Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Aside from Rex there are Morag and Nia. All are about early level 70's.

Try switching Morag with Tora and see if that works. Both are great tanks but Tora has the higher HP.

Of course, this all depends on your Blade set-up. For me, Rex had Pyra/Mythra, Zenobia, and Azami, Nia had Dromarch, Wulfric, and Finch, and Tora had all three forms of Poppi.

My entire party was Lv.68-69 when i did this. 

I'm responding to this an hour late so maybe you've already beaten it though.

 

 

[Etrurian emperor]

34 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Try switching Morag with Tora and see if that works. Both are great tanks but Tora has the higher HP.

Of course, this all depends on your Blade set-up. For me, Rex had Pyra/Mythra, Zenobia, and Azami, Nia had Dromarch, Wulfric, and Finch, and Tora had all three forms of Poppi.

My entire party was Lv.68-69 when i did this. 

I'm responding to this an hour late so maybe you've already beaten it though.

 

 

Indeed I did but thanks. 

[Etrurian emperor]

Now that I think about it, what was up with Rex's eyes again?

During their first fight Malos says ''Ah, those eyes. Perhaps I should have been more careful'' in a way that screams foreshadowing but now the game has passed I never heard anything about it again. I thought it had to do with his home town but even the bits there don't go into detail about it and the other villagers don't share those eyes with Rex. 

[Armagon]

11 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Now that I think about it, what was up with Rex's eyes again?

During their first fight Malos says ''Ah, those eyes. Perhaps I should have been more careful'' in a way that screams foreshadowing but now the game has passed I never heard anything about it again. I thought it had to do with his home town but even the bits there don't go into detail about it and the other villagers don't share those eyes with Rex. 

It's probably Malos just sensing Rex's determination or something. Also, the fact that Rex using a non-Blade weapon was able to block Malos' attacks when they first met in Argentum. That's probably why Malos said that he should've been more careful.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Alright, first thing that jumped out at me is these characters are way too young. Their character models suggest they are about twelve while their voice actors and dialogue writing suggest near to full maturity. Even the game doesn't shy away about calling them kids. These protagonists are walking clashes between what they look like and what comes out of their mouth. Maybe the localization team is responsible for portraying them this way. And to their credit, if I blot out the image of the protagonists onscreen, I'm imagining a much more engaging story and world. This reminds me of that Nier game in which they changed the protagonist entirely for international release. Going from a standard spiky-haired japanese boy to a middle aged, battle-hardened man. I always thought that was a weird decision, I don't after having played XC2.

Another thing that bothers me is the waypoints. Inaccurate up to 180 degrees. At first I thought it was an adaptive waypoint system that articulates the complex architecture of your environment to help you pass all the hills and structures rather than pointing you in the direction of a mountain or wall. But if that's what they're going for, this was a total fail. On the way to Umon's shipyard I kept getting directed into an underground cavern with level 40 enemies. It's not like the game honestly cares how tough it's random enemies are, so it seemed like the right way to go. I'd rather have the waypoint just point directly at where the objective is. Also, can I hotkey the Quests screen with the minus button? 

I'm on chapter 3 right now and I guess what prompted me to post was I cracked open my first common core crystal that wasn't directed by plot progression and got one of those rare blades - Pikachu. This got me giddy because I'm all about the collectibles. But walking through town started a quest all about pikachu. That's really surprising. Now I gotta know how to maximize my odds of getting rare nerds. Especially if any of them are as freakin' cool as Dromarch, that's the kind of blade I want.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Glennstavos

[Armagon]

4 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Their character models suggest they are about twelve while their voice actors and dialogue writing suggest near to full maturity. Even the game doesn't shy away about calling them kids. These protagonists are walking clashes between what they look like and what comes out of their mouth.

About the ages, i'm sure you saw this in the previous page but Rex is 15 and i'm assuming Nia's the same age. As for their voice actors, to be fair, a lot of them have thick accents. You'll get used to it eventually.

14 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Another thing that bothers me is the waypoints. Inaccurate up to 180 degrees. At first I thought it was an adaptive waypoint system that articulates the complex architecture of your environment to help you pass all the hills and structures rather than pointing you in the direction of a mountain or wall. But if that's what they're going for, this was a total fail. On the way to Umon's shipyard I kept getting directed into an underground cavern with level 40 enemies. It's not like the game honestly cares how tough it's random enemies are, so it seemed like the right way to go. I'd rather have the waypoint just point directly at where the objective is.

 

Ok, i know the map has it's issue but i'm legit starting to think i'm the only person who never got lost to Umon's Shipyard

12 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Also, can I hotkey the Quests screen with the minus button? 

No.

16 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Now I gotta know how to maximize my odds of getting rare nerds. Especially if any of them are as freakin' cool as Dromarch, that's the kind of blade I want.

That's what the boosters are for. Bravery Boosters increase the chance for a fire or water Blade. Truth Boosters increase your chances for a wind or ice Blade. Compassion Boosters increase your chances for an earth or electric Blade. And Justice Boosters increase your chances for a Dark or Light Blade. There's also certain Core Crystals that guarantee a specific Rare Blade. You can get these from doing sidequests, one of them is bought, killing a specific monster, or through the story. And yes, you likely will find a Rare Blade that's just as cool as Dromarch. All of the Rare Blades were designed by various different artists, making each one feel unique.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

23 minutes ago, Armagon said:

About the ages, i'm sure you saw this in the previous page but Rex is 15 and i'm assuming Nia's the same age. As for their voice actors, to be fair, a lot of them have thick accents. You'll get used to it eventually.

 

What, the voice acting is the best part. The problem is how the characters look - it's always been the visuals since this game was announced. Like I said, if you close your eyes, you can imagine a scene that's more appropriate to the dialogue. Heck, with how long and drawn out these cutscenes are, I'm commonly looking away from the screen and browsing the web as I sort of listen to what's going on. But if every character sounded like Pyra? I'd be so checked out. Just actively skipping every cutscene that sets up a joke about Pyra's weight or Tora being a pervert. 

Quote

Ok, i know the map has it's issue but i'm legit starting to think i'm the only person who never got lost to Umon's Shipyard

You probably are. I haven't talked to anybody else who's played this game but the shoddy waypoints and complex environments are a recipe for disaster. And the roaming, hostile monsters do nothing but make you feel like exploring the environment isn't the answer - follow those waypoints. I'm getting in a twist just thinking about it, is this really the third game? 

Quote

That's what the boosters are for. Bravery Boosters increase the chance for a fire or water Blade. Truth Boosters increase your chances for a wind or ice Blade. Compassion Boosters increase your chances for an earth or electric Blade. And Justice Boosters increase your chances for a Dark or Light Blade. There's also certain Core Crystals that guarantee a specific Rare Blade. You can get these from doing sidequests, one of them is bought, killing a specific monster, or through the story. And yes, you likely will find a Rare Blade that's just as cool as Dromarch. All of the Rare Blades were designed by various different artists, making each one feel unique.

Alright. I can only carry five of each booster, so I guess I should use them often in order to not be full. I can't seem to set blades to the third slot, is that something I unlock through story progression?

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

The problem is how the characters look - it's always been the visuals since this game was announced. Like I said, if you close your eyes, you can imagine a scene that's more appropriate to the dialogue.

I've honestly never really felt the need to do that and haven't seen anyone else do that either. Maybe it's just you.

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

You probably are. I haven't talked to anybody else who's played this game but the shoddy waypoints and complex environments are a recipe for disaster. And the roaming, hostile monsters do nothing but make you feel like exploring the environment isn't the answer - follow those waypoints. I'm getting in a twist just thinking about it, is this really the third game? 

Having high-level monsters in a low-level area is a Xenoblade thing.  Every game in the series has done that. But yeah, the map does have it's issues in 2. At the same time though, it is an improvement in how it actually tells you where to go for quests, something the original Xenoblade lacked. Very rarely did i ever feel lost doing a sidequest in 2. Compare that to 1, where i had to have the Wiki open for every sidequest.

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

Alright. I can only carry five of each booster, so I guess I should use them often in order to not be full.

Five for now. As you improve the economy and buy every item from each shop, you'll be able to buy the deed for that shop, which gives you passive buffs, such as increasing movement speed, decreasing enemy aggro range, and of course, increasing how many of each Booster you can carry. Keep in mind that some shops will require you to do Merc Missions before you can buy all of their stuff (those Merc Missions usually involve opening new trade routes so it makes sense why some items aren't automatically available) and some Merc Missions don't unlock until each Titan has reached a certain Dev level. You can increase Dev level by doing quests, buying, selling (selling your salvage at trade posts is the fastest way) and Merc Missions.

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

I can't seem to set blades to the third slot, is that something I unlock through story progression?

Yes. That'll unlock on Ch.4. Same with the Merc Missions.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Armagon

[Nobody]

I really liked the original Xenoblade and Xenoblade X is one of my favorite games of all time, but sadly i’m not being able to enjoy this game nearly as much. I’m on chapter 4 so far, and sadly the story feels bland and not engaging, unlike the ones of the past two games. Like, Xenoblade 1 had the thread of the invaders from mechonis, Xenoblade X had the ganglions,  Xenoblade 2, I feel, lack elements that make the story important, at least so far. I also don’t understand why Nia left her entire life behind just to follow some random guy. Rex and Pyra relationship also feels forced, and they’re like bffs as soon as he woke her, which i found very weird.

The world being separated in parts was also a huge disappointment for me, and a big step back compared to X and even the original. The fact that it’s not interconected makes me not won’t to explore it, and makes it way less interest. And then there are the side quests that are most fetch quests, compared to the amazing ones X had. I also have some problems with the voice acting. Like, I find the voices a bit awkward (too many different accents) and they don’t match the characters’ mouths, and this sort of distracts me during cutscenes, but maybe this is a nitpick. I hope this game improves later on, because it’s simply not being able to grab my attention =(

i’m actually thinking of deleting my save file, finishing off some stuff on my backlog and then restarting this game, because i feel like it might “click” if i do this

Edited January 3, 2018 by Nobody

[Etrurian emperor]

10 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

Alright, first thing that jumped out at me is these characters are way too young. Their character models suggest they are about twelve while their voice actors and dialogue writing suggest near to full maturity. Even the game doesn't shy away about calling them kids. These protagonists are walking clashes between what they look like and what comes out of their mouth. Maybe the localization team is responsible for portraying them this way. And to their credit, if I blot out the image of the protagonists onscreen, I'm imagining a much more engaging story and world. This reminds me of that Nier game in which they changed the protagonist entirely for international release. Going from a standard spiky-haired japanese boy to a middle aged, battle-hardened man. I always thought that was a weird decision, I don't after having played XC2.

Another thing that bothers me is the waypoints. Inaccurate up to 180 degrees. At first I thought it was an adaptive waypoint system that articulates the complex architecture of your environment to help you pass all the hills and structures rather than pointing you in the direction of a mountain or wall. But if that's what they're going for, this was a total fail. On the way to Umon's shipyard I kept getting directed into an underground cavern with level 40 enemies. It's not like the game honestly cares how tough it's random enemies are, so it seemed like the right way to go. I'd rather have the waypoint just point directly at where the objective is. Also, can I hotkey the Quests screen with the minus button? 

I'm on chapter 3 right now and I guess what prompted me to post was I cracked open my first common core crystal that wasn't directed by plot progression and got one of those rare blades - Pikachu. This got me giddy because I'm all about the collectibles. But walking through town started a quest all about pikachu. That's really surprising. Now I gotta know how to maximize my odds of getting rare nerds. Especially if any of them are as freakin' cool as Dromarch, that's the kind of blade I want.

Yes! YES! Finding that stupid shipyard was just.....uuuuugh! I had to go look up a guide just to find out where the stupid thing was.

But I don't really agree with you on the characters. Having kids save the world and giving idealistic speeches to the nihilistic final boss at the end is just the typical JRPG affair. I actually like how they do Rex voice(as long as he doesn't scream) since rather then sounding high pitched and girly he has a rather deep voice for a kid. He sounds young but still as someone already past puberty at least.

Rather then Rex being written with full maturity he comes off to me more as a boy nearing maturity but who's not quite there yet. Its very mature how he can already operate a successful business in order to send money back home but he's still very boyish with his cocky behavior or how he thinks bringing up his corny Salvagers code makes him seem cool. Emotionally he's also not very mature as you can see when anyone dies. 

And Dromarch's indeed freakin cool. Its weird that he's one of my favorites since I tend not to like the four legged furry characters but I like the wise/stuffy old man thing he has going on and how close he and Nia are. 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Etrurian emperor

[Armagon]

7 hours ago, Nobody said:

I really liked the original Xenoblade and Xenoblade X is one of my favorite games of all time, but sadly i’m not being able to enjoy this game nearly as much. I’m on chapter 4 so far, and sadly the story feels bland and not engaging, unlike the ones of the past two games. Like, Xenoblade 1 had the thread of the invaders from mechonis, Xenoblade X had the ganglions,  Xenoblade 2, I feel, lack elements that make the story important, at least so far.

As someone who loved the original Xenoblade to death, i have to strongly disagree about 2's story being bland. I will admit, there aren't as many plot twists so it's kinda predictable at times. However, the characters strongly make up for it. One of my issues with the original is how not every party member felt relevant. If your name wasn't Shulk, Dunban, or Fiora, then you're relevancy varied, with Riki being the most affected. You could literally take Riki out of the story after Makna Forest and basically nothing would change. 2 doesn't have this issue. I mean, i suppose you could make an argument of Dromarch and Pandoria not being as relevant as the rest of the party but none of them come even close to Riki levels of irrelevant. Just in general, while i love both casts, i have to give the win to 2's characters here. Especially Rex. I find Rex to be better written than Shulk, for reasons that involve spoilers that i won't go into.

If you're on Ch.4 and aren't liking the story, then i really don't know what to tell you. Most people agree that the story gets really good at the end of Ch.3, so if you aren't really feeling it (yes, that was intentional), then i can't really help. All i can say is keep playing and hope the story clicks with you.

7 hours ago, Nobody said:

The world being separated in parts was also a huge disappointment for me, and a big step back compared to X and even the original.

Calling it a step back from X is unfair considering the different structures of the games. X said "fuck the story, we're going all out on the gameplay and exploration". 1 and 2 are what i like to call "open-world lite". 2's world being separated into parts worried me at first but the areas are so good that i didn't mind it at all. The areas still felt nice and big with a lot to explore. The Lefhtirian Archipelago is probably my favorite area in the game and one of my favorite areas in gaming. It's like Eryth Sea but better. I also need to give a special shoutout to Mor Ardain for having the best area theme in the series.

7 hours ago, Nobody said:

And then there are the side quests that are most fetch quests, compared to the amazing ones X had.

I can't anwser for X as i've never played but i'm pretty sure it had it's fair share of fetch quests. But 2 still has it's good sidequests. There aren't as many sidequests as 1 but it doesn't have 1's issue of having every town give you like 5 generic fetch quests, 5 generic "kill x amount of y enemies" and 3 "kill Unique Monster". Pretty much every quest in 2, fetch quest or not, has a purpose and i felt more engaged in doing them. The best quests in the game are the Blade quests, because you actually get to learn more about each Blade. It also helped that almost no quest in 2 was vague. 98% if the time, i knew what to do.

7 hours ago, Nobody said:

Like, I find the voices a bit awkward (too many different accents) and they don’t match the characters’ mouths, and this sort of distracts me during cutscenes, 

The various different accents are great, what are you talking about? It makes sense for every country to have a different accent. Gormotti are Welsh, Ardainians are Scottish, Urayans are Australian (i think. People call Vandham an Aussie and i think that means Australian. Would appreciate it if someone could clarify). I don't know what Lefhtirians and Indoline are but they also have their own accents. And of course, Nopon are Nopon.

The lip sync, every Xenoblade game has it. It's just actually noticeable in 2. But the only time the lip sync was actually bad in 2 was in Zeke's introduction. That was it.

If you really want, you could switch to the Japanese VAs but you'll end up losing that Xenoblade charm that the English VA provides.

7 hours ago, Nobody said:

i’m actually thinking of deleting my save file, finishing off some stuff on my backlog and then restarting this game, because i feel like it might “click” if i do this

Don't. You're already like 25-30 hours into the game. If you really aren't enjoying it now, what difference does it make if you reset?

Edited January 3, 2018 by Armagon

[blah the Prussian]

Anyone have a way to defeat the you know whats at the end of Chapter 7? Incidentally, I feel bad for anyone squeamish about large bugs, Chapter 7 seems designed to trigger them. Definitely my least favorite part of the game so far.

[Armagon]

12 minutes ago, blah the Prussian said:

Anyone have a way to defeat the you know whats at the end of Chapter 7?

Spoiler

You talking about the Phantasms or the Jin and Malos fight? For the former, get each one to low enough HP and use a Chain Attack. No Orbs required. Brighid helps because AoE attacks are your best friend in this fight.

For the latter, you wanna focus on Malos and get his HP to 50%. A cutscene will play and it becomes a guaranteed win after that.

 

[Etrurian emperor]

5 hours ago, blah the Prussian said:

Anyone have a way to defeat the you know whats at the end of Chapter 7? Incidentally, I feel bad for anyone squeamish about large bugs, Chapter 7 seems designed to trigger them. Definitely my least favorite part of the game so far.

I personally used Morag for that one. Her special attacks a large group of foes so you can inflict damage on a lot of them before going in for a chain attack. But it was a really tedious fight at there were times I thought I wasn't going to make it. 

[Dandy Druid]

I didn't get lost on my way to Umon's shipyard... although I can see how it can be confusing. Plus, I found some other waypoints prior to that just from exploring.

Also, Sheba is so great! She definitely has some of my favorite moments from the game, on top of being a great blade.

Also, I love the rare blades' banter. They all have interesting dialogue.

[Etrurian emperor]

Anyone else things Malos's voice actor is one of the better ones? He reminds me of Berkut in that the angrier his character gets the better his performance becomes. 

[Armagon]

54 minutes ago, Dandy Druid said:

I didn't get lost on my way to Umon's shipyard

I'm not alone!

54 minutes ago, Dandy Druid said:

Also, Sheba is so great! She definitely has some of my favorite moments from the game, on top of being a great blade.

Agreed. Even though her personality is one-note, she's still written in a way that makes her an enjoyable character. That's how i feel about a lot of the Rare Blades, actually. One-note, but still well written. Even Dagas. I hate Dagas' personality but i love that because Dagas was written to be an asshole.

8 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Anyone else things Malos's voice actor is one of the better ones? He reminds me of Berkut in that the angrier his character gets the better his performance becomes. 

I feel like Malos' voice actor is straight-up the best in the game or at the very least, in the top 3. The "you cocky little shit" line in Ch.1 sold me on his voice. It's so good

[Etrurian emperor]

I'm somewhat disapointed Metal face's voice actor didn't return but that of Xord did....in a roll you really wouldn't expect. 

 

[Dandy Druid]

On 1/3/2018 at 3:59 PM, Armagon said:

I'm not alone!

Agreed. Even though her personality is one-note, she's still written in a way that makes her an enjoyable character. That's how i feel about a lot of the Rare Blades, actually. One-note, but still well written. Even Dagas. I hate Dagas' personality but i love that because Dagas was written to be an asshole.

I feel like Malos' voice actor is straight-up the best in the game or at the very least, in the top 3. The "you cocky little shit" line in Ch.1 sold me on his voice. It's so good

They did a lot for the rare blades. They may be one note, but the characterization was done in a way that made it interesting. Their affinity sidequests as well as the post battle banter is great. One time I caught Dagas telling Sheba that her attitude was too much, and she requested his crown as compensation. And all I could think of was a pot calling a kettle black.

[LucarioGamer812]

So I just want to say I'm really loving this game. I've put in 100 hours and have started chapter 8. Party is at mid 60s.I've also gotten most rare blades, besides

Spoiler

The twin blades quests, Poppi's final form, and the one you get for fulfilling shrine requirements

I'm only missing KOS-MOS (like most everyone else) and Zenobia.

Now I wanted to talk about story stuff in this spoiler along with some of my personal thoughts on things.

Spoiler

So I love using Pyra and Mythra, during chapter 7 I was honestly very inspired to push onward. The bit with Nia there as well basically confirmed how much I like her character. Anyways I really like that super form Pyra/Mythra have, and I know some call it Pneuma, but I'm calling her Pythra just so she remains neutral between the two. Also I blame Tora for everything. I have also named Zeke Owain Strife the Thunder Lord.

Overall I really love this game, I feel like while the VA and Worldbuilding from Xenoblade 1 may not be surpassed, I do honestly think 2 passes the original in character design, music, gameplay, and fun factor. I also say at this moment it ties with Xenoblade 1 for how well the characters are.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

So Tora has really warmed me up to Porgs. Such adorable, weird animals.

[Samias]

I'm almost finished the game and am just doing the pre-finale sidequest wrap-up. Hooo boy do I have things to say about this game... I'm gonna post some things on some of my thoughts on the overall design of some things.

Spoiler

So first of all I'm glad the localization did age up the voices of the main characters and generally I think the voice acting is good, although the audio mixing during combat is very suspect when transitioning from cutscene to battle. I know some people absolutely hate on the accents and the voices being a little old for the face but Nia, Morag and Zeke all have great voices, and Rex gets better as time goes on. All the main Blades are pretty good too. I don't think I'll ever like Tora but that's just his character being kinda terrible 90% of the time as failed comic relief.

The humour and characterization was very much like a Tales series game, for the worse. It's like they didn't learn a thing from the terrible Tatsu skits in X and really doubled down on the cliche anime comedy moments. Thankfully while the beginning of the game is totally oversaturated by bad jokes, it eases off as the plot picks up the pace. But the game is just kinda bad until at least the end of your first trip through Gormott.

The CHARACTER DESIGN is frequently BAD. Although I kind of learned to tolerate Rex's goofy salvager suit, Pyra's outfit still takes me out of every moment she's on screen. Her outfit is atrocious. The other main character's Blades are ok, including Mythra. I wish she could just say as her Pneuma form to be honest, which is the most balanced and attractive of the three forms and a good case for "less is more", as the outfit is still pretty sexy but at least looks sturdy and unique from the other Blades. I rolled my eyes as Nia went from the unique jumpsuit to the high-cut swimsuit that 70% of the female Blades wear upon the reveal that she was a Flesh Eater. I think Pandoria is pretty cute, though. The real travesty are the rare blades and the inconsistency. They went with the gacha approach of having random pulls and tons of guest artists and it's very disheartening to pull up tons of near-identical common blades (some get different headpieces... yay...), then get a rare Blade who is just ugly to look at. Dahlia is one of the worst Blades and the internet has lashed it hard. The art, while pretty, chose an awkward angle to show T&A and it's a kind of weird design concept to begin with. The modelers, riggers and animators however, completed bungled it, broke her spine, pumped up her bust size, and it just looks so awful with her giant mitts and retrograde feet. She doesn't look like a sexy bunny. She looks like she's melting. Other Blades could have had OK designs if not for some weird obsession with highlighting the T&A. Praxis and Theory from the same artist both have this issue. Praxis's fish net + eyes combo takes a cute design and then puts awkward focal points onto the breasts with the eye placement. Theory's artwork contorts her spine to an unreal degree just to show off a mysteriously uncovered ass, when they just could have NOT put an ass window into her pants. Perun is so close to being good but her boob jiggle was just jacked to the max, and her skirt doesn't actually cover the bottom of her butt, that just hangs out for no reason. I don't know why they couldn't have just gone with regular booty shorts or a leotard, or just yank the skirt down a little bit. It's just.... halfway. Other Blades like Newt and Zenobia are just following the bland formula of covered arms/legs and bikini, just like every other uninspiring kMMO and mobile game. It's just lazy. I hated how Poppi QT pi is so samey to Pyra and KOS-MOS. You could call it a throwback to KOS-MOS but since KOS-MOS is already in the game, it really bothered me how Poppi went from being a boxy kid robot to becoming a fetishbot at the end.

There's a few Blades that I'd like to point out that ARE cool and original, though. Azami and Dagas, by the same artist, have such great shapes and unique use of patterns. Azami in particular uses the creepy doll aesthetic to take what could have otherwise been "generic sexy fantasy art" and really plays up the plastic texture and soulless eyes. Her animations are spot on for her yandere personality and they sell the creep factor nicely. Dagas isn't quite as strong of a design but his melted crown and regal outfit is perfect for his personality. I also like Ursula for the attention to detail in her hair and her gorgeous cloak. Finch is super cute, although I don't know how she doesn't count as an animal when sent off for Merc missions. I also really liked Adenine, as they pushed the book aesthetic super hard. As far as sexy blades go, I think Sheba is alright, considering she's always sitting in a bathtub and lazing around, her swimsuit actually has some logic to it. In general there's pretty much nothing bad to say about any of the male Blades either, as there's a good variety of them, but they're so low in number. Aegeaon is probably the weakest, as it's somewhat easy to mistake him for a generic male Blade due to his colour scheme and his portrait features being subdued.

The music is all top notch, and I love the various environments, except I too got lost for hours looking for Umon's Shipyard due to bad signposting. Eventually I found some landmarks and was able to finally orient my way to the place, but I died more times than I can count to high level enemies. The map design is a bit more clear in other areas as most of them aren't as heavy on different elevations and winding pathways, but I wish they'd lessened the amount of level 40+ enemies in Gormott still.

As long as my headspace isn't totally destroyed, I really am enjoying the game though! I'm on the final chapter and have seen the World Tree interior. The bits that connect it to other Xeno games thematically are starting to come into play. I've still got a ways to go but I'm glad I slugged through despite technical errors, sometimes downright hating the art, and some pretty huge disconnects between enemy levels and their actual power (Wulfric's affinity quest.... I hate gogols so much now...). Wish the Rare Blades weren't quite as rare as they are as I barely have any of them, but eh. The gameplay really comes together once you can switch between three Blades, although Mythra in particular is incredibly OP when she can recharge your arts as often as she does.

 

[blah the Prussian]

Please tell me that e ho regenerating enemies from Chapter 8 aren't the norm from here on out, seriously.

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, blah the Prussian said:

Please tell me that e ho regenerating enemies from Chapter 8 aren't the norm from here on out, seriously.

Nah. You'll only find those enemies in

Spoiler

the Land of Morytha. Once you reach the World Tree, all of the enemies are robots, though the exterior of the Tree has some wildlife.

Some robots can be a bit tanky though.

 

[blah the Prussian]

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

Nah. You'll only find those enemies in

  Reveal hidden contents

the Land of Morytha. Once you reach the World Tree, all of the enemies are robots, though the exterior of the Tree has some wildlife.

Some robots can be a bit tanky though.

 

Right, good. Seriously, Morytha is a cool area but I don't want to explore it because I'm constantly being swamped by a bunch of regenerating zombies.