Social NintenZone Social 4 - Bring It In, Guys!

[praline]

If you so much as question me I will transport my own fat into your body and make you feel the pain I have endured for years.



I'm over 450 lbs.

You're not on my level.

That's unsettling..

 

[Deleted member]

Why do some people dislike Xenoblade Chronicles X?

I've looked around and while the general reaction seems to be positive to very positive...

A lot of the complaints were issues I had with the first game or more relative things like soundtrack.

If I could sum it up in one sentence I'd say "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle."

Overall I felt like it was an "idea game." A game that combined a bunch of different ideas that sounded cool on paper, but ultimately didn't work too well together. It lacked overall focus in terms of design.

For starters, the MP aspect totally ruined many of the elements of the game, and was very unnecessary. Being able to create your own avatar was a huge step back from having a protagonist with his own goals and an actual personality. All the party members barring Elma, Lyn, and L were very forgettable, and even those three we very cliche and trope-riddled. Which, while the XC characters were also full of cliche's at least they were likeable. I didn't like ANY of the characters in X, and couldn't be brought to care about any of them in any significant way. This wasn't helped by the fact that the other party members are totally useless in combat, and serve no other purpose outside of being damage sponges.

The writing was also really really bad, as was the voice acting, which was borderline cringe-worthy most of the time. And the story, while having initial potential, really wasn't all that engaging, and becoming Saturday Morning cartoon tier in the later half when the Villain was introduced. Likewise, the chapter/mission based structure didn't help the exploration aspect of the game at all. It was really lame to find lifehold units while out exploring, and not be able to do anything with them because it was not part of that chapter yet. Despite finding those things being my core drive in the game. Having to sit through boring cutscenes when what you wanna do is play, and being forced to progress the game through narrative, rather than progress the narrative through game is NOT the way to design a game. Look at how Bloodborne weaved its brilliant narrative into the gameplay, how YOUR actions on the the world as you explore are what progress the story, and how story is a REWARD for progress, and for paying attention, subtle details in the world that TELL you about what's going on, rather than having lengthy dialogues about exposition mitigate your playtime, and be the driving force of what you're segwayed into doing. Better yet, look at how the first Xenoblade approached this issue, with the story being trigger base in response to you reaching certain parts of the world, or accomplishing certain goals. Presentation is often what makes a narrative compelling, not complex diatribes about science fiction, philosophy, and metaphysics. A simple story told well, is always MUCH better than a complex story told poorly. This was also one of the problems with Takahashi's first game, Xenogears, albeit for totally different reasons.

The exploration was also significantly worse than the last game, with having a full map of the continent already filled out for you ruining that sense of wonderment and discovery you got in the last game where you saw something off in the distance, and saw it become a significant landmark. I didn't really feel like I was out exploring an alien planet. Especially since everywhere I went, NPCs and player avatars littered the locale, ruining the sensation that I was pushing the limits of my colony and exploring the unknown.

The world was overall very dull and empty, with nothing but loot and monsters as far as they eye can see. No civilizations or towns to explore, and I get that this was done due to the story, but the story wasn't good anyway, and limiting your game design for the sake of story is a very bad idea to begin with. There was no way to interact with the world, since there were no physics, or anything really. You had not much in terms of hidden lore, or secret backstories, most of it was locked away in Side Missions, as opposed to a more effective method of delivering lore, like say Metroid Prime's scan visor, something which would have been perfect for a game like this (Mass Effect Andromeda certainly caught on). The world was pretty, I'll give you that, but the variety of environments was also very cliche, again, Metroid Prime gives us an example of taking cliche environments, and making them unique. That art direction was nice though, I can't criticize the visual aesthetic of the game as that was definitely the game's strongest suit. As was the level design, oftentimes maps and layouts would become obstacles to overcome in and of themselves. However, this didn't translate well into the game where many of these beautiful and intricately designed locations often rewarded their exploration with... well... nothing really. No hidden lore, or unique items... yeah, you had some secret bosses in very obvious locations, but they were more like challenges, rather than secrets. A lot of the caves and such just feel like a waste of time as you're not really rewarded with anything special for exploring. And the fact that all of the caves have the same generic music really goes and ruins the unique design and atmosphere of many, making them all feel samey despite them actually being very different and unique. This was slightly present in the last game as well, but I feel like the last game did a much better job at hiding its flaws by properly tying its world into its narrative, and sidequests. I felt like the Bionis/Mechonis were far more interesting to explore than mira, and not because it was a very imaginative world, but honestly, because of how that world was presented itself to me. Mira to me just felt like a very pretty backdrop with little to do. Kinda like a ride in a theme park, "look at all the pretty stuff, but don't go outside of these parameters because then the illusion is broken." For as big as the world was, there was a certain richness that was missing from it, something I've found much more present other open world games, and the biggest reason for this was the overall absence of LIFE to interact with in XCX. Even mediocre OW games like Fallout 4 manage to make their world feel vivid and alive by having tons of NPC and civilizations with their own cultures all with sidequests and so on and so forth to further explore the actual world itself and breathe actual life into it. Or take for example how the Elder Scrolls games (especially the older ones) have books you can literally pick up and read which further expand various aspects of the lore and immerse you further into the world. These little details are crucial for open world games, which is what XCX aims to be, but are totally missing here, and as a result the game feels lifeless. Other OW games reward players for paying attention, and taking interest in the world they're exploring, XCX on the other hand... really doesn't, thus making all exploration meaningless outside of a means to progress a very poorly written story. To further expand on this, this is also a huge lack on general activities to interact with and do in the world. Zelda games always give you minigames and such, as does GTA. Overall, there really isn't much to do in Mira outside of killing monsters, finding wreckage, and setting down probes, and that is a HUGE huge detriment. As well as the aforementioned lack of physics. Last game had similar failings, but again, the last game managed to hide them better, especially with the ability to raise your affinity with characters, and the stone things, and better side quest design, etc...

The combat is another issue I had with the game. I feel it's a dramatic step back from the combat in the last game. Party building is a cornerstone of the JRPG. Having different party members, with different skills, and different roles, and unique personalities is what makes JRPGs JRPGs. Moreover, since the first Final Fantasy, the fun in a JRPG has been building your party as a strategy to tackle the various problems and challenges presented by the game. XCX throws all this out the window by giving you a jack-of-all trades MC that can learn every skill. What was once strategy built around character development now becomes an MMO-like experience of finding the ideal build and skills that in many cases break the game through AP building to spam the Overdrive. The rest of the party, absolutely does NOT matter, and unique opportunities for party members are tossed out the window for generic humans with little to no personality, which was again, done for the sake of story, a terrible terrible move. Despite the different Actions functioning better in this game, and being more engaging with the QTE actions than the last game, I feel like omitting the team attacks from the last game really ruins what made the combat in XC a lot more interesting. With the way the combat is in XCX, there really is no point at all in even having a party. Game woulda been a lot better just solo tbh. In addition, the lack of physics is HUGELY apparent in the combat, making everything feel hollow, and pointless, with attacks that can kill you when you're way out of range. It again feels like and MMO game, but without the MMO aspect that makes those games fun. Again, the game just lacked overall focus, it did not know what it wanted to be. Contrast this to FFXV, where the combat feel meaty, and tangible, with each of your attacks carrying a lot of weight. Also, not how the combat in FFXV place a lot more focus on team attack, and how it weaved this into creating that sense of comradery between you and the rest of the party. I feel like FFXV is a perfect example of what the combat in XCX should have been, as they have a lot of similarities, it's just XV's combat is a lot more polished. And yeah, this is a gripe I also had with the last game, but at least in the last game, the team aspect and strategy of the combat felt a lot more engaging. That said, one would have hoped that going into the next generation, Monolith Soft would have taken the time to polish up the combat to make it feel a lot more fun to play overall, rather than adding the excessively needless amount of content and customization that they added that ultimately amounted to nothing but an utter grindfest that makes Monster Hunter look like Pokemon. Again, as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle.

The graphics are not something I can really complain about as they were as good as they could be for what the WiiU can handle, but GOOD GOD those models. Why is every human in this world so ugly? Especially the females who all look like they have some sort of mental handicap. Same can be said for the animation outside of combat. It's very janky. But again, WiiU hardware, and the environments are the prettiest I've seen in a while, but I'll let it slide.

You brought up the music, and yeah, the soundtrack is very hit or miss. Swanno was not a good pick for this game, but the environmental music was great. That said, my problem with the music isn't the songlist itself, but rather the pisspoor soundmixing in this game. I've already mentioned the caves being ruined by all of them having generic cave music in every single one, but the best example of what I mean is how horribly janky the transitioning in music is in the game. Like how activating the flight gear in your skell instantly kicks in the flying song, which is great for the first time you fly, but absolutely atmosphere ruining in other segments of the game. Especially when you're constantly flying and landing with your skell to explore locales. The song just kicks in and off again and again, and it's incredibly jarring.

Which brings me to I think my final point. The skell. This little thing is possibly the singlymost ruining aspect of the game. While I have my gripes with the combat in this game, it's still serviceable. It's still ok, and can be a lot of fun at times. However, the skell absolutely nullfies all that by taking what little engagement you had with the on foot combat, and turning it into a-spamfest-of-overpowered-cooldowns-to-make-something-dead. There is absolutely ZERO thinking or strategy to skell combat. It's just hit buttons again and again till something dies, and get out of range if you take too much damage. Yet, there is one more aspect of the game that is ruined by skells, one that is much more damning imo, and that's the exploration. The flight unit, and the vehicle mode absolutely make exploration a moot point. Wheras before exploration managed to be more engaging by a combination of the geography and enemy placement, forcing you the player to find alternate paths, or sneak around to avoid strong enemies, skells allow you to drive or fly past anything without having to worry much about taking damange, and combined with having a map on the bottom that shows everything, exploration is dumbed down into flying to the next probe location, landing, setting the probe, and flying away. Simple as that. If something is in your way, you kill it, of something is too strong, you fly away. End of story. When the entire crux of the game is built around exploration, you have to wonder why such a game-ruining mechanic is added to the game so early on. You can get the flight unit as early as chapter 10, well before you've managed to fully explore any of the continents, and haven't even had full access to two of them. Something like the skell and flight unit would have been much better reserved for postgame content, as a reward for fulfilling certain requirements, that are difficult to do, and require you to have explored secret locations of the map.

Anyway, that's all I can really think of for now, but overall I found XCX to be a massively disappointing game, and I huge step back from the first, which, while flawed in many respects (and massively overrated tbh), I still enjoyed quite a lot and would highly recommend to many. I can't say the same for XCX however. I didn't really enjoy the game very much, nor would I really recommend it to anyone unless they liked specific things, and even then, I would probably steer them to superior experiences like FFXV, Witcher III, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Armored Core, GTAV, or even the first Xenoblade. My experience with XCX pretty much came down to me waiting for the game to finally get good, and then realizing near the end that what I'd played till the was the whole game, and that it had nothing much offer really. Overall, I'd give XCX a 5/10, because there are aspects of the game which are serviceable, and many good concepts with a lot of potential. But the overall lack of focus in game design really hurt string a lot of these ideas together (like all of the MMO/online multiplayer components, and the character creation), and in many cases in fact hurt what the game is seemingly aiming to be: an open world JRPG with a focus on exploration of an alien world. I feel like XCX gets excessive and unjustified praise for being an ambitious and unique titles, and one of the few RPGs and notable games on the title-starved WiiU. And the game is ambitious, but that ambition in this case translates into a lack of focus, creating what I said at the beginning of this post: an experience that's an ocean wide but a puddle deep.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I'm over 450 lbs.

You're not on my level.

Thats not overweight, thats obese
Apparently for my height of 4 foot 9 and ****, being in the 150 range is overweight

that doesnt stop me from eating all the candy i want though. My teeth do that
And since I feel fine and healthy, I dont even try to loose weight

 

[Aurane]

Jesus @ManlySpirit spoiler that text wall.

That's unsettling..

And unhealthy.

 

[praline]

Jesus @ManlySpirit spoiler that text wall.

And unhealthy.

Well you added the second part which I didn't notice until now.

Yeah it is. How do you get that big? Sprry if I sound insensitive or something I'm just curious.

 

[Opossum]

Jesus @ManlySpirit spoiler that text wall.

And unhealthy.

I mean, text doesn't lag the page like images do. I don't think a spoiler tag is necessary.

Plus it's a pretty good read regardless.

 

[Volga]

Third Strike would like to have a word with you

*Fightcade urges intensify*

This brings up a question i'd like to ask street fighter vets.
any tips and tricks you wanna share to a newbie(i.e. Me!) to Street Fighter. I've played some of the games before(Third Strike,Iterations of 4) but I'm thinking about actually sitting down to learn the game. maybe just enough to learn a couple of combos here and there.

a buddy of mine was also friendly enough to let me borrow his copy of USF4,so I got something to start off from at least.

 

[Aurane]

Thats not overweight, thats obese
Apparently for my height of 4 foot 9 and ****, being in the 150 range is overweight

that doesnt stop me from eating all the candy i want though. My teeth do that
And since I feel fine and healthy, I dont even try to loose weight

I think you're just below double of what's average. I know I'm over twice the average. Not proud of it either, but I'm so deep into depression, I just don't care. You know what I mean.

Yeah it is. How do you get that big? Sprry if I sound insensitive or something I'm just curious.

Depression mostly.

 

[praline]

I'm like 6' 1" and it says I'm overweight. Do they ingore like muscle mass or something?

I think you're just below double of what's average. I know I'm over twice the average. Not proud of it either, but I'm so deep into depression, I just don't care. You know what I mean.

Depression mostly.

Sorry to hear that man, depression is a terrible thing.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I think you're just below double of what's average. I know I'm over twice the average. Not proud of it either, but I'm so deep into depression, I just don't care. You know what I mean.

Yeah I get that too

which is why I eat all the time. I eat all my feelings lol

I dont vent to people because why do they want to be bothered with me

So whats the closest thing

Food. Food never ignores or judges me

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Takaki did say that if he was given the opportunity to add Nintendo guests, he would like Peach and Samus to join the Senran Kagura roster.

But we all know how overprotective Nintendo are of Peach (Punch Out Wii anyone?) and they don't want her to be portrayed as impure. Then the Metroid fans would flip out if Samus is sexualized in any way, like her jet heels boots in Smash 4 (Don't ask, people found them dumb and that it makes her too girly when her new look was revealed).

 

[praline]

Man Shiinotic's dex entry is ****ing creepy.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Man Shiinotic's dex entry is ****ing creepy.

Oh oh I just got golbat and this was his entry in moon
"Sometimes they drink so much blood, they can't fly anymore. Then they fall to the ground and become food for other Pokémon."

 

[Wario Bros.]

Man Shiinotic's dex entry is ****ing creepy.

Oh oh I just got golbat and this was his entry in moon
"Sometimes they drink so much blood, they can't fly anymore. Then they fall to the ground and become food for other Pokémon."

I saw somewhere of a fan theory I loved:

The reason Sun & Moon's dex entries is so dark/weird is because the Rotom inside the Pokédex is simply ****ing with us.

 

[praline]

Oh oh I just got golbat and this was his entry in moon
"Sometimes they drink so much blood, they can't fly anymore. Then they fall to the ground and become food for other Pokémon."

Sun and Moons dex entries are like all around dark.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I saw somewhere of a fan theory I loved:

The reason Sun & Moon's dex entries is so dark/weird is because the Rotom inside the Pokédex is simply ****ing with us.

I mean, he called Ilima a dreamboat( Which he is) So I wouldn't doubt he is

 

[praline]

I saw somewhere of a fan theory I loved:

The reason Sun & Moon's dex entries is so dark/weird is because the Rotom inside the Pokédex is simply ****ing with us.

Well Rotom is a ghost and there's are all around dark.

 

[Chrono.]

Sun and Moons dex entries are like all around dark.

Idk.

Drampa's Moon entry is pretty heartwarming, as is Araquanid's.

 

[Aurane]

I saw somewhere of a fan theory I loved:

The reason Sun & Moon's dex entries is so dark/weird is because the Rotom inside the Pokédex is simply ****ing with us.

I don't like that theory. Its too innocent.

I believe Rotom is trying to teach the trainer the real yet dark side of Pokémon so that they grow up a wiser trainer.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Takaki did say that if he was given the opportunity to add Nintendo guests, he would like Peach and Samus to join the Senran Kagura roster.

But we all know how overprotective Nintendo are of Peach (Punch Out Wii anyone?) and they don't want her to be portrayed as impure. Then the Metroid fans would flip out if Samus is sexualized in any way, like her jet heels boots in Smash 4 (Don't ask, people found them dumb and that it makes her too girly when her new look was revealed).

Yet Melee got away with trophy pantyshots. Then there's the outfits in the Mario Strikers games (Daisy's hot stuff says hi!).

Also

>Implying Metroid fans don't like her Zero Suit.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Speaking of Ilima

Spoiler

 

[praline]

Idk.

Drampa's Moon entry is pretty heartwarming, as is Araquanid's.

Araquanid:

"Despite what its appearance suggests, it cares for others. If it finds vulnerable, weak Pokémon, it protectively brings them into its water bubble."

"It delivers headbutts with the water bubble on its head. Small Pokémon get sucked into the bubble, where they drown."

So heartwarming.

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

Yet Melee got away with trophy pantyshots. Then there's the outfits in the Mario Strikers games (Daisy's hot stuff says hi!).

Also

>Implying Metroid fans don't like her Zero Suit.

>Mentions the female Striker costumes

>Doesn't bring up Waluigi's sexy crotch chopping in the same game.

How dare you.

 

[MF Viewtiful]

*Fightcade urges intensify*

This brings up a question i'd like to ask street fighter vets.
any tips and tricks you wanna share to a newbie(i.e. Me!) to Street Fighter. I've played some of the games before(Third Strike,Iterations of 4) but I'm thinking about actually sitting down to learn the game. maybe just enough to learn a couple of combos here and there.

a buddy of mine was also friendly enough to let me borrow his copy of USF4,so I got something to start off from at least.

There's actually quite a few resources for both Super Turbo and Third Strike out there. The Shoryuken wiki actually has a health amount of info for both games.

http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Super_Street_Fighter_2_Turbo http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Street_Fighter_3:_3rd_Strike

Some YT channels for to follow include:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sf3lp https://www.youtube.com/user/moonlitearthx14 for 3S
https://www.youtube.com/user/eltrouble for ST

The most important thing I could say about learning about learning these games is to use the documentation available and to just get yourself playing ASAP. Luckily both these games have emulator based training modes available to get familiar with your character and the general game feel.

Spoiler: Training modes

http://pof.eslack.org/2014/04/22/ssf2t-the-quest-for-the-perfect-training-mode/

I'm usually down to play anytime with just around anyone too. Have fun with this by the way. It takes some effort to get into, but it's really worth it in my opinion.

Edit The moonlitearth channel also has a nice list of USF4 character intros too if you need something to work with for that game.

 

[Roaring Salsa]

If the National Pokédex gets added with the Pokébank update, Rotom's dex entry is a must see right away

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Araquanid:

"Despite what its appearance suggests, it cares for others. If it finds vulnerable, weak Pokémon, it protectively brings them into its water bubble."

"It delivers headbutts with the water bubble on its head. Small Pokémon get sucked into the bubble, where they drown."

So heartwarming.

"It has a compassionate personality, but if it is angered, it completely destroys its surroundings with its intense breath"

Yeah thats pretty cute

 

[Chrono.]

Araquanid:

"Despite what its appearance suggests, it cares for others. If it finds vulnerable, weak Pokémon, it protectively brings them into its water bubble."

"It delivers headbutts with the water bubble on its head. Small Pokémon get sucked into the bubble, where they drown."

So heartwarming.

The latter one is Sun's entry, which is why I specified Moon.

 

[praline]

The latter one is Sun's entry, which is why I specified Moon.

Hey you can't know without the full picture.

 

[Deleted member]

Takaki did say that if he was given the opportunity to add Nintendo guests, he would like Peach and Samus to join the Senran Kagura roster.

But we all know how overprotective Nintendo are of Peach (Punch Out Wii anyone?) and they don't want her to be portrayed as impure. Then the Metroid fans would flip out if Samus is sexualized in any way, like her jet heels boots in Smash 4 (Don't ask, people found them dumb and that it makes her too girly when her new look was revealed).

.....Peach and Samus don't really fit that world, though.....

Kat & Ana would be better, but putting kindergartners in that kind of setting is....um.....

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

>Mentions the female Striker costumes

>Doesn't bring up Waluigi's sexy crotch chopping in the same game.

How dare you.

I don't know, crotch chopping is pretty tame compared to an attractive female character literally sizzling her fingers on her rump.

But yes, how dare I for forgetting about our Purple Lord and Savior.

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

.....Peach and Samus don't really fit that world, though.....

Kat & Ana would be better, but putting kindergartners in that kind of setting is....um.....

Yeah, it would pretty uncomfortable to have those two in the game considering their age....

Unless they were to receive an older redesign just for that game. But they wouldn't very recognizable for some WarioWare fans.

Assuming newest Peach Beach Splash trailer is accurate, Kagura got be playable in her unsealed form (making her the first playable loli in the series).

Spoiler: Heavy Deep Crimson Spoilers

Unless they would just have her True Form playable in the final game (like with Estival Versus) with her other forms only being story related cameos.

 

[praline]

Takaki did say that if he was given the opportunity to add Nintendo guests, he would like Peach and Samus to join the Senran Kagura roster.

But we all know how overprotective Nintendo are of Peach (Punch Out Wii anyone?) and they don't want her to be portrayed as impure. Then the Metroid fans would flip out if Samus is sexualized in any way, like her jet heels boots in Smash 4 (Don't ask, people found them dumb and that it makes her too girly when her new look was revealed).

What is this Senran Kagura. Also I liked Samus' jet boots.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

What is this Senran Kagura

You wanna see girls clothing get ripped off while fighting? play Senran Kagura

 

[praline]

You wanna see girls clothing get ripped off while fighting? play Senran Kagura

I just looked it up. It's basically a big breasted softcore porn fighting game?

 

[AwesomeAussie27]

I just looked it up. It's basically a big breasted softcore porn fighting game?

Beat em up to be exact.

But some titles do have rumble mode for one on one or two vs. two fights.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I just looked it up. It's basically a big breasted softcore porn fighting game?

There is one male character too.

But he's only available in the second game if you have save data from the first title.

Takaki stated he got his inspiration from boy magazines for his animations.

 

[Aurane]

"It has a compassionate personality, but if it is angered, it completely destroys its surroundings with its intense breath"

Plot twist. Drampa's breath is the Thu'um and he's actually just yelling at everyone.

 

[Champ Gold]

There is one male character too.

But he's only available in the second game if you have save data from the first title.

Takaki stated he got his inspiration from boy magazines for his animations.

Well there's also Baseball-kun but he's more of a super side character and he's really only exclusive to Asuka

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Well there's also Baseball-kun but he's more of a super side character and he's really only exclusive to Asuka

And let's not forget Hanzo and Master Kiriya. Two wise powerful old shinobi that will never be playable unlike Asuka's grandmother.

Oh, I saw what you did there with that last statement.

 

[Burruni]

What is this Senran Kagura. Also I liked Samus' jet boots.

Senran Kagura's a hack-and-slash akin to DMC or, hell, Dynasty Warriors.
Made iconic by it's buxom female cast with DoA:E level jiggling and stretching "Ninjas" thinner than Naruto did.
In all the best ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rn9HhKGht8
This'll sell you one way or the other.