It is the best selling, but that's despite its sexualization. It would have been an even better best seller if it didn't have that hindrance.
I'm not saying I take issue with it, but I am saying it impacted its broader appeal. One only need see the numerous reddit threads about it.
Eh, I disagree. The people who care about the few questionable outfits in XC2 are a loud minority of the fanbase.
If you took the opinions of loud internet minorities as being indicative of larger trends in the world, BotW would be considered a decent but largely overrated Zelda game that would have sold a fraction of the copies it actually sold, Metroid would be one of Nintendo's best-selling series, Bloodborne would have sold tens of millions of copies, and people in your everyday life would regularly ask you your pronouns.
I've seen no evidence that adding in mildly sexualized female character designs suppresses sales at all. The sales numbers for XC2 certainly don't bear that out.
The biggest thing keeping Xenoblade from blowing up is honestly probably its reputation for complexity. Monolith Soft keeps saddling its games with complex systems, mechanics, and user interfaces with icons littering the screen, and that probably scares off a lot of casual players. I'm sure the odd, vaguely MMO-ish flow to combat doesn't help, either.
Also, if Fire Emblem and Persona are any indication, another way to increase interest in the series would be to include social sim elements. I'm not saying being able to date cute high school waifus is the primary reason modern Persona games vastly outsell the rest of Atlus' catalogue, but it certainly doesn't seem to be hurting sales, either.
And I think Xenoblade 3 is going to show us the true potential of the series, as it is more palatable to a larger audience. And preorder numbers reflect that.
Pre-order numbers where? Because Nintendo's likely severely under-supplied Special Edition crashed their website?
I just looked at Amazon's best-selling Switch games at the moment, for example, and it doesn't even seem to appear on the list. You know what is (admittedly low down)? Xenoblade Chronicles 2, at full price, lol. Bayonetta 3 as well, although that's probably expected given the release date was only recently announced.
I'm sure that'll change closer to launch, of course, but I'm genuinely curious where you're noticing an upsurge of interest in the game.
As for Bayonetta 3, as I mentioned I would expect at least 1.2 mil given Astral Chain managed that. 1.5 is same ballpark. That's the bare minimum it needs to do.
2 million, however, is the threshold I'd like to see it break. Doesn't need to do it by January 1st. Sales take time. But the series has more pedigree than Astral Chain, more notoriety, and is widely regarded as the best series Platinum has on offer. And, this time, it has addressed several things I believe was previously holding it back. While Bayo 2 was a port and didn't get much hype, this one is reaching outside the inner Nintendo bubble.
Bayonetta 2 was still Bayonetta 2. If there was significant pre-existing interest in the series, you'd have expected it to do significantly better than the Wii U release, since it became available on a much more popular device. Most people don't care if games are ports or brand new, as evidenced by the sky high sales of other "Wii U ports" on the system.
I'm expecting it will outsell Bayonetta 2 overall, but I don't see a reason to expect it'll generate massively more interest than previous entries.
I can reasonably believe Bayonetta could've turned off some people, but its M rated and the sexual stuff is a major, specific and unavoidable part of its identity. Outside of a certain unavoidable aspect of Pyra's design, Xenoblade 2's sexual stuff is just an occasional quirk of its humor/side and late game character designs in a very T for Teen, 13 year olds getting into shonen anime type of way that's arguably less risque than some jokes in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
In the case of both (though far more for Xenoblade 2), I think its more that that is part of its general style that isn't gonna be for everyone even if it wasn't sexual.
@Ralizah
It's not about the loud minority though, it's about reaching ppl beyond the tiny JRPG Nintendo bubble. And normies are turned off by that sort of thing. I've seen it in my personal life with coworkers I've recommended the games to. Not every issue on reddit is an indication of a sales hindrance, but in this particular case, I believe it was. Xenoblade 2 could have reached a lot more people off the back of Zelda BotW from those intrigued by the open world. It's image hurt it more than it helped it. And Xenoblade 3 will do better without it. That's my true belief.
Clearly there are many other aspects which are factors, complexity included, but that hasn't changed so I'm not addressing that. I'm only addressing what's changed between XC2 and XC3 that will lead to higher success.
As for preorders, Japanese preorders from specific retailers are tracked on several social media sites and compares with XC2, Soul Hackers 2. Right now it surged passed XC2 numbers at the same time period, and massively dwarfs Soul Hackers 2. In fact, Soul Hackers 2 is at less than half the numbers for SMTV.
As for Bayo 2 sales, you could be right, but not necessarily. Some games just don't hit it off for whatever reason. And I think Bayonetta 2 released in a time where the install base was smaller and a larger percentage of Switch owners played on Wii U, and during a time complaints of ports were overbearing. It also still faced many of the same issues preventing more widespread adoption previously, because it was the exact same game. Better platform helped it- and that's probably why it outperformed the Wii U version. But the fundamental appeal of the game didn't change. And that's why I think it didn't do even better.
Bayo 3 has addressed the next two biggest culprits I believe has hindered its success. Without any further barriers in the way, I see no reason to believe this entry won't be a breakout hit for the series (provided it's marketed well up to release and reviews well, of course).
@kkslider5552000
I understand that. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying when there's a girl in super skimpy clothes and super large boobs in the adverts it presents a certain type of anime image that turns a lot of ppl off- the type of ppl who aren't hard-core into JRPGs like we are. I'm not advocating they change or do anything more than what they want as creators. But as an outside observer, it's something to note that does affect its appeal beyond the hard-core JRPG enthusiasts.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
Zachariah 12:10 (500 yrs before Christ)
They will look on Me whom they pierced
Xenoblade 2 leans on a lot of harem anime tropes which especially since it is unexpected based on 1, is off putting (I mostly played as Morag as the team lead and ignored Rex and his blades as much as possible because all I could think was "geez this nonsense again?") It really makes the story of xenoblade 2 (which is fairly serious) very lopsided in presentation.
Bayonetta's themes are interwoven and part of its identity from the start (and sex does play a big part in christianity, which Bayonetta lifts heavily from with a Japanese lens...after all religion as an institution tries to tell people who they can have sex with, and even how...so it isn't as out of place in the Bayonetta as people try to pretend it is)...there is no shock if you survived the first 2 then the 3rd won't be as bad. That being said I'm a red blooded lesbian but I'll likely be playing in naive angel mode. Not because the female form makes me uncomfortable, after all I get undressed everyday, but because using female bodies as shock and titillation repeatedly is boring (and annoying). Imagine if someone tells a funny joke, but then keeps telling it over over nonstop, and if you say anything they say you have no sense of humor and keep telling it over and over. Now imagine if the joke is about you. Even if you thought it was an amusing rip at first, you are going to get annoyed. And that is a rather benign example of course as it doesn't denote all the crap women deal with simply because men find us attractive.
Bayonetta also imo flips it sexualization on its head by making Bayonetta herself in control, and the game feels less like voyeuristic material for guys to fap to and more like she does what she wants, because she wants to. Bayonetta, also while absurdly tall (she has a spider design), has more realistic proportions than the two blades and despite technically being naked...is better dressed. That's why I play Bayonetta, because she is cool and confident and powerful and takes no crap, which is way sexier imo than her pixelated behind. There is a difference between being sexually confident and sexually objectified (primarily the sense of vulnerability that most men just won't empathize with because most men don't have to deal with the amount of unwanted sexual microaggressions women do). Not to mention the psychology of feeling sexy/sexually confident vs being viewed as a sexual object/playing into male expectations. And one very much can happen without the other. The problem is that objectification is more popular with dudes for fap material. Either way the perception of the characters can impact sales, and despite how it looks on game sites, women are now a large and visible part of gaming and that means finding a happy medium in thematic presentation.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
@JaxonH I'd find that argument a little more convincing if XCDE hadn't released and still failed to perform on par with or better than XC2. It being a remaster of an older game might have something to do with that, but it's currently impossible to tell what percentage of potential buyers held off for that reason, just as it's impossible to know how many more or less people would have bought the second game if Pyra's outfit had been a bit less revealing (because until mid-to-late game when you're getting tons of optional blades, her outfit is pretty much THE example of sexualized character design in the game).
Hard to say how XC3 will end up doing, honestly. While it's a great looking game, and interest in the series has absolutely grown on Switch, I could see how it being marketed as a follow-up to both previous games might alienate potential new buyers. And, if you're looking to go beyond the niche fandom the series already enjoys, those are the people you're going to need to woo.
I could see it outselling XC2, but probably not by a lot. I personally think it'll top out around 2.5 million units. It'd be pretty major if the game went past three million units, which would put it in Persona 5 territory as far as sales go, but I don't think it's in the cards.
Yeah, I'm sure Sega isn't expecting much from Japanese pre-orders for Soul Hackers 2 when it's skipping the one universally popular platform in the region. Some series, like Monster Hunter, are big enough that they can succeed there without a Switch release, but non-Persona MegaTen spinoffs just aren't there, popularity-wise.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land outsells Kirby Star Allies
Three Hopes outsells the original Fire Emblem Warriors
XC3 sells around the same as XC2
Splatoon 3 outsells Splatoon 2 if they're different enough (right now Splatoon 3 looks like it could've been added to Splatoon 2 instead but we haven't had the big Splatoon 3 Direct yet)
Easy to forget with all the exclusives coming out, but don't forget another Legend of Heroes is launching on the system this year. Simultaneously with the other versions this time!
@NeonPizza Given your paralyzing fixation on input latency and high framerates, I'm not sure why you'd bother trying any non-exclusive on the system, tbh.
@Grumblevolcano Yeah, I also think Sparks of Hope will undersell Kingdom Battle, unfortunately. There really hasn't been a lot of fanfare for the sequel, which is unfortunate, since it looks like the closest thing we'll be getting these days to a proper Mario RPG.
Lol I totally forgot about Trails from zero but have it preordered (I try to preorder NIS games because I always have trouble getting them). But thanks for the reminder. I’m going to have to block off a lot of time for the holidays to play catch up.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
I did a search but couldn't find this specifically. I'm interested in the Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games but my question is. Is it better to buy it itself or go thru the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion pack? If I go with the online membership will the Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games still be mine if I choose to stop the online membership? Thank you.
@VinnyEth2022 You have to have the online expansion pack membership in order to access the games. And if you ever cancel your membership, the games will no longer be accessible.
"Science compels us to explode the sun!"
Currently playing:
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition (Switch)
Balatro (PC)
Lol. Because Klonoa looks like an Xbox 360 game and the switch should of been able to handle it with ease. Just surprised by the chuggy motion. Would of gotten it otherwise, regardless If the PS5 version is 4K. It’s not like it supports 120 or anything, ahem, which it should have and could have.👌
Yeah this is one of the main reasons I'm waiting a bit to get it. Because this game can very obviously run without issues on Switch, there's no way it can't. Just as of right now it has not worked out that way because of whatever happened when porting it (I assume they just weren't given enough time).
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