Chapter 775 - 775: Trash Game, Nya!

Compared to the original Xenoblade's setup, Lucas hasn't prepared any gameplay system DLC content for this installment.

For instance, powerful Blades like God-Eater and Sparkshot, which were like official cheat tools in the previous life, aren't directly received via mail.

Instead, like Blades such as Haze and Pyra, a brand-new Blade unlock mission has been added. Players can only obtain the corresponding Blades after completing the mission.

Other features, like disabling monster aggro and customizing difficulty, have been directly incorporated into the game itself by Lucas.

Players can choose the appropriate mode based on their skill level. If they don't understand the game's combat system and just want to experience the story, there are even "foolproof" options for auto-battle and completing QTEs.

As for Zack, he didn't adjust the custom difficulty but chose to play on Normal.

As someone who considers himself an old player, Zack naturally wouldn't choose auto-battle. He feels that slowly figuring out the combat system for traditional RPGs is a significant part of the core fun of the game, and he's well aware of this.

So, he only chose to enable the option to ignore smaller monsters' aggro. This way, if he gets stuck due to not being high enough level, or if he needs to complete a quest that requires defeating minor enemies or farming materials, he can choose whether or not to engage them himself.

However, while exploring the map or progressing through the main story, he finds it quite annoying to run into countless minor enemies along the way.

But within the game, Zack is completely unaware that this feature is only effective against regular monsters.

In the world of Xenoblade, besides the normally spawning minor enemies, there are also named monsters.

These are essentially in-game BOSSes. After being defeated, these BOSSes leave behind a corresponding tombstone, allowing players to challenge them repeatedly. They also have significantly more health and attack power than ordinary monsters.

And in the Gula region, a grassland full of life, the species are incredibly diverse.

There are low-level rabbits, scale cows, wolf beasts in their early to mid-teens, crabs in their thirties to forties, a level ninety-something Ancient Tyrant, and a level eighty-something gorilla.

With enemy encounters disabled, Zack happily strolls across the vast grasslands of Gula. Behind him, on a giant tree with massive branches, a gorilla ambles its way towards him.

Aggro is triggered, and the intense battle music begins. The next second, Zack sees a red damage number, -8621, floating above Rex's head. The screen then goes black, and he returns to his previous location.

"What the heck?! What was that! Where did that gorilla come from?!"

Zack, revived and utterly bewildered, hadn't expected to be ambushed like this while admiring the scenery of Gula.

He's only level 10, and his total HP isn't even 1000. How could this gorilla just punch him for thousands of damage?

In fact, Zack isn't the only one who got mauled by the gorilla. Most players, during their first playthrough of Xenoblade and while traversing the vast Gula region, have tragically fallen victim to this gorilla.

Unlike some monsters that just wander around their territory, this elite monster is different.

This black gorilla, like a king patrolling its domain, moves from the trees to the plains and then back to the trees after roaming around.

Its aggro range is incredibly wide. Furthermore, many players have been swarmed and killed because they accidentally drew aggro from other monsters while fighting.

After reviving, Zack is now much more cautious when heading to Gula.

Upon entering Gula, he quickly encounters new story developments, which don't entirely surprise Zack.

Because Nia is a wanted fugitive, Rex and Nia are defeated by a Blade named KOS-MOS. Nia is captured and sent to prison, while Rex and Pyra escape with the help of a Nopon named Tora.

This is clearly one of the protagonist party members. After a series of quests, they learn Nia's location and, as a side task, help Tora create an artificial Blade, Poppi.

However, what captivates Zack the most isn't the story, but the characters' use of memes and their points of complaint within the game, which are incredibly amusing.

Tora, who desperately wants to become a Blade Master, strikes Zack as a typical otaku.

Poppi's design also leans towards the "maid" aesthetic. Although he pretends otherwise, the various maid outfits hidden in his wardrobe immediately reveal his true preferences.

"Trash game, nya! This description couldn't be more accurate!" Zack says, gritting his teeth as he looks at the arcade cabinet in Tora's house.

While it's a bit of an exaggeration compared to some torture mini-games he's played before, like Sledge, this is a game within a game!

The clunky controls and strict hit detection are driving Zack crazy.

Even more crucially, this mini-game is a top-down scrolling game where players have to control a character to sneak to the very bottom to grab a treasure chest, and then backtrack.

If you die midway, there are no rewards, which makes him furious.

Especially Tora's final line, which resonates deeply with Zack.

Actually, Lucas did make some adjustments to this arcade game. First, the drop rates are slightly higher, and second, the Bond unlock score for Poppi has been slightly reduced.

Furthermore, the parts for her cultivation aren't exclusively obtained from the arcade. Later on, they can also be farmed by challenging locations for crystals and exchanging them.

But Zack, at this moment, is completely unaware of all this.

He's currently enduring the frustration of playing this "trash game."

The reason for this is that he's discovered that playing this game also yields Core Crystals.

He already knows the purpose of Core Crystals.

They can be used to obtain Blades. He previously received a Core Crystal as a system gift, and it yielded a dark-skinned girl, which greatly disappointed him.

Now, he can also obtain crystals by completing quests in Tora's arcade.

And his luck seems to be quite good. After playing a few rounds, he's managed to get three Common Core Crystals and one Rare Core Crystal.

Adding to the regular treasure chests he's found in various map locations that don't require any field skills to open, he now has four Rare Crystals and ten Common Crystals in his inventory.

However, should he open them?

Zack looks at the crystals in his inventory, wanting to open them but also wanting to save them.

It's not about saving up for a ten-pull, as the game's Blade gacha system clearly indicates that ten-pulls don't increase the drop rate.

The only thing he's considering carefully is that, according to the tutorial, whoever opens the Core Crystal must be the one who uses the obtained Blade. And Tora, who has just joined, cannot open Core Crystals, meaning he can only nurture Poppi.

So, he wants to wait until Nia is rescued before opening the Core Crystals, so Nia can open some too.

After all, Nia is also a heroine, and she deserves the same treatment.

(End of Chapter)

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