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Assalam Aleekom. How are you? My name is Ahmed Mosly.
Today we're going to talk about one of the last Nintendo Wii releases, Xenoblade Chronicles.
It's a known RPG from a company called Monolith Soft. They have previously developed Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos.
Of course their games are very well developed. But there was one problem; Xenoblade was destined for a Japan-only release.
But the outcry of fan support for an English localization
formed an elite group internet group called Operation Rainfall campaigned the release until Nintendo finally released the game in Europe and America
And this outcry proved that this game truly excelled as one of the best Wii games and one of the best JRPGs in recent history
Of course there's a well-known discussion among fans about Japanese-developed and Western-developed RPGs on which is better developed.
What's great about Xenoblade is that they combine elements from Japanese and Western RPGs. You feel that it's an offline RPG in the clothing of an MMORPG.
It resembles the likes of Final Fantasy XII on PS2, dothack on PS2, and the recent releases of White Knight Chronicles 1 and 2 on the PS3.
You don't need to wait your turn as typical of the JRPG. There's no time bar to be found.
It resembles a real-time action game as you don't need to wait for your turn as much to attack, use magic, etc.
The other well-known mechanic of Xenoblade resembles the likes of the Star Ocean, a popular RPG series on the PS2, Xbox, and PS3; micromanagement.
You can customize your characters however you like. Sure, the menus may be overwhelming at first, but the more you play, the more you learn.
There are frequent and seamless pop-ups of tutorials which greatly resemble some PC games.
So there are a lot of intricate technicalities to customizing your characters whether you're playing around with the HP, MP, special attacks, abilities, and even affinities between your parties.
The attention to detail is overwhelming and that makes it of the game's best features
I would now like to talk with you about the game's best feature; the world of Xenoblade.
This world that was created is very life-like.
Your typical RPG has non-player characters which repeat the same dialogue over and over with little life or use to them.
This game does the opposite and gives non-player characters huge importance. Each has their own set of sidequests and life cycle as in waking up in the morning then going to sleep at 12 PM [for example]
You can intervene in his life and improve it via sidequesting. The more you do, the better your may improve relationships between NPCs.
For example, if an NPC is upset with his brother, you can actually fix that tie. Or you can even improve a budding love tie between a girl and guy, or even make them hate each other by performing the side-quest differently.
So you have a lot of choice in this game. Also, this world blurs the lines between dungeons and towns in contrast to your typical RPG which obviously marks each area.
Dungeons can be towns and towns can be dungeons. And It's a huge, Skyrim-like world if you're familiar with that Elder Scrolls game.
It's exactly the same way. You can even watch some videos online which demonstrates how huge this world is. It may take a player more than 30 minutes to run from one region to another.
The element that people may not like about this game is its graphics. Of course, the Wii's games are known for their inferior graphics in contrast to the Xbox 360 and PS3. They're not HD-quality.
In the same time, however, the developers tried to push the environments of this game to the limits.
Things like grass, rocks, and wild/plant life look great.
But the elements that look PS2-like are the character animations. When you see them move, it's like you're playing an older game, you know.
This may turn some people off regarding the graphical appeal.
Obviously, the plot is vital to an RPG's success and this day and age it needs to be mind-blowing and surprising.
But Xenoblade starts slow as in most JPRGs. It might take you around 10-15 hours to some exciting plot points.
But even the exciting parts are kind of predictable, expecting certain events to occur.
In the same time, the game manage to compensate in the plots of the non-player characters. Sidequests are excellently-written.
Even the voice acting is professional and British-accented, which might get you excited about the main characters.
There are still elements which make it a typical JRPG; the boy who will save the world and wields a mysterious sword.
In the end, if you're looking for a ton of gameplay with quality and content, Xenoblade will be a fun playthrough. It has more than 100 hours of playtime if you're willing to complete all side-quests.
It has a nice and fast-paced battle system as I've mentioned. If you're looking for a strong main plot, you may not like Xenoblade as much.
Of course, whoever has a Wii and is looking for any of good games, this is a must-buy due to the Wii drought during the last year and a half. So it needs to be experienced.
In the same time, you will not get a Mass Effect-like experience from its plot. It's still a great time for content though.
In the end, I want to give the game around 8.5/10 which I feel is an appropriate score.
Inshallah [I hope] you enjoyed this review, and Inshallah [looking forward] to seeing you again.