[Review] Xenoblade Chronicles 2 | Play-Verse (2023)

• Overview
• Full Article
• Rating

Overview

Not even one year old, the Nintendo Switch has been flooded with first-class games that could become candidatesGame of the Year.Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the first large-scale JRPG exclusively for Nintendo's newest console. Still being developed by Monolith Soft, the developer responsible for Xenogears and Xenosaga in the past, they bring the latest Xenoblade series, exclusive to Nintendo Switch. Still overshadowed by the success of the prequel, this game has brought high hopes since it was first announced earlier this year. Plotted as a filler for the year-end holidays, will Xenoblade Chronicles 2 rob you of free time in the real world?

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Story

This game is set in a world above the cloud called Alrest. ResidentsAlrestlive aboveTitanwhich is not permanent.Rex, a young man raised by aTitannamedAzurda, aspire to be oneDriver, the designation for the so-called gun controlBlade. Rex, who was killed in the search for Blade, suddenly came back to life after he met withBladelegendary namedFirein a different realm.Rexpromise toFirewill lead him to a place namedElysiumwhich is believed to be a paradise for mankind as well as a home forFire. isRexmanaged to bringFiregoing toElysium?

Gameplay

Xenoblade Chronicles 2is the first large-scale JRPG released for the Nintendo Switch.franchiseThis. The game is still being developed by Monolith Soft, who are also handling the seriesXenogears, XenosagaandXenoblade Chroniclesbefore. For additional information,Monolith Softis a different company withMonolith Productionswho develop gamesMiddle-earth Shadow of War. Although both named Monolith, they have no attachment to each other.

Here we discuss in full each aspect of the gameplay in this game:

• Exploration
  Rex and friends will explore the world of Alrest on foot. Each area itself is considered very broad to be explored to remote areas. When exploring, various types of monsters are scattered throughout the area, ranging from low-level ones to those that far exceed the character level. This of course gives a thrilling sensation when you have to pass through certain areas that contain these ferocious monsters. The only way is to stay out of their sight or wait for them to move. Luckily, you don't have to travel very far, just to get to a certain point. By visiting the area calledLandmark, you have enabled the featureSkip Travelwhich allows you to move places in an instant.
  One thing that really annoys and complains about a lot of people is the map system in this game. In fact, the system will actually make you more lost and very confusing. This is because the appearance of the map is toozoom-in,so you can't see the map of the area as a whole. The only way to see the map comprehensively, when you want to doSkip Travel. This was further exacerbated by the confusing presentation of the compass and its elevation system. On the objective icon located at the top of the screen, sometimes there is an arrow pointing up or down, indicating that the location is on a different level than the character's position. In fact, we often feel that the placement of the arrows is a little misleading and makes us lost.
  When exploring, you will find several places, obstacles or treasure chests that require the skills of the Blades to get through which are calledField Action. If you meet the available Field Action criteria, then the road or chest will open. BesidesField Action, there is another mini-game marked with an anchor icon and referred to asSalvaging, a treasure salvaging process that requires a specially named itemCylinder.During the processSalvagingoccurs, a QTE button will appear on the screen which will determine the rarity level of the item obtained. In addition to the main mission, there are also various types ofSide Questwhich you can live in pursuit of the prizes on offer. However, the variations of the existing side quests are quite monotonous, such as searching for items or eradicating certain monsters.

• Battle
  The fight took placereal-time, where every time you meet an enemy, then that place will also be the battle arena. No displacementfieldand loading screen just like serialTales. The fight will start with a background music change, when you draw your weapon or an aggressive enemy attacks first. The tempo of the battle in this game is quite slow. In the early chapters, you will feel a little bored with the battle system. However, as the adventure progresses, the combat variety will gradually expand.

  Rex and friends will attack automatically with the named systemAuto-Attack, if the position is already within the attack range. As the number of Auto-attack combos increases, the damage also increases. During Auto-Attack, on the right side of the screen there is a special attack bar that will be filled. Once the bar is fully charged, you can press the action button to launchDriver Art. There is one familiar mechanism that is often implemented in fighting games, namelyCancel Attack,a cancel animation of an attack that can be continued to another attack. This attack is declared successful with a blue circle as an indication if you press the Art button after the Auto-attack attack has entered. In addition, the inclusion of this attack will also fill the barBlade Artwhich has four levels.
  When the character launchesBlade Art, then he will remove his weapon temporarily and can move faster which functions to change positions or just takeitemscattered. At that time, a button will appearQTEin the form of a circle, which if successful will deal extra damage to the enemy.

• Driver Combo
  The battle will be more interesting when you understand the combo system which is divided into four phases, vizBreak, Topple, LaunchandSmash. To trigger a combo, you must first cast an Art that has the Break attribute. This attribute is below the Art name on the screen. If the enemy has entered the Break state, above the left of their health, an additional bar will appear indicating the ongoing phase. Before they return to their normal state, you must immediately launch the next attack with Topple, Launch and Smash attributes in sequence. This combo can be done by all members.partyactive. For example, the combo starts when Nia launchesBreak, then continued the attackToppleby Rex which will make the enemy fall down. Then, Tora followed it up with an attackLaunchwhich will catapult the enemy in the air and finally closed by Rex with an attackSmashwhich will throw it to the ground.Driver Artwithout those four attributes will not count in the combo.
• Blade Combo
  Different fromDriver Combo,Blade Combocan be triggered when the character performs a Blade Art on an enemy. After the attack comes in, then on the upper right side of the screen there is a series of combos that end up with extra effects. The combo series must be read from left to right by paying attention to each element present. If there are fire, wind and water icons, it means you have to perform a sequence of Blade Art level 1 with the fire element, Blade Art level 2 with the wind element and close with Blade Art level 3 with the water element. This combo can be launched by all party members who are currently active in battle.
• Chain Attack
  On the upper left side of the screen, there are three white bars that will be filled during the battle. Besides functioning to revive fallen party characters, it can also be used to launchChain Attackwhich will involve all three party members and their Blades. When three bars are full, press the + button to ejectChain Attack. You will be asked to choose a Blade from each character, which is then followed by the appearanceQTEon the screen. This combo will stop the fight temporarily and is very accurate to makecounter attack. After the combo ends, a combo statistic will appear showing the resulting damage.

• Blade
  The name for the weapon that becomes the partner of the party character. Each character has three slotsBladeallocated to the buttonD-Pad. Each Blade has its own role, such asAttacker, HealerorTank. They can continue to get stronger as you complete a numberquestavailable onAffinity Chartand can be given additional accessories namedTo the Cores. Blade is divided into two types, vizCommon BladeandRare Blade,WhereRare Bladeusually has a special shape and sound, meanwhileCommon Bladehave almost similar designs to each other. You can awaken a new Blade usingCore Crystalacquired through fighting or finishingquest.Generation processBlademyself using the systemup toor random, where the percentage getsRare Bladereally depends on the typeCore Crystalthat you use andBoosteras a supplement. Blade ownership can also be transferred to other characters using rare items. For example, if you awaken a Rare Blade namedKorauseNia, then only Nia has the right to use it. However, it is transferable toRexusing named rare itemsOverdrive Protocol.Especially for Tora's character who is not a singleDriver, it can only handleBladeclone and unable to transferBladehis or receiveBladefrom another character. Due to the limitations of his clone Blade creations, they can only be customized using one specifically named resourceEther Crystal.This is where a significant difference occurs, where you can only get Ether Crystal by completing the mini game calledTiger-Tigerwhich is located in Tora's house. Later, these resources can be converted into additional accessories for Tora's clone Blade.
• Merc Group
  This feature is similar to featureExpeditionin Tales of Berseria. CollectionBladewho are idle in your inventory, you can give them tasks to complete within a certain period of time. Every mission inMerc Grouphave specific criteria for the blade you will choose such as gender or species type. While on duty, you can't use them until you get back. The rewards from these missions are quite useful as extra income.
  

Presentation

• Visual
  There are pros and cons to the change in character design which is now more towards anime style. However, we ourselves are not too concerned about it because it depends on the tastes of the players. When you play onTV Fashion, this game runs very smoothly with a pretty sharp visual resolution, both the characters and the environment. However, in order to maintain performance, there is a significant decrease when you switch to modeHandheldorTabletop. Using dynamic resolution techniques, the results are quite disappointing because the visuals will turn out to be a bit blurry. Another problem that many gamers (including us) complain about is the map presentation which is very confusing. Even though it provides the option to enlarge the map when exploring, in fact it doesn't help much and actually makes us end up in the wrong direction. The map displayed on the screen looks toozoom, until you can't see the whole area. This also makes you have to go back and forth to the menuSkip Travel, only to see where the character's current position is and which way to go next.
• Audio
  Yasunori Mitsuda,composer who has also handled music on legendary titles such asChrono Trigger, XenogearsandXenosaga,back in full charge of the music in this game. Even though there aren't many musical variations, their distinctive touch will give you a sense of nostalgia, for those of you who like these series. The beauty of the musical arrangement, in fact, is slightly tarnished by the quality of the English voice actor with a North European accent. It also really depends on the taste of the players and we are the ones who are quite bothered by the dialogue accent. Luckily, since the day of its first release, Nintendo immediately provided a Japanese dub that can be downloaded for free viaeShop. The Japanese dub manages to save the audio side and sounds much better than the English version. And it has become a feature of Japanese games, where the voices of the characters will shout to each other when the battle is in progress.
  

Value

Before reading this review, maybe you have heard some of the pros and cons in this game or have even experienced it yourself. Then, is this game still worth having? The answer is very decent. As we all know, at just one year old, there aren't many choices of JRPG genre games for Switch. When other consoles are going on a break at the end of the year, Nintendo actually released this game to fill the year-end holidays. You need to spend around 60-70 hours just to finish the main story. If added to all available side missions, you will spend a total of about 165 hours adventuring togetherRexand friends. However, of course you have to escape and survive the saturation of the very slow early game flow. Unfortunately, this game has no modesNew Game Pluslike JRPG games in general.

Conclusions

Reaping various criticisms and suggestions from fans, this game does not make this game underestimated. Instead, he is a strong candidate as one of the best RPG candidates released in 2017. For serial fanaticsXenobladebefore, might be a little disappointed with the various changes that have occurred. However, for newcomers who do not knowfranchiseXenoblade ChroniclesPreviously, we highly recommend this game to fill your year-end holidays. Deep combat system, charming world and character design, highly memorable music, seasoned with an interesting story and embellished with materialdeadwhich are varied, is enough reason not to miss it.Xenoblade Chronicles 2is a must-play game for Nintendo Switch owners.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is available on Play Inc. Store

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Andika Tri Saputra Noor

Game enthusiast