Xenoblade Chronicles 3

[Aphex Tim]

Happy XC3 release day all. 

 

For those thrilled with my rip roaring adventure of ‘which bricks and mortar’ shop will be able to sell it to.me this morning… It seems sainsburys / Argos DOES have it in where i live, Curry’s (closer) was listing it as ‘stock sent to shop’ but this morning their website doesn’t seem to show them having anything of anything (this or any other games)… Ahh the excitement of which to pick*

 

*tremendous annoyance. 

 

P.S. The film rights to this story ARE staggeringly still available. 

[Stanley]

I finish work at 4, the beers are already chilling in the fridge. 
 

This weeks NVC is all about XC3, and John Linneman is a guest, which is pretty special for this podcast. 
 

 

[Kevvy Metal]

I own - 

 

XC1 - Wii

XCX - Wii U

XC1:DE - Switch

XC2 - Switch 

 

...and they've all just been on my pile of shame lol

 

I've bought this, I'm going to jump in on THIS one as it's the new hotness, and I'm right in thinking that the stories are all self contained?

 

I've made the mistake before of wanting to jump in on the latest game in the series so instead started at the start and had my fill for the time being after finishing the first game so didn't move onto the one I had bought lol. 

Blasting through a series of games is easy when they're short - like Metal Gear and what not - but when they're mega-bastard long hour RPG's like this, if i play XC1 first, I'll want to move onto something else quite different after finishing it.

 

I'm fine with starting at XC3 and going back to XC1 then onwards. This seems like a good idea no?

[Ste Pickford]

19 hours ago, scottcr said:

Argos will have it - but they're charging full 49.99 whereas Amazon have it for 44.99.

 

I looked at Argos a couple of days ago and you're right, it was around £49.99.  I almost bought it from Shopto, and had the tab open.  Came to look this morning and Shopto were out of stock.  Had another look on the Argos website and today they're selling it for £39.99, and was in stock near me.

[Ste Pickford]

double post

[SuperCapes]

14 minutes ago, Kevvy Metal said:

I own - 

 

XC1 - Wii

XCX - Wii U

XC1:DE - Switch

XC2 - Switch 

 

...and they've all just been on my pile of shame lol

 

I've bought this, I'm going to jump in on THIS one as it's the new hotness, and I'm right in thinking that the stories are all self contained?

 

I've made the mistake before of wanting to jump in on the latest game in the series so instead started at the start and had my fill for the time being after finishing the first game so didn't move onto the one I had bought lol. 

Blasting through a series of games is easy when they're short - like Metal Gear and what not - but when they're mega-bastard long hour RPG's like this, if i play XC1 first, I'll want to move onto something else quite different after finishing it.

 

I'm fine with starting at XC3 and going back to XC1 then onwards. This seems like a good idea no?

 

Should be absolutely fine buddy! 

[Popo]

I have only put about 15 hours into XC2, and own but haven't started XCDE.  There is absolutely no reason to buy this now... except the nagging fear that it'll become hard to find later and the price will only go up.

 

With digital downloads on the Switch though, that's unlikely, right?

[Kevvy Metal]

1 minute ago, SuperCapes said:

 

Should be absolutely fine buddy! 

 

[Kevvy Metal]

2 minutes ago, Popo said:

I have only put about 15 hours into XC2, and own but haven't started XCDE.  There is absolutely no reason to buy this now... except the nagging fear that it'll become hard to find later and the price will only go up.

 

With digital downloads on the Switch though, that's unlikely, right?

 

You will always be able to just buy it off the eShop...

...untill they inevitably turn it off in a few years time 

[Popo]

25 minutes ago, Kevvy Metal said:

 

You will always be able to just buy it off the eShop...

...untill they inevitably turn it off in a few years time 

 

Yea... where it will sit in Nintendo's "Weebs will pay anything" category alongside the Fire Emblem games, and never drop below £50 ever.

 

When you think about it, I'm actually saving money by buying it now. #Poponomics

[MidWalian]

My copy has arrived from ShopTo! Finished Future Connected last night, just in time. My son insists on having a first go. Looking nice so far.

 

 

[Popo]

£37 with Nectar points.  Fuck sake.

[Wiper]

 

[Alan Stock]

Got the day off and started playing early. I'm about 5 hours in and I can give you my spoiler-free impressions:

 

So far, it's really good. The setting is very much Xenoblade 1 with mechs and military, which I'm all for, with an opening intro very reminiscent of the first game. The graphics are still a bit blurry but a step up from previous games. The cutscenes are excellent. The cinematography is more dynamic like Xenoblade 1, and they've put a lot of effort into animation. It looks like a lot more mo-cap is being used. Some of these cinematics have awesome fight choreography on par with the most epic moments of previous games, and its only the start! I might suggest before starting to turn off cinematic subtitles in the options as they are a bit distracting.

 

The character designs are thank god more normalised than Xenoblade 2. They've pulled back a bit on the exaggerated faces and bodily dimensions with the anime appearance being a bit more realistic, although the faces do seem a bit homogenous at times. The girl in your party does wear a skin tight battle suit which is a bit unfortunate but its nothing compared to the embarrassment of Xenoblade 2. For those who beomaned the british voice acting in the previous games, its back (which I like). Strangely they have gone with rather similar voices/accents for matching personalities to previous games (perhaps as a nod), but the quality has been very good so far, and so has the script. Unfortunately Nopons are already in the game from the start, although I can forgive it for now because their writing is quite funny.

 

So far it feels very comfortably Xenoblade. I have watched some cinematics, done a few overworld sections and been slowly tutorialised on the basics. I've been playing on Hard difficulty to help make things more engaging, and I'd recommend that to anyone already comfortable with the battle system from past games, its balanced well and tackling elite or enemies above your level can be very dangerous. Combat is so far like slipping into old shoes, with positional attacks and setting up Break/Topple/Daze combos. The only new twist so far is area of effect circles that the healer can drop down, boosting attack power or healing. A small thing, but it does make a nice extra element to factor in, and on Hard it can be the difference between winning and losing. The bad news is that the yelling is back, but at least the voice lines are less grating than Xenoblade 2. 

 

Out in the overworld it looks good as ever, if you can disregard the blurryness. There's a few new things to do out there, resources lying all over the place to pick up (just by running over them), combats in progress you can wade into, and a much more generous fast travel and map system. Collection side quests are much more streamlined with you able to cash them in via a menu without having to return to base, which is nice.

 

The tutorials so far have been quite comprehensive and well paced compared to previous games. It still suffers from overload at times with multiple pop-ups, but they've made it easy for you to revisit tips and try out tutorials you missed or forgot from the menu. It actually walks you through basic steps in the menu like levelling up, equipping accessories and questing, in a clear and fast way. I agree with the reviews that this is one of the better RPG tutorials I've seen in general. I still think they do a poor job of explaining the Break/Topple/Daze combos but maybe they get onto that later on, on Hard I've had to rely on combos to get through tougher enemies but on Normal you probably don't need combos just yet. 

 

As you might expect the game is very polished. It oozes quality and care. I haven't mentioned the music. I'm happy to report it's up to the usual very high standards, with some great themes so far, and some pumping battle music. Core cinematics are scored really well with the appropriate swells and action beats. For me the music plays a big part in how hype the cutscenes and how enjoyable long battles are, so I'm really pleased its hitting the mark.

 

As for the story, I won't spoil anything, but its already got a cool premise from the start, and I just hit a big cutscene that shakes things up. I'm really glad they went back to the military/warring factions and tech emphasis from Xenoblade 1, to me its more exciting (I know Xeno 2 had those elements but here it's much more the focus so far). The pacing has been good as well as the characterisation. Your cronies feel maybe a bit too familiar to past games (deliberately so, I assume) but all the cast have plenty of personality and their speech is convincing - the localisers seem to have hit the nail on the head again with plenty of slang and swearing thrown in. The protagonist though is already a welcome change from the norm, a thoughtful and competant leader with a brain. The maturity of the characters and the respect to the audience is also a breath of fresh air. There's no Rex here stumbling around with no clue what's going on, it's more like Shulk; the characters act intelligently and just much more naturally than the more anime style of Xeno 2. If you liked the writing and characterisation in Xeno 1, this is much more that style and I'm a fan.

 

I could woffle on but that's the main takeaways. So far so Xenoblade. Promising story, great presentation, fun gameplay. Nothing radically new yet but its very early days, and already this feels more my style than Xeno 2 did. Looking forward to plunging further in today.

 

[Stanley]

Flippin’ eck sounds brilliant, can’t wait to get home and play. Excellent impressions @Alan Stock

[Alan Stock]

2 hours ago, Kevvy Metal said:

I've bought this, I'm going to jump in on THIS one as it's the new hotness, and I'm right in thinking that the stories are all self contained?

 

Pretty much. There are threads that connect them but although they are nice for franchise fans to enjoy, they aren't essential to understanding or enjoying the experience. And I definitely wouldn't say its important enough to force someone to play an 80 hour+ game just so they can see how they fit into the saga! Yes, its cool to have played them in order as it makes the connections more impactful, but its minor in the grand scheme of things. Outside of the connecting threads, its more like Final Fantasy games where you revisit similar settings, races, creatures, combat system and so forth.

[Sumire]

I shouldn't complain, but damn, Shopto like their email updates don't they. 

[scottcr]

3 hours ago, Ste Pickford said:

 

I looked at Argos a couple of days ago and you're right, it was around £49.99.  I almost bought it from Shopto, and had the tab open.  Came to look this morning and Shopto were out of stock.  Had another look on the Argos website and today they're selling it for £39.99, and was in stock near me.

 

DAMN! Too late for me 

[Stanley]

I’m still at work but I’ve been sent confirmation the game has arrived.

Gwynnie doesn’t look very interested (the Guinea pig) 

[Kayin Amoh]

I'm middlingly curious about this. 1 was fine, didn't care much about the story but the world was expansive and beautiful with great music.

 

2 I didn't like. Didn't like the story, didn't like the characters, didn't like their designs. They were boring and moe and that's a big no no.

 

Pretty much loved Chronicles X. Big world, cut out a lot of the guff with a self insert character. Elma and Nagi were awesome.

 

This... it's hard to see if I'd be back in or not, since 2 also got overwhelming praise and was very much not my thing.

[scottcr]

My brain cant comprehend how someone can love XCX, be meh about XC1 and dislike XC2.

 

If I were to hazard a guess, you'd feel the same way as you did about XC1... 

[MikeBeaver]

3 minutes ago, Kayin Amoh said:

I'm middlingly curious about this. 1 was fine, didn't care much about the story but the world was expansive and beautiful with great music.

 

2 I didn't like. Didn't like the story, didn't like the characters, didn't like their designs. They were boring and moe and that's a big no no.

 

Pretty much loved Chronicles X. Big world, cut out a lot of the guff with a self insert character. Elma and Nagi were awesome.

 

This... it's hard to see if I'd be back in or not, since 2 also got overwhelming praise and was very much not my thing.

 

In contrast, I very much like 2, 1 is meh, never played XCX and this , so far, is bloody glorious, it's taken about 7 hours, but has finally clicked, found myself with a massive smile on myself earlier today, and that's a rare thing, just randomly catching yourself smiling  

[Kayin Amoh]

@scottcr Excellent taste, I guess.

 

Hmm. I'll probably skip impulse buying it then. My bud's buying it, so I'll get a loan off him after he's done.

 

@MikeBeaver Interesting! We landed on different sides of the Xeno appreciation spectrum, but I'm glad you're digging this one so much.

[Ste Pickford]

I'm broadly the same, I think.  I've really enjoyed all of them - I didn't find any of them to be 'meh' - but X is probably my favourite, and 2 probably my least favourite.

 

I don't especially enjoy the story in any of them, and find the anime stylings a bit of a turn off, but love the mechanics and really love the worlds and the scale and exploration.

[Popo]

The onboarding in this one is much better than 2, from what I can remember of it. 

[Stanley]

Stunning looking game, anyone getting 5.1 sound? 

[Strafe]

To my eyes it looks about as blurry as the second one did but maybe I’ve been spoiled recently.
 

I have bought the game, I own a copy of it. If I yarr it and run it on my steamdeck will it look better?

[SuperCapes]

4 hours ago, Strafe said:

To my eyes it looks about as blurry as the second one did but maybe I’ve been spoiled recently.
 

I have bought the game, I own a copy of it. If I yarr it and run it on my steamdeck will it look better?

 

Not likely to be honest, at least not without some kind of modification. This has tonnes of little techniques to try and extract the cleanest image. 

 

Not super happy with the resolution personally either, but it is so minor as the rest of it is a joy so far. Also, the resolution and character quality is superb. 

 

Excited to sink my teeth in this more tomorrow!!!

[Strafe]

2 hours ago, SuperCapes said:

 

 

 

Not super happy with the resolution personally either, but it is so minor as the rest of it is a joy so far. Also, the resolution and character quality is superb. 

 

 

The resolution is superb but you’re not super happy with it?

[Sumire]

I'm playing in handheld mode on the OLED model and it looks stunning and the music is sublime.