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Discussion Torna the Golden Country or Future Redeemed

Which was better?

  • Torna ~ The Golden Country

    Votes: 19 25.7%

  • Future Redeemed

    Votes: 55 74.3%
  • Total voters
    74
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Chain Chomp
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 each gave us a meaty expansion that could almost be its own smaller game.
Of the two, which do you think is better, and why exactly?

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they're both really good so it was hard to pick one but I voted for Future Redeemed and my reasoning is that even though they're both prequels you just don't feel like you already know exactly what's going to happen going into it as much as with Torna

that didn't stop Torna from being enjoyable but it seems like as good a reason as any other to pick one over the other
 
Torna had its own physical release, of which I actually own a copy, so it has that going for it.

From what I've heard, Future Redeemed does sound like a pretty strong showing.

I'm not actually voting at this time for obvious reasons.
 
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I like the idea of Torna more, but Future Redeemed just has so much more going for it. For as awesome as the Tornan titan was, as well as its excellent cast, the actual story is pretty lackluster, and while I do love the sidequests they shouldn't have been required for the main story.

Future Redeemed's cast, combat, and characters aren't quite as good, but it more than makes up for that with a stellar progression system and a much stronger narrative.
 
Future Redeemed overall, but they're both excellent. Torna has the better combat, they're about even on story (Torna's probably the better one for emotional impact but FR has the stronger narrative overall), but Future Redeemed's Affinity Points system trounces the Community system so hard that it ends up winning for me
 
It's oddly hard to make the comparison, because Torna feels like it's a part of the complete package of Xenoblade 2, whereas Future Redeemed feels like a pseudo Xenoblade 4 that's meant to close the full series. The reason I say this is because Torna feels like it enriches its base game, while Future Redeemed kind of highlights issues I had with Xenoblade 3's base game by comparison. So I think Future Redeemed is probably the better individual piece of content, while Torna does the best job of elevating the full package of its base game.
 
one thing I appreciate with Future Redeemed but don't want to give it too much credit for in a poll like this before seeing how or if they use any of that stuff in whatever Monolith Soft makes next is that it feels like a testing bed for a lot of stuff between the affinity stuff and a bunch of exploration things like the X-Reader stuff, field crafting, enemy bases etc
 
Future Redeemed. With how good it is, I suspect that if it had been the length and breadth of a full game, it would be regarded as the best Xenoblade game period tbh.
 
Both are peak but I think I like Future Redeemed more. The progression in Future Redeemed was fantastic and what I hope they build the next games off of. I also really liked how the DLC was fanservice done right while the base game stood more on it's own. I do think I like the sidequests and combat in Torna more though.
 
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It might be Torna but I won't cast a vote. I'll just talk about what I liked from both.

I like the world of 2 more than the world of 3. Alrest has history, actual civilizations, politics, people working all different jobs and lifestyles, and more fleshed-out nations. In that way it's a bit easier to be pulled into stories from its world more than Aionios's nothing but endless war and everyone's a soldier schtick. From there, I think I was compelled by the relationship with Lora and Jin. Their story feels like it stands on its own well enough. FR on the other hand just feels like a platter of fanservice. I mean, look at what everybody talks about with the story: the radio. It's about fan-service, lore drops, and capping of the current story arc, but I don't think it has as much to offer as just its own thing like Torna did. I mean it's there with Na'el, and she's an interesting character, but her story and relationship with her brother Matthew is drowning under the lore-heavy Xeno-series-wide connections bonanza. I guess I'm also so-so on Matthew whereas Lora's one of my favorite Xeno protagonists.

On the other hand, I do like the cast of FR overall better than Torna's. It's a bit of an unfair comparison considering Torna has to make 9 characters interesting, when FR only needs 6. Torna has some deadweight with Aegeon while FR gets to flex with grown-up Shulk and Rex. Though I do see the issue with making two of the six previous protagonists, and another two their children. I know posters in an older Xenoblade thread on here were disappointed with FR's focus on lineages and how it adds to the overall straightness of the game with the "and then they all coupled up and had kids!" thing, so I can understand FR's party as a bit problematic in that way especially with Linka and Panacea in the mix as well.

Gameplay-wise, FR really shines with the AP system. The checklist aspect of it is very fun and you end up engaging with more of the world than you usually do even taking out trash mobs you would normally run past and having to actually pay attention to the time of day and correct weather to find some monsters. That pippito that only appears when it's snowing on the Ragmos Desolation was particularly memorable to hunt down. It can feel like a band-aid to other issues that have gone unfixed though. Finding chests being fun now because you gain AP, doesn't solve the problem that 80% of accessories are still junk. The kits were good though.

They both have more focused gameplay than their base games and I think I might like the combat of both more than their respective base games. I like Torna's significantly more than base 2. FR vs. base 3 combat is harder to determine, but chain attacks were better. Character building systems on the other hand were abysmal in both. People rag on XC1 for not being as customizable with character builds as X and 2, but even 1 puts FR and Torna to shame. They both lose in that department.

Map-wise, they're both good in their own way. I like how all of FR's playable area is seamless with the Metroidvania-elements of building ladders, ether slides, and the like. The area styles were perhaps a bit simple, but I liked their flourishes. We start in a forest of red grass and trees at sunset which has a great vibe. Putting one of the Uraya trees as the chief landmark in the Aurora Shelf was a perfect touch and I love that you can see the pink leaves poking over clifftops in other areas, and of course, the Bionis Leg and Valak mixed with Tantal are memorable. Again FR does rely a lot on fan service. The final confrontation is at Prison Island and it can often feel like a trip down memory lane. But I'm not immune and can't deny I got emotional visiting Colony 9 and hearing the old music.

Torna's maps may not be as impressive. But I respect 2's general thing of not making interconnected maps and instead focusing on each titan as a separate biome which has its own strengths even if not as immediately impressive as a seamless world. Torna follows the same design but tries to make its new titan layered and a bit bigger than the base game titans. It's okay, but what stands out more is having a unique biome with the white sand dunes. Aurora Shelf and Ragmos feel like ordinary Xenoblade grass worlds, I mean Ragmos is straight-up Bionis Leg after all. But nothing we didn't already have in the base game. Aurora instantly recalls Rae-bel. I also liked Torna's visit to an older more wild version of Gormott. Remixing an area was a fun idea and I was slightly disappointed FR didn't let us do this despite seeing a lot of Cadensia in flashbacks and the ending. Both games also bring two memorable secret areas with Millennium Grotto in Torna and Headwater Cavern in FR, I loved both.

I think FR could've used one more area theme. The main overworld track is fantastic, but we hear it a bit too much. I wish the Red Forest could've had its own theme like the Lasaria Woodlands in Torna.

Future Connected beats both of them for best battle theme though
 
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Torna was amazing. It was emotionally touching and sad. The requirements of having to do all the side quests puts it behind Future Redeemed. They’re both amazing dlcs
 
torna i liked the story more and gameplay more, but it became tedious so FR edges it out
 
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rickyson33 said:
one thing I appreciate with Future Redeemed but don't want to give it too much credit for in a poll like this before seeing how or if they use any of that stuff in whatever Monolith Soft makes next is that it feels like a testing bed for a lot of stuff between the affinity stuff and a bunch of exploration things like the X-Reader stuff, field crafting, enemy bases etc
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I was wondering about this too. The AP system has received so much praise it's hard not to imagine returning in a future Takahashi RPG. But I also remember thinking this same thing with Torna and Future Connected. I remember being sure Community would return in 3. Not as a progress gate, but as a better way to track quests with NPCs and see relationships with them like an evolved version of XC1's affinity chart. Instead they just brought back 1's affinity chart.

With FC, I remember thinking the Quiet Moments were a taste of what 3's heart-to-hearts would be. 2 already improved heart-to-hearts by adding voice acting, then Quiet Moments took it a step further by making them look more like regular cutscenes with specific camera cuts and background music instead of letting the area theme keep blaring in the background while the characters were talking. I was so sure 3 would take the quiet moment improvements but add back the dialogue choice aspect, instead, they cut heart-to-hearts altogether
 
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Torna has my favorite combat style in the series, but I gotta give it to future redeemed for narratively capping off the trilogy and blowing my damn mind.
 
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Torna is rad and fixes nearly all of my issues with Xenoblade 2 (better combat, tone, side quests etc.) and Lora is very cool, but wow Future Redeemed really blew me away. My only complaint is that I could have kept playing if there was more to it which is an excellent place to be. I did everything in it and had a blast.
 
Haven't played both yet, but I have Torna physical which is still sealed. Hopefully I get around to playing both games. It's a bummer that Future Redeemed is digital only.
 
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Hard for me to compare but I'd probably go for Future Redeemed by a hair. Matthew is just a funny as hell guy and I love spending time with him, and the Xenoblade 1 and 2 fanservice and payoffs are all top notch. Plus, they somehow managed to gamify the exploration even further and make filling out everything feel like digital crack.

It's also making me really wish I played Xenosaga first. It's the last Xeno series I need to play ever since I beat Xenogears immediately after beating Xenoblade 2, but couldn't because I didn't have a working PS2 at the time (now I do) and I did not want to use PCSX2 at all.

But Torna also rules and has its own great story and gameplay... so really, you should just play them all.
 
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Future Redeemed overall, but Torna is incredible. Basically both are 100x better than the stuff they added to Xenoblade Definitive.
 
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Both great in different ways, both exceeded expectations too. I think Torna, as stated above does an amazing job of presenting Xenoblade 2, its world and themes without a lot of the systems bloat and tonal cringe that the base game has. Future Redeemed again, manages to solve any issues I had with the base game, particularly in the way it rounds out the stuff I found unsatisfying in the story.

I think Future Redeemed edges it because of how immensely satisfying it is as a conclusion. Might have said this in another thread but it feels like a greatest hits of the series, like this super confident victory lap. Haven't really ever experienced that before and there's so much care put into it for the fans that it's impossible not to love. Both great games though and real high points in the series.
 
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I would say Future Redeemed. It brings everything together, but that doesn't mean that Torna is bad. I would say Torna is as much of a masterpiece as Future Redeemed, mainly because how it strenghtens the whole story of Xenoblade 2.
 
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Torna is my least favourite xenoblade, so it's "future redeemed" automatically. They added more depth to N's character, Shulk looks like a boss and this time around there are some mysteries in the dlc plot. Music is great as always and hearing Joanne Hogg closing the game like she did xenogears was magical. Oh, and the not so subtle xenosaga teases.
 
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It's an interesting face-off as both are superior to their base game in my eyes. I loved both so much that I almost wish MonolithSoft had started off with an expansion somehow and then built upon the foundations of those for the full games. But anyway I think Future Redeemed takes it because I had more issues with the base game for 2 than 3, so picking the expansion that built on the latter and then knocked it out of the park as a conclusion to their trilogy just makes sense to me.
 
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Future Redeemed all the way. Torna improved a lot of the combat in the original XC2 but at the same time, suffered from the same problem of XCX at progressing the story via forced sidequests.

FR on the other hand, improved almost everything from XC3 and complemented the narrative of the trilogy perfectly.
 
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Torna is better as a stand alone game

Future Redeemed is a better experience if you've been playing Xeno from the beginning.
 
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Very, very difficult to compare. They're both awesome. I love FR's story and characters, but Lora and Jin make it at least a tie, if not a razor-thin Torna victory. In terms of gameplay, FR takes the lead. So it's FR, very narrowly. Again, both are tremendous games.
 
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Dont make me pick, I just recently finished Future Redeemed so it's definitely more fresh in memory.

But short:

Tornas characters and ending are just amazing and it's better than Future Redeemed but the systems and gameplay is better in FR

I love both.
 
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Future Redeemed was really good, but Torna was immaculate. It didn’t further the overarching lore of the series like FR but in turn it also felt less like a fanfiction and its emotional highs were higher. I know people drag the community gating but I don’t mind.
The combat system is a lot better, and Torna was more interesting to explore.

Really amazing expansions though
 
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One makes your cry and fall into depression even more during the flippin' credits, the other gives you hope.

I love both but in my eyes, Torna redeemed (no pun intended) what I hated in Xenoblade 2 (and I did the game twice, thanks to the NG+ new characters).
 
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Torna country gets held back by forcing you to do the side quests to progress the story. At least in future redeemed when you were ready to move on it put few blockers in your way.
 
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I gave the vote to Torna but both are very good. It's hard for me to compare them though, sometimes I think I overrate/underrate FR based on my general disappointment with 3 and how the expansion addressed a lot of things I didn't like about the game.
 
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Am I the only one that DOESN'T think that both DLCs improved the combat systems of the base game?

I feel like in both cases, they initially feel snappier, but end up being both more limited and less fun over time.
In Torna, the Golden Monsters all got Elemental Awakening, which virtually destroyed the orb system. They were just too dangerous in that state to risk going for a full burst. I also vaguely remember it getting a bit grindy in the sense of trying to get up to level with the Golden Monsters and also trying to get doom resist accessories to drop... Whereas I felt like the base game had no particular equipment requirements for any enemy and had perfect scaling somehow.

In Xenoblade 3, chain attacks become worse than useless in the endgame, but in Future Redeemed they become essential. They were the least fun part of Xenoblade 3 for me, and their almost mandatory nature in Future Redeemed felt really restrictive compared to how many options you had for strategy in base.

I can sort of handwave the lack of customisability to some degree. But I feel like if we're being forced into a specific way to play, it should be... more enjoyable?
But clearly other people got a lot more enjoyment than I did so it is what it is.

In contrast, while the Ponspectors weren't great, I thought the, "welp, we're just gonna remove visions" thrust of Future Connected was great. The top-level enemy in that game is a tense fight that requires actual reflexes.

I voted Future Redeemed btw because the exploration is peak.
 
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I gotta go with Torna. I don't if any of you watched the movie Arrival, but there's a quote from this movie that I felt strongly while playing this game.

"Despite knowing the journey and where it leads, I embrace it and welcome every moment."

I felt more of an emotional connection to Torna, but I loved both.
 
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I chose Torna first, then reading this thread I remembered how good the affinity system in FR is, and the quest blocking Torna did
 
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