Social Shulk Social : Starting to feel it!

[Berserker.]

Just going to throw it out there but I'm glad there haven't been any double posts so far in this thread to be specific (Sometimes, I have "double post" to bump threads up for discussion).

Anyway, intentional double posts will not be tolerated. ty. Hope you guys are still feeling it

 

[wizardto1]

Also

Spoiler

I know why Zanza became a god but why Meyeth?

 

[yaystrawberrypie]

Hi, I'm new to the thread, and have been lurking since the original social thread! I also decided to main shulk since I saw the trailer! I dedicated my summer two years ago to Xenoblade and have beaten it and also beat all the super bosses! Also at wizardto1:

Spoiler

Everyone who was touching the computer that Zanza was operating on( Zanaza, Meyneth and Alvis the computer AI) all became gods of the Xenoblade universe.

 

[Burgundy]

http://mynintendonews.com/2015/02/25/theres-no-japanese-voice-track-in-xenoblade-chronicles-3d/

A shame we won't have the option. :/
Also welcome @ yaystrawberrypie

 

[AlvisCPU]

Also

Spoiler

I know why Zanza became a god but why Meyeth?

Spoiler

I assumed it was because she was physically close to him when it happened.

We don't know the specifics of the experiment situation. Best guess is that it affected those in proximity of the computer system and/or Klaus, depending on whether the system cares about who presses the button.

I would actually love to know more about that experiment and the theory on how it's supposed to work. Science, *******.

Hi, I'm new to the thread, and have been lurking since the original social thread! I also decided to main shulk since I saw the trailer! I dedicated my summer two years ago to Xenoblade and have beaten it and also beat all the super bosses! Also at wizardto1:

Spoiler

Everyone who was touching the computer that Zanza was operating on( Zanaza, Meyneth and Alvis the computer AI) all became gods of the Xenoblade universe.

You caught that craziness? Good times... (and welcome!)
I joined up to Smashboards purely for that thread.

Just going to throw it out there but I'm glad there haven't been any double posts so far in this thread to be specific (Sometimes, I have "double post" to bump threads up for discussion).

Anyway, intentional double posts will not be tolerated. ty. Hope you guys are still feeling it

May as well ask while it's a point of topic...
Is it ever okay to intentionally double-post? I understand that the rule's there so you don't get someone spamming five messages in a row, and I'm happy to follow it, though sometimes I think that surely there are cases where it can be appropriate. I know sometimes I'll post about something, come back five hours later wanting to post about something else but no one else has since posted. I think to myself "since this is completely unrelated to what I've already posted, surely this would be much more appropriate as a different post", though I'll edit it in because I read the rules when I signed up. I get that you're not the one making the rules and I understand that total ban stops ambiguity on what is/isn't acceptable, just... you know... sometimes I think about these things. (This is kind of turning into more of a statement than a question, heh.)

 

[Berserker.]

May as well ask while it's a point of topic...
Is it ever okay to intentionally double-post? I understand that the rule's there so you don't get someone spamming five messages in a row, and I'm happy to follow it, though sometimes I think that surely there are cases where it can be appropriate. I know sometimes I'll post about something, come back five hours later wanting to post about something else but no one else has since posted. I think to myself "since this is completely unrelated to what I've already posted, surely this would be much more appropriate as a different post", though I'll edit it in because I read the rules when I signed up. I get that you're not the one making the rules and I understand that total ban stops ambiguity on what is/isn't acceptable, just... you know... sometimes I think about these things. (This is kind of turning into more of a statement than a question, heh.)

Unless there's a valid reason to double post (Like I said, if you need to bump a thread), it's alright to do it

 

[Xelha__]

~no Japanese voices in XBC3D~
A shame we won't have the option. :/
Also welcome @ yaystrawberrypie

More options are nice, but what kind of monster would ever switch off of the glorious English accented voice acting that Xenoblade's English dub had?

 

[AlvisCPU]

More options are nice, but what kind of monster would ever switch off of the glorious English accented voice acting that Xenoblade's English dub had?

It's funny - I've noticed a shift. Back when Xenoblade was released, I was noticing that about 30-40% of non-Japanese people preferred the Japanese voices. Now, I've seen several people saying "why would you even want to hear the Japanese voices when the English ones are so great?"

I turned on the Japanese voices at some point, to see how it was. I don't remember much, though I remember that Riki's voice didn't sound like it would murder your throat if you tried to impersonate him, and Dunban was really scream-y. I do remember finding out that Dunban's Japanese VA also voiced Vegeta and Captain Falcon (in Smash), so that's great. I think he might be typecast into doing over-the-top awesome guys, which I have no problem with.

 

[Lozjam]

It's funny - I've noticed a shift. Back when Xenoblade was released, I was noticing that about 30-40% of non-Japanese people preferred the Japanese voices. Now, I've seen several people saying "why would you even want to hear the Japanese voices when the English ones are so great?"

I turned on the Japanese voices at some point, to see how it was. I don't remember much, though I remember that Riki's voice didn't sound like it would murder your throat if you tried to impersonate him, and Dunban was really scream-y. I do remember finding out that Dunban's Japanese VA also voiced Vegeta and Captain Falcon (in Smash), so that's great. I think he might be typecast into doing over-the-top awesome guys, which I have no problem with.

Dude, the English version has Jenna Louise Coleman as Melia. You really can't get any better than that.

 

[Burgundy]

I do prefer the amazing English localization, though I was hoping to play through the game again with Japanese voices like I'm doing with Bravely Default now.

 

[AlvisCPU]

Dude, the English version has Jenna Louise Coleman as Melia. You really can't get any better than that.

When I'm talking about "back then", this is before she got fame for playing Clara in Doctor Who, so she was really just any other voice back then. (I actually lost it when I realised Melia's VA was going to be a companion to The Doctor. I spent the whole first episode hearing Xenoblade quotes. When she kept somehow dying-but-not-dying, it's because she had WATER, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE!)

I did look into the previous works of some of the English VAs and aside from her, the others haven't really done too much. Shulk's VA was in Dragon Age, Reyn's has pretty much only ever done theatre work. Dunban has done a few British TV shows, Fiora's done some shows and radio ads. She also popped up in Layton vs. Wright, much to my surprise. Alvis has done a few games, he and Gadolt reappeared in The Last Story. Riki does a lot of kids shows and uses high-pitched voices a lot. It's just kind of interesting to see how it compares, since a lot of American VAs appear in pretty much every cartoon, anime and Japanese video game ever.

 

[KimKarsmashian]

So I finally finished Xenoblade. I did it. I finished it before the end of the week. Level 79, ladies. #whenwillyourfaves
Now to reread this topic without living in fear of spoilers.

Spoiler: huge endgame spoilers

I had more trouble with Gadolt than Lorithia and all the ones after that. Incredibly, I beat the Mysterious Telethia at level 76 and this sort of gave me a high of "I am invincible. Zanza who? Meyneth what?" I know it's not a big deal, but I was kind of proud. I went from dying like twenty times at Arachno Queen to beating Lorithia and Dickson within the second tries. It shows I actually learned how to play this game. I beat Zanza with the unexpected team of Melia/Shulk/Riki. I say unexpected because I was merely using this team to level up their affinities with Melia (also Lorithia made out with her brother before fusing with him into a monster of destruction, goshdarn does Melia ever get a break?!?) but it actually ended up working pretty well. I was planning on using Melia/Reyn/Sharla.

I've got mixed feelings about the ending. On the one hand, I liked dealing with determinism vs. free will in a video game. On the other, I'm unsure how I feel about "Zanza is actually Klaus, lonely guy." I do know that the cheesy closing montage where Fiora and Shulk discuss hairstyles and other creatures made me shake my head at the corniness, but it does hint at Reyn/Sharla being a thing. Although I didn't imagine Riki would be joining in. Clearly his wife is very progressive.

Legit question: what was with fighting the spirits of Mumkhar, Xord, "Telethia" (not even a name?), and Gadolt? Is it supposed to mean something? Establish that we are in a realm outside of the normal laws of physics? Give us another opportunity to eff them up in case the first time wasn't enough? Remind us this is the human price we paid to get here (although how does "Telethia" play into this, then? I mean Telethia are High Entia but this one wasn't even named, who knows which High Entia I had the displeasure of killing the first time around?)? Rather odd.

OH: and why were the Mechon attacking Colony 9 eating people? Is that supposed to be them kidnapping them for transformation into Face units? If they wanted to kill them, surely there were better options than eating them. And Xord put a lot of emphasis into eating people and them being dead. Is this supposed to be some "let's steal the Bionis's energy by eating their people" thing? I'm genuinely confused since the whole "Mechons eating people" thing doesn't really show up again once Xord is dead.

More options are nice, but what kind of monster would ever switch off of the glorious English accented voice acting that Xenoblade's English dub had?

I'm hoping at least some of the characters in XCX will have English accents as a throwback. If a Cockney-accented blacksmith doesn't talk about eating something, I'll be as salty as the sea Reyn is apparently surprised contains salt.

And on the topic of JPN vs ENG voice acting, I always feel like I'm missing something listening to a foreign language and reading subs. As a bilingual, I know that there is so much that is lost within just the normal process of translation. Add in the limitations of subs and you're losing a lot of possibly relevant information. Plus, if you don't actually speak the language, then the prosodic nuances are probably lost on you (yes, even if you watch a lot of anime). I understand the desire to watch subs, though, and I'm certainly not criticizing people who do. I don't hate subs by any means of the imagination, nor do I really 'prefer' dubs since they have their own limitations as well. With dubs, you have to "reconstruct" the lost information for the target language and this can involve not being 100% accurate to the source material (although there is always debate on the merits of loose v. strict translations). The true superior option would be to learn the language to a very high level and watch it thus, but nobody's going to do that...

 

[Deleted member]

When I'm talking about "back then", this is before she got fame for playing Clara in Doctor Who, so she was really just any other voice back then. (I actually lost it when I realised Melia's VA was going to be a companion to The Doctor. I spent the whole first episode hearing Xenoblade quotes. When she kept somehow dying-but-not-dying, it's because she had WATER, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE!)

I did look into the previous works of some of the English VAs and aside from her, the others haven't really done too much. Shulk's VA was in Dragon Age, Reyn's has pretty much only ever done theatre work. Dunban has done a few British TV shows, Fiora's done some shows and radio ads. She also popped up in Layton vs. Wright, much to my surprise. Alvis has done a few games, he and Gadolt reappeared in The Last Story. Riki does a lot of kids shows and uses high-pitched voices a lot. It's just kind of interesting to see how it compares, since a lot of American VAs appear in pretty much every cartoon, anime and Japanese video game ever.

Wait, did she really reference Xenoblade on Doctor Who? I never watch the show, but I'm curious.

Poor Sharla. No one knows what she's been up to.
Also, Shulk's voice actor was in Assassin's Creed Unity according to an interview.

Spoiler

Legit question: what was with fighting the spirits of Mumkhar, Xord, "Telethia" (not even a name?), and Gadolt? Is it supposed to mean something? Establish that we are in a realm outside of the normal laws of physics? Give us another opportunity to eff them up in case the first time wasn't enough? Remind us this is the human price we paid to get here (although how does "Telethia" play into this, then? I mean Telethia are High Entia but this one wasn't even named, who knows which High Entia I had the displeasure of killing the first time around?)? Rather odd.

OH: and why were the Mechon attacking Colony 9 eating people? Is that supposed to be them kidnapping them for transformation into Face units? If they wanted to kill them, surely there were better options than eating them. And Xord put a lot of emphasis into eating people and them being dead. Is this supposed to be some "let's steal the Bionis's energy by eating their people" thing? I'm genuinely confused since the whole "Mechons eating people" thing doesn't really show up again once Xord is dead.

Spoiler

The spirits aren't actually ghosts of the characters. You aren't fighting the ghosts of Mumkhar and the like. Instead, these spirits are memories created by Zanza to reflect on your journey. Interestingly, they all represent the 5 areas in Xenoblade with Mumkhar (Colony 9 and arguably Upper Bionis), Xord (Colony 6), the Telethia (Central Bionis by technicality), and Gadolt (Hidden Village, or Mechonis).

As for the Mechon eating people, I think they killed the Homs by eating them or outright killing them, replaced their organs, and then transformed them into Faced units. It would explain how Mumkhar and Xord became Faced units. Mumkhar ran away, but was ambushed by an army of Mechon and was left to be presumably dead, then they took his body and transformed him into Metal Face. Xord was once a smithy that went seemingly lost in the Battle of Sword Valley; the Mechon probably killed/kidnapped him and transformed him into a Faced unit.
As for why he ate people... I dunno. I guess he was that messed up.

Though, I have my own question. When Fiora was killed, the Mechon went over her body, presumably eating her whole. How did she get revived as a Faced unit or had taken her body when Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban weren't looking? Did they just eat her body into separate parts, placed them together, and then gave her Mechon organs? ...Oh dear god, that's messed up.

 

[GuyWithTheFace]

When I'm talking about "back then", this is before she got fame for playing Clara in Doctor Who, so she was really just any other voice back then. (I actually lost it when I realised Melia's VA was going to be a companion to The Doctor. I spent the whole first episode hearing Xenoblade quotes. When she kept somehow dying-but-not-dying, it's because she had WATER, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE!)

I did look into the previous works of some of the English VAs and aside from her, the others haven't really done too much. Shulk's VA was in Dragon Age, Reyn's has pretty much only ever done theatre work. Dunban has done a few British TV shows, Fiora's done some shows and radio ads. She also popped up in Layton vs. Wright, much to my surprise. Alvis has done a few games, he and Gadolt reappeared in The Last Story. Riki does a lot of kids shows and uses high-pitched voices a lot. It's just kind of interesting to see how it compares, since a lot of American VAs appear in pretty much every cartoon, anime and Japanese video game ever.

Dunban, everyone.

 

[AlvisCPU]

So I finally finished Xenoblade. I did it. I finished it before the end of the week. Level 79, ladies. #whenwillyourfaves
Now to reread this topic without living in fear of spoilers.

Spoiler: huge endgame spoilers

I had more trouble with Gadolt than Lorithia and all the ones after that. Incredibly, I beat the Mysterious Telethia at level 76 and this sort of gave me a high of "I am invincible. Zanza who? Meyneth what?" I know it's not a big deal, but I was kind of proud. I went from dying like twenty times at Arachno Queen to beating Lorithia and ****son within the second tries. It shows I actually learned how to play this game. I beat Zanza with the unexpected team of Melia/Shulk/Riki. I say unexpected because I was merely using this team to level up their affinities with Melia (also Lorithia made out with her brother before fusing with him into a monster of destruction, goshdarn does Melia ever get a break?!?) but it actually ended up working pretty well. I was planning on using Melia/Reyn/Sharla.

I've got mixed feelings about the ending. On the one hand, I liked dealing with determinism vs. free will in a video game. On the other, I'm unsure how I feel about "Zanza is actually Klaus, lonely guy." I do know that the cheesy closing montage where Fiora and Shulk discuss hairstyles and other creatures made me shake my head at the corniness, but it does hint at Reyn/Sharla being a thing. Although I didn't imagine Riki would be joining in. Clearly his wife is very progressive.

Legit question: what was with fighting the spirits of Mumkhar, Xord, "Telethia" (not even a name?), and Gadolt? Is it supposed to mean something? Establish that we are in a realm outside of the normal laws of physics? Give us another opportunity to eff them up in case the first time wasn't enough? Remind us this is the human price we paid to get here (although how does "Telethia" play into this, then? I mean Telethia are High Entia but this one wasn't even named, who knows which High Entia I had the displeasure of killing the first time around?)? Rather odd.

OH: and why were the Mechon attacking Colony 9 eating people? Is that supposed to be them kidnapping them for transformation into Face units? If they wanted to kill them, surely there were better options than eating them. And Xord put a lot of emphasis into eating people and them being dead. Is this supposed to be some "let's steal the Bionis's energy by eating their people" thing? I'm genuinely confused since the whole "Mechons eating people" thing doesn't really show up again once Xord is dead.

I'm hoping at least some of the characters in XCX will have English accents as a throwback. If a Cockney-accented blacksmith doesn't talk about eating something, I'll be as salty as the sea Reyn is apparently surprised contains salt.

And on the topic of JPN vs ENG voice acting, I always feel like I'm missing something listening to a foreign language and reading subs. As a bilingual, I know that there is so much that is lost within just the normal process of translation. Add in the limitations of subs and you're losing a lot of possibly relevant information. Plus, if you don't actually speak the language, then the prosodic nuances are probably lost on you (yes, even if you watch a lot of anime). I understand the desire to watch subs, though, and I'm certainly not criticizing people who do. I don't hate subs by any means of the imagination, nor do I really 'prefer' dubs since they have their own limitations as well. With dubs, you have to "reconstruct" the lost information for the target language and this can involve not being 100% accurate to the source material (although there is always debate on the merits of loose v. strict translations). The true superior option would be to learn the language to a very high level and watch it thus, but nobody's going to do that...

Spoiler

I always assumed that Homs thought they were being eaten by Mechon, but actually kidnapped. The thing that concerns me though is that Xord does say "eating", maybe he's playing on the illusion that Homs have? On top of that, they only start getting mind-wiped once Metal Face dies, so I have to wonder, why would Xord turn on the Homs? Maybe he had some kind of memory loss, he does say something like "Name's Xord. At least, that's what they tell me." Maybe he thinks Homs are being eaten, but even though he's a Face, doesn't realise they're actually being kidnapped to turn into Faced Mechon? I try not to think about this too hard because I'll pick it apart, haha.

Yeah, well-put about the subs vs. dubs. I recently read parts of a localisation blog done by some of the guys at Capcom about Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. I was surprised to see the sheer amount of effort they put into translating even the smallest things. They took forever to come up with a name for "Insect Glaive" because the Japanese name played on multiple meanings and they had to capture the tone of certain words. There are things like "Our initial names for the subspecies of this monster were knocked back by the director because they sounded too harsh and dangerous. He intended it to sound more like something from a nature documentary, so we went back to the drawing board and brainstormed some new names", or "This group of weapons in this weapon tree have random English words in them. It's meant to give the idea that it's odd and unsettling. In the end, we decided to translate parts of the weapon names into French or German, sometimes both mixed together, or put punctuation or '/' in the middle of the names."
I've always preferred dubs, but it wasn't until reading this kind of stuff that I really understood that there's a lot more work to do than just translating it.

Wait, did she really reference Xenoblade on Doctor Who? I never watch the show, but I'm curious.

Nah, but it's what crossed my brain. Would've been amazing though. For context, the plot of the season she appears in kind of surrounds her. The Doctor sees her die twice, so starts a running storyline/mystery.
Also, seconding what you said about the spirits.

More edit:

Poor Sharla. No one knows what she's been up to.

If anyone wants to hear Riki's voice, here's a bit of a showreel. This may or may not pop up in a new window.
I just took a look at Sharla's VA, and woah. She's in Eastenders as of 2013, and Ali G. Those are pretty popular.

 

[GuyWithTheFace]

Spoiler

I always assumed that Homs thought they were being eaten by Mechon, but actually kidnapped. The thing that concerns me though is that Xord does say "eating", maybe he's playing on the illusion that Homs have? On top of that, they only start getting mind-wiped once Metal Face dies, so I have to wonder, why would Xord turn on the Homs? Maybe he had some kind of memory loss, he does say something like "Name's Xord. At least, that's what they tell me." Maybe he thinks Homs are being eaten, but even though he's a Face, doesn't realise they're actually being kidnapped to turn into Faced Mechon? I try not to think about this too hard because I'll pick it apart, haha.

Spoiler

I thought every Face except Mumkhar had their memory wiped, no? They got more specific after Mumkhar was killed, wiping the minds more clearly, but Fiora remembers nothing of the party. And I always assumed him claiming to eat Homs was just messing with the party. They're actually being kidnapped. That was my belief, anyhow.

Side note, nominating Xord for "Best Accent." Seriously, he's so beautifully hammy. I love large ham villains.

 

[KimKarsmashian]

Spoiler

I thought every Face except Mumkhar had their memory wiped, no? They got more specific after Mumkhar was killed, wiping the minds more clearly, but Fiora remembers nothing of the party. And I always assumed him claiming to eat Homs was just messing with the party. They're actually being kidnapped. That was my belief, anyhow.

Side note, nominating Xord for "Best Accent." Seriously, he's so beautifully hammy. I love large ham villains.

Spoiler

iirc, Fiora remembered everything but she couldn't do anything due to being under Egil's control. When you meet up with her again and she's talking about the woman inside her, that's one of the things she mentions. When "Fiora" is saying stuff like "I want to meet that boy," that's probably Meyneth.

I have other stuff I want to say but I've got to study, so I'll end this by saying Xord 4 Sm4sh dlc 2015

 

[Lozjam]

Wait, did she really reference Xenoblade on Doctor Who? I never watch the show, but I'm curious.

Poor Sharla. No one knows what she's been up to.
Also, Shulk's voice actor was in Assassin's Creed Unity according to an interview.

Spoiler

The spirits aren't actually ghosts of the characters. You aren't fighting the ghosts of Mumkhar and the like. Instead, these spirits are memories created by Zanza to reflect on your journey. Interestingly, they all represent the 5 areas in Xenoblade with Mumkhar (Colony 9 and arguably Upper Bionis), Xord (Colony 6), the Telethia (Central Bionis by technicality), and Gadolt (Hidden Village, or Mechonis).

As for the Mechon eating people, I think they killed the Homs by eating them or outright killing them, replaced their organs, and then transformed them into Faced units. It would explain how Mumkhar and Xord became Faced units. Mumkhar ran away, but was ambushed by an army of Mechon and was left to be presumably dead, then they took his body and transformed him into Metal Face. Xord was once a smithy that went seemingly lost in the Battle of Sword Valley; the Mechon probably killed/kidnapped him and transformed him into a Faced unit.
As for why he ate people... I dunno. I guess he was that messed up.

Though, I have my own question. When Fiora was killed, the Mechon went over her body, presumably eating her whole. How did she get revived as a Faced unit or had taken her body when Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban weren't looking? Did they just eat her body into separate parts, placed them together, and then gave her Mechon organs? ...Oh dear god, that's messed up.

I mean.... The content between Doctor Who and Xenoblade are so similar, it is extremely hard to tell.
Clara does an assortment of things like

Spoiler: Xenoblade Spoilers

Battle a race entirely made out of machines, and another race that turns people into machines.
Fighting an old "god" who cared nothing of what was around it.
Falling in love, but later learning she can never have that man.
Seeing your loved one turned into a monster
Dealing with a species that lived to read off your mind
Traveling with a person who deals with Time.
The list goes on and on....
[/collapse]
So due to the whole content matter.... It's really hard to tell if she references it, as the writing is way too similar.

 

[swordsman09]

Sorry to break the VA talk chain, but there was just something I wanted to talk about for some seconds of fame. lol
Keep in mind that by the time this happened, I was still really early on in the game. Probably just leaving Colony 6.

Spoiler

It's about this image. If you bought the US version of this game, which I'm positive all of you did, this is the second cover when you reverse it. I thought it was this beautiful picture of everyone at the top of the Bionis awaiting their final battle. I remember trying so hard to find this place just so I could see some kind of in-game recreation of this drawing (only to find out that you could only come here via hacks).

But then I noticed something.

Fiora is right there next to Shulk with everyone else. The people that they met after she was killed. So I could only assume two things.

1. Fiora came back to life
2. She never died which sounded weird because me and my sister clearly saw her get eaten by the Mechon.

Even though I thought of these, I just decided that it was just an art thing. I even forgot about it overtime.

That is pretty much the story of how I ALMOST spoiled Fiora coming back to life.

 

[AlvisCPU]

Sorry to break the VA talk chain, but there was just something I wanted to talk about for some seconds of fame. lol
Keep in mind that by the time this happened, I was still really early on in the game. Probably just leaving Colony 6.

Spoiler

It's about this image. If you bought the US version of this game, which I'm positive all of you did, this is the second cover when you reverse it. I thought it was this beautiful picture of everyone at the top of the Bionis awaiting their final battle. I remember trying so hard to find this place just so I could see some kind of in-game recreation of this drawing (only to find out that you could only come here via hacks).

But then I noticed something.

Fiora is right there next to Shulk with everyone else. The people that they met after she was killed. So I could only assume two things.

1. Fiora came back to life
2. She never died which sounded weird because me and my sister clearly saw her get eaten by the Mechon.

Even though I thought of these, I just decided that it was just an art thing. I even forgot about it overtime.

That is pretty much the story of how I ALMOST spoiled Fiora coming back to life.

Whilst yours is just an art thing, I had a few spoilers kind of like that. It implies something so you can figure a way that explains it.

Spoiler

Two that come to mind were that Bionis' Interior has a Collectopedia page but no collectables. I figured you must revisit the area later. Another was that all the Alcamoth and most of the Eryth Sea quests are marked as Timed, so something big must happen to the city. Didn't even slightly suspect what would happen there, though.

Actually, I think there were a few things I worked out just by thinking of cool plot twists. Like "What if we spend this whole time trying to protect the Bionis, but it turns out that the Bionis is somehow the bad guy? What if it was the aggressor in the ancient battle? That'd be a great twist."

Know what'd be cool? If Xenoblade Chronicles 3D added Bionis' Left Arm as a location. It's already mostly there and appeared in a few cutscenes... c'mon... just fix a few graphical things including buildings, add some enemies and a couple of quests...

 

[Deleted member]

http://nintendoeverything.com/europe-getting-xenoblade-chronicles-new-3ds-cover-plate-on-april-2/

 

[KimKarsmashian]

Whilst yours is just an art thing, I had a few spoilers kind of like that. It implies something so you can figure a way that explains it.

Spoiler

Two that come to mind were that Bionis' Interior has a Collectopedia page but no collectables. I figured you must revisit the area later. Another was that all the Alcamoth and most of the Eryth Sea quests are marked as Timed, so something big must happen to the city. Didn't even slightly suspect what would happen there, though.

Actually, I think there were a few things I worked out just by thinking of cool plot twists. Like "What if we spend this whole time trying to protect the Bionis, but it turns out that the Bionis is somehow the bad guy? What if it was the aggressor in the ancient battle? That'd be a great twist."

Know what'd be cool? If Xenoblade Chronicles 3D added Bionis' Left Arm as a location. It's already mostly there and appeared in a few cutscenes... c'mon... just fix a few graphical things including buildings, add some enemies and a couple of quests...

Spoiler

Same here with Bionis Interior.
The reason I knew Fiora was returning as playable is because one of the achievements is "have Fiora give shulk a lot of gifts. " I thought it was extremely unfair to have this as an achievement when she died so early, so I was thinking the game had better being her back.

 

[yaystrawberrypie]

@swordman09
Speaking of official art, I wanted to recreate the official art with shulk at eryth sea and take a picture of it, only to find out that they put the light house in the wrong location in on the art. Also late gsme spoiler:

Spoiler

whats your guys favorite monado replica? Mine is saga, love the looks and matches with my late game shulk gear

 

[AlvisCPU]

http://nintendoeverything.com/europe-getting-xenoblade-chronicles-new-3ds-cover-plate-on-april-2/

Even more hype - a bundle with a XC3D theme.

I'm really (kind of) feeling that regret over buying the MH4U one recently.
UK Pre-order here.

Edit:

Dunban, everyone.

Smashboards, what are you doing? Why did you put the video in the ad banner?

 

[Andyjoe522]

Even more hype - a bundle with a XC3D theme.

I'm really (kind of) feeling that regret over buying the MH4U one recently.
UK Pre-order here.

...Why didn't the XL have face plates in the first place?

 

[GuyWithTheFace]

Even more hype - a bundle with a XC3D theme.

I'm really (kind of) feeling that regret over buying the MH4U one recently.
UK Pre-order here.

*Punches Europe*

GODDAMMIT REGGIE WE WANT COOL STUFF HERE TOO.

 

[Kikkipoptart12]

http://nintendoeverything.com/europe-getting-xenoblade-chronicles-new-3ds-cover-plate-on-april-2/

Great!... So when it's coming to the USA? It's not coming is it.

 

[LordTakeo]

...Why didn't the XL have face plates in the first place?

Because Special editions (and for more adult games with bigger hands) = xl
Normal go-to customizable version = normal

 

[AirshBornely]

I don't think I ever introduced myself here despite viewing this thread quite a few times. I got into Xenoblade Chronicles about a year ago and have been playing it on and off since then. (Haven't finished it, yet) Believe I was currently somewhere in Galahad Fortress. I also occasionally play as Shulk in smash, though, not very well...

 

[Berserker.]

Welcome to the Shulk boards. We don't hunt birds. Just the ones that can read minds!

 

[LordTakeo]

I don't think I ever introduced myself here despite viewing this thread quite a few times. I got into Xenoblade Chronicles about a year ago and have been playing it on and off since then. (Haven't finished it, yet) Believe I was currently somewhere in Galahad Fortress. I also occasionally play as Shulk in smash, though, not very well...

Welcome welcome!
And since we are on the topic... any help against pikachu?

 

[Deleted member]

Even more hype - a bundle with a XC3D theme.

I'm really (kind of) feeling that regret over buying the MH4U one recently.
UK Pre-order here.

I do hope now that will convince NOE to produce more Shulk amiibos, which are already sold out and unobtainable at a decent price in not even a week.

 

[Creo]

Some brief XCX info; Doug, Lao, weather being a factor in battle. . . Check it, yo.

 

[FlareHabanero]

Welcome to the Shulk boards. We don't hunt birds. Just the ones that can read minds!

Speak for yourself, those Flamii aren't going to kill themselves you know.

 

[Deleted member]

Even more hype - a bundle with a XC3D theme.

So we don't get the face plates and we don't get the small New 3DS for those face plates...
I swear, if we don't get the Xenoblade theme (which I have been waiting for so long), I am going to get really angry at NoA. Why don't they love us?
I... have a feeling they will give us 200 level one crystals to gem craft if we pre-order the game...

 

[Andyjoe522]

Since I don't think I mentioned it in this thread yet, I think now would be a good time to mention that the port strike currently going on throughout the west coast probably played no small part in NoA deciding to only bring over the New 3DS XL for now.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

http://nintendoeverything.com/europe-getting-xenoblade-chronicles-new-3ds-cover-plate-on-april-2/

*All Americans*

 

[KimKarsmashian]

So I had a couple of theories about Xenoblade... each is organized according to topic.

Spoiler: endgame spoilers

So Zanza/Klaus, according to Alvis, longed for friendship. Now I thought this was BS when I first heard it and just part of a list of cliches JRPGs feel they must tackle. In retrospect, though, something Zanza said makes this more sensible...

He created the Telethia to destroy "impure" life for the eventual destruction and recreation of Bionis. He said he "gave" them intelligence, and that it was a mistake. He also says that it was a mistake to "give" the Homs intelligence (the Nopons are suspiciously absent; clearly they are the masterminds behind even Zanza and Alvis). What reason would he have for giving his army and food intelligence? Clearly they would have served his purpose well enough without sapience, and free will introduces a whole lot of potential problems; e.g. his food and army trying to kill him or live without him.

The only reason I can see for him giving them intelligence is that he was, indeed, alone. Meaty Carrots may be a delicious meat alternative, but they'll never love you. Telethia are furious fighting machines, but conversation with them consists entirely of "RAARWHWAHDSHHRHGHHHH." He's lonely, so "on a whim" (his words) he gives them intelligence. Awesome! Fun times! Except now there's a conflict of interest. The High Entia and Homs want to live. Zanza wants them to be his buddies but also die for him. In addition, there's the fear that they'll leave him and hence leave him to die, which he's terrified of. Meyneth accepted this fate. He did not, hence the whole game happening. He wanted friendship but without the self-sacrifice it involves. There's probably some significance to this but I'm stopping here.

Spoiler: metal face motivation

I also saw a comment that made some sense out of Mumkhar's goals. Considering how most of the other villains in the game had reasons for doing what they did, I was really unconvinced that he was doing it "for the evulz," as both detrators and supporters claimed. Thankfully someone linked me to this Heart-to-Heart where Dunban and Melia contemplate the black wreckage.

Relevant parts. The red is emphasis mine.

Dunban: [We were comrades-in-arms.] One year ago, he and I risked our lives fighting the Mechon. But when the battle turned, he chose to make a run for it.
Melia: So he was a cowardly man?
Dunban: He was always fairly unreliable. Deep down I knew that one day he'd fail us in a time of need. But in the battle a year ago, he still seemed to be on our side.
Melia: What do you mean, Dunban? Are you saying he wasn't always the monster he became?
Dunban: Whatever his reasons... That day, he was fighting off those machines as hard as we were.
Melia: That is... difficult to believe.
Dunban: [I know the truth.] That's why I'm so full of regret. Maybe I could have stopped him.
Melia: You mustn't blame yourself. You could not have stopped this.
Dunban: Perhaps. But it's complicated. I can't deny that he was a bit of an... unreliable fellow. But he saved my life countless times. After I took up the Monado there was a definite change in him.
Melia: He was taken by its power. I pity him.

Dunban: Whatever his reasons... That day, he was fighting off those machines as hard as we were.
Melia: That is... difficult to believe.
Dunban: [You would not understand.]
Melia: Hmph. That may well be what you think, Dunban.
Dunban: I apologise, Melia. My words are not meant to hurt. But I knew him, and I can only tell you what I saw.
Melia: Do you think he had a reason for fighting? Someone to protect?
Dunban: I've often thought about that. He is originally from another colony. One destroyed long ago. So in theory, he had nothing to lose. Maybe that's all it was...

Dunban: [What difference does it make?]
Melia: W-well...
Dunban: I apologise. I didn't mean to sound so defensive. I just don't quite understand the relevance of your question.
Melia: It's difficult to explain. But I need to know. I must know, Dunban. He murdered my father, yet I know nothing about him.
Dunban: I understand, Melia. I'm sorry. I should have spoken to you about this sooner.
Melia: Thank you. I know it's not easy for you to talk about him.
Dunban: [I'm fine. Ask away.] I am partly responsible, after all.
Melia: You? What do you mean?
Dunban: He changed right around the time I started using the Monado. He coveted it so much that his jealousy consumed him. If I'm honest, I wasn't completely oblivious to this. But I didn't act. And then it was too late.
Melia: You should not blame yourself. The darkness that haunted his heart was to blame. He was lost long ago, it seems.

Melia: Thank you. I know it’s not easy for you to talk about him.
Dunban: [It will never be easy!] Not after what he did to our home! And to Fiora!
Melia: Believe me, I know. He stole my father from me as well.
Dunban: I doubt the day when I forgive him will ever come, Melia.
Melia: Just as long as you understand the danger of living in the past.
Dunban: I do. I know if I live with hate in my heart, I'm no better than him. He became consumed by his hatred for me. And he died for it...
Melia: I see...
Dunban: It was Shulk who showed me the light. I'd have gone down a dark path otherwise. I'd have taken Mumkhar's life. I'm very grateful to Shulk. I hope I can repay the favour one day.

Summary: he was from a colony "destroyed long ago." He was always "unreliable," and even before the Monado came into the picture Dunban knew he'd abandon him. However, the Monado turned cowardice into jealousy, contempt, and hatred. This isn't a retrospective judgment - Dunban noticed it back then. Another hint is dropped in the fight on Valak Mountain where he says he wanted the Monado so he could be the new hero. You'd think it would be something like "I wanted the Monado because money power glory," but it was something as puerile as wanting to be recognized as a hero. The whole "get on your knees and worship me" thing, besides being further evidence for his disdain for Dunban, also shows that he wanted to switch the roles they had. He hated being second banana, obvs - Dunban was hero of the Homs and he, who wasn't exactly doing nothing, was essentially nobody.

Oh, and why does he attack Colony 9? "Because it's your home." Hmm, who else had their home destroyed in a Mechon attack...? Let's get to it - he wanted to be Dunban. Just without the bravery part. Without the self sacrifice (Zanza ha power).

While this certainly doesn't make him a redeemable character nor does it excuse his reprehensible actions, it gives him a motive beyond "I am evil ha ha ha I come straight from a saturday morning cartoon," which is how most people view him. Notice the emphasized traits: cowardice, jealousy, hatred. Cowardice doesn't make you evil. There are cowardly and weak people in real life, but we don't call them evil. We're more likely to be like Melia and pity them. Jealousy is a step towards the dark side, but once again, this in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Melia was undeniably jealous of Fiora, yet she never attacked her hometown, impaled her on her spear, and attempted to kidnap Shulk - she was aware that her feelings were irrational and kept them in check. Reyn was probably envious of Gadolt; Sharla never stopped talking about him or comparing Reyn to him, and when you love someone that hurts. But Reyn's solution wasn't to kill Gadolt when everyone had left. He dealt with it in a mature fashion (Reyn doesn't get enough credit but that's another post)! Neither of them hated the person they were jealous of, which is the real nail in the coffin for Mumkhar. Hate makes people do purely destructive things. He could have constructively dealt with it, but didn't. Now, he was jealous of Dunban before, yet he saved his life "countless times." What triggered the change from "he'll probably just save his own skin at an inopportune moment" to "go out of his way to humiliate and kill rival?"

The Monado, ha power.

Spoiler: another reason for shulk being important

And on yet another note, I saw this quote:

Dunban: Hmph. I didn't mean for you to worry over this. This is one of many tales of battle. A neverending circle of betrayal.

A neverending circle of betrayal! Sounds pretty right. War and violence lead to people wanting to get revenge for their wrongs, and this creates a vicious cycle of vendetta. Dunban was totally okay with killing Mumkhar at Galahad Fortress, and many people would not have looked down on him for it. Who stopped him? Shulk. Shulk broke the cycle. Shulk, against Zanza's guidance, did not kill Egil, even though this guy was trying to commit genocide. This just goes to show Shulk's importance or whatever; I'm running on fumes and I can't bring this post to a satisfying conclusion. Basically, Shulk could have gone with the emotionally satisfying and rational choice of killing the thing that's an obstacle in his path

but he went with the moral choice. I have more stuff to say but the last time I said that I wrote this paragraph, so I'm stopping here.

 

[Andyjoe522]

While I'm posting links, I've got an interesting article from Nintendo Enthusiast about the importance of Xenoblade Chronicles X's performance that I think all of us could use a look at.

In short: Best case scenario: Nintendo invests more in small IPs and less popular projects, and third parties see Nintendo home consoles as a thriving platform for JRPGs.

Worst case scenario: Nintendo sees their money more worth investing in more Mario spinoffs. (A bit of hyperbole on my part, but you get the idea.)

 

[AlvisCPU]

New XCX video. More people running around landscapes and space-jumping.

So I had a couple of theories about Xenoblade... each is organized according to topic.

Spoiler: endgame spoilers

So Zanza/Klaus, according to Alvis, longed for friendship. Now I thought this was BS when I first heard it and just part of a list of cliches JRPGs feel they must tackle. In retrospect, though, something Zanza said makes this more sensible...

He created the Telethia to destroy "impure" life for the eventual destruction and recreation of Bionis. He said he "gave" them intelligence, and that it was a mistake. He also says that it was a mistake to "give" the Homs intelligence (the Nopons are suspiciously absent; clearly they are the masterminds behind even Zanza and Alvis). What reason would he have for giving his army and food intelligence? Clearly they would have served his purpose well enough without sapience, and free will introduces a whole lot of potential problems; e.g. his food and army trying to kill him or live without him.

The only reason I can see for him giving them intelligence is that he was, indeed, alone. Meaty Carrots may be a delicious meat alternative, but they'll never love you. Telethia are furious fighting machines, but conversation with them consists entirely of "RAARWHWAHDSHHRHGHHHH." He's lonely, so "on a whim" (his words) he gives them intelligence. Awesome! Fun times! Except now there's a conflict of interest. The High Entia and Homs want to live. Zanza wants them to be his buddies but also die for him. In addition, there's the fear that they'll leave him and hence leave him to die, which he's terrified of. Meyneth accepted this fate. He did not, hence the whole game happening. He wanted friendship but without the self-sacrifice it involves. There's probably some significance to this but I'm stopping here.

Spoiler: metal face motivation

I also saw a comment that made some sense out of Mumkhar's goals. Considering how most of the other villains in the game had reasons for doing what they did, I was really unconvinced that he was doing it "for the evulz," as both detrators and supporters claimed. Thankfully someone linked me to this Heart-to-Heart where Dunban and Melia contemplate the black wreckage.

Relevant parts. The red is emphasis mine.








Summary: he was from a colony "destroyed long ago." He was always "unreliable," and even before the Monado came into the picture Dunban knew he'd abandon him. However, the Monado turned cowardice into jealousy, contempt, and hatred. This isn't a retrospective judgment - Dunban noticed it back then. Another hint is dropped in the fight on Valak Mountain where he says he wanted the Monado so he could be the new hero. You'd think it would be something like "I wanted the Monado because money power glory," but it was something as puerile as wanting to be recognized as a hero. The whole "get on your knees and worship me" thing, besides being further evidence for his disdain for Dunban, also shows that he wanted to switch the roles they had. He hated being second banana, obvs - Dunban was hero of the Homs and he, who wasn't exactly doing nothing, was essentially nobody.

Oh, and why does he attack Colony 9? "Because it's your home." Hmm, who else had their home destroyed in a Mechon attack...? Let's get to it - he wanted to be Dunban. Just without the bravery part. Without the self sacrifice (Zanza ha power).

While this certainly doesn't make him a redeemable character nor does it excuse his reprehensible actions, it gives him a motive beyond "I am evil ha ha ha I come straight from a saturday morning cartoon," which is how most people view him. Notice the emphasized traits: cowardice, jealousy, hatred. Cowardice doesn't make you evil. There are cowardly and weak people in real life, but we don't call them evil. We're more likely to be like Melia and pity them. Jealousy is a step towards the dark side, but once again, this in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Melia was undeniably jealous of Fiora, yet she never attacked her hometown, impaled her on her spear, and attempted to kidnap Shulk - she was aware that her feelings were irrational and kept them in check. Reyn was probably envious of Gadolt; Sharla never stopped talking about him or comparing Reyn to him, and when you love someone that hurts. But Reyn's solution wasn't to kill Gadolt when everyone had left. He dealt with it in a mature fashion (Reyn doesn't get enough credit but that's another post)! Neither of them hated the person they were jealous of, which is the real nail in the coffin for Mumkhar. Hate makes people do purely destructive things. He could have constructively dealt with it, but didn't. Now, he was jealous of Dunban before, yet he saved his life "countless times." What triggered the change from "he'll probably just save his own skin at an inopportune moment" to "go out of his way to humiliate and kill rival?"

The Monado, ha power.

Spoiler: another reason for shulk being important

And on yet another note, I saw this quote:

Dunban: Hmph. I didn't mean for you to worry over this. This is one of many tales of battle. A neverending circle of betrayal.

A neverending circle of betrayal! Sounds pretty right. War and violence lead to people wanting to get revenge for their wrongs, and this creates a vicious cycle of vendetta. Dunban was totally okay with killing Mumkhar at Galahad Fortress, and many people would not have looked down on him for it. Who stopped him? Shulk. Shulk broke the cycle. Shulk, against Zanza's guidance, did not kill Egil, even though this guy was trying to commit genocide. This just goes to show Shulk's importance or whatever; I'm running on fumes and I can't bring this post to a satisfying conclusion. Basically, Shulk could have gone with the emotionally satisfying and rational choice of killing the thing that's an obstacle in his path

but he went with the moral choice. I have more stuff to say but the last time I said that I wrote this paragraph, so I'm stopping here.

Spoiler: Endgame

Yeah, I agree. I can't remember where I got the impression but I thought it was covered at some point. I'm also not claiming this as 100% accurate as I finished this ages ago and may have picked up a few of my own ideas since then. Zanza and Meyneth created the other beings out of their own life force because they were lonely. Once the beings wanted to leave their hosts, therefore taking a part of their life force away, the two killed everything and started again. I take it this happened countless times until Meyneth started to feel bad about it. (She says something like "Now I understand. We may be their creators but their lives are their own.") So when she refused to do it, Bionis attacked Mechonis and we know what happened there.

Spoiler: Metal Face

Yep, agree completely. On top of this, an NPC in the Military District says tells you that Dunban and Mumkhar actually competed for who would be allowed to use the Monado in the fight against the Mechon. Dunban must've won, of course. He/she goes on to say that Mumkhar changed after that, and he was never really the same.

Similar note, there's an NPC you can talk to before the Mechon attack who says "I've been training in Arts using claw weapons lately. It's my dream to master Mumkhar's Hell Dive Claw. If only he was still alive to teach me. It's a shame he's gone."
Little does he know...