Impressions based on the Japanese version, a couple of hours of gaming, and no load packs installed.
Let me start by saying that among the three games targeted by operation Rainfall, my favourite was The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles was fine but a tad slow and at times unengaging. I think that, however, I will enjoy Xenoblade X much more than its predecessor, mostly because it has a stronger sci-fi leaning, with the art style clearly recalling Xenosaga (especially ep. I and III).
First you create your avatar; customisation choices aren't particularly staggering, but it has some flexibility. For this Japanese version I went for a female character. You can select your avatar's voice, but that will only be triggered during battles, outside those you are a silent protagonist, with choices relagate to textboxes.
X plays very closely to Chronicles, you go around a huge field where creatures roam and you can engage them as you see fit. Some enemies, especially during the night, will engage you instead. From the beginning you are given the choice of a knife and a rifle, with few skills for each weapon, along an attack and defense boosts.
The game does a good job in easing you in, with enemy levels shown on the on-screen HUD, allowing you to avoid difficult engagements.
I'm actually surprised how short loading times are without any installs. Some elements and texture do pop-in from time to time, but it's perfectly playable straight from the disc.
And it also looks gorgeous. Drawing distance for environments and large enemies is astonishing, the day-night cycle creates incredible sceneries and the game runs at a constant pace, though never past 30fps. The sense of scale is something else that the game nails down completely from the start, with towering enemies, and environments and accessories built to character scale.
By default, camera movement is a little slow, and it's not completely able to follow your character's movements, especially in battle when dodging or trying to target an enemy's specific part. Myabe it's the language barrier, but haven't found a way to keep your lock on something or how to switch without moving the camera around. Anywya, controls feel alright, although it's a bit hard to correctlly rotate your character around in tight spaces.
The first hours have been very pleasant, and I'm looking forward to the Englihs build.
[edit] first hour or so.
Let me start by saying that among the three games targeted by operation Rainfall, my favourite was The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles was fine but a tad slow and at times unengaging. I think that, however, I will enjoy Xenoblade X much more than its predecessor, mostly because it has a stronger sci-fi leaning, with the art style clearly recalling Xenosaga (especially ep. I and III).
First you create your avatar; customisation choices aren't particularly staggering, but it has some flexibility. For this Japanese version I went for a female character. You can select your avatar's voice, but that will only be triggered during battles, outside those you are a silent protagonist, with choices relagate to textboxes.
X plays very closely to Chronicles, you go around a huge field where creatures roam and you can engage them as you see fit. Some enemies, especially during the night, will engage you instead. From the beginning you are given the choice of a knife and a rifle, with few skills for each weapon, along an attack and defense boosts.
The game does a good job in easing you in, with enemy levels shown on the on-screen HUD, allowing you to avoid difficult engagements.
I'm actually surprised how short loading times are without any installs. Some elements and texture do pop-in from time to time, but it's perfectly playable straight from the disc.
And it also looks gorgeous. Drawing distance for environments and large enemies is astonishing, the day-night cycle creates incredible sceneries and the game runs at a constant pace, though never past 30fps. The sense of scale is something else that the game nails down completely from the start, with towering enemies, and environments and accessories built to character scale.
By default, camera movement is a little slow, and it's not completely able to follow your character's movements, especially in battle when dodging or trying to target an enemy's specific part. Myabe it's the language barrier, but haven't found a way to keep your lock on something or how to switch without moving the camera around. Anywya, controls feel alright, although it's a bit hard to correctlly rotate your character around in tight spaces.
The first hours have been very pleasant, and I'm looking forward to the Englihs build.
[edit] first hour or so.
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