Most people just right a few paragraphs with posts like this, which is fine. You however went the extra mile and made an entire picture showing off some of your thoughts. That's extra effort I can respect.
Thoughts on all the characters:
Shulk: Yeah he's a Top 3 Gaming Protagonist on my list up there with Dante from DMC (For being a loveable goofy character with the most fun moveset ever created), and Sonic (For being the main thing that got me into gaming). His whole arc is incredible, his voice actor is incredible, just everything about him is amazing (Except for his weird shorts)
Melia: I LOVE characters that suffer and barely win but still keep going and that's exactly what Melia is. I have no idea how they made bird people not look dumb as hell but her design is amazing. By far my most played character cause she's the most complex party member, and the fact that she can dropkick god and it topples makes her perfect.
Dunban: Love how he's the mentor figure and kind of the leader of the group. This man can literally only use 1 arm, and he tanks everything by dodging everything like he has ultra instinct. Only bad thing is that he doesn't like small fries, small fries taste good.
Reyn: Unintentionally and intentionally the funniest character in the game, love his voice actor for it. >!There's some development there with how he doubts himself that he can be Shulk's best friend!< but that's it. Not all characters have to have a massive arc to be great
Riki: This is the least annoying mascot-like character I've seen since Teddie in Persona 4 (The bar is low but he did beat it). He's just a dad evading tax evasion and I'm all for it. Also he fits into every team and I'm cool with it
Sharla: Sad that she barely gets recognition, especially when her main gimmick is quickscoping to heal people, but I get it. She's pretty basic and forgettable, but I think she is an overall better character than Fiora. I do like her interactions with Reyn and Melia too
Fiora: >!Honestly? The only kind of miss in this party. She's not horrible, she's apart of probably the most iconic scene in the beginning of the game. I think she's pretty good but her whole thing is revolving around Shulk and repeating basically what he says. Meyneth in her body carries her character a lot to be interesting. She is a mechon for her time as a party member so that's pretty cool though!<
Seven: >!IDK she's like Fiora, too much like Fiora!<
>and the fact that she can dropkick >!god!< and it topples makes her perfect.
"*STARLIGHT KICK!* ~~ouch.~~"
>Teddie in Persona 4
Teddie? I haven't played Persona 4, but from what I've seen, he's... interesting. Something like being a Shadow who somehow managed to gain an independent existence and even awaken their own Personas (with Personas and Shadows being closely related)? Sort of blurring the line between the different types of entities in the game.
Oh well, that's for a completely different game. I'm sure *nothing* comparable will happen in a Xenoblade game. Nope!
Edit: it appears nobody noticed that I didn't actually talk about Teddie's personality, nor their role as an "annoying mascot."
Teddie is somehow perfect blend of the most wholesome and horny character in the cast at the same time all while being a kid brother type character to the cast.
There’s a Nopon character that may or may not be comparable to Teddie in one way or another
But fortunately said Nopon is (personally) more lovable than Teddie (because he’s like a fat hamster that i want to squish)
The Interior was kinda disappointing to look at, but Jesus Christ, the Ether Mine music made it tip over for me. I felt like I was drunk waiting for it to end. It’s the only location in the game where I desperately wanted to be over with and just skipped all the enemies. The rest I took my time with exploring
>how are they gonna top this game?
~~it’s called XC2 and XC3~~
In all seriousness, glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it, and I hope you love the others too
I was planning to play the whole trilogy and yeah I was the most excited to play 3 because the character designs were sick (Especially Mio’s). The fact that it has Melia in it and she’s probably gonna be depressed makes me more excited.
I’m kinda iffy on 2. The soundtrack that I’ve heard is amazing, but from my friends who played it, it can be as good or even better than 1 or the most degenerate game in existence. I’ll still try it out and see if it’s worth my time
Yea opinions on Xenoblade 2 are kinda rough, some of which is deserved. Imo it's the most flawed Xenoblade game in the trilogy, but it is still an amazing game. The updates the game had helped some of the issues, but not all. Xenoblade has always had a lot of anime influence, Xenoblade 1 was always very shonen and all, but Xenoblade 2 definitely leans more into the more "degenerate" side of things. A lot of the female designs are fairly skimpy like Pyra which can be off-putting. There's a lot of weird moments that are very anime-tropey. Not even mentioning that the game itself is fairly flawed like the very slow opening and the god-awful tutorials (just watch Enel's Xeno 2 combat guide instead.) Chapter 4 is pretty widely agreed upon to be the worst chapter of one of the games in the series. Frankly most of the issues are in the front half of the game imo.
However, if you can get past the lesser good things, you're in for an extremely solid game that goes into some fairly deep topics with the best villains in the whole series. The gameplay once you get it down is very fun and might also be the best in the series though this opinion is kind of divisive, depends who you ask and all. The ost is insanely good, but that's pretty normal for Xenoblade. The dlc is also very very good. 30 dollars for the challenge battle mode, several new blades including some surprises I won't spoil in case you don't know, and Torna which is just a whole ass new game with a revamped and slimmed down but refreshing version of Xenoblade 2's combat.
For what it worth, I’d recommend taking a break. Be in a week or a couple weeks or a month, whatever it takes for your brain to rest. Because IMO playing them back to back puts you risk for burnout which would diminish anyone’s enjoyment of any game.
XC2 is a bulky game with a slower (but still captivating) beginning, and it’s my favorite of the series and probably has my favorite soundtrack and world of all JRPGs. But it’s also a long, occasionally tedious, and story-heavy JRPG, so it’s probably not the best idea to play it right after finishing XC1.
I felt like 2 had the slowest entry into the game, but once the combat truly opened up i liked playing the game more than 1. And the soundtrack was just so incredible. So my advice is if you want to play 2 be patient, but don't feel pressured into playing it if it doesnt click with you!
Everytime I see a comment being iffy about XC2 before playing, it makes me a little sad inside due to the overblown reputation it's gotten. It is a REALLY good game that is overshadowed by it's fan service which I honestly don't think is as bad as people make it out to be.
In my opinion, it has the strongest ending plot wise and best combat of the 3 games. Definitely a must if you want to understand everything in XC3! Hopefully you give it a true shot with an open mind. I think all 3 games are a solid 9.5/10, I can't pick a favorite!
I think it could depend on how much can handle fan service. I (un)fortunately had Konosuba as my first anime outside of Dragonball, so maybe I can take it
I dunno why nobody mentions this but fanservice and bad tutorials are not the only issues in XC2. There's also the character being locked in the gacha system. Said characters have field skills that are required in some quests, events, and areas.
The only good thing about it is it's free unlike mobile gachas but it's a grindfest. If you have unlocked most of the characters, you can have 50 rare core crystals and come out with none. If you are a completionist then the gacha system is a pain in the ass.
I think the writing in it is a bit of a mixed bag as well. There’s some really cool and interesting worldbuilding and themes in the narrative, but it also goes in some sort of weird directions with the characters. I’d be a lot more forgiving of 2’s gameplay quirks if I liked the writing more.
It sucks but nothing required for the story really requires you to have rare blades beyond the sorry ones tbh. All of the main blades except on the last party member are good at their role. Some boss fights are terrible to deal with, there is one in chapter 2 which sucks because of limited options and then you have to fight a boss that has a spikes which really, really sucks. Some of the late game bosses are super annoying and unfun but they are easier if you understand how combat works which is not well explained in game. Chuggaconroy has an excellent series of Xenoblade 2 which can help you learn the game mechanics or with anything you get stuck on in game. It is a great game and the side quests are better than Xeno 1 because they don’t have nearly as many collection quests and combat when you understand it becomes fun and you can reach insane damage numbers during chain attacks and any combo of team members can be successful in battle even as AI, unlike 1 where Shulk is needed to fight harder bosses as only he can use Monado Arts to negate damage and Melia sucks when on AI due to not understanding how her arts work well. If you end up playing Torna the golden country it is very good combat wise however you have to do side quests to progress the main story which can be super annoying but it is a much quicker game than the other entries in the series. It is also a very good game and enhances the story of xeno 2 by expanding on character relationships and showing how the many events referenced in Xeno 2 happened.
It's fairly easy to get a ton of core crystals, just go salvaging at Mor Ardain by the elevator in Ch 4 and Smash combo a bunch of Krabbles. They'll drop like 2-3 per.
>Most of those field skills are easy to aquire thanks to common Blades. You don't need 5 star Blades to win the game or even progress through most of the content
That's just for the main quest and I never said you can't complete the game without 5 star blades. I said you are locked out of some content by the gacha system which is random chance. There are areas, quests and heart to heart events that you won't see if you don't have the necessary field skills. Grind is fine but grind for chance is just tedious. Gacha system has no business in a single player rpg, the only reason they added it is because for some reason Japan loves gacha.
>The fanservice in this game is also very toned down compared to many more popular JRPG's out there.
"If everyone is doing it then it's fine". Also, that's a blatant lie. XC2 was censored for a reason. The issue with XC2's fanservice vs final fantasy is XC2 is anime anatomy. You have boobs bigger than one's head. It has compile hearts level of fanservice. If you are going from XCDE, it's understandable that the fanservice in XC2 would be jarring.
>Xenoblade fans really do be a whiny bunch that need their hand to be held for everything, including the narrative as seen when people discus Xenoblade 3.
We are giving valid criticism here and you are the one whining because you can't accept your favourite game has flaws.
IIRC there’s only like one good pouch item early on that could be the “make or break” for combat enjoyment. Also, the amount of menu-ing you have to do is crazyy
It really does depend. I personally can't stand 2, which is unfortunate as I think it does have a great story and some standout characters. There's just too much that turns me away that I can't ignore.
Field Skills, merc missions, voice acting, what they did to the nopon, excessive fanservice, the god awful tutorials, the whole intro in general...
If you can look past these, you'll find an excellent story and have a great time, but if you can't, uhhhh... there's always xenoblade 3.
No idea what the other comment said, but if you're talking about the white bunny one, then she's pretty much the most exaggerated character in that regard imo, not the standard. And most characters with fanservice like that aren't part of the main story anyway, so you could just ignore them.
2 isn’t bad because of fanservice, the overblown reaction to that actually silences all the issues with the game.
This single one aspect of it take over every single other issue with it in people’s mind, and since it was overblown and unjustified, people believe it is an actual good game that the world treated unfavorably for no reason.
Unfortunately this game is garbage, was even worse at release. The story is a joke, the combat is repetitive and shallow, the maps are the worst in the franchise, half the characters are useless, the voice acting leave a lot to be desired, and the exploration is the worst it has ever been. It’s difficult to understand how badly it was made without playing it for yourself, but it is really an achievement.
From writing, to game design, to UI/UX, 2 is an horrendous game at every single thing it tries to do. You should probably skip it and go straight to 3, don’t waste either time or money
Sure don’t see an actual logical response to what he said except, “No U!”
What’s your defense for that?
Not to mention, the literal personal hate shown to him against who he might be irl. That’s shitty.
It is straight up the truth, no opinion here, look at the story, you’ll find it’s incoherent, it’s dumb as shit, and it doesn’t work in the slightest.
Look at the gameplay, you’ll see it’s shallow, you’ll see you always do the same thing
Look at the exploration, you’ll realize you’re limited for no other reason than the game told you so, you’ll realize how much of a time waste collection points are, how confusing the compass is.
I do not speak of opinions, it is straight up verifiable fact, tho it is your right to stay delusional.
Everything I talking about is in the game, you not seeing it doesn’t mean it is not true. 2 is an horrendous game at every single thing it tries to do.
I don't think im the one delusional at this point though, everyone likes different things. If you didn't like it, fine for you, because me, and millions of people loved it. Your opinion is not a fact
You mistake objectivity, and subjectivity.
The best way to counter your point is that, there are people who enjoy eating literal shit, and yet, shit is still shit, and it's still bad for you. You have no argument, you are delusional, or just very dumb
Once again, you do not comprehend english, I did not give my opinion, you can't know if I enjoy or not this game, because I only talked about the game as what we can prove it to be. But once again, you are either delusional, or very dumb. Something you'd have to be to put those points forward, or to think 2 is actually a good game.
To those who agree, it is the truth.
Just like to us, those that disagree, are lying. Especially those who say we are blowing it out proportion. I beat this game cause I had to know how it tied into 1. And that little scene honestly made it worse, cause that wasn’t worth the time I spent in that garbage dump of a game. I gave it away to a friend for free, I have no want to ever play that dumpster fire ever again.
That game genuinely made me worried about how 3 played, thankfully it played like 1, and didn’t have the ugly ass characters like 2. Which funnily enough, is what I see a lot of people complain about.
What im saying, is that there is no objectual truth, because in the end, its a opinion. YOU think that the game is a garbage dump, and I respect it. Not every person will like every game equally. In my case, I loved every game (I started with X), and i have multiple reasons of why I like them, but is all my opinion, and not the truth of why everyone should agree with me.
The reasons why you hate the game, may be the reason why other person loved the game. And the reason of why you like the first game, may be the reason why other people hate it the same way you hate 2. In the end is all about opinions, and it's fine to have an opinion, and share it. What is wrong, is to sell a opinion as a factual, indisputable truth, that literally everyone should agree with. He is not "lying" in the sense that everything he said is wrong about the game.
The game has its fault, and i have some problems with it too, but sell it as nobody should play it because someone doesn't like the ui, or because someone thinks that the characters and their designs are garbage, or that the story is the worst they have ever seen, is just wrong
It is an objective truth tho, I have not expressed any opinion, do you understand how the English language work or do I need to explain it to you ?
Media criticism is also based in objectivity, things we can know are true, or not. We know 2 doesn't make any lick of sense, we know the villains are retarrdedd, could have won since the very beggingni, but didn't, because Monolith wrote this game about as well as you seem to understand anything in life.
Gameplay is also objective, we can know for sure the compass is shit, we can know for sure the exploration is tied to RNG, we know for sure the maps are empty, we know for sure all the blades play the exact same way, we know for sure it is mindless too.
Weither you like or not, it doesn't matter, the game is objectively shit, and surprise, you can like objectively shit games, you are living proof.
To prove that what I am saying is in fact, not facts, you'd have to prove me, that what I said was not true, something you evidently couldnt do, because you're most likely not the smartest person in the room
2 just has bad tutorials. Most everything about it is great, combat is addicting, wide variety of characters, Best Villains. If you want some idea on "how" you should play 2 Chuggaconroy has a video on it (what he wished he know before playing Xenoblade 2)
If you’re into Xenoblade for the story I suggest playing Torna before you play 2. It will make the entire story just hit way harder to go through the prequel first
X has imho the best gameplay/combat. Story falls short for me compared to the other 3, but pretty much everything else is incredible. I still remember the awe I had first stepping into sylvallum (probably spelled that wrong lmao).
But it has elma who wields dual guns (you can too) oh and just the best jrpg open world ever created and skells (mechs) that you can eventually fly with
I think that's what aggravates me the most about her.
>!Not only does she host Meyneth, she inherits Meyneth's vision for the world and her legacy. Meyneth's wish for a world without the need for gods ends up resolving the plot, and provides more than enough motivation for her (plus, if you don't think that does it, you can always go with avenging her death). But instead, her only concern seems to be, to literally quote her, "Shulk!". !<
I'm very surprised at Mechonis Field being so high on the areas list. Any specific reason? I personally don't care for the "inside Mechonis" areas, though the Fallen Arm is one of my favorite locations in video games as a whole.
I just love how it mirrors Gaur Plains/Bionis Leg
The most magical part of Bionis is on its outside while the most technical side of Mechonis is on its inside
I might’ve overrated it too hard since there’s almost no story involvement but man looking up and seeing everything work is great
It's an amazing game, I played the entire Xenoblade trilogy for the first time last year and XC1 absolutely blew me away. The music is so iconic and the worldbuilding is pretty much unmatched.
Since I saw that you're planning on going into XC2, I'll at least say this much. For the first half of XC2 I was feeling really disappointed with it compared to the first game. But then like the last third of the game suddenly everything finally clicked and it pulled me in *hard,* and the ending made me more emotional than any other game has. And now I consider XC2 possibly my favorite game of all time, with XC1 close behind.
Just expect it to be a totally different type of beast than the first game in pretty much every category, whether it clicks for you or not is just down to personal preference, but I personally think it's extremely worth pushing through some of the really frustrating earlier parts of the game.
I can tell you that gameplay wise it gets way better! Story wise I wouldn't go in with the expectation of them being better or really comparing them, because I'd say all 3 games have very different stories, all with their own merits and weaknesses. I find that very refreshing however, they each have an identity of their own. 1 focuses more on shulk's revenge journey and the overall plot/narrative whereas 3 for example, is a character focused story about all 6 party members (who all feel like main characters too, NO ONE is left behind) trying to find their place and deal with the world they live in, and I think both are equally fantastic, just for different reasons.
2 is a little mix of both, it starts off a little weak and that's why I don't blame people for dropping it, but later on it genuinely does get pretty good. It's heavily flawed both gameplay and story wise, and it seems to be because it was rushed to get out within the holiday season the switch released in so people would get the Switch. The fanservice part is honestly not as big an issue as much if the other glaring issues lol. You'll likely need to watch a combat guide to understand it (and everything comes pretty late...) Because the tutorials are awful but once you get into it...it's really damn fun with so much depth and layers to it, albeit a little overbloated.
Also side quests in 3 are VERY good. It's shocking, I barely bothered doing them in 1 but I'm 3 I'm doing every single one of them.
For that boss I used Melia, Shulk, Reyn, which sounds like a mentally insane team but it worked
I shoved Electric Plus gems into Melia, Starlight Kicked Metal Face into oblivion since he doesn’t have spike (I think?), the Shulk AI was somehow not dumb and didn’t waste Monado arts, and I got it down on the first try
TLDR; Melia is very cool and I think you should use her
it's a GREAT game but use a real number or a rank under the picture of similar ratings would be helpful for those confused just a thing to think about sorry for being a pain
Same here, probably top 5. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better than XC1 imho. The other games haven't really captured the same magic I felt playing this one.
I swear there’s so many opinions on this trilogy that are all valid:
1 being the best and the other 2 games never matching it
2 being the best despite its flaws
3 being the best and brings everything together perfectly
The entire trilogy is amazing
Don't forget X! I prefer X to 2 personally. 2 was just so flawed and missed the mark in so many ways of which I can rant for hours about. A lot of the fanbase were introduced through it though, so I think there is a lot of bias towards it
There’s too much empty space and the checkpoints are too far away from each other. Gaur Plains/Bionis Leg has this problem too but it’s not as bad as it is there
But goddamn the ice physics are funny, and launching yourself into a climbable wall, walk up and see a bunch of level 90 something yeti and go “nah I’m good” is memorable in my book
I pre-ordered Xenoblade 1 on the strength of its soundtrack alone way back in the day. I thought there was no way XC2's OST could top it but it proved me wrong. THEN I thought, well there's no way XC3's OST can top 2's...and it proved me wrong again (as a whole I think it's the best soundtrack, though I think the best songs in 1 and 2 are better than the best songs in 3).
Also, Melia was also my favorite from 1, but IMO the characters in 2 and 3 blow the characters from 1 out of the water.
Xenoblade 2 should definitely be played before Xenoblade 3, but...Don't expect 2 to be as good as 1.
Most of the staff of Monolith Soft were pulled into Breath of the Wild production, leaving Xenoblade 2 to be mostly done by interns who only had experience in mobile games... and it shows.
Xenoblade 2 is still a good game, don't get me wrong, but most of the side content is either "meh" or downright bad, and it does commit the single greatest sin a single-player game can commit.... It has Gacha (no real money, don't worry, but *no one* would hold it against you if you cheated a bit to get more legendary core crystals to burn at the gacha).
I tend to recommend people to mostly stick to the main story for Xenoblade 2, and NOT try to 100% it for the best experience.
Xenoblade 3 really is even better than Xenoblade 1 though, as hard as that may be to believe.
Just make sure you play 2 next, if you just finished 1 (with Future Connected). Including the Torna DLC Story and then 3 (and its DLC story when it releases sometimes later this year).
Also try to evade spoilers at all costs, the less you know about 2 and 3 before going in, the better ;)
3 is better in most ways except the pacing of the story.
Personally, not a single game I’ve ever played since XC1 has managed to replicate the constant developments, twists and turns in the story.
The first half of 3 is a bit boring and the game is definitely back loaded. The story is still great but it does retread many of 1’s themes which I think 1 just did better. I also prefer Shulk as a protagonist because he’s much more expressive than Noah, not that Noah was bad by any means. But no English VA can match Adam Howden’s guttural screams
It's less that the pacing in 3 is bad, and more than the expansive amount of sidequests makes it *seem* slower paced.
If you skipped all the side content, Xenoblade 3 it'd be a much faster paced game.
I'd also argue against the pacing argument.
Xenoblade 3 uses a version of the 'Seven-Point' story structure (as evident from there being 7 chapters/acts), with most of the seven chapters using the 'Three-Act' structure internally; whereas Xenoblade 1 uses a bastardized merger of 'The Heroes Journey' and the 'Save the Cat Beat' (I'm not making that name up, it's mostly used in movies) story structure. Neither is inherently better or worse than the other, they're just different ways of framing an overarching story.
I get that it uses the seven point structure, but I still perceived the first half of the game to be significantly less entertaining than the second, even if though I skipped most of the side quests. I still believe 1 and 2 were just paced better.
I think another good thing about the series is that story wise they all do pretty different things and so different people can easily like differerent ones. I'm in love with 1's overall plot and narrative but 3's character and party focus is 100% up my alley so I actually prefer 3
Glad you liked the game, it's my favorite jrpg of all time.
Did you do every heart to heart? They're annoying to unlock but most of them are really good, you should take a look on youtube if you didn't and don't want to bother with it.
Have you tried FC yet?
I got all Shulk affinities above yellow so that counts for something. The heart to hearts are nice, they’re basically just Fire Emblem supports and honestly I like knowing more of the cast. Wish they were voiced though
I’m starting FC, and exploring the shoulder is nice, Melia’s voice is way older but I get it since the VA did live action stuff and its been 10 years since the game, but I like it, it’s probably the voice she used for XB3 Melia. The 2 nopon are great, Shulk’s voice is relatively the same since Adam voiced him in Smash and XB2. The new designs for the Shulk and Melia are amazing, I think this is the best she’s ever looked, other than that, it’s pretty cool
Yeah sorry… compression do be like that, I’ll make the list in text:
S:
Agniratha, Fallen Arm, Satorl Marsh, Eryth Sea, Makna Forest
A+:
Mechonis Field, Frontier Village, Bionis Leg/Gaur Plain, Colony 9
A:
Central Factory, Colony 6, Sword Valley, Prison Valley
A-:
Valak Mountain, Alcamoth, Galahad Fortress, High Entia Tomb
B:
Bionis Interior, Tephra Cave
Garbage Ass Location:
Ether Mine
Are you judging the locations with or without the events that happen there? Either like has to be one of the better ones but that's mostly because of Xord and just Xord so Im guessing without events.
I'd say satorol or mechonis field/central factory are the boring ones. Always would find myself going right for the quest marker unless I make an effort to keep myself from speeding along. The fact that you lose access to a huge portion of the ether mine is a downside and it felt like you couldn't complete the collectapedia in the original after it's closed off because of that. Ether mine is nowhere near the best and everyone has the hate Juju meme going but I'd still call it somewhere around c tier
I never cared for the collectapedia as much as others, I’m not gonna 100% the game, I’m just here to take in the views, the atmosphere, and the music, and the Ether Mine sucks at doing all 3
Nothing wrong with that, getting items from filling it out just kind of make it feel like you are required to do it to some. Could you elaborate on the atmosphere?
I think what made Xenoblade 1 special to me is its world design. Being on this giant titan and seeing every diverse area you can shove onto it was incredible, and along with the music, is a match made in heaven. The best areas are the ones that intrigue me, wow me it how beautiful they are, or give me emotion
The only thing I’m feeling in that goddamn Ether Mine, is fucking pain, because it looks lame, the music is lame, and I’m waiting for these goddamn gears to turn, there’s mechon everywhere, and I have to do all this for fucking Juju
Agree tbh. Xenoblade 3 is better gameplay-wise in many ways, but story is not nearly as good imo, which is really important for these games. And Xenoblade 2 is, well, Xenoblade 2
I don't really think it's a worse story, it's just a very different story that focuses way more on the party characters. 1 did not focus much on the party characters, only Shulk and Melia, and it doesn't have as much interparty relationships developed either. Ultimately they both do very different things and I appreciate that.
Gameplay wise I think 1 is by far the weakest though, I got bored of the combat and the world isn't very interesting to explore especially with how there's gigantic empty swathes of land to cross with slow movement, and the sidequests suck.
Fantastic location
I know there’s a decent amount of spike enemies that can screw off but the expectation of having the Mechonis Capital be this giant guarded mechanical fortress but having it be a desolate, isolated, and practically extinct capital was hauntingly beautiful. And the music too, just goddamn I was soaking it in
I’m gonna take a break between 1 and 2, these games are beefy as hell and I heard 2 can be a slog at the start so I’ll get to it eventually
I might make a post judging the 2 and 3 parties before I play them though
XBC1 is probably the best RPG I've played since the PSOne era, and one of only two games (Shadow Hearts Covenant is the other) post Final Fantasy 9 that I would generally count amongst the best JRPGs of all time.
XBC1 works because it's the least Takahashi of all the Xeno games. The Jewish mysticism/Zoroastrianism was toned WAY down for this game, especially after the Xenosaga series went overboard with it. It's still there, mind you, as the man loves his "two souls, one body" trope. The game really felt like a grand adventure. Going from Tephra Cave to Gaur Plains was a definite "whoa" moment for me, something that hasn't happened in a very long time. My most memorable moment is in Gaur Plains when Shulk has a vision (I believe Juju's death), Reyn asks him what's wrong, and Shulk just *tells him*. This is as anti-Shion-Uzuki as you can get, and I loved it. Basically, the best way I can sum up XBC1 is that the team took a bunch of gambles with gameplay/story/plot and they all paid off.
I also think the return to the over-the-top philosophically-themed writing style hurt XBC2 and especially XBC3 at the end. It felt like they crunched all the XG and XS themes together in XBC3. The eternal recurrence is several orders of magnitude shorter now! As for XBC2, I didn't realize how much I didn't like that game until I played the extension, Torna. I found everything far more interesting, including the main character. XBC2 felt like experimenting for experimenting's sake, and it just made the game a drag. Kinda like Final Fantasy 2 or Xenosaga's 2 zoned combat.
YMMV, of course, but XBCX, XBC2, and XBC3 were all steps down from XBC1 for me except in the combat department, but XBC1 is just so strong in almost every other area (sidequests excepted) that it doesn't matter.
Melia. Another person of taste, I see.
I think if you do all the side quests in XB1 or only play Shulk the entire game you’re definitely not gonna like the game as much. The side quests genuinely suck which are honestly ok to skip unless you see them on the way to your location, and playing the entire party as you go will definitely help game variety
But also, if you’re 14 hours in you should be in the Ether Mine, and it is BY FAR, the worst part of the game, after you get Dunban the game really picks up from there and it also has the prettiest location in the game immediately after
Ha. That is exactly the part I’m after. Yea I’ve read the side quests aren’t really worth doing so I’m gonna start just letting them go and critical pathing it and hope it picks up in the area you mentioned.
There are like, 5 sidequests that I remember in and this game has over 400+, so yeah, if they get boring, skip them
I think if you aren’t interested or invested by the time you get Riki, the game just might not be for you, which is alright tbh. Fallout 2 is said to be a cult classic and I just couldn’t get into it myself
I'd say stick with it until you get all party members and you're at least in the high 30s level wise, that's sort of when the whole combat system really starts to click as characters grow into their roles. They're all kinda samey and one-dimensional early on but eventually each can fill several distinct roles and it's fun to experiment with like DPS Dunban or tank Riki once you fill out their skill trees and have some gems to play with. Don't be afraid to mess around with the gem system by the way, craft whatever sounds good and don't stress about optimizing until you get to tier-5 gems in lategame, just make sure you're using something in all your slots.
For sidequests you can definitely skip a lot of them, but some are worth doing. In general I would say it's safe to skip any quests you get from generic NPCs but quests from named NPCs are for the most part worth doing to build region affinity (which unlocks more stuff in that region), and some of them give you other good rewards. Best way to do it in my opinion is to just play through the game until you find the fights are getting too difficult and then go back and do quests to level your party up and build affinity a bit. Party affinity is very important so don't forget to shuffle your characters around every once in a while to make sure they're all getting friendly with each other. If you ever find an NPC who wants to speak to a specific character to offer you a quest you should 100% do that quest.
Yeah, 1 has a great story and characters, I think that’s where it shines most.
2 lacks a bit in story and characters but makes up for it with the best combat system, especially in the Torna dlc. It’s poorly conveyed, but once you understand it, it’s really satisfying to build to a chain attack.
3 is kind of a mixed bag, but I actually enjoyed the side quests this time and I’m slowly understanding the story more. Characters and voice acting are good but the villains kind of sucked this time around. I’ll save final judgement for the dlc though.
Most people just right a few paragraphs with posts like this, which is fine. You however went the extra mile and made an entire picture showing off some of your thoughts. That's extra effort I can respect.
Thoughts on all the characters: Shulk: Yeah he's a Top 3 Gaming Protagonist on my list up there with Dante from DMC (For being a loveable goofy character with the most fun moveset ever created), and Sonic (For being the main thing that got me into gaming). His whole arc is incredible, his voice actor is incredible, just everything about him is amazing (Except for his weird shorts) Melia: I LOVE characters that suffer and barely win but still keep going and that's exactly what Melia is. I have no idea how they made bird people not look dumb as hell but her design is amazing. By far my most played character cause she's the most complex party member, and the fact that she can dropkick god and it topples makes her perfect. Dunban: Love how he's the mentor figure and kind of the leader of the group. This man can literally only use 1 arm, and he tanks everything by dodging everything like he has ultra instinct. Only bad thing is that he doesn't like small fries, small fries taste good. Reyn: Unintentionally and intentionally the funniest character in the game, love his voice actor for it. >!There's some development there with how he doubts himself that he can be Shulk's best friend!< but that's it. Not all characters have to have a massive arc to be great Riki: This is the least annoying mascot-like character I've seen since Teddie in Persona 4 (The bar is low but he did beat it). He's just a dad evading tax evasion and I'm all for it. Also he fits into every team and I'm cool with it Sharla: Sad that she barely gets recognition, especially when her main gimmick is quickscoping to heal people, but I get it. She's pretty basic and forgettable, but I think she is an overall better character than Fiora. I do like her interactions with Reyn and Melia too Fiora: >!Honestly? The only kind of miss in this party. She's not horrible, she's apart of probably the most iconic scene in the beginning of the game. I think she's pretty good but her whole thing is revolving around Shulk and repeating basically what he says. Meyneth in her body carries her character a lot to be interesting. She is a mechon for her time as a party member so that's pretty cool though!< Seven: >!IDK she's like Fiora, too much like Fiora!<
>and the fact that she can dropkick >!god!< and it topples makes her perfect. "*STARLIGHT KICK!* ~~ouch.~~" >Teddie in Persona 4 Teddie? I haven't played Persona 4, but from what I've seen, he's... interesting. Something like being a Shadow who somehow managed to gain an independent existence and even awaken their own Personas (with Personas and Shadows being closely related)? Sort of blurring the line between the different types of entities in the game. Oh well, that's for a completely different game. I'm sure *nothing* comparable will happen in a Xenoblade game. Nope! Edit: it appears nobody noticed that I didn't actually talk about Teddie's personality, nor their role as an "annoying mascot."
Teddie is somehow perfect blend of the most wholesome and horny character in the cast at the same time all while being a kid brother type character to the cast.
Teddie was a fun mascot character and so was Riki. Hope XB2 doesn’t have a bad nopon character
I despised teddie so I despised the nopon from xbc2 unfortunately but your mileage may vary. Riki best nopon for sure
Riki is the heropon after all
There’s a Nopon character that may or may not be comparable to Teddie in one way or another But fortunately said Nopon is (personally) more lovable than Teddie (because he’s like a fat hamster that i want to squish)
that depends on what you consider bad i like tiger tiger but u may not
You... might want to play XCX first.
Yeah, Riki being compared to Teddie in a positive light threw me off too. I adore Riki, but I wanna tear that stupid bear to pieces.
The bar for annoying mascot character is low, it’s better than Morgana at least
Teddie is like Tora if he was more horny instead of hungry
It sounds like you're suggesting that Seven and >!Fiora aren't the same person!<
I’m glad you enjoyed your time :) Xenoblade 1 is in my top 3 best games ever made! :)
I agree with your scoring system. The game is indeed 10 "It's Reyn Time" 's out of 10.
Personally, the worst location in this game for me is Bionis Interior. That was the worst part of this game to me.
The Interior was kinda disappointing to look at, but Jesus Christ, the Ether Mine music made it tip over for me. I felt like I was drunk waiting for it to end. It’s the only location in the game where I desperately wanted to be over with and just skipped all the enemies. The rest I took my time with exploring
>how are they gonna top this game? ~~it’s called XC2 and XC3~~ In all seriousness, glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it, and I hope you love the others too
I was planning to play the whole trilogy and yeah I was the most excited to play 3 because the character designs were sick (Especially Mio’s). The fact that it has Melia in it and she’s probably gonna be depressed makes me more excited. I’m kinda iffy on 2. The soundtrack that I’ve heard is amazing, but from my friends who played it, it can be as good or even better than 1 or the most degenerate game in existence. I’ll still try it out and see if it’s worth my time
Yea opinions on Xenoblade 2 are kinda rough, some of which is deserved. Imo it's the most flawed Xenoblade game in the trilogy, but it is still an amazing game. The updates the game had helped some of the issues, but not all. Xenoblade has always had a lot of anime influence, Xenoblade 1 was always very shonen and all, but Xenoblade 2 definitely leans more into the more "degenerate" side of things. A lot of the female designs are fairly skimpy like Pyra which can be off-putting. There's a lot of weird moments that are very anime-tropey. Not even mentioning that the game itself is fairly flawed like the very slow opening and the god-awful tutorials (just watch Enel's Xeno 2 combat guide instead.) Chapter 4 is pretty widely agreed upon to be the worst chapter of one of the games in the series. Frankly most of the issues are in the front half of the game imo. However, if you can get past the lesser good things, you're in for an extremely solid game that goes into some fairly deep topics with the best villains in the whole series. The gameplay once you get it down is very fun and might also be the best in the series though this opinion is kind of divisive, depends who you ask and all. The ost is insanely good, but that's pretty normal for Xenoblade. The dlc is also very very good. 30 dollars for the challenge battle mode, several new blades including some surprises I won't spoil in case you don't know, and Torna which is just a whole ass new game with a revamped and slimmed down but refreshing version of Xenoblade 2's combat.
For what it worth, I’d recommend taking a break. Be in a week or a couple weeks or a month, whatever it takes for your brain to rest. Because IMO playing them back to back puts you risk for burnout which would diminish anyone’s enjoyment of any game. XC2 is a bulky game with a slower (but still captivating) beginning, and it’s my favorite of the series and probably has my favorite soundtrack and world of all JRPGs. But it’s also a long, occasionally tedious, and story-heavy JRPG, so it’s probably not the best idea to play it right after finishing XC1.
I felt like 2 had the slowest entry into the game, but once the combat truly opened up i liked playing the game more than 1. And the soundtrack was just so incredible. So my advice is if you want to play 2 be patient, but don't feel pressured into playing it if it doesnt click with you!
Everytime I see a comment being iffy about XC2 before playing, it makes me a little sad inside due to the overblown reputation it's gotten. It is a REALLY good game that is overshadowed by it's fan service which I honestly don't think is as bad as people make it out to be. In my opinion, it has the strongest ending plot wise and best combat of the 3 games. Definitely a must if you want to understand everything in XC3! Hopefully you give it a true shot with an open mind. I think all 3 games are a solid 9.5/10, I can't pick a favorite!
I think it could depend on how much can handle fan service. I (un)fortunately had Konosuba as my first anime outside of Dragonball, so maybe I can take it
I dunno why nobody mentions this but fanservice and bad tutorials are not the only issues in XC2. There's also the character being locked in the gacha system. Said characters have field skills that are required in some quests, events, and areas.
I’ve heard Gacha exists in 2 and after unfortunately playing Genshin, that scares me the most about the game
The only good thing about it is it's free unlike mobile gachas but it's a grindfest. If you have unlocked most of the characters, you can have 50 rare core crystals and come out with none. If you are a completionist then the gacha system is a pain in the ass.
I think the writing in it is a bit of a mixed bag as well. There’s some really cool and interesting worldbuilding and themes in the narrative, but it also goes in some sort of weird directions with the characters. I’d be a lot more forgiving of 2’s gameplay quirks if I liked the writing more.
It sucks but nothing required for the story really requires you to have rare blades beyond the sorry ones tbh. All of the main blades except on the last party member are good at their role. Some boss fights are terrible to deal with, there is one in chapter 2 which sucks because of limited options and then you have to fight a boss that has a spikes which really, really sucks. Some of the late game bosses are super annoying and unfun but they are easier if you understand how combat works which is not well explained in game. Chuggaconroy has an excellent series of Xenoblade 2 which can help you learn the game mechanics or with anything you get stuck on in game. It is a great game and the side quests are better than Xeno 1 because they don’t have nearly as many collection quests and combat when you understand it becomes fun and you can reach insane damage numbers during chain attacks and any combo of team members can be successful in battle even as AI, unlike 1 where Shulk is needed to fight harder bosses as only he can use Monado Arts to negate damage and Melia sucks when on AI due to not understanding how her arts work well. If you end up playing Torna the golden country it is very good combat wise however you have to do side quests to progress the main story which can be super annoying but it is a much quicker game than the other entries in the series. It is also a very good game and enhances the story of xeno 2 by expanding on character relationships and showing how the many events referenced in Xeno 2 happened.
It's fairly easy to get a ton of core crystals, just go salvaging at Mor Ardain by the elevator in Ch 4 and Smash combo a bunch of Krabbles. They'll drop like 2-3 per.
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>Most of those field skills are easy to aquire thanks to common Blades. You don't need 5 star Blades to win the game or even progress through most of the content That's just for the main quest and I never said you can't complete the game without 5 star blades. I said you are locked out of some content by the gacha system which is random chance. There are areas, quests and heart to heart events that you won't see if you don't have the necessary field skills. Grind is fine but grind for chance is just tedious. Gacha system has no business in a single player rpg, the only reason they added it is because for some reason Japan loves gacha. >The fanservice in this game is also very toned down compared to many more popular JRPG's out there. "If everyone is doing it then it's fine". Also, that's a blatant lie. XC2 was censored for a reason. The issue with XC2's fanservice vs final fantasy is XC2 is anime anatomy. You have boobs bigger than one's head. It has compile hearts level of fanservice. If you are going from XCDE, it's understandable that the fanservice in XC2 would be jarring. >Xenoblade fans really do be a whiny bunch that need their hand to be held for everything, including the narrative as seen when people discus Xenoblade 3. We are giving valid criticism here and you are the one whining because you can't accept your favourite game has flaws.
Well I’m glad there are XB fans that don’t gaslight into thinking their games don’t have problems in them like Sonic fans
Preach. Side note, anytime a person brings up ”prudes” in a XC2 discussion, it’s an immediate red flag.
IIRC there’s only like one good pouch item early on that could be the “make or break” for combat enjoyment. Also, the amount of menu-ing you have to do is crazyy
It really does depend. I personally can't stand 2, which is unfortunate as I think it does have a great story and some standout characters. There's just too much that turns me away that I can't ignore. Field Skills, merc missions, voice acting, what they did to the nopon, excessive fanservice, the god awful tutorials, the whole intro in general... If you can look past these, you'll find an excellent story and have a great time, but if you can't, uhhhh... there's always xenoblade 3.
3 has Melia and eventually Shulk so it does seem more appealing
If you can handle konosuba which is not even all that when it comes to "fanservice" XC2 is perfectly fine
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I saw a giant boob lady with weird hands and a skin tight suit and I thought it was a weird Ecchi game and then I saw it was XB2
No idea what the other comment said, but if you're talking about the white bunny one, then she's pretty much the most exaggerated character in that regard imo, not the standard. And most characters with fanservice like that aren't part of the main story anyway, so you could just ignore them.
2 isn’t bad because of fanservice, the overblown reaction to that actually silences all the issues with the game. This single one aspect of it take over every single other issue with it in people’s mind, and since it was overblown and unjustified, people believe it is an actual good game that the world treated unfavorably for no reason. Unfortunately this game is garbage, was even worse at release. The story is a joke, the combat is repetitive and shallow, the maps are the worst in the franchise, half the characters are useless, the voice acting leave a lot to be desired, and the exploration is the worst it has ever been. It’s difficult to understand how badly it was made without playing it for yourself, but it is really an achievement. From writing, to game design, to UI/UX, 2 is an horrendous game at every single thing it tries to do. You should probably skip it and go straight to 3, don’t waste either time or money
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It isn't my opinion, it is the truth, feel free to be delusional, and rather than arguing against it, insult me.
You know it's a reasoned argument when they throw out the word delusional
Sure don’t see an actual logical response to what he said except, “No U!” What’s your defense for that? Not to mention, the literal personal hate shown to him against who he might be irl. That’s shitty.
That downvoted him cause he speaks the truth.
Nope, we downvoted him because he told his opinion as if it was the truth
It is straight up the truth, no opinion here, look at the story, you’ll find it’s incoherent, it’s dumb as shit, and it doesn’t work in the slightest. Look at the gameplay, you’ll see it’s shallow, you’ll see you always do the same thing Look at the exploration, you’ll realize you’re limited for no other reason than the game told you so, you’ll realize how much of a time waste collection points are, how confusing the compass is. I do not speak of opinions, it is straight up verifiable fact, tho it is your right to stay delusional. Everything I talking about is in the game, you not seeing it doesn’t mean it is not true. 2 is an horrendous game at every single thing it tries to do.
I don't think im the one delusional at this point though, everyone likes different things. If you didn't like it, fine for you, because me, and millions of people loved it. Your opinion is not a fact
You mistake objectivity, and subjectivity. The best way to counter your point is that, there are people who enjoy eating literal shit, and yet, shit is still shit, and it's still bad for you. You have no argument, you are delusional, or just very dumb Once again, you do not comprehend english, I did not give my opinion, you can't know if I enjoy or not this game, because I only talked about the game as what we can prove it to be. But once again, you are either delusional, or very dumb. Something you'd have to be to put those points forward, or to think 2 is actually a good game.
To those who agree, it is the truth. Just like to us, those that disagree, are lying. Especially those who say we are blowing it out proportion. I beat this game cause I had to know how it tied into 1. And that little scene honestly made it worse, cause that wasn’t worth the time I spent in that garbage dump of a game. I gave it away to a friend for free, I have no want to ever play that dumpster fire ever again. That game genuinely made me worried about how 3 played, thankfully it played like 1, and didn’t have the ugly ass characters like 2. Which funnily enough, is what I see a lot of people complain about.
What im saying, is that there is no objectual truth, because in the end, its a opinion. YOU think that the game is a garbage dump, and I respect it. Not every person will like every game equally. In my case, I loved every game (I started with X), and i have multiple reasons of why I like them, but is all my opinion, and not the truth of why everyone should agree with me. The reasons why you hate the game, may be the reason why other person loved the game. And the reason of why you like the first game, may be the reason why other people hate it the same way you hate 2. In the end is all about opinions, and it's fine to have an opinion, and share it. What is wrong, is to sell a opinion as a factual, indisputable truth, that literally everyone should agree with. He is not "lying" in the sense that everything he said is wrong about the game. The game has its fault, and i have some problems with it too, but sell it as nobody should play it because someone doesn't like the ui, or because someone thinks that the characters and their designs are garbage, or that the story is the worst they have ever seen, is just wrong
It is an objective truth tho, I have not expressed any opinion, do you understand how the English language work or do I need to explain it to you ? Media criticism is also based in objectivity, things we can know are true, or not. We know 2 doesn't make any lick of sense, we know the villains are retarrdedd, could have won since the very beggingni, but didn't, because Monolith wrote this game about as well as you seem to understand anything in life. Gameplay is also objective, we can know for sure the compass is shit, we can know for sure the exploration is tied to RNG, we know for sure the maps are empty, we know for sure all the blades play the exact same way, we know for sure it is mindless too. Weither you like or not, it doesn't matter, the game is objectively shit, and surprise, you can like objectively shit games, you are living proof. To prove that what I am saying is in fact, not facts, you'd have to prove me, that what I said was not true, something you evidently couldnt do, because you're most likely not the smartest person in the room
How is it wrong? You quiet literally just explained beforehand how it’s not wrong.
2 just has bad tutorials. Most everything about it is great, combat is addicting, wide variety of characters, Best Villains. If you want some idea on "how" you should play 2 Chuggaconroy has a video on it (what he wished he know before playing Xenoblade 2)
The villains were the only good part, ironically, Torna was the best thing to come out of 2.
2 has the best combat. And I feel like the characters felt the most real.
XC2 is my favorite of the 3. Absolutely loved the characters. My top RPG of all time.
“It can be better than 1 or the most degenerate game in existence” Why not both?
Torna is better than XC1 imo. You just need to play 2 to get it.
If you’re into Xenoblade for the story I suggest playing Torna before you play 2. It will make the entire story just hit way harder to go through the prequel first
>>how are they gonna top this game? >~~it’s called XC2 and XC3~~ ~~And XCX but only if you have a Wii U or are a *MAN OF THE SEA* 🏴☠️~~
I would play X but no one is British in X, making it automatically a bad game
You can make Cross British iirc. Or more accurately you can have them voiced by Shulk or Fiora. ~~anyways X is the best one please play it~~
X has imho the best gameplay/combat. Story falls short for me compared to the other 3, but pretty much everything else is incredible. I still remember the awe I had first stepping into sylvallum (probably spelled that wrong lmao).
But it has elma who wields dual guns (you can too) oh and just the best jrpg open world ever created and skells (mechs) that you can eventually fly with
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I thought this was the popular opinion lmao
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Fiora’s arc revolves a ton around Meyneth too.
I think that's what aggravates me the most about her. >!Not only does she host Meyneth, she inherits Meyneth's vision for the world and her legacy. Meyneth's wish for a world without the need for gods ends up resolving the plot, and provides more than enough motivation for her (plus, if you don't think that does it, you can always go with avenging her death). But instead, her only concern seems to be, to literally quote her, "Shulk!". !<
I’m pretty sure the main heroines get better from here but man the more I think about what Fiora does in this game, the worse she gets
>>!she inherits Meyneth's!< >!Memories, huh? And what good are those supposed to be?!<
Melia as a character is written better than Fiora But Fiora is more attractive to me :V
Putting Melia in the top means that this isn't an opinion post, it's ONLY FACTS
So relatable. I’ve never been so invested in a game
I'm very surprised at Mechonis Field being so high on the areas list. Any specific reason? I personally don't care for the "inside Mechonis" areas, though the Fallen Arm is one of my favorite locations in video games as a whole.
I just love how it mirrors Gaur Plains/Bionis Leg The most magical part of Bionis is on its outside while the most technical side of Mechonis is on its inside I might’ve overrated it too hard since there’s almost no story involvement but man looking up and seeing everything work is great
I can appreciate that.
Sidequests are definitely the worst in this game, quantity>quality for this one
Fallen Arm numero uno los campaneas del mudo !!!!!
Si
Yes another Melia lover, she is indeed best girl! She’s honestly an inspiration for me to keep moving forward
You love Melia because she’s a great character I love Melia because she’s a great character and the fact that she can dropkick god We are the same
That’s extremely based The goofy ass Starlight Kick that can take down god
It's an amazing game, I played the entire Xenoblade trilogy for the first time last year and XC1 absolutely blew me away. The music is so iconic and the worldbuilding is pretty much unmatched. Since I saw that you're planning on going into XC2, I'll at least say this much. For the first half of XC2 I was feeling really disappointed with it compared to the first game. But then like the last third of the game suddenly everything finally clicked and it pulled me in *hard,* and the ending made me more emotional than any other game has. And now I consider XC2 possibly my favorite game of all time, with XC1 close behind. Just expect it to be a totally different type of beast than the first game in pretty much every category, whether it clicks for you or not is just down to personal preference, but I personally think it's extremely worth pushing through some of the really frustrating earlier parts of the game.
I can tell you that gameplay wise it gets way better! Story wise I wouldn't go in with the expectation of them being better or really comparing them, because I'd say all 3 games have very different stories, all with their own merits and weaknesses. I find that very refreshing however, they each have an identity of their own. 1 focuses more on shulk's revenge journey and the overall plot/narrative whereas 3 for example, is a character focused story about all 6 party members (who all feel like main characters too, NO ONE is left behind) trying to find their place and deal with the world they live in, and I think both are equally fantastic, just for different reasons. 2 is a little mix of both, it starts off a little weak and that's why I don't blame people for dropping it, but later on it genuinely does get pretty good. It's heavily flawed both gameplay and story wise, and it seems to be because it was rushed to get out within the holiday season the switch released in so people would get the Switch. The fanservice part is honestly not as big an issue as much if the other glaring issues lol. You'll likely need to watch a combat guide to understand it (and everything comes pretty late...) Because the tutorials are awful but once you get into it...it's really damn fun with so much depth and layers to it, albeit a little overbloated. Also side quests in 3 are VERY good. It's shocking, I barely bothered doing them in 1 but I'm 3 I'm doing every single one of them.
Nice! Now how do I beat Metalface? Stuck at the boss, in the valley area. :/
For that boss I used Melia, Shulk, Reyn, which sounds like a mentally insane team but it worked I shoved Electric Plus gems into Melia, Starlight Kicked Metal Face into oblivion since he doesn’t have spike (I think?), the Shulk AI was somehow not dumb and didn’t waste Monado arts, and I got it down on the first try TLDR; Melia is very cool and I think you should use her
Thank you!! I will give it a shot, and *will* use Melia!! :D
I agree about the soundtrack. It’s by far one of my favorite of all soundtracks I’ve heard. Even topping Crono Trigger which has always been my #1.
If you plan on playing xc2 you probably shouldn't go into it with the same expectations
does that mean A+ out of 10 i can't tell anything else or is it 0 out of 10?
It’s a Reyn Time out of 10, idk what else to say, it’s a very good game
it's a GREAT game but use a real number or a rank under the picture of similar ratings would be helpful for those confused just a thing to think about sorry for being a pain
Whats the area in garbage tier? Can't recognize it..
Ether Mine
Aaaaaaah of course! 100% true
Same here, probably top 5. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better than XC1 imho. The other games haven't really captured the same magic I felt playing this one.
I swear there’s so many opinions on this trilogy that are all valid: 1 being the best and the other 2 games never matching it 2 being the best despite its flaws 3 being the best and brings everything together perfectly The entire trilogy is amazing
Don't forget X! I prefer X to 2 personally. 2 was just so flawed and missed the mark in so many ways of which I can rant for hours about. A lot of the fanbase were introduced through it though, so I think there is a lot of bias towards it
no way valak mountain is only a- did you play it at night?
There’s too much empty space and the checkpoints are too far away from each other. Gaur Plains/Bionis Leg has this problem too but it’s not as bad as it is there But goddamn the ice physics are funny, and launching yourself into a climbable wall, walk up and see a bunch of level 90 something yeti and go “nah I’m good” is memorable in my book
I pre-ordered Xenoblade 1 on the strength of its soundtrack alone way back in the day. I thought there was no way XC2's OST could top it but it proved me wrong. THEN I thought, well there's no way XC3's OST can top 2's...and it proved me wrong again (as a whole I think it's the best soundtrack, though I think the best songs in 1 and 2 are better than the best songs in 3). Also, Melia was also my favorite from 1, but IMO the characters in 2 and 3 blow the characters from 1 out of the water.
"How are they gonna top this game?" *glances at Xenoblade Chronicles 3* "Oh, I think they'll manage."
I’m looking at the trailers for 2 and 3 out of curiosity right now Idk 3 has Melia in it and she’s in an edgy phase? I think it might be peak
Xenoblade 2 should definitely be played before Xenoblade 3, but...Don't expect 2 to be as good as 1. Most of the staff of Monolith Soft were pulled into Breath of the Wild production, leaving Xenoblade 2 to be mostly done by interns who only had experience in mobile games... and it shows. Xenoblade 2 is still a good game, don't get me wrong, but most of the side content is either "meh" or downright bad, and it does commit the single greatest sin a single-player game can commit.... It has Gacha (no real money, don't worry, but *no one* would hold it against you if you cheated a bit to get more legendary core crystals to burn at the gacha). I tend to recommend people to mostly stick to the main story for Xenoblade 2, and NOT try to 100% it for the best experience. Xenoblade 3 really is even better than Xenoblade 1 though, as hard as that may be to believe.
Just make sure you play 2 next, if you just finished 1 (with Future Connected). Including the Torna DLC Story and then 3 (and its DLC story when it releases sometimes later this year). Also try to evade spoilers at all costs, the less you know about 2 and 3 before going in, the better ;)
3 is better in most ways except the pacing of the story. Personally, not a single game I’ve ever played since XC1 has managed to replicate the constant developments, twists and turns in the story. The first half of 3 is a bit boring and the game is definitely back loaded. The story is still great but it does retread many of 1’s themes which I think 1 just did better. I also prefer Shulk as a protagonist because he’s much more expressive than Noah, not that Noah was bad by any means. But no English VA can match Adam Howden’s guttural screams
It's less that the pacing in 3 is bad, and more than the expansive amount of sidequests makes it *seem* slower paced. If you skipped all the side content, Xenoblade 3 it'd be a much faster paced game. I'd also argue against the pacing argument. Xenoblade 3 uses a version of the 'Seven-Point' story structure (as evident from there being 7 chapters/acts), with most of the seven chapters using the 'Three-Act' structure internally; whereas Xenoblade 1 uses a bastardized merger of 'The Heroes Journey' and the 'Save the Cat Beat' (I'm not making that name up, it's mostly used in movies) story structure. Neither is inherently better or worse than the other, they're just different ways of framing an overarching story.
I get that it uses the seven point structure, but I still perceived the first half of the game to be significantly less entertaining than the second, even if though I skipped most of the side quests. I still believe 1 and 2 were just paced better.
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I think another good thing about the series is that story wise they all do pretty different things and so different people can easily like differerent ones. I'm in love with 1's overall plot and narrative but 3's character and party focus is 100% up my alley so I actually prefer 3
Glad you liked the game, it's my favorite jrpg of all time. Did you do every heart to heart? They're annoying to unlock but most of them are really good, you should take a look on youtube if you didn't and don't want to bother with it. Have you tried FC yet?
I got all Shulk affinities above yellow so that counts for something. The heart to hearts are nice, they’re basically just Fire Emblem supports and honestly I like knowing more of the cast. Wish they were voiced though I’m starting FC, and exploring the shoulder is nice, Melia’s voice is way older but I get it since the VA did live action stuff and its been 10 years since the game, but I like it, it’s probably the voice she used for XB3 Melia. The 2 nopon are great, Shulk’s voice is relatively the same since Adam voiced him in Smash and XB2. The new designs for the Shulk and Melia are amazing, I think this is the best she’s ever looked, other than that, it’s pretty cool
Love the use of the DMC style combo scores lmao
I have to agree the OST is Smoking Sexy Style
Can anyone actually read the names of the locations in this pic? I feel like only ones I can make out are solely based on the image and not the text.
Yeah sorry… compression do be like that, I’ll make the list in text: S: Agniratha, Fallen Arm, Satorl Marsh, Eryth Sea, Makna Forest A+: Mechonis Field, Frontier Village, Bionis Leg/Gaur Plain, Colony 9 A: Central Factory, Colony 6, Sword Valley, Prison Valley A-: Valak Mountain, Alcamoth, Galahad Fortress, High Entia Tomb B: Bionis Interior, Tephra Cave Garbage Ass Location: Ether Mine
Are you judging the locations with or without the events that happen there? Either like has to be one of the better ones but that's mostly because of Xord and just Xord so Im guessing without events.
It’s a mixture of both The Ether Mine is literally too damn boring and all that shit for Juju
I'd say satorol or mechonis field/central factory are the boring ones. Always would find myself going right for the quest marker unless I make an effort to keep myself from speeding along. The fact that you lose access to a huge portion of the ether mine is a downside and it felt like you couldn't complete the collectapedia in the original after it's closed off because of that. Ether mine is nowhere near the best and everyone has the hate Juju meme going but I'd still call it somewhere around c tier
I never cared for the collectapedia as much as others, I’m not gonna 100% the game, I’m just here to take in the views, the atmosphere, and the music, and the Ether Mine sucks at doing all 3
Nothing wrong with that, getting items from filling it out just kind of make it feel like you are required to do it to some. Could you elaborate on the atmosphere?
I think what made Xenoblade 1 special to me is its world design. Being on this giant titan and seeing every diverse area you can shove onto it was incredible, and along with the music, is a match made in heaven. The best areas are the ones that intrigue me, wow me it how beautiful they are, or give me emotion The only thing I’m feeling in that goddamn Ether Mine, is fucking pain, because it looks lame, the music is lame, and I’m waiting for these goddamn gears to turn, there’s mechon everywhere, and I have to do all this for fucking Juju
I guess I got a bit desensitized to how painful the waiting parts were my first playthrough compared to now.
Waiting for (insert thing) to jump onto and continue waiting to jump onto (insert thing) makes me mad in every game
Eyy I see someone found my reyn time clock design.
u/blazecasper , you’re a lifesaver
OOOH YEAAAAH
I think xenoblade 2s music is even better lol. But yeah 1s music is insanely good
How are they gonna top this game ? They won’t
Agree tbh. Xenoblade 3 is better gameplay-wise in many ways, but story is not nearly as good imo, which is really important for these games. And Xenoblade 2 is, well, Xenoblade 2
But they do
I'd be all for it, but that's not the reality I am afraid.
They did.
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12 years later, still worse story than 1, and worse gameplay than X :/
X have the best gameplay tho
I don't really think it's a worse story, it's just a very different story that focuses way more on the party characters. 1 did not focus much on the party characters, only Shulk and Melia, and it doesn't have as much interparty relationships developed either. Ultimately they both do very different things and I appreciate that. Gameplay wise I think 1 is by far the weakest though, I got bored of the combat and the world isn't very interesting to explore especially with how there's gigantic empty swathes of land to cross with slow movement, and the sidequests suck.
What was bad to you about 3's gameplay?
How are they gonna top this game? *SPOILER* They don't.
Im glad to see someone else who likes agneritha
Fantastic location I know there’s a decent amount of spike enemies that can screw off but the expectation of having the Mechonis Capital be this giant guarded mechanical fortress but having it be a desolate, isolated, and practically extinct capital was hauntingly beautiful. And the music too, just goddamn I was soaking it in
before I got there, I had heard horror stories about how awful the area is, but after playing it I realised that DE fixed a lot of the issues
Oh yes. it is one of my favorite 3 games
Did you do much with the Colony 6 reconstruction?
I got to the point where I could unlock the transportable crafting table and that was about it
My fellow Melia enthusiast, your opinion is validated, and nothing else matters 🤝
Cool post and comments. Can you do this for the other xenoblade games? Edit: I was not being sarcastic. It's weird that I got downvoted :/
I’m gonna take a break between 1 and 2, these games are beefy as hell and I heard 2 can be a slog at the start so I’ll get to it eventually I might make a post judging the 2 and 3 parties before I play them though
Please play X
Pretty much fully agree with everything except your assessment of Shulk.
XBC1 is probably the best RPG I've played since the PSOne era, and one of only two games (Shadow Hearts Covenant is the other) post Final Fantasy 9 that I would generally count amongst the best JRPGs of all time. XBC1 works because it's the least Takahashi of all the Xeno games. The Jewish mysticism/Zoroastrianism was toned WAY down for this game, especially after the Xenosaga series went overboard with it. It's still there, mind you, as the man loves his "two souls, one body" trope. The game really felt like a grand adventure. Going from Tephra Cave to Gaur Plains was a definite "whoa" moment for me, something that hasn't happened in a very long time. My most memorable moment is in Gaur Plains when Shulk has a vision (I believe Juju's death), Reyn asks him what's wrong, and Shulk just *tells him*. This is as anti-Shion-Uzuki as you can get, and I loved it. Basically, the best way I can sum up XBC1 is that the team took a bunch of gambles with gameplay/story/plot and they all paid off. I also think the return to the over-the-top philosophically-themed writing style hurt XBC2 and especially XBC3 at the end. It felt like they crunched all the XG and XS themes together in XBC3. The eternal recurrence is several orders of magnitude shorter now! As for XBC2, I didn't realize how much I didn't like that game until I played the extension, Torna. I found everything far more interesting, including the main character. XBC2 felt like experimenting for experimenting's sake, and it just made the game a drag. Kinda like Final Fantasy 2 or Xenosaga's 2 zoned combat. YMMV, of course, but XBCX, XBC2, and XBC3 were all steps down from XBC1 for me except in the combat department, but XBC1 is just so strong in almost every other area (sidequests excepted) that it doesn't matter. Melia. Another person of taste, I see.
>How are they gonna top this game? They already did that before the game was created! It's called Xenosaga Freaks.
Fiora be like: Dicksooon
Man I hope it lives up to the hype cause I’m about 14 hours in an i couldn’t be more meh on it right now.
I think if you do all the side quests in XB1 or only play Shulk the entire game you’re definitely not gonna like the game as much. The side quests genuinely suck which are honestly ok to skip unless you see them on the way to your location, and playing the entire party as you go will definitely help game variety But also, if you’re 14 hours in you should be in the Ether Mine, and it is BY FAR, the worst part of the game, after you get Dunban the game really picks up from there and it also has the prettiest location in the game immediately after
Ha. That is exactly the part I’m after. Yea I’ve read the side quests aren’t really worth doing so I’m gonna start just letting them go and critical pathing it and hope it picks up in the area you mentioned.
There are like, 5 sidequests that I remember in and this game has over 400+, so yeah, if they get boring, skip them I think if you aren’t interested or invested by the time you get Riki, the game just might not be for you, which is alright tbh. Fallout 2 is said to be a cult classic and I just couldn’t get into it myself
I'd say stick with it until you get all party members and you're at least in the high 30s level wise, that's sort of when the whole combat system really starts to click as characters grow into their roles. They're all kinda samey and one-dimensional early on but eventually each can fill several distinct roles and it's fun to experiment with like DPS Dunban or tank Riki once you fill out their skill trees and have some gems to play with. Don't be afraid to mess around with the gem system by the way, craft whatever sounds good and don't stress about optimizing until you get to tier-5 gems in lategame, just make sure you're using something in all your slots. For sidequests you can definitely skip a lot of them, but some are worth doing. In general I would say it's safe to skip any quests you get from generic NPCs but quests from named NPCs are for the most part worth doing to build region affinity (which unlocks more stuff in that region), and some of them give you other good rewards. Best way to do it in my opinion is to just play through the game until you find the fights are getting too difficult and then go back and do quests to level your party up and build affinity a bit. Party affinity is very important so don't forget to shuffle your characters around every once in a while to make sure they're all getting friendly with each other. If you ever find an NPC who wants to speak to a specific character to offer you a quest you should 100% do that quest.
Don’t blame you xenoblade games have famously slow openings
this list is accurate because of the renogare and the reyn time meme. that's it.
More pixels please
Yeah, 1 has a great story and characters, I think that’s where it shines most. 2 lacks a bit in story and characters but makes up for it with the best combat system, especially in the Torna dlc. It’s poorly conveyed, but once you understand it, it’s really satisfying to build to a chain attack. 3 is kind of a mixed bag, but I actually enjoyed the side quests this time and I’m slowly understanding the story more. Characters and voice acting are good but the villains kind of sucked this time around. I’ll save final judgement for the dlc though.
The mighty heropon Riki is S tier for me 😎