Spoiler The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Postgame & Spoiler Discussion Thread

[Koren Lesthe]

Just finished the game, first of all the ending was great, I'm not sure what issues there are some people have with it but it was a great end to what was told would happen multiple times over without some silly asspull preventing it.

With that said, I have some questions:

-Was the black fog implied to be mobeus/Z?
I don't think so, but he seems to use it as a power source for his protection.

-There was a scene near the end where melia frees the people of keves castle from the flame clock, did we not do that already?
Both Melia & Nia frees every Agnus & Keves people Noah & the team haven't freed themselves in all of Aonios.

-was the Crys we saw the same mobeus from the 1000 years ago flashback scene (the one that had mio stop him from executing the homecoming guy)?
It was Crys before he was turned into a Moebius. He became a Moebius in the last loop, when he killed himself in front of Noah.

-Who was the robed person at the start of chapter 6 before it formed into Mio? Was it supposed to be their kid or just a young Mio?
I don't remember this

-What's up with the kid anyway, what was the importance of hiding his name?
I guess it doesn't matter anyway since he is one of the Founders of the first City. His children and further descendants will grow the population of the City, and most of all will be murdered by N.

-During the final battle with N, Noah says he was the founder and ancestor of the city, did I miss something or was this stated before?
No you didn't. The son of the "OG" Noah & Mio made the original City and

-What's up with X/Y? Is there a side quest that goes into them more? I did the colony gamma one btw
I don't think there's more to them, I think there's some cut content here because they don't even have a cutscene for their death ; you can literally keep playing while they are dying.

-What's up with the annihilation events? We know one way it's caused by staying interlinked for a long time but there was a line about there not being as many recently, why and what's the significance?
I guess Aionios have been in a frozen state for more than 1000 years and is stuck in between the fusion & reboot of the world planned by Nia & Melia. The Eternal Now might be causing the anomalies.

-Just what is an ouroboros anyway, like what is the mechanism for which it manifests?
No idea, it's something Nia created but... how ? At first I guessed it could only work for a pair of people from one of each world (Agnus <> Keves) but since the "normal" humans of the City were also candidates, I don't know.

-what's going on with the lucky seven sword and Riku? i'm sensing some conduit shenanigans
There is some clearly unexplained stuff about Riku, even Melia smiles at him when she wakes up and then he nods to her... but why ?

-how did Noah "splitting" from N happen and there being two Noah's?
My guess is, Z kept Noah and Mio's bodies in the capsules to revive them at each loop and had N & M working with him. Noah and Mio went very far in most of the loops so I believe they fed lots and lots of Moebiuses.

 

[Renmazuo]

There's also this dialogue during the final boss that doesn't really mesh well with no time freeze interpretations:

If you restart Origin, time in perpetuity will flow once more. The opposing worlds will overlap. What lies beyond is oblivion.

Then Noah rebukes him by asking how he can be so sure that only annihilation awaits if they resume time.

Not only does this reinforce that Z did indeed freeze time but it also implies the universes haven't even been destroyed yet.

 

[DecoReturns]

The most important dialogue heard in the final battle is

“STARLIGHT KICK!” “ouch”

 

[Thunder84]

The most important dialogue heard in the final battle is

“STARLIGHT KICK!” “ouch”

Nah, the most important dialogue is YOU WILL TASTE THIS PEAR!!!

Thank you Z, very cool.

 

[Seven]

There's also this dialogue during the final boss that doesn't really mesh well with no time freeze interpretations:



Then Noah rebukes him by asking how he can be so sure that only annihilation awaits if they resume time.

Not only does this reinforce that Z did indeed freeze time but it also implies the universes haven't even been destroyed yet.

Except time is not frozen, we know that since the city has a history stretching back hundreds of years. That dialogue sounds like a final attempt to dissuade Noah by playing into the human emotion that gave birth to Z in the first place. Since both worlds exist within Origin once the system is rebooted the worlds will overlap through their interactions with one another and the future that will result from that is unknown. As the manifestation of the fear of change there is no doubt that Z will see the move away from his state of stagnation to an unknown future as a path to oblivion.

 

[EtherPenguin]

Except time is not frozen, we know that since the city has a history stretching back hundreds of years. That dialogue sounds like a final attempt to dissuade Noah by playing into the human emotion that gave birth to Z in the first place. Since both worlds exist within Origin once the system is rebooted the worlds will overlap through their interactions with one another and the future that will result from that is unknown. As the manifestation of the fear of change there is no doubt that Z will see the move away from his state of stagnation to an unknown future as a path to oblivion.

I think the idea is time in just the original worlds is frozen while Aioniois is a different space where the City can move forward. That's how I originally understood it anyway.

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

Are you absolutely sure you like XC3? You've sounded utterly defeated in your last few posts on this thread.

Edit: I hope this doesn't come off as smarmy, though I realise there's a chance it might.

No need for any regrets - it’s a fair question as I’ve not exactly expressed too much love towards XC3.

And what admiration I’ve shown has been buried under layers of frustration and disappointment.

I LOVE a lot of XC3, but it fumbles some of the things that are most important to me, and in major ways too.

Some of my favourite moments, from a post I made elsewhere (that some here have already read)…

And I’ll preface them by saying I fell in love with Mio - so a lot of her contributions left the biggest mark on me.

- Chapter5/6: It’s a stellar sequence all round, but Mio and M steal the show for me. Character drama, twists and turns that recontextualise past events, meaningful flashbacks, the lot. For M to live out her final days, imprisoned, but content talking to Noah as himself for the first time years. And for her to make that ultimate sacrifice to give Mio and Noah a chance to right their wrongs… just brilliant. Mio is the emotional heart of the entire journey leading up to the end of Chapter 5. Her imminent death is the tension that keeps the story moving and something that comes into sharper focus at the plot progresses. This is the most Xenoblade moment in the game for me.

- Mio’s breakdown: Before all of the above, Mio has a wonderful scene where she falls apart in front of Noah as her immortality finally gets on top of her. She cries uncontrollably and lashes out. It was such a human moment and I really felt for her.

- Discovering the true nature of humanity: The reveal of The City and the gang’s exploration of it is just incredible. I love how it culminated in a maternity clinic visit which saw the party come into contact with a baby for the first time. Of course, Mio takes a leading role here, being the first to reach out for that human contact. And it’s just so fitting, given her plight and drive to make a difference before she dies. Everyone is great here, but I’ve got to give her a special mention. It’s like how her speech cuts through Ghondor’s shite at the prison. She’s such an earnest character.

Mio punches consuls into next week: Another Mio moment. Just a badass scene and what felt like the first time someone in the party stood up to moebius and challenged their ideals. Her speech afterwards is great.

But to shoutout a couple of non Mio moment…

N’s anguish: McEntire’s delivery at the start of Chapter 6 is just disgustingly good. ’The time I had with you meant everything to me. But now… it’s all gone. If she truly is gone, I’ll have to redo it all.’ It‘s bloody brilliant. No two ways about it. His heartache can be felt in that scene. One of the best deliveries across all three games. N in general is fantastic and probably would have made for a better final boss than Z.

Noah’s closing speech: His short but sweet final dialogue about facing our chosen horizon and walking forward was brilliant. When he said something along the lines of ‘sometimes you’ll run astray, maybe cry frustration’ it really resonated and drew a few tears from me.


And while I don’t think XC3 can beat XC2 when it comes to vibrant environments, imaginative towns, big plot twists, villains and so on… it’s such a frictionless experience. The game makes the act of playing it and progressing through its world, a real pleasure. There’s a lot of tutorials for sure, but they’re great and informative. The environmental banter, the modernisation of many series’ staples, so on and so on.

I have huge issues with how XC3 utilises the earlier games, which are well documented at this point. XC3 takes far too much and adds very little. It offers up connections with no real purpose and leans on franchise iconography to colour in the gaps in its own imagination. But despite my frustrations, I somehow got a massive connection to XC2 in the form of Mio, who is all but confirmed to be the daughter of Rex and Nia. I wanted XC3 to really close off the Klaus Saga in a way that was satisfactory to me. It didn’t do that. I didn’t need a main party member to be related to someone from XC and XC2, but I got Mio. A character I loved for many of the same reasons I loved XC2 and it’s characters. She’s got an earnest core that made the characters from that game really attractive to me.

And while that photograph throws up more questions than answers, it does give that crew a happy ending, so on some level I’m content with that. It was nice to see Poppi too. Which is to say, despite my frustrations with how XC3 serves as a sequel to XC and XC2, there are some nuggets there that I do enjoy. It’s not all theme park style fan service.


One last thing, and this one is a bit negative, but it ties in with the current conversation…

The explanation of Origin, Z and the endgame plot mechanics of XC3 is bloody abysmal. So many theories in here, so many people reaching different conclusions, interpreting different information in different ways, some stuff seemingly contradicting other stuff. It shows how messy and poorly implemented these final narrative beats are.

And there’s no real defence because XC3 is mostly a character drama for about 50 hours, before it pivots towards the plot and makes a hash of it. It’s not like there’s an agreed upon foundation for interpretation either, we're not starting at the same place of understanding and then using bits and pieces to form different theories… it’s just so messy. And it’s not because it’s left deliberately vague, it’s because it’s clunky.

I love XC3 in spots, but I’m so conflicted. It smoothes out issues the old games have, but manages to cock up stuff I’ve always taken for granted in the series.

 

[DecoReturns]

Chapter 5 ending : Mio dies

Seconds later

Noah: “ITS GOOD TO KEEP A RECORD”

I think Monolith should’ve like disabled some of the voice quotes for some parts lol. It happens a lot and it’s super unintentionally funny each time. Actually. Maybe not it’s too funny

 

[Seven]

I think the idea is time in just the original worlds is frozen while Aioniois is a different space where the City can move forward. That's how I originally understood it anyway.

That's what I originally thought as well, but after watching Nia's explaination it seemed obvious to me that the original universes are gone and everything after the opening cutscene is taking place within Origin. When we return to young Noah in the end that's just Origin restarting and working as intended, there was no time travel or unfreezing of time.

 

[Deleted member 2]

-Was the black fog implied to be mobeus/Z?

No, the black fog seemed to be a result of the universes beginning to collide. This is why the black fog tended to precede annihilation events.

-There was a scene near the end where melia frees the people of keves castle from the flame clock, did we not do that already?

I don't remember destroying a Flame Clock during the party's Keves Castle excursion.

-was the Crys we saw the same mobeus from the 1000 years ago flashback scene (the one that had mio stop him from executing the homecoming guy)?

Noah and Mio continuing to be reborn after being turned into Moebius was supposedly unique to them, so I believe so. Otherwise, I guess some Moebius keep getting reborn and some don't, which is super inconsistent an annoying.

-Who was the robed person at the start of chapter 6 before it formed into Mio? Was it supposed to be their kid or just a young Mio?

I think it was just young Noah. As to who it was, as in, who was the entity and why were they saying what they were saying, it's not explained. Another annoying mystery for the sake of drama.

-What's up with the kid anyway, what was the importance of hiding his name?

The kid was only important to underline the history that Noah and Mio have had with each other. The kid may or may not have become some we know, or the ascendant of someone we know - it's left unexplained. As for why they didn't reveal his name, I hve no idea, but I infer that it's unimportant or else they would have revealed it eventually.

-During the final battle with N, Noah says he was the founder and ancestor of the city, did I miss something or was this stated before?

Noah said this? I don't remember that. But honestly, a lot of the dialogue was flying past me at that point.

-What's up with X/Y? Is there a side quest that goes into them more? I did the colony gamma one btw

Zero explanation to their existence. Nia says that when Moebius first formed, it took the form of several people — the ringleader of whom was Z. While she said this, we were shown an image of X, Y, and Z, so I presume the three of them were the original forms Moebius took.

-What's up with the annihilation events? We know one way it's caused by staying interlinked for a long time but there was a line about there not being as many recently, why and what's the significance?

Not explained, only inferred by some players to be a side effect of the universes collapsing... although as for why it would be affecting Aionios is a mystery.

-Just what is an ouroboros anyway, like what is the mechanism for which it manifests?

Not explained. The closest thing we get to an explanation is that Ouroboros is "the same thing as Moebius", except "positive energy" as opposed to Moebius' "negative energy".

In addition to that, and more confusingly, Nia says she "made the Ouroboros stones".

-what's going on with the lucky seven sword and Riku? i'm sensing some conduit shenanigans

The conduit has nothing to do with Lucky Seven. Even if it did, it would be irrelevant for two major reasons. Firstly, the most powerful thing Lucky Seven could do for the story was destroy Flame Clocks, and buff Noah's arts (arguable if that's "story" though). Secondly, Noah threw it in the ocean at the end and then the ocean was destroyed.

-how did Noah "splitting" from N happen and there being two Noah's?

I have Noah dea.

 

[Deleted member 2]

-how did Noah "splitting" from N happen and there being two Noah's?
My guess is, Z kept Noah and Mio's bodies in the capsules to revive them at each loop and had N & M working with him. Noah and Mio went very far in most of the loops so I believe they fed lots and lots of Moebiuses.

Can you explain what you mean by "loops"?

 

[Deleted member 2]

There's also this dialogue during the final boss that doesn't really mesh well with no time freeze interpretations:

Then Noah rebukes him by asking how he can be so sure that only annihilation awaits if they resume time.

Not only does this reinforce that Z did indeed freeze time but it also implies the universes haven't even been destroyed yet.

Except time is not frozen, we know that since the city has a history stretching back hundreds of years.

The City was in Aionios, where time was not frozen. I think this much was never debated. Universe A and B were allegedly frozen, while the new universe that Origin created (and Z immediately took over) was not frozen. That's the interpretation, anyway.

That dialogue sounds like a final attempt to dissuade Noah by playing into the human emotion that gave birth to Z in the first place. Since both worlds exist within Origin once the system is rebooted the worlds will overlap through their interactions with one another and the future that will result from that is unknown. As the manifestation of the fear of change there is no doubt that Z will see the move away from his state of stagnation to an unknown future as a path to oblivion.

The problem is that you're both right.

We are shown time stopping.
Nia tells us that Z stopped time.
Z tells us himself that he stopped time.
We even see time "start" again, in whatever context it may be.

The fact that all of the above is totally incongruent and conflicts with everything else we interpret — that the universes were indeed destroyed, that the post-credits scene took place in a new universe created by Origin — is due to bad writing and story planning.

I think something that everyone here needs to come to terms with is that the story is very badly done. The game plays like half its content was cut. What's Riku's deal? What's the future of Noah and Mio's kid? Who were X and Y? Did Z really stop time? "When" did he stop time? By what mechanism did he stop time? What was the point of the Sword of Origin? Why did it change form to the Sword of the End? Why was this sword a separate entity from Lucky Seven?

There are far, far, far too many unanswered questions for me to consider this a well-told story. And it's not a matter of "the point of the story was the characters", because in a character-driven story, the story's purpose is to fuel our investment in the characters. If the story doesn't make sense, it's not doing its job. It's possible to love the characters and to feel a lot of the emotions we're intended to feel while the story crashes and burns.

 

[Zeal543]

The conduit has nothing to do with Lucky Seven. Even if it did, it would be irrelevant for two major reasons. Firstly, the most powerful thing Lucky Seven could do for the story was destroy Flame Clocks, and buff Noah's arts (arguable if that's "story" though). Secondly, Noah threw it in the ocean at the end and then the ocean was destroyed.

But the unlocked blade has monado icons with arts that bend reality with stuff like graviton/tachyon slicer or whatever the arts were called

 

[Seven]

The City was in Aionios, where time was not frozen. I think this much was never debated. Universe A and B were allegedly frozen, while the new universe that Origin created (and Z immediately took over) was not frozen. That's the interpretation, anyway.

The problem is that you're both right.

We are shown time stopping.
Nia tells us that Z stopped time.
Z tells us himself that he stopped time.
We even see time "start" again, in whatever context it may be.

The fact that all of the above is totally incongruent and conflicts with everything else we interpret — that the universes were indeed destroyed, that the post-credits scene took place in a new universe created by Origin — is due to bad writing and story planning.

I think people are taking the comment that Z stopped time as a literal statement when in my view it's a figurative one, this is how I interpret things:

• The universes collide destroying both and bringing the together the two halves of Origin.
• The system begins to initiate, but freezes during that initiation prompting the avatars of Nia and Melia to prepare a restart.
• It is during this time that Z captures Melia and uses her access to take control of the system.
• He then proceeds to interlink the two recreated worlds within Origin to create Aionios which explains why the land experiences random Annihilation events.
• He then figuratively stops time by pitting the people of both worlds into a forever war while imposing strict limitations like the ten-term life limit, flame clocks, and destruction of any colony that proved to be too successful. In doing so he prevents the people of both kingdoms from making any progress beyond the stagnation he created.
• When he is defeated the interlink that created Aionios ends and the worlds split.
• After which Nia and Melia restart Origin and it finally boots up correctly starting up at the moment when both original universes met their end.
• Now that the two universes are recreated within Origin the civilizations of both can safely interact which means Noah, Mio, and the rest of the party can get back together. This also means a chance of rebirth for the people who disappeared with Aionios.
• As for Origin itself, it is now a new Conduit waiting for the next "Klaus" to come around and start the cycle all over again.

 

[Deleted member 2]

But the unlocked blade has monado icons with arts that bend reality with stuff like graviton/tachyon slicer or whatever the arts were called

Then why isn't it referred to as a Monado, and why isn't the word Monado referenced at all in the game? How would it make sense for it to be a Monado, when the only Monado that exist are the weapons of the three Trinity Processor Blades, of which we've already seen all three?

The Monado icons and reality bending are mere fanservice, for people to point at and say "oh shit it's like the Monado!"

Except for that it doesn't end up tying into anything, like it did when you fight Malos and he starts using Monado Arts because he had a Monado for the same reason Alvis had one.

 

[Deleted member 2]

The system begins to initiate, but freezes during that initiation prompting the avatars of Nia and Melia to prepare a restart.

This is happening after the universes were destroyed, right? So Aionios must be the result of the failed boot, which could explain its haphazard and scattered landscape with the annihilation events.

• He then proceeds to interlink the two recreated worlds within Origin to create Aionios which explains why the land experiences random Annihilation events.

Origin was inside Aionios, not the other way around. Origin was for all intents and purposes a location inside Aionios, while the surrounding world of Aionios was a pocket universe Origin had created. Same idea, though. I just disagree that Origin contained Aionios which contained an exact functional replica of Origin—that's recursive.

• He then figuratively stops time by pitting the people of both worlds into a forever war while imposing strict limitations like the ten-term life limit, flame clocks, and destruction of any colony that proved to be too successful. In doing so he prevents the people of both kingdoms from making any progress beyond the stagnation he created.

I understand that this is your interpretation of what both Nia and Z mean when they say Z stopped time, but my point is that you have to basically assume that the game is deceiving you by this. The opening and closing scenes of the game are literally time stopping, and two characters say one of them stopped time.

If they meant it figuratively, the game is doing and absolutely horrible job at telling you this. We're bending over backwards trying to make sense of it.

• When he is defeated the interlink that created Aionios ends and the worlds split.

I assume by interlink you mean the result of the failed boot

• After which Nia and Melia restart Origin and it finally boots up correctly starting up at the moment when both original universes met their end.
• Now that the two universes are recreated within Origin the civilizations of both can safely interact which means Noah, Mio, and the rest of the party can get back together. This also means a chance of rebirth for the people who disappeared with Aionios.

I assumed the ending meant that the new universes were created from the save states as they were from the start, essentially "reverting" the thousand or so years that happened in Aionios — but with some lingering data left over, in the form of vague recognition in the characters. I like this idea.

• As for Origin itself, it is now a new Conduit waiting for the next "Klaus" to come around and start the cycle all over again.

I think this is an interesting take, but it would make more sense if you said "Z" instead

 

[Zeal543]

Then why isn't it referred to as a Monado, and why isn't the word Monado referenced at all in the game? How would it make sense for it to be a Monado, when the only Monado that exist are the weapons of the three Trinity Processor Blades, of which we've already seen all three?

The Monado icons and reality bending are mere fanservice, for people to point at and say "oh shit it's like the Monado!"

Except for that it doesn't end up tying into anything, like it did when you fight Malos and he starts using Monado Arts because he had a Monado for the same reason Alvis had one.

well pneuma's blade is a monado too but the word monado isn't used

 

[Pokemaniac]

But the unlocked blade has monado icons with arts that bend reality with stuff like graviton/tachyon slicer or whatever the arts were called

Lucky Seven 's abilities explicitly come from being a fragment of Origin.

 

[Deleted member 2]

well pneuma's blade is a monado too but the word monado isn't used

Yes, exactly, that's my point.

The Aegis Sword is clearly implied to be a Monado, because we learn that the Monado are the swords of the Aegises. They don't need to say it outright.

Which begs the question, where is the explanation for the Monado Arts on Lucky Seven? Why is it significant?

Is Noah the fourth Trinity Processor Blade? Of course not.

Is Lucky Seven an alternate form of an existing Monado? No, since we know the manner by which it was built, and by whom.

Does the definition of Monado now expand beyond its original definition? Well, that would be pretty stupid, because it isn't explained.

My point is there's no meaning that Lucky Seven is similar to the Monado. Yes, I see the same symbols that look like Monado Arts. But it doesn't mean anything.

In 2, the first time we hear the word "Monado" is when Malos starts using Monado Arts in the latter half of the game. This is a major "oh shit!" moment, and it fully pays off with the realization that Malos equates to Alvis, and therefore so does Pyra/Mythra. This is fully explained at the end when the three of them are revealed to be the three cores of the Trinity Processor, and the Monado are their weapons.

A similar moment happens in 3, when you are able to use your Talent Art to draw Lucky Seven — all the Arts change to Monado-like symbols. But there is no connection and no payoff beyond the hollow fanservicey reference.

 

[EtherPenguin]

I was confused by a lot of the last chapter, but one thing I really liked were the goodbyes between the ouroboros pairs. Taion and Eunie's goodbye was particularly cute with Taion upset he was only her fourth best friend, then being understanding that her Keves buds would be the top two but pleading to at least be third, and Eunie playfully responding 'maybe'. I loved it. The interactions between these two were a delight for the whole game.

Taion gives her the recipe for his tea and says it's made of materials from her world so it won't disappear. Are there any theories about the implications of this? Could it mean that, while the original worlds restart, the versions of the characters we spent the game with still exist in another space? Or was it just the characters not being sure what exactly would happen after the split? Maybe young Eunie finds herself inexplicably holding the book when the original world restarts? I need her to have the tea!

well pneuma's blade is a monado too but the word monado isn't used

Malos uses the word Monado after he restores his core, so I guess its implied Pneuma's would also be

 

[Phendrift]

As for X, Y and Z I think it’s actually explicitly stated somewhere that they are different from other Moebius.

I think they’re the original Moebius created by the Origin malfunction. They’re capable of then spreading their power to humans with the same belief in preserving the endless now.

They have similar face markings and features, and X Infinite and Y Infinite are fought alongside Z Infinite.

In a game with so many cutscenes, it was bizarre that X & Y didn’t have cutscenes when they were defeated. Would’ve been the perfect time to flesh out/confirm some aspects of their creation as the build up to Z. I quite like them too. They were cool, even if not too deep, villains. Wouldn’t have minded X’s sass and Y’s Shakespearean talk given more scenes to chew.

 

[EtherPenguin]

X and Y slowly fading to ether while you could walk around the room was far creepier than a death scene.

 

[nostoppingepoch]

X and Y slowly fading to ether while you could walk around the room was far creepier than a death scene.

X never actually faded for me, she just sat there shining while the gang took photos with her.

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

The difficulty for me when it comes to the ending of XC3 is that I actually quite like it. I think the writing is extremely messy in places - particularly in regards to the mechanics of the world and how they work.

But everything after the final fight is nicely done. Mio and Noah sharing a kiss, the party running towards one another as 'cosmic forces' take hold, the parts involving Nia and Melia, Noah's final speech, along with Mio's last diary entry. Even if I wanted a little more from the post credits scene, I appreciate it.

There's a lot there that I like. But you'll notice this is all character-centric praise.

The plot... the pacing, the beats and the explanation of how everything works - it just doesn't come together. The beginning of Chapter 6 is the game's high point because it weaves so many parts of the story and character work into a single sequence. Something that I think Xenoblade has always done well.

But from that point onwards, it just feels really unfocused. From the oddly placed Mio and Noah side stories, to the ramshackle explanation of Origin which essentially catapults you into the endgame and a 'triforce' mini quest that just feels like padding. The game needed another chapter or two for me.

Even if I found it incredibly satisfying to watch Klaus meticulously break down how Alrest came to be, I don't need that level of exposition. But the line between philosophical musings and actual plot become so blurred at the end, you're left searching for world-building and characterisation that doesn't exist.

I do like the ending of XC3... but a general consensus of XC3 having a weaker final stretch and villains than we all hoped is forming, and while I agree with it, it's a shame, because the game does so much right elsewhere. The ending still got me on an emotional level.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Can you explain what you mean by "loops"?

The character have been reborn every ten years or so for more than 1000 years.

Noah and Mio have tried -and failed- to stop Z during all this time.

 

[Lord Azrael]

So I finished the game like an hour ago and only had a chance to read a little bit of this thread so far, but... Nia and Melia being the only returning characters? Seriously? What was the point of making this a mashup of 1 and 2, pretty much amounted to nothing. What a tease, back half of the story really didn't live up to its potential

 

[carlosfilho]

I've just finished Nia's ascension quest, Melia's next... Tons, tons of things left to do. There's still one hero left to pick up, plus the other ascension quests, not to mention the bajillion sidequests. I'm at 72 hours now, it has surpassed XCDE on which i have 60 hours of playtime. XC2 is well ahead yet (95 hours) but considering everything, and the fact that there are more hero quests planned to release this year on the expansion pass, XC3 will become my most-played Xeno game (and among my most-played Switch games) long before the extra story comes out xD

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

That makes me feel like an obsessive! Across the series, I’m probably at…750ish hours, not counting X.

I think, when all is said and done, I’ll probably pass the 800 mark with the XC3 DLC.

 

[BradenAndEggs]

Lot's of concerns about how Z "stops time" or whatever.

How does barely explained glowing yellow brick hooked up to a supercomputer fork the universe when Klaus presses the 'enter' key? Because the game told us it does.

After a second play through I don’t exactly think it’s “stopping time.” I think it’s more “freezing” the collision process. Aionios is what is left over after the collision is paused. Annihilation events, fused environments, etc.

I don’t think time is “stopped” because the worlds where time was flowing don’t exist anymore. I think the worlds are waiting for Origin to “reboot” (recreate) them at the exact time they intersected. So time would “resume” from there. Why does this work? The game told us it does.

I don't think what is essentially a cosmic glitch in a cross-universe super computer freezing two universes mid-collision is the stretch in logic it's being made out to be.

Origin built to save universes -> Two universes collide -> Z takes over Origin uses information from Origin to make Aionios mid collision "stops time” -> XC3 -> "time allowed to continue" and Origin functions properly and saves universes.

Noah in intro sees collision "time stops" -> XC3 -> "time resumes" Noah in outro "changed" by XC3.

Or super basic: XC1 and XC2 merge -> Aionios bad. XC3 fixes this. -> XC1 and XC2 separate.

This is what the game says and shows us. Believe it or not, I'm not trying to sound reductive. I don't see this being so out of character for a Xenoblade story. I like these stories.

I think what we see here with the two universes mid-collision, frozen in time, due to humanity's desire to avoid confronting the future, is a perfect way to frame a story about leaving your comfort zone where you know things are "safe," because you are afraid. Allowing Origin to function and see if it 'works' remaking the worlds despite the unknowns instead of living in Aionios where you know existence at least 'works' for now.

It's the opposite of XC2. We never get the "Do you love this world?" moment because the characters know Aionios is one of the antagonists of the story. It shouldn't exist. Ouroboros/Moebius interlinking causing annihilation events is a 'metaphor' (maybe 'example' is the better word?) for these two worlds staying together too long leading to destruction. The characters multiple times express a desire to destroy the world because it is wrong. The villains in this case are the ones who want to "save" the world. I think that's super interesting.

Noah's sword being a shard of Origin and having the power it did I think is supposed to directly mirror how the Monado was an "access key" to the reality-creating computer that was Alvis (specifically the Conduit hooked up to the Trinity Processor). "The Sword of Origin" was somewhat of an "access key" to Origin.

I'm getting "True Monado" flashbacks. Why did Shulk pull a different-shaped Monado out of nowhere? Xenoblade nerds know Shulk essentially became Alvis' "driver" at that moment. Playing XC1 for the first time you don't know that and it's just a cool moment. "Shulk has a weapon that can we are told can manipulate reality? Cool."

"Noah has a sword with special properties made from the same material as the cross dimension reality computer? Cool!" Honestly, it's enough for me but I can see how many are let down.

Noah's sword never really had the power the Monado did but I don't think Noah's sword had as direct a connection to its respective computer as the Monado/Aegises did. Also, that story of "the protagonist pulls the true version of his sword connected to a reality creating computer out of nowhere" was already thoroughly told in XC1 and XC2, so I think the explanation we did get for it this time was enough for this story's purposes and fit with the lore of the world.

Melia using Origin to help create it was enough for me.

Why are swords reality-altering tools hooked up to powerful computers? It's Xenoblade. lol

I think Riku's connection to all this is intentionally vague but I think as more of a "these Nopon things sure are funny and mysterious huh?" Whether that's good or bad I guess can go into the "many varying opinions" pile on Nopon in the series so far. I think our imagination about Riku may be better than what may be reality.

I'm sure if you have issues with the story and exposition nothing I wrote will satisfy but I personally feel the game explains what it needs for the story it tells.

As far as being the "Avengers Endgame of Xenoblade." I don't think that was ever on the table as they said you could play XC3 without playing the others and look, you absolutely can. It's going to be a disappointment for some and a boon for others.

However, if you know what you are looking at there are cool connections from the whole series.

Who knows? I'm probably wrong about all this. lmao I think XC3 is a good game with a good story.

At the bare minimum, the character's stories are incredible and I cared the whole time and that's the best thing a story can do for me.

VERY LATE EDIT: adjusted my explanation and interpretations based on a second playthrough

 

[ffr48]

What was the point of the Sword of Origin? Why did it change form to the Sword of the End? Why was this sword a separate entity from Lucky Seven?

The Sword of Origin and the Sword of End are different names for same thing/form.Check my reply in other thread.

 

[Deleted member 2]

The Sword of Origin and the Sword of End are different names for same thing/form.Check my reply in other thread.

I know this - the sword of origin started being called the sword of the end, I badly worded it when I said it changed form.

My confusion is - what's the point of it? Lucky Seven is the sword with all the power.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I was confused by a lot of the last chapter, but one thing I really liked were the goodbyes between the ouroboros pairs. Taion and Eunie's goodbye was particularly cute with Taion upset he was only her fourth best friend, then being understanding that her Keves buds would be the top two but pleading to at least be third, and Eunie playfully responding 'maybe'. I loved it. The interactions between these two were a delight for the whole game.

Taion gives her the recipe for his tea and says it's made of materials from her world so it won't disappear. Are there any theories about the implications of this? Could it mean that, while the original worlds restart, the versions of the characters we spent the game with still exist in another space? Or was it just the characters not being sure what exactly would happen after the split? Maybe young Eunie finds herself inexplicably holding the book when the original world restarts? I need her to have the tea!


Malos uses the word Monado after he restores his core, so I guess its implied Pneuma's would also be

The ending seems to broadly imply that at least some memories were retained. Probably not any physical objects, though, or we would have seen Eunie with it in the post-credits scene.

On that subject, though. I'm kinda annoyed they just didn't address the elephant in the room about the character ages. It makes sense that the ages could all be roughly the same in Aionios, but humans, blades, High Entia, and Machina are all races with pretty different lifespans, which makes Noah, Eunie, and Lanz looking roughly the same in the first and last scenes seem somewhat contrived, at minimum.

 

[Deleted member 2]

The ending seems to broadly imply that at least some memories were retained. Probably not any physical objects, though, or we would have seen Eunie with it in the post-credits scene.

In that subject, though. I'm kinda annoyed they just didn't address the elephant in the room about the character ages. It makes sense that the ages could all be roughly the same in Aionios, but humans, blades, High Entia, and Machina are all races with pretty different lifespans, which makes Noah, Eunie, and Lanz looking roughly the same in the first and last scenes seem somewhat contrived, at minimum.

I actually do think there's a pretty straightforward answer to this that I find totally satisfying.

"Ages" of the characters are completely irrelevant to their first Term. A characters biological "age" is completely different from their Terms - which is probably why they separated the concepts. This is why Terms are a countdown timer - not an "age limit".

I think because we presumed "9th Term" means 19 years old, we assumed that everyone is born at 10. This is very likely not the case since Terms don't equate to age - Terms are simply years since last birth.

Everyone in Aionios is born at their biological age when Origin captured the save state of the universes. If a character was ~11, like Noah, then every time they are born in Aionios they are ~11 years old. They're still a first-Termer. People like Cammuravi seem to look much older - this is probably because they were pre-teens or teenagers starting on their first Term, making them in their early-mid twenties by their 10th Term.

Heck, Eunie could have been 40 years old when she was "born" in Aionios, making her 50 on her 10th Term.

 

[Earthbounder]

In a way, I hope we get answers for the questions that were left hanging when the DLC comes around.

On the other hand, saving those answers for the DLC is going to make me a bit frustrated. I mean, I spent 104 hours with this game, so I can't complain it didn't deliver in terms of content. But stuff like that should not be locked behind DLC.

Plus, I never buy DLC, so I will have to read the answers somewhere on the Internet. And that's not fun!

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

I wonder if we see much of Mio in this upcoming DLC - and perhaps even more of Rex’s kids.

If this does focus on the founders in some capacity and we do get to play as Rex and Shulk as suggested, surely those kids have to be around?

I say that because, and I’ve mentioned it somewhere before, the art book shows a young Mio who is never seen in the game.

When I said it previously someone said they may have planned to show her side too at the start of the game, but decided to get rid of it, which is a fair guess.

However, could she make her appearance in the DLC?

Because unlike Noah, who seems to be… almost separate from the cast of XC and XC2, Mio is hinted to be the daughter of Rex and Nia.

But then, I’m not sure how Rex would die, Nia would go to sleep for hundreds of years and how Mio would be pulled into the flame clock system.

I understand the lore reasons why all that might be possible, I’d just like to know the sequence of events that would lead to that.

I kind of feel like that could be the emotional core of the story right there, if they wanted it to be.

Doesn‘t one statue suggest Shulk all but adopted a daughter or something?

 

[Pokemaniac]

I actually do think there's a pretty straightforward answer to this that I find totally satisfying.

"Ages" of the characters are completely irrelevant to their first Term. A characters biological "age" is completely different from their Terms - which is probably why they separated the concepts.

Everyone in Aionios is born at their biological age when Origin captured the save state of the universes. If a character was ~11, like Noah, then every time they are born in Aionios they are ~11 years old. They're still a first-Termer. People like Cammuravi seem to look much older - this is probably because they were pre-teens or teenagers starting on their first Term, making them in their early-mid twenties by their 10th Term.

Heck, Eunie could have been 40 years old when she was "born" in Aionios, making her 50 on her 10th Term.

Like I said, it makes perfect sense that the characters could be ostensibly the same age within Aionios, but Noah, Lanz, and Eunie also seem to be friends around the same level of maturity before and after Aionios when they'd probably have to be way different ages. Like, if I recall how Machina ages worked properly, Lanz could easily be well over 1000 years old. There's nothing necessarily contradictory per se, it just feels weird because of how Machina ages kind of blow out the scale.

Though what does appear somewhat contradictory is blades being able to reproduce like humans in when that's absolutely not how that worked in 2, but I suppose one could argue that it could have been part of Klaus' parting gift which kinda broadly removed the need for titans.

 

[Warlord]

Just finished the game so I'm going to write my thoughts.

Before that tho, I just want to say that I saw the picture of Rex with Pyra, Mythra and Nia as his wives before release and thought it was a fanart. Can't believe it was actually real. Rex gets a harem. It's canon. and It's implied he gets all three kids at the same time. Funniest shit i've seen today.
Anyway, my thoughts.

GAMEPLAY: this is the best in the series, I don't think anyone will disagree with that. I do have some nitpicks. First is the chain attacks which are too reliable and easy. I prefer the ones in 2 because they felt earned and you had to make them good enough to actually be effective. Here you just have to wait for them and then do decently and you can kill everything except UM and bosses. Makes the game too easy (played on normal, so it might change on higher difficulties).Also some heroes bonuses like Ashera are just broken.
Second nitpick is That you can't use a full set of Agnus skill in the fusion arts. it has to be from one side or the other.
Third is no stutter stepping. I miss it, it made everything soo much faster.
Other than that it's pretty damn great.

AREAS AND LEVEL DESIGN: They are pretty damn good and very pretty, but I haven't gone wow with most of them like I did with Valack mountain and Eryth Sea in XC1 or almost every area in XC2. Best loocking ones were probably Upper Aetia and that one colony where Nimue is. Colonies and the city are dissapointing, with the former being too similar with each other and the latter just kinda boring. Not sure if I would rank them above XC1 or not, might have to replay the game.

MUSIC: It's fantastic, I will say that the region themes are probably the weakest. I still need to fully listen to them without being interrupted, so my opinion on that might change. Not sure if I would put it above 2's soundtrack, but let's see after I listen more to it

CHARACTERS: Main party is great. The relationship with each other is great and they are all very likeable. I wouldn't say they are as strong as the characters in XC2 due to them not growing as much compared to the beginning of the game except in the relationship with each other. Most of their growth already happened before the story and it's only shown in flasbacks, which is dissapointing. Sena kinda gets the short end of the stick. The chapter where it seems like she will be the protagonist gets interrupted by other events and her ascension quest focuses mostly on Gonshor and Shania's relationship. But they are still good.

Won't talk about Side caracters as I still need to do the ascension quests for all of them. However I do wish characters like Ethel, Cammuravi and Isurd were more involved in the story, but unfortunately they are not. Ghondor is great tho

Villains are just bad. Most of them are just evil to be evil and remain largely unexplained. D in particular is dissapointing. could have been this constant presence like Metal Face or Malos, but instead he gets revealed to be just another evil guy like the other 20 mobius you fought until now, just crazier.
Still deciding on N, but I will say that how his story ends is kinda abrubt.
Then there's Z. I still need to decide whether the explanation of who he, X and Y are is good or not (leaning more on the latter) but he largely remains dissapointing due to how little he interacts with the main cast.

STORY: This is probably the weakest element in the game aside from the villains. It's good, but it's the weakest in the trilogy, mainly due to the villains and how much remains unexplained and some unsatisfying momemts. too many questions are left unanswered and the questions that do get answered mostly get a dissapointing one. Starts of strong, peaks at Chapter 5 but then quality goes down, with chapter 6 just being bad. It probably needed an extra chapter or get a full 10 chapters to complete it and make it great.
One thing thaat's both funny and sad is how this is probably the most serious in the trilogy but ends up feeling the most classic shonen out of the three and the less dark one.
Another thing That I didn't like was how some characters realization are done. Most of them felt like this

Character: My life sucks and I hate the world because of this thing
Noah: Your life doesn't suck, the world is good and you're wrong about that thing, it actually means this
Character: Gasp you're right!

which is just one of the most boring shonen things there are and makes everyone else feel like an idiot.
Thankfully the ending is good but bittersweet. I'll admit that I would have liked to see the world and characters be together from now on. but this is fine.
But yeah, those unanswered questions and the dissapointing answers + the boring villains hurt the story.

Some changes I would make to the story:

1. either don't kill Mio in Chapter 5 or don't bring her back so soon or at all. End of chapter 5 was great, but it's ruined by what happens during the beginning of chapter 6.
2. A bigger sense of unrgency in the story. Mio having only 3 months was great. It made it feel like you needed to find a solution as fas as possible otherwise she dies. Instead everything get's better in chapter 6 and Mio won't die soon anymore. Would have liked to see the party trying to accept her death, before finding her as another puppet of Y and trying to make her remember who she was.
3. Just go full in on the XC1/2 connections. Trying to keep it as beginner friendly as possible hurt it imo
4. Make the MCs side stories part of the actual story. Only Noah and Mio's ascension quests are part of the story, why not the others.

I would have liked to see the story set in the world the moment they fused and something was about to destroy them both, so you tried to both find a way to stop the destruction and unite the different worlds who were in chaos.

Other smaller complaints.

• Coins are useless. I'm pretty sure I'm a millionaire in game. Most of the Items you can buy feel useless so there's no need to spend anything.
• having to kill a buch of enemies to liberate a ferronis hulk is just annoying. Would have prefered if there was like a quest involved with them.
• I miss Heart2Hearts.
• X and Y not having a cutscene as they die is dissapointing
• Don't like how the "follow leader" command makes everyone stop fighting until you remove it
• Holding A to stop fighting. even during the final boss I had moments where I stopped fighting because I was trying to revive a character.
• Game is a bit easy.
• sometimes it throws at you boss after boss. Having six fights between chapter 5 and six was too much
• Pacing problems. some chapters are too long (like chapter 4) or things slow down to a crawl, like half of chapter 7 being a fetch quest.
• I'm sad Poppi was alive but not involved at all.

Overall, I really like the game. I still prefer XC2 due to the story, characters and setting, but I like 3 more than 1.

My ranking of the games would be

1. XC2
2. XC3
3. XCDE
4. XCX

Now we wait for the DLC. Hoping it will be great storywise.

But yeah, after all this, I can say this has truly been the Xenoblade Chronicles 3

 

[Deleted member 2]

I will say, 90% of my Xenoblade 3 posting since I finished the game has been harsh criticism of its story, villains, and narrative.

I still do enjoy the game a lot and I think it'll all grow on me a lot more over time.

 

[Deleted member 2]

@EtherPenguin in case you haven't gotten around to how Fused Combo Arts proc, I've been thinking about it (but have yet to test it).

I think there are two possibilities.

1. Standard Arts' effects always proc before their fused Master Arts. For example, a Standard Launch Art fused with a Master Smash Art will always result in a Launch -> Smash combo.

OR

2. Fused Art Combo effects trigger based on the length of time the Art takes to complete. This would mean that, regardless of which position of the fusion they're in, a Launch that takes less time to proc than a Smash will always proc first.


I can do some testing on this today.

 

[EtherPenguin]

@EtherPenguin in case you haven't gotten around to how Fused Combo Arts proc, I've been thinking about it (but have yet to test it).

I think there are two possibilities.

1. Standard Arts' effects always proc before their fused Master Arts. For example, a Standard Launch Art fused with a Master Smash Art will always result in a Launch -> Smash combo.

OR

2. Fused Art Combo effects trigger based on the length of time the Art takes to complete. This would mean that, regardless of which position of the fusion they're in, a Launch that takes less time to proc than a Smash will always proc first.


I can do some testing on this today.

I noticed having a topple class art with a launch master art worked as you'd want with the topple going off before the launch.

But playing as a Signifer with the art the spreads buffs on the right and Shadow Eye on the left, causes the attack up buff from Shadow Eye to get applied before spreading the buffs. Which is handy because if you always fuse it, Signifer's buff spread always gives Attack Up to the whole party.

So maybe it's the second one?

The ending seems to broadly imply that at least some memories were retained. Probably not any physical objects, though, or we would have seen Eunie with it in the post-credits scene.

Poor girl's going to go through life craving a cuppa she's can't make

 

[Deleted member 2]

I noticed having a topple class art with a launch master art worked as you'd want with the topple going off before the launch.

But playing as a Signifer with the art the spreads buffs on the right and Shadow Eye on the left, causes the attack up buff from Shadow Eye to get applied before spreading the buffs. Which is handy because if you always fuse it, Signifer's buff spread always gives Attack Up to the whole party.

So maybe it's the second one?

Can I ask what exactly you are seeing that signals the moment it's proccing?

 

[EtherPenguin]

Can I ask what exactly you are seeing that signals the moment it's proccing?

I'll have to check it out later to be sure, but it looked like the Attack Up from Shadow Eye gets applied at the end of Resonant Flag's animation at the same time it gets applied to everyone.

If this does focus on the founders in some capacity and we do get to play as Rex and Shulk as suggested, surely those kids have to be around?

Wouldn't the Shulk and Rex that helped found the second City be reconstructed versions from Origin's data? These versions wouldn't have the same kids, I assume. I mean, their kids would also be in Origin's data but going through different recycles like Mio as Keves/Agnus soldiers.

 

[Brewster123]

Honestly, regarding the picture, I could see it functioning less as a harem and closer to a proper polycule.

Spoiler: XC2 (Up to end of Ch.7)

Pyra and Mythra are obviously very close to eachother, but both are also quite close to Nia. In Pyra's case, we even have a declaration of love towards Nia. At the end of Ch.7, when Rex, Pyra and Mythra are standing in front of Aion, the following exchange occurs:

Rex: Tell me, do you love this world?
Pyra: Yes, Nia, Azurda, and you, Rex. I love this world because you are in it.

Mythra and Nia's relationship is a bit less clear since she gets less screentime with the rest of group, but she's always been very understanding of Nia (and vice-versa). With her (and Pyra) keeping her secret to what very well could have been their death in Ch.7 if Rex and co hadn't gone to the Cliffs of Morytha.

If the DLC ends up being a prequel, then we might get more info on this.

 

[Mr.Fletcher]

I'll have to check it out later to be sure, but it looked like the Attack Up from Shadow Eye gets applied at the end of Resonant Flag's animation at the same time it gets applied to everyone.


Wouldn't the Shulk and Rex that helped found the second City be reconstructed versions from Origin's data? These versions wouldn't have the same kids, I assume. I mean, their kids would also be in Origin's data but going through different recycles like Mio as Keves/Agnus soldiers.

Really good point… and another way they can get out of giving me what I want.

 

[Warlord]

I hope the DLC covers the creation of origin leading up to the collision of the worlds.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

This is happening after the universes were destroyed, right? So Aionios must be the result of the failed boot, which could explain its haphazard and scattered landscape with the annihilation events.

Origin was inside Aionios, not the other way around. Origin was for all intents and purposes a location inside Aionios, while the surrounding world of Aionios was a pocket universe Origin had created. Same idea, though. I just disagree that Origin contained Aionios which contained an exact functional replica of Origin—that's recursive.


I understand that this is your interpretation of what both Nia and Z mean when they say Z stopped time, but my point is that you have to basically assume that the game is deceiving you by this. The opening and closing scenes of the game are literally time stopping, and two characters say one of them stopped time.

If they meant it figuratively, the game is doing and absolutely horrible job at telling you this. We're bending over backwards trying to make sense of it.


I assume by interlink you mean the result of the failed boot


I assumed the ending meant that the new universes were created from the save states as they were from the start, essentially "reverting" the thousand or so years that happened in Aionios — but with some lingering data left over, in the form of vague recognition in the characters. I like this idea.


I think this is an interesting take, but it would make more sense if you said "Z" instead

Aionios is the consequence of Z’s interaction with Origin. It was never in Origin.
The only plan Nia & Melia had with Origin is to make a save stat of their world to recreate them after the collision.
Alrest and Bionis come back as two separate worlds after the end.

 

[EtherPenguin]

The more I think about it, the more I realize the DLC story has to take place inside Aionious simply because all the mechanics of the battle system can only exist inside Aionious. If the story is about the creation of Origin or an epilogue in the reconstructed worlds, you can't have ouroboros, you can't have the instant weapon summons without the Iris system which means you can't have Master Arts or the mixing of circle arts with diamond arts, and the casts would be separated into different worlds only being able to communicate long range with the language of light.

And then there are other mechanics that would resume existing in the original worlds/reconstructed worlds like the driver and blade system which would be a lot of work to implement into 3's system and only half the cast would have access to it.

I watched Luxin's video and he suggests the DLC story would be eight years after the post-credit scene where Noah can be 18 again and it would switch back and forth between Shulk's world and Alrest as the two sides would build a way to meet again. But then you have to take into account the new ages. Eunie and Lanz would still be little kids by the time Noah and Joran are 18. Eunie would need another 70 years and Lanz several hundred for them to look 18 again. Then how would it play?

Would the 1 team just play like 1 with all cooldown arts and auto-attacks charge the talent art, but maybe with only six arts instead of eight still mapped to the same buttons as 3? And I guess the 2 side would play like Torna. I know Luxin predicted Future Connected, but I struggle to see how this epilogue idea could be made a reality.

If they did do that, however, I could totally see Taion being a driver with Isurd and Nimue as his blades. Then I guess Mio would be a flesh-eater driver like her mom with Sena and Miyabi as her blades (admittedly, I'm not sure if Miyabi's crystal is a core crystal or just a clothing accessory).

 

[Weebos]

Just finished the game, I enjoyed the ending, even though it's a bit sad.

I see where a lot of the complaints about story and lore are coming from, there are definitely a lot of hanging threads and Aionios as a whole feels (intentionally) underdeveloped.

Still a great game, but I don't think it's as good as Xenoblade 2, though that may change with time.

Also Poppi was a cute surprise at the end, I wonder if she might come in the DLC?

 

[Thunder84]

The more I think about it, the more I realize the DLC story has to take place inside Aionious simply because all the mechanics of the battle system can only exist inside Aionious. If the story is about the creation of Origin or an epilogue in the reconstructed worlds, you can't have ouroboros, you can't have the instant weapon summons without the Iris system which means you can't have Master Arts or the mixing of circle arts with diamond arts, and the casts would be separated into different worlds only being able to communicate long range with the language of light.

And then there are other mechanics that would resume existing in the original worlds/reconstructed worlds like the driver and blade system which would be a lot of work to implement into 3's system and only half the cast would have access to it.

I watched Luxin's video and he suggests the DLC story would be eight years after the post-credit scene where Noah can be 18 again and it would switch back and forth between Shulk's world and Alrest as the two sides would build a way to meet again. But then you have to take into account the new ages. Eunie and Lanz would still be little kids by the time Noah and Joran are 18. Eunie would need another 70 years and Lanz several hundred for them to look 18 again. Then how would it play?

Would the 1 team just play like 1 with all cooldown arts and auto-attacks charge the talent art, but maybe with only six arts instead of eight still mapped to the same buttons as 3? And I guess the 2 side would play like Torna. I know Luxin predicted Future Connected, but I struggle to see how this epilogue idea could be made a reality.

If they did do that, however, I could totally see Taion being a driver with Isurd and Nimue as his blades. Then I guess Mio would be a flesh-eater driver like her mom with Sena and Miyabi as her blades (admittedly, I'm not sure if Miyabi's crystal is a core crystal or just a clothing accessory).

Bingo. If Torna is anything to go by, they’ll want to advertise the DLC as a standalone release as well. You can do that with the Founders (and maintain most of the core mechanics to boot), not so much with an epilogue.

 

[carlosfilho]

Phew. Finally got Melia's ascension quest.