Xenoblade Chronicles 3: How Chapter 5 BROKE You! (REVIEW SERIES P3)

Hello everyone! This is part 3 of my story review series for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and this time we're discussing the climax of the narrative - chapters 5 and (half) of chapter 6! Please Enjoy :)
Cutscenes Courtesy of:
- Helsionium
- Collector Togami
Material shown belongs to MonolithSoft and Nintendo.
Games shown:
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3

[@tnuyx9405]

I think your alternative story concept would severely reduce the emotional impact of the end of chapter 5, and distract from the high focus on the key predicament, if they somehow had to include mourning Sena and Lanz as well as fear for Mio.

[@JustJulyo]

Can't wait how the stories unfold in Xenoblade Chronicles 4

[@Zanolith]

In my opinion this is easily the best written section in the entire trilogy. It's all just so masterfully thought out and I love every second of it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. As for the Lanz and Sena thing I have to disagree. The whole point of 3 was the cast, imo it was a much more character driven story and to eliminate a third of that integral piece feels off to me. Also adding Melia and Nia in, while cool would take away from the standalone nature of base 3 that Takahashi has stated multiple times was his goal. Also I know you're gonna get into the criticisms later, but on the Noah and Mio thing I believe it simply comes down to personal preference. 3 has a different type of storytelling from it's predecessors, focusing more on characters and the world as opposed to overarching narrative and lore. It's fine to change, but it won't sit well with everyone. I really liked the game's open ended nature, but I can easily see why someone wouldn't. I also believe this is why so many characters came back, while I agree some were ridiculous (Mwamba) most I feel were used to showcase the grotesque nature of Aionios and that even in death the soldiers are still puppets. In any other narrative I would be highly critical of that choice, but I feel like Aionios is such a weird world to where it makes sense.

[@fourthstrongest]

the execution of characters coming back probably could have been better and maybe with some more space it could have felt more significant, but i agree that xenoblade 3 is one of those rare games where characters coming back can actually work out pretty alright. if mwamba and hackt weren't there with cammuravi, then colony omega probably would have been handled better. i also think the way they handle ethel growing back up is a little odd but since it's just a small side story thing that basically just serves to give you back ethel as a hero, i can let that slide for the sake of just gameplay and having fun with the characters

[@ChocoHasFUN]

(Spoilers, obviously)
Will say, I completely disagree with the notion of replacing Lanz and Sena at that point in the game with Melia and Nia. As a game that was marketed as an experience you could go into without prior knowledge of previous games, if they were to replace them at that point in time you'd have to deal with explaining to people who these characters are to new players, reintroduce previous games that grinds the overall story to a halt to retell stories that veteran players already know, and leaves a hole of character deaths that would weigh on the other main characters all the way to the end. This would lead to constant reminders of their deaths and going back into the cycle, which while it would be fun to explore, also drives the story to a halt once again as it now has to focus on the cycle that's already been touched upon multiple times by this point and how it's not the kind of world these characters should strive for. There's all the other stories with some other characters that goes into that anyways so why do it in the main story? Even then, the deaths won't even compel the other characters to keep moving forwards as they were already on that path anyways by the time they reach The City.
When Vandham dies in Xenoblade 2, it's to impart the thought process in Rex for what he has to do moving forward. It changes Rex for the rest of his life, to fight his own war. Lanz and Sena dying would be the equivalent of have a talk about what you eat for breakfast, it'd do nothing but make the story darker, which isn't "better". In the end, it breaks everything for the sake of making people feel emotional and feel like the story is more "serious" and doesn't actually add anything new to what the story is trying to accomplish.

[@sharkgam3z592]

U are an underrated xeno channel!

[@Ontos99]

I periodically check your channel. Where are your xenoblade lore videos ;)) you still gotta finish this series you hear me?!
2 specific lore videos are coming soon on my channel soon. Im looking forward to yours!

[@aylinilya.]

that is one hot take. i completely disagree lmao. lanz and sena are equally amazing as the rest in my opinion and having them sacrifice themselves makes no sense in the story and feels pushed in. the alternative should’ve been that they just lost and no need for a cop out sacrifice.

[@Ontos99]

Hey dude! Did you hear about the leaks? I've just created a lore analysis on XC3's metaphysics. The theory of 'virtual Aionios' I worked on which Takahashi-san confirmed officially. I'm so happy he explicitly said that! Let me know your thoughts on my theory (which ties to Xenosaga) and to the future of this series as well

[@plastikman7788]

So my daughter is a fare weather gamer meaning she likes things like Animal Crossing and easy going games. She one day sits with me during the home coming and cutscenes leading up to it. She was crying by the end of it(I got a bit misty myself), I stopped it right when she fades away and before we find out M is actually Mio and it was M who passed. She asks what happens and I told her to play it and beat it to find out... she's beaten the game 2 times now. I've created an RPG fan.
It's funny that 2 of the 3 RPG's and really just games in general that are my favorite are Xeno games, Xenogears and Xenoblade Chronicles 3

[@Ontos99]

Great stuff brother! My chp 2 analysis is out. Let me know your thoughts when you do please

[@mcswaddelz4329]

you really did this part of the game Justice with this video. I can easily agree the shania stuff was underwhelming. another great video as always

[@corrinflakes9659]

You lost me on the rewrite portion. That sounds counterproductive to the overall narrative and would rob us of emotional moments we’re better with than without. Also it is highly important for a Japanese narrative to discourage suicide, which that sacrifice would be encouraging at some level.

[@ioefhsof25913]

u completly lost me by wanting lanz and sena dead... this would completely wreck the story, not understanding the value of those characters for the group is a you problem. They provide the simplicity for the group, they both don't think deeply about the topics which provides an outlet for the player in situations where the player isn't following along, they also appear in the fightings scenes as the brutes that can use strength to solve some of the problems. Eunie doesn't fufill this role either because while she is brash and vocal, she is very aware, more of a street smarts kind of character.
Adding Nia or Melia would completely destroy the progression of the story telling, it's already bad enough that mio "loses" M's memories conveniently so that doesn't happen, adding more of that problems is honesly just a bad take.
Edit: forgot to add that even if the sacrifice was successful Z could just reboot N, the reason why rebooting N isn't viable is because N can't beat the team, if the only way to beat N was a full sacrifice, Z could just bring N back twice and be done with the party.

[@tirex3673]

Mio didn‘t lose M‘s memories, where did you get that from?

[@ioefhsof25913]

@@tirex3673 she says so during the nia cutscene when the team asks her is that was why she was being so cagey about giving information.

[@tirex3673]

@@ioefhsof25913 All she said, was, she lost her moebius powers, right after they liberated the castle, and, as Mio did share some of M‘s memories (destruction of the first city), after that happened, M‘s memories seem to not have been affected.
I took it as, she was embarrassed about losing her Moebius powers and because of that, she didn‘t want to tell the small snippets M knew, especially, as Nia knows the full story.

[@ioefhsof25913]

@@tirex3673 the exact statements are:
Mio: I can't...use them right now...
The Moebius powers.
Lanz: What?
Mio: I noticed it...right after we liberated the Castle.
I couldn't work out why myself, it was so sudden.
Eunie: Noooo...!
Is this why you blew us off saying to ask the Queen ourselves?!
Mio: Uh... Sorry, Eunie...
Eunie: Oh love...
It's very clear by the "Is this why you blew us off saying to ask the Queen ourselves?!
Mio Uh... Sorry, Eunie...
Eunie Oh love..."
That the powers stated here extend to mobious knowledge, so it's reasonable to say that while Mio retained Ms emotions she didn't retain the knowledge, which is why she couldn't answer Eunie in a earlier scene.

[@tirex3673]

@@ioefhsof25913 I had rewatched the cutscene, but thanks, for citing it, for completionist sake.
The problem with saying, that this means, Mio lost M‘s memories is, that she says, she lost those powers right after liberating the castle, this means, before she revealed what N did to the first city, for which she did use M‘s memories, so she can‘t have lost them then.