The MOST HATED Combat System in Xenoblade Chronicles & Why I Love It

[@rowanatkinson3594]

One thing I really appreciate wtih 1's combat is that it's a lot easier to keep track of what your party is doing via their battle barks: because 2 and 3 have so many variables and things going on it can be a bit tricky to figure out what your team is doing and work around it, but since everyone only has one or two lines for everything they do it can be easy to hear "WILD DOWN" and start buffering using a shaker edge before the topple even takes effect, for example. I think that quality is what kept it from being boring, for me

[@MegaJames1987]

Great video dude. I keep burning out on the XC1 battle system, but i also keep coming back to it. My body knows theres something great there and something in me wants me not to give up completely.

[@rgon3t]

11:25 You're not taking full advantage of chain attacks if that's how you're using them, and that's why you're not using them much. They're very powerful and fun if used right. This isn't really explained in game, but when you chain attack in XC1, if you select the same color arts or a talent, you increase the damage multiplier for the subsequent attack, which can lead to doing massive damage on the final attack, like a +300% to +700% damage Sword Drive. Also all your arts are available during a chain attack, letting you use those big damage, high cooldown arts more than you would be able to normally. If you configure your characters and their affinities properly, execute those chance attacks in the right conditions rather than art spam, and hit those burst affinities, you'll be able to do multiple chain attacks in one fight, which will take huge chunks of health off bosses, uniques, and enemy groups.

[@pedrobeckup456]

This video released and i had never played Xc2 in my life, now i beated it. One of the best games of my life for sure

[@ash8244]

And here I am thinking that 2 and 3s combat is wayy too much and makes enemies have massive hp bars for longer battles. 1s combat is the best

[@sting7789]

Xenoblade 1 definitive edition is the only Xenoblade i care for cause Shulk is a beast and i love the combat system. Being Shulk with the awesome Monado is my favorite but it is also fun to switch to other characters

[@minuterice19540]

The thing I think that people overlook about Xenoblade 1 combat is that it was very specifically designed to carry the game through its main story, as 1 doesn't really have much post-game in it. So, yeah, once you have all the stuff, there's not much going on, but the fun factor is the progression in combat ability as you also progress through the story. For what it's intended to do, I think it does its job well.

[@NECROcade]

i LOVE xenoblade 1 combat, i do wish with my entire soul that the auto attacks would be as smooth in the other games as they are in 1, as for art cooldown its just the balance mechanic, think of how overstimulating late game xenoblade 2 art recharge is, i just adore xenoblade 1 so much the combat was never bad, i think the only thing i wish for would be characcter swapping and having the entire party available at all time like in 3, but that requires SOOOOO much rebalancing for the entire game, seeing as melia buffs, 2 healers, and shulk would be alot of effects, the bosses would be super unkillable

[@ActualAero]

Yeah character switching mid battle would've been cool and all party members would be difficult to do as they'd prob have to remake the whole game to be built around it but it is a really neat idea to think about

[@astreakaito5625]

It's literally all a skill issue, they're all fun, you just need to understand the mechanics.

[@ClaytonMathisVO]

This is actually my FAVORITE battle system. It was so engaging especially when you play as other characters. I would love to see it used as an MMO version of Xenoblade if it ever happens.

[@EmilXOM]

Simple is nice! I really like 1's combat, despite it not being the deepest. It still has so many options for team builds. I definitely also like how chain attacks aren't as over centralised, compared to 2 and 3. I get kinda bummed in 3, when the regular music cuts out in favour of the chain attack theme, and then boom, the fight is suddenly over :/

[@lpfan4491]

Objectively, I feel all Xenoblade gameplay I have played thus far(1/DE/FC, 2, FR, Torna) is mediocre. However, it ironically became the thing I actually play the games for after I started taking the attempt to 100% the games seriously. Even tho it can get pretty frustrating when stuff decides to just not work, it just gets a lot of fun to go down the checklist for success for me when it does, which is probably also why I like missionbased games where many people run in fear when they hear the first thing about those, lmao. 3:15 I still hope that people will get a replacement server running because I haven't played X yet and won't by April, so that would kinda suck. There are things straight up locked behind online that according to those who played already can be really beneficial or downright required for one's completionism. 5:05 No way. 😂I 100%ed FR and I straight up didn't know this was a thing. I thought the dash was a partner AI-exclusive thing. Well, that certainly explains some things. 8:55 I personally enjoy it. Well, most of the time, they contribute to the list of stuff that make time attack challenges absolutely dreadful to S-rank on restricted because they just eat so much time. If anything, my only issue is that they have a chance to not trigger on certain attacks that absolutely partywipe you when they connect, which leads to the Future Connected-effect in my playtime. The future connected-effect being that if I am going to fight a unique monster that I know I cannot rely on visions for that has a devastating talent art(I know because I just got partywiped my the same monster, lol), my top priority becomes to just spam shield like a fool the entire time. The game tries to help you by talent arts having a much longer reaction time than anything else, but it is still hard to react to them due to strict timing, largely because the game is designed around you responding to visions, not funny enemy animations. 10:24 "it makes sense". Tell that to Mythra in 2 who just gives you evasion and hitchance(Still a great buff, but it doesn't hit the same way in representing what happens in the story). Meanwhile Shulk as DLC for some reason gets the soft vision-mechanic where it isn't really a vision but you get the cool visuals and it negates an entire enemy attack, so it gets the same job done. 13:32 Technically yes. You straight up do less damage if you don't chain attack the orbs away. However, I have ironically gotten myself wipes by doing chain attacks incredibly often simply because it can be incredibly risky in 2 to throw away what is basically 3 revives for a Chain that won't result in too much until you get more optimized(And full bursts do not really happen without common blade orb-stacking). Of course, this could just be me having major skillissue. And well, yeah, we obviously all know how the 3-Chain works. Doesn't even have a real resource attached to it, so the literal only thing stopping you from going nuts is the order of characters you get being random. Which ironically can make or break certain fights because like, I absolutely need to get the hardest superboss in FR dead in the first chain or the fight is basically over because it is just too strong on hardmode.

[@mr_yoru5834]

The combat in XC1 is great. The only thing I really don't like is chain attacks, because they feel really random and don't feel powerful until you raise your party affinity enough. The early game with just Shulk and Reyn is slow, but the game is trying to introduce new options over time to avoid overwhelming the player since each party member is unique. Lots of people who play RPGs will just pick a few characters and focus on them, and may not even switch out members regularly, and that play style really drags down the experience in games where everyone is different.

[@ky0kami]

As a PC gamer for about 15 years I got a switch around a month ago and I have to say xenoblade 1 blew me away. One of my favorite games I’ve ever played. I think the combat is perfect for the switch I’m surprised people don’t like it.

[@ActualAero]

The quality of life updates like the ❗ icon near the right position for arts helps a lot too. I really thought it was solid but it's unfortunate most people just hate it 😔

[@Particle_Ghost]

Tales of Vesperia smokes it.

[@ky0kami]

@@Particle_Ghost interesting I’ll try it out

[@DLCMan1218]

3:10 Pretty much the same until you find out how to abuse overdrive

[@Jetbladewarrior]

The only problem about using chain attacks in 3 it gives you way to much experience that you can be overleveled if you overkill an enemy so I turned off overkill in the Chain Attacks and I'm slighty underleveled and when I was using Chain attacks in boss fights I was way to overleveled. 3 for me is my favorite it's way easier to understand but I just wished enemies didn't resist breaks so much but when they hit me, almost everytime we get broken and I'm playing on easy so it should be the opposite. Only 2 things I wish they would fix in 3 but it's never going to happen reduce enemies break resistance based off difficulty easy being they resist break very rarely and we hardly get broken and we overkill an enemy with a Chain attack put the experience for overkill in the extra experience we can use at campsites. 2 is still harder for me but I understand how to do the orbs it's just so easy to mess up and accidentally use the same Blade Combo. And then there's 1 the worst to me in my experience and I didn't really enjoy the story either sadly. The story was good and I was excited at first till we got Fiora back on the team then it went from Shulk and Crew to Shulk x Fiora and 3rd wheels. That's when I stopped playing. I deal with the incomplete story that we got for 3 if they fix those 2 things.

[@ActualAero]

My least fav part about it in XC3 is if you get to much EXP your classes become out of range from the enemies to become leveled so they don't grow which sucks

[@Jetbladewarrior]

@@ActualAero Yeah that definitely sux I just wished they allowed us to level up or down in the campsite at the very beginning it even says in the tutorial says you can level up and down but you can't level down till post game.

[@marioxenobladedokifan614]

I personally find XC1's combat to be great in its own way. I really enjoyed the vision mechanic as it keeps you on your toes in battle when you're trying to prevent it from happening.

[@Kuhazan]

I am one of the four. I prefer Xenoblade 1s combat over the others because in 2 & 3 it feels like wasted design potential unless you intentionally do not use chain attacks otherwise you only end up fighting half of a boss before locking them into a chain attack where only you can win which one could argue could be done in 1 but much later in the game not during the entirety. 2 in my opinion has too many instances of cinematic s where you can just cheese the system by playing it not how the designer intended (I am going to assume since these problems do not exist in 3). Something else people forget about combat in 2 you move like molasses in combat by default and if you kill multiple targets your loot pops out of enemies like Sonic loses rings... they also flash like said rings and disappear into the ether while 3 addresses this with the dash I will say as far as enemy loot 1 and X did it better and that is not even debatable I also feel the inclusion of DLC difficulty modes brings another thing to the debate : those who played the game without the combat additions from DLC (Custom difficulty / Bringer of Chaos) and those that played it with which becomes a $60 vs $90 game problem and if designing around multiple difficulties is even good because you have to question if it is difficult or if it is just time gate grinding. So I have to say I never understood the complaint about Xenoblade 1s combat other than people being drawn in by the cinematic flash and being able to push the face buttons instead of cycling through the arts panel.

[@molten8022]

I honestly dont understand why they would remove auto attacking while moving in the two games were your arts recharge while auto attacking in xc2 i would pretty much never use the positioning arts because why would i move when doing so will stop my art recharge and thus slowing down the talent arts thus making the games combat slow down even further

[@Dantes61680]

My combat order 2 1 x 3 I found 3 to be either boring or easy. I dont like having so many characters at the same time being managed by AI. There were times when fighting normal mobs was not engaging. I would not do anything, and my AI team would kill them all. Just in case I beat all the superbosses on hard and got max stars. That was the only time that I saw the combat potential.

[@ActualAero]

That's interesting as I loved XC3's combat personally. I think having healers being the only ones to revive and 7 party members added some neat elements

[@somedude3820]

I think Xenoblade 1's combat system has many elements to it that make it my favourite in the franchise, but I'll stick with a few key bits. 1: It feels the most tactical of the bunch to me, your Arts build at a set speed- barring Talent Arts- meaning timing them is very important compared to how Xenoblade 2's Arts are built through Auto Attacking and all the cheesy ways to hyper accelerate Arte gain in 3- you don't just toss them out whenever you get them, even with tank characters like Dunban. It feels like each moment impacts a battle significantly, and while I like the seven man party of Xenoblade 3, it often feels like each move you make only influences a small part of the battle a lot of the time because there's so many moving pieces. 2: The future visions keep combat dynamic and makes averting a known bad outcome a big tactical undertaking. You probably do the same thing all the time in each game's combat, but having that be met with visual feedback in 1 is so satisfying. 3: On average, the game's battles are the best paced in the franchise, or at least is close to this distinction to Xenoblade X. This might sound contradictory as I've mentioned the other games becoming mashers, but Xenoblade 2 and 3 pump up the enemy HP to ludicrous degrees. I think it's a bit better in 3 because you have 7 bodies on the battlefield compared to 3, but by the end both of those games (or by the midgame in 2) I am actively avoiding combat because each random enemy can take minutes to kill, unlike in 1 where generally if a random encounter takes more than 30 seconds its because you dragged more enemies into the fight. The boss fights while meaty, don't take forever either. 4: The lack of a class and alternative weapon system. One trend I really don't like in RPGs is the trend of everyone being able to become everything. In Xenoblade 2 and 3 I feel character identities in gameplay have been eroded by an excessive degree of customizability, especially 3. Lanz feels less distinct and special for example as you can just have Taion go into his class and play the same as he does. I prefer how in Xenoblade 1, Shulk is Shulk, and only Shulk, he can't suddenly play identically to Reyn or vice versa. The affinity coins to choose which passives characters can pick up from other characters and their Art Selection is the perfect amount of customization. Xenoblade 1 characters don't have to spend time in classes or wielding weapons I don't want to play as to feel like a complete character, either. Future Redeemed was really refreshing in this aspect, no class jumping as everyone is only their class and can't change it. There's more, but this generally covers why Xenoblade 1 and by extension X, have my favourite combat systems in the series. In X, other party members aren't as useful though, so I give the edge to Xenoblade 1.

[@jacobmonks3722]

I adore Xenoblade Chronicles and I do have fun with its combat, but something that definitely keeps me from loving it more is how "solved" it is. Every character has an objectively best strategy and Arts setup, and I feel like it isn't that difficult to figure out what it is if you are even slightly well versed in RPGs. By the time you get to the superbosses, you probably already know the best ways to beat them. Night Vision, Spike Resist, and Agility gems are unquestionably the best, and Shulk/Reyn/Dunban will be the most effective party for Topple Locking, which is the best way to do fast, consistent damage. While I am a bit mixed on the execution, I do appreciate XC2's gacha system for making each playthrough feel different. You won't always have powerful blades like Dagas or KOS-MOS for the final boss, but sometimes you'll have them as early as Giga Rosa. Other times you'll be stuck with Boreas and Elektra and Kora for practically the entire game. It can be frustrating to not get what you want, but it also means the game stays fresh each time you play, and giving each of these blades their own sidequests also helps with that feeling.

[@ActualAero]

Yeah there is definitely better setups but I feel like that applies to all the games as well. Like certain blades that work really good on Zeke or a certain class that's really busted for Noah, etc.

[@jacobmonks3722]

@ActualAero True, but in 2, you are relying on RNG to get the best setups, and in 3, you have to go out into the world and find all the classes. It's far easier to get to the best setups in 1 in comparison because the characters just naturally learn their Arts when they hit certain levels. The only exception I can really think of is Shulk's Monado Eater and Monado Armour, which is a sweet reward for a sidequest, and I wish more Arts were like that. I'm not really saying any of this is a good or bad thing, just for the record, because it's really just up to personal preference. But I definitely think 2 and 3 give you more incentive to interact with all of their systems than 1 does.

[@michaelclifton9498]

I always thought the visions in XB1 were a really cool idea. I still prefer XB2, although i experienced XB1 1st through a let's play, XB2 is the one i played through myself so i'm probably bias😅

[@patrykzukowski7471]

Are you kidding me? There are people who thought XC1 combat is bad? How? It allows for so much customization and there are tons of different and useful Arts, not to mention all the synergies and the awesome skill system. I'm sorry, but I just started XC2 after thoroughly enjoying XC1 and the combat is what struck me in the very first encounter: where are my Arts? Where are my tactics? Where are my choices? What is this constant auto-attacking? Where are my timings? Where is my easy to read UI?

[@ciphymasterofmedia9104]

Personal take on why I dislike the visions is that they feel like hand holding. Where other games put emphasis on attack patterns and animation cues to indicate when a big attack is coming, the visions in XC just tell you off the bat what attack is coming and what arte to use against it. It just makes all fights feel the same and unintuitive imo. If every fight will tell me how to avoid big attacks then what's the point of trying to pay attention to enemy AI? Not like the game does a good job at relaying that info anyways. Having visions removed in Future Connected and then playing XC2 without them felt much more challenging and satisfying.

[@pixel6894]

I personally love the combat when your level matches/is scaled with your enemy but in ng+ unless you nerf yourself it gets boring when you can’t engage in it because everything dies too fast.

[@ActualAero]

Yeah that's pretty much NG+ in all Xenoblade games haha. I'm glad they let you level down throughout the main adventure though and it isn't locked to post game like in XC3

[@pixel6894]

@@ActualAero I don’t remember, did Xenoblade 3 get ng+ because I kinda thought it didn’t have it. Maybe I’m misremembering.

[@Buktech]

Did you play Xenogears, how do you like it?

[@CharNatorn]

Xenoblade 3 is my favorite game for both story and gameplay. It's just amazing, and now that I beat it, I have nothing else to play.

[@sprothan2]

I Love all the XENO combat systems and especially the VISION system

[@ActualAero]

Me too!

[@TheGamingAnole55]

Xenoblade 1 has by far my favorite combat of the numbered entries. Its more diverse and strategic than the other games. I'll never say its perfect- there's too much randomness in Chain Links for example. But I just love the chain attack system, talent arts, moving & attacking, etc. Its so unique and so good. X's combat is great too, but I prefer 1's chain attacks over Overdrive.

[@kingofcheshire]

One thing I’d give XC1 combat are the unique looking colorful art icons, otherwise XC2 combat is just better, 3 is really fast but I feel like it lacks some depth aside from chain attacks

[@rcmg4013]

Can't understand people who thinks XC1 combat is boring when XC2's field monsters are stupidly bulky and unrewarding. I literally skipped fighting field monsters and doing side quests as early as chapter 2. I was wondering the whole time when will it get not boring.

[@WhiteRaito]

Idk i cannot get past like 1st hour for all XB due to auto attacks i just prefer i can smack or its pure turn base instead may be something like wild arms where you move around hexagonal to do back attacks and whatnot on WA5 or trails/Like a dragon that lets you move somewhat and position yourself in and see AOE attacks and stuffs

[@ichiroplays4631]

i love the xenoblade 1 combat system, i even do that in xenoblade 3 but i only play 1 character and that is noah just like in xb1 i only play as shulk, in xb3: future redeemed i still play as shulk in the whole game except main story-locked as matthew

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I like 1’s combat system as a new player who mostly plays turn based (or Monster Hunter, which I feel is the opposite of turn based?). I haven’t played 2 or 3 yet. It’s fun to switch it up between characters now and again. It’s not hard if you’re properly leveled and has a nice rhythm to it (at least Shulk and Melia. I don’t love the other three I have tried. Still need to try “Rrrrrikkki!!!!”’s combat and mysterious #7.)

[@TerryBogurt]

Combat is why I love this series but X holds my heart for my favorite

[@ActualAero]

I definitely wanna give it a try! Especially with how it looks to be built off of XC1's combat as well

[@justanothergamer9570]

I love X's combat and exploration, but I hate its overall package. The nail in the coffin is the terrible party building and leveling system (which forces you to use the same three party members for every story mission plus one extra who will almost inevitably be underleveled for the whole second half of the game). If they remade the game and fixed that problem, I'd try to forgive the game's other flaws.

[@questionmarkquestionmarkques]

this combat system would be peak if chain attack extensions werent rng oriented

[@finp9689]

There's no way people shit on XB1's combat system. its the most simple of the 3, most enjoyable imo, most intuitive, most well explained, etc... i rly like XB1's combat system and I think XB 2 has the worst of the 3 (granted i am a XB2 hater).

[@5000PokemonMaster]

I’m one of those 4 people 🤝

[@ActualAero]

You are one of the 4 that I know lmao

[@MikoMango23]

I also love 1's combat! There's a lot more than just 4 fans of 1's combat ya know, it's simple but it's still pretty fun, honestly Although I'm not a big fan of 2's, not helped by all the gacha mechanics, field skills and the slow movement speed in combat, although 3's combat came back around to being peak again, with battle pacing being improved and you having more arts at the current moment than 2 Although with that being said, X's combat is better than all 3 😈

[@ultimateshadeofwar]

Simple doesn't mean bad, in fact, i dislike XC2 combat, because i don't feel as flexible as XC1 and even 3's. I can try different strats then just "Hit it really hard". Sure 3 you build for Chain attacks, but experiment with debuff or other stuff is really interesting.

[@HenrikMyrhaug]

I definitely disagree and think that the people I know who like Xenoblade do so mostly BECAUSE OF the combat systems. I personally like 2s best, with the elemental combos and fairly fast paced chain attacks, as weel as fusion combos and randomized party making each playthrough somewhat distinct. I really didn't like 1 as much, mainly because the way you aelect arts is from a list that you scroll through, instead of having a keybind to instantly trigger an art. Also, the chain attack were purely based on luck, so getting multiple rounds and high damage is not reliable until lategame. When it comes to the vision mechanic, I mainly find them annoying because they interrupt the flow of the combat by stopping time for a second and showing you what is going to happen, then giving you a really long time before it actually happens. It kind of ruins the stakes when you get so much time to something that you will always have time to intervene. In 2 and 3, the game also tells you what your enemy will do, but it does so without braking the flow of the combat by showing you the art's name. This forces you to learn enemy attack patterns, and to react quickly to evade, block, or break or topple the enemy, and is much more satisfying in my opinion than the vision system in 1. I love how 2 sped things up, but also added a lot more layers to the combat system. I think 3 slowed down the chain attacks to where they were a bit too slow paced and not so fun anymore, but the ouroborus abilities were great fun. Basically, 1 is just too simple for my tastes, yet still more clunky, and a little slow paced.

[@rhyhaggen336]

People need to understand the break+topple+daze part of battles to finalize with chain combos.... if they skip tutorials this may be a reason why some regular enemies with high damage may be diffcult to defeat... beating superbosses its an amazing part of these games and just using brute force wont do it...

[@rhyhaggen336]

Ill be honest, to me it all started with xenogears... then xenosaga... and xc1 xc2 xc3 with xcx are my favorite games of all times... they even left the final fantasy & zelda games behind... for those who feel the battles are too difficult, it just take a few tries to find ur fav party and arts and talents... u can start with shulk fiora n dunban for high count combos, but riki n melia buff debuffs are great too

[@Blackwindzero]

I prefer XB1 for the same reason. XB2 orb system was too easy and the combat was doing the same thing repeatedly. I enjoyed 2 more once I put it on hard (or nightmare cant remember) where ya cant use the mechanic as much. I also loved XB3 because it was a good medium between the two. You could either use your overpowered transformations or just focus on normal play.

[@ActualAero]

Yeah Xenoblade 2 and 3's are fun but they definitely do feel like a get to a chain attack and win whereas in Xenoblade 1 you usually can chain attack 2-3 times in the same battle because of how its just a tool and not the whole focus of the combat to base your strategy around

[@Blackwindzero]

@@ActualAero it's actually possible to do crazy chain attacks in XB1, it's just not something that organically makes you think "I neeeeed to focus on this mechanic" even if you can. Xb2 kinda made normal play feel like "you're playing it wrong, you clearly must use orb system / chain attacks". I just wanted to point out focusing on chain attacks is an optimal playstyle on xb1 too, it's just not obviously so and I love that.

[@talranddrake9679]

People call 2s combat fast when really it's just flashy. Even fighting scrubs in 2 takes longer than 1.

[@CommentOfficerNeo]

i sinked in 295 hrs and counting on Xenoblade Chronicles 3, i will buy 1, 2, torna and future redeemed soon. every game just feels different only the name Xenoblade is the same.

[@lemmyxpro]

The reason that XC1 has the worst combat by far is not necessarily because of the combat system itself, its because the Time Attack mode SUCKS ABSOLUTE DOG!! The Time Attack mode is a complete joke, and thus you can't experiment much with the combat, and push the system to its limit. But the amount of customization in XC1 is also a limiting factor of the combat, as there isn't much of it.

[@Snowy0428]

Not the shade thrown 💀

[@ActualAero]

If people wanna be publicly toxic they better stand on business 😤

[@Ramund223]

my honest opinion is that xc1 combat just bears a lot of left overs from being a wii game originally so it just feels a bit clunky on the switch atleast for me

[@donaldthescotishtwin]

It wasn’t the combat that I didn’t like with the first game. It was the janky balancing, it was so annoying.