ploying quite large parties
with varying stats. Its
nice to see some consideration given to the idea
that whacking things with
a massive sword might
usually be great, but isn't
much good against flying enemies.
Online
integration
is included in a nod
to MMORPGs, but
it's where the game is
hampered by the Wii
U's general unpopularity and its own relatively
niche status, because
it's not overly likely
you'll have many people to join you. It works
pretty well for what it
is, although the ability
to name and customise
characters does inadvertantly detract from
the storytelling when nobody can refer to your
character by name in
spoken dialogue.
One final gripe is the
camera and GamePad
integration. While the
entire game can be
played on the GamePad, it certainly shouldn't
be. Much of the text is
almost unreadably tiny,
and not scaled at all for
the smaller screen and
resolution.
The camera moves
far too slowly and awkwardly, and has an annoying tendency to focus
on floor or sky, making it
nearly impossible to actually look at the giant
alien giraffe beast trying
to stove your head in.
It's the little annoyances that bring Xenoblade
Chronicles X down, like
the death of a thousand
cuts. There are within
the game disc many
elements of a classic the giant world, the fun
combat, the really quite
impressive range of
gear and collectibles
- but they don't come
together in a way that
drives the player on for
100% completion, or
even makes them feel as
though they're making
any impact at all.
29
ROBIN WILDE
GRAPHICS: 10
SOUND: 8
VARIETY: 4
STORY: 5
Monolithsoft
are great at world
building, but their
beautiful effort isn't
enough to save
quite a dull and
repetitive game
from mediocrity.
6.8