I sunk a hundred or so hours in to the campaign and had a blast.
I went to replay it a few months later only to discover that the game a second hundred hour campaign with new characters, new battles and a different story!
Isn't the fork point something utterly trivial, too, so it doesn't even look like you're making a big decision at the time?
Like, I don't think it was "should I go to Wendy's or McDonald's for lunch" but I remember thinking it wasn't that much more consequential.
[Lanz is the Machina looking guy, Eunie the High Entia, and Mio is the... Nia. (Not the Nia with the mask, the other Nia.)]
Yeah I'm thinking Mio is a distinct character, maybe somehow related to Nia, and Nia with mask is the real Nia. It looks like Melia is probably leading Keves the XC1 alliance, and Nia is leading Agnus the XC2 alliance. (Maybe Nopon are Switzerland?)
Sena is clearly a blade with visible blue ether veins, Mio has a red crystal like a blade-eater, and Taion is unknown but wearing Torna garb.
There's mention in the trailer about "blade clocks" or in other languages "flame clocks" which exist within some? Agnus members that might be connected to how blades exist now. XC2 spoilers:
With the Orbital Station destroyed the whole driver/blade system may have fallen apart, and perhaps Nia came up with some new technology to allow blades to continue to co-exist with humans or even merge, and that was her rise to power. Some also speculated that the "flame clocks" might be hinting at a Pyra aka Aegis connection, maybe even sacrificing her blade-like existence to power these.
Direct announcements were pretty good!
Also, I started Pokémon Snap. That's fun! Lotsa cute beasts. I'm not quite sure what the illumina orbs do except make the Pokémon glow? Which doesn't look as good as non-glow in pictures imo
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
Direct announcements were pretty good!
Also, I started Pokémon Snap. That's fun! Lotsa cute beasts. I'm not quite sure what the illumina orbs do except make the Pokémon glow? Which doesn't look as good as non-glow in pictures imo
Sometimes the Pokemon like glowing.
A lot of the time it's to switch the flowers on though.
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
I've seen it on sale on digital on occasion.
Oh sure, I just like the physical thing. Might make me grandpa, but I kind of like that library aspect of a Nintendo console
I like physical for my switch I get digital for other stuff. I bought Mario kart , and will be buying the dlc was waiting for 9 since I played 8 wiiu so much but now it just makes sense to get back into it.
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
I've seen it on sale on digital on occasion.
Oh sure, I just like the physical thing. Might make me grandpa, but I kind of like that library aspect of a Nintendo console
I started this way with the Switch but as soon as physical games started having huge gb downloads I switched over to the exclusively digital and never looked back. Now I'm annoyed everytime I have to get the physical cartridge for a game.
I get that. In the back of my mind there's also the Nintendo Way Of Handling The Internet, and physical editions don't disappear when the servers are done.
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
I've seen it on sale on digital on occasion.
Oh sure, I just like the physical thing. Might make me grandpa, but I kind of like that library aspect of a Nintendo console
Do you have a CEX anywhere near you? I usually see XC2 there for something like £45. Not cheap, but I think the full price is something like £60?
The Direct was oddly tactical-centric (Front Mission, Advance Wars, Triangle Strategy) and sports-centric (Mario Futebol, MLB The Show, Switch Sports). Just the way things shake out sometimes I suppose.
After watching the Direct, my brain just looped the words "XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3" over and over. I'm not even kidding.
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
I've seen it on sale on digital on occasion.
Oh sure, I just like the physical thing. Might make me grandpa, but I kind of like that library aspect of a Nintendo console
Do you have a CEX anywhere near you? I usually see XC2 there for something like £45. Not cheap, but I think the full price is something like £60?
I think those are UK only, and shipping post Brexit is a PAIN (although Arrow films existing forces me to go through that still). I occasionally check the ebayz, so if I get to the point that I really want it, I can shell out the ~60 bucks anytime, apparently.
But for now, I'm good! I've yet to play all the Switch games I already own...
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
It had one of the requirements to make it an awesome showing!
And hell yea the main character isn't 12 years old in the new XC!
He looks so much better than Rex! I'll be able to get into the game so much more now. Actually wild that those are by the same character designer.
But sign me up, this year is truly bonkers. And somehow keeps getting crazier.
Like if it had 3 fewer big releases it would still be a big year.
And there's bound to be a handful more releases still announced as basically nothing is lined up for the end of the year yet.
It looks like I'm going to buy 4 new switch games in the same year as well! That is certainly a first!
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
So we have on the Switch Mario Tennis, Golf, and now Soccer.
Now I just hope we'll get a baseball to complete the Mario Sports series on the Switch. We haven't had a Mario Baseball since the Wii.
The Direct was oddly tactical-centric (Front Mission, Advance Wars, Triangle Strategy) and sports-centric (Mario Futebol, MLB The Show, Switch Sports). Just the way things shake out sometimes I suppose.
Live-A-Live is also kiiiinda tactical. At least in that you move your characters around on a small grid, and everything's based on AOEs and activation times, rather than standard RPG combat.
And hell yea the main character isn't 12 years old in the new XC!
He looks so much better than Rex! I'll be able to get into the game so much more now. Actually wild that those are by the same character designer.
Not sure how serious but Rex was absolutely not an adult, that was kind of the point. Often gratingly so. So the design just followed the story they wanted to tell.
Also of note they consider Mio just as much of a protagonist as Noah. So it's not clear that Noah is the sole MC as we had in XC1/2. In fact if they want to give XC1 and 2 equal weight with one character from each world, they kind of have to have two MCs like they are stating on the website.
Anyone have opinions on Front Mission and Live-A-Live? They both looked like they'd be up my alley, but I'm a lot more cautious about my game purchases these days.
What do they play like? Is Live Alive more Octopath or Chrono Trigger, or something unique? What game would Front Mission compare to?
SO MANY STRATEGY GAMES! It's so heavenly!
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
The Switch really has become is ultimate RPG machine. Probably the best RPG machine in history. It's crazy how many RPGs from across gaming history can all be played on the Switch now.
Live-A-Live is a remake so who knows what they do with the gameplay. The original had a bunch of different genres for each scenario so we will have to see how or if that is adapted.
Anyone have opinions on Front Mission and Live-A-Live? They both looked like they'd be up my alley, but I'm a lot more cautious about my game purchases these days.
What do they play like? Is Live Alive more Octopath or Chrono Trigger, or something unique? What game would Front Mission compare to?
SO MANY STRATEGY GAMES! It's so heavenly!
From what I have read, Live-A-Live is all over the place. It is often compared to Octopath but it goes even further with the "8 separate stories" concept. It's not 8 little RPGs, it's more like 8 completely different games that utilize the same base engine.
Examples of what some of these are like, which are not really plot spoilers but more like gameplay style spoilers, in case you'd really want to go in blind:
For example one of them is a fighting game like Street Fighter, a series of 1 on 1 battles, and little story. One is a more traditional exploratory RPG. One is like Home Alone where you go around gathering supplies to set up traps for a climactic encounter. One is completely story-based and only has a single combat encounter. Another is kind of dynamic with choices for how you want to approach your mission.
And people say it has a mindblowing twist that is an all-time great standout among all RPGs.
The Switch really has become is ultimate RPG machine. Probably the best RPG machine in history. It's crazy how many RPGs from across gaming history can all be played on the Switch now.
You know what though, I'll say as far as I'm concerned the DS may have had more unique RPGs which were not just ports (though there were also a lot of ports). Just a deluge of weird stuff trapped on that system that we're unlikely to see again, both good and bad. Radiant Historia, Contact, Infinite Space, Suikoden Tierkreis, Rondo of Swords, Deep Labyrinth, The Dark Spire, Golden Sun Dark Dawn, FF Four Heroes of Light, The Etrian Odyssey series...
Anyone have opinions on Front Mission and Live-A-Live? They both looked like they'd be up my alley, but I'm a lot more cautious about my game purchases these days.
What do they play like? Is Live Alive more Octopath or Chrono Trigger, or something unique? What game would Front Mission compare to?
SO MANY STRATEGY GAMES! It's so heavenly!
Live A Live is something more unique in the battle gameplay.
You have standard enemy encounters like in other RPGs, though they're not random encounters except for certain chapters.
Battles are turn-based, and take place on a small grid. It's not a whole map like in a tactical RPG. You have a 7x7 grid to work with. Your characters take up 1 square, but enemies can be huge. On your turn, you have the option to move around the grid, and to perform attacks or use items. Each action, including movement, takes time. Some attacks take more time to execute than basic attacks. When the opponent's turn comes around, they'll act, even if your character is still charging up an attack. As such, battles can revolve heavily around timing your attacks, or getting out of the enemy's range before their turn comes up. Like, you don't want to spend a full round of actions aiming a powerful attack at a certain spot, only for the enemy to no longer be there when it actually fires.
There's also an element of field control. Certain actions can alter the tiles of the battlefield. They can be turned into water, set aflame, electrified, and a few other things. These can interact with some attacks, or simply damage enemies that walk into those tiles. So the battlefield itself is important.
One wrinkle in the whole thing is that you don't get to see turn order; you just kinda have to get a feel for how fast each combatant is, and when you can expect the enemy's next turn. Maybe they'll update that with the remake? Who knows.
As for out-of-combat stuff. Live A Live, as the trailer implied, is an anthology story. Each character exists in a different time period, and has their own individual story. And each story effectively is a different genre and has different out-of-combat mechanics (and even in-combat mechanics sometimes).
For example, the Ninja chapter has a stealth element to it. Oboromaru can hide himself from sight using a special ninja cloak, in an attempt to sneak past guards and other enemies without fighting them. The chapter also has Oboromaru track how many enemies he's slain, and certain choices and battles can alter how the chapter plays out. The Wrestler chapter is structured more like a Mega Man game, with you choosing which opponent Masaru will fight next; there's no dungeons or minor enemies to fight at all. And as a major contrast, the Far Future chapter has no combat whatsoever, outside of an optional minigame that uses the combat system, with the robot Cube instead exploring the space ship and interacting with its human handlers.
There's something unique to each chapter in terms of the story progression and out-of-combat stuff.
Anyone have opinions on Front Mission and Live-A-Live? They both looked like they'd be up my alley, but I'm a lot more cautious about my game purchases these days.
What do they play like? Is Live Alive more Octopath or Chrono Trigger, or something unique? What game would Front Mission compare to?
SO MANY STRATEGY GAMES! It's so heavenly!
Live A Live is a little hard to describe. The core gameplay engine is a 1-4 dude party on a tiny grid (like 5x5), but each chapter has its own twist on things. Like the Sci-Fi chapter is basically a horror visual novel where the only fight is the final one against the boss. The Modern Day chapter is like Megaman where it's nothing but 6 bosses that you choose to fight in whatever order to get their powers. The Wild West chapter's main gameplay thing is a timed minigame where you race around the town looking for stuff you can use for traps and distributing them to the right townsfolk to make the boss fight easier. The Ninja chapter you're supposed to stealth past everything (or you're also rewarded for killing literally everything too).
It's a very cool concept game, and worth playing for that alone, especially the way it all comes together in the end, but like any kind of experimental thing, there's also a shitload of jank that can be frustrating. Like the Modern (Megaman) chapter. Aside from it giving you no guidance on where to start, so you can throw yourself into the wrong battle and get obliterated easily without any indication of what to do, you get the new powers/skills by the bosses using those skills on you, but maybe RNG says they just won't. And maybe RNG gives you a lucky dodge or crit to beat them without learning them. Now oops. You've killed the boss without learning what you were supposed to from them. And the China chapter also has a big ol' "fucks you over for doing what it tells you to do" bit as well. Hopefully they smooth some of that out though.
Also from what I understand, a major draw of the original game was that every chapter was fully illustrated by a different prominent manga artist. I'm not sure how/if that aspect of it will come across the same way with the completely redone visuals. Did they get those people to come back...?
Posts
Isn't the fork point something utterly trivial, too, so it doesn't even look like you're making a big decision at the time?
Like, I don't think it was "should I go to Wendy's or McDonald's for lunch" but I remember thinking it wasn't that much more consequential.
Yeah I'm thinking Mio is a distinct character, maybe somehow related to Nia, and Nia with mask is the real Nia. It looks like Melia is probably leading Keves the XC1 alliance, and Nia is leading Agnus the XC2 alliance. (Maybe Nopon are Switzerland?)
Sena is clearly a blade with visible blue ether veins, Mio has a red crystal like a blade-eater, and Taion is unknown but wearing Torna garb.
There's mention in the trailer about "blade clocks" or in other languages "flame clocks" which exist within some? Agnus members that might be connected to how blades exist now. XC2 spoilers:
Oh hey first I’ve seen of Jess , now where is her pencil?
I've been reading that as Mario Kart infinity for the longest time.
Also, I started Pokémon Snap. That's fun! Lotsa cute beasts. I'm not quite sure what the illumina orbs do except make the Pokémon glow? Which doesn't look as good as non-glow in pictures imo
It's a bummer that XC2 is apparently hard to get, at least here in PAL land. Maybe they'll rerelease a budget version before the thir- oh who am I kidding, that won't happen
Sometimes the Pokemon like glowing.
A lot of the time it's to switch the flowers on though.
Oh sure, I just like the physical thing. Might make me grandpa, but I kind of like that library aspect of a Nintendo console
I started this way with the Switch but as soon as physical games started having huge gb downloads I switched over to the exclusively digital and never looked back. Now I'm annoyed everytime I have to get the physical cartridge for a game.
Do you have a CEX anywhere near you? I usually see XC2 there for something like £45. Not cheap, but I think the full price is something like £60?
I think those are UK only, and shipping post Brexit is a PAIN (although Arrow films existing forces me to go through that still). I occasionally check the ebayz, so if I get to the point that I really want it, I can shell out the ~60 bucks anytime, apparently.
But for now, I'm good! I've yet to play all the Switch games I already own...
And hell yea the main character isn't 12 years old in the new XC!
He looks so much better than Rex! I'll be able to get into the game so much more now. Actually wild that those are by the same character designer.
But sign me up, this year is truly bonkers. And somehow keeps getting crazier.
Like if it had 3 fewer big releases it would still be a big year.
And there's bound to be a handful more releases still announced as basically nothing is lined up for the end of the year yet.
It looks like I'm going to buy 4 new switch games in the same year as well! That is certainly a first!
Now I just hope we'll get a baseball to complete the Mario Sports series on the Switch. We haven't had a Mario Baseball since the Wii.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
What about MARIO HOOPS THREE ON THREE
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Let them actually fight each other in Hockey
They just showed us Mario football... :P
That's just Smash Bros again!
Live-A-Live is also kiiiinda tactical. At least in that you move your characters around on a small grid, and everything's based on AOEs and activation times, rather than standard RPG combat.
Not sure how serious but Rex was absolutely not an adult, that was kind of the point. Often gratingly so. So the design just followed the story they wanted to tell.
Also of note they consider Mio just as much of a protagonist as Noah. So it's not clear that Noah is the sole MC as we had in XC1/2. In fact if they want to give XC1 and 2 equal weight with one character from each world, they kind of have to have two MCs like they are stating on the website.
Holy shit what if they integrated Smash Bros with it?
What do they play like? Is Live Alive more Octopath or Chrono Trigger, or something unique? What game would Front Mission compare to?
SO MANY STRATEGY GAMES! It's so heavenly!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
I want to see Luigi and Waluigi throw punches at each other on the ice!
Mario Hockey, but when a fight begins, the game turns into an abbreviated and modernized Urban Champ mini-game.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
From what I have read, Live-A-Live is all over the place. It is often compared to Octopath but it goes even further with the "8 separate stories" concept. It's not 8 little RPGs, it's more like 8 completely different games that utilize the same base engine.
Examples of what some of these are like, which are not really plot spoilers but more like gameplay style spoilers, in case you'd really want to go in blind:
And people say it has a mindblowing twist that is an all-time great standout among all RPGs.
You know what though, I'll say as far as I'm concerned the DS may have had more unique RPGs which were not just ports (though there were also a lot of ports). Just a deluge of weird stuff trapped on that system that we're unlikely to see again, both good and bad. Radiant Historia, Contact, Infinite Space, Suikoden Tierkreis, Rondo of Swords, Deep Labyrinth, The Dark Spire, Golden Sun Dark Dawn, FF Four Heroes of Light, The Etrian Odyssey series...
Live A Live is something more unique in the battle gameplay.
You have standard enemy encounters like in other RPGs, though they're not random encounters except for certain chapters.
Battles are turn-based, and take place on a small grid. It's not a whole map like in a tactical RPG. You have a 7x7 grid to work with. Your characters take up 1 square, but enemies can be huge. On your turn, you have the option to move around the grid, and to perform attacks or use items. Each action, including movement, takes time. Some attacks take more time to execute than basic attacks. When the opponent's turn comes around, they'll act, even if your character is still charging up an attack. As such, battles can revolve heavily around timing your attacks, or getting out of the enemy's range before their turn comes up. Like, you don't want to spend a full round of actions aiming a powerful attack at a certain spot, only for the enemy to no longer be there when it actually fires.
There's also an element of field control. Certain actions can alter the tiles of the battlefield. They can be turned into water, set aflame, electrified, and a few other things. These can interact with some attacks, or simply damage enemies that walk into those tiles. So the battlefield itself is important.
One wrinkle in the whole thing is that you don't get to see turn order; you just kinda have to get a feel for how fast each combatant is, and when you can expect the enemy's next turn. Maybe they'll update that with the remake? Who knows.
As for out-of-combat stuff. Live A Live, as the trailer implied, is an anthology story. Each character exists in a different time period, and has their own individual story. And each story effectively is a different genre and has different out-of-combat mechanics (and even in-combat mechanics sometimes).
For example, the Ninja chapter has a stealth element to it. Oboromaru can hide himself from sight using a special ninja cloak, in an attempt to sneak past guards and other enemies without fighting them. The chapter also has Oboromaru track how many enemies he's slain, and certain choices and battles can alter how the chapter plays out. The Wrestler chapter is structured more like a Mega Man game, with you choosing which opponent Masaru will fight next; there's no dungeons or minor enemies to fight at all. And as a major contrast, the Far Future chapter has no combat whatsoever, outside of an optional minigame that uses the combat system, with the robot Cube instead exploring the space ship and interacting with its human handlers.
There's something unique to each chapter in terms of the story progression and out-of-combat stuff.
Live A Live is a little hard to describe. The core gameplay engine is a 1-4 dude party on a tiny grid (like 5x5), but each chapter has its own twist on things. Like the Sci-Fi chapter is basically a horror visual novel where the only fight is the final one against the boss. The Modern Day chapter is like Megaman where it's nothing but 6 bosses that you choose to fight in whatever order to get their powers. The Wild West chapter's main gameplay thing is a timed minigame where you race around the town looking for stuff you can use for traps and distributing them to the right townsfolk to make the boss fight easier. The Ninja chapter you're supposed to stealth past everything (or you're also rewarded for killing literally everything too).
It's a very cool concept game, and worth playing for that alone, especially the way it all comes together in the end, but like any kind of experimental thing, there's also a shitload of jank that can be frustrating. Like the Modern (Megaman) chapter. Aside from it giving you no guidance on where to start, so you can throw yourself into the wrong battle and get obliterated easily without any indication of what to do, you get the new powers/skills by the bosses using those skills on you, but maybe RNG says they just won't. And maybe RNG gives you a lucky dodge or crit to beat them without learning them. Now oops. You've killed the boss without learning what you were supposed to from them. And the China chapter also has a big ol' "fucks you over for doing what it tells you to do" bit as well. Hopefully they smooth some of that out though.