yeah, I dont miss JRPGs.

@Andorski said:

Not a lot of talk about the story itself. Is it good? Is it your deep, melancholic type of plot or a more peppy and bright style of story?

As someone who's completed it, the story does get surprisingly dark at times, though there are certainly lots of peppy moments strewn about. It does follow a lot of the themes of past Xeno games, except it's a little more on the fantasy side than the sci-fi side in comparison, for better or for worse.

As for it's quality, it's a little difficult to quantify. Xenosaga and Xenogears beats it out in my experience, but Xenoblade wins out over just about anything else I've played this gen. I would have liked for some of the dialogue to be better written, but they can't all have Persona levels of localization.

It's certainly worth your time either way though. It's more the world and the atmosphere than the story that really sells this game.

@Lysergica33 said:

@kurtbro900 said:

@Lysergica33: I honestly can't tell if you're trolling. The music in this game is goddamned incredible.

I honestly just think it's abhorrent and hyperactive. The theme that was playing while they were running around the field exploring was driving me up the wall.

Then you have a very strange ear for music.

Totally with you on that. I might pick one up for this.

First, I really adore most of what this game does. It's story conceits, battle systems, main characters, upgrade paths, etc, are well-implemented and. sharp. I've put maybe 30 hours into it, but haven't played in a while.

Is this game TOO big for it's own good? My number one complaint is RUN SPEED. From the opening moments of player control you're presented with sprawling environments with various habitats for different monsters, secrets, hidden nooks and crannies, etc... I naturally wanted to see it all, and the game rewards you for completing map data and item collection, that stuff is all great. It just takes FOREVER to get anywhere, unless where you're going is right next to a fast travel beacon thingy.

Early on it felt more and more frustrating to access the quest log because it's buried behind one or two too many button inputs and a short load screen. Now, I probably wouldn't even NOTICE those things in another game, but this game is kind of insane with the side-quests and I do think they've generally been worth doing. You get a lot of quests, very fast in this game. IIRC the total number is ~400-500, and in my opinion the design of the Log just makes no sense. You get buried under a pile of unrelated/completed quests and have to shuffle throughto find the one you're looking for, and even then the individual quest data tend to be kind of lackluster and devoid of certain information.

Anyway great QL been waiting on it for a long time!

@MeAuntieNora said:

Is this game TOO big for it's own good?

Definitely. I had the exact same experience you describe. The quest log is just one menu option too deep (though I think you can use its sorting options to make it actually useful), and the load times every time you pull up a menu, especially for the map, can get really annyoing. You have to wait a few seconds and can hear the Wii disc drive working every time you pull up some mob's loot..

I'm trying to finish it buy ignoring all side stuff except Colony 6 and maybe keep my sanity. And I'm a fan of grinding and completing, usually.

oh man those character designs are really something

I hate when they spend about 60hours at the start of a quicklook twitching the characters about and swingning the camera. I get so agitated Lol!

I got about halfway though this game just by being stubborn, until I finally admitted that I had absolutely no interest in the plot, its boring characters with their terrible voices and lacklustre translations. It's a shame really, because if they'd done a much better job on the localisation, it could have been a very solid JRPG. But don't be fooled. It's not.

@Brendan said:

@RVonE said:

@ADAMWD said:

Voice acting is a major turnoff. All I could imagine was that the two characters were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley stuck in a JRPG world.

That sounds like the best thing ever!

Der-der-der-duh-dee-de-dee-dee-de-dee-dee-dah-durr-durr-der-derr-durr-dah-dah-dah-deedee-de-dee-dee-de...

Oh man, that made me laugh a lot harder than it reasonably should have. Well done, sir!

I wasn't interested in this game when it came out in the UK even though I live in the UK. But watching this makes me want to pick this up, I will have to wait until the summer when my university course is over to get time to play it though. Also Patrick I read in a review that one of the problems with this game is that it's too easy so maybe you are just bad at games lol

I've never owned a wii. Would now be the time to buy one?

@dropabombonit said:

I wasn't interested in this game when it came out in the UK even though I live in the UK. But watching this makes me want to pick this up, I will have to wait until the summer when my university course is over to get time to play it though. Also Patrick I read in a review that one of the problems with this game is that it's too easy so maybe you are just bad at games lol

Let's put it this way: By the time I arrived on Gaur Plains (where they're at) I had over 10 hours on the clock and did a TON more sidequests than he did. He's probably underleveled/underequipped because he ran through the first area to get there for the Quick Look.

wow, this game looks great. Definitely will pick up after I crank through some of my backlog.

Now that I'm about 4 hours in, I think Patrick missed out on some vital information to player. EACH PIECE OF GEAR CHANGES WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE, For an RPG with lots of loot, this is very important.

Patrick, if youre reading this, pleeeeeaaase stop running around or standing still for long periods of time while you are talking. It really kills it for me and its almost unwatchalbe. You talk too much compared to what you do. Almost all quicklooks takes 5 min just to start :(

This looks pretty cool, I may have to snag it at some point when it's a big cheaper. I'm not into JRPGs much, but the MMO-like combat system is appealing.

@paulunga Yeah that sounds like what this review was talking about http://www.gamesradar.com/xenoblade-chronicles-review/ I always over level in RPG's because you will always run up against a boss that will kill you with a couple of cheap attacks. At least from the quick look of this game, this game seems to have designed a smart way of letting you know before these attacks happen. Actually can't wait for an excuse to bring the Wii out again after I packed it away after Skyward Sword but I will have to wait until the summer because of the huge time investment this game demands, don't have the luxury of time with all my college work right now

@gla55jAw: lol yeah but I have been playing for even more hours, and I didnt know the combo charge meter let you revive guys.

@Dan_CiTi said:

@gla55jAw: lol yeah but I have been playing for even more hours, and I didnt know the combo charge meter let you revive guys.

Damn haha. I kept dying against some early mission enemy and kept trying to revive. After about an hour of trying I finally kill it, I get to a cut-scene, which then proceeds to a tutorial about how to revive party members haha.

I'm not a JRPG guy but I tempted to buy this as a farewell game to my Wii.

If the thing still works.

@gla55jAw said:

@Dan_CiTi said:

@gla55jAw: lol yeah but I have been playing for even more hours, and I didnt know the combo charge meter let you revive guys.

Damn haha. I kept dying against some early mission enemy and kept trying to revive. After about an hour of trying I finally kill it, I get to a cut-scene, which then proceeds to a tutorial about how to revive party members haha.

I think my biggest derp moment in the roughly eight hours or so I've played was completely screwing up the combo attack necessary to beat a particular boss when a tutorial taught me that combo minutes before.

It was also how I learned that the game doesn't force you to sit through pre-boss cutscenes a second time and takes you straight into the fight. That was both pleasant and disorienting.