PaperLuigi44My amazement is at maximum capacity.Registered Userregular
Also, if boss fights are getting trivial then definitely put a stop to side quests. It'd be nice if levels scaled, but an intense fight in Xenoblade is miles more exciting than finding/killing 5 things over and over again.
As far as the MMO elements go I still think the combat is really engaging - every character is unique with their combat strategy and customizable moveset, to some extent. I wish more characters got a move that could trigger break, it's not crucial but it informed my team makeup when I switched things up for variety.
The combat design is fine. If anything, it's a good example of how MMO combat can be well-done. But I'd say the game is also a good example of how the MMO side quest system is deeply flawed.
ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
I really need to get some component cables for this wii. Or whatever cables make it look better because I am using the default ones and this is so blurry and terrible. I'm assuming it would look slightly better than this with said cables
CorporateLogoThe toilet knowshow I feelRegistered Userregular
Chris Kluwe has some opinions about this video gabe
Xenoblade Chronicles is an amazing game. The characters are engaging, the storyline is epic, and the fresh combat blends MMO style cooldowns with the feel of an old-school, turn-based RPG.
However.
The graphics. Dear god, the graphics. I can’t decide whether the technical capabilities of the Wii make me want to projectile vomit or take a 12-gauge to my television, and it makes me angry enough to mail a severed unicorn head to Nintendo’s main office because this game deserves better. It deserves better than gasping fish mouths bobbing up and down through beautifully crafted dialogue. It deserves better than jagged edged fuzzy textures comprising a breathtaking landscape set within the body of a fallen god. IT DESERVES BETTER THAN WHAT YOU’VE FORCED THIS GAME TO BE, NINTENDO.
<deep breath>
I honestly believe that Xenoblade Chronicles could have been this generation’s Final Fantasy VII. Not since I was a child have I been as absorbed by a world; not since the heyday of JRPG’s during the SNES era have I spent my time away from a game solely consumed by thoughts of playing that game, anxiously awaiting whatever new plot wrinkle might be revealed. This game is that good, and it does it all in spite of the absolute turd monster of a graphics engine the Wii poops out on screen.
I have to commend the folks at Monolith Soft. They’ve done the best they can with what they have available, and you can see the vision they’re so desperately trying to make a reality. The ideas on display in Xenoblade Chronicles are nothing short of amazing. We’re talking Shadows of the Colossus crossed with Final Fantasy amazing. Unfortunately, and through no fault of Monolith Soft, the Wii laughs at their dreams. It takes those dreams and flushes them down the toilet of GameCube-era hardware Nintendo likes to call cutting edge.
I for one am sick and tired of it. I’m tired of Nintendo having these awesome franchises and brilliant developers and shafting them with an absolute garbage can of a system. I’m tired of seeing Mario relegated to kitschy ideas because there’s no horsepower under the Wii’s hood; I’m tired of seeing Link fighting through the Temple of Brown Textures and Jagged Edges; I’m tired of seeing games like Xenoblade Chronicles, games with a world vision that dwarfs the imagination and fills the mind with awe-inspiring jaw dropitude, get thrown under the bus by Nintendo insisting on Grandma Waggle Party IV as its core demographic.
So this is what I say to you Nintendo. It’s time to s*** or get off the pot. You used to be great at hardware; hell, you were one of the companies that STARTED video gaming as we know it. Remember the NES? Remember the Super Nintendo? Those were cutting edge systems, and you did great games the justice they deserved. In today’s world, technology has evolved to the point where it’s not acceptable anymore to give us dross when we know there exists the capability for diamonds. It’s not acceptable to shackle an obviously talented team like Monolith Soft to the ball and chain of the Wii because you want to sell waggle. Either take your hardware seriously, or get out of the game entirely and let those more capable take over.
I’m asking, no, I’m begging you, Nintendo. Cut those shackles. Let Mario, let Link, let our beloved heroes of youth soar like we know they can. Let us visit the worlds they deserve to inhabit.
Chris "Warcraft" Kluwe is the Minnesota Vikings' punter, Tripping Icarus' bass player, and Andrew Reiner's hand model.
While I can understand how he feels he needs to keep in mind that they may not have been able to afford creating a much more advanced version of the same game world.
ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
I think, due to technical limitations (probably) or just because they are Nintendo, the art style in a lot of their games tends to work in low-res and terrible graphics. So they usually look pretty okay.
The downside though, is that with just a little bit more processing power, these games, with the same assets and everything, could look amazing.
Like I am not frothing at the mouth about this or anything, I am just kind of sad that I am playing this game that has a bunch of amazing stuff going on, but at times it is hard to see what is going on, on my HDTV due to all of the blurriness and jagged edges. When I know it can look downright fantastic.
Has this guy seen either Mario Galaxy game? What about Skyward Sword? I don't disagree with his sentiment but his specific choice to point out Mario and Zelda as Wii graphical failures is kinda breathtaking.
I want to get to a big plot dump because while I'm totally into the current characters' motivations, right now it sounds like not much more than a long-ass trek. I guess I wanna get to the top of the rollercoaster and start riding it down but it's hard to find free time to do that.
Chris, FF7 looked like garbage even for the time it was released. The environments were nigh on undiscernible. You know what hooked people? The gameplay, and to some extent the story (which I have my own opinions on).
It's the EXACT same thing here.
(I doubt he checks in here anymore but that's my two cents in case he does!)
Chris, FF7 looked like garbage even for the time it was released. The environments were nigh on undiscernible. You know what hooked people? The gameplay, and to some extent the story (which I have my own opinions on).
It's the EXACT same thing here.
(I doubt he checks in here anymore but that's my two cents in case he does!)
Well not exactly. I mean it didn't look as good as Mario 64, which was its most relevant contemporary, sure. But the battles (and the FMVs) looked amazing for 1997. Outside of battles, it looked average. The main thing about it is that it was the first time anyone had really done an RPG in 3D (watch as someone pulls an obscure game that came out on Saturn or something just to prove me wrong). It blew people away because it was the first of its kind. People came for the 3D, then they stayed for the story.
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Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
I'd argue that graphics were a major selling point/dev focus in only some of the FFs (7, 8, 10 and 13 specifically). The rest focused on other matters.
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Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
Ouch, yeah, XIII-2 barely cleared 2 million units, I just looked it up (XIII-1 made about 6.6 million). Bunch of contributing factors there though (dissatisfaction with XIII-1, JRPG fatigue, came out in the slow season (though that should have helped with no competition around), association with X-2)
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ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
Well the bummer about all of those Wii games is that with just a little bit more power, they look really fucking fantastic instead of just pretty good.
I think, due to technical limitations (probably) or just because they are Nintendo, the art style in a lot of their games tends to work in low-res and terrible graphics. So they usually look pretty okay.
The downside though, is that with just a little bit more processing power, these games, with the same assets and everything, could look amazing.
Like I am not frothing at the mouth about this or anything, I am just kind of sad that I am playing this game that has a bunch of amazing stuff going on, but at times it is hard to see what is going on, on my HDTV due to all of the blurriness and jagged edges. When I know it can look downright fantastic.
Oh man, maybe the Wii U will upscale the wii games to HD?
edit: dammit, a quick googling says: No
wait
I don't understand what's going on with this link
is this just what a standard screenshot would look like if it were in HD instead of 480p?
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ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
The bad looking one is what it looks like on a wii, if you have a 1080p tv and have .. whatever the best looking connection from the wii to your tv is.
The second one is what it looks like on the Dolphin emulator in actual 1080p, with anti-aliasing. There are actually texture packs out there that make it look even better but that is straying too far into forbidden territory.
Basically, the point is that these games, at their foundation, look really good.
Holy mother of shit Bionis' leg is gargantuan. I was expecting every zone to be more or less the size of Colony 9 but this might be just about the single largest map I've ever seen in a non-open-world game. It makes WoW zones look tiny. Is it the only one that's this huge? Like is it this game's Hyrule Field? Or are there more like it? Because fuck.
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Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
I really need to get some component cables for this wii. Or whatever cables make it look better because I am using the default ones and this is so blurry and terrible. I'm assuming it would look slightly better than this with said cables
Holy mother of shit Bionis' leg is gargantuan. I was expecting every zone to be more or less the size of Colony 9 but this might be just about the single largest map I've ever seen in a non-open-world game. It makes WoW zones look tiny. Is it the only one that's this huge? Like is it this game's Hyrule Field? Or are there more like it? Because fuck.
there are several more of comparable size, and one or two larger.
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ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
Alrighty, I think I will swing by a place and pick some up later today
Holy mother of shit Bionis' leg is gargantuan. I was expecting every zone to be more or less the size of Colony 9 but this might be just about the single largest map I've ever seen in a non-open-world game. It makes WoW zones look tiny. Is it the only one that's this huge? Like is it this game's Hyrule Field? Or are there more like it? Because fuck.
there are several more of comparable size, and one or two larger.
Holy shit.
If there's anything that excuses the graphics, it's that. The draw distance is also phenomenal.
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ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
Oh yeah the world stuff is really fantastic. I love it.
It just takes me out of the experience when I get out into a grassy field and fight some things and can barely see what is even happening
Posts
As far as the MMO elements go I still think the combat is really engaging - every character is unique with their combat strategy and customizable moveset, to some extent. I wish more characters got a move that could trigger break, it's not crucial but it informed my team makeup when I switched things up for variety.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Hoping component cables make stuff better whenever I get around to picking them up
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/25/why-xenoblade-chronicles-makes-me-want-to-punch-a-kitten.aspx
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
The downside though, is that with just a little bit more processing power, these games, with the same assets and everything, could look amazing.
Like I am not frothing at the mouth about this or anything, I am just kind of sad that I am playing this game that has a bunch of amazing stuff going on, but at times it is hard to see what is going on, on my HDTV due to all of the blurriness and jagged edges. When I know it can look downright fantastic.
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/75487
Oh man, maybe the Wii U will upscale the wii games to HD?
edit: dammit, a quick googling says: No
but anyway it's a dumb thing to say
it's not like Nintendo forced anyone to develop for the wii
that's a silly thing he wrote
Chris, FF7 looked like garbage even for the time it was released. The environments were nigh on undiscernible. You know what hooked people? The gameplay, and to some extent the story (which I have my own opinions on).
It's the EXACT same thing here.
(I doubt he checks in here anymore but that's my two cents in case he does!)
Well they forced Monolith to, considering Nintendo owns them.
Some of them use interesting graphical style (persona series), but that's not what they're ABOUT
*provided you can stand a lot of silly archetypes and tropes
Well not exactly. I mean it didn't look as good as Mario 64, which was its most relevant contemporary, sure. But the battles (and the FMVs) looked amazing for 1997. Outside of battles, it looked average. The main thing about it is that it was the first time anyone had really done an RPG in 3D (watch as someone pulls an obscure game that came out on Saturn or something just to prove me wrong). It blew people away because it was the first of its kind. People came for the 3D, then they stayed for the story.
actually at this point I'd make the argument that Final Fantasy is way more about graphics than anything else
ah, my mistake
I played the more recent ones for their methods of character progression, personally
sphere grid, license board
that's mah shit
...neither of those are recent, though
XIII sold on the strength of its graphics and when people actually became acquainted with the game it became clear that it sucked
so when XIII-2 came out and promised more of the same, nobody was fooled
14 isn't a proper FF game
basically I'm talking about XIII and XIII-2
both are garbage outside of their graphics
wait
I don't understand what's going on with this link
is this just what a standard screenshot would look like if it were in HD instead of 480p?
The second one is what it looks like on the Dolphin emulator in actual 1080p, with anti-aliasing. There are actually texture packs out there that make it look even better but that is straying too far into forbidden territory.
Basically, the point is that these games, at their foundation, look really good.
They are just hamstrung by the wii
yes that's pretty lame
yes, component cables
and yeah, it's better
there are several more of comparable size, and one or two larger.
Holy shit.
If there's anything that excuses the graphics, it's that. The draw distance is also phenomenal.
It just takes me out of the experience when I get out into a grassy field and fight some things and can barely see what is even happening