This game has been on my list for quite some time, even before the definitive edition came out. Now I finally have it and... i have thought...
The gameplay is fun and different from basically anything else I've played (no, I haven't played the other Xenoblade games) and while it took some getting used to I really came to like it.
That being said, why is this tutorial so long??? I've taken multiple breaks from playing this game because the tutorial gets in the way of me actually playing the game. And the stuff it introduces sin't even that complicated, it's just needlessly drawn out. I finally got done with it (it took me like three sessions) and did some actual gameplay but I was so exhausted that I had to take another break and haven't played in a while. About time I get to it again.
A short and sweet introduction. I remember playing this as "Servey Programm" on my laptop when it first came out, though it was already a little spoiled for me before I had the chance. Still, I really like it. The world and characters are fun. Lancer is a great (sort of) antagonist, and so many moments still live in my head all this time later. Replaying it on the Switch, now with my personal Deltarune expert (boyfriend) by my side has been a lot of fun and he showed me some neat secrets. I'm having way too much fun with it.
Continuing chapter 1s good vibes at a bigger scale, chapter 2 is really fun. Queen is such a great antagonist and I love the city and its esthetic. Having Noelle as an addition companion is neat and really brings something new to the game. Spamton is really fun too and I need to ttry that secret boss fight some time. There's some neat world building here too.
I LOVE TENNA!!! I LOVE HIS WEIRD 3D-NESS!!! I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM!!! This chapter might just be my favourite. The jokes are great, the world has so much going on in it and the Zelda-esque minigame is so good. The secret boss (as always really) was too hard for me though and I quite trying after like half an hour of frustration.
I'll be honest, I'm not a fan.
Talking to my boyfriend about it, the issue is purely the way I've seen the game so far. For him the story has always been the most important part so he loved this chapter and how it took itself and that story more seriously. For me this is the funny characters game. The antagonists of previous chapters have been the absolute highlights of the game for me. They're funny and goofy and barely a minute passes without a laugh. That's why I loved this game, and that's why I can not get behind chapter 4. It still has its funny moments and characters, but they take a back seat to the serious story. While I could barely put down the previous chapters, this one kind of bored me, so much so that I stopped playing for a few days and only picked it back up because my boyfriend told me I was almost at the end.
I do really like the climbing mechanics though.
I just don't really know how to feel about this game now. If this is the direction it will go in from now on that's fine, but I may not be there to experience it myself. I'll give chapter 5 a shot when it comes out and we'll see I guess...
After Chapter 4 left a sour taste for the game for me, this one reminded me why I enjoyed playing it in the first place. Though this isn't to say that Chapter 5 goes back to being as goofy and silly as 2 and 3 were. I'd say this chapter mixes the overarching story that takes itself serious and the funny aspects of the game better than any chapter has so far. The festival sequence is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed getting to interact with these characters in such a casual setting for an extended amount of time.
When I first saw the Dark World in the trailer I said "place Japan" out loud, much to the amusement of my boyfriend. While that is here it is also a lot more. The nostalgia angle of this chapter makes itself apperant right from the start as a lot of the early parts mirror or are just taken straight from Chapter 1. It's been 8 years since it came out and it was a fun twist, though it doesn't really work in universe I feel, since it's only been a total of 4 days for the characters.
The flower characters are fantastic and they bring so much life to the game that I now wish every other chapter had. 1 through 4 feel a lot more lifeless in comparison now. Flowery makes for a fantastic antagonist who you can sypathise with and his interactions with the three main characters as well as the other flowers and especially Asgore are great and I really grew to like the guy. Also his intro animation was done by Studio Khara which is insane to me.
I'm really excited to see where the game will go from here now. While the low point that was Chapter 4 for me still stings I can't deny that I am once again fully on board.
Also I beat the secret boss and I love her. Please let there be merch of her in the future, I'm begging!!!
Also also Kawkaw is the best thing ever and I love them and OH MY GOD!!!!!
Oh, and my boyfriend beat the final boss first try and I'm going insane. That thing was so hard for me...
----------------------------------------WEIRD ROUTE/SIDE B-------------------------------------------------
Well, it's the same except that I went out of my way to not spare a single enemy. It's not the most enriching way to play, I'll admit, but it's still neat to experience.
Now we're getting started! The weird route is grindy and a bit annoying to do since you can not make any mistakes. Seeing Noelle slowly change is interesting and the bigger events like freezing Berdly are great to see, even if they're a bit hard to stomach at times. However, the chapter post Noelles section is just boring. It' s cut short since most of the castle is simply skipped over. Queen just vanishes until the very end and nothing else really special happens. That is until the final boss which is a solo fight between Kris and Spamton in his new neo-body. It's a fun fight and I'm proud that I did it in only four attempts!
Also, since I didn't recrute anyone, Queen came to my town and was really sad to see none of her friends there.
Nothing here. Like a few minor dialog changes maybe, but it's not much. Also, I kind of rushed through this chapter since I just played it earlier this year and doing only the bare minimum really shows how short these chapter actually are when you don't get hung up on exploring and reading every possible bit of text.
I think I actually liek it better now (sort of). Seeing Noelle being different to how she is in the normal route is neat and once I got the her house I had a great time. The section is over all cut short but what is here is really cool to see and the route is actually making me a bit more uncomfortable the further I get into it.
The rest of the chapter is the same as usual so I'm not going to complain about it again. Though again, it's interesting to see what happens when you don't recrute anyone. I guess the big pumpkin guy is dead now :(
And Queen has a sad empty room in my town that she shares with Trashy.
WHAT?!
Having to force Kris out of bad felt bad but then I got to explore the festival with Susie and it was really bitter sweet. It's the kind of change that I want to see from this route. Its different and uncomfortable while still giving you the same amout of content as the main game... is what I would say if it weren't for that ending...
So... going to the beach and talking to Noelle leads to a scene where you can continue the wierd route and the girl has gone insane. If you procced with the route the two of you walk into the lake and slowly sink down as the screen fades to white and it tells you to "Insert Chapter 7 Side B".
Yep. We skip basically all of Chapter 5 and probably also Chapter 6. I guess we'll see more in Chapter 7 and I hope it pays off because while I like what is here, this route does feel a bit bare bones considering how little unique stuff is here and how much of the content from the regular route gets skipt.
I usually don't play survival. I find it tedious and making what I actually want to is too much work. That being said, this is my first long running survival world and I enjoy it a lot.
I have a nice farm and lovely house and just kind of tackle small projects one by one, though I do also have a larger one going on that I've split up into a few smaller parts.
Also, I play with keep inventory on. Don't judge me.
Vibrant Visuals is here!!! WOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!! I've been waiting for this thing to come out on something I can actually play it on for forever. The basic usual Minecraft look is great but man this new thing looks good. I'm more excited about this than I am about any of the other new content.
