29 replies to this topic

[MagitekAngel]

http://wii.ign.com/a.../1213814p1.html

Turns out they were listening after all.

So far the only confirmed release is within the United States. If things stay that way, I'll just buy it online. I see this as good news and plan to get the game on release.

[A_Locomotive]

Now if only they would release the massive back log of awesome games we never got.

[Animan]

About time. Thanks you Ninty!

[Atariboy]

A_Locomotive, on Fri Dec 2, 2011 1:44 PM, said:

Now if only they would release the massive back log of awesome games we never got.

I'd be a happy camper if we just got Fatal Frame 4 and the Fatal Frame 2 remake.

[Mendon]

I personally know 3 people who imported the game because they felt it would never be released here. And I'm sure that there are a lot of others with high interest in the game that imported it also.

Knowing that a lot of people who imported it won't buy the same game again, I just hope that sales are high enough so that Nintendo can't say "See, we told you the game wouldn't sell".


And I couldn't help but notice that its a "GameStop Exclusive". Since I haven't shopped at GameStop in years and have no intention of doing so in the future, I guess I'll have to pass on this game.


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Fri Dec 2, 2011 5:13 PM.

[LarcenTyler]

*stands up and sings with a chorus in the background*

HALLELUJEAH!

[DemonoidTentacle]

Damn, there goes the value of my PAL copy

It's a shame that the trailer for it is pretty average. From what I've played of it, the trailer could have been phenomenal.

Edited by DemonoidTentacle, Fri Dec 2, 2011 11:38 PM.

[Atariboy]

Mendon, on Fri Dec 2, 2011 5:12 PM, said:

And I couldn't help but notice that its a "GameStop Exclusive". Since I haven't shopped at GameStop in years and have no intention of doing so in the future, I guess I'll have to pass on this game.

Everytime I've seen that in the past, they eventually still appeared at other retailers after a few weeks. If this is actually released, I'd bet on other retailers carrying it at least online.

Plus, supposedly it will also be carried by Nintendo's online store in addition to GameStop. And I'm sure people will be buying copies of it and making them available at places like Ebay and Amazon.

Edited by Atariboy, Sat Dec 3, 2011 2:42 AM.

[Mendon]

Atariboy, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 2:42 AM, said:

Everytime I've seen that in the past, they eventually still appeared at other retailers after a few weeks. If this is actually released, I'd bet on other retailers carrying it at least online.

Plus, supposedly it will also be carried by Nintendo's online store in addition to GameStop. And I'm sure people will be buying copies of it and making them available at places like Ebay and Amazon.

I imported the PAL version and have been playing (well, I was until Skyward Sword released) and enjoying it.

If I can get the N.A. version someplace other than GS and not at an inflated price, I'll buy it as the game is that good. I've heard, like you, that the Nintendo store will start taking pre-orders for the game on Dec. 19th and if this is so, I'll buy it from there.


Mendon

[A_Locomotive]

Just watched the offical trailer. I'm stoked for this one. I have yet to buy an RPG for my Wii so I think this will be my first one.

[KrazyKaiju]

I imported the PAL version too. I rather like the British voice acting, so I can't understand what the big deal was about the localization. The hard work was already done, pressing the discs is the easy part.

The Last Story will be released in February 2012 for Europe. I'd be nice if Reggie would release it here as well.

[DickNixonArisen]

SQUEEEEE

[rockman_x_2002]

Glad to see this one coming Stateside. I was hoping it might get released here after all.

[Metal Ghost]

http://www.gamasutra..._Chronicles.php

Looks as if the reviews are good. May be one to pick up for all you Wii fans of JRPGs.

[MagitekAngel]

Well I've got my pre-order, so in a day or so I'll be able to share my experiences with the game. Looking forward to it!

[cybercylon]

I picked mine up today. I didn't expect the art book.

It will be a long time before I have an opinion as I am not starting anything new until I've squeezed every bit of value out of Skyrim... and that will drag on as I am back on the pitch coaching two youth soccer teams.

[MagitekAngel]

So far, so very good. The plot is interesting, the characters are interesting, albeit pretty archetypal, and the gameplay and pacing are great. Very few loading screens. No random encounters. Great battle system that plays like the logical descendant of Final Fantasy XII. English Voice acting is... hmm... B+. I guess I should just be greatful that it isn't Steve Blum and John DiMaggio in every role.

Now a more pointed question. If you hate JRPGs with a passion, is this game going to make you a believer? No. The story so far hits all the familliar JRPG beats. The sidequests are all fetchquests of the "Gather 3 X" or "Kill 5 Y" variety. The underlying mechanics driving the battle and skill systems are as convoluted you have come to expect from the genre.

So why is Xenoblade special? After five hours, my present answer would be that instead of completly redrawing the JRPG template, Xenoblade makes it infinitely more accessible by including small features that have become pretty standard in today's much more commercially sucessful WRPGs. There's a button you can hit in the menu that reminds you where you are in the story and where you're going next, just in case you've put the game down for a month and forgotten what the hell is going on. There's a night-day time progression system, but you can reset the clock whenever you want to get the desired character or monster appearances. You can fast-travel. You can save anywhere. You can go pretty much wherever you want after the first couple of story hours, wander off the beaten path, or plow through the main quest. Your characters recover automatically after every battle, sparing you the effort of going into the menu a zillion times and opening your healer's spell spreadsheet and pressing the A button ad infinitum.

Maybe the game is a tad too accessible. Death doesn't appear to have a whole lot of consequence - from what I can tell, you just spawn at your last checkpoint with your items, gold, and experience points intact. You can literally just keep rushing that monster you can't beat until a hundred respanws later you've outleveled him. That doesn't encourage me to be terribly strategic, now does it?

Oh, and the graphics. They're pretty - for the Wii. The models and environments are pretty enough in their own right, but I can't help wishing I could see it all in HD. I don't need a single polygon more, just the clarity to see the ones already there. I haven't got the rig for Dolphin, but I do hold out the faint hope that upscaling will make the game look a bit cleaner on a Wii U. If nothing else, this game ought to look pretty sweet on the Wii U's controller screen.

[Tempest]

I spent 95+ hours with Xenoblade and still didn't do everything (I skipped the optional high level areas and bosses). The game was amazing! If I hadn't just beaten the PAL version (this was before they said they'd be bringing it here) I'd be picking this up in a heartbeat. Actually, I probably will still pick it up anyway just to play it again, but not for a bit.

[Atariboy]

MagitekAngel, on Sat Apr 7, 2012 6:25 PM, said:

I haven't got the rig for Dolphin, but I do hold out the faint hope that upscaling will make the game look a bit cleaner on a Wii U.

Nintendo confirmed at last year's E3 that the WiiU wouldn't upscale Wii software.

Of course that information will be in the neighborhood of 18 months old by the time it's released, so I suppose there's a bit of hope that plans may of changed since then.

Edited by Atariboy, Sun Apr 8, 2012 9:44 AM.

[MagitekAngel]

Ugh, didn't know about that.
And I suppose a couple years down the line, Nintendo will quietly pull Wii BC out of the Wii U, like they did with Wii and Gamecube.

[cybercylon]

MagitekAngel, on Sun Apr 8, 2012 9:55 AM, said:

Ugh, didn't know about that.
And I suppose a couple years down the line, Nintendo will quietly pull Wii BC out of the Wii U, like they did with Wii and Gamecube.

Yes, that might be a reason to get one sooner rather than later, though I am not sold on getting one at launch. Maybe next year depending on how good the games are. If it is just somewhat better than a PS3 or 360 with just a fancy touch pad controller, I might not bother. Then again, if it is the only one that allows you to play used games, then that is a big plus...

[Atariboy]

The WiiU won't have physical components to eliminate. GCN compatibility was pulled since it allowed them to eliminate 4 GCN controller ports and two GCN memory card ports to drive production cost down. That's why I imagine we'll see a $99 Wii this Christmas.

Unless killing Wii compatibility allows a cheaper disc drive to be utilized (Which seems unlikely to me, supporting the DVD format with Blu-Ray drives doesn't seem to add much cost) or the WiiU requires extra chips to achive BC (Isn't the WiiU's GPU and CPU coming from the same sources? If so, I imagine there's a good chance the WiiU hardware itself could natively run Wii code without extra chips like the PS3 needed for PS2 compatibility), I doubt we will see Wii compatibility going anywhere.

[Mendon]

WOW! European owners of Xenoblade, Pandora, and Last Story are getting a nice gift from Club Nintendo just for registering the three games: a set of three coins, each representing one of the games, in a display case.

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Edited by Mendon, Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:16 AM.

[Skarrj]

What is it with Europe and nintendo? I feel like we (NTSC) gave been getting the shaft latley.

[Mendon]

Skarrj, on Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:43 AM, said:

What is it with Europe and nintendo? I feel like we (NTSC) gave been getting the shaft latley.

Ahhhh, but don't forget the big advantage that we NA consumers have: a vast array of retail outlets from which we can purchase these Wii titles from!!


Mendon