Xenoblade Chronicles (US Version)

[deadward]

Anyone else pick it up? It's fantastic so far... It reminds a little bit of FFXII aesthetically, but I won't hold that against it :P.
I'm only a couple hours in so far, but I can feel it getting it's hooks into me already.

Now, if I could only get used to hitting "b" to cancel out of things...

[saskbob]

I picked it up but so far I'm waiting for a good chance to dig into it. Trying to finish skyward sword first, but just got to super annoying skeleton boss so I might try some Xeno tomorrow.

[mikestrife]

I'm enjoying it, and I hated FF12's combat system. Even though the combat is similar it seems less annoying. The chain attacks are great.

I'm about 4 hours in, but spent a lot of time searching for items and doing side quests so I'm not too far. I just got past the first major OMG moment so I'm pretty much hooked. Can't wait to see where the story goes.

[saskbob]

I'm enjoying it, and I hated FF12's combat system. Even though the combat is similar it seems less annoying. The chain attacks are great.

I'm about 4 hours in, but spent a lot of time searching for items and doing side quests so I'm not too far. I just got past the first major OMG moment so I'm pretty much hooked. Can't wait to see where the story goes.

I keep hearing "mmo-ish" which kind of scares me, are all the sidequests "fetch quest-y" or "Kill x amount of y"? Or are they more diverse and interesting, like fallout or zelda?

[mikestrife]

I keep hearing "mmo-ish" which kind of scares me, are all the sidequests "fetch quest-y" or "Kill x amount of y"? Or are they more diverse and interesting, like fallout or zelda?

So far they have been really MMOish. Defeat so many monster, defeat this epic monster, collect so many of this item or find this lost item, the good thing is they are streamlined. So first thing when you go to a town you should go around and get all the quests (labeled ! on the mini map). Even the NPCs who'll offer you like 3 quests you can get them all at once by talking to them that many times. Then as you play through the game you'll likely come across most of the kill monsters and items as you complete the main quests. Once you kill the monsters/get the items the quest is instantly over and you get the rewards, no travelling back.

[Trickman]

I'm not an RPG guy at all, but I can get into "the best of the best" ones sometimes. Would this one be worth it, or should I wait for a price drop?

[saskbob]

I'm not an RPG guy at all, but I can get into "the best of the best" ones sometimes. Would this one be worth it, or should I wait for a price drop?

I picked it up because it feels like one of those limited things to me, and I only come across EB Games (gamestop in Canada) when i'm away from home for work. Knowing nintendo, I can see this being $50 for a long time and then whether I could still find it on shelves. Anyway it's gotten such universal acclaim that I took the plunge.

Also you know what, I never find EB Games employee's annoying. Funny that.

[mikestrife]

I picked it up because it feels like one of those limited things to me, and I only come across EB Games (gamestop in Canada) when i'm away from home for work. Knowing nintendo, I can see this being $50 for a long time and then whether I could still find it on shelves. Anyway it's gotten such universal acclaim that I took the plunge.

Also you know what, I never find EB Games employee's annoying. Funny that.

I can't say it's one of the best of the best so far and I think the gameplay is going to come down to personal taste whether you'll really enjoy it or not. If you liked combat in FF12 or White Knight then you'll definitely like it since it's similar but improved.

I could be way off, but I wouldn't count on a price drop though. With how stingy Nintendo has been about it's release (only at EB, and after denying it's existence for so long) I doubt there'll be another print. But with EB running out of pre-order bonuses the week before the game coming out, maybe it'll do crazy well and get re-released.

[deadward]

The quests have been a bit MMO-ish so far, but not in an annoying way. I took my time exploring the first town and picked up a grip of quests to kill such and such monster, or pick up some doo-dad or another, almost all of which I completed just making my way to the first dungeon.

Like the others have been saying, if this was a 360 or PS3 game, I might say to wait for a deal, but I doubt it will drop any time soon being a Wii game. Add to that its being a somewhat limited release based on the retailer exclusivity, it has a chance of becoming scarce I'd think.

Anyway, I dig it... The story is neat so far, and I'm having fun with the weird relationship stuff you get by talking to named NPC's. I guess my only complaint is that it seems kind of easy so far, none of the fights have been very challenging yet. I've really barely started playing it though, so I may start getting my ass handed to me as soon as I start messing around further from town.

[saskbob]

Man I am getting destroyed at bosses. Does this game level with you or am I supposed to be grinding instead of beelining for a boss? Or am I supposed to get my butt kicked and then go grind?

I sort of like the combat in terms of 1-2 enemies but many times I cannot see what I am targeting when there is more than 2-3 enemies. It really feels chaotic and not strategic, but punishes you for not using the exact right command. I'm on the Bionis Knee right now and maybe 8-10 hours in.

Update: I guess I'm supposed to do the side quests and not fight bosses 2 levels above.