Xenoblade Chronicles

[Roy: Marquess of Pherae]

Wow... I've never been more impressed by a video game. I would conclude this is my favorite video game of all time, matching right with FE and smash...

If I loved this JRPG so much, there must be more similar to it. If I loved xenoblade, are there other video games you would recommend me investing in?

Thanks

[Straylock]

Glad to see that you enjoyed this gem of a game! Hopefully Xenoblade Chronicles X is good when it comes out.

The other game that I can think that's like this is Final Fantasy XII. The game is designed with the sort of "offline MMO" style that Xenoblade adopted, except combat is more designed around the pre-battle setup whereas Xenoblade I feel is more centered around acting on the spot. Some people didn't like FFXII, but I thought it was pretty dang good. If you were someone who didn't like how linear Final Fantasy XIII was, FFXII is basically the opposite of that.

And although I haven't played it myself, I hear Dragon Age: Origins has the same sort of style (however from the sound of things, it's more similar to FFXII than Xenoblade).

[Kao]

Well, since you liked Xenoblade so much, I suggest you try the other games involved in a campaign to bring it to NA.

The Last Story/Pandora's Tower/Xenoblade Chronicles were part of a campaign known as "Operation Rainfall". The three great JRPGs weren't planned to be released to NA, so fans of the game organised a campaign to localize it. It's unknown if the campaign really influenced the release of the games, but hey. We have it.

tl;dr: The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. They're good.

[Soledai]

Yes young one, Pandora's Tower is a game I will second, play it if you can get your hands on it

[Tryhard]

i... don't like this game

you may slay me if you wish

[Sentacotus]

I got lucky a week ago gamestop was clearing out the rest of their Wii games and I found a used copy for $40.

[Knight]

My favourite RPG ever and one of my favourite games ever. I spent a ridiculous amount of money on this game, but I'd say it was worth it. I can't think of a game like it, except for the sequel, HYPE!

[Heropon]

new music OST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nI0IWDaxSI

[Rxmonste]

There's a lot of good JRPGs that I played. But if you're asking for one that's similar to Xenoblade then that would be hard. If you want great JRPGs in general then I would recommend Kingdom Hearts 2, Ni No Kuni, Dark Souls, Fire Emblem: Awakening (You probably already played that one.) I would also recommend Paper Mario. I'm talking about the N64 Paper Mario, I haven't played The Thousand Year Door, sadly.

Otherwise, if you're looking for a JRPG that is similar to Xenoblade in terms of gameplay and plot then I can't help you, sorry.

And although I haven't played it myself, I hear Dragon Age: Origins has the same sort of style (however from the sound of things, it's more similar to FFXII than Xenoblade).

I played Dragon Age: Origins. But he asked for JRPGs. Otherwise I'd say yes, go for it. In terms of gameplay it's not too much like Xenoblade but it has enough similarities.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Rxmonste

[PuffPuff]

The exploration is good and all knowing of everyone's heritage and being such a scientific game, it doesn't really have much meaning into playing it as it tells no reason as to why that the Bionis and Mechonis resent each other and why that the Mechonis plans to wipe out humanity for. The game doesn't really bring much umph into it like Dragonball and Fire Emblem do as they give out actual reasons as to why the antagonists do what they do in them. Seriously. In Xenoblade, what exactly are you fighting for? Don't tell me if there is a reason as I haven't finished the game yet. I'm at the point where Fiora just rejoins you and having to buy items at the Mechonis' left arm of the city. I'm playing it slowly, because I do not know exactly why that they're fighting the Mechonis for. Even the Mechonis trophy says that they plan to wipe out all organic lifeforms. But...why? Guess Nintendo doesn't want to spoil you with that...I suppose.

Even in KIU did a better job at the plot as Viridi hates humans because of the way that the humans ruin mother nature and Mother Earth also being imperfect beings with their stupidity to further piss her off. Like why other antagonists that give up on the world like Zephiel, Rei and such. But...Xenoblade really has no meaning of playing it other than to know Shulk, his friends and the exploration. It doesn't bring any gratification on battling the Mechonis as there really is no reason to battle them when they are just resenting us and the Homs for no given reason. I'm sorry -.-, *sigh* I just feel empty whenever I play the game as there really is no purpose into playing it as I was already ready to sell it at one point when Shulk said "Give us back Fiora." "Give her back." As this part was really pathetic.

But...without Smash, the peoples GameFAQS's polls and many others like here in this topic that they are saying that it is one of their all time favorite games...I wouldn't be bothering to play it anymore. It still feels silly to fight the Mechonis as there is no given reason as to why that you are fighting them for...or why that they resent organic lifeforms?

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=50034&page=2

(I am trying to really get into it and enjoy it. I really am....it'll continue soon. =))

But...because of Shulk being in Smash, GameFAQS's, many other saying that it is their favorite game of all time are why that I'm giving this game another chance. Ever since I've advanced further into the story after that and around Sword Valley is when it started to get a little better as it tells all about my fav character, Dunban that he meets an ol' friend of his that he knew from the past and giving his backstory. <3 The game doesn't really give any backstory about the Mechonis though and why that we are fighting them for...? Guess I'll have to advance a bit further into the story to find out. I REALLY hope that this game gets better later.

This part makes it worth to further check it out! I hope this game gets better later.

Edited December 28, 2014 by eclipse
First set apparently contained spoilers; second set was just big

[Ema Skye]

Hey PuffPuff, can you spoiler that first set of images? They're pretty big spoiler for people who haven't played the game.

[Knight]

Hey PuffPuff, can you spoiler that first set of images? They're pretty big spoiler for people who haven't played the game.

Or almost her entire post.

I'm finally at what I'm pretty certain is the last boss after more than a year since I've bought this game, yet I can't beat them because I don't think my party is leveled up enough. Although I have to say there were a few things to critique:

-The rain element or whatever it's called you need to upgrade Colony 6 is a pain to get and considering it's needed to get the portable vital item maker, it's an incredibly annoying sidequest.

-The game doesn't really give you an idea of the benefits of doing sidequests, trading, raising affinity, etc. This game has so many mechanics and it's good that they avoided big long explanations for everything, but it would be nice if there were some more places for reliable information.

-I spent the entire lategame waiting for when Mumkhar turned out to be alive and he never did :(

-Does the last boss of every JRPG have to be a god or something to use a bunch of religious symbolism on? I think it has become a cliche now.

-Whatshername is a boring and unnecessary villain, so boring that I can't even remember her name, just that she was dressed like a stripper. Her boss fight could have been replaced with something like "Hey, Mumkhar is still alive!"

-Saturn

All in all, these aren't really that bad of mistakes, it feels at times this game could have done a bit more (like seeing a big war between the homs and whoever the badguys are at the time be a playable moment rather than a cinematic where you are absent) but this game is great enough that these things don't really matter.

[PM ME MARIANNE ART]

Got this game for christmas, anyone got tips?

[Knight]

Got this game for christmas, anyone got tips?

A shit ton.

-Sidequests can potentially give you tons of good stuff, don't be like me and skip over them.

-Always make sure that you have someone with topple after someone with break in your party order (when you want to be using the break/topple combo, which is very useful), it's easy to tell cause moves that can inflict break are always pink while moves that inflict topple are always green, you can also follow up with daze which is always yellow. Auras are effects you can give yourself, their moves are orange, blue moves can heal,protect or otherwise aid yourself or your party. I think purple gives statuses to enemies.

-Aggro is important, aggro is like what diverts the attention of enemies, your support members and characters like Shulk whose damage is affected by positioning want less aggro, tanks like Reyn want more since they can take more hits and deal damage from any position. (essentially, less aggro, more stealth)

-Exploring the overworld can be very rewarding as well, just make sure to beware of high level enemies.

-Get creative with the kind of combinations of arts you have, create gems that best fit your strategy.

-Explore the menus so that you can at least somewhat familiarize yourself with all the mechanics, don't worry though if you don't get everything at once. (like with skill links)

-Affinity is like a sort of support level, you can get it by encouraging people on battle (when their face looks sad) helping them when toppled, dazed, etc. doing quests together, doing heart-to-hearts, giving them collectibles, be careful though, because if you play as Shulk all the time, most of the affinity points will end up going to him.

[Lord Raven]

I'm absolutely awful when it comes to OPs so I decided it would be better to bump an old thread, but here's a gameplay video where characters in the game seem to do it in a nintendo direct type fashion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tpzCdnCFNM

Unfortunately I can't understand Japanese and I really don't like Japanese voices. But you can get a good view of things and a good feel for the graphics here.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Ema Skye]

In addition, Xenoblade 3DS is confirmed for a release date in NA on April 10.

If you have a New 3DS and are into RPGs, you really don't have any reason not to pick up this game. It's a AAA title and widely considered one of (if not the best) RPG of the last generation.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Starlight Kick

[Irony]

Two months to go, and then finally! Xenoblade Chronicles will be mine! :D

Though the more important question is:

Digital download or no?

[Quintessence]

Two months to go, and then finally! Xenoblade Chronicles will be mine! :D

Though the more important question is:

Digital download or no?

Depends on if there's enough stock and such, which I hope won't be an issue, but still, who knows.

On the other hand, will X be released on April 29th in Japan, right?

Edited February 10, 2015 by Quintessence

[Starman]

Two months to go, and then finally! Xenoblade Chronicles will be mine! :D

Though the more important question is:

Digital download or no?

considering how rare Xenoblade got

and thanks to Xenoblade getting more popular thanks to Smash

i wouldn't be surprised if it gets out of stock in physical copies soon

so maybe a download would be a good idea

On the other hand, will X be released on April 29th in Japan, right?

April 29th 2015 in Japan

yep

[Irony]

Depends on if there's enough stock and such, which I hope won't be an issue, but still, who knows.

On the other hand, will X be released on April 29th in Japan, right?

I hope there is stock- though, unlike America, hopefully Xenoblade won't be exclusive to one chain store in my country... :) Meaning that there will be more in stock and such.

I know I can get it via digital download, and there would be less hassle in doing so, I would love to have a physical copy. It's just that... I don't know how to explain it, but I would be able to put the box on a shelf and say "I own this masterpiece."

[Ema Skye]

Digital downloading X is something I'd only consider if you had an external hard drive. The game is about 23GB which makes it really tough to fit it alongside other games on it.

[Quintessence]

No doof, we were talking about XC 3D. X would be too big with dem worlds, features and such; supposedly the world map is five times bigger than XC. I can see XC3D being less than 8gigs (I recall that's the size of the Wii version or the iso) because of the visual adjustments, etc. So who knows.

[Ema Skye]

Yeah if they're doing digital 3DS game I'd definitely consider that.

[PuffPuff]

http://operationrainfall.com/2012/04/28/25-useful-tips-while-playingxenoblade-chronicles/

Here are 25 tips that I've found that anyone playing it should know about! Who'd ever thought that winning the love of the people in cities is all that it takes to get all of the useful gems like AP UP V, etc.

Well, since you liked Xenoblade so much, I suggest you try the other games involved in a campaign to bring it to NA.

The Last Story/Pandora's Tower/Xenoblade Chronicles were part of a campaign known as "Operation Rainfall". The three great JRPGs weren't planned to be released to NA, so fans of the game organised a campaign to localize it. It's unknown if the campaign really influenced the release of the games, but hey. We have it.

tl;dr: The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. They're good.

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/nintendo-urges-players-to-vote-with-their-wallets-not-petitions

They didn't.

The stuff that is probable niche is why that they didn't want to port it. They only did it out of the goodness of their hearts. Operation Rainfall did not convince them to release them in any way. Money only talks in their books. Period!

http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/02/nintendo-to-release-fan-favorite-japanese-video-game-xenoblade-chronicles-in-america/

Here they say Sayonara. See you out the door. See ya after trying to convince them. They only released it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Edited February 12, 2015 by PuffPuff

[Splodge]

http://operationrainfall.com/2012/04/28/25-useful-tips-while-playingxenoblade-chronicles/

Here are 25 tips that I've found that anyone playing it should know about! Who'd ever thought that winning the love of the people in cities is all that it takes to get all of the useful gems like AP UP V, etc.

The list should have included the optional 4th and 5th skill trees and monado arts as a "tip", because IIRC the game doesn't give you any hints about them. For those that don't know, basically, there are specific quests that grant characters additional skill tress or monado art books for completion. There are two skills to get from these books, and one of them is one of the better monado arts, Armour, so they should definitely be picked up.

The quest that give out of these 5th skills trees are generally unlocked when an area's affinity reaches level 4, and having that charater as the leader is necessary to get the quest. The 5th trees are unlocked after the mechonis core event, and are really only doable with extreme grinding/NG+, as the enemies tend to about in the late 90s range. I'm not going to list the locations because it would just take too much room, and because it's all on the wiki.