Kotaku calls Xenoblade Chronicles X boring in their preview

People still care what Kotakus opinion on games?

Kotaku is a fucking joke.

They have a "holier than thou" attitude.

@YearoftheSnake5 said:

lolKotaku

My body wants this game.

^This :P ..

You're making big assumptions about how consumers operate. A person who is dedicated to the hobby can easily play 4-8 hours a day even if they're juggling work or school. Video Games are my number one hobby, so I make it my biggest priority for relaxation after a day of work.

Also, The Witcher 3 just recently came out, and that game can easily take 70-120 hours to complete. However, critics didn't say the game was boring or took too long, they also loved the game just like consumers. The complaints about Xenoblade are more quality based, not because the game is a huge time sink.

Yes, I am quite sure there are people who come home and play one video game for eight hours a night tend days in a row while juggling work and hobbies and a life ect. They are however a minority.

As for your counter example, got one in JRPG?

They are not a minority, when people lay down $60 on a game, they want to spend as much time with it as possible. Also, I never said they would be playing 8 hours every day a week. It's just unrealistic to assume that people who play games will only play them for 1-3 hours a day. Most people on this forum are highly dedicated to gaming. I don't think I'm making a crazy assumption here, a lot of the people on this forum would play a new release like The Witcher 3 for 4-8 hours a day or more when they just bought it.

One Persona 4 playthrough can take over a hundred hours to complete. That game is praised by both critics and consumers as one of the best RPGs of the past decade.

I haven't played Xenoblade one yet, plan on doing it someday, but the part where the game is a jrpg and his descriptions made his stuff sound fair game to me.

Ever play any MMO ever? That's the combat system in Xenoblade Chronicles.

Aside from the combat getting really boring really fast, it's one of the better JRPGs to come out in a few years. The most fun I had with the game was killing the endgame boss mobs that literally required you to deck out perfect stats, combos and resistances.

"...the main story did little to get me invested, the side quests were repetitive at best, and the combat was a painfully monotonous slog..."

yup, that sounds like your standard JRPG to me

The combat looks fine to me. Just looks like more xenoblades. I wasint a fan of last games story and characters so thats up in the air for me still.

loltaku

Does the guy understand Japanese?

Anyways, I've read more positive impressions from different users that know their Xenoblade shit, so this article continues to lack meaning for me.

My point is that people don't play games like it was their job, while game reviewers do, and consumers who do play as long and hard as reviewers are a minority. 1-3 is a rough average. Why are you taking the time to point out that not everyone is average, isn't that a given?

And the fact that you have to go back to 2008 illustrates my point nicely. The game media is harder on grindy games then short cinematic games, and they got harder when it started becoming more and more important that they play the whole game. Yes there are exceptions, but fans of JRPGs should not be discouraged by people who suffer through games they hate for a living.

It's funny how people keep saying "lol Kotaku" and other bullshit like that. I guarantee that had it been any other publication, not a lick of difference would have been made. People would be saying the exact same shit, just replacing Kotaku with Edge or IGN.

I also gotta love the "I haven't played the game, but the guy is wrong" level of mentality. I understand that a lot of critics and publications are full of shit. But I also believe that there are a few people in the industry who are looking to put out honest written work. In other words, some of you need to stop being so narrow minded when it comes to analyzing any form of criticism. The person who wrote the review gave clear reasons as to why he didn't enjoy it. Don't let it squander your hype, but don't immediately dismiss it either. He played the game, you haven't.

Will see, I loved xenoblade. But this does alot like xenoblade hd.

I just wrote a lengthy reply, but my post got deleted when I posted it. Gamespot sucks right now, so I'm just going to summarize my last point.

I used Persona 4, but I was referring to the 2012 release. Despite the fact at the time it was a 4 year old re-release with extra content, it was still very well received among critics. I could have used Ni No Kuni, Braverly Defualt, Tales of Xillia, Fire Emblem, or even the original Xenoblade as my example. All of these games are very long "grindy" JRPGs, but they still scored favorably among reviewers. If you're implying that their is a critical bias against long JRPGs, then you have posted nothing to back that up.

When kotaku gives 10 to Nintendo games again and again is Kotaku ... When they expressing an issue = Loltaku

Hypocrites

Will never trust kotaku so this game still has a clean slate from me. I suspect they didn't bother assigning someone who actually likes the genre to cover it.

To be fair.. the sidequests were boring and repetitive even in the first game

@drinkerofjuice: Bullshit. If this was on gamespot or IGN or the escapist or especially coming from a prominent youtuber I wouldn't have been so dismissive.

And what makes them better sources, exactly? People here shit on Gamespot and IGN just as much as they do Kotaku. Hell I shit on IGN because every single one of their reviews seem to be written at a 9th grade level, and that's being generous.

This always happens when it comes to a title that has a fair amount of hype behind it. The people who haven't played the game are so quick to point out how wrong the person is upon his/her impressions despite having no grounds to say a thing. Everyone's so quick to say X publication loses all credibility because they say a thing or two that the reader doesn't like. It's simultaneously hilarious and pathetic.

Hell, people here are going as far as to justify the game's supposedly lousy side-quests by saying they were lousy in the first game as well. Like that's supposed to make it better, how?

@drinkerofjuice: On the other side of the coin, what makes their complaints valid exactly? Is it because they're "professionals" ? Does one "professional" opinion outweigh a dozen amateur opinions?

If those dozen people haven't played the game, then yes it does.

It's an uneven playing field until the game is actually released. It has nothing to do with them being established outlets, but a lot to do with dismissing opinions regarding a game that's not yet available to the public. I'm not saying believe everything you read, because that would just be silly. For all we know the guy could have some baseless criticisms. But consider the notion that the game has as high of a chance of being bad as it does being great, regardless of the hype surrounding it.

xenonblade has always been mixed.

Uh, yeah. We do it all the time. You know, the Gamespot score being one person's opinion.

That's just for fun. Nobody in their right mind holds GS scores, or any other scores, as the true value of a game.

Exactly, but it's not like this is one persons opinion. The general opinion in Japan is quite mixed as well. Most people are acting dismissive because it's Kotaku, but it's not like people are going to find overwhelmingly positive reactions in fans that are actually playing it in the East.

Seems silly to ignore criticism. Even if a fan is going to buy it, they should at least adjust their expectations to not be disappointed.