So, I'm in Chapter 7 seven, just after Spoiler Rex had an epiphany and realized what he has to do . How far am I into the game?
Spoiler While I wouldn’t say you’re on the home stretch just yet, but you’ve beaten the bulk of the game. The chapters ahead of you aren’t particularly long - lots of good stuff to come though.
Someone's probably pointed this out already, but... for those who haven't noticed yet: One of the most standout motifs in Xenoblade 1 was first heard during a track titled "Engage the Enemy." It's the emotional piece that plays when Shulk first engages the Mechon and connects with the Monado. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0M9SIaLb4&list=PLWXWbr9ex3iVqtmHSJ0OIeEnD2hOZnp2Q&index=9 At a similar moment in Xenoblade 2 (the end of Chapter 1), there's a track called "Counterattack" that really overtly references Engage the Enemy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNC1t6_MY4&list=PLFwObPlg7Y1rLqeFE4sr7C-MQsfIdVTlF&index=4 First of all, the way Counterattack plays with some of the iconic progressions in Engage the Enemy is already really impressive. But then you look at the titles of both tracks: the first is "Engage the Enemy," and the second is "Counterattack." That's a really clever title reference. And then Spoiler when you realize that this relationship between these two tracks is a perfect representation of the narrative relationship between the two games the reference reaches a whole other level. This is some fucking masterclass soundtrack design.
I meant after that, when you control only Spoiler Rex and Jin But I'm past that now, so all is good. The boss took I few tries to take him to half HP. I was one level below it.
Spoiler Interesting, I didn't have much trouble at that part because I had a healing blade on Rex, so it was basically just a matter of surviving fights long enough for Jin to do his auto combo one hit kill move.
Spoiler Rex, Morag and Zeke are the best team for post game if you ask me. Tora edges out Morag if you’re prepared to grind Tiger Tiger though.
time for some more detailed write-ups, all in the spoiler quote Spoiler the ending was a disappointment. for a second there, I thought Shitty Kitty would get her husbando, and she deserved it! but no, cucked again! way to make that dramatic moment not mean a damn thing, Takahashi. AGAIN. also, it doesnt seem like the ending answered what exactly happened to the blade cycle. do the blade/driver relationship still stand? or do blades live and die like regular people now? the villains suck. Amalthus fucking sucked. I can't stress how much of a disappointment he was. Jin was cool. Malos was great. too bad he was ruined by Amalthus. I remember arguing with people about how the game tied into Xenoblade 1. all I can say is, sure there's a nice call back, but it really didnt mean shit. I guess the other half of Klaus was in the Xenoblade 1 world, and the third blade was the monado? I dont know, it was intentionally not well explained. I've harped on my issues with the gameplay mechanics many times before in other threads, so I wont post it here. all in all, I found the game to be a disappointment coming off Xenoblade 1 and X. the story isnt as tight as XC1, the characters arent as engrossing as X, and it lacks the playability of both. the world isnt as aesthetically interesting as 1 or X and their level design is also steps below. I really hope Takahashi gets back on his A game for their medieval game, otherwise, pass that torch to someone else 3/5
It's ok not to like things. For me, it was a great experience and now I'm enjoying my second run. The characters, the playability, the debated character designs are all great in my eyes. I've played and enjoyed the first Xenoblade just before starting this, and frankly I find the story of the new episode at least as enjoyable, if not better.
You gave it a fair shake, that's all anyone can do. I regularly rewatch the ending, it just seems amazingly perfect to me. But I think it's because I see the story as more about Rex and Pyra than I do the fate of Alrest, the titans and blades, etc., and if the latter stuff is more important to you, I could see being disappointed.
I dont mind the story focusing on Rex and Pyra, the issue is the game gives a lot of emphasis on the world as well but without delving too deep into it. it's why I felt the whole war thing wasnt developed enough despite being the driver for the plot early on. then that "ended" when Indol came in, and then that ended equally anti-climatically. there are characters on all sides that felt like they needed more screen time, like Niall, the queen of Uraya, etc. feels like the game spread itself too thin. in a way, XC2 contrasts itself to both XC1 and XCX. XC1 only has 2 titans, and only one has multiple towns but no overarching story in much of them except 2 (one on each titan) that felt better wound into the plot. there wasnt that many plot threads that spanned very far beyond their town of origin. XCX, on the other hand was a far less personal story than XC1 and XC2. your character doesnt matter. no one fucking mattered. if Humans died, who cares? the universe is bigger than us, and the plot focused on that. humans being a spec in a larger community and their struggle to survive that. it's actually my favorite story out of the trio because of it. it's significantly lower stakes, but that made it felt more personal, ironically, than a story about Rex and Pyra. I felt more connected, not because I can relate to Rex or Shulk, but because I can related to humanity itself, as that was the focus of all of BLADE and the reveal of twist. regardless of how I felt about the plot, XC2 would have rated much higher if there weren't so many gameplay problems. like fuck, dont do any of this shit again in your next game, MonolithSoft
i'm like a bajillion hours in and still annoyed that if you go to quick travel through Y you can't back out to the normal-ass menu, you have to go back to the game and hit start. Who does that? Please reconsider your ui design monsoft
I feel I got a ton of info about the wars and how it affected the residents of titans and how their views changed as story ticks happened but it mainly came from talking to every npc frequent times and questing. This world feels more alive and the impact on the npcs by what's happening in the land of alrest is pretty damn deep, I think . I love this game though, damn near everything about it hits my happy spot. I'm 40 hours into my post game questing and exploring
Finished chapter 5. That was great. I mean the sidequests really add to the atmosphere in terms of being a interwoven world. The stories are good, i like them very much, they are meaningful and the outcome is always interesting. I'm actually feeling that i help people. The writing is funny and entertaining (playing with german text). They are fun and i like to do quests. I'm about to investigate a murder in Mor Ardain, interesting. Didn't have so much fun in doing sidequests since.... the Witcher 3? NPCs have always something interesting to say regarding the world they live in, which is great. Every Titan/location has its uniqueness. It's cohesive and believable. This game is absolutely great. The Xennoblade series is impressive.
Just finished the game. I thought the end boss would be harder, so I levelled a bit before (everyone was around level 71), which made the boss quite easy actually. Rex died a few times, but I always had at least two resurrections left. Ah well. Spoiler: Light spoilers on the nature of the ending, no content. I don't know if I've ever seen anything more cheesy than the ending, but it was fun nonetheless. Overall, colour me really impressed. A great game I had a ton of fun with, despite some rather noticable shortcomings. The combat system was awesome and deep, the world and world building great as always in Monolithsoft games, the characters were charming and I even liked the story. I'm looking forward to Monolith's next game.
I think the writing is pretty great in that it’s very economical, nearly all the dialogue in the game tells you something. Not much of it feels like filler at all. Be sure to do the blade quests, those unlocked by acquiring a rare blade and fulfilling some requirements, they’re better than the average side quest. You’ve still got the best parts of the main story to come, so enjoy it. Always great to someone else really enjoy the game. It’s rough and around the edges for sure but has lots of heart. Now, we wait for story DLC...
I'm trying to get back into this and am having the same problem I had with the other two Xenoblade games: too much information making me get overwhelmed by some boss or encounter of aggressive monsters. XC2 has not been as bad on the information overload issue, but it's still there. I'm in the second Titan trying to get to the capital city. I go along the cliff, run into this thing called a Melz Runner that attacks me, then I get it's HP low and it runs off and then aggros a Cunning Saggie, which eventually aggros bird things, and others join the fight too, and now I'm overwhelmed when I was already having trouble with Cunning Saggie. Normally I would think you could ignore a fight you can't win that's not a required boss, but because of the stupid Melz Runner always aggroing and I HAVE to go that way, I have no choice. What am I doing wrong? Rex is level 24, Tora 24, and Nia 25. This part was why I put down the game for the last 3-4 months, and similar things caused me to put down XC1 and XCX.
It's been some time, and I don't remember the place perfectly, but I'm pretty sure you don't have to take that cliff to get to the capital actually.
Just began my first go at New Game +. This will be the first time I’ve ever played a JRPG more than once. I just can’t get enough of the cast and the music! I didn’t find all of the Blades during my first playthrough. Are the chances of finding them higher on NG+, or am I doomed to never add Kos-Mos to my team? Haha
I ended up trying again and saw a tree I could walk around, and managed to sneak by the Melz Runner thing. I actually ran right past the Cunning Saggie, but it didn't care about me, so now I'm a lot closer to the capital, but saw a sidequest so I am doing that now.
LEAVE ME ALONE XENOBLADE! I WANT TO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE! -Me @ 225+ hours Still one NG+ rare blade left (story related). Still have to max NG+ blade affinity charts. Still have to max driver hidden affinity charts. Still have to finish the story, again -- currently at Cliffs of Morytha
Finally finished up the game at 95 hours. A bunch of things left but I’m going to let it go for now. Spoiler Tying the two games together was a nice touch, I didn’t see that coming. I can’t believe they took a very poignant conclusion and turned it into a harem ending LOL
Was there a development reason (like the guest artists) why all the Torna people have realistic looking eyes vs. the anime eyes of the protagonists, or was it just an artistic decision?
Nomura designing the Torna characters explains why I disliked their designs so much. Too generic and boring IMO, especially compared to the other characters. I’m in chapter 8 and have become totally sidetracked unlocking level 5 affinity for all the blades I have in my active party. It’s actually pretty fun, except for Ursula... getting her level 5 unlocked has to be one of the most tedious things I’ve ever done in a JRPG. I don’t care about your music career, Ursula!
I heard this about Ursula, I thought it was cute lol I had her S ranked so early that I can't remember being an annoying process but to be fair I do use guides if I feel even the slightest impatient I want to hit S+ with the most powerful blades some get really broken at S+ I like OP characters edit: That reminds me Dagas had the worst leveling for affinity I hope redoing his quest on New Game Plus does not wipe progress again
