Last month, after nearly a year and 90+ hours of sporadically playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I finished it. I spent another 10-15 hours working on sidequests (mainly Rare Blade and DLC ones), but eventually threw in the towel because I got to the point where it felt like I was working a courier-like fetch and deliver job and not getting paid for it. :)
That being said, I had a good time with it, and overall, it's currently my favorite JRPG that I've played this generation, not that I've played too many of them. The world design was great, the cutscene direction was beautiful, the soundtrack is excellent, combat was fun (once I understood it), and the QoL features kept me going. On the other hand, some of the Blade designs are embarrassing, field skills are terrible, I loathe the gacha-based Core Crystal system, and pacing is pretty uneven.
Instead of hopping into Torna, I decided to fire up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on my 3DS instead last night. I'd put maybe 15-20 hours into it several years ago, but I wasn't really feeling it, so I stopped. I have X, but haven't started that, so 2 was the first game in the Xenoblade series that I finished.
But yeah, I don't know if it was all the time spent, knowledge gained, and patience built up from 2, but so far (I started over and am only a couple hours in), 1 is feeling GREAT. Something about its flow, structure, combat, characters/dialogue, and music seem so nicely put together. I mean, obviously the character models are what they are, but I also have to remember that the original game is closing in on being a decade old.
Anyway, I know a lot of folks say to play it on Wii (I have that too), but the portability of 3D means I'm way more likely to play through and finish it. One can only hope that X will make it to the Switch in the form of a remaster at some point. Please bring 1 along for the ride as well, Monolith Soft. I'll gladly buy them again!
In the end, I'm just excited to be into a different JRPG series than my old standbys like FF, DQ, and Persona. I know there are many others like Tales, Ys, etc., but these things take time. ;)
Anyone else go back to 1 after playing later entries? Would love to hear your thoughts/impressions!
That being said, I had a good time with it, and overall, it's currently my favorite JRPG that I've played this generation, not that I've played too many of them. The world design was great, the cutscene direction was beautiful, the soundtrack is excellent, combat was fun (once I understood it), and the QoL features kept me going. On the other hand, some of the Blade designs are embarrassing, field skills are terrible, I loathe the gacha-based Core Crystal system, and pacing is pretty uneven.
Instead of hopping into Torna, I decided to fire up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on my 3DS instead last night. I'd put maybe 15-20 hours into it several years ago, but I wasn't really feeling it, so I stopped. I have X, but haven't started that, so 2 was the first game in the Xenoblade series that I finished.
But yeah, I don't know if it was all the time spent, knowledge gained, and patience built up from 2, but so far (I started over and am only a couple hours in), 1 is feeling GREAT. Something about its flow, structure, combat, characters/dialogue, and music seem so nicely put together. I mean, obviously the character models are what they are, but I also have to remember that the original game is closing in on being a decade old.
Anyway, I know a lot of folks say to play it on Wii (I have that too), but the portability of 3D means I'm way more likely to play through and finish it. One can only hope that X will make it to the Switch in the form of a remaster at some point. Please bring 1 along for the ride as well, Monolith Soft. I'll gladly buy them again!
In the end, I'm just excited to be into a different JRPG series than my old standbys like FF, DQ, and Persona. I know there are many others like Tales, Ys, etc., but these things take time. ;)
Anyone else go back to 1 after playing later entries? Would love to hear your thoughts/impressions!
