Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[EricaofRenais]

I LOVE Addam so much!  I was expecting him to be a really reserved person, but he is a bit like Zeke who is my favorite character in the main game.  This also explains why Niall kept saying Morag should have been the ruler and not him, since she was the one who was a good fighter.  And of course, even with all those crystals I am sill missing 2 of the "Torna" Blades in my main game, I guess I will have to grind cores again.  Anyway this is going to be fun.

[Water Mage]

I’ve heard reviews that this expansion is only 17 hours long, sidequests included. For those who played it, is that accurate?

[Etrurian emperor]

9 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

I LOVE Addam so much!  I was expecting him to be a really reserved person, but he is a bit like Zeke who is my favorite character in the main game.  This also explains why Niall kept saying Morag should have been the ruler and not him, since she was the one who was a good fighter.  And of course, even with all those crystals I am sill missing 2 of the "Torna" Blades in my main game, I guess I will have to grind cores again.  Anyway this is going to be fun.

So far Addam really is making quite a shine. Lora was a pleasant surprise considering she was kind of an icicle in the last game but Addam's definitely more charismatic than her. He seems like a big hearted, bombastic, nice guy and a good partner for Mythra.

I see promise in the Catboy too. They seem to be setting up a bit of a childish rivalry between him and Mythra. 

[Sire]

3 hours ago, Water Mage said:

I’ve heard reviews that this expansion is only 17 hours long, sidequests included. For those who played it, is that accurate?

I'm not sure, but the review I watched finished the game in about 12 hours. Also keep in mind some reviewers may skip dialogue and cutscenes, which can greatly impact hours played.
* * * * *
Personally I'm about 6 hours in and I think got the last member of the party. Given the areas left to explore, I think the 10-15 hours for the main story may actually be true. I'm starting to unlock the 3rd affinity for my Blades and my guys are around level 25. Despite this, I am having a blast with the DLC. I absolutely love Lora and company.

I don't know how long a completionist run (all sidequests, maybe all uniques) will be, but I'm guessing 30-40.

As for some spoiler talk and impressions...

Spoiler

HOLY CRAP I GOT TO SEE THE TRAINING SCENE! Dialogue beforehand even explains why Hugo is away and everything that is going on!

We also got to see another perspective on that "wounded soldier thief" guy. However, I don't think we get a definite answer on what happened to the baby.

* * * * *

Overall, I am loving the Torna expansion. I do fear my enjoyment will be cut short due to overall length, but I absolutely love the gameplay and characters. I find Lora to be far better than Rex as a protagonist, and Adam is basically Zeke. (He even has the same general arts as Zeke!)

Also, holy crap Minoth. Dude was a bad*** in this younger days! I also love his crafting thing reflects the fact he becomes a playwright later.

Seeing Mikhail as a kid is also pretty cool. Heck, seeing everything before it happens is pretty cool. I just try not to think about what will inevitably happen to most of the cast...

[Etrurian emperor]

So about Addam, does anyone else think he sounds a lot like Olgier von Everick from the Witcher? It being the same voice actor is possible since at least Bromarch also got a Witcher VA.

[Armagon]

Alright, i got my first major complaint for Torna ~ The Golden Country: leveling up Community is mandatory. At two points in the game, you're forced to level this up, first to Lv.2 then to Lv.4. They put the Lv.4 requirement before you go to the final area, which hurts the pacing.

It's like how X forced you to explore and do sidequests to progress the story. Except it made a lot more sense in X because that was the focus of the game.

Honestly, i prefered the Field Skill checks from the main game.

And now time for some spoiler talk i find interesting

Spoiler

Azurda was born from the Tornan Titan, which makes sense given his draconic appearance. He specifically states he was born 800 years ago and 500 years have passed in XC2, making him 1300 years old by the time XC2 rolls around. They haven't explained why he can talk though. Yet.

Malos makes a comment about Addam's eyes. Remember when he did the same with Rex? Hmmmm.

This was from a sidequest but said sidequest has sunk the Addam x Mythra ship. See, Addam's married. And he states his wife is pregnant. This could also tie in into how Rex is potentially Addam's descendant. 

 

 

[Sasori]

So far there are a lot of things I like about the golden country. I like the battle system a lot more now that the Gacha system is gone and so far everyone is pretty likeable on the cast. Its especially fun to see the hero of legend be less of an awe inspiring hero and more of a rowdy and wild guy.

On the other hand I don't think I ever felt so discouraged to talk to NPC's. Not only does the game insists on manually putting all npc's on the community screen, but nearly all of them also insists of talking about how to use blades in combat and other gameplay bits. I like it more if they talk about the world, rather then about the battle system. 

[Etrurian emperor]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Alright, i got my first major complaint for Torna ~ The Golden Country: leveling up Community is mandatory. At two points in the game, you're forced to level this up, first to Lv.2 then to Lv.4. They put the Lv.4 requirement before you go to the final area, which hurts the pacing.

It's like how X forced you to explore and do sidequests to progress the story. Except it made a lot more sense in X because that was the focus of the game.

Honestly, i prefered the Field Skill checks from the main game.

And now time for some spoiler talk i find interesting

  Reveal hidden contents

Azurda was born from the Tornan Titan, which makes sense given his draconic appearance. He specifically states he was born 800 years ago and 500 years have passed in XC2, making him 1300 years old by the time XC2 rolls around. They haven't explained why he can talk though. Yet.

Malos makes a comment about Addam's eyes. Remember when he did the same with Rex? Hmmmm.

This was from a sidequest but said sidequest has sunk the Addam x Mythra ship. See, Addam's married. And he states his wife is pregnant. This could also tie in into how Rex is potentially Addam's descendant. 

 

 

You increase the community doing side quests right? That could be a problem. I decided to go do a sidequest but then I rediscovered that Xenoblade II wasn't very good at that. I decided to escord some girl through Gormot but then the recurring problem of those needy sidequest givers just not leaving you alone roared its head again. I did the quest but then that spoiled brat insisted I cook her something I didn't have the ingredients for. So I quickly left again. 

Wow....that's pretty shocking about Addam. You'd think they'd tell you that in the main game. 

[Lightchao42]

I'm at the point where you have to reach Community level 2 to proceed, so its time for more out-of-order impressions!

Spoiler

• A general tendency I've noticed is that while the gameplay itself doesn't have much bearing on the story (mostly going from place to place and completing miscellaneous tasks), cutscenes tend to come in large batches before moving on to more gameplay. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because most of the plot is building up to the confrontation with Malos and there aren't many quests you can get from that.
• We get the training scene from the base game, but Addam isn't wearing his cloak this time. They even tied in an explanation as to why Hugo isn't around! And the Tornan soldier doesn't use the Tantalese soldier model this time.
• Speaking of Malos, it seems he wants to turn the Tornan titan into Godzilla. Does he have some kind of plan involving Mythra?
• Back when it was revealed that Minoth would act as Addam's Blade I was wondering how the story would handle it, since he's Amalthus's Blade. It turns out that, as a Flesh Eater, Minoth doesn't need his Driver to fight at full power, and him being tied to Addam is mostly a gameplay thing.
• We learn that Minoth last saw Amalthus two years ago, shortly before he climbed the World Tree and brought back the Aegises.
• Mythra doesn't really care about the world at large or stopping Malos, which makes sense because she didn't ask to be "born" with the responsibility of saving the world thrust on her. She follows Addam because he's her Driver, so it's a good thing he's such a nice guy then!
• The general idea of Addam acting as Mythra's older brother figure is maintained, since he's an adult while she looks and acts like a teenager. I wouldn't be surprised if Addam didn't turn out to be Rex's ancestor, because taking care of Mythra is enough parental responsibility for one lifetime. If Mythra does have romantic feeling for him (as Pyra implies) then she's good at hiding them.
• At this point Mythra hasn't met Malos yet, which is odd because their clash apparently destroyed three Titans. I wonder of Judicium has been destroyed yet.
• After meeting Amalthus, Mythra decides what a man is: a miserable little pile of secrets! She assumes that destruction is ultimately what he and all of humanity wants.
• As I predicted, Indol is using Gort (who stole Jin's Core Crystal and almost killed Lora but apparently isn't her father) for Blade Eater experimentation. I doubt we've seen the last of him.
• Finally someone says that Lora doesn't look 27. We also learn that Addam awakened Mythra one year ago, based on what Milton says. Hooray for more timeline stuff!
• We get the scene of Jin reading through his diary from the base game (though this time we don't hear what it says), but now we see Lora fangirling over how awesome Jin is. We also finally get the obligatory Mythra sleepwalking scene, though unfortunately it happens offscreen. I wonder if we'll find out how Mythra knows what "one-eyed monster" means...
• Everyone wants Addam to become king of Torna, even the current King, except for Zettar and Addam himself. Addam would rather work the fields after stopping Malos, which Mythra doesn't seem satisfied with...

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Lightchao42

[Etrurian emperor]

43 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:

At this point Mythra hasn't met Malos yet, which is odd because their clash apparently destroyed three Titans. I wonder of Judicium has been destroyed yet.

In a conversation between Amalthus and a random priest its implied that Judicium has been gone for a long time already, long before Malos went around destroying titans. 

The prologue mentions that one Titan already got destroyed so that's at least one Titan that goes down in the war. The lore in the first game saying that three titans fell isn't entirely accurate though

Spoiler

Because later in the main game you find out Torna wasn't destroyed by Mythra but by Amalthus

 

[Armagon]

8 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

You increase the community doing side quests right? That could be a problem. I decided to go do a sidequest but then I rediscovered that Xenoblade II wasn't very good at that. I decided to escord some girl through Gormot but then the recurring problem of those needy sidequest givers just not leaving you alone roared its head again. I did the quest but then that spoiled brat insisted I cook her something I didn't have the ingredients for. So I quickly left again.

 

After doing a decent amount of sidequests, i will say that they are better than the main game's (excluding Blade quests). The group and the quest givers legitmately interact and it even acknowledges other NPCs. For example, i helped a salvager Nopon in Gormott. Then, i went to the desert and helped out a traveler who states that her partner left. That partner turns out to be the Nopon and when they reuinite, the group is like "hey, i remember you. You're from that one time we helped you".

It makes doing these sidequests a lot more fun than the main game's non-Blade sidequests because the quest givers aren't just faceless NPCs.

Though i still think forced Community building is dumb.

[Lightchao42]

3 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

In a conversation between Amalthus and a random priest its implied that Judicium has been gone for a long time already, long before Malos went around destroying titans. 

The prologue mentions that one Titan already got destroyed so that's at least one Titan that goes down in the war. The lore in the first game saying that three titans fell isn't entirely accurate though

  Reveal hidden contents

Because later in the main game you find out Torna wasn't destroyed by Mythra but by Amalthus

 

I recall Malos saying in the main game that Judicium was a casualty of the Aegis War, so perhaps it will be elaborated on later. The technology Amalthus and the priest were discussing was from the Land of Morytha, which actually is a long-gone civilization.

The "three Titans destroyed by the Aegis" idea might have been distorted between the 500 years between games. The first person to mention it in-game was Mòrag, so a possible explanation is that Pyra's self worth was so low at that point that she assumed it was correct without question.

In other news I got the Community to level 2, though I haven't progressed the plot beyond that yet. The party being fixed, unlike the main game, results in more interactions between characters and makes the sidequests more interesting and enjoyable.

[Shiki]

Spoiler

I have play until the confrontation with Malos (so after having to reach Community Level 2).
Torna is pretty good. Progressing in the game feels much faster (I'm already Level 40), with battles feeling more streamlined (simple Blade combos) and quicker thanks to the enhanced options like Vanguard Switch and Talents. The story is engaging, with enough comedy between the serious parts. All of the characters are likeable, especially Addam.

I have some gripes with the DLC though:
- In general I don't see the need for each Driver having 2 Blades. Aside from Lora no one in the party has really the need for 2, with Minnoth pretty much shoe-horned to be Addam's 2nd Blade. Since there is an emphasis on Vanguard Switch I think they should have capitalized that more instead of having Blade Switch beside it (which is imo quite cumbersome here).
- Story progression lock through Sidequest is very reminiscent to XCX; that's stupid because it slows down the story and unlike X Torna has an engaging story behind it.
- I think they could have the entire story on Torna instead of having Gormott as the only other visitable Tian. Aside from giving the justification for Mor Ardain to act in story there is really no reason why the events should have played on there instead of Torna. It wouldn't have changed the narrative too much.
- There are some very weird consistency problems regarding Brighid here.
1. It makes sense that Field skills have to be re-distributed among the cast since you only have 6 Blades but some choices don't make in regards to the main game. Brighid has Botany instead of Mineralogy despite having it in the main game. There is no reason for why Jin and Brighid could have switched their respective Field skills. It is also weird to think about how she doesn't appear to lockpick in the future. Maybe she should have switched with Minoth that with Mining?
2. Brighid and Aegaeon seem to be both prized possesions of Mor Ardain but only the former is allowed to preserve her memories? That seems awfully biased against poor Aegaeon here.

 

[Sire]

3 hours ago, The Priest said:

  Hide contents

- There are some very weird consistency problems regarding Brighid here.
1. It makes sense that Field skills have to be re-distributed among the cast since you only have 6 Blades but some choices don't make in regards to the main game. Brighid has Botany instead of Mineralogy despite having it in the main game. There is no reason for why Jin and Brighid could have switched their respective Field skills. It is also weird to think about how she doesn't appear to lockpick in the future. Maybe she should have switched with Minoth that with Mining?
2. Brighid and Aegaeon seem to be both prized possesions of Mor Ardain but only the former is allowed to preserve her memories? That seems awfully biased against poor Aegaeon here.

 

Regarding your second point about Brighid...

Spoiler

She does lose her memories every time she dies. However, Brighid keeps a diary as a way to preserve her memories. She does the diary on her own initiative and comments that her own position as a Mor Ardain possession makes it convenient for access each time she "resets."  I suppose Aegaeon is not interested in keeping a dairy and is content serving his current Driver.

Aside from one other Blade, I do not think anyone else keeps a diary or a journal.

* * * * *

As for the Community Levels, I did initially liked the idea because it reminds me of the classic Affinity Chart from the first Xenoblade. Seeing the complex web of relationships and how Shulk and company impact their lives was rather enjoyable. However, I'm now at the point where the Community Levels are basically a requirement. I plan on doing the side quests anyway, but I'll need to play some more to figure out my final opinion on the whole Community Level thing.

One thing I do know is that it doesn't really make sidequests optional, so I'm not sure what lies for post-game (if there is one) besides superbosses and maxing out stuff. The fact that sidequest progression is needed for main story progression also makes me wonder what the actual hours of play are...

[Shiki]

11 hours ago, Sire said:

Regarding your second point about Brighid...

Spoiler

In Aegaeon and Brighid's Heart-to-Heart he is curious about his past service (at least the time when he served Niall) and laments his lack of emotion to it so I don't think he is content with the memory loss.
Brighid also mentions in her conversation with Pyra in Indol that many Blades try to preserve their memories but unless you're privileged like Brighid their documentation is lost. Considering her diary is preserved over 500 years it's odd that Aegaeon doesn't get the same treatment.

If anything this is one method to ensure the Blades keep their loyalty to Mor Ardain since their life is reset everytime they need to be awakened again.

 

[Etrurian emperor]

So apparently Hugo isn't a shota like Morgan and Niall. He claims to be 18 years old in one battle conversation. Also, Hugo speaks that most famous of Mor Ardainian lines ''Don't forget me!'' 

[Sire]

8 hours ago, The Priest said:

  Hide contents

In Aegaeon and Brighid's Heart-to-Heart he is curious about his past service (at least the time when he served Niall) and laments his lack of emotion to it so I don't think he is content with the memory loss.
Brighid also mentions in her conversation with Pyra in Indol that many Blades try to preserve their memories but unless you're privileged like Brighid their documentation is lost. Considering her diary is preserved over 500 years it's odd that Aegaeon doesn't get the same treatment.

If anything this is one method to ensure the Blades keep their loyalty to Mor Ardain since their life is reset everytime they need to be awakened again.

 

Looking over the two scenes again (Brighid & Pyra, Aegaeon & Brighid)....

Spoiler

I have forgotten about how some Blades try to preserve their memories. I just remembered the part about Brighid and her role as an imperial treasure.
- - - - -

Seeing Aegaeon's Heart-to-Heart is new for me. Apparently he is not allowed to look at past records and this had been put in place by Niall. If I were to guess, perhaps Imperial records are restricted but somehow Brighid's diary is not?

Either way, it is puzzling why Aegaeon does not have access to the Imperial Archives, or why he does not keep a journal like Brighid. I don't think either question is answered, aside from Brighid suggesting that Niall trying to nudge Aegaeon to help Alrest instead of just Mor Ardain.

[SuperNova125]

So I do not have the expansion so I watched it on yt. So Spoilers for the ending (I don't know how to put them so I am doing it like this).

SPOILERS.

Spoiler

 

Man that ending broke heart. First the battle was cool with the artifices but I was broken by what came after. Mythra going out of control, destroying Torna, seeing Rex and Addam being "afraid" by her power, how possibly the tantalese royal family comes from Zetta and fonset are the descendants of Addam's group I think. Pyra and her journey. Hugo's end. Gort, Amalthus's rising to power and Lora's end and Jin's "evilfication". Closing, Torna is not necessary to understand the lore of xc2 but to me it really adds a LOT to the characters ex. Mythra, Lora, Jin, Addam and I loved it. Also I like Lora a bit more the Rex and I believe she "functions much better into her story than Rex did in his own". Two questions remain that I want an answer.

1. What about Addam's and Rex's eyes that Malos mentioned to both and about not being Tornan and stuff, are the two related?

2. Official news on Ontos and the Zohar/Conduit. I mean there are some good fan-theories but I want official news.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2018 by eclipse
Spoiler tags, are they so hard?

[Armagon]

@SuperNova125 to tag spoilers, click the little eye icon at the top of the typing box. Rally suggest you do it ASAP. I haven't been spoiled since i scrolled down really fast but yeah, i suggest you edit your post to hide spoilers.

[eclipse]

. . .or I can do it.

Which I don't like to do.  So use the spoiler function, or I delete the entire post next time.

[Water Mage]

I was just watching the Torna cutscenes, and I first was disappointed that it was only 2 hours and a half worth of cutscenes, but when I looked back that original Xenoblade 2 cutscenes I realized that about 70% percent of the cutscenes were tutorials, world building and needlessly dragging out arcs. 

[Etrurian emperor]

18 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

I was just watching the Torna cutscenes, and I first was disappointed that it was only 2 hours and a half worth of cutscenes, but when I looked back that original Xenoblade 2 cutscenes I realized that about 70% percent of the cutscenes were tutorials, world building and needlessly dragging out arcs. 

The length does seem to be Torna's biggest flaw. But aside from the voiced cutscenes there are also a lot of unvoiced cutscenes and camp conversations that flesh out the cast.  

[Water Mage]

1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:

The length does seem to be Torna's biggest flaw. But aside from the voiced cutscenes there are also a lot of unvoiced cutscenes and camp conversations that flesh out the cast.  

Do you mean as too long or not long enough? To be fair, it’s impressive that they created this much content in less than a year. Make me wish this expansion was released in 2019 because it could be even longer!

[Etrurian emperor]

Just now, Water Mage said:

Do you mean as too long or not long enough? To be fair, it’s impressive that they created this much content in less than a year. Make me wish this expansion was released in 2019 because it could be even longer!

Too short. I've not been playing for long but I already feel like I'm nearing the end. And that's fine, it really is impressive what they did.....but with so much potential part of me also wants more. 

[Water Mage]

3 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Too short. I've not been playing for long but I already feel like I'm nearing the end. And that's fine, it really is impressive what they did.....but with so much potential part of me also wants more. 

I think they wanted to release ot while there was still hype for the game, but wouldn’t mind waiting a year or two for a longer Torna. They already have the resources, and creating resources is what usually makes game development take so long.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Water Mage