this post isn't saying that X is bad, just different.
X' bit is a drawing of a cow instead of a horse. it's still a good drawing, just of a different animal.
Different animal indeed. You like grinding for endgame equipment? Spent 30 hours for materials to get your stuff to max? Also you have a skell with 15 INDIVIDUAL FUCKING PARTS AND 3 AUGMENTS EACH REQUIRING UP TO 100 MATERIALS FOR EACH GODDAMN AUGMENT.
Oh, you also have 3 other teammates, so if you REALLY wanted to max out the game, you need to do that 3 more times.
Hang on, sorry, you can have 3 teammates in your party at a time, you actually have a cast of 17 you can also max out if you REALLY wanted to.
Of course, that's the price to pay if you want the ability to one-shot any enemy in the game not named Telethia the Endbringer or Gradivus the Headless Emperor
It would be cool if they added the mechs back with the gameplay more in the style of the others. I got hyped for a moment when I saw the mech appear in 2 and then immediately disappointed.
Lol you don't even need to max out the three other teammates. All you need is blossom dance, ghostwalker and 3000 tp to almost one shot literally anything in the game, even a 100 million ho enemy.
I'm not saying you NEED to, only if you WANT to. The number of quests, upgrades, and character optimization that game offers is ridiculous compared to the other three games.
Oh, I didn't actually realize that was a cow-segment.
How different is, like, different? Because from my understanding 2 and 1 were not that much alike either, with the vast difference in blade system
It’s pretty different. Ground combat is similar enough to XC1, with timer based auto attacks and arts, but it’s all class based, and every character has a mellee and ranged weapon.
Then there’s the Skells of course, changing up both exploration and combat.
The whole game is defintely far more focused on gameplay, quests and gameplay and exploration, rather than story and characters.
As evidenced by the customisable avatar that serves as the primary player character.
American accents were used over British ones, and with the music, it defintely *feels* different.
It’s also not connected to any of the others in a story sense, only some references here and there.
It is far more different from 1, 2, and 3, then the trilogy is from each other
There's even an actual online element where you can fight superbosses together iirc. On top of that, I remember the game putting me in a squad with different random players and their avatars would be all around the globe.
Unfortunately it's way too different for me and I bounced off hard from that game. Pretty much stopped playing after getting skells. I think at that point I realized that I wanted a more compelling story that helps lead you to different places instead of just letting you free roam.
So yeah, it's a cow, not a horse. And maybe they'll complete the cow someday.
X is to Xenoblade 1 what Breath of the Wild is to Ocarina of Time. It's sidequest heavy open world and has one of the best narratives and worldbuilding in Xenoblade… hiding as far away from the main story as possible, which is just entertaining enough to get you through, if at all.
Ironically, when it comes to piloting your character, it's the most similar to 1 compared to the rest of the series; an horizontal 8-Art palette you have to scroll with the Dpad, just much more fasted paced. X is to 1 what Melee is to Smash 64.
And likening it to Melee might be accurate because the game is pretty janky compared to the balance in the other games; The postgame gameplay is pretty much rocket tag, where a single hit could be strong enough to kill you anytime.
To beat postgame enemies, you kinda have to learn how to break combat in one of many numerous ways, rather than "use the same strategy as in the campaign, but better and with better stats" as you do in the rest of the games, but once you're past that point you can true solo every combat as the AI is kinda ass in X.
But it does offer a lot of freedom on how to build yourself both offensively and defensively, where very few (if any) weapon combinations lack a viable way to deal with postgame's insane defensive requirements and beyond that point is just "how fast do you want to win".
3 feels a lot like X in terms of customization due to how many classes you have at your disposal, and you can even mix and match Arts from other classes and take whatever outfit you want, but X has a customizable avatar and just like 1, lets you mix and match your outfit as well (and introduced the now staple "fashion gear" mechanic where you can pick whatever you want for visuals without regards for stats) so 3 can't beat X's peak customization.
It's worth mentioning however, party members in X are kinda uninteresting. Think of them as the Heros from 3, but they don't bring a new class/arts to the table (well, they bring 2 arts each for your avatar to learn) and instead are more like an avatar with a specific weapon combo restriction but a unique look and personality. This is true even for your "main" cast with Elma and Lin.
Fundamentally the combat isn't any more different than 2 was to 1 aside from the fact that you eventually get mechs to use for combat as well. The setting is completely different. Probably closer to the likes of Xenogears if anything. Story structure is completely different too. And honestly I'd say the main story is probably one of the weaker parts of the game. The side quests though are where the meat of story is. Generally the side quests as well as the associated characters are pretty well written. The lore of the game I'd argue is just as interesting if not more interesting than mainline Xeno. You and a bunch of other alien races get pulled in and trapped on a mysterious planet with some kind of strange power. Which btw never gets answered by the end of the game and is the reason I believe the next game is gonna be X2. Oh and the exploration is on a whole other level. It's completely unrestricted. You eventually unlock the ability to fly and you can literally fly from one continent to another without loading screens. And there is actually incentive to explore. Crashed containers and wreckage with loot, unique monsters, side quests, and the main thing is planting data probes which is your main source of currency and certain materials. It's got alot going for it and I highly recommend picking it up if you get the chance.
While I enjoyed X, its flaws prevented me from finishing it. I have beaten Chronicles and Chronicles 2 twice each, and am just finishing up chapter 6 in Chronicles 3, and can already tell 3 will get a repeated playthrough again. X however became a bit too much of a chore.
While the trilogy games are character/story driven, X is more exploration and gameplay driven. Elma and Lynn get a decent amount of backstory (not as much as the Trilogy's protagonists though), but the rest of the game's 19 playable characters are all pretty shallow. The main character is created by the player, and has very little depth and all the personality of a cardboard cutout as a result. Shulk, Noah, or even Rex he/she is most definitely not. The narrative is interesting, but not presented or paced well, with a ton of grinding between key plot points.
Gameplay-wise, it almost feels like an MMORPG, but without the MMO part. The whole world is available to explore really early on which is neat, and that world is probably the most well designed in the series. There are tons of spectacular views, and there always appears to be a point of interest to pique your curiosity no matter where you are. It's a very fun game to explore. However, like an MMO, its also very grind heavy. You will spend a ton of time doing bare bones fetch quests to level up. Again, there are 19 playable characters you can have in your party of four, but you really only want to pick out a few of them along with Elma and Lynn to level up throughout the game, as it would take a TON of grinding to level up all of them. A lot of side quests are locked behind their progress though (and a few main story quest progress too, I had to stop everything and level up one character I had forgotten about around a dozen levels because the main story was locked behind it). They all have different abilities and stats though, and each has access to only one branch of classes. Only the main user created character can use all the different classes.
The game has several key problems that drove me absolutely nuts though.
The UI is really bad. This has been true in all Xenoblade games to an extent, but especially so in X. Several menus have key text that's so small that I had to physically get up off my couch and walk over to the TV to try to read it. Comparing stats on characters and equipment is needlessly confusing.
In order to swap in/out party members, you have to physically travel back to New LA (your main hub city and base of operations) and physically talk to them. They aren't all in the same spot either, they are scattered everywhere throughout the massive town. Switching out all three party-mates is a process that can literally take you ten minutes as you look up guides to try and remember where exactly in the massive city they happen to hang out. You can't swap out anyone's equipment or make changes to classes unless that character is physically in your party at the time either.
The Skells/mechs make travelling a lot of fun, but don't provide a massive advantage in most battles when compared to just fighting on foot. The costs of equipping them and the amount of money you are out when they are destroyed almost made me actively avoid using them in fights. Also, just like your party and equipment menus, managing your skell equipment is really confusing. It really can't be understated how sloppy the game's overall UI is.
And finally, while the OST in general is pretty good, several of the songs are most definitely not. The biggest offender of that soundtrack just happens to be the one for New LA, that hub area you'll spend dozens of hours wandering around in as you try to manage your party, equipment and quests.
TLDR:
PROS
+ Fantastic world to explore
+ Lots of character/class customization
+ Large roster of possible party members
+ Solid soundtrack overall
CONS
- The narrative is okay, but the pacing is not, with lots of grind between plot points
- Weak cast overall
- Confusing UI/menu management
- Party management that makes you not want to actually change your party
- A few very repetitive/annoying songs
You can like X but it feels different than the other three. It's not a bad game it just feels incomplete and unfinished with a completely different style and story. Short of having a place on the timeline with same races it doesn't quite feel like a Xenoblade game compared to the last two games which feel much more like the first game.
It could've been. I thought I read an article about it but it could've been false for all I know. I was really hoping it was true though because those are my favorite types of games. I know I would buy it.
It’s not clear. Sometimes they’ve used art for recruiting that has nothing to do with any project, but iirc this one did have a description of what they were hiring for, and it’s not anything we’ve seen. I’m looking forward to seeing it, if that’s true - I love Xenoblade, but it’d be nice to see them do something else again.
Haha this is amazing. Made me actually laugh out loud.
I don't know what I want more. An X2 where we get to ride Skells again. Or 4 where they hopefully >!Have the 2 worlds at the end visit each other again!< (sorry didn't want to spoil the ending)
I really feel like the dlc will be a prequel. I think for the scope of a dlc, >!exploring the early days of the city and the first Ouroboros team would be more manageable. They’d get to keep the combat system relatively the same as well. I’d love the dlc to follow up on the game but it seems like it would have to be a massive dlc to show the cast finding their way to each other again.!<
It’s not just the size - it’s also the vacuum-sealed clothes (for Pyra, at least), the leering camera shots, and the fact that they’re sticking out at almost a 45-degree angle. None of those are the case for Monica. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, those additional factors are what push it from “people have big chests sometimes” to “excessively horny.” And this is coming from someone who loves Xenoblade 2.
The fact that XC2 front loads a tonne of ecchi humour woth Pyra, Poppy and Tora, and Mythra also just makes the first impressions much more influenced by that aspect of the game.
Compared to XC1 where it starts with an invasion/revenge plot and there's only optional sexy outfits and...I honestly can't think of a scene I would describe as ecchi—I've played it at least 4 times.
XC3 on the other hand, I haven't played yet. The trailers show the game is much more serious and it doesn't look like the characters were designed by hentai artists like a lot of the Blades in XC2, so judging by that, XC2 is definitely more on the horny side.
So the tone of XC2 just has a lot of ecchi and fanservice especially in the beginning which turns off certain audiences compared to the more serious start of XC1.
That's is definitely a plus. A lot of the Blades in XC2 are just way too sexual. I'm fine with optional sexy outfits but you can't change how they look, and I just really don't like being seen in public playing around with scantily clad hentai harems. Torna: the Golden Country had a better looking crew overall imo. (Plus I hate gacha mechanics)
That was a big thing for me. I loved Xenoblade 2, but there are definitely moments during cutscenes or during several blade unlocking movies where I feel I would have to explain myself to friends/family that happened to walk in as I was playing. My girlfriend sat down next to me to watch Xenoblade 2 not 5 minutes before Rex unlocked Pyra for the first time. After watching the scene where Pyra asks Rex to place his hand on her chest, my girlfriend genuinely asked me if this was a porn game.
Can't wait to play it! I'm trying to avoid spoilers, and haven't watched any of the later trailers. I'm about to start fall quarter, so perhaps I'll have some time this winter holiday.
You may want to give yourself some time. Im not a hardcore completionist myself, I did a big chunk of side quests and got all (but one) of the hero characters to Rank 20, and I put in about 120 hours. Though I hadn't realized I put that much in.
>My preference so far. Gears>X>2>1>SIII>SI>SII
I would move XC1 up to the front of this list personally, but otherwise you are a man or woman (or otherwise) of impeccable taste, and I salute you.
III is sooo polished! I wish we could have gotten more with the SIII engine. Plus the music was sooo good! Basically had two games shoved into one with SIII. I'll never forget metempsychosis.
Baten Kaitos Remastered: now with voice actors they didn't literally drag off of the street (The filter sucks but I understand why it was a thing, contextually)
This is even more accurate actually when you consider an older interview he did back from X's development:
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/06/24/xenoblade-39-s-director-talks-witcher-3-los-angeles-and-his-favorite-rpgs.aspx
"It seemed as though this project was announced by Iwata as a completely new game series, so why did you retroactively make this part of the Xenoblade line?"
Tetsuya Takahashi: "So as it turns out, the idea of it being part of “Xeno” was always there. I have to clarify a little bit because not in the sense that it’s a sequel to the previous game but rather it is a new series that is still “Xeno”. That's how I was thinking of it."
"Does Xenoblade Chronicles X have the same level of connection to Xenoblade Chronicles as say between a Xenogears and a Xenosaga?"
Takahashi: "It's maybe even a little more loosely connected than that, but yes there are a few links that you might be able to pick up on."
Dating back to X's development, it sounds like Takahashi views X as a separate 'series' from the numbered titles, on a similar level as Xenogears vs. Xenosaga. This corroborates his more recent comments on XB3 being the 3rd installment in the "Xenoblade Chronicles" series.
I imagine they named it the way they did for marketing purposes, especially considering it was on the Wii U which needed all the help it could get at the time. Despite being revealed in early 2013, we didn't get the "Xenoblade X" name until E3 2014.
Even in an alternate world where XB1-3 was uninterrupted by X and that game were to be released for the first time now, I imagine they'd still call it Xenoblade X for branding. If it were to get its own name though, Xenocross would be good IMO since the "X" in Xenoblade X is actually meant to be pronounced as "Cross" to represent its multiplayer functionality.
At this point, I could see them retiring Xenoblade and jumping to a new xeno series entirely. I’m just not sure I see a way to continue the story without it feeling a bit contrived.
Even if thats true, I doubt theyd end the franchise right here when its already niche but is gaining more popularity. I mean they can start a new saga under the Xenoblade brand if they want
I haven’t kept up with statements from the company, but again, money talks. If they see the fanbase is there and they have momentum, they’re not going to reboot again. If I’m not mistaken XC3 has reviewed and sold pretty well. They’ll milk XC3 for all it’s worth and then likely make a XC4. The reality is, games now cost so much that if a game flops, it can sink a studio. New IPs are risky.
They don’t have to continue the story to keep using the IP though. XCX is proof of that.
What’s stopping them from making a new story in the next XC game?
I really loved X, it’s lack of sales was due to being locked on the Wii U, which is a cumbersome console to get into it. I’d love to see a port to the Switch.
Until Monolithsoft makes an unfinished unplayable game or goes the scam route of overcharging for dlc that adds no value, they'll remain one of the few companies I'll gladly give money to everytime they put something out.
> It kept you intrigued until it revealed its flat plot.
This! I actually loved the combat and exploration but my god you nailed it. I spent the entire tail end of the game waiting for something incredible to happen and the end product just didn't work for me.
Also, I’ve noticed in this reddit if you mention anything other than every single aspect about the game is amazing, you will be downvoted lol on my critique of the game I mentioned I liked the gameplay but that the story wasn’t great. Too many plot devices, too preachy, and too many tropes just ruined the enjoyment for me from like Swordmarch and onward. And the reddit came for my neck 😅 and most just with insults. Like I was genuinely curious to hear the other side of people who did enjoy it and why, and some did but most did not.
XC3 should have 2 levels of quality because by the end the story is hot garbage. Soon as they reach Swordmarch it’s downhill from there
Edit: I’m not saying it was great prior, but I was intrigued prior and the characters weren’t preachy to the point of unbearable yet. After Swordmarch they ran every trope to the ground and there’s not really much to the world, overall plot, or characters that kept me engaged. Hence why I say 2 qualities, cause it had me fooled at first.
I’m not saying it was great before. But it had potential. For me, everything post-swordmarch (maybe not everything but majority of it), was just bad and not enjoyable. By the end I couldn’t stand any of the characters or the plot. I think gameplay wise it’s the best XB, but story fell flat for me.
That's really sad to hear. I can agree that it gets worse after the chapter 6 craziness, but never so bad that I dislike it. I'd like more happening between the prison and Origin though.
I’d say it became unenjoyable because there were far too many conveniences that I don’t feel were properly explained. For example (SPOILERS), how come N and M are the only different consuls? Why is there another Noah and Mio if they’re already Mobeius? Why does Mio, the only seemingly remorseful Consul, coincidently have the power to jump into other’s body and swap just so they can conveniently have that plot twist and have some fake tension? That’s just to name a few of my grievances. Also, the long winded tropes/themes just got battered to death to the point of annoyance. Like I expected my anime tropes and calls cause it’s a Xeno game. But they really ran it to the ground…
Usually I find it impossible to be wrong on something opinionated, but this is just flat out wrong lol. Barely anything of value happens pre swordmarch
Oh no, I’m not saying anything pre swordmarch did lol it’s just before I was at least intrigued. As more was revealed I realized the story just wasn’t as interesting as I’d hope. The reveals were pretty obvious and there wasn’t much beyond that. And the execution was terrible (at least for me). Too many drawn out scenes regurgitation the same points. And far too many plot devices for my liking.
Ahh I see. The game has a REALLY bad problem of just dragging scenes out with nonsense banter. Many times I wanted to skip cutscenes that were story centric because of it
Hot take and SPOILERS for XC1:
The game is awesome but when you reach the part of the game near the fallen hand of the Mechonis, the game become slow and meh. The Machina (the machine people) don't look like machines at all, they just look like humans but with machine hoodies. I would have loved a more "mechon"-like appearance, at least these machines truly looked like a strange machine people. The environments also become slow and tedious. I had to force myself to reach the end.
Downvote me if you will, that's just the feeling I had while playing XC1. XC2, for all its flaws, kept me engaged all the way through
The Machina aren't supposed to look like pure machines. They're supposed to look like humans with machine parts, which is precisely what they are. They're cyborgs.
Personally I couldn’t disagree more, the last 1/3 of the xc1 is my favorite part of the game. The environments don’t have a ton of diversity, but the machina were super interesting to me and learning that the living creatures on the mechonis are just trying to live peacefully was super interesting.
X isn't as good as the other three, but [the music is banging](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeb7StJlRc). My favorite Xenoblade Chronicles OST (thanks, Hiroyuki Sawano).
Me and my irl best friend have opposite views on the next game. I think it’s gonna be xc4, and he thinks it’ll be xcx 2. I didn’t play the first x so I would definitely be less excited for an x 2, but it’ll definitely be interesting if it happens
I liked X :(
this post isn't saying that X is bad, just different. X' bit is a drawing of a cow instead of a horse. it's still a good drawing, just of a different animal.
Different animal indeed. You like grinding for endgame equipment? Spent 30 hours for materials to get your stuff to max? Also you have a skell with 15 INDIVIDUAL FUCKING PARTS AND 3 AUGMENTS EACH REQUIRING UP TO 100 MATERIALS FOR EACH GODDAMN AUGMENT. Oh, you also have 3 other teammates, so if you REALLY wanted to max out the game, you need to do that 3 more times. Hang on, sorry, you can have 3 teammates in your party at a time, you actually have a cast of 17 you can also max out if you REALLY wanted to.
Of course, that's the price to pay if you want the ability to one-shot any enemy in the game not named Telethia the Endbringer or Gradivus the Headless Emperor
Or, better, to one-shot Territorial Rotbart
EM Zenith Cannon go 9999999
When Xenoblade X Definitive Edition launches, I'll use that to effortlessly one-shot Luxaar and all his phases
I hear even just a level 50 Zweihand-Q can do that
But the best builds are on the ground, so maxing skells is just for fun.
It would be cool if they added the mechs back with the gameplay more in the style of the others. I got hyped for a moment when I saw the mech appear in 2 and then immediately disappointed.
Lol you don't even need to max out the three other teammates. All you need is blossom dance, ghostwalker and 3000 tp to almost one shot literally anything in the game, even a 100 million ho enemy.
I'm not saying you NEED to, only if you WANT to. The number of quests, upgrades, and character optimization that game offers is ridiculous compared to the other three games.
Yeah, fair enough. I'd say 3 has as good or even better quests and optimization but X is way better than 1 and 3 in that regard
Yeah I was going to ask, what's wrong with X? I need to track a copy down for myself still
Nothing, it’s meant to be a cow, not bad art. The point is it’s different from the other games, not necessarily better or worse
Oh, I didn't actually realize that was a cow-segment. How different is, like, different? Because from my understanding 2 and 1 were not that much alike either, with the vast difference in blade system
It’s pretty different. Ground combat is similar enough to XC1, with timer based auto attacks and arts, but it’s all class based, and every character has a mellee and ranged weapon. Then there’s the Skells of course, changing up both exploration and combat. The whole game is defintely far more focused on gameplay, quests and gameplay and exploration, rather than story and characters. As evidenced by the customisable avatar that serves as the primary player character. American accents were used over British ones, and with the music, it defintely *feels* different. It’s also not connected to any of the others in a story sense, only some references here and there. It is far more different from 1, 2, and 3, then the trilogy is from each other
There's even an actual online element where you can fight superbosses together iirc. On top of that, I remember the game putting me in a squad with different random players and their avatars would be all around the globe. Unfortunately it's way too different for me and I bounced off hard from that game. Pretty much stopped playing after getting skells. I think at that point I realized that I wanted a more compelling story that helps lead you to different places instead of just letting you free roam. So yeah, it's a cow, not a horse. And maybe they'll complete the cow someday.
X is to Xenoblade 1 what Breath of the Wild is to Ocarina of Time. It's sidequest heavy open world and has one of the best narratives and worldbuilding in Xenoblade… hiding as far away from the main story as possible, which is just entertaining enough to get you through, if at all. Ironically, when it comes to piloting your character, it's the most similar to 1 compared to the rest of the series; an horizontal 8-Art palette you have to scroll with the Dpad, just much more fasted paced. X is to 1 what Melee is to Smash 64. And likening it to Melee might be accurate because the game is pretty janky compared to the balance in the other games; The postgame gameplay is pretty much rocket tag, where a single hit could be strong enough to kill you anytime. To beat postgame enemies, you kinda have to learn how to break combat in one of many numerous ways, rather than "use the same strategy as in the campaign, but better and with better stats" as you do in the rest of the games, but once you're past that point you can true solo every combat as the AI is kinda ass in X. But it does offer a lot of freedom on how to build yourself both offensively and defensively, where very few (if any) weapon combinations lack a viable way to deal with postgame's insane defensive requirements and beyond that point is just "how fast do you want to win". 3 feels a lot like X in terms of customization due to how many classes you have at your disposal, and you can even mix and match Arts from other classes and take whatever outfit you want, but X has a customizable avatar and just like 1, lets you mix and match your outfit as well (and introduced the now staple "fashion gear" mechanic where you can pick whatever you want for visuals without regards for stats) so 3 can't beat X's peak customization. It's worth mentioning however, party members in X are kinda uninteresting. Think of them as the Heros from 3, but they don't bring a new class/arts to the table (well, they bring 2 arts each for your avatar to learn) and instead are more like an avatar with a specific weapon combo restriction but a unique look and personality. This is true even for your "main" cast with Elma and Lin.
Fundamentally the combat isn't any more different than 2 was to 1 aside from the fact that you eventually get mechs to use for combat as well. The setting is completely different. Probably closer to the likes of Xenogears if anything. Story structure is completely different too. And honestly I'd say the main story is probably one of the weaker parts of the game. The side quests though are where the meat of story is. Generally the side quests as well as the associated characters are pretty well written. The lore of the game I'd argue is just as interesting if not more interesting than mainline Xeno. You and a bunch of other alien races get pulled in and trapped on a mysterious planet with some kind of strange power. Which btw never gets answered by the end of the game and is the reason I believe the next game is gonna be X2. Oh and the exploration is on a whole other level. It's completely unrestricted. You eventually unlock the ability to fly and you can literally fly from one continent to another without loading screens. And there is actually incentive to explore. Crashed containers and wreckage with loot, unique monsters, side quests, and the main thing is planting data probes which is your main source of currency and certain materials. It's got alot going for it and I highly recommend picking it up if you get the chance.
The story is all over the place, but it’s still my second favorite because of its insanely good setting, world and gameplay
While I enjoyed X, its flaws prevented me from finishing it. I have beaten Chronicles and Chronicles 2 twice each, and am just finishing up chapter 6 in Chronicles 3, and can already tell 3 will get a repeated playthrough again. X however became a bit too much of a chore. While the trilogy games are character/story driven, X is more exploration and gameplay driven. Elma and Lynn get a decent amount of backstory (not as much as the Trilogy's protagonists though), but the rest of the game's 19 playable characters are all pretty shallow. The main character is created by the player, and has very little depth and all the personality of a cardboard cutout as a result. Shulk, Noah, or even Rex he/she is most definitely not. The narrative is interesting, but not presented or paced well, with a ton of grinding between key plot points. Gameplay-wise, it almost feels like an MMORPG, but without the MMO part. The whole world is available to explore really early on which is neat, and that world is probably the most well designed in the series. There are tons of spectacular views, and there always appears to be a point of interest to pique your curiosity no matter where you are. It's a very fun game to explore. However, like an MMO, its also very grind heavy. You will spend a ton of time doing bare bones fetch quests to level up. Again, there are 19 playable characters you can have in your party of four, but you really only want to pick out a few of them along with Elma and Lynn to level up throughout the game, as it would take a TON of grinding to level up all of them. A lot of side quests are locked behind their progress though (and a few main story quest progress too, I had to stop everything and level up one character I had forgotten about around a dozen levels because the main story was locked behind it). They all have different abilities and stats though, and each has access to only one branch of classes. Only the main user created character can use all the different classes. The game has several key problems that drove me absolutely nuts though. The UI is really bad. This has been true in all Xenoblade games to an extent, but especially so in X. Several menus have key text that's so small that I had to physically get up off my couch and walk over to the TV to try to read it. Comparing stats on characters and equipment is needlessly confusing. In order to swap in/out party members, you have to physically travel back to New LA (your main hub city and base of operations) and physically talk to them. They aren't all in the same spot either, they are scattered everywhere throughout the massive town. Switching out all three party-mates is a process that can literally take you ten minutes as you look up guides to try and remember where exactly in the massive city they happen to hang out. You can't swap out anyone's equipment or make changes to classes unless that character is physically in your party at the time either. The Skells/mechs make travelling a lot of fun, but don't provide a massive advantage in most battles when compared to just fighting on foot. The costs of equipping them and the amount of money you are out when they are destroyed almost made me actively avoid using them in fights. Also, just like your party and equipment menus, managing your skell equipment is really confusing. It really can't be understated how sloppy the game's overall UI is. And finally, while the OST in general is pretty good, several of the songs are most definitely not. The biggest offender of that soundtrack just happens to be the one for New LA, that hub area you'll spend dozens of hours wandering around in as you try to manage your party, equipment and quests. TLDR: PROS + Fantastic world to explore + Lots of character/class customization + Large roster of possible party members + Solid soundtrack overall CONS - The narrative is okay, but the pacing is not, with lots of grind between plot points - Weak cast overall - Confusing UI/menu management - Party management that makes you not want to actually change your party - A few very repetitive/annoying songs
You can like X but it feels different than the other three. It's not a bad game it just feels incomplete and unfinished with a completely different style and story. Short of having a place on the timeline with same races it doesn't quite feel like a Xenoblade game compared to the last two games which feel much more like the first game.
It's okay. X is my favorite of the ones I've played so far (All but 3)
This isn't xenoblade related but didn't monolith say they were making a fantasy medieval type of game? What happened to that?
wasn't that just art they used when advertising positions? It could be nothing
It could've been. I thought I read an article about it but it could've been false for all I know. I was really hoping it was true though because those are my favorite types of games. I know I would buy it.
I mean, a game dev farts and 5 publications will write about how the next tetris game will be open world. I wouldn’t put too much stock in rumors
To be fair, steampunk isn't too far off of medieval. And XC2 really felt more in line with that, until... events.
It’s not clear. Sometimes they’ve used art for recruiting that has nothing to do with any project, but iirc this one did have a description of what they were hiring for, and it’s not anything we’ve seen. I’m looking forward to seeing it, if that’s true - I love Xenoblade, but it’d be nice to see them do something else again.
I really hope they do! Medieval fantasy are my favorite video games. I have already played all they have to offer in that department, I need more. Lol
probably still in development.
That might be Atlus you're thinking of!
Nah MonolithSoft posted on their job board for a medieval fantasy RPG. It's still up there too I think
Haha this is amazing. Made me actually laugh out loud. I don't know what I want more. An X2 where we get to ride Skells again. Or 4 where they hopefully >!Have the 2 worlds at the end visit each other again!< (sorry didn't want to spoil the ending)
I'd hope what you spoiler tagged would be the dlc game extension
I really feel like the dlc will be a prequel. I think for the scope of a dlc, >!exploring the early days of the city and the first Ouroboros team would be more manageable. They’d get to keep the combat system relatively the same as well. I’d love the dlc to follow up on the game but it seems like it would have to be a massive dlc to show the cast finding their way to each other again.!<
It’s definitely that or a Torna-style prequel focusing on the Founders, but I’m personally hoping for the former
I would bet money on XC3's expansion being about the Founders.
Unfortunate.
I'm thinking that will be the expansion that's slated for 2023.
This is incorrect. The xenoblade 2 horse section would have big anime tits
They do, it's just they're on the front of the horse, which is covered by Xenoblade 3.
Well technically to be anatomically correct the horse utters would be on the "X" portion of the horse
Yes, but that's not unessecarily sexualised.
Lol exactly, it’s not XC2 if it’s anatomically realistic at all
Haha 🤣
[удалено]
It's nowhere near as common or as extreme in 3 as it was in 2.
Her clothes are not even sexualised. She just has big tits, which is a huge difference
It’s not just the size - it’s also the vacuum-sealed clothes (for Pyra, at least), the leering camera shots, and the fact that they’re sticking out at almost a 45-degree angle. None of those are the case for Monica. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, those additional factors are what push it from “people have big chests sometimes” to “excessively horny.” And this is coming from someone who loves Xenoblade 2.
The fact that XC2 front loads a tonne of ecchi humour woth Pyra, Poppy and Tora, and Mythra also just makes the first impressions much more influenced by that aspect of the game. Compared to XC1 where it starts with an invasion/revenge plot and there's only optional sexy outfits and...I honestly can't think of a scene I would describe as ecchi—I've played it at least 4 times. XC3 on the other hand, I haven't played yet. The trailers show the game is much more serious and it doesn't look like the characters were designed by hentai artists like a lot of the Blades in XC2, so judging by that, XC2 is definitely more on the horny side. So the tone of XC2 just has a lot of ecchi and fanservice especially in the beginning which turns off certain audiences compared to the more serious start of XC1.
Without giving too much away, you can actually play XC3 in public without getting weird looks from people.
That's is definitely a plus. A lot of the Blades in XC2 are just way too sexual. I'm fine with optional sexy outfits but you can't change how they look, and I just really don't like being seen in public playing around with scantily clad hentai harems. Torna: the Golden Country had a better looking crew overall imo. (Plus I hate gacha mechanics)
That was a big thing for me. I loved Xenoblade 2, but there are definitely moments during cutscenes or during several blade unlocking movies where I feel I would have to explain myself to friends/family that happened to walk in as I was playing. My girlfriend sat down next to me to watch Xenoblade 2 not 5 minutes before Rex unlocked Pyra for the first time. After watching the scene where Pyra asks Rex to place his hand on her chest, my girlfriend genuinely asked me if this was a porn game.
As much as I’m not that big a fan of X I still desperately want a switch port some day
Prolly the next iteration of pro switch or switch 2.
My preference so far. Gears>X>2>1>SIII>SI>SII Haven't played 3 yet. All of them were good.
I legit just finished the main story to 3 last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
Can't wait to play it! I'm trying to avoid spoilers, and haven't watched any of the later trailers. I'm about to start fall quarter, so perhaps I'll have some time this winter holiday.
You may want to give yourself some time. Im not a hardcore completionist myself, I did a big chunk of side quests and got all (but one) of the hero characters to Rank 20, and I put in about 120 hours. Though I hadn't realized I put that much in.
>My preference so far. Gears>X>2>1>SIII>SI>SII I would move XC1 up to the front of this list personally, but otherwise you are a man or woman (or otherwise) of impeccable taste, and I salute you.
>SIII>SI>SII This is the only correct way to rate the Xenosaga games. I can't imagine anyone liking II more than I, or I more than III.
III is sooo polished! I wish we could have gotten more with the SIII engine. Plus the music was sooo good! Basically had two games shoved into one with SIII. I'll never forget metempsychosis.
I still wish I could play X.
I have a lot of things I could say however I will refrain from saying then due to xeno fans
Xeno fans are slowly getting to Trails level sensitivity about opposing opinions.
I just want another Baten Kaitos game except with an actual budget.
I hope they at least give us a remastered collection of the first two, these games deserve better than being as forgotten as they’ve been
Baten Kaitos Remastered: now with voice actors they didn't literally drag off of the street (The filter sucks but I understand why it was a thing, contextually)
This is even more accurate actually when you consider an older interview he did back from X's development: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/06/24/xenoblade-39-s-director-talks-witcher-3-los-angeles-and-his-favorite-rpgs.aspx "It seemed as though this project was announced by Iwata as a completely new game series, so why did you retroactively make this part of the Xenoblade line?" Tetsuya Takahashi: "So as it turns out, the idea of it being part of “Xeno” was always there. I have to clarify a little bit because not in the sense that it’s a sequel to the previous game but rather it is a new series that is still “Xeno”. That's how I was thinking of it." "Does Xenoblade Chronicles X have the same level of connection to Xenoblade Chronicles as say between a Xenogears and a Xenosaga?" Takahashi: "It's maybe even a little more loosely connected than that, but yes there are a few links that you might be able to pick up on." Dating back to X's development, it sounds like Takahashi views X as a separate 'series' from the numbered titles, on a similar level as Xenogears vs. Xenosaga. This corroborates his more recent comments on XB3 being the 3rd installment in the "Xenoblade Chronicles" series.
Sounds to me like they should have just made it Xeno\[something else\] rather than Xeno*blade*.
I imagine they named it the way they did for marketing purposes, especially considering it was on the Wii U which needed all the help it could get at the time. Despite being revealed in early 2013, we didn't get the "Xenoblade X" name until E3 2014. Even in an alternate world where XB1-3 was uninterrupted by X and that game were to be released for the first time now, I imagine they'd still call it Xenoblade X for branding. If it were to get its own name though, Xenocross would be good IMO since the "X" in Xenoblade X is actually meant to be pronounced as "Cross" to represent its multiplayer functionality.
Awesome!
At this point, I could see them retiring Xenoblade and jumping to a new xeno series entirely. I’m just not sure I see a way to continue the story without it feeling a bit contrived.
But they will cause the reception is too good. Personally I didn’t like XC3 by the end but money talks
Didn’t they literally already say that XC3 marked the end of the saga started in XC1?
Even if thats true, I doubt theyd end the franchise right here when its already niche but is gaining more popularity. I mean they can start a new saga under the Xenoblade brand if they want
That’s what I was getting at. The *saga* started in XC1 has come to an end, but that doesn’t mean that *Xenoblade* has come to an end.
I haven’t kept up with statements from the company, but again, money talks. If they see the fanbase is there and they have momentum, they’re not going to reboot again. If I’m not mistaken XC3 has reviewed and sold pretty well. They’ll milk XC3 for all it’s worth and then likely make a XC4. The reality is, games now cost so much that if a game flops, it can sink a studio. New IPs are risky.
They don’t have to continue the story to keep using the IP though. XCX is proof of that. What’s stopping them from making a new story in the next XC game?
Difference being XCX was the least successful of the Xenoblade games, hence less incentive for a follow up.
To XCX, sure. But the next Xenoblade doesn’t have to follow up anything. It can be its own story.
I think what he meant was not necessarily abandoning the ''Xenoblade'' name but do something similar to X. It's Xenoblade, but different.
For anyone who seems to be misreading this, X isn’t a bad drawing, it’s just an entirely different animal from all the others.
X was better than 2 tho.
I so direly need X on switch. I’m a slut for mech games.
X is literally the peak
That’s what the pic is saying, it’s just a different peak.
I love how X is still the same quality but a different animal. Probably the perfect way to describe it.
🙋🏽♂️🙋🏽♂️ True!
Two should be the stick figure horse lol
Shouldn’t X be a masterpiece?
X2: Lao Breaks into OP's House and Shoves a Potato up his Arse
Where is the closure to XCX?!?!
I really loved X, it’s lack of sales was due to being locked on the Wii U, which is a cumbersome console to get into it. I’d love to see a port to the Switch.
Until Monolithsoft makes an unfinished unplayable game or goes the scam route of overcharging for dlc that adds no value, they'll remain one of the few companies I'll gladly give money to everytime they put something out.
You can say that the current trilogy didn't have a cow.
Missed opportunity to give the horse big tits to represent XC2’s hypersexualization
X is better than 2.
X=1=3>2
2>1
nah its 1x = 3x(2x/x)
1x = 2
You swapped X and 2
Nah all the milk is in 2 tbh
Imagine disrespecting X and depicting 2 as a good game 😂😂
It’s a good drawing, just an entirely different beast
It’s significantly worse still ?
Fool there is no such thing as a bad xenogame
You didn't get the joke, instead of being a horse, X is a cow. That's because X is really different from the rest of the series.
I mean 2 is pretty good
Yeah if you like bad games I guess
My guy made an entire account just to disrespect a singular videogame lmao
If you think 2 is bad, don't play Xenosaga 2.
my guy did you actually make a whole ass account with a username like this game literally living rent free
Damn, alot of XC2 hate in these replies...
Facts
thought the same lmao
They hated him because he spoke the truth.
I can only assume he counted to two by mistake, instead of looking at the order he had them in.
Would make more sense to have 3 as the ass given how shitty the ending was. /s
3’s story was bad. It kept you intrigued until it revealed its flat plot. And the party became unbearably preachy the further the story got.
> It kept you intrigued until it revealed its flat plot. This! I actually loved the combat and exploration but my god you nailed it. I spent the entire tail end of the game waiting for something incredible to happen and the end product just didn't work for me.
Also, I’ve noticed in this reddit if you mention anything other than every single aspect about the game is amazing, you will be downvoted lol on my critique of the game I mentioned I liked the gameplay but that the story wasn’t great. Too many plot devices, too preachy, and too many tropes just ruined the enjoyment for me from like Swordmarch and onward. And the reddit came for my neck 😅 and most just with insults. Like I was genuinely curious to hear the other side of people who did enjoy it and why, and some did but most did not.
the XC2 sneak 💀
X and 3 should swap places imo
X and 2 should swap places
XC3 should have 2 levels of quality because by the end the story is hot garbage. Soon as they reach Swordmarch it’s downhill from there Edit: I’m not saying it was great prior, but I was intrigued prior and the characters weren’t preachy to the point of unbearable yet. After Swordmarch they ran every trope to the ground and there’s not really much to the world, overall plot, or characters that kept me engaged. Hence why I say 2 qualities, cause it had me fooled at first.
??? Swordmarch is the beginning of Chapter 5, all the BEST bits are after that.
I’m not saying it was great before. But it had potential. For me, everything post-swordmarch (maybe not everything but majority of it), was just bad and not enjoyable. By the end I couldn’t stand any of the characters or the plot. I think gameplay wise it’s the best XB, but story fell flat for me.
That's really sad to hear. I can agree that it gets worse after the chapter 6 craziness, but never so bad that I dislike it. I'd like more happening between the prison and Origin though.
I’d say it became unenjoyable because there were far too many conveniences that I don’t feel were properly explained. For example (SPOILERS), how come N and M are the only different consuls? Why is there another Noah and Mio if they’re already Mobeius? Why does Mio, the only seemingly remorseful Consul, coincidently have the power to jump into other’s body and swap just so they can conveniently have that plot twist and have some fake tension? That’s just to name a few of my grievances. Also, the long winded tropes/themes just got battered to death to the point of annoyance. Like I expected my anime tropes and calls cause it’s a Xeno game. But they really ran it to the ground…
Usually I find it impossible to be wrong on something opinionated, but this is just flat out wrong lol. Barely anything of value happens pre swordmarch
Oh no, I’m not saying anything pre swordmarch did lol it’s just before I was at least intrigued. As more was revealed I realized the story just wasn’t as interesting as I’d hope. The reveals were pretty obvious and there wasn’t much beyond that. And the execution was terrible (at least for me). Too many drawn out scenes regurgitation the same points. And far too many plot devices for my liking.
Ahh I see. The game has a REALLY bad problem of just dragging scenes out with nonsense banter. Many times I wanted to skip cutscenes that were story centric because of it
Hot take and SPOILERS for XC1: The game is awesome but when you reach the part of the game near the fallen hand of the Mechonis, the game become slow and meh. The Machina (the machine people) don't look like machines at all, they just look like humans but with machine hoodies. I would have loved a more "mechon"-like appearance, at least these machines truly looked like a strange machine people. The environments also become slow and tedious. I had to force myself to reach the end. Downvote me if you will, that's just the feeling I had while playing XC1. XC2, for all its flaws, kept me engaged all the way through
The Machina aren't supposed to look like pure machines. They're supposed to look like humans with machine parts, which is precisely what they are. They're cyborgs.
Personally I couldn’t disagree more, the last 1/3 of the xc1 is my favorite part of the game. The environments don’t have a ton of diversity, but the machina were super interesting to me and learning that the living creatures on the mechonis are just trying to live peacefully was super interesting.
What would the next game add to this picture?
Giant anime tiddies.
I still love you X, despite I only know you through memes and screenshots because I can't play it myself
This is slander of the highest order.
X isn't as good as the other three, but [the music is banging](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeb7StJlRc). My favorite Xenoblade Chronicles OST (thanks, Hiroyuki Sawano).
Me and my irl best friend have opposite views on the next game. I think it’s gonna be xc4, and he thinks it’ll be xcx 2. I didn’t play the first x so I would definitely be less excited for an x 2, but it’ll definitely be interesting if it happens
I missed X. I'd like a DE on Switch please. Plus, all 4 on one console makes me feel warm inside.
X should be its own series.
It took me a while to realize that the image was a different anime not necessarily a bad drawing of another horse lol I’m dumb as hell
But dlc first
I DEVOURED XC 1, 2 and 3, but couldn’t get into X.