Monolith Soft's new game. They were done with Xenoblade in Spring 2010 so it's awesome to finally see what they've been cooking up since then.

What do we know?

We know it looks bananas.

We know the UI resembles that of Xenoblade, the battle system looks similar as well with the action bar, color coded abilities, even the Warning banner came over. The symbol in the middle of the action bar looks like the chain-attack symbol from Xenoblade. Another connection.

There's a time-of-day clock, like in Xenoblade, suggesting a full 24 hour day/night-cycle.

We know it has at least 4 player online co-op. There's a text chat window and there are solo scenes, two player scenes and 4 player scenes. Though it looks like you can roam the world at your whim and not be tied to the other guys.

Remember Nintendo patenting massively singleplayer online game a while ago? Yea, I guess that would fit ...

Like in Xenoblade, the world looks huge with weirdly shaped rock formations, sprawling landscapes, huge waterfalls, a big see, open fields and HUGE FREAKING MONSTERS!

Your character also has guns. Swords and guns.

You can target specific body parts and seemingly cut them off strategically.

Also, there's mechs. You can pilot a mech, with a jet pack. Oh and it also transforms into a bike. WHAT!?

There are scenes without any UI so I guess you could move all the elements to the GamePad or they fade out automatically.

Oh that guy at the end? Looks pretty much like HD Shulk.

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I'm extremely excited for this game! Like can't wait gotta have now-excited!

Looks very cool. Reminds me of the Phantasy Star Portable games but with a much higher visual quality. I really want to know even more about it.

I don't see this being a PSO-style game; Monolith Soft's strengths have always been in single-player, narrative-driven titles. But that doesn't mean that there couldn't be some sort of multiplayer support element where players are able to supplement each other.

@Hailinel said:

I don't see this being a PSO-style game; Monolith Soft's strengths have always been in single-player, narrative-driven titles. But that doesn't mean that there couldn't be some sort of multiplayer support element where players are able to supplement each other.

Feel the same. Wasn't there text pop ups in the same place in Xenoblade that you could hide? It was nothing but NPC chatter... this could be the same. I saw a image on another forum with the whole thing translated and it was all very generic stuff. Maybe it will have some co op, but I doubt this is anything like a monster hunter. Maybe they will take it down a White Knight Chronicles route?

@DeF said:

What do we know?

That it's gonna be called "Xeno____________"?

anytime someone mentions xenoblade It just reminds me that I hahe yet to ply my unopened xenoblades

I don't know, but I do know that the bigass monsters and the bigass mechs have me interested. In that regard, this definitely looks like a very JRPG-ass JRPG, to use a very Giantbomb-ish term.

@Video_Game_King said:

@DeF said:

What do we know?

That it's gonna be called "Xeno____________"?

Or maybe XXXeno____________... I mean, look at dat mech ass.

@MikeGosot:

Xenophilia?

All I know is that the game looks incredible graphically. I'd be disappointed if it was multiplayer oriented though.

@kishinfoulux said:

All I know is that the game looks incredible graphically. I'd be disappointed if it was multiplayer oriented though.

the player character is shown completely alone and sometimes with just one additional player, though. this won't be a monster hunter clone or anything of the like.

All I know is it looks great. No idea what to expect since I've never played either of the previous games but the game is looking great.

Totally down for a graphical upgrade to Xenoblade. Hopefully a bit more mature in the story area too. That game was a joy to play but my eyes rolled a great deal while watching its cutscenes.

This game looks so god damn rad. This might be the game I buy a Wii U for. As well as some other things...

So many awesome games, so little time.

I would love for it to be a for-real Xenogears game because I haven't had enough karate fights with god, crucifying party members or gun-toting priests in a really long time

I think that this game is a blend of gameplay from Xenoblade, as well as Monolith Soft's lesser known game Soma Bringer. Soma Bringer was a normal RPG, however you could play cooperatively with other people in the story mode.

@Chalphy: I wouldn't call it a blend of these two just based on that. Soma Bringer was much more of a straight up hack 'n' slash game. We can get back to that once we learn more about the game.

This is the only "X" game that I care about.

@Schmollian said:

This is the only "X" game that I care about.

Came in here to say that, but for this other totally beloved and not at all forgotten until the even more obscure recent sequel Nintendo classic, X for the original Game Boy. Clearly, Monolith is looking to bring that game to HD is what's going on. LOOK AT ALL THE POLYGONS.

The new announcements put me over the edge. I need a Wii U.

Buying a Wii U just for this, whenever it drops.

@nintendork666: just for this? isn't that a bit crazy? :) nothing else out of the cool lineup interests you?

@nintendork666 said:

Buying a Wii U just for this, whenever it drops.

This reminds me of a few things:

• I still haven't had the time to finish Xenoblade yet
• I never did the Side-quest stuff for Final Fantasy XIII (and I kind of just want to run around that big open field again)
• WiiU is getting even more tempting (this, Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, HD Windwaker - I've been wanting to replay that for a while)
• I wonder if they will localise this in British English like Xenoblade or if it will be localised in the US.

game of all the years

Seeing the online multiplayer aspect of this worries me, but you get into a damn mech and fly around! And that damn mech can transform into a bike!

I just hope that the multiplayer is just a drop-in co-op thing and not the focus of the game. It would be a crying shame if the Xeno people weren't making a proper JRPG story to go along with this. Either way, I have faith that they'll craft something amazing. It already looks leaps and bounds beyond what I was expecting.

I tried to play more xenoblade today. I'm 20 hours in and I can't see what anyone sees in that game. Everyone says this is a masterwork for the ages and I think it's terrible. Jrpgs are my thing, so I should be right up there with you people, but I have no idea what you people see in it.

They definitely seem to be putting all that RAM in the Wii U to good use with all those long draw distances. The Wii U is such an interesting piece of hardware in that it has a decent GPU, lots of really slow RAM, and a 10 year old CPU. If they can get all those big areas into the RAM they will be good. Streaming in new areas will be interesting although hopefully the EDRAM will help with that. This trailer shows that the Wii U is definitely capable of making some stunning looking games. The problem is going to be CPU expensive tasks like physics and AI. We'll see lots of beautiful textures and wide open areas on Wii U. Plenty of RAM and graphics power to do that. But I have a feeling the environments will be less interactive than those seen on the 360 and PS3 due to CPU limitations. I am interested in seeing what Nintendo can do with the system, though. They really made some beautiful Wii games that were very technically impressive for the hardware. Skyward Sword looked stunning and I'm sure Retro has a great looking game in the works. Nintendo could use a Naughty Dog like studio that really pushes technical boundaries though.

@MildMolasses said:

I would love for it to be a for-real Xenogears game because I haven't had enough karate fights with god, crucifying party members or gun-toting priests in a really long time

As soon as the mech showed up that is all i could think about, then the red x at the end reminded me even more of that game. I would love if Monolith was working on something Xenogears/saga related, but then i would be pissed i have to buy a Wii U.

@Lego_My_Eggo said:

@MildMolasses said:

I would love for it to be a for-real Xenogears game because I haven't had enough karate fights with god, crucifying party members or gun-toting priests in a really long time

As soon as the mech showed up that is all i could think about, then the red x at the end reminded me even more of that game. I would love if Monolith was working on something Xenogears/saga related, but then i would be pissed i have to buy a Wii U.

Yeah, this game actually made me feel Gears more than Blade considering you jump in a red mech with green energy jets that looks strangely similar to a one Weltal.... Well other than the fact that it turns into a bike.

Still we don't really know it is multiplayer. The stuff in those chats is fairly generic comments and Xenoblade actually had npc's saying the same kind of stuff before fights or as they played out.

This game looks fantastic and was the perfect big reveal for an amazing Nintendo direct. It also reminds me I should probably play xenoblade as prep for this game.

This game looks rad. That is all.