Topic: Xenoblade Series chat

@StarPoint Glad to hear about your progress! I agree the side quests are a huge improvement. I actually found myself remembering NPCs and their stories whenever I saw them around their colonies. I think it's also really cool the NPCs have their own unique designs. All the hero quests were absolutely fantastic too! Btw I'm kind of curious do you have a favorite class?

@Vortexeo So far, Eunie’s Full Metal Gunslinger class has been a ton of fun. The arts come out super quick and it’s very responsive.

@StarPoint Oh yeah, that one was also one of my favorites! I actually still use it for post-game stuff lol.

@StarPoint

Totally. It's not even close. This game has some of my favorite JRPG side-quests, and they just smoke the ones in the previous two games.

One advantage Torna had is that it didn't take hours and hours for the combat to become good, which was the case in the mainline entries.

I like the new Chain Attack system (a lot), but I do think it's more than a little unbalanced, and it's annoying when the music triggers during an emotional boss fight.

I'll never not be annoyed that XC3 didn't win best OST at TGA. I know this sort of thing is subjective, but it wasn't even up against anything else with a notable banger soundtrack like Persona or NieR Automata.

At least it was nominated, though. XC2 was well and fully snubbed.

I think XC2 has the most diverse OST and some of the best environmental themes, so it still wins for me, but yeah, XC3 is a very close second.

Yup. Same. Nearly all of my huge complaints with previous games were addressed here. It's a phenomenal RPG.

Yeah. Be careful what you look at. You don't want to spoil the surprises for yourself. Ch. 5 + 6 are peak Xenoblade in terms of impactful storytelling.

Also, ch. 5 has some great new Hero quests, including one that unlocks arguably the best class in the entire game.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought XC3's soundtrack was given the finger at TGA. It's very phenomenal, especially in later parts of the game. I've read that some laypeople even think the main Moebius theme is actually a final boss theme. XD It's ever so slightly edged out by XC:DE (and by extension, XC1) as my favorite series OST. In every other department however, XC3 wins in my book. Amazing story that isn't afraid to take some risks (I'm pretty sure if one part had occurred fully on-screen, the game would've automatically been knocked up to rated M/PEGI 18), great gameplay even if it does take awhile to get going, meaningful side quests, and even the "fetch quests" aren't bad due to the format they're presented in. Some pretty fun classes to mess around with too. There is no perfect game, and I do have a couple minor complaints related to it. Namely related to some quests not being easy to detect and a couple of balancing issues here and there. But overall, it's the best main series Xenoblade IMO.

Granted, I haven't played the DLC or Future Redeemed yet, but I hope to get to that this fall at some point.

@Ralizah @Vortexeo @StarPoint Believe me friends, I’m still angry about how badly Xenoblade 3 got shafted for Best Soundtrack. It’s like any western game critic and awards show is allergic to the possibility that a Japanese game can have a better soundtrack than their favourite generic heartthrobs like God of War. If anything all three games have had top tier music (even X had a good soundtrack at the best of times) and each should have won it outright in their respective years. For 2017 I would have definitely given it to Persona 5 though, that game had such a unique sound that it earns it with that alone.

It would be pretty unwise to suggest a conspiracy but there hasn’t been much to dissuade me lol… I wouldn’t put XC3 as a GOTY but it’s sure as heck mine, and it’s the best playing entry in the series for sure. Best story, most thematically strong narrative, the most dynamic and well written cast, fantastic music, a compelling world, meaningful side quests and fantastic class customisation. I get that I’m preaching to the choir here but it’s always worth saying 😂

@StarPoint You’re at the best point of the game, gameplay and story wise, there’s so many heroes to recruit and quests to do that the main quest gets sidelined quite badly lol, it took me a good 20 hours to clear everything before I pressed on with the main story. XC3’s such a great game for me because it literally is the best of both worlds, combining the best gameplay elements from 1 and 2.

@TheJGG It's like Western award shows seem to forget that Japanese developers can create amazing games, too. 🤔 I don't recall being bothered by other winners this past year - at least in categories I cared about - but best OST going to GoW still smarts. I don't think there's a conspiracy per se, more of a bias.

XC3 was hands down the best game I played last year. My runners up were the Switch releases of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Live A Live.

Just found this thread by looking through the other non-Switch forums and I’m still heartbroken about the TGAs last year. If I remember correctly 3 was the only GotY candidate that didn’t win anything because TGA hates Xenoblade. The medley kind of made up for it (especially with flute guy) but it still stings really badly. I doubt FR is going to be there because it’s DLC but New Battle alone deserves best soundtrack

Hoo boy, alright. Just got through XC3's Chapter 5 ending/ Chapter 6 intro. I'm not even really sure how to begin with my thoughts. Obvious spoilers, but I'm gonna keep names and themes pretty vague just in case.

BIG XENOBLADE 3 SPOILERS, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a landmark video game for me in that it is the very first that has ever made me cry. The sheer amount of emotion was simply overwhelming. Everything from the story, to the music, to the amazing (NA) voice acting, was just perfect. When the cutscene ended so abruptly and showed the save screen, it took me about 20 minutes to regain my composure. There have been a couple of games that have made me pretty emotional, but none have made me as much of a mess as this. I was basically just sobbing, which I very rarely do. And it's pretty funny considering nothing from XC1 or XC2 really made me that emotional, aside from maybe a couple of key moments. These scenes just came out of nowhere and caught me completely off guard.

So yeah, this moment has certified XC3 as easily one of the best RPGs I've ever played, and probably one of the best games I've ever played in total. If something strikes that much emotion within me, I have to give it a lot of credit. It's one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had with a video game or any form of media for that matter. Hopefully, the rest of the game is able to stick the landing and deliver a satisfying ending.

@StarPoint MAN just reading your thoughts threw me back to that moment! I was eagerly waiting for you to get to that part 😂

I'm pretty happy you've stuck with the series and provide your thoughts I always love hearing people's experiences with these games!

@Vortexeo These games have definitely surprised me! I really was not expecting that much from them, especially considering the fact that I used to not like RPGs. But I can absolutely say that I’m a fan of the series now. Moments like these just prove how good these games are at making you care about the characters and the worlds.

@StarPoint Haha, I knew you'd be impressed when you got to it. End of Ch. 5/Beginning of Ch. 6 is tremendously powerful.

Chapter Five, in general, is probably the best stretch of new gameplay, storytelling, music, and side-quests I've seen in a video game. It really sealed the game as a favorite of mine.

@StarPoint Like others, I was really looking forward to you making it to this section of the game. Such a huge impact, likewise cementing XC3 as one of the best RPGs out there as of this writing.

Believe me, the follow-up scenes to that moment entailed a LOT of mental processing on my part.

@Tyranexx I'll admit, the reveal in Chapter 6 after the backstory initially felt a little deus ex machina to me. I was just like "There was just this insane emotional moment and now we're kinda backtracking it a little bit." It felt like it took away some of the impact of what just went down. Especially because to me, the reveal of the "swap" felt kind of random. I was confused as to how exactly it happened. HOWEVER, watching the prior scenes during and around the M battle again, I realized just how much foreshadowing there was that simply did not compute in my brain. Plus, this moment proves to the player just how invested we are in these characters and how much you end up caring about them. Is it a bit of a fakeout? Sure, but it's still a super impactful moment.

@StarPoint Fair point, one I don't disagree with. Still, in a way, that WAS Mio who died. Just...a previous version of her. I also had to rewatch some of the earlier cutscenes to fully get what happened, though I had an inkling something was up the first go-around. To me, it's still very impactful, cheapened ever so slightly by the "swap". The execution was still done beautifully IMO, and I doubt 99.9% of players have seen it coming. The character investment in this game is real, even if I wish both Lanz and especially Sena could use a little more characterization. I'll refrain from expanding on them since I'm unsure if you've handled their Ascension quests yet.

@Tyranexx Yeah, I have yet to do either of their ascension quests. They are probably my least favorite characters overall, because like you said, they just lack a good amount of unique traits so far. Not bad characters, just not as in-depth as the other 4 are.

@StarPoint All I'll say is that out of those two, one Ascension quest is much better than the other IMO...but with a huge caveat I won't spoil. On the other hand, I feel the other main four are handled very well for the most part.