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[WanderingWind]

I really don't understand these.

This game wasn't grindy at all to me because I enjoyed exploring around and doing normal missions and affinity missions. There was never a point where I didn't meet the requirements for the next story mission. I think the game was sort of "meant" to be played as finishing a chapter, then exploring the town and doing quests to further those story arcs, and then moving on to the next chapter.

And the affinity missions and normal missions didn't feel like filler because they have their own continuing story lines (taking place parallel to the main story line)

You not minding the fetch quests and grinding being a literal progression mechanic does not erase them. Nor do you "not understand" them. You understand fine. You simply don't mind them or you enjoy them. Nothing wrong with that, but it does a great disservice to people who may not enjoy those elements to lie about them or downplay them. They exist and they're tied to story progression. I also don't necessarily mind them, as I'm enjoying the game quite a bit.

It's absolutely false saying you never met a requirement for completing a mission. By the very nature of the structure of the game, there will be quests you can accept when you're level X when you need to be level Y. There are also missions that don't open up until you meet certain characters and reach certain affinity levels, which means at some point you were physically unable to even engage those quests.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

It is, without a doubt and without a trace of hyperbole, the most grindy non-MMO I have ever played. And I play roughly every RPG made every year.

Depends on how you play it. There are enough non-grind quests and most of the fetch quests are fullfilled automatically if you explore the planet. For people who not choose their quest but take everything available it could be very "grindy".

 

[Calvero]

This made me think there was a RPG named Time on the Wii U

 

[Ozium]

also any quest that requires items dropped from monsters are made easier by the fact you can purchase any of them in your barracks using reward tickets.

you earn reward tickets when you kill squad mission monsters and you get some when your squad completes one of the objectives, even if you don't kill any of them, so it's not like you have to grind for those either..

people seem misinformed.

 

[ArtHands]

But I can play Trails in the Sky: SC on PC, Vita and PSP...

Well too bad the best RPG this year isn't on the PC, Vita and PSP then

 

[Dunkley]

X gon give it to ya

 

[Litri]

Agreed after 56 hours of playtime.

 

[PillarEN]

But I can play Trails in the Sky: SC on PC, Vita and PSP...

... a decade ago

 

[WanderingWind]

Depends on how you play it. There are enough non-grind quests and most of the fetch quests are fullfilled automatically if you explore the planet. For people who not choose their quest but take everything available it could be very "grindy".

No matter how you play, you're still going to be required to farm monsters for random drops to further story and/or affinity (re: squad loyalty missions) missions. You will still be required to travel to X place and kill Y creatures. You will still have to complete fetch quests. They are not completed "automatically" if you explore the planet. They are completed when, in the course of grinding mobs, you gather drops or randomly appearing items. Just because you ground before taking that mission and therefore had the items, doesn't mean there wasn't a grind previously.

also any quest that requires items dropped from monsters are made easier by the fact you can purchase any of them in your barracks using reward tickets.

you earn reward tickets when you kill squad mission monsters and you get some when your squad completes one of the objectives, even if you don't kill any of them, so it's not like you have to grind for those either..

people seem misinformed.

That is literally exchanging grinding mobs for random drops for grinding for tickets.

Seriously, I know games like this draw haters out the woodwork and therefore causes some to ride or die for it, but....why? Accurately describing the game isn't an insult. What some might call "grindy" others may call "Holy shit this game has nearly infinite playablity and boy, I'm sure getting my money's worth."

 

[Freeman76]

I hope.sega notes its popularity outside of Japan and releases PSO2 on consoles for us.

 

[Chû Totoro]

I actually understand quite a bit of Japanese. I just use subs for assistance as I am not a fluent speaker. I notice constantly where subbers change things from what was actually said in Japanese works. Using the Japanese dubs also helps me with my learning and comprehension. Though, still, its sad that they put so much effort into the original dub only to have the people in the U.S. prevented from hearing it. It should have been left as an option like it was in Xenoblade Chronicles. This is why I wish it wasn't published by Nintendo of America more than anything. Other publishers, like Xseed, would have left the Japanese dub and probably most of the other content as is.

If you don't want the game then just don't buy it and don't try to justify yourself because reading your posts it's "game of the universe I would buy a Wii U for" to "argh they got rid of sexy outfits on a 13yo girl and they translated Japanese so some people could do the English voices"...

You have all the rights in the world not to buy the game, but better say "nah" than all you're explaining because it sounds like you're putting more efforts not to buy a game you explain wanting a lot when announced than trying to enjoy it.

But ok, I guess, each of us have its reasons to buy or not to buy games.

 

[redcrayon]

I'm enjoying it just because it's a fresh planet with fresh wildlife. It's pleasant to play an rpg that isn't about dirty medieval rural villages surrounded by swamps, caves and mountains. While I love exploring in all RPGs, it's nice to be exploring a world that doesn't feel immediately familiar.

Doesn't mean the game isn't flawed, the characters are just lifeless, but I also like the way your mission is framed as the city is the only human settlement left and you are one of its many explorers. Even checking out what's over the next hill feels like an important bit of adventuring in safeguarding the future while also not framing you as the chosen one. Having much of the wildlife leave you alone unless you decide to attack it is cool too, as you can move quickly, admiring the sights, without having all of the flora and fauna somehow have a kill-on-sight fixation on your party!

 

[ChetWilson]

Seriously, I know games like this draw haters out the woodwork and therefore causes some to ride or die for it, but....why? Accurately describing the game isn't an insult. What some might call "grindy" others may call "Holy shit this game has nearly infinite playablity and boy, I'm sure getting my money's worth."

Something just irritates me when someone calls an RPG grindy. You can't call an RPG 'grindy'. It's like calling a FPS 'shooty'.

I will personally never understand people who play RPG's and do not like to use their character in battles, or exploration, outside mandated 'story' elements (aka grinding.) If you like the combat system, then you will like "grinding". If you like the world, you will like "grinding". If you hate the combat system, or hate the world design, then that's what you hate.

You have to achieved certain things in XCX to qualify to push the main story forward. Complaining about not qualifying for an affinity mission XCX is like not qualifiying for a social link rank 10 activity in P4 without having to "grind" ranks 1-9 first. No one does the latter, so to me, the former is equally as ridiculous.

 

[Patapwn]

There's no way Bloodborne is a RPG, Dark Souls 1 + 2 are much closer to a RPG, Bloodborne is what I'd called an action adventure but also Dark Souls straddles between the two as well where as Bloodborne is more on the side of action adventure most of the time. Don't know how one can call Bloodborne a RPG when it's missing the core element of dialogue and its impact/consequences? Stats don't play a huge role either. It's character builds and items are also nowhere as diverse as Dark Souls 1 + 2. It's a good game but not what I'd called a RPG.

Bloodborne is just as much an RPG as Dark Souls. Theres stats, armor weapons upgrades, ruins etc. And there are actually quests in the game with a number of diffrent outcomes. Hell, theres even a job system with the covenants! Btw, theres 3 diffrend endings to the game depending on what you do. The people who say its not an RPG sound like they havent played the game or stopped after getting bodied at the first boss...

 

[Diffense]

Something just irritates me when someone calls an RPG grindy. You can't call an RPG 'grindy'. It's like calling a FPS 'shooty'.

I will personally never understand people who play RPG's and do not like to use their character in battles, or exploration, outside mandated 'story' elements (aka grinding.) If you like the combat system, then you will like "grinding". If you like the world, you will like "grinding". If you hate the combat system, or hate the world design, then that's what you hate.

You have to achieved certain things in XCX to qualify to push the main story forward. Complaining about not qualifying for an affinity mission XCX is like not qualifiying for a social link rank 10 activity in P4 without having to "grind" ranks 1-9 first. No one does the latter, so to me, the former is equally as ridiculous.

Yeah, "grinding" for some = playing the game for others. If you display any initiative at all you'll probably fulfill most of the story quest requirements beforehand or they'll be trivial to accomplish. If you only want to do story missions then it will feel like the game is forcing you to do other things because it will.

Anyway, I have a theory that anything that is even a little bit interesting is also at least a little polarizing. The Wii was extremely popular but there was a fraction of people who passionately hated its "waggle". I think X is an interesting JRPG that tries a few different things and not everyone is going to like that.

 

[Oblivion]

Agreed after 56 hours of playtime.

If it takes 56 hours before a game finally becomes good...

 

[geordiemp]

Well too bad the best RPG this year isn't on the PC, Vita and PSP then

The best RPG for a gamer is the one that the gamer likes the most. There is no BEST RPG.

Say

group 1 ; 500 K gamers like Xeno the best
group 2 ; 2 million like Fallout the best
group 3 : 3 million like Witcher 3 the best.

now, journalists can fall into any 1 of those 3 groups and claim da best, heck all journalists could fall into group 2, but that does not make fallout 4 da best.

It always humours me how fans of a game like to read things into a few peoples opinions.

Heres the secret....

Spoiler

it does not matter. Its nothing...

 

[family_guy]

Should be interesting to see what NX is. If it's not BC then at least they might dedicate some resources to porting their best Wii U games.

 

[Nev]

I'd rather play a 10 hours game with Bloodborne/Souls combat (even Fallout or Witcher) than a 80 hours game with MMOish autoattack combat from 2004. I could only stand it on WoW because that game has a lot of things that make up for it, mainly the whole social experience. But on a single player game? hahahahaha no shit in hell I'm touching one of these boring passive shitty combat systems ever again. Either full turn based or actual action. This game wouldn't even be in my top 10 just because of it.

Good for TIME for enjoying it tho and sharing their opinion.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Hey guys TIME praised a Nintendo game.

This shall not stand.

 

[QaaQer]

You not minding the fetch quests and grinding being a literal progression mechanic does not erase them. Nor do you "not understand" them. You understand fine. You simply don't mind them or you enjoy them. Nothing wrong with that, but it does a great disservice to people who may not enjoy those elements to lie about them or downplay them. They exist and they're tied to story progression. I also don't necessarily mind them, as I'm enjoying the game quite a bit.

It's absolutely false saying you never met a requirement for completing a mission. By the very nature of the structure of the game, there will be quests you can accept when you're level X when you need to be level Y. There are also missions that don't open up until you meet certain characters and reach certain affinity levels, which means at some point you were physically unable to even engage those quests.

Cant say as I really understand why people do that. I got reeled in with Wonderful 101 misinformation, kinda made me hate gaf for a while.

 

[geordiemp]

Hey guys TIME praised a Nintendo game.

This shall not stand.

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

The Best RPG of 2015 Is Only Available on the Wii U.

 

[etking]

In the original Xenoblade, I could completely overlook the flaws, which were mainly in the poor but optional side quest design. For me it was the perfect game and the best RPG and story I played within the last 10 years.

But in Xenoblade X I cannot overlook the many problems, the empty world, the lack of freedom and the strange artificial mission design. Another problem lies in the poor UI. The font size is too small and most things are much more complicated then they need to be. The player does not get enough information, so it is a chore to find out which missions are available (you have to run around the world and check the artificial requirements manually and remember everything by yourself), or which characters are available (character switching was never so inconvenient in an RPG) or where in the world to find the item you need to progress with the unskippable side quest which locks you out from continuing with the main game.

To fix the game 3 things should have been done:

1. Create meaningful and fun, innovative and varied sidequests and fill the world with life, secrets, caves, buildings, cities, villages, people and real things to do (basically any RPG, even games like Zelda or Final Fantasy have a more lively world with more things to do)
2. Abandon the mission system and create a more natural flow of things that leaves optional things optional and allows the player to progress with the main story at any time. The original Xenoblade did story progression and side quest management 1 million times better than X. If you want to do some side missions in X you have to run around for hours and check the requirements on any affinity quest icon, there is not even a visual clue like a different color on missions that are actually available.
3. Create an UI that helps the player instead hiding information from him. Augments, fashion gear, shopping and multiple weapons should be much easier to handle and the number of button presses required for anything should be reduced by 3/4. The UI of X is the worst in any console RPG known to me. The information provided on the map is very poor and the game cannot be fully enjoyed with a pro controller only.

The game is still good despite being a mess of poorly connected story fragments and systems but it can in no way be the best RPG released this year.

 

[Oersted]

there is nothing wrong with your post lol
i dont even know what's going on anymore
that was my comment regarding your opinion about times opinion

why is so hard to understand lol
if you didnt post other games in your opinion i wouldn't comment and those angry users wouldnt try to spin my comment.
lol driveby.

So you are telling us his opinion about a opinion is a opinion.

Looking forward to you telling us what a thread is. It better be a another 1 word driveby.

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

I don't think you can have a objective experience and a objective review. They are always subjective. It is a experience and a review by a subject, not a object.

 

[myco666]

Really need to get XCX. Been interested in it but I still want to play XC before it as I already have that.

To me the best RPGs were on PC this year:

Pillars of Eternity
The Age of Decadence
UnderRail (tentative, since it came out yesterday and I'm still playing it but it's so damn good so far)

The Witcher 3 is good too but that's multi platform.

There's no way Bloodborne is a RPG, Dark Souls 1 + 2 are much closer to a RPG, Bloodborne is what I'd called an action adventure but also Dark Souls straddles between the two as well where as Bloodborne is more on the side of action adventure most of the time. Don't know how one can call Bloodborne a RPG when it's missing the core element of dialogue and its impact/consequences? Stats don't play a huge role either. It's character builds and items are also nowhere as diverse as Dark Souls 1 + 2. It's a good game but not what I'd called a RPG.

Stats don't play huge role? I don't know what game you played but stats dictate what weapon you can equip, your damage output, how many hits you can take, how many moves you can do and what items/tools you can use. Bloodborne and Souls games are very much based on stats and weapon upgrades which is pretty much what RPGs need to have in order to call them RPGs. There is also sidequests, dialog options etc. that are usually found in RPGs. Just because you can negate all damage by dodging doesn't mean the stats don't matter or that it is action game with RPG elements.

 

[protomouse]

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

You are not a media publication. It should not warrant an explanation that every review ever published has a big, implicit "in our professional opinion" attached to it. I really don't understand what's so controversial here.

 

[ViolentP]

Everyone has an opinion. Good or bad. This is Time's.

 

[ArtHands]

The best RPG for a gamer is the one that the gamer likes the most. There is no BEST RPG.

Say

group 1 ; 500 K gamers like Xeno the best
group 2 ; 2 million like Fallout the best
group 3 : 3 million like Witcher 3 the best.

now, journalists can fall into any 1 of those 3 groups and claim da best, heck all journalists could fall into group 2, but that does not make fallout 4 da best.

It always humours me how fans of a game like to read things into a few peoples opinions.

Heres the secret....

Spoiler

it does not matter. Its nothing...

So basically xenoblade X...

 

[ninjablade]

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

he's free to express his opinion. i just see no point of making a thread about it though, the game is out for a while now, and there many reviews out already. you know how many reviews i can find calling bloodborn or witcher 3 the best game this gen, even batman gets called the best game this generation by polygon, but the hands down part and only on wiiu makes him sound like a fanboy.

 

[foxuzamaki]

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

There is no such thing as a objective review, in this context anyways

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Talent always wins.

 

[nynt9]

XCX was a huge disappointment for me. A step down from the predecessor in most ways, with thin characters and plots. And as usual there's tons of generic MMO quests that you have to actually finish to progress.

By comparison, every quest in The Witcher 3 was very involved, had a great story and was quite interesting. XCX is a game straight out of 2005 with all that clunk.

 

[OverBlood 3]

thats nice, but it's one dude opinion. i rather check gamerankings, and metracritic, and both witcher 3 and bloodborn are way ahead of X, don't care what anybody says most games that are 90+ have been an amazing experience for me, considering how hard it is to get there.

Oh look ninjablade is shitting on a Wii U game. I'm shocked because it's so unlike him.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

That is literally exchanging grinding mobs for random drops for grinding for tickets.

Joke's on you, I've literally persued zero squad tasks and have gotten hundreds of tickets.

 

[RayearthRob]

I'm in love with Xenoblade. GOTY for me. The only thing I would change is the lack of mage class. I always play with mages!

 

[Diffense]

I haven't finished the game yet but I think almost all of the quests are optional if you only want to do the story. So far, most common story mission gate requires a certain "survey rate" for a region which can be accomplished by finishing quests or finding treasure to complete segment topics but also by exploration and probe planting. Naturally if you don't want to do side quests you'll have to do more of the latter. A few story missions require an affinity mission to be completed first but they have all been easy so far. There are some mandatory fetch quests to obtain your first Skell so if you absolutely hate doing them you won't have a choice there.

You can completely ignore the quest board if you want since it'll only give you Simple "Bounty" or "Gathering" quests or point you to someone to talk to in order to get a Normal or Story quest. I think the latter are listed as "Social". I suspect that the people who felt forced to do accomplish a lot of repetitive simple quests misunderstood the game to some degree. That might not be entirely their fault because the game doesn't always spell everything out. If anyone was attempting to exhaust the quest board, they probably don't have any hair left.

Joke's on you, I've literally persued zero squad tasks and have gotten hundreds of tickets.

I've done a few when they're right in my path. But you get tickets whenever people in your squad complete them so I have a tonne for doing nothing at all. I wonder if some of the people commenting on the game have played it.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

No, they went overboard and its into fanboy drivel territory nonsense. I dont think I have ever claimed the gamez I like are da best objectively......if I do I will find a nice high spot and jump.

You're going to need to explain this one in a bit more detail. Are you saying TIME's completely reasonable opinion is fanboyish?

 

[Riki]

You're going to need to explain this one in a bit more detail. Are you saying TIME's completely reasonable opinion is fanboyish?

TIME enjoys a Nintendo game. That is against the law of nature.

 

[faridmon]

So much salt in this thread.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Opinions

Shake it like a salt shaker
Shake it like a salt shaker

What is there always so much complaining whenever a Nintendo game wins something?

 

[singingsamus]

Bloodborne robbed again guys.

Bloodborne isn't really a RPG, it's a 3rd person action adventure which requires skillful play

 

[three_muffins]

I wouldn't even classify Bloodborne as a full on RPG anyways, as good as it is.

I agree with this.

I loved Bloodborne and enjoyed it immensly but i never got intense rpg vibes from it. If anything it felt like an action rpg. Not enough to scratch my rpg itch.

Xenoblade ist high up there with Witcher 3 and Divinity Original Sin: Enhanced Edition. Personally i dont want to name a single Goty......they where all great, each with their own flavors.

 

[TheFatMan]

If it takes 56 hours before a game finally becomes good...

I think he meant he still thinks its the best RPG of 2015 after playing it for 56 hours.....not that it took that long for him to decide lol

 

[geordiemp]

You're going to need to explain this one in a bit more detail. Are you saying TIME's completely reasonable opinion is fanboyish?

Stating a game is the best they have ever played or saying its a great game is valid opinion, they can also say its the best game THEY have ever played.

However, there is a line which is, its objectively better than other games or RPG's which is just drivel and N4G nonsense.

I dont know what about the phase below is a balanced subjective remark

The Best RPG of 2015 Is Only Available on the Wii U

What more can I say, simple use of English would suffice, something like

My Best RPG of 2015 Is Only Available on the Wii U.

If people cannot see the difference, then there is no hope. The title is just flamebait fanboy rubbish.

Note, at this time of year, when every tom dick and harry likes to get clicks with their GOTY or 10 best of list, we maybe just have to suffer it.

 

[zelas]

I think it's definitely up there. It's definitely one of the most interesting open worlds in a year where open worlds were a copy-paste nightmare.

XCX is more an open expanse than an open world.

 

[Cleve]

It's a great game dragged down by some terrible music decisions, a weak plot (particularly at the end) and a bunch of the content is just pointless filler.

I know some people love it, that's cool. I enjoyed Xenoblade and Xenogears more within Monolith's work.

I'm glad it's getting as much positive press as it is though.

-edit- all the salt posts are just as shitposty if not more than the ones you guys are complaining about.

 

[Riki]

XCX is more an open expanse than an open world.

XCX is actually one of the few truly open worlds .
It feels like a fully realized world and not just a flat plain wit a few enemies and buildings strewn about.

 

[EatChildren]

No way in hell I'd like it more than Wild Hunt, but I'm keen to pick it up and get into it after the Christmas break. Pretty certain I'll be bummed with some of the changes over Xenoblade, which I loved. Just hope I don't end up putting it down due to XP grind walls. Because most of the time I fucking hate that shit and I'm not interested in enduring 50 - 100 of MMO RPG quest design and grinding.

 

[Penguin]

I'd rather play a 10 hours game with Bloodborne/Souls combat (even Fallout or Witcher) than a 80 hours game with MMOish autoattack combat from 2004. I could only stand it on WoW because that game has a lot of things that make up for it, mainly the whole social experience. But on a single player game? hahahahaha no shit in hell I'm touching one of these boring passive shitty combat systems ever again. Either full turn based or actual action. This game wouldn't even be in my top 10 just because of it.

Good for TIME for enjoying it tho and sharing their opinion.

I mean there's a lot of things can be said for Xenoblade, but I would never call the combat passive.

 

[Lexxism]

What is there always so much complaining whenever a Nintendo game wins something?

Yeah, like what happened with Splatoon. I saw a familiar name here who were also complaining at Splatoon award. I think he just hate it that Nintendo Kiddy games are getting recognition :lol