Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 09, 2017 12:55 pm

Man, Ive clocked in over 70 hours and I just started chapter 5. THIS GAME IS CONSUMING ALL MY FREE TIME. I was perfectly leveled for the end of chapter 4.

Spoiler:

Also, beginning chapter 5 spoilers:

Spoiler:

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 10, 2017 4:01 am

I am at 50 hours played, and my level is 45. I'm in Chapter 6, now. Some details of how my game has been going (though I don't think any of this is spoilery)...

Spoiler:

Still have not bothered with Tiger! Tiger! Haven't had any desire to and so I also haven't seen any need, so I just haven't bothered. Things have been going quite well without paying any attention to it so I've felt comfortable ignoring that part of the game.

Other than Jin, no one really holds my attention especially hard. But they're all likeable, and in general, the game does let you play the way you want...eventually, lol. So it's lots of fun now and the story is quite interesting, even though it has a lot of similarities to the the tropes of previous games and so is not super unpredictable. It's different enough to still be compelling since I like the characters.

I wish Heart-to-Hearts (which are all cute/funny) would give you some indication of what results you got out of them at the end.

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 10, 2017 1:19 pm

I'm so behind lol. I'm exploring everywhere, grinding levels and collecting cores. Still in the beginning of chapter 5, but literally going back to every area, both working on affinity charts and activating any explorable nodes I couldn't progress before.

My luck with Rare Cores has gone completely south. I can get them no problem, but i'm plagued by only common blades. Great for mercenary stuff, but I won't keep anymore than 5 of each class. They rest become booster fodder for future summons. I just really want

Spoiler:

But alas, twas not meant to be! ;w;

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 10, 2017 3:21 pm

That blade is a cute one. Do you want her for Rex? Have you been using accessories and blades that increase your luck before bonding with crystals? That supposedly makes rare ones and higher-stat common ones come out more often. What about deeds? Have you been buying them? The ones that increase idea point gains could be helpful in getting more rare blades, or at least in getting more powerful common ones. Idea points affect your stats in one way or another, though it may be more in the way that boosters do...there is no clear information, but it can't be bad, anyway.

Here is a nice spreadsheet that contains deed information if you want it. I haven't actually opened that many crystals...maybe 40 or 50 in total. Maybe less. And I actually don't even care if I get more, lol...I feel like I have too many to develop as it is. (From story ones to random core ones, I have...just ten, I believe, that I either got through side quests or from random core crystals.)

Cutting for length, again...

Spoiler:

I doubt you're actually behind, at least not compared to me...I think I go too fast. Actually, everyone I know has put in more hours than I have at the same point in the story. Like, others who are in Chapter 7 (I JUST finished Chapter 6 and have stopped playing there for today. Loved the end of that Chapter but playing for hours on end mentally wears you out and makes your body feel all stale, lol.) seem to have put in about 50% more time than I have. I don't know if my level is typical either, whether it is behind or ahead of the average...I've just hit level 50 with the end of Chapter 6.

I think it's because I don't enjoy exploration in this game. I do all the side quests I can get (and I look for all of them though I'm sure I forget areas within areas and have missed plenty) as soon as I can do them (sometimes I don't have the right blades for the job or the right affinity chart development and so on, and have to wait until I've handled those requirements before I can get to the quest itself.) But I don't wander around the landscapes just looking at what is there like I did in the other games because in this one I don't find that fun...I find it frustrating. For me this world is too hard to navigate.

The story is great, the characters are likable, the music is pleasant (I'm not as dazzled by it as I thought I would be or as most other seem to be...I liked the music in both of the previous games more than I have for this one, so far, though the BMG in later places is better than that from earlier-game places, imo.) and the world is quite pretty, though for some reason I'm just not as taken with it as I was the other games' worlds. It feels like the scope is less grand, somehow. But anyway, I don't enjoy exploring, and I think that's the main reason why I have less hours than everybody I talk to. Oh and I don't actually fight unless I have to for the story or for side quests, though I should, to develop my blades more quickly.

If I was asked which of the games was my favourite, it'd be hard to answer, as my preferences on each aspect is quite different. The world design, the exploration, the music, the character art, the character development, the story, the side quests, the battle system, the miscellaneous mechanics...how much I like each game is different on each of those points. I feel like each game has gotten more complicated. If they do a Xenoblade 3 I hope they don't make it even MORE complicated because 2 almost fried my brain for the first four chapters, trying to keep up with all the info and the tiny details.

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 10, 2017 4:22 pm

Yeah, been collecting all the deeds and wearing luck items when I pull. The RNG has turned against me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I should probably just stock pile and then have the next permanent party member open them (as i'm currently out of overdrives + have everyone in my party set up well combat wise). Idk when they're joining but

Spoiler:

I'll be spending most of my time playing this tomorrow. I don't have another game coming out until the 23rd of January, the the longer this game lasts for me the better.

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 10, 2017 4:54 pm

Well, the extra idea points and the boosters and luck may all mean nothing, after all. They can't hurt anything but the internet is very divided on whether they have any effect on your chances of drawing a rare...I think the balance leans toward 'no', that in fact it all can only ever influence your blade's elemental property and possibly stats. Even info in the game itself is kind of confusing.

Spoiler tag because it contains a spoiler re: the party-member spoiler above, plus mention of 3 rare blades, though no details on them, just names.

Spoiler:

I have another game already. Decided to give Tokyo Xanadu eX+ a try since it seems similar in so many ways to Trails of Cold Steel. Not going to be playing it any time soon, though...I concentrate on one game at once. And I'll have Ni No Kuni II in January, though I don't know what to expect since I wasn't able to get into the first one. II looked more promising.

I know some people don't like DLC, but I do, so it's nice that XC2 is going to have added content over the next year. I mean, I might prefer a NG+ feature, since I like to replay games more than I like to continue one file forever, but this game is so complex that maybe starting again would just be too much, lol.

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 11, 2017 4:49 am

Lost Sphear is my January game. I'm one of the few people who really enjoyed I Am Setsuna so Lost Sphear is just up my alley. Also, I haven't played a turn based RPG in ages. I'm really looking forward to it. I do have the Breath of the Wild DLC on hold because of Xenoblade 2, but no other games are demanding my attention right now.

re:re the above

Spoiler:

PS - Had my first crash with the game, was just walking around and got the 'error has occurred' message. Guess this is my second crash counting the getting stuck on a loading screen, but meh, I save so often a crash means nothing to me.

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 11, 2017 2:26 pm

I had a game crash too a few days ago...happened not long after I had bonded a blade though so my game had been saved automatically. I only had to redo a few minutes of stuff. But it's definitely better to remember to save often. I wonder, does it happen more in handheld mode? Are you playing mostly handheld, or docked? I use mine handheld almost entirely (though I did try it in docked to see if it looks better that way and in spite of what I've seen others say, I see no difference in graphics quality on the TV over the handheld. It's nicer to see the detailed landscapes on a larger screen, but the quality looks the same to me.) but I play mine with the power cord attached so I really have no idea how much difference there is between that and having it docked. I'm not technically-minded so I don't know what causes the crashes or if anything triggers them or etc.

Was too burnt out to play today, even though the way Chapter 6 ended got me really eager to see more. I'm finding it takes a lot of mental energy for me to keep up with this game. (More the mechanics of battle and blade roles, battle skills, elements, field skills, and etc, than the story...the story is fun to follow. I knew I was going to love Jin. Jin just had little markers of my preferences stamped all over him almost from the minute I saw him in the trailers pre-release. I'm happy that so far he is not disappointing me.)

I finally got a full driver combo but it wasn't all that impressive (even though I had several effects going on at once) so I think I can ignore trying to get a full combo in future and just stick with Break and Topple plus Blade Combos and my favourite, the chain attack. It gives me time to think! I love having time to think.

I've only played 1 or 2 hours of Setsuna so far as I have a huge load of great games in my backlog, including Persona 5, Battle Chef (fun!), Danganronpa 1-2 Reload, Tokyo Xanadu eX+, the BotW DLC content...so much stuff I managed to grab mostly on nice big sales (otherwise I could never afford them all, lol). But I think it's really beautiful and the music is much higher quality than I was expecting. I'm interested in Lost Sphear but won't be purchasing it at launch...would kind of like to play Setsuna through first.

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 12, 2017 5:44 am

So, my favourite full combo to pull off is 'Second Sun'. It's easy to pull off + does a ton of damage. It's my go to and leads into a good chain. I can usually manage to pull it off twice in one long battle for maximum damage. There's a ton of others I enjoy pulling off too, but with my current setup, Second Sun is the most worthwhile.

Also, ima' gush about a few characters, so i'll keep in spoilers (still in chapter 5):

Spoiler:

Also, a rererere about something I discovered:

Spoiler:

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 12, 2017 8:24 am

Spoiler:

I have not done second sun, even though I do have both fire and electric in my party. I mostly end up with Mega Explosion, Steam Explosion, Diamond Mist and Mega Eruption and I've seen Thunder Gale, Frost Typhoon, Electrolysis and I think Permafrost Crash. Probably because I'm usually dealing with Pyra and Dromarch. I really should try using a Dark blade on one of my guys eventually and bring Light out on Rex instead of always using Fire. I'm interested in seeing the Light/Dark combos.

I'm happy to have Driver combos be unnecessary, at least with the way I've been playing. They require too much braining for me...remembering to quickly switch blades and time things properly so that the effect doesn't run out before I can trigger the next one. I think I have recovered enough energy to play again today. Maybe, lol. I'm pretty worn out...might need a few more days of break from gaming. Or maybe that's the feeling I have because I just finished shoveling the driveway. I really do want to see what happens after finishing Chapter 6.

RopeMaidenKirie · Post Posted: Dec 12, 2017 6:29 pm

110~ hours in and on chapter 8, even with the flaws probably my favorite game of the year. I still have so much to do and I haven't burnt out yet at all. I've bought all the shop deeds (except one in Torigoth), dev levels are all 5, have around 4 million g because salvaging is OP (and was able to buy a bunch of premium salvaging canisters which make you a fortune)

Only 4 rare blades to go! Thankful that quite a few are actually quest rewards lol. So many quests though, I have like 5 pages of stuff to sort through

Genie9 · Post Posted: Dec 12, 2017 9:52 pm

So much like OP, I have played and beaten nearly all main entries on the Switch, and my friend got me this game as a birthday gift. I was not a fan of the original Xenoblade on the Wii, which I found really hard to play given my poor vision and awful TV at the time.

I must say, I just wrapped up Chapter 2 and I am loving this game. The combat is fun (although to be honest, overwhelming still), the characters have that good old JRPG feel, and the game is gorgeous. There are some glaring issues that I have, but I tend to be forgiving when a game can hold my interest like this one.

I just have some questions in the spoilers as a newbie to the game.

Spoiler:

I'll probably add more once I play some more, and get as deep as you all. I'm just shy of 10 hours of gameplay.

Kikki · Post Posted: Dec 13, 2017 3:27 am

RopeMaidenKirie wrote:110~ hours in and on chapter 8, even with the flaws probably my favorite game of the year. I still have so much to do and I haven't burnt out yet at all. I've bought all the shop deeds (except one in Torigoth), dev levels are all 5, have around 4 million g because salvaging is OP (and was able to buy a bunch of premium salvaging canisters which make you a fortune)

Only 4 rare blades to go! Thankful that quite a few are actually quest rewards lol. So many quests though, I have like 5 pages of stuff to sort through

It's good to hear that someone has had enough luck to get so many in such a (comparatively, since one of the creators said he finally got his last rare blade at 220 hours of playtime) short time. As for salvaging, I have a couple of premium cannisters that I got as a reward from that nopon in Argentum who 'levels up' your Salvager rank. He gave me five golden cannisters before that, too. I haven't used them yet. I want Tolen Krabbles to come up and I have to get rid of any of my blades with Salvaging Mastery or NO monsters spawn for me, ever, if I have even one blade anywhere in my 'inventory' of blades with even one level of Salvaging Mastery. Kind of inconvenient.

I wouldn't try to open too many of your core crystals at your stage of the game, Genie 9. I mean you can if you want, and you can always farm them at the Anangham dock salvaging point if you use them all up, but I've read a bit on this and it sounds like it might be hard to get rare blades right away...it's possible that the game blocks you from getting too many when you're in the beginning of the game though I don't know if that's the case or not but it would make sense to me if it did...and you don't want to get stuck with all of your good blades on Rex since overdrives are very limited in the game so you can only ever move a blade to a different driver...I think 4 times? And it's completely luck based so anything is normal, so to speak...you can have great luck (Kirie's luck sounds very good, to have nearly all of them at her point in the game) or terrible luck and have to spend many many cores just to get one rare blade. I have not yet heard of anyone who had a lot of rare blades on them in Chapter 2, anyway.

A tip somewhere in the game (a tutorial screen or something) tells you that luck increases your ability to get rare blades, and luck increases as you level up, so it supposedly becomes more common to get rare blades as you get further into the game. Though I hear all kinds of things. People form a lot of personal theories when something depends on luck. Also, rare blades seem to come out of common cores as often as from rare ones, at least from what I've seen. And everyone seems to be saying that they got nothing special out of their first 15 or so cores. But it's all luck-based (your luck, not necessarily game luck, lol...it seems to say your luck stat helps in the game, but a good share of players testing it out seem to find that their luck stat doesn't actually affect their rate of getting rares at all.)

But that definitely does not sound weird to me. Rares are few and far between for most people.

Bluie · Post Posted: Dec 13, 2017 4:31 am

Soooo, I gave myself a minor sprain in my left wrist from playing my Switch so much (work is REALLY slow this month, I have a lot of free time). Giving the game a tiny break, but I did this same thing when I was 7 after I played Bomberman for a whole day without moving. It's hilarious, but it also speaks volumes on how much i'm enjoying the game because usually with games, I play a bit in the morning and then a bit before bed and that's it. But no, I really just want to play this game all the time now. I'm going on vacation next week and i'm trying to figure out how to make the 3 hour plane ride not drain my Switch completely. Take breaks, kids, don't be like Bluie.

Anyways, in yesterday's redonks long play session, I got a few more rare blades and spent the majority of my time hunting down stuff for affinity charts. I find it really cool that a few of the blades have non conventional ways to fill their charts (which I talk about in spoilers).

Spoiler:

On a different note, I wish this game had a bestiary. I tire of running around trying to find the right enemy to kill for affinity charts. Some are so easy to miss or just tucked away. It can get a bit frustrating when you wander what you think is the entire map forever and still can't find that stupid monster you need to kill 5 of for whatever blade.

RopeMaidenKirie · Post Posted: Dec 13, 2017 8:53 am

There's going to be a bunch of stuff coming out for the game in the upcoming months it seems!

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2017/Dec ... News%7Cw50

Greetings to everyone playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This is Director Takahashi at Monolith Soft. Today I’d like to talk about the main updates that will be seen in the Ver. 1.1.1 update, which will be distributed next week on Friday December 22nd.

In addition to some bug fixes, we will address the following points:

~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. We hope this will make 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.
~We will further improve the convenience of the mini map as we add more quests and additional elements for second playthroughs next year. We appreciate your continued patience.

Note: The second playthrough elements will be available for all players, not just those who purchased the Expansion Pass.

~In your second playthrough, you will be able to have
Spoiler:
“those” Blades
join your party! You can also dispatch Blades like Pyra and Dromarch as a Merc Group, and unlock the “LV 4 Special” of a certain Blade.

~We will distribute the following useful items to those who purchased the Expansion Pass:
Driver Essentials Set: 10 x Rare Core Crystal, 1 x Legendary Core Crystal, 3 x Overdrive Protocol

~Upgrade Parts for Poppi: 30,000 ether

~Pyra’s Favourite Things: 5 x Jenerossi Tea

~Nia’s Favourite Things: 5 x Ardainian Bear Carving

Monolith Soft will continue to add improvements that will make the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 even more enjoyable for a long time. And even though there may be times when we cannot address every need immediately because we are working on these improvements in parallel with the Expansion Pass, we truly appreciate your continued support for Xenoblade Chronicles 2!

(I put a spoiler tag in there just in case, it's super vague but I know some people are early in and don't even want in hints at story stuff)

Now I'm trying to figure out if I want to just finish the story and wait for the new game + mechanic to come out so I can do a new file with all of the improvements and then try and 100% everything then, or just keep playing as much as I have been.