Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 3

@seaboyluca apart from the part that most of the time you teach them that war is wrong by first kicking their arse

@seaboyluca XC3's commentary on war, tribalism, and social exploitation definitely feels uncomfortably relevant in 2022. Reminds me of how Persona 5 released in the States in 2017 and weirdly mirrored a lot of the issues we were just beginning to grapple with at the time.

I just began Chapter 5 and OMG!
Never before have I experienced such an emotional reaction playing a video game.
XC3 is something special.

Beautiful. Thanks!

The further I get into the game, the more convinced I am that, while the game plays perfectly well if you haven't played XC1 and XC2, it is a much better experience if you have played the previous games. SO much better that I'm kind of thinking you have to play them first.

I could say more, but I love that this thread has remained mostly spoiler-free.

@kennykenny I haven't gotten that feeling yet, I'm at chapter 6, but maybe I'll feel that way when I beat the game.

@kennykenny
I agree with @TommyTendo I see no reason so far needing to have played XC1 and XC2 first.
Yes there are some recognizable landmarks and characters but you don't need to have played the previous games to understand the story whatsoever. They act more like nice easter eggs for long-time fans.

@Mioaionios You are not wrong, but I also think another way to look at it is that it's not exactly a bad idea for somebody new to start at the beginning so when they play the first two games they don't feel as old. Not saying that they haven't aged well because the original has, but playing their magnum opus first might make certain things stand out more than they should.

I just got a Switch a week ago and decided to start out with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition as my first game. While I obviously I would love to be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 right now, I'm having a pretty good time with the first one once it got going.

@KilloWertz
Even then I have a hard time agreeing with it, though I can better understand the reasoning.
Personally, I've never had a hard time returning to older games in a franchise even though newer ones have surpassed it.

@KilloWertz first welcome here! I can agree with that feeling. I waited to start MGS series for a long time because I could not play all games in an easy manner and wanted to play them in order of release.
Xenoblade I did play the second first because I was not sold on the series yet and just after I loved that one that I decided to play the first too (and yes in many ways it was hard to go back as I don't find the combat in the first particularly good), but both games can be played separately without major issues storywise.

I started playing Chronicles 3 last night. It's my first game in the series and it's tremendous thus far. I thought about starting with the first one, but there's something about the aesthetic and vibe of this third entry that seemed particularly appealing to me, so I caved. If I like it enough, I'll probably jump into the first one.

I don't usually have a problem with a game feeling old. I assume every single game ever made will eventually feel old, including the ones that just came out. So to me it's a non-issue. I just adjust. As long as the game works within its own logic, it's fine. The 1986 Zelda is one of the last ones I played and it's actually one of my favorites. Sure, I had to adjust after playing the more refined A Link to the Past, but it's like chess to me. Why can't Link move in eight directions? For the same reason the knight moves in an L. It's a game and it has its own rules.

@Beaucine I agree with everything you just said x10. It's my first game in the series too and I love it.

I've watched the current person YT speed run through but I am slowly progressing and collecting alot of stuff. I played til level 7 then moved to the second chapter. Seeing the speed run is good but misses alot of the story and enjoying the game.

Im going to do a little bit of shopping tomorrow and I just might get Xenoblade 3 from Walmart.

How much is the game at the Walmart store anyway? on the walmart website, the game is 57 or 59

@Mioaionios I didn't mean I was necessarily right. It's just a potential reason why some people might want to play the series in order even though they really don't have to. I've went back and played all of the previous Uncharted games on my PS4 and PS5 and still loved them, so I agree that you can go back to old games just fine.

For me, I figured I might as well start there since I'm pretty much brand new to Nintendo since I haven't had one of their systems since the original NES. I'm not regretting my decision to start at the beginning, but it also never hurts to come up with a reason to make it seem like you made the right decision either.

@Balta666 Thanks for the welcome. What if your friend code? Even though I don't plan on playing anything online for quite some time, I'm still looking to add some people anyways.

Metal Gear Solid is actually a poor example of my point for me since I jumped right in at Metal Gear Solid 4 and still have yet to play the previous 3. In my defense, it was the main reason why I bought a PS3 at the time (and I got the bundle with it), so I definitely was going to jump right in with it. It might have ended up being similar with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 if it was bundled in (I would have still played the first two though), but it wasn't, so it made it easier to start at the "beginning".

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the combat in the first one. It's not bad really, but the fact that they keep adding to it in stages and it gets to be really repetitive outside of boss fights and other bigger battles takes away from it. Still, I find the game to be fun, and the strength of the story is actually more important to me.

@KilloWertz also not an online player myself lol but I like to see what others are playing.

SW-8463-1431-0531

in Xenoblade 3 when you bump into the enemies out in the world, do you attack automatically like in Xenoblade 2 or can you attack manually?

Still on Chapter 3 myself trying to clear out side content before I move on.

I'm having a rough time with a "Hero Quest" though. The Colony 9 one. My party was a level higher than Consul B, but he was just absolutely chewing through everyone. To be fair I almost got him, but my party was on the ropes from the get go (it seems just as the battle started my defenders were already under half health). So I'm going to explore a bit more to see if I can level up a time or two & then see if I can't do it.

@RR529 Have you been utilizing your bonus XP at campsites?

@XandertheWise You have to choose to attack, but many enemies will aggro if you get too close to them anyway.

well what Im asking is do your attacks go into automatic mode like in Xenoblade 2 where you really dont control what your characters are doing where if you choose to use like a strong attack then theyll keep doing it automatically?

or do you attack manually like in Xenoblade 1?

@XandertheWise
I seriously doubt you've played XC2 because that's not how that game works.