Xenoblade chronicles: Definitive edition could've been a masterpiece.

I was always way overleveled in XB1 without ever trying, to the games detriment. The fact they fixed that with the XB bank system in this version was a great upgrade.

I'm confused about the red monster complaint. You aren't supposed to fight them, they're basically hazards to avoid. Just like in every XB game, including XB2.

The game rewards you greatly for exploration and completing quests.

Find a secret landmark or 2 and not only do you get to see the beautiful world, you get tons of experience and AP and SP.

Complete a handful of quests from named NPC and you meet some very interesting side characters (there is a quest where you stop the drug mafia) and get tons of experience and useful equips.

This game is absolutely meant to be taken slow and exploration and side content are strongly recommended to enjoy it to the fullest

I only fight the colored monsters (blue and yellow) as well as the quest-related ones & I've hardly had any challenges up until now (Aeryth Sea).

I agree that Xenoblade DE is pretty grindy. I love the game, but I'm at chapter 15 and I'm having a really hard time focusing because of the grind. I think Xenoblade 2 was definitely balanced better.

Wut? I’m always mad over leveled...reds will kill u without a gem plan or spell strategy.

Don’t fight them unless you are doing it on purpose

If you do quests and fight enemies once in a while you shouldn't ever need to grind. If your level is below the enemy you get stat penalties, I think xc2 doesn't have that.

I found myself pretty overleveled just by doing the quests I came across. The fact that you can't hit red bar enemies is a little silly, but you can get around it with the right gem setup.

Game is totally a masterpiece! :D

I do believe it's getting harder but usually if you understand the combat you should be fine.

Fought the first boss on level 13 or so, so it wasn't really hard. Actually by exploring new places and doing side quests the game gives you so many opportunities to passively level up. Are you doing those?

I disagree with you. All the enemies that are way above of you are optional monsters and aren't required to beat the game. The rewards for beating them aren't even necessary or that great. Half the time it's armor and equipment you can get elsewhere, the other time it's useless armor with no gem slots, and a small amount of the time it's a unique book that lets you raise your skills to the max level. That max level skill buildup isn't necessary unless you are tackling all the level 100 enemies in the post-game.

I think there are 3 really hard in game-bosses near the end of the game, but I hardly think 3 challenges bosses amounts to a grindy game, every JRPG has a few really difficult bosses. Usually changing your party solves it, because each boss is weak to either physical or ether, and if one isn't working you gotta try the other one.

Let me make it clear I'm not saying that anything optional automatically makes it not valid to complain about. I do understand the complaint that there are too many sidequests; because a lot of the game's content is locked behind those sidequests, so even though they are optional, I think it's a legitimate gripe. Unlike the rewards for beating those high level monsters, those quests rewards are really good too so it becomes a struggle to try not to do them. It doesn't help that the game throws a million ! points in the map making it really tempting to clear them out.

However, saying the game is too "grindy" because you are are trying to fight optional monsters who dont even have quests associated with them and don't have much reward for beating them outside bragging rights, is not a strong criticism IMO. The game makes it pretty easy to avoid or lure most of the enemies in the game that you can't beat, then go around them either by avoiding their sightline or treading quietly.

Aside from all this, if there are enemies you can't fight because they are red, simply switching to Casual mode lets you fight them just fine. Out of curiosity I tried the mode out to fight red enemies and I was killing enemies 30 levels above me in Casual mode. There's even a Level 90 Elemental in Makna Forest I killed while being level 40 while in Casual mode by using Melia's agility buffs.

Everyone keeps citing the optional content, but I ran into the same problem during the story. Had to grind out 6-7 levels in the last chapter to fight the final boss. Every new chapter/zone I had to always play catch up.

I didn’t think the grinding was too bad overall although I do have a scorched earth style of play for JRPGs. However in the original version of the game I remember there being a giant difficulty spike when I got to the Bionis Interior that I had to grind a few levels to get through. Maybe this was fixed in the DV version but outside of that I thought it was fine.

However if you have a Wii U I think you would really enjoy Xenoblade Chronicles X. The level cap for some reason is 60 but you can kill higher leveled enemy’s by using the Overclocking system properly or by using the Mechs you get later in the game. It also did not have the random difficulty spike like the first game did and it gives you viable options to take on higher leveled foes.

Out of curiosity, what party are you using? Also, do you know how to make the most of chain attacks/topple locks to maximise damage?

I ask because when I had the wii version back in the day, I didn't really know how to "play" the game for the most part. I was using Shulk/Reyn/Sharla for ages and getting my ass kicked. Had to grind a lot just to keep up. Once I did some research and changed things around, the game got significantly easier, and I didn't really run into any problems from then on. Even red enemies aren't a huge issue once your late game and know what you're doing.

So many people saying "oh you just obviously dont understand how to maximize the mechanics" but the issue is fundamentslly a systems issue.

IF you fall too far behind the game has like a soft cap where you literally almost cannot land a hit on an enemy. Its not just "oh i dont deal enough damage/take too much" its "okay i cant do anything to this". And it can apply to bosses.

I never had issues with this, because i love my quets, etc, but youre very correct that if underleveled or in a rush, it becomes extremely hard or frustrating to deal with the game

I completely agree. I've only played the 3DS version but the amount of pointless sidequests and insane amount of grinding is way too much.

I don't even mind grinding in JRPGs but this game is trash.

Shame because I like the story and gameplay, just everything else about this game belonged in the gutter.

For the main story, you don't even need to grind. I played on expert mode where the only experience that doesn't go into your reserve experience is battle experience. And for the majority of the game, I was within 3 levels of all the bosses until fighting >!Egil.!< Considering my lineup was mostly Shulk, Dunban, and Sharla. Obviously I wasn't optimized.

Are you gem crafting? Do you have agility gems on all your characters? Agility determines evasion and accuracy. Not saying you should be as good as someone like Enel, but unless you are purposely avoiding every sidequest and rushing through the main story, I find it hard that this would occur.

It's funny you say this because I found Xenoblade 2 was a ridiculously grindy game when I first played it. I struggled with a lot of the bosses, admittedly due to my limited knowledge of the battle system as well as, and I thought field skills were awful. But I digress.

I do understand how the battles can get tiring, especially during >!Mechonis Core and beyond!<, since the enemy density gets pretty high.

As for red tag enemies, it is possible to beat them with some more preparation. Raising your party's agility will let you hit them. So crafting Agility Up and Agility Down gems will ensure you're able to hit these bosses at all. Explore the Skill Trees to see if you can link passive skills to everyone. If you can then manage to topple them, you can guarentee every strike afterward.

If it's just the combat you cant stomach for long periods, you can always do some side quests as an alternative way for leveling up. Maybe even discovering tools that will help you out.

Otherwise, there is always Casual Mode, which makes makes missing against red tags a nonexistent worry.

only optional stuff is grindy. Some ppl love to grind and this content is for them. Story missions don't force much shit on you.

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