Topic: Xenoblade Series chat

@SplooshDmg Thought it might make more sense to chat about it here rather than pissing off the mods on PX

I love everything from the exploration, fighting system, the music, the stories, the UK voices etc. one of my favourite series.

How did you get on with Xenoblade Chronicles?

FWIW my series history is

• XC1 100%'ed everything on Wii, and then played it again to completion on New 3DS. I haven't played Future Connected the extra chapter on XC:DE on Switch yet, but I have bought it.
• XCX 100%'ed everything on Wii U
• XC2 99+% on Switch with the exception of a couple of the RNG based units that I spent dozens of additioanl hours grinding and wishing for... and never got... before giving up. I didn't play Torna for some reason, but I recently picked it up and plan to soon.
• XC3 I've just played the opening few hours.

Now i've passed then initial hunger for the new game I will probably play Future Connected, then Torna and then XC3.

Funny, I was thinking about creating a general Xenoblade thread earlier today.
Easier to talk about the series as a whole on a thread like this than on game-specific threads.

Damnnn this is pretty impressive! Completing XCX to 100% is a really big undertaking (I guess they all are technically lol). I think XC2 might be the hardest one to do a completion run for.

For me I've done XCDE, FC, and Torna to 100% completion. I didn't do a completion playthrough for XC2 solely because I didn't want to go through the process of trying to get all the blades 😅. I did play XCX but I sorta just steamrolled the story at the time which was a bit of a mistake lol. I really want to give it another shot one day. I'm currently working through my completion playthrough for XC3 and I'm having a great time with this one!

@Mioaionios Hi fellow Xenoblade fan. @SplooshDmg and I were chatting about this on various other articles and threads and thought it would be easier to chat in one place, plus not piss off the mods by chatting off topic. lol

Note however we're both behind the times Sploosh has just finished XC1 and I haven't played XC3 and some of the earlier DLC's yet so this may not be the place to chat all the spoilery and interconnecting things just yet. If that's what you are after it may be best to start a specific spoiler filled thread.

@Vortexeo Thanks. lol. I put a STUPID number of hours into XCX, 300+ if memory serves, thought the others were between 150 & 250 hours, none are short if you try and complete them but something about these game just pulls me in so deeply.

I eventually sold XC2 in frustration as I was so pissed off with the blade wishing system and wasting away dozens of hours grinding but not getting KOS-MOS and one other (T-ELOS I think) it was one of the reasons I never got round to Torna. But I'm going to play that and Future connected before XC3 as I splashed out on them all recently.

Don't mind me, just bookmarking this thread! This series has probably become my favourite of all time; all five games are really, really good at their worst, and masterpieces at their best. I've sunk a lot of time into each entry so far, and beat 3 a few weeks ago... I think I've just about recovered emotionally. Can't wait to hear how 3 goes, @themightyant! Hope we all get along and seize the future!

My ranking of the games? XC3 > XCDE > XC2: Torna > XCX > XC2.

@themightyant I think most people here are pretty good with using spoiler tags...most people 😅 but we do have a thread for each game so I'm hoping whenever people want to talk about the story or something they could go to one of the game specific threads

I completely understand your frustration with XC2 😂 I will say though, Torna fixed just about all the issues with the base game so you won't have to worry about that again.

@Vortexeo I still cannot believe that the DLC is even in the conversation for being better than the main game. It shows how good Torna was.

@themightyant
You have to start somewhere, right?
And don't worry about getting spoiled. Aside from 1 member in the XC3 thread, everyone seems to use the spoiler tag when needed.

My history with Xenoblade runs all the way back to the original Wii release.
I've played every game and expansion to completion, some of them several times in fact.
Currently, I'm about halfway through my second completionist playthrough of XC3 and I'm doing it without the use of fast travel. Some NL members have labelled me as crazy. A distinction I wear with pride.

@TheJGG Lmao DUDE Ikr 😂 the fact that Torna was so good really makes me excited for XC3s expansion!

@Vortexeo @TheJGG
I agree, Torna was an overall much smoother experience than XC2.

@Vortexeo @Mioaionios Exactly, this can only mean good for XC3's major story expansion. What the expansion is in particular... I really want to see something set after the main game. 2 already did the interim expansion stuff.

Well if I wasn't salivating already for XC3 I am even more now. lol... i'm really feeling it!

My list is similar to yours of those i've played XC >> XCX >= XC2. All some of favourite games, but it's a bit like ranking Soulsborne, mainline Mario or Zelda's they're basically all a 9+ and it feels like splitting hairs at times.

@Mioaionios @Vortexeo Thanks for the vote of confidence on spoilers.

Happy Xeno-chatting one and all.

@themightyant Exactly, I'd put DE, Torna and X on a giant platform since for me they're virtually tied for second.

But the thing with 3, and I hope you can experience it for yourself, is that it combines the best parts of BOTH 1 and 2. So you have the great gameplay of 1 and 2, great music, great soundtrack, great visuals, and then you have the story.

@SplooshDmg Agreed on all points. The games are truly wonderful and the antithesis of the current AAA industry which I too am a little tired of at times.

But I remember when XC1 came out I was also tired of JRPGS which had become very stale, uninspired and grindy/time consuming in my eyes. (sound familiar?) I don't really remember why I ordered XC1 Day 1 on Wii but I did. Of course here in Europe we got XC1 on Wii almost a year before the US... who had to beg for it en masse via Operation Rainfall. As I said I don't really remember why, perhaps it was because I had played and loved Xenogears back in the day, though I had played and not loved some of the Xenosaga games. Perhaps I had seen the positive Famitsu review 36/40, I honestly do not remember but I don't think i've ever been happier about a day 1 purchase, in part as I went in so blind. It completely blew me away and still does. Along with Ni No Kuni, and much later DQ XI it revitalised my love of GOOD JRPGs.

As for the music one of the things that makes Xenoblade's soundtrack so good in my eyes is there are MANY composers.

• Yoko Shimomura as you mentioned but also:
• Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger & Cross, Xenogears etc) though he only did the ending theme
• Manami Kiyota (Xenoblade Series and Smash Bros)
• ACE+ a trio of artists (Tomori Kudo, Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka & Kenji Hiramatsu)

I think this is part of what gives it such depth and range. XC2 and XC3 also have multiple composers, it's a series theme and it's brilliant. There are many times I just stopped and watched the sunrise/sunset while listening to the soundtrack whether it be the Main Theme, Gaur Plain day and night versions.
Then you have the more intense tracks like Engage the Enemy or and heartfelt ones like Sorrow. It's definitely of my favourite soundtracks of all time. I've lost track of how often I've listened to it.

Looking forward to Future Connected and Torna!

P.S. I do wonder what your Switch technical problems were and how you solved them. lol

P.P.S. Yes you and NES are off topic. I love it! But I seem to get the warnings and deleted posts. lol

Idk if you knew this already but I always found it fascinating that the founders of Monolith Soft are actually ex-Square employees from the 90s so that might be why! They've got experience with Chrono Trigger, older Final Fantasy games, etc.

Now THIS is what I’m talking about! I’ve never heard anyone before nerd out about the composers! The best part about the music is how their styles are so distinct yet they work so well together. Especially in the first game.

LOL! What can I say I love VG music. And in this game it's just fantastic and wonderfully varied. Not usually a huge electric guitar fan but the way they use it in this game is truly EPIC. Almost made me want to learn the instrument, as Final Fantasy made me learn the piano years ago.

Also the Definitive Edition's music is somehow mostly an improvement... though there are a couple of tracks where I prefer the simplicity of the originals.

@themightyant Believe me, I am just as passionate about game music. I could go on for days about the music in this series, honestly. I'm not trying to plug but I've been making covers of my favourite game music for three years now. It's a great way to give back to the aspect of games I love the most outside of the story.

I was so excited for the Definitive Edition for this reason; the music. Pretty much every single remastered track was an improvement in every way. Tracks like High Entia Tomb, Tephra Cave have more complex percussion, a new choir melody in Eryth Sea, et cetera. Though there's a few tracks like Gaur Plain which feel a little empty.

I always play XC:DE with the original score.
The arranged score is fine, but I'm so used to the original I'm having a hard time getting used to the new one.

@SplooshDmg Yes The cloud sea is Nautical, good shout, I was trying to place it's vibe.

Also bought the Pro controller on sale, but that was AFTER basically getting RSI playing 200+ hours of BOTW on the joycons, and Mario Odyssey. It just isn't comfortable for me. Pro controller was a must. Alternatively there is a charging grip for the joycons, but it's maddening this wasn't included as standard, It's hardly an expensive addition to the bit of plastic. Typical Nintendo frankly.