PixlBit

I'm Really Feeling It!...Wait what?

Hello Pixlbit, how are you? I think it was a year ago that I made a BaD post that I beat Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii. This year I come back from surviving on Mira and to post my thoughts on the spiritual successor/sequel called Xenoblade Chronicles X...

I'll try to make this as spoiler-free as possible. As the trailers showed, Earth has been destroyed by extraterrestrial forces. Before Earth was destroyed, humanity built ships to evacuate as many humans as possible. A ship known as the White Whale crashes down on a planet called Mira, from there is where the game begins. Well, not quite.

Before you get the prologue, you have to create a character, this character is your avatar, or yourself in the game. It doesn't really have to be you, but I like creating myself in these kinds of games because I feel like I'm contributing to making a difference. You have many options to choose from when you're designing your in-game avatar, from the hair style to the eyes, skin tone, height, even the voice. Afterwards, you join NLA's military, BLADE, and then the game really begins.

                                                    Me in a nutshell unfortunatly

Yes, it is a silent protagonist. Your avatar doesn't speak, you get options in the dialogue which can range from you being nice to being mean. But you're wondering "You told us you can choose your voice, you lied!" Yes and no. You actually do speak, but only during fights with indigens, or the name of the wild life on Mira. Your character shouts your art attacks, that's really the only times you'll hear your character speak. Your party members are fully voiced, including during cutscenes.

The game takes place on the Planet Mira and you start off on the continent of Primordia, which is the area the White Whale crashed landed on. On Primordia, you'll find New Los Angeles, or NLA which is where you'll be getting your missions from. Here you can talk to npcs, get missions, buy and make new weapons and more. It is the hub of the game and is divided into different districts.

Let's talk about the gameplay. If you've played Xenoblade Chronicles before, then you'll be familiar with the gameplay. There are some tweaks. More like improvements in my opinion. The gameplay is much more faster, or more smooth and refined. Back in the first Xenoblade, you can only have one weapon equiped. Now you have 2, a melee weapon and a long range weapon. Melee weapons range from longswords, shields, lightsabers, and more and long ranged weaponry ranges from rifles, sniper rifles, dual guns and more. The arts system is back and it is mostly the same. Each weapon type has its own art.

New to the game are Classes and are basically class type for you characters. Each class lets you equip certain weapons, like one class can only allow you to equip longswords and rifles, others shields and so forth. Each class has its own bonuses awarded like better melee damage to more hp. Level up that class all the way and you can use those weapons in any class, so you can mix and match. 

        I'm expecting her to go topless or something, that's what's she's implying right?

There's also BLADE Points and these are used to level up your BLADE Level and you can use them to upgrade Field Skills. Field Skills are things you can do while out and about on Mira. Maybe you've seen a crashed helicopter? You can check it out and salvage it for items, but can't if your BLADE Level isn't high enough. There's 3 skills, Mechanical, for machinery, Biological for biological things like trees, and Archeological for statues and relics on Mira.

There's also this thing called Overdrive, which is this game's chain attack that you and your party members have acces to. Basically you have these points called TP or Tension Points, raise them up to 3000 and you can unleash Overdrive. This reduces the cooldown for arts you've used as well as tracks how many hits you have given the enemy. The more number of hits you get, the more bonuses you get, like more experience points, more tensions points, higher attack and so on. It runs out and you can see it via meter, but there are ways to extend its duration by chaining up certain arts, augments, and more.

                                                               I'm Batman

You also have Skills which are like perks, they can give you more hp to increase the damage you give and other bonuses. Your equipment plays an important role too as it increases stats like hp and such. Alot of weapons and equipment come with slots to add auguments which enhances stats like more attack, accuracy and more. Think of them like weapon gems from the previous game.

You also have access to different party members. I have already mentioned Elma and Lin, but there's more that you'll meet throught the game via story and side missions. You can have a total of 3 at once with you making you a party of 4. Some missions don't allow you to have certain characters with you or restricts you to using only a certain number.

The story I found really good actually, not sure if it's as good as Xenoblade Chronicles, but it is very good in my opinion. Really can't say more, other than it gets really interesting in Chapter 5 and onwards. The final chapter is really good and such a twist near the end and the ending was like wow.

Now let's go to my favorite part and a new and important feature in the game: Skells. Skells are these mechs in the game you can get access to after you meet certain requirements in the main story. You can customize Skells with different weaponry and such. You can even name them and change the color. Sometimes you'll meet enemies that are just too tough to take on your own or too big and that's where you'll need a Skell. You gotta also be careful with it as it consumes fuel, and each art it has consumes certain units of fuel. Also you can break your Skell if a fight goes wrong. You'll lose it but you can get it back with Skell Insurance in the game.

                                                           Over the Rainbow...

Skells can also transform into vehicles and later on you can add a Flight Module to enable flight. I love saying "Transform" every time I transform my Skell. Because if you don't then you're doing it wrong. Skells comes in different classes from light, medium, and heavy. Light Skells are more agile but weak, medium are more balanced, and heavy have more hp and can take more hits, but consume more fuel.

Mira is massive, like really massive. And dangerous to go alone. But you don't have to as the game has party members you can take with you. You'll be familiar with Elma as she was in various of trailers as well as Lin. They are your main team members that are required for the main story, but eventually more party members become available. You can have 3 members tag along with you and each of them have their own weapons and classes they use.

As for the gamepad, this game might be the game that actually makes it useful. The gamepad has the map of the location you are in the game. If you're in New L.A., it'll show you the map of the district you are. The same thing happens when you're out and about on Mira. It'll show you the map of the continent you're currently on. You can also set up these things called probes and are basically beacons or warp points. Once you have installed it, you can warp back to that location at any time. You can fast travel via touching it in the map on the gamepad at any time except during fights, you never have to open a menu. Except if you're playing on the gamepad.

                         Master Chief is in this game too. There he is in that image.

The music isn't everyone's cup of tea, people have mixed opinions on it. I like it, I guess I might say I warmed up to it and now like it. I'm not sure if I like it more than the original Xenoblade's music, but I think I may like it just as much. I love the music that plays on the title screen, the one when you're in a fight, the music that plays in NLA, the one that plays on a ship, the Overdrive song, the Skell one when you fly, that one that plays when you fight the aliens on the Skell and the tyrant song, Uncontrollable might be my favorite.

Mira itself is huge, Mira is divided into 5 main continents each with its own theme, like desert, forest, ice, and lava. Each continent has its own baddies and you have to be careful when on foot because there are these monsters called Tyrants which are these incredibly powerful enemies far more stronger than a regular indigen. There are low level Tyrants which are easy to beat and there are high level Tyrants. If you are underlevelled and they spot you, then you're toast. Even once you reach the level cap, chances are you still wont be a match for them.

                                                      We meet again, old friend...

The game itself is massive, I don't think I've ever played a game this massive. Not talking about the map, but the whole game itself, there is just alot to do. You have the main story, sidequests, online, and more. As I've said before, your protagonist is silent, but you have options to choose from during dialogue options. There's alot during the story and sidequests. Depending on your choice is how the npcs in the story/sidequest will react to you as well your party members. Alot of sidequests are collect things or take down a number of bad guys, to helping others get back to the future to more ludicrous things like taking down Tyrants. The harder the sidequest, the better the reward.

You also have these side stories that you can get access to if your affinty with certain party members is high enough. They can show you stuff about certain characters like their past or how they are like and so forth. You get to know the character more. Finishing them give you party member exclusive arts which aren't required, but a must if you plan on taking down Tyrants. 

The game has online too. It has 3 different online modes. It has Lifehold, which is an online mode that allows you to just play the game by yourself, but you can still contribute to online tasks. Squad mode which alows you to play with others, and Friend mode which allows you to play with friends and such. No matter which you pick, you'll be contributing in your own way. Doing tasks like taking down specific enemies gives you reward tickets which you can exchange for materials to craft the best weapons, armor, augments, and Skells. And trust me when I say you're going to need alot as alot of the best materials cost a ton of tickets.

                                                                       Victory!

You can also tackle online missions with other players, like taking down bad guys, or recruiting others to take down the Global Nemesis. You can go on this alone or with 3 other players. The Global Nemesis are 2 timed missions which has these monsters with millions of hp bars. Basically, everyone who goes against them does their part to take them down by reducing the health bars it has. You wont take it down before the time runs out. Trust me, I've tried. You get battle spoils from them after the mission so you can exchange them for tickets. There will be a notification when its health bars are halved or it's close to almost being taken down. So you can try your luck then. Doing these missions cost Blade Medals, which you can get via Scouting.

Scouting works like this: when you're playing the game, you will see other players in your squad. They are just there standing, but you can Scout them, which means recruit them for 30 minutes. They join your party for 30 minutes and you can have 3 at a time. You can do things you would with the normal party members. Both of you get rewarded, you get Blade medals and they get materials, so it's a win-win situation. You can also scout friends too so it's very neat.

The length of the game comes from grinding for materials, weapon, and armor drops. Indigens drop loot if their appendages are broken off, like a tail or a mane of hair. If you want to take down the toughest tyrants, you'll be grinding alot for materials and such. You can also save yourself the trouble and just use tickets, but chances are you still wont have enough either way. I've already done my fair share of grinding to get the best Skell and armor and it isn't bad, just time consuming. This is completely optional, but it's there if you're up for a challenge. 

                                     Someone is going to be Really Feeling It!

Here are some nitpicks though: The game's difficutly can spike up too quickly. The game seems easy enough to understand but sometimes during fights, you might be fighting hordes of enemies at once. Even the enemies that are the same level or slightly lower than you can be problematic in hordes. Some story segments throw you into fights with a boss and/or hordes of enemies. If you don't know how everything works then you're screwed. There are some bosses that gave me trouble but I understood how everything I was doing worked, then again I was too stubborn to back down. But imagine someone new to the series?

Not only that, there are enemies that can spot you and attack you if you pass by them, even if you don't innitiate a fight with them. There are moves that you use that can draw the attention of other indigens nearby in the vicinity if you're not careful. Don't even get me started on the Tyrants. If you see one and you're underleveled, run away as fast as you can. You can tell what a Tyrant is if the Uncontrollable song plays. Tyrants range from level 10 to 99, maybe lower but definitely 99. I've taken down a handful because my build allows me to take the hits, but even then they prove problematic.

Another complaint are the affinity quests. I like them because they are sidequests focused on a specific character. The thing is that you have to raise the affinity of a character, aka how much they like you or how friendly they are to you. Doing this takes time, it is time consuming. But that's not the worst part. When you start one, you are locked out of doing another affinity quest or anything else till you complete it. Chances are that you might be underleveled or there's something you don't have. The game warns you about being locked out of certain things before you complete it, but an option to quit it and come back to it later would be nice.

That and party members. No they aren't bad. I said you can only have 3 with you right? Well when you want to recruit someone else, you dismiss another party member to recruit someone else. That's not the problem. The problem is that in order to get any party member you dismissed, you have to find them in NLA. They are always in the same area, but you shouldn't have to go and find them to add them again and what not. 

                                           The Monado, Monster Hunter Edition

Now for the most important question. You may be asking yourself, is this a direct sequel to the original Xenoblade Chronicles? No, isn't directly linked, outside of Shulk's or Fiora's voice-overs for your character, there are some references and easter eggs in the game, not only dating back to Xenoblade Chronicles, but to the other Xeno games as well.

Final Thoughts: Is the story better or as good as Xenoblade Chronicles? It isn't better, it probably might not be on par as the first game was more story driven, but the story is good in it's own right. The turning point is definitely at Chapter 5 and beyond. The Final Chapter is probably one of the best end game chapters I've seen, and the ending really came out of nowhere that seems like it came out of Metal Gear. Well not really but close.

One thing X does better than Xenoblade is the gameplay. The gameplay was really fun and addictive in the original, but XCX managed to take that and improve on the foundation XC laid, thus tweaking and refining it. 2 different weapons add more variety to the gameplay, so you have the option to combine different weapon combinations and character builds. With the right weapons, arts, and skills, you can become OP in the game and it is very fun.

                                                         Being OP is Epic!

Skells add a new dynamic to the game. They do give me the dream of piloting my own transforming mech. They are a game changer in fights, but don't expect to be uberly powerful as there are some enemies that are still too tough to take on with Skells. But still, giant transforming robots!

Exploring is such a blast too. I found myself excited to explore all the continents as soon as I could explore them. The continents are really massive with their own theme and indigens. On foot they seem incredibly massive, even on Skells. Just be careful as there are powerful indigens and tyrants on them that can wipe you out in one hit if you're not careful.

The post game stuff is completely optional, but if you want to see and do everything Mira has to offer, which is a huge task, then go ahead. There's still side quests, affinity quests, online stuff, Tyrants, grinding. It's all there. Outside Pokemon, this is the console rpg I've put the most hours into, as of this post, I've put 187 hours into it and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

                                         Basically what I "Feeling" about the game

I would say if this game was a direct sequel in any way to Xenoblade Chronicles, it wouldn't live up to the original. But it works as it's own game within the same series which is quite good. It's definitely the sci-fi open world rpg I've always wanted or never knew I wanted and who would of thought I'd see it on the Wii U?

Well that about wraps this up. I love this game so much that I'm still playing it, if it wasn't for Splatoon or Mario Maker, this would definitely be my 2015 GOTY. Have you played Xenoblade Chronicles X? Thanks for reading and...

*Images and links provided by me, my Wii U, Miiverse, and Xenoblade Chronicles X*