Xenoblade and The Last Story in the US?

^ That and they announced TLS for the US within half an hour of everyone getting their PAL shipment notices.

And the trilogy box was given to everyone who ordered the game (regardless of version) from the HMV, it was a store exclusive. It's not part of the CE.
 
[quote name='Vinny']
And the trilogy box was given to everyone who ordered the game (regardless of version) from the HMV, it was a store exclusive. It's not part of the CE.[/QUOTE]

Oh ok. I ordered from 365games. I'm not too choked up about it considering its quality.
 
A question for those that have played Xenoblade, is it advisable to have a Classic Controller Pro, or would the regular Classic Controller work just as well?
 
[quote name='Ragnorok64']A question for those that have played Xenoblade, is it advisable to have a Classic Controller Pro, or would the regular Classic Controller work just as well?[/QUOTE]

I played using the regular CC (with some $5 Nyko grips- it's unusable without those grips IMO). The game plays just fine with it.

The two oddly placed buttons (I think they're the Z buttons?) weren't that important. I think they were for the camera, which you'll rarely fool with during battles and important events. You'll mostly use the camera to stare at the amazing landscapes.

Plus, I hate the grips on the CC Pro. They're just too shitty and don't fell comfortable at all (though the button layout on the Pro is better). I like the Nyko grips much more, which is why I don't bother using the CC Pro.
 
FFFFFFF-- :wall:

I just found the fast travel maps in the menu after already playing for 45 hours. I had just been using the - button, skipping from one side of the map to the other then walk into the next area and repeat. Add in that I just figured out you could fast forward the in-game time last night, and I feel like an idiot. #-o

Couple more questions for you guys:

1. Should I be worried if it sounds like the CD drive in the Wii is working its ass off non-stop while playing the game? I have a launch console that's rarely been used (probably less than 50 hours total) prior to getting Xenoblade and it sounds like the CD lens is zipping around at top speed in there. Are the saves locked to the console or can I back it up on a SD card?

2.
What are the rewards for rebuilding Colony 6 all the way? Are they worth it?
 
[quote name='blindinglights']FFFFFFF-- :wall:

I just found the fast travel maps in the menu after already playing for 45 hours. I had just been using the - button, skipping from one side of the map to the other then walk into the next area and repeat. Add in that I just figured out you could fast forward the in-game time last night, and I feel like an idiot. #-o[/quote]

:rofl: These features are so great, yet hardly ever used in games, so a lot of people just don't even realize they're missing them. This is one of the things I really like about the game- they worked hard to make it as player-friendly as possible. Only real complaint on that end is the equipment ui could use some work, but I'll cut them some slack considering how many awesome features they added...

Couple more questions for you guys:

1. Should I be worried if it sounds like the CD drive in the Wii is working its ass off non-stop while playing the game? I have a launch console that's rarely been used (probably less than 50 hours total) prior to getting Xenoblade and it sounds like the CD lens is zipping around at top speed in there. Are the saves locked to the console or can I back it up on a SD card?

2.
What are the rewards for rebuilding Colony 6 all the way? Are they worth it?
Click to expand...

1. Hmm, I dunno. I am also very much in the same situation as you- probably played my launch Wii for less than 50 hours total before getting this game. But I don't remember it being particularly loud. I don't know if the saves are locked, maybe someone else can weigh in on that. Wouldn't hurt to try.

2. I would say it's worth it. I can't remember ALL the rewards, but there's a lot of stuff you can unlock. If you like all the sidequests, etc, I'd say it's worth it. If you're just going to play through the main game, probably not worth it.
 
[quote name='blindinglights']FFFFFFF-- :wall:

I just found the fast travel maps in the menu after already playing for 45 hours. I had just been using the - button, skipping from one side of the map to the other then walk into the next area and repeat. Add in that I just figured out you could fast forward the in-game time last night, and I feel like an idiot. #-o[/QUOTE]
Yeah... I'm 20 hours in, and was just about to ask the same question. I'm sitting on all this AP because I've specifically avoided using "-" to skip from entrance to exit of each area but I need to go back and get more skill books.

Back to Colony 9, bitches!

EDIT: I have another question, though. Is there any point to buying multiple copies of an upgraded art book?
 
[quote name='The Crotch']
EDIT: I have another question, though. Is there any point to buying multiple copies of an upgraded art book?[/QUOTE]

Nope, it's worthless. You'll often get several of them as drops. You just sell them.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']

EDIT: I have another question, though. Is there any point to buying multiple copies of an upgraded art book?[/QUOTE]

Each skill can only be upgraded twice, once to the middle level (allows skills to be upgraded to the 8th block) and once to the high level (unlocks all blocks). So, no, there's no point in owning the same book twice.

From what I remember, you could only buy the medium level books, you have to find/earn most of the high level books.
 
Figured. Irritating that stores sell multiple copies, though.

EDIT: Sweet Yeti of the Serengeti, Riki has a fuckload of HP. Shame he's got no arts for drawing aggro...
 
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Hmmm, contemplating buying Xenoblade for collector's sake. Makes me sad this is Wii only because I'll probably never play it. That is, unless Wii ends up being $50 at some point.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Figured. Irritating that stores sell multiple copies, though.
[/QUOTE]

But they tell you before you buy if you've already learned it...

Got Pandora's Tower in the mail today!! Gonna play it soon.

Edit: Really enjoying it so far. It took me a bit to get used to the chain mechanics, but I'm doing well now. I love the "dating sim" aspect of it. So far Xenoblade > Pandora's Tower > TLS.
 
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[quote name='Dead of Knight']But they tell you before you buy if you've already learned it...

Got Pandora's Tower in the mail today!! Gonna play it soon.

Edit: Really enjoying it so far. It took me a bit to get used to the chain mechanics, but I'm doing well now. I love the "dating sim" aspect of it. So far Xenoblade > Pandora's Tower > TLS.[/QUOTE]

Really? Hm... maybe I should fire up my copy.:whistle2:k
 
I dunno... I played a bit last night and I enjoyed it a lot less. Maybe it was because I was tired. But the second boss fight was extremely tedious and frustrating- not hard, but so long and tedious because there's only a certain window to do damage and you can easily miss it. The enemies in the 3rd tower also are a lot hardier than the first two. And, the main character can't swim! You gotta be shitting me!

Oh well, gonna give it another go tonight before I write it off. I truly almost rage-quit at that boss fight- and snapped at my husband because I was so frustrated.
 
So after fucking around with a bunch of sidequests, I'm finally ready to advance the plot of Xenoblade. Off to kill Melia's giant bird.

Calling it now:
we're going to get the the Mechon fortress thing and we'll find them trying to make a Mechon-Fiora or something.

EDIT: Also, does this game have a full-on Zelda economy, or is there a giant money sink in the game? Do reconstruction costs grow exponentially? Are there some comically-expensive art manuals? 'Cause, uh... Bionis is gonna need some Stones of Jordan at this rate.
 
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[quote name='The Crotch']
EDIT: Also, does this game have a full-on Zelda economy, or is there a giant money sink in the game? Do reconstruction costs grow exponentially? Are there some comically-expensive art manuals? 'Cause, uh... Bionis is gonna need some Stones of Jordan at this rate.[/QUOTE]

The reconstruction costs do get fairly expensive. However, you'll find yourself with more money than you'll know what to do with if you do most of the quests and such.
 
Yeah, just ragequit. The 3rd boss isn't quite as mindnumbingly frustrating as the second boss, but it's still pretty bad. I'm not having much fun with the dungeons or regular enemies either even though they aren't difficult, they're just boring (the regular enemies are starting to have 6-foot Mars bar life bars even after I've demobilized them with the chain) and repetitive. I know I suck at action games, which is why I tend to stay away from them. These bosses are just too frustrating and tedious for me. It's too bad, the "dating sim" aspect and the sparse but intriguing story are great. But I just really, really doubt I can take an entire game of bullfuck bosses and meh dungeons so I'm quitting while I'm ahead. Gonna put it up for sale if anyone's interested. I'll probably watch the cutscenes and such on Youtube as I am genuinely interested in finding out where the story goes.

So that's only one game in Operation Rainfall that I'd actually enjoyed. But Xenoblade is one of the best JRPGs ever made, so I guess playing 2 games I didn't like was worth it for that gem.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']So that's only one game in Operation Rainfall that I'd actually enjoyed. But Xenoblade is one of the best JRPGs ever made, so I guess playing 2 games I didn't like was worth it for that gem.[/QUOTE]

Well, there was no guarantee that they all were going to be great. In fact, the odds were against that.
 
I fired it up and played about an hour or so. I'm fairly impressed that this game actually looks good and doesn't run like shit. I really hate the dialogue and voice work- both seem really awkward and inconsistent. I also hate that there's a billion different things to do with the chain and it's all hard to keep track of.
 
First hour was a nightmare for me with the chain. Took me a while to actually figure out how to get meat from the dead enemies. The in-game "tutorial" is fucking awful and extremely vague.
 
Haven't played it much... I beat the first boss a few days ago (damn awesome fight) and only played bit of the second tower today. Once you get the hang of combat, it's definitely more fun. I just wish I had a Wii Motion Plus. I forgot how inaccurate the standard remote is.

The conversations really make me cringe though. I mean, TLS may have been cliched but at least the dialogue was natural. Aeron's mannerisms are especially weird. He's completely silent with the occasional *sigh* or *gasp* and then out of nowhere, he'll say two words.
 
[quote name='Vinny']The conversations really make me cringe though. I mean, TLS may have been cliched but at least the dialogue was natural. Aeron's mannerisms are especially weird. He's completely silent and then out of nowhere, he'll say two words.[/QUOTE]

Maybe he's related to Auron.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Is this even Motion + compatible?[/QUOTE]

I don't think it is but I thought M+ would result in more accurate pointing capabilities since that works on the Wii menu and all. But I can't say I know for sure whether or not the more accurate pointing capabilities requires a game to be M+ compatible.
 
Ok, just finished the second tower, another great boss fight. They also explained the intro, which was nice... but probably something they should have just shown at the start.:whistle2:/
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']You liked that boss fight? Oh wow. Different strokes for different folks.

Rumor has it Xenoblade was the 3rd best selling game in NA for April... we'll find out if it's true or not in a week when the actual NPD numbers are released.
http://gamasutra.com/view/news/1697...urn_to_alternative_entertainment__analyst.php

I'm kind of having an "I am your father" moment right now.[/QUOTE]

Strell bought em all so he can continue his double life.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']You liked that boss fight? Oh wow. Different strokes for different folks.

[/QUOTE]

I guess I should also mention that I didn't think the fight "mindnumbingly" frustrating... it was actually pretty simple since I knew what to do because of some book I picked up (and even if I hadn't, it was pretty obvious). It took about 2-3 minutes to figure out how to do it and once I got that down, it took like 2 more minutes to take him down...

Not sure why you found it frustrating.:whistle2:k
 
I suck at action games, that's probably why. I knew how to beat him too.

And yes, I'll believe that Strell bought all the copies of Xenoblade other than mine until we receive copies of all of his bank and credit card accounts proving otherwise.
 
The third tower and boss was actually kinda tough. I died like twice getting to the boss (though it was because of a misleading tutorial) and another 2 times at the boss itself. This boss wasn't as easy to figure out but again, after you do, it doesn't take long (about 5 minutes).

[quote name='Dead of Knight']I suck at action games, that's probably why. I knew how to beat him too.
[/QUOTE]

I doubt that. Xenoblade wasn't exactly a sit and wait RPG, nor was TLS and I don't think you complained about either one of those being too tough.

Just to be clear, on the third boss did you:
1. Shoot the floating blue ball of water? Shoot it using you chain arrow thing (hold B, shoot with A) to make it go away for a short bit.
2. Shoot the laser shooting eye things to make them go away after a bit.
3. Notice that blue line around the boss? That's actually a track... the master meat follows that track.
4. There's also two or three eyes that follow that track... if you have the master meat chained and the eye makes contact with the master meat, then it will send a spark down your chain and damage you unless you let go quickly before the spark touches you.
5. Are you building up your chain power?
6. Once the tentacles are out, you can make them retract for a bit by slashing them. It took 4-5 slashes with the level 4 sword.

The best strategy was to stand there and shoot the eyes, the blue water, and the moving eye on the track. When the master meat come around, chain it, charge up as much as possible, and then pull. When the tentacles showed up, it's the same strategy except now you also need to take a bit of time to attack the tentacles. Run/dodge when necessary, of course.
 
Got tired of Xenoblade and let it sit for a week. Then I started back up a day ago but switched up the party to make it play a little different, which helped a lot since I played the first 50 or so hours with Shulk/Reyn/Sharla.

Finally got the gem crafting stuff figured out to where I pretty much hit mega heat every single time I make something. I'm on
the sword
, how much longer until I start finding some level IV gem making materials?

Also, once I again I find myself discovering features waaaaay later than I should have. Just found the part where you can get skills from other people's skill tree using the coins or whatever. Which is awesome because now I have almost everyone wearing heavy armor. Just wish I would have seen that before getting 60+ hours into the game.
 
My copy is still sealed and in my backlog. Wish they released a English guide for this game. The Japanese guide looks awesome!
 
I finished up towers 4 and 5 and the difficulty is picking up a bit but it's still reasonable (though tower 5 was kinda confusing). I'm really liking the direction the story is going but the whole relationship thing is getting kinda stale (talk, give gifts, talk, etc.).
 
I'm 102 hours into Xenoblade now. Holy shit this game is huge.

I read some stuff online about party set-ups for taking on higher level monsters using
Melia to sleep/damage with summons, Reyn to tank, and Sharla to heal
, which led me to waste a good 5-10 hours trying to beat higher and higher level stuff. I think the biggest difference I've been successful with is beating a monster 18 levels higher than my party.

The only thing about it is I've pretty much broken the main story. I was generally over-leveled before thanks to the ridiculous amount of EXP the game gives if you go through and do all the side quests, but now I'm at least 10+ levels above the monsters in the current area for the story (
I'm at Agniratha
) so I have just been rotating between killing unique monsters, advancing the story, and farming skill books and gem materials to keep from getting bored from just breezing through the story.

Have any of you guys
maxed out the additional skill trees
? Are the skills worth it? I haven't unlocked them yet so I don't know anything other than they exist.

Also,
Riki is by far my favorite character in the game. I like all his commentary about everyone else is his sidekick, plus he's pretty adorable
.
 
Yeah I maxed them out. Can't really remember if they were worth it or not, I just pretty much did everything in the fucking game except for a few missable/bullshit quests and most of the high level uniques.. :lol:
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Yeah I maxed them out. Can't really remember if they were worth it or not, I just pretty much did everything in the fucking game except for a few missable/bullshit quests and most of the high level uniques.. :lol:[/QUOTE]

If you don't mind me asking how long did it take.

As for me I'm right about to enter Prison Island, I've done every side mission I could find (except for 1) and I'm clocked in at just under 50 hours. I'm guessing I'm at the halfway mark.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']If you don't mind me asking how long did it take.

As for me I'm right about to enter Prison Island, I've done every side mission I could find (except for 1) and I'm clocked in at just under 50 hours. I'm guessing I'm at the halfway mark.[/QUOTE]


I don't know if I would consider Prison Island to be the halfway point. There's still a lot of game left from that part on.
 
I'd say AFTER being Prison Island, you're around halfway..... through the story. Of course, there's always optional shit.

And I clocked over 160 hours. :lol: I'd estimate at least some of that though was just idling...
 
Wow 160 hours. I guess 110 hours till I do everything.

I'm sure I'll get to the point when I just say fuck it to all the side missions. But right now I'm trying to do them all. I'm not using a guide but I am using the Xenoblade wiki to speed things up.

I am over leveled for the main story, but I like that since I get a good challenge from optional enimes anyways.
 
I guess this is the Xenoblade discussion thread too?

I'm like 18 hours in, just got out of the Ether Mines, having killed Xort or whatever his name is. There's the scene with Dunban coming back, metal face getting driven off by a dragon thingee (t-something), then I'm dumped in a meadow-looking area.

I decide I'm high enough level to beat this monster in the ether caves, so I teleport, kill him, teleport again and sell supplies, etc.

Then I discover...I can't figure out how to get back to where I was. The caves/mines are blocked off (I walked through them to make sure). I can't teleport directly back to where I was. I teleported back to Colony 6, since a character mentioned having to go through/around it or something to get to the Bionis' back, only the door's still locked.

So....am I stuck? Did they screw up, or am I missing some passage from Colony 6 to wherever I was when I got out of the mines?

I was enjoying the game quite a bit. Interesting setting, above average story. About the only thing I don't like is I wish the battle system was more like Final Fantasy 12. Like they're similar, but this is missing that ability to program it, and is super spastic when tons of enemies are on screen (to a laughable extent). I've found myself switching to the girl with the gun so I don't have to do much when I engage battles.

[quote name='blindinglights']
1. Should I be worried if it sounds like the CD drive in the Wii is working its ass off non-stop while playing the game? I have a launch console that's rarely been used (probably less than 50 hours total) prior to getting Xenoblade and it sounds like the CD lens is zipping around at top speed in there. Are the saves locked to the console or can I back it up on a SD card?[/quote]

I think i checked and thankfully they're not locked. Still pisses me off when saves are locked, and LOTS of them are on the Wii for some idiotic reason.

Regarding the drive, my first Wii's drive died, and my second one sounds horrible too, and yeah, it's just constantly thrashing during this. Not confidence inspiring. Hell, it thrashes like mad just displaying the list of items you get from a chest.
 
In the pop-up menu, there's an icon on the left that shows you maps of all the areas. Select the Colony 6 area and you should be able to fast travel back to the area where you were.

I'm 120 hours in now and my disc drive is still going nuts constantly, but it seems to be holding up.
 
Thanks! For some reason I missed that "Freight Road" on the Colony 6 map-you have to scroll down on the map to see it, hopefully this is the last time I'll get stuck :lol:
 
I got tired of grinding, finishing all the little side quests and working on the colony reconstruction, so I just finished the game today. The ending was pretty good, nothing special, but not bad.

I made my New Game + save, but I don't know if I will ever use it since you have to progress through the game to open up the areas all over again.

After 126 hours, I think this is ready to go back on the shelf for a while. I beat Mass Effect 3 before I started this, so I think it's time to knock out a few short games.
 
Do you NEED to do the side stuff? Because I got BEYOND sick of it within minutes of Colony 9, and have totally ignored it, save for fighting enemies I see that are low enough level (but not black) as I'm traveling.

The side stuff...well, okay, I LOVE it in New Vegas, so I won't say I don't like it in any game. I did everything I could find in New Vegas and Mass Effect...but I can't stand side stuff in Japanese RPGs, and this just seems like a new low...and then I heard of people spending 80 hours in the first area or something, and am like NO.

Just hope that doesn't mean I'll get stuck. I'm post unlocking that anti-aura ability of the Monado, making my way to some village and then the head. I'd love it if I were halfway done, or even a quarter, but I have a horrible feeling I'm not even 5% lol, and...ugh, how far am I?

I like the story fine, but the side stuff is beyond mind numbingly stupid, and the battle system seems like a super crappy version of FF12's...just lame, and if I were actually having to interact with it... yuck. takes them forever to take down a normal enemy that doesn't give that much experience...they just have crazy high hit points.
 
I can't say I'm really thrilled with the battle system either. If you have too many enemies, it becomes a real mess to manage, since it isn't always easy to see who you are attacking. Or, for that matter, what is considered the side or back of an enemy for some of them.
 
I would only do side stuff that you're interested in or to level up a little if you're behind the enemies in the current story area. The one thing it does help is raising the affinity of certain areas so you can unlock quests that allow you to unlock extra skill trees, but in my opinion, they weren't worth it.

If you just want to finish the game, run through each area morning/afternoon/night and take every quest and just play normally. That way you will complete some without trying. Then while you progress the story just try to kill every unique monster you see to get the affinity coins, because linking skill trees helps a lot.
 
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