Walking Tall Among Giants

A while back I talked about how I never really played much RPG up until the last generation or so. Even then I tend to stick mostly to tactical SRPG as it suits my style of play.

Xenoblade is one of the few RPG I'm currently playing that isn't a SRPG. I also played a good ten hours of The Last Story but ultimately decided to focus on Xenoblade first. This game shows me what I'm missing from the RPG genre that I simply don't get on SRPG games : the sense of adventure.

SPRG gameplay and map are always plotted out on a grid. In a way, it makes things easier to learn for a novice of the genre like me. At the same time, it's also restrictive because you can never wander off the grid.

Xenoblade gives you the freedom to explore the world like a good RPG should. The sense of adventure in this game is truly epic to the point I cannot fathom how it plays on the N3DS port. The N3DS port will definitlely lose some of its epicness feel no matter how close it matches the Wii game's visual.

The world of Xenoblade is truly beautiful with real-time weather and daylight change. It's inhabited by a complete ecosystem that Monolith designed for this world. Playing on the TV screen gives you a nice vibe of adventure a bit like Red Dead Redemption except this isn't a barren wastelands. It's a beautiful world that will sometimes make you stop and appreciate the landscape. You can travel to anywhere you see in a distance and all that walking always feels rewarding rather than tedious.

Monster Hunter Tri is a good example of how good this game looks on the Wii but without the annoying loading screen thaat plagues each MH game. You can say I'm biased against handheld system but Nintendo should have remaster Xenoblade for a home console instead of the 3DS system. This game definitely deserves to be played on a big TV screen.

Going through the Motions (and Minions)

I have been playing PxZ for almost 80 hours now and have yet to finish the game. Now I'm beginning to understand why the Xenosaga games during the ps2 era always shipped on two discs. And to think, I originally intended to go back and play these Xeno games (lol).

As honest paying gamers, we naturally prefer our games to be as long as possible. After all we are paying our hard earned money and games aren't cheap so the longer it is the more value we see in the product. I'm not sure if I agree with that sentiment anymore, the value simply cannot be judged by the length. Vanquish is just a 5-hour game and anyone who played through it are likely be satisfied with the game.

PxZ is just a tediously long game, each chapter lasts close to 2 hours of gameplay with no shortcuts allowed. You fight minions after minions and the same bosses over and over again. Each boss usually have about 10 minions with them and there are more than one boss in each level. The fan service starts to wear thin after a while. I started to skipped the silly banter at the start of the fight because I just want to get the level over with.

The grinding is compulsory as the objective is always destroy every enemy so you can't take a shortcut by just finishing off the boss. Grinding is one of the things I hate most about RPG and here it's forced upon the gamer. The biggest problem with the combat sytem is the enemies display no AI whatsoever. The minions are there to just get beaten up by the super-team. Even the bosses feel the same way albeit with a lot more HP and cool finishing move. It's like a strategy RPG where the gamer has to strategize against a mindless opponent.

I was surprised that a sequel to PxZ was announced as fans weren't exactly demanding one. In fact most have yet to finish the game like myself partly because of how tedious it is. The sequel will feature Kiryu and Majima from the RGG series and that is probably one of the few reasons why I would even bother with the next game.