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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Official Xenoblade thread- Opinions, thoughts and questions inside! Can it hit 1mil in sales next year? Sequel coming for Wii U???

 

What is the best 'major' area in the game?

Colony 9 39 12.34%
 
Bionis' Leg 83 26.27%
 
The Marsh 20 6.33%
 
The Forest 17 5.38%
 
The Sea 24 7.59%
 
The Mountain 13 4.11%
 
The Valley 5 1.58%
 
Fallen Arm 22 6.96%
 
The Field of Metal 9 2.85%
 
See results! 73 23.10%
 
Total:305
ishiki on 26 April 2012
Conegamer said:
ishiki said:

I think it looks a lot better than persona beings it's not one small town. And Randomly generated dungeons.

(I like persona more) 

True. It does look much better, but I never went into the game, or any game, thinking 'my word; this game is amazing, but THE GRAPHICS!!!'

Also, Xenoblade>Persona IMO. 

:P, Jim sterling likes to use extremes to get hits imo, he has some valid points, but he covers it up in extremes to come across as more unique I guess.

IDK, that's why his articles bug me, he just doesn't ever feel completely honest to me.



Around the Network
ishiki on 26 April 2012
Crystalchild said:
ishiki said:
Crystalchild said:
Conegamer said:


But I ask, are the graphics REALLY that bad?

http://www.destructoid.com/why-xenoblade-chronicles-had-to-look-like-shit-226518.phtml

i'd say Xenoblade is in the same corner as Persona.

looking at those games today, they suck visually - BUT the Artstyle is superior, meaning that while beeing disturbed at first, the game will win people over eventually. (And well, pretty much 99% of the Xenoblade players stopped at one point to simply "look" into the distance)

Oh and that article is a very good one, since the coremessage tends to be that Xenoblade is blessed with how it looks, since cuts would have been necessary if otherwise. And i agree, i honestly tried to hold back my need to puke all over the screen in the first hours, but looking back at the 60 Hours i spent so far, if i had to trade a portion of this game for shiny graphics, i'd gladly tell the graphics-whore inside me to go fuck itself. Hell, Xenoblade even managed to open myself to the wii again,, causing me to give Skyward Sword another shot once i am done. (And later on buying TLS and  pandoras tower)

PS: No, Xenoblade didnt look that bad, the guy overdid it a bit - while the Blurry Faces and cheap textures (well... Resident Evil 4 wasnt exactly stashed with lots of HD graphics either..) manage to be noticed, they dont ruin the game or the atmosphere., or the artistic Vision and the fact that the Worlds of this game are still gorgeous.

I think it looks a lot better than persona beings it's not one small town. And Randomly generated dungeons.

(I like persona more) 


It sure does look better than persona, but the latter stay's my favourite, simply because of the Design. I like the slightly darker tone a bit more. But what are we discussing about, both are brilliant games in the end! (P4 is my Favourite Game of all time, followed by FFVIII, and Xeno is, together with SSBB, my alltime favourite on the Wii., if not more. .. Even tho' i didnt see Xeno's ending yet lol)

I liked persona more for that same reason... If it had the more epic dungeon design of xenoblade, it would probably be my favorite game ever. But alas, you can combine the best aspects of many games and get the best game of all time.

But (I've mentioned this before), I played it using dolphin on PC which is at 1080p and anti-aliasing so my view on graphics of this game should probably be ignored :P.



Conegamer on 26 April 2012
Torillian said:
Conegamer said:
Probably one of the best articles I've read in a while.

The fact it comes from Jim Sterling only makes it more disturbing.

But I ask, are the graphics REALLY that bad?

http://www.destructoid.com/why-xenoblade-chronicles-had-to-look-like-shit-226518.phtml


Never been a fan of articles like this written by someone who clearly doesn't play any but the most popular and talked about JRPGs.  If he knew Gust existed he'd have no worry about JRPGs all costing too much to make when the Wii is gone, developers don't have to have Gears of War like visuals just because the platform is capable of it.  NIS, Gust, and namco's Tales teams have all been making good to great games without the need of such graphical fidelity and that will continue into the next generation.

I'm not sure if that's what he's getting at. I think that, the issue is that these sorts of games are becoming far less frequent, and of a far lower quality. I mean, let's look at RPG's for the PS consoles (anything over 100k):

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS3&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS3- 50)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PSX- 84)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS2&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS2- 139)

Notice how there's far fewer RPG's coming out for the PS3 than the other consoles previously in the cycle? And this will only be compacted, as costs of games increase as the graphics increase, so devs will be expecting big returns for their games. JRPG's are too niche for that.

 

http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=71&year=0&numrev=4&sort=0&letter=&search=

A list of the top JRPG's ever released. Aside from Xenoblade, there's no game from this gen on the list on the first page. The highest, like it or not, is FFXIII at 84.92%, for the HD Consoles. What's that saying? People have different tastes? Or that 'traditional' JRPG's are few and far between. I know it comes down to personal preference, and personally, I disagree with the list, but you've got to admit, the quality and quantity of JRPG's have dived this gen.

 

Finally, whilst those series' may continue, it's unlikely we'll see devs doing completely new things with a new IP on home consoles. No Chrono Trigger. No Xenoblade. No Baten Kaitos. No Golden Sun etc., because the cost of development will be so high, they can't afford to take the risk...

 

They'll always be exceptions, I know. But overall, you can't deny that the genre is in trouble overall...



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

Conegamer on 26 April 2012
ishiki said:
Conegamer said:
ishiki said:

I think it looks a lot better than persona beings it's not one small town. And Randomly generated dungeons.

(I like persona more) 

True. It does look much better, but I never went into the game, or any game, thinking 'my word; this game is amazing, but THE GRAPHICS!!!'

Also, Xenoblade>Persona IMO. 

:P, Jim sterling likes to use extremes to get hits imo, he has some valid points, but he covers it up in extremes to come across as more unique I guess.

IDK, that's why his articles bug me, he just doesn't ever feel completely honest to me.

TBH the article was merely the catalyst for the discussion. As I said in my previous post, the genre is in trouble as graphical fidelity is favoured over gameplay and freedom, and as costs increase, classic JRPG's (Tales) and innovative games (like this one) will become even more rare.

And articles like this only compound the issue:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/25/why-xenoblade-chronicles-makes-me-want-to-punch-a-kitten.aspx?PageIndex=3

He openly admits he loves the game, yet he knocks down the score severely because of the low-res? Do people not play games from 5+ years ago anymore???



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

ishiki on 26 April 2012
Conegamer said:

I'm not sure if that's what he's getting at. I think that, the issue is that these sorts of games are becoming far less frequent, and of a far lower quality. I mean, let's look at RPG's for the PS consoles (anything over 100k):

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS3&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS3- 50)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PSX- 84)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS2&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS2- 139)

Notice how there's far fewer RPG's coming out for the PS3 than the other consoles previously in the cycle? And this will only be compacted, as costs of games increase as the graphics increase, so devs will be expecting big returns for their games. JRPG's are too niche for that.

 

http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=71&year=0&numrev=4&sort=0&letter=&search=

A list of the top JRPG's ever released. Aside from Xenoblade, there's no game from this gen on the list on the first page. The highest, like it or not, is FFXIII at 84.92%, for the HD Consoles. What's that saying? People have different tastes? Or that 'traditional' JRPG's are few and far between. I know it comes down to personal preference, and personally, I disagree with the list, but you've got to admit, the quality and quantity of JRPG's have dived this gen.

 

Finally, whilst those series' may continue, it's unlikely we'll see devs doing completely new things with a new IP on home consoles. No Chrono Trigger. No Xenoblade. No Baten Kaitos. No Golden Sun etc., because the cost of development will be so high, they can't afford to take the risk...

 

They'll always be exceptions, I know. But overall, you can't deny that the genre is in trouble overall...

The target audience of JRPG's have shifted to portables though as well. Since Home Consoles have taken a nosedive in japan. The target audience used to be Playstation and Home Console.

Also, There's Ni No Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon/Dark Soul's All new IP JRPG's. Traditional maybe not. But the same could be said about "traditional" western RPG's as well. Which would be like, Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights 2.

But, I'm not going to deny, that the general perception of JRPG's is down.



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ishiki on 26 April 2012
Conegamer said:
ishiki said:

:P, Jim sterling likes to use extremes to get hits imo, he has some valid points, but he covers it up in extremes to come across as more unique I guess.

IDK, that's why his articles bug me, he just doesn't ever feel completely honest to me.

TBH the article was merely the catalyst for the discussion. As I said in my previous post, the genre is in trouble as graphical fidelity is favoured over gameplay and freedom, and as costs increase, classic JRPG's (Tales) and innovative games (like this one) will become even more rare.

And articles like this only compound the issue:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/25/why-xenoblade-chronicles-makes-me-want-to-punch-a-kitten.aspx?PageIndex=3

He openly admits he loves the game, yet he knocks down the score severely because of the low-res? Do people not play games from 5+ years ago anymore???

I'm not going to rationalize jim sterling, because I think he is an inconsistent idiot :).

He also gave Chaos Ring's and Dragon Quest IX an 9.5. I remember him replying to a post I made in his xenoblade review, since he said it was better than anything SE has made recently... yet he gave those games a higher score. And then said Portable JRPG's are still awesome, or something.

I like Xenoblade more than either of those games btw. 



Conegamer on 26 April 2012
ishiki said:
Conegamer said:

I'm not sure if that's what he's getting at. I think that, the issue is that these sorts of games are becoming far less frequent, and of a far lower quality. I mean, let's look at RPG's for the PS consoles (anything over 100k):

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS3&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS3- 50)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PSX- 84)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS2&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS2- 139)

Notice how there's far fewer RPG's coming out for the PS3 than the other consoles previously in the cycle? And this will only be compacted, as costs of games increase as the graphics increase, so devs will be expecting big returns for their games. JRPG's are too niche for that.

 

http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=71&year=0&numrev=4&sort=0&letter=&search=

A list of the top JRPG's ever released. Aside from Xenoblade, there's no game from this gen on the list on the first page. The highest, like it or not, is FFXIII at 84.92%, for the HD Consoles. What's that saying? People have different tastes? Or that 'traditional' JRPG's are few and far between. I know it comes down to personal preference, and personally, I disagree with the list, but you've got to admit, the quality and quantity of JRPG's have dived this gen.

 

Finally, whilst those series' may continue, it's unlikely we'll see devs doing completely new things with a new IP on home consoles. No Chrono Trigger. No Xenoblade. No Baten Kaitos. No Golden Sun etc., because the cost of development will be so high, they can't afford to take the risk...

 

They'll always be exceptions, I know. But overall, you can't deny that the genre is in trouble overall...

The target audience of JRPG's have shifted to portables though as well. Since Home Consoles have taken a nosedive in japan. The target audience used to be Playstation and Home Console.

Also, There's Ni No Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon/Dark Soul's All new IP JRPG's. Traditional maybe not. But the same could be said about "traditional" western RPG's as well. Which would be like, Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights 2.

But, I'm not going to deny, that the general perception of JRPG's is down.

Ever thought maybe the decrease in sales of home consoles is because traditional experiences like JRPG's aren't cost-effective on these consoles? If all the JRPG's on the DS were released on the Wii, it would be the other way round. 

The effect can be the cause, you know. It's likely the reason why handhelds have taken such an advantage in Japan this gen, as these games can still be made, be profitable, and be fun.

And yes, there are a few JRPG's, but there used to be so, SO many more. You could only name 3 traditional. I could probably name 3 new IP's released in the period of 6 months 10 years ago. And next gen will only be worse...



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

Conegamer on 26 April 2012
ishiki said:
Conegamer said:
ishiki said:

:P, Jim sterling likes to use extremes to get hits imo, he has some valid points, but he covers it up in extremes to come across as more unique I guess.

IDK, that's why his articles bug me, he just doesn't ever feel completely honest to me.

TBH the article was merely the catalyst for the discussion. As I said in my previous post, the genre is in trouble as graphical fidelity is favoured over gameplay and freedom, and as costs increase, classic JRPG's (Tales) and innovative games (like this one) will become even more rare.

And articles like this only compound the issue:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/25/why-xenoblade-chronicles-makes-me-want-to-punch-a-kitten.aspx?PageIndex=3

He openly admits he loves the game, yet he knocks down the score severely because of the low-res? Do people not play games from 5+ years ago anymore???

I'm not going to rationalize jim sterling, because I think he is an inconsistent idiot :).

He also gave Chaos Ring's and Dragon Quest IX an 9.5. I remember him replying to a post I made in his xenoblade review, since he said it was better than anything SE has made recently... yet he gave those games a higher score. And then said Portable JRPG's are still awesome, or something.

I like Xenoblade more than either of those games btw. 

Yes, he gave those games 9.5, but he also gives any Kirby game 10/10, and FFXIII, Sonic Colours 4/10, and KI 5/10. I know they aren't all JRPG's, but he's heavily inconsistant. And like you say, if he loves it so much, why only give it an 8? I know 8 is an amazing score, but if it's better, it should score better. End of. 

As you said, inconsistent. Troll, maybe not. But inconsistent, definitely. I don't like him reviewing games like this, because he could give it any score...



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

ishiki on 26 April 2012
Conegamer said:

Ever thought maybe the decrease in sales of home consoles is because traditional experiences like JRPG's aren't cost-effective on these consoles? If all the JRPG's on the DS were released on the Wii, it would be the other way round. 

The effect can be the cause, you know. It's likely the reason why handhelds have taken such an advantage in Japan this gen, as these games can still be made, be profitable, and be fun.

And yes, there are a few JRPG's, but there used to be so, SO many more. You could only name 3 traditional. I could probably name 3 new IP's released in the period of 6 months 10 years ago. And next gen will only be worse...

I think they aren't cost effective unless it's like Final Fantasy and even then you could debate if it would be more profitable on wii or something.  But I think making on the wii isn't the right choice necessarily either. 

Monster hunter sold way worse on the wii than on PSP. Ni No Kuni sold way more on the DS, than on PS3. Not enough of a sample size, but :).

I can name, Trail in the Sky, TWEWY(my favorite this gen), Radiant Historia, Devil Survivor 1 and 2, Kingdom Hearts BBS, Tales of (which I don't like). Obviously there were more in the PS1 era I'm not debating that, I'm just not necessarily certain it will get to that point again.

The new IP is a problem not unique to JRPG's but games, movies, and lots of things in general have this issue. .



Conegamer on 26 April 2012
ishiki said:
Conegamer said:
ishiki said:
Conegamer said:

I'm not sure if that's what he's getting at. I think that, the issue is that these sorts of games are becoming far less frequent, and of a far lower quality. I mean, let's look at RPG's for the PS consoles (anything over 100k):

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS3&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS3- 50)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PSX- 84)

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=&publisher=&platform=PS2&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (PS2- 139)

Notice how there's far fewer RPG's coming out for the PS3 than the other consoles previously in the cycle? And this will only be compacted, as costs of games increase as the graphics increase, so devs will be expecting big returns for their games. JRPG's are too niche for that.

 

http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=71&year=0&numrev=4&sort=0&letter=&search=

A list of the top JRPG's ever released. Aside from Xenoblade, there's no game from this gen on the list on the first page. The highest, like it or not, is FFXIII at 84.92%, for the HD Consoles. What's that saying? People have different tastes? Or that 'traditional' JRPG's are few and far between. I know it comes down to personal preference, and personally, I disagree with the list, but you've got to admit, the quality and quantity of JRPG's have dived this gen.

 

Finally, whilst those series' may continue, it's unlikely we'll see devs doing completely new things with a new IP on home consoles. No Chrono Trigger. No Xenoblade. No Baten Kaitos. No Golden Sun etc., because the cost of development will be so high, they can't afford to take the risk...

 

They'll always be exceptions, I know. But overall, you can't deny that the genre is in trouble overall...

The target audience of JRPG's have shifted to portables though as well. Since Home Consoles have taken a nosedive in japan. The target audience used to be Playstation and Home Console.

Also, There's Ni No Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon/Dark Soul's All new IP JRPG's. Traditional maybe not. But the same could be said about "traditional" western RPG's as well. Which would be like, Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights 2.

But, I'm not going to deny, that the general perception of JRPG's is down.

Ever thought maybe the decrease in sales of home consoles is because traditional experiences like JRPG's aren't cost-effective on these consoles? If all the JRPG's on the DS were released on the Wii, it would be the other way round. 

The effect can be the cause, you know. It's likely the reason why handhelds have taken such an advantage in Japan this gen, as these games can still be made, be profitable, and be fun.

And yes, there are a few JRPG's, but there used to be so, SO many more. You could only name 3 traditional. I could probably name 3 new IP's released in the period of 6 months 10 years ago. And next gen will only be worse...

I think they aren't cost effective unless it's like Final Fantasy (because of even if it's less popular Couple million + guarenteed sales).  But I think making on the wii isn't the right choice necessarily either. 
Monster hunter sold way worse on the wii than on PSP. Ni No Kuni sold way more on the DS, than on PS3.

I can name, Trail in the Sky, TWEWY(my favorite this gen), Radiant Historia, Devil Survivor 1 and 2, Kingdom Hearts BBS, Tales of (which I don't like), maybe persona because atlus is a generation late always :P. Obviously there were more in the PS1 era.

The new IP is a problem not unique to JRPG's but games, movies, and lots of things in general.

Yeah, FF is the best in terms of sales, but this gen is nowhere near as big as previous games:

http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=Final+Fantasy+&publisher=&platform=&genre=Role-Playing&minSales=0&results=200 (FFXIII in 5th combined, behind FFVII, VIII, X, XII)

And FFXIII-2 is even worse, clocking up only 13th overall. It's a dire situation.

And as you say, al of those great games are either on the handhelds, and all sold much better on the handhelds. 

The new IP is a shared issue, agreed. But it's an issue compounded much more in the gaming industry, especially in niche genres (it's why point-and-clicks almost died out).

All of those games are awesome as well. Good choices



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.