Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[Juno]

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As the giant beasts march toward death, the last hope is a scavenger named Rex—and Pyra, a living weapon known as a Blade. Can you find the fabled paradise she calls home? Command a group of Blades and lead them to countless strategic victories before the world ends.

Each Titan hosts its own distinct cultures, wildlife, and diverse regions to explore. Search the vast open areas and labyrinthine corridors for treasure, secret paths, and creatures to battle and index.

During these escapades you'll get to know a large cast of eclectic characters, including the weaponized life forms known as Blades. Gather these allies, bond with them to increase their power, and utilize their special ARTS to devastate enemies. But to save the world of Alrest, you must first demystify its cloudy past.

• A new story in the Xenoblade Chronicles™ series
• The next adventure is on the Nintendo Switch™ console—set on the backs of colossal, living Titans
• Discover each Titan's diverse regions, culture, wildlife, equipment, and hidden secrets
• Find, bond with, and command weaponized life forms known as Blades to earn abilities and enhance them
• Uncover the history of Alrest and the mystery of its endless ocean of clouds

Spoiler: E3 Gameplay Trailer

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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is released worldwide for the Switch today - will you be playing it (now or maybe later, if it's on your Christmas list)? Let us know about your opinions and first impressions of it here, but as always, be mindful of spoilers!

 

[Dragon]

I'm probably going to be playing next week! But yeah, I'm excited to play it; I've listened to some of the ost and it's definitely cool in general! I'm not quite sure about the characters yet, but they seem decent enough at a first glance!

 

[Graine]

I wish I had a switch... The first game was brilliant

 

[thedestinedblade]

Ordered late so I won't get my copy until Tuesday. I'm still playing through the first game though so I don't mind the few extra days, lol. Without spoiling myself, I like what I've seen of it so far. The reviews have been quite positive so I'm looking forward to it.

They even gave us a Kos-mos cameo, which is neat. :)

 

[Desert Stream~]

Can't wait to get it! I'm asking for special edition for christmas, if my parents get me the normal edition I'm gonna be sad lol.

Spoiler:

Kinda scared that pyra might die though, the recent trailer where the blade core fell off concerns me :p

 

[Crackin355]

Double dipped since I would rather not wait two weeks to play, the money I saved on not going for the collector's edition went into it. I may have spent an abnormal time exploring the first large area but it's nice to see where you can go without getting killed by all the uniques. I did get the expansion pass but the freebie items it gives you so far don't seem all too necessary. The gold is nice but I've never gone under the amount you get from it so I think I'd be fine without it too.

12 Hours in, just started chapter 3, I did manage to get two rare blades (one randomly from a common, another from a rare with a booster). It's amazing how good some of the worse blade designs look as in-game models. Common crystals are really common so don't worry ever worry about a shortage of generic blades.

Fights against tougher enemies do take a while but it gives you plenty of time to set up your combos, swap between blades multiple times and do lots of damage which is the fun part of it all. Weak enemies usually die before you get to do anything interesting.

Also thank god for the sound mixer, I've tweaked it to my liking so in-battle voices don't drown out the music but the music doesn't drown out the cut scene dialogue. Playing with the sub because I honestly didn't like much of what I heard in english trailers/gameplay, not that it's bad, it just didn't sound good either(besides a few characters).

 

[thedestinedblade]

I finished the first game a few days ago (finally!) and put about 4 hours into XC2 as of today. I've liked it so far. Gameplay feels a lot slower and a bit complicated, but it's pretty fun once you get the hang of it. I haven't used up any cores yet, but I'm not really a fan of the whole gacha blade thing, lol. People were making a bid deal about the dub, but I don't mind it (I've heard worse) Plus, there's a lot variety with the English, Scottish, American, and even some Welsh (apparently Nia) accents going on. {XD}

 

[Crackin355]

Finished the game yesterday at 92 hours, I completed most of the side quests and spent a lot of time exploring but it was enjoyable throughout. Combat picks up a lot after chapter 3 when you get access to 3 blades at a time and the chain attack. A very satisfying two weeks, sad that it's over now. The places you could explore were all fantastic and the characters were great. By the end of the game, combat was a blast, especially with the team composition I was using.

 

[thedestinedblade]

I'm on chapter 4 and been farming core crystals trying to the the blade I want, but no luck. {XD} The only complaints I have so far is the terrible UI and map design. It's just so counter-intuitive. And I've never been one to care much for graphics/FPS, but the game looks pretty rough in handheld mode. The texture pop in when you fast travel and hoo boy that's some rough business.

Still, I've been having quite a fun time with it. Love the variety of blades (not so much the system), and the world is pretty damn beautiful.

 

[Crackin355]

I tried my hand at some of the superbosses, the highest level enemy that fits into that category was the easiest and the lowest level one has been the hardest, I have yet to deal any substantial damage before dying.

The numbers are a lie.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Can't wait for the dlc. I hear the next patch is gonna have improvements to the map, ik that was many player's main complaint.

 

[Crackin355]

I hope it doesn't make it so that pressing back after entering the fast travel menu will force me out of the fast travel menu, after a couple of chapters I found myself hopping between titans frequently and the fast travel 'improvement' is just going to cause problems for me otherwise.

Also after many tries I beat the hardest superboss, the Lv100 one that I think most consider to be the most difficult due to the type of enemy it is and how much harder it hits than any other enemy in the game. I did it at Lv87 rather than grind, I got four orbs up and went to town, it was left with a sliver of health and I just spammed the arts buttons to try and get rid of the last bit before I got killed. I had to play the role of the healer since the AI simply doesn't cut it here.

 

[thedestinedblade]

An update has been added!

– An easy mode will be added to Tiger! Tiger!

– When you press the X button, the Skip Travel screen will open the map to your current location. Making
it easier to spot Skip Travel locations and Salvage Points on the map.

– An additional 1:1 zoom on the mini map will be displayed by pressing the L Stick. This will allow improved visibility of your surroundings and make it easier to check quest locations.

So some nice QoL additions. I honestly haven't played much of the Tiger Tiger, but it does seem like something rather tedious just to upgrade Poppi and company. New Game + is supposed to be added sometime next year.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I'm on Chapter Four right now, and I'm currently stuck at the Thief quest due to lacking any Blades with the right abilities. Does anyone know if those are gained from leveling up or a natural ability for certain blade types?

 

[thedestinedblade]

Blade abilities are learned by completing the requirement given for each node. Ex: increasing trust, using said special a number of times, giving them their favorite food.

 

[Crackin355]

I don't remember the thief quest exactly but some abilities like Keen Eye, Fortitude, Superstrength, Nopon Wisdom, etc. are unique to rare blades and story blades. Generally the game gives you all the field skills you need through story and side quest blade cores but you can deal with some quests, enter some areas or open some treasure chests early if you happen to have a randomly obtained rare blade with the skill.

Check the blade's affinity chart for upgrading stuff.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I don't remember the thief quest exactly but some abilities like Keen Eye, Fortitude, Superstrength, Nopon Wisdom, etc. are unique to rare blades and story blades. Generally the game gives you all the field skills you need through story and side quest blade cores but you can deal with some quests, enter some areas or open some treasure chests early if you happen to have a randomly obtained rare blade with the skill.

Check the blade's affinity chart for upgrading stuff.

The quest requires the following two abilities: Keen Eye and Fortitude. I have one rare blade with Fortitude, but I'm lacking one blade with Keen Eye (also need that ability to complete the Fame and Family sidequest).

 

[thedestinedblade]

You get a blade with Keen Eye through the story automatically, so you can keep progressing and come back later if you can't draw any rare blades with that ability.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

You get a blade with Keen Eye through the story automatically, so you can keep progressing and come back later if you can't draw any rare blades with that ability.

But that'll mean talking to the NPC for help to complete the Thief story quest, and I find that cheating after reading his dialogue.

 

[thedestinedblade]

Are we talking about the quest with Praxis and Theory? Because you can bypass the field skills by just jumping off the bridge to where they are. That's what I did anyways, lol.