Board 8 > Playing Xenoblade for the first time

(+) Yeah! (+)

PS: Colony 6 is the Bionis's Groin, Satorl Marsh is going around its hip on the left

you can also see Colony 9 by looking down from Colony 6

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Cool, I will look down next time I'm at Colony 6. I did wonder at one point about the Bionis' Groin (lol), figured they'd avoid it entirely for obvious reasons.

Ah, I forgot about anime aging rules. Poor Dunban. And I keep forgetting these are supposed to be heavy accents.

• Everybody is wearing skimpy clothes now. This was not intentional, it's just that all the best armour in Satorl Marsh was this nature-like stuff. Some of it is literally just oil.
• Alvis met. He is trying very hard to be mysterious.
• Bird Lady get! I guess every JRPG needs a member of the nobility on side. I like that working class Reyn and Sharla immediately bond together in their dislike of Melia's haughty tone.
• All the Nopon are like that, huh.
• It is difficult not to talk/type like Nopon after spending half an hour wandering around Frontier Village.
• It is so jarring to see all these ridiculous Nopon (Don't get me wrong I enjoy them!), and then occasionally you'll see one talking about serious things like the decline of their culture if they don't adapt, or their dead sister.
• One quest has a Nopon tell me to beat a monster for stepping on them without apologising, and the quest complete screen reveals that the monster writes a letter of apology afterwards lol.
• HEROPON Riki is here! That is one heck of an entrance. Reyn really doesn't hit it off with anyone new right away.

Two party members in one go! My guess is there's two slots left given the space on the party list, and I don't know anything else about the game from now on! Exciting. Also I have a lot of team combinations to try out. Riki is ridiculous in a good way. Melia hasn't left much of an impression on me yet, but I'm sure she'll open up.


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Melia the best

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colliding posted...

Melia the best

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Are you British yourself? How do you forget about the accents lol

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Melia's tricky and one of those cases where she basically needs to be player-controlled. Her elementals give buffs so you pretty much wanna keep 2 up for their buffs and rotate around the 3rd elemental to attack with. Also always good to have 3 elementals on Melia for a Chain Attack because each use can reset the chain attack colour to neutral/white.

PS more specific on the Bionis Groin, but Colony 6 is literally "the tip" lmao

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Melia is the classic high skill floor and ceiling character. Definitely spend some time learning her in the next few areas of the game. She gets a lot better after some leveling and gaining some skills.

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Melia's awesome if you play as her and dumber than a sack of potatoes if you let the AI control her.

Also, if you're a fan of Doctor Who you might like to know she's Clara.

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I didn't really enjoy playing as Melia much so I didn't end up using her much in my party.

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Melia and Riki are my two favorites to play as. Gotta spam all the DoT attacks all the time. Needs some good gem crafting of Blaze/Chill/Poison Up gems to really up the damage, though.

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Yeah, Melia can get stupid broken but needs to be in the 1 slot (kinda like Shulk but even more definitively so). Her AoE damage can work with the same multipliers (Chain Attacks, back attacks) that physical attacks do, which opens up some crazy plays.

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Ah, I haven't tried leading as Melia. I'll do that and see how she goes, thanks. I'll have to mix and match everyone (maybe even take Shulk out for a bit) to see who synergises well with each other.

Waluigi1 posted...

Are you British yourself? How do you forget about the accents lol

Yes I am British lol, you don't normally get British accents that are this varied in Japanese (or even American) media like this so it's pretty impressive! I'm guessing Reyn might sound a bit comical to some but he's very accurate lol, my own accent is closer to his than anyone else's in the cast.

Grand Kirby posted...

Also, if you're a fan of Doctor Who you might like to know she's Clara.

Wow I hadn't picked up on that! That is cool, I guess this game did come out before she got big so it makes sense she was slumming it in VA. I like Jenna Coleman, that might actually help endear her character to me.

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Sorry, "AoE" in my last post should be "Damage Over Time".

I doubt you have access to most of Melia's most damaging spells right now, but you should have Bolt and Flare. The general play with her is to summon Bolt (which increases your Ether damage) first, which will strengthen the rest of your summoned elements - be it Flare or some other ones later on - thereafter.

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I love Melia as a character, but I've never been good at controlling characters like her so I never got the hang of her when I gave her a try.

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Melly Melly

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andylt posted...

Yes I am British lol, you don't normally get British accents that are this varied in Japanese (or even American) media like this so it's pretty impressive! I'm guessing Reyn might sound a bit comical to some but he's very accurate lol, my own accent is closer to his than anyone else's in the cast.

XB2's pretty neat with its voice acting since each region has its own UK dialect and then the Blades are typically American

Also playing Bravely Default 2 right now which is a full of different accents from the UK as well and oh god all this slang I can't imagine being real namely all the things Elvis the Scot says but I love it

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Can't imagine sounding like Reyn IRL. Straight up jokah

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GuessMyUserName posted...

XB2's pretty neat with its voice acting since each region has its own UK dialect and then the Blades are typically American

Also playing Bravely Default 2 right now which is a full of different accents from the UK as well and oh god all this slang I can't imagine being real namely all the things Elvis the Scot says but I love it

Oh that's a cool way to do it, but I don't know if I'll get Xeno 2 or not still. Probably won't decide til after I beat this. I'm loving Xeno 1 a lot but everything I've heard/seen of 2 makes it seem so much more... anime, in all the ways I don't like.

foolm0r0n posted...

Can't imagine sounding like Reyn IRL. Straight up jokah

Lol well I don't sound exactly like him, just closer to him than the others. IDK if the VA is using his own accent or not but it's impressive if he's faking, he manages to not come across as a caricature like people normally do (Again I know to Americans it might sound cartoonish anyway >_>). Like the frequency of the slang is probably a bit exaggerated but not the content or cadence.

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andylt posted...

That is cool, I guess this game did come out before she got big so it makes sense she was slumming it in VA.

To her credit she actually returned to record new lines for the Switch release!

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XB2 has a lot of "anime" and definitely plays up the goofiness at times but honestly it's a lot more of an epic adventure than people acknowledge and I really love the way it connects the 2 main games as an overall series. Also I mentioned before but the OST surprisingly can even best XB1 which really goes a long way while exploring its world on thetitans... barring Temperantia, screw that place but at least it's short. Really good gang of villains too, arguably better than XB1 in that regard without saying too much. I'm not a fan of Pyra and yeah Rex is no Shulk, but the rest of the playable cast is pretty great (particularly Nia).

It does leave some plots kinda hanging though, I thought Torna would touch on some but yeah not even then (although Torna is also very much worth its price and without being too demanding on playtime - Torna best map with best sightseeing spot of the series)

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Poppi and Tora just suck so bad. I couldn't get past the chapter where Lila shows up.

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Needs more Poppi QT and Poppi QT

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colliding posted...

Poppi and Tora just suck so bad. I couldn't get past the chapter where Lila shows up.

That's the end of the cringe for the most part. If you had gotten through that then you would've been golden.

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Riki being a 40 year old married daddypon is the best twist so far lmao

Also the music in the Telethia fight got really cool and choir-y for a bit but then went back to the normal boss music, huh.

Grand Kirby posted...

To her credit she actually returned to record new lines for the Switch release!

For some reason it didn't occur to me that they'd bring the cast back for the new content but of course they did lol. Are those Archsage timed missions new to the DE btw, it feels like something that could've been added.

And hm maybe I will get XC2, thanks for the info. Not certain on it (it would be a guarantee with how much I'm liking this game but the few scenes I've seen from it just seem so bad, like approaching Star Ocean 4 bad), for now I'll just continue to enjoy this game!

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Xenoblade is easily still my fav JRPG (FF7R could compete but it's so different) and I still am too afraid to try XC2. It doesn't turn me off as much as XCX but enough to make me avoid it.

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andylt posted...

Are those Archsage timed missions new to the DE btw, it feels like something that could've been added.

Yes.
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XCX is an entirely different style of RPG than the mainlines for sure, much more focused on an open world of exploring and sidequesting with a main story just to check back in with whenever. Not to say its main story doesn't have some nice twists and intrigue (chapter 5 reveal legit surprised me and made pretty cool sense) and well for better or worse the game ends on a complete cliff-hanger. They do a good job making the planet Mira mysterious though, as well as building New LA as a new city developing with the planet and its pre-existing inhabitants.

Torna btw definitely fixes up the anime stuff with a more serious plotline - partly because it's actually focused on its prologue story, although it's also still big on community building sidequests which kinda makes the game feel a lot like Majora's Mask... I'm not the first person to make this comparison! Torna even brings back an Affinity Chart like system in the form of the Community mechanic which is more analogous the Majora's Mask Bomber's Notebook, keeping track of NPC's and who you have or haven't helped out yet. The feature and sidequests in general aren't as fleshed out as Majora's Mask but it definitely gives the vibe of it a lot. The story definitely keeps a more mature tone with absolutely the most emotional ending in the series - of course, building into the eventual events of Xenoblade 2 - while making the sidequesting throughout feel all the more meaningful.

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If I was planning to replay 2 but haven't played Torna yet should I save it until after my replay or do it 1st and then do the replay

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provided you've already beaten xb2 once i'd def do Torna before the replay, then you can take some more note of references/flashbacks during the XB2 playthrough!

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Is it just me or does every area in this game look and sound beautiful at night. Just got to Eryth Sea, watching the meteors or wtv fall from the sky with their Aurora Borealis equivalent lighting up the background.

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the DE definitely turned what was already a pretty good looking game into a gorgeous one, character eye-size notwithstanding

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It blows my mind that this game was able to run on Wii. That does kinda make me more interested in 2, to see just how far the tech went in two whole generations of hardware.

• Melia has made numerous references to not being a Homs in her dialogue, and she's clearly very posh. The gang has no excuse for being blown away by this revelation.
• I love in RPGs when the party is split up and you control one non-lead by themselves
• Intrigue! The villains have such blatantly evil voices, it's great.
• I like that one exchange that is basically: "Melia will be hard to kill within the city walls" "I'll get rid of Melia!" "Yes but specifically how?" "I'll do whatever it takes!" "...****ing idiot"
• Melia still feeling guilty for those NPC deaths is very good, I like that trait
• I guess the reason we can't change her headgear is that she probably has little wings under there. Smart way to conceal her heritage from us!
• Speaking of, Alvis doesn't appear to have headwings. Maybe it's a seer thing. Not sure we can trust him yet still.
• Melia's mother, the second consort, is conspicuously absent here. I gather she's a Homs but wonder if there's more to it.
• Things are clearly gonna go down here, and to confirm my suspicions literally every sidequest we take in this city has a time limit on it. Hoo boy, I'd better do all of them before moving on with the plot just in case things kick off soon. There are so many of them though!

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Alcamoth is when I became the most acquainted with every party member's jumping grunt sounds.

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Vague spoiler about the time limit: it is not any time soon and you shouldn't feel like you need to do all of the Alcamoth side quests now

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andylt posted...

* Intrigue! The villains have such blatantly evil voices, it's great.

I'm not sure if that was intentional, but the song that plays during that scene and some like it is called "Intrigue"

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I just remembered the story turns at the end of the game. Good times, can't wait for that.

andylt posted...

It blows my mind that this game was able to run on Wii.

It was 320p to be fair. But beyond the resolution everything else did actually run insanely well. The entire levels were fully streaming with instant teleports and day/night jumps. That would've been impressive on a PS3 let alone a Wii. You could tell the models and textures were very detailed too, before getting crushed to 320p. It was basically designed for a remaster, or for Dolphin upscaling.

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Yeah, the size of those areas blew me away back in 2012. The Bionis Leg seemed like an entire game unto itself.

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I love the instant teleports within regions, figured that would be new for the Switch remaster. Cool that they managed it first time round! Monolith must really know how to optimise performance, I wonder just how badly BotW would have run without their help lol.

colliding posted...

Vague spoiler about the time limit: it is not any time soon and you shouldn't feel like you need to do all of the Alcamoth side quests now

Thank you for this, I knew logically they wouldn't give me a crapton of quests and want me to do them instantly but that little clock icon always gets me antsy!

CaptainOfCrush posted...

Alcamoth is when I became the most acquainted with every party member's jumping grunt sounds.

lmao I was literally doing this myself, the city takes so long to traverse and has very few teleport points so I just kept switching leaders and hopping around moving from point to point. Alley-oop!

PunishedBen posted...

I'm not sure if that was intentional, but the song that plays during that scene and some like it is called "Intrigue"

I did not know that (I don't know any song name apart from 'You Will Know Our Names', and I don't even know which song that is!) but lol, guess everything about that scene was on the nose.

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They really should have let Monolith do the whole engine for BOTW. I think they just did level design.

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Alcamoth is way too big. super annoying trying to activate quests in that map.

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Quick question about the Xenoblade games. I've never played a Xenoblade game before. If I get Chronicles 1 and 2, am I caught up with the series?
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Pretty much

Xenoblade X is its own thing separate from 1 and 2

Xenoblade 2 also has a prequel DLC called Torna that's pretty much it's own game

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I haven't played X or 2 but as far as I'm aware each game is an entirely separate story with separate characters in a separate world, they just all have similar mechanics/storytelling and a large open world to explore, so it's more of a thematic connection like the Final Fantasy games. So you could start with any of them, but Xenoblade 1 is the most beloved. X is stuck on the Wii U and 2 is very very anime.

I may well be wrong and the games are actually connected in some way, in which case disregard my post entirely lol. I recommend playing 1 at least, so far! (Also careful not to read too much of this topic as I am posting unmarked spoilers for where I'm up to)

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andylt posted...

I may well be wrong and the games are actually connected in some way, in which case disregard my post entirely lol.

fufufufufu

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Xenoblades 1 & 2 are more directly connected to each other albeit separate - it's a kind of connection where you need to play both to get it and you wouldn't think too much about it otherwise

You can make a case that XB2 also connects X but it's very lightly

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ninkendo posted...

fufufufufu

I guess I shouldn't have said anything! Just wanted to make it clear to lihlih that it's not like one continuous story with a direct sequel and the same characters or whatever.

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that's still true

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SHINE play Torna already

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Ok, on more question"
Xenoblade Chronicles or Persona 5 Royale? I haven't played Persona since 3 FES, and I'd be brand new to Xenoblade.
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lihlih posted...

Ok, on more question"
Xenoblade Chronicles or Persona 5 Royale? I haven't played Persona since 3 FES, and I'd be brand new to Xenoblade.

Persona 5 is my favorite RPG ever and Xenoblade is the worst RPG I have ever put more than 50 hours into.

....

Not biased

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