Big N5 of the Week - Guns, Wii U's, and Kirbys Everywhere!

Our new news feature, depicting the top 5 best Nintendo stories from around the web. Updated every Sunday. Is your body ready?

	5. Rumor: Leaked Microsoft document revealed Wii U price tag? An apparent leaked Microsoft document describing the next gen Xbox, also had some stuff to say about the Wii U. The document described that the Wii U will cost $250, and being first in new console train line could "defend [Nintendo's] success in broad gaming segments" and "further erode console differentiation" by matching console hardware specs with PS3 and Xbox360. It was hard to say if the document was fake or legit, even though a $250 price tag is traditional for a Nintendo home console, but with the system being released with a gamepad controller, a $300 price tag would seem the most plausible. Unfortunately, the leaked document was soon taken down, so I can't offer any links.
	4. Jimmy Fallon thought Wii U was just a new Wii.   Yeah...you can watch it here. Thanks for adding more confusion to the already confused casual market that thinks this is just a new Wii accessory, Jimmy. The system needs all the help it can get.
	3. Keldeo Resolution form Revealed.  Teased on Tuesday in a magazine scan, Keldeo's new form was finally revealed this week showing off a more gutsy form of the newest Event Pokemon. According to Serebii Keldeo can only change form in B/W2 in Sangi Town while Terrakion, Virizion, and Coballon are in your party, and when Keldeo knows the move Secret Sword. Like the new form? Hate it? Tell us what you think!
	2. Kirby 20th Anniversary Game Line-up revealed.  Good news for Kirby fans: Kirby's 20th anniversary will not be in vain. The pink puffball's next foray will be a collection of his finest games for the Wii: Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) Kirby's Adventure (NES) Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Game Boy) Kirby Super Star (SNES) Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) Kirby 64 (Nintendo 64), and will feature an on-disc history calender, a compilation CD, and some games will even include bonus content and new levels. It's every fan's dream collection of Kirby games all rolled into one! Happy birthday, Kirby; may your games live on for many, many more anniversaries!
	1. Miyamoto wants to make a FPS for the Wii U?  Source: Kotaku. You heard right. The man behind Mario and Zelda wants to someday make a FPS akin to Doom and Call of Duty for the Wii U. "I actually do kind of want to make a first-person shooter," he says, "but I don't have time." And also went on to specifics as how he'd make a FPS: "Rather than necessarily the question of 'What kind of weapon do I have?' in a first person shooter or 'What kind of effect does that have on an enemy?', I think that the structure of a first-person shooter is something that's very interesting," he said through a translator. "Having that 3D space that in theory you are in and being able to look around and explore that—particularly being able to do that in conjunction with another person—is very interesting." If anything it will not be your typical affair of a FPS, as shown how Miyamoto put his own spin on the RTS genre with Pikmin. Whenever he does decide to make a FPS, or whatever he does with the genre you can be rest assured that it will be like nothing we've played before.

Tune back next Sunday for other Big N5 of the week!

Big N5 of the Week - Guns, Wii U's, and Kirbys Everywhere!

N5S Impressions - Nintendo E3 Conference 2012

With a 3DS conference on the way this evening, it's a good time to take a moment and reflect on yesterday's Nintendo conference. While it was a decent show yesterday we still had our qualms about the games Nintendo showcased. Here's our impressions:

"This year I was not as hyped as I should be for Nintendo's e3 presentation, since I was not that interested in Wii-U, but I gotta say that now, after seeing the conference I'm getting more and more interested in it. Definitely not as much as I was for the 3DS, and I definitely won't get the Wii-U on launch or even a year after its launch but still, my hype meter has risen.

So anyway the conference began with Pikmin and Shigsy was as awesome as ever. I've never played Pikmin (I've always wanted to though) but the trailer was pretty exciting. Then when Reggie came on stage and announced that there were 23 games for the Wii U I was really impressed, and I hope that this means the Wii U will have a much stronger launch than the 3DS. The New Super Mario Brothers U looks really good and I'm loving the art design. I loved how unexpectedly they went from Mario to Harley Quinn and for a moment I thought they would announce a WiiU exclusive batman title but no it was Arkham City (which I already own) so I was kind of dissapointed. Scribblenauts Ultimate looks much better than the DS versions and the fact that you can add your own words and that there is a story mode is a huge plus for me. Most of the other 3rd party games announced were ports from the PC, XBOX360 and PS3 and I've already played most of them and I was kind of hoping for more exclusive and new games. Of the 3DS games shown nothing was new but still the new Paper Mario and Luigy's Mansion trailers were pretty cool. NSMB2's artsyle looks bland I hope I'm proven wrong. I can't wait for the 3DS exclusive conference tomorrow. Lego City looked like GTA and L.A. Noire with Legos and ZombiU's fluidity and real time menus positively surprised me. Rayman Legends looks awesome. The most boring part of the conference was NintendoLand which doesn't really look like something special in my opinion. I think it will be included with the console similarly to how Wii Sports was distributed along with the Wii.

Anyway this year's e3 was pretty average, the beginning was exciting, the ending was dull and the lack of Smash Bros info and more 1st party Nintendo games was disappointing. The Wii U looks good but I have yet to see a game that will make me really really want it." -TheFreakyManga, N5S Forum Mod. 
   
"Great entrance from Miyamoto-san. Pikmin 3 looks beautiful, although dated. Why is Reggie's monologue longer than the entire Pikmin demo when he said this show would be all about games? Why is Reggie talking so much about Miiverse when they had a pre-show to get it out of the way? Redundancy at its finest. New Super Mario bros. U? YES, doomed Nintendo is the best Nintendo. The third party sizzle reel just showed the exact same games as last year. Come on now, is this the best they could do? Why are they dedicating so much time to Arkham City, a port of a game that is not only available on other platforms, but has been for almost a year? A bit embarrassing. Why are they dedicating to much time to Sing? Why are they dedicating so much time to Just Dance 4? The usage of the Wii U game pad screen is very disappointing so far; Mario and Pikmin will hardly use it. Why are they wasting so much time on 3DS coverage when they announced a second conference just to cover it? Where is the graphical showcase exclusive to sell Wii U to the hardcore? Where are games like Alien: Colonial Marines showing off some cool controller usages? Why are they taking so long to show Nintendo Land? The guy is struggling to explain how it works, and I'm itching to see something exciting. Will there be a surprise at the end to woo the hardcore gamer, much like Metroid Other: M? Nope, more Nintendo Land footage. If I buy a Wii U at launch, what games can I get in the months ahead? Nintendo is in big trouble. They lack direction and strong leadership." -toadster101, N5S Admin and a Nintendo fanboy for life.

"Nintendo's E3 Press Conference this year was overall good but could have been better. At the beginning Nintendo had a strong start with Pikmin 3 which got everyone's bodies ready, but things got a little weak during the finish with NintendoLand." -CRAZ1ah, N5S Forum Mod and Unofficial Jesus. 

"I came in this E3 in open arms. I know it was dumb, but somethign told me deep inside that this was going to be the greatest E3 ever. Last year's E3 conference was lackluster and barren, but it was hard to be disappointed when they promised so much for this year. They promised us a new Smash Bros. for both Wii-U and 3DS. They promised that the Wii-U would not be a repeat like the 3DS's ho-hum launch line-up. They promised us games. So we waited 365 days - and E3 finally came. With each so-so conference coming and going and the countdown to Nintendo's conference ticking I thought to myself 'There is NO WAY they can screw up, it's impossible." And then Miyamoto came on the stage. My heart was racing. They showed Pikmin 3. 'Okay', I shrugged, 'Everyone expected that anyway.' Then Regiie came on the show and announced 23 games they were going to show on the floor. It was all about the games. His words made me shiver with anticipation. This. Is. IT. And then he talked...and talked...about Miiverse. But I told myself to be patient, wait for the good stuff, it will come. They WB Games showed a port of Batman Arkham Asylum, a new LEGO game, and another Scribblenauts. But I was only interested in the firs-party games, and at this point I was crawling out of my skin. Then finally they showed NSMBU. 'Great', I thought, 'slow start but now we're picking up steam now!' And then came the 3DS games...every single one we all knew about...and NSMB2, which to me looked horrendous. At this point I was beginning to sag into my seat. Reggie talked about Wii Fit U, ZOMIU, Sing, and Just Dance 4. Then came the finale...I tightened my wrists...took a few breaths...braced for it...Nintendoland. 'But that's...that's okay!' I assured myself, 'They'll be showing a teaser for something else I know i-' It ended. 

That was Nintendo E3 Conference  2012. This is what I hyped over for a year. Nintendo didn't bring out the big guns... they brought out their little water squirters and called them real guns...and were confident about it. Is this the future of video games? Nintendo will definitely cover for this of course, but to make me feel great about being a Nintendo gamer...this wasn't it." -EggBeatr8, Co-writer for N5S blog. 

"Nintendo's conference....the first ten minutes was a really exciting time with the reveal of Pikmin 3 and all, and despite my apathy towards the New Super Mario Bros. aesthetic style I actually cheered and clapped for the Wii U version because it actually looked sufficiently different from the other NSMB games. Also, as Reggie said 'What's a new Nintendo console release without a Mario game?'.

It's either that or Zelda, so I don't understand the people who got over-excited about the Zelda HD tech demo as if it was an indicator of the second coming. It is, after all, still just a tech demo. I'd wait until next year or so for a Zelda game; the brand is going into fatigue after the massive 25th Anniversary celebration last year which saw four Zelda games being released in close proximity to one another.

Following that were the 3rd party Wii U games, and although they're prettied-up ports of PS3/X360 games with screen controls shoehorned in, they're fine by me since I've never got a chance to play them. I'm sure a lot of others have though. There were a few unexpected surprises in there, like Mass Effect 3 being ported and Tank Tank Tank from Namco Bandai finally making it to home console (it was an arcade game, an excellent and underrated one at that). Scribblenauts Unlimited also made me really happy, I'm a big fan of the series and they actually made Maxwell more adorable that he already was in the DS versions!

But the greatest 3rd party offerings of all were from Ubisoft, which showed off ZombiU and Rayman Legends. Ironically, Ubisoft's two big hitter games for Wii U made full usage of the screen controller even before Nintendo did. They're way more enthusiastic about this than anyone else, which is both good and bad. Good because a 3rd party is actually making an effort to innovate and use the screen, bad because it shows a lack of interest on even Nintendo's part. Where's your usual cleverness, Nintendo?

Now, one 2D Mario game was fine for me. Two in one go is overkill. As soon as the conference moved into 3DS territory I groaned as New Super Mario Bros 2 came on the screen. Literally, I groaned. It looks nothing like its big brother on Wii U and almost like the DS game's forgotten twin, they were so freaking alike. The new emphasis on coins don't help its cause. Luigi's Mansion and Paper Mario 2 were most welcome, however.

The hate showered upon the casual territory, while understandable, is rather unjustified; we've already got our own heavy-hitters a the beginning of the show, it's time for Nintendo to show the rest of their stuff to the newbie gamers and their own investors. It's not like we never got to see anything we wanted to see. Wii Fit U and Just Dance 4 look like high-quality pieces of kit, though I can't say the same for Sing. Karaoke games on a console has always been a terrible idea to me.

The absentees: Kirby's 20th Anniversary and all the other rumored games. They managed to make a whole hoo-ha over Zelda's 25th Anniversary last year, so what happened to Kirby? Is he going to be celebrating his birthday in Dream Land by himself? Or maybe he just wasn't the type of character to show on the conference; I don't recall any Kirby game being shown on the screen other than Epic Yarn. Who knows? There was some consolation for the cute pink ball though, because news going around E3 is that Kirby's Wii compilation is still on the way, slated to release this September.

As for the rest? Frankly I could care less about all the bovine excrement that was spewed out over the past few months. Rumors of Metroid Prime 4? New Zelda for 3DS and Wii U? New Starfox crossover with F-Zero or what have you? New Smash Bros? Okay maybe the last one could have had more confirmation after the statement made last year but still, there's no evidence that any of these are being worked on to be shown off at E3. It's 2010 all over again; gamers making unrealistic expectations of Nintendo to show off everything they want to see even though all they've been hearing is bullsh*t in and bullsh*t out. I shut my ears off to all Wii U related nonsensical rumors from a few months back, including all developer quotes and talk about tech specs and potential games, because there were so many of them and all of them conflicting with one another that I just didn't care anymore. Overhype kills.

It was a strong start and weak finish for Nintendo's conference, with good first-party titles and 3rd party titles revealed in the first half and casual stuff for the latter half ending with Nintendoland, another minigame compilation which most people would just yawn off unless it was a pack-in with the console or with another screen controller.

Unlike last year, I came in to this conference with low expectations. All I wanted to see was the Wii U itself and maybe a couple of games. The only thing I didn't get to hear were pricing and release date of the new console, but other than that I'm satisfied as a whole. Of course, it could still have been done better, but at least it wasn't as bad as the confusing train-wreck Nintendo did last year. I'm fine with it." -pikaby, N5S Admin and writer for N5S blog. 

So there you have it, folks. Thanks to all the mods/admins for their contributions!

N5S Impressions - Nintendo E3 Conference 2012

Miiverse announcement trailer

Explaining the concept of Miiverse would be rather boring and arbitrary, so I'll let this five-minute reveal trailer do it for you.



It's the nerdiest trailer ever, but you get the idea of what's going to be happening in it. Basically it's a huge social circle of Nintendo gamers who can see and talk to one another through their Miis, or using their smartphones, or using the Wii U controller for video conferencing. The console is more online-heavy than I thought! Wonder how comfortable it is to sit there and talk to a random stranger you've never met before...

It looks like one giant GameFAQs in the console. Wonder what else it can do?

Miiverse announcement trailer

Nintendo Direct announcements!

With the closing of Nintendo Direct's pre-E3 show today, there's been some interesting announcements. One announcement is that the Wii-U is receiving a new traditional controller that looks similar to the Xbox360 controller:

 

The controller will give gamers an alternative control scheme for playing Wii-U games without the touch screen interface.

And if that wasn't enough a new trailer for NSMB2 was revealed at the pre-show. It is compatible with Miiverse (posted above) and new gameplay elements were hinted at in the comments by the Miis on the world map, including a flying squirrel suit and a baby Yoshi that can inflate to carry Mario. Sounds fun to me!

The background elements and world map give off a Super Mario World vibe, and looks a whole lot smoother overall. It's the 3DS version though, the Wii U one will probably be shown at E3.

This is surely the tip of the iceberg, so get your body ready this Tuesday for many more updates, when Nintendo's conference goes live. See you at E3!

Nintendo Direct announcements!

E3 2012 Predictions.

Another year, another E3 and a Nintendo Conference. Some say Nintendo’s last outing was lacking, and I can somewhat agree on that. All they really showed was…well, not much; it was mostly hush-hush projects, announcements for the 3DS we already knew about, and the new home console system, the Wii-U, and didn’t show any games for it. But forget about that, because E3 is just a few weeks away, and if E3 2011 was anything at all it was hype fuel for this year’s E3. With all the new titles being shown I can assure you it will not be a disappointing year. And what exciting titles could we expect this year? Here’s my honest opinions on the line-up (from most to least likely; not including games already announced for this E3):
 
Most definitely likely – A New Zelda.

It’s going to happen. No doubts here. Last Zelda console game was last year’s Skyward Swords on the Wii, and the last time the series appeared on a portable console was Spirit Tracks on the DS in 2009. If anything if it isn’t a new Four Swords utilizing the new Wii-U controller (seriously Nintendo, get on it) it will be on the 3DS. It’s already been rumored to boot. And if it’s true, hopefully it’s a full scale game like OoT and not another point-and-move-stylus-Zelda. Please Nintendo, utilize your technology for the greater good!

Extremely likely – WarioWare Wii-U/3DS.

To me this seems likely due to the fact that there’s a WarioWare game released on every Nintendo console, usually as a launch title. With every leap in innovation comes a new and crazy Micro-Game compilation, and I’d love to see what they come up with using the Wii-U controller. And let’s face it, if this game isn’t announced or even hinted at this year’s convention then Nintendo never came. Seriously, this is a series that is Nintendo, like every Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Wii Fit title ever made that defined this company. Saying this won’t be at the show would be like saying Wario hates money.

Probably – The next Mario game.

I have to hand it to Miyamoto. I wish I had such will to keep a game series afloat for so long and not let it go stale. Whatever crazy idea he comes up for the next console Mario game I can’t even fathom, so it’s better for me to just shut up and let imagination take it’s course. (Anyone hoping for Mario sunshine 2?)

----

Possibly, if not later – Mario Kart Wii-U.
 
Yes, yes, we already got Mario Kart 3D last year, but Nintendo thinks ahead on these things. I wouldn’t doubt they’re cooking up Mario Kart Wii-U as we speak (Hopefully with some more Super Circuit tracks). Mario Kart is never too far behind after a console’s launch after all. Hard to say if we’ll actually see it at E3, but it’s not too hard to imagine that there will be a Mario Kart for the Wii-U in the future.

There’s a good chance – Metroid Prime 4 (or a 2-D platformer).

After the mixed reviews of Metroid: Other M with it’s talking Samus and frequent cut scenes involving an unnatural amount of dialogue after dialogue for an action game, it would be a blessing for the series to go back into the Prime saga of first-person exploration and space pirate blasting. Even better for the series is go back to it’s 2-D platforming roots, but Metroid Dread just doesn’t seem to want to be made any time soon (what is so wrong with our money, Nintendo?). And what about that Star Fox and Metroid crossover? If that game is actually legit I’m going to eat my shorts through a straw. No joking.

Maybe – Return of Yoshi’s Island.
 
Where have you gone to, Yoshi? It’s about time for you to set on another adventure – maybe this time with multi-player mode a la’ NSMB Wii on the Wii-U. Come on, who doesn’t want to eat one another and then poop each other out in eggs? …Okay, I apologize for that frightening image if you weren’t thinking of Yoshi at the time, so think instead of the fun you’ll have jumping on each other’s heads; scrambling on one another to get your baby character back when you get hit. Ah…. A 3-D game wouldn’t be bad either, but we just want Yoshi back!

----

Hang on to your lucky clovers – Xenoblade 2.

As an avid CRAZY fan of Xenoblade I really, really, really, really, REALLY hope this one comes a reality. Though on the other hand I know that I’ll be very disappointed this year if it isn’t announced, and I know Monolithe Soft is working on Project X Zone at the moment so there’s a slim chance of it appearing, but I’m still clasping my four-leafer with my COLD. SHAKING. FANBOY. HANDS. IN. PRAYER for this game. Did I mention how much I love Xenoblade? Why are you leaving?

Not likely – Smash Bros. 4.

I have more hope of Xenoblade 2 being shown than I do with a teaser for SSB4, and that’s kind of strange until you think about. Hal Laboratory said themselves that they won’t start production on SSB4 until Kid Icarus: Uprising is complete, and that game just came out a month ago. If they had any time to work on the project, it’s most likely not even past the concept stage. Sad, I know, but don’t worry, we’ll definitely get a teaser in E3 2013 and then we’ll only have to wait 3 more years after that for the game to actually be released. …Okay, now I’m depressed.
 
Yeah, just forget about it – F-Zero.

No. Bad fanboy. Put that chair door. Put it down NOW. Good fanboy. Here’s a Scooby snack and a Kleenix tissue for your troubles. Sorry I had to write that, but let’s face it guys, the odds of this game being shown at the convention is the same as a new Elite Beat Agents, Chibi-Robo, and Mother 4 being announced this year – also, for that Mother 4 game being announced for America. I know, it SUCKS. But I moved on from EBA, and you should move on too…or better yet, don’t take a grain of salt out of my words. Yeah, I’m writing with honesty, but I can never fully predict what E3 this year has in store. For all I know, Smash Bros. 4 could be shown in all it’s Nerdgasm-inducing glory, my Xenoblade 2 dreams could come true, Star Fox would make a comeback with Metroid, and you’ll get two F-Zero games! …Or maybe not that last part- Ohhhhh, there’s no need to get hasty now…um…nice fanboy?

Also, I apologize for the lack of Kirby. I only picked three games for each category of likelihood, so I had no room left. 

P.S. See you at E3!

E3 2012 Predictions.

New alternate Legendaries + New Black 2/White2 news!!!

Things just keep getting weirder. 

 

It looks like Kyurem isn't the only Pokemon in Black 2/White 2 getting an alternate make-over: Legendary cloud trio Thundurus, Landurus and Tornadus are getting female alternative forms! (Beautiful aren't they?) You can catch these beauties in the 3DS exclusive Pokemon AR Searcher, which will be released sometime this Summer.

 

And if thought that was all, you've seen nothing yet. Here's more information concerning the new Pokemon games:  

 

-Pokemon Musical replaced by Pokewood; where you can battle Gym leaders from past Pokemon games!  

-Cheren is rumored to be a Gym Leader. 

-New evil team has been rumored. 

 

Whoa! This is shaping to be the best new Pokemon iterations yet!

 

New alternate Legendaries + New Black 2/White2 news!!!

Xenoblade Chronicles (9.5)

Let’s admit it: JRPGs have become a repeating cycle of cliché story telling with unappealing characters and their boring back stories, that have been sprinkled with pretty cut scenes and overly busty female characters to keep us pretending we’re interested. That’s how we define a genre that structured such fantastic games like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and TWEWY, which broke the traditional chains of common JRPGs and are still to this day fun to play as they were years ago? Is it our curse to just put up with ho-hum RPGs until someone makes a one time masterpiece that will never see another sequel or never become a franchise of it‘s own? If anything is certain, if you judge Xenoblade Chronicles based solely on it’s bleak graphics and appearance, you’re no doubt missing what could be the greatest JRPG of our time.  

Story-wise, Xenoblade does things right. The storyline is engaging and never drags out into pointless monologue that completely disrupts the flow of the game. The friendships between characters is shown distinctly through “heart-to-hearts” scattered throughout the world, which is a goofy love sim mini-game where you pick the answer and see what awkward responses you’ll get. Thankfully, for those that are not into this, they completely skip them all together. Some might not appreciate the similarity of the story telling to other JRPGs, and yes, some of the cut scenes do drag on a little, but I’m so fortunate they took the time and at least made a story that didn’t want to make you throw up.

For a game that’s not HD and looking like it could very well be played on a Gamecube, Xenoblade sure makes up for it in terms of shear vastness. Taking place on a giant robot, or Bionis, as it is called in the game, Xenoblade’s world is massive and full of life. Never has an RPG on a home console been seen on such a huge scale. The moment you look across and see the other Mechon…looking upward at it’s outstretched sword through the clouds is pretty darn impressive. The game switching from night and day can produce some nice looking scenery as well. Though I do admit that the character models could’ve received some polish: character’s mouths don’t move in-sync with the voiceovers at all, and this makes sentimental moments look more like a bad hand puppet skit than a video game cut scene. But nonetheless, I felt the rest of the game made up for it’s graphics, and in no way is the game so ugly that it would seem like the developers didn’t care.
 
But Xenoblade really shines in it’s brilliant gameplay. Being an open world RPG (a la’ the likes of those of an MMO) with some action elements, battles are very strategic and adrenaline fueled. This is what every RPG should feel like, and I applaud Monolithe for making this the main priority. No matter how many times I get into a battle it never feels stale, because of it‘s superb mechanics. Simply attacking an enemy won’t get you anywhere with a character like Shulk, for example, since most of his attacks do greater damage attacking on the side or the back. While a character like Dunban is more adapt at attacking in combos and accumulating Aggro, which makes him the main target of enemies and allows other characters to sneak behind and deal extra damage. If your efforts are in sync you’ll be able to issue a Chain Attack and deal even more damage, and it’s the only way to topple a giant enemy. Each character also has his/her own Skill trees that can be leveled up and linked with each other, which gives the game a unique twist outside of battle. Improving the friendship of teammates allows them to link up more skills, and become more efficient in battle. Increasing friendship also increases the likelihood of more attacks in a Chain Attack, so choosing which characters to use at the appropriate time is a fun challenge in itself.

Saying Xenoblade has a lot of content is an understatement. Xenoblade has an immense amount of optional side quests, boss battles and achievements to unlock to keep you playing for a long time. Not all the side quests are winners, and some are mostly recycled again and again, but you’re rewarded for each endeavor with a very large amount of Exp, AP and SP (for Skill and Arts leveling up). In fact, this is the main way of receiving Exp, for defeating monsters is mostly for obtaining loot. This makes level grinding a thing of the past, which used to plague all JRPGs for generations, but those who don’t want to partake in side quests don’t have to worry, since discovering new areas also gives out a fair amount of Exp to your party. And you don’t have to worry about losing your progress by accidentally encountering a strong monster or falling off a high cliff: when all your teammates are defeated instead of the title screen reloading you’re sent back to the last check point with all your status and items in-tack. You’re also not forced to save at certain points either and you can save whenever you’re not in a cut scene or in a middle of the battle. This is such a grand far cry from traditional JRPGs it’s amazing we tolerated losing all our long hours of gameplay just because we couldn’t find a Save crystal for so long.
 
Xenoblade is a game you absolutely cannot miss out on. There’s so much to look forward too, that I couldn’t fit everything in I wanted to say about the game here without stretching it to who knows how many pages. Xenoblade is a gem that should never fold back into the pages of history and be left forgotten. If anything, if all JRPGs in the future are like this…then I can’t wait for the future.

Xenoblade Chronicles (9.5)