Game of the Month: December 2017

Considering I have done an unboxing post for the Collector’s Edition of this particular game, I don’t think it really should come as a surprise what my final game of the month of 2017 is.Xenoblade Chronicles 2 tells the story of Rex, a salvager who has a fateful encounter with the Aegis – a girl named Pyra. Pyra wants to make it the birthplace of humanity, Elysium, but it seems that many people seek to claim her power for themselves.
Rex and Pyra embark on a journey to get to Elysium, meeting many friends and foes on their way.

In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, there are people known as Drivers. They have the power to bond with artificial lifeforms called Blades. Pyra is a Blade, and Rex becomes her Driver.
Drivers aren’t limited to just one Blade. By coming into contact with Core Crystals, Drivers can awaken new Blades. I’m not exactly sure how it determines which Blade you get, but the first Rare Blade I managed to obtain was Dahlia.
Different Blades possess different abilities and appearances. You are able to increase Blades’ abilities by completing specific tasks shown on their Affinity Charts.You can also boost the abilities of Blades with Aux Cores and Core Chips – effectively equippable items.
A Driver can have a maximum of three Blades engaged at once. However, the ones that aren’t engaged can be sent off on mercenary missions after reaching a certain point in the story.You’ll obtain missions as you play through the game, and you can send out squads of Blades to tackle them. Some missions might require specific skills or Blades – the one above requires at least one male Blade for example.
Of course, completing missions results in rewards.

As Rex and Pyra venture through the world of Alrest, they will find themselves in more than a few fights. Whether it’s the local wildlife or the people actively hunting them, those two will need to put their battling skills to use.
When you initiate combat with enemies, Rex and allies auto-attack. As they do, they’ll build up their Arts, which can be unleashed by using the face buttons.
There’s a whole lot more to combat, with things like Chain Combos and special attacks, but the game is content to tell you about all that as you go through it.

In fact, there’s a whole lot more to the game itself. I don’t really intend to blather on and on about it here, as writing this post is just distracting me from playing the game. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed what I have played so far, and I’ve barely even scratched the surface with what I mentioned here.
I look forward to seeing more of the world of Alrest, as well as Rex and Pyra’s story unfolds.