Board 8 > Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is out so let's talk about it, maybe?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dx7pz2EWn8

looking forward to the art book
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Any info on anything missable yet?
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more importantly what's the better "action cutscene" song

Engage the Enemy from the first game or Counterattack in this game
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I echo what EODO said. Im not big into JRPGs (or anime I guess) but Ive been loving the cutscenes. I like the look of everything.

Youre not an avatar and none of it feels hollow. Youre also not awkwardly responding to questions, its just a story being told.

I just got to the first town, Torigoth. This place is pretty big. I love looking at the vastness and depth of the environment.
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ninkendo posted...

more importantly what's the better "action cutscene" song

Engage the Enemy from the first game or Counterattack in this game

Is Counterattack the same thing as Action Start? The song thats very similar to Engage the Enemy? If so I give the edge to Engage but both are excellent and elevate their cut scenes.
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Just played it in handheld mode and it definitely looks a decent amount worse. It feels like its because of the art style. Its not unplayable, just noticeable.
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Peridiam posted...

Just played it in handheld mode and it definitely looks a decent amount worse. It feels like its because of the art style. Its not unplayable, just noticeable.

I've only been playing in handheld mode so far. I hate having so much work right now.

I've only been playing it docked on my 55'' TV. >->

I love being handheld though, but the scope of the game kinda suffers a bit I think.
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oh the email said it would arrive by today but the shipment tracking says december 6th

welp that's sad, oh well
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I have to say the battle system wasn't really clicking with me until I got a second Blade. Now it feels like I have a lot more options, although it still seems kind of hard to set up combos.

Does anyone know if you NEED to have a higher level Blade Art to continue a Blade Combo? Does it mean that if you start with II you have to go III > IV? Or is it based on the level of the combo, so could you go II > II > III? Is there any way to tell what level your other party members Blade Arts are without memorizing their names or keeping a lookout for their portraits?
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You can start it with any level, yeah. 2, 2, 3 is fine.
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The number of orbs circling their pictures indicates their level, but I'm not sure that answers your question.
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I got my second Blade and party member but I have yet to pull off a combo. It seems like if you start with fire, your next Blade art has to be level 2 fire which is hard to do right now.
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

I got my second Blade and party member but I have yet to pull off a combo. It seems like if you start with fire, your next Blade art has to be level 2 fire which is hard to do right now.

Apologies if you're already aware, but Rex will attack in a set (so for when he's partnered with Pyra, he'll do 3 attacks and then pause for a bit etc.). If you hit an art just as the last attack (so the third in Pyra's case) hits, you're Blade Art meter fills up A LOT quicker. Instead of just filling up 25% of the gauge, it'll be 75-100%. I was unable to do any combos until I figured that out. Now I can usually get a I->II combo in almost every fight.

Also, as far as I was aware, the next art in the combo doesn't have to be the same type as what was used to initiate the combo.

When you start off a combo you get the timer and the elemental colors in the top right. To continue the combo, the next blade art has to be from one of those elements. So i think if you activate Pyra's Level I combo, you get the option to continue the combo with a level II wind art coz there's a green blob in the top right.

Thanks I knew about canceling but I had the tree thing mixed up. They highlight the first symbol on the left which made me think you had to do that element. But you need to move on to the next level.
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I just summoned two rare blades and neither are KOS-MOS this game sucks
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The nopon in diving suits are fucking adorable and I love them so much.
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Trying to get Blade Combos to fulfill those ability achievements is annoying, mosy enemies die too quickly.
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Man, whose idea was it to make 'A' skip cutscenes

I've accidentally skipped like three so far
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Rex nonchalantly punching the shit out of Tora during a serious cutscene was amazing It was like revenge for all the screenhogging Riki and Tatsu did.
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Woo, just got an early "Merry Christmas!" and now Xenoblade is downloading!
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This default battle music is miles and away better than the previous two games. And I actually liked Black Tar.
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STUCK ON A WHOLE DIFFERENT PLANET

caps
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Also nothing tops the original's battle theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bif3yzR6WdU

That shit's amazing.
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Honestly, I don't like that one that much. It's a good song, but it felt so out of place as regular battle theme. It's too serious. It would work better as a boss theme, not when you're fighting a bunch of rabbits.

I like X2's better because it's kind of peppier and more exciting. An instant classic JRPG regular battle theme.
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mnkboy907 posted...

Woo, just got an early "Merry Christmas!" and now Xenoblade is downloading!

you've ruined Christmas!
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Worth it.
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you clearly underestimate how deadly those rabbits are
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Fed Ex gave my SE to USPS and they'll deliver it tomorrow

but probably too big to go in my mailbox so it'll probably be in the office so I can't get it until Tuesday
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I used the first rare core crystal I got with a booster and just got one of the generic robot blades. :|

Should I just be using every core crystal I get or is there a point to saving them? I still have 11 common ones.
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From topics I've seen on the game board, people have been getting most of their rare Blades from common cores, and that rare cores seem to have terrible rates of giving rare Blades.

Though I've also seen people say that having more Idea points (I dunno what those are) raises the chance of getting a rare.
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I got some Idea Points from the second tier of the affinity chart. I assume they're count towards the stuff like "Justice" levels that show up on the core screen.
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Aww, I forgot I'm going to have to adjust to this handheld being flat. Goodbye 3D, I will miss you. I'm also used to looking at the screen a few inches above my hands, so it's a little jarring in that sense too.

My first order of business was swimming in the clouds (after falling off the dock and expecting to die), and there was a random lv 25 enemy just hanging out in the open sea. He was a good size reptilian sea monster, but I couldn't draw my weapon to get myself killed.
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Finally got access to cores. Even trying to avoid talk about the game I've heard some buzz about this one. Not sure how to feel about the fact that it's (apparently?) random. >_>

Are blades permanently tied to whoever pulls them? If not, is there any reason not to just have whoever has the highest luck stat do all your pulls for you?
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You need a rare item called an Overdrive to move Blades to a new driver.
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Finally got a rare blade after like 25 cores.

It wasnt KOS-MOS though so I should probably just trash it.
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It's already fun just jumping around and seeing what I can and can't get to.
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Ive been struggling way more than I anticipated in this early game. I aggro so much shit and die so quickly. I needed 12k for a quest item so I had to sell my entire inventory. It doesnt feel like I can complete any of the side quests at level 9.

So I went ahead and did the next main mission to rescue Nia and I gained at least 5 levels and like 7k gold. Crazy. Guess Im not as stuck now.
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just finished ch1

holy balls things went super anime super fast.

I love it.

also that's the goddamned zohar and i swear to god that elysium flashback area was in xenosaga too

this game is making me want xenosaga 4-6 all over again
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lol I barely use my cores and got a rare Blade in my third one.
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Is there any point to using common blades? They seem like they're just worse than the default ones.
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i just learned that that one rare blade is not voiced by the original VA

guess I'm sticking to the Japanese dub. i feel like I'm playing Disney's XenoBrave with these accents
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got to the end of chapter 1 last night.
THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME
etc.

I'm a little disappointed in the game so far. It's great, but it's probably the weakest xenoblade so far as far as exploration goes. This game could really use that orb from X. I've been wandering around one area for hours trying to find out how to get to the next area, and there's a lot of quests where you just have absolutely no idea where to go, and the quest marker seems buggy and ineffective.

I'm also not into the loot box model of cores, it just means you're stuck with whatever element the game randomly gives you, since even rare non legendaries are boring as hell to use.

I'm still having a lot of fun with this game but it's frustrating how much feels like a step backward
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LordoftheMorons posted...

Is there any point to using common blades? They seem like they're just worse than the default ones.

You can level them up quickly to gain more idea points. Seems like the way to make it more likely to get Rare Blades later on. Maybe?
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Also, you'll want their Field Skills.
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I finished chapter 2 and I kinda have no idea where Im supposed to go now?

The map in this game isnt very good so I cant figure out where the waypoint is trying to direct me.
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The Mana Sword posted...

I finished chapter 2 and I kinda have no idea where Im supposed to go now?

The map in this game isnt very good so I cant figure out where the waypoint is trying to direct me.

Go back to the campsite where the chapter started, and follow the compass from there.

I seem to be the only person who actually likes the compass. I also got lost in early chapter 3 but thats ok. I like being given a direction and having to figure it out from there.
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Its been generally fine for me until this instance.

I do wish there was a better way to open up the fast travel map of the area youre in, rather than having to sort through which Titan youre on and which area of the Titan youre on. It would be a lot more convenient if X just opened straight to the spot youre at.
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