Review for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Game for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 01/12/2017
Switch has enjoyed considerable success since launch thanks also to titles such as Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well as numerous indies and various ports, so it was reasonable to think that, at least for the moment, the Japanese company had already shot all the arrows at its bow. But is not so. Towards the end of the year Monolith Soft in cooperation with Nintendo launches on the market Xenoblade Chronicles 2, JRPG Action with boundless views and immersive story, spiritual sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles, released on Wii in 2010.
The sea of clouds
The story is not directly connected to the previous episode, but clearly belongs to the same universe even if in a decidedly different time. The panorama that presents itself to us at the beginning is mystical and bleak at the same time: a borderless sea totally made up of soft white clouds; only a huge and majestic tree breaks the monotonous and bleak landscape, the Tree of Life.
To tell the truth, this desolation does not seem to worry too much the little Rex, an expert recoverer despite his young age, who every morning dedicates himself to the recovery of submerged artifacts to be sold on the market.
The most curious note derives from the boat that Rex uses to move: it is only partly mechanical, but mostly organic: a small Titan that accompanies and looks after Rex just like a grandfather would. The titans are the only thing that emerges from the sea of clouds: it is said that over 500 years ago there was a huge war that plunged everything and everyone into a sea of despair; the population was rescued only by the Titans, sent by the same higher entities that caused the extinction of almost all living beings. The survivors learned how to survive by building their civilization on the mammoth Titans themselves, founding immense living, self-propelled continents. For years the situation seemed to have finally stabilized, but now the life cycle of the Titans is running out.
Soon we will naturally be involved in a recovery operation that will really yield us a lot, so we accept and with good energy we start our mission. In this profitable enterprise we will also be escorted by two first class Ductors and their Gladius. The Ductors are nothing more than individuals capable of taming energy crystals that give them magnificent powers in the form of spiritual warriors, the Gladius, able to assist them in battle.
Everything runs too smoothly to the point that it doesn't seem normal, and in fact it isn't. We are in fact trying to recover the Aegis, a very powerful crystal, able to give birth to an unparalleled Gladius, but, when we finally find it, our protagonist touches the crystal just before Jin, one of the Ductors, pierces the heart leaving it lifeless. But that's not the end of course.
The Aegis intervenes to save us, which shares its vital force with us, allowing us to come back to life and become a Ductor: but not just any Ductor, but the owner of the Aegis, the Gladius born from the emerald crystal. From here on, our aim will only be to accompany the busty Pyra, this is the proper name of the Aegis, on her journey to return to the Elisyum and put an end to the wars and death of the Titans.
We cannot go further in telling you the story because we would risk ruining the rest of the adventure, but know that we have rarely seen a plot so well woven and full of well-characterized characters. The twists are around every corner and the characters you will meet are really many and have the characteristic of involving the player by immediately entering into empathy. Impossible not to love Nia and Dromarch or Tora and Poppy, extremely different characters but all with an irrepressible personality.
The titanic game world
The game world is precisely divided into Titans: each covers a large portion of territory, as if it were a continent to be explored with its own characteristic fauna and with its urban settlements and its rules. It is difficult to quantify how vast and spectacular the panorama is before us when we face a new territory. We will find different animals with different characteristics: some peaceful or indifferent and others decidedly endowed with a more aggressive nature. The structure of the territory is multilevel and decidedly non-linear: you can roam free and reach your goal through different roads, indeed, you will often be forced to find an alternative way since crossing a portion of territory inhabited by animals too powerful compared to you to certain death in a short time.
To make your life easier, the developers have thought of two solutions that in the long run prove to be essential in order not to break the pace of the game. The first is the fast teleportation to each previously visited area, and the second concerns physical health: in fact, it will automatically restore itself whenever you are not engaged in battle. I assure you that without such a trick you will practically have no chance to get out alive even from the first Titan.
Furthermore, there are two key factors to always keep in mind when exploring: the first is the weather, the other is the tide. Depending on whether you are facing a portion of territory by day or by night you will find yourself facing decidedly different fauna, while depending on the tide of clouds you can have access or not to unexplored areas of the Titan. Playing with these two elements is essential for the continuation of the story.
Another essential element of exploration is given by our Gladius, thanks to which it will be possible to access areas otherwise closed: it is only with the increase of the skills of our companions that we will finally be able to access these areas or find hidden treasures.
Cities are also very well characterized and extremely important. In these places we will have access to shops that will supply us with crystals and armaments, as well as items, but above all they will be one of the main places where to find secondary quests, to be completed in exchange for experience points and money. There will be inns, which are used to advance level, since the restoration of vital energy takes place automatically.
The novelty that we find in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is that, by talking to the NPCs and completing the side quests, we will also be able to level up cities and shops: we will therefore find new merchandise, more advantageous prices and more demanding and profitable secondary quests.
Before moving on to the gameplay, it is necessary to spend a few words on the landscapes: the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is nothing short of amazing and extremely well cared for. On more than one occasion, you get lost in gazing at the boundless landscape, the local fauna and flora or even the single and simple sunset: albeit with an extremely different style, the feeling of magnificence is the same found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The Ductors and the Gladius
As you have easily imagined by now, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 makes the between Ductor and Gladius one of the cornerstones of the game. Not only can the character grow and learn skills as well as improve in all respects, but his Gladius can do the same. We used the plural intentionally, since during the course of the adventure it will be possible for each Ductor of our party to control more Gladius with different characteristics, always on condition that they fight one at a time.
Each Gladius has different characteristics and belongs to a specific element (water, wind, fire, earth and lightning are just some of those available), so having Gladius with different characteristics at your service is essential to continue the adventure, also by virtue of the fact that some of our opponents turn out to be weaker to certain elements.
In addition, the affinity between Ductor and Gladius, which can be developed during duels or through key events scattered on the Titans, affects the growth of the Gladius itself by implementing the skill tree in a different way.
It is advisable to pay close attention to our Gladius: making sure that they grow constantly, grinding continuously and above all exploiting their abilities in battle is the basis for continuing in what turns out to be one of the most cared for and complex JRPG ever seen. Many crystals will be found during the adventure and consequently many Gladius will be awakened and can also be assigned to specific tasks during the adventure: it therefore becomes imperative to spend time so that each single Gladius acquires a level suitable for the task that is assigned to him .
And pay attention to the particular crystals, the ones that give life to spectacular Gladius with unique characteristics.
A fight at the last Gladius
The combat system is an improved - but still not perfect, in our opinion - version of what we saw in Xenoblade Chronicles. In practice, the engagement occurs by hooking the enemy or simply entering his field of vision in the event that our opponent turns out to be particularly aggressive.
Pay close attention to this feature since if you find yourself running around the vast territory without due attention you may come across a group of evil animals, or even one but of a much higher level than yours that will not think much about asking. end your suffering in the blink of an eye.
Once the target is locked and the weapon is unsheathed, the fight begins: everything happens automatically and we are only given the task of launching special techniques once they have completed their charge and at the most appropriate time to do greater damage. Facing the enemy in front, behind or sideways also has its effect in terms of damage, so it becomes essential to move continuously, taking into account that while the character moves it does not attack, but can be hit.
The party is made up of us and other Ductos in attack and one in the rear to give support: deciding who to have at our side and who to keep in the rear is essential in order to bring home victory even in the simplest clash. You can also let go of Rex and Pyra to take direct control of one of your allies, provided you decide before starting the fight.
Even the anger of our opponents, which is highlighted by a red circle that surrounds us, is an element to always keep in mind: being able to direct anger towards the partner with more defense and health turns out to be a winning technique to bring quickly finish a fight.
Finally, there are special attacks and devastating combos: once the bar is loaded we can pass our weapon to the Gladius we are using and, thanks to the pressure of a few keys in a timed stop motion, we will be able to give life to special attacks.
These attacks can be of four different levels depending on the accumulated charge, but above all they can be chained one to the other to obtain a devastating final attack which, however, will make our opponent immune for a certain period of time to the element used for the attack.
We advise you not to underestimate your opponents: having a higher level is not enough to get the better of a fight. There is also a group bar: it is divided into segments that correspond to the possibilities of resurrection. If we complete the total group charge of the bar we are given to launch a devastating group attack that will allow us to do huge damage in a short time.
You have to take into account the territory, the approach, and above all you have to use your energies intelligently: do not launch an attack as soon as it is charged because the next one that is chained must be level 2 and the one still later of course level 3; this means that all the Ductors must have the time to accumulate the necessary Aether with ordinary attacks, otherwise your strategy will be totally frustrated.
You can also change Ductor during the fight, but only on condition that you wait for the reload time and place it in the appropriate slot. What you can't do is leave the fight with ease: you'll have to sheathe your weapon and run until you are out of the enemy's range, which is easier said than done.
In short, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not a game to be taken lightly: running in bulk and facing clashes without preparing only serves to reach a quick game over.
The splendor of Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Despite weighing only 13 GB in digital version, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 shows all the work done in development. Scenarios, landscapes, cut scenes and PG are really very well designed and characterized. All different and all extremely expressive, they capture the attention and heart of the player in a natural and pleasant way: this is certainly the result of the experience of Monolith Soft and Nintendo. The landscapes, flora and fauna seem to have come out of the mind of a visionary painter but at the same time are extremely credible and well contextualized.
The fluidity even in the most excited moments is flawless: we have never encountered a drop in frame rates in over 25 hours of play. Furthermore, both on the small and on the big screen there are no dips or wobbly textures, but on the big screen, during some cut scenes you get the impression that the quality is lowered, which does not affect the truly amazing overall result.
The camera can be managed both manually and automatically but in both cases, blocking it in a narrow space can lead to bizarre and unpleasant shots, even if to be honest it is a very rare event. You can also decide on a zoom factor on the protagonist that almost reaches a FPS-style view: however, we do not feel like recommending this approach, first because it does not suit the style of play and, second, because it prevents you from having the general picture of the game. situation. The best way to play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or at least the one we think is most appropriate is with a distant view so that we know the position of our team and what surrounds us.
The audio part is beautifully harmonized for what concerns the noises and background sounds. The voices of the characters in the English language may seem inappropriate in some cases, especially to fans of the genre, but fortunately an update is available at launch that includes dubbing in the original language. The translation of the texts, on the other hand, is almost perfect and treated in detail, which is essential to support a plot of this level.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a pearl that goes to support a console like Nintendo Switch, which in its launch year has brought really deadly hits. This JRPG is undoubtedly one of the most successful at the moment, and, even if the combat system still leaves some doubts, it can be said without fear of denial that we are facing a masterpiece. If you are a JRPG lover, we recommend Xenoblade Chronicles 2 without hesitation, but, even if you are just curious, we are sure that it will be able to thrill you as few titles can.
► Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is an Adventure-JRPG game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 01/12/2017
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