Board 8 > Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Discussion Topic 1: Something a Bit Meatier

(+) Yeah! (+)

I will play X if they ever put in on a console that actually exists and wasn't just made up to gaslight the industry.

to be fair Boz is a DLC unlock character (although I think the DLC characters were free for NA?), but woof imagine paying money for that bag of dicks

XBX actually tackles racism a lot really well (New LA best XB city), Boz just sucks

The Wii U was a good console; RIP

Looking at this main party list for X and if you told me any of these characters were party members in any RPG and not NPCs, with the exception of the main girl and the freaky Mass Effect dude, I would call you a liar.

X's Blades are pretttty much treated like 3's Heroes, except you can put multiple in your party.

X though doesn't really have a cast of actual party members that contribute to the story beyond Elma & Lin (and of course, Cross, the customizable player) -- for the most part at least, there's a couple more I'd say have some manner of a role but they're not treated as a consistent gang together.

Murderess top tier XB character

alright starting the final boss point of no return

oh it's The Matrix Architect scene huh

*edit, fight itself*

did anyone actually think this would be fun

The best thing about the final boss is that all the cutscenes are unskippable so if you die during any phase you have to watch them all again.

*fakeedit* Gonna spoiler tag to avoid influencing people still playing but...

Had to pause but alright it's done and I can officially say [series ranking] 1 > X > 2 > 3 is an easy choice.

[full game commentary]
3's an easy bottom for music, story, & combat and I really can't imagine saying that and not putting it in last place. Game peaked with the ch5/6 transition which absolutely nailed the emotion with the music, but it's not even a particularly high peak and it's really not followed-up well at all. What even is the story after that? Chapters 6 & 7 are so barren, the Moebius suck, X & Y aren't even worth post-death cutscenes, the best we got for an antagonist is N just off his rocker with no real reason to continue, and then Z is just some dumb manifestation of Moebius tied into all the nonsense Origin shit (the part of the story connecting 1&2 is just a big messy ball drop). I know XB1 was criticized for not having particularly strong villains but they're absolutely iconic next to Moebius, don't even dare try to sit Moebius next to the Torna gang. The meat of the game is absolutely the side-content but frankly even that I'm kinda wading through a lot of whatever. There's so many colonies spread about and it feels more like a hassle than a a community I actually care about.

I initially had high hopes for Heroes to be well-developed in opposition to like X & 2 Blades but nah other than Ghondor they're really not all that special... which is really sad after some cool introductions but ultimately they're the same treatment as X & 2 blades, just got some sidequests you either care about or not. I'll give Valdi/Zeon/Juniper/Alexa props for involving each other but hell I enjoyed many X & 2 blade quests all the same, X are even all in a much better community together with New LA.

Absolutely wild take to me. Especially In regards to the combat. XB1 played like total shit, in fact it may be one of the worst combat feels I've ever encountered in a jRPG. I turned the whole thing down to easy for the last 20 hours not because I was finding it difficult, but because it was such clunky garbage I couldn't care enough to engage with it.

To be totally fair on that, maybe it controlled better with the Wiimote layout, but with a real controller the menus were just horrible.

The fact that I still came out the other end of that game thinking it was pretty good is a miracle, all things considered my

And the XB2 was like fighting in mollases.

Didn't have any of those problems with XB3. Torna's was better though.

3 > Torna >>> 1 >>>>>>>2

X is still the best in the series and starting Chapter 6 I doubt that's gonna change. But like, I've enjoyed what I've played so it's a solid B.

I definitely very much like the story and characters of 1, but I absolutely adore the gameplay and exploration of X, and wish they would give that style of open ended exploration another shot.

While I would still love to play X, talk like that does make me weary, since the biggest flaw of 3 for me is that the world is way too big an open, and I wish it was a lot tighter and more linear. I would love a Xenoblade game that kept the visual spectacle but wasn't actually an open world at all. It adds nothing for me personally.

XB1 was a lot smaller and I felt that was about my limit before it starts to bother me.

Or at least you can give me a Chocobo or something, cut me some slack. I wouldn't mind if I could cover ground easier.

X gives you Skells which fucking rule.

Like to be honest, the fact that in X you can actually sprint and it's not a feature in a single other Xenoblade game is a fucking travesty.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

And the XB2 was like fighting in mollases.

I seriously can't imagine this

Like I know people complain about 2's gameplay but it's absolutely the most active thing there is. There is so much to do in battle with XB2 and it actually gives you cause to switch up between your blades, plan out the use of specific combos, and use your arts strategically that really has just gone completely out the window for 3 I'm largely just cycling through cooldowns. I think it really hurts having so many characters involved in battle because your contributions then don't feel like a big deal unless you're in a Chain Attack (really dragged out slog) or Interlinking.

Removing auto-attack cancels and topple-locks also just killing a lot of fun. Yeah you can say topple lock was OP but it wasn't always viable with enemies having Topple Spikes 'n shit. Encounters in 3 are just so straightforward compared to the other games.

Like maybe it's dragged down on cycling through all these classes to learn but if that's the case for the love of god don't make these classes such a grind to learn & master so I can then have fun with tweaking things around. 160 hours, beaten the game now and there's still a few classes people don't even know only 1 or 2 mastered.

That sounds promising! Fast transportation helps a lot.

I just get NOTHING out of exploration in video games. I want goals, missions, objectives, give me my yellow brick road and I will never stray. All you guys talking about filling out the Chapter 5 map and I wouldn't do that in a million years even if you paid ME a hundred bucks to do so. I get absolutely no dopamine from eliminating a fog of war.

I'm the guy who played and loved MGSV, but after every single mission in the entire game called the helicopter back down to take me to the next one, not once traversing the map from one mission to the next.

And yes, I am an FFXIII fan! Why do you ask???

X does open-world so much better than 3... I really don't consider 3 much of an open world, it's just taking the XB1/2 titans and making them larger but fewer. Which yeah keeps it guided for the story but XBX is a free world to experience, and with the Skells it's really not daunting at all to explore.

TheRock1525 posted...

X gives you Skells which fucking rule.

I also feel like an absolute boss when I'm chaining a long-ass Overdrive

GuessMyUserName posted...

160 hours, beaten the game now and there's still a few classes people don't even know only 1 or 2 mastered.

Beating the game at 120 hours and using no coins to level, every character had every class unlocked, all but their D rank classes to 10, and at least 4 or 5 classes mastered at 20, in Noah's case 6. Not sure what could have caused such a drastic difference! I guess maybe some people didn't immediately change classes the instant they hit 10/20 or actually attempted to put someone in a D Rank leveling speed class?

With a food boost, going through a cave with enemies a couple levels higher than me had me gaining class levels every 2 or 3 battles for A and S rank classes at worst, with B speed classes not far behind.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

or actually attempted to put someone in a D Rank leveling speed class

this must be the real significant clincher to it because I've indeed been switching as soon as a job's capped *shrug*

Maybe also if you're doing more stuff, because "going into a cave with enemies a couple level highers wasn't really a thing in the last few chapters. I used to think things were fine early into the game but it's really by the end with the last jobs the levelling ran out of steam

*edit* also I guess a fault of leveling D classes is the mismatch between CP vs EXP, I'm leveling up thus gaining less CP as my classes lag behind

In some case it was more than a couple levels honestly.

Yeah, other than accidentally doing so near the beginning and doing it for shits with Soul Hacker after beating the game, I never once put a character into one of their D rank classes, even the times before ascensions started unlocking and it fucked up my party symmetry hard not to do so.

The real secret is that the high level areas in the lower forest and planes caves and some of the areas on the sea....if the enemy isn't a UM or blue you can beat an enemy over 20 levels higher than you REAL easily if you get them one on one and still getting disgusting EXP.

And to be clear, I never once actually grinded, but I did see how far I could get into those areas sometimes before dying.

I'm going to be the first to say that the experience economy is fucked in this game. In fact, even if I don't like it, XB2 IS EASILY the game that had the strongest leveling curation.

XB1 Expert Mode was perfect. 3 is making me forget if 2 had de-leveling as well but yeah just give me that and I'm good and can turn it down to fit the story.

3 even has it... just locked behind game completion... bahhh

UshiromiyaEva posted...

The real secret is that the high level areas in the lower forest and planes caves and some of the areas on the sea....if the enemy isn't a UM or blue you can beat an enemy over 20 levels higher than you REAL easily if you get them one on one and still getting disgusting EXP.

Yeah I did notice this and I was a bit confused accidentally fighting some really high levels and it didn't seem to be a danger... but I didn't make a habit of it.

XB1 DE does work the best because of the adjustability, but the actual core leveling in that game is also fucked. You can't level down in XB2 but it's way harder to get overleveled in it than any of the other games in the first place. I actually NEEDED to use bonus XP in a few sections.

yeah that sounds about right, XB1 on Wii it was pretty much well known if you're doing all the quests you're just gonna be way overleveled so it was just advised that if you care about that, then try to just think of quests as an alternative to grinding - do them if you feel a bit weak

although CP gains feel like a much bigger deal than I guess XB1's... skill trees... not sure what other stat to grind 2 might've had

XB2's "grind" was the Blades and the Blade quests, and unfortunately I was so not into that game by the end that I only ended up finishing 2 blade quests period, even though everyone says they're the best part. The things you had to do for them was too much for me.

Also the system of having to have blades equipped with certain attributes at certain levels was a deal breaker.

I really really hated how the skill grew worked in XB2. I'm addition to that, the gacha was such an enormous black cloud hanging over that entire game. I don't think I ever managed to even start accepting it.

If you put all my takes down on paper in a vacuum, XB2 sounds like one of the worst games I've ever played, but just goes to show that you can't judge something without experiencing it personally. I may have most bad things to say about the game but I don't hate that I played it. I'd sure as hell rather play it again than something like Zesteria, that's for sure.

yeah there was certainly that grind but I was more referring to a grind where your level mattered, like CP or SP that scales with XP

core grinding is the worst grinding lmao, oh the farming of the Gormotti Armu for Legendary Cores... that you might accidentally fuck up if you kill the Armu before it matures

Oh man, I just soloed the last 25% or so of one of those elite massive Darbuses with Sena as a guardian commander a few levels lower than it; I could self-heal just enough to sustain myself.

So far it feels pretty easy to say that villains ranking in the series is 2 >>>> 1 > 3

Have to agree on the villains. I liked some stuff a lot like D, who felt and looked like Ladd Russo in JRPG form, but overall this all reeked of Diet Acians.

Also I'm in chapter 5 and I don't know how anyone at this point thinks Lanz isn't the best of the dudes

Just realized my list autocorrected Lanz to Lars.

Also that I forgot to put Jin on there?? He's right below Lara. That's what she said.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Just realized my list autocorrected Lanz to Lars.

Also that I forgot to put Jin on there?? He's right below Lara. That's what she said.

Waiting for the realization that her name is Lora.

God

DAMMIT

For Ouroborus Chain Attack bonus: is it for the opposite side? So say its Noahs Ouroborus, do I get a bonus for using Keves characters or Agnus?

Soulhacker seems really cool, but am I wrong for feeling like it's coming way, way too late in the game to want to bother with? I'm inclined to just pick up Soul Hack via Nopon Coins and just save all of this for post game. Feels kinda bad with how much they obviously put into this system but dude, I'm 76 hours into this game and haven't made any story progress as is despite playing literally all day today!

Soulhacker could have at least been retroactive. Having to go beat all of the bosses you already beat again is just stupid.

Xiahou_Shake posted...

Soulhacker seems really cool, but am I wrong for feeling like it's coming way, way too late in the game to want to bother with? I'm inclined to just pick up Soul Hack via Nopon Coins and just save all of this for post game. Feels kinda bad with how much they obviously put into this system but dude, I'm 76 hours into this game and haven't made any story progress as is despite playing literally all day today!

Im 82 hours in and I dont even have soul hacker yet lol. I just got the boat. How far am I from that?

If you got the boat then you can go find the hero who gives you Soulhacker. It should be one of the question marks on the open area.

It's the most fun class to play but it's so late I just didn't care, especially since it's when everything in the narrative is ramping up.

_stingers_ posted...

Im 82 hours in and I dont even have soul hacker yet lol. I just got the boat. How far am I from that?

You're there, just need to find the quest. There will be a huge Ferronis wander the ocean at one of the question marks.

realizing I don't understand LtM's ranking having Zeke bottom with Addam up high

Zeke is like Addam's real son

GuessMyUserName posted...

realizing I don't understand LtM's ranking having Zeke bottom with Addam up high

Zeke is like Addam's real son

Chuuni guys are the bottom of the totem poll. There's very little worse for me. I couldn't stand the man, everytime he started posing and talking about his dark shadow lightning strike attacks or some shit I wanted to skip the cutscene. I reject his existence.

Adaam is like what if Zeke but actually legitimately cool and not a huge fucking loser.

In fact I'm gonna list the 3 worst , most inexcusable to me archetypes.

Chuuni males

Ojousamas

*Student council looking mother fucker pushes glasses up with one hand* "That's because you're an uncultured peasant."

okay i agree with the 3rd

but Luna Platz all day

also just finished the quest that unlocks Segiri's Ascension Quest

[MAINSTORY FINALE SPOILERS] I can't help but headcanon that as soon as this painting was named Siblings this must be 7 more children Rex must be pumping out from 7 more Blades (speaking of, there god damn better be a green-haired baby)

GuessMyUserName posted...

okay i agree with the 3rd

but Luna Platz all day

also just finished the quest that unlocks Segiri's Ascension Quest

[MAINSTORY FINALE SPOILERS] I can't help but headcanon that as soon as this painting was named Siblings this must be 7 more children Rex must be pumping out from 7 more Blades (speaking of, there god damn better be a green-haired baby)

Headcanon Rex is getting cucked and none are his.

nowit'sreyntime.mp3

biffteen lmao

looks like I've begun unlocking the quests to get classes to 20

guess I'm not shoving off to sea quite yet

Kite x Juniper :O

paying cash to summon rain the ultimate QoL improvement

to maybe summon rain

dude stole some of my money

Thorn posted...

to maybe summon rain

dude stole some of my money

I didn't mind, I had so much money at that point that I couldn't give it away fast enough

oh lol

worked for me both times I tried it