Nintendo According to Leaks: Xenoblade Chronicles DE dynamic resolution revealed: Handheld = 378p/540p Docked= 504p/720p

[atom631]

I was considering giving this game a try, but the back and forth here has convinced me otherwise. Maybe I’ll pick it up on sale in 6 years for $45. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, atom631 said:

I was considering giving this game a try, but the back and forth here has convinced me otherwise. Maybe I’ll pick it up on sale in 6 years for $45. 

Xbob admits a lot of people feel differently than him.  Reviews are more in line with consensus generally.

 

You might be one of the few that hates it.  Personally, I think it’s a better game on the whole than BoTW.  And just as much worth the $60.

[Ghost_MH]

1 hour ago, atom631 said:

I was considering giving this game a try, but the back and forth here has convinced me otherwise. Maybe I’ll pick it up on sale in 6 years for $45. 

 

Preorder the game on Amazon and it'll be $50.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086GFHCB2

 

I really enjoyed the game. All the Xenoblade games are basically standard JRPG that just happens to automatically mash attack while you're other attacks cool down.

 

DF did their thing in the new remaster. It doesn't look too bad.

 

 

[Bacon]

I don't think the game is worth $60 because of the graphics. I am not really a graphics whore, but this is a new low. I think it is totally unacceptable. This should be a 1080p game. 900p would barely be acceptable. Your better off just torrenting the Wii version and playing it on the dolphin emulator. 

 

Edit: I mean from the perspective that I have already played the game once before. 

[Greatoneshere]

38 minutes ago, Bacon said:

I don't think the game is worth $60 because of the graphics. I am not really a graphics whore, but this is a new low. I think it is totally unacceptable. This should be a 1080p game. 900p would barely be acceptable. Your better off just torrenting the Wii version and playing it on the dolphin emulator. 

 

Edit: I mean from the perspective that I have already played the game once before. 

 

Same, also as someone who has played it before.

[Brian]

Disappointing. I would cancel my preorder if I could and just play the Dolphin version. 

[Ghost_MH]

13 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Same, also as someone who has played it before.

 

Same here. I have no plans to pick it up again. The only thing that would change my mind is if the new epilogue content is REALLY good. I'm reading it's some 10-15 hours long, but it's probably too soon to expect any reviews on how good any of that stuff is.

[Amazatron]

I was kinda on the fence getting this, but gonna hold off for now. Too much in my backlog anyways.

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

Same here. I have no plans to pick it up again. The only thing that would change my mind is if the new epilogue content is REALLY good. I'm reading it's some 10-15 hours long, but it's probably too soon to expect any reviews on how good any of that stuff is.

Actually I think they let you jump into the new content from the start.  So reviewers are touching on it.  
 

I’m in the same boat as you guys, but mainly because I don’t replay RPGs this long.  Also haven’t even touched Xenoblade 2’s DLC either which I already have.

 

I’d still suggest this version to someone new to it.  The old character faces were butt ugly back on the Wii, plus the QoL changes all sound nice.  And I think the option to go handheld with it fits the design, as it did on the 3DS.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I'm liking the redone soundtrack.

[Brian]

https://opencritic.com/game/9261/xenoblade-chronicles-definitive-edition
 

89 so far

[atom631]

Is there a ton of grinding required in this game? 

[Xbob42]

14 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

You might be one of the few that hates it.  Personally, I think it’s a better game on the whole than BoTW.  And just as much worth the $60.

I think comparing it to BotW is a really bizarre thing to do. I get that they're both open world and hell, didn't Monolith even help with BotW's world? But I think the games are structured completely differently. Zelda's a true freeform open world adventure, whereas XC is a linear RPG that happens to have some big open areas you can explore and traditional JRPG "open world" in that you can go back to do some quests, but I think beyond the surface level similarities they're not similar at all, or at least not in a way that feels correct to me.

 

I mean, obviously you can like one more than the other, I just thought it was strange to point out BotW specifically.

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Xbob42 said:

I think comparing it to BotW is a really bizarre thing to do. I get that they're both open world and hell, didn't Monolith even help with BotW's world? But I think the games are structured completely differently. Zelda's a true freeform open world adventure, whereas XC is a linear RPG that happens to have some big open areas you can explore and traditional JRPG "open world" in that you can go back to do some quests, but I think beyond the surface level similarities they're not similar at all, or at least not in a way that feels correct to me.

 

I mean, obviously you can like one more than the other, I just thought it was strange to point out BotW specifically.

... is where I was going with it.  BotW is generally regarded as the best Switch game.  I like Xenoblade more than it. That’s how good I feel about the game on the whole, and the point I was trying to make.

 

That and both games are a good value proposition for $60.

[crispy4000]

6 hours ago, atom631 said:

Is there a ton of grinding required in this game? 

Not in the 8-bit or 16-bit sense where it’s a straight up prerequisite.  I’d say it’s more that there’s a lot of fighting.  And optional tinkering of a crafting system for what is essentially its version of FF7’s materia.  You can game the systems a bit with it.
 

You pick and choose your battles and can ignore a ton of side quests, so playtime can vary wildly.  I think it’d be hard to beeline without getting distracted, but there are those who beat it in 60 some hours their first go.  It’s a long game.

[Bacon]

6 hours ago, atom631 said:

Is there a ton of grinding required in this game? 

The entire game feels like a 100 hour grind. Like, it feel like you are just non-stop grinding for the entire game for no real reward except to finish the story. The real grind was the side quests which I never even touched and the game still took me 100 hours. 

[crispy4000]

10 minutes ago, Bacon said:

The entire game feels like a 100 hour grind. Like, it feel like you are just non-stop grinding for the entire game for no real reward except to finish the story. The real grind was the side quests which I never even touched and the game still took me 100 hours. 

That’s a whole 30+ hours more than the average playtime for that.  Just saying.

[Bacon]

8 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

That’s 30+ hours more than the average playtime for that.  Just saying.

Well, I didn't do every side quest, but I did get every item for every map or whatever. Like I filled out the collections page or whatever it was called. And I prolly did a few side quests.

 

Edit: The Collectopaedia. I filled that out. 

[crispy4000]

Yeah, you would have had to do something to pad it out that much.  Getting every item in the collectables list takes a lot of exploration time in each area.  Even with all the run speed bonuses from crafting.  I wouldn’t say it wasn’t by choice.

[Bacon]

Yeah. And if I did do any side quests, which I can't remember if I did, it was probably before the 50 hour mark. Once I hit 50 hours I stopped playing for a month and the only way I knew I was going to beat the game was if I made a beeline to the ending. Well, rushing to the ending as fast as I could while still filling out the collectopaedia. I just couldn't give up on that even though I should have. 

[crispy4000]

I ended up filling out the collectipedia and doing 90% of side quests, and beat it in ~115 hours. Still enjoyed doing it since I loved the world so much, but both are completely optional and seldom worth the rewards tbh.  If you progressed the main story instead you’ll get better gear sooner, level up faster, etc.

 

The biggest timesaver is getting those speed up bonuses ASAP.  I’m curious if there’s any speedruns now.

[Ghost_MH]

15 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Actually I think they let you jump into the new content from the start.  So reviewers are touching on it.  
 

I’m in the same boat as you guys, but mainly because I don’t replay RPGs this long.  Also haven’t even touched Xenoblade 2’s DLC either which I already have.

 

I’d still suggest this version to someone new to it.  The old character faces were butt ugly back on the Wii, plus the QoL changes all sound nice.  And I think the option to go handheld with it fits the design, as it did on the 3DS.

 

That sounds tempting, but I'd still rather find out how good the extra content is.

 

1 hour ago, Bacon said:

Yeah. And if I did do any side quests, which I can't remember if I did, it was probably before the 50 hour mark. Once I hit 50 hours I stopped playing for a month and the only way I knew I was going to beat the game was if I made a beeline to the ending. Well, rushing to the ending as fast as I could while still filling out the collectopaedia. I just couldn't give up on that even though I should have. 

 

One thing that would REALLY be stress about this series for anyone on the fence. Anyone with gamer, completionist OCD may have a very hard time with these games. They're just filled to the brim with pointless MMO-style side quests that don't do anything for the story. They're all completely optional unless your desperately need some random material or doodad that's also completely optional. XCX is the worst offender of the bunch here, but XC is pretty bad about it as well. It was also brutal on the Wii, but I do believe there were some nice QoL improvements introduced on the 3DS and Switch. XC2 handled its side quests way better than any other in the series, but even it was still filled with pointless stuff that will drive some peoples' OCD crazy.

[dualhunter]

Yeah, in the first game I was trying to do all side quests as they became available. Since some are only available at certain times that meant running through towns multiple times looking for new side quests and then doing it again after advancing the story a bit. I only later found out that some are mutually exclusive. If I were to replay I'd consult guides to plan out side quests better so as to waste less time.

[EternallDarkness]

9 hours ago, atom631 said:

Is there a ton of grinding required in this game? 

 

been so long I can't remember, but I've been checking out the switch reviews and a number of them say it's not required as you'll naturally level up by completing the quests

[dualhunter]

Yeah, I spent so much time doing quests that there was no need to do intentional grinding. If you prefer not to waste time on quests you should be fine with a bit of planning. You can see what level enemies are so to minimize grinding you fight enemies a few levels higher than your party which will level you up faster.

[EternallDarkness]

2 hours ago, dualhunter said:

Yeah, I spent so much time doing quests that there was no need to do intentional grinding. If you prefer not to waste time on quests you should be fine with a bit of planning. You can see what level enemies are so to minimize grinding you fight enemies a few levels higher than your party which will level you up faster.

 

a lot of the reviews also said some of the changes made make finding the items and creatures much easier so there will be less time just wandering around aimlessly 

[crispy4000]

4 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

XC2 handled its side quests way better than any other in the series, but even it was still filled with pointless stuff that will drive some peoples' OCD crazy.

They were fixed, mostly.  The problem is that most of the best ones are Blade specific and gated behind their level progression.  To see all that content takes a long ass time, but I’m happy it’s there at least.

[atom631]

I’m on the fence again. But I still need to finish FF7R and LOUT2 and Ghost of Tushima tho. 

[EternallDarkness]

46 minutes ago, atom631 said:

I’m on the fence again. But I still need to finish FF7R and LOUT2 and Ghost of Tushima tho. 

 

well it's not like you have to run out and grab it immediately. I have it ordered, but then I need something other than Animal Crossing to play

[atom631]

11 hours ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

well it's not like you have to run out and grab it immediately. I have it ordered, but then I need something other than Animal Crossing to play

true. Im going to focus on FF7R. if i finish that, i think ill grab this.

[EternallDarkness]

Haven't tried it docked yet, but it looks fairly decent in handheld 

[EternallDarkness]

of course the scale of the game really begs it to be played on a big screen

[atom631]

10 hours ago, EternallDarkness said:

of course the scale of the game really begs it to be played on a big screen

I played my switch almost exclusively handheld. Please post some more impressions when you get further in. 

[EternallDarkness]

damn I forgot how many damn side quests there are. Nearly six hours in and I am still doing side quests for the first village  of course they are all optional but I just keep going from one t to the next. Been playing all in handheld mode so far.

[atom631]

Well I couldn’t resist picking it up. I’m spending more time outside these days and it’s nice to have a game to get into while poolside.