Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Super happy for this. And as luck would have it, I finally found a copy of the second game last night, but it cost me lol.

@Sdelintwouters I doubt it'll be messy, since 2 and 1 are connected pretty well, and the worlds combining is pretty much shown at the end of 2. I'm more worried that the plot won't be taken seriously by the writers like with 2.

@Sdelintwouters Well for me personally I thought that the end of XC2 really enhanced the ending of the first game. The director said that XC3 would be enjoyable for those new to the series so I'm assuming it won't be too bad. He also said the concept for this game was made between the end of XC1s development and before XC2s development. So it seems like they've been planning this for quite a while.

Eh, I think having the games have an interconnected story with grander themes is more interesting.

I also fail to really see how people are going to be able to jump into this one, if they haven't played 2 or 1, given that this game literally hinges on the first two world-wise, and story-wise.

Won't happen, but I'd like at least one Xenoblade game on the system that looks presentable when undocked.

YES. THIS.

God, I hated how heart-to-hearts were handled pre-XC2. Hey, go grind with these characters for some indecipherable length of time or miss out on a fun scene of character development for no reason. My biggest gripe about XCDE, and probably the reason I've put off playing it for so long, is because I know this is going to irritate the hell out of me again when I do get into it.

@VoidofLight Because people don't need to know every bit of lore connected to the characters or world to enjoy a reasonably well-constructed narrative. Same reason people can enjoy P5S before P5, or, hell, The Witcher 3 before the previous games (which is somehow the one game that's seemingly immune from nerdy grumbling about needing to play ten different games in the series before the one you're actually interested in, despite it calling back to previous ones fairly frequently).

For old players, there'll be an extra layer of significance to the events, they'll recognize call-backs, etc., but that doesn't mean it's a wash for people who just want to enjoy XC3 on its own.

At least, that's my assumption, based on them saying it's ok for new players to jump in.

I mean if I'm being honest, 2 hinges on the part of 1 that had the least to do with anything else in 1's story. Not saying 3 will be the same, but they'll find some way to make it approachable to newbies most likely (unless they treat explaining past continuity the same way 2 treated explaining gameplay mechanics :V)

@kkslider5552000 I think you're pretty spot on with that.

@Sdelintwouters For me, I was one of those people who started with XC2 before playing XC1, and I still found myself enjoying the game without the knowledge of XC1. Sure there were a few references that I might have missed towards the last chapter but it wasn't something that ruined the game. It's not something super tightly related like the trails series (I haven't played the trails series but I hear that's a series where you're supposed to play every game in order).

@Ralizah haha I hope they do improve handheld performance but you're right...that seems unlikely 😅. But yeah it was a real shame that heart-to-hearts were locked behind affinity. Some of them answer some pretty big questions too. In order to grind for affinity in XCDE, I fought this enemy that inflicted sleep when you attacked it. Every time I would wake up a party member I would get a lot of affinity so I just let my party members attack the boss while I kept waking them up. Still though...while this process made it easier, I would rather not do it at all lol.

@Sdelintwouters I mean, they planned this game before 2 even really started planning, so they had a long 7 years to make sure the trilogy made sense.

@iLikeUrAttitude Don't get me wrong I don't think it will win any awards, I am talking purely about a nomination.

@Sdelintwouters I think that's a fair concern. I remember when I heard the rumor for the plot last year I thought it sounded like a fanfiction 😅. But like you said we'll just have to wait and see.

@Vortexeo Same. It sounded like a fanfiction, but seeing it here, it seems pretty neat.

@VoidofLight yeah, I don't think the rumor described the game well.

On a different note i heard people talking about how there doesn't seem to be a main nopon character... interesting 🤔

@Vortexeo We see a rex-like Nopon, but yeah, it looks like the main party doesn't have one. There's a dude who can use paper cranes for his attacks, and has a paper Nopon weapon. There's also a chance that some of the party members aren't actually going to be full on party members for the entire game, and there'll be some sort of twist with them or something.

@DomGC I'm with you. I really wish I could skip to September, all so I can play the game. The wait's going to be even harder if I plan on going into it as blind as possible outside of the announcement trailer, given that I'll have to dodge all the other gameplay trailers/segments.

If Nintendo next year the Nintendo Switch Pro game will look even better because I'm afraid the resolution will suffer again on the current Nintendo Switch since for example Xenoblade 2 had problems with the resolution in handheld mode.It's just my opinion.

I'm genuinely shocked it's coming out so soon. We didn't even have a release window for Definitive Edition when that was revealed (it was just 2020) and yet the brand new, fully fledged sequel is coming out within the span of 7 months? Hoo lordy.

I did this when they announced the first games remaster...it was BRUTAL but man it was SO worth it! Not only did I go into the story blind but I went into the scenery blind as well! I'll never forget seeing Satorl Marsh and Eryth Sea at night for the first time.

That being said I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that again because I really want to know what the combat system looks like this time around 😭

@VoidofLight As an American educator, I don't, regardless of my excitement. I need those two months off...

And @Vortexeo I'm with you 100%. I need to see the combat systems. I can't blindly go into a game without seeing some gameplay.

With Torna expansion they already got rid of that limitation so low res in handheld mode shouldn't be the issue this time around.
But frankly I'd be glad to have Switch Pro + XC3 combo at the end of this year.
OR a non-portable Switch combined with a dock into one unit and with a performance boost (well, okay then can add a handle on top of it, lol).

I wish they always did Treehouse Lives after Directs. I love Directs, but I really miss the gameplay commentary style that was super popular during the mid-late 00s E3s.

And the cringe. I miss that so, so much. I still blurt out "Ridgeeee Racerrr!!" around my friends.