Xenoblade discussions

Originally Posted by Astarael

I'm having a lot of fun picking up on all the subtle hints and foreshadowing I missed the first time around. For instance, Shulk explains to Reyn near the beginning of the game that there are two voices in his head (a rational voice and the other screaming for revenge), and Reyn comments that it doesn't sound like Shulk at all.

I've heard that referred to as foreshadowing other places as well, but I have my doubts. I still think it was Shulk's own thirst for revenge that drove him to pursue Metal Face, not any manipulation by Zanza. If the "two voices" description was to be taken literally I'd have thought Shulk would have been rather alarmed, rather than readily mentioning it to Reyn as the reason he wanted to set off to crush the Mechon. I'm more inclined to take the comment at face value, and conclude that the murder of Fiora had brought out a side of him he himself had been barely aware of. Remember, Shulk seemed to lose his desire for revenge the moment he found out that Fiora was still alive, so her "death" still strikes me as the likeliest source of that second voice.

BTW, Operation Rainfall now has their new website up, and it looks pretty neat:

Operation Rainfall

Dont forget to pick up your copy (and pre order bonus) of Xenoblade today.

Hey guys, quick question~
So how exactly am I supposed to get this game in America? At first I just thought I'd walk up to Meijer's, but upon using Google I got a whole load of random stuff, like it's only pre-order obtainable and only at Gamestop. How much of this is true? Am I unable to get it because of no pre-order? Is it only gonna be at Gamestop?

It's not pre-order only, however, the places that do sell it might run out of copies pretty quickly. The game is a GameStop semi-exclusive, in addition to GameStop you can also buy it from the Shop Nintendo online store, as well as Play-Asia.

Originally Posted by Olympion

I've heard that referred to as foreshadowing other places as well, but I have my doubts. I still think it was Shulk's own thirst for revenge that drove him to pursue Metal Face, not any manipulation by Zanza. If the "two voices" description was to be taken literally I'd have thought Shulk would have been rather alarmed, rather than readily mentioning it to Reyn as the reason he wanted to set off to crush the Mechon. I'm more inclined to take the comment at face value, and conclude that the murder of Fiora had brought out a side of him he himself had been barely aware of. Remember, Shulk seemed to lose his desire for revenge the moment he found out that Fiora was still alive, so her "death" still strikes me as the likeliest source of that second voice.

I guess, but it seems to me that Zanza was incredibly subtle. Shulk didn't even know he was being possessed until very late in the game. Sure, Shulk's thirst for revenge would likely have already been there, but only to a certain extent - Zanza's own personality augmented it and made it more aggressive.

At any rate, we can never know for sure - it definitely sent a shiver down my spine when I played through the game again though!

According to gamestop, my preorder is available today. Yay for American release!

Looking to get this game on Monday, did a day of some bull♥♥♥♥ job for it.

Omg omg.

Now I know nothing abou this game. But preordered it because operation rainfall worked. Looked nothing up about the game, read no reviews, nothing.

I've just gotten through some intro stuff. Fiora Just died and I went ballistic. Was not expecting something like that. Needless to say I'm hooked on the story. I'm a huge fan of the combat already too. Was expecting turn based, so its a pleasant surprise.

two questions...

-when gem crafting, do i mash A or time it to work up a fever or whatever.

-How do you chain combo your chain combo. the tuorial mentioned up to 15 times, but I don't understand how...

Hopefully my preorder from Nintendo's store will come soon. Until then I will wait.

Originally Posted by lefty

-when gem crafting, do i mash A or time it to work up a fever or whatever.

-How do you chain combo your chain combo. the tuorial mentioned up to 15 times, but I don't understand how...

1) No, you don't mash A. Holding A just speeds up the animation. It doesn't do anything for the quality of the gems.

2) Chain attacks? At the end of the last attack in a Chain Attack sometimes you get a QTE to extend it to continue the combo. It happens rarely in the beginning of the game, but if the affinity between characters is high, then it has more of a chance of happening.

Well this sucks
I just spent my $50 on Xenoblade, and guess what? Wii can't read it! Oh the irony...Anyone else experiencing this issue, or any advice on how to get it to work? My Wii is a little old, but can run every other game (including SSBB) fine. I contacted Nintendo and am waiting for a reply. I hope my Wii doesn't need to get sent in... I don't think I'm gonna do that :/ Any advice, fellow gamers?

so, anyone have any tips on how to beat those two robots you fight while getting the ether cylinders? I keep going at them but get my ass handed to me every time.

Focus on one using the "Focus attacks" command, and try using your arts effectively (back slash from the back, etc). Remember to heal with Shulk. Reyn is supposed to draw enemy fire, while Shulk and Fiora deal damage.

It's a really simple battle, actually.

^or he could level up and/or get better equipment.

I got this game. I'm inside the Ether Mine and I'm loving this game so far. The cutscenes and dialogue are too long for my taste, but they're not completely uninteresting (I'm quite fond of all the badassery that goes on in the cutscenes - I'm a sucker for a good badass).

And the cutscenes and dialogue are tolerable because they don't feel like they define my story within the game. There is just so much open-endedness in the game that I refuse to call Xenoblade "plot-driven".

I love the combat system. Too overcomplex at times, but it is still a cool battle system. Very open-ended.

The system is not complex. Fast, but not complex. It's not very deep, but it's really suitable for the game.

Originally Posted by insaney

The system is not complex. Fast, but not complex. It's not very deep, but it's really suitable for the game.

It's complex in the sense that you have a lot of things to simultaneously pay attention to in combat. The speed only exacerbates this issue.

Though I could just look at it optimistically and think of it as a mental exercise than something negative.

It's not very complex. It's just like every other ATB system - except with enemy directional weakness and the occasional timed button. The only "hard" part is using the d-pad to choose the actual commands.

Hint: If you want have an easier, less intense (but still satisfying) combat experience, play as Sharla. It's pretty fun being the medic/long range fighter.

Dear Sqare Enix,


This is how you make a good JRPG.

I'm at the Satorl Marsh and I've just recieved Dunban as a team member. After fiddling around with equipment, I've gotten him to 90 agility. I hear that he is superior to Reyn as a tank because of his high agility. Should I completely ditch Reyn at this point?

Originally Posted by Xeno

It's not very complex. It's just like every other ATB system - except with enemy directional weakness and the occasional timed button. The only "hard" part is using the d-pad to choose the actual commands.

Well I suppose it's relative then. I've only played a handful of ATB games and they were all retro and relatively simple compared to Xenoblade.