Xenoblade Chronicles [Wii]
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 12:21 pm
A current generation jRPG that doesn't suck barrs. I got this over the weekend and put in about 10 hours so far.
The gameplay is Final Fantasy 12 done right:
+ Open-world where enemies are on the field
+ Battles are in real-time ala MMO-style
+ AI controlled party members (there's only been one time where my party's AI has been retarded)
+ No mana, all skills are on an individual cooldown timer
+ Party is healed automatically after battle
+ Skill trees that aren't cockblocked because you haven't progressed far enough into the plot (fucking FF13 was so bad, fuck that game)
+ Tons and tons and tons of side-quest content (almost every quest is unessential and can be skipped entirely)
+ Quests auto-complete when finished (no going back to quest giver just because you killed three rats, you get the reward immediately)
+ No bullshit gambit micromangement
+ No fucking 20 hour tutorials that progressively unlock critical abilities (with a few minor exceptions relevant to the plot, but you can do Chain Attacks immediately if you know how to do them instead of waiting for the game to show you how)
+ Grinding not required, but it's an option (I've only had to grind once and that was because I wanted to kill an unique monster for his wonderful loot)
+ Customizable party, you don't need to have the main character in front 24/7
+ Enemies have hitscan detection. Rouges do it from behind, as they say.
+ Bosses are a mix of "DPS this fucking thing" and "Use this gimmick to win"
+ Game was localized in Brittania so there's British voice acting and Britishisms all over the place (colour, oi, mum, etc.)
+/- Developed by the same guys who did Xenogears/Xenosaga. From what I've read this game has nothing to do with either of those games.
- It's on the Wii (but it can be emulated via Dolphin if your computer doesn't suck barrs)
- Camera fucking sucks from time to time.
- Haven't played through the entire game (it's long as fuck allegedly) but I think I know where the plot is going already.
- Game is not being released in the US (untouched, thankfully) until April of this year near the end of the Wii's lfiespan. You'll have to mod your Wii if you want to import and play this shit.
I generally don't like games these days but for some reason I was compelled to pour in a bunch of time in this game over the weekend. The gameplay is actually pretty fun and is a true polishing of what FF12 gave us, the graphics are PS2ish as to be expected but the game still looks good, and the characters haven't made me want to throw this game out the window yet. If you liked or were on the fence about FF12 then you'll love this game. If you loved the turn-based jRPGs of yore then this game might be able to turn you.
In other words, just give it a fucking shot.