Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 3

@VoidofLight, while that comment section is getting out of hand, it's not because of the people defending XC2.

It's because of the overwhelming amount of comments that are exaggerating, comparing 2 (and by extension what they think 3 will be like) to outright p0rn.

Yes, XC2 leaned on the sexualized designs a bit more than the first game sure, but it's still not really all that out of line for the genre as a whole, and yet you have those that are acting like it's near neck & neck with the likes of Senran Kagura or Gun Gun Pixies in terms of the lewd content.

While I'm sure there are a few people that REALLY got into 2 because of that aspect, they really don't seem to be commanding the comment section nearly as much as the detractors.

@RR529 Ah. I must've misunderstood the entirety of the comments then. I had bad experiences with people in the fanbase who only played 2 because of the sexualization in it, and nothing else, refusing to even acknowledge the other games in the series, and acting like everyone in the fanbase liked Xenoblade only for the sexualization of it's characters. Sorry about that.

@VoidofLight Ahh yeah...that is indeed about what I expected 😅

I was kinda hoping Xenoblade 3 would stop the topic from coming up again since it looked like it returned to more grounded designs but here we are once again 😂

It always kind of amuses me that Xenoblade gets so much attention with its fanservice and frankly I feel like people on both ends of the spectrum can be quite stupid.

I've definitely seen people like the ones you were talking about. I actually saw a guy in a youtube comment section say that he wants Xenoblade 3 to sell less than Xenoblade 2 because there's less fanservice which is incredibly petty to me.

On the other hand, I have seen people criticize Xenoblade and claim they will never go near it due to sexualization but they'll be perfectly fine with playing Fire Emblem and other JRPGs which is quite hypocritical.

The whole topic to me was really blown out of proportion but it's why I hope they bring back customizable outfits this way people who enjoy fanservice can enjoy it and those who aren't really into it can wear the more grounded outfits.

@VoidofLight, yeah, I don't know what it's like on the other parts of the web, but at least on that particular comment section I don't remember seeing anyone thinking that XC3 looked too "censored" or anything like that.

The one person I saw who said they weren't interested in playing 1 said so because they thought 2's sexualization would ruin it for them (they didn't think they'd like 2, so don't think it'd be worth even trying to get into the first).

@Vortexeo Honestly, I don't even mind the fan service. I just don't enjoy how there's a good bit of fans who only like the series because of that, and it makes actually having good conversations about the series difficult. I do feel as if Xenoblade 2 went a bit overboard with the fanservice aspects, but I feel like it would have been better if they offered more optional clothing like Xenoblade 1 did. 1 had fanservice designs for the characters, but it wasn't really baked into their main design, so if you didn't want them to have those sorts of outfits, you can change it.

3 doesn't seem to have that, but the base designs are more grounded, and it looks like they made armor swapping into characters switching jackets and using different weapons... which is incredibly goofy, but I think it's also kind of funny at the same time.

@RR529 Ah yeah, I saw that person. I did see one person comment how they thought the game was going to be censored or something.

I now have someone claiming that sexual fanservice is something Monolith is going to do with 3 just because they want to make the game "more mature". Yes, just ignore games being more mature because of complex themes, but instead shove shallow fanservice into it and call that "Mature".

Even though I quite like the fanservice, I wouldn't call it 'mature', @VoidofLight .... But I think we can be sure there'll also be properly mature content as well Sounds like you come across the worst fans somewhere, though

I wish they would keep the September release date for Europe because it's going to be a bunch of ***** breaking the street date.

@VoidofLight If there's going to be an actual romance instead of teasing and friendzoning... I'd take a higher rating any day so it can be explored and developed well.

@VoidofLight People really do suck lol. I wish I could give more of my opinion on it, but I haven’t played the games, but that doesn’t really sound like Them just to add fanservice just to make it mature, doesn’t sound right lol. I like fanservice, just don’t shove it It Places it doesn’t belong

In all honesty I Blame the article and others like it for bringing it up again, it would have been nice to leave the hold discussion behind.

Yeah, the fact that article has nearly 250 comments is mind boggling.

Yeah, XC2 leaned more heavily on the fan service than the first game, but overall it's not all that more unusual than your typical JRPG or Japanese action game (like Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden). By no means am I saying that you have to like/enjoy fan service, I just don't see what makes XC2 in particular so special that has made it the center of the debate rather than any number of other Japanese games, especially in a world where stuff like Senran Kagura exists that is much more extreme with such content.

The only theory I have is that that there are a number of people who buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games (of which their number would be amplified on a Nintendo fan site such as this), and otherwise don't play a bunch of Japanese games. They're much more used to stuff like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Kirby, and the like, bought XC2 as it was a big release during the console's first year & were in for a bit of a culture shock of sorts, kinda mythicising the level of lewd in the game. Granted, this is just a theory.

@RR529 Eh, I just personally didn't like how much they leaned into the fanservice, without making it optional. A ton of scenes in 2 had like zoom ins on chests and were shot at strangle angles. It just felt like a whiplash from Xenoblade 1, Torna, and X. While X and 1 had fanservice, and the original 1 didn't make said fanservice all that optional, it didn't seem to be as big of a focal point, and didn't have detriment to any of the cutscenes/story of the game.

There's a good video from a few years back on the sexualisation in Xenoblade 2 here:

I wouldn't necessarily agree with all of it but it sets out an argument as to where Monolith may have overstepped the mark at points, even by the standards of JRPGs, but why it's still a good game in spite of all that.

Anyway, poor Poppi. There might be a lot of characters in JRPGs that look like fighting fetish dolls but that's literally her origin story!

My thoughts precisely. There was some fanservice in the other games, but it didn't feel nearly as prominent. To be fair, I just wrapped up XC2 in February, so it's still relatively fresh on my mind. I also never dived into the DLC.

As for that comment section....I read about fifty comments not long after it first went up before deciding not to bother with it. It's crazy that it's already at 250+ comments. The mods must've had a field day (or wisely fled).

I'll give my quick thoughts on XC2:

1. It was unfortunately jarring at times where the mood was dark and grim and then suddenly stereotypical fanservice.
2. XC1's characters all believable would wear their base outfits. This is much less true for XC2, especially Mythra, who hates being sexualized.
3. The scene with mentions of a 'one eyed monster' was especially cringeworthy.
4. Despite all the additional fanservice, the cast was younger in XC2, moving it into squick territory intrinsically.
5. The fanservice was much less balanced, with far less guys (that's more of a personal preference but w/e).

Anyways, all that aside I do still love the game, and find the cast utterly compelling. Thank goodness the game drops a ton of the fanservice focus after the first third. But yeah, I'm just glad XC3 is back to reasonable fanservice levels.

@link3710 Honestly, I agree with all of this. The plot was good when it was really good, but then had so many moments where it was either bogged down by the tone shifting constantly, or by over sexualization/strange camera angles. The game really gets good at the end, but even more serious moments turned into a laughing stock when they bogged it down with bosses that seemed more like a meme than a proper boss.

The characters were good once the story got rolling, and what starts out as basic tropes turns into a genuine cast of characters who only act the way in which they do because of trauma that they've all had to endure. Zeke and Mythra are really great characters once you learn more about them, and once the game gets past the "Haha, random and goofy character" or "Haha, tsundere slaps someone and calls them a pervert!". I do agree 2's cast was also a bit younger. Rex being as young as he was led to more growth as a protagonist, but at the same time I still kind of preferred Shulk at the end of the day.

It's nice to see that 3 is going back to the 18-19 year old party members instead of reusing the young teenager ones from Xenoblade 2, and yeah, the fanservice seemingly be toned down to how it is in 1 is honestly for the better as well.

I'd be fine with fanservice if it was just like...better at it.

And honestly, my big hope is it reduces the time wasting nonsense. Grinding items or feeding items to characters to make their field skill go up or that terrible Agate sidequest. So many hours spent on content that completely wasted my time.

@kkslider5552000 I just hope they outright get rid of the pouch items, given they overcomplicated things, and go back to a system more like gems instead. Gems were easier, given how it didn't take that long to produce, and they offered permanent attributes/buffs to the characters over what we have with pouch items.

Ideally, for me...

1) Meaningful side-quests. Not the endless MMO trash side-quests like in the original game. Make them more like the quests in Torna, which is the gold standard for quality side content as far as this series goes.
2) Abandon affinity requirements for anything. That system is rotten to the core.
3) Have more reliable ways of healing characters with skills like in XC2.
4) Field skills and pouch items can take a hike.
5) Connect loot to contextual collection spots instead of barfing out random orbs everywhere.
6) Smaller maps. Xenoblade games have very little to do in their gargantuan environments, and they're structured like linear JRPGs, so I'd prefer the game not to pad itself out unnecessarily.
7) A similar amount of humor to XC2. It did a great job of balancing out the more emotionally intense setpieces in the core narrative arc.
8) No obnoxious gimmicks during battle. I don't want my weapons giving me visions of the future. Just let me fight. Ideally with another creative and deep system like in XC2.
9) I'm fine with the game running at 540p or whatever when undocked, but let's avoid the horrible resolution issues that cropped up in XC2. A Switch game running so poorly that the characters become an impressionistic smear on the screen is NOT acceptable.
10) Improve the navigation UI so I have some idea of where to go when environments are multi-layered. XC2 was really bad about this.
11) Voiced heart-to-hearts that are easy to access like in XC2.