(Be aware of spoilers for the first and second XC games).
I completed the game sometime before E3, and here are my late to the party thoughts about it.
JRPGs
I've been playing JRPGs for a very long time. this genre in my eyes is unique in terms of how effective it can be to younger players. a lot of older people discovered the genre with games like Chrono Trigger, FFVI, FFVII and others, but this is why a lot of people, in my humble opinion, are very nostalgic and can't really appreciate what the genre has to offer anymore. for a lot of people, JRPGs were all about discovering experiences and emotions, situations, and being faced with questions they never faced or thought about before. when they are older, they are more experienced, mentally stronger, and they no longer care about the genre which to this day, is still targeting younger audience. anyway their memories are very strong, this is why they keep clinging to the past, hoping that those wonderful memories will be re-created, and they will never be. for a lot of younger people, games like Persona 4/5, NieR Automata, Final Fantasy XV, Xenoblade 2... are the Chrono Cross and the Final Fantasy X of the past.
Some people, like me, stuck with the genre for various reasons. I was always better at RPGs/tactical games in general than action games. i can complete an action game, but i can't play them as well as a lot of people here can do. but, i think I'm a really good rpg player, i like the tactics, i love to control a party, to plan a battle, to micromanage a team, to face a foe and be prepared for every situation and to deal with issues as they arise. i also love the exploration, the sense of wonder, discovering places you've never imagined (though those are getting rarer nowadays). also, i love the music and how varied it is. almost every other genre out there is chasing Holllywood and cinematic music, but i much prefer something that can stand more on its own, something i can listen to outside the game for months, sometimes for years. the variety in JRPGs music is unmatched, it draws inspiration from all over the world, from any culture and musical instrument you can imagine.
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles, the first game, was a huge shock to me. it was the evolution i always wanted for the genre, it was the magical, grand JRPG adventure i wanted for years and thought it was lost forever. it was a Wii game, released in 2012 in US, and it ended up with a 92 Metacritic score which blew my mind, i wondered how a Wii game this late, a JRPG game of all things, could impress this much? sometimes you feel the system itself doesn't have the power to impress anymore, no matter how good the game is, if you get what i mean. when i started playing the first game i was shocked, i never expected the game to be as gigantic as it was, i knew nothing about it beforehand, when i reached Eryth Sea i thought I'm close to the end of the game only to be surprised that i didn't even reach the middle point! also, the pacing was superb, it was clearly a game made by a very talented and experienced team with very big ambitions.
it was a game that threw away a lot of the genre's conventions too, it was a game that put JRPGs again on the right direction. you no longer need to train every single character as the level will raise for all characters when you gain enough experience, you can fast travel anytime, you can change the time, there is a quest log, dying won't make you lose anything and you will restart from the latest location. you can jump, you can swim, you can build a city, you can trade items, you can talk to every npc in the game... it was a game that is incredibly fun to play, and up to this day, it still is the most balanced, the most welcoming Xenoblade Chronicles game.
But i really, really loved the fantasy, i really loved how dreamy and imaginative this game was. i never did play anything like this game before, and i will play nothing like it ever again. no rpg game surprised me as much as Xenoblade Chronicles. i remember witnessing the Mechonis in the horizon for the first time, it was an unbelievable sight and on such an old gaming device, i remember the wonder i felt when i discovered that the sky in Makna forest is actually the bottom of the Great Eryth Sea! i remember the first time night fall on Satorl Marsh and how the Dead Swamp became full of life, i remember reaching Valak mountain for the first time, and the astonishment i felt when the Ether crystals began to glow in the night, flowing into the sky... i left the controller, i couldn't comprehend the magic that was happening. the imagination, the fantasy in this game surpassed any JRPG I've ever played, even Final Fantasy, which is a very dear series to me. i never thought, that a day will come, when another JRPG game will become my favorite. it was brilliant, in every sense of the word.
This is something trivial, but i always thought Gaur Plain's music (night) had some similarity with the legendary Mysterious Cities of Gold, i wonder if its just me or there is really something in common.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
It is funny. i thought the shorter development cycle after the disappointing sales of XCX will lead to a much smaller game than before. to my surprise, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is every bit as grand as the first game was. no, it is probably bigger and more impressive, with more content, even without Torna! how did they manage this? i don't know, and sadly, Iwata is no longer among us, and there is no "Iwata Asks" anymore.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not as balanced, as perfect as the first game was, but it also surpasses it in many areas.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2, is a masterpiece. a game, that is a real treasure to me. i think i love it as much as the first game, and while the first game has better pacing and accessibility, the second game has also its own strong areas that are better than the first game. for example, this game actually had great dungeons! which is something i missed in the first game... like the military base in Gormott and the old factory in Mor Ardain. the world building and side quests are better, and the second half of the game has better atmosphere and don't feel rushed like the first game.
The story took (plus side quests) took me 168h to finish. the game has an enormous amount of content, especially for a JRPG. i took me around 250h to beat all the super bosses in the game. the battle system, like many people said before, is fantastic and addictive, though unlike the first game, the focus is more on your attacks and being offensive, you don't need to think that much about defense but sometimes you have to make split second decisions to stay alive. in the first game it was a bit closer to older JRPGs and you also had to be careful about your defense.
This was the first one i challenged , i actually didn't expect to beat him at this level. his attacks were not as strong as some others and i had a great healer setup with Nia (Dromarch - Boreas - Ursula/Nim).
for Rex, Zenobia was a very important blade and a life saver :P she can be deadly against bosses and unique monsters.
The last super boss i faced, and was actually quite challenging despite his level being less than others. overall, drivers battles in the game were really challenging.
Man, i just hate this fight lol. his HP is low but i kept blowing him down the stairs and losing all momentum in battle because of that.. -_-
but a chain attack with 2 orbs were actually enough to kill him.
The way you discover him in Temperantia is cool, and how you have to break the seal on him to actually face him. it is a tough battle without a doubt, one of the toughest battles in the game, what made it more manageable to me is that you can actually blow down him. the most trouble to me is that my healer, Nia, kept going behind him and he kept KO her... lol. i guess people recommend using Nia as a blade more but i used her as a driver and my final team was Rex, Morag and Nia.
The moment i saw Ophion flying in the sky my mind was blown lol. i never imagined i will face Ophion as a boss. it is also a tough battle though, it needs timing and endurance. my luck was bad i didn't get the first chain attack right so i had to chain him again and it was harder the second time, but somehow i managed it.
For me, this was the hardest battle in the entire game. you can't blow this guy down and interrupt his attacks, and his physical attacks are deadly. the way reviving works in Xenoblade makes a fight like this very hard especially if he managed to KO your tanker. if you looked carefully you can notice he was not completely down after this chain attack, but i killed him immediately after. this is always dangerous in XC2 because sometimes even with this very low health the enemy can kill Rex and then the fight is over because you already used your chain gauge and you can't revive/be revived.
There are 2 additional fights i forgot to capture, one with the super boss in Gormott (Reeking Douglass), and his battle was quite annoying because of his ability to summon other enemies. the other is a mecha fight in the World Tree which didn't give me much trouble.
Overall...
Strengths:
- Exploration! i literally can't think of any other game with better exploration other than the rest of the Xenoblade series. the maps are layered, and they are much more complicated than what they seem first. i kept discovering treasues, and new locations in the game, even after playing more than 200h! even now i can't really confirm that i discovered every single location in the game. see those moving crates in Mor Ardain? you can actually ride them! see those gigantic pillars in Kingdom of Tantal? just you wait, you will go all the way up. i kept doing as much side quests as i can not only because they are fun but also because they are designed in a way to help you discover the game's secret areas and hard-to-find locations. some people disliked field abilities, but to be honest i feel sometimes people dislike anything gameplay-related that requires them to do more than they expect. the idea of field abilities is a suitable idea for the type of gameplay a JRPG usually offers (it ties the discovery not only to the action of exploring, but also to the abilities you have and develop). there was a very simple solution for it too, you don't need to take very long time to level up field ability, you can engage more than 1 blade with the same ability and they will all add up making your life much easier : )
- Gameplay: gameplay has always been very strong in Xenoblade and this game is no different. the gameplay loop is very addictive: you can buy cylinders from shops to salvage items, you can trade those items to get money and boosters, you can use the boosters when you try to draw a blade, a blade has an ability tree and every ability will require you to do something like fighting monsters, and fighting monsters will help you to gain money and loot, using money you can buy items for your pouch, which in turn will help you in battles and fighting unique monsters... and by doing side quests, you raise the "development" level of a certain area/city.
the development (affinity) system is fantastic and i wish more developers implements something like this in their RPGs, it makes going back and revisiting those locations meaningful and not just because you want to view a scenery. when you raise the development level shops will start selling more/rarer items, more NPCs will have new dialogue, and you will unlock more side quests, which makes the game really rewarding. i don't like games designed in a way that make you pass places quickly for them to be only a nice background. in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you are part of a dynamic, living community.
- Music: it even tops the first two XC games. the tracks are long and expertly composed, the music has great variety, and full of emotion and personality. it is also very expressive. it is the rare case where you can't find a single bad track.
.... how can you not fall in love?
- Dungeons: like i said before, this was a weakness in the first 2 games but this game had real, complex, and rewarding dungeons.
- Alrest is one of the most beautiful worlds in any rpg game.
- some cut-scenes are fantastic with impressive battles. the introduction of Mythra (Hikari) is one of the best for any video game character. also there was tons of small stories for npcs and blades, and more in depth world building than the first game.
Weaknesses:
- Characters are too young...the story is grand like other works from Takahashi, but characters, especially Rex, are made to make the game appeal to younger audience.this led to the fact that there is a clear conflict between the complex, dark themes in the story, and the simple/very young cast of characters. the game has its moments, i can't deny that, but imagine how awesome it would've been if the main story characters were actually the characters from Torna the Golden Country.. the execution could've been better for sure.
and i really hated the localization, it had nothing to do with what is actually being said 50% of the time (I did play using Japanese voices, I don't know Japanese but I'm used to it and i know what the characters are saying in general).
- The game is not as well paced as the first game, and it is slower in general, especially at the first couple of hours.
- This is the first Xenoblade game that isn't the best looking game on the system it is released on. sadly, it is obvious the game needed more time and more optimization. graphics/performance are not consistent at all. i noticed something strange though: the games looks washed up on my LED TV, but the colors looks quite natural and beautiful on the Switch's screen, i don't know if anyone is the same? this has not been the case with other Switch games so i can't say it is something to do with the TV's settings. Mario Odyssey and Tropical Freeze looks fantastic on it and full of color, i don't really know what is the case here.
- I said i have no problems with field abilities, but i think it was the wrong decision to force them on the main quest, make them optional for discovery and side quests. some players prefer to only complete the main story, let them just do that.
Despite some annoyances, this game is extremely solid in terms of gameplay, and i think it is overall one of the best rpg games ever made. an excellent game like FFXII for example can compete very well against Xenoblade 2 in terms of encounter design and challenging battles, but what makes XC2 shines above its competitors is how complete the gameplay elements are and how interconnected they are. the game design is, in my opinion, unmatched by any other JRPG. finding a very well hidden treasure can be extremely rewarding, and the game is full of surprises and facing the unknown, like finding a dead traveller in Tantal, or discovering the history of Argentum and Captain Nopopon who conquered the Cloud Sea!
add to that an emotional journey and a fantastic OST and you end up with a special game. the value is insane, too, i can easily see myself spending an additional 100-200h playing this game... leveling blades, doing DLC quests, and completing harder challenges. it is a game that was made with the intention to make it last with the player for a long time.
With this series, Monolith soft brought back to me Square Soft's golden days of making grand, extremely well designed rpgs than no one else can make, and in my eyes, they even exceeded that. XC2 is that good. there are other fantastic games like P5, but i prefer rpgs with big fields and exploration like XC.
I can't wait for their next project!
i will end this with sharing some screenshots:
Baten Kaitos, anyone? :P
This place is one of the most impressive locations in any rpg game.
Our land... is eternal.
look closely, do you see the ladder? because this is Xenoblade and nothing is only for show, you can go and climb over the mill and have a very nice view over Gormott.
This place was complex and not easy to explore, but Uraya is one of the most beautiful places in the series.
I actually didn't find this place until very late.
I can't stop roaming the wastes!
I completed the game sometime before E3, and here are my late to the party thoughts about it.
JRPGs
I've been playing JRPGs for a very long time. this genre in my eyes is unique in terms of how effective it can be to younger players. a lot of older people discovered the genre with games like Chrono Trigger, FFVI, FFVII and others, but this is why a lot of people, in my humble opinion, are very nostalgic and can't really appreciate what the genre has to offer anymore. for a lot of people, JRPGs were all about discovering experiences and emotions, situations, and being faced with questions they never faced or thought about before. when they are older, they are more experienced, mentally stronger, and they no longer care about the genre which to this day, is still targeting younger audience. anyway their memories are very strong, this is why they keep clinging to the past, hoping that those wonderful memories will be re-created, and they will never be. for a lot of younger people, games like Persona 4/5, NieR Automata, Final Fantasy XV, Xenoblade 2... are the Chrono Cross and the Final Fantasy X of the past.
Some people, like me, stuck with the genre for various reasons. I was always better at RPGs/tactical games in general than action games. i can complete an action game, but i can't play them as well as a lot of people here can do. but, i think I'm a really good rpg player, i like the tactics, i love to control a party, to plan a battle, to micromanage a team, to face a foe and be prepared for every situation and to deal with issues as they arise. i also love the exploration, the sense of wonder, discovering places you've never imagined (though those are getting rarer nowadays). also, i love the music and how varied it is. almost every other genre out there is chasing Holllywood and cinematic music, but i much prefer something that can stand more on its own, something i can listen to outside the game for months, sometimes for years. the variety in JRPGs music is unmatched, it draws inspiration from all over the world, from any culture and musical instrument you can imagine.
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles, the first game, was a huge shock to me. it was the evolution i always wanted for the genre, it was the magical, grand JRPG adventure i wanted for years and thought it was lost forever. it was a Wii game, released in 2012 in US, and it ended up with a 92 Metacritic score which blew my mind, i wondered how a Wii game this late, a JRPG game of all things, could impress this much? sometimes you feel the system itself doesn't have the power to impress anymore, no matter how good the game is, if you get what i mean. when i started playing the first game i was shocked, i never expected the game to be as gigantic as it was, i knew nothing about it beforehand, when i reached Eryth Sea i thought I'm close to the end of the game only to be surprised that i didn't even reach the middle point! also, the pacing was superb, it was clearly a game made by a very talented and experienced team with very big ambitions.
it was a game that threw away a lot of the genre's conventions too, it was a game that put JRPGs again on the right direction. you no longer need to train every single character as the level will raise for all characters when you gain enough experience, you can fast travel anytime, you can change the time, there is a quest log, dying won't make you lose anything and you will restart from the latest location. you can jump, you can swim, you can build a city, you can trade items, you can talk to every npc in the game... it was a game that is incredibly fun to play, and up to this day, it still is the most balanced, the most welcoming Xenoblade Chronicles game.
But i really, really loved the fantasy, i really loved how dreamy and imaginative this game was. i never did play anything like this game before, and i will play nothing like it ever again. no rpg game surprised me as much as Xenoblade Chronicles. i remember witnessing the Mechonis in the horizon for the first time, it was an unbelievable sight and on such an old gaming device, i remember the wonder i felt when i discovered that the sky in Makna forest is actually the bottom of the Great Eryth Sea! i remember the first time night fall on Satorl Marsh and how the Dead Swamp became full of life, i remember reaching Valak mountain for the first time, and the astonishment i felt when the Ether crystals began to glow in the night, flowing into the sky... i left the controller, i couldn't comprehend the magic that was happening. the imagination, the fantasy in this game surpassed any JRPG I've ever played, even Final Fantasy, which is a very dear series to me. i never thought, that a day will come, when another JRPG game will become my favorite. it was brilliant, in every sense of the word.
This is something trivial, but i always thought Gaur Plain's music (night) had some similarity with the legendary Mysterious Cities of Gold, i wonder if its just me or there is really something in common.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
It is funny. i thought the shorter development cycle after the disappointing sales of XCX will lead to a much smaller game than before. to my surprise, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is every bit as grand as the first game was. no, it is probably bigger and more impressive, with more content, even without Torna! how did they manage this? i don't know, and sadly, Iwata is no longer among us, and there is no "Iwata Asks" anymore.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not as balanced, as perfect as the first game was, but it also surpasses it in many areas.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2, is a masterpiece. a game, that is a real treasure to me. i think i love it as much as the first game, and while the first game has better pacing and accessibility, the second game has also its own strong areas that are better than the first game. for example, this game actually had great dungeons! which is something i missed in the first game... like the military base in Gormott and the old factory in Mor Ardain. the world building and side quests are better, and the second half of the game has better atmosphere and don't feel rushed like the first game.
The story took (plus side quests) took me 168h to finish. the game has an enormous amount of content, especially for a JRPG. i took me around 250h to beat all the super bosses in the game. the battle system, like many people said before, is fantastic and addictive, though unlike the first game, the focus is more on your attacks and being offensive, you don't need to think that much about defense but sometimes you have to make split second decisions to stay alive. in the first game it was a bit closer to older JRPGs and you also had to be careful about your defense.
This was the first one i challenged , i actually didn't expect to beat him at this level. his attacks were not as strong as some others and i had a great healer setup with Nia (Dromarch - Boreas - Ursula/Nim).
for Rex, Zenobia was a very important blade and a life saver :P she can be deadly against bosses and unique monsters.
The last super boss i faced, and was actually quite challenging despite his level being less than others. overall, drivers battles in the game were really challenging.
Man, i just hate this fight lol. his HP is low but i kept blowing him down the stairs and losing all momentum in battle because of that.. -_-
but a chain attack with 2 orbs were actually enough to kill him.
The way you discover him in Temperantia is cool, and how you have to break the seal on him to actually face him. it is a tough battle without a doubt, one of the toughest battles in the game, what made it more manageable to me is that you can actually blow down him. the most trouble to me is that my healer, Nia, kept going behind him and he kept KO her... lol. i guess people recommend using Nia as a blade more but i used her as a driver and my final team was Rex, Morag and Nia.
The moment i saw Ophion flying in the sky my mind was blown lol. i never imagined i will face Ophion as a boss. it is also a tough battle though, it needs timing and endurance. my luck was bad i didn't get the first chain attack right so i had to chain him again and it was harder the second time, but somehow i managed it.
For me, this was the hardest battle in the entire game. you can't blow this guy down and interrupt his attacks, and his physical attacks are deadly. the way reviving works in Xenoblade makes a fight like this very hard especially if he managed to KO your tanker. if you looked carefully you can notice he was not completely down after this chain attack, but i killed him immediately after. this is always dangerous in XC2 because sometimes even with this very low health the enemy can kill Rex and then the fight is over because you already used your chain gauge and you can't revive/be revived.
There are 2 additional fights i forgot to capture, one with the super boss in Gormott (Reeking Douglass), and his battle was quite annoying because of his ability to summon other enemies. the other is a mecha fight in the World Tree which didn't give me much trouble.
Overall...
Strengths:
- Exploration! i literally can't think of any other game with better exploration other than the rest of the Xenoblade series. the maps are layered, and they are much more complicated than what they seem first. i kept discovering treasues, and new locations in the game, even after playing more than 200h! even now i can't really confirm that i discovered every single location in the game. see those moving crates in Mor Ardain? you can actually ride them! see those gigantic pillars in Kingdom of Tantal? just you wait, you will go all the way up. i kept doing as much side quests as i can not only because they are fun but also because they are designed in a way to help you discover the game's secret areas and hard-to-find locations. some people disliked field abilities, but to be honest i feel sometimes people dislike anything gameplay-related that requires them to do more than they expect. the idea of field abilities is a suitable idea for the type of gameplay a JRPG usually offers (it ties the discovery not only to the action of exploring, but also to the abilities you have and develop). there was a very simple solution for it too, you don't need to take very long time to level up field ability, you can engage more than 1 blade with the same ability and they will all add up making your life much easier : )
- Gameplay: gameplay has always been very strong in Xenoblade and this game is no different. the gameplay loop is very addictive: you can buy cylinders from shops to salvage items, you can trade those items to get money and boosters, you can use the boosters when you try to draw a blade, a blade has an ability tree and every ability will require you to do something like fighting monsters, and fighting monsters will help you to gain money and loot, using money you can buy items for your pouch, which in turn will help you in battles and fighting unique monsters... and by doing side quests, you raise the "development" level of a certain area/city.
the development (affinity) system is fantastic and i wish more developers implements something like this in their RPGs, it makes going back and revisiting those locations meaningful and not just because you want to view a scenery. when you raise the development level shops will start selling more/rarer items, more NPCs will have new dialogue, and you will unlock more side quests, which makes the game really rewarding. i don't like games designed in a way that make you pass places quickly for them to be only a nice background. in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you are part of a dynamic, living community.
- Music: it even tops the first two XC games. the tracks are long and expertly composed, the music has great variety, and full of emotion and personality. it is also very expressive. it is the rare case where you can't find a single bad track.
.... how can you not fall in love?
- Dungeons: like i said before, this was a weakness in the first 2 games but this game had real, complex, and rewarding dungeons.
- Alrest is one of the most beautiful worlds in any rpg game.
- some cut-scenes are fantastic with impressive battles. the introduction of Mythra (Hikari) is one of the best for any video game character. also there was tons of small stories for npcs and blades, and more in depth world building than the first game.
Weaknesses:
- Characters are too young...the story is grand like other works from Takahashi, but characters, especially Rex, are made to make the game appeal to younger audience.this led to the fact that there is a clear conflict between the complex, dark themes in the story, and the simple/very young cast of characters. the game has its moments, i can't deny that, but imagine how awesome it would've been if the main story characters were actually the characters from Torna the Golden Country.. the execution could've been better for sure.
and i really hated the localization, it had nothing to do with what is actually being said 50% of the time (I did play using Japanese voices, I don't know Japanese but I'm used to it and i know what the characters are saying in general).
- The game is not as well paced as the first game, and it is slower in general, especially at the first couple of hours.
- This is the first Xenoblade game that isn't the best looking game on the system it is released on. sadly, it is obvious the game needed more time and more optimization. graphics/performance are not consistent at all. i noticed something strange though: the games looks washed up on my LED TV, but the colors looks quite natural and beautiful on the Switch's screen, i don't know if anyone is the same? this has not been the case with other Switch games so i can't say it is something to do with the TV's settings. Mario Odyssey and Tropical Freeze looks fantastic on it and full of color, i don't really know what is the case here.
- I said i have no problems with field abilities, but i think it was the wrong decision to force them on the main quest, make them optional for discovery and side quests. some players prefer to only complete the main story, let them just do that.
Despite some annoyances, this game is extremely solid in terms of gameplay, and i think it is overall one of the best rpg games ever made. an excellent game like FFXII for example can compete very well against Xenoblade 2 in terms of encounter design and challenging battles, but what makes XC2 shines above its competitors is how complete the gameplay elements are and how interconnected they are. the game design is, in my opinion, unmatched by any other JRPG. finding a very well hidden treasure can be extremely rewarding, and the game is full of surprises and facing the unknown, like finding a dead traveller in Tantal, or discovering the history of Argentum and Captain Nopopon who conquered the Cloud Sea!
add to that an emotional journey and a fantastic OST and you end up with a special game. the value is insane, too, i can easily see myself spending an additional 100-200h playing this game... leveling blades, doing DLC quests, and completing harder challenges. it is a game that was made with the intention to make it last with the player for a long time.
With this series, Monolith soft brought back to me Square Soft's golden days of making grand, extremely well designed rpgs than no one else can make, and in my eyes, they even exceeded that. XC2 is that good. there are other fantastic games like P5, but i prefer rpgs with big fields and exploration like XC.
I can't wait for their next project!
i will end this with sharing some screenshots:
Baten Kaitos, anyone? :P
This place is one of the most impressive locations in any rpg game.
Our land... is eternal.
look closely, do you see the ladder? because this is Xenoblade and nothing is only for show, you can go and climb over the mill and have a very nice view over Gormott.
This place was complex and not easy to explore, but Uraya is one of the most beautiful places in the series.
I actually didn't find this place until very late.
I can't stop roaming the wastes!
Last edited:
