Story stuff(spoilers and whatnot)
Clearing quests grants access to more party members.
クエストをクリアすることで、他にも仲間にできる人が増えることも。
Although you won’t have access to certain things if you don’t progress the story to some extent, you can explore the entirety of Mira right from the start.
The previous game(Xenoblade) set story objectives and gave you freedom to explore before arriving at them, but in this game there’s a much higher degree of freedom, like the developers were saying ‘you can do whatever you want, just do some story quests occasionally.’
ある程度ストーリークエストを進めないと起きないイベントはあるものの、ゲーム序盤から自由にミラ全土を歩きまわることができるのです。
前作『ゼノブレイド』はストーリーの目的地が指定されて「そこまではどう進もうが自由ですよ」というスタイルでしたが、今作は「ストーリークエストをたまにやってくれれば、あとは好きにやっていいよ」といわんばかりの自由度の高さになっています。
After clearing a certain quest, you’re able to freely re-customize your avatar. You can even change genders, perfect for moody people who think “I don’t want to look like an old man again today.”
あるクエストをクリアすれば自由にアバターを作り直せるように。性別も変えられるので「今日はムサいおっさんを見るのは嫌じゃー」という気分屋兄貴の希望もバッチリ叶えてくれます。
We left NLA and walked from one end of the continent to the other, and there really were no load times. I was surprised that the game didn’t run choppily due to the disc seeks.
However, there are three points where there are some small loading: when you go in and out of the BLADE Home, use skip travel, or view cutscenes.
And since this preview version is disc-only, the textures and character assets would sometimes take several seconds to load in when we’d drive around with the Doll at high speeds, or immediately after those load points. I’m interested in seeing to what extent the ‘load time reduction data packs’/digital version can reduce this delay.
NLAを飛び出してから惑星にある大陸をハジからハジまで全部歩いてみましたが、本当に一切ロード待ち時間なし。ディスクのシークによるカクつきすらなかったことに驚かされました。
ただし、ブレイドホームを出入りする時、一度行ったことがある地点に一瞬で移動する機能“スキップトラベル”を使った時、イベント時の3つのポイントで少しロードがあります。
また、今回プレイしたサンプル版はディスクのみだったため、これらのロード直後やドールを使って長距離を高速で移動した際にキャラクターやテクスチャの読み込みが数秒遅れることがありました。製品版の“ロード高速化データパック”やHDDからの起動で、こういった遅れがどれだけ軽減されるかにも期待したいです。
Rock faces and lakes are usually impassable boundaries in games, but if you try hard enough you can continue past them in this game. You can jump up some rocky platforms to scale cliffs, or stealthily swim[by sea] around tough enemies guarding the entrances to continents, which make finding paths through the world very fun.
The direct path isn’t the only path. If you try going down a path that made you think “maybe I can get there from here,” you’ll find that you will in fact be able to. This kind of accommodating map design is just what you’d expect from Nintendo and Monolith Soft.
岩場や湖といった普通のゲームなら侵入できない障害物になるような場所でも、プレイヤーのガッツがあれば進むことができるのも本作の特徴。岩場をジャンプして登ってガケを越えたり、正面から行くと強敵がいる大陸に海を泳いでこっそり上陸したりと、ルートを開拓するのは本当に楽しいです。
正攻法だけでなく、「ここから行けるんじゃないか？」と思ったルートを試してみたら本当に進めるように作ってある懐の広いマップデザインは、さすが任天堂＆モノリスソフトとしか言いようがないかと。
No matter what height you jump from in this game, you won’t take any damage. You can jump all the way down from the top of the Upper Strata in the BLADE Area to the Lower Strata. And the game won’t have to stop and load at all, totally seamless!
本作では主人公がどんな高さから飛び降りても一切ダメージを受けません。かなり高い場所にあるNLAのブレイドエリア上層から下層へ飛び降りて別のエリアに行くこともできるのです。もちろん、その際もロードなしのシームレス！
If you don’t plan out your strategy and manage your arts and equipment, the bosses are quite difficult, even for people who are experienced with RPGs.
But don’t worry, it’s still a Nintendo game. They allow you to lower the difficulty on a boss if you lose to it several times. There’s no penalties for lowering the difficulty, so people who don’t play RPGs often can still enjoy the story.
ボス戦は装備やアーツの使い方をしっかり考えて対策を立てないと突破が難しく、RPGに慣れている人でも苦戦する歯ごたえのあるバランスですね。
しかし、そこは任天堂。何度か負けると任意で難易度を下げられるという救済策も用意されています。難易度を下げてもペナルティはないので、RPGをあまり遊ばないという人もストーリーを楽しめますよ。
When you defeat native creatures, they’ll drop equipment that was used by members of BLADE they defeated/killed. Drops obtained from enemies have different abilities and affixes attached to them, some even have unexpected ones! Searching for equipment with amazing abilities by killing enemies can give it a bit of a [loot-focused game] feel.
原生生物を倒した時に、その原生生物に倒されたブレイドたちが使っていた装備が手に入ることもありました。敵ドロップで手に入る装備は、ショップで売っているものとは性能やアフィックスが違うことがあり、中にはとんでもない性能になっているものも！
いい性能の装備を探して敵を倒しまくるハック＆スラッシュ的な要素もあります。
You don’t get money for buying equipment from killing monsters. You can sell the materials you get from them, but that doesn’t net you much cash. So, how do you get money on Mira? The Frontier Net, of course. It’s not just for gathering info on the planet. The person who placed the probe receives payments regularly(fixed intervals), from the citizens of NLA who pay a fee to view images and information recorded by the probes. The more Data Probes you set, the more money you make.
The moneymaking occurs in real time, so you’ll make a lot if you just leave the game there and space out!
装備を買うためのお金は原生生物を倒しても手に入りません。一応、原生生物から取れる素材を売ることもできますが、本当に雀の涙レベル。では、ミラではどうすればお金を稼げるか？ そこで再び登場するのがフロンティアネットです。
フロンティアネットはミラの情報を集めるだけでなく、データプローブを設置したエリアの映像や情報をNLAに住む人が閲覧した際の情報料が持ち主のブレイドに定期的に振り込まれます。“データプローブ”を多く設置するほど、もらえる金額も増えていきます。
ちなみにお金はリアル時間の経過でもらえるため、ぼーっと立っているだけでもどんどんお金が増えていく！
There are tons of Doll weapons and armor as well, that you can freely customize.
ドール専用の武装やアーマーも豊富に用意されており、自由にカスタマイズ可能。
Dolls turn into vehicles when dashing. The frame series don’t just differ in vehicle design, their handling and engine sounds change as well.
ドールはダッシュ時に車に変形。機体シリーズごとに車両時のデザインが違うだけではなく、挙動やエンジン音まで違うというこだわりっぷり。
I played this review copy for much more than 100 hours, but there was still so much left to see in the game. There were many things we were unable to fit into this review, so we hope you play it yourself to experience all of its limitless fun!
サンプル版でのプレイ時間は100時間を軽く超えましたが、まだまだ遊び尽くせていない本作『ゼノブレイドクロス』。このレビューでも書き切れていない要素がたくさんあるので、実際にプレイしてこのゲームの底知れないおもしろさを味わってほしいです！
No damage when falling from heights.(basically)
No penalties upon dying in this game.
In the fields, you can find native creature nests as well as wreckage from the Moby Dick. You need “Field Skills” to interact with these, and obtain items.
You get rewards for registering items in the Collepedia. The Collepedia is split into lists for each continent. Some field items can only be found at certain times of the day and in certain weather conditions.
Quests are divided into four kinds, Story Quests, Kizuna Quests, Normal Quests, and Simple Quests. Story quests require certain conditions to be met before they can be accepted. Kizuna quests affect the kizuna(affinity), and there are many involving your fellow main characters. Story and Kizuna quests cannot be accepted at the same time, and cannot be cancelled. Normal Quests are taken from NPCs in the city or field, with ? marks above their heads. Simple Quests are taken from the Quest Board in the BLADE Area, up to 20 at a time. The board changes each time you check it. The stars indicate the difficulty, but they don’t have recommended levels.
You can Scout other player’s avatars from the BLADE Scout Console. It costs a certain amount of in-game currency, with Scouts higher than your own level costing more.
Once you’ve raised your class to rank 10, you can change to a higher level class. Your available weapons could change completely depending on the route you choose, so be careful. If you reach rank 10 with a top tier class, you’ll be able to use that class’s weapons while playing as other classes.
Dolls have excellent jumping power, so they can take shortcuts around areas you’d have to take a detour past on foot.
You can’t ride in Dolls with frame levels higher than your inner level.
“Catch” can immobilize enemies for up to 10 seconds.
There are even alien bases in the Twilluminous Forest. They’ve got a gigantic machine in an inlet too.
There are native creatures that mimic the foliage, so be careful. Similar creatures exist in the Valley of Oblivion too.
If you fall into the misty ravine in the Valley of Oblivion, you will die.
Lightning strikes from the ground to the sky in the Valley of Oblivion. If you’re outdoors while they’re happening, you’ll take continuous damage. You can head indoors or hide in caves to avoid them.
Auroras dance in the skies of the Land of White Ash.
There are alien bases in the caves in the Land of Black Steel, with a pipe extending far underground.
You can select one of the quests you currently have, and have its details appear on the screen. The minimap will display a marker indicating your goal, as well.
Inner experience is awarded by completing battles, clearing quests, finding landmarks, and Frontier Net spots, and all sorts of other things. Exp from clearing quests is relatively low.
The exp you get from battle depends on how powerful the enemy is. Stronger enemies give bonuses, weaker ones give reduced amounts.
There are seven types of locations to discover. Vast regions called “Zones.” Notable places called “Landmarks.” “Areas” spread throughout the zones. Hidden “Unexplored Regions” and “Superb Views.” BLADE Troop garrisons called “Base Camps.” “Frontier Net Spots” where you set Data Probes. Each type gives different rewards for discovering them.
Zones give no reward
Landmarks give Inner Exp and Battle Points(BP)
Areas give Inner Exp
Unexplored Regions/Superb Views give large amounts of Inner Exp
Base Camps give BP
FN Spots give Inner Exp and BP
BP are used to level up Arts and Skills. You’ll need 100 BP to raise a single Art to its max level.
If the nearest data probe to an Unexplored Region or Superb View is a “Research Probe,” you’ll gain rewards corresponding to their tourism value. Discovering them raises the tourism value for that segment.
Class exp can only be obtained in battle, and also changes depending on the strength of the enemy.
You need to amass “Union Points” to progress your “BLADE Level.” Each time you raise your BLADE Level, you can choose one of your three Field Skills to level up as well.
Union Points are obtained by doing things like “defeating native creatures,” “defeating Overed,” “obtaining collection items,” “opening treasure boxes,” or “setting data probes.” For example, each time you pick up an item in the field, it does up. There are many ways to obtain points.
The three types of Field Skills are “Mechanical,” “Biological,” and “Search.”
Mechanical: Necessary for setting data probes, and opening treasure boxes that require Mechanical. Since it’s required to set Data Probes, you should raise it early on.
Biological: Necessary for examining Biological treasure boxes. They’re things like dung and 3meter anthills, they don’t look like actual boxes.
Search: Dolls abandoned by aliens become treasure boxes, and it’s used to open those. They can often be found in remote regions, like at the tops of cliffs.
The amount of Union points you receive change based on the Union you’re a part of.
If you don’t progress the story, you won’t be able to access certain areas or use certain systems. Clearing early ones especially give you access to numerous new things, so you should hurry and clear them.
The requirements for accepting story quests include “clearing a particular quest,” “meeting inner level requirements,” “using specific party members,” in addition to “meeting an exploration rate on a specific continent.”
Talk to NPCs with a ? above their heads to accept Normal Quests. You’ll be able to see these ? on your minimap if you’re close enough. But they’re very difficult to find in the field. Some are difficult to reach, or hard to see. Some are also hidden within objects, like inside of containers or beneath vehicles.
There is an immense difference in the number of quests compared to the first Xenoblade. There are several hundred Simple Quests alone.
The three Simple Quest categories are “Subjugation,” “Collection,” and “Talk.”
Subjugation: kill the designated creatures or Overed. You won’t know the target’s level until you find them.
Collection: Gather the designated item. If you already have them, the quest will complete as soon as you accept it and leave the board. The details screen lets you know if you’ve already got some of them.
Talk: Quests where you talk to the client. Different quests can often spring forth from these, even Kizuna Quests. Recommended for lovers of sub-stories.
Some Story Quests require you to clear Kizuna Quests before you can accept them. There are even some involving the residents of the city, not just the main character.
When you accept a Kizuna Quest, you won’t be able to cancel it. You won’t be able to remove the required party members from your party until it’s completed, either.
There are Kizuna talks that happen when you raise your affinity/bond/kizuna with specific characters.[I think these were called heart-to-hearts]
You can check the unique Arts your allies have in the kizunagram.
There are Story Quests that require certain levels of affinity/bond/kizuna, too.
Jumping while using the Dash feature greatly increases your distance and height. You can use this to jump on top of and walk on rocks, and avoid enemies. But you can’t stop Dashing immediately. You slip a bit when you stop, so you might fall off a cliff, or get spotted by an enemy.
Some enemy reaction types(sight, proximity) change with the time of day.
You can change the time at Rest Points. In the field, you use BLADE tents. In NLA you use red benches.
If you have high Bolt resistance, you can negate the damage from Lightning weather.
The weather will change if you use Skip Travel.
Tension Arts use up 1000 TP.
Soul Voices you emit are “Soul Challenges.” They activate when you press B at the right time when the circle appears on the screen. When you successfully complete a Challenge, the “Soul Stage” goes up by one level. At higher Soul Stage levels, you get bonus TP for hitting Perfects on the Challenges, and the Soul Voice activation rate is increased. You won’t get TP for getting non-Perfects, and the Stage will not decrease if you fail the Challenge. It resets when you get KO’d.
When you complete a soul voice, your affinity/bond/kizuna goes up.
Weapons and Skills can change how easily you amass TP. There are even Skills that grant you TP when damaged by weather.
It takes 3000 TP to revive an Ally.
You won’t be able to use the OC Gear without progressing the story.
Non MCs have two unique Arts. For example, Elma’s “Ghost Stage” grants a buff to allies that lets them avoid a fixed number of enemy attacks.
The max level for Arts is 5. Raising the level of Arts improves there Recast Time, Melee/Ranged Multiplier, Buff/Debuff/etc Effects, Buff/Debuff/etc Duration, and Special Conditions
When attacking enemies from their blind spots(back, higher/lower elevations), your accuracy and critical rate rises. It’s easy to get Soul Challenges when you do critical hits.
You can Dash and Jump even in battle.
Starting a battle with an Art has a high chance of producing a Soul Challenge. You can choose which effects your allies will get for their arts that complete the Challenge from ‘dmg+100%/200% from back’, ‘each hit+100TP’, or ‘Recast Time reduced 50%’
When you Topple enemies, they’re unable to do anything at all, your attacks are guaranteed to hit, and damage done to them is multiplied by 1.5x
When you destroy parts, the enemy takes more damage. Destroying different parts add to the bonus damage[multiplier]. You can have your allies concentrate on the same part using the Battle Menu as well.
Using Arts while in OC Gear raises the Gear Counter. Bonuses are easier to get if you use Arts with many hits. Gear Counter effects include: Gear time extension, boosted damage, reduce all enemy debuff resistances, regain TP with attacks, shorten Recast time.
Story stuff below here, don’t look if you can’t handle knowing things
1 - Defeat Origin Blatta
2 - Head to NLA with Elma
3 - Defeat 3 Elder Lupus
4 - Take the outer elevator into NLA
Meet Lyn and Doug.
Ride the transport vehicle to the BLADE Area, and enter the BLADE Home.
1 - Leave the BLADE Home and head to the Quest Board
2 - Head to the BLADE Scout Console
3 - Head to the Shop District
4 - Head to the front entrance of the BLADE Tower
5 - Return to the BLADE Home
1 - Head to the target in the Primordial Wilderness
2 - Defeat Pursuit Borkampf
3 - Set the Data Probe at FN Spot #116
4 - Return to the BLADE Home
The Quest Counter, Arms Company and Shop Skip Travel choices become available, as well as choosing your Union.
1 - Head to the target in the Primordial Wilderness
2 - Defeat two Vyers Scouts
3 - Defeat the Grenner and two Vyers Ruffians
4 - Rescue Tatsu(Navigation Ball becomes available)
5 - Return to the BLADE Home
Gain the ability to add party members. You can add Elma, Lyn, Irina, Guin, and Doug as party members.
Inner Level: 1; Max Party: 4
Required Members: Elma, Lyn; Unusable Members: None
Progress Conditions
Gather enough Union Points to reach level 2, then talk to Eleanora near the Quest Board to raise your BLADE Level.
Accepted from Kirstie near the BLADE Area - Maintenance Center
1 - (a) Set Data Probe at FN Spot #114 in the PW, and change it to a Mining Probe
(b) Set Data Probe at FN Spot #112 in the PW, and change it to a Mining Probe
(c) Set Data Probe at FN Spot #116 in the PW, and change it to a Mining Probe
2 - Once all three are in place, return to Kirstie
3 - Set Data Probe at FN Spot #117, and change it to a Research Probe.
4 - Discover the Unexplored Region ‘Rock Cave’ in the PW
5 - Once you’ve done 3&4, return to Kirstie
1 - Meet up with Lao at the Greenery Tunnel in PW(Lao becomes available as a party member)
2 - Head to the Life Point by Sunny Spring in TF
3 - Meet Lu at Tripod Rock
4 - Defeat three Vyers Blasters at Sunny Spring
5 - Defeat the Goetia and two Marnuk Rule that appear immediately afterwards
Inner Level: 1, Max Party: 4
Required Members: Elma, Lyn; Unusable Members: Irina, Guin
Progress Conditions:
Accept “Refresh” in the Business Area.
Required Level: 15, Max Party: 3
Req. Members: Elma, Lyn; Un. Members: Irina
Progress Conditions: None
1 - Defeat four Early Strutt in the PW
2 - Defeat the Plume Aquira in the south segment
1 - Talk to the mysterious aliens(Ma Non) in the Valley of Oblivion
2 - Destroy the three Target Zigs
3 - Return to the Ma Non’s location
4 - Head to the Upper Bute Ancient Ruins
5 - Defeat the Head Kmuva and two Platoon Kmuvas
6 - Report to Van Damme in front of the BLADE Tower entrance
Inner Level: 1; Max Party: 3
Req. Members: Elma, Lyn; Un. Members: None
Progress Conditions:
Accept “Pathfinder” at the BLADE Home.
Inner Level: 1; Max Party: 3
Req. Members: Elma, Lyn; Un. Memebers: Lao
Progress Conditions: Clear Chapter 5
1 - Talk to Zyden in the Valley of Oblivion
2 - Head to the target in the Valley of Oblivion
3 - Defeat six Crack Pagurus
4 - Defeat Feace[Fierce?] Pekka
5 - Talk to Zyden in the BLADE Area
1 - Head to the target in the Twilluminous Forest
2 - Defeat three Braed Nox
3 - Defeat Braed Luos
4 - Go to the Hanger in the lower strata of the BLADE Area
Take the Normal Quest “Doll License” from Van Damme in the BLADE Home
Once you’ve obtained all 8 Authorization Trial Certificates, talk to Walter in the BLADE Area Lower Strata.
Receive Doll License and one Doll.