Xenoblade Chronicles 3

[MikeBeaver]

54 minutes ago, Stanley said:

It looks awesome, in tone much more like the first game. 

Which, unfortunately for me, has toned down my excitement for it.

More serious, less anime  

[Ninja Doctor]

XC1 is the better game

[MikeBeaver]

3 minutes ago, Ninja Doctor said:

XC1 is the better game

Yeah....... you're wrong about that 😛

 

XC2 and especially Torna have glorious combat and I like them, XC1, well, I finished it once, it's the only one of the Switch games I've only played once, the other two have had multiple playthroughs.

[SMD]

Xenoblade 1's combat is more nuanced than 2 and I'm a bit disappointed but not surprised that 3 is built on that. At least you can have more control over your party in battle and it doesn't look like there's that dumb gacha blade mechanic any more.

[the_debaser]

The direct was pretty disappointing.
 

I’m so sick of posh English accents in these games. The characters sound like right arseholes. The battle system  also looks pretty much the same as before with breaks and the like. Was hoping for a bit more. 

[MikeBeaver]

2 hours ago, SMD said:

Xenoblade 1's combat is more nuanced than 2 and I'm a bit disappointed but not surprised that 3 is built on that. At least you can have more control over your party in battle and it doesn't look like there's that dumb gacha blade mechanic any more.

You say nuanced, I say dull, it's personl taste though. I tried 1 on Wii and 3DS, could not get on with it, but 2's combat struck a chord quickly, and Torna's battle system refined it to perfection, didn't mind the gatch system.... once they enabled you to skip the animation sequence, got all the blades I could possibly get on my first playthrough, wrung out all the enjoyment I could.. then played NG+ 😛 XC1, I beat the campaign and that was that, no real desire to struggle through it again, the story was quite good, it was just that as the first, I don't think they had everything nailed down, and of course, it was intended for the Wii, which was kind of a marvel to be fair if you consider the scope of the game.

 

Just gutted it's moving away from the style of 2 though, so now, while it will still be a day 1 purchase, I will no longer be taking the week off work to play through as I had planned.

[kiroquai]

I preferred 2 to 1 as well - can understand the gripes with the gatcha Blade system and THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME DON'T FORGET ME YOU'RE DONE YOU'RE DONE but I found myself far more invested in the story than the first game. Not that I didn't enjoy the first game, of course, but 2 definitely really clicked with me as soon as I'd played the first few opening minutes.

[Stanley]

15 hours ago, the_debaser said:

The direct was pretty disappointing.
 

I’m so sick of posh English accents in these games. The characters sound like right arseholes. The battle system  also looks pretty much the same as before with breaks and the like. Was hoping for a bit more. 

The localisation is one of my favourite things about it, also there’s loads of different regional accents and not particularly posh. 

[Ninja Doctor]

I always play these with Japanese voices. I hope there’s an option for xc3. 

[Popo]

I did switch to Japanese while playing XC2, but the names of some (all?) of the characters actually changed, which was confusing. The English dub in these is actually pretty good, by most standards.  

[the_debaser]

 

[shynra]

Lots to like in the trailer for me. Seems like English lip sync is good for once! Switch characters during battle, this might be bigger than when persona 3 p let you control all chars thanks to the systems for me! Monsters attack each other on the map/random army's skirmishes, the QOL stuff from xb2 patches/torna/x all here, lovely. 

 

Did see bossmans video above, mostly fair, I didn't think the presentation would convince anyone not on the fence/interested. Will say my first xenoblade (1) I didn't explore combat much and had a blast! You can in these games, do not let the deep combat systems put you off or any other complex thing here as they are normally optional - there to sink your teeth into if you want. I did from x onwards. 

 

Also in the camp of preferring 2 combat to 1 or x! I replayed 1 HD too! I play combat systems to understand + enjoy. I did see lots of great understand + exploit stuff in 1 but didn't try myself. 

[Wiper]

As someone who prefers 2 to 1, this still looks very good to me. And not just because "off-seer" sounds like some sort of soothsayer who's passed their sell by date, which tickles me. The world just looks a pleasure to explore, and I'm looking forward to getting to know the characters. It only makes me wish, as 2 and X before it did, that it could be played on a system with a bit more oomph — I'd love to see it in a crisper resolution with a solid framerate!

[SMD]

Just got this email:

 

Quote

Thank you for registering your interest in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Collector’s Edition from My Nintendo Store.

Due to unforeseen logistical challenges, we are unable to open pre-orders for the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Collector’s Edition before the game launches on July 29th. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

To give customers the flexibility to purchase and enjoy the game at launch, we will now be offering the contents of the Collector’s Edition (soft cover concept art book, steel case and outer box packaging) as a separate purchase at a price that does not include the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 software.

This means you can buy the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 game when it launches on July 29th, and have a chance to pre-order the Collector’s Edition contents on My Nintendo Store later in September.

As you’ve already registered your interest, you’ll continue to receive updates about this product and you’ll be among the first to be notified when pre-orders begin in September.

Thanks for your understanding and please look forward to more updates in the coming months.

The My Nintendo Store team

 

Understandable and probably the best way round it.

[R0b]

Personally I love knowing the actual date it's going on preorder.

[Stanley]

Bit of a mess all that. 

[Keyboard Koala]

[Djx]

On 18/07/2022 at 13:07, SMD said:

Understandable and probably the best way round it.

 

Nintendo Japan -

XC3 Special Edition pre-orders are opened months in advance and are made to order. You have the option of a physical or digital edition of the game plus the extras or just the extras if that's what you want - https://store-jp.nintendo.com/search/?q=xenoblade 3

 

Nintendo America -

XC3 Special Editions pre-orders are limited to 2 per customer. Pre-orders open and 1 server crash later, pre-orders are halted until a later date.

On that later date. the limit is changed to 1 per customer.  Pre-orders open again. Another server crash but if you missed out this time, that's it.

 

Nintendo Europe -

XC3 Special Edition pre-orders are teased until late July. 1 apology email later, pre-orders are pushed back to September.

 

Looks like Nintendo Japan have the right approach with  regards to the XC3 Special Edition release.

 

[SMD]

The difference is the European one has to be multi language, whereas the Japanese one doesn't and the American one supports just three I think? So...yeah. Logistics.

[Djx]

15 minutes ago, SMD said:

The difference is the European one has to be multi language, whereas the Japanese one doesn't and the American one supports just three I think? So...yeah. Logistics.

 

How so? The game is out next week and good to go hence the early release from September.

The Japanese Special Edition box even has the words 'Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Collector's Edition' written on it in English.

The XC2 Collector's Edition UK release had a slipcover in just English and French.

 

The delay could be related to most of Europe's Nintendo Stores being down for maintenence -

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/07/my-nintendo-store-down-for-maintenance-possibly-for-weeks-eu

 

[Ninja Doctor]

I reckon someone at NoE forgot to order all the CEs. 

[Strafe]

The reviews are in.

 

Spoiler

Currently 90 on metacritic

Am I right in thinking that the combat/battle system in this is basically the same as the second one? I had it but bounced off because the auto attacking with occasional button presses didn’t really gel with me.

 

Also, traversal of the map is just running around - there’s no jumping or free climbing or anything?

[Wiper]

Combat system follows the pattern of the previous games (i.e. MMO-style timers and autobattling with escalating status effects), yes.

 

I'd be astonished if jumping is out given the previous games have made heavy use of it — no climbing, but plenty of platforming.

[SMD]

alley oop

[Strafe]

7 minutes ago, Wiper said:

Combat system follows the pattern of the previous games (i.e. MMO-style timers and autobattling with escalating status effects), yes.

 

I'd be astonished if jumping is out given the previous games have made heavy use of it — no climbing, but plenty of platforming.

I can’t remember doing much jumping but just be mistaken. I seem to remember that there were all these huge landscapes but not a great deal of challenging traversal on them. I was probably too worried about Pyra’s back problems to pay attention.

[Wiper]

Also, for anyone looking forward to the game and not wanting to know too much about it, but wanting to know whether it's a good follow-up, this caption from Martin Robinson's [Eurogamer Essential] review, plus the knowledge that the creepy anime girl character design rate is way down, told me all I need to know: 

 

Quote

The vistas are frequently breathtaking - and it helps that this is a significant step up from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in terms of performance, both handheld or docked.

 

Can't wait.

[R0b]

I'm so worried about all the generic stereotype characters, but I have trust. 1+2+Torna are pure loves of mine. 

[SMD]

What a bunch of jokers.

[Quest]

 

[Stanley]

I’m sensing GOTY material for me, can’t wait.