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Is Xenoblade X supposed to be this boring?

I adore this game,from the combat,environments,story,I love it.Is it perfect no,I did find certain parts a little stale.Maybe its just not for you
 
I played it for almost 200 hours, and I plan to do just the main story again when I finish my current play at the first Xenoblade. So yes, I wasn't bored at all.
 

mclem

Member
I wonder if No Man's Sky will face similar problems, of people finding they're not as enamoured with exploration-for-the-sake-of-exploration as they may have imagined. The OP does boil down to something approximating "But what do you do in XCX?"
 

Nephtis

Member
This is the only game so far that actually makes me fall asleep. Like, I am trying my best to play and remain interested but I always, always end up falling asleep. I don't know if it's because of the music or what. Plus the camera is awful. And moving the characters is "clunky". I mean, this game was the reason I even bought a WiiU, and it's disappointed me massively so far.

I will continue playing until I finish the main story (I'm on chapter 4 and got the mission to install the... modules? nodes? I forgot), but I am selling the game right after. I'm a huge, huge fan of the Xeno universe but this mostly feels like a letdown :\
 

danmaku

Member
I wonder if No Man's Sky will face similar problems, of people finding they're not as enamoured with exploration-for-the-sake-of-exploration as they may have imagined. The OP does boil down to something approximating "But what do you do in XCX?"

At least NMS is not a sequel to a story-heavy game. But yes, it'll have the same problem.
 

KNT-Zero

Member
The whole game feels like a waste of time. The animu stuff, the Skell drooling (and scarcity of them at the beginning), the long grinding, the excess of information and things to do.

Maybe its the fact that I'm unemployed and I have better things to do.
 

Nuu

Banned
No, the game is suppose to be even more boring.

The further you get in the game, the more boring it is as the interesting open world aspect becomes more and more stale.

If you manage to enjoy the game then more power to you.
 

hoserx

Member
Well, I haven't played it, but it is the sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles, no?


It shares the same name but other than that, it's a completely different story. The combat is similar (control wise), but nothing is continued from Xenoblade Chronicles. (there are Nopon, however.)

I loved both games. I can understand the overall sentiment of thinking XC had a better story overall, but by the end of XXC I was really digging it. Both are great games, but as many people have stated, you have to come into the new one with a different attitude. I love exploring and the game felt like a hiking simulator sometimes....which is right up my alley.
 

jahasaja

Member
No but not all jokes have to make you laugh. Sometimes seeing two people enjoy a joke is enough. For what it is worth, I did crack a smile towards the end when Tatsu was actually in a pot.

L's fail phrases on the other hand frequently make me chuckle. Too bad I hate his combat lines after hearing them so much.

I just feel like Japanese games seems to be criticised on different scale. They should not have to be since some of the best stories are in Japanese games. (FF6, Zelda OOT, souls games etc.)
 
Well, I haven't played it, but it is the sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles, no?

Xenoblade Chronicles, despite its similarly wide open spaces was a fairly linear A->B type plot progression. X has 5 continents compared to the highly varied world of the original so there isn't really that drive of, "I wonder what the next area is gonna be?" or "I can't wait to see where the story goes from here." X's story is non-existent and at its very best is passable.

If you can't find enjoyment in running around in X's world the story won't make the game worthwhile.
 
I'm at 15-20 hours (Chapter 5) and the game is awesome so far. Of course not everything is at the same level but the core of the game (level design, gameplay, character configuration and customization...) is good.

Take your time to understand the game mechanics (read the OT and all the linked articles / posts / videos). After this do some side missions, try to discover a lot of different areas (some are so good looking I wish I could be there for real), fight a few challenging enemies. to train yourself and you'll have a very very good time.

It's already one of my favourite game of 2015 (2016) and I know it gets even better with Skells and Flight Modules.

I'm ready for a 100-150 hours adventure ^^

People told me to simplify (a lot) that the atmosphere is kind of a mix between Jurassic Park and Avatar... I was excited about that, and it's exactly what I feel about the game. Discovering new areas and new species is awesome... meeting new characters from Mira and seeing the story evolves with the weird feeling that nothing is dangerous but everything is... Really I like the game. I wish you would enjoy it too OP but imo if you don't like mechanics that you may repeat a lot in the same game then don't play JRPG because 100 to 200 hours will never be with new gameplay every 10 hours.

PS: when I see where you are in the story > not really spoiler but I telling you which part will change in the game (no details)
you'll soon have new mechanics in fights, Skells and the flying Skells... and even more to add to the game.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Well, I haven't played it, but it is the sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles, no?

It's not a sequel, no. It's the same name and the combat is very similar but the game structure is completely different.

One hub city in a vast world with MMO-ish fetch quests. It's really different to the first game.
 

Mendrox

Member
The whole game feels like a waste of time. The animu stuff, the Skell drooling (and scarcity of them at the beginning), the long grinding, the excess of information and things to do.

Maybe its the fact that I'm unemployed and I have better things to do.

Sorry but if people do not understand the game itself I won't complain that people will let it go. It's a waste of time for people that love to explore an awesome open world. There is nothing that stops you to do other things (you are even encouraged, because guess what? the optional quests are the real main story stuff). Long grinding? Except for the endgame stuff like in every JRPG there is no grind at all - you are just playing bad and no the normal quests at the terminal are not quests that you should finish immediately but rather quests that give you more exp+mats if you have already collected the required items.

And yes you are right that you have to do better things right now.
 

VegiHam

Member
See, I've played about 50 hours and I'm sort of stuck. I'm playing a story mission where the game says 'nope, get out of your skells, they won't fit through this door, back to ground combat lol' and I can't win these ground fights. I don't really want to go and grind for levels and money to buy all new gear, you know? The plot was finally going somewhere and I just want to get on with it right now; I'm not really interested in sidequests atm; but I have no other choice if I want to make any progress. Why even give me a Skell if I'm not allowed to use it to smash my way through things, you know? I'm still kind of Playing with a Xenoblade 1 mindset of 'level up by exploring, get gear by killing' and that just doesn't seem to work in this game, so I still don't really have a good grasp on the kind of flow of this game yet.

I have so many other thoughts on this game that I'm holding off on sharing till I've played more; but right now my main one is 'this is really fun but I liked the first game's structure better'. Hope if there's a Xenoblade 3 they take more from that.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
See, I've played about 50 hours and I'm sort of stuck. I'm playing a story mission where the game says 'nope, get out of your skells, they won't fit through this door, back to ground combat lol' and I can't win these ground fights. I don't really want to go and grind for levels and money to buy all new gear, you know? The plot was finally going somewhere and I just want to get on with it right now; I'm not really interested in sidequests atm; but I have no other choice if I want to make any progress. Why even give me a Skell if I'm not allowed to use it to smash my way through things, you know? I'm still kind of Playing with a Xenoblade 1 mindset of 'level up by exploring, get gear by killing' and that just doesn't seem to work in this game, so I still don't really have a good grasp on the kind of flow of this game yet.

I have so many other thoughts on this game that I'm holding off on sharing till I've played more; but right now my main one is 'this is really fun but I liked the first game's structure better'. Hope if there's a Xenoblade 3 they take more from that.

Skells make power-leveling very easy. One example, just north of the water treatment plant at night, there are 3 level 60 enemies who can be killed with a team of level 30 skells. They'll give you 9999 XP each when your level difference is high.
 
I wonder if No Man's Sky will face similar problems, of people finding they're not as enamoured with exploration-for-the-sake-of-exploration as they may have imagined. The OP does boil down to something approximating "But what do you do in XCX?"
Well xenoblades world is beautifully crafted and it's joy to explore, no man sky world is afaik a randomly generated blob.
 

mAcOdIn

Member
Also, make sure you're upgrading your skills and arts for your party members and swapping out some of the older shitty skills and arts for better new ones.

Also, Elma has a skill called Shadowrunner where if you set her to party leader and use it on an enemy just in range to target will essentially make you invisible to enemies. So you could switch to Elma as your party leader, either fight some random small battles to get your TP up or use blood sacrifice then Shadowrunner, exit combat before attacking and run past the problematic enemies.
 

marmoka

Banned
No, it's not boring.

You have some huge continents to explore. Now go and find new awesome areas.

I've spend more time exploring rather than doing missions. If I couldn't go further, it was because I don't have an skell to reach the highest places.
 

VegiHam

Member
Skells make power-leveling very easy. One example, just north of the water treatment plant at night, there are 3 level 60 enemies who can be killed with a team of level 30 skells. They'll give you 9999 XP each when your level difference is high.
See, I killed level 50 spiders to get to level 40 quickly; but all the level 60 enemies I tried to take on blew up my skells. I'll give these guys a go, thanks.
Also, make sure you're upgrading your skills and arts for your party members and swapping out some of the older shitty skills and arts for better new ones.

Also, Elma has a skill called Shadowrunner where if you set her to party leader and use it on an enemy just in range to target will essentially make you invisible to enemies. So you could switch to Elma as your party leader, either fight some random small battles to get your TP up or use blood sacrifice then Shadowrunner, exit combat before attacking and run past the problematic enemies.
Upgrading skills and arts I've been doing, but at this point in the game I still don't quite get what TP is and I haven't swapped party leader even once :p I'm way out of my depth here.
 

mclem

Member
Well xenoblades world is beautifully crafted and it's joy to explore, no man sky world is afaik a randomly generated blob.

Yes, that's certainly a difference - but on the other hand, of course, XCX's world is huge but finite, and NMS's is potentially infinite.

Either way, I think the key is that the drive and appeal is likely to be similar in both. I would suggest that I think I wouldn't like XCX as much if it was only the world, but the quests that do exist give me enough impetus to embrace it;
 

syeefoo

Neo Member
To each its own, I think.

I enjoyed my time with Xenoblade X despite its flaws ( collect xxxx items which is so randomly shows up, storylines that I wished will be explored further ).

I think this game might be enjoyable to those who:
1.) like exploration:
Mira is fascinating!! I think I spent a great deal of time just trying to climb ... and look down on the landscape, and take in the view. And the fun of actually completing the quest by escaping detection from any high level enemies.

2.) plays along with the story, let yourself becomes part of the world, don't ruuuuuuuush through with the stories. Do the side quests (just pick the one you're interested to do), talk with NLA citizens and learn more 'bout the world (for instance, they'll talk 'bout different weapon type like thermal is effective to insects and others). I kinda over-levered everytime I go back to do the main story. But the first actual grinding I need to do is for Chapter 9
I revisited my arts setup and skills and I need battle points for them
.

3.) trying to learn all the stuff that isn't TAUGHT in the game. Experiments experiments and experiments... or TRIAL AND ERROR. Save and load if you want. There is no penalty in dying in this game unless you want to strive for a perfect "Killed by this indigen 0" records in the record book. If anything, GOOGLE is your best friend. Also, read what your arts is doing, you can 'combo' your arts that can deliver higher damage output.
 

Ducktail

Member
I just started the game but I'm finding it a bit boring too. I fell asleep, literally.

Maybe i'm just tired, but I do hope it picks up the pace. Xenoblade had such a great start.... I miss it.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
The game's best attributes are the well designed world (to the point that it's almost at 3d stealth platformer level) and the affinity and normal missions (not the basic gathering/bounty ones that you get from the panel, the ones that you either find in the field with the red question marks or by getting a social basic mission from the panel).

The strongest point of the game is the exploration. If you don't understand the premise of being a refugee on an unknown dangerous world where almost everything can kill you, then you won't enjoy this game. Everything is built around this. From uncovering new alien species to the social and moral challenges that this new situation creates. The story is just the set up for the game, not the main attraction. But there are tens of little story bits outside the main chapters and almost any NPC has a story to tell and many of them are almost more interesting that the main one. In those there are also decisions that you take that might even kill people.

I took my time with the main story and I never felt the need to grind. I'm yet to start Chapter 11 after 150 hours or so and at level 49. I can see how it might become a grind fest if you want to rush through the story, but that's practically the player's decision to make.

Edit: also game picks up after Chapter 4, until then it's practically a tutorial to get you acquainted with the many complex systems in the game.
 

glaurung

Member
I just started the game but I'm finding it a bit boring too. I fell asleep, literally.

Maybe i'm just tired, but I do hope it picks up the pace. Xenoblade had such a great start.... I miss it.
This is bizarre, because I also fell asleep during my first Xenoblade session.

Of course, the 4h installation phase did not help the proceedings. I kept myself busy chipping away at Destiny on PS4 in the mean time. But the slow camera and awkward pauses in the dialogue put me to sleep pretty quickly. Somehow kept one eye open, ran to the city. Saved and turned off the console.
 

Lingitiz

Member
Xenoblade starts as well very slow, but for some reason people chose to erase that memory from their mind.
Some pretty big stuff happens in the story within the first hour though. That was enough to get me on the hook even though the game play was a slow burn.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
I don't blame anyone for not Liking Xeno X, even if they loved Xeno Chronicles. Pace wise the games are just huegly different, especially with their focus on what they wanted to achieve.
 

ozfunghi

Member
Unlike the original, which had me play everyday for hours before finishing, this one has been gathering dust for a few weeks, with little incentive to pick it up again. It's not bad, and to be honest, considering the gameplay, i'm amazed i'm not bored more, but this is a "80% rating" and not a "97% rating" like the original in my book.

Locking the main story behind tedious missions is as stupid as they could possibly conceive it. Maybe the main story is just too short and too thin?

I do enjoy the surroundings and the world. I'm just missing "meat".

Rather disappointed.
 

mclem

Member
Some pretty big stuff happens in the story within the first hour though. That was enough to get me on the hook even though the game play was a slow burn.

I wonder if a playable prologue - set on the White Whale during the attack, or something - would help to break up the start. Gives you a bit of action and the plot, and then segues into the main content
 

jahasaja

Member
I wonder if a playable prologue - set on the White Whale during the attack, or something - would help to break up the start. Gives you a bit of action and the plot, and then segues into the main content
I do not think that is the main issue. I got stuck at the exact same place as OP since I thought that the only way to raise the survey percentage was to plant probes. It sounds like OP thinks the same. As soon as you realize the exploration acctually gives almost everything you need to proceed in the story the game probably clicks for most people and that should have been explained better.
 

einer51

Member
Skells really diminished my enjoyment of the combat and exploration, not to mention the whitewashing of the amazing music to one song.

I appreciate giant flying robots more than most, but I feel like it really does a disservice to the best parts of this game.
 

-Horizon-

Member
See, I killed level 50 spiders to get to level 40 quickly; but all the level 60 enemies I tried to take on blew up my skells. I'll give these guys a go, thanks.

Upgrading skills and arts I've been doing, but at this point in the game I still don't quite get what TP is and I haven't swapped party leader even once :p I'm way out of my depth here.
Just think of TP as mana or PP from any other rpg game. They build up when you do auto attacks or through certain arts. And they allow you to use certain arts.
 

Piers

Member
My concern with XBX is that the world is so open that it looses the focused layout which had helped give XBC some distinct flavour and immersion.

Like it's a Just Cause map that you're made to navigate on foot, and fun transportation is locked away until later.
 
The game's best attributes are the well design world (to the point that it's almost at 3d stealth platformer level) and the affinity and normal missions (not the basic gathering/bounty ones that you get from the panel, the ones that you either find in the field with the red question marks or by getting a social basic mission from the panel).

The strongest point of the game is the exploration. If you don't understand the premise of being a refugee on an unknown dangerous world where almost everything can kill you, then you won't enjoy this game. Everything is built around this. From uncovering new alien species to the social and moral challenges that this new situation creates. The story is just the set up for the game, not the main attraction. But there are tens of little story bits outside the main chapters and almost any NPC has a story to tell and many of them are almost more interesting that the main one. In those there are also decisions that you take that might even kill people.

I took my time with the main story and I never felt the need to grind. I'm yet to start Chapter 11 after 150 hours or so and at level 49. I can see how it might become a grind fest if you want to rush through the story, but that's practically the player's decision to make.

Edit: also game picks up after Chapter 4, until then it's practically a tutorial to get you acquainted with the many complex systems in the game.

Pretty much how I feel about the game. On the topic of grinding, it never really felt grindy to me. Taking my time exploring and doing missions, I ended up at level 40 around Chapter 8. I really feel like this game isn't for people who want to plow right through Chapters.
 

Raysoul

Member
People who loved this game played it on more than about 70 hours, which is a more than your average video game. Setting aside the story (which I find just ok in my book), people should stop playing if they hate:

-exploring a vast alien word
-XenoBlade MMO style combat
-spending several hours of gameplay

It is a flawed game, but this game will be in my personal GOAT list.
 

Llyranor

Member
Does anyone love Xeno X but didn't like the original Xeno combat? I never finished the first because I got sick of the MMO-style combat and am still ambivalent about this one. I figure my enjoyment of the game/exploration will vastly depend on how I perceive the combat.
 

Cleve

Member
Don't worry OP, you weren't the only one. I actually forced myself to finish this one, and I've gone over my problems with it plenty of times. The game was an enormous letdown for me, but I decided seeing as I enjoyed Xenogears and Xenoblade so much and how so many GAFers swore the game got better at certain milestones that I'd keep plugging away until I got to each milestone (skell/flight addon) that I figured I'd see it to the end.

The world is large, and I guess that was cool, but the game structure feels like a relic out of time from the early 2000s mmo. I found certain characters abrasive enough that I didn't enjoy the little plot the game had. I think it was a first experience exploring a really huge mmo style world for some folks but that's definitely something that's old hat to me at this point.

MonolithSoft created a game that was really technically impressive, I just wish they would return some of their focus to plot and character interaction.
 
TC, if you think that's boring, you ain't seen nothing yet. This game somehow manages to cram multiple fetch quests/extermination quests into almost EVERY quest. You can expect a good 1-2 hours of them just to unlock your skell after chapter 6.

I must consider myself lucky then since I completed like half of the subquests just by accepting the Skell license quest.
 
The early parts of the game where I was exploring on foot, dodging enemies 30 levels higher than me, scrambling along cliffs and jumping wide gaps to reach probe sites was the most fun part of the game. Later, when I had flying skells are and was one-shoting enemies 20 levels higher than me and dropping from the sky directly onto objectives it got pretty dull.
 

jahasaja

Member
Does anyone love Xeno X but didn't like the original Xeno combat? I never finished the first because I got sick of the MMO-style combat and am still ambivalent about this one. I figure my enjoyment of the game/exploration will vastly depend on how I perceive the combat.

I did not like the combat but liked the game. The world and exploration is just so well done. Especially the way the skells empower you and really change the way you play the game and interact with the world.

The main problem with the combat is that you never have to look at the monster since it is acctually better to just look at the HUD.

If this game had real time combat it would have been amazing.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
I must consider myself lucky then since I completed like half of the subquests just by accepting the Skell license quest.
That means you still had 4 pointless filler quests before you could "earn" your skell (as if:
making first contact with like 5 alien species, singlehandedly establishing NLA's miranium mining operation, identifying and killing dozens if not hundreds of aliens bent on destroying humans, and funding the development of several arms manufacturers were not enough to earn one.
). Also I think it's telling when you consider yourself lucky for not having to do quests.
 

entremet

Member
With this game and MGSV, it seems that lovers of traditional linearity may seem to have a hard time removing the blinders that linear games accustom you to, especially since the prequels to both series were more linear.
 

RobRSG

Member
I've played this and MGSV and I can certainly say that MGSV is the true boredom king.

Combat, skills and classes on Xenoblade X are keeping me hooked during these 28 hours, and all seems worth it.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Skells really diminished my enjoyment of the combat and exploration, not to mention the whitewashing of the amazing music to one song.

I appreciate giant flying robots more than most, but I feel like it really does a disservice to the best parts of this game.
Skells basically break every aspect of the game. I feel like they were almost implemented as an afterthought, but they were so fun that they left them in.

Before skells, it's genuinely challenging to traverse Mira. Treasures are challenging to reach. You have to plan your jumps and sneak past tougher enemies. You level up at a proper pace and steadily overcome tougher and tougher foes.

Then you get your skell and you can easily beat enemies 20+ levels ahead of you, earning insane EXP because of how it scales to level difference. You can jump so high that there's no challenge reaching all the probe sites. You can evade any enemy you want. And of course when you get the flight module it's trivially easy to reach any spot on the map.

It completely unbalanced the difficulty but in a fun way.
 
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