Hoping it's a long one. A game like Xenoblade deserves something like a 90 minute QL. Hopefully it'll convince a lot more people to check it out too. It would be a shame to miss out on the best JRPG in the past 15 years.
Xenoblade Chronicles
Game » consists of 14 releases. Released Jun 10, 2010
An RPG developed by Monolith Soft, for Wii and New Nintendo 3DS. Two great civilizations that live on the vast bodies of slain deities have been at war for aeons, and now with the development of a dangerous superweapon, things are finally coming to a head.
Woo Quick Look coming Friday morning
@ninkendo said:
It would be a shame to miss out on the best JRPG in the past 15 years.
Then why are they putting it out on Friday :P?
Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
I'm sure the comments after the video is posted will be quite entertaining. I'm picking it up Friday. Should be fun.Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
@MooseyMcMan said:
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
It's like a MMO, but single-player.
@Ducksworth said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
It's like a MMO, but single-player.
That sounds unappealing.
I honestly don't think they will give it the time of day. I am surprised they are even doing a quick look. The Giant Bomb crew are pretty negative towards JRPGs :(
@MooseyMcMan said:
@Ducksworth said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
It's like a MMO, but single-player.
That sounds unappealing.
If you like the whole JRPG thang, I think you'll enjoy it...then again I think FF12 is fantastic and that many complaints people have with the game are bull so I may not be the best person to ask.
@Ducksworth: If the story is good enough, then I can enjoy just about any game, no matter how much I dislike the combat. Deadly Premonition was my favorite game of 2010, after all.
But yeah. I have enjoyed other JRPGs over the years, just not the really big/well known ones. Unless the Mario and Luigi games count.
I just hope they'll remain true to themselves and say whatever they actually think, not what they "should say" considering this game was so generally well received and how butt-hurt lovers of the genre tend to get whenever they spot even the slightest hint of negativity. I say this despite loving the game (second only to Portal 2 in my GOTY list of 2011), but it still isn't perfect by a long shot and not THE JRPG-revelation that'll suddenly get everyone who has moved away from (or was never into) the genre back on board.
In other words: I do not believe the GB crew will end up loving Xenoblade very much. Can't see (m)any of the staffers bring themselves to sink the mandatory 80+ hours into a game like this; because - improvements and general brilliance aside - it still is a madly Japanese RPG and the guys here just don't seem to have a huge soft spot for that genre (anymore).
@MooseyMcMan said:
@Ducksworth said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
It's like a MMO, but single-player.
That sounds unappealing.
No, it's like a JRPG that's heavily influenced by MMOs but single player.
Okay, that's probably even less appealing - but, somehow, it just works.
@xyzygy said:
@ArbitraryWater said:This exactly.Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
If Patrick's Twitter is to be believed, he's been playing Xenoblade since at least last night.
But yeah, this Quick Look is going to consist of dismissive jokes about JRPGs, the Wii, and possibly Operation Rainfall in conjunction with comments on gamer entitlement.
Not that I'll really give a shit about what they'll have to say given that I'll be playing the game on Friday regardless and every other gaming website under the sun that's put serious time into Xenoblade has found reason to praise the game.
Yeah, just expect some angry commenters and them accusing them of being ignorant or not appreciating your favorite game. I don't really care about this game as I've already sold off my Wii since it was completely useless after Skyward Sword. Not that regretful about my choice, don't think I would like playing a big JRPG with a Wii mote. I don't have a classic controller so don't reply.
@ArbitraryWater said:
Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Sadly this. I'm thinking he'll like it, but I expect some snarky comments. But at least a JRPG is getting a Quick Look and some attention. I'll take what I can get.
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
If you are on the fence on this game and really want to know if you should get it or not - here is what I think are all the things you should know about this game before going in to get it or not.* I should premise it by saying while I do really love this game (had it as my 5th favourite game of last year) I do see some flaws with it and don't think it is the world-changing game that some people are raving about it*
It is an rpg with basically an action-bar combat system mixed with chrono triggers real-time menu system. Your playable character (of which you will get to choose which you are when your party increases) will automatically do normal attacks when in range - it is up to you to choose when to use special abilities (which you learn as you level up and at story segments/items). Every character is basically their own class with them having distinct abilities and play-styles - they also all have their own special move [this is also where the powers of the Monado (the red sword held by the main character Shulk after the tutorial part of the game) come into play]. The special moves need to charge before they can be used which is different for each character (this adds to their play-style, the level of the charge persists between battles) and other abilities are on cooldowns.
There are status ailments to inflict on enemies too with an order to inflict them to create the most damage (some status afflictions can only be used on someone of they have another alreayd put on them). These status problems go very quickly so you will probably have to keep inflicting them, luckily most attacks that inflict them also do normal damage as well. Most attacks also can cause status ailments when used at specific times or angles (i.e. an attack that usually just does damage may also cause "Bleed" if used to hit the side of an enemy).
The companion AI is pretty good at making sure they use an ability if they can when appropriate and when soing specific things in battle (the earliest form encountered by the player being tri-attacks, but others will appear as the game goes on) you are given the opportunity to choose specifically what they do in that moment for best control of these quick-thinking points.
There is a lot of loot drops (allowing you to customise fully what they look like - but expect your characters to end up looking very mismatched and weird when simply going for the highest stat-boosts) which are augmented with gem slots. Gems can be created through a crafting system in the game and are tailored to very specific things (e.g. ones you would expect like "Higher Strength" to more niche play-style ones like "Increased Back Damage") but because they can be used to well tune an item, there is quit often ties where the player will have to choose between higher-stat equipment which either has no augmentations or ones you cannot choose and lower-stat equioment with gem slots).
The areas are quite expansive with a lot of quests of varying variety (although there is a lot of fetch quests and kill quests so go in expecting that) and most areas will have places you either cannot go earlier or enemies you will not be able to defeat earlier because of their level. There are also events that only occur during specific times.
The Quests serve the function of increasing your "Affinity" which NPC's and other party members. This is apart of a very expansive link system that allows you to see how NPC's stories unfold as well as link into specific scenes that can only be seen when specific party members bonds are high enough (the latter can be increased through doing quests and battle with specific party members in your team meaning it is intended for you to swap around characters in your party fairly frequently).
The story is generally good but some characters are hit-and-miss and it definitely is not a true top point of the game, it is by no means bad but it definitely will not blow you away. That said the general world environment and design is stunning, and the writing for quests and nuances in side-characters is generally well done. Plus it has some truly stellar music.
I would definitely reccommend this game, however expect some grinding and average story. It is a great game but not world-changing (nor is it anywhere near one of the best JRPG's of the last decade).
I also would definitely reccommend using the Classic Controller over the WiiMote.
Hope this helped, it is much easier just to point out these things rather than try and say "it is like an MMO" which really doesn't do justice to nuances of this game.
If a real-time JRPG that requires strategy and customsation with an expansive well written quest system is what you want then definitely check it out. If you buy JRPG's purely for story and hate having to spend a long time setting up/grinding/customsing/questing in your RPG's then it might be difficult for you as the big fantastic story moments are put quite far between each other.
@Dixavd: Good lord, that was way more informative than the quick look will be. I might check it out after reading that.
@ArbitraryWater said:
Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Probably hit the nail on the head. But I will never know since I don't watch quick looks for games I actually care about. I don't even care if they hate on the game or anything, it's just too painful to watch them talk about things they clearly have no idea what they are talking about, it makes me physically cringe.
@Ducksworth said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
@Ducksworth said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
@ninkendo said:
@MooseyMcMan said:
Neat. I'm torn on this game. By which I mean everyone makes it out to be awesome, and I feel like I should play it, but I know nothing about it beyond the voice acting being mad British (which is a plus to me).
Without getting too much into specifics, just think of it as Final Fantasy 12 done right.
Great!
Also, I've never played Final Fantasy 12. Or any of the Final Fantasy games.
It's like a MMO, but single-player.
That sounds unappealing.
If you like the whole JRPG thang, I think you'll enjoy it...then again I think FF12 is fantastic and that many complaints people have with the game are bull so I may not be the best person to ask.
Thing is, you'll like it even if you don't like the whole JRPG thang cause it takes a lot of cues from western games (which is where the MMO analogy comes from ... in a good way).
It does instant-fast-travel, fetch quests got rid of the part where you have to turn them in so you get instant rewards once completed (plus if you already have the necessary objects, THEY COUNT!), the battle system is fantastic (MMO-like in terms of it being centered around an action bar with cooldowns but also very active and engaging at the same time!), the world is huge and pretty and encourages you to explore a lot which may or may not lead you to run into a HUGE high level enemy that'll scare the shit out of you. And don't me started on the music :)
@xyzygy said:
@ArbitraryWater said:This exactly.Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Yea, I'm afraid this is what's gonna happen, too. On the Bombcast, Patrick said he had only played about 20minutes and I doubt he has played it enough since then (at least 10-15 if not 20 hours) to let people know what's what and be in an area where you can give people a good impression of what this game is. Hopefully, I'll be positively surprised.
WHAT A BUNCH OF JOKERS.
Everyone should listen to Jim Sterling's impressions (as in him doing the voices) of some of the characters from this game, it was on Podtoid 2/3 weeks ago I think.
GET IN MMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
I'm interested in the Quick Look to get a good idea of how it plays out, if nothing else. If I like what I see, there's a chance I might pick it up eventually.
@Fattony12000 said:
WHAT A BUNCH OF JOKERS.
Everyone should listen to Jim Sterling's impressions (as in him doing the voices) of some of the characters from this game, it was on Podtoid 2/3 weeks ago I think.
GET IN MMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
The Joker line will forever haunt my dreams.
@Zenaxzd said:
@ArbitraryWater said:
Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Probably hit the nail on the head. But I will never know since I don't watch quick looks for games I actually care about. I don't even care if they hate on the game or anything, it's just too painful to watch them talk about things they clearly have no idea what they are talking about, it makes me physically cringe.
Gosh, you guys are so cynical/jaded/old, I don't even know why you come to the site if it's such a chore these days. You were so much fun when the site first started. Also, stop spoiling videos before they air!
@falcos_abortive_rainbow said:
@Zenaxzd said:
@ArbitraryWater said:
Who's ready for a combination of dismissiveness and ignorance from Patrick and whatever staff member he dragged along to do the quick look with? You know I am.
Probably hit the nail on the head. But I will never know since I don't watch quick looks for games I actually care about. I don't even care if they hate on the game or anything, it's just too painful to watch them talk about things they clearly have no idea what they are talking about, it makes me physically cringe.
Gosh, you guys are so cynical/jaded/old, I don't even know why you come to the site if it's such a chore these days. You were so much fun when the site first started. Also, stop spoiling videos before they air!
GB try to stay away from games that they personally are not interested in, like j-rpgs.
Community knows this but demands a quick look of their favourite-de-jour, even though they have already made up their mind about the game.
GB caves to fan pressure and announces they will do a QL.
Community shits all over it before it even goes live.
:-P
GB should be super positive about the game regardless of what they actually think . Troll them and deprive all those who can't wait to dismiss and outrage at their opinions of their fun.. I am just glad they are unlikely to review it. Someone spending 50 hours playing this would waste time that could be spent doing better things for the site.
@Enigma777 said:
After the last Weekend Confirmed... I couldn't give two shits about that game...
Why? Did you expect this game to be something it's not trying to be like Ariel? She seemed to be down on it because it wasn't related to the Xenogears/Saga games since the title apparently was misleading and she didn't know that the only changed the name from Monado to this because it's the same dude making it. There is absolutely nothing wrong about this game.
@alternate said:
Most over-rated j-rpg in 15 years more like.
I like the game but with it being hyped as the second coming, many are bound to be disappointed.
The world is great and combat is fun but what I really want from my rpg is a gripping story and this is generic and serviceable at best.
not liking the story is one thing, but generic?! come on!
@Hailinel said:
@Enigma777 said:
@DeF: If I wanted to go play Monster Hunter... I'll go play Monster Hunter. No thanks.
It's not Monster Hunter in the least. If you honestly think that Xenoblade plays like Monster Hunter, I suspect you have no idea how either game actually plays.
Great argument. Great.
Can't wait to see the QL! Just wish it had come out today. Was hoping to see it in action before deciding whether not to pick it up. I'm still on the fence, so I was hoping the QL would be enough to push me one way or the other. Oh well. Hopefully I'll still be able to pick up a copy by Saturday.
How is Xenoblade basically Monster Hunter? You started it, you explain your argument first.@Hailinel said:
@Enigma777 said:
@DeF: If I wanted to go play Monster Hunter... I'll go play Monster Hunter. No thanks.
It's not Monster Hunter in the least. If you honestly think that Xenoblade plays like Monster Hunter, I suspect you have no idea how either game actually plays.
Great argument. Great.
@Hailinel said:
@Enigma777How is Xenoblade basically Monster Hunter? You started it, you explain your argument first.@Hailinel said:
@Enigma777 said:
@DeF: If I wanted to go play Monster Hunter... I'll go play Monster Hunter. No thanks.
It's not Monster Hunter in the least. If you honestly think that Xenoblade plays like Monster Hunter, I suspect you have no idea how either game actually plays.
Great argument. Great.
honestly, I have no idea where those MH comparisons come from.
besides, didn't I comment on your (enigma) remark about story initially? how does that lead to monster hunter? :)
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