Monolith Soft Has Proven It’s The New Squaresoft

I have xenoblade chronicles, I can't get into it and I loved FFXIII. Can someone tell me what's wrong with me so I can fix it? I don't regret loving XIII, I just want to enjoy xenoblade and get on the bandwagon

Also enjoyed XIII immensely, and after reading this, I now appreciate the story about a billion times more, too. It's too bad they couldn't properly convey any of it in the 10-15 hours it took to get to Gran Pulse:

www [dot] fantasticalthings.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/focus-of-final-fan​tasy-xiii.html

I thought the story just got a little weaker when they got to Gran Pulse, mostly because it opens up a bit and the narrative loses some focus. I loved the time spent on Cocoon because the character development was handled better than in any other game I've played, particularly with Snow and Hope.

For me, Xenoblade is a great game in many aspects. It has a unique (in that it takes place on the body of two giant beings) open world that rewards exploration but punishes you if you're not careful about it, an interesting main story line with multitude of side quests, a great real time combat system, a world that feels alive in that NPCs and certain monsters have a scheledule, etc. If the sequel has all that but with bigger monsters and mechs then it's a day one purchase for me (if I ever get a Wii U).

But you're not alone for wanting to like a game but can't seem to get into it. Like I can't get into Okami even though everything about the game are stuff that I'd like.

Haha I can't get into okami either. For me it's mostly jrpg's, when I played FFXIII and FFX, I just felt like playing every jrpg. Since then (2 years ago) I have bought FF 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, X-2, XII, and XIII-2. On top of that, I bought xenoblade chronicles, dragon quest IX and the last story. Guess how many of those I've enjoyed. Only 4. I'm drawn to the un-western style of the games, the characters and (most importantly) the settings. Omg I love the otherworldly universes they are set in. I've never felt like I belong in Australia, and the country is just so boring, which is why I want to travel. But for video games, I just want to play in a universe where things are completely different, and that's what I like about jrpg's. just look at the lakes frozen in crystal, a world set on top of two ancient giants, worlds where scenic marvels are everywhere you look (the floating water tunnel things in zanarkand on FFX anyone?!)

Exactly my sentiment. This is also why I enjoy reading Fantasy/Sci-fi.

You definitely should try to tough it out at the beginning of Xenoblade then. Great characters and setting.

yeah i think i will. this article has made me excited to try it again and im enjoying it. chances are i'll love it in a few weeks, i got a cast put on my broken hand today and it turns out i can't work, drive, or play piano and it's damn hard to play anything on xbox. even the wiimote doesnt fit in my hand properly, but luckily enough xenoblade basically plays itself so i dont need precision. btw kudos to monolith for ignoring motion controls! god damn im happy i dont need to worry about that

Link in first sentence doesn't work. And video embedded is of "Gunman Clive." WTF IS GOING ON JONATHAN

Huh... what?

I'm also getting gunman Clive. For me, the monolith video appears first but after a few seconds it's replaced with an unrelated one

I...want...this...game!! Looks great. Too bad it may not come to other paltforms. Maybe I'll just have to get a Wii U.

Maybe we can become you

Monolith Soft isn't just tight with Nintendo, Nintendo's actually owned them for a while now. There is NO chance of seeing their games on other systems.

I'd love to play Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, except I don't want to pay $100 on Amazon, or drive 100 miles (literally) to get one at the "nearest" Gamestop. I guess I could ask around, but god damn that's embarrassing. It's hard to believe this game was released just a year ago.

You're better off not getting a Wii now, because that console won't get anymore support, knowing Nintendo. You're much better off getting a Wii U, so if you have the cash, I'd go with that.

I don't know if you know, but I was talking about getting Xenoblade for $100 (that's the cheapest I could find online), not a Wii. I was given a Wii console like two years ago and didn't realize until a month ago that it actually has good games on it.

The reason why Square was king back in the day wasn't just because they made great JRPGs, but the simple fact that they would set the bar so many times. Nowadays, Square has given into western development, and are trying far to hard to appeal their games to the western market that has exploded instead of creating their own trend. On top of that, all of Squares best minds have left the company for bigger and better things. As a result, Square is now a shell of their former selves simple due to the fact they wanted to follow a trend, while in the meantime, Monolith kept their focus on what Square used to be all about. Creating great JRPGs while staying with classic strategies, and setting the bar at the same time. Xenoblade came and showed us that there is still lots of life left in the JRPG during a time when JRPGs were considered all but dead. Not only did they create a fantastic JRPG, they set new standards for the genre, and this is what ultimately de-throned Square.

What?! Final Fantasy? Really? Versus 13 that hasn't even been released yet. Gameplay has been shown for Versus, and you can easily tell the two apart, without even thinking. Who ever wrote this article has obviously never played a Final Fantasy, and understood it. Im guessing they played a little of it, and saw that it had a sword, and nice scenery, and from there on declared every game with a sword, and nice scenery Final Fantasy, oh and don't forget the dinosaurs, which was just one rare case in FFXIII, now Final Fantasy games have nothing but dinosaurs in them; their new trade mark.

Come on, it may not have looked like versus XIII specifically but you have to admit the video had a very modern final fantasy feel about it, I was actually a bit surprised at how FF it looked