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One you missed is Desolation (from XC2)

This game holds a special place in my heart and memory. I found the deathblow-based combat system engaging, though the gear combat could have used a bit more polish: it definitely emphasizes a pretty narrow range of builds when it comes to dealing with bosses - attack speed first before all else - but the ocean of random encounters you'll have to grind through are much more variable, so it's easy to lose the focus you'll need to make the bosses survivable. As for Disc 2... I agree that they did indeed pull together the various plot threads and explain what the competing secret councils and masterminds were trying to do. And I'm glad for the story's sake that the game didn't end on Disc 1, because that would only have been a stopping point while we waited for the sequel, not an ending. But I'm not convinced that it was anything other than a desperation move: even in novels, the advice is to "show, don't tell", and the raw exposition just isn't as good as playing through the events of Disc 1. It goes from seeing Id mock Bart for dropping a battleship on him in Disc 1, to almost Shakespearean levels of abrupt, minimalist stage direction (e.g., "They fight. Tybalt falls.") in Disc 2. And, as you note, almost the entire cast was relegated to little more than NPC status, even though there must have been some fascinating things going on that they'd be involved in. ...Admittedly, Xenogears is hardly the only game to have that last problem. NPC companions who basically clam up once you've done their quest are everywhere, even in otherwise good games. I get that it's a lot of work to come up with something interesting for each character to say in every situation, especially when the focus is on two or three designated main characters. At the same time though, that's a game dev's job. Ultimately, I'm pretty happy with what we got, but I think Xenogears fell prey to scope creep. The developer didn't set out to create a good game, he wanted to make _the best game ever,_ the final word in epic JRPGs. And he took a pretty good stab at it: I can see the grand scope he was aiming for, and it is genuinely amazing even today - but bottling that up into a single game meant big compromises, and I'm not sure he fully understood that going in.

It's just "Engage the Weight of Counterattacks in Life" altogether. <3

Sylvalum actually isn't a snow area. That white stuff? That's all _mushroom spores._ it's kinda like the mushroom cave biome in Terraria. Or mushroom islands in Minecraft. It could be kind of the mycelium blocks.

Lmao, Tatsu was blurred out 😂😂

Finishing chapter 12 is just the beginning of the game

0:17 Ok, I didn't realize Counterattack had a part referencing Engage the Enemy until now LMAO. I love Xenoblade OST so freaking much

X is the 2ed best Xenoblade game well Xenoblade 1 is the best.

A lot of people call it A FLAWED MASTERPIECE! And I couldn't agree more! I LOVE THIS GAME! ONE OF MY FAVORITES!

This was the best game on the wii u.

About the character models - I thought the character creator seemed a bit off, especially with the eyes. Felt they looked like cameras, almost. Then I found out the actual state of the humans in the setting, and the uncanniness and all started making sense. People look off because the bodies ARE off.

Tatsu is unironically better than half of 2's cast and the more reddit tier hate i see for him the more i like him lmfao

Xeno X isn't just fun for xeno fans. It is ESSENTIAL for Zelda fans. XCX's influence is all OVER the place in BOTW and TOTK and it's actually mindblowing that Takahashi has gone from nearly having his first game shut down to being a central engine for what is now considered the pinnacle of game design.

Why is this actually such a peaceful vibe??

Watching this review, me: "Wait, fast travel exists in the DLC?"

Future redeemed really didn't need to redeem anything from Xenoblade but man did they perfect the series

It isn't necessary for Nikol and Glimmer to have grand character arcs as they were primarily plot devices that showed the wise, parental sides of Shulk and Rex. Approaching it from that perspective and realizing them as Shulk's and Pyra's respective children was arguably the better choice for a 20 hour DLC. We also know from the main game that Ouroboros power denies them life in the cycle, leaving them with few options. As characters, they do grow: Nikol learns that fighting and technology are not inherently bad, while Glimmer begins to care for and understand others.

man when a DLC introduces a Protag that I ended up loving so much that I was sad we didn't get a full game with him

0:18 I played it in 2018-19 and felt the same. All I gotta say is, play Xenogears.

I'll be honest i think Xc3 is by far the weakest story in the trilogy, it's villains were pretty mid, the main 6 characters were fine but god i hated some of the side characters, i also thought a lot of the music was fine but not as memorable as Xc1 or Xc2 as i can still remember Mor Ardain's theme very well. I also really hate Shania even after the ghondor side story explained her backstory, imho a lot of the side characters feel poorly written.

YO they got shulk in this game?!!?!!

Hey nice video :) Much love to Xenogears.

I hope they at least port this game square is so stupid by not capitalizing on that and porting it to newer consoles, I love the second disc cause although heavily rushed it brings about so much info and interesting concepts and it’s just honestly better than having no disc 2 or sequel I don’t think a remake would be good cause squares more focused one NFT’s and the og team is mainly at monolith unless they wanna make it a switch exclusive I’m still hopeful 😔

It's definitely worth our money now lol.

Great Review!

The game has aged poorly, particularly the story and random encounters. The original creators being insane grifters that float from company to company retelling the same story over and over doesn't help.

i liked tatsu...

One of the greatest RPG's ever. Fight me

One of the reasons why I keep looking for mecha games.

It is the greatest game ever made. It showed that games could go dark and hold a mainstream audience. It showed that a game can lean directly into a player's intelligence and make something greater than the sum of its parts. It is absolutely the reason The Last of Us and God of War today can have austere and macabre scenes and not be considered extreme. Its development is almost as wonderful of a story as its narrative. Takahashi and Tanaka went from being told their ideas were too dark, too controversial, too extreme, to the point of removal from the creative direction of Xenosaga, to selling 1.7M of XC3 and spearheading development of two Zelda games (arguably the most mainstream series of all). It is truly one of the most unlikely success stories in the history of gaming, and proof that if you stick to your principles, don't insult the intelligence of your patrons, and believe in your creative methods, you will eventually get to define success rather than have it defined for you.

i freaking love disc 2

Even though I never played this game, I'm just glad it exists mainly because it and Xenosaga are what lead to Xenoblade, which has essentially become my favorite video game franchise now. I'm really hoping that Xenogears could be remade one day

Oh yeah? If xenogears is so good, then why isn’t there a game party 12?

It’s gotta be remade someday 😭 best story driven game of all time. Story, soundtrack, art direction… amazing

XC2 is bad. ok. nothing to watch here

Just beat Torna The Golden Country tonight, absolutely adore this series

Why the fuck would I wear that shade of Mio's default outfit when I can just put Lanz's outfit on her and have the same thing but BETTER???

Just got to the part where you mention the awkward pop-in and it reminded me of this one time I was exploring NLA in my Skell. I landed on top of one of the shops before its model even loaded in, so for a good 30 seconds it looked like my Skell was just levitating without using the flight gear as I stood atop an invisible building.

It’s good to see XCX talked about in 2022. Sylvalum at night is still one of my favourite locations in video games. Not to mention the theme is incredible.

😄 👍

But hey tora from xc2 and riku and manna from xenoblade 3 is far better than tatsu

omg i actually never noticed this

The chapter timestamps in the description are wrong. Can you update that please?

Black Mio is the only one I like, wave 2 is coming shortly so there's that

Glad to see another perfectly normal review on Xenoblade Chronicles 3

I guess you really could say this had been xenoblade chronicles

Nice

Americans complaining about the collector's edition pre order while we Europeans haven't been able to "pre order" and will still have to wait a bit into October