


Battling something of equal or slightly lower level takes a minute or more, and boss fights can take up to ten minutes in Xenoblade 2. A fight in, say, Octopath Traveler, takes about 20 seconds, apart from boss battles, which can take up to 3-5 minutes. Combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes too long with enemies of equal level. Honestly, combat is a waste of time in this game. While we’re on the subject of combat, my favorite part of JRPGs is grinding levels and watching as my characters get stronger. Also, characters in this game will have character classes similar to MMOs like Tank, Healer and Attacker. That mission is real and took me multiple tries to complete. If you take too long in killing the level 25, the level 90 will enter the fray and make short work of you. This monster is level 25, and in its location, there’s a level 90 bird that flies by. For example, kill this monster and pick up an item. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you can have a fairly simple mission. MMOs can get away with this because enemy level is based on your location. In Xenoblade, you must worry about aggro as enemies will attack you if they are within a certain range. This is MMO combat, you find an enemy, you click on them to attack and then you can use skills allotted to your task bar. You, as the player, just sit there, occasionally pressing one of the skills allotted to you, based on which ‘Blade’ you have equipped at that time. Pulling out your weapon and locking onto an enemy begins combat. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has an auto-combat system. JRPGs tend to have turn-based combat, and they have quest lines with a clear beginning and end. It’s an RPG from Japan, but it’s not a JRPG. I even feel as though this game is misrepresented as a JRPG. I wouldn’t call it an awful game, it’s technically sound, has interesting world building and characters I enjoy, but the gameplay…the best way I can describe the gameplay is that it’s a stripped-down MMORPG, minus the multiplayer element. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not fun to play. Well, let’s just say, I regret not doing research before making that purchase. And it’s a Nintendo title, so it can’t be bad, right? I had never watched any gameplay of the original game, but I was told it was a pretty good JRPG. with my college friends, I had heard nothing but good things about Xenoblade Chronicles. And two, as someone who didn’t own a Wii U and played Super Smash Bros.

One, I grew up with games like the Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. But I decided to pick up Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for its massive open world, interesting story, puzzles and fun combat. Super Mario Odyssey, a game that has garnered much praise for its fun gameplay. When picking up my Switch earlier this year, I had several games I could have bought with the purchase of this new console.
