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Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles (Read 2819 times)
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Margalis
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12335
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Not sure if this is worthy of a thread but whatever. I started playing this last night, and I think I'm hooked. I'm going to just barf out a list of strong points without getting into spoilers:
1. Interesting high-level backstory / world setup
2. Plot has some interesting elements of mystery, poses enough questions to lead to fun speculation
3. Very cool enemy aesthetics, both the normal mobs and the opposing enemy force
4. Really well-done world art direction - great sense of scale, large vistas, long view distances, etc
5. Impressive production value (minus some things I'll get to later)
6. Nice feeling of worldyness with seamless transitions, enemies on map, etc
7. Feels like a single player MMO in many ways (notorious mobs running around, MMO-like mechanics for aggro etc)
8. Fast-paced battle that has decent room for both skill and stats
9. Lots of sub-systems to explore
Some of the production is really impressive, such as the stuff at the end of the opening before the title card, scenes where a lot of shit if going on with a lot of separately animating parts, etc.
I don't have many complaints. The character design (not enemy design) is a little too typical JRPG, some of the non-battle character animations are awkward, the battle is maybe a little too fast-paced. The production value is hurt by being on the Wii - in some places the textures look great (at least from far away) but sometimes they are low-res and muddy, and some scenes obviously suffer from other technical limitations. (The fact that everything you equip changes your character look would have a lot more impact at higher res) A lot of the optional stuff (in particular the more mundane quests) seem like they would get old (and that's what I hear) but I'm not a completionist and lame quests tend to give mediocre rewards so you don't miss much not doing them all.
If this game was on the 360/PS3 it would probably be one of the best looking 360/PS3 games with just texture uprezzing and more polygons and such, because the art direction and design is very strong. Without giving too much away for those who haven't played, I just got past the first major emotional beat and that whole sequence was really well done in terms of presentation.
So far I'm pretty impressed.
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vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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Hawkbit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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Reviews said that it is not without issues, but is likely the best jrpg of this generation. I'm about 10 hours in, and I agree so far. It's a damn shame we couldn't see it on the PS3 with today's textures. The textures look particularly bad, even for a Wii game.
But the game play makes up for it. It's like a single-player, not-online MMO.
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Hawkbit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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If can get it running on Dolphin, it looks damn amazing. It kept crashing on me an hour into playing, though.
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42666
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Is this some kind of spiritual sequel/successor to the Xenosaga series? Because that one had a lot of potential that got wasted.
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Nightblade
Terracotta Army
Posts: 800
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Is this some kind of spiritual sequel/successor to the Xenosaga series? Because that one had a lot of potential that got wasted.
No. It's not. Thank god it isn't. |
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Hawkbit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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It's supposed to be. However, I never played any of the originals. (yeah, beat me because I never played Xenogears).
I chose to check it out based on the buzz that had been generated around Operation Rainfall, thinking that if people liked the game enough to create a decent petition, then the game is likely to be worth it. It paid off.
The downside: It's a Gamestop exclusive game. I think they footed part of the bill to get it over here, or something.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Hawkbit
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5531
Like a Klansman in the ghetto.
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Well that sucks, I would have too if I had known. That's odd, everything I heard was that it was GS only. I really dislike giving them money.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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I dropped the ball. Sorry.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Tairnyn
Terracotta Army
Posts: 431
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About 20 hours in and it's still fantastic. I'm hooked on many levels.
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Nightblade
Terracotta Army
Posts: 800
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I... I know it' s "RYNE TIME"... Please... shut the hell up Ryne...
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Margalis
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12335
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Is this some kind of spiritual sequel/successor to the Xenosaga series? Because that one had a lot of potential that got wasted.
Made by the same company, it was called "Monado" (the name of the super sword) in development, then got changed, probably to capitalize on the name. AFAIK it has very little in common with the Xeno games. |
vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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