异度神剑X

异度神剑X, known in Japan as 异度神剑X (Japanese: ゼノブレイドクロス, Zenobureido Kurosu, literally 异度神剑 Cross), is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii U 中央控制台. It was released on April 29, 2015 in Japan and on December 4, 2015 in North America and Europe.

The game was announced under the tentative title of "X" in a Nintendo Direct in January 2013. Prior to the 2014 E3 show, little was known about the game 其它 than that it followed a similar style of 异度神剑 in its battle style and exploration themes. During E3 2014, a Nintendo Treehouse demo of the game included commentary which suggested that while it retains the name, it was more of a spiritual successor of 异度神剑 with no story ties to it. However, it still shares similar features to the original such as the 诺彭 race, the 特雷西亚 species, the overall gameplay system, and a focus on exploration.

Gameplay

According to Nintendo's E3 2014 异度神剑X page,^[1] gameplay features include:

Customizing "everything about the main character's appearance, including gender, shapes, height, skin color, voice and tattoos."
复数部位, chooseable character classes
The ability to ride and 魂控 giant weaponised mechs, known as Dolls.
A massive open world, all of which is explorable.

异度神剑X has many similar gameplay Mechanic to 异度神剑, such as the freedom to explore the world, the ability to run to virtually anywhere seen in the distance, and the return of a Arts battle system which involves both auto-attacks and a cooldown timer for each Art. The game also introduces giant mechs under the title of Doll, a name given from the word exo-skelleton, which can both be used in combat and for travel/exploration. Doll have a limited amount of 燃料 that can be restored at a price, or slowly regenerated when the Doll is not in use.

Rather than following a preset group of characters such as in 异度神剑, this successor introduces the ability to customize player's own character and name them at the beginning of the game. Collectables are scattered throughout the game world, some acting as quest items, and 敌人 drop armour and 武器 that characters can equip. The character can jump over obstacles. It was shown that there is no fall damage in this game in the Nintendo Treehouse stream.

Battle involves real time combat in which guns for long range attacks can be switched for knives to attack up close, and this can be done immediately and as frequently as necessary. The character will attack automatically when in range, but Battle Arts, which have a cooldown time after being used and are more powerful attacks or have special abilities, are used. There is also a 灵魂之音 ability, similar to 异度神剑 牵绊 boosts, grants characters bonuses such as a health boost if certainly requirements are met mid-battle. A TP system is also involved in which an art requires an amount of TP, which is gained from auto-attacks. If a character runs out of HP an ally can revive them within 30 seconds if enough TP is stored, or the player can choose to restart from a nearby checkpoint immediately. If the player is not able to be revived within those 30 seconds, the battle can still be won if the 其它团队成员 are able to defeat the 敌人 before the 30 second are up.

A form of multiplayer was hinted at in early footage of the game, but E3 2014 was not to have revealed such confirmation of gameplay. The Monolith Soft Japanese 拖挂车 released on February 6, 2015, revealed a four-player online game mode for some special quests, and up to 32 players for online communication (in-game chat), item trading and information sharing functionalities. These promises were upheld at the release of the game.

Story

Main article: 异度神剑X (plot)

Characters

Cross	艾尔玛	琳	古因	伊莉娜
答格	凪	L	劳	赛莉卡
亚莉克莎	博泽	弗莱伊	H.B.	希梅莉
米娅	女杀手	福格	耶律	塔兹

Development

It is currently 未知 when development began for the game. However, it is assumed that the game started development around 2010, after the release of 异度神剑 in Japan, and before January 2013, when the game was first revealed.

While the Xeno games, Xenogears and Xenosaga, are known for their heavy philosophical themes, in an interview with executive 导演 Tetsuya Takahashi,^[2] he said that they purposefully distanced themselves from such ideas into the main story in order to focus on HD development. He stated that trying to balance that with an epic theme-laden story would pose difficulties.

Team

Koh Kojima as 导演 and game 设计师
Tetsuya Takahashi as executive 导演
Hitoshi Yamagami as producer
慎吾 Kawabata as producer
Kunihiko Tanaka as character 设计师
Hiroyuki Sawano as soundtrack composer
Yuichiro Takeda as plot writer
Kazuho Hyodo as scriptwriter
Kouichi Mugitani as 设计师
Takayuki Yanase as Doll 设计师
Yasushi Suzuki as 敌人 mech 设计师
Raita Kazama as alien NPC and primitive lifeform 设计师
Yoko Tsukamoto as artwork illustrator
Takashi kojo as 敌人设计师
Fumihiro Katagai as mech 设计师
RARE ENGINE as illustrator
Hideyuki Matsumoto as 武器 and NLA gadget 设计师
Kusanagi Company as background 设计师
Shojiro Nakaoka and Sound Racer as sound effect producers

Data Packs

For purchasers of the 物理 disc, load times can be improved by installing one or more optional data packs on the Wii U's internal memory or a USB drive, enabling the game to bypass the slower optical drive. These data packs do not add any new content, and do not provide any benefit for purchasers of the eShop edition of the game.

The data packs are available for free on the Wii U eShop, and can be downloaded after purchasing the game. Installing all four packs requires 10 GB of space. In recommended order of priority, they are:

Basic pack (2.0 GB)
敌人 pack (2.9 GB)
Player pack (3.8 GB)
Doll pack (1.6 GB)

Trivia

The eShop edition of the game requires 22.8 GB of storage.
The game displays at a native resolution of 1280x720 (720p) capped at 30fps.
The game does not have dynamic lighting. Instead, it has static shadows that simply fade out when 夜间 comes.

Merchandise

Several tie-in products have been or will be released. These include:

The full 异度神剑X Original Soundtrack has been released as a 4-CD set in Japan.
A special Japanese 异度神剑X Wii U bundle has been released, including:
- An artbook containing concept art and game illustrations.
- A world-map of the game.
- A 1,000 yens prepaid card in the image of the game.

Two limited editions of the game have been released in Europe:
- The 异度神剑X Wii U Premium Pack including an artbook and a world-map.
- The 异度神剑X Limited Edition Pack including an artbook, a world-map, a double-sided poster, and a Steelbook(TM).

A special edition has been also released in North America, including:
- An artbook containing larger illustrations than the artbook in Japan, as well as more illustrations.
- A digital soundtrack, stored on a USB with a special 生命舱 design.
- A matted art card.
- A reversible game cover with art similar to those in the artbook and art card.
The game will have a 收藏家 edition Strategy Guide made by Prima games.
There is a Formula Doll model available.