Xenoblade Chronicles X: more details from the Dengeki Online review
If yesterday’s massive amount of details for Xenoblade Chronicles X wasn’t enough for you, surely you’ll take some more from the Dengeki Online review? Thanks to Gessenkou, we now have translations for some additional details about the game, including quests. Apparently, some of them unlock new party members once you clear them.
As for Planet Mira, you will be able to explore it in its entirety right from the start. However, as mentionned yesterday, you won’t have access to certain things until you progress in the story, so you need to avoid neglecting it too much. In other words, Xenoblade Chronicles X gives you much more freedom than Xenoblade Chronicles, even with those story quests-related restrictions.
Exploration is pretty seamless, with barely any loading times (even while using the retail version of the game). The only time there was noticeable loading times was:
– when going in/out of the B.L.A.D.E. home area
– when using Skip Travel to teleport to another area
– during cutscenes.
The journalist also explains that with the disc version, it sometimes took a few instants for some character assets and textures to load when driving at high speed onboard a Doll, or right after some loading time. But apparently, he didn’t get to try out the (free) data packs to improve loading times.
As for rock faces or lake, they’re far from being impassable in this game: there’s always a way to get past them and to keep exploring. You’re also free to find your own path, you don’t have to follow the direct “official” path. For example, you can always swim to avoid some nasty enemies, climb a mountain to reach a special area, and more. In fact, everytime you think “I probably can go there”, you most likely can!
There’s also more details about the re-customisation of your avatar: you need to complete a certain quest before you can do so. Then, you’re free to basically re-do your avatar from scratch… in fact, you can even change the gender of your character!
Next: boss battles. Apparently, if you don’t prepare your strategy and your arts accordingly, you’re going to have a tough time beating them, even if you’re a pro of RPGs. That being said, the game allows you to lower the difficulty if you really can’t beat a specific boss, and you won’t be penalised for doing so.
When you defeat creatures from Planet Mira, the equipment you get is actually tailored to the party members who killed it. The weapons you get that way have different properties and abilities, including some unexpected ones. According to the journalist, looking for a great weapon with the right properties kind of give the game a loot-based game feel.
Unfortunately, you don’t get any money for killing creatures, and selling the equipment you get from them won’t earn you much dough. The main way to get money in the game is the Frontier Net. After all, the various probes aren’t just there for research, the person who set them up gets regular payments from them. Apparently, the citizens of NLA pay to access images and recording from those probes. Therefore, the more probes you set up, the more money you’ll get…. in real time, meaning you can take it easy and earn some cash!
Finally, the journalist talked a bit about the Dolls, and mentioned that they have lots of different weapons and armours. They turn into vehicle when you dash, and it’s not just their appearance that change according to their frames: their handling and the engine sounds are also different.
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) comes out on April 29th in Japan, and later this year in Europe and North America.
Source: Dengeki Online
Translation: Gessenkou
