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

(+) Yeah! (+)

Being able to play this handheld is a godsend. I don't think I would have been able to put in as much time in it otherwise.

The awful resolution in that mode really hurts though. I don't normally care about graphics that much, most of the time I don't even really notice, but you can really see the difference in Xenoblade compared to playing on a tv. Or hell, just comparing it to playing Animal Crossing on handheld...

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oh ya the ruby glasses in the high entia tomb

boost melia's ether even more

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I started it yesterday. Why yes I will use my free 100k gold to buy the fancy equipment for Shulk right away, thank you. And yes I will remove Reyn's shirt and keep it off for the remainder of the game, thank you.

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I would recommend prioritizing the skill books first!

Most equipment you can get from quests and unique monsters will be way better than what you can get in the shops

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I don't even know what the point is of money in this game

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Grand Kirby posted...

I don't even know what the point is of money in this game

colony 6 restoration

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Grand Kirby posted...

I don't even know what the point is of money in this game

The Mana Sword posted...

colony 6 restoration

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ninkendo posted...

I find this game difficult to play in handheld mode (and the handheld resolution being 540p doesn't help its case) so just like every other switch game I play it docked 99% of the time

I haven't been able to set up my entertainment center since I'm getting my floors refinished, and I've only played it on handheld. It's fine for short stints, but the graphics really do look worse with every passing minute.

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Okay I'm ready to give Shulk his sandwich now.

https://i.imgur.com/PBSWrMS.jpg

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aww yeah i enjoyed doing as much as I could with solo fiora

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I forgot how much this game really wants you to not use Melia (Bad AI, kicks her out of the party making her miss landmark exp a lot, hides her intermediate skills for way longer than any other character)

Too bad they cant stop me from spamming ether!
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Melia's AI is pretty awful but she's a straight up battle goddess under player control

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Just finished Agniratha.

Alas poor Gadolt.

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Big Dick Gadolt

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Should finish up all sidequests before prison island after work today

In the middle of doing that long chain of quests with the red pollen orb black market

This has to end with a new skill tree for someone

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Xiahou Shake posted...

Melia's AI is pretty awful but she's a straight up battle goddess under player control

Yeah I play her for Makna forest because she's so fun, even without all her broken spells yet

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I finished the Mechonis Core, and the game proceeds to dump a bunch of sidequests involving level 85-90 enemies when I'm at low 70s. LOL me.

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This is when good gem setup come into play so that you can take on those higher level enemies without having to level up too much. That will just continue all the way until level 99 when youre trying to take out the 5 optional super bosses that are all level 100 and higher

Hail night vision

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ninkendo posted...

This is when good gem setup come into play so that you can take on those higher level enemies without having to level up too much. That will just continue all the way until level 99 when youre trying to take out the 5 optional super bosses that are all level 100 and higher

Hail night vision

Well, I did managed to get a good solid 5 levels doing some Colony 6 reconstruction which took me through some level 75 baddies, and a few of the new sidequests were fetch quests, so I was able to catch enough EXP to do the Telethia battle at the beach in Makna Forest. Might continue on the main quest on my next session.

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Once I get to the point where I got my full party I'm gonna go ahead and max out affinity and skills for everyone and craft a bunch of 300% level 6 gems

Or at least the ones that I can at that moment in time

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Isn't it harder to make good high level gems when everyone has max affinity? Because they keep "helping" you with boosts when you're trying to make good cylinders...

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I don't really know what I was told it would be fine if I used Riki and Sharla so I guess I'll find out

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Oh wow, already 4* affinity with Colony 9 before even reaching Gaur Plain. I didn't remember it progressing that fast on 3DS.

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all SQ's finished up through Prison Island. Bomber's Journal update



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always gotta love satorl marsh

I typically multitask tv with my games but once night hits in Satorl Marsh I gotta shut down everything else

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I'm starting to not really enjoy this game

Combat just feels kind of boring

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masterplum posted...

I'm starting to not really enjoy this game

Combat just feels kind of boring

Try switching up your team then? Maybe a change of pace would help

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need some melly melly in your life

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I can't really imagine wanting to play through the game not using Shulk and the Monado, but I did dabble with Melia trying to raise her affinity with Sharla for that one sidequest, and I kind of get it.

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I had a ton of fun playing as fiora but then. Well.

I was feeling so-so with the battles until i got destroyed by a gang of level 14 mechs outside the refugee camp. I guess i wasn't using my skills properly?

And then the first time trial thing, when i was level 18, was a very miserable experience. Miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss oh look an attack connected, on repeat.

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I did use Shulk for most if not all of my first run in the original, but in DE I used the legendary heropon for the most part.

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Shulk is very fun but he definitely doesn't last you the full game IMHO - a ton of fun in this game is trying out the other party members. Melia and Dunban especially are ludicrously fun and more intricate than Shulk.

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This playthrough I've been using Shulk very little - still in my party, but getting the most out of playing others a bit after getting them.............. even Sharla. I never really did try Reyn too much in the past but he was fine to play as, but now that I've got Dunban the tank role is filled and he's certainly more fun to play with his combos and Blossom Dance.

Shulk has probably the best AI of the crew so while he is a good character you should never feel you need to use him, plus you can always use Warnings if need be, and controlling the toppler certainly removes a lot of struggle.

It can be daunting to learn a new character, especially later in the game with big dumps of arts to choose from you don't have a feel for yet (part of why I wanted to switch to Reyn ASAP this play). Shulk is certainly easy to use well, hell he only has 8 regular arts so you don't have to pick and choose your tool-belt... so controlling him is a real comfort zone that's hard to leave.

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If you're using shulk as an AI just make sure to remove the ability where he sacrifices half of his health for meter because he uses it all the time often when he shouldn't

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i like to live dangerously

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I swear to fucking god I hate Zazadan. I remember having to return to his stupid cave so many times before, but I'd forgotten it was THAT many.

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Oh wow I never even knew about the colony 6 restoration my first time through the game lol. This is a whole big thing.

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Grand Kirby posted...

I swear to fucking god I hate Zazadan. I remember having to return to his stupid cave so many times before, but I'd forgotten it was THAT many.

There's a warp point like less than a minute from his cave though

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It's definitely more than half a minute. And it doesn't help you have to do it like 10 times for no good reason.

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yeahhh it looks close but you gotta go up that damn mountain path that goes up and back

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Showed my sister (who doesn't play many games but is curious about the ones that are my favorites) some Xenoblade cutscenes and her first comment was that 'Shulk's voice actor is really good at screaming dramatically'. Good head on her shoulders, that one.

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my soul lives for good dramatic screams

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I've been avoiding this topic for spoilers but I'm about 20 hours in, just got to the forest area. Game is pretty good so far but good lord there are so many side quests. I mean I knew that going in and I was prepared but last night I played for 4 hours and I think I was just doing side quests.

There was a Nopon in a cave in the marsh that gave me like 7 quests so I had to keep going up and down the mountain to talk to him. Just have him move to the camp after the first quest so I can fast travel to him!

lol I just scrolled up and saw someone else complaining about Zazadan too

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gotta miss XCX having mechs to fly over any damn mountains

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XCX might be my favorite game in the blade series even though I actually never finished it lol.
In general I prefer the older Xeno games but I respect what the Blade games tried to do with the gameplay, and XCX goes the furthest into diving into that giant map, exploration focused gameplay style that defines the blade games. If you're going to halfass the stories that made the series great before, you might as well whole-ass the gameplay and XCX is great in that department

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btw for those in Satorl Marsh and working on sidequest stuff

If you get a quest from Ewan about What is Love and then What is Courage, where the latter he will travel to Ether Mines and Satorl Marsh... if you follow him to Satorl Marsh you can trade him for a rare and annoying collection item, Forget-You-Not, two of which are also required for an optional Colony 9 quest

note the What is Love/Courage quests are mutually exclusive to a quest giving Matryona a Lake Drop to change up a painting, and Ewan won't trade the Forget-You-Not in Satorl Marsh until you have 3* affinity with Colony 6

so if you're like me and you've done everything you can in Satorl Marsh for now and still can't get a Forget-You-Not you might wanna keep this in mind and keep Ewan's quest around until you can pluck some off him

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makna forest begins, time to go shirtless for the 3 dudes trio in the jungle

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My recollection of this game has been pretty good so far, but I extremely do not remember Galahad fortress. This area is a total blank spot in my mind.

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Just finished Ether Mines. Game is still as great as I remember. I was worried I'd be too burned out to do all the sidequests a second time, but it's still been fun.

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