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Pre-Release Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Pre-release Discussion Thread (Spoilers from leaks/early copies NOT allowed)

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Oh, so my guess was right. I'm glad. I wasn't ready to wait another week for news.

This is the trailer we got at the XC2 Direct. So I'm hoping this Direct is a big blowout.

 
Almadel said:
Oh, so my guess was right. I'm glad. I wasn't ready to wait another week for news.

This is the trailer we got at the XC2 Direct. So I'm hoping this Direct is a big blowout.

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Of all of 2's trailers, this one probably got me the most hyped. It was nice to learn more about who some of these characters actually were, and THAT MUSIC
 
I've seen some concerns that the direct could just be a recap of what's been tweeted and in the blogs. To get a better idea of what we could expect, I made a list of what new information was in the november 2017 direct for Xenoblade 2 that wasn't tweeted beforehand (there had been about two months worth of weekday tweets by this point) or in a previous direct:

  • The ability to switch between Pyra and Mythra mid-combat to give Rex a fourth blade
  • Aux Cores, Core Chips, and Accessories (we had seen these drop from enemies but didn't know the specifics of how they worked or that there would only be two equip slots per character before the november direct)
  • Core chips changing weapon appearance
  • Driver and Blade affinity charts (Takahashi said each blade had their own skill tree in an interview at E3 but we hadn't seen it in game before this, nothing was known about drivers having skill trees before)
  • Zenoba, Wulfric, Godfrey, and Herald were first shown
  • Tiger, Tiger and how Poppi wouldn't be upgraded like other Blades
  • Field Skills
  • Pouch Items and their effects (we had seen lots of shops with different item symbols before but didn't know how the items would work)
  • Zeke was first shown to be playable (though it was obvious from the key art)
  • The idea of classes and your class being defined by how many blades of a specific role you equip (though this was speculated to be a thing since the gamescom footage)
  • Heart-to-Hearts
  • Merc Missions
  • Salvaging and Trading Posts
  • Fusion Combos (you could see them happen in previous footage but they weren't officially discussed until this direct)
  • Expansion Pass reveal promising new items, new quests, a new rare blade (not a typo on my part, it is singular in the direct), challenge battle mode, and a new story campaign
 
Harpoon said:
Of all of 2's trailers, this one probably got me the most hyped. It was nice to learn more about who some of these characters actually were, and THAT MUSIC
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The launch trailer is my personal favorite and what really sealed my hype excitement for the game. I love the way it ends.

 
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EtherPenguin said:
I've seen some concerns that the direct could just be a recap of what's been tweeted and in the blogs. To get a better idea of what we could expect, I made a list of what new information was in the november 2017 direct for Xenoblade 2 that wasn't tweeted beforehand (there had been about two months worth of weekday tweets by this point) or in a previous direct:

  • The ability to switch between Pyra and Mythra mid-combat to give Rex a fourth blade
  • Aux Cores, Core Chips, and Accessories (we had seen these drop from enemies but didn't know the specifics of how they worked or that there would only be two equip slots per character before the november direct)
  • Core chips changing weapon appearance
  • Driver and Blade affinity charts (Takahashi said each blade had their own skill tree in an interview at E3 but we hadn't seen it in game before this, nothing was known about drivers having skill trees before)
  • Zenoba, Wulfric, Godfrey, and Herald were first shown
  • Tiger, Tiger and how Poppi wouldn't be upgraded like other Blades
  • Field Skills
  • Pouch Items and their effects (we had seen lots of shops with different item symbols before but didn't know how the items would work)
  • Zeke was first shown to be playable (though it was obvious from the key art)
  • The idea of classes and your class being defined by how many blades of a specific role you equip (though this was speculated to be a thing since the gamescom footage)
  • Heart-to-Hearts
  • Merc Missions
  • Salvaging and Trading Posts
  • Fusion Combos (you could see them happen in previous footage but they weren't officially discussed until this direct)
  • Expansion Pass reveal promising new items, new quests, a new rare blade (not a typo on my part, it is singular in the direct), challenge battle mode, and a new story campaign
Click to expand...
Yeah there's quite a bit they could talk about, looking at this list

Plus, this is after XC2 got multiple in-depth showings at stuff like Treehouse, so we know comparatively much less about XC3.
 
NabiscoFelt said:
Yeah there's quite a bit they could talk about, looking at this list

Plus, this is after XC2 got multiple in-depth showings at stuff like Treehouse, so we know comparatively much less about XC3.
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Right, and a lot of the mechanics are things you couldn't really predict too which is why I think it's funny when people ask what more could they show. Who could've predicted 2 had a pixel art arcade game in it before they showed it?

There really is quite a bit more they could show on top of recapping stuff from the blogs. I'm expecting a more detailed look at the class system and class changing with info on both arts and skills, info on equipment and more details about gems, chain attack deep dive, Noah's gauntlet, and more info on ouroboros mechanics. They've never made more tweets about ourobros since the very beginning, I wonder if they have any customization or even their own gems/equipment.
 
EtherPenguin said:
Right, and a lot of the mechanics are things you couldn't really predict too which is why I think it's funny when people ask what more could they show. Who could've predicted 2 had a pixel art arcade game in it before they showed it?

There really is quite a bit more they could show on top of recapping stuff from the blogs. I'm expecting a more detailed look at the class system and class changing with info on both arts and skills, info on equipment and more details about gems, chain attack deep dive, Noah's gauntlet, and more info on ouroboros mechanics. They've never made more tweets about ourobros since the very beginning, I wonder if they have any customization or even their own gems/equipment.
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Even just getting recaps of the blogs/tweets in English with new footage is still significant, but yeah we can expect a lot more on top of that. We haven't actually seen a lot of the core systems of the game - character building is basically entirely a mystery beyond mastering arts.
 
Here's my big prediction before the direct/new trailer:

The reason why they haven't shown any night footage is because those giant mechanic machines/buildings(?) activate and roam around in certain areas
 
ragolliangatan said:
I'm hoping to see if we are getting a season pass for the game- as I thought XB2's was superb value
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If we get one, which I think should be a given, I hope it will include another Torna-like affair, and that it will be sold as a standalone retail release as well.

What can I say, I like my boxes.
 
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Finished Xenoblade 2 last night. Replaying Xenoblade 2 after finally playing Xenoblade 1 last month was like peeling off blinders. Hitting the final chapter of 2 knowing what I now know from 1 is like one of my favorite gaming experiences I've ever had.

I want to move on to Torna, but I feel like I'm not ready to leave 2 if that makes sense. Like, I want to "live inside 2's world" for a little longer. Oh well. I have a late July deadline I need to pay attention to.

Also, is the recent "Nintendo fan" discourse targeting Xenoblade and Fire Emblem getting anyone down? I've always considered Xenoblade's development a "good vibes" story from Nintendo's catalog. Fan's petitions working out, successful sequels, etc. Seeing some of the community's anger toward a franchise I thought most of the community was on good terms with has been depressing, especially when my excitement for the series is reaching its peak.

I know it shouldn't matter, but I think communities for games enhance the experience and when most of the conversation around Xenoblade right now is anger it's tough. Like, I've seen a crazy amount of takes saying Monolith should abandon Xenoblade for a new IP, a possibility I find horrifying. Let Takahashi tell his story!
 
BradenAndEggs said:
Finished Xenoblade 2 last night. Replaying Xenoblade 2 after finally playing Xenoblade 1 last month was like peeling off blinders. Hitting the final chapter of 2 knowing what I now know from 1 is like one of my favorite gaming experiences I've ever had.

I want to move on to Torna, but I feel like I'm not ready to leave 2 if that makes sense. Like, I want to "live inside 2's world" for a little longer. Oh well. I have a late July deadline I need to pay attention to.

Also, is the recent "Nintendo fan" discourse targeting Xenoblade and Fire Emblem getting anyone down? I've always considered Xenoblade's development a "good vibes" story from Nintendo's catalog. Fan's petitions working out, successful sequels, etc. Seeing some of the community's anger toward a franchise I thought most of the community was on good terms with has been depressing, especially when my excitement for the series is reaching its peak.

I know it shouldn't matter, but I think communities for games enhance the experience and when most of the conversation around Xenoblade right now is anger it's tough. Like, I've seen a crazy amount of takes saying Monolith should abandon Xenoblade for a new IP, a possibility I find horrifying. Let Takahashi tell his story!
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That’s funny, my boyfriend (who didn’t love Xenoblade 1) said the exact same thing about Xenoblade 2 the other day. He’s already logged 260 hours in, has all the blades, many of them fully developed, has maxed out all titans and merch missions, etc etc. And he too was impacted watching the beginning of chapter 10, especially when they named Klaus.
 
maniacmaison said:
That’s funny, my boyfriend (who didn’t love Xenoblade 1) said the exact same thing about Xenoblade 2 the other day. He’s already logged 260 hours in, has all the blades, many of them fully developed, has maxed out all titans and merch missions, etc etc. And he too was impacted watching the beginning of chapter 10, especially when they named Klaus.
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Oh yeah! There are a couple of lines of dialog in that last chapter that hit you like a freight train in a way I didn't expect replaying 2 after finally seeing 1.
 
BradenAndEggs said:
Finished Xenoblade 2 last night. Replaying Xenoblade 2 after finally playing Xenoblade 1 last month was like peeling off blinders. Hitting the final chapter of 2 knowing what I now know from 1 is like one of my favorite gaming experiences I've ever had.

I want to move on to Torna, but I feel like I'm not ready to leave 2 if that makes sense. Like, I want to "live inside 2's world" for a little longer. Oh well. I have a late July deadline I need to pay attention to.

Also, is the recent "Nintendo fan" discourse targeting Xenoblade and Fire Emblem getting anyone down? I've always considered Xenoblade's development a "good vibes" story from Nintendo's catalog. Fan's petitions working out, successful sequels, etc. Seeing some of the community's anger toward a franchise I thought most of the community was on good terms with has been depressing, especially when my excitement for the series is reaching its peak.

I know it shouldn't matter, but I think communities for games enhance the experience and when most of the conversation around Xenoblade right now is anger it's tough. Like, I've seen a crazy amount of takes saying Monolith should abandon Xenoblade for a new IP, a possibility I find horrifying. Let Takahashi tell his story!
Click to expand...

Fantastic post, I agree with you on all points. Fortunately Xenoblade is finally hitting all strides and getting the treatment it deserves, and us fans are eating. We are finally living in the best timeline of the Xeno-verse.

And to all haters out there: flora heals an aching soul.
 
I’m watching if I can (in the office but not too busy so far). I won’t be able to avoid the Twitter discussion for the next month anyway so I may as well face it head on.
 
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As tradition, there's so much stuff in the game that I feel we've barely seen any of it.
Framerate looks rough. It felt like it was dipping to 20fps every few seconds. Don't know if it was the stream or just the game, hopefully the former
Also wy is riku's voice so damn deep?
 
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FV3TTrFWYAIv796
 
Warlord said:
As tradition, there's so much stuff in the game that I feel we've barely seen any of it.
Framerate looks rough. It felt like it was dipping to 20fps every few seconds. Don't know if it was the stream or just the game, hopefully the former
Also wy is riku's voice so damn deep?
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Framerate looked ok to me, might have just been the stream?
 
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What if story DLC is an adventure with Rex, Shulk and friends meeting after the worlds collide? That would be very cool. I also put this in the other thread, but I have a feeling that Nia and Melia aren't actually the characters we know, but people made to look like Nia and Melia to be puppets in charge while the 'real enemy' rules and forces these battles. Maybe Nia and Melia were leaders after the worlds collided and their image is being used because they are legends?

Can't wait to play!
 
So, the story expansion DLC is coming out in December 2023?

Damn, seems like the expansion will be even bigger than Torna going by how it is one and a half years away instead of the usual one year wait for DLC.
 
My heart wants the pixelated hero to be a returning character but my brain knows it's Ethel (or Vandham?)
 
mazi said:
wait... what if the story DLC is about bringing XCX into this whole mess?
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Full Metal Jaguar is already a class (for Mr. Edgy the Gunslinger) X is in this mess

Anyways, some things I found that were interesting that weren't explicitly mentioned. I'll put it in Spoilers in case people are reading this thread in post-Direct hype who don't want that sort of info

Villain group is referred to by Taion as the Consuls (or rather, they serve as consuls to the Queens but it works as a name), but they're probably also the Moebius enemies we've seen referenced in Artes names. I'm going with Consuls for now to refer to them

So, that dude at the end of the trailer looks like Noah, right? Is this another Shulk/Zanza situation? They wouldn't just do that, but again, right? There's another scene in the trailer where it seems like Eunie and Noah are fighting in Ouroboros form, unless that's one of the Consuls that just looks like Noah's Ouroboros.

My personal environment and creature variety concerns are officially gone, that bit of the trailer where they showed off environments was breathtaking. The scale of the world here is also just incredible, and every bit seems explorable. Monolith Soft are the undisputed kings of world design

XC1-style Affinity Charts are back. One of the relationship descriptions (presumably for a pet or mount) is just "Meep" with a heart, and that's adorable.

Accessories are a thing! We don't know anything beyond that. Or about how Gems work. Why are you hiding this from us, Monolith

We have some sort of Skill confirmation, but we're still frustratingly limited on what we know of the system. However, each class has "Master Skills" that I assume function like "Master Arts", where you can take them outside of the class.

The Class/Hero menu in general is interesting. [CENSORED] is apparently our very first Hero character, unless the Chronological sort at the top refers to something else, which I don't think will be the case. So, maybe Vandham actually survives? I can't think of anyone else who'd join that early and yet warrant a censor. Though it would be quite a feat to have hidden him from us in cutscenes since I imagine he'd be playing a fairly large role.

Weirdly enough though, Riku and Manana are a good deal lower on the list, despite being present in the scenes where the characters are introducing themselves. I wonder if they'll be present from the beginning but only decide to help with combat later on (would explain the "Manana help with fighting" line from Trailer 2). They are pretty clearly support staff so it probably takes encouragement/dramatic anime moment to get them to fight

Fiona's a new race for these games, seems to be a Demon/Oni type deal (at least, the typical anime depiction for Oni girls). She's also the Agnus Flagbearer we saw in the banner for Note 4

The locked classes seem to include Cammuravi, and another might be Ehtel? Hair doesn't quite match up though. There's also a freaky looking fella that might be an Ouroboros or Blade. This menu is weird though, since Noah's flat out missing some options, namely Lanz and Sena's classes. Now that I think about it, maybe they're locked at the moment for story reasons? We've actually seen him use both of those classes before, after all.
And I don't think it's because Noah hasn't reached whatever affinity threshold or what have you needed to unlock the class, since that's probably what the locked classes are, if I had to guess. They both seem to be present in the party though. I think between that and the fight between Eunie and Noah in the trailer we might be getting some serious inter-party drama. Or just possession/brainwashing

We see a bit of Zeon's Guardian Defender in action. Seems like you use your Talent Art to block damage and "Awaken", after which you have various bonuses to your other arts

There are 10 Heroes shown explicitly, and 3 more hinted at via the class menu. There are 14 Classes shown for Noah, but since we have Censored Hero and Lanz and Sena missing we can assume at least 17. We know Ethel will be giving us her class, but she might be the blanked-out girl, so we can't really assume any more characters or classes beyond this. However, the numbers aren't really even yet (and they should be, since I imagine we'd want an even split of Agnus and Keves Heroes, and also Hero Class Roles. Then again, maybe they just won't care about that), and we're at least missing Isurd's class out of the likely candidates, so I'm leaning towards there being more. There are slots for at least 20 Heroes, but we do know we'll be getting some as DLC, so that's not indicative of a base roster minimum.

Agnus Ouroboros confirmed, as many were speculating. Seems like Ouroboros in general are pretty customizable through SP (something we saw earned after reaching a landmark). Lots of different Arts choices, and presumably bonuses elsewhere in the chart. Since class progression seems fairly streamlined (we probably just get Arts and Skills through ranking up, which is a pretty solid method to do things given how many classes there seem to be), this is probably where we get our fill of the classic Xenoblade Skill Tree experience (TM). Unless there's also personal skill trees outside of Ouroboros, who knows. They're being annoyingly coy about progression.

Also, the left Dpad button for the Ouroboros form is still missing. There's definitely going to be a "true combination" deal that might take that slot.

And that's it for now, probably missed a lot but I'm not an analyzer, I'm just hyped
 
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I'm surprised by how much we still don't know. Loving what we're seeing. One concern that came up is it looks like you can only master three arts and two kills which is a bit limiting for customization. So there's two arts per class you can never take off that class. That was the only real bummer though, I like everything else we saw. It seems nopon coins can even be used to unlock classes to bypass building affinity.

The UI as it is now can fit 16 heroes and we're getting DLC heroes so pretty much exactly as I predicted. It's interesting the DLC doesn't say it's adding a challenge battle mode but rather just challenge battles meaning challenge battle mode is part of the base game, yay! I wonder what Elma's class would be where Gray is already a full metal jaguar if she gets added.

They still didn't show us much more about gemcrafting. Monolith seems a lot more excited about cooking lol. The shop sold Xenoblade 2 style accessories which is a little disappointing. I was hoping if they did accessories again they would at least have them offer multiple effects. None of the accessories showed anything that looked like gem slots so I'm still rather unclear how equipment all works together.

I noticed a lot of the location names are taken straight from previous games. Colony Gamma is on Melnath's shoulder like Umon's place used to be. The white sand area is straight up Dannagh Desert, that surprised me. The Urayan Tunnels look like a fusion of Uraya and Tephra Cave, I hope at night time it looks like the Uraya we all know and love.

People guessed that 2's DLC story would be about the events on old Torna 500 years ago due to the expansion pass key art having the Torna seal on it. Given that this one has the Monado REX and Aegis Sword, I'm guessing they're going all in on fan service for this one.

Also there's a new status called Burst that follows up Daze if anyone missed it. And agility gems being blue instead of green will always be weird to me.
 
EtherPenguin said:
I'm surprised by how much we still don't know. Loving what we're seeing. One concern that came up is it looks like you can only master three arts and two kills which is a bit limiting for customization. So there's two arts per class you can never take off that class. That was the only real bummer though, I like everything else we saw. It seems nopon coins can even be used to unlock classes to bypass building affinity.

The UI as it is now can fit 16 heroes and we're getting DLC heroes so pretty much exactly as I predicted. It's interesting the DLC doesn't say it's adding a challenge battle mode but rather just challenge battles meaning challenge battle mode is part of the base game, yay! I wonder what Elma's class would be where Gray is already a full metal jaguar if she gets added.

They still didn't show us much more about gemcrafting. Monolith seems a lot more excited about cooking lol. The shop sold Xenoblade 2 style accessories which is a little disappointing. I was hoping if they did accessories again they would at least have them offer multiple effects. None of the accessories showed anything that looked like gem slots so I'm still rather unclear how equipment all works together.

I noticed a lot of the location names are taken straight from previous games. Colony Gamma is on Melnath's shoulder like Umon's place used to be. The white sand area is straight up Dannagh Desert, that surprised me. The Urayan Tunnels look like a fusion of Uraya and Tephra Cave, I hope at night time it looks like the Uraya we all know and love.

People guessed that 2's DLC story would be about the events on old Torna 500 years ago due to the expansion pass key art having the Torna seal on it. Given that this one has the Monado REX and Aegis Sword, I'm guessing they're going all in on fan service for this one.

Also there's a new status called Burst that follows up Daze if anyone missed it. And agility gems being blue instead of green will always be weird to me.
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While it is a bit limited in terms of what you can carry over per class, the sheer amount of classes is probably where the complexity will come from. Pretty excited for that

Did not notice the Burst following Daze, that's neat. Each combo tree is now 4 actions long.
 
1655912693397.png
1655912718132.png


Currently analyzing the first minute or so of the Direct. Lots of very interesting content that hints at the main story.

What are these conduit / zohars on their chests for?
 
NabiscoFelt said:
The Class/Hero menu in general is interesting. [CENSORED] is apparently our very first Hero character, unless the Chronological sort at the top refers to something else, which I don't think will be the case. So, maybe Vandham actually survives? I can't think of anyone else who'd join that early and yet warrant a censor. Though it would be quite a feat to have hidden him from us in cutscenes since I imagine he'd be playing a fairly large role.
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I'm wondering if it's a thing where taking a sidequest locks the hero slot to the relevant person and that's why the top slot had to be censored. Though it definitely could still be Vandham even then, since there really aren't many other characters who would warrant censorship like that outside of the queens.
 
The design of the baddies and the "virtual world" kinda smell of them connecting X to the story...
 
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I understand it can be frustrating when people try to force parallels to previous Xeno games everywhere but it's genuinely hard for me to look at our 2 presumably main antagonists here and not think of Xenogears
 
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