Forum > Gaming Discussion > XENOBLADE Reviews from page 10 onwards - "A goosebump inducing, splendid, expansive, epic."
XENOBLADE Reviews from page 10 onwards - "A goosebump inducing, splendid, expansive, epic."
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New Xenoblade Characters Revealed
Plus, meet the enemies: Black Face and Brown Face.
The Xenoblade cast keeps on growing. Four additional characters made their debut in this week's Famitsu, including our first two representatives of the races besides Homs. Let's take a look.
Rein
Race: Homs, Gender: Male, Age: 18, Height: 190cm. A member of the Colony 9 Defense Force (Colony 9 is where the main characters live). He's a childhood friend of main character Shulk. While an optimist, he can show great anger.
Carna
Race: Homs, Gender: Female, Age: 21, Height: 168cm. A soldier in the Colony 6 Defense Force. She's good with projectile weapons.
Melia
Race: Hienter, Gender: Female, Age: ???, Height: 156cm. A young girl from the Hienter race. This race resides on the head area of the Kyojin part of the world and has an advanced civilization. She's skilled at using ethers for attacks.
Riki
Race: Nopon, Gender: Male, Age: ???, Height: 60cm. A hero of the Nopon merchant race who reside in the forests of the back area of the Kyojin part of the world? His words and movements are extremely childish, but in reality... !? (Note: I tried to replicate Famitsu's punctuation here.)
In case you're wondering about how all the races look, you can see the Homs races at the official site. The Hienter also look like humans. The Nopon, however, look like giant eggs, with wings and tiny feet.
The magazine also provided details on the mecha that were shown attacking Colony 9 in the previous trailer:
Black Face
Race: New Model Kishin Soldier, Head Height: 10.5m, Total Height: 15.5m. This type of soldier is capable of transforming into flying form. It uses its claws as weapons. Different from other Kishin soldiers, its head looks somewhat human-like. The Monado sword is apparently ineffective against this soldier.
Brown Face
Race: New Model Kishin Soldier, Head Height: 6m, Total Height: 7.5m. Like Black Face, Brown Face can transform into flying form. It wields a sickle-like weapon.
Also getting some space -- try a full page, or one-fourth of the article -- is the Monado Sword. The magazine summarizes what we're apparently supposed to already know about the sword. I use "apparently" because some of the info was new to me.
There are apparently three known properties about the sword:
1. It has the only power that can resist the Kishin troops.
2. It can't slash anything except Kishin troops.
3. Anyone can unleash Monado's power, but at present only the legendary hero Dunban can control it.
Point number 2 is of particular note. The magazine has a screenshot that shows Rein for some reason slashing heroine Fiorung with the Monado. However, the sword does not harm her.
Based off the screenshots, it looks like Monado is like a light saber -- the actual slicing part isn't metal, but rather a light beam. It's hard to see what's going on when Rein slashes at Fiorung, as the part of the sword that actually hits Fiorung is just a flash of light.
The central glass plate on the sword's head was previously revealed to have some mysterious properties. It seems to change color and text. Screens in the magazine show two textual images: "機" and "盾." The former could be machine -- it's the same character that starts off the name of the Kishin troops. The second is shield.
What do these mysterious characters mean? The "Monado" section of the official site has already been unlocked and contained no answers. Perhaps this is a mystery we'll have to figure out for ourselves once Xenoblade hits on June 24.
Plus, meet the enemies: Black Face and Brown Face.
The Xenoblade cast keeps on growing. Four additional characters made their debut in this week's Famitsu, including our first two representatives of the races besides Homs. Let's take a look.
Rein
Race: Homs, Gender: Male, Age: 18, Height: 190cm. A member of the Colony 9 Defense Force (Colony 9 is where the main characters live). He's a childhood friend of main character Shulk. While an optimist, he can show great anger.
Carna
Race: Homs, Gender: Female, Age: 21, Height: 168cm. A soldier in the Colony 6 Defense Force. She's good with projectile weapons.
Melia
Race: Hienter, Gender: Female, Age: ???, Height: 156cm. A young girl from the Hienter race. This race resides on the head area of the Kyojin part of the world and has an advanced civilization. She's skilled at using ethers for attacks.
Riki
Race: Nopon, Gender: Male, Age: ???, Height: 60cm. A hero of the Nopon merchant race who reside in the forests of the back area of the Kyojin part of the world? His words and movements are extremely childish, but in reality... !? (Note: I tried to replicate Famitsu's punctuation here.)
In case you're wondering about how all the races look, you can see the Homs races at the official site. The Hienter also look like humans. The Nopon, however, look like giant eggs, with wings and tiny feet.
The magazine also provided details on the mecha that were shown attacking Colony 9 in the previous trailer:
Black Face
Race: New Model Kishin Soldier, Head Height: 10.5m, Total Height: 15.5m. This type of soldier is capable of transforming into flying form. It uses its claws as weapons. Different from other Kishin soldiers, its head looks somewhat human-like. The Monado sword is apparently ineffective against this soldier.
Brown Face
Race: New Model Kishin Soldier, Head Height: 6m, Total Height: 7.5m. Like Black Face, Brown Face can transform into flying form. It wields a sickle-like weapon.
Also getting some space -- try a full page, or one-fourth of the article -- is the Monado Sword. The magazine summarizes what we're apparently supposed to already know about the sword. I use "apparently" because some of the info was new to me.
There are apparently three known properties about the sword:
1. It has the only power that can resist the Kishin troops.
2. It can't slash anything except Kishin troops.
3. Anyone can unleash Monado's power, but at present only the legendary hero Dunban can control it.
Point number 2 is of particular note. The magazine has a screenshot that shows Rein for some reason slashing heroine Fiorung with the Monado. However, the sword does not harm her.
Based off the screenshots, it looks like Monado is like a light saber -- the actual slicing part isn't metal, but rather a light beam. It's hard to see what's going on when Rein slashes at Fiorung, as the part of the sword that actually hits Fiorung is just a flash of light.
The central glass plate on the sword's head was previously revealed to have some mysterious properties. It seems to change color and text. Screens in the magazine show two textual images: "機" and "盾." The former could be machine -- it's the same character that starts off the name of the Kishin troops. The second is shield.
What do these mysterious characters mean? The "Monado" section of the official site has already been unlocked and contained no answers. Perhaps this is a mystery we'll have to figure out for ourselves once Xenoblade hits on June 24.
Oh, pic on the right looks cool, very different environment. Love the scale of this game!
Edited: Mon, 03 May 2010 18:31:53
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Yup, this is starting to look pretty good.
One thing bothers me about games of this size.
Pop up and fade away grass. Has there been a game which has made a decent excuse, storywise for this aspect? Something like magic shoes that make the earth grow or something? Or a spirit character who causes life to bloom under their feet?
How would that be an excuse, does the earth ungrow when you go away so that it's like that every time you backtrack? I don't think pop in is so noticable here, and probably smoother when you're casually playing and not doing these crazy flybys. And at 480p the distance will be a blur anyway >_>
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
I'll put up with a few graphics problems for huge environments like in the trailer. As long as the pop in isn't as ridiculous as dead rising ctyd.
Agnates said:How would that be an excuse, does the earth ungrow when you go away so that it's like that every time you backtrack? I don't think pop in is so noticable here, and probably smoother when you're casually playing and not doing these crazy flybys. And at 480p the distance will be a blur anyway >_>
It only blooms where your feet are because your magical power isn't strong enough yet for it to be permanent. 
I noticed quite a bit of pop up in the field video and not just in the fly bys.
Not so much the grass though was it, i noticed a tree or other bigger objects. Which is worse but likely isn';t a consident effect since other similar objects were visible further away, maybe it has trouble keeping up with loading the stuff so some get delayed.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Yeah it was trees and stuff that popped up worse. I would prefer a blurred diffused effect or just breaking the eyeline with stuff.
The official website has been updated with new content in the World
section (12 great screenshots of varied areas), and the System section.
duckroll translated some of what's in the System section:
- If you fall from height and hit the ground, you'll take damage
- There's a map in the menu showing locations and layouts for navigation
- You can set a pointer to show your next target destination
- The minimap can be toggled to show the in-game time of day
- You can save anywhere while in the field, no save point apparently
duckroll translated some of what's in the System section:
- If you fall from height and hit the ground, you'll take damage
- There's a map in the menu showing locations and layouts for navigation
- You can set a pointer to show your next target destination
- The minimap can be toggled to show the in-game time of day
- You can save anywhere while in the field, no save point apparently
Edited: Fri, 07 May 2010 12:17:34
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
I can't see the pics on the site 
Oh, Oh. I see them!
Nice.
Edited: Fri, 07 May 2010 12:46:30
Dang the picture quality is so much better than the videos.
Snowy area with ice crystals! And the area with the weird curved landscape in the horizon after the sea and the floating stuff is sooooo purdy. And the one with the giant tree in the horizon. Neat looking foliage. There are a few screens in the System section too. The one with the 842 I think shows falling damage as duckroll translated 
Edited: Fri, 07 May 2010 13:38:28
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Loved the tree pic. And the pic of that monster in the field trailer. From the trailer you can see the characters size compared to the monster and the monster size in relation to the enviroment. It's huge.
Andriasang has translated further details:
Large Map
You'll be able to move seamlessly through the game's vast world. The only loading you'll find is when moving between the various body parts of the world. Those who like to explore will find secrets hidden in areas away from your target location.
3D Field Construction
The Xenoblade fields are not just vast, but have height as well. You'll be able to make your character jump as you move through the fields. You can also leap down from heights, although you may end up incurring damage.
Support
The game includes a variety of support features that assist as you move through the vast fields. These features include:
It does seem that time will play a role in the game. A few of the time aspects are detailed in the World part of the site, which now has a section titled "City and Life". Xenoblade will have a full day cycle. The people of the Kyojin part of the world all have unique personalities, and make different movements depending on if its morning, noon, or night. You'll be able to listen to the worries and requests of NPCs in order to bring about changes to their lives, allowing you to delve into the game's deep story.
Large Map
You'll be able to move seamlessly through the game's vast world. The only loading you'll find is when moving between the various body parts of the world. Those who like to explore will find secrets hidden in areas away from your target location.
3D Field Construction
The Xenoblade fields are not just vast, but have height as well. You'll be able to make your character jump as you move through the fields. You can also leap down from heights, although you may end up incurring damage.
Support
The game includes a variety of support features that assist as you move through the vast fields. These features include:
- Warp to previously visited landmarks by selecting them from your map
- Your target area is indicated by an arrow at the top of the screen
- You can freely change the in-game time
- You can save anywhere
It does seem that time will play a role in the game. A few of the time aspects are detailed in the World part of the site, which now has a section titled "City and Life". Xenoblade will have a full day cycle. The people of the Kyojin part of the world all have unique personalities, and make different movements depending on if its morning, noon, or night. You'll be able to listen to the worries and requests of NPCs in order to bring about changes to their lives, allowing you to delve into the game's deep story.
Edited: Fri, 07 May 2010 15:36:48
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds while the pessimist fears this is true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Majora's Mask type gameplay? Yes, yes yes.
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