Heir to the Monado. Shulk General Discussion/Social Thread

[Cereal Bawks]

Oh, I loved the way Xenoblade looked. I just meant we'd get to see him in high-polygon HD stuffs, which would be awesome.

 

[Banjodorf]

Oh, I loved the way Xenoblade looked. I just meant we'd get to see him in high-polygon HD stuffs, which would be awesome.

Oh, I get that then. I just see some people complaining about the game's graphics, and I'm like "It's...it's on the Wii. Are you ****ing stupid? Sometimes I even forget it's on the Wii."

But yeah, I'm so hyped for that. Although if he's in, we probably have to wait a bit unless he gets a trailer, cuz all we'd have for a while is 3DS Shulk, which honestly still sounds awesome.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Going off of that "Monado can't hurt people" and such, the only potential problem I see with Shulk's playability could be the Monado's length. It seems like it would be difficult to balance a character who primarily fights with a weapon of that size.

Difficult. Far from impossible, of course. I seriously doubt that Shulk would be denied for that reason, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure that he couldn't be. Needless to say, that would really suck.

 

[SmashChu]

Going off of that "Monado can't hurt people" and such, the only potential problem I see with Shulk's playability could be the Monado's length. It seems like it would be difficult to balance a character who primarily fights with a weapon of that size.

Difficult. Far from impossible, of course. I seriously doubt that Shulk would be denied for that reason, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure that he couldn't be. Needless to say, that would really suck.

It wouldn't be the first time a character had a long weapon.

 

[Raetah]

Going off of that "Monado can't hurt people" and such, the only potential problem I see with Shulk's playability could be the Monado's length. It seems like it would be difficult to balance a character who primarily fights with a weapon of that size.

Difficult. Far from impossible, of course. I seriously doubt that Shulk would be denied for that reason, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure that he couldn't be. Needless to say, that would really suck.

Comparing, Ragnell is actually longer than the first Monado when is not activated, this comparison means little though, because activated Monado almost doubles length. Solution to this is simple, SSB4 could use a 60%-70% sized Monado comparing to the original size of Xenoblade wich would be approximately Ragnell size.

 

[Big-Cat]

I dunno why people didn't like Xenoblade's graphics. I thought they were awesome, especially for the scale, and being on the Wii.

Though I am excited to see Shulk in HD if he's in, so I do get that.

The scale alone makes up for any of the graphics flaws.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

For me it was all about aesthetics.

What Xenoblade lacked in grunt power, it more than made up for with it's style, atmosphere and grandeur.

It's like comparing Xenoblade to a PS4/Xbox One game set in BrownLand. Sure, BrownLand has "better graphics" but it's not what I want to be looking at.

 

[FlareHabanero]

Going off of that "Monado can't hurt people" and such, the only potential problem I see with Shulk's playability could be the Monado's length. It seems like it would be difficult to balance a character who primarily fights with a weapon of that size.

Difficult. Far from impossible, of course. I seriously doubt that Shulk would be denied for that reason, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure that he couldn't be. Needless to say, that would really suck.

Keep in mind that the weapon has a standard length when doing normal attacks, it only becomes ridiculously long when doing certain attacks like Monado Buster. But the large length can be properly balance, and Shulk isn't the only example of such a character, Marth and Ike also have long range with their attacks; Marth in particular puts special emphasis on that with the mechanics of his Falchion.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Keep in mind that the weapon has a standard length when doing normal attacks, it only becomes ridiculously long when doing certain attacks like Monado Buster. But the large length can be properly balance, and Shulk isn't the only example of such a character, Marth and Ike also have long range with their attacks; Marth in particular puts special emphasis on that with the mechanics of his Falchion.

Well even at normal length, Shulk's weapon is taller than he is by a fair bit. Really, the (potential) problem isn't the length by itself. Shulk generally fights using slashes with a wide arc. For any Monado slash that happens to be vertical, that translates into an outrageously large hitbox.

I don't think the Monado needs to be scaled down or anything like that, but his moves need to be designed carefully to ensure that none of them are too powerful as an option and to be sure that they're distinct from one another and the movesets of other characters.

For me it was all about aesthetics.

What Xenoblade lacked in grunt power, it more than made up for with it's style, atmosphere and grandeur.

It's like comparing Xenoblade to a PS4/Xbox One game set in BrownLand. Sure, BrownLand has "better graphics" but it's not what I want to be looking at.

I can't impressed with "next gen graphics" until the moment I see anything for PS4/XB1 that even approaches the visual appeal of Journey or Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

 

[CardiganBoy]

Going off of that "Monado can't hurt people" and such, the only potential problem I see with Shulk's playability could be the Monado's length. It seems like it would be difficult to balance a character who primarily fights with a weapon of that size.

Difficult. Far from impossible, of course. I seriously doubt that Shulk would be denied for that reason, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure that he couldn't be. Needless to say, that would really suck.

I actually thought about that too, but as you i never got worried about it, because the monado is quite inconsistent in it's size, let's see some official art:

Spoiler

Now the second:

Spoiler

In the second image the circular part of the Monado is smaller than Shulk's head, just as the whole sword, while in the first its bigger, so i guess the Monado could be resized just fine for SSB4, just like Ike's and Link's sword have been resized too.


Also the "Monado can't hurt people" argument is pretty dumb, The Monado is suppose to not hurt the successors of certain one, plus a lot of characters have done things in Smash that they aren't able in their games, like Sonic swimming, but it was done for reasons of gameplay.

 

[ZXMechonHunter]

"The Monado can't cut people, so Shulk shouldn't be in Smash"
Translation:
"I'm gonna ruin my hands grasping at all these straws"

 

[FlareHabanero]

Spoiler

The Monado gains the ability to hurt Homs (technically creatures born on Bionis, but Story and Gameplay Segregation) during the middle of the game, and near the end it gains the ability to slay gods.

 

[Deleted member]

"The Monado can't cut people, so Shulk shouldn't be in Smash"
Translation:
"I'm gonna ruin my hands grasping at all these straws"

I really hate those kind of arguments. It's just as bad as saying that K. Rool is owned by Rare. It's grasping for straws to try to justify for yourself that they won't get in Smash.

Spoiler

The Monado gains the ability to hurt Homs (technically creatures born on Bionis, but Story and Gameplay Segregation) during the middle of the game, and near the end it gains the ability to slay gods.

Spoiler

It would be kinda funny to see Shulk do extra damage to Palutena.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Blargh. I'm only partway through the game and I just read those spoiler tags. I forgot that they can also be used for actual spoilers.

Ah well. Those spoilers don't seem like much of a big deal without the proper context, anyhow.

 

[Hype Train]

Blargh. I'm only partway through the game and I just read those spoiler tags. I forgot that they can also be used for actual spoilers.

Ah well. Those spoilers don't seem like much of a big deal without the proper context, anyhow.

Trust me, you know nothing.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Good good. Although I kinda figured. I was mostly just chastising myself for clicking on the big yellow button for no other reason than that it's a big yellow button despite this being a thread where "spoiler" actually means something to me.

 

[CardiganBoy]

Good good. Although I kinda figured. I was mostly just chastising myself for clicking on the big yellow button for no other reason than that it's a big yellow button despite this being a thread where "spoiler" actually means something to me.

That's why i avoided this thread until i finished the game, but i was hard, so i ended up taking a look, and luckily i didn't find any spoiler on the few pages i saw, but it's great to finally talk about Shulk's possibilities without any worries.

 

[Deleted member]

I came to this thread to show my support for Shulk after when I first played the game.
I was lucky to not find any Spoilers...
I think that you need to beat Xenoblade or come close to beating it to know exactly what Shulk could do in Smash.

 

[TeenGirlSquad]

So what's the personality like on this guy?

 

[DaDavid]

So what's the personality like on this guy?

First, awesome Homestar Runner reference for your profile.

Second, he's pretty tough to describe as easily as some other characters, but he's basically a fairly cool-tempered, driven person. He isn't angsty like many JRPG protagonists but he does exhibit anger and hatred for those who have hurt him or his loved ones. It's weird to define his personality though because it actually develops as you play through the game, but ends up being pretty well put together "generic" hero with good heroic qualities.

 

[Hype Train]

So what's the personality like on this guy?

Yeah, this is a weird question to ask considering how much story and character progression there is in Xenoblade. It's not like Shulk stays the same throughout the game as DaDavid pointed out. Not to mention, this is mostly subjective and up to interpretation.

If you wanted to take an objective look at it though, your best bet would be to look at the titles given to the five skill trees Shulk develops in the game. They do a good job of defining each characters' personalities. For Shulk, his five skill trees are:

• Bravery
• Integrity
• Humanity
• Intuition
  
• Pessimism

So basically, he's a courageous, principled, compassionate, and clever guy that has a tendency to doubt his abilities.

Besides that, I'd like to add that he starts off relatively frail and dependent on others, but becomes increasingly more independent as he grows stronger.

I'd say this is a fair summary of what he's like, but again, it's up for interpretation.

 

[Neo Zero]

With the whole range thing coming up, it could simply work like a Beam Sword. The stronger the attack used, the longer the blade would be.

Speaking of moveset, I was thinking about this earlier. B, Side B and Up B would be arts Shulk can use. His Down B however would let him enter Monado mode, changing his other three B moves and amplifying his A attacks. It would last for X amount of seconds, and when used, you'd have to recharge it before you can use it again.

EDIT: Before anyone says it btw, it wouldn't be a transformation, but a power up, so it's fair game.

 

[Cereal Bawks]

So it's sorta like Little Mac's power thingy? I think that'd be pretty cool.

 

[SkittleE]

That's why i avoided this thread until i finished the game, but i was hard, so i ended up taking a look, and luckily i didn't find any spoiler on the few pages i saw, but it's great to finally talk about Shulk's possibilities without any worries.

As soon as I heard Gaur Plain's music I immediately had to go look it up on Youtube, and in the process of listening to (and loving) the entire soundtrack, I couldn't help but read comments, which basically spoiled the entire game for me. It's a real testament to the game that I still got my mind blown all over the walls by the plot twists.

 

[foolssigma]

I spoiled part of Kid Icarus Uprising after looking up some of the game's music. After that I learned my lesson to pretty much avoid searching specific aspects of a game online if I want to stay spoiler free. This thread has been pretty good so far about avoiding major spoilers.

 

[MangoTwist]

I spoiled part of Kid Icarus Uprising after looking up some of the game's music. After that I learned my lesson to pretty much avoid searching specific aspects of a game online if I want to stay spoiler free. This thread has been pretty good so far about avoiding major spoilers.

That's funny. I'm playing through both Kid Icarus (for the first time) and Xenoblade right now. I had high expectations for Icarus, but I still enjoy
Xenoblade more.

I could see Shulk getting a gauge of some sort for himself kinda like how Mac got one. Also, I find it interesting that "site:smashbros.com Shulk" brings up results on Google.

 

[Hype Train]

Yeah, I got the game spoiled a bunch for me too when I was listening to its music, watching LP's, and browsing forums. It's a bit frustrating when it happens, but really, reading about these plot twists and actually seeing them unfold are two completely different things. Mere words don't do justice to some of the stuff that happens in this game, you gotta see these things for yourself (this is partly why I don't think Seven being shown off as an AT would be that big of a deal).

I could see Shulk getting a gauge of some sort for himself kinda like how Mac got one. Also, I find it interesting that "site:smashbros.com Shulk" brings up results on Google.

I'm really fond of the Talent Gauge idea proposed earlier. Not only does it help further differentiate him from other swordsmen in the game, but I find it does a good job of representing how the Monado works in Xenoblade.

 

[Sonic Poke]

Spoiler

I don't know, but, to me, these plains in the top of the expansive battlefield of smash run are too Xenoblade...

Spoiler

 

[Deleted member]

Spoiler

I don't know, but, to me, these plains in the top of the expansive battlefield of smash run are too Xenoblade...

Spoiler

Looking at it more, I can see it remind me of the green fields of Gaur Plains and Colony 9. I wish these areas in Smash Run represented another game within each section...

The red portal at the top looks similar to the Monado to me.

 

[CardiganBoy]

As soon as I heard Gaur Plain's music I immediately had to go look it up on Youtube, and in the process of listening to (and loving) the entire soundtrack, I couldn't help but read comments, which basically spoiled the entire game for me. It's a real testament to the game that I still got my mind blown all over the walls by the plot twists.

Same here, through the whole game i wanted to hear the music in Youtube, but at the same time i had to resist the temptation.
But yeah, the game just holds up so many elements that you can still enjoy it at it's fullest.

 

[Spazzy_D]

So, as I said before, I've been replaying Xenoblade, and I am around 35 hours in now. I just got to Valak mountain...and upon exiting the game my Wii U stated that my Wii internal memory was corrupted.

I reset and was able to access my save data and copy it to an SD card...but I was so sad guys. So very, very, sad.

Replaying the game makes me think of so many possible stages. I never really thought Eryth Sea was a great idea until I replayed it with smash in mind. It's a very unique looking area, and I could see any of the transport platforms being ideal fighting spots. Maybe you could even teleport around to different platforms.....

 

[Big-Cat]

I think a traveling stage would be best and you get to visit all the locations.

 

[Snagrio]

I've remained relatively spoiler free, but I'm having doubts that I'll ever finish the game, at least before Smash comes out. So unless I can somehow pull through, I'll probably just read the plot online at some point.

 

[Spazzy_D]

I just hope it's not

I've remained relatively spoiler free, but I'm having doubts that I'll ever finish the game, at least before Smash comes out. So unless I can somehow pull through, I'll probably just read the plot online at some point.

How far are you into the game? It gets really engrossing about 15-20 hours in, and it kicks into an additional gear about half way through. I only had about 10 hours played for a few months, then went back and really got into it.

 

[CardiganBoy]

I've remained relatively spoiler free, but I'm having doubts that I'll ever finish the game, at least before Smash comes out. So unless I can somehow pull through, I'll probably just read the plot online at some point.

In what part of the game you are?
I'm more than sure you can finish the game before SSB4 comes out (or Shulk's reveal in that case )
Unless you are doing sidequests, wich takes a lot of time.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I think I'm halfway through Xenoblade near the lvl 50s, is that the middle of the game?

 

[DustyPumpkin]

I think I'm halfway through Xenoblade near the lvl 50s, is that the middle of the game?

I want to say no
But idk I spent so much time exploring I'm not even sure what counted as halfway

 

[Snagrio]

I'm in Sword Valley, right at the battle against "Metal Face" where he's accompanied by a hoard of Xords. I have an underleveled problem due to not doing sidequests enough (I fight plenty of enemies, but that doesn't seem to be cutting it). I'm just not into doing a bunch of sidequests in games in favor of advancing the main story, which is undoubtedly why I haven't finished this yet.

It also explains why I've barely played any Zelda games...

 

[Banjodorf]

I think I'm halfway through Xenoblade near the lvl 50s, is that the middle of the game?

Yes? I was roughly 51 when I got to Sword Valley, with minimal grinding.

I dunno about halfway, but it's somewhere near there.

 

[SkittleE]

I'm in Sword Valley, right at the battle against "Metal Face" where he's accompanied by a hoard of Xords. I have an underleveled problem due to not doing sidequests enough (I fight plenty of enemies, but that doesn't seem to be cutting it). I'm just not into doing a bunch of sidequests in games in favor of advancing the main story, which is undoubtedly why I haven't finished this yet.

It also explains why I've barely played any Zelda games...

I didn't do any sidequests at all my first time playing the game. Needless to say, I had a pretty tough time too. It is definitely possible, though. Try switching up your team, other party combinations might work better and such. You might still need to grind a little bit, though. Metal Face is level 52, right? So level 51-52 is a good place to be.