Agreed, I didn't even expect a commercial. I do hope people pick it up and enjoy it, I want them to continue making games like these.
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Nintendo's marketing of Xenoblade 2 has so far been abysmal
- Thread starter Shunt
- Start date
Agreed, I didn't even expect a commercial. I do hope people pick it up and enjoy it, I want them to continue making games like these.
not the only means. we've already seen scenes where there's just dialogue boxes. Xenoblade 1 and X also had many of these.
and compressing audio will help, but it's not the only thing they can do. texture resolution can be lower, it already looks similar to X despite the increased ram. that being said, I expect the game to be on a 16GB cart than a 32GB and would be surprised if it's on a larger one
I disagree too. The game has always been present whenever they had any major event, sometimes even being one of the first things they spoke about (E3 or the January event) or dedicating quite some time to show off its features. It even was part of a commercial, which is pretty huge for what many consider a "niche" RPG series.
Of course it won't get the same amount of push a Zelda, a Mario or a Splatoon will take unless the series starts selling at those levels. I have to say though that so far the series only keeps growing, even if slowly. It's also amazing for me how Monolith Soft quickly seemed to become a sort of prestige team inside Nintendo, working on big RPGs while also helping with key support roles in their major games.
I don't think we need to worry about them, for now.
Of course it won't get the same amount of push a Zelda, a Mario or a Splatoon will take unless the series starts selling at those levels. I have to say though that so far the series only keeps growing, even if slowly. It's also amazing for me how Monolith Soft quickly seemed to become a sort of prestige team inside Nintendo, working on big RPGs while also helping with key support roles in their major games.
I don't think we need to worry about them, for now.
Speaking of this, is there any information on other game elements anywhere at all? I mean, all I seem to know about is this great looking Limited Edition that I preordered.
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Truth to be told, the gameplay video (with the soothing and arguably boring old voice) wasn't very engaging, and I am not a fan of the new chara-design (at all).
Now, the game did benefit from some marketing, although how effective that marketing has been is up in the air. We are still a few weeks before the official release, we will see if Nintendo changes its strategy.
I hope both the story, characters and gameplay are good. I don't worry too much about the gameplay, but I have my fears regarding the story and characters. Xenoblade Chronicles X was passable and didn't leave a lasting impression. At least it wasn't bad/insufferable like some other JRPGs out there (Star Ocean 4, I'm looking at you).
Now, the game did benefit from some marketing, although how effective that marketing has been is up in the air. We are still a few weeks before the official release, we will see if Nintendo changes its strategy.
I hope both the story, characters and gameplay are good. I don't worry too much about the gameplay, but I have my fears regarding the story and characters. Xenoblade Chronicles X was passable and didn't leave a lasting impression. At least it wasn't bad/insufferable like some other JRPGs out there (Star Ocean 4, I'm looking at you).
XCX is the second best JRPG (sans portable games) this gen so far for me
Agreed, compared to what the game offers, it's really not something that important, the game has a magical world with unique setting, amazing art, beautiful landscapes and impressive atmosphere, with promising combat system against well designed enemies, interesting story and world building, and last but not least, the game deliver a world that calling the players to explore and discover what it's has to offer
The characters seems to be designed by many different talents, Tetsuya Nomura is one of them, so you can see a lot of well designed characters depending on who designed them, actually recently we've got more pictures for characters we've never seen before, and I love how well designed many of these characters are, examples:
I love the diversity in characters design, because they were designed by many different talents from outside the studio, so I liked both the characters and the blades (which they looks like humans) designs a lot more than the characters design in the first game, also as we can notice, the characters and the blades designed based on different cultures which is something cool, the first character/blade from the two pics above is more likely based on European cultures, while the second based on Chinese culture if I am not mistaken
Anyway I see nothing wrong with the characters design, as it's the opposite actually, because they look great !
I've never played Xenoblade before, but when I first saw the reveal for the game, I knew I would want it on Switch. Hopefully they add a summary to the game so that new players can catch up storywise.
That won't be needed. It's like Final Fantasy in that each numbered game is its own universe.
Im sure Nintendo will ramp up the marketing closer to its launch. Its Marios time to shine now.
No need for that, because each game in the series has standalone story, different world and characters, so the game story is not connected to the previous games.
But you should absolutely play the first two games, especially the first one, because that game was truly a masterpiece.
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Agreed, compared to what the game offers, it's really not something that important, the game has a magical world with unique setting, amazing art, beautiful landscapes and impressive atmosphere, with promising combat system against well designed enemies, interesting story and world building, and last but not least, the game deliver a world that calling the players to explore and discover what it's has to offer
The characters seems to be designed by many different talents, Tetsuya Nomura is one of them, so you can see a lot of well designed characters depending on who designed them, actually recently we've got more pictures for characters we've never seen before, and I love how well designed many of these characters are, examples:
I love the diversity in characters design, because they were designed by many different talents from outside the studio, so I liked both the characters and the blades (which they looks like humans) designs a lot more than the characters design in the first game, also as we can notice, the characters and the blades designed based on different cultures which is something cool, the first character/blade from the two pics above is more likely based on European cultures, while the second based on Chinese culture if I am not mistaken
Anyway I see nothing wrong with the characters design, as it's the opposite actually, because they look great !
See? This is a post from someone who sounds so much more open-minded and nicer. A lot of people who dislike the look of the main cast tend to come off as spiteful and vitriolic. This game isn't for people with those kinds of attitudes and I hope those people disassociate themselves from these games.
Hum, are you sure about that? I think it is too soon to tell. I wouldn't be surprised if this game turns out to be a surprise sequel to the first Xenoblade (albeit set in a distant future). Unless Word of God claimed it isn't set in any continuity.
The new art style was really unpopular in the west, wasn't it? Maybe focusing on the systems is there way of trying to sell past the visual design since audiences have rebuffed the characters and story?
Xenoblade Chronicles is such a weird franchise. The western fans responded very strongly to the first one and gave the game an international legacy. Even though it didn't sell very well, its fans were very passionate and it seemed like the audience response was going to shape JRPGs there on out. Love for Xenoblade Chronicles was nearly unanimous. It was held in such high esteem and is considered a masterpiece of the genre even today.
But its sequels seem to abandon many of the features and concepts that original fans were so passionate about. This is one of those series where I think many fans who wanted more didn't get anything they were expecting.
But I don't know. It's easy to have opinions from my arm chair. It's just too bad the series never took off in the way the original game seemed to promise.
Xenoblade Chronicles is such a weird franchise. The western fans responded very strongly to the first one and gave the game an international legacy. Even though it didn't sell very well, its fans were very passionate and it seemed like the audience response was going to shape JRPGs there on out. Love for Xenoblade Chronicles was nearly unanimous. It was held in such high esteem and is considered a masterpiece of the genre even today.
But its sequels seem to abandon many of the features and concepts that original fans were so passionate about. This is one of those series where I think many fans who wanted more didn't get anything they were expecting.
But I don't know. It's easy to have opinions from my arm chair. It's just too bad the series never took off in the way the original game seemed to promise.
Not too soon to tell. It was already confirmed as a standalone sequel
Well, the only other Xenoblade title released other than the first one was Chronicles X. Sadly, Xenoblade Chronicles X was released on the Wii U, something which didn't exactly help the series (especially considering the humongous gap between the number of Wii and Wii U sold). Xenoblade Chronicles X wasn't a bad game, but some of his design choices, in conjunction with the poor success of the Wii U, certainly didn't help.
I stand corrected.
I highly doubt Bethesda would get tight over a 6 year old port being outsold by a fresh new RPG....
And yes, the marketing for this game has been pretty ass.
I was actually planning to buy this title, and before this thread i literally forgot it even existed
Personally, I'm not opposed to the change in art style - if anything, I think the stylized design gives the game a more engaging look than its predecessors. I just find the degree of stilted female objectification to be a bit offputting, and I don't feel that the designs are interesting or aesthetically pleasing enough to counteract the otaku bait qualities. It won't stop me from playing the game, but it feels distinctly like it's trying to attract A Specific Sort of Player, and I suppose I don't like feeling lumped in with that crowd by association.
I will just have to hope the rest of the game is strong enough to make me forget about it.
I will just have to hope the rest of the game is strong enough to make me forget about it.
I can totally see Skyrim selling more than Xenoblade 2, especially at western markets.
Yep, this. Also, I have a lot of respect for women and care about how women are portrayed enough to not want to support a product that is seemingly fine with depicting women in such a disrespectful manner. She seemingly is a prominent main character, and I would expect to have to sit through significant exposure. The way female characters have been portrayed in this series is clearly a common theme. It's not that I want to shield other's from seeing this explicit character, it's that I don't want to fill my mind with what I would consider garbage.
Seriously, I just can't understand what Monolith was thinking with these female character designs. I can't see it for anything other than perversion.
@byDoS: I wouldn't be surprised either. Skyrim may be a 6 year old game, it is also a very successful one, which doesn't have anything to prove, contrary to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Plenty of people seem interested in double-dipping to play a portable version of Skyrim, and you can't neglect the new consumer base which never played it either (wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of dads, who played it on PC, buying it for their kids).
Anyhow, reviews will certainly put our fears to rest (although they won't do much to correct the unfortunate chara-design).
Anyhow, reviews will certainly put our fears to rest (although they won't do much to correct the unfortunate chara-design).
Anyway I see nothing wrong with the characters design, as it's the opposite actually, because they look great !
Loli exposing a lot of skin and her outfit being a tight fit in the upper portion. Yeah, not feeling this design. lol
As a fan of the series, I don't know if it's fair to say the sequels abandoned what the fans were passionate about from the first one (yet). To be fair, there's only really been one sequel, now called a spinoff or side-series by its creator (plus the fact they decided to call this game XC2 is pretty telling). In my eyes the existence of this thread is a reflection of the fact that we really don't know all that much about this game and for many their XC2 hype is running on "leftover fuel" from how good the first game was.
I also wouldn't say the audiences have rebuffed the story considering all we know about the story could be summarized in 2 or 3 sentences. Here: "Rex and his friends are taking Pyra to Elisium. They are being chased by bad people" + some world building details like the factions showcased in the last direct. We also know some character details, but those come from 2 (at most) tweets for each one. My point is, I believe the OP is correct; very little has been shown (other than the Battle System which has been extensively talked about to an almost comedic degree), and they probably shouldn't be keeping their cards this close to the chest so close to release considering their audience isn't so huge as for Monolith to rely on them + word of mouth to carry the game's sales. If more systems or story details were provided, I'm sure fans and newcomers would start looking past the designs, which to be fair to all the people talking solely about them, are close to the only thing we have to talk about.
I'll be more concerned with the marketing if we get to a week away from launch and we haven't seen anything new by then.
Which reminds me, when would actual game reviewers be expecting to get their copies of this? If it is such a long game then one would hope that they'll be given some time to get through it all without having to rush to make deadlines.
Which reminds me, when would actual game reviewers be expecting to get their copies of this? If it is such a long game then one would hope that they'll be given some time to get through it all without having to rush to make deadlines.
I've seen worse in real life. I wish I was exaggerating.
Although, I think it is worse in real life. This game isn't real, and I think it's a misstep to apply our logic to the fantasy world unless you can find a casual link to do so.
I know. I admit I'm getting ahead of myself - my post was all conjecture. You're completely right that this thread is a testament to equal parts fan appetite and frustration. People obviously want this game to be good and have a big interest in the property, but the marketing has been so narrow that there isn't enough to talk about. The result is a huge thread of people talking about how there is inadequate prerelease material to talk about.
But I should bite my tongue on "the series abandoned what people liked so much about it" nonsense until the game actually comes out. There's a particular irony in me asking such a loaded question about a game we know so little about. That's why everyone is here, isn't it?
To be fair, the bellybutton being exposed in an "electricity-themed" character is a reference to Japanese folklore: https://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/bellybutton-folklore-from-japan-and-where-they-came-from/
I'm still quite confident this game will sell well.
What it has going for it is releasing on a super popular Nintendo system at the start of its run. Contrast this to the original Xenoblade which launched at the tail-end of the Wii lifecycle, and especially Xenoblade X which launched on the Wii U (and the Switch is set to surpass the entire LTD sales of Wii U by perhaps one full year).
The only way I could see it tanking is if the game somehow is just not good. But MonolithSoft's track record has been pretty stellar, and even the more divisive X (compared to the original) was still a great game and got good reviews.
Someone on Reddit pointed out that this is probably a reference to Japanese folkloric tradition; Raijin, the God of Thunder, is said to come and devour children who expose their bellybuttons in the rain.
edit: dammit Fireblend
xcx retained the most crucial part, the vast freely explorable environments. it just had a really focused, simple story... i personally didnt think that it was bad but i guess some people thought it was overly simple
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Looking at her in-game model, that "exposure" is not quite so prominent from what I see.
It's to my eyes, one of the most inoffensive "loli" designs I've seen.
That's fair. Maybe character design matters to me more than the average person. I think good character design often goes unnoticed but bad character design is really hard for me to ignore.
funny thing is that her 3D model is actually much tamer than the 2D art
Then maybe you will like one of these two females characters :
Honestly there are tons of other characters both females and males, so I believe you will encounter more than one character design that will fit your taste.
It can only market it, to the extent that the market even exists for a game on this level. I've seen Nintendo give air time to it at E3 and Gamescom so far, but fans of the series and JRPG's are, and always have been, the selling audience of this series. Not much can change that I'd assume, accessibility just isn't the same as Zelda or Mario.
I expect we'll see a Xenoblade Direct pretty soon. It's just currently, all attention is on Mario.
I think XBC2 is the game you want if you want a deep RPG into the winter months. Mario Odyssey can be completed and all that.
I mean how is this true.
Ni No Kuni, Final Fantasy, Persona 5, Nier, Fire Emblem and so on were all marketed and sold pretty well. It's a big game on a hot system. It should be an easy sell.
Except the game looks pretty terrible if you ask me and I love the previous two games. I bought a Switch just for XB. I do not care about Mario and Zelda. XB is what I care for.
And the game is extremely un-appealing.
It neither has the hip aesthetics of Persona or the childish n wonder of Ni No Kuni. Instead it's aesthetics skew really otaku centric. The anime styling of this are not appealing to people probably not interested in anime. It simply does not look cool. It looks honestly quite lame. An un-interesting and typical anime little boy is it's main character with the other face of the game being a typical big boobed anime girl friend character. This is a real downgrade from previous games. XB1 had a more classical jrpg tone and yet it's cast looked far more appealing and relatable. XBCX was a bit more anime centric, but characters skewed older and were not big eyed stuff that looks like it could appear in Idolmaster type shows.
And jesus has the dialogue and voice acting sounded like amatuer hour. Lacking any sort of sophistication and maturity. Instead sounding like a decade old jrpg.
PROTECT MY FRIENDS.
It's all very lame and honestly the genre has kind of moved past that.
Even stuff like Final Fantasy XV had a more appealing tone. Relatable and super personable bros.
Persona 5 dealt with real issues.
Nier was well Nier.
The game has presented itself as a jrpg that feels so behind the times.
I'm buying it, but I'm not all excited like I should be.