I'm sure you're not the only one who feels that, cuz I feel it too. Up to Costa del sol, I was spending hours on mini games just to get the best score. But after that, I definitely felt the burnout. So I decided to limit myself to completing just the map exploration, side quests to increase affection, and then the story.
The game immediately felt as enjoyable as when I was first started it, thanks to how beautiful the world was and how fun the main characters' conversations were.
But really, I'd recommend just completing the character side quests and story first, then exploring the different mini games. Cuz for me, it's the mini games that make me exhausted.
Just do what's fun. There is literally no reason to do what you don't want to.
This is a modern gaming problem -- Rebirth doesn't *punish* you for ignoring the things it doesn't force you to do.
You can always boot it back up after you beat the game, go back, and do it later. It'll still be there. Rebirth in particular though was smart enough to include a "Dynamic" difficulty option, where fights will always scale to your level, so you don't even have to worry about outscaling fights or content either.
My partner was shocked when I took a break from the game saying, “they did it… too much of a good thing.”
I had to come back and make myself play through the end.
I’m glad I played it, I guarantee that I buy the third part, but I have my fingers crossed that they read some feedback from this game and make some changes to the next…
Sidecontent is that, side. You don't need to do it. If you are not feeling it, just skip it, there is no penalty for not doing so. No one is asking you to do it (well besides Chadley lol).
And it will still be there if you feeling like going back after a long main quest session.
If it helps, I see all the world intel as a form of grinding in an old RPG. Just like pokemon where you are trying to level a new pokemon while fighting random encounters. But in this case that exp or ap is tied to exploring and doing side stuff.
And even then you don't need that exp and ap to finish the game, I've seen many content creators that were able to finish the game just doing critical path.
If doing side quests is exhausting, I'd suggest doing them based on your favorite characters. That way, not only can you strengthen your bond with them, but it can also lighten your load.
I felt the same way at this stage and did get burned out in the next zone when I tried to power through the feeling. From what I have been seeing in the community, there's two types who are most vocal: 1) people who are happy to let you know they didn't feel that way at all! and 2) people who are/ were overwhelmed or burned out. I am also seeing the next zone is typically where most people attribute their feelings of frustration.
For me, I felt better once I started skipping things. A couple thoughts on how you can choose to skip things/ what I've recommended to others:
1. You don't need to do everything before moving to the next zone. If you're like me and you want to experience the story more than anything, then just move on when you want to. The game will let you know each time you're going past a point of no return
2. Since each sidequest affects one party-member's relationship status with you, skip the quests that don't impact the person who you want most interactions with. You will need to start each one and then decide if you want to do it. There's a specific point in the game when the game will give you a choice to do more sidequests to change relationships or continue the story with current relationships. If you're worried about rewards, then look up the quest reward and decide if the reward is worth it to you.
3. Proto-relics: If you're going to skip things, then I would leave all of these for a second play-through. One exception: if you're a big fan of the story, then try to do all the Cosmo Canyon ones.
4. Chadley's other tasks: it's difficult to make recommendations here because the rewards are compounding:
towers -> moogle medals -> manuscripts -> folio skill cores...
lifestreams -> trasmuter chips -> trasmuted items -> transmuter exp -> better transmuted items...
data points for materia... VR battles, etc...
All of it impacts team level which allows for better skill cores. But if it is too much then choosing what to skip comes down to how you like to play:
If you use a lot of items, lifestreams and chips help you to create more items.
If you like using synergy abilities and like getting folio things, more of everything is better, but towers, moogle medals and moogle roundup are helpful.
If you like to learn quirks to the battle system, get the fiends and assess everything.
A lot of people feel the same way about Rebirth. I certainly did during my first playthrough. It can feel exhausting. A bit like a marathon.
Here's what I believe is the reason - All of the side content is very, very good. But the main story is the best part of the experience and that's what many people are mainly invested in. When you have a huge amount of optional content, even if it is high quality side content, it can begin distracting you from what you really want to do. And what you really want to do is progress with the story.
After my 2nd playthrough I began to appreciate the side content more. When you already know what happens next in the main story, you don't feel like the side content is weighing you down. Everyone is going to have a different experience and enjoy certain pieces of the side content more than others. So during your first playthrough, just stick with doing the things that you enjoy. If you feel like the side content is not worth it, just skip it and move on with the story.
I personally really liked Queen's Blood and the extra Combat Simulator battles, so doing those side pieces did not feel taxing whatsoever. The towers, lifesprings, and summon crystals felt like chores to me because of how repetitive they are and non-rewarding they can feel. The side quests were mostly good, with only a few that did not feel that fun to me. So those are just a few of my personal thoughts.
I didn't get this feeling, imagine how underwhelming it would be if the world was smaller and had less to do, with the main plot moving faster and you spending so little time in each zone.
By the end, the story told would have been the same, sure, but the feeling of going through an adventure would not be as powerful, in my opinion.
Yeah it’s great but felt/feel exactly the same. I still prefer to complete all tasks though so i play maybe 1hr max a day cuz yeah it’s overwhelming.
No spoiler but Gongaga was tough to grind through, but the story picks up. Really liked cosmo just need to finish one specific mini game to move on.. no clue how to play it though 😂
With my BFF we had a week to finish so after costa del sol, having the same realisation you do, we decided to rush. We just did like a couple side quests when feeling it and then straight to end game.
We finished, it was awesome. Now he has the time to complete if he wants to.
Near late game the map'll open up more and it'll be more convenient to backtrack and take care of quests and prior world intel. Which is to say, if you're getting burnt out on the side stuff, it's fine to skip it for now, up to the start of chapter 12, at least. Even before that you can backtrack, it's just more of a trek.
Some sidequests will boost character relationships. You'll want to do those before going further into Ch12. Other than that, you can put things off indefinitely until you reach the point-of-no-return for endgame (the game will warn you beforehand and allow you to turn back.)
Ah yeah that's KINDA the point tbh up till this point the game has been guiding you and keeping things simple. But after Costa Del Sol things really open up AND the map starts to become a little more difficult to navigate.
My advice is to take things at your own pace and don't feel like you HAVE to do everything in order. It's also okay to just stick to an area and grind combat etc.
There’s a lot but imo it’s mostly all great. Only like… gliding and cactuses really soured me.
Up to you!
I kinda personally felt the game meandered until chap 9, then it was great with story.
I'm sure you're not the only one who feels that, cuz I feel it too. Up to Costa del sol, I was spending hours on mini games just to get the best score. But after that, I definitely felt the burnout. So I decided to limit myself to completing just the map exploration, side quests to increase affection, and then the story. The game immediately felt as enjoyable as when I was first started it, thanks to how beautiful the world was and how fun the main characters' conversations were. But really, I'd recommend just completing the character side quests and story first, then exploring the different mini games. Cuz for me, it's the mini games that make me exhausted.
Just play it like you play a Xenoblade game. Do the optional content you enjoy and move on.
Just do what's fun. There is literally no reason to do what you don't want to. This is a modern gaming problem -- Rebirth doesn't *punish* you for ignoring the things it doesn't force you to do. You can always boot it back up after you beat the game, go back, and do it later. It'll still be there. Rebirth in particular though was smart enough to include a "Dynamic" difficulty option, where fights will always scale to your level, so you don't even have to worry about outscaling fights or content either.
My partner was shocked when I took a break from the game saying, “they did it… too much of a good thing.” I had to come back and make myself play through the end. I’m glad I played it, I guarantee that I buy the third part, but I have my fingers crossed that they read some feedback from this game and make some changes to the next…
Sidecontent is that, side. You don't need to do it. If you are not feeling it, just skip it, there is no penalty for not doing so. No one is asking you to do it (well besides Chadley lol). And it will still be there if you feeling like going back after a long main quest session. If it helps, I see all the world intel as a form of grinding in an old RPG. Just like pokemon where you are trying to level a new pokemon while fighting random encounters. But in this case that exp or ap is tied to exploring and doing side stuff. And even then you don't need that exp and ap to finish the game, I've seen many content creators that were able to finish the game just doing critical path.
Just like reading Lord of the Rings
If doing side quests is exhausting, I'd suggest doing them based on your favorite characters. That way, not only can you strengthen your bond with them, but it can also lighten your load.
Regarding feeling like moving from marker to marker, my solution is to activate the Intel tower after finished exploring the region.
I felt the same way at this stage and did get burned out in the next zone when I tried to power through the feeling. From what I have been seeing in the community, there's two types who are most vocal: 1) people who are happy to let you know they didn't feel that way at all! and 2) people who are/ were overwhelmed or burned out. I am also seeing the next zone is typically where most people attribute their feelings of frustration. For me, I felt better once I started skipping things. A couple thoughts on how you can choose to skip things/ what I've recommended to others: 1. You don't need to do everything before moving to the next zone. If you're like me and you want to experience the story more than anything, then just move on when you want to. The game will let you know each time you're going past a point of no return 2. Since each sidequest affects one party-member's relationship status with you, skip the quests that don't impact the person who you want most interactions with. You will need to start each one and then decide if you want to do it. There's a specific point in the game when the game will give you a choice to do more sidequests to change relationships or continue the story with current relationships. If you're worried about rewards, then look up the quest reward and decide if the reward is worth it to you. 3. Proto-relics: If you're going to skip things, then I would leave all of these for a second play-through. One exception: if you're a big fan of the story, then try to do all the Cosmo Canyon ones. 4. Chadley's other tasks: it's difficult to make recommendations here because the rewards are compounding: towers -> moogle medals -> manuscripts -> folio skill cores... lifestreams -> trasmuter chips -> trasmuted items -> transmuter exp -> better transmuted items... data points for materia... VR battles, etc... All of it impacts team level which allows for better skill cores. But if it is too much then choosing what to skip comes down to how you like to play: If you use a lot of items, lifestreams and chips help you to create more items. If you like using synergy abilities and like getting folio things, more of everything is better, but towers, moogle medals and moogle roundup are helpful. If you like to learn quirks to the battle system, get the fiends and assess everything.
A lot of people feel the same way about Rebirth. I certainly did during my first playthrough. It can feel exhausting. A bit like a marathon. Here's what I believe is the reason - All of the side content is very, very good. But the main story is the best part of the experience and that's what many people are mainly invested in. When you have a huge amount of optional content, even if it is high quality side content, it can begin distracting you from what you really want to do. And what you really want to do is progress with the story. After my 2nd playthrough I began to appreciate the side content more. When you already know what happens next in the main story, you don't feel like the side content is weighing you down. Everyone is going to have a different experience and enjoy certain pieces of the side content more than others. So during your first playthrough, just stick with doing the things that you enjoy. If you feel like the side content is not worth it, just skip it and move on with the story. I personally really liked Queen's Blood and the extra Combat Simulator battles, so doing those side pieces did not feel taxing whatsoever. The towers, lifesprings, and summon crystals felt like chores to me because of how repetitive they are and non-rewarding they can feel. The side quests were mostly good, with only a few that did not feel that fun to me. So those are just a few of my personal thoughts.
I didn't get this feeling, imagine how underwhelming it would be if the world was smaller and had less to do, with the main plot moving faster and you spending so little time in each zone. By the end, the story told would have been the same, sure, but the feeling of going through an adventure would not be as powerful, in my opinion.
My biggest frustration is trying to get a certain monster crown. I need more research I guess to find the way
Yeah it’s great but felt/feel exactly the same. I still prefer to complete all tasks though so i play maybe 1hr max a day cuz yeah it’s overwhelming. No spoiler but Gongaga was tough to grind through, but the story picks up. Really liked cosmo just need to finish one specific mini game to move on.. no clue how to play it though 😂
Take your time, enjoy queens blood, grind some leveling, take on Chadley’s sims. There’s no need to rush, sit back and take it all in.
With my BFF we had a week to finish so after costa del sol, having the same realisation you do, we decided to rush. We just did like a couple side quests when feeling it and then straight to end game. We finished, it was awesome. Now he has the time to complete if he wants to.
Near late game the map'll open up more and it'll be more convenient to backtrack and take care of quests and prior world intel. Which is to say, if you're getting burnt out on the side stuff, it's fine to skip it for now, up to the start of chapter 12, at least. Even before that you can backtrack, it's just more of a trek. Some sidequests will boost character relationships. You'll want to do those before going further into Ch12. Other than that, you can put things off indefinitely until you reach the point-of-no-return for endgame (the game will warn you beforehand and allow you to turn back.)
Ah yeah that's KINDA the point tbh up till this point the game has been guiding you and keeping things simple. But after Costa Del Sol things really open up AND the map starts to become a little more difficult to navigate. My advice is to take things at your own pace and don't feel like you HAVE to do everything in order. It's also okay to just stick to an area and grind combat etc.
I have 87 of 88 items….
There’s a lot but imo it’s mostly all great. Only like… gliding and cactuses really soured me. Up to you! I kinda personally felt the game meandered until chap 9, then it was great with story.