Board 8 > If you're playing Xenoblade for the first time post here

(+) Yeah! (+)

The arranged vs original soundtrack is a case-by-case basis thing. My favorite song (One Who Gets In Our Way) got a major downgrade, but Time to Fight is WAY better and you hear that all the time.

---

First thing I did was switch to the original soundtrack, so I could get a better feel for how the arranged soundtrack stacks up.

---

I like keeping the arranged soundtrack on when I first visit areas and go through the story since it's new, and switching to the original while I'm completing sidequests.

---

Everyone is zooming out their cameras right? Game looks phenomenal when you can see as much of the environment as possible.

---

Maybe if I wasn't mostly playing in handheld mode...

---

I haven't really messed with the camera settings all that much I'll check it out when I get home

---

i'm always moving the camera around in my xenoblades

you gotta zoom sometimes in too!

---

I got to level 9 last night, doing a lot of the quests around the colony.

This sure is a jrpg, huh.

---

You must press on and on and on

---

OK, I got to say...FUCK YOU LIGHTSPEED SONID.

---

I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I'm having a much better time with this version than the original verison which I never finished. It just looks so good, specifically the characters. It's just such a massive improvement.

Does anyone have a list or video listing all the changes from the original?

---

Im at level 20

games been fine so far but hasnt really done anything super special so far. Im annoyed he can see the future and somehow never does anything until the last second

---

Man I got so engrossed in the story again I just got Seven at about 25 hours in.

---

dad finally dropped off my copy that arrived

god Dunban is do damn handsome *edit* oh yes ecru shulk right away

---

holy god damn hell I did not know there'd be markers directing you to the nearest field quest items a marking all active locations on the map

the new quest tracking feature already blowing my mind just from my first Rabbit Diode quest

---

After doing all the available Frontier Village quests, I'm finding myself pretty damn overleveled - might use that as an excuse to try Expert Mode.

---

Not much progress today had my air conditioner break down so I was dealng with that only got a little bit into satorl marsh

In my original play through those lizards were the bane of my existence because I didn't fully understand the battle system yet and that's when the game started ratcheting up the difficulty a bit.

Now they just fall at my feet

Especially that big ass sitting on the throne in the fortress

---

I tried playing Xenoblade on the Wii way back, I liked it well enough but never got close to finishing it. I'm up to around Colony 6 in the DE but I'm already liking the experience a lot more.

I forget how far I made it originally, I know I got Riki but don't remember much else beyond that.

---

ninkendo posted...

Especially that big ass sitting on the throne in the fortress

Ah, Reckless Godwin. IMO he's the toughest enemy in the game. I mean yeah, you have your super bosses and all, but by that time, you really understand the battle system. Because Godwin was your bastard teacher.

---

So I haven't moved the refugees to Colony 6 because I wanted to complete the timed quests but certain ones aren't appearing. Mostly the line with Sakata or whatever his name is.

---

GANON1025 posted...

I forget how far I made it originally, I know I got Riki but don't remember much else beyond that.

Frontier Village through Eryth Sea is a typical slow-down spot in people's playthroughs but it does lead into one of the bigger moments not so far off, with many more ahead from there

---

Never mind found him. All timed quests done, time to relocate!

---

One criticism I have (unless it's here and I've somehow missed it this whole time) - there's still no in-game bestiary. This is a game that needs one, especially because tracking all the Unique Monsters is cumbersome without it.

---

For some reason Xenoblade 1 and 2 do not have one, but Xenoblade X did

---

Of course mentioning X just makes me think about the possibilities of a switch remaster

https://youtu.be/nE0ZH_2NjPw

---

Just started this game for the first time, only an hour or so in.

Too early to really comment on the plot or characters but so far they seem fine. I actually wasn't expecting the combat to be so MMO-esque although that's not a complaint. The accents are great but I honestly can't remember off-hand a game that's had worse lip syncing than this, it's like no effort was made to make the lines match the movements at all.

Are there going to be quests that have more substance to them, and if so is there anything that denotes them as so, or are they mostly all going to be collect X # of items or kill Y creatures? Just looking to see if I should keep an eye out for anything with story or character significance. Also is it important to raise affinity with the towns?

---

All the quests are pretty much like that although there is some gear that can only be gotten through side quests usually of the unique variety. Plus it's free exp, sp and ap.

Personally I think the affinity map is neat seeing the relationships of all the NPCs as you complete quests for them and how they evolve over time.

Usually I just activate every quest all at once and then as I'm exploring the map if there's any exclamation points I go for them since they autocomplete except the quests that have multiple steps to them. Fast travel is such a breeze anyway that it's like zero hassle to go back to someone if you have to.

Area affinity mainly unlocks more quests as you raise it up and allows NPCs to offer better trade items. So not terribly important if you're not bothering with quests anyway. Party affinity is far more important since it affects gem crafting and everything you do in battle

---

The bog standard passive sidequests are just there as bonuses for as they happen, but the main sidequest chain stuff is then about community development, building the town's relationships and deciding their stories (as the choices you make branch the townsfolk off to make different decisions and result in different relationships with other NPCs), and so you'll know which quests these are because they'll be coming from named NPCs that show up in the Affinity Chart.

Raising affinity with the a region opens up more of its residents sidequests, and also lets you trade with everyone for rarer items - for instance let's take Dorothy:

Colony 9 Affinity : Dorothy trade items
1* : Small Shell
2* : Prairie Dragonfly
3* : -
4* : Dark Grape
5* : Caterpile Silk

Each resident of course has different items and not every resident will have a new trade item with every single affinity rank up - like Dorothy doesn't have anything new from 3*, but others might.

Also fun fact with trades, NPCs also have a designated item(s) that will give you if you over-trade them (you give something decently more valuable than what you're trading them for)

Raising area affinity comes from talking to NPCs and completing their quests. Interesting note is not all decisions you make to a quest result in the same affinity game, such as choices that result in less happier people - some quests may even drop your affinity no matter what (but obv lead to other quests raising them back up). Really this is more detail than anyone needs to at all be concerned with, just some interesting tidbit.

---

oh ya

---

dont mind me just doubling my level in two seconds

https://twitter.com/necta_rines/status/1268914378834710528?s=21

---

Grimlyn posted...

The bog standard passive sidequests are just there as bonuses for as they happen, but the main sidequest chain stuff is then about community development, building the town's relationships and deciding their stories (as the choices you make branch the townsfolk off to make different decisions and result in different relationships with other NPCs), and so you'll know which quests these are because they'll be coming from named NPCs that show up in the Affinity Chart.

Raising affinity with the a region opens up more of its residents sidequests, and also lets you trade with everyone for rarer items - for instance let's take Dorothy:

Colony 9 Affinity : Dorothy trade items
1* : Small Shell
2* : Prairie Dragonfly
3* : -
4* : Dark Grape
5* : Caterpile Silk

Each resident of course has different items and not every resident will have a new trade item with every single affinity rank up - like Dorothy doesn't have anything new from 3*, but others might.

Also fun fact with trades, NPCs also have a designated item(s) that will give you if you over-trade them (you give something decently more valuable than what you're trading them for)

Raising area affinity comes from talking to NPCs and completing their quests. Interesting note is not all decisions you make to a quest result in the same affinity game, such as choices that result in less happier people - some quests may even drop your affinity no matter what (but obv lead to other quests raising them back up). Really this is more detail than anyone needs to at all be concerned with, just some interesting tidbit.

Yeah, there's no one true way to maximize the affinity chart. For reasons you stated, but also because for Colony 6 there are a couple points where you pick between different people to recruit, so some move and others don't.

It can also be a lot of pointless busy work getting all the connections, because sometimes a person only makes the comment needed for an affinity change during a single hour of the day as they're walking from one spot to another. Or you do a sidequest for one person, but you still have to talk to a different person for them to say something like "oh wow they're really turning their life around" and then the chart gets updated. If you only ever talk to NPCs once, like in most JRPGs, that affinity chart will be missing a bunch of stuff.

---

transcience posted...

dont mind me just doubling my level in two seconds

https://twitter.com/necta_rines/status/1268914378834710528?s=21

Dafuq lol. What level were you before hitting that area? And where is that?

---

Tephra Cave! I was 22. there's another spot that took me from 43 to 50.

I put it in expert mode though because sleepwalking through the next 20ish hours didn't seem like it'd be a lot of fun.

---

Only took me 3 attempts to take out Reckless Godwin this time around compared to the dozens of attempts in my original playthrough

Dunno what my level was then, but we were both 31 this time around.

---

Godwin has that Talent Art that Topples your whole team, and sometimes he just busts it out without a vision warning. That's what got me this time around, the asshole.

---

I just walked past Reckless Godwin because he kept schooling me. Did I actually have to beat him for anything?

---

I didn't remember the name, but I distinctly remember that fight being super intense and fun.

---

For that point in the game he's just a very difficult fight if you're playing normally and really forces you to get good at using the vision system to have a chance at winning.

There is a hidden passage behind his throne that is part of a sidequest, but you can use the back entrance to the castle to go there without fighting him. Just like every other unique monster you get an affinity coin for defeating him.

---

I'm taking much more time to explore this time around, and man is it a blast. My first playthrough back in the day I ignored a good amount of the side content because I really wanted to see what happened next in the story.

Also whoever came up with the idea to notify the player with a little exclamation point to signify when a directional move will work deserves a raise.

---

So, I just finished the Galahad Fortress and hit some major story content.

Oh man, the last half hour of story development was so good.

---

w0w kidz these days and all their free time

To Makna Forest I go

---

ninkendo posted...

w0w kidz these days and all their free time

I'm still laid off, so this potentially hundred hour plus jRPG is coming at a good time.

---

Yeah, quarantine is really helping me go a lot faster than I otherwise would. I'm past Mechonis Core and I have 5 star affinity with everywhere except Colony 6

---

KamikazePotato posted...

Also whoever came up with the idea to notify the player with a little exclamation point to signify when a directional move will work deserves a raise.

Was that not in the base game!? It's my favorite part of the UI

---

Im not really enjoying this all that much. I think its because all the new quest markers are forcing me to do all the side stuff, and most of that stuff is super boring. I need to let go and just let the story continue and explore because exploring is fun, not because of an exclamation mark halfway across the map.

---

give more more exclamation points everywhere

---

!!!!!!!

---

By the Blood of Befalgar, these exclamation points are life.

---

Peace___Frog posted...

Was that not in the base game!? It's my favorite part of the UI

It was not. You just eyeballed it.

---

bleh, I must have purged spikes from my memory

what an annoying mechanic

---