Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review

Introduction
Today we are going to look at Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This means that we are also going to see which game is better. What is Xenoblade Chronicles 2 about? This game is very different as opposed to Xenoblade 1 while also building upon the old mechanics. Battle works mostly the same except for having blades. What are blades you ask? We will try to answer what the blades are in the gameplay section.
Have you not read yet Xenoblade Chronicles 1? Find the review here:
https://www.reviewsbysupersven.com/2021/03/17/xenoblade-chronicles-1-review

In Xenoblade Chronicles 2 everyone lives on top of Titans. These titans wander through the cloud sea, a seemingly endless abyss of clouds. Rex is a salvager that dives into the cloud sea for treasures. Rex gets wrapped up in some nasty business involving the Aegis, which is most likely another monado. But what is a monado exactly?

What did I think before playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2?

Due to having more fun with Xenoblade Chronicles 1 than both my wife and I had expected we were looking for another great game. We knew that both games took place in different dimensions but at the same time. We learned of blades and the gacha system. I let these words ring once more in my head, gacha system. All I could think at this moment, just why? I picked up my hopes and said, it must be a good system with great odds if this embedded a single-player role-playing game!

The Nintendo Page

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/xenoblade-chronicles-2-switch/
We quickly went to the Nintendo page for more information. We liked that the arts made a comeback from Xenoblade Chronicles 1. I was also glad that the strategic battles made a comeback. It seems all the titans have a different ecosystem, I just hope that the affinity system from Xenoblade Chronicles 1 does not make a comeback. If it does come back, I hope it works better but let’s be honest it cannot be worse.

Rating
I rate Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with an 8.5 before playing.
The gacha system troubled me quite a lot but Xenoblade Chronicles 1 was great. How bad could this gacha system be?

Story

The story follows the adventures of the young adult Rex. He is just enjoying his life on the back of a titan called Gramps. Rex works as a salvager and sells his loot at the trade guild. One day when Rex arrives at the trade guild the leader of the trade guild offers Rex a special job. This job would offer him 100k gold beforehand! Rex needs to work with people that use blades but the mission is secret.

When Rex learns about the money he eagerly accepts the money to send it back to his hometown, Fonset Village. Rex leaves for the job along with other salvagers, apparently, his job is to find something in a lost ship in the cloud sea. When the ship is accessible the people that hired Rex, ask that he comes with them. It seems there is a door that only Rex can open. Rex finds a rare artifact but at the moment he touches this artifact, one of the people that hired Rex, stabs him in the back through his heart. It seems Rex is dead, is this the end of the story?

Rating
I rate the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with an 8.5
The beginning and the end of the story are amazing of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There are some great moments in the middle but it was not as good as Xenoblade Chronicles 1.

Gameplay

The gameplay works very differently compared to Xenoblade Chronicles 1 but also uses the same elements. Just as in any other roleplaying game you will level up when killing enemies or completing quests. This time around, the experience from discovering areas and completing quests can be gained when resting at an inn. The same logic applies when battling enemies, if they are too high level the indicator becomes red. This means you cannot defeat that enemy unless using equipment that increases accuracy.

The biggest difference in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the blade system. This is one awful system that I completely despise. Blades can be summoned using core crystals. There is a random chance you will get a named blade. All other common blades have odd weird names. The chance of getting a named blade is extremely low. Even when you are using the legendary core crystals. I tried to get a blade called KOS-MOS and after using 400 legendary crystals and over 500 rare crystals, we both gave up. The worst part is that we do not even have all blades yet after using that many core crystals.

How to battle using blades in Xenoblade Chronicles 2

How do battles work in Xenoblade Chronicles 2? You will need a blade equipped. Your main blade will be Pyra but as the story progresses, you will be able to equip up to three blades. When entering a battle your character will start auto-attacking. These attacks will amp up your arts. When your arts are ready from attacking enough you can unleash these arts on your foe. Each blade has an element, your weapon will be the element that your blade uses. All blades have different arts and can apply different status effects. Topple is still a good option but this time around you can also launch your enemy and then smash them to the ground. Smashing your enemy will grant you bonus loot.

You can still take only three party members with you into battle but all your party members will have a blade active. Your blade can also unleash special attacks, these special attacks can be charged by using arts. This means that when enough arts are used you can unleash your special attack. Special attacks can be charged up to the fourth level. To charge the fourth level you will need to have max affinity in battle. The affinity can be charged by battling, max affinity is reached when the line between you and your blade has a golden color. There are even more advanced moves that you will learn while playing this game.

Is Xenoblade Chronicles 2 an open-world game?

This game is once again a semi-open-world but there are some flaws here. Many paths are blocked by field skills. These field skills can be learned by blades but this is once again where the gacha system comes in. You will need the correct blades with high-level skills. This means that you need to train the affinity system with many blades, even though it is easier this time around it. This is not the concept of fun.

As you progress through the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 you will unlock more cites.. These cities must be developed by buying and selling items. Clearing quests will also help a great deal. You can salvage in this game to earn giant loads of money and increase your development level.
As your development level increases, more items will be available. Some items will only be unlocked by completing mercenary missions. This means that you need to send blades on a mission by themself. You will unlock this option quite far into the game. After buying all items in the shop you can buy the deeds for permanent upgrades.

Rating
I rate the gameplay of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with a 7.0
Even though I like combat and exploring a lot, I think the game relies too much on the gacha system. This is just not fun.

Sound and Graphics

Graphics
The graphics are great, I love the action cut scenes but the graphics from Xenoblade Chronicles 1 are much better. There was one huge problem with the cutscenes. The synching between hearing the characters speak and their mouths moving was completely out of whack. A little difference is no problem but you saw their mouths move even when there was no one speaking.

Sounds
The sound was impressive but it did get repetitive after a while, especially during long battles. I dislike hearing, double spinning edge, nonstop.

Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Xenoblade Chronicles with a 7.0
The synching was extremely out of whack, I almost needed to look away when the characters were talking. This is extremely annoying for anyone watching the cutscenes.

What did I think after playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2?

Even though we have played Xenoblade chronicles for a long time to try and gather all blades, we were unsuccessful.
The skill system is very simplified in this game in exchange for more skills for the blades. This means that every single blade needs to be grinded.
This along with the gacha system was extremely grindy.

There were also hearts to hearts and even though they have no affinity requirements this time around, they can still be hard to get to. As some of the heart to hearts are locked behind high-level field skills.
I was just glad at the end that we decided to quit and move on to the next game but we did have a lot of fun.

Rating
I rate Xenoblade Chronicles with a 7.0 after playing.
Even though grinding is normal in roleplaying games, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes it to the max and notches it up even more. I don’t mind grinding much but this game was just not fun because it feels impossible to gather all the blades.

My personal Thoughts about Xenoblade Chronicles 2

All I have to say is that I was glad this game had ended after playing over 200 hours in 2 different files.
This game has great fun points but also horrible ones like the gacha system.

My personal rating of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a 7.5

Last Words

Pro’s
– Xenoblade Chronicles 2 builds upon battle elements from Xenoblade Chronicles 1 like the toppling.
– The beginning and the end of the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are amazing.
– The salvaging minigame is fun to do and can earn you lots of gold.
– the blades that you get for quests are a great idea that should have been available for all blades.
– The DLC adds Shulk and Fiora to the side story.
– The affinity and development level have been improved to be less grindy.
– A large world with many areas to explore.

Cons
– The gacha system is a horrible system in a role-playing game.
– Blocked areas in the world that you need field skills for.
– The Nopons no longer say, Mieeeeeep?
– The character’s voices and mouths are very badly synched.


I would recommend Xenoblade Chronicles 2 even though bad decisions have been made. We still put in over 200 hours in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
The final rating for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is …Drumroll…

7.6

Let me know what you think of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in the comments.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!