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StarTopic Xenoblade 3 |ST| Σ Become One

Reader mode
Only a bit into Chapter 3 and while I wish the game wasn't as tutorial heavy, it really makes up for it with such a wonderful main cast of characters. Probably the best main cast since DQXI.
 
Again, not reading much cause even hints at eg how many chapters there are would bother me at this point. I'm only here to announce I am partway through Chapter 4 and this game made me realize my PS5 headphones work with the Switch.

I always have to open the window during the evening time to let in fresh air (because it gets so hot in here during the day), and I refuse to play this game without the sound on. But that also means I will bother my neighbors with the party members constantly screaming their attacks. Not something that bothers me but I can understand how it would annoy my neighbors (none of them have said anything so far, but I don't wanna let it come that far either).

I don't own Bluetooth headphones aside from the PS5 ones... and today was the day I figured to try them out on the Switch. The Switch's build in Bluetooth headphone software thingie does not recognize it, but if you just stick the USB connector that came with the ps5 headphones into the Switch dock's USB port it works just fine. I am honestly surprised, I was convinced Sony would add some software side component to this accessory that would make it impossible to use with anything but a ps5 (that runs the compatible software). Apparently not.

This was a tangent. Idk I wanted to tell someone and making a thread on it seemed a little overboard as I am sure many people have figured this out before me haha.
 
FZuI7FmVEAA8e-a
 
It’s pretty neat that the affinity chart tells you character ages or terms, but oh god why is Gray literally twice the age of his wife?

Also Monica gave birth to Ghondor at age 15. Something tells me the City hasn’t quite figured out the whole marriage thing just yet.
 
Jannyish said:
I am honestly surprised, I was convinced Sony would add some software side component to this accessory that would make it impossible to use with anything but a ps5 (that runs the compatible software). Apparently not.
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They don't gain anything from that. They still made money on you buying the headphones, may as well let you use them lol.
 
With 10 more hours of sidequesting done, and with the game completion behind me and allowing me to gain some perspective, I'm in the firm belief that this game has cracked my top 10, and has perhaps also become my second favourite Switch exclusive. But even with the art you look upon with the keenest of eyes, you can still criticise it.

* The combat is so good, but granted, towards the 35-40 hour mark, it does become.. not exactly repetitive, but it sort of settles into its own groove a little too comfortably. You're encourage to experiment, test out, try out.. which is awesome! But once you settle into your winning recipe, the game really doesn't challenge you beyond that. Then, you find a new recipe, tinker some more with classes, mess around with arts, maybe find a less powerful build, thus making the game more challenging.. but then, you'll master that recipe too. You switch to Hard.. the game becomes hard, you're forced to strategise even more.. But eventually, you'll find your triumphant strategy even then. There's an immense satisfaction in mowing over mobs with your well-honed killing machine, don't get me wrong, but I sometimes wished for the combat to throw you a curveball every now and then, at least in the story. Some kind of master debuff that makes you think, or some kind of devious counter-strategy you'd have to outsmart. Something like that.

* The bosses, highlights of the game early on, really wears out their welcome, even quicker than the battles. The Chain Attack becomes less of a strategic treasure and more like an emergency button where you input the same winning combination over and over. Not to mention almost all of the bosses being very spongey.

* The story isn't quite a slow-burn, since it in my opinion gets interesting quick, and keeps a good mystery going. But towards Chapter 3-4, it kinda starts to run out of steam.

I get that the journey to Swordmarch is supposed to be a LotR-style journey from A to B, but it sort of settles into this groove of "traversing environment-campfire-emotional character moment-traversing environment-campfire-emotional character moment-traversing environment-campfire-emotional character moment" one time too many, I think.

* Another spoiler-heavy criticism, full game spoilers:

People bring up the villains, and towards the end I loved them, I loved N and M and the concepts and ideas, and Z made for a great final boss, and stuff like Joran's arc really got to me, and the whole story behind the Moebius was something I found fascinating.

But in the beginning, yeah, they're cartoony, not well-written at all and just feels like a bunch of non-threatening doofs.

* I think the bonus EXP and field EXP could've been distributed more evenly. Grinding away at mobs takes forever to level you up, but if you mess around and explore and do some story mission and then camp, all of a sudden you can boost yourself up 1-2 levels. This should be a positive, of course, since exploration is much more fun as a way to get EXP, not to mention a Xenoblade staple, but battling mobs can also be fun, and should be a more viable option in my opinion.

* And lastly, the game sure does like to lay it thick sometimes. Smearing orchestras, bombastic choruses and voice actors choking up... I do think that some scenes could've benefited from being a bit more subdued. Not every line has to be backed with a symphonic piano ballad.
 
One benefit to being overleveled is that you can defeat most sidequest bosses without needing chain attacks, which I honestly find to be a lot more fun. Arts were perfected in this game and are a ton of fun to use, while chain attacks are honestly kind of a slog given how repetitive they are. Can't say I really understand why the Chain Orders and TP counts are static regardless of your class, would've gone a long way in improving the whole process by giving you that extra degree of flexibility. You could even have Chain Orders be permanently learned like Arts and Skills and then interchangeable after switching classes.
 
So I was just minding my business playing Chapter 4 and...

... unexpectedly, shit hit the fan, and I thought "wow Chapter finale already? But the progress bar on the mission menu wasn't even halfway before I stumbled into thia cutscene..." & sure enough, things went crazy but the chapter isn't even over lol

Sometimes I do wonder how many Chapters this game has, but I am choosing to stay disciplined and won't look it up. Please don't tell me, I want my reaction to it being the end be genuine (there is a lot you can only tell about a story when you don't alrd know when it's gonna be over... that's smth only a game can give you since you can see how much book is left or how much time is left on your video progress bar for movies, so I wanna savor it).

Jersh said:
They don't gain anything from that. They still made money on you buying the headphones, may as well let you use them lol.
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I guess you're right, they wouldn't. Since I already bought the headphones, and chances are I already have a PS5 also, otherwise why would I buy headphones that say PS5 on them.

But sometimes companies be petty like that so you never know. In this case, since it does work, I do think Sony should make that fact more well known (I just assume it would work with eg a pc as well). Can only work to their benefit.
 
I really like the way and moment these side stories are introduced. Not only they kept me interested in hero's quests late in the game (even more so, because now we're talking about the main cast), but they also seem to coincide with the most critical moment of the overall plot after building these stories a bit throughout the game, which makes sense to me. It builds a great crescendo
 
Thunder84 said:
One benefit to being overleveled is that you can defeat most sidequest bosses without needing chain attacks, which I honestly find to be a lot more fun. Arts were perfected in this game and are a ton of fun to use, while chain attacks are honestly kind of a slog given how repetitive they are. Can't say I really understand why the Chain Orders and TP counts are static regardless of your class, would've gone a long way in improving the whole process by giving you that extra degree of flexibility. You could even have Chain Orders be permanently learned like Arts and Skills and then interchangeable after switching classes.
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Chain Orders being character based is definitely a bit disappointing, considering there's already different Chain Orders for each class thanks to the Heroes. Heroes in general are basically the most interesting part of the Chain Attack system and its a shame that their attributes weren't expanded to the main group

I haven't quite gotten to the point of disliking the Chain Attacks yet (about 40 hours in). They're still quite a bit of fun for me, honestly. But I can totally see why people dislike them and I do think there's a lot of missed opportunity there.
 
The chain attack system feels like a large chunk of it was designed in a bubble without looking at the rest of the game. The orders feel like they belong in a game where you can use any combination of characters, and those characters can't switch classes. The starting tp values for characters feel super arbitary and makes certain characters like Noah and Taion matter far more for rounds then characters like Sena and Lanz. I feel the system would make a lot more sense if starting tp was either class based, or was based upon the actual character relationships/affinity for who gave the order.
 
carlosfilho said:
I really like the way and moment these side stories are introduced. Not only they kept me interested in hero's quests late in the game (even more so, because now we're talking about the main cast), but they also seem to coincide with the most critical moment of the overall plot after building these stories a bit throughout the game, which makes sense to me. It builds a great crescendo
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100% agree.

I've been doing the main cast quests as of late and they really add a ton to the overall narrative, world, and characters. I just opened three more so further progress in chapter 7 will have to wait for another play session.
 
Finished chapter 4. The story finally got more interesting again for me, from the mid-chapter fight to the (smaller) revelations at the end.

I have to say, the consuls being the "real people" and everyone else basically a clone was super obvious at this point, and already a good guess before J's revelation. (Let's see if something else happens and everything I thought will be turned around.)
Also, as I expected, Melia would never have agreed to this. Now, what about the world? I remember N making a comment that Melia was the same as the consuls? I can't remember the exact words, but it was very suspicious.

Unrelated, but hearing the name Melia Antiqua again hit a nostalgic nerve.
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
Chain Orders being character based is definitely a bit disappointing, considering there's already different Chain Orders for each class thanks to the Heroes. Heroes in general are basically the most interesting part of the Chain Attack system and its a shame that their attributes weren't expanded to the main group

I haven't quite gotten to the point of disliking the Chain Attacks yet (about 40 hours in). They're still quite a bit of fun for me, honestly. But I can totally see why people dislike them and I do think there's a lot of missed opportunity there.
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Honestly, I don't really hate the system either. It's interesting and well designed overall. The problem is that there's just no iteration on it whatsoever. I've been following the exact same strategy currently that I was following in the early stages of Chapter 4. The only room for any sort of flexibility is the Hero roster.

I've said this before, but another way to improve Chain Attacks alongside more customization would've been to limit Ouroboros orders to Interlink Level 3. As it stands, there's absolutely no reason at all to do a Chain Attack through that method, because the regular Chain Attack will almost always do more damage. Giving players the option to choose between using Chain Attacks for heavy damage (Interlink) or for executing combos and healing the party (regular) would've injected some much needed choice into the mix. As it stands, it really does feel like it was made in a bubble, with little to no regard for the combat overall.
 
NabiscoFelt said:
Chain Orders being character based is definitely a bit disappointing, considering there's already different Chain Orders for each class thanks to the Heroes. Heroes in general are basically the most interesting part of the Chain Attack system and its a shame that their attributes weren't expanded to the main group

I haven't quite gotten to the point of disliking the Chain Attacks yet (about 40 hours in). They're still quite a bit of fun for me, honestly. But I can totally see why people dislike them and I do think there's a lot of missed opportunity there.
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Half the heroes are already utterly busted in chain attacks with just one, we don't need seven lol. In general, I'm in favor of there still being something differentiating the characters from each other since art availability doesn't anymore.
 
Jersh said:
Half the heroes are already utterly busted in chain attacks with just one, we don't need seven lol. In general, I'm in favor of there still being something differentiating the characters from each other since art availability doesn't anymore.
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Well yeah, presumably not exactly what the Heroes are, but something along those lines of having more unique effects depending on the class of a character.

Thunder84 said:
Honestly, I don't really hate the system either. It's interesting and well designed overall. The problem is that there's just no iteration on it whatsoever. I've been following the exact same strategy currently that I was following in the early stages of Chapter 4. The only room for any sort of flexibility is the Hero roster.

I've said this before, but another way to improve Chain Attacks alongside more customization would've been to limit Ouroboros orders to Interlink Level 3. As it stands, there's absolutely no reason at all to do a Chain Attack through that method, because the regular Chain Attack will almost always do more damage. Giving players the option to choose between using Chain Attacks for heavy damage (Interlink) or for executing combos and healing the party (regular) would've injected some much needed choice into the mix. As it stands, it really does feel like it was made in a bubble, with little to no regard for the combat overall.
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Yeah, I can totally get that. Chain attacks feel pretty divorced from the rest of the combat and progression.
 
The most surprising thing was they said onigiri in the dub instead of dumplings.

Lovecatt said:
where do i find the final hero
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I had to look this up. There are some standard quests you have to complete first. These are all around colony 4:
  • Charity and Hypocrisy
  • Tactical Eradication
  • Severed Connection

And a quest in a Chapter 5 area
This quest is received in the City
- Writer's Block

You have to pick up info (yellow 'i') about novels and discuss it at a campsite.

Then the quest will show up in Upper Aetia.
 
Chain attacks have gotten progressively more divorced from the rest of the combat as the series has gone on, while also gradually becoming a stronger option. These two combine to de-emphasize the main combat, which is generally the more interesting system to engage with. They're still satisfying here, but I'm questioning if I'm actually enjoying the combat now more than I was in the first half of chapter 2 (though I think that's partially due to my play style changing; I could theoretically get back to some of the things I feel off doing).

I still feel 1's color system was a stroke of genius that, coupled with the fact that chain attacks were literally just normal arts that followed the normal combat rules, made the whole thing feel cohesive. I realize that's not the majority opinion, but if you had the right set of arts, there were legitimately interesting decisions to make every chain attack. It was also an instant win button far less frequently, so even if it didn't feel cohesive, the main combat would still feel very relevant.

While I had my problems with 2's system, it did gate it behind a system that took a while to properly set up. In that sense, they sort of needed to make it a huge payoff to justify it. That's not the direction I prefer, but it worked for what it was trying to do.

But now 3 kept most of the damage payoff while also letting you combo. It also made it easier to heal, and doing any of this generally requires minimal sacrifices to overall damage. It's practically a party reset button that'll do half of any boss's health that can be built up in half the time of 2's. The only thing offsetting this is that imo the main combat has been less forgiving; it can be very easy to die sometimes, and I've even wiped soon after a chain attack that left me at full health.

Of course, it's still fun. Just not as elegant as prior systems have been.
 
BassForever said:
The chain attack system feels like a large chunk of it was designed in a bubble without looking at the rest of the game. The orders feel like they belong in a game where you can use any combination of characters, and those characters can't switch classes. The starting tp values for characters feel super arbitary and makes certain characters like Noah and Taion matter far more for rounds then characters like Sena and Lanz. I feel the system would make a lot more sense if starting tp was either class based, or was based upon the actual character relationships/affinity for who gave the order.
Click to expand...
Thunder84 said:
Honestly, I don't really hate the system either. It's interesting and well designed overall. The problem is that there's just no iteration on it whatsoever. I've been following the exact same strategy currently that I was following in the early stages of Chapter 4. The only room for any sort of flexibility is the Hero roster.

I've said this before, but another way to improve Chain Attacks alongside more customization would've been to limit Ouroboros orders to Interlink Level 3. As it stands, there's absolutely no reason at all to do a Chain Attack through that method, because the regular Chain Attack will almost always do more damage. Giving players the option to choose between using Chain Attacks for heavy damage (Interlink) or for executing combos and healing the party (regular) would've injected some much needed choice into the mix. As it stands, it really does feel like it was made in a bubble, with little to no regard for the combat overall.
Click to expand...

Totally agree that the Chain Attacks feel too detached from the main combat cycle that they very well could have been reworked from a completely different game. I still enjoy them, although I have to say the Chain Attacks in Xenoblade 2 are so, so much more satisfying. The way that, from the start of the battle, you're preparing for the Chain Attack, and every Chain Attack is different because it depends on how you approach the battle. What orbs do you want to put on the enemy? You can decide based on your Blades' elements and go for a Full Burst, or you can use the orb side effects to your advantage to Seal enemy attacks. There's even a downside to doing Chain Attacks, because bursting orbs removes their Seals. Xenoblade 2's Chain Attacks are so well thought out, that it's hard to not feel a little disappointed by 3's.

Still like 'em, though.

Bokuringo said:
Finished chapter 4. The story finally reached a real peak again for me, from the mid-chapter fight to the revelations.

I have to say, the consuls being the "real people" and everyone else basically a clone was super obvious at this point, and already a good guess before J's revelation. (Let's see if something else happens and everything I thought will be turned around.)
Also, as I expected, Melia would never have agreed to this. Now, what about the world? I remember N making a comment that Melia was the same as the consuls? I can't remember the exact words, but it was very suspicious.

Unrelated, but hearing the name Melia Antiqua again hit a nostalgic nerve.
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Oh man, I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the end of Chapter 5 and the beginning of Chapter 6.
 
0
Jersh said:
It's practically a party reset button
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Oh yeah, one more aspect of this I forgot to mention: it also clears debuffs. Chain attacks are a valid answer to not having a debuff clear in the party. That is a good thing overall since it frees up party composition to an extent (and believe me those arts are situationally great to have regardless), but I wish it were tied to an order bonus or something instead of being automatic. The only thing pressing plus can't do for you is revive party members.

Still, I do appreciate getting regular arts back, and there are some interesting calculations to be made in terms of going for combos without screwing up the damage ratio. I just wish there was more opportunity cost to everything, that's my main issue.

Thunder84 said:
As it stands, there's absolutely no reason at all to do a Chain Attack through that method
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It's a high floor method that's good for people struggling to grasp the system, and can be an interesting panic button in a pinch. Having two members down would kill a normal chain attack, but if you think your healer(s) will die before they can get everyone up, it can be an interesting way out. Pretty situational though.

The difference can also be smaller when using heroes that don't get great TP or damage ratio effects.
 
0
Finally beaten chapter 3 and I have to say that reading here Is getting me hyped for the next chapters, they sound crazy.
The story is on a crescendo right now but it's still mostly safe stuff and I'm ready for the heavy punches, at least I hope that's what I'm getting.
 
After getting the last traversal skill, I decided to use it and get to some areas I couldn't before. I just found what might be one of the prettiest and most fantastical areas in the whole game. I love that after beating the game I can still find breathtaking new locations.
 
I’ve seen some concern about Xenoblade 3 sales. I’m surprised about the doom and gloom.

Feels like every Nintendo series is getting it on switch lol.
 
DecoReturns said:
I’ve seen some concern about Xenoblade 3 sales. I’m surprised about the doom and gloom.

Feels like every Nintendo series is getting it on switch lol.
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there was someone on era that is apparently some insider that said early sales were disappointing but install base kind of debunked him as a sales insider so idk
 
Every now and then I think about that random character at the start I saw wander up and take Guernica’s eye patch that I haven’t seen in the 20 hours since.
 
I feel this game doesn’t trust the audience sometimes

It literally shows flashbacks for scenes that happen minutes ago lol.

Might be a over-correction from Xenoblade 2. I recall some folks said “this didn’t make sense!” When the answer was in a pervious scene.

Pretty humorous to see tho.
 
Expectations: "ok, time to make some progress in the main story."
Reality: "second hero's quest in a row? Hell freaking yeah"
 
The entire city section of the game, in particular the party discovering what babies are, skyrocketed this game up my all time favorite game stories. It was so well done and so emotional that it was hard to keep playing for the night
 
BassForever said:
The entire city section of the game, in particular the party discovering what babies are, skyrocketed this game up my all time favorite game stories. It was so well done and so emotional that it was hard to keep playing for the night
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Wait til late chapter 5!!!
 
BassForever said:
The entire city section of the game, in particular the party discovering what babies are, skyrocketed this game up my all time favorite game stories. It was so well done and so emotional that it was hard to keep playing for the night
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I don't know what it is about that scene, but it feels like it was made perfectly and tastefully. I don't think I've ever seen such relatable humanity in a video game before.
 
A bit random but I'm enjoying playing the Full Metal Jaguar class with the camera pulled all the way in. Makes it feel kind of like an FPS.
 
Lovecatt said:
finally got all the heroes unlocked

not it's time to figure out how to get ethel back cause that cutscenes doesn't trigger for me for some reason
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Is it the cutscene to get Ethel back at all or the ascension quest that you're trying to trigger?
 
bellydrum said:
Pleeease let me know when you're wrapping up the prison raid
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Okay, after 80 hours I hit Chapter 6! Full Chapter 5 Thoughts finally! (and the very first little cutscene of Chapter 6)

Hooo boy this was a hell of a chapter. Mostly fantastic stuff all around (I apologize because damn, wall of text incoming):

This is kind of stream-of-conciousness and mostly in order of the chapter:

- The beginning is extremely strong, with the entire lead-up to the Sword, taking that elevator (that VIEW my god) and then finding the City.

- Monica is a boss, and I love that we're getting Vandham in the party... in a way

- The party learning about human lives, babies, etc., was incredibly sweet; I loved Taion's eagerness to touch the baby's finger. Imagine telling someone prior to release that there'd be a scene in XC3 where the main party gets a group sex ed talk, and it actually fit the story and wasn't awkward

- Erythia Sea is a gorgeous zone that is absurdly massive. I spent way too long getting warp points, completing quests, and so on, and I feel like I could spend ages more here still

- I admit to being slightly confused about Fiona's entire quest - so her consul was using illusions to pretend to be one of them, but was also killing them to feed the flame clock, but was also hiding the flame clock and everything to do with how the colony was run, etc., but... why? Just to fuck with everyone? Because she wanted to fit in and be one of them, but still had to use them in order to exist as Moebius? Maybe I glossed over some details but this didn't seem entirely clear

- Triton is fun, and Soulhacker class just screams "this class will be absurdly broken in the endgame but it will be a ton of work and take a lot of knowing what to kill, and where, and how to set it up, to really get it there"

- The prison break scenario was fun, if maybe slightly too long, since it makes you fight a LOT of groups of enemies and is a bit repetitive. Not bad overall, just a bit slow since it feels like you're close to hitting the really good stuff story-wise

- I love Ghondor's attitude and speech, but I wish we got a little more about her personally - her backstory, why she is the way she is, etc., although I assume that will come later. And wooooo another Vandham!

- The big confrontation during the escape had some extremely cool action and cutscenes, although it goes on maybe a touch too long - we get it, N and M way outclass us, but three separate bosses seemed a bit much. And Shania... I'll talk about Shania in a bit, put a pin in that one

- I legit wondered if Lanz and Sena were going to die for a brief moment there - I don't know how they could have pulled that off mechanically, but it was still a cool sacrifice even if it ended in nothing.

- Okay now the really great stuff: The entire section of the party in jail in the castle, ticking away the days to Mio's death, having that vocal song kick in as a montage, Mio ACTUALLY dying - then finding out it was the other Mio, etc. - holy crap I just cannot put into words how awesome this section was. A fantastic plot twist, combined with tons of backstory that really explains why N is the way he is. I teared up more than once during several of these scenes. And it really made N a believable character - you can see how he would have made the choices he did, and over time become so used to death and grow to feel how insignificant it all is given the cycle and such, and how he slowly twisted into the callous villain he is now.

- Okay, so, Shania: I'm torn because I like how her theme contrasts with the other characters: The story seems to be so far all about living life, with all its ups and downs and tragedies, to the fullest, and not clinging to the past, no matter how tempting that may be. N goes through a lot and in a moment of weakness he makes the wrong choice to lock everything in stasis, and this sets him down the path to become the villain he is now. The party, on the other hand, decides to move forward and break the cycle, no matter the consequences. Shania basically makes the opposite choice in contrast to the party: She isn't satisfied with her life, and decides that if she can just be reborn maybe she'll have a better one, and screw everything else. My issue with this is that I don't think she's set up well enough: You don't really learn enough about her or why she's so upset about her life and the way things are, and why that would lead her to such a crazy extreme that it does. Like, she feels so weak and useless and hates Ghondor for being everythign she's not SO much that she will happily let THE ENTIRE CITY get blown up and just laugh it off? She's a tragic character that I like pieces of, but I feel like she didn't quite come together and needed a bit more buildup.

- Yep, I called it that we'd be going up above the starting battlefields soon, sweet!

- One last quibble: The cutscene early Chapter 6 where N kills everyone in the city feels a bit... too much, too soon. I felt like the explanation for him making his choice to become Moebius and be with Mio forever, and him slowly becoming more and more evil while she does as well but also kind of starts to regret it over time was very good. This scene, though, kind of undermines that a bit for me as it feels too extreme; N actually going through with this at that time feels a bit of a stretch, as does Mio not then being completely done with him. But maybe this is expanded on more, so I'll let this one be for now.

- I absolutely grinned like an idiot when we got another tutorial this late in, hell yeah

Phew. I feel like I need to breathe, and go for a walk and mull all this over. TLDR; this game is great, the characters are great, the cutscenes are great, maybe some minor pacing issues at times but overall I'm loving it.
 
bellydrum said:
I don't know what it is about that scene, but it feels like it was made perfectly and tastefully. I don't think I've ever seen such relatable humanity in a video game before.
Click to expand...
It got a lot of little details right. It focuses on the characters faces, and lets them react speechlessly for just a little longer than normal, which is true to how most people experience overwhelming emotion from new sensations. Their immediate reaction is to share it with each other, which feels right. Everyone expressed their joy a little differently, which was especially evident in Taion's laugh - but it was all the same joy. Perhaps most importantly, it trusts itself that it got it right, and that you'll be able to relate to it as a human being instead of having one of the characters interrupt their raw emotion to deliver exposition on how their feeling. It simply lets the moment... be, without telling you how to feel about it.

The improved facial animations/tech were crucial here. I've felt throughout the game that the emotion behind the faces felt more nuanced than anything Monolith Soft has put out before, and this scene really utilized that.
 
SammyJ9 said:
Okay, after 80 hours I hit Chapter 6! Full Chapter 5 Thoughts finally! (and the very first little cutscene of Chapter 6)

Hooo boy this was a hell of a chapter. Mostly fantastic stuff all around (I apologize because damn, wall of text incoming):

This is kind of stream-of-conciousness and mostly in order of the chapter:

- The beginning is extremely strong, with the entire lead-up to the Sword, taking that elevator (that VIEW my god) and then finding the City.

- Monica is a boss, and I love that we're getting Vandham in the party... in a way

- The party learning about human lives, babies, etc., was incredibly sweet; I loved Taion's eagerness to touch the baby's finger. Imagine telling someone prior to release that there'd be a scene in XC3 where the main party gets a group sex ed talk, and it actually fit the story and wasn't awkward

- Erythia Sea is a gorgeous zone that is absurdly massive. I spent way too long getting warp points, completing quests, and so on, and I feel like I could spend ages more here still

- I admit to being slightly confused about Fiona's entire quest - so her consul was using illusions to pretend to be one of them, but was also killing them to feed the flame clock, but was also hiding the flame clock and everything to do with how the colony was run, etc., but... why? Just to fuck with everyone? Because she wanted to fit in and be one of them, but still had to use them in order to exist as Moebius? Maybe I glossed over some details but this didn't seem entirely clear

- Triton is fun, and Soulhacker class just screams "this class will be absurdly broken in the endgame but it will be a ton of work and take a lot of knowing what to kill, and where, and how to set it up, to really get it there"

- The prison break scenario was fun, if maybe slightly too long, since it makes you fight a LOT of groups of enemies and is a bit repetitive. Not bad overall, just a bit slow since it feels like you're close to hitting the really good stuff story-wise

- I love Ghondor's attitude and speech, but I wish we got a little more about her personally - her backstory, why she is the way she is, etc., although I assume that will come later. And wooooo another Vandham!

- The big confrontation during the escape had some extremely cool action and cutscenes, although it goes on maybe a touch too long - we get it, N and M way outclass us, but three separate bosses seemed a bit much. And Shania... I'll talk about Shania in a bit, put a pin in that one

- I legit wondered if Lanz and Sena were going to die for a brief moment there - I don't know how they could have pulled that off mechanically, but it was still a cool sacrifice even if it ended in nothing.

- Okay now the really great stuff: The entire section of the party in jail in the castle, ticking away the days to Mio's death, having that vocal song kick in as a montage, Mio ACTUALLY dying - then finding out it was the other Mio, etc. - holy crap I just cannot put into words how awesome this section was. A fantastic plot twist, combined with tons of backstory that really explains why N is the way he is. I teared up more than once during several of these scenes. And it really made N a believable character - you can see how he would have made the choices he did, and over time become so used to death and grow to feel how insignificant it all is given the cycle and such, and how he slowly twisted into the callous villain he is now.

- Okay, so, Shania: I'm torn because I like how her theme contrasts with the other characters: The story seems to be so far all about living life, with all its ups and downs and tragedies, to the fullest, and not clinging to the past, no matter how tempting that may be. N goes through a lot and in a moment of weakness he makes the wrong choice to lock everything in stasis, and this sets him down the path to become the villain he is now. The party, on the other hand, decides to move forward and break the cycle, no matter the consequences. Shania basically makes the opposite choice in contrast to the party: She isn't satisfied with her life, and decides that if she can just be reborn maybe she'll have a better one, and screw everything else. My issue with this is that I don't think she's set up well enough: You don't really learn enough about her or why she's so upset about her life and the way things are, and why that would lead her to such a crazy extreme that it does. Like, she feels so weak and useless and hates Ghondor for being everythign she's not SO much that she will happily let THE ENTIRE CITY get blown up and just laugh it off? She's a tragic character that I like pieces of, but I feel like she didn't quite come together and needed a bit more buildup.

- Yep, I called it that we'd be going up above the starting battlefields soon, sweet!

- One last quibble: The cutscene early Chapter 6 where N kills everyone in the city feels a bit... too much, too soon. I felt like the explanation for him making his choice to become Moebius and be with Mio forever, and him slowly becoming more and more evil while she does as well but also kind of starts to regret it over time was very good. This scene, though, kind of undermines that a bit for me as it feels too extreme; N actually going through with this at that time feels a bit of a stretch, as does Mio not then being completely done with him. But maybe this is expanded on more, so I'll let this one be for now.

- I absolutely grinned like an idiot when we got another tutorial this late in, hell yeah

Phew. I feel like I need to breathe, and go for a walk and mull all this over. TLDR; this game is great, the characters are great, the cutscenes are great, maybe some minor pacing issues at times but overall I'm loving it.
Click to expand...
Not only was it
another Mio that died, it was M herself. They switched bodies so M could escape her eternal life with N.

I'm sure you caught that though—just had to make sure based on how you worded it.

I had to take a break after all that, it hit me like a truck.
 
So I have some weird thoughts about XB3, which I am plopping here because I'm.. I think about halfway through and I have some semi-spicy takes at this point, but since Xeno games tend to have a big rug-pull moment in the back half I thought it'd be fun to lay out my uninformed reactions so far so I can revisit them later if this game ends up turning them inside out and making me feel like a dumb:

Xenoblade 1, X, and 2, all had what I've been calling a "Gaur Plains moment," the point where the first big, green, wide open place takes my breath away. The surreal topography and sheer vastness of the terrain popped my brain in all three of those games, at Gaur Plains, Primordia, and Gormott. I can kinda tell the point in 3 where it was supposed to happen I think: when the music changes for Kilmarris Highland. But for some reason (maybe how narrow the area is), I just didn't get that gut punch reaction of "holy cow this is majestic." It's gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but.. it didn't hit the same. For some reason.

The topography itself was another weird one. I've come to expect these impossible, imaginative terrain features from XB games, and as lovely as everywhere is here, it seems almost.. too grounded? If that makes sense? Not as surreal as before? It feels less like Xenoblade and more like Zelda. Which again, is not inherently bad (it's still a better game world than most games I've played) but it just caught me off guard how different it feels compared to my expectations. It's like all the "oh wow" moments that I am having with the terrain are not from the terrain design itself, but the references to the past games (the curved spires of Bionis' Leg, the hand of the Fallen Arm, etc). Like the individual areas don't seem to have their own personality to quite the same degree that places like Noctilum, Sylvalum, Uraya, or Leftheria did. And where's my bioluminescent forest, XB3?

So to be clear: it's absolutely amazing, gorgeous, well designed, but.. somehow different from what I expected. So it seems kinda strange even though it's incredible. Also different is how the area music hasn't been quite as memorable to me as the other entries. Instead it seems like they went for absolute broke on the battle and event themes, which is the inverse of the other games where I loved the area themes more.

And the gameplay, they nailed it. This is the first Xenoblade game where I feel like I almost understand the battle system, and am actually enjoying grinding. It's awesome.

XB3 is also hands-down by favorite cast of the entire series. By far. I'm also very much invested in the story, whereas in past Xenoblade games I was enamored with the lore and the world they built more than the actual step-by-step of the story and character beats.

So to summarize, and why this all feels weird to me, it's like they took my loves and expectations of the Xenoblade series thus far and inverted them. In past entries I loved the personality of the areas but found their size lacking, here I find the personality lacking but the scale absolutely amazing. In past entries I found the area music to be incredible and the battle themes to be okay, here I find the area themes to be okay but the battle themes are absolute bangers getting stuck in my head. In past entries I couldn't get into the battle system, but here I find myself grinding for fun. In past entries I found the world and lore more interesting than the characters, and here we have my favorite cast in all of Xeno.

It's crazy how consistently everything I expected has been turned upside down with this game. 😅 And I absolutely love it to pieces. What a blast this is. I can't wait to see what else they do with what they've set up.
 
bellydrum said:
Not only was it
another Mio that died, it was M herself. They switched bodies so M could escape her eternal life with N.

I'm sure you caught that though—just had to make sure based on how you worded it.

I had to take a break after all that, it hit me like a truck.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I meant, probably should have said that name better.

This is going to be a kind of a left-field comparison, but I'm getting some shades of the anime Madoka Magica here - which I can expand on later, maybe, if anyone cares enough, lol. Maybe after I finish the game
 
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