If you are hoping I get the XCX guide . . . you have no fear. That is already pre-ordered. 20% discount on game guides when you also preorder the same game at EB games. This makes the guides a little less over priced. So I will get the game (PAL CE) and the guide on Saturday morning (released on the 5th in Australia, so it makes it almost the same time as NA on the 4th). But I will not be able to play much at all till Monday as I am visiting a friend for the weekend before he goes overseas.That's good to know. I guess people really love the art pictures in the guides, can't say I blame ya. Yeah, some game guides are short like that. I hope you get it too. So your saying that it was a let down, like Galaxy 2? No thanks. Oh and nice Meme!
Nice SMG2 joke The SMG2 guide was nice. Just compated to the SMG1 guidebook, no added art section (like the SMG1 guide had), 100 less pages in the guide, the green star section was almost 100% wrong in the guide, most likely the guide writer played a unreleased version of the game that was edited after but before launch. And some of the pictures of boss fights in the guide were wrong. As in the goide would say you are fighting X boss but the in game screenshot of it in the guide would be of a totally different boss. Still even after all this, the guide overall is not bad and will help you beat the game . . . well everything except the final grandmaster galaxy star. That star is purely luck and skill. 5 large areas, only 1 health point and no checkpoints. I tried and could not do it.
SMG1 only had one issue. The last star in the game is not mentioned anywhere in the game. That is the one you access after beating the game 100%, 2x, once with Mario and once with Luigi. The reviewer probably never beat the game again with Luigi. Apart from that an amazing game guide.
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Getting back on topic I am not sure if the DLC will be in the XCX guide. It might as it's not really DLC for us. It's just more game content. I am pretty sure most players don't even know content in the game was DLC. I surely don't. I will look it up though.
I will flip through the guide book when I get it. But just a quick browse. I will not study it unless a collection quest loot piece can't be found, or a single boss keeps kicking my team's collective ass. I think XCX really promotes discovery. Knowing it all before hand would just ruin this discovery aspect. It does not matter if I get lost for an hour. The scenery and things to kill are so nice that being lost did not matter. Well that's how I felt in XC. I would assume the same is true in XCX. This did make me a little over levelled in XC but I am ok with that. I like taking it slow and over levelling areas. That's just how I play. Others like speed running or low levelling RPGs. Different strokes for different folks.
Yeah that meme is doing the rounds now and I thought it was cool too.
To begin I'd like to state some points.
1. I'm not too sure how this turned into a XCX vs FO4 argument. It was one game in a list of RPG's I said I played. Not once did I say Fallout 4 was flawless or that it was a better game than XCX.
2. Not once did I say that XCX was a bad game. I said that I was on the fence about buying it and the reviews have pointed out some things that I was afraid of, therefore helping me make the decision not to purchase the game.
3. None of you have played XCX yet and I take it none of you have played fallout yet you compare the two and call it fact that one is better than the other. These "facts" are based on conjecture.
4. I could get in a big pointless pissing match with you guys but it wouldn't have much point to it as none of us have played XCX and only one of us has played fallout 4.
The verdict: I'm having a blast with my game and when you guys get your game you'll probably have a blast with it to, regardless of what other people and reviewers think, no matter how many awards and titles each one wins or doesn't win. Though I do wish you guys had made a stronger case to me to convince me to buy it.
- FO4 was mentioned here and we ran with it. Comparing the two is obvious as they are two of this year's most hyped releases.
- True. You did say XCX had many flaws though.
- Most of us have played FO4. XCX on the other hand you are correct but there is enough people in the game journalism community that have played both. XCX is not better than FO4 (in terms of fun had while playing each game). Both are just very different games. I made a strong case for this above when I compared XCX's and FO4's choices in graphical design/programming and compromises choices. Each game has their own issues to deal with.
- Yes you could. But it would be a pointless thing to do. But for different reasons though. XCX and FO4 are both role playing games. That's about where the simlarities end though. Everything from the game play style, to the world, to the compromises chosen for game performance to the number of bugs/flaws are all different. It's basically a case of different strokes for different folks. Each game caters to a different audience.
The verdict
We tried our best to give you a strong case to buy XCX . . . but I'll try again now and give you my reasons why you should buy the game.
Take all the reviews into account. Some reviews are unfairly good or unfairly bad about any game. You need to take the overall trend of reviews into account. For XCX the overall trend is very positive for XCX from the critic reviews so far. Of cause this is only a guide and not gospel but it's nice to know.
From everything I have read here is the good, bad and ugly from XCX. To summarise why you should get the game. I say bad and ugly too as no game is perfect and we should try to be as objective as possible.
Summary
XCX as you know is a real time JRPG with well over 100 hours content. The best way I could sell XCX to you would be to say that it seems to immerse almost everyone who plays the game. To the point that they start playing and lost all track of time. They are just having so much fun. Sure the game has a few little flaws/compromises to keep the game play smooth but they are not game breaking and keep the fun there. Fun is why you play video games. XCX has so much fun. Also it's well based fun. You get that sense of achievement after spending time to do something and getting that satisfaction that you have earnt something worthwhile in game, not just handed it to you on a silver platter.
The game is not for everyone. But if you are willing to invest the time into it, you will be rewarded. That's the best thing I can say. It's not like World of Warcraft where the game feels like a 2nd job. You can play for long play sessions or one hour at a time. Monolithsoft made both types of gaming feel rewarding in XCX.
Good
- Huge world size. So large that everything in the distance you can travel to.
- Beautiful looking world. Probably the best on the WiiU. The world is very diverse in it's ecosystems too. A lot of different flora and fauna exist too, each with their own behaviour pattern over the course of the day and night.
- A large amount of player customisation. Your character can play any combat role or have any career role and change them up whenever they want.
- Customisable personal barracks.
- Much reward given to the player for their time invested in the game. Serious time invested in thwe game. Those who want instant gratification with their games need not apply here.
- Can fight on foot or in a huge metal mech or exoskeleton (Skell for short)
- Many combat options
- Almost zero loading screens in the game.
- Player death only sets back your location, meaning you have to track back from the last named location to where you were when you died. Nothing else is lost.
- Disc resale value. If XC Wii is anythin g to go by, the disc will keep it's value for years to come. XC, even today sells for $100+ and that is after XC was re-released on 3DS and put on the WiiU VC. I do think XCX will keep it's resale value should you decide to sell it one day. A complete (no parts missing) collectors edition of XCX (PAL or NTSC) might even increase in value over the coming years.
- Fun and lots of it.
Bad
- A little enemy drop in, in the main city of the game as well as when you travel fast along the ground in a Skell.
- Some of the larger textures are lower res far away and change to high res when you get closer.
- Not a game for those who want instant gratification. You will slowly earn your rewards in XCX and really feel like you earnt them. Players who want to feel "Yay I just beat 1-1 is 25 seconds, I feel great" will feel lost with the massive scale and scope of this game.
- Combat can feel a little repetative. It did in XC on the Wii too for me. . . but this is a flaw of the RPG genre and not XCX. Most RPGs only have the one style of combat for the whole game. XCX though tries to deal with this by the Skells that will feel so different when you fight with them.
- Finding some of the loot for the fetch/find quests can be annoying when it says "X item is on Y continent". Then you realise Y continent will take hours or days to search for the loot item in question. A quick use of an online or printed guide should help this a lot.
- Can't change party members during affiny quests. This is obvious after you realise what affinity quests are but a lot of people are complaining about it. I don't see any issue in this at all but others are.
Ugly
- Time. Something you will loose track of when you are playing XCX. This is a good thing. In a way XCX is a little like Art Academy Atelier. Sure XCX has rewards to work for where Art Academy has almost none. But the similarity is in the joy of playing both games. The main reason you play both games (And XC on Wii as well) is for the fun you have while playing them and doing what the games have to offer. The joy here is in the discovery and learning processes, not in the rewards. XCX is not defined by how many quests you complete or how quickly you can beat the game. Sure they are stats in game but doing this misses the total point of the game. XCX is defined by the time spent having fun just exploring, or being in combat or learning about the planet's inhabitants, or why you survived Earth's destruction when 99.9% of Earth's population did not. This is super fun. If was for me in XC Wii. Not "Yay I just beat that short buy really hard Super Mario Maker level" It's more like, after hours of playing the game you just think to yourself "wow that was amazing". I am aware this is not really ugly at all . . . well apart from all the real world time will be taken up playing XCX if you become really into it.
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@Facts About Bok Choy That is the best recommendation, case I can put forward for you to seriously consider purchasing XCX. XCX is not for everyone, but for those who it is for will totally love the game. Do not judge the game based on a few reviews or because a game has a few flaws. Just seriously think "is XCX a game you will enjoy?" "Is it your type of game?" If so you should consider giving it a try. You could to a lot worse than XCX as purchase risk.
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