Andriasang: Xenosaga developer Monolith Software announced today that it has opened a studio in Kyoto. The developer was previously based exclusively out of Tokyo.
Monolith Soft, the studio that worked on Xenoblade and Breath of the Wild, also helped to develop The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
No surprise there. They helped out in BOTW as well. Monolith Soft is one of Nintendo's hardest working studios. When they aren't making their own games they help other Nintendo studios with their games.
This comment literally added nothing, and all you did was repeat the headline lol
Still one of the best and most underrated map designers in the industry. Always loved their environments even back on Xenoblade Chronicles X
The amount of hidden caves and other secrets in ALL the Xenoblade games is staggering.
Underrated might not be the best term but their developed titles are on the lower end of the sales spectrum relative to Nintendo's power hits.
Xenoblade sells more like Metroid than Mario, basically. "Underappreciated" might be better.
Because people always have to say things are either underrated or overrated. Can never just be in the middle, it’s not allowed
When it comes to open world maps it's always rockstar, Ubisoft, etc etc and while the Zelda games get plenty of recognition, their other titles are never mentioned yet they are just as good. Honestly one of the very few devs willing to pack the hell out of their maps with unique secrets and storytelling that you can ONLY find by exploring whereas most other games make sure you see anything unique by attaching it to a quest. I love the idea of interesting things just existing without any exposition or context. It's just there, and it's beautiful, and any explanation of it has been lost to time, I love that
Is it massive entertaining RPG that doesn't disappoint? Indeed. It fulfills all expectations with excellent story, lot of dilemmas, well-written characters, vast world and plenty of activities and combat. Fans can be satisfied again and newcomers could give it a shot, finally.
NE looks back on what he feels was Nintendo's greatest acquisition ever, Monolith Soft - the developer of Xenoblade.
Nintendo should have bought Rare, when it was hot! After Microsoft bought it Rare had a lot of personnel changes, and it hurt the quality of games. Rare is better now, but much different than it once was.
Monolith said Xenoblade X, would not come to Switch, because the game is huge and would be "to costly". It would be great if Xenoblade X came to the Switch successor with a complete remake. Xenoblade X to this day looks great on Wii U. Seeing it on Nintendo's next platform would be fantastic! Switch is too underpowered to give X the remake it deserves.
This year I fully expect a Switch successor announcement. Switch is almost 6 years old. The OLED Switch really makes games look so much better, in handheld mode. Still it is time for a major upgrade. I would like the next one to have a minimum of 10GB of ram, and handheld mode a minimum of 1080p, 4K when docked. If Nintendo follows the hybrid model.
Switch will turn 5 in March. I’m kind of hoping Switch 2 will launch fall of 2024, so it can have Nvidia’s Atlan chip, but that’s just me.
I was wrong. It will be 5 years old in March. I still hope it gets a successor in 2023.
Switch is not almost six years old. It isn't even five years old. It turns five March 3rd, 2022.
Edit: oops, looks like others beat me to the punch
I think Rare lost people way before MS stepped in. Free Radical were basically the same people who originally made Golden eye and Perfect dark, something that is instantly apparent if you play 5 minutes of Timesplitters. And Rare never really managed to do much of note on Gamecube.
I liked Starfox Adventures for Gamecube. That was also the last Console game Rare made for Nintendo.
Timesplitters needs a remake! Such a great game!
Nintendo should have gone out of their way years ago and went for a merger with Sega. Monolith is fine. But Sega would have been much more as a merger back then. RPGs, racing, fighting, flying, puzzles, shooters, etc that Sega is known for. And Nintendo's in house games. It would have been total Japanese domination.
Just as other Japanese companies merged to weather the storm of the recession or were like minded like Bandai/Namco, Tecmo/Koei, Square/Enix, etc, a Nintendo Sega would have controlled the arcade and the home market. Nintendo helping Sega and ridding their debt in exchange of dumping certain individuals that led Sega to being a 3rd party developer. If Square and Enix could work, a Nintendo Sega could have worked. Monolith is cool. But that would have been cooler.
Nintendo can barely get their own games out. Virtua Fighter would be even more buried than it is now. But it's coming back. Nintendo has a mountain of series it STILL hasn't brought back yet. Sega has a mountain of beloved IPs just sitting as well. It's sad
As long as Monolith makes Xenoblade games they will always be Nintendo's best acquisition in my eyes. I'm not worried about what ifs.
Great news! The company is expanding and and I cant wait to see more like Xenoblade..these guys really know how to make a proper JRPG ...
Xenoblade--> Best jrpg in the past 10 years