It's Xenoblade Chronicles running on Switch.
Thread done.
OK, let's go a bit deeper...
Technically the game just looks almost exactly as XC2, if you've played it, you'll clearly recognize the dynamic resolution, blurring of effects, even colour saturation and how the game manages brightness and time of day. The game data streams beautifully from location to location with no loading screens if you walk around, with loading screens only showing up when skipping to distant places.
Textures applied to cliffs and large terrain features don't look particularly good up close, and there's just a very, very, very subtle depth of field effect applied to very, very, very, distant objects; bushes and blades of grass fade in as you move forward, in, again, the same way XC2 managed things. There are no immediate pop ups or things that become more and more detailed as you close onto them, but the resolution does take a hit with too many things on screen.
Artistically the game isn't as colourful as XCX or XC2, and the new character models have been modified to look a bit more "anime-ish" than the original art: Shulk and Fiora are the primary culprits, with other characters closer to the originals. Probably this was done to make things more appealing to a wider audience, but I would have preferred models more resembling the original drawings. But at the very least, characters aren't wooden boards as they were in XCX and emote properly to what's thrown at them.
Well, kinda, you can see that corners had to be cut: basic animations are shared between characters, and the walking/running cycles retain a peculiar jankiness. It's like Trials Of Mana: yes, the game has been remade, but to get this done they had to cut something.
I actually don't remember much about the original Xenoblade Chronicles, but from what I do, the game's mechanics remain the same: you have a lot of equipment, and that equipment has slots for further effects. You also collect a ton of things, and while menus are decent enough, I really hope you like comparing numbers. Personally I've settled in running through equipment every time I reach a new village/location.
Strolling around the vast environments of XC is still a pleasure, there's an almost hypnotic quality in going anywhere but where the next story marker in, peeking at massive monsters way above your current level, while collecting all sorts of things. Combat happens much less frequently than in XCX or XC2, and it's easy to rack up levels to have an easy time against everyone but unique monsters: for example I completed all sidequests in the starting location before setting off the story events that will push the party out of it, and all monsters around story areas have been at least a couple of levels below me.
I think the game also adjusts the level of new party members to your characters, which is always nice.
Thread done.
OK, let's go a bit deeper...
Technically the game just looks almost exactly as XC2, if you've played it, you'll clearly recognize the dynamic resolution, blurring of effects, even colour saturation and how the game manages brightness and time of day. The game data streams beautifully from location to location with no loading screens if you walk around, with loading screens only showing up when skipping to distant places.
Textures applied to cliffs and large terrain features don't look particularly good up close, and there's just a very, very, very subtle depth of field effect applied to very, very, very, distant objects; bushes and blades of grass fade in as you move forward, in, again, the same way XC2 managed things. There are no immediate pop ups or things that become more and more detailed as you close onto them, but the resolution does take a hit with too many things on screen.
Artistically the game isn't as colourful as XCX or XC2, and the new character models have been modified to look a bit more "anime-ish" than the original art: Shulk and Fiora are the primary culprits, with other characters closer to the originals. Probably this was done to make things more appealing to a wider audience, but I would have preferred models more resembling the original drawings. But at the very least, characters aren't wooden boards as they were in XCX and emote properly to what's thrown at them.
Well, kinda, you can see that corners had to be cut: basic animations are shared between characters, and the walking/running cycles retain a peculiar jankiness. It's like Trials Of Mana: yes, the game has been remade, but to get this done they had to cut something.
I actually don't remember much about the original Xenoblade Chronicles, but from what I do, the game's mechanics remain the same: you have a lot of equipment, and that equipment has slots for further effects. You also collect a ton of things, and while menus are decent enough, I really hope you like comparing numbers. Personally I've settled in running through equipment every time I reach a new village/location.
Strolling around the vast environments of XC is still a pleasure, there's an almost hypnotic quality in going anywhere but where the next story marker in, peeking at massive monsters way above your current level, while collecting all sorts of things. Combat happens much less frequently than in XCX or XC2, and it's easy to rack up levels to have an easy time against everyone but unique monsters: for example I completed all sidequests in the starting location before setting off the story events that will push the party out of it, and all monsters around story areas have been at least a couple of levels below me.
I think the game also adjusts the level of new party members to your characters, which is always nice.
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