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Spoiler The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Postgame & Spoiler Discussion Thread

I continue to churn over and process my feelings about XC3 - and I think it's become clear to me just how important an ending is. I know that sounds like a really obvious thing to say, but reflecting on my experience, I think it's crucial to me in this circumstance.

There's two layers - the ending of XC3 as a conclusion to it's own story and the ending of XC3 as a conclusion to the Klaus Saga built up via XC and XC2.

And I think it's in being unsatisfied with the ending in both respects that I feel more disappointed in the game than I truly am when thinking about the game as a whole.

If I'd felt more fulfilled by the game's ending as a conclusion to it's own story, I think some of the issues I have surrounding the villains, the environments and late game reveals would have been easier to stomach.

On the other hand, if I felt like the game's ending served as a more meaningful conclusion to the trilogy, I'd probably be a lot less cynical about how XC3 was marketed to me and how it takes from the earlier games for flavouring.

In an ideal world, I would have gotten both, but I'd have taken one!

I'm not sure that even if the game had succeeded for me in one or both of those ways it would have been enough to square the circle on Origin - that stands alone for me as perhaps an issue that can't be resolved.

But that said, I love a lot about XC3, so much of it. I still find myself thinking about it and when I do go back to watch certain scenes... I find myself thinking, bloody hell, this game was incredible in places. I've said it before and will continue to say it, McEntire's performance as N at the start of Chapter 6 is superb.

I won't list everything I adored, but despite many of my posts being on the more negative side, I have explicitly called out a lot that I love earlier in the thread.

It's remarkable how the game was, for the longest time, trading blows with XC2 - my favourite game - and then how different I ended up feeling about the game by the time the credits began to roll.

My criticisms would have still stood, but I'd have been more sympathetic to the game overall.

Part way through the game, I had an inkling that how I felt about the game would hinge on how they wrapped it up - I said as much to a friend - but I've come to the conclusion that it's really soured me on a game I otherwise really loved.

Of course, some people will feel satisfied in both respects - and more power to ya - but not me unfortunately. I've not turned the game on for a few weeks... but part of me wants to...

One final note. I have a Bunny Girl Senpai avatar and it's kind of funny how many broad-stroke parallels there are between the end of the movie and this game.

The movie reveals that the entire events of the anime take place in a young terminally ill girl's dream. The main romantic pair choose to sacrifice themselves for the greater good in the belief that they will meet again in the real world - despite having no knowledge of their 'past lives'.

The end of the movie shows our couple very much back together and in a rather short sequence packs in a number of nods to the events of the series - suggesting that those events, despite not being totally the same as before, did pan out and those relationships did blossom again.

But due to the events they experienced in the dream, the main girl Mai - an actress - felt compelled to star in a movie about the same illness the young girl had, while the main boy Sakuta is revealed to have given money towards researching that illness.

Basically, the remnants of their 'dream lives' floating around in their subconscious influenced their real selves. In the very final minute of the movie, the pair, walking across a beach, see the young girl alive and happy with her parents.

The couple don’t recognise her.

Despite not knowing why they did what they did or what impact it has had, their joint efforts saw a donor for the young girl found. Sakuta suddenly remembers his experience with her and shouts out to her. The final shot lingers on her for some time, before she responds back with his name - showing that she remembers him as well.

Of course, the stories are very different - but for me, that's how you use a similar concept. It involves the main heroes giving up their current lives in hopes of a better future, it shows the consequences of that choice and ends on a more overtly positive note.

It wipes away the whole anime season you’ve just watched, but in about two or three minutes, it gives you the closure you need to feel satisfied with it.

I know that some people think the bittersweet part of the ending is crucial, but for me, it’s about the characters being prepared to make the choice in hope.

Started writing my wall before the tweets above - but I love them to bits. Hope we get some Mio and Rex action in the DLC.

Not to make this an Anime discussion but... (I'm totally going to though.)

Bunny Girl Spoilers:
Thank you so much for the Bunny Girl write-up! I'm now way more interested in starting this.

So much of that sounds similar to my favorite anime of all time "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Almost like where "Haruhi" is more interested in having fun, "Bunny Girl" seems to take the same sort of concepts to a more dramatic conclusion. I had read that the author of "Bunny Girl" was heavily inspired by "Haruhi" and this seems to be confirming it.

Interestingly, "Bunny Girl" seems to try its hand (with some success as you say) at more definitive answers that "Haruhi" knew to keep ambiguous.

LIGHT SPOILERS FOR HARUHI:

Haruhi is blissfully unaware that she is either a "distortion in space-time," "the potential for evolution," or "god herself" or all three (each of the extended cast has their own answer to this and the series never offers a definitive answer we just know something bad will happen when she gets bored) and the fact our reality may just be her unconscious creation is used for comedy first and foremost, and high stakes science/fantasy drama second.

Not that "Haruhi" didn't know when to be dramatic (and it can be), but it seems "Bunny Girl" is taking "similar" concepts to a more dramatic and emotional conclusion with its romantic pair. (Plus a more definitive ending.) I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out when I watch it!

At the end of the first arc, Haruhi gets so distraught with how boring her life is (and the clear lack of attention she desires from the male lead) that she unconsciously almost reboots the universe and creates a new reality with the main character being the only survivor from the old world. The main character talks her out of it by essentially giving her the romantic attention she unconsciously desires and facing his own feelings and instantly "wakes up" the next morning with everything back to normal...or is it? (My favorite episode of any anime ever by the way. lol)

From then on, other characters are aware that the universe almost ended last night, (or maybe it did end and was recreated) but they aren't sure which answer is right. It's treated as a "close call" and setting the stakes for making sure Haruhi is kept happy. (Also, confirmation that Haruhi's relationship with the main character is desired to be a romantic one and a look behind the main character's apathetic charade.) However, no definitive answers either way and I think that is fine.

Also, it seems like the shows make opposite choices when it comes to the romantic conclusion between the main romantic pairing. Where you said "Bunny Girl" elects their main pair to sacrifice their dream reality, once the main guy in "Haruhi" realizes his growing feelings for her he decides to help "defend" the universe by making sure Haruhi doesn't get bored or dissatisfied with her life. (She might accidentally end the universe without realizing it.) (I guess that would make him Moebius lol?)

END SPOILERS FOR HARUHI

Back to Xenoblade discussion! To show how subjective this all is, what you described from "Bunny Girl" feels "worse" (I guess that isn't the right word. It's more of a "feeling" than a statement on quality.) to me than Xenoblade 3's ending. To me, Xenoblade 3's ending moments secure a better future for the cast and save two universes I'm attached to. Aionios definitively wasn't a "dream" everything happened and was important to get us to that post-credit scene. Events in Aionios weren't "replaced."

In "Bunny Girl" I don't like the idea of getting too attached to what happens if it gets erased and replaced by events that are vaguely similar. Like you said, once I see the execution I'm sure I'll love it though. As you may have noticed I don't really go into stuff looking for plot holes or forming criticism. I either like it or I don't and if I'm engaging in discussion about it, it means I'm a fan lol.

Thanks for the excuse to geek out about anime! I find it funny that we have three examples of Japanese media about universe rebooting and recreation and similar broad strokes themes.

Your write-up single-handedly made me decide to start Bunny Girl soon lol.

Personally for my own sanity I don’t think I’ll contribute to discussions of the nitty gritty of the ending. It worked for me thematically and emotionally and I don’t wanna tear it apart cynically until it doesn’t haha

This is probably the smartest thing. I should take your advice.

I understand criticism is necessary for the evolution of art, but personally, I prefer to engage in enthusiasm and passion. Let others' criticism inspire artists to improve without me lol
 
Not to make this an Anime discussion but... (I'm totally going to though.)

Bunny Girl Spoilers:
Thank you so much for the Bunny Girl write-up! I'm now way more interested in starting this.

So much of that sounds similar to my favorite anime of all time "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Almost like where "Haruhi" is more interested in having fun, "Bunny Girl" seems to take the same sort of concepts to a more dramatic conclusion. I had read that the author of "Bunny Girl" was heavily inspired by "Haruhi" and this seems to be confirming it.

Interestingly, "Bunny Girl" seems to try its hand (with some success as you say) at more definitive answers that "Haruhi" knew to keep ambiguous.

LIGHT SPOILERS FOR HARUHI:

Haruhi is blissfully unaware that she is either a "distortion in space-time," "the potential for evolution," or "god herself" or all three (each of the extended cast has their own answer to this and the series never offers a definitive answer we just know something bad will happen when she gets bored) and the fact our reality may just be her unconscious creation is used for comedy first and foremost, and high stakes science/fantasy drama second.

Not that "Haruhi" didn't know when to be dramatic (and it can be), but it seems "Bunny Girl" is taking "similar" concepts to a more dramatic and emotional conclusion with its romantic pair. (Plus a more definitive ending.) I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out when I watch it!

At the end of the first arc, Haruhi gets so distraught with how boring her life is (and the clear lack of attention she desires from the male lead) that she unconsciously almost reboots the universe and creates a new reality with the main character being the only survivor from the old world. The main character talks her out of it by essentially giving her the romantic attention she unconsciously desires and facing his own feelings and instantly "wakes up" the next morning with everything back to normal...or is it? (My favorite episode of any anime ever by the way. lol)

From then on, other characters are aware that the universe almost ended last night, (or maybe it did end and was recreated) but they aren't sure which answer is right. It's treated as a "close call" and setting the stakes for making sure Haruhi is kept happy. (Also, confirmation that Haruhi's relationship with the main character is desired to be a romantic one and a look behind the main character's apathetic charade.) However, no definitive answers either way and I think that is fine.

Also, it seems like the shows make opposite choices when it comes to the romantic conclusion between the main romantic pairing. Where you said "Bunny Girl" elects their main pair to sacrifice their dream reality, once the main guy in "Haruhi" realizes his growing feelings for her he decides to help "defend" the universe by making sure Haruhi doesn't get bored or dissatisfied with her life. (She might accidentally end the universe without realizing it.) (I guess that would make him Moebius lol?)

END SPOILERS FOR HARUHI

Back to Xenoblade discussion! To show how subjective this all is, what you described from "Bunny Girl" feels "worse" (I guess that isn't the right word. It's more of a "feeling" than a statement on quality.) to me than Xenoblade 3's ending. To me, Xenoblade 3's ending moments secure a better future for the cast and save two universes I'm attached to. Aionios definitively wasn't a "dream" everything happened and was important to get us to that post-credit scene. Events in Aionios weren't "replaced."

In "Bunny Girl" I don't like the idea of getting too attached to what happens if it gets erased and replaced by events that are vaguely similar. Like you said, once I see the execution I'm sure I'll love it though. As you may have noticed I don't really go into stuff looking for plot holes or forming criticism. I either like it or I don't and if I'm engaging in discussion about it, it means I'm a fan lol.

Thanks for the excuse to geek out about anime! I find it funny that we have three examples of Japanese media about universe rebooting and recreation and similar broad strokes themes.

Your write-up single-handedly made me decide to start Bunny Girl soon lol.



This is probably the smartest thing. I should take your advice.

I understand criticism is necessary for the evolution of art, but personally, I prefer to engage in enthusiasm and passion. Let others' criticism inspire artists to improve without me lol
Soooooo Xenoblade 3 is Endless Eight.. 🤔
 
I see the debate is still raging strong.

Personally for my own sanity I don’t think I’ll contribute to discussions of the nitty gritty of the ending. It worked for me thematically and emotionally and I don’t wanna tear it apart cynically until it doesn’t haha

I’ll come back to these specific debates after the DLC maybe, as I expect it to answer many mysteries (seriously, I do not know why so many want an epilogue but then complain about the lack of backstory. A founders DLC could shine light on so much!).

Anyway, I need this damn OST on iTunes already! And I’m so excited for the new hero and quest that we’ll get before the end of the year. I think it’ll be way more tied to the story than people think.

There's no debate. There are just differing opinions.
 
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I finished getting all classes for all characters to level 20 about an hour before Monolith released a patch that fixes CP boosting food.

The only thing I have left to do is killing the rest of the UMs and super bosses, but I recently discovered the Swordfighter smash build that one shots them all, so I'm not sure how rewarding that will actually be.
 
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Finished the game yesterday and skimming the thread since, so some of this is replying to pretty old stuff.

Re: "Why 10 years?" and "Why end the reincarnation with Homecoming?", I looked at it from a Moebius efficiency point of view. The entire purpose of the controlled population is to live fast and die in such a way that gives off maximum energy. Giving them a short life span forces them to live fast. On the other hand, if a person has made it to Homecoming... they've kind of failed in their purpose. That's a person wasting too much time being alive, and should be weeded out from the cycle.

Re: Is there more to Riku? Certainly it's easy to read a lot into a nod that might not be there. But this is also a guy who just so happened to give a young Noah one of the most powerful weapons in existence, one of the few things capable of destroying a flame clock. Whether we're supposed to read possible intent into this or massive good luck? shrug

The Lost Colony struck me as not making total sense, but maybe I missed something. It was almost completely isolated, didn't have anything to do with the war, no flame clock, no consul... but were still receiving first termers? And since people weren't off dying in battle all the time, surely Taion wasn't the first person to recognize Nimue as someone who was around just a few years earlier?

Aionios is a Tuvix.

9epjkd4.jpg


Stuff like this only makes the inability to level down even more mind boggling. The game was clearly designed with side content in mind, yet punishes the player in the process with pitiful CP gains if you’re overleveled.
Was it really that bad? I did the vast majority of side stuff and by the end my people were on average 10+ on each class. Would have more maxed out if I'd chosen to be more focused and also got more Ascension quests earlier.
 
For me it's kind of the opposite where I hoped asking questions and figuring out what exactly happened would imbue the ending with more meaning and depth when it otherwise left me cold (aside from thinking the final goodbyes were cute). But yea, I feel we've all pretty much reached a point where there's really no more evidence to bother debating a lot of plot points any further.
Yup, it’s clear what we have now isn’t going to answer things to everyone’s satisfaction given the going around in circles.

Personally I’m of the mind we’ll get more answers with DLC and/or supplemental material. Basically I’m not really worried, there’s still quite a bit of Xeno 3 content to come. Takahashi is usually quite detailed with his lore and explanations for things, I don’t know why that’d change now. I find it hard to believe that, after 3 years of development, he doesn’t have answers to the questions people had immediately after finishing.

Maybe I’m too positive though.
 
Regarding Mio's story, I've seen it said that Miyabi did die from the purple gas and never started over which is why her memories are intact unlike Cammuravi, Mwamba, and Hackt.

During a sidequest called A Chance Encounter where you work with the new Mwamba and Hackt, Sena says she's curious why Mwamba and Hackt didn't recover their memories like Miyabi did. Eunie says it's probably best they don't considering the way they died. Would this line from Sena be proof that the Miyabi Mio knew did die, and the one we meet in chapter 6 was a rebirthed one artificially aged up like Mwamba and Cammuravi?
 
Regarding Mio's story, I've seen it said that Miyabi did die from the purple gas and never started over which is why her memories are intact unlike Cammuravi, Mwamba, and Hackt.

During a sidequest called A Chance Encounter where you work with the new Mwamba and Hackt, Sena says she's curious why Mwamba and Hackt didn't recover their memories like Miyabi did. Eunie says it's probably best they don't considering the way they died. Would this line from Sena be proof that the Miyabi Mio knew did die, and the one we meet in chapter 6 was a rebirthed one artificially aged up like Mwamba and Cammuravi?
I don’t get why Miyabi would be 9th term then, Y would’ve aged her up to 10 like everyone else.

Given that the ages of Miyabi and Mio line up as well, I think it makes the most sense that Miyabi just never died in the first place.
 
man, even if the world-building was a bit messy this time around and Z is easily the weakest villain of the three games, the ending and message of the game have hit me extremely hard emotionally that no other media has really done before. I'm also now super conflicted on what I want from the DLC campaign because I don't really care about the founders even if rex and shulk were there, but at the same time, if it's an epilogue where the two worlds bridge the gap between them it might go against the theme of the ending about being optimistic about the future even if them meeting again is not guaranteed.
 
The DLC can be a prequel and feature a post credit scene with a flash forward into the post XC3 world. Maybe end the expansion with Rex/Shulk dying, Melia being captured and a monologue from someone saying they know they'll meet again. Credits. They meet again. End.
 
The Lost Colony struck me as not making total sense, but maybe I missed something. It was almost completely isolated, didn't have anything to do with the war, no flame clock, no consul... but were still receiving first termers? And since people weren't off dying in battle all the time, surely Taion wasn't the first person to recognize Nimue as someone who was around just a few years earlier?
IIRC the lost colony is supposed to be the site of a previous Agnian castle, and there's some cradles there because of that.
 
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The DLC can be a prequel and feature a post credit scene with a flash forward into the post XC3 world. Maybe end the expansion with Rex/Shulk dying, Melia being captured and a monologue from someone saying they know they'll meet again. Credits. They meet again. End.
Isn't Melia captured right away? Z wouldn't have been able to access Origin without her, so unless life was radically different from how it is in XC3 I don't see how the game could function without Melia being held hostage.
 
Isn't Melia captured right away? Z wouldn't have been able to access Origin without her, so unless life was radically different from how it is in XC3 I don't see how the game could function without Melia being held hostage.

I have no idea about Melia honestly but Nia stayed free for a while, and the old City was in the open under her castle, so there wasn't always such a strong conflict between Z and the others.
 
0
Isn't Melia captured right away? Z wouldn't have been able to access Origin without her, so unless life was radically different from how it is in XC3 I don't see how the game could function without Melia being held hostage.
Yeah, like, there definitely could have been some sort of initial struggle when Z took over and captured Melia, but even the first city seems to be operating under a broadly similar status quo, so I don't see how that still could have been going on by the time of the founders.
 
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Nah fuck it, thematics be damned, give me epilogue DLC because the idea that Noah and Mio possibly never seeing each other again hurts my heart too much
 
Not to make this an Anime discussion but... (I'm totally going to though.)

Bunny Girl Spoilers:
Thank you so much for the Bunny Girl write-up! I'm now way more interested in starting this.

So much of that sounds similar to my favorite anime of all time "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Almost like where "Haruhi" is more interested in having fun, "Bunny Girl" seems to take the same sort of concepts to a more dramatic conclusion. I had read that the author of "Bunny Girl" was heavily inspired by "Haruhi" and this seems to be confirming it.

Interestingly, "Bunny Girl" seems to try its hand (with some success as you say) at more definitive answers that "Haruhi" knew to keep ambiguous.

LIGHT SPOILERS FOR HARUHI:

Haruhi is blissfully unaware that she is either a "distortion in space-time," "the potential for evolution," or "god herself" or all three (each of the extended cast has their own answer to this and the series never offers a definitive answer we just know something bad will happen when she gets bored) and the fact our reality may just be her unconscious creation is used for comedy first and foremost, and high stakes science/fantasy drama second.

Not that "Haruhi" didn't know when to be dramatic (and it can be), but it seems "Bunny Girl" is taking "similar" concepts to a more dramatic and emotional conclusion with its romantic pair. (Plus a more definitive ending.) I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out when I watch it!

At the end of the first arc, Haruhi gets so distraught with how boring her life is (and the clear lack of attention she desires from the male lead) that she unconsciously almost reboots the universe and creates a new reality with the main character being the only survivor from the old world. The main character talks her out of it by essentially giving her the romantic attention she unconsciously desires and facing his own feelings and instantly "wakes up" the next morning with everything back to normal...or is it? (My favorite episode of any anime ever by the way. lol)

From then on, other characters are aware that the universe almost ended last night, (or maybe it did end and was recreated) but they aren't sure which answer is right. It's treated as a "close call" and setting the stakes for making sure Haruhi is kept happy. (Also, confirmation that Haruhi's relationship with the main character is desired to be a romantic one and a look behind the main character's apathetic charade.) However, no definitive answers either way and I think that is fine.

Also, it seems like the shows make opposite choices when it comes to the romantic conclusion between the main romantic pairing. Where you said "Bunny Girl" elects their main pair to sacrifice their dream reality, once the main guy in "Haruhi" realizes his growing feelings for her he decides to help "defend" the universe by making sure Haruhi doesn't get bored or dissatisfied with her life. (She might accidentally end the universe without realizing it.) (I guess that would make him Moebius lol?)

END SPOILERS FOR HARUHI

Back to Xenoblade discussion! To show how subjective this all is, what you described from "Bunny Girl" feels "worse" (I guess that isn't the right word. It's more of a "feeling" than a statement on quality.) to me than Xenoblade 3's ending. To me, Xenoblade 3's ending moments secure a better future for the cast and save two universes I'm attached to. Aionios definitively wasn't a "dream" everything happened and was important to get us to that post-credit scene. Events in Aionios weren't "replaced."

In "Bunny Girl" I don't like the idea of getting too attached to what happens if it gets erased and replaced by events that are vaguely similar. Like you said, once I see the execution I'm sure I'll love it though. As you may have noticed I don't really go into stuff looking for plot holes or forming criticism. I either like it or I don't and if I'm engaging in discussion about it, it means I'm a fan lol.

Thanks for the excuse to geek out about anime! I find it funny that we have three examples of Japanese media about universe rebooting and recreation and similar broad strokes themes.

Your write-up single-handedly made me decide to start Bunny Girl soon lol.
I started watching Bunny Girl Senpai on a whim and it absolutely stole my heart. I loved the main romantic pairing, the character writing in general and the show’s maturity. There’s still some slapstick comedy of course, a few lewd jokes and some supernatural elements to wrap your head round, but it all worked for me.

I arrived at the party a few years late and knew what happened in the movie, so I was a bit nervous about how it might all come together. Would it make the anime feel meaningless? But I think they nailed it. When you say ‘it was all a dream’ you immediately side-eye whatever you’re talking about. But the series is very clever and unlike Xenoblade 3, which withheld giving you the closure you desire, the film delivers - and it delivers in just a few minutes too. It shows how close Xenoblade 3 was to leaving me satisfied. But this time, Takahashi decided the glow of the core crystal was enough, to reference an old interview.

Bunny Girl Senpai can be goofy, but it’s got a lot of heart and has some important stuff to say - it kind of reminds me of XC2 in that way! Mai, the main girl, is just an absolute dream. Love her to bits.

All that said, I left a lot of context out of my spoiler and used some more general terms to describe various points, so you’re still in for a lot of twists and turns if you watch it. I’d highly recommend it. Despite how I described the film and the fears I had, I found the ending of the movie really satisfying. Again, it kind of does what XC3 does… but it just puts that cherry on top, it gives you a hug at the end.

Get it binged and drop me a message afterwards. Whether you feel as satisfied as me, I can’t predict, but I do know that you’ll see why I drew the parallels and why some people might prefer that kind of ending (even if you don’t). It works as a great end to it all in my opinion… I just wish they’d adapt the rest of the light novels now!

I’ll have to give the anime you mentioned a watch. I’m a casual anime fan, so I’m always on the lookout for cool stuff - and it sounds cool, so why not?

I’ve always loved dissecting games - but I like to think I’m an easy grader, which is to say, I’m willing to overlook a lot if I enjoy the broad strokes. My feature-length posts on here and Era are rooted in passion. Once I start writing about something, I can’t help but keep writing, leaving no stone unturned. Thinking about what I love sparks my imagination and excites me like a little child! My friend and I, who both have a zest for the media we love, can talk for hours about films, games, etc. I say all this, because I’ve come across as a bit grumpy in this thread for the longest time. If you go and look at most of the biggest XC2 threads on the Era, including the last OT, I’m the top poster, because I just have a wild passion for it and can’t help but talk about the stuff I love. I’ve guided so many people through that game over the years and I love to see people fall in love with the stuff I love. XC3 has been a rollercoaster because I have an enormous amount of passion for it, but it’s laced in a lot of disappointment too.

I’ve always prided myself on just talking about what I love. I don’t go on forums to slag off games and rag on stuff I don’t like. Life is too short to spend time talking about things that don’t move you, or touch your soul in some way. I’ve spent years talking about XC2, with the same people queuing up for years on end to tell me how much they don’t like it, and I used to just think, why? Go talk about the stuff you’re passionate about. That’s what I’m doing!

I’ve been really conflicted about XC3. I’ve stuck threads on ignore, tried to just move on… but I don’t want to. I love it, even if I kind of resent it and feel a little letdown in places. I don’t want to be the negative person I got so sick of over time, but I also feel compelled to shout my grievances from the rooftops! It’s tough and the balance in my posts have been lacking. It is all born from passion though… and perhaps a bit of frustration, but passionate frustration! I’ve written more negative posts on XC3 than I have any other game ever - and I probably like it a lot more than any game I actually don‘t like (and plenty I do as well).

I feel like the DLC is my last hope now. Not to right the wrongs of XC3 (as I perceive them anyway) but to just get some kind of satisfying closure on this series that has meant so much to me. I don’t care how they do it, I don’t care who’s in it, what story they tell… I did for a time, but now I just want to walk away thinking, yeah, I feel good about that. Perhaps it didn’t all come together as I hoped, but that leaves me content.

I am a rather simple man to please, despite arguing over the smallest details! I’m just going through my ‘Punished Fletcher’ phase.
 
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I don't see how the founders' mentors can be Shulk and Rex. The statues depict the founders of the new city. The Vandham statue states that he fought against N and gathered the survivors to form the new city. The old city was founded by the descendants of N and M, and we're shown that Noah went through at least 4 cycles (and likely many more) before having a child.

There's no way Shulk and Rex would still be around by the time the new city was founded.


Since I've mentioned before that, despite some nitpicks, I found XB3 to be by far the best of the trilogy in terms of gameplay/game design, I wanted to touch upon those nitpicks.

- Battles can feel unwieldy at times with 7 independent party members, especially when fighting multiple enemies. I can't help but think an approach similar to Torna, with 3 teams of 2 plus the hero, would have felt better. At the very least the game should have had a way to switch to specific party members directly instead of cycling through them.

- Fast travel defaulting to 7am was a bad decision. It should preserve the current time unless you change it.

-The leveling curve is way off. In XB2 I remember spending bonus EXP just to keep up. In this game I was slightly over-leveled throughout the second half despite never spending a point of bonus EXP. When I started the post game I had enough to jump straight to 97.

- Hard mode is clearly balanced around having full access to the mechanics. I'm convinced some fights in chapters 1 and 2, before everything is unlocked, are impossible in hard mode without grinding.

- The boat controls suck.

- Chain attacks are too broken. You don't have to do anything prior to activating them to give yourself additional rounds, and there's no other mechanic that uses the gauge as a resource to balance things out. In XB2 you had to execute blade combos to prolong a chain attack, and the party gauge was used to revive party members and activate special abilities. In this game you can just play conservatively until the gauge is full, and then + becomes an "I win" button no matter how much health the enemy has.

- Monolith very clearly didn't put much thought into the buff and debuff systems. It's shocking how overpowered buffs are, and how underpowered debuffs are. The Art that gives you a random buff, which always succeeds, has a recharge of 3 attacks/cancels, while the art that gives an enemy a random debuff, which rarely succeeds, has a recharge of 24 seconds. You can pass buffs around and pause them. Invincibility is a buff, so you can pretty easily make your party permanently invincible. Lowering enemy debuff resistance is done via a debuff that can be resisted. This makes debuff-focused classes, like Tactician and Machine Assassin, completely useless.

Edit: Oh and how could I have forgotten: the economy in this game is non-existent. What even is the purpose of money? You're showered in it and there's nothing to buy. The only time I ever checked to see how much money I had was when a late game quest needed 500,000G, at which point I checked and found that I had roughly 5 million. XB2 wasn't much better but at least there were expensive pouch items and cylinders, as well as the shop deed system.
 
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There's no way Shulk and Rex would still be around by the time the new city was founded.
Pretty sure Shulk and Rex were sucked into the cycle alongside everyone else. No reason they couldn't be around in that case, considering that their lifespans are the same as everyone else born from Origin. Both were likely around their 10th term when the events of the Founders occurred. Either that, or Shulk and Rex's lifespans were extended due to the events of XC1 and XC2 and/or their close ties to Origin. Melia already has significantly outlived her own life expectancy, and while I don't think there's any official information on the lifespans of Flesh Eaters, I think it's safe to say that Nia has lived much longer than she should have as well.

Regardless, I don't think it's unfeasible at all for Shulk and Rex to be the mentors. I'd be quite surprised if they weren't, given that the promotional material clearly references them.
 
Guys, pls don't tell me that most of the 22 pages of this thread are just discussions about the rex photo
Nah, it's mainly been a heated conversation about the quality of the final two chapters, the explanation of some in-universe mechanics and how satisfied or unsatisfied people feel about the ending.
 
I know im late to the party but i finally finished Xenoblade 3 and i have to write down my feelings about it.

First of all i think if i take everything into account (Gameplay, Story, Graphics) then Xenoblade 3 is the best game in the series. However my favorite still is Xenoblade 2. Xenoblade 2 just hit me emotionally more then 3 and i did find the story overall better.

Now lets get a bit more into detail.

Xenoblade 3 has its strongest time around Chapter 5 and the beginning of Chapter 6. The time when they see a baby for the first time really made me cry. The whole ending of Chapter 5 was easily one of the best Gaming Moments i ever had. How Senna and Lance where ready to sacrifice themself.... or the whole Mio situation. I really didnt saw the twist coming and the twist was really smart in my eyes. After the beginning of Chapter 6 i was so ready for more. That was really the moment that i was finally 10000% invested in this world and game.

Sadly from there on it went downhill for me. Sure there where still many cool sidequests but it all just didnt felt as fleshed out anymore. Seeing Nia again was at first highly emotional for me. As i love Xenoblade 2. But at the same time Nia really felt pointless in this. Almost more like a little easter egg for fans of the series. The whole last Chapter just felt a bit messy to me. 1000 Enemies in a rather boring looking enviroment. And even the cutscenes about the whole fight just felt a bit rushed.

But i think the main reason why the last Chapter didnt really catch me was Z. Xenoblade Games have always a bit over the top story at the end. But Xenoblade 1 and 2 made a lot of sense to me and the story felt smart. In both Games i was really invested to finally kill the big bad guy. Z compared to that felt really weak to me. Maybe i have to watch more videos about the lore. Maybe i missed something but to me Z really didnt made much sense.

Also that we didnt got a real happy end just made me sad. I loved Xenoblade 2 in that regart. Xenoblade 2 had the best Ending in Gaming History for me. As i first cried from Sadness and then from happiness. In Xenoblade 3 i was just sad at the end.

I know there is a lot of negatives in this post as im not the biggest fan of the ending. But i still wanna end this post with saying that i really loved the game overall. Specially because of the Gameplay and Chapter 5 i liked this game more then Xenoblade 1. I did in the end loved all Main Charakters and even most of the Hero Charakters.

To me its amazing how Monolith was able to make such a Masterpiece in such a short time. However... as much as i love this Series i kinda hope they let Xenoblade rest for a little while now. Im glad the Trilogie is now over. I really feel like we could need some fresh ideas again. Like i would love to see the new fantasy IP that they are working on.

Monolith nows how to tell stories, they learned how to make the gameplay even more fun. Now just take us into a new world where everything feels fresh again. I want to feel this wonder about the world again that i had in Xenoblade 1.
 
Chain attacks are too broken. You don't have to do anything prior to activating them to give yourself additional rounds, and there's no other mechanic that uses the gauge as a resource to balance things out. In XB2 you had to execute blade combos to prolong a chain attack, and the party gauge was used to revive party members and activate special abilities. In this game you can just play conservatively until the gauge is full, and then + becomes an "I win" button no matter how much health the enemy has.
This is something I've been thinking about. Making you spend meter to revive would be shitty in this game because of how frequently your dudes go down, but without some other use of it you can just spam fusion arts and you'll eventually get to a chain attack. Making Interlinks spend meter to trigger might make sense, since Interlinking is also a get out of jail free card in a lot of cases and you can always stall out meter gauge with that.
 
This is something I've been thinking about. Making you spend meter to revive would be shitty in this game because of how frequently your dudes go down, but without some other use of it you can just spam fusion arts and you'll eventually get to a chain attack. Making Interlinks spend meter to trigger might make sense, since Interlinking is also a get out of jail free card in a lot of cases and you can always stall out meter gauge with that.
I think I’ve said this before, but I’d just cut the Ouroboros orders out from the normal chain attacks. Force the player to make a decision: either use a normal chain attack for better healing + buffs and debuffs (which are currently completely useless in chain attacks for some reason), or wait to build up Level 3 Interlink for a hard hitting Ouroboros order.

As it stands, there’s just absolutely no reason outside of very specific circumstances to not do a regular chain attack.
 
You happy Monolith Soft? I did indeed cry at the end of your stuuupid game. 😭 That moment when the flute plays in the Castle Town where young Noah is hit me in the gut.

I thought I was going to do postgame quests but I'm feeling heartbroken every time I see these characters together on screen... unless there's a super meaty postgame or hero ascension quest I think a need a break.

Feels like I picked a great time to become a Xenoblade fan. Well, besides not being able to get physical copies of Xeno 2 and Torna (is there like... a tracker I can use)
 
You happy Monolith Soft? I did indeed cry at the end of your stuuupid game. 😭 That moment when the flute plays in the Castle Town where young Noah is hit me in the gut.

I thought I was going to do postgame quests but I'm feeling heartbroken every time I see these characters together on screen... unless there's a super meaty postgame or hero ascension quest I think a need a break.

Feels like I picked a great time to become a Xenoblade fan. Well, besides not being able to get physical copies of Xeno 2 and Torna (is there like... a tracker I can use)

I was able to get Torna physical as recently as a couple of months ago from Amazon (I'm in the U.S.), but I did end up paying a little more than retail for it...

I have no idea if there are still easy-to-access XC2 copies in the wild.

Really hoping they do a physical for the new story scenario like they did with Torna.
 
I think I’ve said this before, but I’d just cut the Ouroboros orders out from the normal chain attacks. Force the player to make a decision: either use a normal chain attack for better healing + buffs and debuffs (which are currently completely useless in chain attacks for some reason), or wait to build up Level 3 Interlink for a hard hitting Ouroboros order.

As it stands, there’s just absolutely no reason outside of very specific circumstances to not do a regular chain attack.
Oh my god. That Mwamba avatar.

Poor Hackt.
 
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I think I’ve said this before, but I’d just cut the Ouroboros orders out from the normal chain attacks. Force the player to make a decision: either use a normal chain attack for better healing + buffs and debuffs (which are currently completely useless in chain attacks for some reason), or wait to build up Level 3 Interlink for a hard hitting Ouroboros order.

As it stands, there’s just absolutely no reason outside of very specific circumstances to not do a regular chain attack.
I think that's a great idea, but chain attacks in general need a ton of work.

Once you understand them (which doesn't take long) the best choice is always obvious and getting through the full 5 turn experience (3 normal turns, 1 hero turn, 1 ouroborous turn) is both facile and tedious.

Gameplay is a series of meaningful decisions, and the decisions made in the chain attack feel trivial rather than meaningful.

I'd actually love for someone to defend them - I can't really see how they add to the game beyond spectacle.
 
I think that's a great idea, but chain attacks in general need a ton of work.

Once you understand them (which doesn't take long) the best choice is always obvious and getting through the full 5 turn experience (3 normal turns, 1 hero turn, 1 ouroborous turn) is both facile and tedious.

Gameplay is a series of meaningful decisions, and the decisions made in the chain attack feel trivial rather than meaningful.

I'd actually love for someone to defend them - I can't really see how they add to the game beyond spectacle.
There really should’ve been more customization with chain attacks. Switch TP counts based on classes, and have Chain Orders be unlockable class bonuses like Arts and Skills. Either make them difficult to pull off, or give players options to make them their own.

They should also let you skip animations, but there’s no chance Monolith ever implements that.
 
Yeah. Chain attacks here kinda of suck. Feels like there’s very little in the way of strategy. The gauge also being solely for chain attacks is a rather step back in terms of “urgency”. Like I never saw it go down once it’s full. You could just wait for chain attack with no risk.

I’m Xenoblade 2 that was also your way to revive folks and sometimes meant that you risk chain attacks. So if you didn’t pull off a kill. And Rex (who ever you control) dies, you lose. That was part of the risk. But also? You could effect certain debuffs to foes or seal certain moves during the chain attacks.

I could say more. But after playing Xenoblade 3 even more. I think it’s battle system is actually a step down from 2.
 
I was able to get Torna physical as recently as a couple of months ago from Amazon (I'm in the U.S.), but I did end up paying a little more than retail for it...

I have no idea if there are still easy-to-access XC2 copies in the wild.

Really hoping they do a physical for the new story scenario like they did with Torna.
I just got Torna physical off Amazon for just $2 more than retail. 👀
I hope this fills the Xeno shaped hole in my heart. Heard this game was good !
 


i don't know what it means but it's interesting

The source on this (the person who sent the Discord message, not the Twitter account) is fishy FYI. Grain of salt until more people verify.

Also fishy that there's supposedly descriptions for three statues that don't exist.
 
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i don't know what it means but it's interesting

It's apparently the file names of the founder statues but there are 9 instead of 7. Assuming it's real (which is a stretch), it would imply the mentors are indeed Shulk and Rex, Nia's the seventh founder, Vandham and Doyle are the son and daughter of Noah and Mio as we all assumed, and the rest are the children of Fiora, Melia, and 'Homuri' (which sounds like Pnuema? Homura + Hikari) . The genders don't match the plaque descriptions though. Only two of the founders are supposed to be boys (Vandham and Ortiz), this has three boys assuming Nia's not Cassini.
 
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Super interesting, even if not true. Rex and Shulk were widely speculated, and I saw some suggesting Nia could have been the seventh founder.

I wish they did a little bit more with this stuff in the game.

They could have given us a good bit of fan service through the founder lore, which wouldn’t have taken away from the main crew.

It feels like a missed opportunity for an easy win… even if they’re saving it for the DLC, I would have liked it in the base game.
 
Those datamined names are completely fake btw, been looking at the datamined discord channel for weeks and those statues have no names.
 
Tweet seems to have been deleted. Anyone have a screencap?
It was just a list of 9 alleged file names that it claimed were associated with the founder statues that translated to:
Big Folk 1 Hero - Fiora's son
Big Folk 1 Hero - Shulk
Project N Noah and Mio's daughter - Sophie
Project N Noah and Mio's daughter - Wong
Big Folk 2 Hero - Rex
Big Folk 2 Hero - Homuri's daughter
Big Folk 2 Hero - Nia
Big Folk 1 Hero - Melia's daughter
Big Folk 2 Hero - Homuri's son

Using the early production names (Big Folk for Xenoblade 1 and Project Noah for Xenogears) made it seem pretty sketchy, like something a fan would come up with rather what the devs would actually do. And thanks to Neverx's posts above, this is definitely fake.
 
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I do hope the DLC is a ragtag bunch of heroes and descendants from XC and XC2. Give me all that sweet fan service.

Bring Alvis back too, while you’re at it.
 
Ortiz and Rhodes look enough like child versions of Shulk and Pnuema that I can easily see them being connected in some way. Though I also could easily buy Crys being Shulk and Fiora's kid. I'm still somewhat skeptical that the mentors are actually Shulk and Rex and not just new people who are nods to them considering it makes little sense to have a grown-up Shulk and Rex be around at the time of the second city's founding. If Nia does turn out to be the seventh founder, then I wonder if Poppi will be involved in some way.

It's kind of weird when you look at Torna, Hugo was the only new character while here we could have all new characters.
 
Yup, it’s clear what we have now isn’t going to answer things to everyone’s satisfaction given the going around in circles.

Personally I’m of the mind we’ll get more answers with DLC and/or supplemental material. Basically I’m not really worried, there’s still quite a bit of Xeno 3 content to come. Takahashi is usually quite detailed with his lore and explanations for things, I don’t know why that’d change now. I find it hard to believe that, after 3 years of development, he doesn’t have answers to the questions people had immediately after finishing.

Maybe I’m too positive though.

Genuinely hope you're right. It's true that he was very thorough in making sure every little detail on Xenoblade 1 and 2 made sense. It WOULD be weird for him to just drop not one, not two, but a whole bunch of plot points into a game and then never answer them.

Regardless of that though, the idea that questions central to the plot might only get answered in a story dlc that costs you extra money does rub me the wrong way. Though I guess it's in line with how Nintendo's been operating in general recently.

Though if I am being 100% honest, I don't think I fully grasped Jin's motivations/ what exactly happened in those flashback scenes in Xenoblade 2 either. Until I played Torna that is.
 
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Not sure who I’d want wielding the Monado Rex and Aegis Sword, if not Shulk and Rex… I’d maybe accept their descendants.

The Aegis Sword is linked to a person too, which is a massive deal - though who knows how it all works in a post XC2-world, let alone the world of Aionios.

Someone wielding Rex is different than someone actually using the Monado (and thus Alvis).

I don’t expect them to tackle all these things in a simple and straightforward way, they never do, but I hope they maintain the integrity of the stories in XC and XC2.

Nia seemingly gets the Aegis Swords at some point too.

Monolith Soft don’t tend to do what I want, but offer me enough great things I didn’t expect, I don’t usually mind.

I thought for sure that Torna would give me an idea of what actually happened to Addam, but nope. I felt content by the end of it though.
 
The year-long wait to know what the DLC story is going to be is going to suck, and the year and a-half-long wait to know if said DLC actually answers what we want to know is going to be hell
 
So even after reading some end/post game discussion, I've still got a few questions.
Note that I haven't done either Nia or Melia's quests yet (just reached post game) so no spoilers on those please :)

- are some areas actually available early as long as you have the proper field skill?
Thinking of upper Aetia region, Fort O'Virbus (by sliding from the east like when you're supposed to go find Crys) and probably others.
If they're not, what's preventing you from reaching them early then?

- Why does Melia talk about stopping Keves' Castle Flame Clock when you free her and everyone agrees, while the team already destroyed it after fighting Crys (even though it's not shown in a cutscene maybe to avoid being redundant)?
Or did I get something wrong? The flame clock was already replaced with the affinity level iirc

- Why does the door between Fort O'Virbus and Colony 11 always stay closed? Is there any way to open it with like with a sidequest?

- What are the exact conditions to use the Origin Blade talent art when using Noah's Ouroboros form?
I always do it by accident instead of Mega Spinning Edge but it's unclear, as even at Interlink lvl 3 I don't immediately have it even if Lucky Seven was activated, and I could use it at multiple occasions even while not using Lucky Seven prior to interlinking.

- Near the beginning of the game, during the cutscene where Noah talks about Riku giving him the Lucky Seven, he talks about how he wasn't a fan of the sword's name and how he eventually decided to rename it; but we never know more about that right?
It's never brought up again iirc so I'm very curious about it (and, of course, about who Riku really is in general but regarding this I'm confident about the DLC bringing answers)
 
As much as I wasn't a fan of the final boss, I went POGCHAMP in real life when Melia name dropped "Future Connected".
 
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