Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Videos, Wii U | 9 Comments

Technically this isn’t a Nintendo Direct, as Nintendo calls it a “video showcase”. In any case, we’ll go with that to make things easier.

Today’s Xenoblade Chronicles X broadcast will kick off at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT / 7 PM in the UK / 8 PM in Europe. Don’t forget to stick around after it ends for an additional Treehouse presentation.

You can watch all of today’s Xenoblade Chronicles X goodness below. I’m not planning a live blog since the information will largely be rehash of what we’ve already covered extensively, but if we hear anything about something like a release date, it will be on the site immediately.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 16 Comments

Nintendo has announced that a new “video showcase” will be held tomorrow for Xenoblade Chronicles X. Following that, there will be a Nintendo Treehouse: Live presentation featuring the game.

Nintendo’s presentation will kick off at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. You’ll be able to watch it here, though we’ll have a stream on the site as well. Keep in mind that the videos will be available in English only.

Source: Nintendo PR

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment

Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Japanese launch is just one week away, but Monolith Soft hasn’t stopped updating the game’s official website. The most recent content added to the page covers the Kizunagram and online functionality. For a roundup of the new information, check out the summary below (thanks Gessenkou).

Kizunagram

– Kizunagram (or affinity chart) revolves around the relationships between characters
– View relationship types and bond strength between the player and other characters, traits of those characters, and their relationships with other characters in the chart
– Players can view the links between characters they’ve met
– Raise bonds with allies beyond a certain point to grow them even stronger
– This allows you to take on special Kizuna Quests
– It also causes special events called “Kizuna Talks” (heart-to-hearts)
– Characters respond differently to different choices you make
– This includes accepting and completing special Kizuna Quests, finishing Story Quests and Normal Quests, completing an ally’s Soul Voice, and viewing Kizuna Talks
– Can view the bonds formed with other players met through the online mode

Online Features

– Xenoblade X’s online is characterized by being “loosely connected” to other players
– If you play the game while your Wii U is connected to the internet, you’ll meet other players’ avatars in the field or BLADE Area
– Scout these avatars and add them to your party
– The other players do not control their avatars during that time
– Other players can add your avatar to their party, where the avatar will gain exp
– Can join Squads while connected to the Internet
– Squads can have up to 32 members
– Members of the same squad become loosely connected, view Reports sent by each other, and can cooperate in battle
– Life Point Search Squads: Intended for players who prefer to take their time playing solo
– Conquest Squads: Intended for players who want to proactively engage in multiplayer
– Friend’s Squads: Join the same squads as your friends
– Can change your squad while playing
– You can add members of your Squad to your “Favorites List”
– Send them Friend requests as well
– Squad members can give away or receive equipment obtained after battle
– Setting up Treasure Deal(giving away) – Joining Treasure Deal(receiving)

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U | 4 Comments

The Japanese Xenoblade Chronicles X website was updated once again today. While we don’t have a new video this week, there is a batch of new screenshots and art to check out. You can go through the full set below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 14 Comments

Yesterday, Dengeki Online published its review of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Gessenkou has since picked through the verdict and has translated a bunch of details. You can find them rounded up below.

– Clearing quests grants access to more party members
– Although you won’t have access to certain things if you don’t progress the story to some extent, you can explore the entirety of Mira right from the start
– The previous game (Xenoblade) set story objectives and gave you freedom to explore before arriving at them, but in this game there’s a much higher degree of freedom, like the developers were saying ‘you can do whatever you want, just do some story quests occasionally.’
– After clearing a certain quest, you’re able to freely re-customize your avatar
– You can even change genders, perfect for moody people who think “I don’t want to look like an old man again today”
– We left NLA and walked from one end of the continent to the other, and there really were no load times. I was surprised that the game didn’t run choppily due to the disc seeks.
– However, there are three points where there are some small loading: when you go in and out of the BLADE Home, use skip travel, or view cutscenes.
– And since this preview version is disc-only, the textures and character assets would sometimes take several seconds to load in when we’d drive around with the Doll at high speeds, or immediately after those load points. I’m interested in seeing to what extent the ‘load time reduction data packs’/digital version can reduce this delay.
– Rock faces and lakes are usually impassable boundaries in games, but if you try hard enough you can continue past them in this game. You can jump up some rocky platforms to scale cliffs, or stealthily swim[by sea] around tough enemies guarding the entrances to continents, which make finding paths through the world very fun.
– The direct path isn’t the only path. If you try going down a path that made you think “maybe I can get there from here,” you’ll find that you will in fact be able to. This kind of accommodating map design is just what you’d expect from Nintendo and Monolith Soft.
– No matter what height you jump from in this game, you won’t take any damage. You can jump all the way down from the top of the Upper Strata in the BLADE Area to the Lower Strata. And the game won’t have to stop and load at all, totally seamless!
– If you don’t plan out your strategy and manage your arts and equipment, the bosses are quite difficult, even for people who are experienced with RPGs.
– But don’t worry, it’s still a Nintendo game. They allow you to lower the difficulty on a boss if you lose to it several times. There’s no penalties for lowering the difficulty, so people who don’t play RPGs often can still enjoy the story.
– When you defeat native creatures, they’ll drop equipment that was used by members of BLADE they defeated/killed. Drops obtained from enemies have different abilities and affixes attached to them, some even have unexpected ones! Searching for equipment with amazing abilities by killing enemies can give it a bit of a [loot-focused game] feel.
– You don’t get money for buying equipment from killing monsters. You can sell the materials you get from them, but that doesn’t net you much cash. So, how do you get money on Mira? The Frontier Net, of course. It’s not just for gathering info on the planet. The person who placed the probe receives payments regularly(fixed intervals), from the citizens of NLA who pay a fee to view images and information recorded by the probes. The more Data Probes you set, the more money you make.
The moneymaking occurs in real time, so you’ll make a lot if you just leave the game there and space out!
– There are tons of Doll weapons and armor as well, that you can freely customize.
– Dolls turn into vehicles when dashing. The frame series don’t just differ in vehicle design, their handling and engine sounds change as well.
– I played this review copy for much more than 100 hours, but there was still so much left to see in the game. There were many things we were unable to fit into this review, so we hope you play it yourself to experience all of its limitless fun!

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More: details roundup, Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles X

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 9 Comments

Last night’s Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer was heavy on story, so it’d probably help to know what’s going on. Thankfully, one fan has re-uploaded the video online with English subtitles. Check it out below.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 40 Comments

Nintendo’s latest trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X focuses on story as opposed to gameplay. You can watch it below.

More: Monolith Soft, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 9 Comments

Lots of details about Xenoblade Chronicles X are starting to be translated from Dengeki Nintendo’s Xenoblade Chronicles X guide supplement. You can find a massive roundup of information below (thanks to Gessenkou).

– No damage when falling from heights for the most aprt
– No penalties upon dying in this game
– In the fields, you can find native creature nests as well as wreckage from the Moby Dick
– You need “Field Skills” to interact with these, and obtain items
– Get rewards for registering items in the Collepedia
– The Collepedia is split into lists for each continent
– Some field items can only be found at certain times of the day and in certain weather conditions
– 4 kinds of quests: Story Quests, Kizuna Quests, Normal Quests, and Simple Quests
– Story quests require certain conditions to be met before they can be accepted
– Kizuna quests affect the kizuna (affinity), and there are many involving your fellow main characters
– Story and Kizuna quests cannot be accepted at the same time, and cannot be cancelled
– Normal Quests are taken from NPCs in the city or field, with ? marks above their heads
– Simple Quests are taken from the Quest Board in the BLADE Area, up to 20 at a time
– The board changes each time you check it; the stars indicate the difficulty, but they don’t have recommended levels
– You can Scout other player’s avatars from the BLADE Scout Console
– It costs a certain amount of in-game currency, with Scouts higher than your own level costing more
– Once you’ve raised your class to rank 10, you can change to a higher level class; your available weapons could change completely depending on the route you choose
– If you reach rank 10 with a top tier class, you’ll be able to use that class’s weapons while playing as other classes
– Dolls have excellent jumping power, so they can take shortcuts around areas you’d have to take a detour past on foot
– You can’t ride in Dolls with frame levels higher than your inner level
– “Catch” can immobilize enemies for up to 10 seconds
– There are even alien bases in the Twilluminous Forest; they’ve got a gigantic machine in an inlet too
– There are native creatures that mimic the foliage; similar creatures exist in the Valley of Oblivion too
– If you fall into the misty ravine in the Valley of Oblivion, you will die
– Lightning strikes from the ground to the sky in the Valley of Oblivion
– If you’re outdoors while they’re happening, you’ll take continuous damage
– You can head indoors or hide in caves to avoid lightning
– Auroras dance in the skies of the Land of White Ash
– There are alien bases in the caves in the Land of Black Steel, with a pipe extending far underground
– You can select one of the quests you currently have, and have its details appear on the screen
– The minimap will display a marker indicating your goal
– Inner experience is awarded by completing battles, clearing quests, finding landmarks, and Frontier Net spots, and all sorts of other things
– Exp from clearing quests is relatively low
The exp you get from battle depends on how powerful the enemy is
– Stronger enemies give bonuses, weaker ones give reduced amounts
– There are seven types of locations to discover
– Vast regions called “Zones”
– Notable places called “Landmarks”
– “Areas” spread throughout the zones
– Hidden “Unexplored Regions” and “Superb Views”
– BLADE Troop garrisons called “Base Camps”
– “Frontier Net Spots” where you set Data Probes
– Each location type gives different rewards for discovering them
– Zones give no reward
– Landmarks give Inner Exp and Battle Points(BP)
– Areas give Inner Exp
– Unexplored Regions/Superb Views give large amounts of Inner Exp
– Base Camps give BP
– FN Spots give Inner Exp and BP
– BP are used to level up Arts and Skills; need 100 BP to raise a single Art to its max level
– If the nearest data probe to an Unexplored Region or Superb View is a “Research Probe,” you’ll gain rewards corresponding to their tourism value; discovering them raises the tourism value for that segment.
– Class exp can only be obtained in battle, and also changes depending on the strength of the enemy
– You need to amass “Union Points” to progress your “BLADE Level”
– Each time you raise your BLADE Level, you can choose one of your three Field Skills to level up as well
– Union Points are obtained by doing things like “defeating native creatures,” “defeating Overed,” “obtaining collection items,” “opening treasure boxes,” or “setting data probes”
– Ex: each time you pick up an item in the field, it does up
– There are many ways to obtain points
– The three types of Field Skills are “Mechanical,” “Biological,” and “Search”
– Mechanical: Necessary for setting data probes, and opening treasure boxes that require Mechanical; since it’s required to set Data Probes, you should raise it early on
– Biological: Necessary for examining Biological treasure boxes; they’re things like dung and 3meter anthills, they don’t look like actual boxes
– Search: Dolls abandoned by aliens become treasure boxes, and it’s used to open those; they can often be found in remote regions, like at the tops of cliffs
– The amount of Union points you receive change based on the Union you’re a part of
– If you don’t progress the story, you won’t be able to access certain areas or use certain systems
– Clearing early ones especially give you access to numerous new things, so you should hurry and clear them
– The requirements for accepting story quests include “clearing a particular quest,” “meeting inner level requirements,” “using specific party members,” in addition to “meeting an exploration rate on a specific continent”
– Talk to NPCs with a ? above their heads to accept Normal Quests
– You’ll be able to see these ? on your minimap if you’re close enough, but they’re very difficult to find in the field; some are difficult to reach, or hard to see; some are also hidden within objects, like inside of containers or beneath vehicles
– There is an immense difference in the number of quests compared to the first Xenoblade
– There are several hundred Simple Quests alone
– The three Simple Quest categories are “Subjugation,” “Collection,” and “Talk”
– Subjugation: kill the designated creatures or Overed; you won’t know the target’s level until you find them.
– Collection: Gather the designated item; if you already have them, the quest will complete as soon as you accept it and leave the board; the details screen lets you know if you’ve already got some of them.
– Talk: Quests where you talk to the client; different quests can often spring forth from these, even Kizuna Quests. Recommended for lovers of sub-stories
– Some Story Quests require you to clear Kizuna Quests before you can accept them
– There are even some involving the residents of the city, not just the main character
– When you accept a Kizuna Quest, you won’t be able to cancel it; you won’t be able to remove the required party members from your party until it’s completed
– There are Kizuna talks that happen when you raise your affinity/bond/kizuna with specific characters
– You can check the unique Arts your allies have in the kizunagram
– There are Story Quests that require certain levels of affinity/bond/kizuna
– Jumping while using the Dash feature greatly increases your distance and height; use this to jump on top of and walk on rocks, and avoid enemies
– Can’t stop Dashing immediately, since you slip a bit when you stop, so you might fall off a cliff, or get spotted by an enemy
– Some enemy reaction types (sight, proximity) change with the time of day
– You can change the time at Rest Points; in the field, you use BLADE tents; in NLA you use red benches
– If you have high Bolt resistance, you can negate the damage from Lightning weather
– The weather will change if you use Skip Travel
– Tension Arts use up 1000 TP
– Soul Voices you emit are “Soul Challenges”, and activate when you press B at the right time when the circle appears on the screen
– When you successfully complete a Challenge, the “Soul Stage” goes up by one level
– At higher Soul Stage levels, you get bonus TP for hitting Perfects on the Challenges, and the Soul Voice activation rate is increased
– You won’t get TP for getting non-Perfects, and the Stage will not decrease if you fail the Challenge; it resets when you get KO’d
– When you complete a soul voice, your affinity/bond/kizuna goes up
– Weapons and Skills can change how easily you amass TP
– There are even Skills that grant you TP when damaged by weather
– It takes 3000 TP to revive an Ally
– You won’t be able to use the OC Gear without progressing the story
– Non MCs have two unique Arts
– Ex: Elma’s “Ghost Stage” grants a buff to allies that lets them avoid a fixed number of enemy attacks
– The max level for Arts is 5
– Raising the level of Arts improves there Recast Time, Melee/Ranged Multiplier, Buff/Debuff/etc Effects, Buff/Debuff/etc Duration, and Special Conditions
– When attacking enemies from their blind spots(back, higher/lower elevations), your accuracy and critical rate rises; it’s easy to get Soul Challenges when you do critical hits.
– You can Dash and Jump even in battle
– Starting a battle with an Art has a high chance of producing a Soul Challenge
– You can choose which effects your allies will get for their arts that complete the Challenge from ‘dmg+100%/200% from back’, ‘each hit+100TP’, or ‘Recast Time reduced 50%’
– When you Topple enemies, they’re unable to do anything at all, your attacks are guaranteed to hit, and damage done to them is multiplied by 1.5x
– When you destroy parts, the enemy takes more damage
– Destroying different parts add to the bonus damage[multiplier]
– You can have your allies concentrate on the same part using the Battle Menu as well
– Using Arts while in OC Gear raises the Gear Counter
– Bonuses are easier to get if you use Arts with many hits
– Gear Counter effects include: Gear time extension, boosted damage, reduce all enemy debuff resistances, regain TP with attacks, shorten Recast time

Still want to learn more about Xenoblade Chronicles X? Then head past the break for a bunch of story information!

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More: details roundup, Monolith Soft, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U | 16 Comments

Dengeki has posted a bunch of screenshots from Xenoblade Chronicles X. View them all in the gallery below.

Source

More: Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles X

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Screenshots | 0 comments

Bandai Namco has launched the official site for Project X Zone 2. Access it here. We’ve also included another batch of new/old images below.

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