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Xenoblade 2 |OT2| THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME!? DON'T FORGET ME!

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TheMoon

TheMoon

|OT|
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,774
Video Games
Official Staff Communication
An OT is meant to cover a wide variety of topics: level design, music, combat, battle system, story, voice acting, framerate, etc. This is not possible when one subject overwhelms all others. While it's okay to mention your thoughts on the controversial character designs of the Blades, this is not the place to have at-length discussions on that one single subject. If that is all you want to discuss, there are existing threads where that discussion has been happening for a long time (for example: This One), or you may create your own thread.


TAG YOUR SPOILERS! BE CONSIDERATE!​
READ THE OP, please (CTRL+F)! It often has the exact question you're going to ask already answered. No (untagged) spoilers in here. It's meant as a helpful resource of info, so please use it! :)


Shoutouts to Dice for the awesome banners again! A XenOT-tradition by now! :)
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Composers: Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kyiota
Genre: 200-Hour-Eraser [NSFW] x Awesome Music Player
Multiplayer: None
Motion Controls: No
Pro Controller Compatible: Yes
Potato Mode aka Split Joy-Con: Yes?
HD Rumble: No?
amiibo: No
Video Recording: No
eShop Download Size: 13978.57 MB (base game only)
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (PAL/NA) | Japanese, (trad.+simpl.) Chinese (JP)
Global SKU: No, split into Japanese SKU (HAC-ADENA) and Western (PAL+NA) SKU (HAC-ADENB)
Game Download/Official Site: Europe | North America | Japan
DLC: Japanese VO (817MB, free) | Expansion Pass (see below for pricing & content info)
Reviews: Here
Discussion Threads: RARE Blade Compilation | Cast of Characters
Spoiler Thread: Here
Combat Guide Thread: Here
XenoEra Community Thread: Here
Original OT: Here
Torna Expansion OT:
www.resetera.com

Xenoblade 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country |OT| You Will Remember Their Names

TAG YOUR SPOILERS! BE CONSIDERATE! REMEMBER THAT NOT EVERYONE HAS PLAYED/FINISHED THE MAIN GAME Developer: MonolithSoft Publisher: Nintendo Release: September 14, 2018 (digital expansion pass) | September 21, 2018 (standalone digital and retail) Platform: Nintendo Switch Genre: Xenoblade-like...
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
Xenoblade 3D OT:
www.resetera.com

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D |OT| {RE} Is that a Monado in your pocket or are you just really feeling it?

Original game developed by: MonolithSoft Port developed by: Monster Games Published by: Nintendo Platform: New Nintendo 3DS Release Dates: April 2, 2015 (JP, EU, AU) / April 10, 2015 (NA) Genre: RPG StreetPass: Yes amiibo: Yes (Shulk) eShop download file size in blocks: 29,500 blocks (3776MB /...
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
Xenoblade X OT:
www.resetera.com

Xenoblade X |OT| {Redux} Mechs and Potatoes http://youtu.be/7SJHB20tp1U

** shoutouts to Dice who made the fancy banners ** Developed by: MonolithSoft Localized by: 8-4 Ltd. & NOA Treehouse Published by: Nintendo Platform: Wii U Release Dates: April 29, 2015 (JP) | December 4, 2015 (NA/EU) | December 5, 2015 (AU) Genre: What if Breath of the Wild Had Flying Robots...
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
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The world of Alrest lies in the Cloud Sea, with people living on living Titans eternally circling the World Tree. But the Titans are dying and the inhabitants living on them are beginning to fight over territory in order to ensure their own survival.

Enter Rex, a young lad getting by salvaging artifacts and ancient tech from below the Cloud Sea. This is how he meets Pyra, a special Blade called the Aegis. Blades are physical representations of weapons, they form bond with their Driver which enhances their combined power. Rex becomes Pyra's Driver and as she dreams of going to the fabled paradise of Elysium, where there might just be a solution to the problem of enough room for everybody, Rex decides to help her get there and possibly save the people of Alrest.

And then, Takahashi happens. You know the drill. :)
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COMBAT
One thing upfront: The intricacies of the combat system are carefully taught to you throughout the game, you don't have to know or master everything at once. You'll not be overwhelmed.
  • The combat starts with Auto Attacks in cycles of 3 with each consecutive swing doing more damage (various later situations might give reason to not let it go through all three). When you move you cannot perform Auto Attacks.
  • Healing is done via Arts that have Healing Effects, which essentially "pull potions" out of enemies that you then have to physically pick up mid-battle.
  • The combat UI is split up into four quadrants with the focus being the bottom left and bottom right: Arts on the right, Blade selection on the left.
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Combat happens in various layers of charging up the numerous types of Arts:
  • Auto Attacks charge Normal Arts
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  • Normal Arts charge Elemental Arts
  • There are four levels of Elemental Arts to charge up
  • Charged Elemental Arts can "Seal" the Arts from an enemy, basically blocking them from using a certain Art against you
  • In turn, using charged Elemental Arts will trigger a Elemental Resistance orb on the enemy for the corresponding element which will lower dmg inflicted with the same element again as long as it is active
  • ER Orbs can be broken with a successful Chain Attack
  • Each charged Chain Attack segment can also be used to revive a fall party member
  • Switch between three Blades associated with various elements
  • Arts are tied to the selected Blade, so switching Blades also switches out Arts
  • Arts inflict Status Effects
  • Same system of combining SE to maximize damage
  • Blades can be switched during to continue the SE combo with another Blade's Arts

I based this mostly on NOE's very elaborate rundown from gamescom. Give it a look, if you like:

Further battle breakdowns from NOA's Treehouse Log.

Here's a ~5 minute combat walkthrough (contains party member spoilers [late game party member]) from GameXplain:

A compilation, sorted by category, of all the in-game tutorial screens:

Detailed Combat Guide By Various Era Members:

CHAIN ATTACKS:
Rory said:
Chain attack: Full party bar top left, press start. Then one after another can choose a blade combo.

Bonus info: Goal is that the attacked monster has elemental orbs (which you destroy with multiple attacks of the opposite element) the combo gets a bonus round. This way you can keep spamming one blade combo after another.
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DRIVER COMBOS:
Rory said:
As I recall Kain-Nosgoth had also requested an explanation I made one with pictures. My quick summary was a bit messy for the driver combo so maybe you wanna take a look again too Mars.

I tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum, sadly I needed a stronger monster as driver combos need to build up and my drivers are growing stronger too. Also couldn't hide the blades this time, due to the monster indeed being a challenge.
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Over the monster name on the right side we can see the bar for the blade combo that we have read about before, next to it appears another one. In this example it states Break. This bar is for driver combos. (It's very fast so quick acting is recommended.)


Driver combos can be solely caused by driver arts, hence the name. This also means they could take place without the blade combo bar being active. They go in a chain, if you link them up quickly enough: Break (we have seen that here), topple, launch sends the enemy off their feet flying through the air.

Whether your driver's arts are capable of causing a driver combo effect you can tell by the symbols. The two wave symbol, the small green symbol in Anchor Shot etc.

Fusion Combo?
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Now, as you can see in that picture above, it will happen that driver and blade art are used simultaneously. That just happens in battle flow, and that's good. That's what is called "fusion combo", as you fuse the driver and the blades combos. As simple as that.








This is how it'll look.
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BLADE COMBOS:
Rory said:
I took some pictures to illustrate, I kept them as spoiler free as possible (removing blade display etc.).To be honest, the bar drops ridiculous fast at the beginning. There are ways to slow it down so you gain more time to consider options.
Here you start off at the tree with two branches possible.
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Branch one would be blade combo 2 light followed by the option of blade combo 3 lightning or nothing.

Branch two would be blade combo 2 shadow followed by the option of blade combo 3 earth or again shadow.

By the way: You should note the 3 orbs around Nias picture, it means her blade combo is level 3.




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This picture shows an advanced tree, I already entered the second branch and am left with the wind option (for which neither my mates nor myself carry a blade with me).
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a harmless rabbit said:
When you use your arts (Y, X, B buttons), it gradually fills the meter around the A button prompt in the lower right and increases the rank of the elemental attack automatically mapped to that button (the element matches your current blade), which drains back to empty when used. When you use that elemental attack, a countdown bar appears above the enemy HP bar to the right and begins to deplete. If you or another party member uses a higher level elemental attack before that bar depletes, the countdown will fill again and a special attack will go off that combines the elements you used and deals a large burst of bonus damage.

When you've used an elemental attack, the upper right corner of the screen shows a list of element icons, and one of the enemy's attacks next to that element. These are the elements you can use to create the combo. Each element will seal one of the enemy's attacks, preventing them from using it for a while.

When a party member has an elemental attack that CAN be used to start a combo or follow up one that's been used, an icon will appear to the left or right side of the screen regardless of whether they're charged up enough to use it. When the ZL or ZR button prompt appears on top of that icon, you can press it to make them use the attack, thus continuing the combo.

Early single-stage combo examples based on your starting party and their blades so you can get a feel for it)You can keep going past this if you can charge to 3 before the bar depletes, of course, but it's hard to do early game):

Rex using a level 1 Fire attack followed by Nia using a level 2 (or 3) Water attack will create a burst of steam.
Tora using a level 1 Earth attack (you can make him do this whenever he's used enough arts to charge and no combo has already been started with one of the Z triggers) followed by Rex using a level 2 (or 3) Fire attack will create a volcanic blast below the enemy.

It gets more complex past this, but this is as far as you can go in the early game, before the next layer of the battle system unlocks.
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TIP
Jiraiza said:
Pretty neat trick I discovered with auto attacking. You can cancel the animation with quick taps to do rapid attacks rather than stand there idly. A lot more interactive, to say the least. No idea if it's actually useful or not, though since the damage increase from consecutive attacks also increases the damage of your Arts. Hmmm...
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#################################### Combat Guide Over ####################################​

BLADES
There are two types: Common and Rare
Rare Blades are what you want to hunt for, as they can be heavily upgraded and customized. The way you customize a Blade can greatly influence its Drivers attributes which in turn might affect how their gameplay role is classified (Tank, Healer, Attacker). The way you combine Blades heavily plays into this. There is a lot to play around with.
illustration-aux_corey3jbn.jpg
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Blades also have various field skills that let you access new areas or affect NPC conversations. With every Blade (Common and Rare) comes an Affinity Chart. Unlike previous games, Affinity Charts don't exist between the Drivers but between the Drives and their Blades. These again tie into sidequests and Heart-to-Heart events (which are all voiced this time!).

Field Skills Guide









MERCENARY MISSIONS/TOWNS
With Mercenary Missions you send out some of your Blades to complete missions for the various towns, which is where you can effective use of your Common Blades to fulfill the specific requirements. These missions, while earning you cash, also build affinity and unlock nodes on the chart.
illustration-mercenar80kdc.jpg
mercs-screen68bbt.jpg

Towns can again be expanded/developed further by doing numerous things such as buying stuff or doing Mercenary Missions, both of which feed back into each other, enabling you to support the economy and grow the town.

There are many many more nuances, some of which are covered really well in this spoiler-free GameXplain review.

CHARACTER IDEA STATS
tjlee2 said:
For those that are wondering about character 'idea' stats, this is what one of the JP wiki has currently. This may not be completely accurate, but it's worth using as reference.

Idea stats such as bravery, truth, compassion, and justice have an effect on the type of element of the blade that you are more likely to get.
  • Bravery is fire/water.
  • Truth is wind/ice
  • Compassion is earth/lightning
  • Justice is light/dark
Boosters of corresponding idea will thus boost chance of getting a particular type of element. For instance, if you want kos-mos, you want to jack up the justice idea stat as high as possible since she is light element.

The easiest way to increase idea stats is the following
  • Equip common blades, which require significantly less trust to open up higher tiers. Obtain affinity gift from affinity charts for common blades available. (permanent boost)
  • Using boosters. (Temporary boost)
Information may be updated as time goes on. Please let me know if there are any mistakes above.

Source:
https://wiki.denfaminicogamer.jp/Xenoblade2/ブースター
https://wiki.denfaminicogamer.jp/Xenoblade2/イデア
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Do I need to have played Xenoblade 1 or Xenoblade X before I play this?
No. As usual, the games are entirely standalone with some thematic connections and nods hidden throughout that appreciate but first-timers will not be expected to bring any prior knowledge into this.

Is this more linear like Xenoblade or more open-world-go-anywhere-anytime-with-anyone like X?
More the former than the latter but the spaces you explore are larger. This one is plot-focused and has a clear structure that it is built around, unlike X.

What even is this game?
Exploration, huge jaw droppingly gorgeous areas, deep combat, incredible music, lots of customization and systems to dig into, LONG, story that usually goes places, LONG, Nopon, big focus on convenience, easy to pick up and get back in despite outward complexity. LONG. Xenoblade.

WTF is with the UI and combat, is this not an Action RPG?
Xenoblade-combat is very easy to get into but always looks super intimidating or boring from afar. It's very easy to pick up and just vibe along, see what happens.

So this is like Pokémon with these random Rare Blades or are there *gasp* Loot Boxes?
None of this. No lootboxmicrotransactionbullshitgtfo in this. You can influence what type of Blade you get from crystals. There'll for sure be a guide soon which I will link here.

Combat, I don't get it. Help?! What are Blade Combos? What is anything?
Read the Combat section of the OP. Lots of guides in there by your fellow Era members.

I HAVE NEEDS, IS THERE ANY CENSORSHIP OMG I'M STARTING A PETITION JUST TO BE SAFE
Have you seen some of these ... stfu.

Can I change outfits/character apperance?
No, the only visual customization comes from the different Blades you equip (some characters change their appearance/outfit based on story progression but nothing you can control)

Death penalties, what's up with them?
As usual, when you die in battle or by the power of your own clumsiness, you just respawn at the nearest landmark without any penalties. Note: FALL DAMAGE RETURNS!

This is a JRPG, is there grinding? Can I end up being super overleveled again?
The way sidequests and XP work has been adapted by funneling sidequest XP into a sort of XP-bank that you can tap into by going to an inn. This means, you can't easily overlevel yourself and just "withdraw" some of that saved up XP should you find yourself in need of some higher level party action.

X had pretty bad audio options, any improvements?
Yes, actually! The audio options for Xenoblade 2 have been greatly expanded! You can change cutscene audio levels separately, for example. Something that X sorely needed. You have volume options for cutscene voices, game background music, game sound effects, game voices, battle narration, environment volume, & system volume.

Does this have NewGame+?
Will be added as part of an update (for all players, with or without Expansion Pass) in January 2018. It'll let you bond with certain Blades and more.

Will this game come out in 2017? That seems unrealistic.
It'll for sure get delayed, just you wait! Any second now.

I don't read OPs. Do you still love me, TheMoon?
No, please go away. I'm yelling at you right now.

Why is the OT subtitle so bad?
X Gon' Give it to Ya
"Beyond the Sky" is the name of the ending theme from Xenoblade which was the sole track composed by Mitsuda for the first game. Get over it.

Potato jokes?
*stomach grumbles*

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Pricing: £26.99 / €29.99 / US$29.99 / CA$38.69 / $45AU / $49.50NZ / ¥2,778
​
Expansion Pass Launch Day Content:
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January 19 update (V1.2.0)
Expansion Pass: New Quests Pack 1
Passion of the Artisan (Quest available in Chapter 2)​
M.I.A. Nopon (Quest available in Chapter 3)​
Industrial Sort of Tour (Quest available in Chapter 5)​
Midnight Feasting (Quest available in Chapter 7)​
The Lone Watchman (Quest available in Chapter 10)​
Expansion Pass: Helpful Items Pack 3
Driver Essentials Set 2: Rare Core Crystal x10, Legendary Core Crystal x1, Overdrive Protocol x1​
Tora's Favorite Thing: Juicy Samod x3​
Poppi α's Favorite Thing: Fizz Juice x3​
Charming Driver Gear: Auto-Balancer x1​


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​

Interview with Yuichiro Takeda about the story writing process
Interview with Yasunori Mitsuda about the music
Interview with Masatsugo Saito about the character designs (part one)
Message/Production Notes from Tetsuya Takahashi
Takahashi on the first update and upcoming content for the first Expansion Pass release in January 2018
Interview with Masatsugu Saito about the character designs (part two) (new)

NintendoUK 30min Let's Play (Nov 30)
GameXplain 50min Let's Play with Demetrius Boggs from NOA Treehouse (Nov 9)
NOE gamescom gameplay demo with detailed combat explanation
NOA's Treehouse Live from E3 2017 gameplay demo with Tetsuya Takahashi (Executive Director/Writer, MonolithSoft) & Genki Yokota (Director, Nintendo EPD)
​

The World of Alrest Trailer
Character Trailer
Story Trailer (Spoiler-heavy!!!)
Launch Trailer
A spreadsheet by Ishaan collecting various quotes from Takahashi about game design related to Xenoblade 2[/quote]
 
Last edited:
Dunban

Dunban

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,051
TheMoon listened to an OT title suggestion? It's a Christmas miracle!

Or perhaps I should say

PRAISE BE.
 

Deleted member 5596

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,747
I was doing Agate quest yesterday and all the points were insects, I checked a guide to see what was doing wrong and saw that none of the starting areas gives the item in question, I almost throw the damn game to the trash.

That's not good quest design at all.
 
Lilo_D

Lilo_D

Member
Oct 29, 2017
490
Congrats for OT2, great game and I keep listening to this OST even after I beat the game, such great memory
 
rAndom

rAndom

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,866
So now we can finally JAAAAAAAAAMMMPU! desu-mo! to this new OT.
 
Mr.Fletcher

Mr.Fletcher

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Nov 18, 2017
9,478
UK
Chuffed to see a real hunger to continue talking about the game. Fingers crossed we'll be going strong well into 2018 as more and more people pick it up. :)
 
hat_hair

hat_hair

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,158
I keep getting distracted by sidequests and blade quests, even on the final chapter. I really need to push through this last chapter before I do the same thing as in XC1 and end up ignoring the final boss until I hit the level cap. Then I can start grinding for the last few rare blades.
 
Mr.Fletcher

Mr.Fletcher

Member
Nov 18, 2017
9,478
UK
Anyone settled on a favourite track yet? Counterattack is awesome for obvious reasons, as is Mor Ardain (Roaming the Wastes). I also have a soft spot for Tantal at night. Such a dreamy soundtrack.
 
Dunban

Dunban

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,051
Mr.Fletcher said:
Anyone settled on a favourite track yet? Counterattack is awesome for obvious reasons, as is Mor Ardain (Roaming the Wastes). I also have a soft spot for Tantal at night. Such a dreamy soundtrack.
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It's hard to argue against Mor Ardain (day) or either of the Tantals.

Oh, and the third battle theme is sublime.
 
StrikeFirst117

StrikeFirst117

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,234
UK NW
Planning on finally finishing the story today then I can start grinding legendary cores for the last 2 rare blades I need and prepare myself for all of the endgame bosses as well.
 
Bán

Bán

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,307
The first time I read the OP reading the part about the systems felt like a bunch of gibberish. Now that I've beaten the game I can read it and be like "Oh yeah, that mechanic, sure... took me about 15 hours to get the hang of it but now...easy stuff!"

I would say, though, that this one sentence stood out to me as not being quite right:

Rare Blades are what you want to hunt for, as they can be heavily upgraded and customized. The way you customize a Blade can greatly influence its Drivers attributes which in turn might affect how their gameplay role is classified (Tank, Healer, Attacker).
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The first part is alright (even if I'd say that rare blades sometimes have more aux core slots than commons rather than 'more customisation' which makes it sound like more than it is).

But the second sentence just seems wrong to me. As far as I know, the only thing that affects how a driver's gameplay role is classified in terms of Tank, Healer, Attacker is the nature of the three blades they have equipped and whether each is a Tank, Healer, Attacker. And I feel like the sentence also oversells the role of aux cores in the game. It's just one of many, many systems that add up to what kind of damage a driver will do.
 
chusetto

chusetto

Member
Oct 31, 2017
650
Krista
Currently at the end of Chapter 7... Best moments so far, ending of chapters 3 and 6, middle scene of chapter 7, the Blade with the bathtub incorporated xD
 
OP
OP
TheMoon

TheMoon

|OT|
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,774
Video Games
Nathan.exe said:
OT2 already ? That was fast.
Oh, hum.

PIPSQUEAK
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Zolo said:
The first OT is the third-most viewed thread in the gaming section.
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Fun fact, the Xenoblade X OT hit OT2 on December 26, 2015. Game came out December 4, so three days later. So even if we go back to when X2's OT actually hit the 20k clean, that's still just yesterday. Weird that this one is slightly slower. But still crazy that Xenoblade games with all their systems and depth always draw this much discussion with a similar pace.
 
Gambit

Gambit

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,175
Spoiler question about the Update:

The statement that came with the update said something about "those blades" being playable in New Game +". Anyone tried that yet and knows which ones they mean?
 
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