Xenoblade Chronicles X is set for release in the West on this December. But here in Japan, the game has already been out for two months. Here’s what Japanese gamers think of the game.
Published in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, the results of a reader poll on numerous aspects of the Wii U’s high profile JRPG, Xenoblade Chronicles X. Of those polled between May 29th and June 5th, 1,257 people offered valid responses to the magazine’s numerous questions about the game. Here’s a sample of what was asked and answered.
Thoughts on Game Length and Difficulty
Asked how long they played the game, most responders at the time of answering had put a sold 100 to 200 hours into the game. Most had managed to clear the game and the majority seemed to consider the game’s difficulty to be a baby bear just right.
Branching Story
Xenoblade Chronicles X features a branching story where things can change drastically from the simplest of choices. While most players seemed to enjoy the system, the fact that the game allows for only one save file did put others off.
Content, World Size, and Variation
A whopping majority of players either responded that the game had a lot or a whole lot of content (I have no idea what the 3% who thought the game had very little content were thinking). Likewise, most players definitely seemed to feel the game offered a nice vastness to its worlds. However, in terms of variation from place to place, an almost equal portion seemed to think that there was either enough variation or not very much with less than a quarter responding that they thought there was a lot.
Favorite Mecha
One of the big appeals of Xenoblade is the existence of mecha, called “dolls”, that you eventually get (and break). There are three types of dolls, light, middle, and heavy. Asked their favorite type, the poll was for the most part neatly divided, with a slight majority of voted going to the heavy type primarily for its durability and large fuel stock. The 1% that answered “other” were indicating [redacted due to spoilers].
Online
Xenoblade Chronicles X features a somewhat loose online mode – because all games, even single player games must totally have an online mode or the internet will implode from lack of love. Called the “loosely connected online” system, it allows players to share game information and use other player’s characters and NPCs. Asked how much they enjoyed the system, most indicated that they did not really.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is scheduled for release in the West on December 4th. You can read Kotaku’s own Richard Eisenbeis’ review of the game here.
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