Yesterday, Nintendo held a live stream at Milan Games Week and showed off Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Despite being the same area from Gamescom, it was an updated build, and new details were shared.
Here’s a roundup of information from the event:
– You can toggle a simpler UI in the middle of battle that removes descriptions, helpful for removing clutter
– The UI issue where the level of special art is not shown for the first stage has been resolved
– The Unique Monster Theme may have been changed
– There’s a mechanic where you can combine the Break, Topple, Launch with the Special Arts
– Extending Chain Attacks seems to be based on Bursting the Elemental Orbs rather than random affinity between characters
– There’s an announcer like Baten Kaitos who exclaims when something rad is happening
– There is probably way more choice making at any given moment than either Xenoblade X or the original
– When the game begins, Rex is working as a Titan merchant, selling resources from the more plentiful Titans to ones that have none for money
– While on a job with a team of mercenaries, he meets Pyra, who wants to go back home to Elysium, the tree where all creatures come from
– Blades do not level up
– As you use them more and more, their affinity with a Driver upgrades and they become more powerful and effective, especially in combos
– Those that are trying to stop Rex and Pyra are just after them because they’re Wanted, not actually knowing why they’re trying to stop them
– This Wanted status was put on Rex and Pyra by some higher, unknown force
– Nomura designed everything for Torna’s Titan, from characters to ships to housing and more
– Nintendo contracted a whole bunch of manga, anime, and game artists to design dozens of characters, Titans, etc., including people who have worked on Fire Emblem and Macross, among other things
– There is a theater where you can watch performances that tell the world’s story
– These are actually important to the story, one particularly so
Meanwhile, on the Japanese Twitter account for Xenoblade, we’re able to get a look at the Nopon Driver Tora. He’s a big fan of mechanics and Drivers. He admires Rex so much that he refers to him as “aniki”, or “bro”. Tora may not have the makings to be a Driver himself, but still manages to make do.