Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

@Ralizah Yeah, it's such a good remaster, it really makes the game shine. I'm still in disbelief over that 3ds port though, I almost want to play it just to see how it runs. Before 3 came along, 1 was actually my favourite Xeno game (only played the Switch entries) so it's surprising you didn't like it that much. I will say DE came at just the right time in my life, so that might be a factor.
Xenoblade's all about love, and I'm here for it

As for Future Connected, I like it overall but it's definitely not essential to play. It wraps up Melia's character arc pretty well and it has maybe one cool story moment but other than that it's fine. It does introduce some elements that could be a factor in the formation of Aionios, but before 3's dlc answers that (hopefully), I'm not sure. Torna is undoubtedly better than Future Connected, so don't expect too much out of it.

I'd recommend saving it for a potential Xenoblade-themed craving in the future. I played it long after the main game and it made me realise how much I missed these characters. Unless you're really curious about it, you can probably skip it

If you do skip it, however, at least listen to the main battle theme. It's too good

@Vortexeo Glad I'm not alone thinking it's going to be relevant to the DLC! Xenoblade lore is going to awaken my third eye someday

@GreenTea Dude ikr! They're really playing the long game with the Xenoblade stories!

@Vortexeo Hmm. If it's that short, AND it might be connected, I might just check it out prior to the XC3 DLC. I don't expect Pack 4 to release until the summer at minimum.

@GreenTea The 3DS port runs well enough. I mean, about as well as the Wii game did. It's a little visually downgraded from the original console version, but the screen is so small and blurry that it doesn't really register anyway. Even with the aggressive resolution dips in larger areas in XCDE when undocked, it still looks significantly better than the 3DS version ever does. Although the game looks so good on our 4K OLED that I've been playing undocked as little as possible when it comes to main story stuff.

Yeah, I know XC1 is popular in Nintendo communities, but it's never really connected with me for a variety of reasons. I also struggled to get into XCX. I almost skipped XC2 at launch, but ended up buying it anyway after loving the pre-release footage, and... I mean, I have my gripes, but I absolutely fell in love with the characters, world, music, and story. Alrest is easily my favorite Xeno world to date. And then Torna came out, and it maintained most of what I loved about the main game while excising the more flawed elements.

XC3 is 100% the best game, though. Just pure magic from beginning to end. One of my favorite JRPGs of all time. They even made it look sharp and pleasing when played undocked! I'm heavily tempted to say it has replaced Breath of the Wild as my favorite game on the Switch.

The only issue I had is that there were certain elements, mostly related to the game's backstory, that felt underdeveloped. I figure that's going to be explained in the DLC, though.

I believe Brilliant Wings is actually in XC3, but yeah, I've listened to it. It's a banger. It's like the Trails in the Sky FC battle theme on steroids.

@Ralizah Xenoblade 3 DLC might be the first DLC that requires you to go back and play older games for the full picture, it's going to be wild.

Xenoblade 2 might be the most mixed-feelings game I've ever played. There's so much to love... but also so much to despise. At this point, I'm kind of embracing it, cringe anime cliches and all. It's weirdly charming, the game almost feels... naive at times with some of its plot points.

But I will say, Torna absolutely redeemed it for me. The Torna stuff in the base game was, imo, by far the most interesting aspect of the story so of course I love it. It's easily the best DLC I've played to date.

There's not much else to say about Xenoblade 3, Iove it a lot, might be in my top five favourite games, they really learned their lesson from 2. They made something way more focused and I adore it. And it looks good in handeld, finally!
I definitely hear people that wished for more callbacks, but to me, the stuff the game brings as a standalone story is so good I really didn't mind. They could have gone further with it, but it might be distracting people from the core of the game.
But why isn't Uraya explorable though? And WHERE IS TYREA? 😂

@GreenTea It really feels like the XC3 DLC is being positioned more as a celebration of/conclusion to the entire franchise. I can't imagine why else one's first look at it would prominently feature major characters from the previous two games.

I recall reading some comments from people who said this is more what they expected from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I disagree. I'm glad that game forged its own sense of identity, and didn't allow itself to wallow in nostalgia and callbacks. I mean, they're all over the place if you know where to look in the game, but I was pleasantly surprised how little focus was given to them. It's far better than what I initially expected when they announced that XC3 was going to be a sort of combination of the worlds from the first two games.

They absolutely learned their lessons from the previous games. Gone are XC1's horrible side-quests, shallow party dynamics, and needlessly empty environments. Gone, too, are the technical issues, bad tutorials, and gacha aspects from the second game.

They delivered a JRPG with the generally serious tone of the first entry, the deeper characters of the second one, much of the science-fiction vibe of their earlier Playstation games, and side content that, quite honestly, rivals the best games in the medium.

Nothing is perfect, but it's hard to think of a better JRPG I've played. I prefer the music, villains, and late-game narrative build-up of Xenoblade 2, and... erm... the first game has a better title screen, but otherwise it's pretty much everything I could have wanted in a Monolith Soft game.

@Ralizah It's interesting for me to see such a positive take on XC3 when I myself was disappointed in it for it not being a proper conclusion to the series in the way I imagined it. Yes, it's good that the game carves its own identity, but I would've liked it then if they kept Xenoblade 1 and 2 out of it entirely then. On its own merits I think the game's story and characters (at least its main characters, Noah and Mio) aren't anything to write home about either the further into the game you get, but I feel I would've not been so deeply dissapointed if it had truly 'carved its own path' as a game seperate from the xenoblade canon instead of me now having to feel like I'm finally getting what I signed up for when I heard this was the conclusion to the saga. The rest of my complaints I've kind of already repeated ad nauseam: story and character complaints, the combat feeling rather dull, the world being bigger but not really better... but I'm glad the DLC might give me what I want out of a conclusion while the main game can still exist and do its thing.

I'll agree the sidequests in XC3 are great and outshine 1 and 2, I was just too bitter at the main story and characters to give many of them a try after I was done, haha. Might go back for them someday.
But yeah, interesting to see different perspectives.

@Takoda It probably helps that I have only moderate interest in the wider mythology of the series. For me, Xenoblade shines when it's focused on it characters, and on the meaningful themes that crop up throughout the games. To be honest, this is probably one reason why I've never been a big XC1 fan, among others I've outlined over the years.

But... yeah. Every game offers up a different experience, in many respects, which is probably a big reason why the games divide opinion so sharply. Hopefully the expansion gives you the follow-up you were looking for. I'll be satisfied as long as it addresses some of underdeveloped aspects of the main game's backstory.

@Ralizah I haven't read your spoilers so don't know where you are in the game, but you've played 10 hours less than me, roughly, and you're about 10 levels higher than me. I'm in Chapter 13 currently. Interested to find out how that works out, cos I've been doing most of the side quests as I go along, so far as I can tell.

@gcunit Without spoilers, I'm in Ch. 17. 62 hours in atm. I did some grinding after an unbalanced late-game boss kept killing me, so my party is at lvl 81 now. I did most of the side-quests I came across, but there's not a lot of use for money in this game, so I eventually just prioritized the ones that awarded experience and moved on with the main story.

@Ralizah I totally agree with you here. In my opinion, it really is the perfect combination of both games. They do have a few elements I prefer over 3, but man overall it shines brighter than they managed to, for me.

Also love the title screen comparison. 1 is incredible but the sequels never came close to matching it. I was totally expecting 3's title screen to change at the eclipse. I thought they would turn it into a night theme with yellow partcles flowing through it and a flute song. That would have been perfect

@Takoda I do recall seeing you being pretty disappointed with 3, and honestly to some extent I agree, like I almost feel baited that they showed Nia and Melia in that first trailer because I totally thought we would get to see them as villains that would actually oppose our cast, I even imagined an Engage the Enemy/Counterattack playing while they totally own the party, that's how far I wanted them to take it😂, but they are still cool when they show up, even if their screentime is short. And considering it's "the end of the Klaus saga" I fully expected to see him, or at least get an explanation of Z being somehow related to him. There are a few missed opportunities here and there but I worry too msny callbacks would overshadow the main cast. Considering how much I was actually squealing at the few name drops, a few more and I could have stopped caring about the main cast.

It must be kind of frustrating seeing everyone rave about the game so much, so I'm unirojically sorry haha. I hope the DLC gives you what you're looking for!

Just beat the game. 63.5 hours.

Not a terrible final dungeon, although a little on the short side, and it was weird fighting a bunch of random monster bosses in the build up to the finale. Origin felt much more climactic to me as a final location. Although the track they used in this last area was fantastic. Very, very dramatic. I was annoyed every single time an enemy attack interrupted it.

Interesting POV viewpoint in the final cutscene. I would have preferred it ended with a proper kiss like in Xenoblade 3, but at least it wasn't actively disappointing like the last few moments of the second game.

So, aside from Future Connected, which I'll probably get to in a few months, it seems like that's a wrap! I guess I could do some of the time attack battle mode stuff, but, honestly, it wasn't really enough to re-invest me in a game I've already beaten.

Taking the improvements in this remaster into account, I can say this was a solid 7/10. Still not, and will never be, a game I'm gaga about, but I'm glad I finally sat down and properly experienced it from beginning to end.

@GreenTea XC1's default title screen is pretty good. I love the dramatic lighting changes, the sweeping music, etc. It's an iconic, gorgeous title screen. Although, having just seen what it turns into after you beat the game, I'm disappointed. I want to go back to the Monado, not a bunch of forgettable environmental shots with loading screen transitions. -_-

XC2's wasn't bad, either, although it lacks the drama of the original's title screen. I also prefer the default screen to what it turns into.

XC3's is just the worst, though. The music was so soft I could barely hear it, and the visual element isn't really there, either. Ironically, despite being my favorite game in the series, my first reaction to it was disappointment thanks to that title screen.

Interestingly, while the games have only improved over the course of the series, the title screens have devolved over time.

@Ralizah Well that was surprisingly fast! I guess if you didn't do many side quests it makes sense you beat it so quick. Congrats!

The ending is pretty great, it gives me the feels! And the final dungeon track is a total banger, I love how it makes for one of the most dramatic door openings I've ever seen

Sixty hours seems about right for a first run.

Future Connected aside, there's still a fair bit worth doing in the post-game, such as rebuilding Colony 9, unlocking the extra skill trees, taking down the superbosses and beating the challenge mode. It's not quite so rich in content as the subsequent games, mind you.

@GreenTea I had about 12 quests left by the end of the game left undone. Add in the quests that became inaccessible after I hit the Mechonis core, and I'd say I left about 20 of the quests I collected undone. Granted, there might be some quests I neglected to pick up in the first place, but I'm pretty judicious about accepting sidequests. So I'd say I completed at least more than half of them.

@Matt_Barber I got about 60 out of this, 100 out of XC2, and 120 out of XC3. At the rate this is going, my XC4 playthrough will be as long as my Persona 5 Royal run (which took me 150 hours).

@Ralizah 63.5hrs? Wowsers. Back in the day people used to call it a 100hr game, but I guess the Def. Ed. tweaks have streamlined it somewhat.

You got any battle/party tips? I generally just main Shulk, Reyn and Dunban still. Seem to cream my way through anything lower than my level in seconds, but anything more than a couple of levels above me, and particularly the ones with sparkly bits around their name, still slow me down/make me dodge the encounter.

@GreenTea Seeing everyone rave about a game that is full of flaws to me can get a bit annoying sometimes in a sense, but it was the first time where a highly regarded game that I only saw positive reactions to left me feeling like I was an outlier, haha. Different stories and gameplay mechanics will resonate with different kinds of people, and that’s fine, it keeps things fresh. For example, I liked the button prompts in XC2 and the different special attacks, it had me feeling way more involved with battles than XC3 ever did, but if you didn’t like those prompts and found the special attacks confusing then their exclusion would be a good thing. Same with the chain attack mechanic of 3, some people loved it, but to me it took far too much time with suboptimal damage output (on hard, at least, but then normal difficulty was kind of a cake walk) in battles that already lasted far longer than I liked, with mechanics that don’t feel geared to long battles like XC2, which had combo routes that you needed time for to activate. I hope I’ll get something more to my taste with the DLC, but even if not, I’m still looking forward to whatever the series has up their sleeve next, and I still love discussing with others what they liked about XC3 or finding other like-minded people.

@Ralizah like @Takoda i have mixed feelings with XC3 and I would consider it the biggest disapointment from last year (if you are allowed to say it from a game you played for over 140h...) Because the characters and the story arc are easily the weakest in the series imo. Combat wise I can see that all it has done it was for it to be easier to use and understand, however the combat in 2 when it clicks it is just way way better.

I am looking forward to the dlc to see my Rex in action obviously!!!

I can think of many such instances:
Bloodborne
Journey
The Last of Us
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (non-remake)
Super Mario 64
Super Mario World
Toki Tori 2+
Xenoblade Chronicles

@Balta666 I'm kinda sad adult Rex seems to lose his awkward charm over time, but we'll see what the DLC does with him.

@Ralizah Super Mario 64 and Bloodborne would fit on my list too, now that I think about it. Super Mario 64 I didn't really dislike that much but nowadays it just really feels extremely dated and sometimes straight up frustrating. Bloodborne I played on a friend's PS4 since I don't own one myself and that starting area just left me with the most annoyed reaction I've had in a souls game.
I guess some other games that would fit on my own outlier list would be:

• Zelda: Ocarina of time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess
• Dark Souls 1
• Sky: children of light
• Horace
• Minecraft
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Metroid Prime Remastered, unless the rest of the game suddenly ramps up immensely.

I guess it would be more accurate to say it was the first time I was an outlier in a series I cared about and expected to love, because now I see I'm kind of indifferent/negative about a lot of highly praised games, haha.