Hey King I want you to know that I played Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive after listening to your video on it twice. I went on to play XC2 and the Golden Country not long after. Patiently waiting with hype for XC3 now. Big ups KingK!
I must say i quite agree on most of the stuff you say in this video. It was very well made. Only thing i personally disagree with is the sexualisation bad part, mostly because i personally dont care, and i actually liked pyra and mythras design. The fact that they were sexualised did not detract from my enjoyment of the game, and in fact enhanced it in some ways, as i now see it as a big middle finger to woke culture. It was a game heavily influenced by japanese culture and their not give a damn attitude and i love every minute of it.
"XC2 created a schism in the fanbase that never really healed." Can we appreciate the balls of monolith to make XC3's plot about the war between XC1 fans and XC2 fans?
HA! I am suddenly more compelled to play it! Was already interested because JRPG with big world but THAT interpretation? Oh I'm curious now! That and I watched some streams and I love Eunie's character.
I just saw it as the natural course of things. The big bang was the creation of the two worlds. When the expansion stops, the compression begins. The two worlds of XC1 and XC2 are combining or due to the war, a clash. But you're interpretation is spot on. The creator basically did the meme "Let them fight"
Right when the “talking about a anime game on the internet” line was said, a war game add started playing that was just straight gunfire and explosion sound effects. It was perfect
It's so fucking cool man, easily one of the coolest and most interesting ways you can tie together two seemingly unrelated games from the same series lmao
Xenoblade chronicles 3 sucked balls when they explained that shit between 1 and 2. Most boring Xenoblade game I ever played. I felt nothing for the characters, storyline was boring and political, and weird as shit lol
@@someguy3263 The battle mechanics was fun, the storyline not so much the gameplay overall felt like a boring game, I had to push myself to finish it and level up all the class system because of my no drop rule. Xenoblade 3 did not sell so well compared to 2, so you know that it went downhill. The politics btw was from the idiology of the villians, and the leaders of the world. How can you not see it lol
Perhaps my favorite thing about Poppi is the fact that she sounds more human the longer the game goes on. Probably one of my favorite examples of a robot developing emotions in media.
The true fan’s dilemma right there. It’s a game that has low points for sure, but comes out as something substantially greater than the sum of its parts.
Rex pretty much boils down to "if there is no example, then I'll BE the example." He deserves more credit then just being written off as a "generic Shonen protagonist"
He is pretty generic i'm ngl I can sum up his situation with he's the MC so the story doesn't fucks him for being a naive optimus like everyone else in the story so ofc he will spelt hero lines. I saw this make fun of the underdog till he becomes the strongest in the universe through willpower been to death mean while everyone keeps reminding you that he's a kid running the trope of "can't judge a book by its cover" I like Rex he does his job as protagonist don't have a problem with him like everyone else. He's nothing groundbreaking or treading newground like the shills make him out to be when ik protagonist like Velvet Crowe or Nier exist. Rex is just Good enough to care about him & feel sometimes that's all you need.
That’s what I’m saying. Everyone that loves this game knows it’s HEAVILY flawed, but the fact that we love it anyway goes to show how much heart it has. Truly one of my favorite games ever, just no more gatcha again… please…
Maybe it's the loud minority, but most of the XC2 fans I've seen and interracted with act like the game is flawless. Even going as far as saying it's better than XC1 in every possible way. So I don't know if "everyone" is the right word. But like I said, might just be the loud minority.
Wait what????? So do u hate the gacha mechanic themselves or u dont like the blades from them? Tbh i really loved all the special blades we got from them. I seriously wanted something like that in the sequel… Sigh
@@klamity2514 You are getting something like that in XC3. It's called the Hero system. It's just a better version because the gacha mechanic is no more~
“I love Xenoblade Chronicles 2, despite it all” is the best way to describe this game. Out of my all time favorite games, Xeno2 is easily the game I have the most problems with. Yet, despite it all, I cannot call it anything less than a masterpiece. Great video btw, you keep on making fantastic content.
@@Arcessitor disagree. A game can have massive flaws. But if its you favourite thing. Its definetly a masterpiece over other games. Just a matter of perspective
@@Arcessitor Perfection will never exist. Masterpieces have huge flaws. Any masterpiece. The only masterpieces that have no flaws at all, are the ones which never got made, and remained in the perfect world of ideas.
@@themasterladisaster4336 That's not how that works. A Masterwork is something that shows great artistry, the highest tier of skill. If it's just your favorite thing, that does make it a masterwork - I'm sure you know many games that are better made. Some of Xenoblade's most notable flaws are explicitly because their most experienced staff were busy with a different game.
@@AusSP but the concept of a masterpiece/masterwork is subjective. It is all in the perspective of the person that views that piece of artwork. For example botw to me is a masterpiece, while many find its flaws to be to much and that makes the game unbearable. and I find red death to to he a massive piece of shit while many other find it to be a masterpiece. Are you going to tell me that that im wrong or right base on my subjective views of those piece of art? Heck even the concept of how people view score, what a masterpiece is, what a bad game is, what a bad narrative is still fall into a certain level of subjectivity. And whilenthey are objective thing within an analysis, for example good graphics, good animation, most of it fall into subjective personal preferences.
Playing this game, I absolutely loved Rex’s character. I’m a huge sucker for Optimist characters in pessimistic worlds. Rex is such a inspiring character to always push forwards, even when you may not know why to do so at the moment.
I don't understand this take. It's been years since the game came out and I still don't see how "Rex is optimistic in a world of pessimism" is a valid take. Rex isn't optimistic, he's naive at best and ignorant at worst. He stumbles into a shady job because he's effectively a nobody, yet stumbles into the most powerful blade in existence and due to circumstances beyond her control, she has to merge with him to keep herself out of the hands of Malos and Jin. And then there's 20-30 hours of Rex constantly being shown kindness, forgiveness, and guidance by several other characters as they bring him up to speed on what it means to be a blade driver. Hell, Vandam sacrifices himself to buy Rex an escape window which.....Rex ignores completely. He instead chooses to foolishly stay and fight and is saved by Mythra who, up until that very moment, Rex and the audience didn't know existed. Rex's ignorance is so bad, it gets other people killed for no reason. Pyra offering herself up as sacrifice sends home how seriously he should;ve been taking this journey the entire time and he nearly leaves because of it. Granted, the stakes are quite high and it's never going to be an easy realization to have, but his little tantrum comes off more as childish whining than "Oh, the optimist isn't optimistic! This is saaaaad :(" but he has gotten oodles upon oodles of gifts form the story/characters - he has the best blades, he has great mentorship, he has literal royalty from multiple nations, and all of them agree to help him through his rough start to being a driver... The world isn't actually pessimistic, the main character is just too dumb to recognize how much help he's gotten.
@@themanwithsauce Rex _is_ ignorant, but also optimistic. you're missing half the picture. And yes, I stand Alrest _is_ a pessimistic world, where most people only look for themselves and their profits, or simply are too glum to look at things. They accept the world as it is and simply move on, and while Rex does too to an extent, he inspires others. If he hadn't he'd be jaded as Jin, or Nia, or even Zeke and Mórag, or for people closest to his heart, Pyra and Mythra, as well as both his antithesis, Malos and Amalthus. The whole reason Nia and the others gave him their peptalks is because Rex inspired them in the first place. He helped a bunch of people without expecting anything in return, and they helped him back when his time of need came. Does Rex pull tantrums? Is Rex a bullheaded fool that jumps into things without thinking? Of course, and he gets beaten down multiple times, but as he tells the Architect, he also hopes for a better world. Hell, he's willing to forgive Jin for killing him, and even holds pity for Amalthus. The thing about Alrest is that most people there live their lives among the lines of "Shit sucks, but eh", and while Rex also does ignore some stuff per his ignorance, he also tries to change what he can, otherwise he'd have given up long ago.
@@themanwithsauceI think thats kind of the point of his character. And thats why at the end XC2 SPOILERS He had learned to finally accept pneuma's decision, even if he struggled to
@@themanwithsauceRex "believed" in Elysium even if the others judged him about this, I remember in the second chapter I started to like him because of It, and this made me wonder if Elysium was real or dont
I’ve come across a number of perspectives on why Rex is a better protagonist than people give him credit for, but this is the first one that I found really compelling This game is incredibly dear to me, so thank you for sharing your thoughts. I have so much respect for how balanced and thoughtful your critiques are
My reason is pretty simple. Rex is someone everyone should have in their lives. Someone who's optimistic and brightens your day up. Doesn't have to be a 15 year old boy. Just anyone that can remind you of the good in the world. If everyone had a Rex, maybe this world would be a better place. I try to be that person to the people I'm with. Try to be the optimistic light in someone's world to make them feel like the world isn't hopeless.
@@ShallBePurified I'm with you, but Rex's character is too flat and uninteresting still. Take for example of Gon from Hunter Hunter. He have unique perspectives on situations most ppl wouldn't have. His character is interesting and he always surprises you. He's written very well. The fact that Rex can fight is the only thing interesting about him through the entire game. Sure he's a scavenger and sends money to his home, but that's it. Unfortunately, Rex does not have good interactions with others.
@@tokenetta8070 Never watched Hunter X Hunter, but I can't agree with you saying Rex doesn't have good interactions with the other characters. He has a lot of good interactions with other characters.
@@ShallBePurified Well, interactions that doesn't compliment his character. Poppi had good interactions that compliment her character far better than him. I feel like more should've happen to him. He doesn't really develop as a character compared to Shulk.
@@tokenetta8070 I guess it depends on how you look at it. A lot of his interactions is not about other characters influencing him, but how he influences other characters. A character that does influence Rex was Vandham, as his perspective of war changed when Vandham explained his perspective to Rex.
As usual, excellent plunge into a game that’s near and dear to me. Alrest is so brilliantly realized that I haven’t ever gotten tired of exploring it, through the story or gameplay. I hope 3 will manage to get people to appreciate parts of 2 that maybe they didn’t get to due to the game’s shortcomings during the beginning. Thanks for the stunning, insightful, and entertaining video(s).
As someone who got through the beginning with little issue and hated the late game story and found the combat to only get more annoying as the AI wouldn't complete driver combos and more unique monsters began to really require chain attacks to defeat from higher and higher percentages or pouch items, or both. And I'm not a fan of that type of game design at all, at least not the way it was implemented in 2
I really appreciated your perspective on who Rex is in this game. It's almost poetic that his analysis was placed at the very end of the video. Great video analysis! I love this game to death, even more than the original in most ways. It has its flaws, and it still isn't my favorite game from 2017 (that goes to Breath of the Wild), but if you can accept the good with the bad, I think this game has so much to offer. Here's to an amazing game, an amazing series, and to the last 8 days we have to wait before Xenoblade Chronicles 3!
Really happy you directed people towards Enel. His in-depth blade videos broke the game open for me. It's insane just how much depth the game *really* has.
@@samt3412 Chugga has stated that Enel (among a few others) helped out with some info for his Xenoblade 2 let's play. He even cameoed in one of Enel's guides.
@@samt3412 I'd love for them to collaborate on a more main game tier list because some blades like Boreas have strengths that are really only useful in the main game and not the post-game, which is what Enel's tier list is focused on
I should have known that this video would make me cry. The way you transitioned to Jin at 1:00:55 made me choke as the hurt of playing Torna:TGC came back all at once. Man, Jin really had it rough, truly a splendid soul. 1:11:15 Okay, now I’m a mess. This video is more than just about Xenoblade 2 and I know that this wasn’t just a coincidence. Not when you perfectly time the end of your script as the impactful lyrics of A Moment Of Eternity plays to literally continue the point you were making. This is probably one of the best, if not the best, review (if I may still call it that) I have ever watched. Thank you for this, really.
Damn. This game is just so fricking relatable. I found myself crying when you replayed the Morag line from the endgame because it just hits super hard at the moment. The way you tie that emotion all in with our own world and with the game’s themes is truly remarkable. The King of video essays returns with another absolute masterpiece!!
I actually started with XC2, and I loved it a lot right away, despite flaws it may have. It also made me appreciate Xenoblade 1 a lot, and added more depth when I spotted each connection between them. I have a bias towards XC2, but I can't really say one is better than the other, and I believe they compliment each other more than trying to pick apart which one is better. Also yeah Tora's chapter drags but I still like him more than Rikki. Not that Rikki is bad, Tora just does more in the plot, especially with the addition of Poppi. I never had a problem with fanservice or the artstyle, especially because I never felt like it was intruding on the plot, especially as you go deeper into the story. One major flaw I will levy against it is that the tutorials are absolute garbage and teach you nothing about combat, but once you do learn it, It's really fulfilling to build a big chain attack, or spam driver combos. Also a gacha system you can't whale on, besides a one time DLC purchase, is a novel idea.
@@FlameHricane Yeah, there's more stuff going on with Tora. Especially in the story department, where he is still involved even in the later chapters beyond 4. Such as chapter 6, and chapter 9. Since part of the things wouldn't happen, if not for him, and him being the reason Poppi is there.
I love how both sides of Klaus, The Architect and Zanza, both cause mass destruction in their respective worlds, despite one being a remorseful loner who wanted to rebuild what he destroyed, and the other being a psychopathic megalomaniac god. It's such a fascinating dichotomy, a man who's humanity is split into two separate beings.
They are like split personalities. In the flashback in XC2, Klaus demonstrates both sides of himself: his arrogance and his empathy. But in each game's individual universe, he only has one or the other. And both universes were created as a result of that particular character trait of his: Morytha is a symbol of Klaus's regret, while Bionis is a monument to Zanza's ego. It makes me wonder if Meyneth ever had a XC2 counterpart, or if Galea's character was pure enough to not split between universes, and so was sent to the universe that needed her most. If she does have a counterpart, perhaps we'll meet her in XC3?
@@jacobmonks3722 From what one can glean from it, her counterpart or other half might have also stayed in XC2, like Klaus. Just that, she ended up as the "not so fortunate ones", as we see around Chapter 8, which is explained at Chapter 10. Remember that card Rex picks up?
@@meinkraft501 from just the early half I’m thinking it’s his rage, nihilism, and bitterness towards humanity’s sins. While 1’s world is trapped in a cycle of rebirth, 2’s is a dying world built on denial of the sins of the past, 3’s is a endless cycle of pointless conflict with death being the only reward.
1:08:20 I’m so glad you talked about this. Rex gets so much shit just because of how different he is to shulk but I think a lot of that comes from xeno1 fans wanting him to be the same. He lives in a world where everything is hopeless, the world is slowly dying and with all the terrible things happening, he has this bright light of hope. He doesn’t care about how screwed up the world is, he doesn’t give a shit. He sees life as inherently meaningful and people as inherently good; no matter how bad things are he chooses to believe that if he lives life the way it should be then no amount of external factors can change what he does to his life, the lives around him and the world. Jin and Rex kind of remind me of darth Vader vs Luke skywalker. Both are kindhearted souls in a world constantly at war, but where anakin sees the world for what it is eventually, a dark and cold place in constant war, as does Jin, Luke sees it for what it could be, like Rex does.
Rex gets shat on not because the scary bad Xeno 1 fans want him to be like Shulk, they want him to be a proper fucking character like Shulk. Instead, he's a naive stupid baby boy protagonist number 371825 from your generic anime
Do you think that I’ll like XC1? cause I LOVE XC3, combat and story, and I LOVE XC2 as well, though 3 I slightly like more 2. cause I don’t know a ton about 1 or shulk , only seen a random boss in XC1 and a couple cutscenes to.! but for some reason. I got this impression that shulk was dull, but from what I hear that’s not the case? So idk where I even got that from
@@limitbreak2966 he‘s a pretty likable character but he doesn‘t go trough a lot of growth like Rex. He‘s not really flawed. So I can see why some people say he‘s not that deep. Also a lot of Xenoblade 1 Fans overhype the Game a bit too much. It‘s a fine Game but it also has it‘s flaws like every other Game
@@limitbreak2966 Hey! Glad to hear you loved the other two so much! I think you’ll enjoy XC1 quite a bit. Shulk is a really great character in the large majority’s opinion, and the supporting cast aren’t exactly weak either. The story is really awesome, the music is incredible (goes without saying), and some of the areas in the game are the definition of jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I’ll admit that the exploration itself may be a bit slow comparatively to the other games, that the side quests are a lot more basic with random diamonds in the rough every once in a while, and that the combat is absolutely the least complex and most repetitive in the series. None of these aspects of the game are bad, don’t get me wrong; they’re just not as good as 2 or 3’s take on them in my opinion. Regardless, if you like 2 and 3, you’ll at least enjoy 1 enough to see it through to the end. Have fun!
@@dachking6657 thanks man ! I just finished 3s main story and maybe like 65-70% of side quests , and man what a stellar game , especially the story , honestly I really hope they do a fourth game that somehow includes Noah & mio, or continue on Noah and Mios story cause I loved their characters so much, and I’m a huge fan of how 3 took a far more serious tone, and I related so much to the characters, especially N, as I am filled with regret, and honestly some type of “endless now” but from my childhood would be exactly what I wanted, and a huge fear of death once they explained the whole “we all have a bit of moebius in us” really related to me even moreso due to my extreme fear of death, and even if there’s hope, that fear usually ends up winning: But yea I loved it so much, and I’ll for sure be trying xc 1 after I finish 2 ! Cause yea this series just really hits different than other JRPGs for me. Thanks again man !
Xenoblade 2 has the best act 3 of any game I've played. When I finished, I debated between whether I liked Xenoblade 1 or 2 more, but I liked the pacing of the first game and Melia was my favorite character. After Torna the Golden Country, however, my opinion switched to preferring Xenoblade 2 over Xenoblade 1, but they're both my top 2 games. As a whole, Xenoblade 2 did a lot for the series. Despite some of the pacing issues early on, I ended up liking the character focused writing of 2 over the plot driven writing of 1. I actually think Future Connected has better character writing than Xenoblade 1 did, so it's a sign of improvement over time. Xenoblade 3 seems to be the culmination of all of the best aspects of the games they've made so far, and I hope to god it doesn't have some stupid controversy that takes over all discourse about the game on a surface level, making it impossible to actually discuss the deeper elements of the game.
Xenoblade 2 made the “mistake” of trying to be its own thing and have its own identity. It still hits all the notes of the xenoblade formula, and even reunites it with the xenogears and xenosaga formulas. But where I think xenoblade 2 especially gets that right is that it’s a fictional “real world” so to speak. A place that feels like it comes with all the grim, horrible bells and whistles of reality, yet paints it all in a way that there is still hope somewhere deep within it. Despite literally taking place drifting in the clouds, it’s… grounded. Not to mention it absolutely nails what makes the combat flow of the previous two games so good, despite doing it a totally different way. In a way, I think what makes xenoblade 2 beautiful is that it is a story of defiance, but in a world where our worst enemy is not some alien/mechanical menace. It’s a world where our worst enemy, and the thing dooming us all, is ourselves.
Beautiful video about a beautiful game. There’s a certain sense of “peace” in this video that’s hard to pin down but feels very fitting for Xenoblade 2. For a game so massive, it’s amazing how seemingly effortlessly you managed to articulate this in just over an hour. This should be required watching for all Xeno fans.
Not gonna lie KingK you made me wanna play xenoblade chronicles and because of your xenoblade chronicles video I was like “I gotta try the game” and after spending 80 plus hours I went out of my way to find xenoblade 2 and it’s all because of you. So when I saw you post this video up I was excited to see what you had to say about it and I hope you do the same with xenoblade 3! So thank you for making me go after a game I would have never thought I’d like!
One thing that I feel like is just such a shame with this game is just how people I feel just really miss the overall purpose of lighthearted first act of the game in the full narrative, and just how tragic it is that how Monolith handles the lighthearted tone of the first act combined with the awful pacing of unlocking of gameplay mechanics and systems ends up filtering so many people from sticking with the game to see it through to its conclusion. A core part of the overall narrative is the story of how Rex matures and tackles the challenges to his world-view to where he can be emotionally mature enough to fully understand the burdens and struggles of the people around him and the dark reality of that while still being able to keep his positive and hopeful attitude in spite of that. I feel like the general tone of the first 4 chapters is there to reflect Rex's toxicly positive attitude, too optimistic to even really notice things like the deep depression Pyra/Mythra suffer from despite being quite literally the closest people he has in his life. With act 2 (chapters 5-7) having the cast begin to challenge Rex on his immaturity on failing to understand and empathize with the pain Mythra is struggling with before finally getting the understanding and resolve to help ease that burden with act 3 showing Rex's growth as a person; finally understanding Mythra to unlock her true power as Penuma, understand Jin and the rest of Torna's pain, and Malos' confusion. While he still keeps his more optimistic attitude, Rex once he becomes the Master Driver is still a much more mature and developed person than he was at the start of the game. While he hasn't gave in to the hopelessness the rest of the world has been spiraling towards he has more of the emotional maturity to understand how people can come to feel that way, and the ability to help those people struggling emotionally climb out of their pits of despair. Yes the tone of act 1 can be really bad at time, leaning way too much into generic anime tropes to try to build up the lighthearted facade the game wanted to develop before pulling the rug out from under the player to force them to confront the heavier tone the game develops into in it's later acts and that is a shame. But I will always defend its existence because without it, the emotional rollarcoaster the rest of the game takes you on wouldn't be nearly as powerful without that juxtaposition and subversion. At the same time, I can understand if it can be too much for people to stomach through, pretty much telling someone to play like 25 hours of something they aren't enjoying on the promise that it gets better is simply too much to ask from a game, I only wish it wasn't so polarizing so less people could had been filtered by it to see the truly beautiful message the game leaves you with when you finally see the credits roll.
Wow this is probably the best video I've watched about this game, it's highs and lows, and ultimately why it's so darn good! I may prefer XC1 overall, but playing XC2 and Torna for the first time back in March really makes me genuinely excited to see what XC3 has to offer.
My only problem with discussion of the character desgins in xenoblade is people trying to make objective issues out of subjective opinions. It boils down to “do you like sexy anime characters”, if you do then you’ll most likely like the character desgins, if you don’t then you won’t. Personally for me I love the character designs in 2 and I view them as plus for the game. I have no issues with people not liking them but I’m tired of being made to feel bad for liking them. I think throwing out terms like sexualization and objectification just muddies the discussion. They’re fictional characters that the creators have full creative freedom to design how they wish for people to like or dislike with no inherent issues with either. The video you recommended I have watched multiple times and still I don’t think there’s a single argument in that video I agree with, it feels like it’s trying to make an objective stance on a subjective topic as I mentioned before, and fails to really say much of actual substance outside of reiterating that they personally do not like the designs. You did bring up the discussion about malos being designed differently than mythra and brought up a potential counter point of them having different character designers but tried to negate that point by saying all the female blades are desgined similarly. I feel the orignal point about character designers does have merit as most blades were designed by guest artist and most were given complete creative freedom towards their design, so it was that different creators chose to desgin characters differently that lead to malos and mythra looking different. Especially when you have characters like Ursula and Dahlia who could not have more different design philosophies being designed by the same female artist. Overall fantastic video, I’m glad you’re able to bring up a lot of stuff that made me fall in love with xenoblade 2 and I really do enjoy your content. It’s just the discussion of Xenoblade 2’s character designs and the attitude surrounding it like it’s an objectively bad thing has just put a bad taste in my mouth over the years.
I, too, love the character design. And I would also like to point out that there are plenty of males in the game who are also "unreasonably" attractive, shredded, and scantily clad. And that's great! It's okay to have sexy characters! When it's a problem is when it turns into one sex being objectified and not being taken seriously due to their sex. If it's spread around, it's just fine. Maybe the game is "sexy Pokemon", but I'm fine with that. If people want to call it that, then I love sexy Pokemon.
@@iluomopeloso Actually, you're... absolutely right. A lot of the male characters in this game are designed in a way that is precisely as horny as the female designs. Despite that, the characters are actually designed more tastefully than most gacha game characters, with actual thought put toward creative outfits that convey distinctive personalities. On top of that, no one seems to be written as mere shallow fanservice, from what I've seen (haven't played it, but I have read about the characters and plot). The actual meaning of objectification is the removal of agency or depth for the sake of other people's gratification, and by that standard, I don't see any of the major characters falling into that. I think a lot of the discourse around this kind of thing is painfully misguided by puritanical attitudes toward sexuality as a concept, for no real benefit to anyone. It's just a weird, prudish attitude people have for several cultural and historical reasons.
Pre-Watch Comment: Back when XC2 came out, I couldnt appreciate what it was nor what it set out to do. I was mad it wasn't like my darling XC1. The strange focus on revealing clothing, the common anime-esque troupes, the gacha system, all of it made me put the game down after about 15 hours. Now, years later, there are few RPGs I appreciate more in its approach to story-telling. It is not XC1, but I think nowadays Im really thankful it didnt attempt to be. The story it told, I feel really couldnt have been approached in any other way without risking hurting the end message. still not the biggst fan of other aspects of the game but still, like this video title suggests, despite it all, Xenoblade 2 is a game I love and its an experience I feel only it can give me.
@Captain Ren there's a classic youtuber that introduced xc1 to a lot of people even before xcx came out (and it got announced during his lets play) and he did a xc2 lp with a full spoiler-free guide that explains every mechanic way better than the game does (also xc3 got announced during his lets play of xc2, he just somehow makes monolith release new games)
@Captain Ren Take it slow, pay attention to the tutorial for the combat. Its very very different from XC1, as bad as it sounds, looking up YT guides about the combat can help too. The game is known for having laughably bad tutorials.
@Captain Ren um you do know that the designs are even worse in xenogears and xenosaga when it comes to that thing and xenoblade 2's designs are in fact tame compared to anime, even yoko litner is more revealing. that wasn't a ratio, that was just acting like you're smarter than someone with a kosmos profile picture that for all you know understands the xeno franchise better than you and played xenogears and xenosaga whereas you're new to xenoblade 2. not only that, you do know that alot of these designs are made by women right? making you and others' arguments about the designs even more ridiculous and meaning japan doesn't have a problem with this stuff like you all do and it really is a cultural difference here?
KingK dropping the Xenoblade 2 video a week before Xenoblade 3 comes out makes me wish I had the time to replay Xenoblade 2 just because I love this game so much.
TLDR: I played the Xenoblade trilogy in order 1, x, and then 2, and 2 has always been my favorite in memory. It simply stuck with me more than any other title in recent memory despite all of its flaws. If it wasn't so defective, it could contest my favorite game of all time, but that's neither here nor there. You did a phenomenal job covering it. I'm glad you hammered the game as you did; XC2 deserves to be analyzed and reprimanded for the next game to be even sounder, but more critical is acknowledging its successes, which you did famously. I'd even argue that hating on a game is one of the best ways to show love and care for it and its series, especially when complemented with such personal and honest dialogue, praising it. This composition is by far my favorite work of yours. You already had my heart, but your analysis of XC2 has a piece of my soul. This video is the quality work and scripting I expect of Joseph Anderson or Noah Caldwell-Gervais' best work, who represent my favorite TH-cam essayist. I cannot wait to see what comes next, and I hope XC3 promotes just as much, if not more, emotion for you friend!
I felt the same way you did about your feelings towards XC2 upon its release. I loved XC2 from the moment I bought it to the moment credits rolled and beyond. Hell, it was the reason I even bought a Switch in the first place. And I didn’t realize the “backlash” against the game until I went online and viewed discussion on the game. But, despite it all, it’s my favorite game of all time now.
Bro I loved XC2 the moment I started playing and as the credits rolled I had the same smile I had when I started. Not quite as a stellar of a masterpiece of XC1 but damn close for me! I have no idea what people are complaining about :D It is still to this day my favourite switch exclusive. Also XC3 was a disappointment for me BIG TIME. A great game for sure just a bad Xenoblade trilogy finale. The story, villians and the pacing didnt meet my expectations.
I've just started Xenoblade 2 this week , i'm about 20 hours into it and have really been enjoying the story, Pyra and Mythra are great characters. I feel I got absorbed into Xenoblade 1s world and characters a bit more though, the first game just had something 'special' about it that I feel the second somewhat lacks but I can't exactly put my finger on what. I will come back and watch the rest of this video once I have finished the game because I don't want to see any potential spoilers haha :)
I played 2 before 1 (the DE) and I felt the same except for 2 over 1 ! That said 1 won me over and I think it might be a more solid game only because 2 takes sooooo long to get going but... Actually they're both Incredible and I refuse to pick one over the other ! (Here's hoping 3 knocks it out of the park, I have no doubts it will!)
This video may be my new favorite from you. You nail every thing on what this game's about from the themes, the characters and the story. I'll definitely be rewatching this in the future. Also that ending got me in the feels, awesome job man 😭
What I love most about this game is it's sense of size. You get lost in it. The higher level enemies that you can't beat yet, the unknown blades that lay ahead and you may or may not find, the huge weirdly structured zones that feel a bit chaotic in a sense. Additionally I find it fixes many common issues with Jrpgs like unimaginative combat, predicatable story, random encounters etc. Finally I find it has a sense of humor, is aesthetically pleasing and is very 'Japanese' with it's tropes and fanservice which I love. It's kind of hard to describe and I'm very happy that Xenoblade 3 manages to recapture much of that feeling so far, although with a very different story and art direction.
This video did a really good job of talking about and encapsulating Xenoblade 2 in such a good way. It goes into its flaws but also explains why you and me and so many other people love this game so much
God I love this stream of Xenoblade 2 content from smaller creators in the week before 3, it's incredible seeing how many people love this game, the true sequel of a game Nintendo of America didn't even give a chance, fully expecting to it fail
"Oh architect is this really the world you intended?" I really like Amalthus as a character. And Malos as well. Amalthus's character and motivations are very understandable. I think if I were in his shoes I'd probably come to the same conclusion as him.
I’m not even afraid to say it at this point. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is my favorite game of all time. The music, story, characters, locations, combat, graphics… all of it. I absolutely love it. It’s one of those games I’ve been going back to since 2017 and will go back to for decades to come.
perfect coincidence. i just finished replaying 2 and i had such a good time. 3 seems to be the culmination of all the favored aspects of these games both mechanic and storywise. most likely gonna be my GOTY
I personally never enjoyed this game but i definitely appreciate what it went for and the few things it succeeds at for me (The World, OST etc). I'm happy xenoblade continues to thrive and can't wait for 3 next week
1:08:10 agree, i think nowadays with all the shit going on with the world, a lot of people (including myself) have become so sour and sometimes nihilistic that they start idolizing more grey or nihilistic characters and start to hate the more uplifting ones, they like characters that are hurt because maybe they can feel good about themselves, etc but then i look at Rex, Lloyd, Vyse, characters that no mother how tough, no matter how Many hardships they have to endure, they never lose their way, because they have such a strong conviction, and damn we need more joy in life, enjoy life, family friends, are those experiences that make life worthwhile, because life's too short, we need more characters like Rex.
Gotta love that XC2 actually has the fastest combat out of all of the games but it's explained so poorly that most people don't know that. Thank you for this video. This is a love letter to what still stands after all of this time as my favorite game of all time. I can't explain how much I adore this game's story, characters, world, music, and gameplay. I love it all. Thank you. Even with its flaws, they can never take away from the brilliance and magic of this game.
Your last few words in this video made me bawl my eyes out like a baby. This is such incredible work. I hope you realize how talented you are. I love this game to death, and after watching this video, I love it even more. Thank you!
I feel ya about the being a lurker thing. Video essays and podcasts are some of my favorite ways to spend free time. And after i watch something i think is cool, i look up what others thought about it and if they noticed things i didn't. I've been called strange for it but i love these things all the same. Keep being awesome king k
I'll never forget the day I went to gamestop and saw XC2 on the shelf and decided to pick it up knowing nothing about the series. Now a few years later I'm here counting down the days to XC3 and getting emotional listening to this video.
When XC2 first came out, I waited for a few months before getting it. Despite my love for the first one, the change in art style was so off putting and the voice acting wasn't good. Once I heard from a friend how much he loved 2, I picked it up and I loved it too. Not as good as 1, but the world, combat, and story were really great. Especially in the last few chapters of the game. I really enjoyed the Torna expansion as well
The voice acting is honestly pretty good tbh. Imo the main cast generally has a similar level of quality in the performances and even Rex is pretty decent besides most of his yells (near the end he gets better at them). It’s not as good as 1’s where everyone was great, but most of the characters are at least good.
Why don't any of you plebs use the Japanese voices? Even king k who's usually a snobby purist who's only a kid really, he was playing the game with the awful dub
@@meinkraft501 because the voice acting itself is generally solid-good. the voice direction is bad-okay until about mid way. plus XB with dub is just infinitely more flavorful considering the amount of varied and distinctive accents. Or to put it in simpler terms, I prefer gruff welsh cat girl > generic loli cat girl XB1s dub is better pretty much across the board though outside of select instances.
32:07 I’ve played and beaten this game 3 times and I thought I had it 100% the last time, but I had no clue you could grind on a wire like that. That’s why I love Xenoblade so much is that you can keep on finding stuff years after beating them.
I didn't expect to start tearin up, what you said at the end hit me so hard cause I have been just goin through it, the 5th was my birthday, all but one person in my family and close friends said happy birthday, the only present I got for my bday was Covid, I've been stuck in my house since then, not able to see anyone, work or anything, I genuinely felt depressed, like a crushing weight of sadness and no way to feel better, I feel like a mean so little to people that when I die, no one will care and that if I did right now, no one notice. Hearing that at the end felt like a big ass gut punch, like "You're not alone, even if you think it", like I didn't expect you to switch from talking about one of my favourite games to saying something so relevant to how I am feeling right now, it helped and I truly hope some day soon I can feel better. Until then, thank you, I know I'm just some random joe shmoe on the internet but I promise I'll do my best to find that light again.
I think Kbash described how I feel about Rex really well in his xenoblade video; "I don't trust people who hate characters that haven't done anything wrong." I feel like a lot of the hate Rex gets is just a bunch of jaded westerners projecting their cynicism onto him.
Ive had this video in my watch later for about a year now. I was waiting till I played the rest of the series before watching. I am so glad I did. Xenoblade 2 was my first and favorite entry in the series and will always be. Thank you for this video and for bringing me to tears once again over this beautiful game. You did it the justice it deserves.
I think what a lot of people never understand is that you never NEED a reason to like something. On the internet, it is always taken as _"I have a reason as to why I think your game sucks and because of that reason my opinion is fact and you thinking the game is good is wrong."_ However, if someone likes something and they can't think of a reason as to why, does it really matter? It's how they feel, and at the end of the day you don't need a reason for how you feel, you only need a reason for a fact. You CAN give a reason as to why you like it, but it is never needed. If someone loves something then they love it, simple as that. I love Star Fox Adventures, and sure it might be nostalgia from when I was literally a young boi and was happier, but as someone who is easy about putting aside nostalgia since there are a LOT of bad games that I used to love that I now don't like as much, I can can tell you that I still love it despite its problems. I can't tell you why that I do, but I do. And because I love Star Fox Adventures, I think the fact I still love the game is all I really need to take away from it. It obviously did something right.
On the other hand, it is absolutely necessary to give a reason when presenting something as critique. When making an argument that something is good or bad outside of personal preference. Then, reasons are everything. That's what people misunderstand. There's no need to be able to explain and justify why you like something if you're just talking about your opinions... But often, people think they can present their "I just dislike this thing" as an objective "this thing sucks and everyone who likes this is wrong", and that's... Dumb.
Part of me wanted to make a youtube video to express my feelings about this game, but I don't see any reason to now, because beside being slightly more emotionally invested, your review says literally everything mine would and more. This video makes me want to play the game again, despite all the flaws. I hope Xenoblade 3 lives up to the previous two. This is my favourite video of yours.
I loved Xenoblade 2. I enjoyed all the characters, had fun with the battle system and ADORED the world I explored. It has its obvious flaws (some that bothered me and some that didn't), but the pros far outweighed cons for me. This game basically made me a Xenoblade fan. I eventually played Torna and Xenoblade DE and loved them as well. And now, I'm super excited for Xenoblade 3.
I got this game and I thought this game is obviously a loved game just to find out people hate it? Xenoblade 2 is incredible while I know it has its flaws it’s incredible in my eyes
I remember back then, what saved the game in my eyes was something of a detail. After your crash fleeing Malhos in the beginning, you have this beautiful cinematic that shows an incredible vista of Gormoth. It was so well designed, the music hit perfectly, it was so full of that "I'm going on an adventure!" vibe ! That, in itself, redeemed a lot of flaws from the beginning and made Gormoth my favorite titan to discover and explore.
I remember being disappointed after X wasn't like 1 and I got 2 thinking it'll be different. I was expecting a big hook like the first game early and it never happened. It wasn't until chapter 5 that I accepted it for what it was. Nothing will ever reach that excitement like the cutscene in chapter 7. Xc2 wasn't Xc1 but it was a damn good game I will never forget.
I quite liked X (though it was the first one that I played). It was the only one where I actually liked the gameplay; I've never been a fan of the MMO-like combat in Xenoblade games, but I absolutely loved the exploration in X and consider it far superior to that in 1 or 2.
Have to say, you really knocked it out of the park with this video. Xenoblade 2 remains such a polarizing game to this day because of the negative first impressions most people got from its rocky beginning. Obviously the game has issues but it's a shame it has this stigmatized reputation it does anytime it gets brought up around the internet. I was inspired about how you weaved all that together by the end in a heartful way. Side note, I wonder why there isn't this same kind of criticism for stuff like the Persona series where it also leans into anime tropes and prides itself on that social life/dating sim aspect its become known for.
Your scripts are always so well written. This really illuminates the problems I had with the game, but also clarifies the story which at times confused me.
Damn.. I couldn’t click away from this one right to the end. Very inspirational piece of work man. You brought so many thoughts and emotions out of me, ones I already held about the game, but also ones that I’d never had before. Hoping for another wild ride with Xenoblade 3 !
I love Xenoblade 2, more than 1 actualy, the characters, story and world is so interesting that I started to ignore all the silly japanese perv fanservice rather quickly just so I could know more about the characters struggles and their storys. Also Mytrha smash outfit its so much better than the vanilla one
Great video, I enjoyed hearing your take on one of my favorite games. One of my fondest memories of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was loading into Argentum Trade Guild at the start of the game and hearing the first of many strong musical compositions. To this day, Argentum's daytime theme stands out to me as what the beginning of an adventure should sound like. To me, it underscored Rex's more curious and optimistic attitude wonderfully, and I had my hopes high for the rest of the game to tell its story through its music. From Gormott to Uraya to Morytha and beyond, I was not disappointed.
After finally having completed XC3, I can confidently say that XC2 is still my favourite game of the series. It's got the best world design, music and combat system. The story starts slow but it serves as a perfect introduction to the world and the characters and sets up the premise of a normal boy thrown into a bigger world really well. Also, the second half of the story goes real hard. It has a varied and memorable main party.p The way the game portrays the evolution of a bunch of strangers from vastly different backgrounds to a family is fantastic. The villains are up there as some of the very best I have seen in gaming and definitely the best in the series. However, the game is by no means perfect. I personally only have three major gripes: the overly sexualized designs, the field skill checks and the overall unpolished feel of the game's systems. I don't relate to some of the common complaints like the gacha system/anime humour/art style of blade designs feeling too different, because they don't hinder the enjoyment of its other aspects and in many cases, enhance the experience, but this might be a very subjective opinion and I can see why some might dislike them. Regardless, the good in this game greatly outweighs the bad to the point that I am willing to look past all its flaws because the rest of what the game has to offer is completely worth it. This might not be the best game ever, but it definitely is one of the best overall experiences I have had in gaming. If you made it all the way here, thanks for reading! I was pretty sleepy when I wrote this so apologies if the comment feels all over the place or contains any grammatical errors.
I finished 3 and a lot of playing 3 made me miss the care that went into world building in 2. Plus 2's ost imo is still the best. 2 is genuinely a good game, if you're considering it, give it a chance and look up a tutorial on how to make the most of the battle system. I can confidently say it's the most robust and fun to mess around battle system unless they somehow overhaul 3.
weird, I found xc2's combat way more interesting and active than xc1's. also the way arts are selected with face buttons than a very clunky side scrolling bar.
This video is a masterpiece! I hope you are proud of your work, because you absolutely should be. This was my introduction to the series. I picked up the first one remastered and loved it too. I agree with all your points.
I like how the story ends with salvation coming not from reaching an untouched virgin paradise but from a repentant soul going back to the world he had part in destroying and fixing it. Confronting and repairing the past and not blindly seeking the future is the salvation of the world in XB2
I don't get why people says this is a great game but with huge flaws. Ofc a perfect game dosen't exist, and XC2 could have been better without those rare frame drops and 720p, there are margins of improvement in subquests, eng dub and quality of life. But it's obvious for anyone with basic videogame experience that's as a videogame is better than XC1, (by far if you consider only exploration and quests). Strangely all I read is about Pyra's tits and some blades character design, I wonder if I missed a page and humanity has gone back 200 years, you can't look at me in the eyes and saying Pyra or Mythra design isn't a 10/10, and if the major problem in a game is the skirt of a science fiction robot then maybe our humanity is worse than the one in Alrest. Her skirt could have been 5 cm long and nobody would have died, sure! But that doesn't effect the quality of her design; and the most hypocrites are Xenoblade's fans, forgetting you could instantly give anyone a swimsuit/bikini in the first game, not to mention Mecha Fiora... (even Zeke is basically half naked all the time but strangely nobody motion him.) Talking about rare blades: everyone knows that 90% of them were commissioned to magakas or illustrators in Japan, definitely some design are very poor and others are too much standard-shonen anime trash fighters, but there're lots and lots of cool blades and surely the design of 5-6 blades out of 40 can't compromise an entire game section. Is this to much difficult to understand? Sure they should have choose more carefully their authors, BUT CMON they're rare blades that are JUST an extra mechanic in a jpg and doesn't have nothing to do with the story! GOD! Are all community this dense?
I immediately noticed the amount of kind of whack anime tropes. But it only really ever bothered me so much really. It is after all, a video game, that I think is still contextualised pretty well, that's all I need really. It's just that start that bothers me, really. wholeheartedly agree with most things said here.
the best part of the combat is sickass announcer guy yelling "Launch Heat" "Final Disaster Break" "Blade combo 3rd Stage, awesome" "Chain Attack begin" "elemental burst" damn i love that guy, Hope he comes back in 3
Amazing Video! And i see many things the same way. I loved Xenoblade 1 and was really turned off by the first trailers of Xenoblade 2. To be honest i didnt wanted to buy this game back then. But in the end i did buy it day 1. Just because i loved Xenoblade 1 so much. And then what should i say? This Game just got me... those characters got me like no other. There have been other games in the past that made me fall in love with there characters... like Mass Effect for example. But that was nothing compared to Xenoblade 2. There are many flaws in the gameplay. Many things i would have done differently and yet... this game is a Masterpiece to me. This Game means more to me then any other game of the past 10 years.. Maybe even ever. Still till today i go back to youtube just to watch some of the cutscenes or reactions to it and i always get teary eyes.
Damn.... I had a hunch I would probably cry at the end of this but I didn't think I would cry this much. The way you ended this video resonated with me in a way I just couldn't predict. A few years ago I was at a point in my life where I was scarily close to giving up cause I didn't even dare to hope anymore. But one thing led to another and I could begin to climb up out of the whole I had found myself in and I found hope again. So even though this game's ending can make me cry just fine on it's own, your final message just hit me that much harder. This was a beautiful video and I agree with you on pretty much everything. Both the bad and the good parts of this game. And despite it all, as you say, I love the heck out of this game.
Xenoblade 2 is my favorite JRPG, I’ve always loved it even when I was getting called a perv by my classmates for loving it, I’m so glad more and more people are learning about how the game is legitimately great and worthy of being both a Xenoblade title, and having the label of of masterpiece. The story and characters are my favorite in gaming, I love how they all jive together and connect, and I love that Rex is a constant beacon of sunshine, he really helped bring me out of depression recently while replaying XC2 as an adult because of his sunshine attitude.
This game is still my favorite game of all time and I can agree Pyra and Mythra are my favorite characters of all time but its kind of distracting when the camera focuses on their skin. Another character from Monolith I think also shows skin is Kos Mos from Xenosaga but they don't overuse the anime tropes to a full level. Despite the games flaws when it comes to it's in your face anime tropes it became one of my favorite combat systems in any jrpg I've ever played and the story really kept me pushing forward it was my first game when I got my Nintendo switch because I was so interested in this series I'm definitely looking forward to how they evolve the combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
I love both 1 and 2 to death so it honestly really irks me when I have to watch stans of either game go at each other and spout the same things over and over again. Neither games are perfect but they both have a lot of passion put into them and I got many many MANY hours of enjoyment out of them both (I even maxed out EVERY non common blade's affinity chart). I also picked up X day one and while I do agree that the characters fall flat compared to 1 or 2, I thought the exploration and combat gameplay was really fun Edit: The segment describing the plight of Jin and how it is hard to maintain hope and then transitioning to Rex genuinely made me tear up, I love Rex so much as a character and I feel like people just don’t appreciate him enough for what he does.
the story in XC2 is strong I believe compared to XC3 people just hatin on the combat system and the gacha style of pulling units and dismiss the totality of the game as bad, no worries I can enjoy it multiple times in my life while others miss out :)
I personally don't get the "too anime and evryone being sexy is distracting and i cant take them seriously" complaint i see people have because i have the exact opposite opinion. The anime-isms of this game just made me like it more than i already did. That and im never one to look at a character and think "yeah no cant take you seriously" regardless of how goofy or sexy they may be. but hey, maybe thats just me, pyra and mythras designs didnt break tension at all for me but ig people are more sensitive to that kinda stuff?
I played Xenoblade 2 for about 210 hours. I hate it, and I love it. The game just has too many flaws for me to give it my full endorsement, which I would notice throughout every hour of playtime. I dabbled in so little of the game's mechanics, and yet I found so much satisfaction in my time with it which I can't lie to myself about. I would really have to make my own hour-long retrospective to fully summarise it all, so I'll save the rest of this comment for that day. I enjoyed the game, I just didn't feel like it had the same... dedication towards it as Xenoblade Chronicles. Now, Torna on the other hand? Absolutely golden, pun not intended. Better than the base game in terms of combat, accessibility, characters (partially) and run-time that doesn't feel padded or wasted. My only real gripe is how side quests were made obligatory at the end. I was doing them all anyway, but I can imagine how some could have found that frustrating.
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Hey King I want you to know that I played Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive after listening to your video on it twice. I went on to play XC2 and the Golden Country not long after. Patiently waiting with hype for XC3 now. Big ups KingK!
Don't use keeps. I tried it and I stopped feeling my orgasms.
Bruh
I must say i quite agree on most of the stuff you say in this video. It was very well made. Only thing i personally disagree with is the sexualisation bad part, mostly because i personally dont care, and i actually liked pyra and mythras design. The fact that they were sexualised did not detract from my enjoyment of the game, and in fact enhanced it in some ways, as i now see it as a big middle finger to woke culture. It was a game heavily influenced by japanese culture and their not give a damn attitude and i love every minute of it.
"XC2 created a schism in the fanbase that never really healed."
Can we appreciate the balls of monolith to make XC3's plot about the war between XC1 fans and XC2 fans?
Hahaha, Never saw it in that light
HA! I am suddenly more compelled to play it! Was already interested because JRPG with big world but THAT interpretation? Oh I'm curious now!
That and I watched some streams and I love Eunie's character.
I just saw it as the natural course of things. The big bang was the creation of the two worlds. When the expansion stops, the compression begins. The two worlds of XC1 and XC2 are combining or due to the war, a clash.
But you're interpretation is spot on. The creator basically did the meme
"Let them fight"
Lol, reminds me of how the villain of The Origami King is the embodiment of the TTYD fans' perspective on the later entries
@@JoeDan54 I'm interested please explain more why. Please
Right when the “talking about a anime game on the internet” line was said, a war game add started playing that was just straight gunfire and explosion sound effects. It was perfect
It was niggalicious!
The way they tied 1 and 2 together blew my mind when I first played it.
It's so fucking cool man, easily one of the coolest and most interesting ways you can tie together two seemingly unrelated games from the same series lmao
Xenoblade chronicles 3 sucked balls when they explained that shit between 1 and 2. Most boring Xenoblade game I ever played. I felt nothing for the characters, storyline was boring and political, and weird as shit lol
@@deusvlad2.083Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was great and felt like an emotional journey. I have no idea where you saw politics though....
@@someguy3263 The battle mechanics was fun, the storyline not so much the gameplay overall felt like a boring game, I had to push myself to finish it and level up all the class system because of my no drop rule.
Xenoblade 3 did not sell so well compared to 2, so you know that it went downhill. The politics btw was from the idiology of the villians, and the leaders of the world. How can you not see it lol
Perhaps my favorite thing about Poppi is the fact that she sounds more human the longer the game goes on. Probably one of my favorite examples of a robot developing emotions in media.
Same thing was with Aigis in persona 3
I can complain about XC2 for hours, but I can gush about it for days.
The true fan’s dilemma right there. It’s a game that has low points for sure, but comes out as something substantially greater than the sum of its parts.
I love in a dying world without hope and full of suffering, Rex’s act of teenage rebellion is to just be fucking NICE. Great protagonist.
Born in a world of strife!
Against the odds!
I choose to nice!
@@somekid2500 WHOLESOME DANCE!
10 out of 10
Rex pretty much boils down to "if there is no example, then I'll BE the example." He deserves more credit then just being written off as a "generic Shonen protagonist"
He is pretty generic i'm ngl
I can sum up his situation with he's the MC so the story doesn't fucks him for being a naive optimus like everyone else in the story so ofc he will spelt hero lines.
I saw this make fun of the underdog till he becomes the strongest in the universe through willpower
been to death mean while everyone keeps reminding you that he's a kid running the trope of "can't judge a book by its cover"
I like Rex he does his job as protagonist don't have a problem with him like everyone else.
He's nothing groundbreaking or treading newground like the shills make him out to be when ik protagonist like Velvet Crowe or Nier exist.
Rex is just Good
enough to care about him & feel sometimes that's all you need.
That’s what I’m saying. Everyone that loves this game knows it’s HEAVILY flawed, but the fact that we love it anyway goes to show how much heart it has. Truly one of my favorite games ever, just no more gatcha again… please…
Maybe it's the loud minority, but most of the XC2 fans I've seen and interracted with act like the game is flawless. Even going as far as saying it's better than XC1 in every possible way.
So I don't know if "everyone" is the right word. But like I said, might just be the loud minority.
I think they should update the game where the gatcha cost real money, then rename xc2 to genshin impact 2. Then it will be just as good as 1 :)
@@halosaft Probably a loud minority. Most people either only see it’s flaws or see it’s flaws and what it does right.
Wait what?????
So do u hate the gacha mechanic themselves or u dont like the blades from them? Tbh i really loved all the special blades we got from them. I seriously wanted something like that in the sequel… Sigh
@@klamity2514 You are getting something like that in XC3. It's called the Hero system. It's just a better version because the gacha mechanic is no more~
“I love Xenoblade Chronicles 2, despite it all” is the best way to describe this game. Out of my all time favorite games, Xeno2 is easily the game I have the most problems with. Yet, despite it all, I cannot call it anything less than a masterpiece.
Great video btw, you keep on making fantastic content.
Something that has incredible failings by definition is not a masterpiece.
@@Arcessitor disagree. A game can have massive flaws. But if its you favourite thing. Its definetly a masterpiece over other games. Just a matter of perspective
@@Arcessitor Perfection will never exist.
Masterpieces have huge flaws.
Any masterpiece.
The only masterpieces that have no flaws at all, are the ones which never got made, and remained in the perfect world of ideas.
@@themasterladisaster4336 That's not how that works. A Masterwork is something that shows great artistry, the highest tier of skill. If it's just your favorite thing, that does make it a masterwork - I'm sure you know many games that are better made.
Some of Xenoblade's most notable flaws are explicitly because their most experienced staff were busy with a different game.
@@AusSP but the concept of a masterpiece/masterwork is subjective. It is all in the perspective of the person that views that piece of artwork. For example botw to me is a masterpiece, while many find its flaws to be to much and that makes the game unbearable. and I find red death to to he a massive piece of shit while many other find it to be a masterpiece. Are you going to tell me that that im wrong or right base on my subjective views of those piece of art? Heck even the concept of how people view score, what a masterpiece is, what a bad game is, what a bad narrative is still fall into a certain level of subjectivity. And whilenthey are objective thing within an analysis, for example good graphics, good animation, most of it fall into subjective personal preferences.
Playing this game, I absolutely loved Rex’s character. I’m a huge sucker for Optimist characters in pessimistic worlds. Rex is such a inspiring character to always push forwards, even when you may not know why to do so at the moment.
I don't understand this take. It's been years since the game came out and I still don't see how "Rex is optimistic in a world of pessimism" is a valid take. Rex isn't optimistic, he's naive at best and ignorant at worst. He stumbles into a shady job because he's effectively a nobody, yet stumbles into the most powerful blade in existence and due to circumstances beyond her control, she has to merge with him to keep herself out of the hands of Malos and Jin. And then there's 20-30 hours of Rex constantly being shown kindness, forgiveness, and guidance by several other characters as they bring him up to speed on what it means to be a blade driver. Hell, Vandam sacrifices himself to buy Rex an escape window which.....Rex ignores completely. He instead chooses to foolishly stay and fight and is saved by Mythra who, up until that very moment, Rex and the audience didn't know existed.
Rex's ignorance is so bad, it gets other people killed for no reason. Pyra offering herself up as sacrifice sends home how seriously he should;ve been taking this journey the entire time and he nearly leaves because of it. Granted, the stakes are quite high and it's never going to be an easy realization to have, but his little tantrum comes off more as childish whining than "Oh, the optimist isn't optimistic! This is saaaaad :(" but he has gotten oodles upon oodles of gifts form the story/characters - he has the best blades, he has great mentorship, he has literal royalty from multiple nations, and all of them agree to help him through his rough start to being a driver...
The world isn't actually pessimistic, the main character is just too dumb to recognize how much help he's gotten.
@@themanwithsauce Rex _is_ ignorant, but also optimistic. you're missing half the picture. And yes, I stand Alrest _is_ a pessimistic world, where most people only look for themselves and their profits, or simply are too glum to look at things. They accept the world as it is and simply move on, and while Rex does too to an extent, he inspires others. If he hadn't he'd be jaded as Jin, or Nia, or even Zeke and Mórag, or for people closest to his heart, Pyra and Mythra, as well as both his antithesis, Malos and Amalthus. The whole reason Nia and the others gave him their peptalks is because Rex inspired them in the first place. He helped a bunch of people without expecting anything in return, and they helped him back when his time of need came.
Does Rex pull tantrums? Is Rex a bullheaded fool that jumps into things without thinking? Of course, and he gets beaten down multiple times, but as he tells the Architect, he also hopes for a better world. Hell, he's willing to forgive Jin for killing him, and even holds pity for Amalthus. The thing about Alrest is that most people there live their lives among the lines of "Shit sucks, but eh", and while Rex also does ignore some stuff per his ignorance, he also tries to change what he can, otherwise he'd have given up long ago.
@@themanwithsauceI think thats kind of the point of his character. And thats why at the end
XC2 SPOILERS
He had learned to finally accept pneuma's decision, even if he struggled to
You nailed it, Sr.
@@themanwithsauceRex "believed" in Elysium even if the others judged him about this, I remember in the second chapter I started to like him because of It, and this made me wonder if Elysium was real or dont
I’ve come across a number of perspectives on why Rex is a better protagonist than people give him credit for, but this is the first one that I found really compelling
This game is incredibly dear to me, so thank you for sharing your thoughts. I have so much respect for how balanced and thoughtful your critiques are
My reason is pretty simple. Rex is someone everyone should have in their lives. Someone who's optimistic and brightens your day up. Doesn't have to be a 15 year old boy. Just anyone that can remind you of the good in the world. If everyone had a Rex, maybe this world would be a better place. I try to be that person to the people I'm with. Try to be the optimistic light in someone's world to make them feel like the world isn't hopeless.
@@ShallBePurified I'm with you, but Rex's character is too flat and uninteresting still. Take for example of Gon from Hunter Hunter. He have unique perspectives on situations most ppl wouldn't have. His character is interesting and he always surprises you. He's written very well. The fact that Rex can fight is the only thing interesting about him through the entire game. Sure he's a scavenger and sends money to his home, but that's it. Unfortunately, Rex does not have good interactions with others.
@@tokenetta8070 Never watched Hunter X Hunter, but I can't agree with you saying Rex doesn't have good interactions with the other characters. He has a lot of good interactions with other characters.
@@ShallBePurified Well, interactions that doesn't compliment his character. Poppi had good interactions that compliment her character far better than him. I feel like more should've happen to him. He doesn't really develop as a character compared to Shulk.
@@tokenetta8070 I guess it depends on how you look at it. A lot of his interactions is not about other characters influencing him, but how he influences other characters. A character that does influence Rex was Vandham, as his perspective of war changed when Vandham explained his perspective to Rex.
As usual, excellent plunge into a game that’s near and dear to me. Alrest is so brilliantly realized that I haven’t ever gotten tired of exploring it, through the story or gameplay. I hope 3 will manage to get people to appreciate parts of 2 that maybe they didn’t get to due to the game’s shortcomings during the beginning. Thanks for the stunning, insightful, and entertaining video(s).
Both your and King Ks reviews are equally beautiful
Xenoblade forever
As someone who got through the beginning with little issue and hated the late game story and found the combat to only get more annoying as the AI wouldn't complete driver combos and more unique monsters began to really require chain attacks to defeat from higher and higher percentages or pouch items, or both. And I'm not a fan of that type of game design at all, at least not the way it was implemented in 2
I remember when I saw your vid I thought of kingk immediately I hope you both can keep growing.
I really appreciated your perspective on who Rex is in this game. It's almost poetic that his analysis was placed at the very end of the video.
Great video analysis! I love this game to death, even more than the original in most ways. It has its flaws, and it still isn't my favorite game from 2017 (that goes to Breath of the Wild), but if you can accept the good with the bad, I think this game has so much to offer.
Here's to an amazing game, an amazing series, and to the last 8 days we have to wait before Xenoblade Chronicles 3!
Really happy you directed people towards Enel. His in-depth blade videos broke the game open for me. It's insane just how much depth the game *really* has.
I'm still 99% sure that a Xenoblade-based convo between Chugga and Enel would destroy the laws of our universe as we know it
@@samt3412 Chugga was there for commentary when Enel did a speedrun of Torna at GDQ a couple weeks ago
@@samt3412 Chugga has stated that Enel (among a few others) helped out with some info for his Xenoblade 2 let's play. He even cameoed in one of Enel's guides.
@@samt3412 I'd love for them to collaborate on a more main game tier list because some blades like Boreas have strengths that are really only useful in the main game and not the post-game, which is what Enel's tier list is focused on
@@munchrai6396 I do think a lot of Enel's tips feel too tipped towards the extremely late game for them to be useful sometimes
I should have known that this video would make me cry. The way you transitioned to Jin at 1:00:55 made me choke as the hurt of playing Torna:TGC came back all at once. Man, Jin really had it rough, truly a splendid soul.
1:11:15 Okay, now I’m a mess. This video is more than just about Xenoblade 2 and I know that this wasn’t just a coincidence. Not when you perfectly time the end of your script as the impactful lyrics of A Moment Of Eternity plays to literally continue the point you were making. This is probably one of the best, if not the best, review (if I may still call it that) I have ever watched. Thank you for this, really.
Damn. This game is just so fricking relatable. I found myself crying when you replayed the Morag line from the endgame because it just hits super hard at the moment. The way you tie that emotion all in with our own world and with the game’s themes is truly remarkable. The King of video essays returns with another absolute masterpiece!!
I actually started with XC2, and I loved it a lot right away, despite flaws it may have. It also made me appreciate Xenoblade 1 a lot, and added more depth when I spotted each connection between them. I have a bias towards XC2, but I can't really say one is better than the other, and I believe they compliment each other more than trying to pick apart which one is better. Also yeah Tora's chapter drags but I still like him more than Rikki. Not that Rikki is bad, Tora just does more in the plot, especially with the addition of Poppi. I never had a problem with fanservice or the artstyle, especially because I never felt like it was intruding on the plot, especially as you go deeper into the story. One major flaw I will levy against it is that the tutorials are absolute garbage and teach you nothing about combat, but once you do learn it, It's really fulfilling to build a big chain attack, or spam driver combos. Also a gacha system you can't whale on, besides a one time DLC purchase, is a novel idea.
The tutorials were ridiculous but yes I ended up loving the combat
@@FlameHricane Yeah, there's more stuff going on with Tora. Especially in the story department, where he is still involved even in the later chapters beyond 4. Such as chapter 6, and chapter 9. Since part of the things wouldn't happen, if not for him, and him being the reason Poppi is there.
I love how both sides of Klaus, The Architect and Zanza, both cause mass destruction in their respective worlds, despite one being a remorseful loner who wanted to rebuild what he destroyed, and the other being a psychopathic megalomaniac god. It's such a fascinating dichotomy, a man who's humanity is split into two separate beings.
They are like split personalities. In the flashback in XC2, Klaus demonstrates both sides of himself: his arrogance and his empathy. But in each game's individual universe, he only has one or the other. And both universes were created as a result of that particular character trait of his: Morytha is a symbol of Klaus's regret, while Bionis is a monument to Zanza's ego. It makes me wonder if Meyneth ever had a XC2 counterpart, or if Galea's character was pure enough to not split between universes, and so was sent to the universe that needed her most. If she does have a counterpart, perhaps we'll meet her in XC3?
@@jacobmonks3722 Man, I forgot how good Xenoblade's lore and story is lol.
@@jacobmonks3722 From what one can glean from it, her counterpart or other half might have also stayed in XC2, like Klaus. Just that, she ended up as the "not so fortunate ones", as we see around Chapter 8, which is explained at Chapter 10. Remember that card Rex picks up?
Wonder what half we'll get in XC3
@@meinkraft501 from just the early half I’m thinking it’s his rage, nihilism, and bitterness towards humanity’s sins. While 1’s world is trapped in a cycle of rebirth, 2’s is a dying world built on denial of the sins of the past, 3’s is a endless cycle of pointless conflict with death being the only reward.
1:08:20 I’m so glad you talked about this. Rex gets so much shit just because of how different he is to shulk but I think a lot of that comes from xeno1 fans wanting him to be the same. He lives in a world where everything is hopeless, the world is slowly dying and with all the terrible things happening, he has this bright light of hope. He doesn’t care about how screwed up the world is, he doesn’t give a shit. He sees life as inherently meaningful and people as inherently good; no matter how bad things are he chooses to believe that if he lives life the way it should be then no amount of external factors can change what he does to his life, the lives around him and the world.
Jin and Rex kind of remind me of darth Vader vs Luke skywalker. Both are kindhearted souls in a world constantly at war, but where anakin sees the world for what it is eventually, a dark and cold place in constant war, as does Jin, Luke sees it for what it could be, like Rex does.
Rex gets shat on not because the scary bad Xeno 1 fans want him to be like Shulk, they want him to be a proper fucking character like Shulk. Instead, he's a naive stupid baby boy protagonist number 371825 from your generic anime
Do you think that I’ll like XC1? cause I LOVE XC3, combat and story, and I LOVE XC2 as well, though 3 I slightly like more 2.
cause I don’t know a ton about 1 or shulk , only seen a random boss in XC1 and a couple cutscenes to.! but for some reason. I got this impression that shulk was dull, but from what I hear that’s not the case? So idk where I even got that from
@@limitbreak2966 he‘s a pretty likable character but he doesn‘t go trough a lot of growth like Rex. He‘s not really flawed. So I can see why some people say he‘s not that deep.
Also a lot of Xenoblade 1 Fans overhype the Game a bit too much. It‘s a fine Game but it also has it‘s flaws like every other Game
@@limitbreak2966 Hey! Glad to hear you loved the other two so much!
I think you’ll enjoy XC1 quite a bit. Shulk is a really great character in the large majority’s opinion, and the supporting cast aren’t exactly weak either. The story is really awesome, the music is incredible (goes without saying), and some of the areas in the game are the definition of jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
I’ll admit that the exploration itself may be a bit slow comparatively to the other games, that the side quests are a lot more basic with random diamonds in the rough every once in a while, and that the combat is absolutely the least complex and most repetitive in the series. None of these aspects of the game are bad, don’t get me wrong; they’re just not as good as 2 or 3’s take on them in my opinion. Regardless, if you like 2 and 3, you’ll at least enjoy 1 enough to see it through to the end. Have fun!
@@dachking6657 thanks man ! I just finished 3s main story and maybe like 65-70% of side quests , and man what a stellar game , especially the story , honestly I really hope they do a fourth game that somehow includes Noah & mio, or continue on Noah and Mios story cause I loved their characters so much, and I’m a huge fan of how 3 took a far more serious tone, and I related so much to the characters, especially N, as I am filled with regret, and honestly some type of “endless now” but from my childhood would be exactly what I wanted, and a huge fear of death once they explained the whole “we all have a bit of moebius in us” really related to me even moreso due to my extreme fear of death, and even if there’s hope, that fear usually ends up winning:
But yea I loved it so much, and I’ll for sure be trying xc 1 after I finish 2 ! Cause yea this series just really hits different than other JRPGs for me. Thanks again man !
Xenoblade 2 has the best act 3 of any game I've played. When I finished, I debated between whether I liked Xenoblade 1 or 2 more, but I liked the pacing of the first game and Melia was my favorite character. After Torna the Golden Country, however, my opinion switched to preferring Xenoblade 2 over Xenoblade 1, but they're both my top 2 games. As a whole, Xenoblade 2 did a lot for the series. Despite some of the pacing issues early on, I ended up liking the character focused writing of 2 over the plot driven writing of 1. I actually think Future Connected has better character writing than Xenoblade 1 did, so it's a sign of improvement over time. Xenoblade 3 seems to be the culmination of all of the best aspects of the games they've made so far, and I hope to god it doesn't have some stupid controversy that takes over all discourse about the game on a surface level, making it impossible to actually discuss the deeper elements of the game.
Oof you need to play more games then my dude
@@omensoffate You don't know how many games I've played. Don't give me that shit.
@@ShallBePurified you tell him! Make that swine squeal. Hurt him! HURT HIM YES!
Xenoblade 2 made the “mistake” of trying to be its own thing and have its own identity. It still hits all the notes of the xenoblade formula, and even reunites it with the xenogears and xenosaga formulas. But where I think xenoblade 2 especially gets that right is that it’s a fictional “real world” so to speak. A place that feels like it comes with all the grim, horrible bells and whistles of reality, yet paints it all in a way that there is still hope somewhere deep within it. Despite literally taking place drifting in the clouds, it’s… grounded. Not to mention it absolutely nails what makes the combat flow of the previous two games so good, despite doing it a totally different way.
In a way, I think what makes xenoblade 2 beautiful is that it is a story of defiance, but in a world where our worst enemy is not some alien/mechanical menace. It’s a world where our worst enemy, and the thing dooming us all, is ourselves.
@AndyWitmyer I've come from the future. The Xenoblade fanbase cannot recover. We are stuck in the Endless Now.
Beautiful video about a beautiful game. There’s a certain sense of “peace” in this video that’s hard to pin down but feels very fitting for Xenoblade 2. For a game so massive, it’s amazing how seemingly effortlessly you managed to articulate this in just over an hour. This should be required watching for all Xeno fans.
Not gonna lie KingK you made me wanna play xenoblade chronicles and because of your xenoblade chronicles video I was like “I gotta try the game” and after spending 80 plus hours I went out of my way to find xenoblade 2 and it’s all because of you. So when I saw you post this video up I was excited to see what you had to say about it and I hope you do the same with xenoblade 3! So thank you for making me go after a game I would have never thought I’d like!
KingK: "Sure, it can suck if you get Finch"
Me getting finch as my first gacha blade that isn't shit: "She's adorable!"
Finch is my second favorite rare blade right next to Kassandra. I love these adorable shield hammer users with really warped views of reality
Finch is one of the funniest characters in the whole game, and I love her so much. "Albatrojans, don't let 'em in! Wait-- no, no, DO!"
One thing that I feel like is just such a shame with this game is just how people I feel just really miss the overall purpose of lighthearted first act of the game in the full narrative, and just how tragic it is that how Monolith handles the lighthearted tone of the first act combined with the awful pacing of unlocking of gameplay mechanics and systems ends up filtering so many people from sticking with the game to see it through to its conclusion.
A core part of the overall narrative is the story of how Rex matures and tackles the challenges to his world-view to where he can be emotionally mature enough to fully understand the burdens and struggles of the people around him and the dark reality of that while still being able to keep his positive and hopeful attitude in spite of that. I feel like the general tone of the first 4 chapters is there to reflect Rex's toxicly positive attitude, too optimistic to even really notice things like the deep depression Pyra/Mythra suffer from despite being quite literally the closest people he has in his life. With act 2 (chapters 5-7) having the cast begin to challenge Rex on his immaturity on failing to understand and empathize with the pain Mythra is struggling with before finally getting the understanding and resolve to help ease that burden with act 3 showing Rex's growth as a person; finally understanding Mythra to unlock her true power as Penuma, understand Jin and the rest of Torna's pain, and Malos' confusion. While he still keeps his more optimistic attitude, Rex once he becomes the Master Driver is still a much more mature and developed person than he was at the start of the game. While he hasn't gave in to the hopelessness the rest of the world has been spiraling towards he has more of the emotional maturity to understand how people can come to feel that way, and the ability to help those people struggling emotionally climb out of their pits of despair.
Yes the tone of act 1 can be really bad at time, leaning way too much into generic anime tropes to try to build up the lighthearted facade the game wanted to develop before pulling the rug out from under the player to force them to confront the heavier tone the game develops into in it's later acts and that is a shame. But I will always defend its existence because without it, the emotional rollarcoaster the rest of the game takes you on wouldn't be nearly as powerful without that juxtaposition and subversion. At the same time, I can understand if it can be too much for people to stomach through, pretty much telling someone to play like 25 hours of something they aren't enjoying on the promise that it gets better is simply too much to ask from a game, I only wish it wasn't so polarizing so less people could had been filtered by it to see the truly beautiful message the game leaves you with when you finally see the credits roll.
Wow this is probably the best video I've watched about this game, it's highs and lows, and ultimately why it's so darn good! I may prefer XC1 overall, but playing XC2 and Torna for the first time back in March really makes me genuinely excited to see what XC3 has to offer.
Ive waited for this video for multiple years. Im so excited
The geometry dash legend himself. I cannot believe I found you here.
o7
My only problem with discussion of the character desgins in xenoblade is people trying to make objective issues out of subjective opinions.
It boils down to “do you like sexy anime characters”, if you do then you’ll most likely like the character desgins, if you don’t then you won’t.
Personally for me I love the character designs in 2 and I view them as plus for the game. I have no issues with people not liking them but I’m tired of being made to feel bad for liking them. I think throwing out terms like sexualization and objectification just muddies the discussion. They’re fictional characters that the creators have full creative freedom to design how they wish for people to like or dislike with no inherent issues with either. The video you recommended I have watched multiple times and still I don’t think there’s a single argument in that video I agree with, it feels like it’s trying to make an objective stance on a subjective topic as I mentioned before, and fails to really say much of actual substance outside of reiterating that they personally do not like the designs.
You did bring up the discussion about malos being designed differently than mythra and brought up a potential counter point of them having different character designers but tried to negate that point by saying all the female blades are desgined similarly. I feel the orignal point about character designers does have merit as most blades were designed by guest artist and most were given complete creative freedom towards their design, so it was that different creators chose to desgin characters differently that lead to malos and mythra looking different. Especially when you have characters like Ursula and Dahlia who could not have more different design philosophies being designed by the same female artist.
Overall fantastic video, I’m glad you’re able to bring up a lot of stuff that made me fall in love with xenoblade 2 and I really do enjoy your content. It’s just the discussion of Xenoblade 2’s character designs and the attitude surrounding it like it’s an objectively bad thing has just put a bad taste in my mouth over the years.
I, too, love the character design. And I would also like to point out that there are plenty of males in the game who are also "unreasonably" attractive, shredded, and scantily clad. And that's great! It's okay to have sexy characters! When it's a problem is when it turns into one sex being objectified and not being taken seriously due to their sex. If it's spread around, it's just fine.
Maybe the game is "sexy Pokemon", but I'm fine with that. If people want to call it that, then I love sexy Pokemon.
@@iluomopeloso Actually, you're... absolutely right. A lot of the male characters in this game are designed in a way that is precisely as horny as the female designs. Despite that, the characters are actually designed more tastefully than most gacha game characters, with actual thought put toward creative outfits that convey distinctive personalities. On top of that, no one seems to be written as mere shallow fanservice, from what I've seen (haven't played it, but I have read about the characters and plot). The actual meaning of objectification is the removal of agency or depth for the sake of other people's gratification, and by that standard, I don't see any of the major characters falling into that.
I think a lot of the discourse around this kind of thing is painfully misguided by puritanical attitudes toward sexuality as a concept, for no real benefit to anyone. It's just a weird, prudish attitude people have for several cultural and historical reasons.
Pre-Watch Comment: Back when XC2 came out, I couldnt appreciate what it was nor what it set out to do. I was mad it wasn't like my darling XC1. The strange focus on revealing clothing, the common anime-esque troupes, the gacha system, all of it made me put the game down after about 15 hours. Now, years later, there are few RPGs I appreciate more in its approach to story-telling. It is not XC1, but I think nowadays Im really thankful it didnt attempt to be. The story it told, I feel really couldnt have been approached in any other way without risking hurting the end message. still not the biggst fan of other aspects of the game but still, like this video title suggests, despite it all, Xenoblade 2 is a game I love and its an experience I feel only it can give me.
Imagine being offended by sexy waifus and anime tropes in a JAPANESE game
@@rng-mos2314 imagine thinking every Japanese game has cringey shit like that
@Captain Ren there's a classic youtuber that introduced xc1 to a lot of people even before xcx came out (and it got announced during his lets play) and he did a xc2 lp with a full spoiler-free guide that explains every mechanic way better than the game does (also xc3 got announced during his lets play of xc2, he just somehow makes monolith release new games)
@Captain Ren Take it slow, pay attention to the tutorial for the combat. Its very very different from XC1, as bad as it sounds, looking up YT guides about the combat can help too. The game is known for having laughably bad tutorials.
@Captain Ren um you do know that the designs are even worse in xenogears and xenosaga when it comes to that thing and xenoblade 2's designs are in fact tame compared to anime, even yoko litner is more revealing. that wasn't a ratio, that was just acting like you're smarter than someone with a kosmos profile picture that for all you know understands the xeno franchise better than you and played xenogears and xenosaga whereas you're new to xenoblade 2. not only that, you do know that alot of these designs are made by women right? making you and others' arguments about the designs even more ridiculous and meaning japan doesn't have a problem with this stuff like you all do and it really is a cultural difference here?
KingK dropping the Xenoblade 2 video a week before Xenoblade 3 comes out makes me wish I had the time to replay Xenoblade 2 just because I love this game so much.
TLDR: I played the Xenoblade trilogy in order 1, x, and then 2, and 2 has always been my favorite in memory. It simply stuck with me more than any other title in recent memory despite all of its flaws. If it wasn't so defective, it could contest my favorite game of all time, but that's neither here nor there. You did a phenomenal job covering it.
I'm glad you hammered the game as you did; XC2 deserves to be analyzed and reprimanded for the next game to be even sounder, but more critical is acknowledging its successes, which you did famously. I'd even argue that hating on a game is one of the best ways to show love and care for it and its series, especially when complemented with such personal and honest dialogue, praising it. This composition is by far my favorite work of yours. You already had my heart, but your analysis of XC2 has a piece of my soul. This video is the quality work and scripting I expect of Joseph Anderson or Noah Caldwell-Gervais' best work, who represent my favorite TH-cam essayist. I cannot wait to see what comes next, and I hope XC3 promotes just as much, if not more, emotion for you friend!
I felt the same way you did about your feelings towards XC2 upon its release. I loved XC2 from the moment I bought it to the moment credits rolled and beyond. Hell, it was the reason I even bought a Switch in the first place. And I didn’t realize the “backlash” against the game until I went online and viewed discussion on the game. But, despite it all, it’s my favorite game of all time now.
Bro I loved XC2 the moment I started playing and as the credits rolled I had the same smile I had when I started. Not quite as a stellar of a masterpiece of XC1 but damn close for me! I have no idea what people are complaining about :D It is still to this day my favourite switch exclusive. Also XC3 was a disappointment for me BIG TIME. A great game for sure just a bad Xenoblade trilogy finale. The story, villians and the pacing didnt meet my expectations.
1: I love your voice it's so smooth and relaxing.
2: FINALLY somebody remembered chaotic bringer of chaos, such an underappreciated gag
I've just started Xenoblade 2 this week , i'm about 20 hours into it and have really been enjoying the story, Pyra and Mythra are great characters. I feel I got absorbed into Xenoblade 1s world and characters a bit more though, the first game just had something 'special' about it that I feel the second somewhat lacks but I can't exactly put my finger on what.
I will come back and watch the rest of this video once I have finished the game because I don't want to see any potential spoilers haha :)
I played 2 before 1 (the DE) and I felt the same except for 2 over 1 ! That said 1 won me over and I think it might be a more solid game only because 2 takes sooooo long to get going but... Actually they're both Incredible and I refuse to pick one over the other ! (Here's hoping 3 knocks it out of the park, I have no doubts it will!)
agreed
I thought 2 was better than 1 when i was halfway thru 2. Came out feeling 1 was better in the end
Almost halfway through 3, loving it. I love the group and their dynamics so far
Tedious as times but ultimately worth the journey; I adore this game.
This video may be my new favorite from you. You nail every thing on what this game's about from the themes, the characters and the story. I'll definitely be rewatching this in the future.
Also that ending got me in the feels, awesome job man 😭
What I love most about this game is it's sense of size. You get lost in it. The higher level enemies that you can't beat yet, the unknown blades that lay ahead and you may or may not find, the huge weirdly structured zones that feel a bit chaotic in a sense. Additionally I find it fixes many common issues with Jrpgs like unimaginative combat, predicatable story, random encounters etc. Finally I find it has a sense of humor, is aesthetically pleasing and is very 'Japanese' with it's tropes and fanservice which I love.
It's kind of hard to describe and I'm very happy that Xenoblade 3 manages to recapture much of that feeling so far, although with a very different story and art direction.
So you mean xenoblade x
This video did a really good job of talking about and encapsulating Xenoblade 2 in such a good way. It goes into its flaws but also explains why you and me and so many other people love this game so much
God I love this stream of Xenoblade 2 content from smaller creators in the week before 3, it's incredible seeing how many people love this game, the true sequel of a game Nintendo of America didn't even give a chance, fully expecting to it fail
"Oh architect is this really the world you intended?"
I really like Amalthus as a character. And Malos as well. Amalthus's character and motivations are very understandable. I think if I were in his shoes I'd probably come to the same conclusion as him.
That line is the coldest lines in the entire series, so chilling
Dude, soooo excited for your xenosaga playthrough and subsequent videos! Truly a masterpiece series!
"Don't even get me started on Blushy Crushy, I swear to god!"
I felt that on a spiritual level lmao
I’m not even afraid to say it at this point. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is my favorite game of all time. The music, story, characters, locations, combat, graphics… all of it. I absolutely love it. It’s one of those games I’ve been going back to since 2017 and will go back to for decades to come.
perfect coincidence. i just finished replaying 2 and i had such a good time. 3 seems to be the culmination of all the favored aspects of these games both mechanic and storywise. most likely gonna be my GOTY
I personally never enjoyed this game but i definitely appreciate what it went for and the few things it succeeds at for me (The World, OST etc). I'm happy xenoblade continues to thrive and can't wait for 3 next week
I hope it disappoints you :)
@@meinkraft501 Happy to share i loved the game
1:08:10 agree, i think nowadays with all the shit going on with the world, a lot of people (including myself) have become so sour and sometimes nihilistic that they start idolizing more grey or nihilistic characters and start to hate the more uplifting ones, they like characters that are hurt because maybe they can feel good about themselves, etc but then i look at Rex, Lloyd, Vyse, characters that no mother how tough, no matter how Many hardships they have to endure, they never lose their way, because they have such a strong conviction, and damn we need more joy in life, enjoy life, family friends, are those experiences that make life worthwhile, because life's too short, we need more characters like Rex.
Gotta love that XC2 actually has the fastest combat out of all of the games but it's explained so poorly that most people don't know that.
Thank you for this video. This is a love letter to what still stands after all of this time as my favorite game of all time. I can't explain how much I adore this game's story, characters, world, music, and gameplay. I love it all. Thank you. Even with its flaws, they can never take away from the brilliance and magic of this game.
Look at this guy, bragging about having pulled Kos-mos!
Your last few words in this video made me bawl my eyes out like a baby. This is such incredible work. I hope you realize how talented you are. I love this game to death, and after watching this video, I love it even more. Thank you!
Definitely has its issues, doesn't hold its greatness back all that much tho. One of my favorite jpg's of all time.
imagine being embrassed about something u like
I swear why do the endings of so many of your videos make me want to cry. Thanks for all your work, keep it up!
I feel ya about the being a lurker thing. Video essays and podcasts are some of my favorite ways to spend free time. And after i watch something i think is cool, i look up what others thought about it and if they noticed things i didn't. I've been called strange for it but i love these things all the same. Keep being awesome king k
I'll never forget the day I went to gamestop and saw XC2 on the shelf and decided to pick it up knowing nothing about the series. Now a few years later I'm here counting down the days to XC3 and getting emotional listening to this video.
When XC2 first came out, I waited for a few months before getting it. Despite my love for the first one, the change in art style was so off putting and the voice acting wasn't good. Once I heard from a friend how much he loved 2, I picked it up and I loved it too. Not as good as 1, but the world, combat, and story were really great. Especially in the last few chapters of the game. I really enjoyed the Torna expansion as well
It's the change in artstyle the reason I was super attracted to 2, funny how that works, I just love the look of it, much more than 1.
The voice acting is honestly pretty good tbh. Imo the main cast generally has a similar level of quality in the performances and even Rex is pretty decent besides most of his yells (near the end he gets better at them). It’s not as good as 1’s where everyone was great, but most of the characters are at least good.
the torna expansion was the best part of xc2 for me lol
Why don't any of you plebs use the Japanese voices? Even king k who's usually a snobby purist who's only a kid really, he was playing the game with the awful dub
@@meinkraft501 because the voice acting itself is generally solid-good.
the voice direction is bad-okay until about mid way.
plus XB with dub is just infinitely more flavorful considering the amount of varied and distinctive accents. Or to put it in simpler terms, I prefer gruff welsh cat girl > generic loli cat girl
XB1s dub is better pretty much across the board though outside of select instances.
This is the perfect send off to 2 as 3 comes out, tho it’s hard to call it a send off knowing I’ll still come back to this game for so many reasons
32:07 I’ve played and beaten this game 3 times and I thought I had it 100% the last time, but I had no clue you could grind on a wire like that. That’s why I love Xenoblade so much is that you can keep on finding stuff years after beating them.
I didn't expect to start tearin up, what you said at the end hit me so hard cause I have been just goin through it, the 5th was my birthday, all but one person in my family and close friends said happy birthday, the only present I got for my bday was Covid, I've been stuck in my house since then, not able to see anyone, work or anything, I genuinely felt depressed, like a crushing weight of sadness and no way to feel better, I feel like a mean so little to people that when I die, no one will care and that if I did right now, no one notice. Hearing that at the end felt like a big ass gut punch, like "You're not alone, even if you think it", like I didn't expect you to switch from talking about one of my favourite games to saying something so relevant to how I am feeling right now, it helped and I truly hope some day soon I can feel better. Until then, thank you, I know I'm just some random joe shmoe on the internet but I promise I'll do my best to find that light again.
I think Kbash described how I feel about Rex really well in his xenoblade video; "I don't trust people who hate characters that haven't done anything wrong." I feel like a lot of the hate Rex gets is just a bunch of jaded westerners projecting their cynicism onto him.
Ive had this video in my watch later for about a year now. I was waiting till I played the rest of the series before watching. I am so glad I did. Xenoblade 2 was my first and favorite entry in the series and will always be. Thank you for this video and for bringing me to tears once again over this beautiful game. You did it the justice it deserves.
I think what a lot of people never understand is that you never NEED a reason to like something. On the internet, it is always taken as _"I have a reason as to why I think your game sucks and because of that reason my opinion is fact and you thinking the game is good is wrong."_ However, if someone likes something and they can't think of a reason as to why, does it really matter? It's how they feel, and at the end of the day you don't need a reason for how you feel, you only need a reason for a fact. You CAN give a reason as to why you like it, but it is never needed. If someone loves something then they love it, simple as that. I love Star Fox Adventures, and sure it might be nostalgia from when I was literally a young boi and was happier, but as someone who is easy about putting aside nostalgia since there are a LOT of bad games that I used to love that I now don't like as much, I can can tell you that I still love it despite its problems. I can't tell you why that I do, but I do. And because I love Star Fox Adventures, I think the fact I still love the game is all I really need to take away from it. It obviously did something right.
I would say that you don't need to know or understand why you like things. You do have a reason, even if you don't know what it is.
On the other hand, it is absolutely necessary to give a reason when presenting something as critique. When making an argument that something is good or bad outside of personal preference. Then, reasons are everything.
That's what people misunderstand. There's no need to be able to explain and justify why you like something if you're just talking about your opinions... But often, people think they can present their "I just dislike this thing" as an objective "this thing sucks and everyone who likes this is wrong", and that's... Dumb.
its one of my favorite games of all time, also my very first xenoblade game!
Can we all just agree that Nia's snark is delightful?
Part of me wanted to make a youtube video to express my feelings about this game, but I don't see any reason to now, because beside being slightly more emotionally invested, your review says literally everything mine would and more. This video makes me want to play the game again, despite all the flaws. I hope Xenoblade 3 lives up to the previous two. This is my favourite video of yours.
I loved Xenoblade 2. I enjoyed all the characters, had fun with the battle system and ADORED the world I explored. It has its obvious flaws (some that bothered me and some that didn't), but the pros far outweighed cons for me.
This game basically made me a Xenoblade fan. I eventually played Torna and Xenoblade DE and loved them as well. And now, I'm super excited for Xenoblade 3.
I got this game and I thought this game is obviously a loved game just to find out people hate it? Xenoblade 2 is incredible while I know it has its flaws it’s incredible in my eyes
I remember back then, what saved the game in my eyes was something of a detail. After your crash fleeing Malhos in the beginning, you have this beautiful cinematic that shows an incredible vista of Gormoth. It was so well designed, the music hit perfectly, it was so full of that "I'm going on an adventure!" vibe ! That, in itself, redeemed a lot of flaws from the beginning and made Gormoth my favorite titan to discover and explore.
finally, the big one!
excited to watch, congrats on getting it out mate
wow! got 17 minutes in and wasn't expecting that. thanks so much for the kind comments about the video, really do appreciate that :)
I remember being disappointed after X wasn't like 1 and I got 2 thinking it'll be different. I was expecting a big hook like the first game early and it never happened. It wasn't until chapter 5 that I accepted it for what it was. Nothing will ever reach that excitement like the cutscene in chapter 7. Xc2 wasn't Xc1 but it was a damn good game I will never forget.
I quite liked X (though it was the first one that I played). It was the only one where I actually liked the gameplay; I've never been a fan of the MMO-like combat in Xenoblade games, but I absolutely loved the exploration in X and consider it far superior to that in 1 or 2.
Have to say, you really knocked it out of the park with this video. Xenoblade 2 remains such a polarizing game to this day because of the negative first impressions most people got from its rocky beginning. Obviously the game has issues but it's a shame it has this stigmatized reputation it does anytime it gets brought up around the internet. I was inspired about how you weaved all that together by the end in a heartful way.
Side note, I wonder why there isn't this same kind of criticism for stuff like the Persona series where it also leans into anime tropes and prides itself on that social life/dating sim aspect its become known for.
Your scripts are always so well written. This really illuminates the problems I had with the game, but also clarifies the story which at times confused me.
Damn.. I couldn’t click away from this one right to the end.
Very inspirational piece of work man. You brought so many thoughts and emotions out of me, ones I already held about the game, but also ones that I’d never had before.
Hoping for another wild ride with Xenoblade 3 !
It is my favorite xenoblade by far! 😍🥰 but i love the series overall.
I love Xenoblade 2, more than 1 actualy, the characters, story and world is so interesting that I started to ignore all the silly japanese perv fanservice rather quickly just so I could know more about the characters struggles and their storys.
Also Mytrha smash outfit its so much better than the vanilla one
100%. I wish Pyra's was in the game too.
I love this game so much. I acknowledge its flaws but it still stands as my favorite game in the series by a long shot.
This was the first time i cried from any game I love it
Great video, I enjoyed hearing your take on one of my favorite games. One of my fondest memories of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was loading into Argentum Trade Guild at the start of the game and hearing the first of many strong musical compositions. To this day, Argentum's daytime theme stands out to me as what the beginning of an adventure should sound like. To me, it underscored Rex's more curious and optimistic attitude wonderfully, and I had my hopes high for the rest of the game to tell its story through its music. From Gormott to Uraya to Morytha and beyond, I was not disappointed.
After finally having completed XC3, I can confidently say that XC2 is still my favourite game of the series.
It's got the best world design, music and combat system. The story starts slow but it serves as a perfect introduction to the world and the characters and sets up the premise of a normal boy thrown into a bigger world really well. Also, the second half of the story goes real hard.
It has a varied and memorable main party.p The way the game portrays the evolution of a bunch of strangers from vastly different backgrounds to a family is fantastic. The villains are up there as some of the very best I have seen in gaming and definitely the best in the series.
However, the game is by no means perfect. I personally only have three major gripes: the overly sexualized designs, the field skill checks and the overall unpolished feel of the game's systems. I don't relate to some of the common complaints like the gacha system/anime humour/art style of blade designs feeling too different, because they don't hinder the enjoyment of its other aspects and in many cases, enhance the experience, but this might be a very subjective opinion and I can see why some might dislike them.
Regardless, the good in this game greatly outweighs the bad to the point that I am willing to look past all its flaws because the rest of what the game has to offer is completely worth it. This might not be the best game ever, but it definitely is one of the best overall experiences I have had in gaming.
If you made it all the way here, thanks for reading! I was pretty sleepy when I wrote this so apologies if the comment feels all over the place or contains any grammatical errors.
I finished 3 and a lot of playing 3 made me miss the care that went into world building in 2. Plus 2's ost imo is still the best. 2 is genuinely a good game, if you're considering it, give it a chance and look up a tutorial on how to make the most of the battle system. I can confidently say it's the most robust and fun to mess around battle system unless they somehow overhaul 3.
the cast of 2 is my fav but 3 come close mainly cuz of Noah and Mio🥲
"was that juvenile? Yes
I was however, a teenager."
Best line so far!
Watching this video reminded me about everything I love about these games. Friday can't come soon enough.
Damn this review is brilliant.
weird, I found xc2's combat way more interesting and active than xc1's. also the way arts are selected with face buttons than a very clunky side scrolling bar.
This video is a masterpiece! I hope you are proud of your work, because you absolutely should be.
This was my introduction to the series. I picked up the first one remastered and loved it too. I agree with all your points.
I like how the story ends with salvation coming not from reaching an untouched virgin paradise but from a repentant soul going back to the world he had part in destroying and fixing it. Confronting and repairing the past and not blindly seeking the future is the salvation of the world in XB2
I'm not crying, you're the one crying...
...this fucking game man, it's nothing short of just...wow.
TH-cam algorithm suggesting a video that actually likes this game, AWESOME VIDEO, love this game
This is a beautiful video for XC2. Thank you. :)
I don't get why people says this is a great game but with huge flaws. Ofc a perfect game dosen't exist, and XC2 could have been better without those rare frame drops and 720p, there are margins of improvement in subquests, eng dub and quality of life. But it's obvious for anyone with basic videogame experience that's as a videogame is better than XC1, (by far if you consider only exploration and quests). Strangely all I read is about Pyra's tits and some blades character design, I wonder if I missed a page and humanity has gone back 200 years, you can't look at me in the eyes and saying Pyra or Mythra design isn't a 10/10, and if the major problem in a game is the skirt of a science fiction robot then maybe our humanity is worse than the one in Alrest. Her skirt could have been 5 cm long and nobody would have died, sure! But that doesn't effect the quality of her design; and the most hypocrites are Xenoblade's fans, forgetting you could instantly give anyone a swimsuit/bikini in the first game, not to mention Mecha Fiora... (even Zeke is basically half naked all the time but strangely nobody motion him.) Talking about rare blades: everyone knows that 90% of them were commissioned to magakas or illustrators in Japan, definitely some design are very poor and others are too much standard-shonen anime trash fighters, but there're lots and lots of cool blades and surely the design of 5-6 blades out of 40 can't compromise an entire game section. Is this to much difficult to understand? Sure they should have choose more carefully their authors, BUT CMON they're rare blades that are JUST an extra mechanic in a jpg and doesn't have nothing to do with the story! GOD! Are all community this dense?
The blades were literally explained by the architect in the story
I immediately noticed the amount of kind of whack anime tropes. But it only really ever bothered me so much really. It is after all, a video game, that I think is still contextualised pretty well, that's all I need really.
It's just that start that bothers me, really.
wholeheartedly agree with most things said here.
the best part of the combat is sickass announcer guy yelling "Launch Heat" "Final Disaster Break" "Blade combo 3rd Stage, awesome" "Chain Attack begin" "elemental burst"
damn i love that guy, Hope he comes back in 3
"I love you Rex!"
"I love you too Nia, and all you guys!"
😂😂😭😭☠️⚰️🥀
Amazing Video! And i see many things the same way. I loved Xenoblade 1 and was really turned off by the first trailers of Xenoblade 2. To be honest i didnt wanted to buy this game back then. But in the end i did buy it day 1. Just because i loved Xenoblade 1 so much. And then what should i say? This Game just got me... those characters got me like no other. There have been other games in the past that made me fall in love with there characters... like Mass Effect for example. But that was nothing compared to Xenoblade 2.
There are many flaws in the gameplay. Many things i would have done differently and yet... this game is a Masterpiece to me. This Game means more to me then any other game of the past 10 years.. Maybe even ever.
Still till today i go back to youtube just to watch some of the cutscenes or reactions to it and i always get teary eyes.
Damn.... I had a hunch I would probably cry at the end of this but I didn't think I would cry this much. The way you ended this video resonated with me in a way I just couldn't predict. A few years ago I was at a point in my life where I was scarily close to giving up cause I didn't even dare to hope anymore. But one thing led to another and I could begin to climb up out of the whole I had found myself in and I found hope again. So even though this game's ending can make me cry just fine on it's own, your final message just hit me that much harder.
This was a beautiful video and I agree with you on pretty much everything. Both the bad and the good parts of this game. And despite it all, as you say, I love the heck out of this game.
Xenoblade 2 is my favorite JRPG, I’ve always loved it even when I was getting called a perv by my classmates for loving it, I’m so glad more and more people are learning about how the game is legitimately great and worthy of being both a Xenoblade title, and having the label of of masterpiece.
The story and characters are my favorite in gaming, I love how they all jive together and connect, and I love that Rex is a constant beacon of sunshine, he really helped bring me out of depression recently while replaying XC2 as an adult because of his sunshine attitude.
This game is still my favorite game of all time and I can agree Pyra and Mythra are my favorite characters of all time but its kind of distracting when the camera focuses on their skin. Another character from Monolith I think also shows skin is Kos Mos from Xenosaga but they don't overuse the anime tropes to a full level. Despite the games flaws when it comes to it's in your face anime tropes it became one of my favorite combat systems in any jrpg I've ever played and the story really kept me pushing forward it was my first game when I got my Nintendo switch because I was so interested in this series I'm definitely looking forward to how they evolve the combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
52:03 I congratulate you for dispatching Mr. Golf Ball in the intended way.
I love both 1 and 2 to death so it honestly really irks me when I have to watch stans of either game go at each other and spout the same things over and over again. Neither games are perfect but they both have a lot of passion put into them and I got many many MANY hours of enjoyment out of them both (I even maxed out EVERY non common blade's affinity chart). I also picked up X day one and while I do agree that the characters fall flat compared to 1 or 2, I thought the exploration and combat gameplay was really fun
Edit: The segment describing the plight of Jin and how it is hard to maintain hope and then transitioning to Rex genuinely made me tear up, I love Rex so much as a character and I feel like people just don’t appreciate him enough for what he does.
the story in XC2 is strong I believe compared to XC3 people just hatin on the combat system and the gacha style of pulling units and dismiss the totality of the game as bad, no worries I can enjoy it multiple times in my life while others miss out :)
I personally don't get the "too anime and evryone being sexy is distracting and i cant take them seriously" complaint i see people have because i have the exact opposite opinion. The anime-isms of this game just made me like it more than i already did. That and im never one to look at a character and think "yeah no cant take you seriously" regardless of how goofy or sexy they may be.
but hey, maybe thats just me, pyra and mythras designs didnt break tension at all for me but ig people are more sensitive to that kinda stuff?
I played Xenoblade 2 for about 210 hours. I hate it, and I love it. The game just has too many flaws for me to give it my full endorsement, which I would notice throughout every hour of playtime. I dabbled in so little of the game's mechanics, and yet I found so much satisfaction in my time with it which I can't lie to myself about. I would really have to make my own hour-long retrospective to fully summarise it all, so I'll save the rest of this comment for that day. I enjoyed the game, I just didn't feel like it had the same... dedication towards it as Xenoblade Chronicles.
Now, Torna on the other hand? Absolutely golden, pun not intended. Better than the base game in terms of combat, accessibility, characters (partially) and run-time that doesn't feel padded or wasted. My only real gripe is how side quests were made obligatory at the end. I was doing them all anyway, but I can imagine how some could have found that frustrating.