Xenoblade Chronicles Official Thread

I've still got quite a few Wii games I need to play fully through, but I'm in no doubt getting Xenoblade.

Just thought I'd bump this thread up

Amazon UK have finally listed Xenoblade for £29.91.

A question - Does it really take 120 hours to finish!

Maybe including all the sidequests I don't see why not. But for just the main story no chance.

Yeah, there's no way the story will be 120 hours, maybe 50 or 60 at most. Judging from playing it though, there'll be a butload of sidequests.

People... here are some awesome teasers for XENOBLADE...I just nearly...

PS- The english voice acting is pretty cool

( Edited 26.07.2011 18:02 by Sherwinator )

Is it possible for cubed3 to have a countdown to big game releases on its main page?

I for one would like to see a countdown to Xenoblade!!

I stumbled upon some extracts of a Xenoblade review from a German gaming magazine (that apparently has reviews this soon) and just because I feel like it, I'll translate them for any of you guys that might be interested in reading them.

While other games rely upon generic pseudo-medieval settings, Xenoblade, with its dead titans, is offering the most exciting RPG world of the last decade. Once you step into the gigantic fields on the thigh of Bionis after a few hours of play and see the unbelievably big figure of Mechonis in the distance, you'll be awestruck by the incredible view. That view is just as scary as it is beautiful.

I'm overwhelmed! I never thought that the Wii was capable of such gorgeous graphics, such massive and detailed scenery. While you're wandering through narrow passages in the HD-adventure "Final Fantasy XIII", Xenoblade is luring you with gigantic landscapes, complex caves and picturesque cities - all with barely any loading times at all. The plot is enthralling and told much less importunately compared to Tetsuya Takahashi's earlier games. Xenoblade also deserves to be praised for the simple conveniences it offers. There are no random battles, an instant travelling function saves you from endless hikes and you can save anywhere, anytime. Xenoblade is a nearly flawless JRPG and the best representative of the genre in recent years. We are really lucky that this valueable gem made its way to Europe!

Score: 91%

Check out the official Xenoblade channel

http://n-europe.com/news.php?nid=16042

Ads being shown in the uk:

Dear Nintendo UK,

Please don't ever again use the posh twats from your PR department to localise quality Japanese games in English. As you have done with Xenoblade. Please only use voice actors who are skilled in this area of work. If that means American based actors, so be it, anything beats having to listen to la-de-da twats trying to sound tough.

Thanks,

Squidboy

Thank fuck for Japanese voice work and English subs.

Summary from the IGN review:

8.5 Presentation
Beautiful design makes up for Xenoblade's graphical shortcomings,
but it's disappointing that the dialogue isn't lip-synced.
7.0 Graphics
This is the best that the Wii can do, but it's not really up to modern
standards. The artistic direction makes up for a lack of technical grunt.
8.5 Sound
A super, varied score with generally excellent localised voice acting.
After 35 hours or so you'll have heard one or two of the battle the-
mes a few too many times, though.
9.0 Gameplay
A fantastic battle system and literally hundreds of optional quests
make this a more exciting experience minute-to-minute than most
other games in its genre. There's repetition, but it doesn't grate.
9.0 Lasting Appeal
There's so much of Xenoblade Chronicles that you can't even tell
when the end is in sight. A true epic.

Closing Comments:
Xenoblade Chronicles is the best Japanese RPG of this generation.
The fact that it looks like it's from the last generation is its only draw-
back, but its technical limitations are offset by imaginative artistic di-
rection, innovative and compelling combat, and thoughtful design.
It's a throwback to the glory days of the genre, proof that there are
always new ways to tell a story. If you've ever felt neglected by the
lack of in-depth gaming epics on the Wii, you owe it to yourself to
buy this.

OVERALL: "Amazing" 9.0

I did see that review the other day and thought that it didn't make sense scoring wise, but it read like he enjoyed the game at least. I wonder if Games Critic is going to do a purposely low score just because they hate the Wii.

Got my copy from Shopto today, haven't played it yet due to only just waking up about half an hour ago. (Couldn't sleep last night, so I didn't get to sleep until like 8 this morning.)

Will probably post my thoughts on it later.

@ Sirlink - A few points to note. Alot of people seem to enjoy the english voice acting

That said, IGN is weird. I stopped reading about them as they are not consistent and thrive on sensationalism. Everyone know's that the Wii is not SD.. so its just shocking to see their standard drop even more.

Then again, It's what I expect from a company that is run by the fu*king murdoch asses. Its changed from being a reuters of the gaming world, to pretty much being the gaming version of 'news of the world'.

@ MUSH - YOU GOT IT ALREADY?? Can you tell me if there's reversible cover art? I bloody got it from amazon has I had a voucher that I needed to use.. and guess what.. THEY HAVENT FREAKING DISPATCHED IT!!!:-x:-x:-x

To each his own, but I dislike Shulk's voice. When he opened his mouth, I did not expect him to sound like that.

Started playing it as well (Friend's copy, I'll get mine on Saturday). Played about 4 hours. I'm stunned by the amount of side quests to do just for the Colony 9 area ! I never buy strategy guides, but if I can find one for this game, I think I'll get one.

Also, I played with the English voice acting for like 5 minutes... then went back to the Japanese one . I didn't watch any video to avoid being spoiled on anything, but I didn't expect it to sound so bad (in my opinion).

Not because of the British accent, I like it if anything, but the voice actors just don't do a good job of conveying the different emotions of the characters. The problem I have is that their lines of dialogue in battle just seem far too cheesy. There's not much else that they could have said in battle I guess, but the acting makes the yells sound far worse than they would otherwise.

( Edited 17.08.2011 22:30 by Kafei2006 )

Sherwinator said:

@ MUSH - YOU GOT IT ALREADY?? Can you tell me if there's reversible cover art? I bloody got it from amazon has I had a voucher that I needed to use.. and guess what.. THEY HAVENT FREAKING DISPATCHED IT!!!:-x:-x:-x

@Kafei - I've played for like 5 hours, only done a few side quests. I didn't think I'd like the game this much, but it's bloody amazing. I'm taking a break from it for a while now, but when I get back to it, I'll be heading into Colony 6. I have to say I don't really mind the English VA myself... it's grown on me.

( Edited 17.08.2011 22:52 by Mush123 )

Kafei2006 said:

Not because of the British accent, I like it if anything, but the voice actors just don't do a good job of conveying the different emotions of the characters. The problem I have is that their lines of dialogue in battle just seem far too cheesy. There's not much else that they could have said in battle I guess, but the acting makes the yells sound far worse than they would otherwise.

That's exactly what I thought while playing the demo, so when I get it Friday, the Japanese voices are going straight on.

@ Mush - I normally use Shopto as they have great service and super fast dispatch (check out their dispatch video on their about us page).

UPDATE! Amazon finally UPDATED MY ORDER TO - dispatching soon - .. I can only hope to get it this weekend!!!!!!!!!

Where's Sirlink ... he loves talking about the English VA!

Oh, I'm sorry Sherwinator. I was too busy playing Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love because I love the English voice acting there. Unlike Xenoblade, it has excellent quality voices that convey lots of different emotions and fit the characters and scenes perfectly. That's how it should be. What a shame that such talent went to waste in such a criminally overlooked game like that.

Now a bit back on topic, according to Amazon my special edition with the red CC Pro should be dispatched fairly soon but I already know there's no chance in hell I'll get it before Monday. It's a curse that I'm pretty much forced to deal with. New games, on Nintendo platforms at least, pretty much always get released on Fridays and I order from Germany because there are only overpriced online stores in Austria. Because of that I won't get it on Friday even if they dispatch it on Wednesday. I probably could get many of my new games on Saturday but I just so happen to live in a district here in my city where you get no mail on Saturdays for whatever damn reason. So yeah, I'll have to have some patience as usual while you guys are already enjoying the game. /rant over

I'm just going to GAME and getting my copy there and then, I hope it sells well, but if it's anything like The Conduit, I'll just be able to pick up the Special Edition when I want.

Then again, it's probably best not to get the special edition, it'll save me £20, and I already have a CCPro.

OK so I played it for 6 hours so far, and I still haven't left the first area of the game XD. I have completed 30 sidequests (including one tied to the main story) and got four more going on that require me to leave Colony 9. Think I thoroughly completed that area now but I'm not even sure. Got the best equipment possible so far.

This game is just gigantic, I do hope it stays that way further on.

( Edited 18.08.2011 14:27 by Kafei2006 )

Chill Sirlink... I get where you are coming from.

It would have been great if they hired top quality VA, but imo the English VA isnt that bad. Again, I will say that the Japanese is better.. BUT .. WE SHOULD CELEBRATE... We got Xenoblade.

AMAZON... finally dispatched my copy today. I hope I'll recieve it by SAT!

On the positive side, I think most of us won't be affected by the stock shortages. I'm not sure if its a temporary thing or if its a limited run type of thing!

@Sherwinator: Haha, I'm just messing with you a bit. It takes quite a lot to get me upset.

My copy has been dispatched too overnight and I'll get it on Monday as usual. Oh well, I still have some stuff to finish up in Sakura Wars and even Fragile Dreams lying there unopened to tide me over. I better finish those before Xenoblade takes over for a couple weeks.

Well, NoE probably didn't expect such a big increase in demand due to all the press and coverage Xenoblade received in the light of Operation Rainfall.

Conspiracy theory time: What if NoA purposely held back those games just to generate a ton of attention from the press for it to sell a lot in Europe and then in the US later on as well.

That aside, I think it should be fine. If there's really such a demand for Xenoblade, NoE would be stupid not to produce more copies to get the most out of it as the localisation was likely anything but cheap.

Part of me says they aren't going to sell as well as they could have if they do eventually come to the US because a lot of Americans would have either imported or pirated the game. Then NOA will moan and say they were right to not originally bring them over after not so good sales.

Maybe that won't happen, but I can still imagine it.