I'm speechless man. I hope you're proud of yourself because you absolutely 100% totally smashed it, I think this genuinely might be your best video so far! I envy the hell out of your ability to naturally convey your passion for whatever talking point in a humorous yet still intelligent way. The jokes and editing felt like a massive step up and they were already top tier before??? Man how do you even do that. I lost count at how many times you had me rolling on the floor, fr you can always count on a Snugboy video to make your day! I loved your exploration of the characters, their struggles, relationships, etc. You did them more justice than I ever could! Seriously you had so many bits (especially in the story rant haha) that I just totally agreed with but never had the right words for. I really hope this video takes off because you deserve it my friend. It's hard not to notice how meticulous you are with your work and the effort put in does not go unnoticed. So so so proud of you man, you've outdone yourself again. This is gonna sound like a hyperbole but I really do think you're gonna hit that million sub milestone one day, only a matter of time until the algorithm catches up with your bangers! 💪Stay snug Snugman ❤
GPS!!! You are seriously the nicest man. Thank you so much for all of your support and friendship it genuinely means the world to me. All of that I can say right back at you!!! Aaah thank you mate.
Wow what a love letter :) I 100% agree. But the Twilight Princess video was recommended to me, this is the reason im here. So maybe youtube is already starting to notice this talent right here ❤️
21:46 There's an item called the Memory Locket that, if you equip it as an accessory, allows non-healers to revive fallen allies. I can't recall what unique enemies or chests I got my copies from, but you can also trade for it from the Nopon Sage.
Really good video, to help with your confusion on the ending I'd refer to Luxin's video on the subject. I think it would clear up some of your issues as well
This 110%, review was awesome but basically every problem he had, whether it was confusion with theming or a mid perceived plothole, is actually answered in game and is still tight with writing as ever. Probably hurt the experience that he only did around 50 hours here too, since side content expands the game a metric ton and a half lol
Xenoblade 3 is definitely my favorite in the series and also has my favorite cast and honestly it’s my favorite combat in the series it just feels so satisfying. For me it’s a great blend of aspects of 1 and 2 with the story and gameplay elements. I love the story and cast so much. I do have a few nitpicks and that’s mainly there’s hardly anything to really buy since you get better accessories thru quest or chest and never found a reason to buy anything. I also dislike the menu for them because I didn’t like how there’s no way to really sort them. I love the class system which lets them learn a lot of skills from other classes and getting the characters wear cosplays of each other and love the Heros in this game. Also I slowly stopped using chain attack not because it did no damage but once you understand how to do chain attacks well it melts HP bars and didn’t want boss fights to end too early. In my opinion this cast is the closest and most well connected cast. Since you have all party members and all of them interact with the plot and have little moments in cutscenes, at the camps and side quest. The relationship between all the cast just feels so genuine especially Noah and Mio. While I agree with points about there being some plot holes and stuff unexplained but I do disagree with other things like the reason why the worlds are coming apart. The annihilation effects are because the worlds are tearing itself apart by being together. The worlds are their own thing and didn’t think they would have come together in the first place because the characters don’t know about their but I do agree the game doesn’t explain it well at all until the very end. They are from different worlds and the stuff that happens in Aionios still happened the world and time was just put on pause and the finally gets restarted. I do love the ending for me it’s a bitter sweet ending of people coming together to save their own worlds and unfortunately have to separate from each other which hurts even more that Noah and Mio still cannot be together
I'm always happy to see a new video by you, Snugboy! There's something amazingly charming about listening to people gush about things they love and you rank amongst my favs for that.
Great video! You've definitely picked up another subscriber! I think you touched on a lot of good points and I really enjoyed your analysis overall. I totally agree about the soundtrack and especially the characters. They’re really the highlight of this game for me. I also agree with many of your story criticisms. The last portion of the game is indeed rough, particularly compared to some of the incredible highs that come before it. I did want to touch on your comments in regards to the ending though. (incoming lengthy post, but I hope it might be useful somehow) **SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME** I've seen so many people surprised about the worlds splitting at the end, and I have to say that I was one of them as well. But that surprise was mainly because I thought the game had said that the intent was for the worlds to merge, as explained by Nia in the info dump at the beginning of chapter 7. I was confused, but only because I thought the game was contradicting itself. If you watch Nia’s scene, though, she explicitly says the world's will merge(thus cancelling themselves out) and then be restored by Origin.
I'm not defending this entirely, because the game did a poor job of really hammering this point home in the late part of the game. It's mentioned nowhere else following that scene. There are no late game scenes where the characters discuss this (other than Nia's post-game ascension of all places), and that is a definite issue.
**BUT**
Even if you feel that the ending is out of left field, I do have to disagree that this ending is against the game's core themes, and I’m not sure I’d have been as satisfied with an overtly happy ending given what the game is saying. As you say, there is a thematic focus on life, and happiness, and the natural order of things, and I think this is actually consistent with the ending that we get, and the game’s hypothesis regarding the Endless Now.
The Endless Now, as implied by the game, is that state where we choose the status quo as the most preferable way to exist(and thus, fail to move forward). This is either out of fear of failure or a desire to keep what we have (seen through characters like N and Shania),or simply not questioning the way things are and/or failing to know any better (like most of the soldiers of Agnus and Keves). The Endless Now can be blissful, but it is a false hope. In the game, this concept is directly mirrored by the world of Aionios. Aionios itself is stagnant, and will eventually collapse in on itself given enough time(as foreshadowed by the annihilation events seen or mentioned throughout the game). Simply put, the failure to overcome fear and move forward is ultimately destructive.
Now, the game is not equating the Endless Now to the idea of being together with one another. It's not saying being together is bad, and the ending is not rejecting this. Coming together is actually necessary. Our main characters on opposing sides must come together to survive. Ouroboros itself is a merging of bodies and minds. We need to come together. And the game’s message about life echoes this, but with a warning. (Hey, my Ouroboros is overheating!)
The game tells us time and again that to move forward(and thus reject the Endless Now) is vital to life itself. So how is this primarily done according to what the game presents to us?
First, it’s done through having faith in our actions and choices.
Making choices can be frightening, and sometimes requires a degree of faith that can be difficult to shoulder. All so often, you need the support of others to help you carry the burden. So much of the cast interaction we love in XC3 is watching the characters do just this: Taion helping Eunie after her trauma; Lanz and Sena finding themselves through each other. Remember the epic scene at the end of ch2 when Noah is terrified of destroying the Flame Clock and can only bring himself to do it after Mio supports him wholeheartedly? Let’s just say the “The Weight of Life” isn’t just a fancy title for an amazing song. Making these difficult choices often requires the help or cooperation of others. This concept of having faith in our decisions also carries on to the ending of the game.
The next way we move forward (quite literally as a species) is through our offspring. The game rightfully makes a big deal out of this. This is the one thing that is denied to the people of Aionios under Moebius, outside of those(the people of the City) who have broken free and seek to restore the natural order. Needless to say, we also need to come together for such a miracle to happen.
Finally, and I saved this for last because it is the most important for what the game is trying to say in the ending: We live on(and thus move forward, even beyond separation and death) through our actions. Our actions resonate through the people around us and carry into the future. The game literally doesn’t shut up about this. Guernica sacrifices himself for the hope of the future (the Ouroboros); Mio’s entire reason for living is to carry on what Miyabi entrusted to her-which she later entrusts to Noah; Noah and the gang get captured so the Cloudkeep key can be given to future Ouroboros (as Noah later says in that powerful chapter 5 end scene “We gave them hope.”). The game's ending is not an erasure of the events that happened in the game. The worlds *were saved by the actions of the characters of Aionios who had enough faith to try to move things forward, even though they weren’t sure that Origin would even work as intended in the end.
Again, the game is not suggesting that the only way to live is to be apart. Coming together to support each other in the choices we make is vital for survival: For having the faith to move ourselves and the world forward; For the beautiful chaotic miracle that is life itself; For shaping the future. But indulging endlessly in the safety and comfort of togetherness will paradoxically keep us from walking that path forward. Put more succinctly: The worlds must separate to end the slow destruction of the Endless Now, and by this action the characters must have faith that they will meet each other again someday, and somehow. We all come together for one beautiful moment in time and try to create something meaningful by our actions before moving on. That is the natural order of things, and the opposite of the Endless Now. I'm positive, more or less, that this is what the game is trying to say.
Were this where the game left things though, I might feel more conflicted about the ending. Nobody likes a downer where it seems like nothing has really changed. But on top of the rich thematic resonance, the game also strongly implies (i.e. gives us faith)that the characters *are different by the end.
This is indicated by the game’s hints of the past actions/experiences of the Kevesi and Agnians that spill into their current lives. Furthermore, Miyabi’s reincarnation is able to regain her full memories by her hearing her own off-seer tune, and Joran also regains all of his memories upon becoming Moebius. While this is partly the series creator/director, Tetsuya Takahashi flaunting his obsession with Jung’s collective unconscious, it’s also the game implying that everyone in Aionios is constantly being updated into Origin with full memories of their past lives(probably by the motes of light which are most likely the light data or “words of light” being recorded into Origin). Then, of course, the game's epilogue winks at us when Noah hears his own off-seer tune.
By not giving us an explicitly happy ending, the game is asking us to have faith that the characters we know and love WILL meet again. And, if you’re still not convinced by that, let me leave you with the last verse of Where We Belong, the end song, with lyrics written by Takahashi himself:
This goodbye is not the end I know until we meet again Our feelings will remain the same Together as one, 'til we find ourselves again
It’s totally fair to argue the execution of the game's ideas falls short, but the ideas are all there in the game, being repeated throughout. It’s really mind blowing. **EDIT** Glad this post is helpful for some folks. I wrote this on little sleep, so I came back later to brush a few sentences up. But, man, what an amazing game overall, and a great overview by Snugboy.
I absolutely loved this video and I somehow love this comment even more. Comments like this are what make TH-cam such a wonderful site to be on. Such delightful discourse. To further contribute, I'd like to comment a quote said in Melia's ascension quest. When Eunie is afraid of growing apart from the group as time moves forward, Mio says this to comfort her: The fact that you're worried about us here and now Eunie... I don't think we'll ever forget that. Your feelings will transcend time... Everything the characters went through, all of their failures and successes... It wasn't for nothing. Consider Ethel and Cammuravi. Their death scene together is one of the most intense death scenes I've ever experienced. When their reborn selves come back into the narrative, they have an instant, unbreakable connection. The same thing occurs with Taion's mentor Nimue in his ascension quest, and the same thing will occur whenever our heroes reunite in the new world painstakingly created by their selfless actions.
I love love love that you wrote this comment out. 💛 As someone who did, in fact, see the ending coming, the significance of Ouroboros choosing to rebuild the worlds at whatever cost shows that they were truly willing to overcome any fear (in this case, the fear of loss) and push through with their chins up- whatever the outcome, whatever the pain of self-sacrifice- with hope. They literally defeated Fear, and the ending reflects that properly, I think. Thank you for putting this all into words better than I could! Besides, for anyone who is upset that the worlds didn’t merge- hey, we don’t know if the worlds started on their opposite paths again, or if they will be nearby neighbors in the solar system. Considering the incredibly advanced technology of both worlds, and the hint of their Aionios experience remaining with them subconsciously at least, there’s no reason why they couldn’t start on space programs and reunite through interstellar travel! (Which, until canon says otherwise, will be my prevailing theory lol)
Currently, my favorite game in the series is Xenoblade 2. The story and themes of finding a purpose to life resonated with me very strongly at the moment of life when I played it. Xenoblade 3's story is also great with a strong theme that's even more closely tied with the story, but it doesn't quite resonate with me as strongly with where I currently am in life. I think when you play the games and what the stories are effects which game is your favorite.
Spoilers The reason why the worlds are splitting apart is due to origin and how it merely recreates both worlds, not merging them. So that's why the worlds are forced to split apart.
Well that's confusing. I thought it would reboot the world's but they would stay fused together. The idea being that no matter the destruction, life as they know it would live and survive in whatever the state of the Universe would remain at that point. They only held the data from their respective Universes, not function as a restart to the merge itself. If their tech can do that, then that's pretty crazy. Melia and Nia can literally create a piece of tech that can reshape the fabric of reality and influence it in a massive fashion. It begs the question, what else can they do? Why was this whole event even an issue? I feel like their is a lot of necessary context needed for this lore to work.
@@stormcutter59 the weird monolith show in two near the end is never really explain also but it was the source for a lot of the crazy thing that happen even the splitting of earth into two different worlds
Oh okay, I did find that kinda confusing but I just thought that it was just a part of the process. What I thought was happening was that, the worlds were going to merge together, then get destroyed, then Origin was going to rebuild both of them.
I ADORE how they work with leitmotifs in this game, the moment drifting souls started playing when we got to where nia rests I started sobbing like crazy! And CALEIDOSCOPIC CORE? HAVE YOU HEARD THAT SONG? It BLEW me away the first time I listened to it. For someone who has over 500h in xenoblade 2 and has watched that game's cutscenes so much those parts hit DIFFERENT!
Holy shit you hit the nail on the head when talking about the ending. This is something I’ve had to explain to people where Xenoblade 3 is torn between being the culmination of 1 and 2 and being its own thing.
Nah it’s not torn between them, it’s simply both of them. It doesn’t need constant references in order to be sequel, nor does it need to be disconnected like X to be its own thing. Check out something like what the Yakuza series does with Judgment and 7 to see other top tier stories that do this
@@DavidHosey1 Let me rephrase. The concept of not needing to play the other games felt at odds with the narrative inherently being a sequel of the two. If this game truly is the finale of this trilogy, it feels as though it left more loose ends than either of the previous games, which is unfortunate considering the other games wrapped up so nicely. To make an analogy, 3 seemingly decided to open mystery boxes it didn’t need to and left without closing them. This might resolve with the DLC, but that isn’t necessarily ideal. THIS IN NOW WAY RUINS THE GAME OR THE SERIES, I just find it noticeable.
52:38 I love that you mention this, because I wholeheartedly agree. Each entry of the series (including X) has something it absolutely excels at, better than the other games. None of them feel like a "perfect" game, but they compliment eachother nicely. Personally, I think Xenoblade 1 has the best pacing and overall story, but at the cost of weaker gameplay and characters. Xenoblade X obviously has the best open world and is massive in scale, but suffers when it comes to story. Xenoblade 2 has the best world and lore, and the best overall story if we ignore some major issues I have with the first half, but has a lot of mechanics issues and messy pacing. Finally Xenoblade 3 easily has the best main cast as well as great supporting characters with heroes (and Bolearis, my guy), but has far too many plotholes than I think are acceptable (especially compared to 1 and 2). Between the four games, XC3 is my favorite but only barely. Still, each game is a masterpiece in its own right.
> In that 50 hour journey Why do I keep seeing all these people who sped through the game at breakneck speeds? It took me 125 hours to beat everything in the game I wanted to, and 20 of those hours were post game stuff. Edit: I'm actually surprised at your complaint about Chain attacks.... not dealing enough damage? I went through the whole game, making absolutely sure not to overlevel myself after a stint in the early game where I went a bit overleveled, and I never had this problem because I honestly felt the opposite, because whenever I did a chain attack I'd do at least 30-60% of a bosses health. Edit 2 Spoiler Boogaloo: i also had the issue at the end where I was confused about the worlds splitting, but I had no issue understanding all the stuff about the two seperate worlds, since 2s world never rebooted, only 1s did, all Klaus did in 2 was move the titans to a bit of land in the sea a safe distance away from the World Tree's collapse. Anyway, one of my friends explained to me that the worlds split apart so they could join together properly, fixing what Z broke and merging safely and securely. The fact someone had to have that explained to me is kinda bad, but it made much more sense with the ending cutscene of Little Noah hearing the flute. Edit 3 Noah's sword: Noah's sword is a piece of origin, it makes a sound whenever Moebius are near, because they are using the power of Origin. Edit 4 Nopon: "Do nopon also die after 10 years?" No, you can just check the affinity chart, riku's in his 20s. Edit 5 Ending Scene: I too have issues with Melia just getting that sword Shulk made for what was meant to be a weekend trip to Bionis shoulder, like wheres Tyrea?!. Poppi is locked up because in 2 Poppi feared she'd destroy the world, and who would want their sweet friend with that fear to have to live through a world of literally nothing but war and fighting? I also got spoiled on ChadRex and the Polyamourus relationship but I thought it was just a meme someone made and didn't realise it was a spoiler. Finale Thought: I had no issue with the pacing. In fact I think it's pacing was it's biggest win, allowing you to grow and learn while not having any major detours. Also I don't think the "It was all a dream" comparison really works, because what they did really does matter, without their actions, the world would be stagnant, stuck in a second of time. It's more of a heroic sacrifice to undo what was done. I do agree some areas need more explaining, especially the ending, but a lot of the issues you had a problem with (namely the worlds fusing and the states of the worlds after 1 and 2) feel more like misunderstandings on your part than any problems with the story itself. Anyway, great vid.
There is a lot of cut content toward the end of the game. So feels like DLC will be an epilogue. I don't feel like this was malicious, i just feel like this is the kind of director takahashi is, he realizes he cant fit his grand soap opera into the runtime of the game established by development parameter's ,so he cut some bits and is expanding on them in the DLC, exactly like torna , and also how Bionis shoulder was cut from the original. This is also consistent with xenosaga (a lot of stuff in xenoblade does a big wink at you and says "what a connection to xenosaga? Zohar?, KOSMOS? what are you talking about? *WINNNNNNNNNNNK* ;) ) and Xenoblade x.
Also yeah sidequests and sidecontnet are what make this game. The side character's are actually character's! Even fucking Travis, TRAVIS gets development through the side content!
Lol when he said 50+ hour game I was like ??? 😕 ??? since I only finished the main story after 180 hours. I did almost all of the side content before reaching the end credits, at least everything I could find without online guidance. I love to experience the Xenoblade games to their fullest on a first playthrough.
I've just always been really bad at doing side quests in Xenoblade games. Although, all 3 of them have always been 50~ hour playtimes, even on repeat playthroughs.
@@Paradox1012 I think it was mentioned in an interview that the shoulder wasn't cut but was a test map for testing distance of movement and was just repurposed for cutscenes. Just something I learned and wanted to share.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is EASILY the best of the franchise for me. And it's not close. The characters, heart, story, music and combat are just the best for me.
late to the party but seeing a new video of yours on my notifs ALWAYS makes my day! i still have yet to find any other youtuber that I feel I can rewatch their videos over and over and still laugh and enjoy every minute. I've never played any xenoblade games but I definitely want to pick up the series now! amazing video as always
Yeah! Despite this being my first Xeno game, I had about a week where the writing in Chapter 6 (specifically the Colony Omega stuff) made me so angry from how bad it was after what had come before that it legitimately affected my mood while I played the game. Chapter 7 wasn't much better, and I definitely hated the bit about the worlds splitting apart. Like, it'd be one thing if the alluded to it at some point, but they just don't. Also, I wish that the whole "living life in the present vs The Endless Now" dichotomy was given more direct attention. I think that that would've made Z and Moebius more interesting villains. I'm not against villains who are gods born from the collective unconscious. Heck, Persona does this fairly well depending on which game you look at. Even Miura once considered adding The Idea of Evil into Berserk before scrapping it for ulterior reasons. Ultimately, my verdict on the story is that Chapters 1-5 were fantastic with a few slight changes I'd make (namely Sena having a better character arc and the prison section being better written (why did Ouroboros immediately pull out their weapons that have their insignia on them to fight Ghondor and why didn't anybody care?). Chapters 6 and 7 were way too rushed while still being way too padded by unnecessary and uninteresting side content and fetch quests. And to aid the pacing and give more time for things to be explained, I'd probably add another chapter or two. Also, not a critique, but my own little notes on how Noah and Mio's relationship could've developed after Chapter 5 go along the lines of Noah and Co. suffering varying levels of PTSD from watching their friend and emotional core die, only to be reborn in M's body moments later (and also the fact that that was technically Mio piloting her friends bodies to sell her role in the whole shtick). Again, that's not criticism of an already fantastic scene, but with how quickly the aftermath is dealt with, that's what I would do to keep the emotional crux of the story intact after Mio's time limit is dealt with.
Couldn't watch the Story segment because I'm still working my way through definitive edition, but I will be coming back as soon as I'm done all three to DRINK IN this masterfully-video-graphed-majestic-splendour. Fair play
Great video! Regarding your thoughts on the ending, i highly recommend checking out luxins explanation video. It also helped me understand quite a bit more and answers a lot of your questions!!!:D
One minor correction I've tested. The jiggle step auto attack is still beneficial in 3 but I think it's only later when you've boosted your auto attack speed with the highest level gems. I suspect it's to do with the 'full' auto attack animation (including recovery) being longer than the auto attack speed calculated after the bonus from the gem (so in that case it's more beneficial to jiggle step to avoid the recovery animation)
I'm not done with the video yet (absolutely love it so far), but I just wanted to mention. If you have a sound bar with a center speaker (like a 3.1 setup) and set the sound settings to home theater. The voices are much clearer to hear, as they added support for 5.1 this time around.
I just found your channel and you make such amazing videos. The quality is beter then almost 99% of what's on this platform. You deserve whey more recognision. Oh and if i am to play xenoblade one is the wii version good or are there so mamy quality of life improvemenys that i should play the switch version
Sorry I just saw this!! Thank you for the kind words! I would find it very hard to reccomend the Wii version of Xenoblade 1 unless you absolutely must have that original artsyle. Every facet of the game has been improved and streamlined on the switch version and it really is the definitive version.
It’s by far my favorite Xenoblade game, considering I fell off all of the other ones. It’s just a fantastic game all around, but I do understand some of your gripes with the story towards the end. I too agree that origin and the worlds being recreated as one and separating were not properly explained. Though I still think the story was very strong despite that. I’m just curious what the hell the DLC is going to be about.
This was a Snugboy-certified classic! Thanks for the hour of nonstop Xenoblade discussion! I appreciate the willingness to critique each game evenly, even with your preferences, it felt super balanced all around. SPOILER TALK BELOW! EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO AVOID SPOILERS LOOK AWAY!! Part of me doesn't know if the DLC campaign is intended to tie up some of those many loose ends you referred to, but I also can't see it being a prequel like Torna. I get that many people are thinking it could be a story about the founders, and while I think that'd be INTERESTING, knowing the end of the game, I could really only see it being about that new world made in the ending and facing the future, especially with Noah & Mio promising to see each other again. I feel like they wouldn't have written that in just to imply the two of them were keeping a happy thought, part of me thinks it's building to something coming next, but idk, I could be deadass wrong. It'd also be kinda lame to make it so that you'd need DLC to answer questions that the base game itself gives you and could've explored itself, not to mention make a fully satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy. It was a pleasure to hear you talk about these games again, it's always nice to hear other people's thoughts on this amazing series, can't wait for what's to come next!
Thank you my friend!! And I really don’t know. I feel like it sets up a prequel in the way of the OG ouroboros, but I think it would be sad to watch our OG boys die. While an epilogue would be great but they’d have to introduce a new short villain and that didn’t work too well in future connected.
Yes it is. Easily! Xenoblade 1 is incredible but its gameplay and exploration are kinda lackluster when compared to 2 and 3 in my opinion, I love 2, it will always have a very special place in my heart, but that game has a whole gaggle of issues, but xenoblade 3 has barely any issues, fantastic story, for me it is the perfect game!
Something interesting I want to mention is that in Xenoblade 2, the Blade lifecycle was framed as neutral at worst, and its own valid form of life at best, but it really is closer to the life of these soldiers than the life of a normal human. Nia herself could, if asked for her parents, could literally respond with "the previous Nia" with absolutely no internal conflict other than trying to precisely define "parent." If anything, aside from being thrown straight into a war and the length of each lifetime, the biggest difference is probably just in that episodic memories are more thoroughly wiped for Blades. They can't be tortured by memories of previous lives like Moebius does to the soldiers. The most they remember is knowledge they could've learned and a vague nostalgia for certain things in prior lifetimes. Meanwhile, while Melia just has a very long lifespan, Nia _kind of_ has a permanent interlink. She's carrying not one life, but two, and both passively sustain the other theoretically indefinitely. And the biggest threat to a Flesh Eater (besides the obvious glowing weakspot) is their human side decaying to the passage of time, but Nia's healing is so BS that she can likely reverse that allowing to _actually live indefinitely._ Her immortality might even trump a Moebius. Essentially, Nia is kind of a living counterexample to many of Xenoblade 3's themes of life and mortality. She's likely only capable of human-like reproduction due to a combination of her sister's DNA and her own biomanipulation, but other than that, _nothing_ about her life is natural in the way the City would describe it. (She's also not natural from a Blade standpoint, but that's not the point of this comment, not that that's a bad thing either.) I honestly think it's something of a missed opportunity that she spent more time talking about her adventures and the places she saw, and less time talking about her own biology differs so greatly from what the game teaches. P.S. While watching this video, I had a discord conversation about a sci-fi story that was actually talking about reproductive freedoms, and how there's nothing wrong with opting to have a child grown in a pod if that's what the parents are most comfortable with, or is just their only option because neither can get pregnant such as from infertility or just being gay men. Pregnancy would likely be preferred by most people as it is the most natural, but there's nothing wrong with using alternate methods.
I get your criticism of the combat system, bosses can be pretty slow, some moves don't rlly output what you want them too and I got so frustrated at times if my healers died and the rest of the party could only wait for their demise, but i still think it's a rlly fun system and I didn't have too much of an issue with those things, althought that might be different for everyone edit: ok I think we're on the same page haha Now what I don't get is putting 1 over 3 in combat, i do not like the combat in 1, I think it's the worst in the series, it made me quit the game for like half a year. That being said, I did play 2 before 1 and I hear that 1 feels way worse if you're used to 2 so it might just be that
This was awesome my friend! Truly incredible! This is probably the best video you’ve ever done! And I’m so happy for you. You gave out your thoughts with great justification and really showed the best parts of the game in your own special way. Never change Snug!
I like environmental music, but none of those tracks have made me go back to them like the rest of the soundtrack. I know that's the point and all but nothing beats roaming the wastes or the uraya theme or even the leftheria theme for me!
Personally I found the combat to be the best of the series alongside Xenoblade X in Overdrive so I disagree on that part. The little dash heavily makes up for not being able to move while auto attacking imo. This game is incredibly fun to play. I do think the story has some issues which makes it feel messy at times but I still found it super interesting overall. The themes about overcoming an endless now kinda struck a chord with me. Thank God they did away with the cringey forced fanservice of 2. Don't think I cringed a single time during Xenoblade 3's story, except maybe when Shania was on screen lol. The characters are perfect bro, they are the best part and what makes Xenoblade 3 so amazing. The main party had me laughing and crying at countless moments in the game, side content included. I fucking love Sena, Lanz, Eunie, Taion, Mio, and Noah. They're such a fun lovable group. The girl with the gall and the MVP are among my favorites for sure! Eunie just oozes with personality and charm, she has S tier banter. Taion took me by surprise with how much depth he had and I adore his sarcasm. Mio is simply precious, her mental strength during the first half of the story despite her situation is extremely commendable. Noah is a great leader holding the group together with his drive to move forward. And this cast interacting is an absolute breeding ground for heartwarming moments. I give them the highest of praise. Loved to hear your thoughts on the new game. Monolithsoft always makes some banger JRPGs (even Xenoblade 2, my least favorite, was fun). Xenoblade 3 is honestly up there with 1 imo, but I think it slightly falls short of the greatness that the original was able to capture so beautifully.
This is such a good video and going to ramble but hope someone enjoys it. First of all this video is so amazing and really I share almost the same thoughts as you although a bit less forgiving. Since I only played xeno x that's all I compare it to but as you said the writing really let you down and that was my thoughts to with the game. Everything was so good but with the writing it always kicked me out from getting into the story that I never enjoyed it all too much. The characters tho were some of the best I've seen for a main cast and love them all (Sena x lanz are the best tho sorry). All the other side characters were over all really good too love them so much, the side content really game them time to shine too. Alongside them I felt morbius was a really good villain however they felt as the main cast grew along with the game. But over all the writing was good but was one of the most inconsistent stories I've seen with so much potential. And to cap it off so this doesn't become a non-revised essay, very much agree with the combat. Too many times it felt like the combat was stand still and wait for cooldowns, just to press a few and wait for the cooldowns again (I never got in deep with the combat so might've been better). Over all i liked it however it was always infuriating when you almost beat a boss that had atleast 4 times too much health just to have your healers get sniped and have to restart the fight. Made me lose interest in many big story bits cause the final boss was 4 or 5 gaint health bars and if you die on one you start the whole thing over. And the other stuff like music was a 9 or 10/10. Environment was really good tho to mr I felt xeno x's felt more breathtaking tho I'm super biased. Anyways I'm gonna end it here cause I've probs just repeated what Snug said. Thank you for whoever might read this and thank you for the video it felt so well done, 💜
14:10 so you get tracks that enhance the feeling of exploration, such as... roaming the wastes! i have no idea why "go nuts" is the lowest setting on this franchise music, but i'm glad it is
For me this is my favorite game then 2 then 1. I do think the game needed what the other 2 games got at the end: someone to sit us down and explain what Happened! Exposition dumps can be bad but man did this games ending need one. A couple of points I disagree with though. Should the hero's put the needs of one over the needs of many? I don't agree with Noah getting criticized for not rushing Mio to the City. And it's because I feel it takes away Mio's agency as a fellow leader and protagonist and puts her in the damsel in distress category that needs to be saved by Noah. Yes Noah is the main protagonist and leader but Mio is definitely the secondary protagonist and his co leader. But people can make it only about her going to die and even if they don't mean to feels like they don't respect the fact she can make decisions for herself. She wants to help the people they meet that are in trouble just as much as Noah does. And every mandatory quest they do people are in danger of dying right then. In an emergency situation you triage. The people in immediate danger of dying get treated First. This isn't heartless or uncaring. This saves the most people possible. This is what Noah and Mio are doing. Spoilers....... And she is Venting to Noah in that cutscene that ends with the flute exchange. The game comes out and has Sena say this! And we have to consider the events leading up to it. Noah is the first to say that they are going to the castle but Mio is the one that gives the impassioned speech to Bolouris about how she couldn't live with the idea of getting to the City and Colony 4 being wiped out. No one prompted her to say this. It's what she feels. Also she is experiencing loss of feeling in her extremities. But when Noah comes up to her talking about equipment in the worst timing ever, she doesn't talk about what is actually upsetting her at that moment which is the loss of feeling in her hand, but what is frusterating her namely the roadblocks to getting to the city. And she vents to a dense Noah who could have been quicker on the uptake. But it's venting not calling out because Noah and Mio have been in agreement with wanting to help people all this time. You can want to help while at the same time be really annoyed that you have to. And she's frustrated at all the things they HAVE to help with as the Hero's that keep coming up. And guilt ridden from living on borrowed time which she does tell Noah about. Also this is why the pacing didn't bother me leading to ch 5. It created an interesting tension. Usually you can do whatever you want as long as you don't trigger the main story because time stops. And it did here and yet there was a tension because that 3 month deadline was still there. So every action even if they are for the greater good has a cost. I hate it in stories when doing the right thing only cost the side characters but never the main protagonists. In this game doing the right thing cost our main party from the beginning of the story to the end.
The Japanese dioluge for nias expo dump makes it sound like "the worlds are returning to "origin" " (which would make the naming scheme make sense) so its ambiguous if they fused or not. gotta wait for the DLC on that one I guess. Feels like torna all over again ,except the part of the game that got cut because they wanted to expand upon it further was the final act (aka the "building of the new world" will Actually be the DLC I guess lol). The memories of aionios will probably live on subconsciously. Nia is mios mom by the cat ears on the baby, so that picture is plot relevant. the whole splitting at the end was to represent their time in aionios disappearing IMO. also X3 is about "The moment" not "mortality" imo Final edit. Nia mimic's alvises line at the end. so the DLC is probably what they are talking about lol. IF you doubt me look at the expansion pass art. The game needed a 3rd cast for "hand in hand" so they did the "story box route"
Mmm I'd slightly disagree. I think it's more about mortality and the precious scarcity of life and the endless now concept is used to explore the fear of that life ending. But at the end of that day we can all have our different interpretations and that is wonderful 😊
@@Snugboy Everything in the game is about Creating, preserving , and letting go of moments. I believe this is what the arc of the game was trying to do. Chap 1-3 was creating moments, chapter 4-5 Were about preserving moments and chapter 6-7 is about letting go of moments. This is the conclusion I come to when I analyze the events and interactions of each chapter. Of course this is further supported by the Hero's quests and their respective ascension quests taken into account when they become available, they sort of drive these things home in multiple mini arcs. I just simply think this is what takahashi was trying to convey on the Macro of the game. It would conclude the theme of "time" xeno has. Future ,past and present. The DLC will probably be the culmination of these things.
im torn between wanting the dlc to show rex and shulk as 2 members of the founding ouroboros, and being an epilogue story about the 2 worlds actually merging
I don't mind the "slow" combat because you can always move around to a better position, activate Ouroboros if available, or change to any of the other main party members on the fly which is incredibly fun. Sure, maybe a speedrunner/pro player will come and tell me chaning characters mid battle isn't optimal but who cares, I am having a blast even if bosses in Hard Mode take 20 minutes to beat and they wipe your entire party with a sliver of health left so you have to try again for another 20 minutes hell freaking yeah kick my ass Xenoblade I love it
Oh yeah, like you, I love 1's combat (I'm not even an MMO fan). So strategic and easy to improve (level up arts from many options, equip better gems, unlock skills and join skills from other party members). I actually like playing as EVERY character in that game. But I hate 2's combat. So slow, so annoying that you have to search for the correct temporal Pouch Item... So annoying you hsve to babystep to actually attack fast like, that is not fun plus Joycon drift. Torna is actually an improvement because changing who's in the lead from a set of 3 characters makes fights go faster, the pace is generally better
Spoilers about the story: With the whole thing about the worlds splitting apart: no one knew what exactly would happen when Origin booted back up correctly. They just knew it would change everything and that's better than continuing life in this world.
Kinda of a throw away line that gets lost at the start of Chapter Seven but I think Nia mentions the Sword of the End aka Lucky Seven was designed by Melia with other materials from Origin and had it commissioned by the Nopon smiths (which is fitting given her background with them) also, personal theory time cuz I don’t know if it’s mentioned in game at all, but that possibly explain why Lucky Seven would hum in the presence of Moebius since their powers also come from Origin, sort of like a resonance trope that happens a lot in these JRPGs
With that in mind, how incredibly fitting it is that Melia is the one to design a blade that can destroy anything in it perceives as an obstacle like the Monado and Nia was the one who developed the concept of the Ouroboros: two beings working together as a cohesive whole like the union between Humans and Blades.
I love all three games equally. When Xenoblade 3 came out I purchased a switch with all three games and played them back to back. What a great experience I had playing these games.
Your videos man. They're so insanely good. I just finished the ending of XC3 and I wanted to hear your take on it. My ranking of the series is actually the exact same as yours. Xeno1 being my start with the series 10 years ago at such a critical age, it's just too near and dear to me I don't see any game dethroning it maybe ever. 3 is such a return to form in my eyes after the incredible letdown that 2 was. I just can't get past the anime waifu shit sorry. I love 3 but I am conflicted over it. I do feel like my biggest complaint about three is that there were so many points in the story where I had burning questions that the characters realistically would have been curious about too. It was just shocking that they didn't ask simple questions like for example why is there a giant sword piercing the land. Obviously we the players having experienced the first game know what the mechonis sword is but the characters not showing much curiosity about their own world was one of the only points against the world building. Also I died twice on the final boss before using my bonus exp and lowering the difficulty which was incredibly frustrating due to the length of the fight and unskippable cutscenes.
I definitely feel like 3 is a masterpiece. There are very, very few things about it that I could complain about, and a massive number of things about it I love. I can't wait to see what else we get with updates and DLC!
This video labeled my thoughts perfectly Xenoblade definitive edition will probably always be my favorite I love many things about Xenoblade two but there are also many things bringing it down for me and Xenoblade three sets right in the middle it has one of my favorite video game cast of characters ever and The best combat in the series but they’re also these things like the unexplained story parts which I think are going to be explained in the DLC game and the lackluster Villains that personally make me not able to put it above the first game but overall I still love XC3 very very much. overall Xenoblade is my favorite series and I love it so much
About the chain attacks 2 words: smash damage. if you do a smash in a chain attack you literally do like 40-99999 million damage in a chain attack depending on buffs. it also just had a lot to do with specefic classes cause the actual attacks the character's do in the chain attacks are MASSIVELY imbalanced, Ogre ,swordfighter, full metal jaguar have the best attacks doing upwards of like 5 million per order (honorable mentions being Martial artist, strategos,seraph and incursor. But they are only great with optimal setups), while most defenders and healers do a measly couple thousand usually.
Xenoblade 2 will always be my favorite and 3 right after, I love 1 a lot but just like me with Final Fantasy 13 it is my favorite in the series but I just can’t play it cause I suck, I’m the same way with Xenoblade 1 I just can’t do the gameplay 😂😂
TLDR: Putting this up front because I wrote a 3200 word YT comment & even I recognize that's ridiculous: I think, from how I interpreted your story critique, that there was some thematic & story confusion - I don't recall it ever being stated that the main party's goal was to gain a full lifespan within Aionios - hell, none of the party members even voiced a desire to live longer than 10 years until Lanz and Mio did at the end of chapter 5. I think the primary theme is instead learning to let go of the fear of change that led to both Moebius and the people of both worlds choosing the Endless Now. Since that's what created Aionios and its endless war, letting go of it is the key to achieving the normal life exhibited by the City. While XC3 touches on XC1's focus on the future & XC2's focus on the past, it pretty neatly ties them together with its focus on the present in the way I explain below. Nearly every "plot hole" people voice either a) is actually explained but people missed it (e.g. how Origin works & thus why the worlds would split apart), b) isn't 100% *explicitly* explained, but can be pretty easily deduced through some basic investigation and analysis using the explicit lore, story, and themes (e.g. who/what Moebius exactly are, and what their motivations are, particularly Z's), and/or c) aren't fully explained but really don't need to be at all for 3's plot to work (e.g. whatever the hell is going on with Riku, though this falls into category b a bit as well). Out of the roughly 17 "plot holes" you listed, I was able to explain all but 4 of them near completely, and out of those 4, there were really only 2 I couldn't come up with an at least sufficient explanation for (what the point of Future Connected was, but that's not really a plot hole, & how N & M were able to reincarnate after becoming Moebius - while it's thematically explained/justified, it's never mechanically explained & I don't think there's quite enough information to piece together any actually reliable theories). Suffice it to say, while XC3 might not dedicate an hour-long cutscene to expositioning all the lore to the player, the vast majority of its supposed plot holes are quite easily explainable with some basic investigation & analysis - I was able to explain almost all of them without even having watched any lore videos or posts about 3 yet - all I've done is bounced some ideas off one of my friends who's also a fan of the series. Last thoughts: Won't dispute marketing issues though I personally saw them as actually restrained to the point of indicating a mostly standalone story, especially given Takahashi's comments on XC3 being completely friendly to series beginners; I think 3's ending actually *does* follow up on 1 *and* 2's quite well; I can't fully or even mostly agree that the worlds splitting at the second they collided mean 3's story doesn't matter; also agree that pacing between end of chapter 2 & reaching the City was kinda wack, though I thought it was fine in chapters 6 & 7. END OF TLDR.
MAIN POST HERE: I guess my thoughts on the game's ending, themes, etc. are that 1) I don't recall it ever being stated that the main party thought getting to the City and then later defeating Z would let them live longer than 10 years within Aionios. At first, they just wanted to find out why the world was the way it was, and then later to defeat Z to set things right. 2) Nia very explicitly said that Origin's purpose was to reboot the states of both worlds and that Ouroboros' goal was to wrest control of Origin back from Z (so that the reboot could actually happen). Aionios shouldn't exist nor should it ever have existed - the two worlds would collide, then each one would be separately rebuilt and sent on its way. What happened is that in the moment of the collision, since people's literal minds and souls were encoded into Origin, they subconsciously wished for an endless now because of their collective fears and anxieties, which created Z, who created Aionios in a single moment of time between the collision of 1 and 2's worlds. Z is essentially a computer virus that gave itself a physical form (since Origin was going to rebuild both worlds & their people, the fact it could give him a physical form makes sense). All of Z's powers derive from Origin, as do the rest of Moebius' powers, hence why Lucky Seven is able to react to the presence of Moebius, given that it is made of Origin metal. 3) I think the themes of the game actually *weren't* necessarily primarily about seizing the right to have a future for oneself, though that is touched upon. I think the primary message is to stop letting one's fear of change hold oneself back - you can control your own destiny to an extent, but being obsessive over holding control of your own fate can lead to stagnation and corruption, and so the way to break free from Aionios' curse is to simply let go. Aionios cannot go on without having someone to administer it for eternity, hence the need for the endless war to sustain Moebius. As such, there simply isn't a way for Keves and Agnus to obtain their full lifespans - even though the people of the City have them, for example, the constant death from Aionios' war is still sustaining Aionios' existence - take that away and Aionios ceases to exist. Oh, and the reason other people can become Moebius is simply because it helps Z maintain the endless war sustaining the Endless Now (Aionios). When Z says his motivation is "because it amuses me," he's (imo) not being truthful - in that he can't admit that the reason he's doing what he's done is because he's terrified of change - that's literally what he is, an embodiment of that fear. You can notice that only once has he ever been seen outside Origin, in a flashback at the beginning of chapter 6 towards the very beginning of Aionios' history, likely before Z had recruited many Moebius. But since recruiting a bunch of what are essentially lackeys to do his bidding, he can stay cooped up in his theater inside Origin observing things & calling some of the shots, but otherwise not getting in on the action because he's afraid of the world he's created - just like any Moebius, he can permanently die unlike the soldiers of Keves and Agnus. You touched on the idea of time throughout the series - i.e. XC1 is focused on the future & XC2 on the past, but I don't think XC3 gets it jumbled, in fact, I think it brings it all together. The primary focus is on the Present, hence the Endless Now being a central concept, but XC3 also touches upon the notion that regret from the Past can lead us to fear change & desire to achieve stability and order in the Present, but doing so holds us back from evolving going into the future. The 3 cutscenes in the fight against N in chapter 7 perfectly surmise this thematic bundle. So the primary focus is on the Present, but XC3 ties in the themes of XC1 & XC2 in a new way that enhances its own themes - the Past can lead us to seek control of the Present and prevent us from having an actual Future, i.e. a future where we change and evolve.
And with a lot of the "loose ends," they're either things that were a) explained but people missed, b) can easily be deduced in consideration of the game's lore, story, and themes, and/or c) really don't matter that much. Explaining the ones you mentioned - 1) the black fog is the result of Origin's simulation of Aionios being ultimately unsustainable - it connects to the theme that no matter how much Moebius want to maintain an Endless Now, obsessively trying to maintain control like that is ultimately futile even if you can do it for a decent amount of time. 2) Noah's sword likely makes a sound because it vibrates in reaction to the presence of Moebius since Moebius' very existence, powers, etc. are deeply and intrinsically tied to Origin, and Lucky Seven is made of Origin metal. 3) The name of the sword doesn't matter - Noah named it something but is self-conscious about it - either way, when he named it, he wasn't aware of his past lives, so it ultimately most likely doesn't have any lore significance. The primary purpose is to subtly connect to a running joke of sorts throughout the game - the fact that the incarnations of Noah & their descendants are self-conscious about their naming of things. The incarnation of Noah that became N also named his sword something he's a bit embarrassed about, hence why he said he didn't think it was a good idea for him to name his and Mio's kid whilst looking down to his sword. House Vandham are also descendants of N and M, with the leader of House Vandham also looking more visibly similar to Noah whilst having an Agnian iris - that's why you see Ghondor embarrassed about Monica's naming capabilities (e.g. her own name, Monica's "Monicurry," etc.). It helps further tie the connection between Noah and House Vandham. 4) Lucky Seven is not a Monado - it's just a really sharp sword - the only reason it has any special abilities is because it's a) forged from the metal of the device that runs the simulation that is Aionios and b) it was infused with some of Melia's power. But it's not tied to the Trinity Processor like Shulk's Monado, Pneuma's Aegis Sword, or Malos' Aegis Sword were. 5) It's not used to restart the worlds because it's not necessary to - it's just really helpful because it's a strong sword. 6) Riku has some weird shenanigans going on given that he and Melia seem to know each other & that Riku's age is marked as ???, which is left for us to theorize about, but ultimately isn't a plot hole since it doesn't at all hinder the plot's ability to function. 7) The rest of the surviving casts of XC1 & XC2 likely survived as well but died somehow - we know that both Shulk and Rex were within Aionios but died eventually. Given that Nia and Melia are the creators of Origin, their longevity is greatly increased. And given that the Conduit disappeared, other Blades & in particular the Aegises may have lost their immortality. As such they're the only ones who are still around thousands of years later. 8) Yeah idk about Future Connected - it likely was some of the first signs that space-time shenanigans were occurring in advance of the Intersection of the worlds, but beyond that idk. Given what we've seen from the story DLC trailer, the aura behind Alvis looks almost exactly the same as the aura surrounding the Fog King and Fog Beasts, so Future Connected might have a greater significance there. 9) This isn't mechanically explained, I'll admit that, but there is a thematic reason why Noah and Mio are reborn despite N and M becoming Moebius - N and M were the only Moebius who still had some regret over their choice (M in particular since she didn't really have a choice at all). N puts up a front, but all it takes is the last confrontation towards the end of chapter 7 in Origin before freeing Melia to reveal that he still does regret his actions, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself before. So the part of N and M's souls that still had hope made themselves rebirth in Noah and Mio's form. 10) Z makes it clear that countless generations of Ouroboros have faced him and lost, but the difference with this generation ended up being that a) they didn't give into the Endless Now and become Moebius themselves and b) they had the will to overcome Z's abilities (remember when the party breaks through Z's ability to Shackle their ability to Interlink through sheer will alone). All the other generations seem to have been City folk, who like the City's Ouroboros candidates don't have as much personal motivation to defeat Moebius since they hadn't been forced into the Endless Now. Given a new generation made entirely of Kevesi and Agnian soldiers, that were guided along the right path by the "chance encounters" Noah describes in chapter 7, and that were able to free both Queens prior to facing Z, this was the generation that ended up defeating Z even though he was expecting this encounter to go like all the others. 11) The other Moebius didn't age??? D is shown to have the same appearance he did when he died as Dirk, as do Joran, Crys, Shania, etc. The only truly aged looking Moebius is Y, but he's one of the original three, so that's likely why. 12) Given that Interlinking as Ouroboros ultimately came through the Queen's (Nia's) connection to Origin, Moebius could likely use Melia's connection to Origin to do the same since they received their powers from Origin and had imprisoned her there to gain said access. 13) I'll also give that this one isn't very thoroughly explained. Ultimately, the ability to Interlink as Ouroboros has something to do with Nia's connection to Origin, and given that Origin is basically a second Conduit in terms of power, who knows all of its capabilities. 14) I'm not exactly sure why there's a time limit, but I also don't think it's particularly important. My best guess would be that since Moebius' Interlinking doesn't seem to have a time limit, the fact that Ouroboros do have one symbolizes the fact that ultimately it is letting go of control, power, etc. will free the world from Moebius, & Nia likely had some reason to design it that way (perhaps one could go power-crazy with an unlimited Ouroboros like Teach feared in his Hero quest). 15) I'm not sure why you thought that they would all combine as 6? I mean that could have happened, I guess, but never was that ever foreshadowed or hinted at. The fact that they didn't use it to fully defeat Z's final form isn't that important - Ouroboros is an ability that offers a temporary powerup, sure, but I think it's primary significance is it's ability to connect two minds - it was that capability that set the whole game's main campaign in motion, after all. Given that they're already connected, that Ouroboros never was some magical macguffin that is the key to defeating Moebius, & given that defeating Moebius was going to be achieved by *letting go* of control, it's fine that it wasn't strictly necessary for the final phase of the Z fight. 16) The Nopon do not die after ten years - simply checking the Affinity Chart will confirm that for you. The Nopon Caravan seems to likely have some agreement with Moebius not to interfere for the most part, even by telling the Kevesi and Agnians how biology works or something like that, however - otherwise Moebius wouldn't let them exist as an independent faction. 17) A lot of things in XC3's world likely weren't commented on because the characters were simply more focused on war their whole lives when they first saw a lot of these sights than on observing the world & nature. We know Noah had already visited Keves Castle so the mural wasn't anything new, everyone already knew about the Sword & it had always been there so why question it? I mean they hadn't even questioned animals like Armus aging because they were so focused on their Flame Clocks beforehand. 18) Nia and Melia don't have that important of a role because if they did it would result in a) the game not being accessible for new players, which Takahashi stated he wanted 3 to be & b) a lesser ability for 3 to function as its own game, develop its own characters, etc. The more they inserted characters like Melia and Nia, the less time the main cast would have to develop. This is the main 6's story, not the past party members of 1 and 2's, and I think the game is ultimately better for that even if people wanted more fanservice. And, as we all thought would happen in some form or fashion, we're getting more fanservice in the DLC story, which doesn't need to necessarily focus on developing its own new cast to the same extent as 3 did.
I understand that XC1 & XC2 were generally a lot more *explicit* with their lore, but XC3's isn't bad or "unexplained" - it just takes some basic investigation to piece some things together - now whether your prefer that style or not is totally up to you, and I won't dispute that. But acting like there are a million plot holes when there simply aren't (unless a plot hole is anything that isn't completely & explicitly explained by exposition). That being said, some important things, while totally explainable, could have likely been explained a bit more explicitly than they were given the wide spread of confusion on some of them. I also won't dispute marketing issues, though I will note that the creators of a piece of media often have limited control over the marketing, especially when it's not self-published. I personally wasn't really expecting a ton of fanservice or direct connections - the fact that they were *holding back* so much in the promotional material honestly signaled to me that it wasn't going to be super heavy with that. The only returning characters shown all the way up to release were Melia and Nia & even then they weren't even explicitly confirmed as Melia and Nia (it was a subtitling accident that was the only thing that confirmed it pre-release - before that I even saw people speculating that the Kevesi queen was Tyrea and not Melia). They showed the Urayan Titan & Mechonis' Sword, sure, but it was clear that this was taking place long after 1 and 2, especially given that the only 2 characters shown had very long lifespans. I had a list of characters that *could* appear, but even by like chapter 3, it was clear that it wouldn't make much sense for most of them to appear, so I let go of any further expectation. And the statement "this title depicts the conclusion of the Xenoblade story that began with Klaus' experiment." was a) made post-release & b) widely clickbaited (saw so many thumbnails paraphrasing it as "the finale to the KLAUS TRILOGY" etc. when that greatly exaggerates the actual line. This game does in fact conclude that story. The ending pretty clearly implies that the two worlds will reunite again, but given that at least Noah has some memory of the events in Aionios & that the Queens very likely do since they are still connected to their halves of Origin even once the worlds reboot (meaning data from Aionios' existence might still be stored there and available to the Queens), they might be able to be joined permanently without the cost of needing an Endless Now if the Queens can properly engineer a solution whenever the worlds likely get pulled towards each other again. Either way, the game does in fact *finish* that story even though some parts in the middle are still untold (& likely will in XC3's DLC). Phrasing things like the "Klaus trilogy" emphasized possible involvement of Klaus, the Conduit, Aegises & Alvis, etc. more than they actually were in Takahashi's statement. Regarding a contradiction of 1's ending, I simply think Alvis was overly optimistic - even in Future Connected we saw that strife & conflict were still around after 1's world was reborn - not just against the Fog Beasts, but also between the High Entia and Machina for example. Now given what little we know from the DLC trailer, something really went wrong. But also, the worlds being restored again at the end of XC3 *does* succeed in following up on XC1's themes because it allows people to actually make a future for themselves again after they couldn't within Aionios. I also simply can't fully agree on the fact that the worlds separating again mean's 3's story didn't matter. For 1) were it not for the journey of 3's main cast, Aionios would have continued for thousands of years more before Annihilation Events eventually destroyed it, unfreezing time, & given that there wouldn't be anyone to run Origin anymore, both worlds would possibly be annihilated. The victory of 3's cast is letting the victory of 1 and 2's casts stand. And, given that some people have some knowledge of 3's events even after the worlds split, plus the *heavy* hinting at reuniting, 3's victory likely won't just be letting 1 and 2's stand either. I don't think that'll come in the DLC, but possibly in a XC4??? Either way, 3's story *is* complete, and it sets up the possibility for some future entry to follow up on it without 3 being unfinished in and of itself. Final comment, completely agree that the pacing of everything between the end of chapter 2 and when you get to the City was wack, though I didn't really find much issue with the pacing of chapters 6 and 7. Sure, they were shorter, but the emotional climax had already been reached at the end of chapter 6/beginning of chapter 6. If you track the story on Vogler's Hero's Journey model - that sequence (ch. 5/6) was the Ordeal (the lowest point - i.e. the prison sequence & Mio's death) and the Reward (Mio surviving, the party regaining their Ouroboros capabilities, regaining their faith in themselves & their mission). There are only 3 steps in this 12-step story model at this point - 1) The Road Back (Learning about Z, getting the location of and the key to the Cloudkeep, finding Nia in the Cloudkeep, & paving the way to reaching Origin), 2) Resurrection ("Final attempt at a big change" - attacking Origin), & 3) Returning with the Elixir ("Final mastery of the problem" - helping N find resolution, defeating Z by fundamentally rejecting the fear that he is the embodiment of - the "Elixir" is the rejection of submitting to this fear that Noah articulates in his conversation with N, & sending the worlds apart like they were meant to be, though retaining some knowledge of Aionios nonetheless)
I don't think youre the names that you called yourself, but I believe you have missed something with the lore dump by nia and mia...and alot of other stuff. I'd jump on the reddit to get these questions answered, because half the questions you have are answered in the game but I guess we're easily missed ?? Either way love the review!
Great video! I agree with all the fantastic stuff you mentioned and a few of the negatives particularly on the bosses being really health spongy and chain attack/menu music interrupting too much. I disagree about the ending and storytelling methods but I think that comes more down to personal preference and interpretation so I'm not looking to start a debate there. What I will say, and I noticed this in your stream yesterday, is that you didn't really tackle much of the side content which is honestly the game's strongest aspect and arguably the best the series has ever done in my opinion. I don't necessarily think having done those would have cleared up all of your qualms but I think it would have addressed some of them at least. There are entire areas that you never go to in the main story that can only be found by exploring. I'm not one to tell people they're playing their game wrong as each person's experience with a game is their own. Honestly even I really only went out of my way to get all the heroes (minus one) before finishing the story and then did more side content afterward (but that was mainly to avoid spoilers). But I do think ignoring most of the side content might have hampered your enjoyment of this game just a little bit. I'm really glad I went back and did a lot of it because it made me appreciate this game so much more than I would have. I also noticed that most of your footage has you using the main party in their default classes. Was that done to avoid spoilers or did you not use the other classes much?
Thanks for the comment! You’re totally right, I really didn’t do much side content. But side quests aren’t things I really enjoy doing on a first playthrough anyways, I don’t really know why. And especially in this game I didn’t want to waste time when the game has the constant hanging pressure of Mio’s time to live. And all of the gameplay footage is borrowed! Unfortunately all of mine corrupted 💀 I swapped all the classes around heaps don’t worry haha
@@Snugboy Totally understandable! Like I said I didn't do all that much of it besides all the hero recruitments before finishing the story so I totally get where you're coming from at least somewhat. I hope you do end up at least doing more of the Hero Quests eventually cause those in particular are great.
I personally loved the story of 3 but there are 2 main things that I really didn’t like, which are similar to your complains with it, those beings the weak cast of villains and the connections to the past games. From the first time the game was revealed, the thing that scared me the most was the possibility of focusing too hard on the connections with 1 and 2 instead of a new story, and while for the most part that luckily didn’t happen, by the end you realize there really wasnt no need for the game to combine the worlds of 1 and 2 and it probably would have been better if it’s connections to the past games were more subtle and kept to a minimum (basically how 2 is connected with 1). I never theorised that at the end of 1 and 2 both ended up in the same world, so it didn’t bother me that they actually werent in 3. What bothered me is that by the end they didn’t merge them. It would have made so much more sense thematically if they were able to combine the worlds at the end after beating Z who was literally the reason why they didn’t colide. The story ends up going in a really weird way that didn’t really elevate my thoughts on 1 or 2 (compared to how 2 made me like 1 even more) nor was it a good ending for the self contained story of 3. I hate that they lost their memories, I would have been fine if they got separated but kept their memories and age, cuz at least at that point the characters are still not the same from the beggining thanks to the journey they had through the game. I think as a self contained story, 3’s is fantastic, but in the xenoblade canon it left so much to be desired. I know the DLC will probably explain some stuff, but 2 didn’t need torna to explain basically anything, so it’s still frustrating.
like Xenoblade 2 or not it was the reason we even got 3 and a remake of 1 on a side note it seem like 1 and 3 had very similar ending theme in a way both bad guy wanted to keep thing at a stand still in term of it being under their control and not letting anyone else be able to move forward
Answering the title: No, XC3 is average compared to XC1 and XC2, both previous installments are better in everyway. Not saying XC3 is bad, I give it a 6/10.
Hot take- I actually think xenoblade 3 was the weakest in the trilogy. I really don’t know why, but I couldn’t get invested like I did with the other 2- specifically in the characters. Shulk has great development, Reyn is so much fun, Dunban is… well, Dunban, I mean, he’s really cool, Sharla is… kinda boring, Riki is BETTER THAN RIKU I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, Melia is just… just adorable, and I dont think she deserved what the story threw at her, where she basically had to fight her own kin, kill her brother, and watch her father get diced- and can we talk about Kallian? Underrated hero. And Metal Face OOH HE’S JUST SO MUCH FUN while being a guy you just love to hate, all his smug talk and even in his first appearance you can tell he’s having fun- and Zanza is just friggin epic, like come on! He’s a flat, unlikable villain but it makes sense because he’s literally Klaus’s bad half! And Xenoblade 2, just, shut up about the voice acting and let’s talk about the story. Probably the most imperfect one, but I’m biased because it was my first. The characters are just so much fun, and the blade mechanics are really good, even if they brought the sin to humanity that is Kora into this world, but let’s not worry about that! My biggest complaints about 3 are the fact that all of the PADDED OUT OPPORTUNITIES to make N playable are COMPLETELY IGNORED. And I like the original variants of the queens better than the xeno 3 variants. Melia… well, I’m more miffed that she’s less cute, but Nia? I actually hate how they make her hide her sarcastic nature and try to be this… distinguished lady when she’s just… not. And they cut her hair WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT Also Eunie and Riku are incredibly overrated ad are nothing to their xeno 1 counterparts I do NOT want to HEAR IT
Spoilers for story It's funny to say XB3 has the weakest story out of the 3 mainline games. Even tho chapter 5 and 6 hit harder than anything before the overall story is disappointing in the end and I never felt that during the other games. I think it mostly comes down to the loose ends and really bad villains of this game. Having X and Y die without even a cutscene was worse than what they did with Gealgar and thats saying a lot. Bringing back Miyabi, Mwamba, Crys and co. was also really a bad move and kinda ruins the backstories and motivations of the main crew. I also really don't like when the game tries to sell you the morale of the story so blatantly as Noah literally saying it during the end of the game. It kinda felt a lot more cheesy than the other games. Overall it's definitely not my favorite Xenoblade game but that's ok. Even if it's under every other Xeno imo it's still a super good game worthy of playing and replaying. I just really hope the DLC ties some loose ends.
The game really wants you use Smash combos on enemies a lot which takes out large chunks of their health. Luckily by the end of the game, you have the tools that allow you to pull off a Smash combo relatively easily and repeatedly.
So here’s the thing, the story is for sure flawed. I would of much rather had the worlds combine at the end of their respective games and somehow have Moebius create the endless now in the actual world instead of whatever the fuck origin created. I can also admit that my biggest issue with the game wasn’t the story itself but the marketing. The game is amazing and I believe it’s themes are perfectly represented throw the protagonists, antagonists and world. I also think the ending was beautiful, as it’s a message to players that nothing lasts forever, and uncertainty will always be an emotion we face moving into the future. If we stayed in an endless state never moving forward the world, society and our culture would never grow. I think that was what really sold this game for me along with the darker tone, and it’s why I like the game more than 2. Also the whole the two worlds split thing is actually explained just really poorly. Origin was always meant to reboot the worlds separately, Nia even states “origin was meant to reboot the WORLDS’” state not World’s, but that’s easily glanced by the player. Overall I think the biggest problem was them relying too much on fanserivce for the games marketing, cause in all honesty the game stands alone just as well as it’s predecessors. I’ve seen multiple people not enjoy the game solely because they came in expecting those connections and that’s just not what the game gave us. The game takes place thousands of years into the future, so it makes sense why there are very little connections, but it’s still irritating when you show the two queen in the first trailer and that’s pretty much all you get in the actual game. However when I put that aside I found a narrative I truly enjoyed. Sorry for writing a fricken college essay but I’m just way too engaged with the game and am itching to have a conversation lmao.
Did you play on hard? They nerf the chain attack really hard so maybe thats the reason. Idk the hp on normal since I played on hard so maybe theyre still hp spongy.
[Spoiler Alert about the ending, don't ruin it for yourself] Well, just finished the game, but I think the end makes a lot of sense. The whole point of the game is basically to move on from the present, for the main cast there was no way to know if they will ever see each other again, but, even so, they choose to change the status quo. It is a gigantic jump of faith bc they know the 2 worlds have to separate for at least some time which makes the whole message of the game even stronger. The gang clearly knew there were specific consequences to time flowing again, the queens made sure they knew and Mio herself asks Noah if he would go on without her at the beginning of chapter 6. For myself, I can say that the own act of finishing the game was something I didn't knew if I wanted to do bc I was very sure it was going to be tragic bc of the themes of life and death which I do believe was the intended purpose of the story and paid off for me bc the worlds separated which is heartbreaking on the surface but trully isn't at the end the gang hopes to see eachother again and so should we.
I have the first two Xenoblade game I beat the second one and still have the first one plan on playing it as well now my question is nai had a daughter so the main girl is that daughter because gem do they say it I haven't played Xenoblade one yet so I am mostly close to second game and it's characters now what what happened to zeke and everyone did they died of old age are they still around just under a new name
Was recommended this video by a friend, and I’m really glad for it. Top notch review! I struggle to say that either XC1 or XC3 is better than the other. I love XC1 for pacing, plot, soundtrack, and nostalgia; and I love XC3 for characters, voice acting, emotional story beats, exploration, and streamlined gameplay. (3’s quest system and lack of Heart to Hearts with specific requirements- though I love them so much and do miss the HtH events in general- makes it SO much less of a slog to play, as a completionist.) I’m fine with saying they’re both just my favorite, lol. All the complaints about the endgame story are… totally justified. I understand your (and many others’) criticisms of it. XC3 definitely doesn’t feel like the grand finale of the trilogy- rather, like a postscript, with some extra juicy but “unnecessary” content that in fact only leads to the need for more extra juicy content to explain some things. HOWEVER. I still didn’t think it had a poor endgame. I’m the sort who cares more about quality characters than quality plot, so maybe that’s why, but I think the through-line of the story was intact from A to Z (ha, little pun there for you)- yes, everything was central around the preciousness of life, but more importantly, I believe the intended focus of the game was fear and the decisions that we make in the face of it. How fear begins, how it is often valid due to circumstances, how we handle it, how we can’t truly escape it but instead push through it… For instance- something I didn’t realize until something you said about going from “godless worlds” to a world with Z as the main antagonist- isn’t it fitting that the agent of fear, representing the anxieties of entire worlds, would be godlike, considering the greatest enemy one of the Queens faced in her lifetime was the self-imposed god of their known world (Zanza, who, coincidentally, has a name starting with Z)? And even with the loose ends… I don’t mind them? Riku’s definitely a loose end I wish they’d discussed (like C’MON, WHO IS THIS GIGACHAD NOPON REALLY?), Cris as a Moebius needed further motivation, and it would be splendid if Noah and Mio’s reintroduction into the cycle of rebirth was touched upon, but ultimately, everything else was either explained, hinted upon sufficiently, or perfectly fine to be left unanswered. Might just be me as a writer, who’s constantly inserting headcanons and loving when stories give me fodder to theorize with, but I’m perfectly happy with every story having its own little mysteries left behind. Anyway. I guess that’s all to say that I recognize the game’s short comings or less than polished outcomes, while I also still love the game to death (story and all), would put it on practically equal footing with XC1, and would recommended it to absolutely anyone to at least give it a fair shake. So yeah. 😅 Thanks again for putting this video out! Time well spent.
Great video! I think XC3 stands closely with XC1 and above XC2, but I agree that XC1 is the best game in this trilogy. ...though, I think the best Xenoblade game still goes to Xenoblade Chronicles X.
I was bored and couldn’t play xenoblade 1 or 2 without giving up and watching the story on TH-cam… Meanwhile I’m tryna 100% xenoblade 3 lol I think they did something guud maybe Although it’s not perfect and I miss the mobility and full open world of xenoblade X soo much… Xenoblade 3 is still the best xenoblade overall it’s not even close lol
Erm, sorry, but to figure out the xenoblade 2 combat/chain attack you have to search on outside sources lol. You even say it yourself, the tutorials in 2 are bad and you can't eve revisit them in game. Xenoblade 3 chain attack does lots of damage too, you just gotta combo, use smash, lower enemy defense using orders, etc
I think I could’ve explained this better in the video, but what I meant is that to beat Xenoblade 2 and get a grasp on its combat you can eventually figure out how to do elemental/full bursts and auto attack cancels etc. While in 3 I felt like I was always missing something while the bosses health moved down at a snails pace.
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Hiya everyone! The extended podcast sequel thing can be viewed right here: th-cam.com/video/t7YiSiE9a_w/w-d-xo.html THANK YOU FOR WATCHING! ❤
is the it was all a dream ending classic?
its barely done in media how can it be a classic
I'M THE GIRL WITH THE GALL
I'm speechless man. I hope you're proud of yourself because you absolutely 100% totally smashed it, I think this genuinely might be your best video so far! I envy the hell out of your ability to naturally convey your passion for whatever talking point in a humorous yet still intelligent way. The jokes and editing felt like a massive step up and they were already top tier before??? Man how do you even do that. I lost count at how many times you had me rolling on the floor, fr you can always count on a Snugboy video to make your day! I loved your exploration of the characters, their struggles, relationships, etc. You did them more justice than I ever could! Seriously you had so many bits (especially in the story rant haha) that I just totally agreed with but never had the right words for. I really hope this video takes off because you deserve it my friend. It's hard not to notice how meticulous you are with your work and the effort put in does not go unnoticed. So so so proud of you man, you've outdone yourself again. This is gonna sound like a hyperbole but I really do think you're gonna hit that million sub milestone one day, only a matter of time until the algorithm catches up with your bangers! 💪Stay snug Snugman ❤
GPS!!! You are seriously the nicest man. Thank you so much for all of your support and friendship it genuinely means the world to me. All of that I can say right back at you!!! Aaah thank you mate.
Wow what a love letter :)
I 100% agree.
But the Twilight Princess video was recommended to me, this is the reason im here.
So maybe youtube is already starting to notice this talent right here ❤️
21:46
There's an item called the Memory Locket that, if you equip it as an accessory, allows non-healers to revive fallen allies. I can't recall what unique enemies or chests I got my copies from, but you can also trade for it from the Nopon Sage.
Indeed, you can get one for free mid-game (I dont know where I got one too lol), and I also saved up my Gold Coins to buy a second one
I gotta listen to the soundtrack more, I totally forgot "the weight of life" was a thing, it's SO GOOD!
Really good video, to help with your confusion on the ending I'd refer to Luxin's video on the subject. I think it would clear up some of your issues as well
This 110%, review was awesome but basically every problem he had, whether it was confusion with theming or a mid perceived plothole, is actually answered in game and is still tight with writing as ever. Probably hurt the experience that he only did around 50 hours here too, since side content expands the game a metric ton and a half lol
Xenoblade 3 is definitely my favorite in the series and also has my favorite cast and honestly it’s my favorite combat in the series it just feels so satisfying. For me it’s a great blend of aspects of 1 and 2 with the story and gameplay elements.
I love the story and cast so much. I do have a few nitpicks and that’s mainly there’s hardly anything to really buy since you get better accessories thru quest or chest and never found a reason to buy anything. I also dislike the menu for them because I didn’t like how there’s no way to really sort them.
I love the class system which lets them learn a lot of skills from other classes and getting the characters wear cosplays of each other and love the Heros in this game. Also I slowly stopped using chain attack not because it did no damage but once you understand how to do chain attacks well it melts HP bars and didn’t want boss fights to end too early.
In my opinion this cast is the closest and most well connected cast. Since you have all party members and all of them interact with the plot and have little moments in cutscenes, at the camps and side quest. The relationship between all the cast just feels so genuine especially Noah and Mio.
While I agree with points about there being some plot holes and stuff unexplained but I do disagree with other things like the reason why the worlds are coming apart. The annihilation effects are because the worlds are tearing itself apart by being together. The worlds are their own thing and didn’t think they would have come together in the first place because the characters don’t know about their but I do agree the game doesn’t explain it well at all until the very end. They are from different worlds and the stuff that happens in Aionios still happened the world and time was just put on pause and the finally gets restarted. I do love the ending for me it’s a bitter sweet ending of people coming together to save their own worlds and unfortunately have to separate from each other which hurts even more that Noah and Mio still cannot be together
I'm always happy to see a new video by you, Snugboy! There's something amazingly charming about listening to people gush about things they love and you rank amongst my favs for that.
Great video! You've definitely picked up another subscriber!
I think you touched on a lot of good points and I really enjoyed your analysis overall. I totally agree about the soundtrack and especially the characters. They’re really the highlight of this game for me. I also agree with many of your story criticisms. The last portion of the game is indeed rough, particularly compared to some of the incredible highs that come before it.
I did want to touch on your comments in regards to the ending though. (incoming lengthy post, but I hope it might be useful somehow)
**SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME**
I've seen so many people surprised about the worlds splitting at the end, and I have to say that I was one of them as well. But that surprise was mainly because I thought the game had said that the intent was for the worlds to merge, as explained by Nia in the info dump at the beginning of chapter 7. I was confused, but only because I thought the game was contradicting itself. If you watch Nia’s scene, though, she explicitly says the world's will merge(thus cancelling themselves out) and then be restored by Origin.
I'm not defending this entirely, because the game did a poor job of really hammering this point home in the late part of the game. It's mentioned nowhere else following that scene. There are no late game scenes where the characters discuss this (other than Nia's post-game ascension of all places), and that is a definite issue.
**BUT**
Even if you feel that the ending is out of left field, I do have to disagree that this ending is against the game's core themes, and I’m not sure I’d have been as satisfied with an overtly happy ending given what the game is saying. As you say, there is a thematic focus on life, and happiness, and the natural order of things, and I think this is actually consistent with the ending that we get, and the game’s hypothesis regarding the Endless Now.
The Endless Now, as implied by the game, is that state where we choose the status quo as the most preferable way to exist(and thus, fail to move forward). This is either out of fear of failure or a desire to keep what we have (seen through characters like N and Shania),or simply not questioning the way things are and/or failing to know any better (like most of the soldiers of Agnus and Keves). The Endless Now can be blissful, but it is a false hope. In the game, this concept is directly mirrored by the world of Aionios. Aionios itself is stagnant, and will eventually collapse in on itself given enough time(as foreshadowed by the annihilation events seen or mentioned throughout the game). Simply put, the failure to overcome fear and move forward is ultimately destructive.
Now, the game is not equating the Endless Now to the idea of being together with one another. It's not saying being together is bad, and the ending is not rejecting this. Coming together is actually necessary. Our main characters on opposing sides must come together to survive. Ouroboros itself is a merging of bodies and minds. We need to come together. And the game’s message about life echoes this, but with a warning. (Hey, my Ouroboros is overheating!)
The game tells us time and again that to move forward(and thus reject the Endless Now) is vital to life itself. So how is this primarily done according to what the game presents to us?
First, it’s done through having faith in our actions and choices.
Making choices can be frightening, and sometimes requires a degree of faith that can be difficult to shoulder. All so often, you need the support of others to help you carry the burden. So much of the cast interaction we love in XC3 is watching the characters do just this: Taion helping Eunie after her trauma; Lanz and Sena finding themselves through each other. Remember the epic scene at the end of ch2 when Noah is terrified of destroying the Flame Clock and can only bring himself to do it after Mio supports him wholeheartedly? Let’s just say the “The Weight of Life” isn’t just a fancy title for an amazing song. Making these difficult choices often requires the help or cooperation of others. This concept of having faith in our decisions also carries on to the ending of the game.
The next way we move forward (quite literally as a species) is through our offspring. The game rightfully makes a big deal out of this. This is the one thing that is denied to the people of Aionios under Moebius, outside of those(the people of the City) who have broken free and seek to restore the natural order. Needless to say, we also need to come together for such a miracle to happen.
Finally, and I saved this for last because it is the most important for what the game is trying to say in the ending: We live on(and thus move forward, even beyond separation and death) through our actions. Our actions resonate through the people around us and carry into the future. The game literally doesn’t shut up about this. Guernica sacrifices himself for the hope of the future (the Ouroboros); Mio’s entire reason for living is to carry on what Miyabi entrusted to her-which she later entrusts to Noah; Noah and the gang get captured so the Cloudkeep key can be given to future Ouroboros (as Noah later says in that powerful chapter 5 end scene “We gave them hope.”). The game's ending is not an erasure of the events that happened in the game. The worlds *were saved by the actions of the characters of Aionios who had enough faith to try to move things forward, even though they weren’t sure that Origin would even work as intended in the end.
Again, the game is not suggesting that the only way to live is to be apart. Coming together to support each other in the choices we make is vital for survival: For having the faith to move ourselves and the world forward; For the beautiful chaotic miracle that is life itself; For shaping the future. But indulging endlessly in the safety and comfort of togetherness will paradoxically keep us from walking that path forward. Put more succinctly: The worlds must separate to end the slow destruction of the Endless Now, and by this action the characters must have faith that they will meet each other again someday, and somehow.
We all come together for one beautiful moment in time and try to create something meaningful by our actions before moving on. That is the natural order of things, and the opposite of the Endless Now. I'm positive, more or less, that this is what the game is trying to say.
Were this where the game left things though, I might feel more conflicted about the ending. Nobody likes a downer where it seems like nothing has really changed. But on top of the rich thematic resonance, the game also strongly implies (i.e. gives us faith)that the characters *are different by the end.
This is indicated by the game’s hints of the past actions/experiences of the Kevesi and Agnians that spill into their current lives. Furthermore, Miyabi’s reincarnation is able to regain her full memories by her hearing her own off-seer tune, and Joran also regains all of his memories upon becoming Moebius. While this is partly the series creator/director, Tetsuya Takahashi flaunting his obsession with Jung’s collective unconscious, it’s also the game implying that everyone in Aionios is constantly being updated into Origin with full memories of their past lives(probably by the motes of light which are most likely the light data or “words of light” being recorded into Origin). Then, of course, the game's epilogue winks at us when Noah hears his own off-seer tune.
By not giving us an explicitly happy ending, the game is asking us to have faith that the characters we know and love WILL meet again. And, if you’re still not convinced by that, let me leave you with the last verse of Where We Belong, the end song, with lyrics written by Takahashi himself:
This goodbye is not the end
I know until we meet again
Our feelings will remain the same
Together as one, 'til we find ourselves again
It’s totally fair to argue the execution of the game's ideas falls short, but the ideas are all there in the game, being repeated throughout. It’s really mind blowing.
**EDIT** Glad this post is helpful for some folks. I wrote this on little sleep, so I came back later to brush a few sentences up. But, man, what an amazing game overall, and a great overview by Snugboy.
I absolutely loved this video and I somehow love this comment even more. Comments like this are what make TH-cam such a wonderful site to be on. Such delightful discourse. To further contribute, I'd like to comment a quote said in Melia's ascension quest. When Eunie is afraid of growing apart from the group as time moves forward, Mio says this to comfort her:
The fact that you're worried about us here and now Eunie... I don't think we'll ever forget that. Your feelings will transcend time...
Everything the characters went through, all of their failures and successes... It wasn't for nothing. Consider Ethel and Cammuravi. Their death scene together is one of the most intense death scenes I've ever experienced. When their reborn selves come back into the narrative, they have an instant, unbreakable connection. The same thing occurs with Taion's mentor Nimue in his ascension quest, and the same thing will occur whenever our heroes reunite in the new world painstakingly created by their selfless actions.
Appreciate you laying all this out
I love love love that you wrote this comment out. 💛 As someone who did, in fact, see the ending coming, the significance of Ouroboros choosing to rebuild the worlds at whatever cost shows that they were truly willing to overcome any fear (in this case, the fear of loss) and push through with their chins up- whatever the outcome, whatever the pain of self-sacrifice- with hope. They literally defeated Fear, and the ending reflects that properly, I think. Thank you for putting this all into words better than I could!
Besides, for anyone who is upset that the worlds didn’t merge- hey, we don’t know if the worlds started on their opposite paths again, or if they will be nearby neighbors in the solar system. Considering the incredibly advanced technology of both worlds, and the hint of their Aionios experience remaining with them subconsciously at least, there’s no reason why they couldn’t start on space programs and reunite through interstellar travel! (Which, until canon says otherwise, will be my prevailing theory lol)
This is an incredible comment, thank you
This was fantastic! I haven’t even played any Xenoblade games but this was enthralling the whole way through. Can’t wait to hear your continuation!
Currently, my favorite game in the series is Xenoblade 2. The story and themes of finding a purpose to life resonated with me very strongly at the moment of life when I played it. Xenoblade 3's story is also great with a strong theme that's even more closely tied with the story, but it doesn't quite resonate with me as strongly with where I currently am in life. I think when you play the games and what the stories are effects which game is your favorite.
What do you think about the first one?
@@peeron6829 I flip flop between 1 and 3 being my 2nd favorite. I generally put Xenoblade 3 above 1.
Yep, 2 is the best.
I love them all equally.
Spoilers
The reason why the worlds are splitting apart is due to origin and how it merely recreates both worlds, not merging them. So that's why the worlds are forced to split apart.
Well that's confusing. I thought it would reboot the world's but they would stay fused together. The idea being that no matter the destruction, life as they know it would live and survive in whatever the state of the Universe would remain at that point. They only held the data from their respective Universes, not function as a restart to the merge itself. If their tech can do that, then that's pretty crazy. Melia and Nia can literally create a piece of tech that can reshape the fabric of reality and influence it in a massive fashion. It begs the question, what else can they do? Why was this whole event even an issue? I feel like their is a lot of necessary context needed for this lore to work.
@@stormcutter59 the weird monolith show in two near the end is never really explain also but it was the source for a lot of the crazy thing that happen even the splitting of earth into two different worlds
Oh okay, I did find that kinda confusing but I just thought that it was just a part of the process. What I thought was happening was that, the worlds were going to merge together, then get destroyed, then Origin was going to rebuild both of them.
The thing is that wasn’t well communicated AT ALL.
I ADORE how they work with leitmotifs in this game, the moment drifting souls started playing when we got to where nia rests I started sobbing like crazy! And CALEIDOSCOPIC CORE? HAVE YOU HEARD THAT SONG? It BLEW me away the first time I listened to it. For someone who has over 500h in xenoblade 2 and has watched that game's cutscenes so much those parts hit DIFFERENT!
Holy shit you hit the nail on the head when talking about the ending. This is something I’ve had to explain to people where Xenoblade 3 is torn between being the culmination of 1 and 2 and being its own thing.
Nah it’s not torn between them, it’s simply both of them. It doesn’t need constant references in order to be sequel, nor does it need to be disconnected like X to be its own thing. Check out something like what the Yakuza series does with Judgment and 7 to see other top tier stories that do this
@@DavidHosey1 Let me rephrase. The concept of not needing to play the other games felt at odds with the narrative inherently being a sequel of the two. If this game truly is the finale of this trilogy, it feels as though it left more loose ends than either of the previous games, which is unfortunate considering the other games wrapped up so nicely. To make an analogy, 3 seemingly decided to open mystery boxes it didn’t need to and left without closing them. This might resolve with the DLC, but that isn’t necessarily ideal.
THIS IN NOW WAY RUINS THE GAME OR THE SERIES, I just find it noticeable.
Nopon do age past 10, if you check the affinity chart you can see their ages.
Soooo, i did not know about the xenoblade 2 autocombo reset thing... well, I guess that's something I'll learn for my next replay
52:38 I love that you mention this, because I wholeheartedly agree. Each entry of the series (including X) has something it absolutely excels at, better than the other games. None of them feel like a "perfect" game, but they compliment eachother nicely.
Personally, I think Xenoblade 1 has the best pacing and overall story, but at the cost of weaker gameplay and characters. Xenoblade X obviously has the best open world and is massive in scale, but suffers when it comes to story. Xenoblade 2 has the best world and lore, and the best overall story if we ignore some major issues I have with the first half, but has a lot of mechanics issues and messy pacing. Finally Xenoblade 3 easily has the best main cast as well as great supporting characters with heroes (and Bolearis, my guy), but has far too many plotholes than I think are acceptable (especially compared to 1 and 2). Between the four games, XC3 is my favorite but only barely. Still, each game is a masterpiece in its own right.
> In that 50 hour journey
Why do I keep seeing all these people who sped through the game at breakneck speeds? It took me 125 hours to beat everything in the game I wanted to, and 20 of those hours were post game stuff.
Edit: I'm actually surprised at your complaint about Chain attacks.... not dealing enough damage? I went through the whole game, making absolutely sure not to overlevel myself after a stint in the early game where I went a bit overleveled, and I never had this problem because I honestly felt the opposite, because whenever I did a chain attack I'd do at least 30-60% of a bosses health.
Edit 2 Spoiler Boogaloo: i also had the issue at the end where I was confused about the worlds splitting, but I had no issue understanding all the stuff about the two seperate worlds, since 2s world never rebooted, only 1s did, all Klaus did in 2 was move the titans to a bit of land in the sea a safe distance away from the World Tree's collapse. Anyway, one of my friends explained to me that the worlds split apart so they could join together properly, fixing what Z broke and merging safely and securely. The fact someone had to have that explained to me is kinda bad, but it made much more sense with the ending cutscene of Little Noah hearing the flute.
Edit 3 Noah's sword: Noah's sword is a piece of origin, it makes a sound whenever Moebius are near, because they are using the power of Origin.
Edit 4 Nopon: "Do nopon also die after 10 years?" No, you can just check the affinity chart, riku's in his 20s.
Edit 5 Ending Scene: I too have issues with Melia just getting that sword Shulk made for what was meant to be a weekend trip to Bionis shoulder, like wheres Tyrea?!. Poppi is locked up because in 2 Poppi feared she'd destroy the world, and who would want their sweet friend with that fear to have to live through a world of literally nothing but war and fighting? I also got spoiled on ChadRex and the Polyamourus relationship but I thought it was just a meme someone made and didn't realise it was a spoiler.
Finale Thought: I had no issue with the pacing. In fact I think it's pacing was it's biggest win, allowing you to grow and learn while not having any major detours. Also I don't think the "It was all a dream" comparison really works, because what they did really does matter, without their actions, the world would be stagnant, stuck in a second of time. It's more of a heroic sacrifice to undo what was done. I do agree some areas need more explaining, especially the ending, but a lot of the issues you had a problem with (namely the worlds fusing and the states of the worlds after 1 and 2) feel more like misunderstandings on your part than any problems with the story itself. Anyway, great vid.
There is a lot of cut content toward the end of the game. So feels like DLC will be an epilogue. I don't feel like this was malicious, i just feel like this is the kind of director takahashi is, he realizes he cant fit his grand soap opera into the runtime of the game established by development parameter's ,so he cut some bits and is expanding on them in the DLC, exactly like torna , and also how Bionis shoulder was cut from the original. This is also consistent with xenosaga (a lot of stuff in xenoblade does a big wink at you and says "what a connection to xenosaga? Zohar?, KOSMOS? what are you talking about? *WINNNNNNNNNNNK* ;) ) and Xenoblade x.
Also yeah sidequests and sidecontnet are what make this game. The side character's are actually character's! Even fucking Travis, TRAVIS gets development through the side content!
Lol when he said 50+ hour game I was like ??? 😕 ??? since I only finished the main story after 180 hours. I did almost all of the side content before reaching the end credits, at least everything I could find without online guidance. I love to experience the Xenoblade games to their fullest on a first playthrough.
I've just always been really bad at doing side quests in Xenoblade games. Although, all 3 of them have always been 50~ hour playtimes, even on repeat playthroughs.
@@Paradox1012 I think it was mentioned in an interview that the shoulder wasn't cut but was a test map for testing distance of movement and was just repurposed for cutscenes. Just something I learned and wanted to share.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is EASILY the best of the franchise for me. And it's not close. The characters, heart, story, music and combat are just the best for me.
late to the party but seeing a new video of yours on my notifs ALWAYS makes my day! i still have yet to find any other youtuber that I feel I can rewatch their videos over and over and still laugh and enjoy every minute. I've never played any xenoblade games but I definitely want to pick up the series now! amazing video as always
MARINOVA!!!!! I always look forward to your really lovely comment. It always means the world to me! Thank you!!!
Damn it, you mentioned the soundtrack. Which will now lead to me listening to the whole OST, and then lead me to get the game. It happened again.
Yeah! Despite this being my first Xeno game, I had about a week where the writing in Chapter 6 (specifically the Colony Omega stuff) made me so angry from how bad it was after what had come before that it legitimately affected my mood while I played the game. Chapter 7 wasn't much better, and I definitely hated the bit about the worlds splitting apart. Like, it'd be one thing if the alluded to it at some point, but they just don't.
Also, I wish that the whole "living life in the present vs The Endless Now" dichotomy was given more direct attention. I think that that would've made Z and Moebius more interesting villains. I'm not against villains who are gods born from the collective unconscious. Heck, Persona does this fairly well depending on which game you look at. Even Miura once considered adding The Idea of Evil into Berserk before scrapping it for ulterior reasons.
Ultimately, my verdict on the story is that Chapters 1-5 were fantastic with a few slight changes I'd make (namely Sena having a better character arc and the prison section being better written (why did Ouroboros immediately pull out their weapons that have their insignia on them to fight Ghondor and why didn't anybody care?). Chapters 6 and 7 were way too rushed while still being way too padded by unnecessary and uninteresting side content and fetch quests. And to aid the pacing and give more time for things to be explained, I'd probably add another chapter or two.
Also, not a critique, but my own little notes on how Noah and Mio's relationship could've developed after Chapter 5 go along the lines of Noah and Co. suffering varying levels of PTSD from watching their friend and emotional core die, only to be reborn in M's body moments later (and also the fact that that was technically Mio piloting her friends bodies to sell her role in the whole shtick). Again, that's not criticism of an already fantastic scene, but with how quickly the aftermath is dealt with, that's what I would do to keep the emotional crux of the story intact after Mio's time limit is dealt with.
Couldn't watch the Story segment because I'm still working my way through definitive edition, but I will be coming back as soon as I'm done all three to DRINK IN this masterfully-video-graphed-majestic-splendour. Fair play
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU BACK!
Great video! Regarding your thoughts on the ending, i highly recommend checking out luxins explanation video. It also helped me understand quite a bit more and answers a lot of your questions!!!:D
Hear that, Noah?
Great job buddy 👏
IT IS NO FFX BUT IT'S PRETTY DAMN GOOD!!!!!
One minor correction I've tested. The jiggle step auto attack is still beneficial in 3 but I think it's only later when you've boosted your auto attack speed with the highest level gems. I suspect it's to do with the 'full' auto attack animation (including recovery) being longer than the auto attack speed calculated after the bonus from the gem (so in that case it's more beneficial to jiggle step to avoid the recovery animation)
I'm not done with the video yet (absolutely love it so far), but I just wanted to mention. If you have a sound bar with a center speaker (like a 3.1 setup) and set the sound settings to home theater. The voices are much clearer to hear, as they added support for 5.1 this time around.
I rlly gotta play this game again, still haven't finished future redeemed
I just found your channel and you make such amazing videos. The quality is beter then almost 99% of what's on this platform. You deserve whey more recognision. Oh and if i am to play xenoblade one is the wii version good or are there so mamy quality of life improvemenys that i should play the switch version
Sorry I just saw this!! Thank you for the kind words! I would find it very hard to reccomend the Wii version of Xenoblade 1 unless you absolutely must have that original artsyle. Every facet of the game has been improved and streamlined on the switch version and it really is the definitive version.
@@Snugboy it's no problem and thanks for the reccomendation
I didn't think xenoblade 2's voice acting was THAT bad lmao, i was totally fine with it tbh
It’s by far my favorite Xenoblade game, considering I fell off all of the other ones. It’s just a fantastic game all around, but I do understand some of your gripes with the story towards the end. I too agree that origin and the worlds being recreated as one and separating were not properly explained. Though I still think the story was very strong despite that. I’m just curious what the hell the DLC is going to be about.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said!
The message of the story is to move forward, even if you can't be certain
This was a Snugboy-certified classic! Thanks for the hour of nonstop Xenoblade discussion! I appreciate the willingness to critique each game evenly, even with your preferences, it felt super balanced all around.
SPOILER TALK BELOW! EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO AVOID SPOILERS LOOK AWAY!!
Part of me doesn't know if the DLC campaign is intended to tie up some of those many loose ends you referred to, but I also can't see it being a prequel like Torna. I get that many people are thinking it could be a story about the founders, and while I think that'd be INTERESTING, knowing the end of the game, I could really only see it being about that new world made in the ending and facing the future, especially with Noah & Mio promising to see each other again. I feel like they wouldn't have written that in just to imply the two of them were keeping a happy thought, part of me thinks it's building to something coming next, but idk, I could be deadass wrong. It'd also be kinda lame to make it so that you'd need DLC to answer questions that the base game itself gives you and could've explored itself, not to mention make a fully satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy.
It was a pleasure to hear you talk about these games again, it's always nice to hear other people's thoughts on this amazing series, can't wait for what's to come next!
Thank you my friend!! And I really don’t know. I feel like it sets up a prequel in the way of the OG ouroboros, but I think it would be sad to watch our OG boys die. While an epilogue would be great but they’d have to introduce a new short villain and that didn’t work too well in future connected.
Xenoblade 1 has my favorite characters, xeno 3 has my favorite of pretty much everything outside of the characters/story although i liked those too
My dude snugboy delivering as always
Snug I swear I'll watch your video until the end after I've finished xenoblade chronicles 3
Yes it is. Easily! Xenoblade 1 is incredible but its gameplay and exploration are kinda lackluster when compared to 2 and 3 in my opinion, I love 2, it will always have a very special place in my heart, but that game has a whole gaggle of issues, but xenoblade 3 has barely any issues, fantastic story, for me it is the perfect game!
Spoilers!
I will never not laugh at that picture reveal of Rex and the cast from 2 XD look at the smile on him! He knows what he did x3
it feels like cursed fanfiction for real
@@Snugboy cursed fanfiction or not I'm happy for those 4 they deserve all the happiness
Something interesting I want to mention is that in Xenoblade 2, the Blade lifecycle was framed as neutral at worst, and its own valid form of life at best, but it really is closer to the life of these soldiers than the life of a normal human. Nia herself could, if asked for her parents, could literally respond with "the previous Nia" with absolutely no internal conflict other than trying to precisely define "parent." If anything, aside from being thrown straight into a war and the length of each lifetime, the biggest difference is probably just in that episodic memories are more thoroughly wiped for Blades. They can't be tortured by memories of previous lives like Moebius does to the soldiers. The most they remember is knowledge they could've learned and a vague nostalgia for certain things in prior lifetimes.
Meanwhile, while Melia just has a very long lifespan, Nia _kind of_ has a permanent interlink. She's carrying not one life, but two, and both passively sustain the other theoretically indefinitely. And the biggest threat to a Flesh Eater (besides the obvious glowing weakspot) is their human side decaying to the passage of time, but Nia's healing is so BS that she can likely reverse that allowing to _actually live indefinitely._ Her immortality might even trump a Moebius.
Essentially, Nia is kind of a living counterexample to many of Xenoblade 3's themes of life and mortality. She's likely only capable of human-like reproduction due to a combination of her sister's DNA and her own biomanipulation, but other than that, _nothing_ about her life is natural in the way the City would describe it. (She's also not natural from a Blade standpoint, but that's not the point of this comment, not that that's a bad thing either.) I honestly think it's something of a missed opportunity that she spent more time talking about her adventures and the places she saw, and less time talking about her own biology differs so greatly from what the game teaches.
P.S. While watching this video, I had a discord conversation about a sci-fi story that was actually talking about reproductive freedoms, and how there's nothing wrong with opting to have a child grown in a pod if that's what the parents are most comfortable with, or is just their only option because neither can get pregnant such as from infertility or just being gay men. Pregnancy would likely be preferred by most people as it is the most natural, but there's nothing wrong with using alternate methods.
I've been looking forward to this
I get your criticism of the combat system, bosses can be pretty slow, some moves don't rlly output what you want them too and I got so frustrated at times if my healers died and the rest of the party could only wait for their demise, but i still think it's a rlly fun system and I didn't have too much of an issue with those things, althought that might be different for everyone edit: ok I think we're on the same page haha
Now what I don't get is putting 1 over 3 in combat, i do not like the combat in 1, I think it's the worst in the series, it made me quit the game for like half a year. That being said, I did play 2 before 1 and I hear that 1 feels way worse if you're used to 2 so it might just be that
I can't watch this yet but I'm now in chapter 7 and You better believe I'll be here soon >:)
This was awesome my friend!
Truly incredible!
This is probably the best video you’ve ever done! And I’m so happy for you.
You gave out your thoughts with great justification and really showed the best parts of the game in your own special way.
Never change Snug!
This was a great video, however I think most of the negatives you mentioned came from you not understanding certain things
I like environmental music, but none of those tracks have made me go back to them like the rest of the soundtrack. I know that's the point and all but nothing beats roaming the wastes or the uraya theme or even the leftheria theme for me!
Personally I found the combat to be the best of the series alongside Xenoblade X in Overdrive so I disagree on that part. The little dash heavily makes up for not being able to move while auto attacking imo. This game is incredibly fun to play.
I do think the story has some issues which makes it feel messy at times but I still found it super interesting overall. The themes about overcoming an endless now kinda struck a chord with me. Thank God they did away with the cringey forced fanservice of 2. Don't think I cringed a single time during Xenoblade 3's story, except maybe when Shania was on screen lol.
The characters are perfect bro, they are the best part and what makes Xenoblade 3 so amazing. The main party had me laughing and crying at countless moments in the game, side content included. I fucking love Sena, Lanz, Eunie, Taion, Mio, and Noah. They're such a fun lovable group. The girl with the gall and the MVP are among my favorites for sure! Eunie just oozes with personality and charm, she has S tier banter. Taion took me by surprise with how much depth he had and I adore his sarcasm. Mio is simply precious, her mental strength during the first half of the story despite her situation is extremely commendable. Noah is a great leader holding the group together with his drive to move forward. And this cast interacting is an absolute breeding ground for heartwarming moments. I give them the highest of praise.
Loved to hear your thoughts on the new game. Monolithsoft always makes some banger JRPGs (even Xenoblade 2, my least favorite, was fun). Xenoblade 3 is honestly up there with 1 imo, but I think it slightly falls short of the greatness that the original was able to capture so beautifully.
About the chain attacks, my best chain attack I remember made 1.2million damage, it felt so satisfying.
I dunno i kind of found chain attacks to be quite op in 3
This is such a good video and going to ramble but hope someone enjoys it.
First of all this video is so amazing and really I share almost the same thoughts as you although a bit less forgiving. Since I only played xeno x that's all I compare it to but as you said the writing really let you down and that was my thoughts to with the game. Everything was so good but with the writing it always kicked me out from getting into the story that I never enjoyed it all too much. The characters tho were some of the best I've seen for a main cast and love them all (Sena x lanz are the best tho sorry). All the other side characters were over all really good too love them so much, the side content really game them time to shine too. Alongside them I felt morbius was a really good villain however they felt as the main cast grew along with the game. But over all the writing was good but was one of the most inconsistent stories I've seen with so much potential.
And to cap it off so this doesn't become a non-revised essay, very much agree with the combat. Too many times it felt like the combat was stand still and wait for cooldowns, just to press a few and wait for the cooldowns again (I never got in deep with the combat so might've been better). Over all i liked it however it was always infuriating when you almost beat a boss that had atleast 4 times too much health just to have your healers get sniped and have to restart the fight. Made me lose interest in many big story bits cause the final boss was 4 or 5 gaint health bars and if you die on one you start the whole thing over.
And the other stuff like music was a 9 or 10/10. Environment was really good tho to mr I felt xeno x's felt more breathtaking tho I'm super biased.
Anyways I'm gonna end it here cause I've probs just repeated what Snug said. Thank you for whoever might read this and thank you for the video it felt so well done, 💜
14:10
so you get tracks that enhance the feeling of exploration, such as... roaming the wastes!
i have no idea why "go nuts" is the lowest setting on this franchise music, but i'm glad it is
YIPPEE
For me this is my favorite game then 2 then 1. I do think the game needed what the other 2 games got at the end: someone to sit us down and explain what Happened! Exposition dumps can be bad but man did this games ending need one. A couple of points I disagree with though. Should the hero's put the needs of one over the needs of many? I don't agree with Noah getting criticized for not rushing Mio to the City. And it's because I feel it takes away Mio's agency as a fellow leader and protagonist and puts her in the damsel in distress category that needs to be saved by Noah. Yes Noah is the main protagonist and leader but Mio is definitely the secondary protagonist and his co leader. But people can make it only about her going to die and even if they don't mean to feels like they don't respect the fact she can make decisions for herself. She wants to help the people they meet that are in trouble just as much as Noah does.
And every mandatory quest they do people are in danger of dying right then. In an emergency situation you triage. The people in immediate danger of dying get treated First. This isn't heartless or uncaring. This saves the most people possible. This is what Noah and Mio are doing. Spoilers.......
And she is Venting to Noah in that cutscene that ends with the flute exchange. The game comes out and has Sena say this! And we have to consider the events leading up to it. Noah is the first to say that they are going to the castle but Mio is the one that gives the impassioned speech to Bolouris about how she couldn't live with the idea of getting to the City and Colony 4 being wiped out. No one prompted her to say this. It's what she feels. Also she is experiencing loss of feeling in her extremities. But when Noah comes up to her talking about equipment in the worst timing ever, she doesn't talk about what is actually upsetting her at that moment which is the loss of feeling in her hand, but what is frusterating her namely the roadblocks to getting to the city. And she vents to a dense Noah who could have been quicker on the uptake. But it's venting not calling out because Noah and Mio have been in agreement with wanting to help people all this time.
You can want to help while at the same time be really annoyed that you have to. And she's frustrated at all the things they HAVE to help with as the Hero's that keep coming up. And guilt ridden from living on borrowed time which she does tell Noah about.
Also this is why the pacing didn't bother me leading to ch 5. It created an interesting tension. Usually you can do whatever you want as long as you don't trigger the main story because time stops. And it did here and yet there was a tension because that 3 month deadline was still there. So every action even if they are for the greater good has a cost. I hate it in stories when doing the right thing only cost the side characters but never the main protagonists. In this game doing the right thing cost our main party from the beginning of the story to the end.
The Japanese dioluge for nias expo dump makes it sound like "the worlds are returning to "origin" " (which would make the naming scheme make sense) so its ambiguous if they fused or not. gotta wait for the DLC on that one I guess. Feels like torna all over again ,except the part of the game that got cut because they wanted to expand upon it further was the final act (aka the "building of the new world" will Actually be the DLC I guess lol). The memories of aionios will probably live on subconsciously. Nia is mios mom by the cat ears on the baby, so that picture is plot relevant.
the whole splitting at the end was to represent their time in aionios disappearing IMO.
also X3 is about "The moment" not "mortality" imo
Final edit. Nia mimic's alvises line at the end. so the DLC is probably what they are talking about lol.
IF you doubt me look at the expansion pass art. The game needed a 3rd cast for "hand in hand" so they did the "story box route"
Mmm I'd slightly disagree. I think it's more about mortality and the precious scarcity of life and the endless now concept is used to explore the fear of that life ending. But at the end of that day we can all have our different interpretations and that is wonderful 😊
@@Snugboy Everything in the game is about Creating, preserving , and letting go of moments. I believe this is what the arc of the game was trying to do. Chap 1-3 was creating moments, chapter 4-5 Were about preserving moments and chapter 6-7 is about letting go of moments. This is the conclusion I come to when I analyze the events and interactions of each chapter. Of course this is further supported by the Hero's quests and their respective ascension quests taken into account when they become available, they sort of drive these things home in multiple mini arcs. I just simply think this is what takahashi was trying to convey on the Macro of the game.
It would conclude the theme of "time" xeno has. Future ,past and present. The DLC will probably be the culmination of these things.
Man what is that theme at 15:57
It’s called A New Life is Born
im torn between wanting the dlc to show rex and shulk as 2 members of the founding ouroboros, and being an epilogue story about the 2 worlds actually merging
MATE I’m absolutely the same!
I don't mind the "slow" combat because you can always move around to a better position, activate Ouroboros if available, or change to any of the other main party members on the fly which is incredibly fun. Sure, maybe a speedrunner/pro player will come and tell me chaning characters mid battle isn't optimal but who cares, I am having a blast even if bosses in Hard Mode take 20 minutes to beat and they wipe your entire party with a sliver of health left so you have to try again for another 20 minutes hell freaking yeah kick my ass Xenoblade I love it
Oh yeah, like you, I love 1's combat (I'm not even an MMO fan). So strategic and easy to improve (level up arts from many options, equip better gems, unlock skills and join skills from other party members). I actually like playing as EVERY character in that game. But I hate 2's combat. So slow, so annoying that you have to search for the correct temporal Pouch Item... So annoying you hsve to babystep to actually attack fast like, that is not fun plus Joycon drift. Torna is actually an improvement because changing who's in the lead from a set of 3 characters makes fights go faster, the pace is generally better
When mio died I cried, no, I balled my eyes out
Great video, it made lol several times! I really love the navigation line, it's so helpful! I wish more games had this (Breath of the Wild!)
Spoilers about the story:
With the whole thing about the worlds splitting apart: no one knew what exactly would happen when Origin booted back up correctly. They just knew it would change everything and that's better than continuing life in this world.
Kinda of a throw away line that gets lost at the start of Chapter Seven but I think Nia mentions the Sword of the End aka Lucky Seven was designed by Melia with other materials from Origin and had it commissioned by the Nopon smiths (which is fitting given her background with them) also, personal theory time cuz I don’t know if it’s mentioned in game at all, but that possibly explain why Lucky Seven would hum in the presence of Moebius since their powers also come from Origin, sort of like a resonance trope that happens a lot in these JRPGs
With that in mind, how incredibly fitting it is that Melia is the one to design a blade that can destroy anything in it perceives as an obstacle like the Monado and Nia was the one who developed the concept of the Ouroboros: two beings working together as a cohesive whole like the union between Humans and Blades.
I love all three games equally. When Xenoblade 3 came out I purchased a switch with all three games and played them back to back. What a great experience I had playing these games.
In my opinion riku is the best nopon
Your videos man. They're so insanely good. I just finished the ending of XC3 and I wanted to hear your take on it. My ranking of the series is actually the exact same as yours. Xeno1 being my start with the series 10 years ago at such a critical age, it's just too near and dear to me I don't see any game dethroning it maybe ever. 3 is such a return to form in my eyes after the incredible letdown that 2 was. I just can't get past the anime waifu shit sorry.
I love 3 but I am conflicted over it. I do feel like my biggest complaint about three is that there were so many points in the story where I had burning questions that the characters realistically would have been curious about too. It was just shocking that they didn't ask simple questions like for example why is there a giant sword piercing the land.
Obviously we the players having experienced the first game know what the mechonis sword is but the characters not showing much curiosity about their own world was one of the only points against the world building. Also I died twice on the final boss before using my bonus exp and lowering the difficulty which was incredibly frustrating due to the length of the fight and unskippable cutscenes.
I definitely feel like 3 is a masterpiece. There are very, very few things about it that I could complain about, and a massive number of things about it I love. I can't wait to see what else we get with updates and DLC!
This video labeled my thoughts perfectly Xenoblade definitive edition will probably always be my favorite I love many things about Xenoblade two but there are also many things bringing it down for me and Xenoblade three sets right in the middle it has one of my favorite video game cast of characters ever and The best combat in the series but they’re also these things like the unexplained story parts which I think are going to be explained in the DLC game and the lackluster Villains that personally make me not able to put it above the first game but overall I still love XC3 very very much. overall Xenoblade is my favorite series and I love it so much
About the chain attacks 2 words: smash damage. if you do a smash in a chain attack you literally do like 40-99999 million damage in a chain attack depending on buffs. it also just had a lot to do with specefic classes cause the actual attacks the character's do in the chain attacks are MASSIVELY imbalanced, Ogre ,swordfighter, full metal jaguar have the best attacks doing upwards of like 5 million per order (honorable mentions being Martial artist, strategos,seraph and incursor. But they are only great with optimal setups), while most defenders and healers do a measly couple thousand usually.
Xenoblade 2 will always be my favorite and 3 right after, I love 1 a lot but just like me with Final Fantasy 13 it is my favorite in the series but I just can’t play it cause I suck, I’m the same way with Xenoblade 1 I just can’t do the gameplay 😂😂
TLDR: Putting this up front because I wrote a 3200 word YT comment & even I recognize that's ridiculous:
I think, from how I interpreted your story critique, that there was some thematic & story confusion - I don't recall it ever being stated that the main party's goal was to gain a full lifespan within Aionios - hell, none of the party members even voiced a desire to live longer than 10 years until Lanz and Mio did at the end of chapter 5. I think the primary theme is instead learning to let go of the fear of change that led to both Moebius and the people of both worlds choosing the Endless Now. Since that's what created Aionios and its endless war, letting go of it is the key to achieving the normal life exhibited by the City. While XC3 touches on XC1's focus on the future & XC2's focus on the past, it pretty neatly ties them together with its focus on the present in the way I explain below. Nearly every "plot hole" people voice either a) is actually explained but people missed it (e.g. how Origin works & thus why the worlds would split apart), b) isn't 100% *explicitly* explained, but can be pretty easily deduced through some basic investigation and analysis using the explicit lore, story, and themes (e.g. who/what Moebius exactly are, and what their motivations are, particularly Z's), and/or c) aren't fully explained but really don't need to be at all for 3's plot to work (e.g. whatever the hell is going on with Riku, though this falls into category b a bit as well). Out of the roughly 17 "plot holes" you listed, I was able to explain all but 4 of them near completely, and out of those 4, there were really only 2 I couldn't come up with an at least sufficient explanation for (what the point of Future Connected was, but that's not really a plot hole, & how N & M were able to reincarnate after becoming Moebius - while it's thematically explained/justified, it's never mechanically explained & I don't think there's quite enough information to piece together any actually reliable theories). Suffice it to say, while XC3 might not dedicate an hour-long cutscene to expositioning all the lore to the player, the vast majority of its supposed plot holes are quite easily explainable with some basic investigation & analysis - I was able to explain almost all of them without even having watched any lore videos or posts about 3 yet - all I've done is bounced some ideas off one of my friends who's also a fan of the series.
Last thoughts: Won't dispute marketing issues though I personally saw them as actually restrained to the point of indicating a mostly standalone story, especially given Takahashi's comments on XC3 being completely friendly to series beginners; I think 3's ending actually *does* follow up on 1 *and* 2's quite well; I can't fully or even mostly agree that the worlds splitting at the second they collided mean 3's story doesn't matter; also agree that pacing between end of chapter 2 & reaching the City was kinda wack, though I thought it was fine in chapters 6 & 7.
END OF TLDR.
MAIN POST HERE:
I guess my thoughts on the game's ending, themes, etc. are that 1) I don't recall it ever being stated that the main party thought getting to the City and then later defeating Z would let them live longer than 10 years within Aionios. At first, they just wanted to find out why the world was the way it was, and then later to defeat Z to set things right. 2) Nia very explicitly said that Origin's purpose was to reboot the states of both worlds and that Ouroboros' goal was to wrest control of Origin back from Z (so that the reboot could actually happen). Aionios shouldn't exist nor should it ever have existed - the two worlds would collide, then each one would be separately rebuilt and sent on its way. What happened is that in the moment of the collision, since people's literal minds and souls were encoded into Origin, they subconsciously wished for an endless now because of their collective fears and anxieties, which created Z, who created Aionios in a single moment of time between the collision of 1 and 2's worlds. Z is essentially a computer virus that gave itself a physical form (since Origin was going to rebuild both worlds & their people, the fact it could give him a physical form makes sense). All of Z's powers derive from Origin, as do the rest of Moebius' powers, hence why Lucky Seven is able to react to the presence of Moebius, given that it is made of Origin metal.
3) I think the themes of the game actually *weren't* necessarily primarily about seizing the right to have a future for oneself, though that is touched upon. I think the primary message is to stop letting one's fear of change hold oneself back - you can control your own destiny to an extent, but being obsessive over holding control of your own fate can lead to stagnation and corruption, and so the way to break free from Aionios' curse is to simply let go. Aionios cannot go on without having someone to administer it for eternity, hence the need for the endless war to sustain Moebius. As such, there simply isn't a way for Keves and Agnus to obtain their full lifespans - even though the people of the City have them, for example, the constant death from Aionios' war is still sustaining Aionios' existence - take that away and Aionios ceases to exist. Oh, and the reason other people can become Moebius is simply because it helps Z maintain the endless war sustaining the Endless Now (Aionios). When Z says his motivation is "because it amuses me," he's (imo) not being truthful - in that he can't admit that the reason he's doing what he's done is because he's terrified of change - that's literally what he is, an embodiment of that fear. You can notice that only once has he ever been seen outside Origin, in a flashback at the beginning of chapter 6 towards the very beginning of Aionios' history, likely before Z had recruited many Moebius. But since recruiting a bunch of what are essentially lackeys to do his bidding, he can stay cooped up in his theater inside Origin observing things & calling some of the shots, but otherwise not getting in on the action because he's afraid of the world he's created - just like any Moebius, he can permanently die unlike the soldiers of Keves and Agnus.
You touched on the idea of time throughout the series - i.e. XC1 is focused on the future & XC2 on the past, but I don't think XC3 gets it jumbled, in fact, I think it brings it all together. The primary focus is on the Present, hence the Endless Now being a central concept, but XC3 also touches upon the notion that regret from the Past can lead us to fear change & desire to achieve stability and order in the Present, but doing so holds us back from evolving going into the future. The 3 cutscenes in the fight against N in chapter 7 perfectly surmise this thematic bundle. So the primary focus is on the Present, but XC3 ties in the themes of XC1 & XC2 in a new way that enhances its own themes - the Past can lead us to seek control of the Present and prevent us from having an actual Future, i.e. a future where we change and evolve.
And with a lot of the "loose ends," they're either things that were a) explained but people missed, b) can easily be deduced in consideration of the game's lore, story, and themes, and/or c) really don't matter that much. Explaining the ones you mentioned - 1) the black fog is the result of Origin's simulation of Aionios being ultimately unsustainable - it connects to the theme that no matter how much Moebius want to maintain an Endless Now, obsessively trying to maintain control like that is ultimately futile even if you can do it for a decent amount of time. 2) Noah's sword likely makes a sound because it vibrates in reaction to the presence of Moebius since Moebius' very existence, powers, etc. are deeply and intrinsically tied to Origin, and Lucky Seven is made of Origin metal. 3) The name of the sword doesn't matter - Noah named it something but is self-conscious about it - either way, when he named it, he wasn't aware of his past lives, so it ultimately most likely doesn't have any lore significance. The primary purpose is to subtly connect to a running joke of sorts throughout the game - the fact that the incarnations of Noah & their descendants are self-conscious about their naming of things. The incarnation of Noah that became N also named his sword something he's a bit embarrassed about, hence why he said he didn't think it was a good idea for him to name his and Mio's kid whilst looking down to his sword. House Vandham are also descendants of N and M, with the leader of House Vandham also looking more visibly similar to Noah whilst having an Agnian iris - that's why you see Ghondor embarrassed about Monica's naming capabilities (e.g. her own name, Monica's "Monicurry," etc.). It helps further tie the connection between Noah and House Vandham. 4) Lucky Seven is not a Monado - it's just a really sharp sword - the only reason it has any special abilities is because it's a) forged from the metal of the device that runs the simulation that is Aionios and b) it was infused with some of Melia's power. But it's not tied to the Trinity Processor like Shulk's Monado, Pneuma's Aegis Sword, or Malos' Aegis Sword were. 5) It's not used to restart the worlds because it's not necessary to - it's just really helpful because it's a strong sword. 6) Riku has some weird shenanigans going on given that he and Melia seem to know each other & that Riku's age is marked as ???, which is left for us to theorize about, but ultimately isn't a plot hole since it doesn't at all hinder the plot's ability to function. 7) The rest of the surviving casts of XC1 & XC2 likely survived as well but died somehow - we know that both Shulk and Rex were within Aionios but died eventually. Given that Nia and Melia are the creators of Origin, their longevity is greatly increased. And given that the Conduit disappeared, other Blades & in particular the Aegises may have lost their immortality. As such they're the only ones who are still around thousands of years later. 8) Yeah idk about Future Connected - it likely was some of the first signs that space-time shenanigans were occurring in advance of the Intersection of the worlds, but beyond that idk. Given what we've seen from the story DLC trailer, the aura behind Alvis looks almost exactly the same as the aura surrounding the Fog King and Fog Beasts, so Future Connected might have a greater significance there. 9) This isn't mechanically explained, I'll admit that, but there is a thematic reason why Noah and Mio are reborn despite N and M becoming Moebius - N and M were the only Moebius who still had some regret over their choice (M in particular since she didn't really have a choice at all). N puts up a front, but all it takes is the last confrontation towards the end of chapter 7 in Origin before freeing Melia to reveal that he still does regret his actions, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself before. So the part of N and M's souls that still had hope made themselves rebirth in Noah and Mio's form. 10) Z makes it clear that countless generations of Ouroboros have faced him and lost, but the difference with this generation ended up being that a) they didn't give into the Endless Now and become Moebius themselves and b) they had the will to overcome Z's abilities (remember when the party breaks through Z's ability to Shackle their ability to Interlink through sheer will alone). All the other generations seem to have been City folk, who like the City's Ouroboros candidates don't have as much personal motivation to defeat Moebius since they hadn't been forced into the Endless Now. Given a new generation made entirely of Kevesi and Agnian soldiers, that were guided along the right path by the "chance encounters" Noah describes in chapter 7, and that were able to free both Queens prior to facing Z, this was the generation that ended up defeating Z even though he was expecting this encounter to go like all the others. 11) The other Moebius didn't age??? D is shown to have the same appearance he did when he died as Dirk, as do Joran, Crys, Shania, etc. The only truly aged looking Moebius is Y, but he's one of the original three, so that's likely why. 12) Given that Interlinking as Ouroboros ultimately came through the Queen's (Nia's) connection to Origin, Moebius could likely use Melia's connection to Origin to do the same since they received their powers from Origin and had imprisoned her there to gain said access. 13) I'll also give that this one isn't very thoroughly explained. Ultimately, the ability to Interlink as Ouroboros has something to do with Nia's connection to Origin, and given that Origin is basically a second Conduit in terms of power, who knows all of its capabilities. 14) I'm not exactly sure why there's a time limit, but I also don't think it's particularly important. My best guess would be that since Moebius' Interlinking doesn't seem to have a time limit, the fact that Ouroboros do have one symbolizes the fact that ultimately it is letting go of control, power, etc. will free the world from Moebius, & Nia likely had some reason to design it that way (perhaps one could go power-crazy with an unlimited Ouroboros like Teach feared in his Hero quest). 15) I'm not sure why you thought that they would all combine as 6? I mean that could have happened, I guess, but never was that ever foreshadowed or hinted at. The fact that they didn't use it to fully defeat Z's final form isn't that important - Ouroboros is an ability that offers a temporary powerup, sure, but I think it's primary significance is it's ability to connect two minds - it was that capability that set the whole game's main campaign in motion, after all. Given that they're already connected, that Ouroboros never was some magical macguffin that is the key to defeating Moebius, & given that defeating Moebius was going to be achieved by *letting go* of control, it's fine that it wasn't strictly necessary for the final phase of the Z fight. 16) The Nopon do not die after ten years - simply checking the Affinity Chart will confirm that for you. The Nopon Caravan seems to likely have some agreement with Moebius not to interfere for the most part, even by telling the Kevesi and Agnians how biology works or something like that, however - otherwise Moebius wouldn't let them exist as an independent faction. 17) A lot of things in XC3's world likely weren't commented on because the characters were simply more focused on war their whole lives when they first saw a lot of these sights than on observing the world & nature. We know Noah had already visited Keves Castle so the mural wasn't anything new, everyone already knew about the Sword & it had always been there so why question it? I mean they hadn't even questioned animals like Armus aging because they were so focused on their Flame Clocks beforehand. 18) Nia and Melia don't have that important of a role because if they did it would result in a) the game not being accessible for new players, which Takahashi stated he wanted 3 to be & b) a lesser ability for 3 to function as its own game, develop its own characters, etc. The more they inserted characters like Melia and Nia, the less time the main cast would have to develop. This is the main 6's story, not the past party members of 1 and 2's, and I think the game is ultimately better for that even if people wanted more fanservice. And, as we all thought would happen in some form or fashion, we're getting more fanservice in the DLC story, which doesn't need to necessarily focus on developing its own new cast to the same extent as 3 did.
I understand that XC1 & XC2 were generally a lot more *explicit* with their lore, but XC3's isn't bad or "unexplained" - it just takes some basic investigation to piece some things together - now whether your prefer that style or not is totally up to you, and I won't dispute that. But acting like there are a million plot holes when there simply aren't (unless a plot hole is anything that isn't completely & explicitly explained by exposition). That being said, some important things, while totally explainable, could have likely been explained a bit more explicitly than they were given the wide spread of confusion on some of them. I also won't dispute marketing issues, though I will note that the creators of a piece of media often have limited control over the marketing, especially when it's not self-published. I personally wasn't really expecting a ton of fanservice or direct connections - the fact that they were *holding back* so much in the promotional material honestly signaled to me that it wasn't going to be super heavy with that. The only returning characters shown all the way up to release were Melia and Nia & even then they weren't even explicitly confirmed as Melia and Nia (it was a subtitling accident that was the only thing that confirmed it pre-release - before that I even saw people speculating that the Kevesi queen was Tyrea and not Melia). They showed the Urayan Titan & Mechonis' Sword, sure, but it was clear that this was taking place long after 1 and 2, especially given that the only 2 characters shown had very long lifespans. I had a list of characters that *could* appear, but even by like chapter 3, it was clear that it wouldn't make much sense for most of them to appear, so I let go of any further expectation. And the statement "this title depicts the conclusion of the Xenoblade story that began with Klaus' experiment." was a) made post-release & b) widely clickbaited (saw so many thumbnails paraphrasing it as "the finale to the KLAUS TRILOGY" etc. when that greatly exaggerates the actual line. This game does in fact conclude that story. The ending pretty clearly implies that the two worlds will reunite again, but given that at least Noah has some memory of the events in Aionios & that the Queens very likely do since they are still connected to their halves of Origin even once the worlds reboot (meaning data from Aionios' existence might still be stored there and available to the Queens), they might be able to be joined permanently without the cost of needing an Endless Now if the Queens can properly engineer a solution whenever the worlds likely get pulled towards each other again. Either way, the game does in fact *finish* that story even though some parts in the middle are still untold (& likely will in XC3's DLC). Phrasing things like the "Klaus trilogy" emphasized possible involvement of Klaus, the Conduit, Aegises & Alvis, etc. more than they actually were in Takahashi's statement. Regarding a contradiction of 1's ending, I simply think Alvis was overly optimistic - even in Future Connected we saw that strife & conflict were still around after 1's world was reborn - not just against the Fog Beasts, but also between the High Entia and Machina for example. Now given what little we know from the DLC trailer, something really went wrong. But also, the worlds being restored again at the end of XC3 *does* succeed in following up on XC1's themes because it allows people to actually make a future for themselves again after they couldn't within Aionios.
I also simply can't fully agree on the fact that the worlds separating again mean's 3's story didn't matter. For 1) were it not for the journey of 3's main cast, Aionios would have continued for thousands of years more before Annihilation Events eventually destroyed it, unfreezing time, & given that there wouldn't be anyone to run Origin anymore, both worlds would possibly be annihilated. The victory of 3's cast is letting the victory of 1 and 2's casts stand. And, given that some people have some knowledge of 3's events even after the worlds split, plus the *heavy* hinting at reuniting, 3's victory likely won't just be letting 1 and 2's stand either. I don't think that'll come in the DLC, but possibly in a XC4??? Either way, 3's story *is* complete, and it sets up the possibility for some future entry to follow up on it without 3 being unfinished in and of itself.
Final comment, completely agree that the pacing of everything between the end of chapter 2 and when you get to the City was wack, though I didn't really find much issue with the pacing of chapters 6 and 7. Sure, they were shorter, but the emotional climax had already been reached at the end of chapter 6/beginning of chapter 6. If you track the story on Vogler's Hero's Journey model - that sequence (ch. 5/6) was the Ordeal (the lowest point - i.e. the prison sequence & Mio's death) and the Reward (Mio surviving, the party regaining their Ouroboros capabilities, regaining their faith in themselves & their mission). There are only 3 steps in this 12-step story model at this point - 1) The Road Back (Learning about Z, getting the location of and the key to the Cloudkeep, finding Nia in the Cloudkeep, & paving the way to reaching Origin), 2) Resurrection ("Final attempt at a big change" - attacking Origin), & 3) Returning with the Elixir ("Final mastery of the problem" - helping N find resolution, defeating Z by fundamentally rejecting the fear that he is the embodiment of - the "Elixir" is the rejection of submitting to this fear that Noah articulates in his conversation with N, & sending the worlds apart like they were meant to be, though retaining some knowledge of Aionios nonetheless)
I don't think youre the names that you called yourself, but I believe you have missed something with the lore dump by nia and mia...and alot of other stuff.
I'd jump on the reddit to get these questions answered, because half the questions you have are answered in the game but I guess we're easily missed ??
Either way love the review!
Could I play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 without having played the previous games?
Totally! You'll miss out on a little bit of context towards the end, but it's designed to be it's own thing and be mostly detached from 1 and 2.
Ayo, Barack Obama spitting facts.
"then you have Taion, eugh" DON'T DISS THE BOY HE'S DEALT WITH ENOOOUUGH
Great video! I agree with all the fantastic stuff you mentioned and a few of the negatives particularly on the bosses being really health spongy and chain attack/menu music interrupting too much. I disagree about the ending and storytelling methods but I think that comes more down to personal preference and interpretation so I'm not looking to start a debate there.
What I will say, and I noticed this in your stream yesterday, is that you didn't really tackle much of the side content which is honestly the game's strongest aspect and arguably the best the series has ever done in my opinion. I don't necessarily think having done those would have cleared up all of your qualms but I think it would have addressed some of them at least. There are entire areas that you never go to in the main story that can only be found by exploring. I'm not one to tell people they're playing their game wrong as each person's experience with a game is their own. Honestly even I really only went out of my way to get all the heroes (minus one) before finishing the story and then did more side content afterward (but that was mainly to avoid spoilers). But I do think ignoring most of the side content might have hampered your enjoyment of this game just a little bit. I'm really glad I went back and did a lot of it because it made me appreciate this game so much more than I would have.
I also noticed that most of your footage has you using the main party in their default classes. Was that done to avoid spoilers or did you not use the other classes much?
Thanks for the comment! You’re totally right, I really didn’t do much side content. But side quests aren’t things I really enjoy doing on a first playthrough anyways, I don’t really know why. And especially in this game I didn’t want to waste time when the game has the constant hanging pressure of Mio’s time to live.
And all of the gameplay footage is borrowed! Unfortunately all of mine corrupted 💀 I swapped all the classes around heaps don’t worry haha
@@Snugboy Totally understandable! Like I said I didn't do all that much of it besides all the hero recruitments before finishing the story so I totally get where you're coming from at least somewhat. I hope you do end up at least doing more of the Hero Quests eventually cause those in particular are great.
@@MaxHP1 Yeah! I’ll definitely do more on my eventual second playthrough.
I personally loved the story of 3 but there are 2 main things that I really didn’t like, which are similar to your complains with it, those beings the weak cast of villains and the connections to the past games. From the first time the game was revealed, the thing that scared me the most was the possibility of focusing too hard on the connections with 1 and 2 instead of a new story, and while for the most part that luckily didn’t happen, by the end you realize there really wasnt no need for the game to combine the worlds of 1 and 2 and it probably would have been better if it’s connections to the past games were more subtle and kept to a minimum (basically how 2 is connected with 1).
I never theorised that at the end of 1 and 2 both ended up in the same world, so it didn’t bother me that they actually werent in 3. What bothered me is that by the end they didn’t merge them. It would have made so much more sense thematically if they were able to combine the worlds at the end after beating Z who was literally the reason why they didn’t colide. The story ends up going in a really weird way that didn’t really elevate my thoughts on 1 or 2 (compared to how 2 made me like 1 even more) nor was it a good ending for the self contained story of 3. I hate that they lost their memories, I would have been fine if they got separated but kept their memories and age, cuz at least at that point the characters are still not the same from the beggining thanks to the journey they had through the game.
I think as a self contained story, 3’s is fantastic, but in the xenoblade canon it left so much to be desired. I know the DLC will probably explain some stuff, but 2 didn’t need torna to explain basically anything, so it’s still frustrating.
I didn't remember you couldn't review tutorials in 2, that's horrible!
Yeah, gems are rlly hard to craft
I just finished the game and honestly I 100 percent agree with you about the story. Lots of mixed feelings with it here.
Im the one from the tweet to give it a watch
like Xenoblade 2 or not it was the reason we even got 3 and a remake of 1
on a side note it seem like 1 and 3 had very similar ending theme in a way both bad guy wanted to
keep thing at a stand still in term of it being under their control and not letting anyone else be able to move forward
Answering the title: No, XC3 is average compared to XC1 and XC2, both previous installments are better in everyway.
Not saying XC3 is bad, I give it a 6/10.
As someone who hasn't finished the game yet I think it's one of the best JRPG's I have ever played. I know that's saying a lot but it's what I think.
"I don't even know what a Xenoblade is and I'm crying" put it on a mug!
Hot take- I actually think xenoblade 3 was the weakest in the trilogy. I really don’t know why, but I couldn’t get invested like I did with the other 2- specifically in the characters. Shulk has great development, Reyn is so much fun, Dunban is… well, Dunban, I mean, he’s really cool, Sharla is… kinda boring, Riki is BETTER THAN RIKU I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, Melia is just… just adorable, and I dont think she deserved what the story threw at her, where she basically had to fight her own kin, kill her brother, and watch her father get diced- and can we talk about Kallian? Underrated hero. And Metal Face OOH HE’S JUST SO MUCH FUN while being a guy you just love to hate, all his smug talk and even in his first appearance you can tell he’s having fun- and Zanza is just friggin epic, like come on! He’s a flat, unlikable villain but it makes sense because he’s literally Klaus’s bad half! And Xenoblade 2, just, shut up about the voice acting and let’s talk about the story. Probably the most imperfect one, but I’m biased because it was my first. The characters are just so much fun, and the blade mechanics are really good, even if they brought the sin to humanity that is Kora into this world, but let’s not worry about that!
My biggest complaints about 3 are the fact that all of the PADDED OUT OPPORTUNITIES to make N playable are COMPLETELY IGNORED. And I like the original variants of the queens better than the xeno 3 variants. Melia… well, I’m more miffed that she’s less cute, but Nia? I actually hate how they make her hide her sarcastic nature and try to be this… distinguished lady when she’s just… not. And they cut her hair WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT
Also Eunie and Riku are incredibly overrated ad are nothing to their xeno 1 counterparts I do NOT want to HEAR IT
Spoilers for story
It's funny to say XB3 has the weakest story out of the 3 mainline games. Even tho chapter 5 and 6 hit harder than anything before the overall story is disappointing in the end and I never felt that during the other games. I think it mostly comes down to the loose ends and really bad villains of this game. Having X and Y die without even a cutscene was worse than what they did with Gealgar and thats saying a lot.
Bringing back Miyabi, Mwamba, Crys and co. was also really a bad move and kinda ruins the backstories and motivations of the main crew. I also really don't like when the game tries to sell you the morale of the story so blatantly as Noah literally saying it during the end of the game. It kinda felt a lot more cheesy than the other games.
Overall it's definitely not my favorite Xenoblade game but that's ok. Even if it's under every other Xeno imo it's still a super good game worthy of playing and replaying. I just really hope the DLC ties some loose ends.
My ranking of the three games is the same as yours for mostly the same reasons.
The game really wants you use Smash combos on enemies a lot which takes out large chunks of their health. Luckily by the end of the game, you have the tools that allow you to pull off a Smash combo relatively easily and repeatedly.
So here’s the thing, the story is for sure flawed. I would of much rather had the worlds combine at the end of their respective games and somehow have Moebius create the endless now in the actual world instead of whatever the fuck origin created. I can also admit that my biggest issue with the game wasn’t the story itself but the marketing. The game is amazing and I believe it’s themes are perfectly represented throw the protagonists, antagonists and world. I also think the ending was beautiful, as it’s a message to players that nothing lasts forever, and uncertainty will always be an emotion we face moving into the future. If we stayed in an endless state never moving forward the world, society and our culture would never grow. I think that was what really sold this game for me along with the darker tone, and it’s why I like the game more than 2. Also the whole the two worlds split thing is actually explained just really poorly. Origin was always meant to reboot the worlds separately, Nia even states “origin was meant to reboot the WORLDS’” state not World’s, but that’s easily glanced by the player. Overall I think the biggest problem was them relying too much on fanserivce for the games marketing, cause in all honesty the game stands alone just as well as it’s predecessors. I’ve seen multiple people not enjoy the game solely because they came in expecting those connections and that’s just not what the game gave us. The game takes place thousands of years into the future, so it makes sense why there are very little connections, but it’s still irritating when you show the two queen in the first trailer and that’s pretty much all you get in the actual game. However when I put that aside I found a narrative I truly enjoyed. Sorry for writing a fricken college essay but I’m just way too engaged with the game and am itching to have a conversation lmao.
Did you play on hard? They nerf the chain attack really hard so maybe thats the reason. Idk the hp on normal since I played on hard so maybe theyre still hp spongy.
Great video ^^
I got no video.
[Spoiler Alert about the ending, don't ruin it for yourself]
Well, just finished the game, but I think the end makes a lot of sense. The whole point of the game is basically to move on from the present, for the main cast there was no way to know if they will ever see each other again, but, even so, they choose to change the status quo. It is a gigantic jump of faith bc they know the 2 worlds have to separate for at least some time which makes the whole message of the game even stronger. The gang clearly knew there were specific consequences to time flowing again, the queens made sure they knew and Mio herself asks Noah if he would go on without her at the beginning of chapter 6. For myself, I can say that the own act of finishing the game was something I didn't knew if I wanted to do bc I was very sure it was going to be tragic bc of the themes of life and death which I do believe was the intended purpose of the story and paid off for me bc the worlds separated which is heartbreaking on the surface but trully isn't at the end the gang hopes to see eachother again and so should we.
I have the first two Xenoblade game I beat the second one and still have the first one plan on playing it as well now my question is nai had a daughter so the main girl is that daughter because gem do they say it I haven't played Xenoblade one yet so I am mostly close to second game and it's characters now what what happened to zeke and everyone did they died of old age are they still around just under a new name
Was recommended this video by a friend, and I’m really glad for it. Top notch review!
I struggle to say that either XC1 or XC3 is better than the other. I love XC1 for pacing, plot, soundtrack, and nostalgia; and I love XC3 for characters, voice acting, emotional story beats, exploration, and streamlined gameplay. (3’s quest system and lack of Heart to Hearts with specific requirements- though I love them so much and do miss the HtH events in general- makes it SO much less of a slog to play, as a completionist.) I’m fine with saying they’re both just my favorite, lol.
All the complaints about the endgame story are… totally justified. I understand your (and many others’) criticisms of it. XC3 definitely doesn’t feel like the grand finale of the trilogy- rather, like a postscript, with some extra juicy but “unnecessary” content that in fact only leads to the need for more extra juicy content to explain some things. HOWEVER. I still didn’t think it had a poor endgame. I’m the sort who cares more about quality characters than quality plot, so maybe that’s why, but I think the through-line of the story was intact from A to Z (ha, little pun there for you)- yes, everything was central around the preciousness of life, but more importantly, I believe the intended focus of the game was fear and the decisions that we make in the face of it. How fear begins, how it is often valid due to circumstances, how we handle it, how we can’t truly escape it but instead push through it…
For instance- something I didn’t realize until something you said about going from “godless worlds” to a world with Z as the main antagonist- isn’t it fitting that the agent of fear, representing the anxieties of entire worlds, would be godlike, considering the greatest enemy one of the Queens faced in her lifetime was the self-imposed god of their known world (Zanza, who, coincidentally, has a name starting with Z)?
And even with the loose ends… I don’t mind them? Riku’s definitely a loose end I wish they’d discussed (like C’MON, WHO IS THIS GIGACHAD NOPON REALLY?), Cris as a Moebius needed further motivation, and it would be splendid if Noah and Mio’s reintroduction into the cycle of rebirth was touched upon, but ultimately, everything else was either explained, hinted upon sufficiently, or perfectly fine to be left unanswered. Might just be me as a writer, who’s constantly inserting headcanons and loving when stories give me fodder to theorize with, but I’m perfectly happy with every story having its own little mysteries left behind.
Anyway. I guess that’s all to say that I recognize the game’s short comings or less than polished outcomes, while I also still love the game to death (story and all), would put it on practically equal footing with XC1, and would recommended it to absolutely anyone to at least give it a fair shake. So yeah. 😅 Thanks again for putting this video out! Time well spent.
Monica's VA isn't Aussie, she's actually British lol. Same VA as Melania from Elden Ring
Great video! I think XC3 stands closely with XC1 and above XC2, but I agree that XC1 is the best game in this trilogy.
...though, I think the best Xenoblade game still goes to Xenoblade Chronicles X.
I was bored and couldn’t play xenoblade 1 or 2 without giving up and watching the story on TH-cam…
Meanwhile I’m tryna 100% xenoblade 3 lol
I think they did something guud maybe
Although it’s not perfect and I miss the mobility and full open world of xenoblade X soo much…
Xenoblade 3 is still the best xenoblade overall it’s not even close lol
Erm, sorry, but to figure out the xenoblade 2 combat/chain attack you have to search on outside sources lol. You even say it yourself, the tutorials in 2 are bad and you can't eve revisit them in game. Xenoblade 3 chain attack does lots of damage too, you just gotta combo, use smash, lower enemy defense using orders, etc
I think I could’ve explained this better in the video, but what I meant is that to beat Xenoblade 2 and get a grasp on its combat you can eventually figure out how to do elemental/full bursts and auto attack cancels etc. While in 3 I felt like I was always missing something while the bosses health moved down at a snails pace.
what about compared to X?
Best game I've played this year.
Ghondor is horrible though.