Nintendo Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Nintendo Switch

After 160 long hours of playing the game... I finally completed XB2. This is me exploring every bit of Alrest, completing as many sidequests that I came across, and clearing some Blade Quests. If I were to complete the rest of the game's quests and defeat all of the superbosses, it would easily reach over 200 hours.So how does stack up as an RPG? How does it compare to the other Xenoblade games? Rest assured, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lives up to the quality that Monolith Soft has become known for.The storyline is still an emotional rollercoaster, their characters have the same charm, but on top of that there are a ton of quality of life and gameplay improvements in XB2. I had my fair share of concerns about the game which I will cover, but I am glad to say that after playing the game I was worried for nothing.STORYLINE: This game's world (Alrest) is covered in a cloud of sea, inhabited by giant Titans which are in turn, inhabited by people of different races and culture. The finite lifespan of these Titans is the source of conflict for resources, which makes for a very interesting geopolitical climate.At the center of this world is the World Tree, the final destination of our protagonists.XB2 successfully inserts the ordinary "boy meets girl" story into their extremely well-made and breathtaking fantasy setting. The result is a storyline perfectly intertwined with its setting, fully utilizing its history and lore. Saving the world is not the original goal as typical in RPGs but is rather a natural progression of the storyline, much like the first Xenoblade. And thrown into the mix is a province under the occupation of an Empire, who is currently on the brink of war with another country. And both of these countries are militarily supplied by a theocracy. And threatening it is the Torna organization, named after a fallen Kingdom from 500 years ago.So you have a fairly simple goal, which is Rex taking Pyra to Elysium, enveloped in this complex and interesting geopolitical climate. What I appreciate about the story is that each region that Rex comes across are mere stopping points on his journey Elysium. Although Elysium can solve the world problem of living space, the world itself is not facing immediate danger. With big RPGs, it's easy for the main goal to get lost in the distractions and problems of each stop, making it less important or forgettable. But rather than going around and trying to solve the world's problem on his own, Rex encounters conflicts in each chapter.And with each conflict, a layer of knowledge is presented to the player and Rex. Bit by bit, you learn about the truth of Alrest, its people, and the motivations of the Torna organization. This events both strengthen Rex's resolve to each Elysium and makes the end goal more important. This is the perfect way to pace a game as large as XB2 for three reasons. First, because it's too overwhelming to inform us everything about the world right off the bat. Secondly, as you learn about reach region both the characters and hopefully you the player, begin caring about this world that needs to be protected and saved. And finally, the story never loses sight of the end goal, maintaining its simplicity, consistency, and coherency.I still prefer the original Xenoblade's storyline, but only by a slight margin. They both have different emotional appeals to me, and it just so happens that my personal preference leans towards the appeal of the first one more, which has more intensity and excitement. XB2 also has its fair share of intensity, but it's more charming and tragic.The level of quality is the same for both Xenoblade games, but the direction is obviously different, which may affect what you think is better. I think they both outdo each other in different things. XB1 has more complexity which makes their twists less predictable and therefore, more impactful. XB2 is straightforward but has better lore, politics, and history which provides a stronger backstory and motivation to its villains.That's all I can go into without spoilers. In the end, they are closely matched in quality and emotional appeal, and it's up to your preference which one you like better at the of the day. I'd say XB2 did well considering the high bar that XB1 sets.CHARACTERS: A game can have a great storyline but awful characters or vice versa. So by rule of thumb, I review characters and stories separately. With that out of the way, let me say that XB2's characters are some of the most charming characters you'll come across in a JRPG.The charm with the characters is that they are quite ordinary. Rex doesn't have any special powers... he's just a village kid with a silly Salvager Code dictating his ethics. Tora is a sly technical genius who looks up to Rex. Nia is a tough girl with a soft side. Morag is the serious soldier with immense loyalty and pride to her nation. Zeke is your silly over-the-top character who everyone riffs on.But their simplicity is part of their charm. They are very straightforward with each other so the banter comes off as natural, organic, and amusing. They do however, have very interesting and unusual backstories which unfortunately, I cannot touch upon without spoiling.I will say however, that the party dynamic is very interesting. This is because each character (or Driver) is paired off with a Blade character. So you have different kinds of interactions between a Blade and their Driver, Drivers with other Drivers, and Blades with other Blades. So what you get in the end is a diversity in cast members and perspectives. It makes for very interesting and enjoyable dialogue.Beyond the main cast, you have a great set of villains whose backstories and motivations are more developed than the other Xenoblade games. And what also makes them charming is that there is a sense of camaraderie within Torna.They aren't just fellow cohorts who see each other as disposeable allies... they actually have their own amusing banter and interactions. This in turn, can also be reflected in their teamwork which makes you really appreciate them as good villains.Comparing them to XB1, I think the first game has slightly more likeable characters because of their maturity. On the other hand, XB2's characters have more development and history. Again, this is easily a tossup between the two. Another edge that XB2 has over XB1 is that Blades also count as characters. Apart from the main cast, you have Rare Blades who each have their own lengthy (and voiced) story arcs. And with over 20 Rare Blades, that's a lot of characterization.CONTENT: It's not a Xenoblade game without a monstrous amount of content. To fully enjoy Xenoblade games, you have to explore their beautifully crafted worlds and do plenty of side quests on top of the main storyline. One can easily spend over 100 hours to complete each game. This is a pleasant long-term investment rather a long grind, and one of the biggest reasons why Xenoblade games are the most anticipated RPGs of the genre.Each region you visit is vast and fully explorable. There are many pathways, hidden areas, secret treasures, and a lot of ground to explore. Different times of the days and weathers also affect the monsters that appear or the NPCs that are present in town. So even if you've been everywhere, you might want to do it again under different weather conditions.Monolith Soft vastly improved their side quest formula in XB2. The previous two games were plagued with an overabundance of sidequests which mainly amounted to monster hunting and fetching items in the field. XB2 cuts down the amount of sidequests but lengthens them, and makes them more rewarding.Apart from the gold and items you earn, sidequests increases Trust and Development. Trust is a level-progression mechanic for your characters' Blades, which upgrades their abilities. Development is a level-progression mechanic for each Titan, reaching up to 5 stars.For each new Star you earn for each Titan, you unlock more quests, lower vendor prices, and unlock more items to purchase. In a nutshell, XB2's side quest system creates a full circle between exploration, the side quests, and leveling up your characters. You can do all of it together which cuts how tedious and time-consuming they are.What's more, each of these sidequests is a mini-story of their own (and in some cases, a story that spans multiple sidequests). You might be consoling a kid on avenging his parents, helping a runaway couple make a key decision, or getting to the bottom of a murder mystery.Creating a huge environment is one thing, but incentivizing the players to explore it presents another challenge. This is what Final Fantasy XV failed to do. Monolith Soft on the other hand has been doing it since the first Xenoblade, so it's no surprise they are successful at it.GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is a vast improvement over XCX. The ability to equip up to three different Blades means that each character has more accessibility to different elements and Weapon Skills. So what does this mean?First, each character can reliably perform the Break > Topple combo on their own, which is one of the key mechanics to delivering major damage. XB2 includes Launch > Smash into this chain, making it a 4-step process but thanks to Weapon Skill diversity, you never have to worry about pulling this off consistently.Second, each character can also perform the newly introduced Blade Combos on their own, which requires different elements to perform. It's more difficult to perform Blade combos by yourself (but possible), but the game more than makes up for it by having the AI switch their Blades to the corresponding element needed to complete the next stage of the combo. On top of this, you only need to press a shoulder button to have the AI perform the Blade Art, rather than relying on luck and cooldown timers.The easiest way to complete a Blade combo is to perform the first Blade Art yourself, let the AI perform the second Blade Art while you charge up your Level 3.These two mechanics are key in delivering heavy damage in XB2, and it's great that the system allows the player more control over this rather than leaving up to luck and AI to do.Another improvement over the previous games is healing. There are several Arts that produce healing potions upon hit, which can keep your HP up if your Healer already has their healing Art on cooldown. Moreover, you can simply equip your Healer with 3 Healing Blades so that cooldowns are never an issue. In short, as long as you aren’t fighting an overpowered enemy, you never have to worry about going down in battle.There's more to the battle system like Affinity Charts, Party Gauge, etc. but everyone knows Xenoblade games have so much depth. The main points are that both the system and AI mechanics complement the combo mechanics in the game necessary for heavy damage. The system still has the depth and sophistication, but it's easier to memorize and perform.Next, I want to cover quality of life improvements because this is also a big deal in of itself. RPGs are by nature, a heavy investment in time and management. They are not easy games to play and they need to be simple enough that you can go back to it from a large break without forgetting the basics. And this is even more important for XB2, which will have scheduled DLC and a new story added next year.Collection Points: Remember the annoying side quests where you have to gather collectables in the field? Unfortunately they still exist, and there still isn't an in-game database to find something you already gathered. On the bright side, there are far fewer of these quests as most of the materials are used for crafting Aux Cores rather than sidequest submissions. Secondly and more importantly, all the collection points are consolidated into a single node.So let's say that within 30-step range, you have 1-2 Collection Points. When you examine these, it drops 3-5 collectables. The amount of drops and rarity increase when you have Blades equipped with Field Skills such as Botany, Mineralogy, etc. So you can easily get 10+ collectables with only one node. This is a far better improvement in the previous games because you can now collect 5-10 items in one location rather than at 10 different points.Fast Travel/Waypoint Navigation: Xenoblade has always done a great job at this and XB2 further improves this with respect to sidequest locations. When you have a sidequest active, all you have to do is pull up the map and it will show you where it is. The only downside is that if you're in another region, it won't show up. So if you're in Argentum and trying to teleport to a sidequest in Gormott, you have to be in Gormott first before you can see the icon. It's a minor issue and I can understand that the game needs to load a region first.The other huge advantage to using the map is finding new sidequests. In the previous two XB games, I spent so much time traveling entire cities in both day and night just to make sure I wasn't missing out on any sidequests. But in XB2, all you have to do is pull up the map of the region you're in and you'll see a blue diamond marked with a "?" You don't need to be close enough for the draw distance to load it up or anything, the icon will be there regardless.These are two things I felt that Xenoblade needed most... an easier time gathering collectables, and an easier time finding sidequests. Both of these improvements will save players a lot of time and make it more welcoming to players afraid of investing themselves into an RPG.With all the good out of the way, let's talk about the game's flaws.Rare Blades: I think everyone will complain about how hard it is to obtain Rare Blades. In this game, you have Generic Blades and Rare Blades. Rare Blades have unique stats, abilities, designs, and most importantly their own sidequests and storylines which are voiced. Needless to say, any RPG enthusiast will want to collect all the Rare Blades.Generic Blades aren't obsolete compared to Rare Blades and in some cases, they can be more useful depending on their Battle Skills. But if given the choice, most players would rather have a party fully equipped with Rare Blades.The problem is that it's entirely based on luck. There are 3 different Core Crystals you can use to obtain Blades: Common, Rare, and Legendary. Rarer core crystals yields a higher chance at obtaining a Rare Blade. Unfortunately, not even Legendary Core Crystals guarantee Rare Blades.I equipped Zeke with 2 Generic Blades with Luck Modifiers, 2 accessories that increased his luck, and used 5 Boosters. In total, his Luck stat was over 500. With this setup, I went through 6 Legendary Core Crystals. And at another point of the game, I used 8 Core Crystals. In both runs, I did not obtain any Rare Blades. A quick internet search reveals that I'm not the only one who has experienced this.Another problem with Rare Blades is the inability to swap Blades onto other characters without the elusive Overdrive Protocol. This is a problem because each of your characters is paired with a Blade that cannot be disengaged. Rex will always have Pyra (ATK), Nia will always have Dromarch (HLR), for example. This means that your characters are stuck to a single role between Attacker, Healer, and Tank. Which means that the Blades you equip to them should also have the same role.The Overdrive Protocol is an item that allows you to swap Blades onto other characters, which is great. What's not so great is that there's only about 4 that can be found in chests. You can gain more by raising the Affinity Charts of your characters to the max, but by the time you do you will have already beaten the game! If you buy the expansion pass, the December update also gives you 3 of them.Regardless, the point is that these Rare Blades are essentially useless if they are on the wrong character. You can try to have a Tank and Healer on Rex but you'll soon realize how inefficient it is, especially when facing a difficult enemy. So then why are Overdrive Protocols so far and few in number?I hope Monolith Soft patches in the following fixes to Rare Blades:1) Legendary Core Crystals should provide an 85-100% chance of obtaining Rare Blades2) OR increase the availability of Legendary Core Crystals3) Allow us to obtain more Overdrive Protocols (Salvage or Purchase)No Database/Enemy Index: So like I said before... there are sidequests that require you to exterminate monsters. In fact, all Rare Blades have Affinity requirements that involve killing a specific monster from a specific region.So why doesn’t XB2 contain a bestiary where I can look up what I killed and go find it? It has the perfect map system to showcase where the enemies are. In fact, when you have to kill sidequest monsters, the navigation system will tell you where they are even if they aren’t within drawn distance! So it’s entirely possible!What makes this harder to forgive is that XCX has an enemy index! So this isn’t something new for the series to have. A bestiary of some kind in any RPG is a basic necessity, especially for a game that requires you to hunt down specific monsters for specific purposes!And while we’re talking about indexes and databases... that’s another thing this game lacks! The game will walk you through Blade Switching, Blade Combos, Chain Attacks, etc. and you, the player... will think that this information will be stored somewhere where you can view it again. Like a tutorial database that’s in every game nowadays, right?Wrong. There isn’t a single thing like that in the game anywhere. You can purchase “advice” from vendors but this only unlocks a couple lines of dialogue which you may or may not already know about. Why should we purchase information that should be laid out in a tutorial in the first place?!Again, these in-game tutorials (complete with images) have existed in the previous two Xenoblade games. So there’s no excuse for the third installment to not have that. Thankfully, I wised up quickly and used the Switch’s native screenshot button to remedy this, but there really needs to be a database of sorts that players can refer to if they forgot the mechanics.These are the only major problems I have with XB2. Everything else is either minor, has a solution, or has been fixed via patches. As I mentioned earlier, XB2 is more modernized and solves many of the problems that previous games had.Japanese versus English Audio: This is not to complain about the casting or voices of any audio track. In fact, I think the casting for both is fantastic and I love that Nintendo gave us the option for dual audio. I was very conflicted between ENG or JP for the audio, but ultimately I ended up going with the ENG because the JP audio doesn't have subtitles for dialogue outside of cutscenes.Some voices are better in JP, and some are better in ENG. I love the amount of effort that Nintendo put into the dub. A lot of people enjoyed the accents in XB1 and their actors were emotionally intense. XB2 brings that back and you get flavor from the dub that the JP audio doesn’t provide. Their dubs of the Nopons is perfect with words like "Dad" being replaced by "Dadapon."However, I think the voice direction of the ENG track is off in certain scenes, especially with respect to Nia, Pyra, and Mythra. Their voices are fine and they match the characters, but the delivery of some of their lines don't match the feelings or emotions meant to be portrayed which made some scenes awkward, and even cringey.So for these particular characters, I very much prefer the JP audio. On the other hand, you lose out on the accents and flavorful localization from the dub. The Nopons for one, as I have pointed out earlier. And notably, older characters such as Vandham.In a future patch, I hope Monolith Soft adds subtitles to dialogue outside of cutscenes... but this is unlikely as that would take a tremendous amount of effort. An alternative would be allowing us to pick who speaks in ENG or JP, very much like what Capcom did with SFIV and SFV. This could also be a problem seeing as how this is an RPG with a ton of characters.Fortunately, you can rewatch every single cutscene in the game and change the audio. But this reminds me of another flaw... that this function includes Blade Quests, Blade Summonings... but not Heart to Heart scenes. What’s up with that?SUMMARY: So how does it stack up compared to the other Xenoblade games? It still has amazing music, breathtaking scenery, the sophisticated battle systems, and everything else we love about the Xenoblade games. I think its story/characters have a different appeal, but it's not better or worse. I'll leave that to your personal preference.If I were to sum it up, XB2 returns to the serious storytelling of XB1 while taking XCX's improvements and further modernizing the series. Executive Producer Tetsuya Takahashi and Monolith Soft still have what it takes to make quality video games, and I can only see them making an even better Xenoblade in the future.All in all, it's a well-made video game that every RPG enthusiast should try out. I think even casual audiences can also enjoy this game, given how user-friendly it is. I hope more people play this game and enjoy it because it deserves more attention and praise!

This game isn't for everyone, but it was 100% up my particular alley. My favorite RPGs of all time are Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IX, and everything I've played since then has offered diminishing returns on that spark. This was the first game I played since then (so technically since 2000?) that genuinely gave me that same feeling of wonder and whimsy and epic adventure that those games did.There are flaws: Some confusing and difficult to navigate areas and quests (just look up a walkthrough online if you get stuck), convoluted mechanics for leveling and an initially overwhelming and sprawling battle system. The other flaw is some bonkers fan-service-y character design in places (namely some of the blades you acquire in your party). But some of those things grow on you (the battle system is a blast once you figure it out), and the others are easy to overlook because of all the fun you're having exploring the vast world and story. In fact, some you can mostly ignore - some of the crafting and leveling mechanics, for instance, you don't have to get really deep into if you don't want to. You can still complete the story with minimal focus on those, but if you like them you can dig deeper. And if you hate a particular blade's character design, just don't equip it and equip one you like better.I put over 95 hours into this game before I beat the main story, and only got more and more enjoyment out of it as it went on. The story keeps twisting and topping and one-upping itself, evolving right up to the last chapter when it reaches its genuinely surprising and spectacular conclusion. Even after completing the main story, I have tons of quests to go back to and finish up, as well as the expansion pass that you can get if you like.And none of this is even mentioning the music, which is incredible. Yasunori Mitsuda (of Chrono Trigger) and a handful of other composers go all out with a bombastic, over-the-top score that's just awe inspiring. I can't say enough good things about the music. Again, since Chrono Trigger and FFIX I haven't heard game music that hit me so hard and resonated so deeply with me as this soundtrack has.This is one of my favorite games of all time now, right up there with Chrono Trigger and FFIX. I get why some people don't like it, but this game is perfect for me.

I’d give this game a 4.5 out of 5 if I could. I am about 40 hours into this game and it’s crazy addictive. Let me break down the game.Story:The story starts out a little slow, but it picks up around the 20ish hour mark(I’ve done all the side quests along the way). I love how you discover more about the world, about Pyra, and the main enemies bit by bit through each cutscene. The story is gripping once you get into it. But be warned if you don’t like anime, because so far it’s had every single anime cliche in the book.Graphics:I have never been super picky about graphics(I’ll still play PS1 games today), but the graphics are gorgeous in this game. As per usual for a Xenoblade game the sceneries are drop dead gorgeous. The graphics are a little grainy in portable mode, but nothing unbearable.Gameplay:The battle system is a little complicated at the start. The game hits you with tutorial after tutorial in the beginning and there’s no way to look back in the game(you can buy “tutorials” from informants, but they’re very broad and only one sentence). Personally, I learned the basics first from the tutorials and googled guides on the more complicated parts of the battle(combos). Once you get everything down battling is really fun!Navigating can be a little difficult. There were be level 80 monsters on the map that roam around when you’re level 8 so you have to stay villigant. But that can be difficult when you’re trying to figure out how to get to where you’re suppose to go. The compass is helpful, but when there are multiple objectives they all overlap and it’s hard to tell how far away some of them are. The map is also annoying. You have to open up skip travel, go into the region you are, and guess what section you’re in. This is one thing I wish could be improved upon in a future update.CharactersMany of the character designs are cool, but I wish you could change outfits like in Xenoblade 1. 90% of the girls are scantily clad(which is annoying), and I still don’t understand why Rex’s pants were designed the way they were. Most of the characters are also stereotypical anime characters, but it plays well for the story and you can get a good laugh at how ridiculous some of the characters are.I was kind of worried when I saw a lot of negative reviews about this game since I had preordered it, but I’d have to say this is my favorite game on the Switch! Yes there are a few flaws, but that doesn’t mean you should write out the game entirely. This game is not for everyone, but if you love old JRPGs you’ll fall in love with this game.

I am only 25 hours into this game, but I anticipate playing it until the very end. The voice acting, plot, visuals, combat (especially how the timing of your attacks detracts from what would otherwise be a monotonous combat system), soundtrack, comic relief, and hidden areas make this game entertaining and addicting. In most JRPGs that I have played, I find myself wanting to skip nonsensical or overly long cutscenes; in this game, I have actually traveled quickly from point A to point B just so I could view the next cutscene and see how the story unfolds. And what a unique concept, that at least 25 hours of the game takes place on the back of (or inside the body of) Titans! Sometimes as you're traveling across large fields, you forget that you are actually traversing the body of a massive, cosmic creature.I do have two complaints about the game; I will talk about a minor issue first, and then an issue that is so significant, they should have fixed it before releasing the game.1. Jumping in this game is not a great experience. It feels blocky and not very fluid with the other, smooth movements of the character. In fact, it almost seems like something that should have been left behind in the alpha testing of the game, or omitted altogether. Most of the time, jumping is not needed. When it is needed (or encouraged), it is a hassle to get the timing right--or to even jump high enough to ascend a simple rock. I think it's just a poor mechanic.2. Finding your way around the world can be tremendously difficult because of the abysmal mini-map/compass combination. It seems silly that Skyrim, a game from 2011, has a superior compass feature to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a game from 2017. The main issue is that the compass and mini-map are not all that great at helping you navigate the Z-axis. You will see the marker for the next portion of your quest on the compass, as well as the distance you need to travel to reach that marker. But how do you actually reach the area where you are supposed to go? Trial and error is the only way, and it is not enjoyable due to the high population of aggressive enemies that stand between you and what *might be* the correct path to your goal. There were times when I shut down the console after 30 minutes of trying, in vain, to find my way to a quest marker. It actually made me miss the more fun exploration of the very navigable Breath of the Wild world.Even with the significant second complaint, this is a game worth playing. It is the type of game you think you have been playing for an hour, when it has really been three hours. Barring the frustrations of navigation, if you like RPGs with great combat, characters, and storylines, you will find it difficult to put this one down.

Far and away my favorite game on the Switch so far, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a deep and expansive RPG with an innovative combat and character system. While in many ways seeming like a step back graphically for the Xenoblade franchise (using deformed and cartoonish block graphics instead of the cleaner and more "realistic" art style from Xenoblade Chronicles X), XBC2 is an exciting and comfortably familiar game that takes many of its inspirations from the best RPGs of the last two decades while introducing new hooks to keep it fresh and new.The big innovation of XBC2 is the introduction of Blades. Blades are artificial lifeforms that serve as both weapons and party members, allowing you to blend the experience of a massive multi-character story with the more intimate story progression of a small group. While the core cast of characters is never more than 4 main characters at a time, these main characters can have up to 3 Blades each equipped, with each Blade having a unique combination of social, exploration, and combat abilities. Many of these Blades are generic and randomly generated collections of abilities, but the game also features over 30 unique Blades with original art done by anime, manga, and video game artists, as well as their own subplots and special abilities. Each character can have 1 of these Blades active on screen with them at a time, enabling special "heart to heart" cutscenes that add to the story and unlock new special abilities for the Blades.The story itself is timeless, which means that it has an excellent combination of familiar elements but presents these classic formulas with a unique energy and exciting new hooks. If you're a fan of JRPGs you'll feel like you've played this game before in all the best ways, but with the excitement of new vistas and a modern combat system that uses a combination of free movement and timed actions similar to the recently re-released Final Fantasy 12.While this may not be the best fit for someone who isn't a big fan of the fantasy RPG genre, fans of games like Final Fantasy 7, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 12, Dark Cloud, and other such entries will enjoy this entry in the Xenoblade franchise.

I play a lot of games, and I've finished more RPG and JRPGs than I can remember. I love this game. In fact, it's now my favorite JRPG of all time for two reasons: the overall quality of the game and portability.I loved this game's story. I just totally fell into it and that's a big part of any JRPG. I liked the voice acting. I've seen other reviews pick on this part of the game, but I never encountered a negative reaction from it. I appreciate the amount of voice acting as well as there is a lot of it. The cinematics are great (there are a lot of them as well). Sometimes the cinematics would go on for what felt like 20 mins at a time, but I love anime so that was fine by me.It's also a long game. I beat it at 143 hrs, and all I did was the main story. If you're into the side quests this could easily go on much, much longer. And that's also why I loved this game on Switch. When you play a 100+hr game you're likely going to want to go somewhere (travel) during the experience. Personally, I travel for work a lot so this is amazing. I found this to be a perfect diversion while waiting around at an airport or during the commute.Is this game perfect - no. There is a TON to learn, but once you actually learn it this reinforces the depth of the game. I also agree that the maps were not designed well and were confusing. The menu system is (let's say) unique, but I figured that out as well. However, I can see how the maps might turn off some people.This is a game that requires you to commit. If it's not your genre, don't touch it. There is a lot of grinding, but as an MMORPG veteran I actually found that appealing. I was learning tricks in the upgrade/menu system right up until the end (some of which might have sped up the experience). But when I finished it I was very satisfied - emotional, massive, high-quality, portable-ready game. I highly recommend it for those who like the genre, and are ready for a challenge.It was also my first Xenoblade game, so now I'll be looking out for more from this franchise.

Still my favorite game of all time. Spent over 350hrs in with 2 new game pluses. Even got the game themed pro controller. Hopefully there is a switch 2 upgrade because of the 4 xeno games on switch this needs it the most.Was very lucky got KOSMOS as my 2nd pulled blade and on Nia. Worked well because Nia is the healer and even tho kosmos is an attacker her ability's heal.There was free dlc updated that added more quest blades and most of them are OP so you really don't have to worry about the off line gatach lotto of getting blades.Story DLC is High quality DLC 40+ hrs and a game in its own. It's more like an expansion sort of like how mysteries of the sith is for jedi knight.Recommend to play all for 4 games and their DLC.

This is a hard one to know if you'd like it or not. It starts out pretty slow, and while the music and world design is amazing, at points you wonder if it's worth going on with. Combat is lackluster at first, everything kills you when you're alone, and the dialogue of certain enemies is repeated.But that all changes a few hours in when you have a full party with different blades and a grasp on the combat system. The combat system, once opened up, is fantastic and a ton of fun. Setting up combos for flashy, overpowered moves is satisfying. Even choosing whether to keep hitting and flicking the joystick to raise your arts meter or letting the combo play out is an important and fun part of it all.The music is incredible, as can be expected since Japanese developers tend to focus a lot on the compositions featured in their works. The world is gorgeous and really vast while being varied. The characters are a delight, despite what your opinion may first be when looking at the character designs.If you're buying this for your child/nephew/niece, I'd be wary if they've played and e joy games that are like this, mainly JRPGS or MMO type games as the combat can be pretty complicated at first glance and the enjoyment of gameplay is a big factor that depends on past experiences.All in all, this is a really great game only if you are open to a kinda MMO style of gameplay and give it a little time while everything falls into place, because when it does, it's an incredible game that I didn't think I'd be that into at first.

Game came in perfect shape. I love the xenoblade games. the one I bought from Jadd ent was the north american version. good stuff. exactly what i was looking for!

Si te gustan los juegos de combate semi automático con comandos es un excelente juego y la historia está muy buena👌

The product came as described.I’m happy.

Great game really enjoyed it

Jogo Europeu...tudo certo.