Little Mac has ruined the entire game for me. Online is a joke when everyone is just spamming Little Mac. I'm incredibly disappointed that Nintendo even allowed a character like this to exist. Every other character is fine but Little Mac is the most broken character in the game and playing vs him all day is boring. Oh well- guess I'll just play some offline with friends and move onto a different game for online fun. 

 

how? Little mac is not a good character, though he is the easiest to pick up and do decent with.  

 

most straightforward advice would be to try and bait him to the ledge, and try to hit him off or grab and throw him off. also being good at shielding also helps against him.  Against macs that are more defencive, then simply getting him in the air and juggling works well. Once they are offstage, they only have 2 options, both of which suck, if you got a character with good recovery, you could go out and end him once he is off stage. He can also be gimped while off stage. when he is simply in the air, his options are: dodge, sideB, and counter.  Juggling is fairly easily depending on your character, and you can get a fair amount. If the mac you are playing airdodge/counters alot, then you need to bait it out more, if he does this a little before he hits the ground, you have a free window to immediately send him back into the air. 

 

When he is on the ground, the only reliable way through is attacks is dodging/shielding, then following up, usually with a grab. when you are attacking, be careful of super armor, they can through out smashes with little risk of you stopping them.

Um, not to be a negative nellie but looks like the game has been significantly downgraded in terms of graphics with less crisp textures.
 
Totally understandable though since the original trailer was probably using estimate Wii U specs and not final hardware or with time adding more things to the game would also result in graphical aspects being downgraded.
 

=( odd for nintendo, though it may be because ones a pre-rendered cutscene while the other is rendered in real time. still a little upsetting. Or the games to busy accounting for assets that didn't exist in the older version =/.

 

 

found a video of the full direct, also updating OP's, Now to wait for translations.

holy shiznet at the new music download. Makes up for the videos music.

 

 

That music sounds very... out of place.  I can see it working as the battle theme for one of the alien races, or a specific area, I hope its not the song that plays whenever you fight some random monster =/.

 

 

an overview trailer was released earlier today shows some new things, but alot of it is stuff we already know.

and the game releases just in time to kill the time i should be going back to collage =/, hope i don't have to much work to do around that time.

Well now is the time for media blackout if you havent already.  

well, might as well say bye to Sorceror for a few days if not weeks/months.

Been playing X-3D for 20 hours now and not really into it. Is just tons of minimissions with a lot of text I skip, and kill some monsters. Some are keyquests but I just have to kill some more monsters. Story is starting to get somewhere but I'm not to sure why there is so much hype around this title.

 

at what point are you at, i wouldn't recommend going around and doing all the side quests unless you want to do a completionist playthrough which i wouldn't recommend as the first play-though. The sidequests are still usually worth picking up as you will kill some of the monsters as you are running around anyway.   

Nintendo released a Iwata Ask's about Xenoblade X and its development, interesting read.


http://iwataasks.nin...hronicles-x/0/0

 

video of the entire stream, haven't found one that has the  beginning/end blocks taken out yet

Can anyone comb through all of the thousands of bits of info we have on this game to answer the question:  "Will you level up by exploring the world, like in the prequel?"

 

I also want to add my voice to the "stop moaning about supposed visual downgrades" position. Most of the in-game visuals have improved hugely from the first footage we saw. Having 1 cutscene look slightly worse is hardly a problem and really shouldn't be categorised along with the Watch Dogs fiasco which was a huge across-the-board lie about the visuals.

 

yes you get experience for exploration. 

siliconera released summaries of the armor system, basic, and advanced techniques parts of the video. 

 

http://www.siliconer...ons-kinds-armor

http://www.siliconer...ws-kinds-combos

http://www.siliconer...handle-monsters

Is there one more presentation before release in Japan?

 

 

If they do a story trailer, this trailer showed a little of the story.

 

 

Also, you can change who is in your party in this game, only saw 8 slots in the menu (4 for members and 4 reserve), and well over 8 in the direct, want the English translation for this one.

Found a direct translation of the article, Most of it was mentioned in overviews but still has plenty of info most of the overviews skipped, such as life points.  The article setup is crude though, you have been warned.

 

//docs.google.com/document/d/1WDBYfaVE4R1r5D0YSUKCyx3StF1PQy-b2tqv7gfBYyA/pub

Characters
Nagi (Takayuki Sugou)[/size]
-Former Captain of the White Whale and current Military Chief in the Autonomous Government of New Los Angeles. [/size]

Guin (Yuichi Nakamura)[/size]
-Worked in the same division as Elma and Irina on Earth. Was their subordinate. [/size]

Player Avatars
-Many options for customization (sex, face type, skin colour, hair style, eyes, make-up, voice, etc).[/size]
-Preset designs done by Kunihiko Tanaka[/size]
-Some famous voices actors providing their voice as options for the avatar, will be announced on the Xenoblade homepage later.[/size]
 
Things i missed from the most recent update.  will probably get more on the new characters from the famitsu article tomorrow.  Also wonder who the voice actors are.

I see the 400 Meters typo from Raven on Neogaf is still in effect, Now I dont feel as silly about my own snafu.
 
 
Anyways.
 
HOLY CRAP MUFFINS I MUST BE IN EVERY SINGLE UNION!!!!!
 
All of them!!1 I want to do them ALL!!!!!
 
It appears the story progression is tied to the unions and the progress you make in them branches it out.
 
Seriously, this is 10000000X better than the same old thieves guild assassins guild, fighter guild mage guild junk.

And watch as every union fails its main goal because the player took to much time helping the other unions.

More distinct opportunity cost decisions in games would be nice.

Just to clarify, is the reason this system is better than the thieves/assassin's/fighter/mage guild because the actual story progression happens through them? Because honestly, I would prefer 1 "guild" that covers the events of the main story arc. I can't spend 300 hours on this game and all the different guilds.

 

also, while I have you here, thoughts on the "loosely connected online"?? I definitely don't want to feel aware of everyone else's presence all the time, but that also doesn't confirm or deny if I can co-op stuff with my friends.

 

3dude will probably go into more depth, But the system as it currently appears, does alot to differentiate itself. Yes the main story progression happens through them, but current claims suggest something more complex then that, The unions are directly interlinked and reliant on each-other, and not competing bodies, though competition may occur.  They are very unlikely to be sectioned off guilds in there own part of the world, and chances are they wont be trying to kill eachother.  

 

Worst case senairo for the story, is each union has their own independent story with little to no connection between the other unions. Next worst case is the unions are specializations that have minor effects on the main story. What I hope to see is for each group to be connected directly, and the success and failures of each effect the whole. Now that its confirmed that the unions make up atleast the beginning of the story, I hope to see it play out differently depending on what you do, with no true, or at minimum, no obvious all-win scenario.  See the story and game play out differently depending on your actions. Along with this, see things happen or issues caused because you chose to help union A over union B, but have a different set of problems occur because you helped union B over union A.  These elements added to the story helps turn the story into part of the gameplay, and adds more to the replay-ability besides being fun. Once this came out I already expect to do several playthroughs.

 

Right now i'm expecting something in between both scenarios.  Which would probably be similar to mass effect 2 told through action instead of decisions, and actual story events instead of characters. I also don't at this point, expect to see anything negative out of opportunity cost, so you could safely do everything in 1 play through, instead of make decisions on what to do. 

 

That said, even if we get worst case scenario for this, all it will do is stop a great game from being a amazing game.  Unless monolith soft manages to screw up alot more, which i doubt.

 

Soft online could be anything, my guess is something similar to Darksouls, Neo LA may do one of those miiverse hubs Splatoon is doing, we may see signs of what or which union players joined, or other ways for players to interact with each other. I do hope for a option for online parties, but preferably not with randoms most of the time.

UPDATE: 4/24/15
 
WARNING,  story information is now being released, beware of Spoilers. OP's wont contain game spoilers though posts in this forum might.

Thanks to Sorceror12 for loaning his post out.

A thread to host all new info on Xenoblade, especially with all the new info coming out. Now may be the time to spend a few months living under a rock to await a un-previewed or spoiled release.  May want to come out to find a western release date first.
 
Includes OP's and other information back to the last trailer.
 
OP will be updated whenever new info is released. 
 

Official websight: http://xenobladex.jp/
Official twitter: https://twitter.com/XenobladeJP
 


 
 

 
 
 
 
Reaching limits of quotes and images, so some information may be removed as we get more updates.

game cover:
 
 



Video of the treehouse direct. The video starts at the 33min mark.
 


 
Okay, now things are coming together.

 
file size looks to be 22.7 GB

Not 100% confirmed but people are saying in the eshop description it says 

The pre-load for the game which went live in Japan a short time ago confirms the following details:

- Single Player RPG
- 4 Players Online Quests
- 32 Players Indirect Online (For Information exchange and item trading)

#XenobladeX supports GamePad, #WiiU Pro Controller, USB keyboard. Miiverse support. Off-TV play. 720p. pic.twitter.com/doXkkkLoxj
 
 
This info of course has been translated... so I hope it is true.

 
 

xenoblade-chronicles-x1-656x401.jpg
Famitsu has a major feature on Xenoblade Chronicles X in this week’s issue. In addition to a new preview, the magazine shared an interview with director Tetsuya Takahashi.
One of the things Famitsu brings up is how Takahashi called the original Xenoblade “an orthodox RPG”, even though the field was huge and there were a number of different challenges. Takahashi says in response that the story of the original Xenoblade Chronicles “was one big thread so I think it was a linear game.” But in Xenoblade Chronicles X, “the story progresses in various directions as you finish quests which you get from different places.”
Famitsu next brings up the topic of loading. Takahashi confirms that players will be able to cross the huge world from one end to another without having to load data… for the most part anyway.
He said:
Moving on the field is completely seamless. However, loading occurs in cases like event scenarios. I recommend playing the downloadable version so you don’t have to worry about loading from the disk. Of course, the disk version is also tuned as much as possible to reduce the loading time. We are consulting Nintendo as to whether or not the main data can be read from the console.
Another topic discussed in Famitsu’s interview is the size of the game’s party, which is four. Takahashi explains why this number was chosen:
Considering combinations of classes and builds, the party of four was well balanced. In battle, you control one character from those four and the other three are left for AI. Similar to the previous game, you can also select which character to control. In a pinch, AI characters also shout encouragements according to their personality. Voice actors were asked to record unreasonably many lines, so the battles turned out to be lively like in the previous game.
Something Xenoblade fans have been interested in is the prospect of online functionality. However, Takahashi is quick to point out that Xenoblade Chronicles X “isn’t an online game where you are firmly connected to other players.” Monolith Soft took the concept of a “loosely connected online game”. Takahashi says: “After all, the game brings out collectively without players noticing other people, so the playstyle of an online RPG wasn’t used as a base.”
Finally, let’s talk a bit about Xenoblade Chronicles X’s music. Famitsu points out that Hiroyuki Sawano hasn’t worked much on game music, to which Takahashi states:
That’s right. He has strong image from working on anime titles like Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Guilty Crown, and Attack on Titan, but for me he is a drama person. He is responsible for the music of Team Medical Dragon and such. I thought that drama-like music would surely shine in this game so I asked him as I had nothing to lose.
When Famitsu asks about how Sawano is flexible with his work, Takahashi replies:
Usually people who haven’t written game music react like “Why so many compositions for a game (RPG)?”, but Mr. Sawano was the opposite: “Understood. Please let me do them all.” (laughs) This time there are 90 compositions and I thought he could write only a part of them, so I’m really happy.
Xenoblade Chronicles X launches in Japan on April 29. The RPG is on track for later this year in North America and Europe.

More: Famitsu, interview, Tetsuya Takahashi, top, Xenoblade Chronicles X



 
 
 
 
So this isn't lost on the last page. This is why I hate lumped up topics.
some places are now taking pre-orders.

 
 
Monolith soft is doing a japan direct like stream on the 6th, should be similar to the smash directs in that sense. Currently don't know if there will be a English version of the stream.

http://xenobladex.jp...0206/index.html

other stream links:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr2R7t_wqlQ
http://live.nicovide...tch/lv208436900


Europe: 2PM
UK: 1PM
North America (East): 8AM
North America (West) : 5AM
Japan: 10PM


Characters
Nagi (Takayuki Sugou)[/size]
-Former Captain of the White Whale and current Military Chief in the Autonomous Government of New Los Angeles. [/size]

Guin (Yuichi Nakamura)[/size]
-Worked in the same division as Elma and Irina on Earth. Was their subordinate. [/size]

Player Avatars
-Many options for customization (sex, face type, skin colour, hair style, eyes, make-up, voice, etc).[/size]
-Preset designs done by Kunihiko Tanaka[/size]
-Some famous voices actors providing their voice as options for the avatar, will be announced on the Xenoblade homepage later.[/size]
 
Things i missed from the most recent update.  will probably get more on the new characters from the famitsu article tomorrow.  Also wonder who the voice actors are.
Here are some pics of Guin and Nagi, this was posted here at 1:40am on 1/29/2015, http://www.siliconer...-members-blade/
 
 
Guin:
 
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/xenobladex_1501293_r_thumb.jpg
 

 
A member of the private military organization, BLADE. Back on Earth, he worked as a subordinate of Elma and Irina as part of the government spec-ops vehicular instructor corps known as the Doll Squad.

 
He occasionally messes up here and there, but he’s an honest character who admires Irina and also has a bit of a crush on her.
 
Nagi:
 
 
 
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/xenobladex_1501294_r_thumb.jpg
 

 
Nagi is the former captain of the White Whale, an interstellar immigrant ship. He currently serves as the military director of the autonomous government of NLA (New Los Angeles).
 
 

 
In order to protect the livelihood of those living on Planet Mira, he works himself to death on a daily basis with government affairs.
Read more at http://www.siliconer...ycCFuMPffJAP.99[/size]

Maurice:
 
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/xenobladex_150205_thumb.jpg

 
Maurice is a bureaucrat of the former United States Secretary of Defense, who then became the assistant to the President.
 
 
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/xenobladex_1502058_thumb.jpg

 
Afterwards, he used his previous position as a way to appoint himself as the chief administrator commissioner of NLA (New Los Angeles) and is now the representative of mankind on the Planet Mira.


image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/fxUw656_thumb.jpg

Monolith Soft recently introduced an interesting mix of Xenoblade Chronicles X characters with a 13-year-old engineering prodigy, and a strange little creature named Tatsu. Today, the official website introduced two more characters: Van Damme and Irina.
 
Van Damme:
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/xenobladex_chara_1501220_thumb.jpg


Van Damme is the commander of the private military organization, BLADE. He was previously the chief engineer of an interstellar immigrant ship known as the “Moby Dick”.
 
He’s a little ill-mannered, and occasionally says rude things to whomever. His sharp tongue is considered his one flaw.
 
Irina:
image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/xenobladex_chara_150122_thumb.jpg

Irina is a member of the private military organization, BLADE. Back on Earth, Irina was a member of the government spec-ops vehicular instructor corps, the Doll Squad, and was a senior officer working under Elma at the time. Even now , she still idolizes and respects Elma the way she used to back in the Doll Squad.
 
She’s a bit of a tomboy, and has a strong sense of duty to protect those living on the planet Mira.

Ru

An inventor and native of the planet Mira.
He makes his living by selling his inventions to Nopon and other native species.
With a very curious personality, he feels very close to the newly arrived humans and is, for some reason, very familiar with idioms.

http://xenobladex.jp...er/chara09.html




Lao
(Voice: Keiji Fujihara)
One of B.L.A.D.E.'s team leaders.
His fighting strength and intuition is admired even by Elma.
He is unexpectedly sensitive and passionate to his core.
He is buddy of Douglas from their days in the US military.




Douglas
(Voice: Rikiya Koyama)
A member of B.L.A.D.E. He is proficient at all military skills, but especially adept at piloting Dolls.
Despite his stern-looking exterior, he is easy to make fun of; Lyn will often poke fun at his mistakes during Doll test flights.
On Earth, he served under Elma as part of the Unified Government's Vehicle Special Ops Force (also known as the Doll Team).
He is buddy of Lao from their days in the US military.





 
You can read out earlier report for some details on Xenoblade Chronicles X’s other key characters in Elma, Lynlee, and Tatsu.
 
Xenoblade Chronicles X is slated for release in Japan on April 29, 2015 for Wii U. It’ll release sometime this year in North America and Europe.

Read more stories about Wii U & Xenoblade Chronicles X on Siliconera.

Read more at http://www.siliconer...IL1TEch7qpg8.99

 

Another article with more about xenoblade, and more apparently coming tomorrow. Talks about Unions the player can join, a more free-form story, and over 300 hours of game play. Wonder if the 300 hours includes replays for different story lines. This game is very ambitious, and one of the few who could potentially live up to said ambitions.
 
 
Article: http://gematsu.com/2...map-size-unions
 
Start of the Game
At the beginning of the story, the goal is to survive the uncivilized planet of Mira. After meeting up with private military organization Blade, you’ll choose from one of eight affiliated unions, each with their own overarching objective to fill, and embark on quests. It’s possible to join a different union later. Unlike the linear progression of the original Xenoblade Chronicles, the successor’s story will unfold in various directions.
Unions
The eight unions are:

• Pathfinder - In charge of data probe installation.
• Interceptor - In charge of exterminating protists.
• Avalanche - In charge of hunting down dangerous life forms.
• Testament - In charge of the search and recovery of debris scattered by the ship, as well as the recovery of items lost on the battlefield.
• Corepedian - In charge of visiting areas and investigation/collecting materials.
• Land Bank - In charge of securing resources and collecting minerals.
• Arms - Assists the Arms Company in charge of the development of Dolls and their inner weaponry.
• Companion - A Jack of all trades, from the mediation of petty fights to the search of stray cats.

Other Tidbits

• The concept of the game’s online mode is to be “‘loosely connected’ with other players”—to have a sense of solidarity without feeling constantly aware of other players’ presence.
• The size of the field is five times the previous game (400 square kilometers) and fully seamless. However, there is loading during event scenes.
• The map is visible on the Wii U GamePad. Each area is indicated by a hex. Touching them can perform things such as quick travel or check events.
• The sense of speed from the previous game’s battles has been elevated, and players can attack freely while switching between short and long ranges.
• No character explicitly serves as a healer, meaning it’s important to gauge one’s capabilities relative to those of an enemy before picking fights.
• “Soul Voice” is a system that can be triggered in reaction to party members that are able to string their attacks well. With well-timed button presses, HP can be healed, making it possible to continuously heal while attacking.
• Parties consist of four people: the player character and three AI companions.
• Dolls are exceptionally powerful, but in exchange for that, their movement can’t be finely controlled, meaning they can’t take out enemy body parts. Being able to do so is important, as it can weaken them and yield items, among other things. As a result, players will have to disembark at times and fight enemies themselves.
• A number of new “Unique Monsters” have been added compared to the previous game, some powerful enough to cross swords with the Doll robots.
• Playtime in the game has been recorded to exceed 300 hours while doing final checks, with some elements potentially continuing endlessly.
• There are over 90 songs featured in the game, all of which were worked on by Hiroyuki Sawano.

http://www.p-nintend...-famitsu-239759

Apparently, within this 10 page interview, somebody translated something that caught their eye, that Xenoblade chronicles X was about 5 times the size of Xenoblade... Just kidding that was already known. What we got on top of that this time was a number!
 
*Corrected*
Xenoblade chronicles X map is 400 square kilometers!!! Convert that from SQUARE kilometers to SQUARE miles, and you get 154.44 square miles!!!
*Corrected*
Had the wrong selection selected, thanks to Soxviper!!!
 
Perspective time!

Red dead redemption was 12 square miles
Skyrim was 16 square miles
GTA 5 was 49 square miles

An interesting side note, divided by 5, we get 49.7 square miles for Xonoblade! Finally confirming my measurements of Xenoblade being around 50 square miles to be surprisingly accurate! Hooray!

Oh, just thought of this.. i do have the 2nd post in the thread. If you want to PM me the code/info for anything else for the thread, i can input into my post.

 

you may get a fair amount of PM's with little/moderate edits

Monolith soft is doing a japan direct like stream on the 6th, should be similar to the smash directs in that sense. Currently don't know if there will be a English version of the stream.

http://xenobladex.jp...0206/index.html

other stream links:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr2R7t_wqlQ
http://live.nicovide...tch/lv208436900


Europe: 2PM
UK: 1PM
North America (East): 8AM
North America (West) : 5AM
Japan: 10PM

im reserving The first and second post next time, 

 

Got some added info on the character creation system, more info on the map, with plenty of pics, and some more info on NLA, pending translation. 

Im going to watch it, wont be able to understand the Japanese and hope for a translation later. I also don't care if i get spoiled on things in the game that much ether, monolith soft are the ones doing the direct, so we will probably get stuff from the first 1/5th of the game with hints of whats ahead. 

 

also looks like a missed a fight =/

Game looks tiny when you look at the 5 areas in this perspective.. hahaaha
 

This perspective makes me wonder if there is more areas, Without really knowing exactly how large the shown areas are, Many parts of the map look like things have been excluded to be revealed later, or when you play, such as in the lava section 

 

The large section in between the 2 major landmass's could just as easily be buffer zones to make them inaccessible by dolls until later points in the game.  

Maurice:

 

image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/xenobladex_150205_thumb.jpg

 

Maurice is a bureaucrat of the former United States Secretary of Defense, who then became the assistant to the President.

 

 

image: http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/xenobladex_1502058_thumb.jpg

 

Afterwards, he used his previous position as a way to appoint himself as the chief administrator commissioner of NLA (New Los Angeles) and is now the representative of mankind on the Planet Mira.

 

zelda premier video is up.