Xenoblade

[Aurian]

Are you in a certain brown and red city with enemies roaming about? I found that area had a difficulty spike. Lots of exp though.

[Akanbe-]

I'm almost at the point where I want to use a guide to complete some quests.... mind you I said "almost".... faqs and guides always have ruined the experience for me to a degree so I swore off em years ago and thus I will refrain... but boy I am tempted with this one

Everytime I use a guide, something either ends up spoiled or I can't stop looking at it for every little thing.   I don't like 'em much either.

[Eusis]

I do feel like near the end of the game is when the good balancing kind of falls apart. Now, rather than easily finding quests in your level range and using them in place of a grind, almost every quest you find is way past your level, and you need to go grind on monsters to level up enough to make the final bosses a non-issue and to do post-game content. Not that it was THAT bad of a grind thankfully, but you needed to find the right place (a tip: Once you're in the level 70 range the Bionis' leg becomes a great place for grinding as those monsters are now surmountable.)

[Prime Mover]

Yeah, the Dark/White Hoxes and the Bahemeth-y dudes (forget what they're called, begins with a "G") are really great for leveling, starting around 72 or so. Just run around the lake with the interconnected platforms, and beat up on 3 or so at a time.

Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to find good grinding spots after level 75. There are some biggies in the Bionis Interior that become fairly manageable, but they're spread out, and not fast for leveling. There's one cove in Eryth Sea that's home to some monsters that are perfect for mid-70s, but you have to swim to get there. I think it's north of the Ether Windfarm. But it is weird, the game doesn't have an innordinate number of level 70-85 monsters. Suddenly, there's TONS for high 80s, 90s, and some really obvious 100s (Dinos, Snow Giants, etc), but there's a big gap in there that I never bothered getting through. I beat the game at 81, so I never got high enough to start smashing greater Telethia, Fire Ants, Giants, etc. I searched high and low for good high-70, low-80 monsters to grind on, and I just don't think there are any.

Hint: some early areas actually change after certain events take place late in the game. There are new high level monsters in the easy dungeons. But once again, Level 85+, though I'm not sure I went back through EVERY early dungeon.

[Eusis]

It'd help if it didn't have that stupid attempt at keeping you from fighting higher leveled enemies via MISSING all the time if you're more than 5 levels under. I can't imagine when that's seriously relevant in the game anyway, earlier on most enemies with that kind of difference will crush you, and in the end game, well, it's the END GAME. Either you just want to hurry up and beat it, or to fully explore the world and not try figuring out the exact path the developers intended.

[VampiricDragon_]

monoliths newrpg project should be announced soonish

[Klyde Chroma]

Are you in a certain brown and red city with enemies roaming about? I found that area had a difficulty spike. Lots of exp though.

Excellent guess.... good to know I'm not the only one...

I do feel like near the end of the game is when the good balancing kind of falls apart. Now, rather than easily finding quests in your level range and using them in place of a grind, almost every quest you find is way past your level, and you need to go grind on monsters to level up enough to make the final bosses a non-issue and to do post-game content. Not that it was THAT bad of a grind thankfully, but you needed to find the right place (a tip: Once you're in the level 70 range the Bionis' leg becomes a great place for grinding as those monsters are now surmountable.)

Yeah, the Dark/White Hoxes and the Bahemeth-y dudes (forget what they're called, begins with a "G") are really great for leveling, starting around 72 or so. Just run around the lake with the interconnected platforms, and beat up on 3 or so at a time.

Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to find good grinding spots after level 75. There are some biggies in the Bionis Interior that become fairly manageable, but they're spread out, and not fast for leveling. There's one cove in Eryth Sea that's home to some monsters that are perfect for mid-70s, but you have to swim to get there. I think it's north of the Ether Windfarm. But it is weird, the game doesn't have an innordinate number of level 70-85 monsters. Suddenly, there's TONS for high 80s, 90s, and some really obvious 100s (Dinos, Snow Giants, etc), but there's a big gap in there that I never bothered getting through. I beat the game at 81, so I never got high enough to start smashing greater Telethia, Fire Ants, Giants, etc. I searched high and low for good high-70, low-80 monsters to grind on, and I just don't think there are any.

Hint: some early areas actually change after certain events take place late in the game. There are new high level monsters in the easy dungeons. But once again, Level 85+, though I'm not sure I went back through EVERY early dungeon.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll be sure to announce with great exclamation when I polish this one off.....

[Tomara]

It'd help if it didn't have that stupid attempt at keeping you from fighting higher leveled enemies via MISSING all the time if you're more than 5 levels under. I can't imagine when that's seriously relevant in the game anyway, earlier on most enemies with that kind of difference will crush you, and in the end game, well, it's the END GAME. Either you just want to hurry up and beat it, or to fully explore the world and not try figuring out the exact path the developers intended.

Actually, you can hit them consistently if your agility is high enough. Topple is helpfull too. Dunban is an excellent choice for battles like that. I think I used a team of Melia, Dunban and Sharlia... or was it Shulk? Anyway, have Melia summon wind for the agility boost and keep Dunban healed while he hacks away at the enemy.

[Aurian]

I heard that using high-level nightvision gems + fighting at night can overcome the agility issue as well. Too bad I sold them all, thinking they wouldn't be useful. :-\

[Eusis]

Actually, you can hit them consistently if your agility is high enough. Topple is helpfull too. Dunban is an excellent choice for battles like that. I think I used a team of Melia, Dunban and Sharlia... or was it Shulk? Anyway, have Melia summon wind for the agility boost and keep Dunban healed while he hacks away at the enemy.

Man, I tried buffing agility and it didn't seem to do the trick. Guess I needed to go with Sharla's buffs along with the gems, probably does a better job of it than Melia's elementals.

[Prime Mover]

During the end section of the game, I played a lot of it using Melia. Her AI is retarded, but she's incredibly powerful if you use a few simple steps to play her well. You use Lightning as much as possible and use summon copy to use an extra one every two times. By the late game, certain characters become almost useless (Ryne) and others become mostly useless (Sharla), I never did use Ricky, I just couldn't stomach it, too damn annoying.

[Agent D.]

As I eagerly await this title, I decided to run through xenosaga again. Seriously, I forgot how long those cutscenes are. My Ps3 remote keeps auto turning off. And damn is it slow paced. Nostalgia is a bitter mistress at times.

[Prime Mover]

Thankfully, Xenoblade doesn't feel ANYTHING like Xenosaga. I enjoyed Xenosaga to an extent (never played 2 or 3), but it was trying SO HARD to be dark and depressing, with morbid events and dialog around every corner, that it got a bit much after a while. Xenoblade has it's dark side, but it really develops the lighter side of RPG adventure, as well. I love how all the characters talk to each other all the time. When they're in battle, they're always commenting on eachother's actions, and it really builds this wonderful sense of camaraderie. It's a dark tale, but it's also a fun romp through a kickass alien world too. Monolith has always suffered in this area, IMO. Ever since Chrono Trigger, the team's focus on lighthearted fun has dwindled.

And shockingly, the story isn't mind-bendingly confusing and verbose. It's got lots of twists, and some real zingers that you just don't see coming, but it doesn't go out of its way to try and make your head hurt the way other Monolith game did. In fact, I think I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best jRPG plots we've seen in a LONG TIME. I just hope they don't fuck it up with the American localization. I could imagine them taking out a bunch of the battle dialog, which would make me very sad.

Play the European version, it's bound to be better.

[Klyde Chroma]

I totally need to 2nd the Melia, Dunban Sharla/Shulk party combo.... Works super well as a balanced group for me that can be buffed to high heaven.... I also enjoy a Shulk, Dunban, Fiora party to slaughter things mega-quick, but this group remains pretty vulnerable and can get wiped out fast..... Riki is a bitter sweet creature.. Love the little Nopon's skill trees.... but the fact that he becomes useless in even shallow water and has no truly redeeming battle qualities aside from his negligible ability to boost exp made him seem pretty un-appealing by the end.... Reyn.. well.... I'm bias.... I just don't like Reyn so I don't use em.... Simple as that....

[Mickeymac92]

Play the European version, it's bound to be better.

There is no American Localization. They're just bringing over the European version. I doubt anything will have changed.