Operation Rainfall created 83 tidbits of information about Xenoblade Chronicles for the purpose of not only informing people about the game, but as well as getting people excited for the release on April 6th. Here are all 83 tidbits listed in the order that they were posted on Operation Rainfall’s Facebook Wall. The tidbits for the most part remain unaltered. There are some minor character and location details, but no major spoilers. All information is based off of the European version of the game. Some of the tidbits when originally posted had images, but not all images were added to this article. Enjoy!
83. You Won’t Lose your Progress if you Die. You don’t have to worry about dying and then losing your progress in Xenoblade. You just start at the nearest landmark like it never happened and you even get to keep all your stuff!
82. Heart-to-Heart Moments. Did you know in Xenoblade, like the Tales of games, have special instances where you’re alowed to get more in depth with characters? They are called heart – to – heart moments, and, while they are not voiced, they are very essential to learning more about the characters and how they interact with others and even some back ground info on them. They are very well done by the way.
81. You may Know Xenoblade Chronicles by a Different Name. Originally shown in America at E3 2009 under the working title “Monado: Beginning of the World”, the title was renamed to “Xenoblade” to honor the legacy of the games’ creator, Tetsuya Takahashi, who also created Xenogears and the Xenosaga series. The game itself is a completely new experience having nothing to do with the previous Xeno games.
80. Incredible Draw Distance. In Xenoblade Chronicles, the draw distance is phenomenal, even at night. Nearly anywhere that you have a view of the sky you can see the towering Mechonis God in the distance. When it rains at night, you will hear thunder and see lighting in the distance piercing the pitch black, miles away. You may find yourself gazing at the scenery for minutes on end as it is some of the best you will ever see in a video game.
79. Landmarks. Landmarks can be found in every area of the game and mark the place so you can instantly teleport back. You also start at the nearest landmark if you die in battle. Another interesting aspect is that if you find every landmark in a particular area, it will open up the map so that you do not have to completely walk an area to clear it. Finding landmarks also reward a good amount of experience points!
78. Battle Combo System. Break, Topple, Daze. Xenoblade uses a battle combo system in which you first Break the target which makes them susceptible to Topple, Topple knocks the enemy down, and then Daze keeps the enemy down longer. When an enemy is Toppled/Dazed, the party can inflict higher amounts of damage.
You can easily recognize these type of abilities from their colors, pink is Break, green is Topple, and yellow is Daze. It is not pivotal that you learn the system, but doing so will make battles a whole lot easier. Some enemies are hard to damage unless Toppled/Dazed.
77. Xenoblade is Long. What you may have heard is true, Xenoblade Chronicles is long. There are a staggering number of things do in this game. There is affinity building between characters, there is gem crafting, there is skill building and linking, and there are tons of quests; there are over 400 of them.
For those who choose not to do many quests or choose not to do much exploring, the game will likely last around 60 hours. For those who do choose to explore what the game has to offer, expect an experience that will last you over 100 hours. Some have reported it took them 200 hours to 100% the game.
76. Day and Night. During the nighttime you will find different and more challenging enemies to fight than those you will find during the daytime. You can change the game time to day or night any time you want right from the menu. There are certain skills that can be learned which provide benefits for fighting in the day or from fighting in the night such as extra experience. There are also gems which increase your nighttime accuracy.
75. In Game Achievements. Did you know that there are achievements in Xenoblade? You will get a notice on your screen and then you can check the achievements section of the menu to see what you did. There are a wide variety of achievements you can receive, including battle related achievements such as using arts a certain amount of times with each character, and game achievements such as achievements for talking to a lot of NPCs or for building strong relationships with you characters.
There are many of them which means you will be seeing them unlocked quite frequently as you play the game. Some achievements you can check to see in the menu what you need to do while others are a complete mystery.
74. Collectibles. Collectibles can be found in every area of the game and can be seen as blue lights on the ground as you are exploring. When you touch a blue light the collectible is added to your items. There are literally hundreds of different kinds of collectibles that you can find in the game.
Collectibles can be used in quests, used in trading, used in the Collectopedia (more on that later), or sold for money. Some collectibles are common, some are quite rare. You are rewarded prizes for collecting collectibles so it is definitely worth your time to try and find them. You can even gift collectibles between party members to raise their relationship level (affinity).
73. The Voice of Shulk (English). Did you know that Shulk’s voice actor Adam Howden also voiced the character Anders from the game Dragon Age 2? Other voice work he has done in games you may have played include Drgaon Age Origins, and Fable 3. He also has some voice work in Star Wars The Old Republic.
72. No Health or Magic Items/Potions. You won’t find any health potions or healing items in Xenoblade Chronicles, but don’t worry, certain characters are capable of using arts to heal your party. Also, after a battle is over your party will quickly recover lost health providing that there are no other enemies around that have you in their sight.
71. Controlling Characters in Battle. In battle, you can only control one character while the computer handles the other two (AI). You can choose which skills those two characters have access to by setting their skills in the menu before battle. The computer will then use those set skills, but you have no real control over how the two characters will use them or when. You cannot switch control of party members after the battle has started so plan ahead. The good news is that the computer does a good job of handling the AI of your other two characters.
70. A Unique Game World like No Other. The world of Xenoblade is unlike anything you have likely seen in a video game. The areas of the game are on a body part of the Giant God Bionis. You start out on Colony 9 which is located at the foot of the God Bionis. You will continue to explore the body of the God as you play the game. As you can imagine (especially if you have seen the trailer) this makes most areas of the game massive and will take you several hours to explore thoroughly.
69. Shulk Character Profile. Shulk, age 18, is our lead character of this story and lives at Colony 9 which is located on the foot of Bionis. Shulk can Wield the mysterious blade weapon called the Monado, the only weapon that seems capable of truly damaging the machine invaders from Mechon. He’s brash but not to impulsive, has revenge in mind, but not at the expense of everyone around him, he’s brave and upfront. The people who surround him think of him as a good friend and someone they can count on. He is resolute and will see his mission through to the end; no matter what.
