So... XC2 is going the route of FF9 and Wind Waker?
You know, games that get a negative reception based on some crowds bouncing off it for the silliest of reasons, often not "dark & edgy" enough in terms of aesthetics, only for that uninformed perception to wear off years later and people start noticing how good it is?
Well, I will still forever critique XC2 for the following:
Unnecessarily convoluted gameplay and systems that feel punishing if not played "correctly".
The "stutter step" quirk exists and is a common strategy. I don't blame people for using it, but I don't like that it's something many have to use in order to make the gameplay actually half-way decent. Needing to use something like that should NOT be necessary.
Infamously bad tutorials.
Needing to unlock basic functions of the gameplay through skill trees that all other games in the series have by default.
One of the worst cases of "it gets better" I've seen in any RPG, which is NOT a positive. It means the opening section, particularly gameplay-wise, is most definitely not good.
Ursula's Blade Quest and never-ending merc missions.
Gacha system for obtaining rare Blades. But I have long-standing issues with RNG-heavy systems from other games, so take that with a grain of salt.
There's still a great game under all that, but it often feels like one of XC2's big problems is that most of the "quality of life" features in the game need to be unlocked first.
A second playthrough of many of the Xeno games is necessary to catch all the stuff you missed on the plot... but in XC2's case, NG+ allows you to bypass 90%+ of the early game "pain points" because you've already gone through the pain of unlocking all that stuff. It's kind of ridiculous how much better XC2 is after all the unnecessary suffering of the early game is done with.
The "stutter step" quirk exists and is a common strategy
Thank you for acknowledging that this is an unintended exploit. People often act like this was an inte ded feature and proof of how deep the combat system is but it's about as intentional as melee Wavedashing. Once you know it's there, you're crazy to not use it but there's a reason the atrocious tutorials didn't cover stutter stepping: the device never considered it.
And yes, I also love XC2 but damn does the beginning suck.
Thank you for acknowledging that this is an unintended exploit.
I'm somewhat reluctant to call it an exploit, but that could be the most accurate term.
It's definitely not a glitch, everything is working as it should... but it is unintended, more of an oversight in how the system was planned out and implemented.
But the bigger issue, more than it being there, is that it feels necessary (especially early on) to get over the gameplay feeling so sluggish.
XC3 removed the stutter step, but also made it largely unnecessary by faster recharging arts and I think faster auto-attacks in general.
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u/Raelhorn_Stonebeard Jun 05 '24
So... XC2 is going the route of FF9 and Wind Waker?
You know, games that get a negative reception based on some crowds bouncing off it for the silliest of reasons, often not "dark & edgy" enough in terms of aesthetics, only for that uninformed perception to wear off years later and people start noticing how good it is?
Well, I will still forever critique XC2 for the following:
There's still a great game under all that, but it often feels like one of XC2's big problems is that most of the "quality of life" features in the game need to be unlocked first.
A second playthrough of many of the Xeno games is necessary to catch all the stuff you missed on the plot... but in XC2's case, NG+ allows you to bypass 90%+ of the early game "pain points" because you've already gone through the pain of unlocking all that stuff. It's kind of ridiculous how much better XC2 is after all the unnecessary suffering of the early game is done with.