Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[GuardianSing]

So who's the better Nintendo twink protagonist, Link or Shulk?

So much of this game could be a painting, I love it.

Maybe it's because it was on the same console so the graphics have a similar core but a lot of it reminds me of Skyward Sword.

I have several questions and most of them are "what the fuck"

Tempting, but I'll refuse for now.

This is like the Link cooking in BoTW but annoying.

Ignore the five timelines in which I got us killed.

Jesus Christ, ya'll weren't kidding about the sword valley being a literal sword.

I gotta say, the fact that this all takes place on the bodies of ancient giants is so cool

Does make the names memey though.

You're a lot smaller than the last archbishop I had to deal with.

Oh god it's like the Monkeys from Majora's Mask all over again.

D-Did I just join a cult?

I assume the Expert mode EXP becomes more relevant once I get a larger team.

Hey like that one stage in Smash bro-

*Gets shot*

Please tell me we get to ride our own automobile.

I see Xenoblade is apart of the very fun gaming sphere that makes yo walk large distances to a mission every time you fail them.

Sue me.

I wish there was a camera mode of somesort.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by GuardianSing

[Interdimensional Observer]

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

You are still farther than me (I was too busy trying to court Beatrice).

Forgot to comment on this before, but it took me a half-minute to remember who ya meant.😅 The very princess princess is fine, but I've been remembering her more as "the Princess" than by her name.

Beatrice's humble knight-servant Reinhart however... He is as tropey & mild as her, yet I've no issues remembering his name. Maybe physics at play?🤔 -The laws of attraction I mean.💞 The knight in shining armor seems a little less dull than usual. Although he and Lucas are fight over third-place currently. Reinhard does have the advantage of me being in the mood once to bring him into a dungeon b/c Murakumo and Martin have day jobs I didn't want to take them away from (nonsensical I know), and when I went to get him he was at the beach (he and Beatrice visit it a lot in the summer, more than any other bachelor/ettes I've noticed), he was in his swimwear and then I decided to change Ares to match. So into a cavern of monsters two guys in swim trunks went, a silly and slightly naughty spur of the moment choice of mine.😆

 

51 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Xenosaga DE incoming?

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht sold over 1 million units in like a year & half in Japan + a half-year in North America.

• Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose sold over 290k units in Japan alone.
• Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra sold 343k altogether.

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean sold only 80k copies in Japan after two weeks, 161k in North America after a month & a half.

• Baten Kaitos Origins sold an utterly anemic 14k in its first week in Japan.

(Using Wikipedia for all these numbers b/c easiest to find, and serves my point well enough.)

>A Namco employee stated several years ago that remaking Xenosaga would not be profitable enough.

>Namco HD remasters the Baten Kaitos duology, despite it having sold significantly less than Xenosaga.

🤔

On the matter of Baten Kaitos, if you've any interest in it b/c it's part of the Monologue, then I'd be willing to offer any and all information you may request to before making your decision on whether to purchase it. Also, play Eternal Wings with Japanese VAs, but wait for fans to make a mod to add English voice acting back into Origins and use it!

Edited May 3, 2023 by Interdimensional Observer

[Lightcosmo]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Xenogears and Xenosaga did not partake of Xenoblade's love of questing

Yeah, cause XS has puzzles instead of quests!

[Codename Shrimp]

...I'd take quests over Puzzles anyday

Even if i utterly hated most Xenoblade Quests before XBC3

[Interdimensional Observer]

24 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Please tell me we get to ride our own automobile.

Unfortunately its only XCX (and maybe XC3?) that has any vehicular transport. Landmark checkpoints that are hopefully not spaced too far apart is all you'll have to work with.

27 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

So who's the better Nintendo twink protagonist, Link or Shulk?

Rex is shota, so technically he's the most twink -but not legal at 16 either. Or maybe Kirby b/c the original Kirby's Dream Land was initially going to be called "Twinkle Popo" -but Kirby is as pure and innocent as they are a god of overwhelming awe-inflicting universal destruction!

Link has far more notoriety. Although I've seen smut of both. But, Shulk has an actual personality other than being defined as having the three golden virtues, so I'd vote for him. Nerd power too!🤓 -Link does get a boldness point for the Breath of the Wild crossdressing, however.

42 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

So much of this game could be a painting, I love it.

"World Map" you say?

Monolith's earlier work. In the "pre-rendered backgrounds" style that was very popular for PS1 JRPGs, and that continued to be used into the PS2-GC era. The awkward juxtaposition of 2D backgrounds with 3D models, paired with the advancement of 3D graphics to a satisfactory aesthetically-pleasing standard later in the 128-bit era and beyond, led to the demise of this approach.

36 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

This is like the Link cooking in BoTW but annoying.

You can forget about it. It's all luck, all you can do is adjust the likely outcome. -And you don't need to craft good gems until the end/postgame anyhow.

38 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Hey like that one stage in Smash bro-

*Gets shot*

The Smash stage is a pinch strange in retrospect though. Those arches high above the titular plains are never reached.

-But setting the stage on the glorious ground below runs into the issue of Smash's nonstandard fighting game conventions. That being- you need to knock your opponent out of bounds to win, and sending them downwards is one important form of this. Stages where you can walk off the sides aren't so appealing -at least for the elite Smash crowd.

[Shadow Mir]

Remember what I said about Cyclizar having been banned? Well, that's been undone, because as it turns out, Shed Tail is still broke even independent of it. So it's gone.

[Acacia Sgt]

Wait, I got to Gaur Plains first? Ah well, doubt I'll remain in the lead anyway, since next chance to play will be next weekend.

[Lightcosmo]

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

...I'd take quests over Puzzles anyday

Even if i utterly hated most Xenoblade Quests before XBC3

Well, some of them are creative, others... Well they expect you to know some obscure info. 

[Eltosian Kadath]

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

 

I gotta say, the fact that this all takes place on the bodies of ancient giants is so cool

It is a really cool feature of this world.

 

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

 

Oh god it's like the Monkeys from Majora's Mask all over again.

Wait til you get to the whole city of them...Actually, I find the Nopon adorable, so don't be too harsh on the living puff balls.

 

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

Sue me.

Shrug. I remember this being one of those games with an awkward feel to combat, where unless you are at exactly the right level for an encounter its miserable/trivial, but if you accidentally end up at the magic level number with everyone, the combat is interesting with its whole chaining of status like conditions (what was it again...break to down to...I am forgetting the third steps in there I am sure).

 

21 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Remember what I said about Cyclizar having been banned? Well, that's been undone, because as it turns out, Shed Tail is still broke even independent of it. So it's gone.

Is this a typo. or one of those instances were they should clearly just ban the move instead of the pokemon...

[Lightcosmo]

1 minute ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

what was it again...break to down to...I am forgetting the third steps in there I am sure

Break ----> topple ---> daze in XC.

[Armagon]

5 hours ago, Benice said:

the story is bad

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Especially when everything I've heard about the sidequests in this thread up to now is that they are literally the best ever made in gaming.

Correction: Xenoblade X's and Xenoblade 3 have peak sidequest quality. Torna and Future Redeemed are pretty good on that front.

Xenoblade 2's is very hit or miss and Xenoblade 1's lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

2 hours ago, Benice said:

Well, the story's been pretty inconsequential so far. It's not offensively bad or anything like that unless I'm mistaken, but it's certainly not memorable, really. 

Generally, Xenoblade 2 takes it slow. Actually most Xeno games do this. The first half or so of the game focuses a lot on character moments, introducing you to them. Then once all the relevant players are assembled, then the story goes full force. This is why Xenoblade 3 is my favorite game of all time btw. This isn't to say plot doesn't happen earlier, it will, but it tends to be reserved with it.

The exception to this is of course, Xenoblade 1. As it was never meant to be a Xeno title, it's story structure is definitely a lot more plot plot plot with barely moments of character. There's a reason why it's mostly agreed upon that the best part of the game is Fallen Arm, as it's the one time the story actually takes a break.

2 hours ago, Benice said:

Combat is really, really confusing. I know that the tutorials are bad in this game, apparently, but... I dunno, I just don't get it. It's flashy and it feels nice when you perform a combo, but I also have no idea what's actually going on, and therefore don't know what I'm doing for strategy or planning or anything like that- I just fight whoever I have to fight, and sometimes I win. I'm sure there's something there, be it in the strategy or the execution- There's no way there isn't something there- But I didn't get it. It's not altogether bad, it just didn't click in my brain.

Additionally, when you explore levels (particularly the first real one), enemy levels are all over the place. For example, there are these froggy lads in a swamp in the first main level who are about level 40 IIRC. Which means they all one-shot you if they decide to attack you. This would be fine, except that enemies have colossal range and tremendous aggro. This makes exploring some areas much less enjoyable, since you die constantly while trying to find your way forward. Dying isn't a huge problem, since there's no game over screen (though I'd argue most bosses probably could have stood to cause one because it's kinda anticlimatic when you die to one then respawn next to them again), but christ on a bike, I hope Rex doesn't live in America, because Bill Gates couldn't pay off his medical bills.

Seems like it's just not for you then in regards to this element.

2 hours ago, Benice said:

but the quests themselves are pretty mid

Agreed. Play Xenoblade X and 3 instead.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Fortunately, XCX has very good quests! The world and its inhabitants are excellently fleshed out via Normal Missions.

• It's not like just a single quest will make someone love the game. And I'm sure there is the rare bad one or two tossed in. Yet one by one, things overall positively add up to a well-built new society on a new planet.

Also worth noting that it is very rare for a Xenoblade X sidequest to be a one and done thing. Practically all of them lead into one thing or another. You've heard of sidequest chains now get ready for sidequest webs.

2 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Spoiler

If only there was something nice in Aionios tho

 

Spoiler

For what it's worth, you do actually make it a better place. Liberating Colonies, seeing them work together in side quests. You even get the City to make friends with a Moebius (Triton sweep). All of that felt really good.

It's even more amazing when viewed through the lens of the trilogy. Like Rex's "pass it on" speech but like if we take the full exchange from Xenoblade 2:

Jin: "Can't you see where that leads? Humans will make Elysium into another Morytha, just as they did with Torna 500 years"

Rex: "I won't let that happen"

Jin: "And after you die, then what? Who will stop the inevitable?"

Rex: "Isn't that the reason you Blades exist? And when i'm not around to stand by you in that effort, someone else will".

I just think it truly is amazing how Ouroboros fits into that, what their roles in the story are.

I think this is the last piece i'll throw in the discussion. Because at this rate the real Endless Now will be us repeating the same points we've already made.

2 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Xenosaga DE incoming

Need people to experience peak

Play/watch Xenogears first tho. Unironically.

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

Maybe it's because it was on the same console so the graphics have a similar core but a lot of it reminds me of Skyward Sword.

Monolith Soft worked on that.

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

D-Did I just join a cult?

It's the Land of Challenge. Introduced in Xenoblade 2, it makes sense XenoblaDE would have it.

It's mid as fuck in this game tho. Xenoblade 2 and 3's Land of Challenge sweeps half of it is because the combat in those games is actually good.

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

I see Xenoblade is apart of the very fun gaming sphere that makes yo walk large distances to a mission every time you fail them.

You definitely missed a landmark up ahead.

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

wish there was a camera mode of somesor

Best you can do is turn off the UI.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

>A Namco employee stated several years ago that remaking Xenosaga would not be profitable enough.

>Namco HD remasters the Baten Kaitos duology, despite it having sold significantly less than Xenosaga

I wonder if it's because Nintendo owns Origins.

55 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

and maybe XC3?) that has any vehicular transport

Xenoblade 3 has one vehicle that can only be used in one area (it's Wind Waker).

 

[Armagon]

 

[Shadow Mir]

30 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Is this a typo. or one of those instances were they should clearly just ban the move instead of the pokemon...

The move has been banned. So now Cyclizar is unbanned.

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, finally writing Chapter 3 of TDatP...

[Armagon]

You know, i actually did try to see if i could emulate Tears of the Kingdom early.

...then i realized the setup is annoying and honestly not worth it. Nah. I'll wait.

[Codename Shrimp]

28 minutes ago, Armagon said:

There's a reason why it's mostly agreed upon that the best part of the game is Fallen Arm

...is it?

For me the best parts are all before prison island.....

Because after the game started going downhill for me

Specifically

Spoiler

"It's Mumkhar!"

Which is probably the worst scene in the trilogy xD

But then again i know my opinions about XBC1 are quite unpopular/divisive (although less tho over here)

31 minutes ago, Armagon said:

just think it truly is amazing how Ouroboros fits into that, what their roles in the story are.

Tbf Ouroboros i never had a problem with, and FR certainly strengths them and the connecting themes.

But not the villains or the concept we were discussing the last 100 spoiler tags xD

32 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Because at this rate the real Endless Now will be us repeating the same points we've already made.

But it amuses me tho 😛

Sorry had to make the joke xD

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

..is it?

It's the only time the characters are allowed to breath and talk to each other regarding things that aren't the immediate plot.

1 minute ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

But it amuses me tho 😛

Sorry had to make the joke xD

[Codename Shrimp]

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

t's the only time the characters are allowed to breath and talk to each other regarding things that aren't the immediate plot.

It also all felt pretry sudden and rushed....maybe because it's the only time the do that

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

 

For as much as i hate the dude and the villain writing in xbc3, they make for great memes

Also helps that otherwise i consider xbc3 an almost perfect game lol

[Armagon]

5 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

For as much as i hate the dude and the villain writing in xbc3, they make for great memes

Haha.

All things considered, as far as characters go, I do think 3 villains are pretty weak. I like the roles but N is like the only real good one (he gets more bonus points after FR). S is decent and i've memed Z up there but they all pale in comparison to

[Saint Rubenio]

8 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:

Eh, Rex and Pyra/Mythra's relationship is pretty important but it being romantic isn't emphasized much, if that makes sense. Heck, there's barely any handholding.

Pyra is literally introduced with a boob close up from Rex's POV

8 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:

I would like to say you're wrong about the harem shenanigans, but I will say that it's only in the next game.

I mean, I know for a fact I'm not wrong about it. It's all Xenoblade fans ever talk about, regarding Rex.

8 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:

If you want to know (not really spoilers, unless Vangarre's future is very important to you)

  Reveal hidden contents

he appears to get blown up early in the game, but he inexplicably appears alive later. His mustache must make him invincible.

 

It is, but I still clicked.

Spoiler

That's actually amazing. Reminds me of the time I had a favorite character with a mustache in Berserk, and then he died, and I thought "yeah of course" but them he turned out to have lived for no apparent reason beyond mustache power.

Common Vangarre W. Vangarre continues to prove he is the best character in this silly anime franchise.

 

7 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Centrists be like.

I can't believe Xenoblade advocates for only a little genocide.

7 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

I think the only game I've ever played on release date was Smash Ultimate.

I wanted to get Engage when it released but I didn't have the budget.

Yeah, that's too bad. You missed such lovable characters as Team Rocket, 90-year-old brawler and King Moron. None of them as lovable as Garon, but what're ya gonna do.

6 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

This is why I save before cooking.

I should have, as well. But I forgot lol

6 hours ago, Benice said:

That moment when I spend years saying "Yakuza good" only to convince someone to play XB2 instead.

Oh no, it's gonna take more than that to make me commit to 200 hours of Super Anime lolololololol

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Apparently it's one of those "it gets good later" kinds of stories.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

I'm on chapter 6 of 9 (I think) (nice), but, like... Well, the story's been pretty inconsequential so far. It's not offensively bad or anything like that unless I'm mistaken, but it's certainly not memorable, really. 

I see... Unfortunate.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Let's just hope I have better aim than Esteban with my recommendations...

Hey, Esteban had excellent aim in my Minimum Ranks run.

...Then I discovered Serenes lied and I couldn't have got him. He failed me the challenge. But at least I got to watch Pursuit Rossweisse in action.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Sure! To go over things one by one:

(Oh lordy this was way longer than I meant for it to be)

Gameplay (but I meant combat oops)

Combat is really, really confusing. I know that the tutorials are bad in this game, apparently, but... I dunno, I just don't get it. It's flashy and it feels nice when you perform a combo, but I also have no idea what's actually going on, and therefore don't know what I'm doing for strategy or planning or anything like that- I just fight whoever I have to fight, and sometimes I win. I'm sure there's something there, be it in the strategy or the execution- There's no way there isn't something there- But I didn't get it. It's not altogether bad, it just didn't click in my brain.

Additionally, when you explore levels (particularly the first real one), enemy levels are all over the place. For example, there are these froggy lads in a swamp in the first main level who are about level 40 IIRC. Which means they all one-shot you if they decide to attack you. This would be fine, except that enemies have colossal range and tremendous aggro. This makes exploring some areas much less enjoyable, since you die constantly while trying to find your way forward. Dying isn't a huge problem, since there's no game over screen (though I'd argue most bosses probably could have stood to cause one because it's kinda anticlimatic when you die to one then respawn next to them again), but christ on a bike, I hope Rex doesn't live in America, because Bill Gates couldn't pay off his medical bills.

I'd probably have to play it for myself to figure out how I feel about this aspect. Still, thanks for your input.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

UI

I do know that every screenshot of Xenoblade's combat I've ever seen induces severe sensory overload. Numbers, numbers everywhere.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

One of the coolest things about Xenoblade 2 is the worlds. They are so beautiful, with so many things to look at or explore. I grew up spending a lot of time in nature, and Xenoblade's worlds really feels like perfect worlds to explore in. Part of the genius of the world is how well it uses verticality to grant new locations or new viewpoints, meaning that on any given part of a mountain, there are dozens of places to find things. As such, you'd expect the map to show verticality or have "floors", so to speak, so that you can effectively see where things are.

...It doesn't show that at all, though. In the worlds themselves, this usually isn't too bad, but in cities... Wow. The cities are really cool and densely packed with NPCs, quests, and tons of little alcoves and things to see hand-crafted into every nook and cranny. Furthermore, they are often quite vertical with lots of levels to explore. The cities themselves rock everywhere from visual design to music, but finding things from the map or compass is a complete pipe dream- Both are completely useless. The worlds have so much detail put into them, and the map and compass simply cannot cope with it and are far too often altogether not worth following for how little information they give. This is incredibly sad, considering how good the exploration itself is.

That does sound great. Exploration alone tends to keep me playing games for some time. It also tends to make me lose interest in the main story and never finish them, to the point where the one exploration-heavy game I've played and finished is because I didn't like it as much.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Side Quests

Idk, they're just not that special. You can improve the economy of the cities you visit by doing enough quests, which is a great idea and apparently has tangible effects on the cities, but the quests themselves are pretty mid. I certainly haven't seen anything that compares to any Yakuza substory, even.

I mean, that's kind of an unfair comparison. I still remember the time Yakuza had me advising a fledging dominatrix on how best to torture her clients. That's fucking incredible.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

...And, of course, they can be a complete pain to complete due to both the aforementioned map/compass waypoints sometimes being unhelpful, and because of...

Exploration/Affinity chart/Field skills stuff

I've been saying the whole time that the exploration is incredible, and don't get me wrong, it really is. However, I do have one gripe with it, which is the affinity chart system. The Blades you get from core crystals, whether unique or common, have different "field skills", such as, say, fishing or foraging, which are things you can do at certain spots in the world. Higher skills in things like fishing or foraging gives you better stuff (I think), while other skills, like jumping or Water Mastery, give you access to new areas altogether. You can have up to nine Blades equipped at any given time, and their field skills stack, so a 4-skill foraging Blade and 1-skill foraging Blade give you 5 total skill. 

There are a couple different types of field skills: Elemental mastery (I can't remember what they do oops), Collection skills, which gets you stuff, whether it's ingredients or quest items, and Interaction skills, which is stuff like strength, lockpicking, ancient knowledge, etc..

You can level up the affinity charts of Blades by accomplshing milestones with them. Sometimes they'll be "Use X skill in combat 20 times", which is fine... But some charts take a crazy long time to complete, and some are locked behind quests which require you to have other skills, and so on and so forth. At present, I am 60 hours or so into my playthrough, and I have not completed a single affinity chart yet. Plus, since each blade has only some of the skills, you can be simply waiting to roll a blade that has the skills you need, and you'd best also be hoping you get one with an affinity chart that's easy to complete. This is, to me, easily the worst part of the game, since it flat-out can gate you from doing all kinds of things, from quests to exploration, and even extends to sometimes blocking you from getting useful skills on your Blades with no immediately foreseeable way of remedying the situation.

I'd heard horror stories of Xeno 2's obnoxious "faux gacha" system, but you're seriously telling me there's whole areas gated behind the RNG roulette? Sheesh, that does sound like it could get annoying...

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Misc stuff

The levels in Xenoblade are all essentially islands on the cloud sea. This is cool. What is not cool is that it is very easy to fall into the cloud sea, which for some reason does not void you out and instead leaves you to wander around trying to find a way back onto the island. This is annoying.

That sounds like the kind of thing that's cool the first time, then the times after you just reload to save time.

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Also some of the Blade designs are a bit terrible.

Yeah you don't need to tell me that, I've seen Dahlia

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Contrary to everything I just said, though, I do think that XB2 is a good game in many ways. I read this article earlier about a woman who... Well, y'know, during a performance of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony.

Ah, interesting.

Why

6 hours ago, Benice said:

Her reaction to the symphony is approximately my reaction to the game's soundtrack. I don't hear the fight themes that much because the characters talk so loudly and the fights are so busy, but the area themes are better than most battle themes I've heard. They sound incredible and all have areally distinct feeling that fits exactly with what you're seeing. It's absolutely masterful, no other word for it. As I mentioned earlier, the cities all have great music and are really interesting in and of themselves, and even though the story so far is literally "Rex goes on a silly road trip, but there's also terrorists and Hinoka from FE Fates", it's a fine enough excuse to wander through the stunning, unique, and atmospheric vistas the game has to offer. It's a great experience, even if the "game" part of it can be a tad lacking at times.

Right. Well, thank you for your in-depth response!

6 hours ago, Benice said:

I don't know if there are any, but I would recommend it! The last few chapters of 0 are absolutely incredible, and there are some great tunes.

I suppose we shall see. Right now I have... engagements.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This is a matter of variance from game to game within the franchise.🧐:

• Xenoblade Chronicles 1-
  • There are simply too many quests.
  • The writing bit per quest isn't bad, but it's decidedly not good enough to justify so many.
• Xenoblade Chronicles X-
  • The central narrative is weak in XCX, it is also unfinished and crying out for a direct sequel.
  • Fortunately, XCX has very good quests! The world and its inhabitants are excellently fleshed out via Normal Missions.
    • It's not like just a single quest will make someone love the game. And I'm sure there is the rare bad one or two tossed in. Yet one by one, things overall positively add up to a well-built new society on a new planet.
    • XCX was intended to be story-heavy at first, but then the MC got changed to an avatar and the lite online multiplayer element was added. Thus changing the game's structure to exploring & side quests, with only periodic interruption from the main plot.
  • Affinity Missions were Xenoblade's first attempt at playable character-related sidequests. They've the occasional dud (lol at Irina's last not being about her), but they weren't a terrible addition for its 17 non-MC playable characters.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2-
  • The basic quests are lacking. XC2 was decidedly a step back from XCX. While the quantity has thankfully much declined, the writing is back to XC1 levels.
  • The new Blade Quests for all the no-real-money-involved lite gatcha element characters exist to try to flesh them out. The results... I'm not exactly fond of them myself, taken as a whole, the tropey characters do feel ever so "gatcha-ish".
    • They're zestier than XCX's side crew members (which could still be quite tropey), but more zaniness doesn't equate to being better for everyone.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna the Golden Country-
  • This shorter game demands a lot of sidequest completion later in order to progress, that could be considered a fault to some.
  • That aside, the writing is solid enough, it creates a nice sense of community, a smaller, less exotic one than XCX. The quests are good here, and need be considered apart from the XC2 main game's.
• XC1: Future Connected-
  • I don't remember them very much.😆 Future Connected is a short bonus to the Definitive Edition of XC1, which I guess XC3 or Future Redeemed explains the relevance of.
  • Being brief however, the quest load at the least could not have outstayed its welcome. They aren't mandatory like Torna's either.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3- No idea, I haven't played this yet myself. Yet, the other XenoFreaks here insist they're gud, or at least Arma does.

Xenogears and Xenosaga did not partake of Xenoblade's love of questing. Xenogears and the Xenosaga episodes had only a paltry few quests each. The focus in these games was the central narrative (which developer inexperience/overambition and Square's/Namco's decisions, were prevented from being fully actualized even so).

I understand. Much like exploration, side quest-heavy games are liable to get me woefully sidetracked until I get too bored with the gameplay loop to finish them. Sure is sounding like one of those game series. Anime Elder Scrolls, basically.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

When it comes to combat, the usual criticism I see of Xenoblade by its dislikers is that combat devolves into mashing buttons to spam Arts. Not very strategic.

Now, proponents of Xenoblade say the button-mashing criticism is only if you don't understand the system. -Personally when battles get too hectic I can get spammy b/c it can be a bit difficult to follow everything. By your tough standards, it is most certainly not tactical enough for a JRPG.

Duly noted.

5 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

So who's the better Nintendo twink protagonist, Link or Shulk?

Luigi.

5 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Sue me.

Speaking of.

You called him.

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Link has far more notoriety. Although I've seen smut of both. But, Shulk has an actual personality other than being defined as having the three golden virtues, so I'd vote for him. Nerd power too!🤓 -Link does get a boldness point for the Breath of the Wild crossdressing, however.

I still say Luigi.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Correction: Xenoblade X's and Xenoblade 3 have peak sidequest quality. Torna and Future Redeemed are pretty good on that front.

Xenoblade 2's is very hit or miss and Xenoblade 1's lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Yeah, must've misremembered.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Haha.

All things considered, as far as characters go, I do think 3 villains are pretty weak. I like the roles but N is like the only real good one (he gets more bonus points after FR). S is decent and i've memed Z up there but they all pale in comparison to

Counterpoint: He's called Bads. Silly name instantly means I cannot take him seriously.

[Codename Shrimp]

Spoiler

 

he really was cooking in broad daylight

[Codename Shrimp]

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Yet, the other XenoFreaks here insist they're gud, or at least Arma does.

they are not just gud

They are the best sidquests genre wide, one of the best gaming wide even

It was a really welcome surprise, that huge improvement from other xbc games. Remember i consider xbc1 to have the worst sidequests in the genre

Edited May 3, 2023 by Shrimpy -Limited Edition-

[Lightcosmo]

Thinking about the whole "XC2 has some bad blade designs", thats how many are normally going to feel about art, like or dislike. 

I mean, expecting them to have 100% perfection seems silly in the grand picture, the odds are about as likely as most games having 100% perfect gameplay. 

[Lightcosmo]

I mean, how can one say "I think FE has terrible villains and is amazing" yet on the other end "XC2 has bad art therefore its bad"? Is that really evaluating fairly?

[Lightchao42]

12 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Centrists be like.

Some people just want to grill for the Architect's sake.

11 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

>wanting more Ouroboros

I like their aesthetic.

 

11 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

She has the necessary assets to get his attention

Kurt can attest to that

In retrospect, I feel like Randy is into women who are older than him. Hence why he likes flirting with Cecile and Aeolia, but he never hits on Rixia (aside from wanting her to play volleyball). He should get with Mireille though.

11 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Speaking of her, what do you think of the new female lead?

I'm still early into the game, but I like Juna from what I've seen. She's more hostile towards Rean than I expected, but not excessively so, and it makes sense given the circumstances. Considering Alisa, maybe being hostile towards Rean early on is a prerequisite to being the heroine...

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I mean, I know for a fact I'm not wrong about it. It's all Xenoblade fans ever talk about, regarding Rex.

I know, I have some grievances with certain decisions made... but now's not the time for that discussion. It makes me miss the friendzone jokes, believe it or not.

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Vangarre continues to prove he is the best character in this silly anime franchise.

Yes

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Lightchao42