Xenoblade and The Last Story in the US?

[quote name='blindinglights']io, are you running through towns morning, afternoon, and night (using the advance time menu) to get quests? That's the easiest way to look for them quickly.

As far as the 60 hours at Valak goes, I think that's about right. I want to say I was mid-50's, but I skipped a lot of the smaller side quests since I was getting bored.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I've been through places at all times. I also started using that google spreadsheet that DoK posted a few days ago. I used that to find 5 or 6 Alcamoth quests I hadn't found on my own despite running all over the place. Running all over the place is getting a little tedious, so I will probably rely on the spreadsheet a little more going forward.
 
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Man...I'm getting a bit ticked off at Xenoblade in regards to Quests. These things just don't want to spawn sometimes. I don't get it. Do they have a timer? Do I have to play hopscotch or something?

Anyway, I just got
Melia's fourth skill tree, and I'm trying to get Shulk's. Partially why I'm ticked about the Quests.
Story wise I just found out that
Fiora is alive somehow, which was sorta obvious considering the Mechon below Colony 6 had the same voice as one guy who died a while ago. Although Fiora's was a bit...different. Then again, it might just be because I've put 50 hours into this game and forgot what she sounded like in the first place.

Still an awesome game so far though. And someone mentioned over at GoNintendo that the game was being stocked in Best Buys. I doubt it's true though.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Man...I'm getting a bit ticked off at Xenoblade in regards to Quests. These things just don't want to spawn sometimes. I don't get it. Do they have a timer? Do I have to play hopscotch or something?[/QUOTE]

Are you talking about items (blue orbs)? Some items like to spawn in certian areas more frequently. This was my least favorite part of the game. If you're looking for a specfic item you could check to see if a NPC has it for trade. I found out most quest items require overtrades. If you're not sure what that is an overtrade happens when you give a much better item than the one you're trading for. The NPC is grateful and gives you another item for free. It's always the same item for each NPC. Just keep doing it till you have the amount you need.

Try going to http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Xenoblade_Wiki

Type in the item's name and see if it's availible for trade. Or maybe it'll give advice on where to easly find it.
 
I've been doing trades to get some stuff as I sold off a few things I needed for Colony 6 reconstruction. Those are not marked in your inventory by the way so be careful! And some of them are just regular "small bag" items too. It's hard to be careful, though, when your inventory gets full and you have to drop or sell stuff off just to get new things. They should have made the "monster bit" section of the inventory a little larger because you never know what you might need. One of the things I sold off were "jagged tails" which seemed useless enough (low value and non-sparkly bags). Then I needed them for Colony 6 #-o. I couldn't find a trader for those - but they were easy enough to get from the flying enemies in Eryth.

As for quests, I haven't had too much trouble except for one stupid monster someone in
Alcamoth
wants me to kill. They say it is on Hovering Reef 10 at night and I've gone there several times and there is no monster there. This is one of the last timed quests I currently have to do and it is frustrating not being able to find that guy.

Also, I am trying to do the "Adventurers in Peril" one and it seems that I need to have quickstep gems equipped to be able to make that huge ramp jump in
Valak Mountain
to get to the higher water area to find someone. I put on a few level III gems and I still don't get close though. I have tons of other gems, but only had 2 quickstep ones and I have no crystals to make more of them.

Broly - you and I must be around the same part of the game. I also just unlocked 4th skill tree for Melia and Sharla and found out that other spoiler thing you mentioned. I've pressed on into
Sword Valley
and am almost done with that, though I backed out to do some quests. I need to get Shulk and Reyn's 4th skill trees, though, as they are both close to getting full on the 3 you start off with. I'll have to look at the Wiki/Google doc for those. I stumbled on Melia and Sharla's on my own.

To those of you who have finished, now that I am nearly done with
Sword Valley (and by nearly done I mean the guy behind metal face is dead)
how much further do I have? How many more large areas are left? Every time I think there can't possibly be another huge expansive area to this game, I get into one more of them ;). And let me clarify, I know I'm not that close to the end simply based on my hours (vs Rodimus and DoK). I'm at about 60 hours and I tend to mess around and take my time - I've been spending countless hours doing just quests for example. But if I'm lucky, maybe I'm half way now?
 
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[quote name='io']

To those of you who have finished, now that I am nearly done with
Sword Valley (and by nearly done I mean the guy behind metal face is dead)
how much further do I have? How many more large areas are left? Every time I think there can't possibly be another huge expansive area to this game, I get into one more of them ;). And let me clarify, I know I'm not that close to the end simply based on my hours (vs Rodimus and DoK). I'm at about 60 hours and I tend to mess around and take my time - I've been spending countless hours doing just quests for example. But if I'm lucky, maybe I'm half way now?[/QUOTE]

Yeah I'd say about halfway, there are still a couple big areas.
 
[quote name='io']As for quests, I haven't had too much trouble except for one stupid monster someone in
Alcamoth
wants me to kill. They say it is on Hovering Reef 10 at night and I've gone there several times and there is no monster there. This is one of the last timed quests I currently have to do and it is frustrating not being able to find that guy.[/QUOTE]

Is it one of those reefs with a hole in the middle so you can drop down to a lower level? Maybe it's down there.
 
Erad - thanks. I can't imagine what is left considering how many huge areas I've been through already (
Colony 9, Bionis Leg, Colony 6, Makna, Sartorl Marsh, Frontier Village, Eryth Sea, Alcamoth, Valak, Sword Valley, not to mention the smaller, more linear, but still pretty big areas like the Tephra Cave, Ether Mine, Entia Tomb, etc
).

[quote name='Rodimus']Is it one of those reefs with a hole in the middle so you can drop down to a lower level? Maybe it's down there.[/QUOTE]

I don't think so but I'll check it again tonight. I think it is one of the flower-petal shaped ones. I dropped off the side and there's nothing but ocean there - thought maybe there would be an island or something but there's nothing anywhere near it.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Are you talking about items (blue orbs)? Some items like to spawn in certian areas more frequently. This was my least favorite part of the game. If you're looking for a specfic item you could check to see if a NPC has it for trade. I found out most quest items require overtrades. If you're not sure what that is an overtrade happens when you give a much better item than the one you're trading for. The NPC is grateful and gives you another item for free. It's always the same item for each NPC. Just keep doing it till you have the amount you need.

Try going to http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Xenoblade_Wiki

Type in the item's name and see if it's availible for trade. Or maybe it'll give advice on where to easly find it.[/QUOTE]

No, I mean Quests from NPC's. I went to wiki, changed the time for a few quests, and they just don't give me anything.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']No, I mean Quests from NPC's. I went to wiki, changed the time for a few quests, and they just don't give me anything.[/QUOTE]

So the NPCs aren't giving you quests?
 
Yeah. And they're not timed quests, either. Well, the one for
Shulk's fourth Skill Tree is. Something else might be required though.
 
A lot of the skill tree quests have requirements of other quests being completed first. Some of them I couldn't figure out which ones were mandatory so I just had to check every once in a while.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Yeah. And they're not timed quests, either. Well, the one for
Shulk's fourth Skill Tree is. Something else might be required though.
[/QUOTE]

Prerequisites:
Colony 9 Affinity between 4 and 5
Jackson's Awakening
 
[quote name='Indignate']
Prerequisites:
Colony 9 Affinity between 4 and 5
Jackson's Awakening
[/QUOTE]

Did those. Not popping where the character spawns.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Did those. Not popping where the character spawns.[/QUOTE]

Between 4 and 5 actually means somewhere between there, not just having 4.

Maybe gaining some more affinity would help? Unless you're already at 5, then I don't know what could be holding you up.
 
Well, it kinda has to be between 4 and 5 since I've had it for quite a while, and I've done the overwhelming majority of the quests. I should probably focus on trying to get my affinity up for the other places I have unlocked at the moment.

I also assume that by the end the entire world will be joined in the Affinity Chart somehow. Makes you feel all nice and warm inside just thinking about it.
 
FINALLY:

The Last Story North American Release Date Announced

XSeed announces pre-order incentive for epic Wii RPG.


by Richard George
July 11, 2012
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/11/the-last-story-north-american-release-date-announced#


Almost a year and a half after its release in Japan, and six months after its European debut, North American Wii owners will finally get their chance to play Mistwalker's The Last Story at the tail end of this summer. XSeed has confirmed to IGN it intends to release the game on August 14, 2012.
XSeed has also announced an incentive for those who pre-order at Amazon.com, EB Games Canada and GameStop. Fans who reserve their copy of Last Story at any of these outlets will receive a bonus soundtrack CD, featuring seven tracks from the game's score, composed by Nobuo Uematsu. This comes in addition to the limited edition of the game, which will feature a softcover art book and custom packaging. All 'launch copies' of Last Story will come in the limited edition format, and Xseed's MSRP for the game is $49.99.

The Last Story received an 8.5 from IGN when we reviewed it upon its European release. "The Last Story swirls the best of JRPG characterisation, presentation, customisation and storytelling together with third-person action combat and elements of stealth and real-time strategy. It's among the best-looking games on the Wii," wrote our own Keza MacDonald. Be sure to read the rest, and decide for yourself if you want what will likely be Wii's last story. (See what I did there?)
Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com, and the leader of the network's Nintendo team. He also covers all things Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil, WWE and much, much more. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN, if you dare.
 
Yeah, it's one of the best-looking games on Wii if you're looking at still photographs. TLS in action has THE worst framerate of a non-joke-tier action RPG ever.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Yeah, it's one of the best-looking games on Wii if you're looking at still photographs. TLS in action has THE worst framerate of a non-joke-tier action RPG ever.[/QUOTE]

Is it really that bad?

I just finished reading the IGN review and they say absolutely nothing about this. They pretty much say what I've heard everywhere else: that it looks great for a Wii game. It would seem pretty bizarre to go from Xenoblade to this game which they say takes 20 hours, if you take it slowly. But then again, that might just hit the spot. I may just finally be done with Xenoblade around the time this comes out so the timing might work out well ;).

Here's there summary:

8.0

Presentation
It lacks the colour and personality that would make it really distinctive, but The Last Story is nonetheless detailed and well presented.

7.5

Graphics
For the Wii, it’s super, but obviously it doesn’t compare that favourably to its peers on other platforms.

9.0

Sound
Nobuo Uematsu’s score does not disappoint, and the voice acting is fantastic.

9.0

Gameplay
That combat system brings the game alive – it could be a little more challenging, but it’s always fun to play.

8.0

Lasting Appeal
20 hours is a good length, and it doesn’t outstay its welcome; online multiplayer adds extra value for those who want it.

8.5
OVERALL

Great
(out of 10)


I also read through a couple of the lower-scoring reviews on Metacritic and I see complaints about the story, the combat, the lack of open world exploration (in comparison to Xenoblade Chronicles), and the overall vision, but nothing on the frame rate. They all seem to be in agreement that the game looks great.
 
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It never hindered gameplay for me (then again, I only got about 10 hours in before taking a break). It does show up a lot though, even during cutscenes.
 
August 14th for TLS is so late, I'm not sure if I'll have time for it. Is there no practical way to get my hands on Pandora's Tower instead? Someone toss me a PM and tell me how to do illegal things.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']August 14th for TLS is so late, I'm not sure if I'll have time for it. Is there no practical way to get my hands on Pandora's Tower instead? Someone toss me a PM and tell me how to do illegal things.[/QUOTE]

Import it....

I bought Pandora's Tower at the airport in London, but I really gave no interest in it.

And as for TLS, the slowdown was really bad for me, to the point where it was unplayable. But since I had to hack my Wii to play the PAL version, I just ended installing it to a USB drive, which made it easily tolerable. I think some of the problem comes from it being a dual-layered DVD, which means if your Wii runs Smash Bro fine, it should be ok with TLS. Otherwise, I'd look into hacking your Wii so you can install it to a flash drive.
 
I have installed too, so maybe that's why I haven't seen it to the point that it would make it unplayable. Never in combat, just in a few places environments here and there.
 
[quote name='Indignate']I have installed too, so maybe that's why I haven't seen it to the point that it would make it unplayable. Never in combat, just in a few places environments here and there.[/QUOTE]

If you actually play the proper way, it is god awful. Give it a try. It's a big difference.

And right, Pandora's Tower isn't very good. Not missing much.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Yeah, it's one of the best-looking games on Wii if you're looking at still photographs. TLS in action has THE worst framerate of a non-joke-tier action RPG ever.[/QUOTE]

wants to cry hearing this. I was really hoping that it wouldn't be deficient in something like that but the Wii is pretty gimped hardwarewise except for a few who somehow manage to make it turn tricks.

Is the story presentation of TLS pretty good? It seems to me Hironobu Sakaguchi is the magic that EnixSquare has been missing for a while.
 
Definitely looks like it has that Sakaguchi imagination, but the writing itself I hear is pretty mediocre. I felt the same about Lost Odyssey (outside of the memory stories), so I'm not expecting much from the TLS's narrative department.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']Definitely looks like it has that Sakaguchi imagination, but the writing itself I hear is pretty mediocre.[/QUOTE]

Mediocre is being generous.
 
Xenoblade is now being stocked in Canadian Best Buy stores.

I'm also over 55 hours into Xenoblade now. I want to get as much done as I can, but I feel I need to move the story along, but I don't want to miss Quests from
Alcamonth
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Xenoblade is now being stocked in Canadian Best Buy stores.

I'm also over 55 hours into Xenoblade now. I want to get as much done as I can, but I feel I need to move the story along, but I don't want to miss Quests from
Alcamonth
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I spent several hours getting through those (and some earlier ones along the way). I still can't find that one monster I mentioned earlier. Let me know if you find that one. And I'm also still trying to do the one that requires you to do something in the next area (by jumping off ramps apparently). Note, Broly, that you can definitely get through
Prison Island, then Valak and at least most of the way through Sword Valley (where I am now)
without those quests expiring. So you can progress a little more if you want if you haven't even tackled
Prison Island
yet.
 
Right now I am in
Valak
and I've been given clearance into the next area. I'd still like to explore this area a tiny bit more to open up all map possibilities before I head back there to finish those Quests.

Also, a minor complaint
Heart-to-Hearts should only appear if you have that character in your party, since it's been spoiling for the longest time that I'm still missing 1 character, so it's obvious I'm missing one. Not to mention I know who it is already given the Artbook.
 
Yeah I didn't even bother with like 95% of those, they are such a pain and not anywhere near necessary.
 
[quote name='Erad30']Yeah I didn't even bother with like 95% of those, they are such a pain and not anywhere near necessary.[/QUOTE]

They are necessary if you want all of the Skill Trees though.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Right now I am in
Valak
and I've been given clearance into the next area. I'd still like to explore this area a tiny bit more to open up all map possibilities before I head back there to finish those Quests.

Also, a minor complaint
Heart-to-Hearts should only appear if you have that character in your party, since it's been spoiling for the longest time that I'm still missing 1 character, so it's obvious I'm missing one. Not to mention I know who it is already given the Artbook.
[/QUOTE]

And I just finished the area after the one you are in still have those quests open. So feel free to press on from
Valak
and even finish the next area if you want. The next area
(Sword Valley)
is pretty damn big, too.

And the quest to fight a special monster on Hovering Island 10 is officially broken. It says only at night but I have been there several times and nothing. And I verified that it is not one you can drop into a lower area through the center. If you drop through the center you are in the water with no islands anywhere near. Now, maybe, possibly, it requires night and meteors? It doesn't say that like some others but maybe they just screwed that up. I even tried running around to some of the other hovering islands to make sure it maybe wasn't just a typo.

[quote name='KingBroly']They are necessary if you want all of the Skill Trees though.[/QUOTE]

What, the heart-to-hearts are necessary for Skill Trees, or the quests? I thought it was just certain quest-lines that led to them.
 
[quote name='officerrickyross222']ive been meaning to pick this up, if i pick up xenoblade tomorow anyone think i could finish it before the last story ?[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on how many hours you play a week. In my pre-marriage part time days, I could easily log 10 hours a day, now it's like 20 a week if I'm lucky, so it took me a couple months.
 
Yeah, it's going to take you at least 100 hours from everything I've seen so count on that ;). I'm at about 75 now myself.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Right now I am in
Valak
and I've been given clearance into the next area. I'd still like to explore this area a tiny bit more to open up all map possibilities before I head back there to finish those Quests.

Also, a minor complaint
Heart-to-Hearts should only appear if you have that character in your party, since it's been spoiling for the longest time that I'm still missing 1 character, so it's obvious I'm missing one. Not to mention I know who it is already given the Artbook.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah you have assloads of time to do those quests.
 
I got this game on release and played about 10 hours a week up until a week ago or so. I've now played about 125 hours and completed the main game, all I really have left to do is beat the superbosses. Such a fantastic and addicting game. I really thought I would have to take some long stretches away from it in order not to burn out, but I've played it consistently for the last 3 months.
 
Yeah - it really keeps your attention. There is always something new to do, and the quests and gem crafting add a nice (and optional) diversion to the main quest. Even though I have mixed up my team a little (mostly to earn affinity points between different characters) I still mostly control Shulk and Dunban - even the combat has not gotten boring at all over 75+ hours. I can't see myself being done at 125 given how much more I think there is to do. I'm at
Fallen Arm/Hidden Village
now. And FWIW, Broly, I still have those quests available at this point too - so you can definitely go 2-3 areas beyond where you are now. In fact, you are safe at least up until you get the last character so that's a good marker for when you might want to go back and get them done - otherwise, press on!
 
[quote name='officerrickyross222']ive been meaning to pick this up, if i pick up xenoblade tomorow anyone think i could finish it before the last story ?[/QUOTE]

You can beat it in 70 hours easily. I only did like 10% of the sidequests before getting sick of them.

The Last Story is pretty short, I think I beat it in 25 hours. You should probably beat that before you try Xenoblade.
 
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