Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Enel has tutorials, but I wouldn't really support the guy. He harassed a smaller creator because they got a review copy while he didn't.

Just finished up Chapter 2, and I know it's still early in the game, but my initial thoughts so far are it's probably the weakest in the series so far. It's been a lot easier than previous games, likely due to having six people in battle rather than three. There has also only been, I think, one side quest so far (other than the ongoing one of having to visit every Nopon seller), and it was of the worst kind where you just have to find random items that add up to some arbitrary 100 "points." And I know every game has had a lot of cutscenes, but this one seems to take it to the extreme. It feels like it's been 75% cutscene and 25% just walking to the next area. This has also been the one RPG series where I don't usually battle every enemy I see because a) there are so many of them, and b) they are usually just cute animals minding their own business so I don't want to fight them. But in this game, most of them run and attack me even when I try to leave them alone and even when I am higher ranked than them. I know it will get better, but these are my initial thoughts.

@Xyphon22

I'll address your points one by one

1) As you've finished Chapter 2 you've fought K, meaning you've experienced the boss health sponges. They get harder and with thicker health bars after this point. Not necessarily harder per se, just much longer to defeat.

2) Same with cutscenes, the game gets much more balanced regarding game to cutscene ratios. The early game for all three is full of cutscenes and after the first chapter or two it really eases off and lets you explore. You're now past that point.

3) In any of the XC games fighting every single enemy isn't the point, at least if you do all the side quests. They're not meant to be grindy-RPG type games. They actually over-level you a little if you do every single one.

Not gonna lie though... those collection quests can suck it.

So chapter three has gone and answered pretty much all of my above complaints. There have been a lot more side quests to do, and because of that, more action that is not just cutscenes. Maybe the main story will still be mostly cutscenes, but I've actually been able to go do other stuff finally unlike in the first two chapters so it doesn't seem like it. And I went and got my butt kicked by one of the bosses until I went and did more side quests to level up before fighting him again. And I don't know what the threshold is, but eventually enemies stop attacking you if you are considerably higher ranked than them, so that's good, too.

One complaint I didn't mention before, though, because it doesn't really have to do with the gameplay, is the characters. I just don't really care about them that much because they're not really different. Noah, Eunie, and Lanz are just Shulk, Fiora, and Reyn in different skins. Mio is just female Shulk. Sena I usually forget is even there because she doesn't do anything. Taion is the only one that seems legitimately unique and he is my favorite. I thought the characters in Xenoblade 2 were much more diverse with much better personalities. I do have a feeling, though, that that may be purposeful (please no spoilers!), so we'll see as the game moves along.

Yeaah Xenoblade 3 is cutscene heavy. Moreso than the other Xenoblade games- which were also pretty cutscene heavy.

Also I disagree heavily with your assessment on the characters. To me, they're probably some of the best written in the series- and actually feel pretty human. There's a lot of nuance to their personalities and viewpoints as well. None of the characters (other than maybe Lanz) felt to me like they were even like the previous characters. Noah definitely is an entirely different type of character from Shulk. Eunie is no-where close to being anything like Fiora. Lanz is just pretty much Machina Reyn, but eh. Mio is also nothing like Shulk.

Hmm. If I go on youtube and look up compilation videos of all the main story cutscenes, the three games all seem to feature around 13-ish hours of main story cutscenes. So I don't really see any evidence of increased use of cinematics compared to the other games in the series.

I actually felt like I spent more time in the third game actually playing it. It probably helps that XC3 actually had a ton of meaningful side content. XC2 had a lot as well, but it made the content difficult and annoying to access. XC1 was a shell of a game that used giant, empty environments to pad out what was otherwise an extremely linear experience.

@Xyphon22 Opinions are opinions, but I really, really don't see most of those character comparisons. Particularly 'Eunie = Fiora,' lol. Don't see it at all.

@Ralizah Huh I could've sworn there was more cutscenes in 3 than the others. Maybe it's just how the cutscenes are spread out that makes it feel that way.

It's been a couple years since I played XC3 now, but if I recall much of the better character development of the main six characters didn't kick off until later in the game. All are expanded upon well in some way except arguably Sena; her Ascension quest is easily ninja'd by another character that has some parallels to her.

Personally, Eunie and Taion are my absolute favorites.

My favorites are Noah, Eunie, and Taion honestly. Noah's probably my favorite of the Xenoblade protagonists.

@VoidofLight I could see that, considering how narratively dense certain stretches are (particularly late ch. 5 - early ch. 6, which is essentially a three hour movie punctuated by boss fights, lol)

@Ralizah Exactly. The later chapters have a lot of long cutscenes that are amazing, but at the same time make the game feel more like you're sitting down to watch a movie. I still love that though. It was like watching a rollercoaster unfold- and a lot of it kept me guessing for a while when I first played through the game. Sort of hope Xenoblade 4 takes a similar approach.

I think Lanz and Sena are the most afterthought characters but they’re still very strong on their own, especially with their own brands of crippling insecurity and self doubt.

My personal favourite is Taion though, he’s the most well rounded character of the lot I feel. He’s charismatic, aloof, intelligent, witty and thoughtful all in one and I went from hating to loving him:

@VoidofLight @Ralizah Well, again, I'm still fairly early in the game (I'm now partway through chapter 4), so there's plenty of time for the characters to grow and to grow on me, especially if what @Tyranexx is true that their characters develop later. Also, I haven't played the original Xenoblade since the Wii well over a decade ago, so there's a good chance I'm misremembering those characters. I guess Fiora was probably more happy-go-lucky and Eunie more sharp-tongued. So maybe she's more like Nia in X2. But either way, she's kind of a copy. I'm not saying I don't like her, because I do, it's just that I feel like I've seen this character before. And maybe Noah and Mio aren't like Shulk. Shulk had much more personality than them. Noah and Mio are just kind of there and wax philosophical. They are deep thinkers, which is cool and all, that's how I am in real life so I appreciate it. They just don't make for very exciting video game characters. But just my opinion which could easily change as I get further into it. But as most people here seem to have said, Taion is definitely my favorite.

@Xyphon22 Interested to see how you feel about them in future chapters.

@VoidofLight Me too! And I just looked it up because I had just been assuming this game has 10 chapters like X2, but apparently it only has 7. So it sounds like I'm actually about halfway through the game unless the later chapters are a lot longer. So there's less time than I thought left.

@Xyphon22 Each game in the series is about the same length as one another. The chapter split is always sort of arbitrary.

I spent a heck of a lot longer on the last three chapters than the first four. By that point, the world opens up a lot - there is one particularly huge late game area - and there's a lot of tempting side content.

The main characters all have their own story arcs, so it's more of an ensemble cast than the previous games, which were mostly about Shulk and Rex. I felt Sena was a bit underused, with even her ascension quest mostly being about someone else, but the rest all had their time to shine. You're well into the side content to get their full stories though.

Well, Chapter 4 is already being huge. I thought it would be over after the big battle between the 2 Ferronises and then the 2 interlinked Mobeius, but nope, it just keeps going. But since mentioning it, I'm sorry, but that has got to be the dumbest thing/storyline/excuse whatever that I have ever seen.
Two people who may be the strongest warriors in Keves and Agnus respectively just as humans are given personalized Ferronises that make them pretty much unbeatable. They are so good that they withstand the Consuls' attempts to mind-control them and can do whatever they want with this unlimited power. They know what's at stake in the world and the mission that Noah and crew are on and fully support them. They're not enemies anymore but are working together for good. But instead of joining them and wiping out the bad guys, they choose to just fight and kill each other because, welp, it's what we've thought about doing for awhile now so, heck, why not?

I mean, come on! They can try to rationalize it all they want and give reasons, but there is no rationalizing that. It is just dumb and a ludicrous thing to have happened.

@Xyphon22 From what I remember there was a deeper reason to that. I believe the whole scene was meant to serve as a last act of defiance towards the consuls. They knew they weren't going to last much longer, and one ended up gouging out their own eye. They wished to go out the exact way they chose, instead of going out the way Moebius decided for them. At least that's what I remember. I still need to replay 3.

Yeah, that's pretty much my take on it too.

I'll throw in that they both come back later in the game and fully aid Ouroboros, once it's revealed that everyone is being reborn in an endless cycle, except for the ones taken out of it because they've been rescued by the people of the City.