Xenoblade Chronicles 2

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Ritley

Karazhan Raider
15,698
34,169
Welcome to the switch master race Ut. Even if your stay is short lived
 
  • 2Worf
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Nester

Vyemm Raider
4,924
3,123
I fucked up big time. Told my wife I wanted this for Xmas. It’s the end of the world at my house if you buy an item in your Xmas list. I have the week before off as well so ample time to game. Gonna have to buy her a gift for the 20th so I can talk my way into getting this early.
 
  • 1Worf
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Utnayan

I Love Utnayan he’s awesome
<Gold Donor>
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So many cylinders to get the fucking winding gears. Fml.

Haha yeah I got lucky. Still took about 12 salvages. Just wait until you have to get confusion ivy. Good Christ.
 

a_skeleton_00

<Banned>
1,027
616
So I'm watching videos and laughing at the kotaku article, they are saying the combat is too intense, it's basically 3 layered combat from xenosaga instead of 2 with boosting and breaking but now it's juggle and some 4th status.

The kotaku jason guy should not review rpgs, this game looks like what I really want, I just finished the new game- of ff12 zodiac age, this is a lot like that just more intense.

OHHHH HYPE TRAIN
 
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Droigan

Trakanon Raider
2,485
1,145
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand .... bought a Switch for this game

Got a pro controller too.
 
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Szlia

Member
6,547
1,310
The silver bullet in Jason Schreier's review is: 'it’s all width, no depth'.

The world in this game is pretty appealing but the game part seems like an orgy of useless and confusing systems that only allows for a myriad of numbers to slowly go up. I guess some have that itch that needs to be scratched, but I don't.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
I don't see that criticism at all. It would be nice if you could replay the tutorials, but they dole out combat mechanics slow enough in the first few hours that it's not really an issue unless you just skip through the tutorials. It's no better or worse than the combat in XC1 or XCX.

Also, Jason really hated XC1 and said himself he's bias against this game as well.

Look for a patch from Monolithsoft soon to add Tutorial Replay in the main menu, and clean up some of the performance while undocked. It's pretty unoptimized right now - not sure if they rushed out for Christmas launch or what.
 
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Utnayan

I Love Utnayan he’s awesome
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The silver bullet in Jason Schreier's review is: 'it’s all width, no depth'.

The world in this game is pretty appealing but the game part seems like an orgy of useless and confusing systems that only allows for a myriad of numbers to slowly go up. I guess some have that itch that needs to be scratched, but I don't.

The combat system is confusing due to a lack of explanation - but it's pretty fun when you throw all the sums of it's parts together and know what you are doing. The world is gorgeous and the story is up to par so far - albeit a little slow through the first half which is what I was expecting as that is what the reviews all pretty much stated. Second half picks up from what everyone says universally but I haven't seen it yet, I am on chapter 3. With that said, I am still having new tutorials pop up in combat with breaks and when to use certain abilities to the parties advantage. You have to pay attention though and there can be a lot on screen at once which makes it hard to time the 1, 2, 3's with Rex. For instance, one of my ability's drops heal pots on the ground which effect the whole party once you grab them - you want to time these when you see the blue indicator to increase what is called a Art Plus attack, and then subsequent attacks increase your specials at a faster rate. Now with breaks, and that same ability, I can topple a monster to make it not attack for a brief time while pummeling it, but also found out if I have one of my party members use Pandemic, the special combo there creates a large amount of damage. I just had Poppi unleash a ton of damage it's major special. Another one is if I wait long enough, Pyra and Rex will form into one and deal a massive amount of combined damage.

The system is VERY complex and deep, so there is no way there isn't depth to the systems. Not only combat itself with breaks, specials, art plus gains, timing, and other specials from your party members causing other massive combinations, you also have Aux Cores to infuse in your blade which have varying bonuses, a pouch for a passive which is a bonus set on a timer (One for each party member) and they all play together extremely well, and an affinity progression system which can effect field and combat as well.

The problem is, it isn't explained well. And there is no reference material, so you have to go out of game to really understand it, or ask here in the thread.
 

Omayga

Lord Nagafen Raider
186
123
playing the previous 2 xenoblade games helps a lot in picking up some of this stuff I think, for anyone coming new into it the learning curve is steep. I remember in XC1 not really knowing about the chain attack feature till the very end and I didn't augment my gear until the very end at all either, not really understanding the ether furnace deal and all that stuff until I was supercharging for rank 5+ crystals as my first ones.

monsters are tough, a few levels difference either way makes a huge difference

I have really liked the "passive healing" that you get in the xenoblade games, where you get your heals by doing normal activity for the most part, and if you play right your party stays on its feet. They do throw a ton at you quickly, and if you arent familiar with the break > topple chain from previous games then its hard to tell what is going on but once you get used to the combat system I think it really grows on you.

I'm midway through Chapter 3 and still getting tutorials and unlocks on abilities and I've done alot of exploring and side quests so it doesn't seem like im getting pummeled with new stuff all the time. As with all these games, the systems really open up at max level as thats when you get into gear customization and can really get the skills and blades leveled up. When the re-use timers on the skills start going down to much more manageable levels the combat will be a lot smoother, without the frenzy of activity and then the long pauses while you wait for things to recharge.

I think this combat system is easier to grasp than XCX was, with the appendages and breaking certain parts and the amount of secondary stat juggling you had to do on gear, but being able to re-hash the tutorials would be a huge help.

I'm liking it so far though, graphics are very nice and its a nice big world just like I was hoping for. In my experience they are not games you just race through, theyh are more ones that you really get into and min / max things out to get everything out of it. Trying to push through bleeding edge content when under-geared in the Xenoblade games can really test your patience and the fights can take forever.
 
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Derkon

Trakanon Raider
2,444
1,183
Combat makes sense once fights start taking longer and you can equip more blades to take advantage of the specials system. At the start they explain all this to you but it doesn't matter at that point as stuff dies pretty quickly. At the end of chapter 3 a lot of the systems fell into place and it makes a bit more sense on how blade combos/driver combos etc all work. Like anything it just takes some practice, looking up a basic combat guide online does help though.

End of Chapter 3, another epic cutscene. For how rough around the edges certain aspects of the game are(mostly the UI) you can tell a lot of work went into the cutscenes.
 
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Derkon

Trakanon Raider
2,444
1,183
Oof, that's pretty bad. I haven't even attempted to play this in handheld, the game looks pretty good on my TV. I have a feeling we will see a Switch Pro holiday 2019.
 

Skinner

Trakanon Raider
816
1,137
When I'm lv80 I'm going to face rape that massive gorilla at Gormott 15 times. Fuck that thing I just want to collect ivy.

Also, this game is amazing and I'm enjoying it 100x more than I did Zelda.
 
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Utnayan

I Love Utnayan he’s awesome
<Gold Donor>
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When I'm lv80 I'm going to face rape that massive gorilla at Gormott 15 times. Fuck that thing I just want to collect ivy.

Also, this game is amazing and I'm enjoying it 100x more than I did Zelda.

Hahaha I said the same thing.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
The undocked version is really unoptimized, expect some patches for it. For instance, it still uses the docked lightning, 3D grass, and full quality ambient occlusion. They could drop all that for the portable mode and get huge gains, no one would notice it missing on a 720p screen. Seems like some sort of oversight.
 
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Omayga

Lord Nagafen Raider
186
123
I think I was lvl 27-28 when I did the end of 3. The damage output gets significant at times. Most of my guys are running at least 1 +hp accessory and have the first tier of SP hitpoint bonus unlocked on the sbility wheel

Ive been going with rex / nia / tora in my party, I dont like playing without a tank to keep agro and soak. Really gotta use your elemental combos and at least get rank 2 or 3 combos off. I tunneled the lower level one of the two. I press the (left arrow) frequently to continually focus everyone on my target because it seems some enemies taunt your guys off and it splits your dps