Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[Mbgx16]

Came across something weird while I was core hunting for NG+ blades earlier. I didn't see anything recently posted about it, so I figured I'd ask here. Did Monolith tweak their common blade silhouettes? I've never seen a common blade like that before, looks like he's got a longcoat or something...

Has anyone else experienced this? I have no explanation for it because the only blades I'm missing are 

Spoiler

Akhos and Mikhail... and obviously Mik doesn't get awakened. And I've seen Akhos' silhouette as well, which this is obviously not. It's shown up in the same roll as Akhos as well.

Sorry for the bad quality pic but I figured the visual aid would help.

[Armagon]

7 minutes ago, Mbgx16 said:

Came across something weird while I was core hunting for NG+ blades earlier. I didn't see anything recently posted about it, so I figured I'd ask here. Did Monolith tweak their common blade silhouettes? I've never seen a common blade like that before, looks like he's got a longcoat or something...

Has anyone else experienced this? I have no explanation for it because the only blades I'm missing are 

  Reveal hidden contents

Akhos and Mikhail... and obviously Mik doesn't get awakened. And I've seen Akhos' silhouette as well, which this is obviously not. It's shown up in the same roll as Akhos as well.

Sorry for the bad quality pic but I figured the visual aid would help.

My only guess is that it's one of the DLC Blades, which is interesting because we know what the DLC Blades will kinda look like based on their silhouettes and this doesn't match any of them.

[Mbgx16]

31 minutes ago, Armagon said:

My only guess is that it's one of the DLC Blades, which is interesting because we know what the DLC Blades will kinda look like based on their silhouettes and this doesn't match any of them.

That was my first thought too. But the DLC for the new blades isn't out yet, at least as far as I know... Not to mention that it doesn't have a spot in the blade album.

Well seeing as I've still got one more blade to go, we'll see what happens next time I go resonate.

[LuxSpes]

On 4/15/2018 at 4:25 PM, Mbgx16 said:

Came across something weird while I was core hunting for NG+ blades earlier. I didn't see anything recently posted about it, so I figured I'd ask here. Did Monolith tweak their common blade silhouettes? I've never seen a common blade like that before, looks like he's got a longcoat or something...

Has anyone else experienced this? I have no explanation for it because the only blades I'm missing are 

  Reveal hidden contents

Akhos and Mikhail... and obviously Mik doesn't get awakened. And I've seen Akhos' silhouette as well, which this is obviously not. It's shown up in the same roll as Akhos as well.

Sorry for the bad quality pic but I figured the visual aid would help.

 

It kind of looks like Dagas' silhouette. I remember reading that there's 2 versions of Dagas in the code, I wonder if that could cause him to appear as a bug.

[Mbgx16]

On 4/17/2018 at 8:51 PM, LuxSpes said:

It kind of looks like Dagas' silhouette. I remember reading that there's 2 versions of Dagas in the code, I wonder if that could cause him to appear as a bug.

That's an interesting thought. I have Dagas, but still in his first form (on a party member I haven't gotten back yet). That would be an interesting bug indeed to pull that off.

This is just to play devil's advocate, as I have very little memory of Dagas' silhouette, but didn't he have fire in it? And the top of the mystery silhouette looks more ... pointy than Dagas did. My timing was just a hair off on the screenshot so it's tough to see.

[LuxSpes]

4 hours ago, Mbgx16 said:

That's an interesting thought. I have Dagas, but still in his first form (on a party member I haven't gotten back yet). That would be an interesting bug indeed to pull that off.

This is just to play devil's advocate, as I have very little memory of Dagas' silhouette, but didn't he have fire in it? And the top of the mystery silhouette looks more ... pointy than Dagas did. My timing was just a hair off on the screenshot so it's tough to see.

Just looked at a summoning video of Dagas and his silhouette is indeed different. No idea whose silhouette this could be then, which is pretty intriguing.

[Mbgx16]

6 hours ago, LuxSpes said:

Just looked at a summoning video of Dagas and his silhouette is indeed different. No idea whose silhouette this could be then, which is pretty intriguing.

Yeah, I find it strange too that no one else has mentioned anything online (at least not as far as I could find and I admittedly didn't try too hard). My gut is telling me that it's a DLC blade that accidentally got released early for some reason, but I don't know...

I don't know when I'm going to be able to do another bonding round (lots of schoolwork), but I will post if I managed to pull ... whoever it is.

[Kahvi]

9 hours ago, Mbgx16 said:

Yeah, I find it strange too that no one else has mentioned anything online (at least not as far as I could find and I admittedly didn't try too hard). My gut is telling me that it's a DLC blade that accidentally got released early for some reason, but I don't know...

I don't know when I'm going to be able to do another bonding round (lots of schoolwork), but I will post if I managed to pull ... whoever it is.

I had the same silhouette show up earlier and I haven't purchased any dlc so I doubt it's that. Unless there's some free blade dlc they haven't revealed yet. I have no idea what else the silhouette could be though. Although it looks a lot like izanagi from persona 4, heh

[Armagon]

Some have speculated that it's Aegeon but isn't he always bound to Morag, even if you release him?

[Mbgx16]

8 hours ago, Kahvi said:

I had the same silhouette show up earlier and I haven't purchased any dlc so I doubt it's that. Unless there's some free blade dlc they haven't revealed yet. I have no idea what else the silhouette could be though. Although it looks a lot like izanagi from persona 4, heh

The plot thickens...

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

Some have speculated that it's Aegeon but isn't he always bound to Morag, even if you release him?

I haven't released him so I'm not entirely sure, but I assume that Aegeon would be coded so that only Morag could bond with him, same as Roc with Rex... I should check out Aegeon's full resonance to see.

[Armagon]

So, unrelated to the discussion at hand but Saito's released the artwork for the OST

You know, as much as i love this game's artstyle, i wish that Saito used the more, watercolor-ish version that he did for the boxart of the Special Edition and the OST for the official artwork. I mean, this is technically official art but i wish it was the official art used in the in-game portraits.

And then this video (which contains major spoilers) uses the measurements of the Pyra and Mythra figurines to scale the heights of other characters because those figurines are actually scale models, meaning you can use math to find Pyra and Mythra's actual height and then use that to find other heights.

You'll be surprised at Rex's height.

[Sire]

Is there any documentation for the Hidden Affinities for NewGame+? I've looked around a bit but I can't find any. I mostly just want to see what is in store for me whenever I start NG+.
* * * * *
It's also been a while since I last posted here (and played the game). I'm now playing through chapter 8.

To think from pre-release I didn't care much for Poppi, and now she is one of my most favorite characters in the entire game. Poppi's reaction in that early cutscene of chapter 7...

Spoiler

"Now is not the time for excuses."

... solidified my love for the character. Hell, I love basically everyone in XC2 (although Rex is definitely weaker than the others, it doesn't help his English VA sucks at the "screaming moments.") Over time, XC2 definitely grew on me and I have become quite attached to the world and its characters. The music is still awesome as always as well.
- - - - -
However, I'm still of the belief combat is a bit of a slog. The mechanics work well during boss battles, but normal fights can take forever to finish. I feel like combat lacks impact outside of Chain Attacks and the full Break->Topple->Launch->Smash routine, as Special Attacks (despite their flashy cutscenes) can be lacking. At least Zeke feels fun to play and it feels like I'm actually accomplishing something when I play as him. // Maybe I actually need to go back and play the original and X so I can do a proper comparison instead of going off of memory. Right now, I think I still prefer those combat systems compared to XC2.

I still dislike the whole Blade thing, especially Field Skills. I sincerely hope one of the DLC Blades has a "Master Key" of sorts that counts as every field skill so I don't have to deal with it anymore.

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Sire said:

Is there any documentation for the Hidden Affinities for NewGame+? I've looked around a bit but I can't find any. I mostly just want to see what is in store for me whenever I start NG+.

The Wiki's got them. Of course, said Wiki has spoilers so i'll just put the New Game+ Affinities here so you don't have to go to the Wiki

Rex:

1. Further Ether Studies (boosts Ether by 10%), Shadow Strike (Increases damage dealt by a surprise attack by 50%), Cheer Up (winning a Special button challenge=25% more Affinity), Prediction (Dexterity+20, what even is that stat anyway?), Fight of Flight (reduces enemy Break resist, and no, this doesn't work on a certain superboss, otherwise, you could topple it and end the fight in two seconds)
2. Inherit Muscle (Boosts Strength by 10%), Herbalism (Boosts HP Potion healing by 20%), Eyes on the Prize (Agility up by 10%) Combat Boost (restores 3% HP when canceling an auto-attack with a Driver Art), Pre-empt Moves (Dexterity up by 10%)
3. Solidarity (Fills Party Gauge a bit with an "Excellent" score during a Special), Relentless Spirit (50% Chance to survive hit with 1 HP+5 seconds of invincibility once per battle. This works even when getting hit by Murder Ray), Heart Recharge (boosts recharge rate for Specials after canceling by 20%), Child of Steel (Max HP up by 10%), Gramps' Auspices (Luck up by 10%)

Nia

1. Chance Recovery (25% HP restored every time a Chain Attack is initiated), Tiger's Eye (Dexterity up by 10%), Focused Technique (reduces enemy Break resist), Lithe Strentgh (Strentgh+20), Lucky Cat (Luck+20)
2. Transmit Power (boost recharge rate for Specials after canceling by 20%), Cheer Leader (increases Affinity by 25% after winning a Special button challenge), Inner Strength (boosts Ether by 10%), Lady of Luck (Luck up by 10%), Wild Life (Max HP up by 10%)
3. Adrenaline (restores 3% HP when canceling an auto-attack with a Driver Art), Road to Victory (Slightly fills the Party Gauge for each critical hit, also why doesn't Rex have this, it'd be perfect for crit-Mythra builds), Sore Loser (50% chance to survive a hit with 1 HP+5 seconds of invincibilty, once per battle), Bear Knuckles (Strentgh up by 10%), Tigergirl (Agility up by 10%)

Tora

The Wiki had Tora's Hidden Affinities but anyone else's. Saved me the trouble of typing it out.

 

Morag

1. Inspiration (Slightly fills the Party Gauge when an Excellent is scored during a Special), Silent Bloodshed (Surprise Attack damage up by 50%), Instant Chain (10% chance of attacking again after a successful auto-attack), Blade Alliance (Boosts recharge rate for Specials after canceling by 20%), Survival Training (Max HP up by 200)
2. Ultimate Etherology (Boosts Ether by 10%), Life's Flow (HP restored to self up by 10% (not counting Healing Potions), Cool Focus (Dexterity up by 10%), Warrior's Resolve (Max HP up by 10%), Divination (boosts Luck by 10%)
3. Imperial Pride (50% chance to survive hit with 1 HP+5 seconds of invincibilty once per battle), Legendary Skill (Slightly fills the Party Gauge for each critical hit delivered), Golden Opportunity (Increases attack power ratio at the start of a Chain Attack), Battle Stance (boosts Strentgh by 10%), Increases Affinity by 25% after winning a Special button challenge)

Zeke

1. Ether Autarch (Ether up by 10%), Natrual Healing (HP restored to self up by 10% (not HP Potions)), Heart of Gold (Max HP up by 10%), Professional Hit (Dexterity up by 10%), Fiendish Pursuit (Adds 20% to damage ratio after canceling an auto-attack)
2. A Hero's Work (Slightyl fills the Party Gauge for each critical hit delivered), Obsidian Slash (Increases damage dealt by surprise attack by 50%), Hotshot Hit (Dexteirty up by 20%), Fleetfoot Flit (Agility up by 10%), Zeal Heal (restored 3% Hp when canceling an auto-attack with a Driver Art)
3. Second Wind (50% chance to survive hit with 1 HP+5 seconds of invincibiltiy) Raucous Cheer (Increases Affinity by 25% after winning a Special button challenge), Unleash Shining Justice (At max Affinity with Pandoria, press R and + to awaken the Eye of Shining Justice temporarily once per battle. Zeke gains several buffs, including much faster art animations, immunity to all debuffs (Topple, Blowdown, etc.), movement speed faster than when at normal max affinity, and a very large damage multiplier. However, the effect is only temporary, can only be activated once per battle, and instantly inflicts Blowdown on Zeke once it ends), Medicinal Maestro (Boosts HP Potion effects by 20%), As One (slightly fills the Party Gauge when an Excellent is scored during a Special)

 

Edited April 21, 2018 by Armagon

[Lightchao42]

Skye Bennett, the voice actress for Pyra and Mythra, did an interview recently. And she even knows who the best character is!

She also plans on streaming her first playthrough of XC2 sometime in the future, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 8:00pm GMT. You can find her Twitch account here.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Lightchao42

[Etrurian emperor]

On 21-4-2018 at 5:19 AM, Sire said:

although Rex is definitely weaker than the others, it doesn't help his English VA sucks at the "screaming moments."

The VA does figure out how to do some good screams at the end. Its kind of unfortunate because he tends to nail whatever he's trying to have Rex do when there's no screaming involved. He's very good at conveying the casual side, the cocky side or the clumsy side of Rex but whenever he starts screaming the quality goes down rapidly. 

[Zelgius]

I completed this game the other day and really enjoyed it, it's my favourite Switch game yet. Is there anything I should do before starting the New Game +?

[Armagon]

19 minutes ago, Zelgius said:

Is there anything I should do before starting the New Game +?

Ursula's quest. When you start New Game+, all of Ursula's Affinity Chart progress will be kept but you'll have to do her quest again. And she has the worst quest in the game.

[Aura Of Twilight]

So, I've beaten the game once and am currently half way through new game plus. Not gonna lie when I say its the main video game I've been playing the past few months. I've really enjoyed playing it, especially getting to know the characters and overall very compelling story, although for some reason I don't quite like Rex as much as the other characters. 

For me the game mechanics are a bonus. I've both come to hate and love the blade pulling system, as I'm always somewhat surprised at what I get. As of a few days ago, I have all blades minus two of the new game plus ones and of course the upcoming dlc, so...huzzah? I guess. 

I also can't wait for the story dlc. 

And on a slight side note, who else wants the soundtrack to be released outside of Japan as well? I really would like to be able to listen to it on-the-go or when I'm outside, but I'm not too keen on the price it would take to have a CD shipped overseas...  

[Lil Puddin]

On 4/22/2018 at 6:03 AM, Etrurian emperor said:

The VA does figure out how to do some good screams at the end. Its kind of unfortunate because he tends to nail whatever he's trying to have Rex do when there's no screaming involved. He's very good at conveying the casual side, the cocky side or the clumsy side of Rex but whenever he starts screaming the quality goes down rapidly. 

idk, screaming moments in general are very hard to do since it's so unnatural for recorded audio. The only people who seem capable of doing a consistently good job from start to finish are VAs who are asked to scream half their lines like Tara Strong; even then they fall flat from time to time. Sometimes the editing can be to blame if a scream sounds mediocre or the recording equipment itself isn't 100%. Or it can turn bad screams into convincing/somewhat funny/etc. screams.

That's why silent scream moments are hilarious because we know the writer/audio folk/etc were like "Ye. OK. F*** all these variables. We ain't even tryin'."

[Armagon]

http://withaterriblefate.com/2018/03/14/the-real-architect-of-xenoblade-chronicles-2-is-plato/

So there's this great in-depth analysis on Xenoblade 2's story and how it uses Plato's ideas and philosophies and it made me appreciate this game even more. Spoilers for the entire game including the ending.

 

 

5 hours ago, Aura Of Twilight said:

And on a slight side note, who else wants the soundtrack to be released outside of Japan as well? I really would like to be able to listen to it on-the-go or when I'm outside, but I'm not too keen on the price it would take to have a CD shipped overseas...  

 

Both 1 and X's soundtracks have gotten overseas releases and with the massive success of 2, the soundtrack being released overseas is a big possibility. We probably won't get the limited edition that comes with the Aegis Core Crystal-shaped USB though.

4 hours ago, Lil Puddin said:

idk, screaming moments in general are very hard to do since it's so unnatural for recorded audio. The only people who seem capable of doing a consistently good job from start to finish are VAs who are asked to scream half their lines like Tara Strong; even then they fall flat from time to time. Sometimes the editing can be to blame if a scream sounds mediocre or the recording equipment itself isn't 100%. Or it can turn bad screams into convincing/somewhat funny/etc. screams.

That's why silent scream moments are hilarious because we know the writer/audio folk/etc were like "Ye. OK. F*** all these variables. We ain't even tryin'."

Which is why Adam Howden is held in such high regard. The screams that he did for Shulk ("I'LL KILL YOUUUUUUUUUUUU") were God-tier and he pretty much set the standard when it comes to voice acting in the series.

Character-wise though, i still prefer Rex over Shulk but both are still my favorite characters of all time.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Armagon

[Armagon]

FOLKS, WE GOT SOME MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS

TWO NEW DLC BLADES, ONE OF WHICH YOU (apparently) GET FOR FREE. 

The first is "Poppi Buster" (directly translated, subsituting Hana for Poppi, localized name may be different) and she's obtained through a quest. She's an artificial Blade that works with people other than Tora.

The second is the free one. IT'S MOTHERFUCKING T-ELOS FROM XENOSAGA! You get her once you've beaten the game. You do have to resonate with her but her awakening rates are much higher so you should be able to get her quickly. This comes straight from Takahashi himself.

There were three Blades shown last time and according to Takahashi, the third Blade is being designed and voiced by someone new (Poppi Buster and T-elos were designed by Saito and CHOCO respectively).

There's also mention of the Challenge Mode, along with a new "extreme" difficulty so in case you thought the game was easy, well, now there's something to look forward to.

[LucarioGamer812]

I saw the new Poppi form and T-elos were coming to the game. The source I read though said or rather was implying it was part of a blade dlc pack coming out. Either way new content and especially this content is good. Gives me a reason to go back besides completing Mik's affinity chart, spamming a to get s+ affinity, and the oddball quests and wp/sp grinding.

[Armagon]

I just realized that Poppi Buster is possibly a Xenogears reference. A young girl riding a mecha but not actually piloting it from within? Sounds like Maria and Siebzehn

Poppi Buster's mecha also has a Xenogears color scheme

Notice the white, red, yellow and blue.

 

 

 

 

[Sire]

In preparation of beating XC2, I finally went back and beat the first XC. (I had a save file right before the final fight. I originally intended to do all the side content and stuff, but I decided "screw it" and just beat the game.) In short, I gotta say XC2's combat is definitely better than the first. Either way, I hope the first one is remade one of these days. I'll love to explore that world again with updated visuals and the like.

Click on the following spoiler for some random speculation, following the ending of the original Xenoblade with some connection to its sequel.

Spoiler

All right, so the world where the Bionis and the Mechonis is no more. Colony 9 is now apparently a safe haven for everybody and everything is sunshine and rainbows. (Fiora's hair is not long though. Shulk made a poor decision, I'd say!)

What got me was Shulk saying "I hope I can meet them all. The people of this endless world."

While I haven't properly beaten XC2 yet, a part of me is thinking if there is ever a XC3 how the cast of both games would interact with each other if they happen to be on the same new world. I can see Dundun be awesome again! What would a meeting between Tora and Rikki be like? Rex's salvaging combined with Shulk's engineering? What would Mor Ardain think of the High Entia?
- - - - -
Before XC3 though, I need a sequel to X. That game left so many unanswered questions and I want to be a bad*** rookie again in my Skell.

Click on the spoiler below for my gameplay ramblings.

Spoiler

I have a concession to make. XC2's combat is definitely better than the original Xenoblade Chronicles. While the original did have some fun gimmicks (Sharla's healing rifle, Melia's ether powers, Riki's DoTs, and Shulk's Monado), I stuck to using "Seven," Dunban, and Shulk for the finale. Autoattacks with Haste+Double Attack on Seven is ridiculous even though I had fun comboing Dunban's arts together. I chewed through the final encounters easily.

Chain Attacks for epic finishes and the extended Blade Combos (Break->Topple->Launch->Smash) are definitely an improvement over the original. While I'm still not a fan on Blades and Elements, I'm sure the feature can be improved in later installments.
- - - - -
I also fired up Xenoblade Chronicles X for about an hour and ran around to do things. X's combat is different due to the focus of using both ranged and melee arts (as well as carrying a ranged and melee weapon). There is also the Skells themselves that add another layer of gameplay. One of my favorite features in X are Soul Voices, which is X's version of the QTE in battle sequences.

Essentially, comparing X's combat is different from 1&2 and probably should not be compared to them. (Off Topic, but when replaying a bit of X I remembered how small all the text was, especially if playing on the Wii U Gamepad.)
* * * * *
Back to XC2, perhaps the reason I am not totally sold on the combat is due to its equipment system. My Blades are nowhere near optimized and while I have been using Core Chips, I rarely make use of the Aux Cores. When I can stack damage on Zeke I feel pretty good (+DMG when near full health, +DMG when on max affinity, etc). Tora makes a good blocking tank with an upgraded Poppi, and Morag fairs well as an evasion tank.

Or maybe it's all just in my head. I don't know.

[Samias]

I can't unsee T-elos's arm being some double zoned, Z-shaped monstrosity. I know how it's supposed to work but it's super jank as a thumbnail...