An interesting detail is how each Xenoblade relates to time, Xenoblade 1 represents the future what with Shulk's visions of future events and the final act of claiming their future from Zanza, Xenoblade 2 represents the past as the past events are heavily important to the present events, Amalthus loosing his mother, The Aegis War and the subsequent fallout and ultimately Klaus's past actions that lead to massive destruction and the creation of Alrest and finally Xenoblade 3 represents the present with the endless fighting an eternal status quo, the soldiers of Keves and Agnus don't live long enough to remember the past and have no future and Moebius wishing to live forever in an "endless now" in a world locked in stasis.
Xenoblade Chronicles 1: "Fate is what we make it. Work hard to create the future you want to see happen." Xenoblade Chronicles 2: "Our history is part of us, but it does not define us. Don't run from your past; accept it, and move forward." Xenoblade Chronicles 3: "Nothing can last forever; cherish every moment as they come, and every memory as they go."
The ending themes actually reference this too: Beyond the Sky is about looking forward to new adventures, One Last You is about Pneuma looking back on her time with Rex, and Where We Belong is Noah and Mio accepting they can’t stay together forever but wanting to meet again someday.
I love this game and it’s my favorite game in the franchise but I HATE that once again they made it so you can’t auto attack while moving like in xenoblade 1. Having your attacks be paused every time you move even half an inch is so fucking annoying smh
Noah really said it best. Why would things change only in the moment of this game? Why now, of all times? Noah's answer, poignant and pointed, "We just got lucky." Something I feel isn't pointed out enough is how Noah, Joran, Eunie, and Lanz are all best friends within their first, original lives. Then a thousand years pass, each of them living many varied incarnations over and over again. And it was this time in the game that all of them were united again. It was a mere matter of chance that they would reunite, and it was that chance where the world changed. They just got lucky. They were lucky that everything lined up the way it was. But that's not discounting that everything that happened before was meaningless, and is instead quite the opposite-- this lucky chance only came about because things happened they way they did. Friends separated by literal entire lifetimes, come together again. This was a very wonderful retrospection on the Xenoblade series. Cheers, man.
That is one of the big ideas, isn't it? That the one-in-a-billion, the last hope that you can't ever count on, will always come to pass and bring change as a force for good. It's going to happen. Lose hope all you want, just humor the people who don't and watch them change the world. Recommendation, actually: if you want more of that sort of theme but wrapped in a love letter to classic western and eastern science fiction which itself is wrapped in the best mystery ever written (the detective is you the player trying to solve the mystery of what the hell even is this story), I recommend 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. That game actually gives Xenoblade 3 the _silver_ medal for the best story on the Switch, and it shocks me that I can say that with such confidence.
I feel like Xenoblade 1 goes in your brain, Xenoblade 2 in your heart, and Xenoblade 3 in your soul. The first game you’re like “WTF IS GOING ON” the second game ur like “I don’t get wtf is going on but I’m having a good time” and the third game is just like “who tf hurt whoever made this game”
this is the closest statement ive seen with regard to how i personally view and feel about each game. xc1 for me is centered on the story and history of its world (hence brain). xc2 is centered on the young protagonist and his drive to fulfill his promise to his blade even though a lot of things are unclear to him (heart is perfect for this). xc3 is about finding the meaning and purpose behind the cycle of life and death and transcending it (soul is ideal for this as well). Possibly the reason why i love xc2 the most because of the emotional attachment it creates, closely followed by xc3 because of how it beckons deep and contemplative thinking and then xc1with its lore. all 3 are easily in my top 10 of all time. each has their own flaws (like xc2's slow early pace coupled with a deep combat system that lacks the proper and timely tutorial that sadly threw off many players) but if the game clicks on you (if, because xenoblades' general combat style can be polarizing) even those flaws become almost an integral part of each games' character. easily over 1k hours play time total for all 3 games (including dlc) and i can say that i enjoyed it a ton because like what op said, the entire series was able to touch my brain, heart and soul.
10:09 Part of the reason I think this cutscene works so well is that it's doing multiple things at once. The fact that they're bathing together with zero awkwardness or fanservice tells you without explicitly telling you that sex isn't a thing they understand. (This also gets payoff later when they're changing clothes and the males get flustered without understanding why - a funny scene that also hints that the lack of Flame Clocks might be why.) Eunie's discussion with Noah displays her rare softer side while also informing the player of Joran's death and the effects it had on all three of them. The banter between Lanz and Eunie about bonus points showcases both their friendship dynamic and the fact that these battles are seen by many the same way we would view a video game deathmatch. Nearly every major cutscene in the game is pulling double duty and it's breathtaking to watch once you catch it.
I was absolutely floored when rewatching the final boss in Chapter 5 back after chapter 6. I don't think even the greatest nitpickers in the world would notice how one character being posessed was different from the others OR the music. It's so masterful
I saw someone draw the comparison of becoming ouroboros to eating the forbidden fruit, since after eating the fruit Adam and Eve begin covering themselves and being conscious of nakedness. If I remember everything correctly from back when I went to church lol
10:18 for me it goes much further than that. It's not only not weird, it's a genuine way to make you notice how vulnerable and human are actually the characters. Like they get naked and take a bath as Noah is feeling nostalgic and sad for their friend, then he gets to talk about it with Eunie but they have to change the subject when Lanz arrives showing that even for someone as strong and courageous as him, there are delicate themes that are better to not mention. Yes that's a lot of character development in a bath scene.
This is an extremely clever video. Absolutely amazing. Love the whole Xenoblade 3 shouldn't exist is a brilliant nod to the some of the game's themes. How the fuck do you have under 10K subs on this platform.
To this day i still can't believe me buying xenoblade x because "the mech on the cover looks cool" lead to me becoming a fan of this series, and im so glad it did, Xenogears, Xenoblade 3 and X are some of the most special games in my life, and they let me meet some of my best friends. This series is a miracle and I love it for that
SAME 😭 I bought XCX back for Christmas of 2016 because it looked cool. It was the first game I 100%ed, spending over 800hrs, immersed in the wonderful world and combat. It's still my favourite game of all time! Not to mention it lead me to the Xeno franchise... Such a shame it was released on the WiiU!
Xenoblade 2 is like the one kid in class with incredible potential, who instead uses it to mess with the teacher and other classmates. I love that game.
Even though the switch isn't as powerful as other consoles, these games are still the best looking games I've ever seen. Hell, even X looks incredible on the Wii U.
Absolute crime that this doesn’t have more views. Xenoblade 3 made me appreciate how lucky it is that I am alive at all, how many things had to happen for me to exist as I am now, and I think you expertly articulated that same idea in this video. This trilogy is unlike any other series I have gotten into, and I don’t expect my opinions of any of them to lower with time. Thanks for the excellent analysis!
Almost started crying at the end of the video. A bit much? Probably. But I’m just realizing how perfect this game is for me at the point of life I’m at right now, starting college far away from home and all that, entering adulthood and thinking about the impact I may have on the world. I never played a Xenoblade game before (though I looked into lore), and I’m so happy I took the leap and bought 3.
Apart from being excellent in almost every angle, XB3 is a masterclass in character building. They took every time they could to put on those little details. Eunies fondling of wings when she feels akward apologizing, riku making fun at of lanzs rash and crude behaviour, Noah whipping out his flute and sending off an enemy regardless of the demands of the rest of the gruop. I cant remember the last jrpg or game for that matter that made me both laugh and cry. I cant remember the last time I started hating a character like eunie and fell in love with her by the end. A true masterpiece!
Something I like is how the characters change gradually overtime as they rub off on each other. Taion is a lot more open with his emotions and inherits Eunie's potty mouth in places, Lanz can be surprisingly wise at some places, Sena speaks her mind more and Eunie is a lot more thoughtful. Even if it's not a chatacter arc, so to speak, but it's a nice way to show how they're all growing closer as friends.
Yeah and that time Noah doesn’t send off the Mobius member after the tough battle. I felt that with him when Lanz asks why he didn’t do it, if I remember correctly!
Is this satire? It's a masterclass of what NOT to do. It's a complete mockery of both character and story building that makes jrpgs look like a sick joke of incoherent clichés. It's like something Tea from Yu-Gi-Oh would have written in 5 minutes in her lunch break that she totally forgot to proofread.
"I took a shot every time a Nopon was annoying. Today, I'm 12 years sober." You just won yourself at least one new subscriber just for that part 😂 The fact that Nopon are actually awesome again is one of my favourite parts of Xenoblade 3.
The culmination of the Klaus saga of these games, all leading up to that final cutscene, it broke me. It’s been such a journey (started my Xeno journey on the New 3DS port of 1 after the Sm4sh announcement and Chuggaaconroy playthrough that was in progress at the time). These games have held such a special place in my heart, all of them, since high school. - 1, while being the only one I didn’t play through blind, I still got goosebumps and loved just about every second of that game. - X is probably my least favorite after I played through it, being the only one I never strived to 100% complete, but it’s still a really great game imo. - 2, while it is polarizing, I honestly loved just as much if not more than 1. The characters really shined for me in that game, same for 1. - 1DE was just as amazing as the og with the extra spice of the overhauled graphics and some extra additions. - 3 though. Just….goddamn. It’s the only one I’ve streamed so some friends can go on the journey with me. And just everything about it was *chef kiss*. The final DLC pack with an original story though…I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be. I want it to be with the main party reuniting again, but it could be about the Founders as well. We’ll just have to wait and see. Rn, I took a day off last night and I can’t wait to dive into the postgame later tonight. Considering Monolith Soft want to go full on Final Fantasy with this franchise and called XC3 the end of the Klaus saga, I can’t wait to see what these brilliant minds and passionate souls will come up with next.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEE I've done everything I can think of in Xenoblade 3, and I still want to play more, i just love the cast, the story, the world, the music, everything so much. It's astonishing and I have so very few issues with it that It might just become one of my favourite games of all time.
I restarted due to using bonus xp and haven’t used it for my new play through. Im almost at the end but now I want to restart on hard mode just so I can relive those moments for a third time
I'm over 115 hours into the game, 65+ of which is on a NG+ file, and I'm still finding more places and quests even now. This game is huge and I love it.
One of my favorite things about Xenoblade is that they do different accents for the different nations and not just take the easy "everyone speaks American" route, especially in the second one where the accents differ by the nations! Like, I've never seen that and only noticed it after someone pointed it out to me and made replaying the game that much better because you start to notice way more little details. And it gave us Nia's glorious Welsh accent! I'm going to miss Xenoblade, I really am.
I’m so impressed with this games dialogue (and voice acting) even in quests your protagonists feel so real. They don’t just say things to advance the plot. Each character has a personality, motivation, specific relationship to every other character, and soul of their own. The narrative is deceptively straight forward. These are master storytellers who understand set up and pay off, character motivation and progression, and theming. As you so eloquently point out, it’s brilliance is demonstrated in its restraint. On xenoblade being “childish” I think that 1: sure, this is not meant for an old man. It’s written in a way that a teenager can understand while still providing lots of depth for someone older. Not everything has to be cryptic. I have grown to appreciate how “on the nose” Japanese media can be with its theming. I’ve grown to appreciate it for what it is. And not measure it to the old farts I was forced to study in college. It’s sincerity is actually refreshing. This game shot up to my top 10 on chapter 3. I’m on chapter 5! And I have 120 hours of game time. I’m taking my sweet time. This game shot up to my top 5 favorite games of all time on chapter 3. I’m on chapter 5! And I have 120 hours of game time. I’m taking my sweet time. I love that you bring on nier automata and persona 4. Those are also in my top 5.
Gotta give thanks to takahashi to never give up on his vision to create a game like xeno series. After all the problem and difficulty that he faced if he ever gave up on at each of that point in time we will never get xenoblade now.
Quest would be better if the collection requirements were not so annoying to gather and it didn't force me to fight when I absentmindedly wandered into the area a second time without the collectables while deciding I'm going to fill out the map let's gooooo
@@anamethename3327 you're think of the tau-tirkin alliance, jumbo tirkin is from a completely different quest and area, he shows up in ghondor's ascension quest
Your editing style and sense of humor is so entertaining. Honestly, don’t know why I’m crying during a game review of a game that I clearly already spent too much time crying during.
Man this was an incredible tribute to Xenoblade 3. You really managed to capture the special feelings this game can give you, better than any other video I've seen so far. It feels so great to hear someone else talk about this game with the passion and importance that it means to me personally. Honestly a video this good probably shouldn't exist, but it does
Xenoblade 3 is the only game that left me breathless after playing it. I haven’t had as much fun playing a game, haven’t been as invested in a world, haven’t wanted it to keep going, haven’t been as in love with a game as I am with XC3. It is a special experience that words cannot truly justify. It also continues the new trend of the best character in a Xenoblade game being a Welsh cat-girl.
I'm a 34 year old prison officer from the United Kingdom. I've played games non stop for the past 25 years including XC1 and 2. I'm rather sad I've finished XC3. It has been so long since a game has made an impact on me like this. Its an absolute masterpiece and deserves every bit of its success. I look forward to the dlc with open arms.
I remember when I first got my switch in 2020 the first 3 games I bought were Xenoblade 1 and 2. When I beat Xenoblade 1 and strated 2 I was stocked. Xeno 1 had a fantastic story that ended on an amazing high. 2 was very fun and I beat it this year about a month or 2 before Xenoblade 3 announcement. I say all this to say that Xenoblade 3 is my favorite cause it feels like a culmination of amazing systems and themes from a series of amazing games and brings a fantastic end to 3 games worth of masterful story and gameplay. It's in my top 5 games of all time. P.s I really hate that there is no Xenoblade x switch port I really want to play that game
@@TimothyGod X was a game that was big for the sake of being big and the mecha, which feature heavily, were balanced as late game content, which kind of create this weird pacing tension of wanting to rush to the late chapters and then going 'and now what?' I don't hate it. But it's a lesson that the devs shouldn't have had to learn first hand, and the Chronicles games have a done a much better job realizing their more compact open worlds. Which I personally consider a master class in making the environment big . . . but no bigger than it needs to be. The thing that broke immersion most for me was that in order to build that huge world, far beyond any useful scale, vast chunks of the environment aren't collision mapped. Which means it really feels like you're walking through a world of holograms.
This is one of the first youtube videos to give me goosebumps, and it did it over and over again You really deserve more recognition for your awesome work :)
Xeno 3 really is a beautiful work of art when it came to character development and relationships. The main characters' stories are amazing, but the world around them has so many tales to tell and honestly whole new campaigns could be built around every colonie in this world. How extensive some of them are. Just looking at the affection table for the colonies and its inhabitants, watching it grow and adjust to every little event in the story shows how much love was put into the game. Every time an affection was updated, I always clicked it to see what changed. So many little details really immerse you into the struggles and growth of everyone in this world
Over 100 hours into XC3 and I've loved every second of it. Just finished chapter 5 a little while ago and the absolute skullf***ery that happens left me on the edge of my seat for well over an hour. Can't wait to see how this ends so I can play it again
Everything from ʎʇᴉlɐǝɹ oʇ ʞɔɐq onward is one of the most insane things I've listened to in a video essay, let alone a video game essay. The way you set up innocuous statements like calling your mother, only to go through the main theme of the game and reverse the statements is nothing short of masterclass. I especially love the different meanings you give "things will find a way, eventually". At first it's pessimistic and self assuring, only to become a hope filled statement. The music and your vocal intonation certainly enhance this point as well. I found you from your Drakengard video and binged everything else. The fact that you're producing the best video essays on the website right now and only have 8.5k subscribers is criminal. Also the masking on Eunie at the end of Back to Reality was so painfully enjoyable to watch. I don't want to even guess how long and tedious that was to make.
Wow. I don’t know how you did it, but I already found Taion to be the most relatable personally speaking and yet you somehow made a throwaway line that made him even more relatable wtf. TTYD best game thx
I don't normally sit through longer videos, but the flow of concepts kept me hooked. The ending especially. Causality? Defiance of death through imminent action? Gratitude and awe towards our own existence? Good stuff. 10/10, you earned your views.
something interesting about the xenoblade 2 bath scene is that it doesn't feel wierd to me, as nothing really strange happens, and it is actualy fairly important to the story.
Yeah. Somewhat fanservice-y but the foreshadowing justifies its existence. Honestly seeing all the foreshadowing to that is one of the things that actually makes a replay of XC2 rewarding
I played through the trilogy, putting 150 hours in each of the games and my favorite game is currently the second one. This wild train ride between highly awkward, hilarious and emotional moments has been one of my favorite gaming experiences in the last few years. XC3 is great, but it felt really emotionally heavy for most of the playtime, which felt kind of one-sided in comparison to the other 2 games. Having the first two games ending with a "restart for mankind in unity and curiousity" culminating into this "fight to live" vs "live to fight" in the mashup version of the first two worlds that have been transformed into an endless battlefield. This mostly destroyed and battle-scarred Aionios has been great for the emotional setting and elevating the villain, but rather jarring and depressing to play through in my case. XC2 had these moments of pure despair while still being able to get a chuckle out of you, which I felt was deeply unique to the series, it kind of felt like it was exploring all kinds of coping mechanisms when it comes to dealing with this traumatic setting of impending doom. XC3's light hearted moments mostly revolved around the Nopon presence, which felt a bit one sided. The one part where Mio asked Eunie "why are we whispering?" got me good, I was absolutely craving for some ease of mind in this rather heavy story environment.
I loved 2 but it had so much bs that ruins the experience and Lowers it from being the best. The stupid field skills, the horrible navigation and map, the fact the first 10 hours of the game is boring as FUCK before it starts to get food etc. If they fixed that it would be the best
Never played any of these games, just curious about them, but holy shit your script, delivery and production value are top notch. If you keep at it I cant imagine this channel not blowing up. Gonna watch all your other stuff now
this game touched me so very much and made me ugly cry in the end (again). damn this was an incredible journey. and damn… u almost brought me to tears too in the end. very well done! keep up the good work!
Xenoblade 3 has become such an important game to me in a way I never expected it to be. I had bought it when it first came out, but because I had grown accustomed to the (bug caused) auto attack cancelling gameplay of two, I never got past the first bit of open exploration after the combat tutorial. For some reason, In my head, I viewed the game in I would like to think the same way Melee competitive players view newer smash games for probably much similar reasons. But, Recently, I had decided to finally give it a chance because I felt like I had been too harsh to the game last year for not playing the exact same way the previous game had. And I can say with full confidence that I regret my decision a year ago infinitely more than I do the one from a few weeks ago. I can say with confidence that I wasn't in the best place mentally at my time of re-picking up Xenoblade 3, as a lot of factors in my life were compounding a lot of negative emotions in my head, especially under the pretense of wishing I could live in an infinite perfect day. But when I had gotten to the part of the game where they discussed why it's better to want things to continue on than to live in an Endless Now, I felt something in my mind shift. This game was one of the few games to have ever truly made me cry, as I feel like I just so happened to be in the perfect audience for the core ideals of this game when I had truly given it a chance. Obviously since it had released after this video, Future Redeemed had not been a factor as part of the original message of this video, but I truly feel as it both completes the narrative of the Xenoblade franchise, as well as really strikes home the themes of learning to not be afraid of the future, and learning how to make it a path you tread carefully, yet confidently. Xenoblade 1 and 2 had resonated with me greatly as well, as their messages when I had received them felt like they were giving me a tale of how to course myself to avoid the pitfalls of the main antagonists of their games, and the personal messages acting as a guard rail for how to steer yourself into the future. But I feel like the entire purpose of 3's message was to aid in those who had found themselves in a struggle that they didn't know how to route, and were already trapped within. And I'd argue it's one of the most important games to have ever existed in a post pandemic world. as the game itself says, "Memories melt in the morning light, and then, a new day begins. Roads stretch out before us. So many paths. Which do you choose? That's up to you. Sometimes, you might run astray. You'll stop, maybe cry in frustration. But you know, that's alright. for the roads, they go on without end. So look up, and face forward, towards your chosen horizon... and just... Walk on."
My game of the year…and quite easily the only game I’ve played in the last decade that is on the same level as nier automata. I’ll have to wait for the major dlc to know if i like it more than nier automata but it’s not quite there yet for me
when you revealed the meaning behind Guernicas name I burst into tears. couldn't help it. such an incredibly beautiful game, and a wonderful review edit: the BEST Xenoblade 3 review tbh
Beautiful! I love Xenoblade 3, it’s message is extremely powerful. Even the part where you talked about “if x didn’t happen then y wouldn’t have happened” is an actual plot point in the game! Amazing video man!
Just gotta say THANK YOU SO MUCH for shouting out Soraya Saga by name and not referring to her as 'Takahashi's wife" like many other Xeno commentators ♥
I went through xenoblade 2 at a time when I was really into anime, and I love that game. It introduced me to the series and got me to go through the first game. I can say for certain that xenoblade chronicles 3 is one of my favorite games of all time
This is the love for the franchise that non-fans will NEVER understand, perfect timing releasing this after the shitshow from the big TH-camr yesterday
Xenoblade 1 is my favorite game of all time and I have no idea how anyone sincerely enjoyed this game, I'm happy for you all who are enjoying it but to me this game was very easy, simple character arcs, nonexistent villain motivations, nonsensical endgame story, the boring hallway "open worlds" from 1, tiny aoes in combat, npc party members running away and dying to raidwide damage, and most offensively the game finally allows you to swap characters but there's 7 party members so the player is only contributing like a seventh of the overall damage at any given time I wish I enjoyed it as much as 1, or even as much as X or 2. At least Noah can do the anime scream unlike Rex
I have I think about 50 hours on Xenoblade 3 and I'm still on Chapter 4. I'm more than 10 levels over-leveled, not because of Bonus XP, but because I can't stop exploring this world and getting insane Overkills with the amazing Chain Attack system (1.25 million is my current record, btw). Luckily there's an adjustable difficulty that seems to be catered to my exact situation. I'm amazed at how attached I've grown to these characters. Noah and Mio have one of the best budding romances I've ever seen in a video game, because you're seeing these children of war starting to learn what the concepts of love and sexuality even are. Even Taion, who seems to exist to get on your nerves, is an extremely sympathetic character, not just because of what he's lost, but because he has no real "family" like the others. Also, the most important thing for me in any game might be the music, and XC3 has not disappointed. It might be my favorite Xenoblade OST yet, and that puts it up there with the best of them.
I'm not normally an emotional dude but this game legit made me cry 3 times. Not only was the game itself awesome, the story was amazing and I wish I could erase my memories of it to relive it again
Yeah chapter 5 was very deep in XC3 the ending had me speechless and crying 😭 and at the start of chapter 6 I didn’t stop crying XC3 is easily one of the best JRPGS I have played in awhile the story the characters the music everything in this game is so good. I’m about 115 hours in on chapter 6 it’s been taking me awhile to finish the main story because I have been doing too many side quests lol 😂
Most of my time playing through XB3 has been spent thinking about the sheer gulf in quality between it and XB2 and the crazy whiplash it was giving me, constantly saying out loud "how is this possible? This game shouldn't exist." You literally took the words right out of my mouth, but said them smarter.
That segment at 16:55 where you're talking about all the variables that just happened to fall into place to let Xenoblade 3 exist, perfectly matches up with something Noah says late in chapter 7 [spoilers] There's no difference between Noah and N. The things that changed were just happenstance, "we got lucky". There's no reason Xenoblade SHOULD exist, and it only does due to a billion tiny variables that just happened to line up, which is the same for everything that does exist.
Would be funny if in Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition they had the old Wii models of the characters as a skin you can equipped after beating the game or something.
That ending song will always remind me of the journey they've taken every player through. The Xenoblade series is an absolute masterclass of storytelling that has much more to tell in the coming years. Thanks for making this video!
There's something I want to note about the section regarding supervillainpon. Philosophy has a lot more to do with the straightforward questions that children ask about the world and trying to answer them with an adult's experience. Why are things the way they are? Can''t they be better? Discussing these questions in simple terms is closer to the spirit of philosophy than most would admit and honestly speaks to the good experience of scriptwriters to present relatively hard concepts in such clean, occasionally humorous ways.
To be fair, the Xenoblade 2 hot spring scene was actually plot relevant cause it actually foreshadows that Nia's a flesh eater. But seriously good video
Xenoblade 3 from the start hooked me. Usually I don't fall into hype trains, and usually my thoughts are complete by the end. But Elden ring, and xenob3 both had me hooked for ages
I keep coming back to this video every few months when I'm thinking about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 again. You absolutely nailed your portrayal of the game as well as the rest of the series! I keep recommending it to friends because it perfectly encapsulates my feelings about Xenoblade. Also, the script (and its delivery!) is just hilarious. I cracked up at every joke and I think they're timed absolutely perfectly. Everything just flows along really nicely, it never felt like a drag to listen to or watch. The visuals are impressive as well! So thank you for making this video.
Really well made video with some excellent points about the franchise as a whole. Also I always cry when I hear that song at the end, so thanks for that :(
bro how is your channel not blown up yet?!?! The production quality is really good. I had to check your subscription twice whether you have 8mil or 8k sub.
After playing first Xenogears, and then Xenosaga all those years ago, I realized that genius exists, and we don't deserve it. I joined project rainfall, and got the very fist copy of Xenoblade collector which was a Gamestop exclusive at that time. I wish I could make people understand. The persistence of deep thought and Gnostic principles keeps me coming back, and for that I am grateful. I am an avid fan of Monolithsoft. Square created their own worst enemy by pushing these people out. Xeno is a real life Frankenstein's monster. I believe it will one day sunset Final Fantasy, but we shall see. Thank you Monolithsoft for your contributions, and gifts to a greater society.
What an incredible video, truly. I had it pop up on my TH-cam homepage a few weeks back but only now got around to watching it. I believe the way you tied so many different things into this one (relatively short) video with nothing feeling rushed is incredible. It’s a video that tackles the history of the franchise, it’s a review of the game, it‘s an in-depth analysis of its themes and the way they tie back into our world. As you said, Xenoblade is nothing if not relatable. It’s fantastical, unrealistic, and yet it tackles issues that we experience in our everyday lives. It’s not important to strive for eternity but to enjoy the time we have and make the most out of it. Thank you for this video, it’s been a joy to watch
I just discovered your channel and you're exceptional. Your editing and voice over is compact and to-the-point while still being entertaining. You've earned yourself a sub.
Xenoblade 1 blew me away it was one of the first games that made me gasp with its events. Xenoblade 2 well.... lets say I never finished it and it's rotting on my shelf, I guess I'll get Torna since it seems to have iron may of the problems I had with XB2. I am currently in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3 and it's been a lovely experience I think the writers nailed character development, they made me care about all the characters in a way I didn't think it would happen when I started.
This is one of the best produced and edited videos I've ever seen on youtube, and I've been hopelessly addicted to this platform for a full Kevesi lifetime. I'm in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3, and playing as slowly as possible completing every side and hero quest I can. Oftentimes I'll get burnt out of RPG's partway through and have to come back later, as either the system or the story will reach a lull. Not so for Xenoblade 3. The richness and fullness of the world and it's characters cannot be overstated, and the themes are so important and relevant to us, in our world that also tries to reduce our meaning to what we can provide to our betters. An incredible video that does justice to what will likely be my favorite game of all time by the time the credits roll.
"If you can make it through Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you can make it through anything" What a word to live by! Imma remember this when I got depressed and stuck in the dark lol
@@Foogi9000 I mean, there's definitely stuff in 2 that makes me wince. But there's also definitely a good game in their with some great story moments and I think it would have been a lot more accessible if they'd just reigned in the cheesecake a little bit more. I think this is why 3 hit so well for me. It's got the energy of 2 and the originality of 1, but with a lot more restraint. There's even still a little fanservice, but the restraint makes it fun rather than uncomfortable.
3 is way better, but I still love 2. the gameplay gets so addicting. And the ability to switch between 3/4 movestes in 1 fight was insanely cool. Now I want to play 2 again, dang it.
Xenoblade 2 as a game is literally one of the few reasons I havent taken my own life. Depressing, but honestly good. I love xc2. I really do like Xenoblade a lot.
strong emotional beats for this game actually. love the video not having to spoil anything and also giving info for people like me who never get to play the other xenoblade games like XC2.
I'm an old-ass man now and I got my first chills playing games like FFIV and Chrono Trigger. In college Xenogears and Suikoden made me a lifetime fan of RPGs. Playing Xenoblade Chronicles later in life all I could think was “there is a kid like I was falling in love with RPGs because of this game.” Seeing all the Xeno fans never fails to make me smile. The RPG world is in good hands.
As that kid, I can confirm. I’d enjoyed them before, but this along with KH 358 Days made me realize that games could be emotional, and tell great stories about tragedy, hope, and life itself! I owe it in part to Xenoblade for making me fall in love with not just games, but stories in general. Seeing grand new worlds, meeting peoples and cultures, they’re all things that make the world so much better.
I like that you say you’re embarrassed to like Xenoblade 2, because I was too. I just really like its story overall strange enough, because I never thought I’d like a game with its style till I tried it out. It is very cringe at many moments, but the overall story made it worth it. Also, I didn’t want to think before playing Xenoblade 3 about if it would be better or not. It was overall much better, but I still have a soft spot for Xenoblade 2. (Btw I’ve never played Xenoblade chronicles. No words for it, and don’t know when/if I will…)
You should play the first one...the remake is pretty decent. I think 3 is a bit more packed with content overall (newer game) but you will be surprised how good rhe original was
The original XC is my favourite JRPG. I wasn't hooked on the world concept of 2 that much but I still loved it. 3 is just phenomenal. A couple of days ago, my family had to put our first dog down, a day after I finished XC3. I'm still heartbroken. It feels like I lost a brother and I still see his traces left in the house. But I genuinely believe that I would be in a worse place and not have such a motivation to live on and be happy for him had I not played XC3 when I did. I've played so many games about death, many that come to the same conclusions as XC3, and I am naturally a sentimental person, but this game felt so tender in the way it dealt with emotional trauma, friends helping each other through it, and coming to terms with the perils of existence. It's strange that every XC release seems to find me at the time I need it the most, but maybe that's just a testament to how 'relatable' they are, as you put. Maybe I just need a refresher of philosophical concepts every once in a while and getting immersed in a world with characters I'd die for is the most fun and emotionally manipulative way to do that😂 Amazing video👍
Xenoblade 1 is a masterpiece. Xenoblade 2 I feel is great and gets waaaay too much crap. People exaggerate its flaws. Xenoblade 3 I’m still on but I’m 70 hours in, not even close to done and holy crap this has a serious argument to be the best. And when the first is one of the best games of all time, that’s saying something.
couldnt agree more about 2, it's fun as hell and the characters have actual personalities that grow over time but also stay consistent, as exaggerated as they are it makes for a more fun and memorable experience. Also I think having a younger protagonist that actually acts younger and makes mistakes is a genius idea cause it gives room for growth that the other games didn't have, shulk was close to this but he was always smart and noah was more lucky then anything.
Great presentation on the history and significance of this series! Honestly, your conclusion has helped me process my feelings about the relationship I have with video games as I've gotten older. I jumped into this series, thinking I had to learn it inside and out to get the most return on my investment of time, then wondered if it's worth the time at all. Lately, I've incorporated the process of learning to play XBC, learning to play it the way I want to, and enjoying the journey all the while! I don't have to rush it to get it out of my backlog or shelf it out of guilt... I can create and enjoy my own experience that fits my life! (Real responsibilities and such). It's pretty profound for a video game to make me think like this in the real world, right?!
discovering your chanel with this video and you perfectly putted into words why I think this game is special plus some details I haven't noticed (and make me love the game even more) and your video feels great to watch, I was hooked, you're getting a like and a sub, continue making these you're awsome
Awesome video, just really well written and paced :) I have only seen some of this game's dialogue in streams and stuff and i was already really invested, and i think this video just convinced me to pull the trigger and at least check out xenoblade 1 to start with the series (also because it usually goes for under full price wich is a nice bonus)
15:03 There's a project I'm working on about the NPCs in Xenoblade 1, and how much they add to the immersion. Unlike the other games, Xenoblade 1 lets you talk to EVERY NPC, whether they're named or not. What I found amazing is that as the story progresses, every NPC will gain new dialogue (there are HUNDREDS of NPCs!), and to my astonishment, most of the individual unnamed characters are consistent with the things they talk about: many of them have their own little storys that unfold as the game progresses, like one Nopon in Frontier Village who talks about hugging himself as a sort of lifehack, and his friend who thinks this is really weird and that he needs to get a girlfriend. These characters help create the sensation of a whole world existing independent of the player and their actions. They can also help give flavor and texture to the world: I got a real sense of the flow of air within Frontier Village just from talking to villagers in different spots and hearing them talk about the temperature. Not to mention all the lore to be gleamed from these interactions, like the fact that before he was Heropon, Riki was the guy running on that hamster wheel. It's a shame, but completely understandable, that this level of detail was abandoned in the subsequent games (because besides myself, who the FUCK is crazy enough to methodically go back and speak to every single unnamed NPC over and over again after every story beat?!), but I've found traces of that same kind of storytelling in each of the other Xenoblade games: the one that pops into my mind from 2 is a Urayan girl in the mercenary camp who keeps telling the player how her dad keeps talking shit about them ("My dad says that you're a piece of shit" [not a direct quote]), only to reveal later on that she's an orphan and she's been insulting you to your face the whole time. This is the amount of care and attention that Monolith wants to put into the worlds it creates.
@@ConstantlyCaden Exactly! "Generic Villager NPC" is such a staple of RPGs that we often think of unnamed villagers as having a sort of "fungible" quality: who cares which city guard is which, when they all just have the same generic "Stop right there, criminal scum" dialogue? I may call them "unnamed NPCs" in Xenoblade 1, but the game really creates the impression that all of these characters HAVE a name; it's just that the player isn't privy to it. They've all got their own lives, with their own shit going on. From what I've seen, FF7R has that same DNA to it, although I haven't played it yet.
I believe it's an extension of the Dragon Quest world design philosophy, even the early ones had really good world building within the random NPCs' dialogue boxes :)
I have yet to finish this game. I am on chapter 7, and I wanted to get through all the side quests before I progressed. I just fell in love, and honestly, as you were, I am afraid of things coming to its close. I don't want to see the curtains close, metaphorically. I don't want to see this cast of lovable goofs go, knowing that the next time I'll likely see another "new" xenoblade game is easily a few years to come. I don't want to lose the bliss, the vitality of a new world, a new place to get lost in. I've already explored 90% of the map by now, seeing every corner of the world, and that scares me. I have easily put 200 hours into this game. And, honestly, I'd do it all over again, if I could relive this game from the beginning. I was only introduced to this franchise in 2020, on a spur of the moment purchase at a gamestop, thinking it sounded cool (and looked cool.) and since then, I was spoiled, given so much at once. Seeing the sequel only took 2 years from my introduction to come out, I was feeling like a child in a candy shop. So, knowing this is my last venture for the next 3 or so years, it's going to hurt me. Overall, I really am excited for the ending of this game, but I am terrified of it's outcome. And, thank you, for this video. It was really nice to see your take on this.
I really like the way this video describes XC2; really close to my own feelings. I love it, I like it, I hate large swathes of it and playing it around any other humans is an intensely awkward experience. But more than that, I like this video’s positive message. I guess I will Do That Thing
This is a really high quality video and i was thoroughly suprised to see your subscriber count! Keep doing what your doing man. Love the xenoblade series
@18:30 Alongside Ouroboros being a reference through infinity and cycle of death and rebirth, [spoiler] Moebius is also a reference to infinity, as its name references the Mobius Strip. Which is that symbol of infinity they used in the sky or appears in their eyes. It's like two opposing sides of infinity are enemies.
What a wonderful review! Enjoyed every minute of it, just like the game and grew emotional at end as you masterfully pull that little trick. Won’t spoil it don’t worry. Game was a blast to play and food for thought’s. I’m still playing it even after finishing it and can’t wait to see what will they do with the upcoming dlc. Hopefully, we will have some more closure. And the devs love their game? Oh boy does it show up to the finer details. Know many companies who will order two separate custom flute? I only know one. If you would ask me what’s my favorite event or character I wouldn’t be able to point any…oh wait, all of them! First time I see a well developed cast! And heroes! And npcs! This game give you as much as you invest into! Anyway, looking forward to all of your futur endeavor!
Amazing video! I love how you ended the video. As someone currently in a rut, the main message I got from the game (that your video expertly explained) resounded so much with me - a truly unforgetable experience.
This video is phenomenal... Just wow. Also, I want to take a sec to praise your thumbnail work (As well as the recent Splatoon one). Cuz they convey each video's tone so well before even watching. These are great! Keep it up dude!
Ok man screw you this video made me cry like a bitch... But seriously, in all honesty this was a masterpiece to watch and I cant even start to guess how much time was spent making it, bravo dude. Just discovered your channel with this video and shit im already a diehard fan, please keep making art like this bro I'm fuckin here to see it
Dude the quality in this video is stupid good. Super fun narrative to follow. Can't imagine your channel not popping off at some point. Definitely looking forward to your next piece man!
I have finished and loved this game but I think I still prefer 2 atm, despite its blatant flaws. The characters of 3 are much more well rounded but I did like the goofy moments of 2. Unlike many, i found those made the serious moments hit harder and the blade system elements really hit with me. All outstanding games and without some nutjob deciding to port the first game to the 3DS, I'd never have found this amazing series
Shoutouts to the madmen who rebuilt the game for the ground up for a 2011 handheld and the other madmen who made a new model of said handheld almost entirely to run it.
YT blessed me with this video, and I'm glad I watched it. Good video, and some of your more philosophical points hit me in a bit of a soft spot. Xenoblade 1 I had a weird relationship with - I had watched full playthroughs of it on here a good few years before it released on the 3DS, and that's when I picked it up. I got super, SUPER burnt out on it around Eryth Sea, and put it down for years. Then, Definitive Edition came out, and replayed it, got to the point where I previously had been burnt out, and was revitalized just a short time after the start of Sword Valley. Loved every moment going forward, despite knowing full well the path the story would take. Xenoblade 2, after finishing 1 for myself, I didn't know how to feel about it. I again watched a full playthrough, was turned away by the trope-y-ness of some parts of it, but still managed to enjoy sizable chunks of it, flaws and all. Though, it almost didn't feel quite the same to me, as I watched it. It was adjacent, but not quite the same. Now, 3 unified the two. I really, really enjoyed it, for a lot of the same points you made. My only real complaint about the game is that I would have wanted maybe two more hero classes, but that's a nitpick more than complaint. It's kept me entertained and consumed all my free time when I've been off work for the past month and a little more, and it's made me feel all kind of emotions during a time when I've been a little more vulnerable and depressive. It's given me a bit more hope to try to look for, and at the very least, something that I've thoroughly enjoyed for several weeks, and probably several weeks more when the rest of the DLC rolls out. ...And maybe we'll get some little chunks of 1 and 2 in the dlcs too. That'd be nice.
I love this series so much, and since 3 came out and exceeded my expectations, it’s taken over Final Fantasy as my favourite JRPG series. I’ve finally convinced a friend to try them starting with XC:DE and he didn’t expect to like it, but he does and it’s awesome to see him fall in love with the story and world just like I did
"The passage of time is not a god you can kill with your friends" And that's why I play video games, so I can forget all these facts and logic and believe, if for a few short moments, that I CAN kick god in the balls with my friends ;) In all seriousness though, this is GOOD CONTENT, like really really fucking good, to the point I'm really considering supporting it, something I never did to this point -and I've been on the internet for longer than a lot of people in this comment section have been alive, probably (hence why the sentence up top hit me like a truck). For now, unfortunately, I'm kinda sorta broke, so word of mouth will have to suffice, but know that if I had the means at the moment I would throw a lot of money your way just to try to keep you doing what you are, so consider this my way of saying you're doing awesome and should keep at it until you find the success you surely deserve man.
Yoooo, great video! I subscribed! I love this game so much. Noah & the others really reached my heart, as silly as this may sound. As you said, I was kinda afraid this beautiful yet depressive journey would soon come to an end. But now, maybe through the point of the story, I think I realized that the time I had with this game is something nobody could ever take away from me.
funny way how i got into xenoblade. In January 2017, I suddenly had a thought to check up on Nintendo since i haven't payed any attention to it in a long time and low and behold, news of the switch would be coming that March. Within a couple of weeks, I found a video on xenoblade and all the cutscenes. Watched that 10 hour clip and fell in love with the story. Couldn't believe i ever missed the game on the wii. Then xenoblade 2 comes out a couple months later. rest is history. Again, when i check back to when 3 is coming out, It would be 1 week before release. Xenoblade LITERALLY fell in my lap on a whim. I'm glad it did.
yeah, okay, you sold me, I want this game now and I didn't before. I love... all of this... existentialism and death as themes in videogames, and xenoblade 1 and X were probably my favorite games ever, I've been crying throughout this video.
That being said, xenoblade 2, trusts its audience to understand lore the first time around more than 3 does, the slow reveal of nia, the tree, and tantal. As well as the real romance between 4 people. That is not played as a joke. 3 repeats plot beats constantly like its worried the player isnt paying attention. X3 shows you the gun until it tells you what it does and then it says it again. X2 hides it, sometimes under smut but it actually hides that lead and makes you ask yourself when is that coming back.
I agree 100%. It trusts the player to understand the lore, understand the combat, and understand the characters beyond what is shown to them. I'm not saying it's a perfect game, but imo games that don't hold a player's hand is much better. Clearly, Takahashi overestimated a lot of these players capabilities.
After playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and spending time making sure my levels were constantly going up with the rest mechanic, I laughed when he went from level 21 to level 77 in one go. I just recently hit level 83, and I had to beat the game first. XD
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An interesting detail is how each Xenoblade relates to time, Xenoblade 1 represents the future what with Shulk's visions of future events and the final act of claiming their future from Zanza, Xenoblade 2 represents the past as the past events are heavily important to the present events, Amalthus loosing his mother, The Aegis War and the subsequent fallout and ultimately Klaus's past actions that lead to massive destruction and the creation of Alrest and finally Xenoblade 3 represents the present with the endless fighting an eternal status quo, the soldiers of Keves and Agnus don't live long enough to remember the past and have no future and Moebius wishing to live forever in an "endless now" in a world locked in stasis.
What a fantastic detail to realize!
Xenoblade Chronicles 1: "Fate is what we make it. Work hard to create the future you want to see happen."
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: "Our history is part of us, but it does not define us. Don't run from your past; accept it, and move forward."
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: "Nothing can last forever; cherish every moment as they come, and every memory as they go."
The ending themes actually reference this too: Beyond the Sky is about looking forward to new adventures, One Last You is about Pneuma looking back on her time with Rex, and Where We Belong is Noah and Mio accepting they can’t stay together forever but wanting to meet again someday.
I love this game and it’s my favorite game in the franchise but I HATE that once again they made it so you can’t auto attack while moving like in xenoblade 1. Having your attacks be paused every time you move even half an inch is so fucking annoying smh
Xenoblade X also has a constantly ticking timer before your robotic body dies and humanity is wiped out
Noah really said it best.
Why would things change only in the moment of this game? Why now, of all times?
Noah's answer, poignant and pointed, "We just got lucky."
Something I feel isn't pointed out enough is how Noah, Joran, Eunie, and Lanz are all best friends within their first, original lives. Then a thousand years pass, each of them living many varied incarnations over and over again. And it was this time in the game that all of them were united again. It was a mere matter of chance that they would reunite, and it was that chance where the world changed.
They just got lucky. They were lucky that everything lined up the way it was. But that's not discounting that everything that happened before was meaningless, and is instead quite the opposite-- this lucky chance only came about because things happened they way they did. Friends separated by literal entire lifetimes, come together again.
This was a very wonderful retrospection on the Xenoblade series. Cheers, man.
That is one of the big ideas, isn't it? That the one-in-a-billion, the last hope that you can't ever count on, will always come to pass and bring change as a force for good. It's going to happen. Lose hope all you want, just humor the people who don't and watch them change the world.
Recommendation, actually: if you want more of that sort of theme but wrapped in a love letter to classic western and eastern science fiction which itself is wrapped in the best mystery ever written (the detective is you the player trying to solve the mystery of what the hell even is this story), I recommend 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. That game actually gives Xenoblade 3 the _silver_ medal for the best story on the Switch, and it shocks me that I can say that with such confidence.
Wait where was it shown that their first incarcerations were friends?
The intro cutscene, where they're still kids.
(before the worlds collided)
@@cdjblue yeah I just beat it today and it all clicked, honestly that’s crazy.
And riku and manana were chilling in the opening cutscene. Does this mean manana comes from xenoblade 1?
I feel like Xenoblade 1 goes in your brain, Xenoblade 2 in your heart, and Xenoblade 3 in your soul. The first game you’re like “WTF IS GOING ON” the second game ur like “I don’t get wtf is going on but I’m having a good time” and the third game is just like “who tf hurt whoever made this game”
Well put!
😆
Writers obssesed with Romeo and Juliet
@@JimmyTAus1 shoutouts Romero for being a bro
this is the closest statement ive seen with regard to how i personally view and feel about each game. xc1 for me is centered on the story and history of its world (hence brain). xc2 is centered on the young protagonist and his drive to fulfill his promise to his blade even though a lot of things are unclear to him (heart is perfect for this). xc3 is about finding the meaning and purpose behind the cycle of life and death and transcending it (soul is ideal for this as well). Possibly the reason why i love xc2 the most because of the emotional attachment it creates, closely followed by xc3 because of how it beckons deep and contemplative thinking and then xc1with its lore. all 3 are easily in my top 10 of all time. each has their own flaws (like xc2's slow early pace coupled with a deep combat system that lacks the proper and timely tutorial that sadly threw off many players) but if the game clicks on you (if, because xenoblades' general combat style can be polarizing) even those flaws become almost an integral part of each games' character. easily over 1k hours play time total for all 3 games (including dlc) and i can say that i enjoyed it a ton because like what op said, the entire series was able to touch my brain, heart and soul.
10:09 Part of the reason I think this cutscene works so well is that it's doing multiple things at once. The fact that they're bathing together with zero awkwardness or fanservice tells you without explicitly telling you that sex isn't a thing they understand. (This also gets payoff later when they're changing clothes and the males get flustered without understanding why - a funny scene that also hints that the lack of Flame Clocks might be why.) Eunie's discussion with Noah displays her rare softer side while also informing the player of Joran's death and the effects it had on all three of them. The banter between Lanz and Eunie about bonus points showcases both their friendship dynamic and the fact that these battles are seen by many the same way we would view a video game deathmatch.
Nearly every major cutscene in the game is pulling double duty and it's breathtaking to watch once you catch it.
This was exactly what I was thinking and was about to comment about it. :D
I was absolutely floored when rewatching the final boss in Chapter 5 back after chapter 6. I don't think even the greatest nitpickers in the world would notice how one character being posessed was different from the others OR the music. It's so masterful
I saw someone draw the comparison of becoming ouroboros to eating the forbidden fruit, since after eating the fruit Adam and Eve begin covering themselves and being conscious of nakedness. If I remember everything correctly from back when I went to church lol
@@xandergarza5223 that's actually amazing
@@xandergarza5223 If that parallel was intentional, then it's still weird that only the boys felt uneasy about it.
10:18 for me it goes much further than that. It's not only not weird, it's a genuine way to make you notice how vulnerable and human are actually the characters. Like they get naked and take a bath as Noah is feeling nostalgic and sad for their friend, then he gets to talk about it with Eunie but they have to change the subject when Lanz arrives showing that even for someone as strong and courageous as him, there are delicate themes that are better to not mention. Yes that's a lot of character development in a bath scene.
💛
I mean I viewed the scene as a starship troopers reference
This is an extremely clever video. Absolutely amazing. Love the whole Xenoblade 3 shouldn't exist is a brilliant nod to the some of the game's themes. How the fuck do you have under 10K subs on this platform.
Thank you so much!!!
To this day i still can't believe me buying xenoblade x because "the mech on the cover looks cool" lead to me becoming a fan of this series, and im so glad it did, Xenogears, Xenoblade 3 and X are some of the most special games in my life, and they let me meet some of my best friends. This series is a miracle and I love it for that
SAME 😭 I bought XCX back for Christmas of 2016 because it looked cool. It was the first game I 100%ed, spending over 800hrs, immersed in the wonderful world and combat. It's still my favourite game of all time! Not to mention it lead me to the Xeno franchise... Such a shame it was released on the WiiU!
Xenoblade 2 is like the one kid in class with incredible potential, who instead uses it to mess with the teacher and other classmates. I love that game.
Likewise
Lmao yeah
One Xenoblade speed runner is a teacher
That also showed multiple times that he was capable of being something great if he just tried.
Even though the switch isn't as powerful as other consoles, these games are still the best looking games I've ever seen. Hell, even X looks incredible on the Wii U.
Absolute crime that this doesn’t have more views. Xenoblade 3 made me appreciate how lucky it is that I am alive at all, how many things had to happen for me to exist as I am now, and I think you expertly articulated that same idea in this video. This trilogy is unlike any other series I have gotten into, and I don’t expect my opinions of any of them to lower with time. Thanks for the excellent analysis!
Ayyyy it’s the man himself! Loved the Xenoblade 2 video!
wow
Was that in between the unnecessary fanservice scenes?
Play Xenogears
So you are telling me minorities in the USA have to play this game?
Almost started crying at the end of the video. A bit much? Probably. But I’m just realizing how perfect this game is for me at the point of life I’m at right now, starting college far away from home and all that, entering adulthood and thinking about the impact I may have on the world. I never played a Xenoblade game before (though I looked into lore), and I’m so happy I took the leap and bought 3.
Apart from being excellent in almost every angle, XB3 is a masterclass in character building. They took every time they could to put on those little details. Eunies fondling of wings when she feels akward apologizing, riku making fun at of lanzs rash and crude behaviour, Noah whipping out his flute and sending off an enemy regardless of the demands of the rest of the gruop. I cant remember the last jrpg or game for that matter that made me both laugh and cry. I cant remember the last time I started hating a character like eunie and fell in love with her by the end. A true masterpiece!
Something I like is how the characters change gradually overtime as they rub off on each other. Taion is a lot more open with his emotions and inherits Eunie's potty mouth in places, Lanz can be surprisingly wise at some places, Sena speaks her mind more and Eunie is a lot more thoughtful. Even if it's not a chatacter arc, so to speak, but it's a nice way to show how they're all growing closer as friends.
Yeah and that time Noah doesn’t send off the Mobius member after the tough battle. I felt that with him when Lanz asks why he didn’t do it, if I remember correctly!
Is this satire? It's a masterclass of what NOT to do. It's a complete mockery of both character and story building that makes jrpgs look like a sick joke of incoherent clichés. It's like something Tea from Yu-Gi-Oh would have written in 5 minutes in her lunch break that she totally forgot to proofread.
@@tehemail.7062 Oh no, someone likes something that you don’t, time to go full blast.
@@tehemail.7062bro is absolutely projecting lmao
"I took a shot every time a Nopon was annoying. Today, I'm 12 years sober."
You just won yourself at least one new subscriber just for that part 😂
The fact that Nopon are actually awesome again is one of my favourite parts of Xenoblade 3.
He obviously didn't meet Bambam in his playthrough.
Because then he'd be 13 years sober.
Riku and Manana are incredible. I have a special place in my heart for all the nopon party members, but these ones really take the cake for me.
@@ItsMisterMarbles You know what, you're getting a sub as well for that one. 😆
😆
I can’t believe people are acting as if Manana didn’t have annoying moments
The culmination of the Klaus saga of these games, all leading up to that final cutscene, it broke me. It’s been such a journey (started my Xeno journey on the New 3DS port of 1 after the Sm4sh announcement and Chuggaaconroy playthrough that was in progress at the time).
These games have held such a special place in my heart, all of them, since high school.
- 1, while being the only one I didn’t play through blind, I still got goosebumps and loved just about every second of that game.
- X is probably my least favorite after I played through it, being the only one I never strived to 100% complete, but it’s still a really great game imo.
- 2, while it is polarizing, I honestly loved just as much if not more than 1. The characters really shined for me in that game, same for 1.
- 1DE was just as amazing as the og with the extra spice of the overhauled graphics and some extra additions.
- 3 though. Just….goddamn. It’s the only one I’ve streamed so some friends can go on the journey with me. And just everything about it was *chef kiss*. The final DLC pack with an original story though…I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be. I want it to be with the main party reuniting again, but it could be about the Founders as well. We’ll just have to wait and see. Rn, I took a day off last night and I can’t wait to dive into the postgame later tonight.
Considering Monolith Soft want to go full on Final Fantasy with this franchise and called XC3 the end of the Klaus saga, I can’t wait to see what these brilliant minds and passionate souls will come up with next.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I've done everything I can think of in Xenoblade 3, and I still want to play more, i just love the cast, the story, the world, the music, everything so much.
It's astonishing and I have so very few issues with it that It might just become one of my favourite games of all time.
I restarted due to using bonus xp and haven’t used it for my new play through.
Im almost at the end but now I want to restart on hard mode just so I can relive those moments for a third time
I'm over 115 hours into the game, 65+ of which is on a NG+ file, and I'm still finding more places and quests even now. This game is huge and I love it.
We have DLC that will be releasing until the end of next year, so the ride hasn’t ended just yet.
One of my favorite things about Xenoblade is that they do different accents for the different nations and not just take the easy "everyone speaks American" route, especially in the second one where the accents differ by the nations! Like, I've never seen that and only noticed it after someone pointed it out to me and made replaying the game that much better because you start to notice way more little details. And it gave us Nia's glorious Welsh accent! I'm going to miss Xenoblade, I really am.
I’m so impressed with this games dialogue (and voice acting) even in quests your protagonists feel so real. They don’t just say things to advance the plot. Each character has a personality, motivation, specific relationship to every other character, and soul of their own.
The narrative is deceptively straight forward. These are master storytellers who understand set up and pay off, character motivation and progression, and theming. As you so eloquently point out, it’s brilliance is demonstrated in its restraint.
On xenoblade being “childish” I think that 1: sure, this is not meant for an old man. It’s written in a way that a teenager can understand while still providing lots of depth for someone older. Not everything has to be cryptic. I have grown to appreciate how “on the nose” Japanese media can be with its theming. I’ve grown to appreciate it for what it is. And not measure it to the old farts I was forced to study in college. It’s sincerity is actually refreshing.
This game shot up to my top 10 on chapter 3. I’m on chapter 5! And I have 120 hours of game time. I’m taking my sweet time.
This game shot up to my top 5 favorite games of all time on chapter 3. I’m on chapter 5! And I have 120 hours of game time. I’m taking my sweet time. I love that you bring on nier automata and persona 4. Those are also in my top 5.
Gotta give thanks to takahashi to never give up on his vision to create a game like xeno series. After all the problem and difficulty that he faced if he ever gave up on at each of that point in time we will never get xenoblade now.
I can't believe you didn't mention the most emotional part of the game: Jumbo Tirkin's story 😭
Cuts had to be made 😔
Quest would be better if the collection requirements were not so annoying to gather and it didn't force me to fight when I absentmindedly wandered into the area a second time without the collectables while deciding I'm going to fill out the map let's gooooo
@@anamethename3327 you're think of the tau-tirkin alliance, jumbo tirkin is from a completely different quest and area, he shows up in ghondor's ascension quest
yeah, I nearly cried at that.
Your editing style and sense of humor is so entertaining. Honestly, don’t know why I’m crying during a game review of a game that I clearly already spent too much time crying during.
Man this was an incredible tribute to Xenoblade 3. You really managed to capture the special feelings this game can give you, better than any other video I've seen so far. It feels so great to hear someone else talk about this game with the passion and importance that it means to me personally. Honestly a video this good probably shouldn't exist, but it does
Xenoblade 3 is the only game that left me breathless after playing it. I haven’t had as much fun playing a game, haven’t been as invested in a world, haven’t wanted it to keep going, haven’t been as in love with a game as I am with XC3. It is a special experience that words cannot truly justify.
It also continues the new trend of the best character in a Xenoblade game being a Welsh cat-girl.
I'm a 34 year old prison officer from the United Kingdom. I've played games non stop for the past 25 years including XC1 and 2. I'm rather sad I've finished XC3. It has been so long since a game has made an impact on me like this. Its an absolute masterpiece and deserves every bit of its success. I look forward to the dlc with open arms.
I remember when I first got my switch in 2020 the first 3 games I bought were Xenoblade 1 and 2. When I beat Xenoblade 1 and strated 2 I was stocked. Xeno 1 had a fantastic story that ended on an amazing high. 2 was very fun and I beat it this year about a month or 2 before Xenoblade 3 announcement. I say all this to say that Xenoblade 3 is my favorite cause it feels like a culmination of amazing systems and themes from a series of amazing games and brings a fantastic end to 3 games worth of masterful story and gameplay. It's in my top 5 games of all time.
P.s I really hate that there is no Xenoblade x switch port I really want to play that game
It's actually pretty easy to emulate XCX on a computer.
Personally I had too many issues with x myself and didn't like it as much as the "main" line series
@@TimothyGod X was a game that was big for the sake of being big and the mecha, which feature heavily, were balanced as late game content, which kind of create this weird pacing tension of wanting to rush to the late chapters and then going 'and now what?'
I don't hate it. But it's a lesson that the devs shouldn't have had to learn first hand, and the Chronicles games have a done a much better job realizing their more compact open worlds. Which I personally consider a master class in making the environment big . . . but no bigger than it needs to be.
The thing that broke immersion most for me was that in order to build that huge world, far beyond any useful scale, vast chunks of the environment aren't collision mapped. Which means it really feels like you're walking through a world of holograms.
Good news about XcX
@@StrikeX13 so happy to see your comment two years later. Can't wait to play xcx next year on switch.
This is one of the first youtube videos to give me goosebumps, and it did it over and over again
You really deserve more recognition for your awesome work :)
Thank you!! :)
Xeno 3 really is a beautiful work of art when it came to character development and relationships. The main characters' stories are amazing, but the world around them has so many tales to tell and honestly whole new campaigns could be built around every colonie in this world. How extensive some of them are.
Just looking at the affection table for the colonies and its inhabitants, watching it grow and adjust to every little event in the story shows how much love was put into the game. Every time an affection was updated, I always clicked it to see what changed.
So many little details really immerse you into the struggles and growth of everyone in this world
Over 100 hours into XC3 and I've loved every second of it. Just finished chapter 5 a little while ago and the absolute skullf***ery that happens left me on the edge of my seat for well over an hour. Can't wait to see how this ends so I can play it again
Everything from ʎʇᴉlɐǝɹ oʇ ʞɔɐq onward is one of the most insane things I've listened to in a video essay, let alone a video game essay. The way you set up innocuous statements like calling your mother, only to go through the main theme of the game and reverse the statements is nothing short of masterclass. I especially love the different meanings you give "things will find a way, eventually". At first it's pessimistic and self assuring, only to become a hope filled statement. The music and your vocal intonation certainly enhance this point as well. I found you from your Drakengard video and binged everything else. The fact that you're producing the best video essays on the website right now and only have 8.5k subscribers is criminal.
Also the masking on Eunie at the end of Back to Reality was so painfully enjoyable to watch. I don't want to even guess how long and tedious that was to make.
I'm glad you enjoyed! It means a lot to know it was interpreted as intended :)
Babe wake up, new ConstantlyCaden video
Wow. I don’t know how you did it, but I already found Taion to be the most relatable personally speaking and yet you somehow made a throwaway line that made him even more relatable wtf.
TTYD best game thx
I don't normally sit through longer videos, but the flow of concepts kept me hooked. The ending especially. Causality? Defiance of death through imminent action? Gratitude and awe towards our own existence? Good stuff. 10/10, you earned your views.
something interesting about the xenoblade 2 bath scene is that it doesn't feel wierd to me, as nothing really strange happens, and it is actualy fairly important to the story.
Yeah. Somewhat fanservice-y but the foreshadowing justifies its existence. Honestly seeing all the foreshadowing to that is one of the things that actually makes a replay of XC2 rewarding
@@Memory_of_Light i would argue that it is less fan-servacy than the rest of the game.
I played through the trilogy, putting 150 hours in each of the games and my favorite game is currently the second one. This wild train ride between highly awkward, hilarious and emotional moments has been one of my favorite gaming experiences in the last few years. XC3 is great, but it felt really emotionally heavy for most of the playtime, which felt kind of one-sided in comparison to the other 2 games. Having the first two games ending with a "restart for mankind in unity and curiousity" culminating into this "fight to live" vs "live to fight" in the mashup version of the first two worlds that have been transformed into an endless battlefield. This mostly destroyed and battle-scarred Aionios has been great for the emotional setting and elevating the villain, but rather jarring and depressing to play through in my case.
XC2 had these moments of pure despair while still being able to get a chuckle out of you, which I felt was deeply unique to the series, it kind of felt like it was exploring all kinds of coping mechanisms when it comes to dealing with this traumatic setting of impending doom. XC3's light hearted moments mostly revolved around the Nopon presence, which felt a bit one sided. The one part where Mio asked Eunie "why are we whispering?" got me good, I was absolutely craving for some ease of mind in this rather heavy story environment.
I loved 2 but it had so much bs that ruins the experience and Lowers it from being the best. The stupid field skills, the horrible navigation and map, the fact the first 10 hours of the game is boring as FUCK before it starts to get food etc. If they fixed that it would be the best
Most of Xenoblade 3's comedy comes from Eunie, not the Nopon. Riku is more serious than half of Xenoblade 2's main cast.
Never played any of these games, just curious about them, but holy shit your script, delivery and production value are top notch. If you keep at it I cant imagine this channel not blowing up. Gonna watch all your other stuff now
this game touched me so very much and made me ugly cry in the end (again). damn this was an incredible journey.
and damn… u almost brought me to tears too in the end. very well done! keep up the good work!
Yesss! Well put, everything! Yeah, the totally “normal” bath scene at the beginning was SUCH a relief, for me. Commenting for engagement!
Xenoblade 3 has become such an important game to me in a way I never expected it to be. I had bought it when it first came out, but because I had grown accustomed to the (bug caused) auto attack cancelling gameplay of two, I never got past the first bit of open exploration after the combat tutorial. For some reason, In my head, I viewed the game in I would like to think the same way Melee competitive players view newer smash games for probably much similar reasons. But, Recently, I had decided to finally give it a chance because I felt like I had been too harsh to the game last year for not playing the exact same way the previous game had. And I can say with full confidence that I regret my decision a year ago infinitely more than I do the one from a few weeks ago. I can say with confidence that I wasn't in the best place mentally at my time of re-picking up Xenoblade 3, as a lot of factors in my life were compounding a lot of negative emotions in my head, especially under the pretense of wishing I could live in an infinite perfect day. But when I had gotten to the part of the game where they discussed why it's better to want things to continue on than to live in an Endless Now, I felt something in my mind shift. This game was one of the few games to have ever truly made me cry, as I feel like I just so happened to be in the perfect audience for the core ideals of this game when I had truly given it a chance. Obviously since it had released after this video, Future Redeemed had not been a factor as part of the original message of this video, but I truly feel as it both completes the narrative of the Xenoblade franchise, as well as really strikes home the themes of learning to not be afraid of the future, and learning how to make it a path you tread carefully, yet confidently.
Xenoblade 1 and 2 had resonated with me greatly as well, as their messages when I had received them felt like they were giving me a tale of how to course myself to avoid the pitfalls of the main antagonists of their games, and the personal messages acting as a guard rail for how to steer yourself into the future. But I feel like the entire purpose of 3's message was to aid in those who had found themselves in a struggle that they didn't know how to route, and were already trapped within. And I'd argue it's one of the most important games to have ever existed in a post pandemic world.
as the game itself says, "Memories melt in the morning light, and then, a new day begins. Roads stretch out before us. So many paths. Which do you choose? That's up to you. Sometimes, you might run astray. You'll stop, maybe cry in frustration. But you know, that's alright. for the roads, they go on without end. So look up, and face forward, towards your chosen horizon... and just... Walk on."
My game of the year…and quite easily the only game I’ve played in the last decade that is on the same level as nier automata. I’ll have to wait for the major dlc to know if i like it more than nier automata but it’s not quite there yet for me
the writing in this one is rather cringeworthy. not even anywhere near Nier: Automata.
when you revealed the meaning behind Guernicas name I burst into tears. couldn't help it. such an incredibly beautiful game, and a wonderful review
edit: the BEST Xenoblade 3 review tbh
Beautiful! I love Xenoblade 3, it’s message is extremely powerful. Even the part where you talked about “if x didn’t happen then y wouldn’t have happened” is an actual plot point in the game! Amazing video man!
Just gotta say THANK YOU SO MUCH for shouting out Soraya Saga by name and not referring to her as 'Takahashi's wife" like many other Xeno commentators ♥
And now I ask how you only have 7 videos already 3 masterpieces? I’ve only watched 3 BUT the 3 I’ve seen are OUTSTANDING!
I went through xenoblade 2 at a time when I was really into anime, and I love that game. It introduced me to the series and got me to go through the first game. I can say for certain that xenoblade chronicles 3 is one of my favorite games of all time
This is the love for the franchise that non-fans will NEVER understand, perfect timing releasing this after the shitshow from the big TH-camr yesterday
What big TH-camr?
@@SaltyManok Videogame Dunkey lol
Xenoblade 1 is my favorite game of all time and I have no idea how anyone sincerely enjoyed this game, I'm happy for you all who are enjoying it but to me this game was very easy, simple character arcs, nonexistent villain motivations, nonsensical endgame story, the boring hallway "open worlds" from 1, tiny aoes in combat, npc party members running away and dying to raidwide damage, and most offensively the game finally allows you to swap characters but there's 7 party members so the player is only contributing like a seventh of the overall damage at any given time
I wish I enjoyed it as much as 1, or even as much as X or 2. At least Noah can do the anime scream unlike Rex
@@VForceWave Is it really that bland? The 1st title is my all time favorite too, loved the open worlds in the Wii (and X).
@@omarrodriguez4943 It really isn't that bland, but everyone has different tastes I guess
I have I think about 50 hours on Xenoblade 3 and I'm still on Chapter 4. I'm more than 10 levels over-leveled, not because of Bonus XP, but because I can't stop exploring this world and getting insane Overkills with the amazing Chain Attack system (1.25 million is my current record, btw). Luckily there's an adjustable difficulty that seems to be catered to my exact situation.
I'm amazed at how attached I've grown to these characters. Noah and Mio have one of the best budding romances I've ever seen in a video game, because you're seeing these children of war starting to learn what the concepts of love and sexuality even are. Even Taion, who seems to exist to get on your nerves, is an extremely sympathetic character, not just because of what he's lost, but because he has no real "family" like the others.
Also, the most important thing for me in any game might be the music, and XC3 has not disappointed. It might be my favorite Xenoblade OST yet, and that puts it up there with the best of them.
I'm not normally an emotional dude but this game legit made me cry 3 times. Not only was the game itself awesome, the story was amazing and I wish I could erase my memories of it to relive it again
Yeah chapter 5 was very deep in XC3 the ending had me speechless and crying 😭 and at the start of chapter 6 I didn’t stop crying XC3 is easily one of the best JRPGS I have played in awhile the story the characters the music everything in this game is so good. I’m about 115 hours in on chapter 6 it’s been taking me awhile to finish the main story because I have been doing too many side quests lol 😂
Most of my time playing through XB3 has been spent thinking about the sheer gulf in quality between it and XB2 and the crazy whiplash it was giving me, constantly saying out loud "how is this possible? This game shouldn't exist."
You literally took the words right out of my mouth, but said them smarter.
That segment at 16:55 where you're talking about all the variables that just happened to fall into place to let Xenoblade 3 exist, perfectly matches up with something Noah says late in chapter 7 [spoilers]
There's no difference between Noah and N. The things that changed were just happenstance, "we got lucky". There's no reason Xenoblade SHOULD exist, and it only does due to a billion tiny variables that just happened to line up, which is the same for everything that does exist.
From op Rainfall to GOTY Nominee!!!
So happy for a moment that this masterpiece of a series got at least acknowledged
Would be funny if in Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition they had the old Wii models of the characters as a skin you can equipped after beating the game or something.
That ending song will always remind me of the journey they've taken every player through. The Xenoblade series is an absolute masterclass of storytelling that has much more to tell in the coming years. Thanks for making this video!
There's something I want to note about the section regarding supervillainpon. Philosophy has a lot more to do with the straightforward questions that children ask about the world and trying to answer them with an adult's experience. Why are things the way they are? Can''t they be better? Discussing these questions in simple terms is closer to the spirit of philosophy than most would admit and honestly speaks to the good experience of scriptwriters to present relatively hard concepts in such clean, occasionally humorous ways.
To be fair, the Xenoblade 2 hot spring scene was actually plot relevant cause it actually foreshadows that Nia's a flesh eater.
But seriously good video
Xenoblade 3 from the start hooked me. Usually I don't fall into hype trains, and usually my thoughts are complete by the end. But Elden ring, and xenob3 both had me hooked for ages
I keep coming back to this video every few months when I'm thinking about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 again. You absolutely nailed your portrayal of the game as well as the rest of the series! I keep recommending it to friends because it perfectly encapsulates my feelings about Xenoblade.
Also, the script (and its delivery!) is just hilarious. I cracked up at every joke and I think they're timed absolutely perfectly. Everything just flows along really nicely, it never felt like a drag to listen to or watch. The visuals are impressive as well!
So thank you for making this video.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy it enough to come back to it, it means a lot to hear that!
Xenoblade 3 was phenomenal, and this video was as well! I look forward to sharing it with people to try to convince them to give it a try!
In intro, Zeke should’ve popped in for the ultimate himbo meet-up.
Really well made video with some excellent points about the franchise as a whole. Also I always cry when I hear that song at the end, so thanks for that :(
bro how is your channel not blown up yet?!?! The production quality is really good. I had to check your subscription twice whether you have 8mil or 8k sub.
After playing first Xenogears, and then Xenosaga all those years ago, I realized that genius exists, and we don't deserve it. I joined project rainfall, and got the very fist copy of Xenoblade collector which was a Gamestop exclusive at that time. I wish I could make people understand. The persistence of deep thought and Gnostic principles keeps me coming back, and for that I am grateful. I am an avid fan of Monolithsoft. Square created their own worst enemy by pushing these people out. Xeno is a real life Frankenstein's monster. I believe it will one day sunset Final Fantasy, but we shall see. Thank you Monolithsoft for your contributions, and gifts to a greater society.
What an incredible video, truly. I had it pop up on my TH-cam homepage a few weeks back but only now got around to watching it. I believe the way you tied so many different things into this one (relatively short) video with nothing feeling rushed is incredible. It’s a video that tackles the history of the franchise, it’s a review of the game, it‘s an in-depth analysis of its themes and the way they tie back into our world. As you said, Xenoblade is nothing if not relatable. It’s fantastical, unrealistic, and yet it tackles issues that we experience in our everyday lives. It’s not important to strive for eternity but to enjoy the time we have and make the most out of it. Thank you for this video, it’s been a joy to watch
I just discovered your channel and you're exceptional. Your editing and voice over is compact and to-the-point while still being entertaining. You've earned yourself a sub.
Xenoblade 1 blew me away it was one of the first games that made me gasp with its events. Xenoblade 2 well.... lets say I never finished it and it's rotting on my shelf, I guess I'll get Torna since it seems to have iron may of the problems I had with XB2. I am currently in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3 and it's been a lovely experience I think the writers nailed character development, they made me care about all the characters in a way I didn't think it would happen when I started.
1st Cry: Eclipse
2nd Cry: Child in the Woods
3rd Cry: Pre-credits
Xenoblade Crynicles 3
This is one of the best produced and edited videos I've ever seen on youtube, and I've been hopelessly addicted to this platform for a full Kevesi lifetime.
I'm in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3, and playing as slowly as possible completing every side and hero quest I can. Oftentimes I'll get burnt out of RPG's partway through and have to come back later, as either the system or the story will reach a lull. Not so for Xenoblade 3.
The richness and fullness of the world and it's characters cannot be overstated, and the themes are so important and relevant to us, in our world that also tries to reduce our meaning to what we can provide to our betters.
An incredible video that does justice to what will likely be my favorite game of all time by the time the credits roll.
"If you can make it through Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you can make it through anything"
What a word to live by! Imma remember this when I got depressed and stuck in the dark lol
I love xenoblade chronicles 2, I don't care how lewd or campy it is at times it's all great to me!
@@Foogi9000 Same, it's what got me into the series.
@@Foogi9000 I mean, there's definitely stuff in 2 that makes me wince. But there's also definitely a good game in their with some great story moments and I think it would have been a lot more accessible if they'd just reigned in the cheesecake a little bit more.
I think this is why 3 hit so well for me. It's got the energy of 2 and the originality of 1, but with a lot more restraint. There's even still a little fanservice, but the restraint makes it fun rather than uncomfortable.
3 is way better, but I still love 2. the gameplay gets so addicting. And the ability to switch between 3/4 movestes in 1 fight was insanely cool.
Now I want to play 2 again, dang it.
XC2 is waay better than people give it credit for
Xenoblade 2 as a game is literally one of the few reasons I havent taken my own life.
Depressing, but honestly good. I love xc2. I really do like Xenoblade a lot.
strong emotional beats for this game actually. love the video not having to spoil anything and also giving info for people like me who never get to play the other xenoblade games like XC2.
I'm an old-ass man now and I got my first chills playing games like FFIV and Chrono Trigger. In college Xenogears and Suikoden made me a lifetime fan of RPGs. Playing Xenoblade Chronicles later in life all I could think was “there is a kid like I was falling in love with RPGs because of this game.” Seeing all the Xeno fans never fails to make me smile. The RPG world is in good hands.
As that kid, I can confirm. I’d enjoyed them before, but this along with KH 358 Days made me realize that games could be emotional, and tell great stories about tragedy, hope, and life itself! I owe it in part to Xenoblade for making me fall in love with not just games, but stories in general. Seeing grand new worlds, meeting peoples and cultures, they’re all things that make the world so much better.
I like that you say you’re embarrassed to like Xenoblade 2, because I was too. I just really like its story overall strange enough, because I never thought I’d like a game with its style till I tried it out. It is very cringe at many moments, but the overall story made it worth it.
Also, I didn’t want to think before playing Xenoblade 3 about if it would be better or not. It was overall much better, but I still have a soft spot for Xenoblade 2.
(Btw I’ve never played Xenoblade chronicles. No words for it, and don’t know when/if I will…)
You should play the first one...the remake is pretty decent. I think 3 is a bit more packed with content overall (newer game) but you will be surprised how good rhe original was
The original XC is my favourite JRPG. I wasn't hooked on the world concept of 2 that much but I still loved it. 3 is just phenomenal.
A couple of days ago, my family had to put our first dog down, a day after I finished XC3. I'm still heartbroken. It feels like I lost a brother and I still see his traces left in the house. But I genuinely believe that I would be in a worse place and not have such a motivation to live on and be happy for him had I not played XC3 when I did. I've played so many games about death, many that come to the same conclusions as XC3, and I am naturally a sentimental person, but this game felt so tender in the way it dealt with emotional trauma, friends helping each other through it, and coming to terms with the perils of existence. It's strange that every XC release seems to find me at the time I need it the most, but maybe that's just a testament to how 'relatable' they are, as you put. Maybe I just need a refresher of philosophical concepts every once in a while and getting immersed in a world with characters I'd die for is the most fun and emotionally manipulative way to do that😂
Amazing video👍
Xenoblade 1 is a masterpiece.
Xenoblade 2 I feel is great and gets waaaay too much crap. People exaggerate its flaws.
Xenoblade 3 I’m still on but I’m 70 hours in, not even close to done and holy crap this has a serious argument to be the best. And when the first is one of the best games of all time, that’s saying something.
couldnt agree more about 2, it's fun as hell and the characters have actual personalities that grow over time but also stay consistent, as exaggerated as they are it makes for a more fun and memorable experience. Also I think having a younger protagonist that actually acts younger and makes mistakes is a genius idea cause it gives room for growth that the other games didn't have, shulk was close to this but he was always smart and noah was more lucky then anything.
Great presentation on the history and significance of this series!
Honestly, your conclusion has helped me process my feelings about the relationship I have with video games as I've gotten older. I jumped into this series, thinking I had to learn it inside and out to get the most return on my investment of time, then wondered if it's worth the time at all.
Lately, I've incorporated the process of learning to play XBC, learning to play it the way I want to, and enjoying the journey all the while! I don't have to rush it to get it out of my backlog or shelf it out of guilt... I can create and enjoy my own experience that fits my life! (Real responsibilities and such). It's pretty profound for a video game to make me think like this in the real world, right?!
discovering your chanel with this video and you perfectly putted into words why I think this game is special plus some details I haven't noticed (and make me love the game even more) and your video feels great to watch, I was hooked, you're getting a like and a sub, continue making these you're awsome
2:00 It is a special game. Even past the halfway point of disc two when their budget got slashed because of Final Fantasy.
Goddamnit, Square.
The budget wasn't the problem, the deadline was. Takahashi didn't manage his team well.
Awesome video, just really well written and paced :)
I have only seen some of this game's dialogue in streams and stuff and i was already really invested, and i think this video just convinced me to pull the trigger and at least check out xenoblade 1 to start with the series (also because it usually goes for under full price wich is a nice bonus)
15:03 There's a project I'm working on about the NPCs in Xenoblade 1, and how much they add to the immersion. Unlike the other games, Xenoblade 1 lets you talk to EVERY NPC, whether they're named or not. What I found amazing is that as the story progresses, every NPC will gain new dialogue (there are HUNDREDS of NPCs!), and to my astonishment, most of the individual unnamed characters are consistent with the things they talk about: many of them have their own little storys that unfold as the game progresses, like one Nopon in Frontier Village who talks about hugging himself as a sort of lifehack, and his friend who thinks this is really weird and that he needs to get a girlfriend. These characters help create the sensation of a whole world existing independent of the player and their actions.
They can also help give flavor and texture to the world: I got a real sense of the flow of air within Frontier Village just from talking to villagers in different spots and hearing them talk about the temperature. Not to mention all the lore to be gleamed from these interactions, like the fact that before he was Heropon, Riki was the guy running on that hamster wheel.
It's a shame, but completely understandable, that this level of detail was abandoned in the subsequent games (because besides myself, who the FUCK is crazy enough to methodically go back and speak to every single unnamed NPC over and over again after every story beat?!), but I've found traces of that same kind of storytelling in each of the other Xenoblade games: the one that pops into my mind from 2 is a Urayan girl in the mercenary camp who keeps telling the player how her dad keeps talking shit about them ("My dad says that you're a piece of shit" [not a direct quote]), only to reveal later on that she's an orphan and she's been insulting you to your face the whole time. This is the amount of care and attention that Monolith wants to put into the worlds it creates.
It's really incredible. I remember the mindblow I experienced when I found out about every XC1 NPC being a written character
@@ConstantlyCaden Exactly! "Generic Villager NPC" is such a staple of RPGs that we often think of unnamed villagers as having a sort of "fungible" quality: who cares which city guard is which, when they all just have the same generic "Stop right there, criminal scum" dialogue? I may call them "unnamed NPCs" in Xenoblade 1, but the game really creates the impression that all of these characters HAVE a name; it's just that the player isn't privy to it. They've all got their own lives, with their own shit going on.
From what I've seen, FF7R has that same DNA to it, although I haven't played it yet.
I believe it's an extension of the Dragon Quest world design philosophy, even the early ones had really good world building within the random NPCs' dialogue boxes :)
@@ConstantlyCaden Interesting; I've never played those games. Fantastic video, by the way; incisive, heartfelt, and brilliantly packaged.
That ending with the “weight of life” ost was a fantastic ending, I’ve never had goose bumps like I did when I heard it at the end. Fantastic video!
I have yet to finish this game. I am on chapter 7, and I wanted to get through all the side quests before I progressed. I just fell in love, and honestly, as you were, I am afraid of things coming to its close. I don't want to see the curtains close, metaphorically. I don't want to see this cast of lovable goofs go, knowing that the next time I'll likely see another "new" xenoblade game is easily a few years to come. I don't want to lose the bliss, the vitality of a new world, a new place to get lost in. I've already explored 90% of the map by now, seeing every corner of the world, and that scares me. I have easily put 200 hours into this game. And, honestly, I'd do it all over again, if I could relive this game from the beginning. I was only introduced to this franchise in 2020, on a spur of the moment purchase at a gamestop, thinking it sounded cool (and looked cool.) and since then, I was spoiled, given so much at once. Seeing the sequel only took 2 years from my introduction to come out, I was feeling like a child in a candy shop. So, knowing this is my last venture for the next 3 or so years, it's going to hurt me.
Overall, I really am excited for the ending of this game, but I am terrified of it's outcome. And, thank you, for this video. It was really nice to see your take on this.
I really like the way this video describes XC2; really close to my own feelings. I love it, I like it, I hate large swathes of it and playing it around any other humans is an intensely awkward experience. But more than that, I like this video’s positive message. I guess I will Do That Thing
This is a really high quality video and i was thoroughly suprised to see your subscriber count! Keep doing what your doing man. Love the xenoblade series
“Boy did I call it or what?” -George Orwell
@18:30 Alongside Ouroboros being a reference through infinity and cycle of death and rebirth, [spoiler]
Moebius is also a reference to infinity, as its name references the Mobius Strip. Which is that symbol of infinity they used in the sky or appears in their eyes. It's like two opposing sides of infinity are enemies.
What a wonderful review! Enjoyed every minute of it, just like the game and grew emotional at end as you masterfully pull that little trick. Won’t spoil it don’t worry. Game was a blast to play and food for thought’s. I’m still playing it even after finishing it and can’t wait to see what will they do with the upcoming dlc. Hopefully, we will have some more closure. And the devs love their game? Oh boy does it show up to the finer details. Know many companies who will order two separate custom flute? I only know one. If you would ask me what’s my favorite event or character I wouldn’t be able to point any…oh wait, all of them! First time I see a well developed cast! And heroes! And npcs! This game give you as much as you invest into! Anyway, looking forward to all of your futur endeavor!
Amazing video! I love how you ended the video. As someone currently in a rut, the main message I got from the game (that your video expertly explained) resounded so much with me - a truly unforgetable experience.
12:47 never in my life have I seen a more brutal character assassination than this right here
I love Taion! But I couldn't resist
@@ConstantlyCaden nah he absolutely deserved it
This video is phenomenal... Just wow. Also, I want to take a sec to praise your thumbnail work (As well as the recent Splatoon one). Cuz they convey each video's tone so well before even watching.
These are great! Keep it up dude!
Ok man screw you this video made me cry like a bitch...
But seriously, in all honesty this was a masterpiece to watch and I cant even start to guess how much time was spent making it, bravo dude. Just discovered your channel with this video and shit im already a diehard fan, please keep making art like this bro I'm fuckin here to see it
Cry baby jk
Dude the quality in this video is stupid good. Super fun narrative to follow. Can't imagine your channel not popping off at some point. Definitely looking forward to your next piece man!
I have finished and loved this game but I think I still prefer 2 atm, despite its blatant flaws.
The characters of 3 are much more well rounded but I did like the goofy moments of 2. Unlike many, i found those made the serious moments hit harder and the blade system elements really hit with me.
All outstanding games and without some nutjob deciding to port the first game to the 3DS, I'd never have found this amazing series
Shoutouts to the madmen who rebuilt the game for the ground up for a 2011 handheld and the other madmen who made a new model of said handheld almost entirely to run it.
YT blessed me with this video, and I'm glad I watched it. Good video, and some of your more philosophical points hit me in a bit of a soft spot.
Xenoblade 1 I had a weird relationship with - I had watched full playthroughs of it on here a good few years before it released on the 3DS, and that's when I picked it up. I got super, SUPER burnt out on it around Eryth Sea, and put it down for years. Then, Definitive Edition came out, and replayed it, got to the point where I previously had been burnt out, and was revitalized just a short time after the start of Sword Valley. Loved every moment going forward, despite knowing full well the path the story would take.
Xenoblade 2, after finishing 1 for myself, I didn't know how to feel about it. I again watched a full playthrough, was turned away by the trope-y-ness of some parts of it, but still managed to enjoy sizable chunks of it, flaws and all. Though, it almost didn't feel quite the same to me, as I watched it. It was adjacent, but not quite the same.
Now, 3 unified the two. I really, really enjoyed it, for a lot of the same points you made. My only real complaint about the game is that I would have wanted maybe two more hero classes, but that's a nitpick more than complaint. It's kept me entertained and consumed all my free time when I've been off work for the past month and a little more, and it's made me feel all kind of emotions during a time when I've been a little more vulnerable and depressive. It's given me a bit more hope to try to look for, and at the very least, something that I've thoroughly enjoyed for several weeks, and probably several weeks more when the rest of the DLC rolls out. ...And maybe we'll get some little chunks of 1 and 2 in the dlcs too. That'd be nice.
I love this series so much, and since 3 came out and exceeded my expectations, it’s taken over Final Fantasy as my favourite JRPG series.
I’ve finally convinced a friend to try them starting with XC:DE and he didn’t expect to like it, but he does and it’s awesome to see him fall in love with the story and world just like I did
"The passage of time is not a god you can kill with your friends"
And that's why I play video games, so I can forget all these facts and logic and believe, if for a few short moments, that I CAN kick god in the balls with my friends ;)
In all seriousness though, this is GOOD CONTENT, like really really fucking good, to the point I'm really considering supporting it, something I never did to this point -and I've been on the internet for longer than a lot of people in this comment section have been alive, probably (hence why the sentence up top hit me like a truck). For now, unfortunately, I'm kinda sorta broke, so word of mouth will have to suffice, but know that if I had the means at the moment I would throw a lot of money your way just to try to keep you doing what you are, so consider this my way of saying you're doing awesome and should keep at it until you find the success you surely deserve man.
Yoooo, great video! I subscribed!
I love this game so much. Noah & the others really reached my heart, as silly as this may sound. As you said, I was kinda afraid this beautiful yet depressive journey would soon come to an end. But now, maybe through the point of the story, I think I realized that the time I had with this game is something nobody could ever take away from me.
funny way how i got into xenoblade. In January 2017, I suddenly had a thought to check up on Nintendo since i haven't payed any attention to it in a long time and low and behold, news of the switch would be coming that March. Within a couple of weeks, I found a video on xenoblade and all the cutscenes. Watched that 10 hour clip and fell in love with the story. Couldn't believe i ever missed the game on the wii. Then xenoblade 2 comes out a couple months later. rest is history. Again, when i check back to when 3 is coming out, It would be 1 week before release.
Xenoblade LITERALLY fell in my lap on a whim.
I'm glad it did.
Xenoblade 3 is one of my all time favorites. Theres just something about it. Beautiful game❤
yeah, okay, you sold me, I want this game now and I didn't before. I love... all of this... existentialism and death as themes in videogames, and xenoblade 1 and X were probably my favorite games ever, I've been crying throughout this video.
As someone that despised 2, 3 is my new favorite game in the series…
But Melia is still my favorite character….
Which is good for me…
This was incredibly well done. This is some of the most clever scripting I've seen in any video, keep up the good work!
And the Thousand Year Door was indeed remastered
That being said, xenoblade 2, trusts its audience to understand lore the first time around more than 3 does, the slow reveal of nia, the tree, and tantal. As well as the real romance between 4 people. That is not played as a joke. 3 repeats plot beats constantly like its worried the player isnt paying attention. X3 shows you the gun until it tells you what it does and then it says it again. X2 hides it, sometimes under smut but it actually hides that lead and makes you ask yourself when is that coming back.
I agree 100%. It trusts the player to understand the lore, understand the combat, and understand the characters beyond what is shown to them. I'm not saying it's a perfect game, but imo games that don't hold a player's hand is much better. Clearly, Takahashi overestimated a lot of these players capabilities.
After playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and spending time making sure my levels were constantly going up with the rest mechanic, I laughed when he went from level 21 to level 77 in one go. I just recently hit level 83, and I had to beat the game first. XD