I agree with that, although I’ve felt that to some extent in the whole series besides the first. Especially with 6 (or 7!) characters now, it feels like pre-battle setup with the right classes and gear is much more important than execution. This combat system really needs something like the Monado’s abilities to feel reactive. It doesn’t help that as far as I am (mid chapter 3) there is still exactly one class with Break and one class with Topple, so I can’t set up much in the way of CC even if I wanted to try going harder into that.
I loved playing a Priest in WOW and I’m now at the stage where I can change everyone’s classes so going with either 1 or 2 defenders and the rest fighters with me as the healer type…not sure if it will work but seems like the most fun for me to play that way. I would rather just have 3 in my party but will try my custom team and see how it goes.
Started off playing on hard, but with 3 people and limited options in the beginning I ended up bumping it down after a couple hours. Now that I have a full party it got easy again, so back up to hard which has been pretty satisfying. Really enjoying just about everything in this one, never did end up playing Xenoblade 2 so it’s good to be playing this series and enjoying it again after being disappointed by Xenoblade Chronicles X. Some of these tutorials are overkill though, a mandatory tutorial about how to buy things from a shop? This is how you equip a skill…now do it five more times! Think I’m at the end of Chapter 2, boss there is kicking my ass.
And then there are things the game will just never teach you about! Care about some of those specific combat stats? Better go digging for info!
Someone seems to have forgotten this is a JRPG. :) Talk about a hallmark of the genre, opaque systems and such. Not that you are wrong to be annoyed of course.
I’ve been playing on hard too, and the challenge level is about where I want it, but the elite enemies and bosses just take SO LONG. Especially for a game where it feels like half autobattler. Losing to a boss the first time or two is fine, but less so when it takes 20 minutes.
Oh I know, I just think it’s funny compared to the ridiculous handhold tutorials for the most obvious shit while leaving the less obvious stuff completely up to you to track down information for. Half the stuff it does walk you through it never actually tells you what the system is good for it just walks you through the UI for using it.
I’m a little bit into Chapter 2, and I’m having a great time!
My one annoyance so far is that the game locks you into things, at a time when I’m itching for more freedom. I just unlocked the ability to change class, which is great, but I want to be able to fiddle with everyone’s Arts or switch the classes around, and I just can’t until the game tells me it’s okay.
Which thankfully isn’t that long in that case, just go to the next story objective. But I hear you. That tutorial was especially frustrating as well with forcing you to go to every character and change their class. And then their master art. And then their skill. Ridiculous.
I’ve also been frustrated with the number of paths I try to go down where the game just says “no”. XC has always been notable to me for feeling so open while still packing in all of the extensive(excessive?) JRPG story stuff. This one has felt much less open so far.
Chapter 3 is where they open up the world and let you wander around.
Ok, and I think I’m nearly there! I’m surprised the battle I just finished wasn’t the end of chapter 2.
Did anyone buy the expansion pack? I saw the extra clothes but they just seem to be different colors. Are the accessories in DLC1 really worth it?
Great game. Too bad about
Teiman was sadly taken out by Nintendo.
Am I correct in understanding that having the characters be any other class than their starting one is a net negative in terms of power level?
Each character has their class rating - how good they are supposed to be at that class. And they all have S ratings on their original class, A on one or two others, and then B through D on the rest. So I would assume that you would want them to be in their S classes for the most effectiveness, other than dipping into other classes to power up your borrowed skills and arts, right? Is it worth it to try and level up the C and D classes for their master skills? It seems like it’s not worth it, but I acknowledge that I could be missing something.
I think the rating only applies to how quickly they level up that class (at least that’s what the tutorial said). They shouldn’t be ineffective at the class unless class level is a big determinant in effectiveness.
My strategy so far: work on leveling up your off classes 95% of the game. When you hit content that’s game breakingly hard, switch around to focus on your best class / skill / gem combos. After that boss, switch back to focus on leveling up off classes.
Ah, I must have misinterpreted the tutorial, thank you.
On Hard especially, the balance feels super tight, to where swapping out a couple of items or swapping a single Art on a character I’m not using makes the difference between me winning or losing a fight. The class stuff and borrowed art stuff feels like it can be impactful, but it’s hard to see exactly how when you aren’t playing five of the six party members, leading to some trial and error.
Still having a good time.
You will unlock additional classes that characters will have S rankings in. I just got the first one, and I assume the class system won’t really come into its own until you’ve gotten a bunch more.
I’ve been trying to switch around which character/class I’m playing, but I’ve only found a couple that click with me so far. Obviously Swordfighter does as you’re introduced to it slowly and don’t have a choice really but to get comfortable with it. I’ve also found Medic Gunner to be enjoyable. Although, I wish the AI characters were smarter with area buffs I’ve dropped. Hey dumbass tanks who are almost dead, step two feet to your left into the regen ring. I struggle with the tank classes same as I do in an MMO. Holding aggro requires some sort of attention juggling skill that I do not possess.
I will say, I think I’d have preferred the class swapping setup more with a more traditionally sized party of 4. Trying to track what character is doing what role and what that’ll look like in the crowd is really tough with the bigger party size. I know they’ve done some work on the UI to help make the info you want clear, but it’s still tough with other things. Back to the Medic Gunner, since my attackers won’t move to the power ring on their own I have to find where they are camped and drop it near them. But that means I have to pick out which characters are the attackers, which takes some work.
All my complaining aside, I’m really enjoying this game. XC has always just worked for me in spite of the flaws that they insist on carrying over from game to game.
Chapter 3 definitely opens things up more and more. Feels like I’ll spend as much time on this chapter as the first two combined.
I do find it funny how the whole goal is to take this multi-month journey to the sword and we had to trek through this awful desert to get there and now we decide we can just quick head back to the start to help out our former colonies, no problem. Is Skip Travel a canon in-world thing or just a game mechanic? I don’t really care because I’m not here for a super consistent game, just thought it was funny.
And after 32 hours of playtime I’m finally out of Chapter 3! Anyone else still playing? How far have you gotten?