I think this is the last time I'll jump into the comments of this trainwreck--for my own mental health. But there are a couple of things I want to leave here before I dip.
There's a serious level of irony in the people accusing me of nitpicking who will pick out 1 or 2 parts of my hour long video to try and delegitimize my arguments and then write me off as a whiney hater. Please keep in mind, not everything I say and do in this video is 100% serious. There are things called satire and entertainment. Not everything I say is meant to be an ultra serious argument or criticism.
Just because do I critique this game doesn't mean I'm a blind XC1 fanboy. I actually like XCX and I do look back fondly on Torna (although it's admittedly been a while since I played the later.) criticism =/= blind hate. I outlined what I value in video games and told you reasons why Xenoblade 2 wasn't enjoyable for me. If you can't handle the tough love I give the game then you shouldn't have watched the video. I gave you plenty of warnings.
I have no reason to just blindly hate this game, like many are assuming that I've done. The like/dislike ratio should be the best indicator of that. The best thing for my channel right now would be for me to get the Xenoblade community in my good graces and pretend to love this game so my channel gets a wider audience and avoid all of the shit I am getting. But instead I chose to be genuine and give my HONEST opinions of Xenoblade 2--not all of which are bad, despite what the youtube comments say. People who act like I'm just trying to hate this game and I'm feigning my dislike really need to get their heads out of their asses and realize that sometimes people on the internet just disagree with them.
Lastly, I don't know what it would take to satiate some of y'all. I spent the first 13 minutes of this review showering the game with praise. I talked about what I enjoyed about the title and the positives I took away from it. It's not like this was just an hour of me attacking the game and calling it complete crap. I went into this game trying to enjoy it, but came out just not liking it and that's the reality of the situation. I had an OPINION and the way a lot of you guys are just aggressively crying over my OPINION is the exact reason why I stopped engaging in discourse with the Xenoblade community and it's why I'll probably distance myself from it again.
In the wise words of VideoGameDunkey "Nope, you are nitpicking and biased. I win. Bye. Bye."
Sorry, I don't know if my (overly long winded) comment was one of the ones you were referring to here, but upon rereading it I noticed there were a couple of things I said that came across as aggressive or as me being over sensitive. It was never my intent but I apologize if something I said offended you. And sorry for all that rambling as well. Seriously, I never never even noticed just how much I had written there. :p
@@ponspectorstillwedie4579 Your comment was very respectful. don't feel bad. I did read the comment and I understand where you come from. No hate, dude. Like what you like.
Great review man. I also love critquing games and listening to long nuanced reviews that really get into the meat of the issues is super cathartic and you do a great job. Despite being full of valid nuanced points you’re still downvoted to hell and labelled a XC1 elitist. Its a shame the online discourse around these games is so incapable of accepting criticism
You forgot to mention that when you get the spike damage aux cores, you’d have to backtrack to town and fill them up to make any use of them. Even picking up the aux cores doesn’t HELP you.
Late response, but to be fair, wasn't that the same in Xenoblade 1? You also had to refine the raw ether crystals there to be able to use them in the first place.
It just sounds like Monolith tried to do WAAAAY too much with this game in order for it to feel as big as possible - has been my takeaway from many vids on critiquing Xeno2.
I love both games, but listening to you I find it hard to disagree. I loved the story overall but some dialogue was absolutely ridiculous. My main turn off for the game though was the gameplay and combat, especially when it comes to post-game. The combat system in active gameplay is mostly fine, though I don't like how momentum based it is where there's little back and forth and its more about dominating or being dominated with very little in between. However, as with many games I have seen and is imo a baffingly frustrating design decision, a lot more of the combat efficiency is determined in menus, equipment, party setups and not enough on your actual in-combat actions. Going through the story this was hardly a problem but tackling any of the harder challenges meant I had to go on wild hunts of grinds, spreadsheets, theorycrafting, etc. just to beat some beefed up dinosaur in the corner of whogivesashitaboutthisplace. The result of that is a game which a full playthrough was alright, but any attempt at picking up the game after that results in a huge *sigh* followed by me switching to a different game.
I personally never found the gameplay to be this hard or monotonous even on harder difficulties, that’s weird. Also the dialogue was great for everyone except maybe Rex sometimes I think Glad you liked the game tho!
I really liked when you talked about how the sexualization in this game is a detriment to its narration and characters. You really put it succintly. It's not the main reason why I overall dislike it, but boy, does the constant Mommy Fetish Shotacon ruin the hero, the heroine and the main romance, for me. It's just impossible for me to appreciate Rex and Pyra/Mythra's relationship due to how wanky and fetishistic it is. Then, it also ruins Blades as a whole: because why make Blades varied and unique, filled with many types of characters and species AS THE STORY IMPLIES, when they could all be sexy waifus and sexualized children? (Don't get me started on Floren, I even summoned him at the game's equivalent of the Vatican, it was fucking wild) Also the bit with Rex repeating himself... it was so painful to listen to. Love of exposition is Takahashi's weakest point. No wonder Xenoblade 1 had much fewer of it... it's the Xeno where he had the least involvement.
@@XelchanTheBrave I can't take Mythra seriously in any scene because of her design. She looks like a prostitute not the powerful Aegis. the smash censored costume helps a bit and why is Rex wearing crotchless pants, why does that need to come off? It's a diving suit is it not?. I'm pretty sure Takahashi is credited as just the scenario writer for this game(at least in the credits at the beginning). I Don't think he had much involvement with its writing(specifically the dialogue). I don't know who the script writers were.
Honestly the part I enjoyed most was the repeating the thing that was just said part. Through out my first play through I kept zoning out and thinking about other things and before I knew it I was in the middle of another cutscene, I've never had that happen before & now I know why. I didn't even know that hot spring scene existed the first time through and the story was better for it. that "foreshadowing" was more like a siren.
Re: the 5th chapter power lines boss, you can do this without spike damage aux cores, if you notice, the spike damage it deals doesn’t kick in until you it reaches 50% health. What you can do is stack elemental orbs with blade combos during the first 50% of the fight, then when the spike damage kicks in, initiate a chain attack, burst the orbs and melt away the remaining health-once you’re in chain attack the spike damage can’t do anything. This is how I beat it first time before I knew spike defense was possible.
13:50 can’t be stated enough. I LOVE breaking down my favorite games, because like you said you help improve the next games. I wish people understood that. You can love your games and still point out issues.
He’s not looking at the comments of this video ever again for the sake of his mental health and because of the toxicity in the Xenoblade fandom. Read the pinned comment.
Your criticisms are pretty fair. I really like XC2 in spite of it's many, many big flaws because i love the OST, zone design and combat system. I tell friends it's the most flawed game that I love. I've compared discussing this game with diehard lovers/defenders to talking politics with Fox news viewers in a way, in the sense that we seem to be viewing completely different realities. Let me just say that XC3 was a huge relief and has probably become my favorite in the trilogy followed by 1 and then 2.
I though that being able to cancel any auto attack's chain like doing mythra's first auto attack then move slightly and auto attack again on loop was brilliant, it made sense that it was a thing, adding a certain depth to its gameplay considering the combat system is all about the recharging of arts, it made it feel a lot less braindead to me. I had so much fun with the game and it quickly became one of my favourite switch games and i look fordward to play every single one of them.
you completely encapsulated my thoughts and feelings on this game. perhaps the most intensely trippy moment of confirmation bias for me but like literally point for point bar for bar i agree with u. i also thought mythra went so tsundere she turned into helga from hey arnold
I respect your opinion but I definitely have problems with your "review" like your complaint about exposition, and things like 43:49 where the game literally shows you amalthus take control of the titans and blades and you say it isn't brought up one, that is straight up not paying attention, you complain about the game not telling you things but the complain about it telling you things
My complaint was about rex being master driver in gameplay long before amalthus shows us what a master driver does. The game acts like being a master driver is some sort of revelation in that scene a whole chapter after rex gets the power, Like he's suddenly discovering it.
@@thegamingchronicler there is a big difference between using someone else's blade and literally controlling someone against their will like amalthus does, Rex has the ability to use other people's blades at no point in gameplay or tutorials does it say it allows Rex to control ( tutorials by the way that explain where Rex's new outfit comes from pnuema literally created because she has the power to create things which is why she can use any element) Amalthus is using powers in a completely different scale than Rex as he is forcibly using blades and titans against their wills including mythra, Rex just got these abilities literally in universe 30 minutes ago, he doesn't know the extent of his powers yet. It would be like if Alvis showed up with the monado 3 starting using all arts against shulk in tephra cave and expecting shulk to know all of these things like more than one monado and all the arts after a day of using them at most. Rex just got these master driver abilities he literally hasn't had time to fully explore them how is he supposed to know what he can do with them, at what time in morytha had he had the chance to go over everything with mythra
The issue i had was that none of what you mentioned with rex not fully grasping his master driver ability was brought up or played around with in the story. They don't mention rex being a master driver at all outside of a tutorial the chapter before. Some conveyance of this mechanic outside of gameplay would have probably helped because, again, Rex never mentions the words master driver before that point. How would i understand that there should be a gradual progression in his ability if the cutscenes never acknowledge that he has this ability to begin with? And the fact that you have to point toward a tutorial giving information about his outfit kinda just proves my point. I never argued that we weren't told about the outfit, I just said their inclusion of it was rushed and poorly implemented and what is a poorer way for this game to tell us about Rex's change in wardrobe other than a tutorial?
@@thegamingchronicler where is the place where the tutorial shows up? The land of morytha. Are you really expecting mythra to sit down and explain to Rex here's all the abilities that come with being a master driver and let's explain what a master driver is, while A. They are in an unknown land B. Separated from their allies and C. Under constant threat of unknown creatures. No they wouldn't. And yeah the words master driver and master blade is not used in the story until amalthus says it story wise Rex believes that mythra is allowing him to use other people's blades, he doesn't know it's master driver the player knows because the tutorial is explaining it and the tutorials are directly speaking to the player. It's shown in cutscene after the boss fight with Jin and malos and he is matching Jin's speed Rex doesn't get how he is doing it but he isn't complaining meaning he doesn't know what these abilities are he just has now, and he doesn't care to know And it seems like you would be upset if it took the time to explain. Let me use 2 examples in your video. The Nia explaining blades taking after their drivers and vandham explaining the life cycle of blades. You say these screw with the pacing and considering your text in them are obvious for atleast. This is not true because of where these are. For Nia they just saw someone awaken a blade and there isn't any danger present this would best moment to explain this, and vandham they just a dead titan with a core crystal in it the danger passed it would be a perfect time to explain it to Rex who doesn't know information because he has been a driver for a week at most. So to fix your issue later it would the game to stop and have mythra explain to Rex in morytha what a master driver is so he knows when amalthus says it, going by your examples earlier that would mess with pacing. So the only way to "fix" it would be to have Rex have knowledge of master driver as soon as he gets these abilities which would be like if shulk knew all monado arts as soon as he got the monado not just buster and enchant. That would not make sense. And back to the point about the outfit, again this contradicts your earlier point, if they went and explained where it came from in morytha scene you would have complained about it screwing up the pacing so they left it in a tutorial to explain how she is able to do what she does. I can almost guarantee that if it did explain it like the Nia and vandham scene you would it screwed up the pacing. So do want things at natural points to explain be explained or don't you? You made some good points but these are contradictory
Well I'd definitely expect Mythra to talk about something more relevant than her snoring in Morytha. Maybe they should have spent time talking about Rex's new powers instead? The issues I had about the game over explaining things were a result of the game quite literally saying the same thing over and over again. There's quite a difference between the game stopping the plot to explain how ether works for the 50th time and the game briefly mentioning or building toward a plot critical moment. You're assuming that no matter what the game does, if it presents new information to me I'd complain. No, my complaining was a result of how the game conveyed this information. This game had proven to me that it could tell a story well. So who is to say that the game couldn't portray this information in a way that I thought was good? Also please don't create my conclusions on hypothetical arguments that you created. Gaslighting isn't a way to try to convince someone they're wrong.
I agree on the point of tonal whiplash but even I'd disagree that the dickjoke takes away from the Tora scene. It has around 15 to 30 minutes of gameplay and cutscenes between those two points.
And plus the only real tonal whiplash occurs in chapters 2 and 4, since comedy largely only exists in those two chapters and has the game focus on serious plot and character development instead
@@DavidHosey1 If he wanted a more glaring case of Tonal Whiplash, I'd draw attention to Emperor Nail's death being at the hands of a giant bobblehead maid mech. The voice actor for Morag did an amazing job, but it doesn't take away from what just happened.
@@donnelwaddledee965 yeaaa well at least that was during the literal comedy opening chapters at the beginning. Kinda weird but since only 2 and 4 and stuff like that it makes the entire experience more fun outside of that
It was corny because it didn’t fit the cutscene. It sounds like an end credits song. If that scene had engage the enemy then that cutscene would be tons better.
Well, I think most XC2 fans would be among the first to tell you that the game has many flaws. For me personally XC2 is one of my favourite games of all time, and the best in the series while simultaneously being the most flawed. I agree with everything you said about the tutorials. I remember feeling so overwhelmed when the game started teaching me the basics of specials and Blade combos, when in actuality it was a rather simple element of the combat system that the tutorials made seem needlessly complex. Having to open up the menus constantly to shuffle the party's blades to get past a field skill check before switching back to your battle party immediately after can be tedious as hell. The English dub definitely took some getting used to as well, though I do think it has it's moments. And I have very mixed feelings about both the Merc mission system and the Blade gacha mechanic. I also concur that the dialogue and over the top fanservice can be too much sometimes, even if it didn't bother me personally to the same extent it did you. Though I will say that while I enjoyed the games main plot immensely, I do agree that there can be some real tonal issues sometimes. (Though I'd argue that the 'One eyed monster' joke is fine, and is far enough removed from the events at the factory that it didn't bother me at all.) But besides that, I love so many aspects of this narrative. There are no characters that I dislike personally, and I feel they are among my favourite cast of characters in any game I've ever played. I appreciate the games messages of staying true to yourself and everyone having a place in the world. Also, the way it masterfully weaves all it's themes into one compelling narrative is incredible. The way that every one of the ten chapters in the game parallels to the corresponding book of Plato's ten book work 'The Republic.' The way it incorporates the Life and Death drives from Freudian Psychology in the forms of Mythra and Malos respectively, and seeing how the conflicting drives act upon Rex's character in much the same way as Freud described. And obviously the themes of Gnosticism and Christianity are rampant throughout the game too. There is so much going on below the surface with this game that I feel adds new meaning to so many of the story events, and I don't doubt that I've hardly even scratched the surface when it comes to the games narrative theming. Oh, and the fact that almost every rare Blade gets a voiced sidequest and heart to heart to expand upon the character is commendable, even if I'm not a fan of all of them. Monolith Soft went above and beyond with the side content in this game. It's not just the Blade quest, the sidequests in general are a huge step up from all the bland quests of XC1. Even with the unfortunate absence of the Affinity Chart system, I felt compelled to do them all because I enjoyed them and the stories they were telling. They add a lot to the worldbuilding of the game, giving Alrest a rich history and making it feel like a real lived in world. And field skills aside, exploration is an absolute joy in this game. That's probably why the admittedly flawed waypoint marker didn't bother me as much as some other people, I wanted to see as much of these Titan's as I could. Often times I wouldn't even be focused on where I was going only to accidentally stumble upon a cutscene by complete chance during my aimless wandering. (This doesn't excuse the games crappy waypoint system, of course. I'm just explaining why I wasn't personally bothered by it.) While the gacha system can be a nightmare if you approach it with the 'gotta' catch'em all' mentality, I really don't actually think it's too much of a problem in a casual playthrough. For starters, the Pity Blade system guarantees that you will get at least 3 rare Blades per playthrough relatively easily no matter how piss poor your luck might be. And they had the decency to make the pity pool Blades ones that had a fairly low chance of being pulled normally, so you're very likely to get the less rare Blades without to much hassle on top of these pity Blades. Then there are guaranteed rare Blades from quest and story events. Since the game is balanced enough that you can easily beat the game even with the lowest tier blades then RNG is hardly a real problem at all. In fact, the gacha mechanic can actually make subsequent playthroughs more interesting, since you're likely to acquire Blades you didn't get in your first run. As for combat, I'm of the persuasion that it's the most enjoyable and rewarding battle system in any JRPG I've ever played.. While it took me far too long to fully understand, due to terrible tutorials and it's inherent complexity, I'm glad I stuck with it. While stacking orbs before letting loose with a chain attack is certainly one strategy, at least for main story fights, it's not objectively the best. In fact, in some of the harder side content battles it's hardly even a viable option. If you really pay attention to your Blades skills and special effects, as well as driver abilities you can do some crazy damage with just your regular attacks. Fusion Combos can lead to massive straight damage as well as crazy damage over time effects, and it's possible to keep enemies constantly locked in consecutive driver combos if you think about how your set up before a fight. There is so much freedom in how you approach battle, and you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you view it with a one size fits all approach. I guarantee that there are things you could be doing to make battles more go more smoothly and be over with more quickly. Losing against Mikhail and Patroka several times may just have meant you needed to change up your strategy. Though I won't say it's necessarily your fault. Again, the tutorials hardly even give people a chance to properly learn this crap. In the end, there is a lot to love about XC2 but I can't even blame people for being so disappointed by it. The game is riddled with flaws and questionable game decisions and that can make it needlessly difficult to appreciate everything it does do right. I stand by the fact that XC2 is one of my all time favourite games, but I hope that Monolith learn from their mistakes and that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be a much less divisive game.
I agree with this. Are 1 and 2 perfect games? Absolutely not no. But they both have a lot to like about them and I think it is unfair to say 2 is not as good as 1 as it is completely different from 1. Both are great in different ways.
I also think it speaks volumes with the fact that some of the things that you listed as flaws are things that I and others either have no opinion on or even like Stories (outside of the fact of quality in writing) are always subjective, and that makes things like rpgs to be some of the most subjective games. I grew up with xeno 1 and it was one of my favorites of all time, but now that I have this game I just found the characters far too great for me to not rank it above 1. I like this more than 1, but that just speaks not in favor of both games than anything else that I could say
@@DavidHosey1 The difference with 2 is that you always wanted to see more with the characters. With 1, the twist and revenge theme are the only things holding them.
@@justice8718 I don’t really agree with that. Both games have straight up great stories, with interesting themes, ideas, and plots. The same is true for the characters of both games, in spades, to the point that they’re some of the best characters for people who get invested in them. I do agree that 2’s cast is better, with stellar characters like Nia, Mythra, and Poppi taking center stage, and even the less liked characters developing or being used well (Rex has great development and Tora is used well often enough). But 1’s cast is still really great, with Shulk being stellar, and Melia or Dunban probably taking 2nd place. Even characters who seem flat at first like Reyn or Fiora are much better and deeper than many people give them credit for. Both casts are some of the best out there Both games make you want to see more, for the cast, the world, and all the twists too. They do different things sometimes, but are still both some of the best you can find in the whole genre all in all
Hearing you talk about the game is such a blast back to three years ago o_0;; a lot of your views on the game aligned with mine back in the day, plus your positive takes on some of its qualities definitely let me see more value in them than I initially thought. It's absolutely weird but pleasant, in a way, like opening a time capsule. It's really good how the game handles foreshadowing and what the characters know and don't know. Personally, I always have been struck deeply by Mythra looking at the pregnant Titan's corpse under the cloud sea: it's such a small scene, somber and silent, but it carries a lot of messages that truly tell you her pain, especially since she is a very motherly AI with the power to create life.
Xenoblade 2 is a very divisive game and a lot of people who loved the first seem to view the second rather unfavourably. For me, I played the second game first after having watched a Let's Play of the original. I greatly enjoyed Xenoblade 2. It has its issues, but I still love it in spite of them. However, now that I've gotten and started playing Definitive Edition, I just couldn't get into it for some reason. The gameplay for one just hasn't been as enjoyable after having gotten used to the second. I definitely find myself missing the more flashy attacks. Blossom Dance is great, but it doesn't stand up to the various level 4 Specials. As for the story and characters, I guess already knowing the twists ahead of time greatly lessens the impact, but I don't feel I get that problem when replaying 2. Visions are an interesting mechanic, but using them for foreshadowing feels kind of cheap because you just straight up are seeing what's going to happen rather than having the foreshadowing communicated through more subtle means that don't even seem to mean anything at first. After getting past the concept of playing on the bodies of two dead gods, the world, while massive, feels like any other fantasy world. Yes, even the steampunk Mechonis feels like standard fantasy to me, unlike Morytha which manages to pull me _out_ of the game and start questioning reality itself. There are a few small settlements on Bionis, but communication is fairly limited and much of how they're run is just ignored like most stories because it's not relevant. In Xenoblade 2, the politics and economy are front and centre to the action and I was able to actually get a feel for how all the different nations and settlements relate to each other and how they work on nearly every level. I guess aside from the general combat, which feels great in 2 with the pseudo-rhythm game elements, the main appeals of Xenoblade 2 are largely the world-building and spectacle. The former feels significantly lacking in Xenoblade 1, while the latter is largely confined to cutscenes, and even then is rather downplayed compared to 2. I haven't even mentioned how, in spite of the bad directing, Xenoblade 2 has perhaps my favourite localization ever entirely because of how it adds world-building that didn't even exist in the original Japanese with the variety of accents that vary not based on character or personality, but simply where the characters are from, _which is exactly how it is in real life._ I often get the impression that I'm doing something wrong when I see people like you praise the first game that I've been having trouble enjoying, even if I can't necessarily argue with the points against the one I keep coming back to.
No, you aren't doing anything wrong. It all comes down to what you value in experiences with media. Perhaps many of the things that I disliked in this video aren't things you care about much and that's fine. It's okay to admit that something has faults and still like it. There's no shame in that.
2 had better races, politics, and a generally more breathing and alive world with tight senses of history. XC1 is lacking in those departments and tries to make up for it with more flashy and overly epic scaling with goofy ass "epic" dialogue and friendship lasers. Look at the final battles between the games. Malos's fight had better senses of dread and Rex already gotten his completed sword way before this fight started. Zanza's shit is just a monologue with no senses of fear and dread coming forth.
@@halosaft Oh please. Not even his own driver was in his mercy list. If anything, Zanza was more of a child than Malos is because his sense of loyalty and understanding is so stupid beyond his dumb, emotionless voice. "Oh Shulk! I will make you my follower, despite you doing all of this to try to kill me!" Even as he dies, he just spews a bunch of meaningless gibberish. In Malos's weakest state, he still kills his prey quickly and shiftily with pure brutality. Look what he did to Vandham. Look at how he messed with Mythra's mind so hard, she shatters and collapses titans within minutes. Zanza never had those kinds of moments because he is too busy smelling his own farts than staying alive and making sure no one gets in his way.
I feel they should've made this game where it would be like Final Fantasy or and the Tales series (even though some Tales games or connected to each other) or something where it's a numbered entry but it had no connection in any way to the first previous games (like Klaus for example) and that it is it's own game with it's own identity although they can have things from the previous games in it like the Nopons for example even though they would not be connected to one another. I don't mind the lighthearted and funny themes in it although i do agree that some funny scenes like this one 27:20 and the sexualization in this game was unnecessary.
If it wasnt connected with Xenoblade 1, It wouldnt have those mindblowing scenes in Chapter 10... those made Xenoblade 1 even better to me and made me want to replay it with the knowing I have now
From what I understand In the context of the world blades are sentient super computers with the goal of assisting pepole and absorbing knowledge to help future generations. My geusse (Wich isn't worth anything really) is that they actually do retain the info of thier previous drivers but forget it as to avoid thier attachments to them getting in the way of thier relationship of thier new drivers. Fans name change makes absloutey no sence thought, only thing I can think to support it is we only see a few blades before and after thier current awkenings and even the of the 5 I can think off haze is the only ones who's name changes Wich could just be a rare thing to happen (still lazy poor telling)
The reason that Haze's name changes is probably because Amalthus stole have of her core crystal practical stealing have of her data. By doing this he also stole the data containin her name. You could say why doesn't pandora have this same problem or pyra. Wel for pandora it was a very small part. With pyra it was volentarily giving her the option to decided wich data to give to Rex.
Why all these people argue in the comments? Lol it doesnt matter how your take on this game is. You cant and will never ever change another person's opinion. If you love the game thats fine if you dont then thats fine too. All your opinions towarss the game is valid and no one can ever change that cos thats how you feel about it. Dont force what you feel about the game towards other. Its like eating a food if you dont like its taste theres no way in hell that another person can make you believe that food is delicious.
As for blades people may not agree with me on this or it may not make any sense or whatever but if i was writing this i feel like instead of blades being this artificial beings where they comes from rocks when someone bonds with it i feel they should've made it where blades at least rare ones with the like humanoid or beast form would be like supernatural beings with powers and weapons that they can summon and they would not appear from core crystals but instead live on the same planet as and coexist with humans and they would be like humans: they live their lives, they age (probably longer then humans or maybe not i don't know), have blood and organs heart, find jobs, give birth (unless you're a female blade), and the other stuff. And blade bonding can still happen although instead of awakening blade from their crystal the blade would choose their partner to be their driver as well as drivers and if the driver and blade are compatible to one another they form a bond and it would work the same way like in the original game the driver uses the blade's weapon and power and the blade supply support, as well the stronger the bond between the driver and blade are the stronger they become and when their driver or blade dies they won't become core crystal but their link will be cut off as they would be to find a new driver or blade. Although only humans/non-blade can be drivers where if a blade makes a bond with another blade then it may cause negative affects or something or maybe not i don't know. As for common blades i feel they work well with core crystals as they would be artificial blade where if a driver doesn't have an actual blade to bond with they can use core crystals to bond with a common blade but it wouldn't be strong as an actual blade. As for flesh eaters here i think it should be half-blades as in one of their parents would be human and the other a blade which would also means they can still be drivers and a blade. Although maybe flesh/blade eaters and still be a thing somewhere.
Even though I did enjoy Xenoblade 2 (I actually finished it yesterday as I'm writing this comment), I was so disappointed when I used my 2 legendary core crystals only to NOT get any unique blades at all!
I actually recently watched your 2017 review recently and agreed on some points and disagreed with some others. I personally adore XB1 and XB2, but an issue the game had was how a lot of stuff was planned to be explained in Torna later on, so a lot of exposition and stuff in the main game felt a bit confusing, even if they tried to explain it to their best ability without spoiling Torna. This might sound weird, while XB2 is a very simplistic game in terms of story progression, just like XB1, XB2 takes a couple of discussions to really get down what scenes meant for the big picture. XB1 was excellent in telling you by showing everything while you progress and sometimes gives hint early on what's going to happen in the future. XB2 on the other hand has small minor details in terms of facial expression, movement and detail on items and objects which XB1 sadly didn't have (something which was updated in the definitive edition). For example, in XB2, both the Japanese and English language has hints who's a blade and who's a real driver. In English for example this is shown through blades having American accent (except for one) while Drivers has British accents. Vandham is probably the biggest issue the game has in terms of story telling. He is not "useless" for the story, but how the game basically throw away his blade Roc as soon as he has fulfilled his job after you awaken him was really disappointing. I also think chapter 2-6 are really badly paced. I'm glad you played it again and I still agree with most of your ups and lows. Edit: Forgot to say, great video. From someone who loves Xenoblade 2.
I think Xenoblade 2 did better at give you hints of what will happen than Xc1, maybe because I am more smart now then when I played Xenoblade 1 in 2021 and again in 2022, but in Xc2 I was always trying to figure out and it made me really engaged to the story, even more because I ended sympathizing with the villains, what happened only with egil in Xc1, and the past, it was so cool discovering what happened 500 hundred years ago...
Good video. I find myself in the same camp. But I think Captain Astronaut said it best. To paraphrase: "XC2 is like trail mix. I love M&Ms (world design and music). I don't love peanuts, but don't mind them too much (combat mechanics, story). But i can't fucking stand raisins (gacha and anime fanservice), so I don't eat trail mix."
Still watching but I think one of my favorite things about this review already is your critique on its gameplay. I feel so many people think people mainly have issues with just the story or "anime tiddies" but it goes so much deeper than that and it's flawed design can be felt in bad gacha and a abrupt/ non helpful tutorials.
He failed to mention this, but I don't blame him: what about how some exploration is locked behing skills behind the gacha system? I did not get a blade with Keen Eye until after 100 hours in.
@@XelchanTheBrave That's honestly one of if not the worst gameplay aspect for me, exploring is such a big part of the XC games and the fact that a lot of it is locked behind skills you have to grind out really kills it for me, especially when they're blade specific. Honestly surprised how many people are okay with the blade gacha system with how much scrutiny gacha games get on mobile games.
@@BoBennings I hate it when their defense is "At least you don't have to pay for it." Making money is the only reason that system exist! Look I'll give them props for trying something different, but I won't ignore when it clearly does not work.
@@cheshireimp493 I like this game but even i had a problem with that And it honestly would be better to pay for it Cause wasting money on a game for its content is to me better then stoping progress to spend hours praying to RNjesus I get the blade I need
@@mario-oc2if Sorry I didn't mean to generalize as if everyone who likes this games says it, it was just a common defense that I hear whenever discussing the blade system. their are definitely better ways it could be implemented. For me spending the extra money depends on the content in question.
Actually it is explained why some flesh eaters age and some don’t, it’s to do with their bond to the human who’s flesh they consume to become part human themself, this also modifies how strong they become. Namely, Jin and Lora/Nia and her original drivers daughter, these two pairings had an incredibly close bond meaning that neither Jin nor Nia particularly age and that both are incredibly powerful, whereas Minoth (Cole) doesn’t have this benefit, he even introduces himself in Torna as a failed experiment because of this. Edit: Also, Jins power is debilitated because of sheerly how long he’s been alive, same will be true for Nia as she ages, she even states multiple times that she fears for her own longevity because of the inconsistency seen in Jins state Edit 2: Also also, I doubt characters were only made flesh eaters to make them mortal given that regular blades do die in the story, Mythra straight up kills 4 of Tornas blades (Obrona, Sever, Perdido and Cressidus) by destroying their cores so they have nothing to regenerate from. Edit 3: Also also also, Haze forgets her name because half of her core was forcibly taken from her removing a considerable amount of the data and information stored inside, her own name being a part of that. Edit 4: Also also also also, a blades form is based on their original driver, not every future one, which is why roc retains his appearance Edit 5: Also also also also also, the aptitude of a person simply refers to their ability to bond with a core crystal, and a blade is only bonded to a driver as long as the driver lives, as soon as they die the bond is broken and then another is formed on their next awakening.
Aaaand the play about Vandham that you say is never mentioned again is in fact mentioned in a future sidequest with Minoth (Cole), which makes sense to be fair, he was never a major player in the story of base XC2 so bringing him back just to say “hey i did the thing” would be a bit strange
Also you’re really complaining that you had to find your way through a set of rooms without the direct path being laid out for you? It’s supposed to be a challenge not a linear path.
Again with the level design point, in the world tree you ask for a signal where theres literally a massive hexagon with a magnifying glass saying “KEYCODE TERMINAL” right there, like, that one definitely seems to be on you.
This is easily one of the most divisive games I have ever played. Half of the people I know don't want to get near it at all and see XB1 as the eternal holy grail, the other half of people I know say XB2 is way better than XB1 in every way and that XB1 is bland in comparison. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I am glad that there are two different flavors that each have their fans. I personally adore both games and have no favourite. I played XB1 first and had no problem getting into XB2. XBX disappointed me because it no longer felt like a Xenoblade game, and XB2 felt like a true sequel to the first game. The in-your-face anime tropes never bothered me despite me having no interest in anime at all. Maybe it's not everyone's thing, but the "cringeworthy" moments are few and far between enough that it didn't take away from the story at all for me. I wouldn't say that the anime tropes added anything in particular, but they didn't detract from the experience for me either. I think XB1's world concept is far more interesting than XB2's, but at the same time I think XB2 has a far more interesting battle system that gets way more flag than it deserves just because the game does a bad job explaining it. I also prefer XB2's characters overall, but that's just me. Rex, Nia, Tora and Zeke are simply way more interesting to me than Shulk, Melia, Riki and Reyn. I adore both games for different reasons, and both games do things better than the other does in my eyes.
I appreciate JRPGs and this was the first one I played I have played in a 10+ year hiatus of playing games. I thought the tutorials were pretty good, though there were a few mechanics I didn’t understand, but could wing through the end. I was one of those lost causes about aggro, simply because I was unfamiliar with the terminology. 🤣🤣 However, I can certainly see that a more seasoned player can get frustrated and diminish the gameplay quality.
I respect your opinion to be honest I like both one and two there is some things I like and others and somethings I don’t like we’re all entitled to our opinions I really love your content
I'm no video game designer or story writer but alor of the flaws and issues I had could have been fixed and may have even helped the game.Pacing in certain parts like how 3 to 4 could have been avoided, how most of Alcomoth was running back and forth or how 8 to 10 could have been one chapter. Some thoughts on how they could have made the game better would be these things. 5 chapters that are long for rex and Jin to give more insight into the villains instead of what feels like to me random cutscenes. Rare blades and character story's separate from the main story are side quests to not force the player into a character backstory like how Tora's was and have more engaging quests. Instead of ending Amalfuses so abruptly and feeling as more of a way to take care of the antagonists he could play more important role with the villain's story and feel as their antagonist due to their history with him. They could have also have had better voice direction I'd they has given them time and make the cringey attempt at humor actually funny instead of feeling generic or plain awful.
idk i had a lot of fun with XC2. Enough to give it a second playthrough? No, but it was fun enough to where it felt really enjoyable to play. XC3 has to be my favorite though.
I actually agree with you with almost everything, even though I still liked the game. Its highs are very nice. However, Xenoblade DE is much better. But your complaints about Xeno2 are literally pretty much the same as mine lol, that's bizarre.
About your point at 32:17......that's a cultural difference. Aizuchi - "In the Japanese language, Aizuchi (Japanese: 相槌 or あいづち, IPA: [aizu͍t͡ɕi]) are the frequent interjections during a conversation that indicate the listener is paying attention or understands the speaker. Aizuchi can also take the form of so-called echo questions, which consist of a noun plus "desu ka". After Speaker A asks a question, Speaker B may repeat a key noun followed by "desu ka" to confirm what Speaker A was talking about or simply to keep communication open while Speaker B thinks of an answer. A rough English analog would be "A ..., you say?", as in: "So I bought this new car"; reply: "A car, you say?". ^This is honestly one of the weirdest complaints I've heard about the game and sounds more like you're actively trying to find things to dislike about it. There are just some things that aren't going to translate perfectly into English. Like how conversations in Japanese work.....which, yes, sometimes will lead to dialogue sounding odd or clunky, but there's only so much you can do when you localize something like this. I don't feel the writing is anywhere near as bad as you make it out to be either. A lot of things are left up to interpretation or subtext, like Jin.....Jin became a perfect Flesh Eater because he had the ideal bond with his Driver, they were completely devoted to each other and trusted each other fully. They even invented the Driver and Blade weapon sharing that is used in XC2. It was because Jin knew how to become a Flesh Eater and it's what Lora wanted that he became so powerful. As cheesy as it is, it was their love that made him so powerful and have a full red core crystal. While Nia and Minoth were forced to consume human flesh. Minoth likely "failed" because it was forced up on him as an experiment, he had no bond with the human it came from. While Nia, Akhos, and Patroka seem to have had a somewhat close relationship to their Drivers. The game doesn't outright tell you this, but we get enough examples to infer that - the better the bond between Blade and Driver, the stronger the Flesh Eater.
For someone who is soooo into the series you seem to be blind by your bias of the game and seem to be making excuses where there isn't an excuse for things that they have done. Actual try to see what makes the game what is really is instead of nit picking on what someone else says that disagrees with your what seems like GOD of a game which is actually a 4/10 maybe a 5/10.
The game states there has never been a perfect flesh eater which is the reason Jin has his "health" problems, and as for the conversation parts, that's what localization is for. That type of dialogue is not an issue in other Japanese games because the localizers did their job. Also Aizuchi can only really be applied to a more formal or neutral situation, when it is done during scenes where the characters tensions are supposed to be high it is very unfitting. Yes the game does imply that there is a correlation between the bond of driver and blade and flesh eaters.
@@marcobrosato7677 so the man who wrote a Shakespeare play about how this game is great isn't the hurt one but me calling him out on his bias and failure to look at this review in a adult way is. Oh and the man who left a comment asking who hurt someone on a TH-cam video isn't hurt/sad in some way. Unless you got something constructive watch from afar like everyone else.
There are so many moments in xc2's story that show it's potential. When the gang are all firing on all cylinders I think they're at times better than the xc1 crew. There are moments of real emotional depth. But they are all too few and far between and many more moments that should work but don't due to the terrible voice acting. Combat is definitely more shallow than in xc1 but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the elemental combat when playing xc1. To me the perfect Xenoblade game exists between the two. If you could somehow merge the best qualities of both games you'd have something truly special.
I agree with most of your negative points. Though this game will always remain as a guilty pleasure for me (I’m not horny I swear, I just love the environments, exploration, combat, music, some of the characters, and the general atmosphere)
It's okay to be horny. There, I said it. In the 90's if someone complained about a game being too horny the players and the developers would tell them to pound sand. God I miss the 90's.
It's okay to be horny. There, I said it. In the 90's if someone complained about a game being too horny the players and the developers would tell them to pound sand. God I miss the 90's.
It's really impossible to engage people in a conversation about this game. I agree with pretty much all the critiques but people are so filled with hatred towards the worst parts of 2 that they will never be willing to see the good in it.
this, and they'll act like we don't like that they don't like the game, thats not it at all, we hate the misinfo and them giving it a bad rep, claiming crap like the game can be beaten with autoattack or hating on the game over comedy or character designs and other stuff, using their excuses the tropes are why the game is bad, or a big flaw in this review, hating on the nopon being all corny and meh meh meh in the game when its a literal quest plot point, theres a secret history where nopon changed their culture to act like that to make them seem cute so they could take over alrest. he says the game's trying to take itself too seriously, no, it knows the stuff is funny or seen as cringe and stuff and even mocks itself for its humor, its self aware, something he doesn't get and calls cringe. I couldn't even bear watching his whole review for his arguments. could have just said what he liked in it and said what he didn't like, thats fine, but when he started calling the game complete cringe and all these other excuses when this stuff can easily be glossed over and can be enjoyed even with the flaws, this started being a bad excuse for a review. good reviews are not meant to be overly critical like and bashing like this because it makes people think the game is bad when its just your opinion and is a disservice to the game. its okay to be critical but this is going overboard and people can make their own opinions instead of trusting this guy's review.
@@cemarz lmao that’s a reach and a half. Both Xenoblade 1 and 2 are masterclasses in story and world, and are easily the best of all Xeno games. If you think Gears (which is an unfinished proof of concept piece that trades almost any interesting characters for philosophy that both Xenoblades do better) or Saga (which is famous for its flaws more than anything else online and is way way deeper in the cringe waifu stuff rabbit hole than even Xenoblade 2) are superior, that’s all preference, not fact of quality 3’s shaping up to be the best yet, and it’s clear it was more inspired by 2 than possibly any other game in the series lol
@@cemarz "Everything" better, is a very surface level analysis. I can guarantee you haven't experienced every aspect each Xeno game has to offer, and I won't claim that I have. There is so much more going on beneath the surface. Each title has it's strengths and weaknesses but they're all great games despite their flaws.
@sonic 1995 can’t be nostalgic if I haven’t played the series until the last 3 years. Gears is a story that tries to be deep through pretension, yet falls short from that due to lack of consistency or depth among much of the cast. Saga is a fanservice festival that puts XC2 to shame, relying on being directly connected to the Bible for its depth, and thus falls short despite the well done characters. Blade maintains the depth potential given by Gears, capitalizes on it through characters of or above the quality present in Saga, and takes it all with more consistency of quality and tone than either (especially in 1 and 3 but yes even in 2 overall). As someone who’s literally incapable of being nostalgic for these games and obviously reads further into their literary quality than you, I can guarantee you these are top tier sci-fi that’s the culmination of the writer’s previous works and the growth since they were created. Stop blindly hating them when the objective quality has something that everyone can enjoy at least somewhere Highly suggest you actually check these stories out sometime, everyone deserves to have a chance of finding something they’ll enjoy in these high quality works, and given how 3 is still producing stuff now there’s no better time :)
I finished 1 and 2 and only managed to get halfway through 3.I don’t get the love for these games and don’t want to play any of them again but each to their own.
After playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, yeah this game is still disappointing to me. Not only is it disappointing by the standards of a Xenoblade game, it's disappointing by the standards of modern JRPGs that went beyond expectation.
I remember not liking Xenoblade 2 at first because of the more light hearted story and wack combat. Didn't really have a problem with voice acting or the style/character design (but Jesus some characters were unnecessarily sexualized) I'm happy I stuck with it because the story becomes a whole lot better and the combat gets a lot more interesting and fun. For me it wasn't a disappointment. It's a game that deserves the Xeno name. And don't even get me started on the ost.
@@thekingofspeed8960 meh maybe if you judge it based off of opening hours. Xeno 1 started extremely dark but added more levity as the story went on. Xeno 2 starts with chapters 2 and 4 being more lighthearted, but 5 on having very few lighthearted moments compared to the dark or somber moments and subject matter. Both are good but basically inverse eachother with where the start and end, which I find 2 does better but love both
I was REALLY let down by Xenoblade 2. I really adore Xenoblade 1. If I was 14, I'm sure I would have loved Xenoblade 2. Mostly for the horniness and because harem anime is made for 14 year olds. I mean, I don't have a problem with the flirting in the Tales games skits and the humor in those games. And I don't really have a problem with harem anime, but after Xenoblade 1 was so dire and serious, it was too much of a tonal shift. Imagine if Last of Us is a bad comedy harem game. On the flip side, it's also why I really never liked GTA4, because it got more serious after the previous games. Made me like Saints Row 3 & 4 more for that generation, because they never took the game seriously. You get like the best hideout in the first hour or so in Saints Row 3. But it's also not a great game and there's fewer abilities, slower progression, less interesting combos of abilites and characters and character builds. (This is on me) but I also kept forgetting that leveling up was mostly done at Inns, which also leads to that horniness again, because literally sleeping with your blades levels you up. I think it's a decent mechanic for leveling, but I would forget if I had adult life for 2 weeks and went back to the game. I do love Nia, but also hate Rex and Tora.
Here’s my take on the game and literally just coming off finishing it a few days ago(playing torna now)..also played XC1 first and then XC3 second. I was going to skip this one but future redeemed made me playing it. Anyway what the game felt to me was that it wasn’t initially made to be a Xenoblade game but a stand alone game. Someone told monolith that they need to tie it in somehow hand way through. So they did Mic it wasn’t a Xenoblade game and its own thing I find it would have been much better and more acceptable…this however felt botched and did nothing for the franchise. The game wasn’t horrible but not anywhere near amazing. It does look great though and playing it at 40+fps makes it a much better play through
@@fieldkaiju When it actively improves aspects of 1 then yeah, it is adding. Xenoblade 1 couldve been an anthology but given how 2 and 3 expand on it and make it better, its better of that it isnt
@@skylandersfan6954 but it didnt improve any aspect of 1 ? In fact it's only a regression from 1 and X, and it's not even close as to how much worse it is compared to 1 and X 3 also isn't that good, they should have stayed with the Anthology serie idea, 3 makes 1 worse by the way by retconning it with 2's logic, which is faulty lmao
@@fieldkaiju It actively gives Zanza and Alvis' characters a lot more context and depth, which makes seeing them in Xenoblade 1 with that context so much more interesting
The game doesn't feel good to me. I feel like by trying to see the good, as many commenters put it, would put me in a state where I feel dishonest with myself. Feeling dishonest with myself is one of the worst feelings in the world. It doesn't feel good to me because I have an entirely valid experience that says no matter how hard I tried to adjust to it or game the system.
If you have problem with waypoints people need to read the description and learn the world I don’t think it’s that bad to be honest when you can teleport quickly all over the place - I’m used to playing classic wow I guess
@mrcristofer 2013 it did fix it, or what little it needed to, as of like day 1. Everything was already there, they just made it easier for new players to find with early updates
@mrcristofer 2013 idk if you should be talking about irony when your own comment is one of the most ironically funny and contradictory things. Keep up the A+ comedy tho, it’s giving me a good laugh lol
@mrcristofer 2013 explain how I’m a hypocrite instead of posting one word responses like a child. Like what? Lmao I could be wrong but I think you might be one of the funniest trolls I’ve seen on this platform. Taking bad commenting to the next level lol
Reading the comments from the "fanboys and white knights" that just cannot take criticism seriously and call it blind hate really hurt me. I still very much enjoy this game despite its flaws and I ended up agreeing with a majority of the complains and criticism addressed in this video. Some were made as jokes to entertain with a laugh or two, while others were actually solid criticisms. I think the fact that he treated the game as stand-alone for this review really helped strengthen the critiques and made it less of about venting about a sequel to his GOAT game that ended up disappointing him. A major improvement from the last review. Though I personally think that you should not have scored the game (even if it was for comedic/ironic purposes) since now people have a reason to brigade against you because you rated their perfect masterpiece a 6/10. I know that this might sound hypocritically, but even with agreeing with a lot of your arguments in both the videos you made, I do not personally believe that a 6/10 is representative of this game and it is probably closer to between a 7 or 8. I feel that you really glossed over the fun and immersive gameplay that is offered in the throughout the game. The exploration is breathtaking, the grinding has its fun points (though not the gacha/Ursula grinding, screw that), the Japanese dub is incredibly overlooked (not saying it excuses the bad English dub though, the combat is fun once you get a feel for it (it just takes WAY too long for that to happen), Torna's story telling being a HUGE improvement and offered some well needed context for some parts in the base game (though it is paid DLC, which sucks but it is well worth the price of admission), and I could go on. While I do personally prefer Xenoblade 1, I can still enjoy Xenoblade 2 despite its many flaws. I am sorry that you were unable to do so even with a different perspective and new playthrough. Xenoblade 1 is also no stranger to its flaws too like: the weaker motivations for the villains in the endgame (the Trinity mostly comes to mind, Zanza and Egil are amazing, fight me), lack of character interaction between the main cast (other than the Fallan Arm), simplistic combat system compared to its successors, Reyn/Sharla/Dunban's relevance to the plot fading during endgame, Riki not being relevant period, the Kill the Wrathful God/Friendship is Power clichés (though arguably, I think Xenoblade 1 incorporates these "clichés" masterfully are not to forward about, though I see why people do not like it), and other things I probably could mention but this comment is long enough already. Point being, I am one of the few people that actually respects your opinion despite some minor disagreement that I have with your critique and you had some sound arguments. It would have been nice if you closed with some more positive things about the game to make the negative stuff a little less of a burden though. I can relate though with your past experiences with the white knight and fanboys of this game, seriously they really need to take some proper literature and writhing lessons if they are so confident the game's story is a masterpiece. I also think that the radical Xenoblade 1 fanboys need to calm the hell down and just accept that people like JRPGs for different reasons and sometimes you need a more lighthearted story to balance things out. This petty fighting in the community NEEDS to stop, we can have civil conversations and critiques on our favorite games just do not toxin dicks about the game you prefer. Anyway, that's it (though you probably will not read this since you did mention in your pinned comment that you were done diving into comments) I just wanted to put my thoughts down. Let's hope that Monoliths next game brings the two communities together with some miracle writing (probably won't happen though but I know that can do it).
In xenoblade 1, they didn't use the power of friendship to defeat zanza. Alvis simply just stole zanza's power and added it to shulk, and shulk was able to destroy him.
@@curesaul5749 I guess, Rex is still well written. He's just annoying as hell lmao Also isn't he along with the rest of the main cast technically in too? They all have animations and voicelines I think, with Rex even photobombing some victory screens lol
2 is the first one I played and it was so garbage I couldn't even finish it hell it made me not wanna touch another game in the franchise. But I played the first one and it's so much better than the 2nd.
The XBC2 fanbase is like the KH fanbase without the self-awareness. KH fans know the game's stories make no fucking sense, but XBC2 fans will defend this game til their dying breath. I've seen toxic fan communities before, but there is nothing I have ever seen in the League community or Overwatch community or Destiny community that will ever rival the sheer idiocy of the XBC2 community. It's like they're all huddled around a 13-year old's math class notebook scribbles trying to figure out the deep psychological meaning of it. It's a bad story. Great game, lots to like, bad story. Conversation is over.
@@cypher838 I agree actually. It's like someone had a cool idea of an alternate universe and how it got to be that way, but then when they sat down to write an actual story from the point of view of actual people who would then experience that story, they just replaced the writer's room with their teenage kids.
@@Tohlemiach this story is extremely straight forward so it’s easy to understand. The characters are more relevant and well developed than Xeno 1’s characters. I fail to see how this is a bad story in the least Look I’m not even a mega fan of this game, it’s not my favorite of all time or anything. But this is a legitimately good story to the point where saying otherwise means you either haven’t played it or weren’t even paying enough attention or get immersed in it. Rpgs are some of my favorite games, with stuff like Mass Effect, Yakuza, Witcher, Dragon Age, Nier, and others being some of the best stories told. Idk where Xeno 2 ranks among those, but it’s definitely great enough to rank among them for some of the best rpg stories. Saying otherwise is kinda laughable to the point that makes me feel like this might be more of a troll/bait comment than an actual take
@@DavidHosey1 The Xeno series is one of my favorite series and I bought a Switch just so I could play this game. I've put 350 hours into it because the gameplay is the most fun I've ever had in a JRPG. I was EXTREMELY excited about this game and was hoping it would be even better than the first one. If anyone should have liked this game, it should have been me, but because I'm not retarded, it was extremely obvious how awful the story and characters were from the start. I know what the fuck I'm talking about, and the fact that you think someone who disagrees with you has to just be a troll is really sad. I wish I knew what it was like to think I was a god incapable of being wrong, like you clearly do. But it's fine, I get it. You're only 12, so of course you'd like a story about big titty anime girls doing harem rom-com anime gags and living happily ever after with their husbando-kun. Super deep story. I was particularly moved by that one part where the little furby guy accidentally turns on his sex-robot's maid mode. You know, the robot that looks like a little girl? The one he hides a bikini in his closet for? That was a particularly strong character moment for me. Really up there with the classics like Lord of the Rings.
@@Tohlemiach mate I replied with a level-headed comment that was simply trying to point out somewhere you might be wrong. Instead you're responding with something that sounds like it's coming out of a 16 year old edgelord's book of "roasts?" Lmao get over yourself kid People can disagree on things, but there's a huge difference on seeing something that's not for you and talking about that thing like it's inherently bad because of it not being for you. I don't really think you "know what the fuck you're talking about," nor that you're more qualified to appreciate a game's story simply because you've put more hours into it. It has one beginning, one path to follow, and one ending. All of the Xenoblade Chronicles games are long and great, but have a single path linear story. We've all seen them, you're not special bud. Face it, you overhyped the game like all of the brainlets that overhyped Cyberpunk cause of the Witcher series, and in the end since it wasn't up to your specific expectations for what you wanted you got upset. This doesn't make you special either, since the entire Xeno fanbase is full of people trying to like one of the games way over the other two, often bashing the other two whenever necessary. But at least the fans like that for X and 2 are usually either more quiet or more open minded than people like you who praise the first game like it replaces the disappointment of a life you've lived up till now Also great job at being a hypocrite at the end there, and literally picking out the very few examples that exist like they're representative of anything more than a total of 5 minutes or so in a 200+ hour long game. And then on top of that somehow getting those wrong too, like how Poppi literally 1.) grows up and 2.) gains self agency to the point where she doesn't have to rely on Tora and his orders. Or completely omitting the fact that all of the creepy things that Tora has done at the beginning is ongoingly called out, since there isn't a single character who's really okay with him being like that? And then him actually changing too, which is sad to have had to grow out of at all but a sign of character development nonetheless? Damn you just made such a compelling argument with all of your points that might as well have said "I never played this game all the way through," maybe I will go back to the disappointingly underdeveloped party members of the first game like Reyn, who starts the game one way with one mindset and ends it in almost the same exact way (keep in mind I love the cast of characters in 1 as well, Reyn especially). Oh and maybe you forgot the tiny little things that definitely aren't prevalent at all in the series, like the constant sexualized camera angles in 1 and X to a higher degree than 2, or that one chick who had some sort of unfolding canon on the tits of her bikini, or how fans were literally boycotting X at first since the localized version showed less skin on the 13 year old. If you have a problem with 2, then you must be downright disgusted with the rest of the series. Lmao grow up and enjoy the game for the good stuff like it's meant to be kid, or maybe your mother will see you playing an almost softcore game and take away your "switch time" for the week
You did miss a few good points, like how the game handles quest experience, giving the player the option of using immediately or not, so they can complete quest without worry of getting over leveled.(not that EXP isn't plentiful in the game as is),all the Blade quest are voiced in the important scenes(whether or not you like the blade quest is its own thing.), it provides the artist for each rare blade, every rare blade has unique special attack animations, being able to refight Unique monsters at any time, and it's the reason we have Finch and really what more could we ask for? As someone who played through the game 7 or 8 times. I think the Tora focus chapter is supposed to be a joke, or at least that was the vibe I got from it. It has a parody of old mecha stuff with a SD(super deformed) robot maid after all. For me the tonal whiplash in this chapter comes from after fighting the big parody. How am I supposed take the villains who are working with these 2 nopon seriously anymore? And they don't do this once but twice! I'm expected to take Nials death seriously, but how can I when he died to Giant SD robo maid piloted by a Saturday morning cartoon villan!?(also why did Nial step out of the barrier like that would do something?) there needs to be some down time between these 2 things. That being said.... I actually like the Tora chapter, comedy can be very subjective, and this games comedy is the polar opposite of "dry humor". While It's type of humor isn't my favorite(this also coming form someone who is a big fan of Disgaea's humor) I honestly think I would like the story better if was a pure comedy and parody of Monolith's writing style. With that fight at the end of the Tora chapter the way you can deal with the big party wipe move is by abusing I-frames. Which is a huge flaw with this games battle system. Almost every boss is designed to have a big party wipe move that your supposed to I frame abuse your way through. I don't want to compare it to the first game because I agree with judging a game by its own merits, but this is a enemy design choice that I think was brought over from the first. The difference is the fist game had visions to give players warnings for these big attacks and options to get around them. Honestly the combat system is not complex, it is just a mess. It reminds me a lot of Xenosaga episode 2's combat system. In that game it takes around 5x the amount steps and inputs just to achieve the same result as in episode 1. It's not that people didn't understand the combat that they don't like it, they just do not enjoy it and that's fine. Personally I think this game should have just gone full action game seeing as how damage focused this game is, having an actual dodge and block button would add something to the battles other than just mashing buttons since 90%(if not more) of the arts in this game just deal damage. A good RPG relies on having a variety of status(buffs/debuffs) that affect both enemies and the party. Like you said the only real big difference between characters and the arts they use is animation time. positioning is worthless in this game in fact movement is actively punished since you can't attack while moving which means less DPS and you risk losing affinity. I think this game held itself back by trying to be a xenoblade game when it didn't have to be. Comparing this games story to something like Bleach is fair. I read through most of the manga and I enjoyed Bleach. Is it a master at story telling? Hell no! But it understands that and embraces what it is.XC2 doesn't feel like it embrace how over the top action it is and tries to tell a slow grounded story along side it which just does not blend well. For example, at Indol when the whole meeting of nations takes place nothing comes of it, its just there because they made this subplot of war that had no relevance. At the end the queen(Rahqura, I think its spelt?) just seems to have some suspicion of Nial... and that's it! it never follows through on it. the whole anti-blade thing just gets dropped, the debate on the relationship between blade and drivers never has any relevance past that point, that weird scene at the funeral where they're just like "here is Mythra's cleavage."(this has nothing to do with anything I just find it a weird scene that is so awkward I can't help but laugh.). I want to clarify. Just because a character is written to be "2-dimensional" does not make it a bad charater, just as writing a "3-dimensional" character does not make a good character. it comes down to how the character is implemented. It didn't matter that the game told me at the end that Akkhos was supposed to be sentimental and cared about his sister, when all the game showed me was that he was a sociopath who would cut off a little girls finger and send it someone in a box because it would be thematic. This is just me venting but, why do people think that flicking the control stick to abuse an exploit with the game to auto attack faster is a defense for the games combat!? if it was intentional it would not look so glitchy repeating the same animation and voice clip every time! And no it does not make the game more enjoyable(IMO I should state) I actively chose not to do that the first time because it looked ridiculous and felt cheap. The player should not have to exploit the game to make it enjoyable it should innately be enjoyable. Also am I the only one who felt the game was a little to easy? like it went a little overboard on making it accessible to even people who never played an RPG before? That's what difficulty options are for. Then the first one they added was easy option... Not saying that an being easy is a flaw with it. It just not for me.(unless its Kirby)
As someone living and teaching kids in Japan, I can attest that a lot of Japanese people actually like this kind of humor and even talk like this, repeating things back to show active listening. Seeing how awkward the people can be puts a lot of light into how games like this become successful. Not saying it's good or anything, just how it is. I refuse to play this, though after seeing the trailer for 3, I might give that a go. Already looks to have solved a lot of character design issues.
I love how you found problems that I didn't see, even if this game cursed me too, and I searched during long years all the problem I had with. I just think this game is living because it wields the name Xenoblade, unless it's a weeb shit jrpg
@@Nerwrax15 Just because it's a best seller, doesn't mean it's good. Pokémon, Isekais anime, Star Wars post-logy, Dragon Ball Super are all super goods bests sellers but they are really not considered as masterpieces according to the vast majority
@@bourdinantoine6897 thats fine, what about review scores? 83 metascore and 8.6 userscore on Metacritic. It has scores and sales to back it up. Sure you got passionate fans who wish this game didn't exist, so what? You also got passionate fans who love this game as much as any other xenoblade. With 2 being their favorite.
@@Nerwrax15 Review score I don't think it's an argument because what are the criters to define a mark on a game ? And how do you use all the time the sames criters for all games like XC2, Fifa, Call of Duty, Street Fighter and wathever you want I don't think it has sense. If they are people to hate this game, well I think it's an indicator. And if they are people to love it, that's great ! If this game makes people happy it's a good thing and I won't say anything about that. But i still won't considerate XC2 as a good game, and will never be agree with these people and I will tend to avoid these peoples because I know in what circle they belong. I have already tried my best to find the positive in this game, and I just finished to hurt myself more by doing so
The thing I hate the most in this game is how generic it is, it doesn't try anything that no other game has tried, it doesn't go away from anything every game does, it ain't lighthearted but it isn't dark either. It is... nothing! It feels like just another game that goes on for too long
57:55 the game wanted you to take that seriously? its a mech battle against a giant maid with some music that came out of a 90s mecha anime? there is no way that they wanted you to take that seriously? Note that the game is huge about the cultures of different lands and people as you go throughout the game and the accents change when you go to new titans which is incredible detail, nopons stuff is serious for nopon but you the player are not meant to take it seriously but see its serious for the nopon but laugh at the craziness.
No. The game wanted you to take everything surrounding that event seriously. Mythra literally cries during Tora's reunion with his father and Lila's death is obviously coated in this serious, emotionally deep tone. But that fight is sandwiched between those 2 moments that the game tries to take far too seriously.
@@thegamingchronicler you can use that logic to any game or scenes close to each other, try me name your favourite rpg and i will find a moment like that.
What? We're talking about this game and how this specific game handles its story. Throwing some weird false equivalency with a random game that i like isn't a justification for this game. Plus it's not that these scenes are just close to each other, they're literally linked in relevance to the story and themes but are inconsistent in their tone. Also, as I mentioned in the video, these moments are constant in this game and exist in place of serious character building moments instead of being supplemental to them. This lessens the severity of actual serious moments and makes it hard for me to take the game serious when it wants me to. That's tonal inconsistency. Honestly, I feel like you weren't even paying attention to the actual arguments laid out in the video.
@@thegamingchronicler i didn't you sounded whiney at things for being "anime" and XC1 is my fav at the start and i got board and started skipping around. Especially since i just remembered you said XC1 is your fav, one of the most anime games ever: teenagers kill god with the power of friendship cant go more anime than that. and remember riki talking about his kids in nopon talk on the beach after the cast get separated or when the titan is going to commit genocide of the Bionis and it cuts to the captain hanging on for his life comedically by his troops? the XC2 Tora and Rosa scenes are like that except Rex doesn't hog that part of the story away from the serious part of the comedic relief character unlike Shulk.
I'm no native English speaker and besides, I like to play my JRPG in Japanese, so I haven't heard the English dub before... But now I understand why people complain about that. I'd cut my balls at the first hour listening to anime kids with that annoying British accent.
I feel like he was simply looking for things to hate on so much that he didn’t appreciate 90% of this game. He acts like most of the game is spent for filler content and is almost all anime tropes when if anything the entire game subverts most all anime tropes in the main story. He acts like the voice acting is atrocious with the edit when only one of the clips he used is actually bad, with all of the other clips being taken in ways to make them sound worse than they are (plus most of the voice actors are top tier, like Mythra or Nia). He acts like the dialogue is constantly badly or unrealistically written when it’s more human sounding with the writing than most games I can think of (and also is translated through Japanese which has different cadences than us, like the repetition). The list goes on I understand what he’s trying to say in this video, but there’s more holes in his arguments than he claims there are in Xenoblade’s writing and it makes it hard to take the few valid points seriously. I’d say that this video isn’t even close to representative of the actual game or it’s story
@sonic 1995 oh look, someone who doesn’t know how to pay attention to the story and read into it! Lmao you can dislike a story that’s inherently great due to its quality of writing and content, hell there are some objectively good stories that I don’t like either, but it doesn’t change the fact that a story is still objectively good
As somone who played Xenosaga trilogy, Xenoblade, Xenoblade X and Xenoblade 2 I can say without any doubt Xenoblade 2 is is the worse Xeno game, even worse than Xenosaga 2, which is also awful. The game is indeed fun to play but I didn't care at all about the cast Except for Zeke and maybe Pyra and Nia.
To me, it doesn't even feel like a Xeno game, it feels kinda like a spin-off of 1. The art style and tone clash painfully and, with much of the character designs being unnecessary, makes the game feel more separate, and distinct (?) from the other games. I'm not saying being different in of itself is why I feel this way, I'm saying that it feels like a game from another series. When I think of Xeno, I don't see Tora, Pyra/Mythra, or Rex (although I do recognize their nuances), I think of Shion, Albedo, Shulk, Fei, or Citan. Personally, I can't say where I see 2 in terms of quality, but honestly, I'm not really feeling it either...
So many disingenuous arguments, so many bad takes, and so many cases of posting your own Ls without even realizing. Thanks for the video, kept laughing throughout!
@sonic 1995 Too many to count, and I've got better things to do than cataloguing every laughable thing said in the video. I'd say it's pretty self-explanatory how much of it is awful, but I guess I have too high expectations of this videos audience.
The whole 'There is no objectively bad or good games/movies' nonsense is annoying as hell to hear. It's a misunderstanding of a popular work that postulates that you don't need to know the history of an author to understand a work. Objectively good or bad is a thing and you laid out several examples of objectively bad aspects of this games writing and design.
@@skylandersfan6954 no, 1 had different characters playing differently, 2 has blades and drivers that all want to spam as much as possible, with only a single strategy in mind because the gmae has no other, litterally the game play itself and if you found the pretty animations more interesting it simply goes to show you're easily impressionable, and probably explain why you like Xenoblade 2, you don't think past surface level you're lucky I just published my own XC2 video : th-cam.com/video/i7-vwPDXdrg/w-d-xo.html
@@fieldkaiju 2 has the exact same archetypes of characters 1 has, you could make the exact same argument based on your logic that 1 is just about spamming arts too
Never played the first, I played this for 25 hours I think? The gameplay was just too atrocious to continue. Nothing I did mattered, everything I did was based on building up combo. The enemy I was fighting had zero effect on what I did during a fight. Wait for cooldowns, combo elements based on whatever was possible by the top right interface, Destroy orbs, repeat. People say it's strategic or tactical and it gets better and all that, but it really didn't. It's not complex, it just pretends to be. Also, you didn't mention how Vandham's sacrifice is completely undermined by the situation playing out in a way that the sacrifice had no effect on anything. He didn't save anyone, because in the end mythra shows up and solves things.
@@takarahayashi4124 I dunno, I heard you can at least move while attacking, which would make the skills that partially rely on positioning less pointless. But I don't intend to play the first one, this one left such a bad taste D:
@@nswmeeuwes89 Honestly, you should give Xenoblade 1 a shot. A LOT of people who didn't like the second game loved the first one (myself included). It's a much tighter and more consistent experience overall and it doesn't fall into most of the trappings present in Xenoblade 2 (no annoying gatcha element, the combat is much easier to learn and doesn't feel as homogenous, the story has a constant momentum, with a lot of twists and turns along the way, the cast showcases a lot of development and everyone feels important to the story, the fanservice isn't nearly as egregious). Don't write off the Xeno series because of 2. It's the odd one out, in more ways than one.
@@Skallva XC2's combat is literally deeper XC1 combat. The gacha elements are annoying, but many blades in XC2 are guaranteed, including the strongest ones that aren't named Kosmos and Dagas. You have Mythra, her ascended form, Poppi-qtpi, Herald, Wulfric, Sheba. In Post game, you will have T-elos for absolutely free and you can resonate her on Zeke and get Mikhail, a great blade for Morag, just by talking to him. If you get the harder content, then several strong dlc characters are guaranteed: Crossette, Corvin, Shulk, Fiora, and Elma. A problem in XC2 is that they don't tell you who is the strongest or the weakest with ether cannons, axes, bit balls, katanas, and dual discs.
i dont get how dudes like you will admit the english VA is garbage, and then play through it in english a second time instead of just picking the better audio track lmao this is like some "definition of insanity" shit
He could be like me and just find the english dub the lesser of two evils. English dub wasn't great, but it had more fitting voices than the Japanese dub had.
Japanese voice acting in general especially for females is grating on my ears a lot of the time and at that point you should just turn the voices off and just read the damn subtitles
This is the only game of the series I did not buy because of the weird tone of the story and sexualization. I ended up watching the cutscenes the month before Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came because I didn't want to miss anything from the story. You pretty much nailed most of the problems I had with the story, but since you didn't mention I have to add what for me was the worst offender regarding the dissonance in the game. I couldn't remember when exactly happened in the story, probably at one of the points where they discussed the blade cycle. The game straight up tells you that some people take advantage of the memory loss to steal female core crystals and basically sell them as sex slaves. This, mind you, is the same game than invites the player to collect as many Blades as possible, being most of them females, anime waifus with desings that appeal to a whide variety of fetishes and anime archetypes. Female blades that when awakened present themselves through a series of out of place, sometimes questionable, choreographed cutscenes where they express their complete devotion to you. Also, some of their desings are just... This is also the same game where you end up in a harem with Pyra, Mythra and possibly Nia, all three of them being Blades. Like which one is it? What the fuck happened with the writing of the game? You want to sell us your game through overly sexualized gacha-obtained waifus cattering to every anime fetish ever or you actually don't condone this view of blades as sexual objects and we are just supposed to gloss over every time you show them as such in the game.
Can you not comprehend that sexualised =/= objectified? Women are allowed to present themselves in whatever way they want, but someone forcing them into that against their will is bad. Do you not understand that? The entire point of the story is that blades aren't objects
@@skylandersfan6954 A character like Bayonetta is sexualized but not objectified, it empowers her, it's a female power fantasy. She is in control. That's not there for the male players to feel aroused. Please explain to me what other reason do you imagine could there be behind the vastly female blade roster that seem to weirdly pander a lot of fetishes or waifu tropes (some of them with awful designs that only seen to exist for the purpose of sexualization, objectification and male gazing instead of if it fits the character or not) versus the like 4 or 5 male blades there are in the game. And while you are at it, also explain what's the purpose of the "ecchi" scenes in the game, the camera angles in multiple cutscenes that seem to focus for some weird reason on the breasts or thighs of the female characters, try to give you a little peek under their skirts or shit like that. Surely, objectification wasn't their intention. I know objectification it's not the same as sexualization. But this game clearly objectifies women as sexual objects a lot of times. What bothers me it's that at some points the plot of the game tries to get across the message of "Hey, treating Blades like objects is wrong", specially female ones which are stated to be sold as sex slaves. But at most of the times the game seems keen to indulge the male player by portraying them as cute mannequins with big boobs and asses to stare at. And that without mentioning when the game isn't playing off lolicon and pedo shit as a joke (like what happens with Poppi at several points of the game). What is that besides objectification of the female characters? Yeah, some of them may have actual development and tender moments in the story, but there is also a lot of them where they are treated as object, a way to pull of dirty jokes, indulge in the fetishes of the male players (tsunderes, kuuderes, mommies, lolis or maids among many many others in the blade roster) and have you collecting them like waifus in a fucking gacha game. Also, they are characters, they can't precisely present themselves in any way or form. That's true for real people, but this is not the case. They were clearly design with at least some intent of making them as a sexy prize for the male Otaku players, and it shows in a lot of aspects of the game.
@@alvo_Roto Be fr and tell me that a naked dom was not put in a game to get male players getting aroused lol. Also, you cant objectify a character soley on design, thats not how it works AT ALL. While characters in Xenoblade 2 are sexualised, that is never drawn attention to because the fact of the matter is thats just how they choose to dress. Its their choice, and its not objectification for a woman to willingly express themselves with their own agency within the context of the story and the world, thats literally what Bayonetta does. A lot of blades arent even sexualised at all, whether male or female, because people express themselves in different ways. Dromarch, Roc, Aegaeon, Wulfric, Godfrey, Floren, Akhos, Mikhail, Sever, Cressidus, Perdido, Dagas, Poppibuster, Corvin, Crossette, Kassandra, Adenine, Azami, Theory, Pandoria, do I need to go on?
@@skylandersfan6954 Bayonetta is basically female Dante from DMC. Would you say he was designed for women to lust over him or to be a cool protagonist for men to admire? Cause I'd say the latter, and the same applies to Bayonetta. And again, I am not saying objectification is only a design thing. But it is definitely an important factor, specially when it's something that happens prominently in a lot of the female characters of the game. There is also the part of my comment where I mentioned the boob and ass shots in the cutscenes, the ecchi humor and dirty jokes using female characters that you conveniently decided to ignore. "it's never drawn attention to" -Pyra literally the first fucking time you meet her: "place your hand on my breast" (could have said crystal, but no, writers decided breast) Rex: *blushes because Big booba girl he just met just told him to put his hand on her breasts* -Mythra like the second or third cutscene after she is introduced: Rex you pervert, you were staring at my boobs Pyra the next day: *pats Rex in the head while a first plane of her boobs in fucking first person view from Rex's perspective is showing on screen* -Poppi when is introduced as a CHILD character that's basically just been born being stated to have been programmed by Tora as a some kind of maid sex robot with pervy intention and matching sexy maid outfits. Mind you, this is played as a fucking joke, mind you again, she is a child. It is just so damn tasteless. Later in the story she gets an upgrade via teenage maid transformation and the name of her evolved forms are literally called "cutie" and "cutiepie". -Brihgid when introduced: *first plane of boobs before even showing her face* -The party just falled from the Cloud sea, this is supposed to be a dramatic point in the story where you explore a world that died under the cloud sea. Meanwhile Mythra: "Let's go Rex" *underskirt shot* -The whole cutscene of Dahlia awakening. -Nia when she reveals that she is actually a blade and her clothes change for some reason to now show her cleavage and she is suddenly wearing no pants and underwear that if it were to be a bit thinner we could be able to see her fucking vagina. Also, this happens because she now declares to the male protagonist. (And also also, the maybe really concerning thing that Pyra and Mythra, which are supposedly inmortal beings hundreds and hundreds of years old and Nia, who is a somewhat older blade that has lived far beyond what any human could, are attracted to Rex by some weird reason who is also A FUCKING KID). The hell you mean it's never drawn attention to???? Are we even talking about the same game???? And this is only some examples I can say on the top of my head. Do I need to go on? And congrats, yeah as I said not all the female blades are sexualized, but some of the not sexualized ones of them pander to more moe, lolicon shit or some waifu tropes, even if not sexualized. Also funny how in your examples you have to mention several of the few MALE blades there are in the game, which (surprise surprise) are not sexualized, or the ones that are just fucking animals like Dromarch. We were taking about female sexualization and objectification, if you found yourself in the need to mention animalistic and male blades as a way to make your list of "not sexualized female blades list" seem bigger, we may have a problem. But yeah, some of the female blade don't have a sexualized design. That doesn't erase the fact that a lot of them do. I'll say it again, they are characters. THEY ARE NOT REAL. They can't choose to present themselves as anything. These are not real women. They can't express willingly as anything else than their creators choose to. But yeah, Bayonetta as you said is at least DESIGNED to present herself as a powerful women that wields her sexuality, that's true and it's great for women. Sadly, that creates two big holes in your reasoning: first, you start you message contradicting that by implying she was put in the game as dominatrix to get men aroused which is just not the case btw because her whole point is her wielding her sexuality as a badass powerful women; second, none of the female characters in Xenoblade 2, at least none i can remember, express themselves in that way at all. Look at my examples above, does any of them look to you like a character trying to willingly express themselves as person wielding their sexuality and dressed like that because they want to, or maybe it's women being presented in a pervy way as sexy objects to get men aroused? 🤔 I wonder which one is it.
@@alvo_Roto Dante is not naked most of the time he's on screen, be fucking fr. Most of what you mentioned here are camera shots that the game uses with any other characters, they only look that way because of the designs. How is framing them as any other character proving my point? The only legitimate point you have is the Tora thing, and he's called out for this by both Pyra and Brighid (also hes like this for one cutscene). The scene where Rex touches Pyra's core isnt played remotely sexual. Saying the sexualisation actively detracts from the themes is dumb when its a purely visual thing. You are allowed to dislike it, as you are allowed to dislike any design but 1, that doesn't make the game bad on its own and 2, the entire series has been like this. There is absolutely no reason to single 2 out for this when 1 had a shit ton of horny outfits for both Sharla and Fiora, X had boob enhancing options for a 14 year old and Xenosaga ends with the 2 main characters being nude
No, actually it costs money to play this game, nothing about this is free and personally I do feel that a lot of my life was wasted playing this excuse for a game
@@excalibur2772 Aside from it trashing Nia and Morag or a great portion of blades in the end game and some shitty multi-layer Gormott shenanigans, it's pretty nice to play.
Gacha anime troupes cringe galore I enjoyed it my first playthrough but I'm currently struggling to get back into even torna dlc is hard to fully enjoy I feel like I wasted 30 bucks
I think this is the last time I'll jump into the comments of this trainwreck--for my own mental health. But there are a couple of things I want to leave here before I dip.
There's a serious level of irony in the people accusing me of nitpicking who will pick out 1 or 2 parts of my hour long video to try and delegitimize my arguments and then write me off as a whiney hater. Please keep in mind, not everything I say and do in this video is 100% serious. There are things called satire and entertainment. Not everything I say is meant to be an ultra serious argument or criticism.
Just because do I critique this game doesn't mean I'm a blind XC1 fanboy. I actually like XCX and I do look back fondly on Torna (although it's admittedly been a while since I played the later.) criticism =/= blind hate. I outlined what I value in video games and told you reasons why Xenoblade 2 wasn't enjoyable for me. If you can't handle the tough love I give the game then you shouldn't have watched the video. I gave you plenty of warnings.
I have no reason to just blindly hate this game, like many are assuming that I've done. The like/dislike ratio should be the best indicator of that. The best thing for my channel right now would be for me to get the Xenoblade community in my good graces and pretend to love this game so my channel gets a wider audience and avoid all of the shit I am getting. But instead I chose to be genuine and give my HONEST opinions of Xenoblade 2--not all of which are bad, despite what the youtube comments say. People who act like I'm just trying to hate this game and I'm feigning my dislike really need to get their heads out of their asses and realize that sometimes people on the internet just disagree with them.
Lastly, I don't know what it would take to satiate some of y'all. I spent the first 13 minutes of this review showering the game with praise. I talked about what I enjoyed about the title and the positives I took away from it. It's not like this was just an hour of me attacking the game and calling it complete crap. I went into this game trying to enjoy it, but came out just not liking it and that's the reality of the situation. I had an OPINION and the way a lot of you guys are just aggressively crying over my OPINION is the exact reason why I stopped engaging in discourse with the Xenoblade community and it's why I'll probably distance myself from it again.
In the wise words of VideoGameDunkey "Nope, you are nitpicking and biased. I win. Bye. Bye."
Sorry, I don't know if my (overly long winded) comment was one of the ones you were referring to here, but upon rereading it I noticed there were a couple of things I said that came across as aggressive or as me being over sensitive. It was never my intent but I apologize if something I said offended you.
And sorry for all that rambling as well. Seriously, I never never even noticed just how much I had written there. :p
@@ponspectorstillwedie4579 Your comment was very respectful. don't feel bad. I did read the comment and I understand where you come from. No hate, dude. Like what you like.
I am sorry if i made you feel like this in anyway,
Soooooooooo, when’s Torna: The Golden County?
Do you know a TH-camr name Captain Astronaut? He also hate this game.
Great review man. I also love critquing games and listening to long nuanced reviews that really get into the meat of the issues is super cathartic and you do a great job. Despite being full of valid nuanced points you’re still downvoted to hell and labelled a XC1 elitist. Its a shame the online discourse around these games is so incapable of accepting criticism
You forgot to mention that when you get the spike damage aux cores, you’d have to backtrack to town and fill them up to make any use of them. Even picking up the aux cores doesn’t HELP you.
Late response, but to be fair, wasn't that the same in Xenoblade 1?
You also had to refine the raw ether crystals there to be able to use them in the first place.
@@Sherolox you get a mobile ether furnace later, I think around valak mountain
I ain’t a xeno2 fan but I agree that the mor ardain theme is something that I can fuck with
I really want to see Darth Vader go on an exposition explanation while force choking someone. That's just hilarious to me.
That imagery just trips me out
It just sounds like Monolith tried to do WAAAAY too much with this game in order for it to feel as big as possible - has been my takeaway from many vids on critiquing Xeno2.
Nah. With Xc2, their real main problem was having the shortest amount of dev time of all Xeno games.
I love both games, but listening to you I find it hard to disagree. I loved the story overall but some dialogue was absolutely ridiculous.
My main turn off for the game though was the gameplay and combat, especially when it comes to post-game. The combat system in active gameplay is mostly fine, though I don't like how momentum based it is where there's little back and forth and its more about dominating or being dominated with very little in between. However, as with many games I have seen and is imo a baffingly frustrating design decision, a lot more of the combat efficiency is determined in menus, equipment, party setups and not enough on your actual in-combat actions. Going through the story this was hardly a problem but tackling any of the harder challenges meant I had to go on wild hunts of grinds, spreadsheets, theorycrafting, etc. just to beat some beefed up dinosaur in the corner of whogivesashitaboutthisplace.
The result of that is a game which a full playthrough was alright, but any attempt at picking up the game after that results in a huge *sigh* followed by me switching to a different game.
I personally never found the gameplay to be this hard or monotonous even on harder difficulties, that’s weird. Also the dialogue was great for everyone except maybe Rex sometimes I think
Glad you liked the game tho!
learn japanese, turn off subtitles, change the language to japanese = profit.
What was your favorite part of the review? Mine was when he complained about the lighting on Vandham's chest for 20 minutes.
Haven't watched but the lighting had to be perfect to focus on that hunk
I really liked when you talked about how the sexualization in this game is a detriment to its narration and characters. You really put it succintly. It's not the main reason why I overall dislike it, but boy, does the constant Mommy Fetish Shotacon ruin the hero, the heroine and the main romance, for me. It's just impossible for me to appreciate Rex and Pyra/Mythra's relationship due to how wanky and fetishistic it is.
Then, it also ruins Blades as a whole: because why make Blades varied and unique, filled with many types of characters and species AS THE STORY IMPLIES, when they could all be sexy waifus and sexualized children? (Don't get me started on Floren, I even summoned him at the game's equivalent of the Vatican, it was fucking wild)
Also the bit with Rex repeating himself... it was so painful to listen to. Love of exposition is Takahashi's weakest point. No wonder Xenoblade 1 had much fewer of it... it's the Xeno where he had the least involvement.
@@XelchanTheBrave I can't take Mythra seriously in any scene because of her design. She looks like a prostitute not the powerful Aegis. the smash censored costume helps a bit and why is Rex wearing crotchless pants, why does that need to come off? It's a diving suit is it not?. I'm pretty sure Takahashi is credited as just the scenario writer for this game(at least in the credits at the beginning). I Don't think he had much involvement with its writing(specifically the dialogue). I don't know who the script writers were.
Honestly the part I enjoyed most was the repeating the thing that was just said part. Through out my first play through I kept zoning out and thinking about other things and before I knew it I was in the middle of another cutscene, I've never had that happen before & now I know why. I didn't even know that hot spring scene existed the first time through and the story was better for it. that "foreshadowing" was more like a siren.
Personally, I think that Lucina has 10x the worst personality that Mythra.
The repeating line trope had me rolling shits so good
Re: the 5th chapter power lines boss, you can do this without spike damage aux cores, if you notice, the spike damage it deals doesn’t kick in until you it reaches 50% health. What you can do is stack elemental orbs with blade combos during the first 50% of the fight, then when the spike damage kicks in, initiate a chain attack, burst the orbs and melt away the remaining health-once you’re in chain attack the spike damage can’t do anything. This is how I beat it first time before I knew spike defense was possible.
You don't really need any orbs. Just a Chain Attack from 50% is more than enough. They die rather quickly.
I literally just beat it today first try, no Aux cores. (Loving the game btw).
Curious what are your thoughts on Torna? Did it improve the battle system for you?
Gotta play it again to really re-formulate my opinion on it, but that vid will come eventually.
13:50 can’t be stated enough. I LOVE breaking down my favorite games, because like you said you help improve the next games. I wish people understood that. You can love your games and still point out issues.
Just curious
Since you mentioned chuggaas lets play
Did that lets play change your opinion in any way or not?
He’s not looking at the comments of this video ever again for the sake of his mental health and because of the toxicity in the Xenoblade fandom. Read the pinned comment.
Your criticisms are pretty fair. I really like XC2 in spite of it's many, many big flaws because i love the OST, zone design and combat system. I tell friends it's the most flawed game that I love. I've compared discussing this game with diehard lovers/defenders to talking politics with Fox news viewers in a way, in the sense that we seem to be viewing completely different realities. Let me just say that XC3 was a huge relief and has probably become my favorite in the trilogy followed by 1 and then 2.
I though that being able to cancel any auto attack's chain like doing mythra's first auto attack then move slightly and auto attack again on loop was brilliant, it made sense that it was a thing, adding a certain depth to its gameplay considering the combat system is all about the recharging of arts, it made it feel a lot less braindead to me. I had so much fun with the game and it quickly became one of my favourite switch games and i look fordward to play every single one of them.
you completely encapsulated my thoughts and feelings on this game. perhaps the most intensely trippy moment of confirmation bias for me but like literally point for point bar for bar i agree with u. i also thought mythra went so tsundere she turned into helga from hey arnold
A character being mildly mean and not dickriding the main character is a tsundere?
@@skylandersfan6954 As it turns out Mythra was quite the multitasker in the end.
What was that pizza time cover that you used for that compilation? I genuinely want to hear it.
"...Pizza time!?"
It's from the game Dark Deception: Monsters and Mortals.
I respect your opinion but I definitely have problems with your "review" like your complaint about exposition, and things like 43:49 where the game literally shows you amalthus take control of the titans and blades and you say it isn't brought up one, that is straight up not paying attention, you complain about the game not telling you things but the complain about it telling you things
My complaint was about rex being master driver in gameplay long before amalthus shows us what a master driver does. The game acts like being a master driver is some sort of revelation in that scene a whole chapter after rex gets the power, Like he's suddenly discovering it.
@@thegamingchronicler there is a big difference between using someone else's blade and literally controlling someone against their will like amalthus does, Rex has the ability to use other people's blades at no point in gameplay or tutorials does it say it allows Rex to control ( tutorials by the way that explain where Rex's new outfit comes from pnuema literally created because she has the power to create things which is why she can use any element)
Amalthus is using powers in a completely different scale than Rex as he is forcibly using blades and titans against their wills including mythra, Rex just got these abilities literally in universe 30 minutes ago, he doesn't know the extent of his powers yet. It would be like if Alvis showed up with the monado 3 starting using all arts against shulk in tephra cave and expecting shulk to know all of these things like more than one monado and all the arts after a day of using them at most.
Rex just got these master driver abilities he literally hasn't had time to fully explore them how is he supposed to know what he can do with them, at what time in morytha had he had the chance to go over everything with mythra
The issue i had was that none of what you mentioned with rex not fully grasping his master driver ability was brought up or played around with in the story. They don't mention rex being a master driver at all outside of a tutorial the chapter before. Some conveyance of this mechanic outside of gameplay would have probably helped because, again, Rex never mentions the words master driver before that point. How would i understand that there should be a gradual progression in his ability if the cutscenes never acknowledge that he has this ability to begin with?
And the fact that you have to point toward a tutorial giving information about his outfit kinda just proves my point. I never argued that we weren't told about the outfit, I just said their inclusion of it was rushed and poorly implemented and what is a poorer way for this game to tell us about Rex's change in wardrobe other than a tutorial?
@@thegamingchronicler where is the place where the tutorial shows up? The land of morytha. Are you really expecting mythra to sit down and explain to Rex here's all the abilities that come with being a master driver and let's explain what a master driver is, while A. They are in an unknown land B. Separated from their allies and C. Under constant threat of unknown creatures. No they wouldn't. And yeah the words master driver and master blade is not used in the story until amalthus says it story wise Rex believes that mythra is allowing him to use other people's blades, he doesn't know it's master driver the player knows because the tutorial is explaining it and the tutorials are directly speaking to the player. It's shown in cutscene after the boss fight with Jin and malos and he is matching Jin's speed Rex doesn't get how he is doing it but he isn't complaining meaning he doesn't know what these abilities are he just has now, and he doesn't care to know
And it seems like you would be upset if it took the time to explain. Let me use 2 examples in your video. The Nia explaining blades taking after their drivers and vandham explaining the life cycle of blades. You say these screw with the pacing and considering your text in them are obvious for atleast. This is not true because of where these are. For Nia they just saw someone awaken a blade and there isn't any danger present this would best moment to explain this, and vandham they just a dead titan with a core crystal in it the danger passed it would be a perfect time to explain it to Rex who doesn't know information because he has been a driver for a week at most.
So to fix your issue later it would the game to stop and have mythra explain to Rex in morytha what a master driver is so he knows when amalthus says it, going by your examples earlier that would mess with pacing. So the only way to "fix" it would be to have Rex have knowledge of master driver as soon as he gets these abilities which would be like if shulk knew all monado arts as soon as he got the monado not just buster and enchant. That would not make sense.
And back to the point about the outfit, again this contradicts your earlier point, if they went and explained where it came from in morytha scene you would have complained about it screwing up the pacing so they left it in a tutorial to explain how she is able to do what she does. I can almost guarantee that if it did explain it like the Nia and vandham scene you would it screwed up the pacing. So do want things at natural points to explain be explained or don't you?
You made some good points but these are contradictory
Well I'd definitely expect Mythra to talk about something more relevant than her snoring in Morytha. Maybe they should have spent time talking about Rex's new powers instead?
The issues I had about the game over explaining things were a result of the game quite literally saying the same thing over and over again. There's quite a difference between the game stopping the plot to explain how ether works for the 50th time and the game briefly mentioning or building toward a plot critical moment. You're assuming that no matter what the game does, if it presents new information to me I'd complain. No, my complaining was a result of how the game conveyed this information. This game had proven to me that it could tell a story well. So who is to say that the game couldn't portray this information in a way that I thought was good?
Also please don't create my conclusions on hypothetical arguments that you created. Gaslighting isn't a way to try to convince someone they're wrong.
I agree on the point of tonal whiplash but even I'd disagree that the dickjoke takes away from the Tora scene. It has around 15 to 30 minutes of gameplay and cutscenes between those two points.
And plus the only real tonal whiplash occurs in chapters 2 and 4, since comedy largely only exists in those two chapters and has the game focus on serious plot and character development instead
@@DavidHosey1 If he wanted a more glaring case of Tonal Whiplash, I'd draw attention to Emperor Nail's death being at the hands of a giant bobblehead maid mech.
The voice actor for Morag did an amazing job, but it doesn't take away from what just happened.
@@donnelwaddledee965 yeaaa well at least that was during the literal comedy opening chapters at the beginning. Kinda weird but since only 2 and 4 and stuff like that it makes the entire experience more fun outside of that
@@DavidHosey1 I personally love games with a sense of comedy, I just think 2s approach can be a bit bad with the shift in tone when it happens.
Look man you can say what you want but calling Drifting Soul corny?!?!
it is corny
@@papahhaa5931 no, not unless you consider a regular song to be corny. Rip to your music tastes lmao
@@DavidHosey1 regular is. Instrumental is fine
It was corny because it didn’t fit the cutscene. It sounds like an end credits song. If that scene had engage the enemy then that cutscene would be tons better.
@@DavidHosey1 song is corny
Well, I think most XC2 fans would be among the first to tell you that the game has many flaws. For me personally XC2 is one of my favourite games of all time, and the best in the series while simultaneously being the most flawed. I agree with everything you said about the tutorials. I remember feeling so overwhelmed when the game started teaching me the basics of specials and Blade combos, when in actuality it was a rather simple element of the combat system that the tutorials made seem needlessly complex. Having to open up the menus constantly to shuffle the party's blades to get past a field skill check before switching back to your battle party immediately after can be tedious as hell. The English dub definitely took some getting used to as well, though I do think it has it's moments. And I have very mixed feelings about both the Merc mission system and the Blade gacha mechanic. I also concur that the dialogue and over the top fanservice can be too much sometimes, even if it didn't bother me personally to the same extent it did you.
Though I will say that while I enjoyed the games main plot immensely, I do agree that there can be some real tonal issues sometimes. (Though I'd argue that the 'One eyed monster' joke is fine, and is far enough removed from the events at the factory that it didn't bother me at all.) But besides that, I love so many aspects of this narrative. There are no characters that I dislike personally, and I feel they are among my favourite cast of characters in any game I've ever played. I appreciate the games messages of staying true to yourself and everyone having a place in the world. Also, the way it masterfully weaves all it's themes into one compelling narrative is incredible. The way that every one of the ten chapters in the game parallels to the corresponding book of Plato's ten book work 'The Republic.' The way it incorporates the Life and Death drives from Freudian Psychology in the forms of Mythra and Malos respectively, and seeing how the conflicting drives act upon Rex's character in much the same way as Freud described. And obviously the themes of Gnosticism and Christianity are rampant throughout the game too. There is so much going on below the surface with this game that I feel adds new meaning to so many of the story events, and I don't doubt that I've hardly even scratched the surface when it comes to the games narrative theming.
Oh, and the fact that almost every rare Blade gets a voiced sidequest and heart to heart to expand upon the character is commendable, even if I'm not a fan of all of them. Monolith Soft went above and beyond with the side content in this game. It's not just the Blade quest, the sidequests in general are a huge step up from all the bland quests of XC1. Even with the unfortunate absence of the Affinity Chart system, I felt compelled to do them all because I enjoyed them and the stories they were telling. They add a lot to the worldbuilding of the game, giving Alrest a rich history and making it feel like a real lived in world. And field skills aside, exploration is an absolute joy in this game. That's probably why the admittedly flawed waypoint marker didn't bother me as much as some other people, I wanted to see as much of these Titan's as I could. Often times I wouldn't even be focused on where I was going only to accidentally stumble upon a cutscene by complete chance during my aimless wandering. (This doesn't excuse the games crappy waypoint system, of course. I'm just explaining why I wasn't personally bothered by it.)
While the gacha system can be a nightmare if you approach it with the 'gotta' catch'em all' mentality, I really don't actually think it's too much of a problem in a casual playthrough. For starters, the Pity Blade system guarantees that you will get at least 3 rare Blades per playthrough relatively easily no matter how piss poor your luck might be. And they had the decency to make the pity pool Blades ones that had a fairly low chance of being pulled normally, so you're very likely to get the less rare Blades without to much hassle on top of these pity Blades. Then there are guaranteed rare Blades from quest and story events. Since the game is balanced enough that you can easily beat the game even with the lowest tier blades then RNG is hardly a real problem at all. In fact, the gacha mechanic can actually make subsequent playthroughs more interesting, since you're likely to acquire Blades you didn't get in your first run.
As for combat, I'm of the persuasion that it's the most enjoyable and rewarding battle system in any JRPG I've ever played.. While it took me far too long to fully understand, due to terrible tutorials and it's inherent complexity, I'm glad I stuck with it. While stacking orbs before letting loose with a chain attack is certainly one strategy, at least for main story fights, it's not objectively the best. In fact, in some of the harder side content battles it's hardly even a viable option. If you really pay attention to your Blades skills and special effects, as well as driver abilities you can do some crazy damage with just your regular attacks. Fusion Combos can lead to massive straight damage as well as crazy damage over time effects, and it's possible to keep enemies constantly locked in consecutive driver combos if you think about how your set up before a fight. There is so much freedom in how you approach battle, and you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you view it with a one size fits all approach. I guarantee that there are things you could be doing to make battles more go more smoothly and be over with more quickly. Losing against Mikhail and Patroka several times may just have meant you needed to change up your strategy. Though I won't say it's necessarily your fault. Again, the tutorials hardly even give people a chance to properly learn this crap.
In the end, there is a lot to love about XC2 but I can't even blame people for being so disappointed by it. The game is riddled with flaws and questionable game decisions and that can make it needlessly difficult to appreciate everything it does do right.
I stand by the fact that XC2 is one of my all time favourite games, but I hope that Monolith learn from their mistakes and that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be a much less divisive game.
Very rarely do I read long comments such as this one.
I agree with this. Are 1 and 2 perfect games? Absolutely not no. But they both have a lot to like about them and I think it is unfair to say 2 is not as good as 1 as it is completely different from 1. Both are great in different ways.
I also think it speaks volumes with the fact that some of the things that you listed as flaws are things that I and others either have no opinion on or even like
Stories (outside of the fact of quality in writing) are always subjective, and that makes things like rpgs to be some of the most subjective games. I grew up with xeno 1 and it was one of my favorites of all time, but now that I have this game I just found the characters far too great for me to not rank it above 1. I like this more than 1, but that just speaks not in favor of both games than anything else that I could say
@@DavidHosey1 The difference with 2 is that you always wanted to see more with the characters. With 1, the twist and revenge theme are the only things holding them.
@@justice8718 I don’t really agree with that. Both games have straight up great stories, with interesting themes, ideas, and plots. The same is true for the characters of both games, in spades, to the point that they’re some of the best characters for people who get invested in them. I do agree that 2’s cast is better, with stellar characters like Nia, Mythra, and Poppi taking center stage, and even the less liked characters developing or being used well (Rex has great development and Tora is used well often enough). But 1’s cast is still really great, with Shulk being stellar, and Melia or Dunban probably taking 2nd place. Even characters who seem flat at first like Reyn or Fiora are much better and deeper than many people give them credit for. Both casts are some of the best out there
Both games make you want to see more, for the cast, the world, and all the twists too. They do different things sometimes, but are still both some of the best you can find in the whole genre all in all
Why is your review based on chugga?
Holy crap
You almost got me lmao
58:46
Oh god, I can't see this scene the same way again
55:52 that's one of my favorite scenes in the game lol
Hearing you talk about the game is such a blast back to three years ago o_0;; a lot of your views on the game aligned with mine back in the day, plus your positive takes on some of its qualities definitely let me see more value in them than I initially thought. It's absolutely weird but pleasant, in a way, like opening a time capsule.
It's really good how the game handles foreshadowing and what the characters know and don't know. Personally, I always have been struck deeply by Mythra looking at the pregnant Titan's corpse under the cloud sea: it's such a small scene, somber and silent, but it carries a lot of messages that truly tell you her pain, especially since she is a very motherly AI with the power to create life.
1:02:08
I mean.... you kind of have a point, I still think that there's a good variety of blades but sticking to the best ones makes things easier
Xenoblade 2 is a very divisive game and a lot of people who loved the first seem to view the second rather unfavourably. For me, I played the second game first after having watched a Let's Play of the original. I greatly enjoyed Xenoblade 2. It has its issues, but I still love it in spite of them. However, now that I've gotten and started playing Definitive Edition, I just couldn't get into it for some reason. The gameplay for one just hasn't been as enjoyable after having gotten used to the second. I definitely find myself missing the more flashy attacks. Blossom Dance is great, but it doesn't stand up to the various level 4 Specials. As for the story and characters, I guess already knowing the twists ahead of time greatly lessens the impact, but I don't feel I get that problem when replaying 2. Visions are an interesting mechanic, but using them for foreshadowing feels kind of cheap because you just straight up are seeing what's going to happen rather than having the foreshadowing communicated through more subtle means that don't even seem to mean anything at first. After getting past the concept of playing on the bodies of two dead gods, the world, while massive, feels like any other fantasy world. Yes, even the steampunk Mechonis feels like standard fantasy to me, unlike Morytha which manages to pull me _out_ of the game and start questioning reality itself. There are a few small settlements on Bionis, but communication is fairly limited and much of how they're run is just ignored like most stories because it's not relevant. In Xenoblade 2, the politics and economy are front and centre to the action and I was able to actually get a feel for how all the different nations and settlements relate to each other and how they work on nearly every level.
I guess aside from the general combat, which feels great in 2 with the pseudo-rhythm game elements, the main appeals of Xenoblade 2 are largely the world-building and spectacle. The former feels significantly lacking in Xenoblade 1, while the latter is largely confined to cutscenes, and even then is rather downplayed compared to 2. I haven't even mentioned how, in spite of the bad directing, Xenoblade 2 has perhaps my favourite localization ever entirely because of how it adds world-building that didn't even exist in the original Japanese with the variety of accents that vary not based on character or personality, but simply where the characters are from, _which is exactly how it is in real life._
I often get the impression that I'm doing something wrong when I see people like you praise the first game that I've been having trouble enjoying, even if I can't necessarily argue with the points against the one I keep coming back to.
No, you aren't doing anything wrong. It all comes down to what you value in experiences with media. Perhaps many of the things that I disliked in this video aren't things you care about much and that's fine. It's okay to admit that something has faults and still like it. There's no shame in that.
2 had better races, politics, and a generally more breathing and alive world with tight senses of history. XC1 is lacking in those departments and tries to make up for it with more flashy and overly epic scaling with goofy ass "epic" dialogue and friendship lasers. Look at the final battles between the games. Malos's fight had better senses of dread and Rex already gotten his completed sword way before this fight started. Zanza's shit is just a monologue with no senses of fear and dread coming forth.
@@justice8718 You thought the high school bully villain was... dreadful..? I mean, if you find that type of person scary more power to you I guess~
@@halosaft Oh please. Not even his own driver was in his mercy list. If anything, Zanza was more of a child than Malos is because his sense of loyalty and understanding is so stupid beyond his dumb, emotionless voice. "Oh Shulk! I will make you my follower, despite you doing all of this to try to kill me!" Even as he dies, he just spews a bunch of meaningless gibberish.
In Malos's weakest state, he still kills his prey quickly and shiftily with pure brutality. Look what he did to Vandham. Look at how he messed with Mythra's mind so hard, she shatters and collapses titans within minutes. Zanza never had those kinds of moments because he is too busy smelling his own farts than staying alive and making sure no one gets in his way.
I feel they should've made this game where it would be like Final Fantasy or and the Tales series (even though some Tales games or connected to each other) or something where it's a numbered entry but it had no connection in any way to the first previous games (like Klaus for example) and that it is it's own game with it's own identity although they can have things from the previous games in it like the Nopons for example even though they would not be connected to one another.
I don't mind the lighthearted and funny themes in it although i do agree that some funny scenes like this one 27:20 and the sexualization in this game was unnecessary.
If it wasnt connected with Xenoblade 1, It wouldnt have those mindblowing scenes in Chapter 10... those made Xenoblade 1 even better to me and made me want to replay it with the knowing I have now
From what I understand In the context of the world blades are sentient super computers with the goal of assisting pepole and absorbing knowledge to help future generations. My geusse (Wich isn't worth anything really) is that they actually do retain the info of thier previous drivers but forget it as to avoid thier attachments to them getting in the way of thier relationship of thier new drivers.
Fans name change makes absloutey no sence thought, only thing I can think to support it is we only see a few blades before and after thier current awkenings and even the of the 5 I can think off haze is the only ones who's name changes Wich could just be a rare thing to happen (still lazy poor telling)
The reason that Haze's name changes is probably because Amalthus stole have of her core crystal practical stealing have of her data. By doing this he also stole the data containin her name. You could say why doesn't pandora have this same problem or pyra. Wel for pandora it was a very small part. With pyra it was volentarily giving her the option to decided wich data to give to Rex.
maaaaan... if you come back after 3 years, you live it)
Why all these people argue in the comments? Lol it doesnt matter how your take on this game is. You cant and will never ever change another person's opinion. If you love the game thats fine if you dont then thats fine too. All your opinions towarss the game is valid and no one can ever change that cos thats how you feel about it. Dont force what you feel about the game towards other. Its like eating a food if you dont like its taste theres no way in hell that another person can make you believe that food is delicious.
As for blades people may not agree with me on this or it may not make any sense or whatever but if i was writing this i feel like instead of blades being this artificial beings where they comes from rocks when someone bonds with it i feel they should've made it where blades at least rare ones with the like humanoid or beast form would be like supernatural beings with powers and weapons that they can summon and they would not appear from core crystals but instead live on the same planet as and coexist with humans and they would be like humans: they live their lives, they age (probably longer then humans or maybe not i don't know), have blood and organs heart, find jobs, give birth (unless you're a female blade), and the other stuff.
And blade bonding can still happen although instead of awakening blade from their crystal the blade would choose their partner to be their driver as well as drivers and if the driver and blade are compatible to one another they form a bond and it would work the same way like in the original game the driver uses the blade's weapon and power and the blade supply support, as well the stronger the bond between the driver and blade are the stronger they become and when their driver or blade dies they won't become core crystal but their link will be cut off as they would be to find a new driver or blade. Although only humans/non-blade can be drivers where if a blade makes a bond with another blade then it may cause negative affects or something or maybe not i don't know.
As for common blades i feel they work well with core crystals as they would be artificial blade where if a driver doesn't have an actual blade to bond with they can use core crystals to bond with a common blade but it wouldn't be strong as an actual blade.
As for flesh eaters here i think it should be half-blades as in one of their parents would be human and the other a blade which would also means they can still be drivers and a blade. Although maybe flesh/blade eaters and still be a thing somewhere.
The salt in this comment section is lovely
Even though I did enjoy Xenoblade 2 (I actually finished it yesterday as I'm writing this comment), I was so disappointed when I used my 2 legendary core crystals only to NOT get any unique blades at all!
Oh shit grab the popcorn!!🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
I actually recently watched your 2017 review recently and agreed on some points and disagreed with some others. I personally adore XB1 and XB2, but an issue the game had was how a lot of stuff was planned to be explained in Torna later on, so a lot of exposition and stuff in the main game felt a bit confusing, even if they tried to explain it to their best ability without spoiling Torna.
This might sound weird, while XB2 is a very simplistic game in terms of story progression, just like XB1, XB2 takes a couple of discussions to really get down what scenes meant for the big picture. XB1 was excellent in telling you by showing everything while you progress and sometimes gives hint early on what's going to happen in the future.
XB2 on the other hand has small minor details in terms of facial expression, movement and detail on items and objects which XB1 sadly didn't have (something which was updated in the definitive edition).
For example, in XB2, both the Japanese and English language has hints who's a blade and who's a real driver. In English for example this is shown through blades having American accent (except for one) while Drivers has British accents.
Vandham is probably the biggest issue the game has in terms of story telling. He is not "useless" for the story, but how the game basically throw away his blade Roc as soon as he has fulfilled his job after you awaken him was really disappointing.
I also think chapter 2-6 are really badly paced.
I'm glad you played it again and I still agree with most of your ups and lows.
Edit: Forgot to say, great video. From someone who loves Xenoblade 2.
I think Xenoblade 2 did better at give you hints of what will happen than Xc1, maybe because I am more smart now then when I played Xenoblade 1 in 2021 and again in 2022, but in Xc2 I was always trying to figure out and it made me really engaged to the story, even more because I ended sympathizing with the villains, what happened only with egil in Xc1, and the past, it was so cool discovering what happened 500 hundred years ago...
One of the best looks at the game on TH-cam
53:29
This feels even worse after de
Never understood people’s problem with this waypoint, the map and waypoint made for pretty easy to follow systems even for my 8 year old cousin lmao
Good video. I find myself in the same camp. But I think Captain Astronaut said it best. To paraphrase:
"XC2 is like trail mix. I love M&Ms (world design and music). I don't love peanuts, but don't mind them too much (combat mechanics, story). But i can't fucking stand raisins (gacha and anime fanservice), so I don't eat trail mix."
Still watching but I think one of my favorite things about this review already is your critique on its gameplay. I feel so many people think people mainly have issues with just the story or "anime tiddies" but it goes so much deeper than that and it's flawed design can be felt in bad gacha and a abrupt/ non helpful tutorials.
He failed to mention this, but I don't blame him: what about how some exploration is locked behing skills behind the gacha system? I did not get a blade with Keen Eye until after 100 hours in.
@@XelchanTheBrave That's honestly one of if not the worst gameplay aspect for me, exploring is such a big part of the XC games and the fact that a lot of it is locked behind skills you have to grind out really kills it for me, especially when they're blade specific. Honestly surprised how many people are okay with the blade gacha system with how much scrutiny gacha games get on mobile games.
@@BoBennings I hate it when their defense is "At least you don't have to pay for it." Making money is the only reason that system exist! Look I'll give them props for trying something different, but I won't ignore when it clearly does not work.
@@cheshireimp493 I like this game but even i had a problem with that
And it honestly would be better to pay for it
Cause wasting money on a game for its content is to me better then stoping progress to spend hours praying to RNjesus I get the blade I need
@@mario-oc2if Sorry I didn't mean to generalize as if everyone who likes this games says it, it was just a common defense that I hear whenever discussing the blade system. their are definitely better ways it could be implemented. For me spending the extra money depends on the content in question.
It's especially unfortunate that the pervy scenes end up having some of the better line delivery.
Actually it is explained why some flesh eaters age and some don’t, it’s to do with their bond to the human who’s flesh they consume to become part human themself, this also modifies how strong they become. Namely, Jin and Lora/Nia and her original drivers daughter, these two pairings had an incredibly close bond meaning that neither Jin nor Nia particularly age and that both are incredibly powerful, whereas Minoth (Cole) doesn’t have this benefit, he even introduces himself in Torna as a failed experiment because of this.
Edit: Also, Jins power is debilitated because of sheerly how long he’s been alive, same will be true for Nia as she ages, she even states multiple times that she fears for her own longevity because of the inconsistency seen in Jins state
Edit 2: Also also, I doubt characters were only made flesh eaters to make them mortal given that regular blades do die in the story, Mythra straight up kills 4 of Tornas blades (Obrona, Sever, Perdido and Cressidus) by destroying their cores so they have nothing to regenerate from.
Edit 3: Also also also, Haze forgets her name because half of her core was forcibly taken from her removing a considerable amount of the data and information stored inside, her own name being a part of that.
Edit 4: Also also also also, a blades form is based on their original driver, not every future one, which is why roc retains his appearance
Edit 5: Also also also also also, the aptitude of a person simply refers to their ability to bond with a core crystal, and a blade is only bonded to a driver as long as the driver lives, as soon as they die the bond is broken and then another is formed on their next awakening.
“This is something I really pay attention to”
Clearly not, all of the discrepancies you have with blades in this video are answered in game
Aaaand the play about Vandham that you say is never mentioned again is in fact mentioned in a future sidequest with Minoth (Cole), which makes sense to be fair, he was never a major player in the story of base XC2 so bringing him back just to say “hey i did the thing” would be a bit strange
Also you’re really complaining that you had to find your way through a set of rooms without the direct path being laid out for you? It’s supposed to be a challenge not a linear path.
Plus the only path to the factory is not gated by lv 80 enemies, the path you showed was a late game shortcut from the docks to the abandoned factory
Again with the level design point, in the world tree you ask for a signal where theres literally a massive hexagon with a magnifying glass saying “KEYCODE TERMINAL” right there, like, that one definitely seems to be on you.
This is easily one of the most divisive games I have ever played. Half of the people I know don't want to get near it at all and see XB1 as the eternal holy grail, the other half of people I know say XB2 is way better than XB1 in every way and that XB1 is bland in comparison. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I am glad that there are two different flavors that each have their fans. I personally adore both games and have no favourite. I played XB1 first and had no problem getting into XB2. XBX disappointed me because it no longer felt like a Xenoblade game, and XB2 felt like a true sequel to the first game. The in-your-face anime tropes never bothered me despite me having no interest in anime at all. Maybe it's not everyone's thing, but the "cringeworthy" moments are few and far between enough that it didn't take away from the story at all for me. I wouldn't say that the anime tropes added anything in particular, but they didn't detract from the experience for me either. I think XB1's world concept is far more interesting than XB2's, but at the same time I think XB2 has a far more interesting battle system that gets way more flag than it deserves just because the game does a bad job explaining it. I also prefer XB2's characters overall, but that's just me. Rex, Nia, Tora and Zeke are simply way more interesting to me than Shulk, Melia, Riki and Reyn. I adore both games for different reasons, and both games do things better than the other does in my eyes.
I think xc1 and2 are equal, I was never bothered by the tropes, *and I haven't played xcx*
Um no. Zeke was just the ha ha funny man through most the game. Shulk was so much more interesting than the entire main cast of 2.
People who like XBC2 story and characters are wrong. Bye.
@@Tohlemiach opinions exist
@@heropontorchic1979 Bad opinions
52:11
*Lorithia PTSD*
I like xenoblade 1 and 2. They are both some of my favorite games of all time and I can't wait for x to come out
I appreciate JRPGs and this was the first one I played I have played in a 10+ year hiatus of playing games. I thought the tutorials were pretty good, though there were a few mechanics I didn’t understand, but could wing through the end. I was one of those lost causes about aggro, simply because I was unfamiliar with the terminology. 🤣🤣
However, I can certainly see that a more seasoned player can get frustrated and diminish the gameplay quality.
I respect your opinion to be honest I like both one and two there is some things I like and others and somethings I don’t like we’re all entitled to our opinions I really love your content
58:17 I agree that this part of the game is atrocious
I'm no video game designer or story writer but alor of the flaws and issues I had could have been fixed and may have even helped the game.Pacing in certain parts like how 3 to 4 could have been avoided, how most of Alcomoth was running back and forth or how 8 to 10 could have been one chapter. Some thoughts on how they could have made the game better would be these things. 5 chapters that are long for rex and Jin to give more insight into the villains instead of what feels like to me random cutscenes. Rare blades and character story's separate from the main story are side quests to not force the player into a character backstory like how Tora's was and have more engaging quests. Instead of ending Amalfuses so abruptly and feeling as more of a way to take care of the antagonists he could play more important role with the villain's story and feel as their antagonist due to their history with him. They could have also have had better voice direction I'd they has given them time and make the cringey attempt at humor actually funny instead of feeling generic or plain awful.
idk i had a lot of fun with XC2. Enough to give it a second playthrough? No, but it was fun enough to where it felt really enjoyable to play. XC3 has to be my favorite though.
The answer is yes
I actually agree with you with almost everything, even though I still liked the game. Its highs are very nice. However, Xenoblade DE is much better. But your complaints about Xeno2 are literally pretty much the same as mine lol, that's bizarre.
About your point at 32:17......that's a cultural difference.
Aizuchi - "In the Japanese language, Aizuchi (Japanese: 相槌 or あいづち, IPA: [aizu͍t͡ɕi]) are the frequent interjections during a conversation that indicate the listener is paying attention or understands the speaker. Aizuchi can also take the form of so-called echo questions, which consist of a noun plus "desu ka". After Speaker A asks a question, Speaker B may repeat a key noun followed by "desu ka" to confirm what Speaker A was talking about or simply to keep communication open while Speaker B thinks of an answer. A rough English analog would be "A ..., you say?", as in: "So I bought this new car"; reply: "A car, you say?".
^This is honestly one of the weirdest complaints I've heard about the game and sounds more like you're actively trying to find things to dislike about it.
There are just some things that aren't going to translate perfectly into English. Like how conversations in Japanese work.....which, yes, sometimes will lead to dialogue sounding odd or clunky, but there's only so much you can do when you localize something like this.
I don't feel the writing is anywhere near as bad as you make it out to be either. A lot of things are left up to interpretation or subtext, like Jin.....Jin became a perfect Flesh Eater because he had the ideal bond with his Driver, they were completely devoted to each other and trusted each other fully. They even invented the Driver and Blade weapon sharing that is used in XC2. It was because Jin knew how to become a Flesh Eater and it's what Lora wanted that he became so powerful. As cheesy as it is, it was their love that made him so powerful and have a full red core crystal. While Nia and Minoth were forced to consume human flesh. Minoth likely "failed" because it was forced up on him as an experiment, he had no bond with the human it came from. While Nia, Akhos, and Patroka seem to have had a somewhat close relationship to their Drivers. The game doesn't outright tell you this, but we get enough examples to infer that - the better the bond between Blade and Driver, the stronger the Flesh Eater.
For someone who is soooo into the series you seem to be blind by your bias of the game and seem to be making excuses where there isn't an excuse for things that they have done. Actual try to see what makes the game what is really is instead of nit picking on what someone else says that disagrees with your what seems like GOD of a game which is actually a 4/10 maybe a 5/10.
The game states there has never been a perfect flesh eater which is the reason Jin has his "health" problems, and as for the conversation parts, that's what localization is for. That type of dialogue is not an issue in other Japanese games because the localizers did their job. Also Aizuchi can only really be applied to a more formal or neutral situation, when it is done during scenes where the characters tensions are supposed to be high it is very unfitting. Yes the game does imply that there is a correlation between the bond of driver and blade and flesh eaters.
@@TheTesmic who hurt you?
@@marcobrosato7677 so the man who wrote a Shakespeare play about how this game is great isn't the hurt one but me calling him out on his bias and failure to look at this review in a adult way is. Oh and the man who left a comment asking who hurt someone on a TH-cam video isn't hurt/sad in some way. Unless you got something constructive watch from afar like everyone else.
@@TheTesmic there is nothing constructive about the comment you left pal
You are definitely right about the repeating dialogue though I’ll give you that
There are so many moments in xc2's story that show it's potential. When the gang are all firing on all cylinders I think they're at times better than the xc1 crew. There are moments of real emotional depth. But they are all too few and far between and many more moments that should work but don't due to the terrible voice acting. Combat is definitely more shallow than in xc1 but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the elemental combat when playing xc1. To me the perfect Xenoblade game exists between the two. If you could somehow merge the best qualities of both games you'd have something truly special.
I agree with most of your negative points. Though this game will always remain as a guilty pleasure for me (I’m not horny I swear, I just love the environments, exploration, combat, music, some of the characters, and the general atmosphere)
It's okay to be horny. There, I said it. In the 90's if someone complained about a game being too horny the players and the developers would tell them to pound sand. God I miss the 90's.
It's okay to be horny. There, I said it. In the 90's if someone complained about a game being too horny the players and the developers would tell them to pound sand. God I miss the 90's.
It's really impossible to engage people in a conversation about this game. I agree with pretty much all the critiques but people are so filled with hatred towards the worst parts of 2 that they will never be willing to see the good in it.
this, and they'll act like we don't like that they don't like the game, thats not it at all, we hate the misinfo and them giving it a bad rep, claiming crap like the game can be beaten with autoattack or hating on the game over comedy or character designs and other stuff, using their excuses the tropes are why the game is bad, or a big flaw in this review, hating on the nopon being all corny and meh meh meh in the game when its a literal quest plot point, theres a secret history where nopon changed their culture to act like that to make them seem cute so they could take over alrest. he says the game's trying to take itself too seriously, no, it knows the stuff is funny or seen as cringe and stuff and even mocks itself for its humor, its self aware, something he doesn't get and calls cringe. I couldn't even bear watching his whole review for his arguments. could have just said what he liked in it and said what he didn't like, thats fine, but when he started calling the game complete cringe and all these other excuses when this stuff can easily be glossed over and can be enjoyed even with the flaws, this started being a bad excuse for a review. good reviews are not meant to be overly critical like and bashing like this because it makes people think the game is bad when its just your opinion and is a disservice to the game. its okay to be critical but this is going overboard and people can make their own opinions instead of trusting this guy's review.
That will happen with a sequel to a series that has several games that do everything better.
@@cemarz lmao that’s a reach and a half. Both Xenoblade 1 and 2 are masterclasses in story and world, and are easily the best of all Xeno games. If you think Gears (which is an unfinished proof of concept piece that trades almost any interesting characters for philosophy that both Xenoblades do better) or Saga (which is famous for its flaws more than anything else online and is way way deeper in the cringe waifu stuff rabbit hole than even Xenoblade 2) are superior, that’s all preference, not fact of quality
3’s shaping up to be the best yet, and it’s clear it was more inspired by 2 than possibly any other game in the series lol
@@cemarz "Everything" better, is a very surface level analysis. I can guarantee you haven't experienced every aspect each Xeno game has to offer, and I won't claim that I have. There is so much more going on beneath the surface. Each title has it's strengths and weaknesses but they're all great games despite their flaws.
@sonic 1995 can’t be nostalgic if I haven’t played the series until the last 3 years. Gears is a story that tries to be deep through pretension, yet falls short from that due to lack of consistency or depth among much of the cast. Saga is a fanservice festival that puts XC2 to shame, relying on being directly connected to the Bible for its depth, and thus falls short despite the well done characters. Blade maintains the depth potential given by Gears, capitalizes on it through characters of or above the quality present in Saga, and takes it all with more consistency of quality and tone than either (especially in 1 and 3 but yes even in 2 overall). As someone who’s literally incapable of being nostalgic for these games and obviously reads further into their literary quality than you, I can guarantee you these are top tier sci-fi that’s the culmination of the writer’s previous works and the growth since they were created. Stop blindly hating them when the objective quality has something that everyone can enjoy at least somewhere
Highly suggest you actually check these stories out sometime, everyone deserves to have a chance of finding something they’ll enjoy in these high quality works, and given how 3 is still producing stuff now there’s no better time :)
WHERE did you find that "penis-kun is in confusion" meme at 29:34? That had me ROLLING
That's from WesSideLive
I finished 1 and 2 and only managed to get halfway through 3.I don’t get the love for these games and don’t want to play any of them again but each to their own.
After playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, yeah this game is still disappointing to me. Not only is it disappointing by the standards of a Xenoblade game, it's disappointing by the standards of modern JRPGs that went beyond expectation.
1:00:10 The ai makes this boss so annoying
40:02
Ok you're allowed to not like the dialogue in xc2, but calling drifting souls corny is taking it too far!
Yeah that's straight up illegal
@mrcristofer 2013 opinions
@mrcristofer 2013 opinions
@mrcristofer 2013 E D G E
@mrcristofer 2013 opinions
23:19
I remember not liking Xenoblade 2 at first because of the more light hearted story and wack combat. Didn't really have a problem with voice acting or the style/character design (but Jesus some characters were unnecessarily sexualized)
I'm happy I stuck with it because the story becomes a whole lot better and the combat gets a lot more interesting and fun. For me it wasn't a disappointment. It's a game that deserves the Xeno name.
And don't even get me started on the ost.
I don't think XB2's story is actually that light hearted, I'd even say it's darker than XB1's.
It can get so messed up (in a good way).
@@XelchanTheBrave Ehh it’s pretty lighthearted for like 90% of the game.
@@thekingofspeed8960 xenoblade 2 is lighthearted with dark moments, where as xenoblade 1 is dark, with light hearted moments.
@@cypher838 Yeah I like that way of describing it.
@@thekingofspeed8960 meh maybe if you judge it based off of opening hours. Xeno 1 started extremely dark but added more levity as the story went on. Xeno 2 starts with chapters 2 and 4 being more lighthearted, but 5 on having very few lighthearted moments compared to the dark or somber moments and subject matter. Both are good but basically inverse eachother with where the start and end, which I find 2 does better but love both
Psycho Mantis?
I was REALLY let down by Xenoblade 2. I really adore Xenoblade 1.
If I was 14, I'm sure I would have loved Xenoblade 2. Mostly for the horniness and because harem anime is made for 14 year olds. I mean, I don't have a problem with the flirting in the Tales games skits and the humor in those games. And I don't really have a problem with harem anime, but after Xenoblade 1 was so dire and serious, it was too much of a tonal shift. Imagine if Last of Us is a bad comedy harem game.
On the flip side, it's also why I really never liked GTA4, because it got more serious after the previous games. Made me like Saints Row 3 & 4 more for that generation, because they never took the game seriously. You get like the best hideout in the first hour or so in Saints Row 3.
But it's also not a great game and there's fewer abilities, slower progression, less interesting combos of abilites and characters and character builds. (This is on me) but I also kept forgetting that leveling up was mostly done at Inns, which also leads to that horniness again, because literally sleeping with your blades levels you up. I think it's a decent mechanic for leveling, but I would forget if I had adult life for 2 weeks and went back to the game.
I do love Nia, but also hate Rex and Tora.
Xenoblade 2 starts of comediec and gets seeious as it goes along?
Here’s my take on the game and literally just coming off finishing it a few days ago(playing torna now)..also played XC1 first and then XC3 second. I was going to skip this one but future redeemed made me playing it. Anyway what the game felt to me was that it wasn’t initially made to be a Xenoblade game but a stand alone game. Someone told monolith that they need to tie it in somehow hand way through. So they did
Mic it wasn’t a Xenoblade game and its own thing I find it would have been much better and more acceptable…this however felt botched and did nothing for the franchise. The game wasn’t horrible but not anywhere near amazing. It does look great though and playing it at 40+fps makes it a much better play through
It literally expands on Xenoblade 1's main villain and sets up Xenoblade 3, how does it add nothing to the franchise?
@@skylandersfan6954 because the game is shit and lore expansion isnt "'adding" to a franchise that could have been anthology
@@fieldkaiju When it actively improves aspects of 1 then yeah, it is adding. Xenoblade 1 couldve been an anthology but given how 2 and 3 expand on it and make it better, its better of that it isnt
@@skylandersfan6954 but it didnt improve any aspect of 1 ? In fact it's only a regression from 1 and X, and it's not even close as to how much worse it is compared to 1 and X
3 also isn't that good, they should have stayed with the Anthology serie idea, 3 makes 1 worse by the way by retconning it with 2's logic, which is faulty lmao
@@fieldkaiju It actively gives Zanza and Alvis' characters a lot more context and depth, which makes seeing them in Xenoblade 1 with that context so much more interesting
The game doesn't feel good to me. I feel like by trying to see the good, as many commenters put it, would put me in a state where I feel dishonest with myself. Feeling dishonest with myself is one of the worst feelings in the world. It doesn't feel good to me because I have an entirely valid experience that says no matter how hard I tried to adjust to it or game the system.
If you have problem with waypoints people need to read the description and learn the world I don’t think it’s that bad to be honest when you can teleport quickly all over the place - I’m used to playing classic wow I guess
Exactly, and people even use that as a main reason to hate on this game. Shows how much volume many of their complaints hold lmao
@mrcristofer 2013 it did fix it, or what little it needed to, as of like day 1. Everything was already there, they just made it easier for new players to find with early updates
@mrcristofer 2013 idk if you should be talking about irony when your own comment is one of the most ironically funny and contradictory things. Keep up the A+ comedy tho, it’s giving me a good laugh lol
@mrcristofer 2013 kinda did. Play the game to see it. If you’re not gonna play the game either way, why are you here?
@mrcristofer 2013 explain how I’m a hypocrite instead of posting one word responses like a child. Like what? Lmao I could be wrong but I think you might be one of the funniest trolls I’ve seen on this platform. Taking bad commenting to the next level lol
Reading the comments from the "fanboys and white knights" that just cannot take criticism seriously and call it blind hate really hurt me. I still very much enjoy this game despite its flaws and I ended up agreeing with a majority of the complains and criticism addressed in this video. Some were made as jokes to entertain with a laugh or two, while others were actually solid criticisms. I think the fact that he treated the game as stand-alone for this review really helped strengthen the critiques and made it less of about venting about a sequel to his GOAT game that ended up disappointing him. A major improvement from the last review.
Though I personally think that you should not have scored the game (even if it was for comedic/ironic purposes) since now people have a reason to brigade against you because you rated their perfect masterpiece a 6/10. I know that this might sound hypocritically, but even with agreeing with a lot of your arguments in both the videos you made, I do not personally believe that a 6/10 is representative of this game and it is probably closer to between a 7 or 8. I feel that you really glossed over the fun and immersive gameplay that is offered in the throughout the game. The exploration is breathtaking, the grinding has its fun points (though not the gacha/Ursula grinding, screw that), the Japanese dub is incredibly overlooked (not saying it excuses the bad English dub though, the combat is fun once you get a feel for it (it just takes WAY too long for that to happen), Torna's story telling being a HUGE improvement and offered some well needed context for some parts in the base game (though it is paid DLC, which sucks but it is well worth the price of admission), and I could go on.
While I do personally prefer Xenoblade 1, I can still enjoy Xenoblade 2 despite its many flaws. I am sorry that you were unable to do so even with a different perspective and new playthrough. Xenoblade 1 is also no stranger to its flaws too like: the weaker motivations for the villains in the endgame (the Trinity mostly comes to mind, Zanza and Egil are amazing, fight me), lack of character interaction between the main cast (other than the Fallan Arm), simplistic combat system compared to its successors, Reyn/Sharla/Dunban's relevance to the plot fading during endgame, Riki not being relevant period, the Kill the Wrathful God/Friendship is Power clichés (though arguably, I think Xenoblade 1 incorporates these "clichés" masterfully are not to forward about, though I see why people do not like it), and other things I probably could mention but this comment is long enough already.
Point being, I am one of the few people that actually respects your opinion despite some minor disagreement that I have with your critique and you had some sound arguments. It would have been nice if you closed with some more positive things about the game to make the negative stuff a little less of a burden though. I can relate though with your past experiences with the white knight and fanboys of this game, seriously they really need to take some proper literature and writhing lessons if they are so confident the game's story is a masterpiece. I also think that the radical Xenoblade 1 fanboys need to calm the hell down and just accept that people like JRPGs for different reasons and sometimes you need a more lighthearted story to balance things out. This petty fighting in the community NEEDS to stop, we can have civil conversations and critiques on our favorite games just do not toxin dicks about the game you prefer. Anyway, that's it (though you probably will not read this since you did mention in your pinned comment that you were done diving into comments) I just wanted to put my thoughts down. Let's hope that Monoliths next game brings the two communities together with some miracle writing (probably won't happen though but I know that can do it).
In xenoblade 1, they didn't use the power of friendship to defeat zanza.
Alvis simply just stole zanza's power and added it to shulk, and shulk was able to destroy him.
You said this isn’t how people talk to each other in times of turmoil but the lil furry dudes aren’t people KEKW
It's like Takahashi lost his edge throughout the years.
And people want Rex and Pyra in Smash Bros? No thank you i’ll have Elma instead.
I'll have either
I need Malos
I’ll take Pyra and Mythra since they’re better characters
Oh wait they’re already in lmao
@@DavidHosey1 At least it wasn’t Rex
@@curesaul5749 I guess, Rex is still well written. He's just annoying as hell lmao
Also isn't he along with the rest of the main cast technically in too? They all have animations and voicelines I think, with Rex even photobombing some victory screens lol
2 is the first one I played and it was so garbage I couldn't even finish it hell it made me not wanna touch another game in the franchise. But I played the first one and it's so much better than the 2nd.
The XBC2 fanbase is like the KH fanbase without the self-awareness. KH fans know the game's stories make no fucking sense, but XBC2 fans will defend this game til their dying breath. I've seen toxic fan communities before, but there is nothing I have ever seen in the League community or Overwatch community or Destiny community that will ever rival the sheer idiocy of the XBC2 community. It's like they're all huddled around a 13-year old's math class notebook scribbles trying to figure out the deep psychological meaning of it. It's a bad story. Great game, lots to like, bad story. Conversation is over.
Xenoblade 2's story on paper is pretty good, it's execution was just sloppy
@@cypher838 I agree actually. It's like someone had a cool idea of an alternate universe and how it got to be that way, but then when they sat down to write an actual story from the point of view of actual people who would then experience that story, they just replaced the writer's room with their teenage kids.
@@Tohlemiach this story is extremely straight forward so it’s easy to understand. The characters are more relevant and well developed than Xeno 1’s characters. I fail to see how this is a bad story in the least
Look I’m not even a mega fan of this game, it’s not my favorite of all time or anything. But this is a legitimately good story to the point where saying otherwise means you either haven’t played it or weren’t even paying enough attention or get immersed in it. Rpgs are some of my favorite games, with stuff like Mass Effect, Yakuza, Witcher, Dragon Age, Nier, and others being some of the best stories told. Idk where Xeno 2 ranks among those, but it’s definitely great enough to rank among them for some of the best rpg stories. Saying otherwise is kinda laughable to the point that makes me feel like this might be more of a troll/bait comment than an actual take
@@DavidHosey1 The Xeno series is one of my favorite series and I bought a Switch just so I could play this game. I've put 350 hours into it because the gameplay is the most fun I've ever had in a JRPG. I was EXTREMELY excited about this game and was hoping it would be even better than the first one. If anyone should have liked this game, it should have been me, but because I'm not retarded, it was extremely obvious how awful the story and characters were from the start.
I know what the fuck I'm talking about, and the fact that you think someone who disagrees with you has to just be a troll is really sad. I wish I knew what it was like to think I was a god incapable of being wrong, like you clearly do.
But it's fine, I get it. You're only 12, so of course you'd like a story about big titty anime girls doing harem rom-com anime gags and living happily ever after with their husbando-kun. Super deep story. I was particularly moved by that one part where the little furby guy accidentally turns on his sex-robot's maid mode. You know, the robot that looks like a little girl? The one he hides a bikini in his closet for? That was a particularly strong character moment for me. Really up there with the classics like Lord of the Rings.
@@Tohlemiach mate I replied with a level-headed comment that was simply trying to point out somewhere you might be wrong. Instead you're responding with something that sounds like it's coming out of a 16 year old edgelord's book of "roasts?" Lmao get over yourself kid
People can disagree on things, but there's a huge difference on seeing something that's not for you and talking about that thing like it's inherently bad because of it not being for you. I don't really think you "know what the fuck you're talking about," nor that you're more qualified to appreciate a game's story simply because you've put more hours into it. It has one beginning, one path to follow, and one ending. All of the Xenoblade Chronicles games are long and great, but have a single path linear story. We've all seen them, you're not special bud. Face it, you overhyped the game like all of the brainlets that overhyped Cyberpunk cause of the Witcher series, and in the end since it wasn't up to your specific expectations for what you wanted you got upset. This doesn't make you special either, since the entire Xeno fanbase is full of people trying to like one of the games way over the other two, often bashing the other two whenever necessary. But at least the fans like that for X and 2 are usually either more quiet or more open minded than people like you who praise the first game like it replaces the disappointment of a life you've lived up till now
Also great job at being a hypocrite at the end there, and literally picking out the very few examples that exist like they're representative of anything more than a total of 5 minutes or so in a 200+ hour long game. And then on top of that somehow getting those wrong too, like how Poppi literally 1.) grows up and 2.) gains self agency to the point where she doesn't have to rely on Tora and his orders. Or completely omitting the fact that all of the creepy things that Tora has done at the beginning is ongoingly called out, since there isn't a single character who's really okay with him being like that? And then him actually changing too, which is sad to have had to grow out of at all but a sign of character development nonetheless? Damn you just made such a compelling argument with all of your points that might as well have said "I never played this game all the way through," maybe I will go back to the disappointingly underdeveloped party members of the first game like Reyn, who starts the game one way with one mindset and ends it in almost the same exact way (keep in mind I love the cast of characters in 1 as well, Reyn especially). Oh and maybe you forgot the tiny little things that definitely aren't prevalent at all in the series, like the constant sexualized camera angles in 1 and X to a higher degree than 2, or that one chick who had some sort of unfolding canon on the tits of her bikini, or how fans were literally boycotting X at first since the localized version showed less skin on the 13 year old. If you have a problem with 2, then you must be downright disgusted with the rest of the series. Lmao grow up and enjoy the game for the good stuff like it's meant to be kid, or maybe your mother will see you playing an almost softcore game and take away your "switch time" for the week
You did miss a few good points, like how the game handles quest experience, giving the player the option of using immediately or not, so they can complete quest without worry of getting over leveled.(not that EXP isn't plentiful in the game as is),all the Blade quest are voiced in the important scenes(whether or not you like the blade quest is its own thing.), it provides the artist for each rare blade, every rare blade has unique special attack animations, being able to refight Unique monsters at any time, and it's the reason we have Finch and really what more could we ask for?
As someone who played through the game 7 or 8 times. I think the Tora focus chapter is supposed to be a joke, or at least that was the vibe I got from it. It has a parody of old mecha stuff with a SD(super deformed) robot maid after all. For me the tonal whiplash in this chapter comes from after fighting the big parody. How am I supposed take the villains who are working with these 2 nopon seriously anymore? And they don't do this once but twice! I'm expected to take Nials death seriously, but how can I when he died to Giant SD robo maid piloted by a Saturday morning cartoon villan!?(also why did Nial step out of the barrier like that would do something?) there needs to be some down time between these 2 things. That being said.... I actually like the Tora chapter, comedy can be very subjective, and this games comedy is the polar opposite of "dry humor". While It's type of humor isn't my favorite(this also coming form someone who is a big fan of Disgaea's humor) I honestly think I would like the story better if was a pure comedy and parody of Monolith's writing style. With that fight at the end of the Tora chapter the way you can deal with the big party wipe move is by abusing I-frames. Which is a huge flaw with this games battle system. Almost every boss is designed to have a big party wipe move that your supposed to I frame abuse your way through. I don't want to compare it to the first game because I agree with judging a game by its own merits, but this is a enemy design choice that I think was brought over from the first. The difference is the fist game had visions to give players warnings for these big attacks and options to get around them. Honestly the combat system is not complex, it is just a mess. It reminds me a lot of Xenosaga episode 2's combat system. In that game it takes around 5x the amount steps and inputs just to achieve the same result as in episode 1. It's not that people didn't understand the combat that they don't like it, they just do not enjoy it and that's fine. Personally I think this game should have just gone full action game seeing as how damage focused this game is, having an actual dodge and block button would add something to the battles other than just mashing buttons since 90%(if not more) of the arts in this game just deal damage. A good RPG relies on having a variety of status(buffs/debuffs) that affect both enemies and the party. Like you said the only real big difference between characters and the arts they use is animation time. positioning is worthless in this game in fact movement is actively punished since you can't attack while moving which means less DPS and you risk losing affinity. I think this game held itself back by trying to be a xenoblade game when it didn't have to be. Comparing this games story to something like Bleach is fair. I read through most of the manga and I enjoyed Bleach. Is it a master at story telling? Hell no! But it understands that and embraces what it is.XC2 doesn't feel like it embrace how over the top action it is and tries to tell a slow grounded story along side it which just does not blend well. For example, at Indol when the whole meeting of nations takes place nothing comes of it, its just there because they made this subplot of war that had no relevance. At the end the queen(Rahqura, I think its spelt?) just seems to have some suspicion of Nial... and that's it! it never follows through on it. the whole anti-blade thing just gets dropped, the debate on the relationship between blade and drivers never has any relevance past that point, that weird scene at the funeral where they're just like "here is Mythra's cleavage."(this has nothing to do with anything I just find it a weird scene that is so awkward I can't help but laugh.). I want to clarify. Just because a character is written to be "2-dimensional" does not make it a bad charater, just as writing a "3-dimensional" character does not make a good character. it comes down to how the character is implemented. It didn't matter that the game told me at the end that Akkhos was supposed to be sentimental and cared about his sister, when all the game showed me was that he was a sociopath who would cut off a little girls finger and send it someone in a box because it would be thematic.
This is just me venting but, why do people think that flicking the control stick to abuse an exploit with the game to auto attack faster is a defense for the games combat!? if it was intentional it would not look so glitchy repeating the same animation and voice clip every time! And no it does not make the game more enjoyable(IMO I should state) I actively chose not to do that the first time because it looked ridiculous and felt cheap. The player should not have to exploit the game to make it enjoyable it should innately be enjoyable. Also am I the only one who felt the game was a little to easy? like it went a little overboard on making it accessible to even people who never played an RPG before? That's what difficulty options are for. Then the first one they added was easy option... Not saying that an being easy is a flaw with it. It just not for me.(unless its Kirby)
As someone living and teaching kids in Japan, I can attest that a lot of Japanese people actually like this kind of humor and even talk like this, repeating things back to show active listening. Seeing how awkward the people can be puts a lot of light into how games like this become successful. Not saying it's good or anything, just how it is. I refuse to play this, though after seeing the trailer for 3, I might give that a go. Already looks to have solved a lot of character design issues.
I love how you found problems that I didn't see, even if this game cursed me too, and I searched during long years all the problem I had with. I just think this game is living because it wields the name Xenoblade, unless it's a weeb shit jrpg
And still the best selling game in the series. Beating out every version of the original, even its definitive version.
@@Nerwrax15 Just because it's a best seller, doesn't mean it's good. Pokémon, Isekais anime, Star Wars post-logy, Dragon Ball Super are all super goods bests sellers but they are really not considered as masterpieces according to the vast majority
@@bourdinantoine6897 thats fine, what about review scores? 83 metascore and 8.6 userscore on Metacritic. It has scores and sales to back it up.
Sure you got passionate fans who wish this game didn't exist, so what? You also got passionate fans who love this game as much as any other xenoblade. With 2 being their favorite.
@@Nerwrax15 Review score I don't think it's an argument because what are the criters to define a mark on a game ? And how do you use all the time the sames criters for all games like XC2, Fifa, Call of Duty, Street Fighter and wathever you want I don't think it has sense.
If they are people to hate this game, well I think it's an indicator. And if they are people to love it, that's great ! If this game makes people happy it's a good thing and I won't say anything about that. But i still won't considerate XC2 as a good game, and will never be agree with these people and I will tend to avoid these peoples because I know in what circle they belong. I have already tried my best to find the positive in this game, and I just finished to hurt myself more by doing so
@@bourdinantoine6897 a little dramatic but fair enough.
The thing I hate the most in this game is how generic it is, it doesn't try anything that no other game has tried, it doesn't go away from anything every game does, it ain't lighthearted but it isn't dark either. It is... nothing! It feels like just another game that goes on for too long
Are you saying the game isnt full of personality or passion? Cus thats, not true at all
@@skylandersfan6954 personality and passion are worthless in terms of quality lmao
@@fieldkaiju I didnt say it did?
57:55 the game wanted you to take that seriously? its a mech battle against a giant maid with some music that came out of a 90s mecha anime? there is no way that they wanted you to take that seriously?
Note that the game is huge about the cultures of different lands and people as you go throughout the game and the accents change when you go to new titans which is incredible detail, nopons stuff is serious for nopon but you the player are not meant to take it seriously but see its serious for the nopon but laugh at the craziness.
No. The game wanted you to take everything surrounding that event seriously. Mythra literally cries during Tora's reunion with his father and Lila's death is obviously coated in this serious, emotionally deep tone. But that fight is sandwiched between those 2 moments that the game tries to take far too seriously.
@@thegamingchronicler you can use that logic to any game or scenes close to each other, try me name your favourite rpg and i will find a moment like that.
What? We're talking about this game and how this specific game handles its story. Throwing some weird false equivalency with a random game that i like isn't a justification for this game.
Plus it's not that these scenes are just close to each other, they're literally linked in relevance to the story and themes but are inconsistent in their tone. Also, as I mentioned in the video, these moments are constant in this game and exist in place of serious character building moments instead of being supplemental to them. This lessens the severity of actual serious moments and makes it hard for me to take the game serious when it wants me to. That's tonal inconsistency. Honestly, I feel like you weren't even paying attention to the actual arguments laid out in the video.
@@thegamingchronicler i didn't you sounded whiney at things for being "anime" and XC1 is my fav at the start and i got board and started skipping around. Especially since i just remembered you said XC1 is your fav, one of the most anime games ever: teenagers kill god with the power of friendship cant go more anime than that.
and remember riki talking about his kids in nopon talk on the beach after the cast get separated or when the titan is going to commit genocide of the Bionis and it cuts to the captain hanging on for his life comedically by his troops?
the XC2 Tora and Rosa scenes are like that except Rex doesn't hog that part of the story away from the serious part of the comedic relief character unlike Shulk.
Dude... I literally said the "too anime" thing wasn't an inherent problem for me. You didn't even pay attention to that. I'm done.
I'm no native English speaker and besides, I like to play my JRPG in Japanese, so I haven't heard the English dub before... But now I understand why people complain about that. I'd cut my balls at the first hour listening to anime kids with that annoying British accent.
Xenoblade 2 is the sole reason I have a Nintendo switch
Good reason lol
I feel like he was simply looking for things to hate on so much that he didn’t appreciate 90% of this game. He acts like most of the game is spent for filler content and is almost all anime tropes when if anything the entire game subverts most all anime tropes in the main story. He acts like the voice acting is atrocious with the edit when only one of the clips he used is actually bad, with all of the other clips being taken in ways to make them sound worse than they are (plus most of the voice actors are top tier, like Mythra or Nia). He acts like the dialogue is constantly badly or unrealistically written when it’s more human sounding with the writing than most games I can think of (and also is translated through Japanese which has different cadences than us, like the repetition). The list goes on
I understand what he’s trying to say in this video, but there’s more holes in his arguments than he claims there are in Xenoblade’s writing and it makes it hard to take the few valid points seriously. I’d say that this video isn’t even close to representative of the actual game or it’s story
@sonic 1995 oh look, someone who doesn’t know how to pay attention to the story and read into it! Lmao you can dislike a story that’s inherently great due to its quality of writing and content, hell there are some objectively good stories that I don’t like either, but it doesn’t change the fact that a story is still objectively good
Still disappoint you?
1:03:12
You're pronouncing it wrong, and thanks for reminding me that I'll never get her
For me xenoblade 2 is good maybe great game. It just can’t live up to xenoblade 1. It just has a lot of flaws.
As somone who played Xenosaga trilogy, Xenoblade, Xenoblade X and Xenoblade 2 I can say without any doubt Xenoblade 2 is is the worse Xeno game, even worse than Xenosaga 2, which is also awful.
The game is indeed fun to play but I didn't care at all about the cast Except for Zeke and maybe Pyra and Nia.
To me, it doesn't even feel like a Xeno game, it feels kinda like a spin-off of 1. The art style and tone clash painfully and, with much of the character designs being unnecessary, makes the game feel more separate, and distinct (?) from the other games. I'm not saying being different in of itself is why I feel this way, I'm saying that it feels like a game from another series. When I think of Xeno, I don't see Tora, Pyra/Mythra, or Rex (although I do recognize their nuances), I think of Shion, Albedo, Shulk, Fei, or Citan. Personally, I can't say where I see 2 in terms of quality, but honestly, I'm not really feeling it either...
"In your opinion"
@@akoCmudshake ?
@@akoCmudshake its facts
@@akoCmudshake Well duh, is always someone else Opinion.
Honestly i prefer xc1 xcx and xc3 over xc2 anyday just feels like a mistake and i pray they dont make another game like it again.
So many disingenuous arguments, so many bad takes, and so many cases of posting your own Ls without even realizing. Thanks for the video, kept laughing throughout!
@sonic 1995 Too many to count, and I've got better things to do than cataloguing every laughable thing said in the video. I'd say it's pretty self-explanatory how much of it is awful, but I guess I have too high expectations of this videos audience.
@sonic 1995 k
@@TheMunkis very bad video, so bad in fact i wont give any example and just say it is very very very bad because it is so bad i cant find arguments
The whole 'There is no objectively bad or good games/movies' nonsense is annoying as hell to hear. It's a misunderstanding of a popular work that postulates that you don't need to know the history of an author to understand a work. Objectively good or bad is a thing and you laid out several examples of objectively bad aspects of this games writing and design.
What were those objectively bad things?
@@skylandersfan6954 broken continuity ? broken characters ? shallow gameplay ?
@@fieldkaiju Like what? Shallow gameplay is crazy cus the gameplay is legit just Xenoblade 1's combat system but a lot more refined and interesting
@@skylandersfan6954 no, 1 had different characters playing differently, 2 has blades and drivers that all want to spam as much as possible, with only a single strategy in mind because the gmae has no other, litterally the game play itself and if you found the pretty animations more interesting it simply goes to show you're easily impressionable, and probably explain why you like Xenoblade 2, you don't think past surface level
you're lucky I just published my own XC2 video : th-cam.com/video/i7-vwPDXdrg/w-d-xo.html
@@fieldkaiju 2 has the exact same archetypes of characters 1 has, you could make the exact same argument based on your logic that 1 is just about spamming arts too
Who plays japanese games with english dub?
Many people, why?
me, like resident evil, silent hill or metal gears
I mean the dub of the first game was pretty good
If it's an option why wouldn't you use it?
This is a good dub save for like 5 scenes. Plus it’s more unique since it’s a European dub (which is fairly uncommon but adds to the world building)
If I were to chose between this game and Final Fanasy XIII (entire trilogy included) and XV, I'd go for FF XIII and XV.
Never played the first, I played this for 25 hours I think? The gameplay was just too atrocious to continue. Nothing I did mattered, everything I did was based on building up combo. The enemy I was fighting had zero effect on what I did during a fight. Wait for cooldowns, combo elements based on whatever was possible by the top right interface, Destroy orbs, repeat. People say it's strategic or tactical and it gets better and all that, but it really didn't. It's not complex, it just pretends to be.
Also, you didn't mention how Vandham's sacrifice is completely undermined by the situation playing out in a way that the sacrifice had no effect on anything. He didn't save anyone, because in the end mythra shows up and solves things.
That point was in my old review. I didn't mention it here because it seemed redundant to do so.
then you'd absolutely hate XB1, if the hated the gameplay of 2, 1's gameplay is far worst.
@@takarahayashi4124 I dunno, I heard you can at least move while attacking, which would make the skills that partially rely on positioning less pointless.
But I don't intend to play the first one, this one left such a bad taste D:
@@nswmeeuwes89 Honestly, you should give Xenoblade 1 a shot. A LOT of people who didn't like the second game loved the first one (myself included). It's a much tighter and more consistent experience overall and it doesn't fall into most of the trappings present in Xenoblade 2 (no annoying gatcha element, the combat is much easier to learn and doesn't feel as homogenous, the story has a constant momentum, with a lot of twists and turns along the way, the cast showcases a lot of development and everyone feels important to the story, the fanservice isn't nearly as egregious).
Don't write off the Xeno series because of 2. It's the odd one out, in more ways than one.
@@Skallva XC2's combat is literally deeper XC1 combat. The gacha elements are annoying, but many blades in XC2 are guaranteed, including the strongest ones that aren't named Kosmos and Dagas. You have Mythra, her ascended form, Poppi-qtpi, Herald, Wulfric, Sheba. In Post game, you will have T-elos for absolutely free and you can resonate her on Zeke and get Mikhail, a great blade for Morag, just by talking to him. If you get the harder content, then several strong dlc characters are guaranteed: Crossette, Corvin, Shulk, Fiora, and Elma.
A problem in XC2 is that they don't tell you who is the strongest or the weakest with ether cannons, axes, bit balls, katanas, and dual discs.
aside from the gotcha complaint and problem with the tutorials, I did not find a single thing I agreed with about his complaints.
i dont get how dudes like you will admit the english VA is garbage, and then play through it in english a second time instead of just picking the better audio track lmao
this is like some "definition of insanity" shit
He could be like me and just find the english dub the lesser of two evils. English dub wasn't great, but it had more fitting voices than the Japanese dub had.
Japanese voice acting in general especially for females is grating on my ears a lot of the time and at that point you should just turn the voices off and just read the damn subtitles
This is the only game of the series I did not buy because of the weird tone of the story and sexualization. I ended up watching the cutscenes the month before Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came because I didn't want to miss anything from the story.
You pretty much nailed most of the problems I had with the story, but since you didn't mention I have to add what for me was the worst offender regarding the dissonance in the game.
I couldn't remember when exactly happened in the story, probably at one of the points where they discussed the blade cycle. The game straight up tells you that some people take advantage of the memory loss to steal female core crystals and basically sell them as sex slaves.
This, mind you, is the same game than invites the player to collect as many Blades as possible, being most of them females, anime waifus with desings that appeal to a whide variety of fetishes and anime archetypes. Female blades that when awakened present themselves through a series of out of place, sometimes questionable, choreographed cutscenes where they express their complete devotion to you. Also, some of their desings are just...
This is also the same game where you end up in a harem with Pyra, Mythra and possibly Nia, all three of them being Blades.
Like which one is it? What the fuck happened with the writing of the game? You want to sell us your game through overly sexualized gacha-obtained waifus cattering to every anime fetish ever or you actually don't condone this view of blades as sexual objects and we are just supposed to gloss over every time you show them as such in the game.
Can you not comprehend that sexualised =/= objectified? Women are allowed to present themselves in whatever way they want, but someone forcing them into that against their will is bad. Do you not understand that? The entire point of the story is that blades aren't objects
@@skylandersfan6954 A character like Bayonetta is sexualized but not objectified, it empowers her, it's a female power fantasy. She is in control. That's not there for the male players to feel aroused.
Please explain to me what other reason do you imagine could there be behind the vastly female blade roster that seem to weirdly pander a lot of fetishes or waifu tropes (some of them with awful designs that only seen to exist for the purpose of sexualization, objectification and male gazing instead of if it fits the character or not) versus the like 4 or 5 male blades there are in the game.
And while you are at it, also explain what's the purpose of the "ecchi" scenes in the game, the camera angles in multiple cutscenes that seem to focus for some weird reason on the breasts or thighs of the female characters, try to give you a little peek under their skirts or shit like that. Surely, objectification wasn't their intention.
I know objectification it's not the same as sexualization. But this game clearly objectifies women as sexual objects a lot of times.
What bothers me it's that at some points the plot of the game tries to get across the message of "Hey, treating Blades like objects is wrong", specially female ones which are stated to be sold as sex slaves. But at most of the times the game seems keen to indulge the male player by portraying them as cute mannequins with big boobs and asses to stare at. And that without mentioning when the game isn't playing off lolicon and pedo shit as a joke (like what happens with Poppi at several points of the game). What is that besides objectification of the female characters?
Yeah, some of them may have actual development and tender moments in the story, but there is also a lot of them where they are treated as object, a way to pull of dirty jokes, indulge in the fetishes of the male players (tsunderes, kuuderes, mommies, lolis or maids among many many others in the blade roster) and have you collecting them like waifus in a fucking gacha game.
Also, they are characters, they can't precisely present themselves in any way or form. That's true for real people, but this is not the case. They were clearly design with at least some intent of making them as a sexy prize for the male Otaku players, and it shows in a lot of aspects of the game.
@@alvo_Roto Be fr and tell me that a naked dom was not put in a game to get male players getting aroused lol. Also, you cant objectify a character soley on design, thats not how it works AT ALL. While characters in Xenoblade 2 are sexualised, that is never drawn attention to because the fact of the matter is thats just how they choose to dress. Its their choice, and its not objectification for a woman to willingly express themselves with their own agency within the context of the story and the world, thats literally what Bayonetta does. A lot of blades arent even sexualised at all, whether male or female, because people express themselves in different ways. Dromarch, Roc, Aegaeon, Wulfric, Godfrey, Floren, Akhos, Mikhail, Sever, Cressidus, Perdido, Dagas, Poppibuster, Corvin, Crossette, Kassandra, Adenine, Azami, Theory, Pandoria, do I need to go on?
@@skylandersfan6954
Bayonetta is basically female Dante from DMC. Would you say he was designed for women to lust over him or to be a cool protagonist for men to admire? Cause I'd say the latter, and the same applies to Bayonetta.
And again, I am not saying objectification is only a design thing. But it is definitely an important factor, specially when it's something that happens prominently in a lot of the female characters of the game. There is also the part of my comment where I mentioned the boob and ass shots in the cutscenes, the ecchi humor and dirty jokes using female characters that you conveniently decided to ignore.
"it's never drawn attention to"
-Pyra literally the first fucking time you meet her: "place your hand on my breast" (could have said crystal, but no, writers decided breast)
Rex: *blushes because Big booba girl he just met just told him to put his hand on her breasts*
-Mythra like the second or third cutscene after she is introduced: Rex you pervert, you were staring at my boobs
Pyra the next day: *pats Rex in the head while a first plane of her boobs in fucking first person view from Rex's perspective is showing on screen*
-Poppi when is introduced as a CHILD character that's basically just been born being stated to have been programmed by Tora as a some kind of maid sex robot with pervy intention and matching sexy maid outfits. Mind you, this is played as a fucking joke, mind you again, she is a child. It is just so damn tasteless. Later in the story she gets an upgrade via teenage maid transformation and the name of her evolved forms are literally called "cutie" and "cutiepie".
-Brihgid when introduced: *first plane of boobs before even showing her face*
-The party just falled from the Cloud sea, this is supposed to be a dramatic point in the story where you explore a world that died under the cloud sea. Meanwhile Mythra: "Let's go Rex" *underskirt shot*
-The whole cutscene of Dahlia awakening.
-Nia when she reveals that she is actually a blade and her clothes change for some reason to now show her cleavage and she is suddenly wearing no pants and underwear that if it were to be a bit thinner we could be able to see her fucking vagina. Also, this happens because she now declares to the male protagonist. (And also also, the maybe really concerning thing that Pyra and Mythra, which are supposedly inmortal beings hundreds and hundreds of years old and Nia, who is a somewhat older blade that has lived far beyond what any human could, are attracted to Rex by some weird reason who is also A FUCKING KID).
The hell you mean it's never drawn attention to???? Are we even talking about the same game???? And this is only some examples I can say on the top of my head. Do I need to go on?
And congrats, yeah as I said not all the female blades are sexualized, but some of the not sexualized ones of them pander to more moe, lolicon shit or some waifu tropes, even if not sexualized. Also funny how in your examples you have to mention several of the few MALE blades there are in the game, which (surprise surprise) are not sexualized, or the ones that are just fucking animals like Dromarch. We were taking about female sexualization and objectification, if you found yourself in the need to mention animalistic and male blades as a way to make your list of "not sexualized female blades list" seem bigger, we may have a problem. But yeah, some of the female blade don't have a sexualized design. That doesn't erase the fact that a lot of them do.
I'll say it again, they are characters. THEY ARE NOT REAL. They can't choose to present themselves as anything. These are not real women. They can't express willingly as anything else than their creators choose to. But yeah, Bayonetta as you said is at least DESIGNED to present herself as a powerful women that wields her sexuality, that's true and it's great for women. Sadly, that creates two big holes in your reasoning: first, you start you message contradicting that by implying she was put in the game as dominatrix to get men aroused which is just not the case btw because her whole point is her wielding her sexuality as a badass powerful women; second, none of the female characters in Xenoblade 2, at least none i can remember, express themselves in that way at all. Look at my examples above, does any of them look to you like a character trying to willingly express themselves as person wielding their sexuality and dressed like that because they want to, or maybe it's women being presented in a pervy way as sexy objects to get men aroused? 🤔 I wonder which one is it.
@@alvo_Roto Dante is not naked most of the time he's on screen, be fucking fr. Most of what you mentioned here are camera shots that the game uses with any other characters, they only look that way because of the designs. How is framing them as any other character proving my point? The only legitimate point you have is the Tora thing, and he's called out for this by both Pyra and Brighid (also hes like this for one cutscene). The scene where Rex touches Pyra's core isnt played remotely sexual. Saying the sexualisation actively detracts from the themes is dumb when its a purely visual thing. You are allowed to dislike it, as you are allowed to dislike any design but 1, that doesn't make the game bad on its own and 2, the entire series has been like this. There is absolutely no reason to single 2 out for this when 1 had a shit ton of horny outfits for both Sharla and Fiora, X had boob enhancing options for a 14 year old and Xenosaga ends with the 2 main characters being nude
I don't even need to wach this video. XC2 is a *wonderful* game. Period.
Cringe
Oof
Nah it’s trash
You poor lost soul
Well at least we know what type of people are leaving all the dislikes...
rent free
No, actually it costs money to play this game, nothing about this is free and personally I do feel that a lot of my life was wasted playing this excuse for a game
@@excalibur2772 Aside from it trashing Nia and Morag or a great portion of blades in the end game and some shitty multi-layer Gormott shenanigans, it's pretty nice to play.
@@justice8718 That's entirely subjective and I happen to disagree
Gacha anime troupes cringe galore I enjoyed it my first playthrough but I'm currently struggling to get back into even torna dlc is hard to fully enjoy I feel like I wasted 30 bucks