Yoshistar_123
Played on an emulator, which may have made it more clunky in general. The stages aren't exactly the most well-designed, and you're very prone to falling off at any given moment, due to the annoying rampant enemy placements. I still had some level of fun with this, but I'd recommend just sticking with the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm games if you want a Naruto fix.
I'm not much of a Football fan, so this game didn't hit me as hard as it did for other people. Just wasn't my thing...
2018
This is just dumb fun, for a fairly cheap price. A fond memory I have is me and my friend (along with my sibling) putting the highest race length and just pushing our way through for a ridiculous amount of time to complete the stage in this game. It very much gets repetitive, but at the very least it's a good time killer. Once in a while, I do put on this game to just waste some minutes. Not an amazing game by any means, but it's good for what it's trying to do.
2013
From what I remember, there was a LOT of waiting and grinding. Definitely not worth it for a longtime session, but at the very least is casual friendly.
Kinda becomes repetitive after a while, and with friends it's either not as fun when you plan things carefully, or way too chaotic when you don't plan things accordingly. Might be the group I played with, but I found more toxicity than anything. Single-player isn't really fun either to be honest, and I just don't see myself recommending this game.
Despite being a series whose gameplay was completely new to me, everything managed to click within the first few hours of trying this game out!
Xenoblade Chronicles is a game boasting a whimsical OST, engaging characters, surprisingly intriguing world-building, and uniquely adaptable combat!
That's not to say it doesn't come with its gripes, though, and I'd rather get those out of the way first. The bountiful of side quests the game throws at you does get in the way of the UI on your map unless you complete them, and the game can be a completionist nightmare, should you choose it, as befriending and registering each townspeople to log them onto your chart is difficult when the game has no indicator of who you've talked to before. Unfortunately, the game's finale also suffers a severe case of [JRPG TROPE], which I won't spoil, but you'll know if you know it.
Having not played the Wii version, I did some research into the changes this edition brought, and stuff like the overlay map, newly added indicators and graphical advancements all go a long way into making this game smooth and mesh well. Monolith Soft also seemed very keen to make this game work, as load times are practically nonexistent in this game, which is deeply impressive of a Switch game of this magnitude. I can already tell I'll be missing a lot of these features when I move onto the second game!
I think a lot of us knew of Xenoblade through Smash Bros, which I can't blame. However, of you give it some time on the Switch, now without an expensive Wii edition or a very low-down 3DS port, I hope others find themselves giving this series a try. Xenoblade has earned a poor reputation for the existence of the fanservice present in the second game, but I believe looking into the origins of the Monado and Shulk's gang is the true way to begin things! You'll certainly be lost for a bit, and the gameplay might not be easy to get at first, but with the helpful tutorials and engaging story, you'll more than feel at home!
My ending note?
Riki is our wholesome heropon!
Xenoblade Chronicles is a game boasting a whimsical OST, engaging characters, surprisingly intriguing world-building, and uniquely adaptable combat!
That's not to say it doesn't come with its gripes, though, and I'd rather get those out of the way first. The bountiful of side quests the game throws at you does get in the way of the UI on your map unless you complete them, and the game can be a completionist nightmare, should you choose it, as befriending and registering each townspeople to log them onto your chart is difficult when the game has no indicator of who you've talked to before. Unfortunately, the game's finale also suffers a severe case of [JRPG TROPE], which I won't spoil, but you'll know if you know it.
Having not played the Wii version, I did some research into the changes this edition brought, and stuff like the overlay map, newly added indicators and graphical advancements all go a long way into making this game smooth and mesh well. Monolith Soft also seemed very keen to make this game work, as load times are practically nonexistent in this game, which is deeply impressive of a Switch game of this magnitude. I can already tell I'll be missing a lot of these features when I move onto the second game!
I think a lot of us knew of Xenoblade through Smash Bros, which I can't blame. However, of you give it some time on the Switch, now without an expensive Wii edition or a very low-down 3DS port, I hope others find themselves giving this series a try. Xenoblade has earned a poor reputation for the existence of the fanservice present in the second game, but I believe looking into the origins of the Monado and Shulk's gang is the true way to begin things! You'll certainly be lost for a bit, and the gameplay might not be easy to get at first, but with the helpful tutorials and engaging story, you'll more than feel at home!
My ending note?
Riki is our wholesome heropon!
I ended up searching for hours just to find all the nopon miners instead of actually progressing the story, so I think you can imagine just how big this little add-on is. The telling of Melia and her story to find herself after the events of the original game is nice, and having Riki's kids just makes it much more wholesome of a journey.
You can find moments in the game where each character interacts with one another, and it definitely made each character stand out! Nene and Kino are especially cute, and deserve all the love in the world! Combat is a bit different this time, but using special attacks on enemies is always devastatingly fun, since the animations that come with it are amusing.
Overall, incredibly good add-on. The changes made to Definitive Edition were already pretty big to begin with, but this extra story really is the thing that seals the deal for old fans. It's a joy to play, and it definitely retains the old Xenoblade charm that the original had - which is astounding, considering how new this is!
You can find moments in the game where each character interacts with one another, and it definitely made each character stand out! Nene and Kino are especially cute, and deserve all the love in the world! Combat is a bit different this time, but using special attacks on enemies is always devastatingly fun, since the animations that come with it are amusing.
Overall, incredibly good add-on. The changes made to Definitive Edition were already pretty big to begin with, but this extra story really is the thing that seals the deal for old fans. It's a joy to play, and it definitely retains the old Xenoblade charm that the original had - which is astounding, considering how new this is!
My hype for this game was immense during the release wait, and I still love it to this day. Albeit, battles can get very repetitive, and the endings - for both the Good and Bad variants - are incredibly sorely done, with no exact reasoning being given for Arval's existence or Shez's past.
Still, the systems introduced in Three Houses are all improved here! You can keep track of supports more easily, given gifts now show you what characters previously liked or didn't like, tea times (expeditions now) will also show you the responses you previously bombed at as well, so there isn't much memorisation to be done now.
Playing as different Three Houses characters is also a blast! For a good while, I spent many of my initial hours maining Bernadetta, Annette, and Edelgard. It's a simple treat, and it also helps that the campaigns in the game expand on stuff from Three Houses and offer up new possibilities as a result of a different timeline split.
Lastly, this game has a wholesome Bernadetta-Marianne support chain. Need I say more?
Still, the systems introduced in Three Houses are all improved here! You can keep track of supports more easily, given gifts now show you what characters previously liked or didn't like, tea times (expeditions now) will also show you the responses you previously bombed at as well, so there isn't much memorisation to be done now.
Playing as different Three Houses characters is also a blast! For a good while, I spent many of my initial hours maining Bernadetta, Annette, and Edelgard. It's a simple treat, and it also helps that the campaigns in the game expand on stuff from Three Houses and offer up new possibilities as a result of a different timeline split.
Lastly, this game has a wholesome Bernadetta-Marianne support chain. Need I say more?
There aren't many gameplay systems games like this offer, and Valkyria Chronicles certainly holds its unique combat as a sort of badge of honour in its advertising and marketing.
Whilst at first the story felt very bland, it really did ramp up as time went by. I won't say it has the spiciest of developments, but the characters are all lovable, with their own charms. One huge flaw in the story for this game is in how we don't really see much of the ones outside of the main cast, minus their descriptions in the menus.
I've heard complaints that the way the series motivates you to beat stages is also very counter-intuitive. Whilst I can agree that using Alicia, the Bakery Girl, to dash through everything and take over areas before the enemies can notice isn't exactly war-like, it's also super fun. I'm a sucker for cheesing, so it works out for me.
Possible a lot of the flaws, come with the biggest positive about this game: it's combat system. Enemies have a set chance of dodging, and unless you cheese through loading save states to mitigate chances or use a character with the Undodgeable Shot skill, you'll find yourself feeling frustrated on many occasions. You can't even retry missions without finding a way to kill Welkin, and neither can you know enemy placements before starting a map and going through trial and error, so judging which units you need for a select mission is difficult unless you go through the motions or use a guide.
When it works, it all clicks, but when it doesn't, it feels very unfair. The game also has a huge difficulty spike towards the battle at Naggiar Plains, and I found it personally impossible to beat missions normally unless I cheesed it and had managed to get the A-rank weapons beforehand. There is a lot of trial and error with this game, but it doesn't feel overly punishing as long as you manage to save every few turns.
No, I'm serious. Please, for the love of all that's holy, save before big decision-making turns. You might just lose over an hour of progress if you don't!
Conclusion: I swear this game is fun!
Whilst at first the story felt very bland, it really did ramp up as time went by. I won't say it has the spiciest of developments, but the characters are all lovable, with their own charms. One huge flaw in the story for this game is in how we don't really see much of the ones outside of the main cast, minus their descriptions in the menus.
I've heard complaints that the way the series motivates you to beat stages is also very counter-intuitive. Whilst I can agree that using Alicia, the Bakery Girl, to dash through everything and take over areas before the enemies can notice isn't exactly war-like, it's also super fun. I'm a sucker for cheesing, so it works out for me.
Possible a lot of the flaws, come with the biggest positive about this game: it's combat system. Enemies have a set chance of dodging, and unless you cheese through loading save states to mitigate chances or use a character with the Undodgeable Shot skill, you'll find yourself feeling frustrated on many occasions. You can't even retry missions without finding a way to kill Welkin, and neither can you know enemy placements before starting a map and going through trial and error, so judging which units you need for a select mission is difficult unless you go through the motions or use a guide.
When it works, it all clicks, but when it doesn't, it feels very unfair. The game also has a huge difficulty spike towards the battle at Naggiar Plains, and I found it personally impossible to beat missions normally unless I cheesed it and had managed to get the A-rank weapons beforehand. There is a lot of trial and error with this game, but it doesn't feel overly punishing as long as you manage to save every few turns.
No, I'm serious. Please, for the love of all that's holy, save before big decision-making turns. You might just lose over an hour of progress if you don't!
Conclusion: I swear this game is fun!
Rating this purely off of the goodies that came with it. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of a lot of the items. It's definitely worth getting! Poster is massive as heck, and the cards were shiny. Worth it, honestly!
2023
I'm one of the few who really enjoyed the fun, more laid-back campy story in this game. Gameplay is also absolutely goated. Break Mechanic is such a fun thing to experiment with, and the emblem rings absolutely give you new ways to tackle bosses, which I ended up finding to be super fun to deal with. It helps that the game is also incredibly casual friendly, so it makes for a perfect first FE game, which is pretty much what they were going for with this game.
All we need is a New Game+ and I'd very much believe this game is almost perfect for me. I've seen a lot of hate being given to this game, alongside mixed opinions, but I'm a happy minority, and that's fine. If you're okay with a fun story about exploring the world, alongside amazing gameplay/story integration, as well as the amazingness that is Sommie, then I highly recommend this game.
All we need is a New Game+ and I'd very much believe this game is almost perfect for me. I've seen a lot of hate being given to this game, alongside mixed opinions, but I'm a happy minority, and that's fine. If you're okay with a fun story about exploring the world, alongside amazing gameplay/story integration, as well as the amazingness that is Sommie, then I highly recommend this game.
It's the worst Yoshi game I've played, but it's not bad. I think coming from Woolly World, it could have been a lot better in regards to creativity and charm, since Woolly World really twisted the Yoshi formulae quite a bit. I think if this game had just a little more going for it, it could be a lot better!
That said, it's by no means bad. I recommend if you're a big Yoshi fan (like me), just going through the game once if fine enough. I don't however, recommend 100%ing this game.
They did not optimise it, and during the first few hours I attempted completion, I found myself replaying levels up to 5 times just to complete them. It wore thin fast!
That said, it's by no means bad. I recommend if you're a big Yoshi fan (like me), just going through the game once if fine enough. I don't however, recommend 100%ing this game.
They did not optimise it, and during the first few hours I attempted completion, I found myself replaying levels up to 5 times just to complete them. It wore thin fast!
I'm interested in the story changes this game brings about, but having played the original, I honestly had a hard time coming to grips with this game.
There is a lot of walking involved, and with map designs consisting of long drawn out corridors with few turns, the game very much intentionally pads itself out so characters can spiff out lines of expositional dialogue or character moments. This is further exasperated by some slow-downs, such as Cloud occasionally walking slower to highlight the scenery, or through having his shimmey across different narrow spots to add tension, but the game is overloaded with narrow spaces, so it becomes tedious, more than anything.
The main takeaway from this that becomes a positive is that there is more time to connect with the characters. My issue is, though, is Cloud can only develop so far before he out-paces his original counterpart. What becomes a moody or edgey Cloud ends up with him being only slightly more sympathetic, and Tifa and Aerith ultimately get no development besides being poster girls - because don't forget, a majority of their development is done on the latter parts of the original.
That said, I can't insult this game too much. The visuals are gorgeous, the voice acting is well-done, and the combat is actually fun. I simply can't forgive the padding and tracking the game tacks on, alongside expecting you to replay it for the different scenarios if you're ready for it - why? I think this game operates painfully slowly. It's an experience for sure, but its attempt at being more cinematic ends up damaging it in the process. There was a reason that so much of this game was cut down into just 5 hours in the original.
This game's final biggest crime was changing the moogles into those scary children! Bring my cute creatures back! >:c
You can still have a fun time with this game, and at best, you should treat it like a fun cinematic experience more than anything. Just don't expect anything too grand in regards to exploration and character building. At best, the narrative the game is foreshadowing is one of the only things to look forward to, alongside the gorgeous visuals and fun remixed OST.
There is a lot of walking involved, and with map designs consisting of long drawn out corridors with few turns, the game very much intentionally pads itself out so characters can spiff out lines of expositional dialogue or character moments. This is further exasperated by some slow-downs, such as Cloud occasionally walking slower to highlight the scenery, or through having his shimmey across different narrow spots to add tension, but the game is overloaded with narrow spaces, so it becomes tedious, more than anything.
The main takeaway from this that becomes a positive is that there is more time to connect with the characters. My issue is, though, is Cloud can only develop so far before he out-paces his original counterpart. What becomes a moody or edgey Cloud ends up with him being only slightly more sympathetic, and Tifa and Aerith ultimately get no development besides being poster girls - because don't forget, a majority of their development is done on the latter parts of the original.
That said, I can't insult this game too much. The visuals are gorgeous, the voice acting is well-done, and the combat is actually fun. I simply can't forgive the padding and tracking the game tacks on, alongside expecting you to replay it for the different scenarios if you're ready for it - why? I think this game operates painfully slowly. It's an experience for sure, but its attempt at being more cinematic ends up damaging it in the process. There was a reason that so much of this game was cut down into just 5 hours in the original.
This game's final biggest crime was changing the moogles into those scary children! Bring my cute creatures back! >:c
You can still have a fun time with this game, and at best, you should treat it like a fun cinematic experience more than anything. Just don't expect anything too grand in regards to exploration and character building. At best, the narrative the game is foreshadowing is one of the only things to look forward to, alongside the gorgeous visuals and fun remixed OST.
Loved everything about this game. The story, the gameplay, the exploration. I got so lost in my time just wandering around the place and actively avoiding progressing the plot because I really didn't want this game to end. Eunie has also become one of my favourite Xenoblade characters, because she's just such a quirky healer.
My only ONLY complaint is the fact that it took them until the FR DLC to fix the Quest Log. If you get multiple quests and accept them, sometimes they straight-up don't appear. When I played, to fix this issue I had to commit it to memory, otherwise I'd be finding the quest markers on the maps.
I could rant forever about this game, but for this review I really wanted to keep it brief. I love this game. I think it's the best entry in the Xenoblade franchise, and I really think it's worth a playthrough for anyone interested in Xenoblade as a whole.
Oh, did I mention this game has Eunie in it?
My only ONLY complaint is the fact that it took them until the FR DLC to fix the Quest Log. If you get multiple quests and accept them, sometimes they straight-up don't appear. When I played, to fix this issue I had to commit it to memory, otherwise I'd be finding the quest markers on the maps.
I could rant forever about this game, but for this review I really wanted to keep it brief. I love this game. I think it's the best entry in the Xenoblade franchise, and I really think it's worth a playthrough for anyone interested in Xenoblade as a whole.
Oh, did I mention this game has Eunie in it?
This game gatekeeping you with side quests to progress the main story is the equivalent as being told you can't go outside till you do some extra homework.
The story and battle system Torna has to offer is incredibly interesting, and I won't lie when I say the moments with Lora, Gin, and Mythra were very interesting - but it's all heavily guarded by side quests. You're told twice in the main game, but most notably just before the finale - that you should help the people of Torna, and you're actively forced out of story progress until you do.
It's horrible artificial padding, and it honestly didn't feel rewarding at a point because not much changed when you did them. I personally ended up skipping most of the enemies later on because the forced side quests kept me at a decent level anyway, and by then I was getting sick of the battle system.
I'm not saying Torna is bad by any means, but I am saying it has its heavy faults. You will still find plenty of joy in this package, however with Future Redeemed doing what Torna did wrong and fixing it - I think I can safely say in hindsight that this was Monolith testing the waters with Xenoblade Expansions, and I'm glad that the blunders in this campaign meant that the devs could learn from their mistakes and make side content actually worth exploring and doing in Future Redeemed.
The story and battle system Torna has to offer is incredibly interesting, and I won't lie when I say the moments with Lora, Gin, and Mythra were very interesting - but it's all heavily guarded by side quests. You're told twice in the main game, but most notably just before the finale - that you should help the people of Torna, and you're actively forced out of story progress until you do.
It's horrible artificial padding, and it honestly didn't feel rewarding at a point because not much changed when you did them. I personally ended up skipping most of the enemies later on because the forced side quests kept me at a decent level anyway, and by then I was getting sick of the battle system.
I'm not saying Torna is bad by any means, but I am saying it has its heavy faults. You will still find plenty of joy in this package, however with Future Redeemed doing what Torna did wrong and fixing it - I think I can safely say in hindsight that this was Monolith testing the waters with Xenoblade Expansions, and I'm glad that the blunders in this campaign meant that the devs could learn from their mistakes and make side content actually worth exploring and doing in Future Redeemed.