The future is ours! Let's Play Xenoblade Chronicles

Put your Let's Plays in here.
Kibayasu wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:21 am
Who is Alvis? I think we all know the answer to that.

He's the fan art character.
Not much of one, given how Xenoblade 1 is completely passed over by fanartists, and even Shulk himself gets like no fanart despite being in Smash 4. Goddammit, Cloud...

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Trivalon wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:36 am
Kibayasu wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:21 am
Who is Alvis? I think we all know the answer to that.

He's the fan art character.
Not much of one, given how Xenoblade 1 is completely passed over by fanartists, and even Shulk himself gets like no fanart despite being in Smash 4. Goddammit, Cloud...
I'ma say one of the reasons XBC1's more neglected because this is the first time its been given a release in America that's both widely available and on a platform that people own, among other reasons.

ChaosArgate wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:32 pm
I'ma say one of the reasons XBC1's more neglected because this is the first time its been given a release in America that's both widely available and on a platform that people own, among other reasons.
Wasn't the Wii the winner of the Gen 7 Console Wars, and wasn't Operation Rainfall successful thanks to sheer popularity? And even then, this game's Switch port just had a few spikes in Melia artwork based on her FC/DLC/Expansion Pack outfit, and then it was right back to posting Pyra and Mythra porn 24/7.

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Trivalon wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:35 pm
ChaosArgate wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:32 pm
I'ma say one of the reasons XBC1's more neglected because this is the first time its been given a release in America that's both widely available and on a platform that people own, among other reasons.
Wasn't the Wii the winner of the Gen 7 Console Wars, and wasn't Operation Rainfall successful thanks to sheer popularity? And even then, this game's Switch port just had a few spikes in Melia artwork based on her FC/DLC/Expansion Pack outfit, and then it was right back to posting Pyra and Mythra porn 24/7.
The Wii was widely available, but the game wasn't, in America! Nintendo of America did their best to bury this game, leading Nintendo of Europe to do the localization and even then, NoA didn't want to release the game. Gamestop stepped in for the exclusive distribution rights in America and promptly sold every copy as a used mark up two years after the game's original launch, right on the cusp of the new console generation. So yes, Rainfall was successful, but I don't think I can really say this game really had a chance until the Switch port.

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I think there was some fanart around the time some of the announcements were made for the Switch version and when the promo videos were released, but they all mostly slowly vanished away with the tides as usual, as far as I know.

The XBC2 stuff will never end though. It's just a slow, but constant trickle of sword waifus.
ChaosArgate wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:08 pm
The Wii was widely available, but the game wasn't, in America! Nintendo of America did their best to bury this game, leading Nintendo of Europe to do the localization and even then, NoA didn't want to release the game. Gamestop stepped in for the exclusive distribution rights in America and promptly sold every copy as a used mark up two years after the game's original launch, right on the cusp of the new console generation. So yes, Rainfall was successful, but I don't think I can really say this game really had a chance until the Switch port.
Honestly, they did so well hiding the game that I had no idea it existed until the 3DS release.

You might've already covered it in the videos, (I'm way behind on these,) but what's the whole story with why NoA wanted this game to never reach US shores? Were they just traumatized after seeing Xenogears or something? :v:

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The Flying Twybil wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:58 pm
I think there was some fanart around the time some of the announcements were made for the Switch version and when the promo videos were released, but they all mostly slowly vanished away with the tides as usual, as far as I know.

The XBC2 stuff will never end though. It's just a slow, but constant trickle of sword waifus.
ChaosArgate wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:08 pm
The Wii was widely available, but the game wasn't, in America! Nintendo of America did their best to bury this game, leading Nintendo of Europe to do the localization and even then, NoA didn't want to release the game. Gamestop stepped in for the exclusive distribution rights in America and promptly sold every copy as a used mark up two years after the game's original launch, right on the cusp of the new console generation. So yes, Rainfall was successful, but I don't think I can really say this game really had a chance until the Switch port.
Honestly, they did so well hiding the game that I had no idea it existed until the 3DS release.

You might've already covered it in the videos, (I'm way behind on these,) but what's the whole story with why NoA wanted this game to never reach US shores? Were they just traumatized after seeing Xenogears or something? :v:
The most I know is covered in the OP, actually; NoA didn't think the investment would be worth it, so they just didn't bother. There was an interview done by a former Treehouse member (that ended up costing them their job either for sidestepping the PR department to do this, slagging the customer base or peeling the curtain back slightly, or some combination of such) where they basically said as much.

Found the article.

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Hrm, well I suppose that's all we'll know regarding it. I suppose then we're fortunate to know even that much.

I still wonder how it would've flown if that exclusive deal hadn't been done.

The Flying Twybil wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:58 pm
You might've already covered it in the videos, (I'm way behind on these,) but what's the whole story with why NoA wanted this game to never reach US shores? Were they just traumatized after seeing Xenogears or something? :v:
They’ve discussed it already: SO. MUCH. NPC DIALOGUE.

And though we’re not even halfway done with coming across heavily populated areas, Frontier Village is probably the epicenter of it all. There’s like two dozen Affinity Chart NPCs scattered around this place, along with 10 story NPCs and at least 50 background NPCs, some of which are in locations you can’t access without making precariously risky, often blind jumps (though none of those ones actually matter, thankfully). All of them have two lines from base, nearly all of them have lines that shift with not only story progress, but sidequest progress and time of day. And to make matters worse, they’re all Nopon, which means giving extra localization care for how their dialogue is supposed to be syntaxed in a way that makes them sound somewhere between kiddy and foreign, like Mr. Saturns without the unique scribble text.

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Yeah, we've still got a few heavily populated zones incoming, but I wouldn't doubt Frontier Village being one of the largest contributors to the localization workload. I had no idea some were only accessible by blind jumps, which probably explains why I had trouble finding stuff there.

Honestly, though the music and environment was nice, I kinda just shuffled on out of there decently fast. I didn't really do too many of the sidequests.

I'm sure it had something to do with the Wii itself but rather than rely on AI control just switching characters at will in a fight seems like something that should have happened.

Given the size of the game it kind of surprises me that it could ever be profitable just selling it in Japan which if there were negotiations going on about who might translate it seems like an actual possibility. But maybe it was just that much cheaper to make things on the Wii.

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So if Gems aren't worth it until they're at least Level 4, was this the point where you start mining crystals offscreen? Makna Forest is where you can first access Level 3 crystals.

Also, man do the cutscenes around the Leone Telethia fight have the characters act in weird ways. Shulk is just suddenly forgetting he already unlocked Monado Purge, Melia is treated like she never fought until this scene, Mind Blast and Monado Purge are treated as stunlock attacks, and Riki just falls by the wayside rather than the game showing him off as legit awesome like he deserves. Feels like this was probably one of the setpieces made earliest and changed the least during development. Probably at a point where Melia was a guest, Riki was a thief, and Frontier Village might've been reached before even entering Makna Forest.

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Finally, he's here. The best character in the game.

The volleyball scene is legit great, it plays into the party, their character, and even the combat banter so well.

Noticed the spikes on the inside of Riki's uh wing helmet? Seems like an oversight but a hero must endure.

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Trivalon wrote:
Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:11 pm
So if Gems aren't worth it until they're at least Level 4, was this the point where you start mining crystals offscreen? Makna Forest is where you can first access Level 3 crystals.
Yeah, I think I started paying attention to gems either here or sometime during the next area or two.

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The Walnut Grape behaviour for that one quest is still in this game! I fell afoul of it in my playthrough. It's not a bug, but intended mechanics working in an unintended way; as soon as you have enough items to satisfy the quest, the game will remove them from the inventory so they can't be lost. Unfortunately this causes problems when exposed to this quest in particular, since it'll go looking for Walnut Grapes and take them from you if you have all you need without checking for Bitter Kiwis.

On the other hand, Xenoblade X does the exact opposite, where it doesn't consume the items but does increment quest progress, so you can collect items, have the game tell you to deliver them, then you can use them and have the game be very confused about whether you actually have any or not.

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Greener223224 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 12:02 am
What’s Dash Rendar/Blind Sally’s actual/original forum handle?

Either way, they’re leaning really hard on the thread’s spoiler policy, to the point where I don’t know why it’s not just being closed until the next update.
i can't figure out how to reply to PMs on this platform, so i'ma follow up here:

my posts in the SA thread were all in good fun! i'm not actually a probe-heavy mod. i'm pretty hands off and prefer to resolve issues via conversation than the probation/ban buttons. my posts were a joke hoping to goad people into spoiling Jobbo so i could then turn around and probe Jobbo like crazy under the pretense of "shielding him from spoilers". absolutely a joke! you'll note my only probe in the thread thusfar has been of argate... again as a joke at Jobbo's encouragement!

if nothing else, crow has encouraged my shit posting. but i'm just having fun with some posting pals there. genuinely, this is not me trying to be some authoritarian mod--though i recognize if you're unfamiliar with my posting, you're just taking me at my word.

dunno what else to say. i'm not posting out of context, it's all in good fun!

(original forum handle was blind sally--the Dash Rendar switch was an April Fool's joke i just took forever to revert)

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Hot damn, Melia cleans house. I can't wait to see just how ridiculous she gets!

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Shei-kun wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 4:28 am
Hot damn, Melia cleans house. I can't wait to see just how ridiculous she gets!
She's very good at her job if given the chance. I think just playing her personally is how I managed to stumble through the game without really ever figuring out the intended strategy for playing it.

Was still pretty fun, even if her voice lines for casting still echo in my head to this day.

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If the final boss arena isn’t on the Bionis’ buttcrack I will be very disappointed.

This game really goes from strength to strength. It has its problems, but going from Satorl's loveliness to Makna and meeting Melia, I had a ton of trouble putting it down. Melia's an awesome character and a ton of fun to play.

OTP: Melia/Dunban or Riki/Reyn

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Shulk/Monado, Kiba.

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Artix/Jobbo.

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Sculptor hands, sniper hands, same thing really. Both involve chipping out a bunch of little things as part of a larger picture. I think that analogy got away from me a bit but I'm sticking to it.

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So this update proves that Juju is some sort of creator god and will be either the bonus or final boss.

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Maybe instead of rebuilding Colony 6 we could put that effort into a proper road network for Eryth Sea.

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Maybe it was all the feathers you guys are wearing that got you locked up, god.

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I like to imagine that every time someone refers to Melia as "my daughter" or "my sister" Reyn basically does this https://youtu.be/QLYzMzNofyU?t=16

Some thoughts as of Episode 8:

-- What the hell is the deal with Reyn's sword/shield/spear... weapon... thing?

-- It sure is lucky for Colony 6 that the Mechons attacked now, instead of at any point in the, say, past 20 years, when the only thing that can hurt them was in another town / sealed in Bionis's frozen armpit. How is there even more than one settlement on this thing, anyway?

-- I really like how the Monado's future-sight isn't just a plot thing, it has mechanical relevance for both combat and sidequests.

-- Vehicles wrecked: 4

Nemryn wrote:
Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:05 am
-- It sure is lucky for Colony 6 that the Mechons attacked now, instead of at any point in the, say, past 20 years, when the only thing that can hurt them was in another town / sealed in Bionis's frozen armpit. How is there even more than one settlement on this thing, anyway?
Some people like the leg, some people like the thigh.

Episode 10:

-- Apparently test pits are an actual thing in mining/excavation work? When you're doing the initial survey of the site, you dig a few pits to get some soil samples to analyze. That's not really what we see in the video, but then again who knows how mining works when you're doing it on he fossilized corpse of a titan.

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Nothing says exciting like 20 minute quest to open a door during an invasion.

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