Tag: first impressions

Xenoblade Chronicles X

I’ve been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X lately, and I’m currently about five hours into it. It’s a role-playing game with a huge world to explore. You play as a Xenoblade Chronicles X title screen.character that has no memory of his identity or past. But you quickly find out that you’re a human that crash-landed on planet Mira (along with a city full of others) after escaping from Earth shortly before it was destroyed.

The planet is full of native creatures known as indigens. Some of them are harmless, but others pose a significant threat to the humans’ base. But as you’ll soon find out, they aren’t the only things you have to worry about.

A large indigen in Xenoblade Chronicles X.I haven’t played the first Xenoblade Chronicles, so I’m not familiar with the combat, menus, etc. So the complexity seems a bit overwhelming at first (as is often the case with RPGs). It takes time to learn the combat system, how to properly equip your characters, and so on. I’m starting to get the hang of the basics, but I clearly have much more to learn. I really wish the game had some tutorials to help explain these things.

The graphics are amazing (definitely the best I’ve seen on Wii U so far) and they really make you feel like you’re exploring this huge world. If you see something in the distance, you can go there. Well, maybe not the moon.

Nighttime on Mira. (Xenoblade Chronicles X)The graphics aren’t perfect, though. There is a fair amount of pop-in, where background items seemingly pop up out of nowhere. And some of the text in the game is a bit too small–but that may not be a problem if you’re playing a large TV.

The game gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want. Once you become a member of BLADE, you can choose which division to join. Each division deals in different types of tasks/missions. I chose to be a pathfinder, which means my primary duties involve heading to unexplored areas and installing data probes. But you can still perform other duties as well, and you’re free to go off exploring when you want.

As I was finishing up Chapter 3, my team encountered this creature named Tatsu hiding among some other vegetables. We invited him to come along with us, and initially, he seems to be added just for comic relief. Characters refer to him as a potato or a turnip, and they repeatedly threaten to put him in a salad. For some reason, he reminds me of Cait Sith in Final Fantasy VII. I find it hard to bake take him seriously; I don’t think I trust him.

Tatsu in Xenoblade Chronicles XAs I returned to base, the game started telling me about squads and online play. But I’m going to focus on the main one-player mode for the time being. I am enjoying the game so far, but I’m not addicted…at least not yet. For me, RPGs pretty much always take a while before they really draw me in. But so far, so good.

Looking to buy Xenoblade Chronicles X?

FAST Racing Neo Impressions

I received a Nintendo eShop gift card for Christmas, and I used it to buy FAST Racing Neo for Wii U. It’s a futuristic hovercraft racing game like F-Zero or Wipeout. But in FAST Racing Neo, you must frequently toggle between two phases (orange and blue). There will be orange and blue boost pads and jump pads throughout the courses, and your ship must be on the correct phase to use them. If you touch them while on the wrong phase, it will slow you down dramatically. So you’ll need to switch phases effectively, while also evading other ships and avoiding obstacles in a very fast racing environment.

Fast Racing NeoIn addition to boost pads, there are also boost orbs that can be collected. These charge up your boost meter, which you can use whenever you wish. Efficient usage of boosting will be crucial in later courses.

Many of the courses have twisting tracks, dangerous jumps, and crazy obstacles. One has pillars of fire that erupt from the track itself, while others may have giant boulders that fall onto to the track or inconveniently-placed pillars in the way. Another has a giant mechanical bird that at first appears to be part of the background, until it starts pecking at passing ships! Some of these obstacles may seem a bit unfair when they first hit you out of nowhere, but you’ll learn to avoid them. Still, some of the later tracks are quite challenging.

Fast Racing NeoMost of the game modes are pretty standard: There is a championship mode, a split-screen multiplayer mode, a time trial mode, and an online mode. But there is also a “hero mode,” in which you must win a cup without exploding your ship (no respawns). I have not unlocked this mode yet, but it sounds like quite the challenge.

Fast Racing NeoAfter just a couple hours of gameplay so far, I am enjoying FAST Racing Neo. I’m not sure if it’s quite in the same class as F-Zero, but it is a fun, polished game with great graphics. It’s definitely a bargain for just $15 in the Wii U eShop.

Here is a gameplay video showing the Storm Coast course in championship mode:

For those wondering, I also received Xenoblade Chronicles X and Wii Fit U for Christmas. I may have separate blog entries and/or videos of those games at some point in the future.

Amiibo Festival Impressions

My copy of Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival recently arrived in the mail, and amiiboI gave it a try today. It comes bundled with two Amiibo figures, Isabelle and Digby. It also comes with three Amiibo cards: Goldie, Rosie, and Stitches. That’s a much better group of villagers than what I got when I bought a pack of the cards separately for Happy Home Designer.

The board game is the only mode available from the start. The game does not take place in real-time; each game takes a month of game time. Each turn is represented as a day, and the game ends at the end of the month (which will usually be 30 or 31 turns). A normal game lasts about an hour and 15 minutes, although you can set a time limit if you don’t have that much time available.

An Amiibo figure is required for at least one player, but it’s not a one-time thing. You must hold your Amiibo up to the Wii U gamepad every time it’s your turn; it’s how you roll the die. That seems really unnecessary to me–it’s like you constantly have to prove that you own an Amiibo just to play the game. Why? It’s overkill.

acaf-mapThe object of the game is to earn the most happy points (music notes) by the end of the month. You can also earn bells along the way, and those can be converted to happy points at the end. You roll the die to see how many squares you advance on the board. Landing on a pink square is a good thing–you’ll score some happy points or bells. Landing on a purple square is a bad thing–you’ll lose happy points or bells. Each space will have a story behind it. Maybe you’ll catch a fish, which is worth a certain number of bells. Or maybe you’ll find out that you accidentally broke your zap helmet, and you’ll lose bells as you pay to repair it. A variety of things can happen, but they rarely seem to be interactive. You just take what you’re given.

acaf-digby

A number of Animal Crossing characters make cameo appearances. For example, Shrunk may appear on a certain day. If you land on a special event space on that day, he will give you a card (after you suffer through a corny joke of his). The card may be used to roll a specific number. You can use it to make sure you land on a good space rather than risking a regular roll of the die.

acaf-shrunkIf Katrina the fortune teller is visiting, landing on a special event space lets you choose a card. I got a card that gave me a bonus any time someone rolled a 1–but the effect only lasts for one week (7 turns).

acaf-katrinaJoan also appears on Sundays to sell turnips, which you can then sell on Mondays through Saturdays. Each space you land on will have a turnip price. You can choose to sell at that price or hold on to your turnips until later in the week. Any remaining turnips will always be sold on Saturday, though.

There will also be seasonal and holiday events. On fishing tournament days, every space is transformed into a fishing space. Whoever catches the largest fish (fishing is automatic) will get the largest bonus at the ceremony. During the harvest festival, spaces will change into ingredients; everyone works together to collect all of the ingredients needed for Franklin’s dish.

acaf-franklinI ended up winning my first game, and I was told that my happy points will be saved to my Amiibo. As I earn more, new outfits and emotions can be unlocked. How exciting. More importantly, I’ve unlocked the ability to play the board game in other months, to experience different seasons and events. There are also other modes to play, but I haven’t unlocked those just yet.

acaf-winnerSo how is the board game? In a word, boring. Choosing when to sell turnips and when to use your special cards is really the only semi-strategic moves you can make; everything else is just random. In that way, it’s much like a regular boring board game. And most of the time is spent waiting as the other characters make their moves. There aren’t any fun mini-games, at least not so far. This is nowhere near as fun as a Mario Party game.

acaf-toasterPerhaps the other modes will be better. But so far, this game seems like a dud. I do enjoy the graphics and the Animal Crossing charm. But that just makes me want a real Animal Crossing game. The graphics alone aren’t going to cut it.

I will have more coverage of the game in the coming weeks, including a video and likely more blog entries as I try out the other modes. I’ll eventually post a review as well, but not until I’ve thoroughly explored the game. So stay tuned!

Here is a gameplay video of the board game as it appears in the month of April. April Fool’s Day and Bunny Day (Easter) are shown.