Another point I want to add about the narrative and character design working together: You brought up when describing Zeke’s design about how he is known to use contact lenses, likely to hide that he has Tantalese eyes due to the loathing he has for how the Tantalese live. Then the story (I think it’s the infamous “One-eyed monster” cutscene) explains that Zeke likely has his eyepatch because he couldn’t afford another contact lens. Initially, this just sells the idea of “This guy is an unlucky goofball who’s trying to look edgy.” even more. Then, when looking at it from the perspective of what you brought up, you can even see it as him preferring to even try living without using one of his eyes just to not show his Tantalese heritage, which sells his loathing even more. Then there’s also the Eye of Shining Justice mode that gets unlocked in NG+, which…I dunno if that can be considered a canon thing Zeke can do, but, if so, it also shows that he’s ACTUALLY not being edgy and just wanting a fair fight, making the eyepatch also a representation of him enjoying a good, clean fight. So even a single eyepatch shows: His unlucky nature resulting him in being too poor to afford a second contact lens, His dislike for his Tantalese heritage, AND both how he tries to be edgy and cool, but he also doesn’t want his opponents to hold back and wants to fight on equal terms.
I think most of the blades don’t feel out of place when rendered in 3D but the ones that do (looking at you, Vess) are particularly jarring next to the others. But even with that minor complaint I actually kinda love the idea of the guest designs. And honestly when considering the lore of blades, being created from data based on the varied memories of the world’s inhabitants, it actually makes a weird kind of sense that they aren’t consistent.
I love the designs. People can say they're 'good' or 'bad' but they are undeniably unique and memorable. The designs are not boring at all and stand out, and that's great to me. I will never forget what any of the xenoblade 2 cast look like because they're so memorable. And show me any part of one of their design or any silhouette and I could recognize it. To me, that's great character design
This video just confirms even more on why Nia is my favorite character of all time. And also why I like the cast, because of their personalities and designs.
Liked her but didn't like the romance option flip up they did to not repeat what they did to Melia in XC1. Didn't like that she was another victim of sexualized design. Thematically, it's about a freedom, but in my eyes, it made her into just an icon and she lost the personality that made me like her in the beginning. I think sexualization is fine, but the oversexualization point is valid, and the fact that people talk about so much means that is was divisive at least. It was too much, and I don't count the guest designers for trying to make their designs stand out. The main cast has too much. That said, I like how SC3 handled sexualization, but I don't like how it handled the designs. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did in 1 and 2, because their designs were always changing and the notable characters felt like stereotypes of previous characters. I don't know. My opinion of Xenoblade has been mixed ever since 2. I wish it wasn't, but I can't look past obvious flaws.
Regarding Nia... I don't _just_ love her design. I loved her _silhouette._ One of the first things I did after unlocking the ability to resonate with Blades was look at the Blade album, and of the silhouettes I saw, two of them immediately stuck out to me: Herald, because _dragon,_ and a large yet still defined silhouette with long flowing hair, tall ears, and massive sleeves that I mistook for claws. It took me no time at all to recognize each and every one of these features during the reveal in Chapter 6. (One of the most criticized cutscenes amusingly enough.) I literally fell in love with Nia's character design before I even knew it was the same character as the lovable sassy Welsh cat. And then there's the dichotomy between the designs. I sometimes like to say that Nia's "coming out scene" has her essentially strip on-camera. Ultimately, her Driver outfit is one of the most concealing designs in the game. Pretty much everything bellow her head is covered up, and she has a hood which would've left only her face exposed. Compare that to her Blade outfit with revealing even by Blade-standards and it really shows how much more vulnerable Nia is willing to be around those she trusts. She knows that she can show who she really is without worrying about people attacking her where she exposes just a little too much. Another thing is that her Blade design almost goes out of its way to show off her inhumanity, with her Core Crystal have absolutely nothing surrounding it to hide the fact that it's attached directly to her skin, and with her spots being the most visible out of the entire main cast, also with nothing surrounding them. (Yes, Blades have spots.) Lastly is something that doesn't get nearly enough attention: her weapon. I can't exactly say _why_ it's so good like other parts of her design, but it is by far the prettiest Blade weapon in the entire game, regardless of Core Chip. You basically have a flowering vine made of crystal forming the core, with the flowers themselves changing design based on the Core Chip, even resembling gears for the more mechanical forms which I think is really cool. Then when activated, it takes one of two forms. The first is basically just a single uncut block of crystal that grew organically around the vine, which the second looks more like a flowing stream of water that's been frozen in time. Can you tell who my favourite character is? And I haven't even gone into the details of why I call her reveal a "coming out scene."
I'll do this as my comment has some late XC2 chapter spoilers: I remember thinking Pyra's design was very Anime when I first played the game, but when I realized how Pyra and Mythra's designs are mirror images of each other and what that implied, I started respecting the design a lot. Pyra is covered where Mythra shows skin, and Mythra shows skin where Pyra is covered. Doing foreshadowing as part of the character design without it being obvious is really impressive. It made me remember that MonolithSoft are masters of foreshadowing, and they can put your mind in the correct place to accept plot twists in so many more ways than you can imagine. Being able to foreshadow that Pyra and Mythra are parts of a larger whole (Pneuma) though the design like that is awesome. Showing the two side by side for the first time just before the reveal is also a master stroke, as your brain is bound to notice it there if it hasn't already.
I don't agree with all of your individual takes, as you anticipated, but the video was very excellently made. Glad to see you're back, and I look forward to the Xenoblade poll results. Hope you enjoy XC3 as well!
I love these characters. Their trials, their triumphs, their loss. They feel the most real out of any party in a jrpg and watching them on their journey is enough to bring a man to tears each and every time.
Holy shit I’m in the video! But seriously, your point of the designs themselves not being sexualized is something I see go over so many people's heads, there are people with many body shapes, it’s how you treat them in the game that can be sexualized and I’m glad you’re spreading the word!
The messages of self acceptance and personal growth portrayed in Xenoblade 2 and its character designs are some of my favorite aspects of the game and I love how you made similar messages to be the main point of the larger discussion about how people are afraid of expressing their Xenoblade Opinions. Great video; Thanks man
dude, a 100% agree on Catalysts design and how it relates to their character. It has to be one of my favorite blade designs, next to Brighid, who i think really nails the concept of this video. also, i took part of the survey! cant wait to see the results in the video!
After ACTUALLY watching the video (I could just feel that it was a banger), I think one of the most important factor in a design is does it look good, which I know sounds pretty stupid and basic, and it is. I didn’t really care about how the character designs fit into the narrative, Im a little too simple for that. I just thought they looked neat. Some people just won’t vibe with the designs, but thats all personal opinion. People need to stop writing 400 page twitlongers about why you’re a shitty person cause you do or do not like scimblo krunkos design.
Nia’s design is too good. Love the flower motif that is rather subtle in her Driver Form, but is blossoming outward and is readily apparent in her Blade Form. The fact that she covers herself up the most, practically, in her Driver Form, and basically strips and bares herself in her Blade Form is such a reflection of her story arc of being unafraid to hide herself. And then Queen Nia came with a redone version of her Driver outfit in 3. I adore her soooo much.
I'm someone who actually likes Mythra's base design. While I think her Smash redesign is an improvement overall, I think her base design fits her well. She has a very show-offy personality, like how she's not afraid to show skin. The white and gold having an angelic look, as she is literally representing an angel descending from heaven (even more obvious with her beta design having angel wings).
Ehh I'm glad that a lot of people actually enjoyed the character designs in Xenoblade 2. While I don't HATE them, the massive jump in sytle from Xenoblade 1 to 2 feels kinda jarring and will take some time getting used to. However I'm really glad that we are going back to a more (How do I say this ?) "Believable" design of the main cast while still reaming interesting in the upcoming Xenoblade 3...
I think the differences between 1 and 2's character designs are really cool. To me, the many different outfits the characters can wear in XC1 builds upon the world moreso than the characters themselves. Different cultures and locations are represented in how the characters look while wearing them. In XC2 I think you can see similar intentions in how the Driver characters are designed, with each one representing a major nation (or species in the case of Tora), but the Blade designs are much more focused on representing the characters themselves. At least, that's how I see it!
@@fieldkaiju That's why I make the joke that the characters in Xenoblade 1 (even in the Definitive Edition imo) look like they're from a character-creation menu.
Thank you, I've been longing to see this perspective, you've formulated a lot of my thoughts in better words than I could, especially with Rex's design and the models doing so much to sell most of their design in a way that looking at the much stiffer key art just doesn't in many cases. I think one of the reasons why Xenoblade 2 in particular got its massive and exaggerated scrutiny is because of how prominent Rex and Pyra were in the discourse. I do think Pyra's design in particular is flawed. I think I see what its doing with how she's covered where Mythra is exposed and vice versa and I like the idea, but even though I personally never minded the sexualization, I don't think booty shorts were the best choice, along with being as exposed as Mythra (whose design I find perfect both ways), and my best angle on it (the sexualized aspects making a deceptive first impression mirroring how wrong it feels that this sweetheart is said to have sunk 3 titans) is a big stretch that I haven't seen anyone else make. Another possibility I came up with now is that it shows her being vulnerable, but the same time I see Mythra's exposure as being confident, so this is either a compliment of both designs using the same element to convey two completely different things that fit each, or as a weird contradiction in their design language. A few days ago I decided to draw my own redesigns of Pyra and Mythra, as it seemed like a fun challenge. I covered most of Pyra's torso (but leaving in the center black part that calls back to Addam) and a skirt that covers most of her thighs, leaving a small gap. The only significant change I gave Mythra was exposing her midriff with the bottom part of her dress becoming a miniskirt. The implication here is that Pyra is covering up to hide herself and her power as the Aegis from the world (as that's what Mythra wanted to do most when making Pyra), while Mythra is showing off her power and confidence with said power. Plus adding the dynamic of one being reserved and conservative while the other is more headstrong and liberal, similar to Nia's driver form being closed off and blade form being open. While I'm happy with my redesign, aligning better with how I see the characters, her imperfect design didn't really hurt my experience to begin with, thanks to the quality of the models and most of Saito's art of her besides her stiff key art being beautiful, and the basis of my redesign wouldn't exist if it wasn't for her original design, it's intensions and my love for the game. I just wish the camera in the cutscenes were less fanservice focused.
I will say I have thought about why some cutscenes had these voyeuristic angles. And then I remember how it's usually handled in American films. When a man sees a sexy woman walk by the camera sometimes accentuates parts of their body to tell the audience "This character is attractive" or "This character is seeing this person as attractive". And given Xenoblade 2's story premise is "Boy meets Girl" it isn't unsurprising that Rex is put into a few embarrassing situations where he notices Pyra/Mythra's features. To help show he's starting to develop feelings for them.
Excited to see a new upload from you! But yeah I enjoy a lot of designs in Xenoblade 2. Some of them are ridiculous, but what can i say… Rex’s diver jumpsuit is such a serve Also looking at Mythra’s censored design, I didn’t think I agreed before, but looking at it again… I agree! The black on the legs makes it feel more whole to me, I feel like a detail is missing on the original in comparison. And the chest covering looks quite nice actually, I’m a fan now that I’ve given it a second look
Yeah, I ended up liking the smash designs a little more, because the Introduction of black to the color palate gave Mythra a color to contrast the very bright white design she got, and it adds something that sticks with both Pyra and Mythra, the black leggings. The black also kinda ties into them being Aegises, much like Malos, who has a mostly black design.
I can see both sides here. Pyra and Mythra are pretty egregiously lewd to the point where some people genuinely find them to be outright distracting in any scene in which they are supposed to be taken seriously. For me personally it’s just indicative of how goofy this game often is. The silly outfits weren’t even surprising considering the game I was playing, so I looked past it fairly easily. All this to say that lewd content isn’t inherently bad, but it *can* completely ruin someone’s immersion and that’s valid. For example: I would not be able to focus on a death scene if there was a dude in the back wearing just a speedo and a trucker hat. Maybe you can, and that’s fine, but many can’t. That said, many of the lewd designs are fine. Dhalia is obviously the worst and poppi’s outfits have a lot of weird implications, but overall they’re pretty tame
@@AntiSoraXVI hard agree. I had to fight pretty hard to see past the designs of Pyra and Mythra specifically. The rest of the cast looked fine, but I definitely had difficulty taking some scene with their designs in the early game seriously, and the trucker hat example is a very solid explanation for my thoughts on the matter. Idk what you mean about the Poppi designs, but maybe I missed something. I always saw them as Tora emulating his family. Poppi alpha was Tora making a maid robot so he could have a friend to talk to, and because all the robots he knew of were maids(complete lack of any real sexualized features, and the fact that Tora is at max like 13). QT was based off of Lila, who he vaguely remembered from his childhood, and who ends up unlocking the form. QTπ was based off of Pyra and Mythra, who Tora saw as the pinnacle of Blades and even gave her a similar weapon to the Aegis's first(Pyra's) form. We are explicitly told that Pyra made QTπ's outfit, and given how she dresses herself, that is pretty blatant. I honestly think she would've had a more Covering design if Tora was in charge.
@@derpfluidvariant0916 The weird implications involve creating a young girl and planning to put her in a bunch of maid outfits. Like yeah Tora is young and all that, but the devs behind the game are all adults and all of the ideas surrounding Poppi are just strange and off putting for me. She’s a great character though. That’s the annoying part. XC2 is a great game buried under so much off-putting trope-y bs. It’s just a test of how much you’re willing to overlook. Torna did amazingly at balancing that though in ways that the base game couldn’t
I really like most designs, but the thing I hated about them is only regarding the saturation and a few details those do not make sense and look dumb (which is different from just not making sense). For example, Rex's exposed thighs, shoulders, and chest, it looks so dumb and there is no reason for them to be exposed. Opposed to this, Jin doesn't look dumb with his exposed chest and back, looks great on him and his whole outfit isn't related to a job that required him to fully cover himself. Then we have Pyra, she has clothes those are weirdly tight, almost as if she painted herself those clothes and then added a few random pieces of armor, problem I don't have with Mythra. I never had a problem with their anatomies, even with the absurd bounciness of the lancers. I'm glad XC3 fixed this, but wouldn't be mad if they did bring back the big proportions xD
I appreciate the effort that went into this vid. And I wholeheartedly agree with the part about the discussion getting antagonistic at times. I personally don't think there's a problem with the sexualization in the game, but I don't usually voice that opinion online because of what you mentioned about discourse. My opinion is that it's a lot like violence in videogames, some people will feel uncomfortable about that, and some won't. It's fine either way; not everything will appeal to everyone and as long as you don't villainize those who disagree, that's cool.
@@LordlyWeeb yeah unfortunately it’s a problem we are facing all over media, we’re trying to attend to a very small percent that is not even buying anything
I think my personal issue was with Rex's design wasn't the scuba diving equipment that should be there, but the inner thigh window. But I only figured out recently that since Rex and Pyra/Mythra sharing wounds is an important plot detail, Rex sharing the same exposed skin areas as Pyra helps direct those moments. See in the cutscene where Vandham inspects the scratches and cuts Pyrs got an notices they are the same on Rex, including their thigh. Rewatching that scene during aomebody else's gameplay reminded me of this.
Nice job on the video. I think when it comes to XB2, people tend to miss that the fact that much of the cast is a more youthful, somewhat immature group that barley getting out in the world or is still the process of maturing on some level. The so-called cringy parts people tend to be against is only a instance of some of the cast's growing pains they go through in order to mature. As for the rare blades, I do like how distinct most of them look from their driver counterparts, giving them an otherworldy appeal that doesnt completely confirm to how the drivers appear. People do tend to like to say "you cant judge a book by its cover", but with how the internet is (especially on twitter and ResetEra) I noticed that quote got sadly lost when they champion against designs that they tend to consider too objectifying and such.
I think another big issue is how social media has really evolved in an unfortunate way where folks are more interested in watching videos or being in circles of those that think and agree with your opinion and there's no actual need or push to be a part of a larger world of viewpoints and perspectives and as such, seeing a dissenting opinion now causes more backlash and antagonism given no one is really used to interacting with difference anymore. It's like you said, people are more social online now more than ever, but unlike real life that means they aren't getting to actually socialize with a world but rather with their own little hubbles. It's been an unfortunate incident for things and many folks just don't know or aren't capable of having a meaningful or at least willing to listen and discuss moments with others and would much rather go back to their own hovels (Reddit) and continue to preach to the choir. It's sad, since I do think the designs aren't given enough praise and I can see why folks would have an issue with them. But it really does feel like people can't look past things that annoy them anymore since everything is expected to just "Be exactly as I want it" or it's a problem, a problem with current day mindset of "entitled expectancy".
Wait wait wait I'm close to finishing the video and i just realized it has less than 1k views?! YOU have less than 1k subs! How tf is this absolute gem of a documentary on this game so underrated?
i think the main problem i had was the unrealistic body proportions, especially with pyra/mythra and some of the blades, this is more of a problem with a lot of japanese media and media in general where they make some of the female characters have massive breasts, which is fine, some people have that because people are just built differently, but they make their waist super skinny, like that’s so unrealistic and it sets an unhealthy image upon young girls that that’s what you’re supposed to look like to be attractive, it also has the effect of making young boys think that the only “attractive women” are the ones with small waists and big breasts. like i couldn’t care less about sexualized clothing as an asexual, but it’s more about the unrealistic proportions that some of these characters have
I'm in the camp of the sexualization here isn't that big of a deal It only starts to be a problem when it's a characters only noteworthy trait, which this game is far from guilty of Is there sexualization? To some degree, yes, but the way I see it, it's a cherry on top of a already beautifully crafted sundae that is (for example) Pyra and Mythras character arcs, and it's not particularly like the game is constantly giving you cleavage shots or something That's just my two cents, anyway. You could give them Xenoblade 3 themed designs, and my stance on the game and it's story would change so minimally or not at all
Great video, but I don't agree the sexualization the game presents is bad. Like the example you used with Rex waking up in Pyra's lap, is actually a peek at their dynamic, Rex's perspective and Pyra's willingness to care for him. Rex is introduced as a kid working a dangerous full time job, living independently and sending money to his foster family. He's made himself grown beyond his years, but he is still naive like when he takes the job from Torna, and full of dreams. He dies at the beginning of the game because he was naive while chasing his dream. So he meets Pyra and she promises him another chance to live if he fulfills her request to go to Elysium, a deal with no drawbacks because thats what he wanted to do anyway, and she gives him to power to do it. So that scene shows the childish way he sees her, his ticket to Elysium, who would even go as far as to take care of him while he's sleeping and immediately act close and motherly to him. But from Pyra's perspective she acts kind partially because she was being selfish in reviving him just to make him bear her burden. So she wants to bear his burden as much as she can, despite not sharing her own burden, the REAL reason she wants to reach Elysium. So we see Rex's view of her, an overpowering presence of someone willing to take care of him again, but its not the whole view, and Rex is yet too immature to see her full self. I was going to go into the Mythra Bedroom scene that Mirrors this and how it shows the push and pull of her emotion, but this comment is already in TL;DR territory. Sex appeal isn't inheirently bad, its simply another aspect you can engage with.
Loved the video, but your first complaint about the freelance article seems misguided. You spoke as if they criticized XC2’s designs in general, but all of their criticism was specifically about Pyra’s design.
Just to play devils advocate here. I looked online for that survey and it said nothing about female fans seeing a different issue with the game. The only thing close to that was some reddit post on r/xenoblade that asked female fans of the game about their thoughts on the game. Most of them said “I don’t mind the designs, I just don’t like the dialogue around them” similarly to what you described.
One of the thing than I like the least about this game is Tora's perv side, I think it would have been fine if like Riki he had just been the comic relive character but since he is more than that I think it could have been cut, especialy since Poppi alpha is emplaied to be child, while QT and QTpi are a teenager and an adult. The bed scene did made me laught but there was no need to bring the focus on Mytra and Pyra's chest size, Mythra could have had the same reaction even if Rex was not staring at her chest, and an adult audience could have still understood the dirty joke since... you know a boy and a girl in the same bed might do stuff...
I think the bed scene is fine as is. There is nothing wrong with drawing attention to booba as long as there is more to the character, and Mythra’s as complex as they come. I understand the complaint about Tora a bit more, but even then _he’s a child too,_ and Poppi Alpha and even QT aren’t really sexualized too much beyond like one scene each. Two for Alpha, but neither of those were even drawing attention to anything physical, more like putting Tora on blast for his degeneracy. Again, funny.
@@Player-jh4ko i hope they don’t. 3 looks like it’s gonna be the bleakest out of all 3 storywise, so it’s gonna _need_ some comic relief if it doesn’t want to just crush everyone’s spirit.
@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged When I said "cool it off with the jokes" I don't necessarily mean get rid of the lighthearted and funny scenes entirely. I just think we don't need to see bed and maid girl scenes in order to be funny in what seems to be a much more mature story than Xenoblade 1 and especially 2 combined. Xenoblade 1 was dark, yet it had so many lighthearted jokes and stuff in the game, it never needed those type of scenes that Xenoblade 2 have. If the leaks are correct, then Xenoblade 3 will likely handle the silly scenes more like Xenoblade 1 than 2 and if so, that makes me look forward to the game even more...
@@Player-jh4ko Oh I agree that the bed and maid scenes would be completely out of place in 3. They fit 2 though. I liked them in 2. They got a laugh out of me and Pyra/Mythra fanservice is *chef’s kiss* exquisite
There’s another aspect to the different artists unique character design that I appreciate: how the villains are designed. All of the members of Torna or design by Tetsuya Nomura, the Director of Final Fantasy, seven in kingdom hearts. There are more serious and realistic designs that contrast with the more anime esque ones, putting the audience know that they’re not to be messed with.
We need more xenoblade character design videos, please. 🥺 This one was so good, we need videos about the other games. I'm sure the video was made with the criticism of xenoblade 2 in mind, more than the character designs, but...all the character design segments are so good. We need more.
Not counting some blades, the only design i really struggle with is Pyra/Mythra, it's even more so a probleme since they are the main character. I don't get the philosophy behind their design. It draws focus to their breast rather than their core-crystal. I don't think it fits their charater either. I mean, tho mythra acts tough, playing the game, I got to know they are both reserved and lack confidence. Well I don't get this vibe from the bright colours and low lack of coverage. Lets say i never touched Xenoblade 2 and only knew Pyra/Mythra from Super Smash Bros ultimate. I'd picture them more like bayonetta than how they actually behave. Frankly Pyra/Mythra's look is a reason why I dropped the game in 2018 (the poor handeld performances being the other reason since i didn't have a Tv at that time). Their proportions and cloth are so ridiculous to me, it often took me out of serious story moments. Pancho-Pyra and Smash-Mythra really helped me picking the game back up and finishing it back in 2019. Basically I love Pyra and Mythra, but that's inspite of their appearance. I feel the over-sexualitation is uneeded at best, a disservice to the character at worst. So yeah that is poor character design to me.
Yeah I mean funny enough most people like Mythra's smash outfit more because it covers more while still looking good. It didn't bother me too much while playing but the over sexual and kinda silly looking design for Pyra especially could be distracting in the serious moments
The reason why they are sexualized is because the story is juvenile by nature, even if you say it clashes with their personalities. First of all, Mythra is the Holy Grail, or... Aegis in english localization, she is the most powerful blade, she represents light, and that is exactly what her design is, her splash art also demonstrates her cockiness. Pyra is an incomplete version of Mythra but she is also made to be "the perfect woman", she is beautiful, sexy, shy, kind, knows how to cook, and the main love interest of the protagonist. Her design is made to evoke sexual desires. It's done so in purpose, it's not bad character design. You just don't like it.
@@andr0zzsenpai Is that so? Wow interesting! Then yeah it totally missed the mark for me ^^'. It's such a bold design, I wonder if it was worth it in the end. Then again Xenoblade 2 is the most succeful Xenoblade so far, I guess it did its job.
I disagree with quite a bit of things in this video but overall I can see where you are coming from and I think you bring up decent points but I my opinions on the designs are still the same great video like I said even though I don't agree with everything it was a well done video and it's good to hear others opinions on things that challenge your own
Great video! I agreed with a lot of points, disagreed with some and ended up asking myself "When sexualisation is and when it isn't a problem?" Which gave me an idea to recommend to you Guilty Gear designs analysis, since imo they use sexualisation as a strength, and not weakness there - that's if you will ever desire to branch out of jrpgs, into Fighting game territory lol On side note... My personal favourite designs in the game are specifically Rex v2 and The Third Sword (renamed for sanity of spoiler avoiders in 2022). It is an evolution of their previous designs, all of them really - what bond was earlier illustrated by just a core crystal in ones chest, now became the main aspect of the entire fit with shared colours and armour aspects, as well as a more confident look from Rex on official art. The finale of their mutual character arcs, which they as Driver and Blade show exquisitely - how bond is a two way street and helps us defend ourselves from danger. I feel like i could gush about how imo third blade is the prettiest of all her forms as well, but this is just a you tube comment so i'll stop myself-
In my opinion it's never a problem, it's just a matter of preference. Some people tend tend to demonize fanservice because of maybe their culture or education, which is not bad nor good, it's just how it is. I personally never minded ecchi ever since I was a kid lol, but the you'll find people that are "afraid" of being found to play stuff with fanservice in it, those people are the ones that find problems with designs/camera shots etc. The answer is very complex in the end, every one of us comes from very different places and each one perceives things differently. That is why it's hard foe developers to be experimental in a single franchise, there is always going to be backlash of change and Xenoblade 2 is VERY different than 1 and X in many aspects that people will not accept a drastic change in tone. The sexualization is done by choice, proof of this is how Masatsugu Saito is the main character designer in 2 and 3, and both have very different approaches.
Forst of all I love the editing on this video and the music selection (specially that NMH one). This video is a must watch for those who love hating on XC2's character designs. You may not like them but calling them bad is pure nonsense. Complaining about the female characters sexualization to me is like complaining about Twilight's male sexualization, it's different but it's clearly there. Maybe I always get frustrated because these people are in the mayority american and so their perspective ends there as they expect, want or demand media appealing to their cultural values. What you point out in the 3rd point is vital not only for this video but for all creators out there and that is Subjetivity. I feel like many never even tried to play and get to know these characters which I personaly love all. Let's take Dhalia for example, she is by far the most pointed out regarding sexualization and like you SIG, I've seen women like her in real life and as a little detour from my point, (I've met american girls oftem from California that dress with the littlest amount of clothes as possible, little tops, tiny shorts, very exposed chest shirts or tights that for people from my country is scandalous how little they're wearing). Back to Dhalia, she may look that exagerated and you may think at first glance that her character moves around her looks but that sidequest at Tantal shows us so much about her, how really is she like, strong, thoughful, kind, brave, encouraging, elegant, strong. She's an amazing character that is unfortunately missjudged by how shw looks both in game and by the players. I don't want to keep stressing you with this testament of a comment but I just want to mention two more characters, Nia and Pyra. I will always quote a sentences everytime I think about them and that's "The fear she carries" and that is because throughout the whole game we learn about them, how they feel, what they think and the burden that is emotionally killing them inside and missing all that just because they are designed the way they are is totally crazy and really close minded from my perspective. Anyway, I hope I managed to point out my perspective of this eternal discussion, thank you so much for this video and I'll make sure to check more of your work soon. Sorry for any gramatical mistakes, I'm still learning this language.
Honestly first video of your's I've seen but with how open to other opinions taking all whatnot into consideration I'll give you a sub it's a refreshing kinda deal that isn't all positive or negative and I'm here for it
The first argument never got me, I don' really know what more the outfits should tell than they already do. For the sexualisation, I think they're two different groups. One are the ones you mentiones, who actually debate about things like costumes or certain camera angles in Xeneblade games in general. The other group is mostly complaining about that because of the sexualised design, they can't play the game in public. This group does not really talk about sexualisation, but that they have to deal with it. In XC1 and XCX the sexy costumes were a choice the player had to make (and thus, actual sexualisation), in XC2 it's just the design.
I agree with everyhting but when you get to Min 16:09 you lost me. Like either we say that EVERY game have sexualization or accept that some people have problems
Some good points, but I think I die a little bit on the inside every time someone takes sexualization in media like this actually seriously. We have enough studies and evidence to understand that media consuptiom has very little if not almost no impact on the behavior of a healthy individual. And yet people constantly talk about sexualization as if it was something different, as if the moral panic over sexualization is real despite having already seen the precedent of the moral panic over violent games in the past. Yes, people like titilation, so what? Why do people care so much? Coming from people trying so hard to take games seriously its surprising how few people know how to abstract ideas from media. Edit: Also, I don't mean to get you anxious or anything. I didn't sugarcoat my opinion because I am tired of this discourse, I honestly think its a harmful mindset, specially since censorship and attacks on artists have been on the rise lalely. I think your video tries to diminish these notions a little bit, but sometimes certain body sizes and exposure are just sexualization too and honestly, there is nothing wrong with it either way. It is still a form of expression and even sexualized designs may tell something about a character or narrative or have an artistic intent behind them.
The problem isn't necessarily that sexualization will negatively impact someone's behavior by consuming media. In the case of XC2 especially, some people may feel it detracts from the story or characters. It also can make people uncomfortable for any number of reasons. It's more personal than anything else. For myself, you, and many others this wasn't the case. But to completely dismiss the concerns of the people who DO feel like some moments are taken too far isn't fair, I feel. I think it's only right to be honest about the aspects of the media we love that might not be for everyone. So, to answer your question: "who do people care so much?" Because whatever experiences they've had, beliefs they hold, and/or people they've met have made it so. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that!
@@SiGNet_GM If people only cared about it on that personal level, I really wouldn't mind. But it almost never is just personal, its more about this idea of fixing whats they think is wrong. They don't care about other's personal experiences because they already assume they are righteous and who disagrees is in the wrong. Suddenly, your personal opinion makes you seem like you have no empathy, but sometimes they have no empathy. Sometimes artists get harassed and decide to leave twitter, sometimes a game gets delayed or censored because it fell upon a public mob. It has certainly changed now because of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I am sure you're gonna remember some very vocal opinions about the "hentai artist" that made the designs for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and his moral character and the other staff involved and maybe what Nintendo or Monolith Soft should do with them. If someone has a personal distaste for sexualized things, that fine, its a matter of subjectivity and personal experience, if they think sexualization in media per se is wrong however thats a different topic altogether for me and the tone of these discussions is more about the latter and the former is used as a framing device for it. Its honestly suffocating. I really, really don't mean to dismiss anyone's taste or personal opinion, but this discussion always involves more than that.
@@madokaayukawa577 I'd say this is the kind of thing I feel with the discourse as well. Far too many people go out antagonizing people who disagree with them regarding this topic. If they have no problems with the designs, people call them sexist pigs, and if they dislike them, they're sjw snowflakes. This kind of antagonistic discourse is not good for discussion, and I appreciate this vid doesn't do that. For that alone, I can give it respect. I don't believe the vid diminishes the notions of those who worry about censorship and harassment towards artists who make sexualized content. If it was, he wouldn't want those who disagree with his opinion on sexualization to kindly voice their disagreements.
@@madokaayukawa577 Exactly, there is a recent Xenoblade 2 retrospective from a big youtuber that flat out calls the design a bad thing and they redirect to a video where it demonizes de idea of female fanservice, as if inherently is a bad thing. It's quite sad if you ask me, didn't the Xeno games teach people that not everything is black and white and stuff are so for a reason?
I feel like the framing of shots exacerbate a lot of designs so while yes, the designs aren't inherently bad they get dragged down worse by the direction. I find mythra's see through dress that let's you see her panties to be eye rolling, and a real source shame. I also have this little game I play where I see how many designs of female characters feature garterbelts, thongs, or are basically onesies. To me it comes off as more pervy design choices. I'm also now including the swimsuit design for Japanese games because apparently the Japanese school swimsuit is something of a fetish outfit. Non of these points to a bad design I just it's just like mythra's see through dress it makes me think the artists treat the characters like dolls. Your comment on body types I find to be improperly explained. The designs do feature different body types in terms of age and muscularity, but gor all the female blades I can't find a single chubby blade, which doesn't help the idea that the characters aren't being objectified.
You have a problem with the designs being pervy? of course they are, and that is not a good or a bad thing. It's an stylistic choice, Takahashi wanted to approach the story in a more juvenile way, with a teen protag having sexual attraction to her blade. Proof that is intended is that Saito went for a more subdued style for his characters in 3, but he can make sexy characters since he's a professional. Too bad it's off putting to you, but I personally liked it. Also, as far as I remember there is no chubby males between the blades? Maybe Boreas, but does he even count? considering he's hollow inside and being a more alien design. I don't see the problem of an artist to see their characters as dolls, because essentially that's what they are, dolls that you can dress make them look however you want, and I appreciate the expression in the designs 2.
@@andr0zzsenpai whenever I see sexualized characters it takes me out of the experience cause I'm like oh great guess the director wanted to flash some tits on the screen for a bit.
A lot of the framing really doesnt seem intentionally done for sex appeal ie the scene where Rex looks up and sees Pyra is a first person perspective shot while hes lying on Pyras lap
For Me I'm Not Even Bother with Female Charaters Designs Sense My Favorite Charater Design are More Animal Or Monster Like Sense I Toke Enjoy Stuff like Dinosarurs when I Was Younger Like Yes I Like Nia And Mythra Design But I Could Say I Like Roc and Wurfic Design more for my Biases but that the thing that makes it great well that All I Have to say Anyways!
As someone who is generally HIGHLY critical of XC2 I can say for certain that you managed to give a voice to some of my more nuanced thoughts about the game better than most people are "on my side of the fence" as one may say. There is a lot of great work that went into this game, many talented people who have done great work before and continue to do great work did exceptional work on XC2. But in spite of all of that the game still has its hangups that we can't just hand wave away by calling invalid or wrong. There is something there which people are noticing and feeling but they may just not have the best way of phrasing it. You gave a voice to perspectives I hold on both sides of this subject in a way I have been struggling to for a long time and it was a joy to see. Not only that but relentlessly bashing other people's work is just kind of a shitty thing to do especially when it has merit. I feel like I am typing in circles here and I don't even know if you will read this but from the bottom of my heart big props for the great video and thank you for doing this topic justice like no one else I have seen online.
I will agree that the in-game models & cutscenes really do make the designs more appealing. I dont know what's with the main party's renders, but it looks so...stiff? I remember not liking Rex & Pyra's design at first until I saw them in action in the game.
The ONE thing I ended up agreeing with the Freelancer article on was how "impassive" the renders' designs were. There are some exceptions to this like Morag and Zeke, but everyone else's render is so static and lifeless. Let Saito draw more renders for XC3!
I will always prefer Mythra’s original design over the censored one for two reasons: censorship in general, and the fact that the censored version ruins pretty much all the narrative significance the original design had. First, Mythra isn’t supposed to have internal contrast, she’s supposed to contrast with other characters, specifically Malos. Her white contrasts with his black. Her feminine figure contrasts with his masculine figure. The fact that Mythra is a woman while Malos is a man is explicitly pointed out when Amalthus first meets her after she is awakened. Covering her feminine features and adding black weakens that contrast with Malos. Second, Mythra is meant to be a single part of a greater whole along with Pyra and Rex. Parts where Mythra is exposed are covered on Pyra and vice versa, and parts where both of them are exposed are covered on Rex. Mythra has exposed legs and a short skirt so Pyra has thigh length leggings and shorts. Mythra has long gloves and exposed shoulders so Pyra has short fingerless gloves and short sleeves. Mythra has a cleavage window, Pyra does not. Pyra and Mythra have an exposed lower back and hips so Rex’s Salvager Suit covers him in those places. It’s why Pneuma is the only form completely covered from neck to toe: she only comes about when Rex, Pyra, and Mythra all come together. By completely covering Mythra, you lose that dynamic she has with Pyra and Rex. If you, any of you, prefer the censored design for aesthetic reasons , that’s fine. But do so with the knowledge that you sacrifice a lot of smart design an narrative intent. Also, the sleepwalking scene is hilarious and if you don’t find even a little funny you should stop playing JRPGs all together because you clearly can’t appreciate Japanese humor. That last part is a joke, but seriously, it happened, it’s a cliché of Japanese romance stories, it was an early hint that Mythra was not the divine being the legends depict her as, quit bellyaching about it and move on.
I don’t really agree but I do wonder if it has to do with the Driver being Amalthus Besides being designed by different people, it could be that Mythra is designed to look exposed because Amalthus finds that beautiful, whereas he doesn’t really think about male beauty I would’ve preferred exposed himbo Malos, but we can’t always get what we want 😞
@@joeyjose727 What are you talking about? Amalthus didn’t have anything to do with Mythra’s awakening outside of instilling a fear of the Aegises in Addam through Malos’s destruction. And Amalthus hates everything about the world, he’s not going to genuinely care about female beauty, he can’t perceive the beauty in anything.
@@jasperjavillo686 oh lol you’re right, I completely forgot the plot because it’s been so many years since I’ve played. Adam awakened Mythra, right? Well Amalthus still should’ve considered my feelings when he awakened Malos in that stuffy armor, some sins can’t be forgiven
@@joeyjose727 Yeah, Addam awakened Mythra. His desired to be a father and his fear of the power of the Aegises is what gave Mythra her rebellious teen personality and her subconscious fear of her own power. To be fair, Malos's armor is very form fitting. His chestplate has some very well defined abs.
@@jasperjavillo686 I love how Mythra compliments Addam, he’s one of my favorites in xc2 for sure. Great design too And 100%, Malos looks super cool, I guess I’m just not much of an abs guy… I prefer more cutouts like Jin and Mythra, but there’s room for subtly like Malos as well (not subtle because he’s ripped, but subtle as in covered up)
While I did enjoy the video and agreed with most things in it (for example I have no issue woth sexualization in this game or any media for that matter.) I would like to being up a sort-of common argument that I have a massive problem with. "These characters are designed to be sexy, so their characters should be about sex." My problem with this idea is that it limits the types of stories that happen to the characters. It'd be like if I had a black character in one of my stories and someone said "This character is black, therefore this character's story must be about racial prejudice." Supporter's of the argument often link to Bayonetta as an example but in my experience with media she's more the exception not the rule because I've seen more sexualized woman who's stories don't have to deal with sex, the ones I know off the top of my head being Baiken from Guilty Gear and 2B from Nier. Though I am a straight, white, cis male so I have no idea how my opinion floats. But I do have a sister who's studied a bit of character design at SCAD and I kinda want to see her opinion on the female Blade designs.
Great video! I do dislike the argument that males shouldn't complain about female sexulisation because females don't complain about it. There are many reasons to complain about female sexulisation other than voicing your complaints on behalf of women, because, yes, women are perfectly able to do that themselves. The idea that females' opinions on sexulisation of women are worth more than those of men is silly though in my opinion. Female sexulisation affects women differently than men, so obviously their opinions will differ at least slightly too. For women, female sexulisation is more likely to cause self-esteem issues. On the other hand, female sexulisation distracts Cis-men more obviously, because they are attracted to women. Not everyone wants to be sexually stimulated while playing games. Naturally, cis-women don't have this problem, but, again, that does not at all invalidate these complaints of cis-men.
Overall I agree with a lot of your points but I do disagree with your viewpoint on how the clothes are not sexualized. I mean I do get your point that revealing clothing does not equal sexualized clothing, but I think it is important to look at why the clothes look like this. As you said revealing clothes can express a multitude of things and I honestly feel like a lot of times it really doesn't help to convey the character. Like the revealing clothes for Pyra really feel out of place for her character, at best it makes her look more vulnerable, which probably makes people uncomfortable for other reasons.
@@mpo48 "Your opinion is wrong, because I said so". Wow such a striking arguement, yet it somehow failed to convince me. Next time you disagree with someones opinion try to use logic instead of petty insults.
@@mpo48 Well I'm sorry to tell you but the fact that it is your opinion holds, on its own, little worth to me, cause opinions can be based on misinformation or bad logic.
I honestly don't think the portrayal of any of the female characters is a problem, considering that they all get cool moments, have proper personalities, and are treated with respect.
I don't care about the sexualization and wish people would look past it. as for the presentation, I think there is a reason for it and believe no one considers it beyond vice.
I just think his Saga 1 outfit is goofy! He looks a lot better imo from that point forward. I'm not even finished with Episode 1 yet and I can tell you that I like some of these characters more than some of the main cast of XC1/2. I'd also ask that you try to finish the video if you get around to it, there's some stuff in there about this "division" of fanbases that you're implying here.
I mean, it kind of is. By the end of the game, Nia can basically be read as genderfluid, with Driver form being her "boy-mode" and Blade form being her "girl-mode." There are also some more weird details that connect her status as a Flesh Eater to someone being transgender.
@@LordlyWeeb "can basically be read as" does not meant the interpretation was intentional, but it is an interpretation that one can make to relate her character arc to something in real life..
While I only watch half of the video and will watch the rest later. I feel that when people complain about XC2 Character design or physic and then says that XC1+X has better design. It honestly annoys me as there are much much more sexualised character clothing design in these games. Design that in XC before the remake. You are forced to use and have on your character if you want to want to have the benefits of their stats. These design are much more revealing then in XC2 having it showing, more of the breast or crouch + butt but general more skin. Both with Sharla and Seven. Both these games also has more sexualised Camera shots then XC2 as well as more fictional jiggy physic as seen with Vanaa. But you won't see people complain about these games due to biases and people not liking XC2. Which is frustrating.
also I never voted on your poll, didn't know about it, so therefore your poll doesn't account for everyone. no poll really does so you can't trust polls for everything. that said you did a good job, but yeah, its definitely true that alot of these people making these criticisms are male, but they're also ones most likely born in the era of social media, whereas most of us grown adults from the 90s know better than to act that way and aren't blinded by all this new media stuff or pc culture. we lived in an era where we didn't have the big internet and thought for ourselves instead of believing the media and we had windows 95 98 and we relied on guide books or figuring stuff out for ourselves when it came to games and we loved anime to death and we had the big action figure and video game and v pet craze and all that. THAT is the kinda of people that mostly support xenoblade and don't overly criticize it, us old school anime fans that don't act like that, and even the fans before the 90s from the 80s, 70s, etc are also like me. and we know the game has flaws, sure, like the menus and stuff and field skills, but we love the game anyway even with its flaws. character designs and tropes are not flaws, no matter what someone says or claims. also another thing you didn't bring up is that alot of the character designs in xenoblade 2 were in fact made by women, including dahlia and ursula. makes the fact they're hating on the designs like they're objectifying women very hypocriticial. alot of female characters in japanese games, I guarantee alot of female character designs that people bash for reasons like this are in fact made by women so the problem here is they don't even try to understand japanese culture and japanese women or respect them and instead try to force their western culture on japan and other countries. just because they have a problem with something doesn't mean their opinion is shared by everyone in the west or even shared by japan or other countries. sooner these internet people learn this, the better society will be.
I take issue with most of the blade designs still, but Brighid has never bothered me. Not only is the camera usually pretty good about keeping neutral shots of her, but her general demeanor is about as un-sexualized as you can get. Stiff body language, regal tone, emotional strength, etc. Despite the gaping hole down the middle, her actual proportions are pretty reasonable, and she doesn’t have any bunny tail or painful looking heel spikes to overcomplicate her. Also yeah, Nia is a 10/10 character. Hilarious, genuine, and lovable personality. Striking designs. Major trans vibes. No matter how much I love Xenoblade 3, nobody is topping her.
Good Video, aside from a few of the rare blade's that I think look kind of ugly, as far as the main characters and Torna go I love pretty much all of their designs.
the desings in the game are coloful, diverse and creative. even after playing the game years ago I remember them. not so much I think xb3 with its more tone down generic looks with a few exceptions
I much prefer xc2 design over the other xc games. xc1 character design are prety revealing as well for female characters all the while feeling very dull. On the other hand the character design of the main protagonists in xc3 seem so off from everything else. Sure they wear lost numbers cloth which are meant to be diferent from agnus and keves military uniforms but while the actual people of the city all wear plain grey cloth the main cast happen to find the one crate of brightly colored designer cloth? It almost feel like those stereotypical colege student fall into a heroic fantasy universe with his blue jeans, hoodie and cellphone in his pocket. Xc2 on the other hand have so much variety you are bound to like something. I think my favorit design main cast aside would be adenine agate and zenobia
I’m one of those people that disagreed with 90% of this video. The point about the outfits themselves not being sexualized I disagree with the most probably. The situations the characters are put in are definitely the worst of the sexualization (along with the obvious boob physics), but I don’t see how you could even glance at dahlia, kora, and the variations of poppi and not reach the conclusion that they’re catered for a specific audience. They wouldn’t have the camera panning up their bodies in sexual ways if they were designed reasonably. Why is it that morag, nia, lora, or any of the other moderately dressed women aren’t treated that way? I think it’s cause they weren’t designed with “sexy” in mind. I definitely understand your stance in this video, but I think the arguments rely on you really reaching with your logic and that takes away from it.
Oh hey I saw myself on there haha. Anyway I don't agree with alllllll of this? Like, just to give one example, I find that Dahlia is, funnily enough for female characters, given soooo much benefit of the doubt that she really doesn't deserve. The fandom really acts like her blade quest is amazingly deep characterization when it portrays her as nothing more than a generic nice motherly lady. I don't want to speak for people, but it seems like they're doing this to "prove" she's a better character than her design, when her design is, imo, truly beyond the pale. (I'm a woman btw) I also think the issues with the oversexualization of the game are both the designs AND the way the female characters are treated. Take someone like Newt, who idolizes the military. The oversexualization of the design makes her character actively make no sense; she should be wearing a uniform, not skimpy panties that barely cover her buttcrack and nipple pasties. Also I fucking love Nia soooo much and I think her Catalyst design is gorgeous... I completely agree it makes sense for her to show more skin in that design too... buttttt it also looks like her labia are gonna flop out lmao and I can never get over it. But one thing I appreciate about your videos is that you always try to be super fair and get all the viewpoints in and you have a lot of nuance and I guess kindness? for alternative viewpoints. I also agree that Rex's design is way over-hated! I liked this video a lot. I feel like I've rambled here but I think your videos are great and I can't wait for more of your coverage with Xenoblade 3 :)
Also because I've been thinking about this all day: I think Xenoblade 3's main character designs are just way more... aesthetically appealing, like there's something that's nice to look at for them that just isn't there for Xenoblade 2. (Can you tell I'm not very artistically inclined, lol) BUT I think the Xenoblade 2 (and 1 for that matter) designs are way better at the thing where like, you look at a character and know their whole deal.
I would really love Nia's blade design if it just was not skirting the borderline so hard you would half expect to see pubes popping out the sides. The ideas behind the design and the story moment are fantastic! The execution was sadly just a touch off.
@@friday608 yes! like the specific cut is just unpleasant to look at and like normally I can set aside my practicality concerns, it's a gd video game, but for some reason here I just can't lol
A lot of people criticize the designs without thinking about why they are different. In Xenoblade 2 the people's of Alrest wear regular clothes and attire. The Blades are the ones that are purposefully designed to be more exotic. Nia is the perfect example of this. Driver form wears basic clothing whereas Blade form sticks to the God-like appeal of blades. So when it comes to oversexulization people often forget that we aren't even talking about actual people here. We are talking about Gods and robots not comforting to the appearances of regular people. Of course, Oversexualization is basically a complete and total non-issue anyway, at least in most cases. But even if it were that criticism doesn't mesh well when you understand the differences between the characters.
The main cast design is perfect, Pyra and Mythra are incredible and there are 1-10 games in history with such a original and good character design. The ‘problem’ are ≈15% of rare blades, designs that are part of an optional mechanic and in full control of the player.If five or six blades are bad looking or sexualized (whatever that means) I don’t think it’s a big deal, everyone can choose which blade to use and they have almost 0 importance in the game outside combat values and blade quests. I think if one of the biggest complaints about a game is the the breast size of character that means the game have very few flaws. And it’s really like that,
I agree with some of your points but I personally disagree with characters like pyra and mythra being portrayed like that. I don't consider their characters exaggerated, revealing, or newly inappropriately like people claim. this coming from a guy. I'm not like these random people online where I go after female designs and all this other nonsense. theres literally nothing forcing people to pay attention to their chest just because of some camera angle. they could easily dismiss it as rex just waking up and pay attention to the plot, problem is the gamers themselves thinking those thoughts and not letting those things go and its their own fault for thinking those thoughts. you could easily look past designs like that and pay attention to the story. if I could do this for this game and every anime I watched, even gurren lagann and one piece with yoko and nami(which they may have way worse outfits than this game but I don't hate the characters or anything even then, I think hating characters over designs or hating anything fictional is dumb, a waste of time, and a waste of emotions and energy)and look past the stuff and enjoy the story and characters, so could they all, it isn't an excuse no matter how they want to twist it, you can easily look past these designs and enjoy the game, its only a problem because they make it a problem themselves. we didn't have any of this nonsense go on in the 90s and we could enjoy games like xenoblade 2 without nonsense like that, now all of a sudden in the 2020s and late 2010s with social media being a thing its suddenly a problem, so at that point the problem is these people on social media and pc culture and how they look at the real world and don't understand it blinded by what they think or see online or try to subject fiction to real world logic and don't know how to properly enjoy fictional material without shoving their ideology into everything, and thats no fault but their own.
To be honest I got annoyed at Pyra and mythra's design, I wouldn't go online chasings "bad" character design, I just happen to be a Xenoblade fan, so i obviously picked up the game. But i found their look so stupide, I couldn't take some story moment seriously, tho I tried. The fan service, character sexualisation, and kinky camera placement are not just a matter of perspective, these things all intended by the developpers, They designed it this way. Now if I, the player have to look past those things to actually enjoy the story doesnt it show there is a problem with these design choices? While fan service has always been a part of xenoblades games, it has never been forced in the story and on the player before, it was more of a bonus thing. I personally don't mind lewd stuff when it fits the story context, I love the bayonetta series for example, but i personally think it doesn't fit Xenoblade, and I'm better of without it, or at least give me the choice. And yes internet blows things out of proportions but sexualiation in media has always been a problem for many people. Many games and mangas were censured back in the days, overseas medias especially always had this stigma, actually even moreso in the 90's than today.
@@christopherpoussin3948 again you missed my point, the sexualization is only a problem because you make it a problem. bayonetta is way worse than pyra and mythra, also you contradicted yourself. pyra and mythra do indeed have plot reasons for dressing the way they do. 1. they aren't humans, they're blades. 2. blades are treated like tools by some people in that world(blade sex ring was hinted at.) and weird outfits like that is the normal, you can't compare how society works in your world to how it is in a fictional world hence why bashing it for "sexualization" makes no sense. 3. ursula and dahlia were made by a female artist so it all goes back to what I said in my second comment, which you obviously didn't read. 4. this is the big one, pyra and mythra are meant to be 2 halves of a greater whole and their designs are meant to hint to that fact which is why they were designed that way, pneuma being more covered up because she is the completed form. xenoblade does its designs a certain way to match story themes and character portrayals and color palletes, they didn't go into detail about the themes behind pyra and mythra and pneuma in this video but its the same way here. I can really tell you didn't pay attention to the video did you?
@@infern209x " *again you missed my point, the sexualization is only a problem because you make it a problem. bayonetta is way worse than pyra and mythra, also you contradicted yourself* Bayonetta is all about sexualisation. The story is kinda irrelevant and placed in the background. Its all about her being sexy and owning it while killing angels like a badass she is. Xenoblade 2 as a much more serious approach with "deep" story and subjects where sexualitation feels tacked on imo. When the game startes by "touch my chest Rex" or him waking up to a generous breast covering Pyras face etc, I naturally think to myself "Ok.. is it necessary for storytelling tho?" while witnessing it. It is a problem to me it isn't a problem to you, I get that. While indeed bashing the game for that is silly, I think it's understandable for so many people to be bothered by fan-service enough to the point of it souring their experience with the game. It's only fair for them to ~respectfully🙃~ voice out their discomfort with nudity and fan-service being an unavoidable part of Xenoblade 2. Especially since these things are far from a focal subject of the game. It has ben avoided in Xenoblade 1, I personally wish it was the same in Xenoblade 2. *Pyra and mythra do indeed have plot reasons for dressing the way they do...* I don't think sexualization is righ or wrong, but it can be well or badly implemented. I believe someone can convey a strong fantasy story without the protagonist being half-naked humanoids, and avoiding that cliché fan-service booby filled pit many medias fall into nowadays. Yes it is a fantasy with its own rules, but fantasy is still closely or loosely based on real life, thoses rules were consciously chosen by the creator. It will be consummed by people with standards based on their respective education, beliefs and society like you and myself. It cannot be overlooked.
*Ursula and dahlia were made by a female artist so it all goes back to what I said in my second comment, which you obviously didn't read.* I indeed didn't see your other comment, is it down below? Anyway i'm focusing on pyra and Mythra here, and it doesn't really matter to me if they were designed by males or females. *This is the big one, pyra and mythra are meant to be 2 halves of a greater whole and their designs are meant to hint to that fact which is why they were designed that way, pneuma being more covered up because she is the completed form.* Yes I read that article, I get the idea and I find it interesting. But once again I don't like the execution, I just believe they could convey that same idea in many different ways and keep Pyra an Mythra decently covered. They just chose to go the fan-service route. *I can really tell you didn't pay attention to the video did you?* Is it the impression you get? Well im sorry about that, I actually did watch and pay attention to the video before commenting😅
@@christopherpoussin3948 if you really have that much of a problem with nudity and fanservice or whatever, then anime and jrpgs aren't for you to begin with. so this whole discussion is pointless because none of the xenoblade games will be for you. you also can claim all you want that xenoblade 1 didn't have revealing or fanservicey outfits as well but it does, also xenogears and xenosaga were way worse than xenoblade 2, the fanservice and revealing stuff is both a xeno character design and writing trope and just a trope of xeno in general. even xenoblade 3 will have the stuff. xenoblade 3 is a continuation of both xenoblade 2 and xenoblade 1's endings. but again, this whole fanservice thing is only a problem when you as a person make it a problem instead of dismissing it and enjoying the story. it wasn't until recently for example that people want to ban dragon ball in countries over master roshi. meanwhile all us dragon ball fans don't mind master roshi at all that much. so again, it all goes back to you making it a problem. and again, I went into detail about how this fanservice stuff or whatever wasn't complained about back in the 90s when it was around but now suddenly in the 2010s and 2020s you people are born now and make it a problem and like a writing flaw or design flaw when it isn't, that is subjective and is only a problem because you make it a problem. and if that offends you, I don't really care but its the truth. fanservice is only considered fanservice when you consider it as such and make a big deal out of it. also last tidbit, very hypocritical to say bayonetta is better written or less fanservicey when bayonetta shows straight up nudity in her games when none of the xenoblade 2 characters do such whatsoever. revealing outfits don't equal nudity. nor does every revealing outfit period equal nudity or fanservice or sexualization. only nudity is nudity and sexualization isn't the same thing or as bad as a scene like in the last of us 2, and I get real sick of you all blowing xenoblade designs out of proportion yet giving western games like that or bayonetta a free pass. it is very hypocritical, you may not think its hypocritical but it in fact is. also again it does indeed have to do with your pc culture vs real life. and also your political views though I don't want to start a political discussion. because guess what, you all will make excuses how characters are sexualized over having a big chest or whatever and say its unrealistic, guess what? people can indeed have chests that big in real life, you're the one being unrealistic with your views on the world. and then shoving your views of realism and story telling, which I will tell you right now, does not account for all forms of good storytelling or good character design. the character designs and story is good, no matter how much you say it isn't, your opinion is subjective and does not account for all types of storytelling and character design philosophy on this planet. for all you know its an uninformed view like everyone else makes as of late. now, are we done here?
@@infern209x Xenoblade 1 or X never made fan-service a focus, it was there for sure but wasn't forced on the player. Im not a 2000 or 2010 "kid", Dragonball and many other japanese media were censored in the west all the way since 1990, especially master roshi .Him being depicted as a light predatory definetly didnt pass with many kid oriented western TVs then. I don't believe Bayonetta isnt fan-servicey or well written, I pointed out how it clearly was focusing on fanservice over story, compared to Xenoblade 2 which is focusing on good storytelling but with obligatory fan-service.The bayonetta series is not western and I don't care for TLOU. I never talked about unrealistic proprotions either. Maybe im wrong, but all that is beside the point. Basically I don't think the designers are inherently wrong for giving Pyra a spandex air suction outfit and a generous breast. But Many don't like this design approach. It would be a bit simplistic to just tell to get over themselves, or that they are xenoblade/Jrpgs haters. Pyra, has a bold design that proves difficult to dissmiss. It ends up splitting it's audience, bringing unecessary "bad publicity" and debates to a really great game.I believe the game would've been and done as good if aegis had a more tamed base design. Once again I might be completely wrong for believing that, thats cool, I'll stop bothering you.
Bruuuuuuhh Like yeah character design in XC2 are good but sexualization ruin it. From the start sexualization is either not a bad or good things. It is just that XC2 use this aspect in the worst possible way. Same with the scenario, very good and genius on paper but it fail to show and present it in the game (I can write a whole book about that) But good video, I Hope you make one about xc2 combat part 2 because you missed a F** lot about xc2 combat system potential. Personaly I thinks this game is realy twisted in some way. Some aspect are incredible and others are garbage. The word patchwork came in my mind, like chaotic développement, maybe marketing descision, and other problems. Like I am F*** sure that this game was originaly a big free2play like genchin impact but nintendo kept is promesses about the whole xeno serie at the last moment. The gatcha system do not make any sense I am sure about it I am not a fool 🤣🤣🤣😭😭
re: sexualisation come on dude Dahlia and Newt look like they're wearing lingerie and QTpi a swimsuit and you showed them in the video. Also you mentioned how showing skin can mean multiple things but you never substantially proved that with specific examples
There was undeniably a lot of work put into making this game, but the big problem with it is that they didn't put a lot of thoughts into designing it, and it's most apparent with the character designs. Saying that there was so much thoughts into each design as then comparing them to Torna's design just bear the question, what exactly do you consider "so much thoughts" ?? Basic character design principle ?? And even then, they aren't really even put to good use. Comparing Morag (which is apparently your second favourite character design) to Hugo from Torna just put to shame Morag and how uninspired and lame that design was, a lame military outfit with a hat and a very few amount of references to the army, despire her going to the front. Hugo in the other hand is the perfect middle ground between an Ardainian soldier and the emperor, he is a very fancy soldier, exactly what Morag should have been, but no, she had to look nothing alike to her peers from the Army, and even the other Special Inquisitor we have to compare her to. If that's one of your favourite, (and what is regarded as a whole by the community to be one of the best too) character design from the game, it just goes to show how poor of a job they did on the designs. Though I agree with you, it might be over hated for some pretty bad reasons in some cases, I still think Nia was designed great, and Rex is effective even if ultimately it isn't the kind of characters most people want to play as. You barely mention the other most infamous design which could also be considered the Main characters of the game, equally to Rex, Pyra and Mythra, which is weird since they are easily the worst designs in the game. Yes there is a logic behind them of them mirroring each other, but there's a huge problem with that, they are not written to be that way, and it was done extremely lazily, in a way where it would be more plausible that it was just an excuse to show more skin than anything else, and which would never have been done if Pyra and Mythra weren't femal characters.
I don't think it's really in question that most (not all) of XC2's female character designs are overly sexualized to the point of detriment. However, my issue with people that *constantly* bring it up is it's used as a cudgel to simplistically dismiss what I view as one of the greatest games ever made (and I've been playing JRPGs for 30 years), and one that has been very meaningful for me. The things XC2 seems to be *universally* panned for are things that are absolutely ubiquitous and normalized throughout the entire JRPG and anime industries. But while animes overtly sexualize entire characters, from their bodies and clothes to their personalities, many are regardless treated as masterpieces; XC2's characters are exceptionally written, and each character is not just an object, but a real individual presented in a way to make you care about them. Despite this, it's almost impossible to share your enthusiasm or interest about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 online without being denigrated as a weeb pervert or misogynist, while virtually every other popular game or media product doing this gets a free pass. It is incredibly frustrating as a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 fan.
Another point I want to add about the narrative and character design working together:
You brought up when describing Zeke’s design about how he is known to use contact lenses, likely to hide that he has Tantalese eyes due to the loathing he has for how the Tantalese live.
Then the story (I think it’s the infamous “One-eyed monster” cutscene) explains that Zeke likely has his eyepatch because he couldn’t afford another contact lens.
Initially, this just sells the idea of “This guy is an unlucky goofball who’s trying to look edgy.” even more. Then, when looking at it from the perspective of what you brought up, you can even see it as him preferring to even try living without using one of his eyes just to not show his Tantalese heritage, which sells his loathing even more.
Then there’s also the Eye of Shining Justice mode that gets unlocked in NG+, which…I dunno if that can be considered a canon thing Zeke can do, but, if so, it also shows that he’s ACTUALLY not being edgy and just wanting a fair fight, making the eyepatch also a representation of him enjoying a good, clean fight.
So even a single eyepatch shows:
His unlucky nature resulting him in being too poor to afford a second contact lens,
His dislike for his Tantalese heritage,
AND both how he tries to be edgy and cool, but he also doesn’t want his opponents to hold back and wants to fight on equal terms.
I think most of the blades don’t feel out of place when rendered in 3D but the ones that do (looking at you, Vess) are particularly jarring next to the others. But even with that minor complaint I actually kinda love the idea of the guest designs. And honestly when considering the lore of blades, being created from data based on the varied memories of the world’s inhabitants, it actually makes a weird kind of sense that they aren’t consistent.
I love the designs. People can say they're 'good' or 'bad' but they are undeniably unique and memorable. The designs are not boring at all and stand out, and that's great to me. I will never forget what any of the xenoblade 2 cast look like because they're so memorable. And show me any part of one of their design or any silhouette and I could recognize it. To me, that's great character design
This video just confirms even more on why Nia is my favorite character of all time. And also why I like the cast, because of their personalities and designs.
Liked her but didn't like the romance option flip up they did to not repeat what they did to Melia in XC1. Didn't like that she was another victim of sexualized design. Thematically, it's about a freedom, but in my eyes, it made her into just an icon and she lost the personality that made me like her in the beginning.
I think sexualization is fine, but the oversexualization point is valid, and the fact that people talk about so much means that is was divisive at least. It was too much, and I don't count the guest designers for trying to make their designs stand out. The main cast has too much.
That said, I like how SC3 handled sexualization, but I don't like how it handled the designs. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did in 1 and 2, because their designs were always changing and the notable characters felt like stereotypes of previous characters.
I don't know. My opinion of Xenoblade has been mixed ever since 2. I wish it wasn't, but I can't look past obvious flaws.
Regarding Nia...
I don't _just_ love her design. I loved her _silhouette._ One of the first things I did after unlocking the ability to resonate with Blades was look at the Blade album, and of the silhouettes I saw, two of them immediately stuck out to me: Herald, because _dragon,_ and a large yet still defined silhouette with long flowing hair, tall ears, and massive sleeves that I mistook for claws. It took me no time at all to recognize each and every one of these features during the reveal in Chapter 6. (One of the most criticized cutscenes amusingly enough.) I literally fell in love with Nia's character design before I even knew it was the same character as the lovable sassy Welsh cat.
And then there's the dichotomy between the designs. I sometimes like to say that Nia's "coming out scene" has her essentially strip on-camera. Ultimately, her Driver outfit is one of the most concealing designs in the game. Pretty much everything bellow her head is covered up, and she has a hood which would've left only her face exposed. Compare that to her Blade outfit with revealing even by Blade-standards and it really shows how much more vulnerable Nia is willing to be around those she trusts. She knows that she can show who she really is without worrying about people attacking her where she exposes just a little too much.
Another thing is that her Blade design almost goes out of its way to show off her inhumanity, with her Core Crystal have absolutely nothing surrounding it to hide the fact that it's attached directly to her skin, and with her spots being the most visible out of the entire main cast, also with nothing surrounding them. (Yes, Blades have spots.)
Lastly is something that doesn't get nearly enough attention: her weapon. I can't exactly say _why_ it's so good like other parts of her design, but it is by far the prettiest Blade weapon in the entire game, regardless of Core Chip. You basically have a flowering vine made of crystal forming the core, with the flowers themselves changing design based on the Core Chip, even resembling gears for the more mechanical forms which I think is really cool. Then when activated, it takes one of two forms. The first is basically just a single uncut block of crystal that grew organically around the vine, which the second looks more like a flowing stream of water that's been frozen in time.
Can you tell who my favourite character is? And I haven't even gone into the details of why I call her reveal a "coming out scene."
I'll do this as my comment has some late XC2 chapter spoilers:
I remember thinking Pyra's design was very Anime when I first played the game, but when I realized how Pyra and Mythra's designs are mirror images of each other and what that implied, I started respecting the design a lot. Pyra is covered where Mythra shows skin, and Mythra shows skin where Pyra is covered. Doing foreshadowing as part of the character design without it being obvious is really impressive. It made me remember that MonolithSoft are masters of foreshadowing, and they can put your mind in the correct place to accept plot twists in so many more ways than you can imagine. Being able to foreshadow that Pyra and Mythra are parts of a larger whole (Pneuma) though the design like that is awesome. Showing the two side by side for the first time just before the reveal is also a master stroke, as your brain is bound to notice it there if it hasn't already.
I don't agree with all of your individual takes, as you anticipated, but the video was very excellently made. Glad to see you're back, and I look forward to the Xenoblade poll results. Hope you enjoy XC3 as well!
Pyra is ketchup, Mythra is mustard, Nia is idk fuckin' chipotle or something.
This has to be the best XC comment ever XD
Nia is mayonnaise and Morag is black pepper
Zeke is fork
29:21 its also a good reversal of Mythra's character, being respectfully quiet about Nia's identity just like how Pyra was with her
I love these characters. Their trials, their triumphs, their loss. They feel the most real out of any party in a jrpg and watching them on their journey is enough to bring a man to tears each and every time.
Holy shit I’m in the video!
But seriously, your point of the designs themselves not being sexualized is something I see go over so many people's heads, there are people with many body shapes, it’s how you treat them in the game that can be sexualized and I’m glad you’re spreading the word!
The messages of self acceptance and personal growth portrayed in Xenoblade 2 and its character designs are some of my favorite aspects of the game and I love how you made similar messages to be the main point of the larger discussion about how people are afraid of expressing their Xenoblade Opinions. Great video; Thanks man
dude, a 100% agree on Catalysts design and how it relates to their character. It has to be one of my favorite blade designs, next to Brighid, who i think really nails the concept of this video.
also, i took part of the survey! cant wait to see the results in the video!
respect for your rationality and respectfulness to hear others opinions i wish there was more of that online
I love this game so much and what you showed here explains what I thought or felt, knowingly or unknowingly, and the reason for that love.
Wow, this video is really amazing. Everything is so well put :)
After ACTUALLY watching the video (I could just feel that it was a banger), I think one of the most important factor in a design is does it look good, which I know sounds pretty stupid and basic, and it is. I didn’t really care about how the character designs fit into the narrative, Im a little too simple for that. I just thought they looked neat. Some people just won’t vibe with the designs, but thats all personal opinion. People need to stop writing 400 page twitlongers about why you’re a shitty person cause you do or do not like scimblo krunkos design.
Thanks for this video. I believe you put in to words what I couldn't with this topic.
Nia’s design is too good.
Love the flower motif that is rather subtle in her Driver Form, but is blossoming outward and is readily apparent in her Blade Form. The fact that she covers herself up the most, practically, in her Driver Form, and basically strips and bares herself in her Blade Form is such a reflection of her story arc of being unafraid to hide herself.
And then Queen Nia came with a redone version of her Driver outfit in 3. I adore her soooo much.
Good video man, I’m glad I found this channel and high quality Xenoblade vids! I’m glad that there’s someone who agrees these designs are great!
I'm someone who actually likes Mythra's base design. While I think her Smash redesign is an improvement overall, I think her base design fits her well. She has a very show-offy personality, like how she's not afraid to show skin. The white and gold having an angelic look, as she is literally representing an angel descending from heaven (even more obvious with her beta design having angel wings).
I like their character designs but I agree they could’ve toned down certain “features”
Ehh I'm glad that a lot of people actually enjoyed the character designs in Xenoblade 2. While I don't HATE them, the massive jump in sytle from Xenoblade 1 to 2 feels kinda jarring and will take some time getting used to. However I'm really glad that we are going back to a more (How do I say this ?) "Believable" design of the main cast while still reaming interesting in the upcoming Xenoblade 3...
I think the differences between 1 and 2's character designs are really cool. To me, the many different outfits the characters can wear in XC1 builds upon the world moreso than the characters themselves. Different cultures and locations are represented in how the characters look while wearing them. In XC2 I think you can see similar intentions in how the Driver characters are designed, with each one representing a major nation (or species in the case of Tora), but the Blade designs are much more focused on representing the characters themselves. At least, that's how I see it!
@@SiGNet_GM Because 1 had no character designers, they just had basic features for each characters to they could put many different outfits on them
@@fieldkaiju That's why I make the joke that the characters in Xenoblade 1 (even in the Definitive Edition imo) look like they're from a character-creation menu.
Thank you, I've been longing to see this perspective, you've formulated a lot of my thoughts in better words than I could, especially with Rex's design and the models doing so much to sell most of their design in a way that looking at the much stiffer key art just doesn't in many cases.
I think one of the reasons why Xenoblade 2 in particular got its massive and exaggerated scrutiny is because of how prominent Rex and Pyra were in the discourse. I do think Pyra's design in particular is flawed.
I think I see what its doing with how she's covered where Mythra is exposed and vice versa and I like the idea, but even though I personally never minded the sexualization, I don't think booty shorts were the best choice, along with being as exposed as Mythra (whose design I find perfect both ways), and my best angle on it (the sexualized aspects making a deceptive first impression mirroring how wrong it feels that this sweetheart is said to have sunk 3 titans) is a big stretch that I haven't seen anyone else make.
Another possibility I came up with now is that it shows her being vulnerable, but the same time I see Mythra's exposure as being confident, so this is either a compliment of both designs using the same element to convey two completely different things that fit each, or as a weird contradiction in their design language.
A few days ago I decided to draw my own redesigns of Pyra and Mythra, as it seemed like a fun challenge. I covered most of Pyra's torso (but leaving in the center black part that calls back to Addam) and a skirt that covers most of her thighs, leaving a small gap. The only significant change I gave Mythra was exposing her midriff with the bottom part of her dress becoming a miniskirt. The implication here is that Pyra is covering up to hide herself and her power as the Aegis from the world (as that's what Mythra wanted to do most when making Pyra), while Mythra is showing off her power and confidence with said power. Plus adding the dynamic of one being reserved and conservative while the other is more headstrong and liberal, similar to Nia's driver form being closed off and blade form being open.
While I'm happy with my redesign, aligning better with how I see the characters, her imperfect design didn't really hurt my experience to begin with, thanks to the quality of the models and most of Saito's art of her besides her stiff key art being beautiful, and the basis of my redesign wouldn't exist if it wasn't for her original design, it's intensions and my love for the game. I just wish the camera in the cutscenes were less fanservice focused.
I will say I have thought about why some cutscenes had these voyeuristic angles. And then I remember how it's usually handled in American films. When a man sees a sexy woman walk by the camera sometimes accentuates parts of their body to tell the audience "This character is attractive" or "This character is seeing this person as attractive". And given Xenoblade 2's story premise is "Boy meets Girl" it isn't unsurprising that Rex is put into a few embarrassing situations where he notices Pyra/Mythra's features. To help show he's starting to develop feelings for them.
Excited to see a new upload from you! But yeah I enjoy a lot of designs in Xenoblade 2. Some of them are ridiculous, but what can i say… Rex’s diver jumpsuit is such a serve
Also looking at Mythra’s censored design, I didn’t think I agreed before, but looking at it again… I agree! The black on the legs makes it feel more whole to me, I feel like a detail is missing on the original in comparison. And the chest covering looks quite nice actually, I’m a fan now that I’ve given it a second look
Yeah, I ended up liking the smash designs a little more, because the Introduction of black to the color palate gave Mythra a color to contrast the very bright white design she got, and it adds something that sticks with both Pyra and Mythra, the black leggings. The black also kinda ties into them being Aegises, much like Malos, who has a mostly black design.
I really just hate how a lot of people dismissed the designs offhand because of the lewdness. As if that’s inherently a bad thing.
I can see both sides here. Pyra and Mythra are pretty egregiously lewd to the point where some people genuinely find them to be outright distracting in any scene in which they are supposed to be taken seriously. For me personally it’s just indicative of how goofy this game often is. The silly outfits weren’t even surprising considering the game I was playing, so I looked past it fairly easily.
All this to say that lewd content isn’t inherently bad, but it *can* completely ruin someone’s immersion and that’s valid. For example: I would not be able to focus on a death scene if there was a dude in the back wearing just a speedo and a trucker hat. Maybe you can, and that’s fine, but many can’t.
That said, many of the lewd designs are fine. Dhalia is obviously the worst and poppi’s outfits have a lot of weird implications, but overall they’re pretty tame
@@AntiSoraXVI hard agree. I had to fight pretty hard to see past the designs of Pyra and Mythra specifically. The rest of the cast looked fine, but I definitely had difficulty taking some scene with their designs in the early game seriously, and the trucker hat example is a very solid explanation for my thoughts on the matter.
Idk what you mean about the Poppi designs, but maybe I missed something. I always saw them as Tora emulating his family. Poppi alpha was Tora making a maid robot so he could have a friend to talk to, and because all the robots he knew of were maids(complete lack of any real sexualized features, and the fact that Tora is at max like 13). QT was based off of Lila, who he vaguely remembered from his childhood, and who ends up unlocking the form. QTπ was based off of Pyra and Mythra, who Tora saw as the pinnacle of Blades and even gave her a similar weapon to the Aegis's first(Pyra's) form. We are explicitly told that Pyra made QTπ's outfit, and given how she dresses herself, that is pretty blatant. I honestly think she would've had a more Covering design if Tora was in charge.
@@derpfluidvariant0916 The weird implications involve creating a young girl and planning to put her in a bunch of maid outfits. Like yeah Tora is young and all that, but the devs behind the game are all adults and all of the ideas surrounding Poppi are just strange and off putting for me. She’s a great character though. That’s the annoying part. XC2 is a great game buried under so much off-putting trope-y bs. It’s just a test of how much you’re willing to overlook. Torna did amazingly at balancing that though in ways that the base game couldn’t
@@AntiSoraXVI Ah, yeah. That's fair.
I really like most designs, but the thing I hated about them is only regarding the saturation and a few details those do not make sense and look dumb (which is different from just not making sense).
For example, Rex's exposed thighs, shoulders, and chest, it looks so dumb and there is no reason for them to be exposed. Opposed to this, Jin doesn't look dumb with his exposed chest and back, looks great on him and his whole outfit isn't related to a job that required him to fully cover himself.
Then we have Pyra, she has clothes those are weirdly tight, almost as if she painted herself those clothes and then added a few random pieces of armor, problem I don't have with Mythra.
I never had a problem with their anatomies, even with the absurd bounciness of the lancers. I'm glad XC3 fixed this, but wouldn't be mad if they did bring back the big proportions xD
Finally you upload! So glad!
I appreciate the effort that went into this vid. And I wholeheartedly agree with the part about the discussion getting antagonistic at times. I personally don't think there's a problem with the sexualization in the game, but I don't usually voice that opinion online because of what you mentioned about discourse. My opinion is that it's a lot like violence in videogames, some people will feel uncomfortable about that, and some won't. It's fine either way; not everything will appeal to everyone and as long as you don't villainize those who disagree, that's cool.
Exactly, it's the people that find their opinions as fact when the discourse starts,but I guess that is inevitable.
22:32 this is whats called The Male Gaze in cinema
The fate reference lol mana transfer is needed
"We're in a life or death situation and desperately need to generate enough energy to fight the bad guy, what do we do"
".....We have to fu-"
I mean people love to complain, but who the fuck bought those two million copies then?
The people who hate Xenoblade 2 are very, very loud.
@@LordlyWeeb yeah unfortunately it’s a problem we are facing all over media, we’re trying to attend to a very small percent that is not even buying anything
I think my personal issue was with Rex's design wasn't the scuba diving equipment that should be there, but the inner thigh window. But I only figured out recently that since Rex and Pyra/Mythra sharing wounds is an important plot detail, Rex sharing the same exposed skin areas as Pyra helps direct those moments. See in the cutscene where Vandham inspects the scratches and cuts Pyrs got an notices they are the same on Rex, including their thigh. Rewatching that scene during aomebody else's gameplay reminded me of this.
Nice job on the video. I think when it comes to XB2, people tend to miss that the fact that much of the cast is a more youthful, somewhat immature group that barley getting out in the world or is still the process of maturing on some level. The so-called cringy parts people tend to be against is only a instance of some of the cast's growing pains they go through in order to mature. As for the rare blades, I do like how distinct most of them look from their driver counterparts, giving them an otherworldy appeal that doesnt completely confirm to how the drivers appear. People do tend to like to say "you cant judge a book by its cover", but with how the internet is (especially on twitter and ResetEra) I noticed that quote got sadly lost when they champion against designs that they tend to consider too objectifying and such.
I think another big issue is how social media has really evolved in an unfortunate way where folks are more interested in watching videos or being in circles of those that think and agree with your opinion and there's no actual need or push to be a part of a larger world of viewpoints and perspectives and as such, seeing a dissenting opinion now causes more backlash and antagonism given no one is really used to interacting with difference anymore.
It's like you said, people are more social online now more than ever, but unlike real life that means they aren't getting to actually socialize with a world but rather with their own little hubbles. It's been an unfortunate incident for things and many folks just don't know or aren't capable of having a meaningful or at least willing to listen and discuss moments with others and would much rather go back to their own hovels (Reddit) and continue to preach to the choir.
It's sad, since I do think the designs aren't given enough praise and I can see why folks would have an issue with them. But it really does feel like people can't look past things that annoy them anymore since everything is expected to just "Be exactly as I want it" or it's a problem, a problem with current day mindset of "entitled expectancy".
Wait wait wait I'm close to finishing the video and i just realized it has less than 1k views?! YOU have less than 1k subs! How tf is this absolute gem of a documentary on this game so underrated?
i think the main problem i had was the unrealistic body proportions, especially with pyra/mythra and some of the blades, this is more of a problem with a lot of japanese media and media in general where they make some of the female characters have massive breasts, which is fine, some people have that because people are just built differently, but they make their waist super skinny, like that’s so unrealistic and it sets an unhealthy image upon young girls that that’s what you’re supposed to look like to be attractive, it also has the effect of making young boys think that the only “attractive women” are the ones with small waists and big breasts. like i couldn’t care less about sexualized clothing as an asexual, but it’s more about the unrealistic proportions that some of these characters have
I'm in the camp of the sexualization here isn't that big of a deal
It only starts to be a problem when it's a characters only noteworthy trait, which this game is far from guilty of
Is there sexualization? To some degree, yes, but the way I see it, it's a cherry on top of a already beautifully crafted sundae that is (for example) Pyra and Mythras character arcs, and it's not particularly like the game is constantly giving you cleavage shots or something
That's just my two cents, anyway. You could give them Xenoblade 3 themed designs, and my stance on the game and it's story would change so minimally or not at all
Great video, but I don't agree the sexualization the game presents is bad.
Like the example you used with Rex waking up in Pyra's lap, is actually a peek at their dynamic, Rex's perspective and Pyra's willingness to care for him. Rex is introduced as a kid working a dangerous full time job, living independently and sending money to his foster family. He's made himself grown beyond his years, but he is still naive like when he takes the job from Torna, and full of dreams. He dies at the beginning of the game because he was naive while chasing his dream. So he meets Pyra and she promises him another chance to live if he fulfills her request to go to Elysium, a deal with no drawbacks because thats what he wanted to do anyway, and she gives him to power to do it. So that scene shows the childish way he sees her, his ticket to Elysium, who would even go as far as to take care of him while he's sleeping and immediately act close and motherly to him. But from Pyra's perspective she acts kind partially because she was being selfish in reviving him just to make him bear her burden. So she wants to bear his burden as much as she can, despite not sharing her own burden, the REAL reason she wants to reach Elysium. So we see Rex's view of her, an overpowering presence of someone willing to take care of him again, but its not the whole view, and Rex is yet too immature to see her full self.
I was going to go into the Mythra Bedroom scene that Mirrors this and how it shows the push and pull of her emotion, but this comment is already in TL;DR territory. Sex appeal isn't inheirently bad, its simply another aspect you can engage with.
Loved the video, but your first complaint about the freelance article seems misguided. You spoke as if they criticized XC2’s designs in general, but all of their criticism was specifically about Pyra’s design.
Another SiG banger, keep it up.
The design video we needed.
Just to play devils advocate here. I looked online for that survey and it said nothing about female fans seeing a different issue with the game. The only thing close to that was some reddit post on r/xenoblade that asked female fans of the game about their thoughts on the game. Most of them said “I don’t mind the designs, I just don’t like the dialogue around them” similarly to what you described.
One of the thing than I like the least about this game is Tora's perv side, I think it would have been fine if like Riki he had just been the comic relive character but since he is more than that I think it could have been cut, especialy since Poppi alpha is emplaied to be child, while QT and QTpi are a teenager and an adult. The bed scene did made me laught but there was no need to bring the focus on Mytra and Pyra's chest size, Mythra could have had the same reaction even if Rex was not staring at her chest, and an adult audience could have still understood the dirty joke since... you know a boy and a girl in the same bed might do stuff...
Exactly. Hopefully Xenoblade 3 cool it off with the jokes a bit.
I think the bed scene is fine as is. There is nothing wrong with drawing attention to booba as long as there is more to the character, and Mythra’s as complex as they come.
I understand the complaint about Tora a bit more, but even then _he’s a child too,_ and Poppi Alpha and even QT aren’t really sexualized too much beyond like one scene each. Two for Alpha, but neither of those were even drawing attention to anything physical, more like putting Tora on blast for his degeneracy. Again, funny.
@@Player-jh4ko i hope they don’t. 3 looks like it’s gonna be the bleakest out of all 3 storywise, so it’s gonna _need_ some comic relief if it doesn’t want to just crush everyone’s spirit.
@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged When I said "cool it off with the jokes" I don't necessarily mean get rid of the lighthearted and funny scenes entirely. I just think we don't need to see bed and maid girl scenes in order to be funny in what seems to be a much more mature story than Xenoblade 1 and especially 2 combined.
Xenoblade 1 was dark, yet it had so many lighthearted jokes and stuff in the game, it never needed those type of scenes that Xenoblade 2 have. If the leaks are correct, then Xenoblade 3 will likely handle the silly scenes more like Xenoblade 1 than 2 and if so, that makes me look forward to the game even more...
@@Player-jh4ko Oh I agree that the bed and maid scenes would be completely out of place in 3. They fit 2 though. I liked them in 2. They got a laugh out of me and Pyra/Mythra fanservice is *chef’s kiss* exquisite
There’s another aspect to the different artists unique character design that I appreciate: how the villains are designed. All of the members of Torna or design by Tetsuya Nomura, the Director of Final Fantasy, seven in kingdom hearts. There are more serious and realistic designs that contrast with the more anime esque ones, putting the audience know that they’re not to be messed with.
We need more xenoblade character design videos, please. 🥺
This one was so good, we need videos about the other games.
I'm sure the video was made with the criticism of xenoblade 2 in mind, more than the character designs, but...all the character design segments are so good. We need more.
Great video man
Not counting some blades, the only design i really struggle with is Pyra/Mythra, it's even more so a probleme since they are the main character.
I don't get the philosophy behind their design.
It draws focus to their breast rather than their core-crystal.
I don't think it fits their charater either.
I mean, tho mythra acts tough, playing the game, I got to know they are both reserved and lack confidence.
Well I don't get this vibe from the bright colours and low lack of coverage.
Lets say i never touched Xenoblade 2 and only knew Pyra/Mythra from Super Smash Bros ultimate. I'd picture them more like bayonetta than how they actually behave.
Frankly Pyra/Mythra's look is a reason why I dropped the game in 2018 (the poor handeld performances being the other reason since i didn't have a Tv at that time). Their proportions and cloth are so ridiculous to me, it often took me out of serious story moments. Pancho-Pyra and Smash-Mythra really helped me picking the game back up and finishing it back in 2019.
Basically I love Pyra and Mythra, but that's inspite of their appearance. I feel the over-sexualitation is uneeded at best, a disservice to the character at worst. So yeah that is poor character design to me.
Yeah I mean funny enough most people like Mythra's smash outfit more because it covers more while still looking good. It didn't bother me too much while playing but the over sexual and kinda silly looking design for Pyra especially could be distracting in the serious moments
The reason why they are sexualized is because the story is juvenile by nature, even if you say it clashes with their personalities. First of all, Mythra is the Holy Grail, or... Aegis in english localization, she is the most powerful blade, she represents light, and that is exactly what her design is, her splash art also demonstrates her cockiness.
Pyra is an incomplete version of Mythra but she is also made to be "the perfect woman", she is beautiful, sexy, shy, kind, knows how to cook, and the main love interest of the protagonist. Her design is made to evoke sexual desires. It's done so in purpose, it's not bad character design. You just don't like it.
@@andr0zzsenpai Is that so? Wow interesting!
Then yeah it totally missed the mark for me ^^'.
It's such a bold design, I wonder if it was worth it in the end. Then again Xenoblade 2 is the most succeful Xenoblade so far, I guess it did its job.
I disagree with quite a bit of things in this video but overall I can see where you are coming from and I think you bring up decent points but I my opinions on the designs are still the same great video like I said even though I don't agree with everything it was a well done video and it's good to hear others opinions on things that challenge your own
27:17 Ok quick question It's just me or Blade Nia is missing her left harm in this artwork????
It's folded in front, so you can't see it in the silhouette, but it's there.
@@angeldude101 Ahhh ok Thank you so much.
23:10
yeah, i know, man what a strange reading that was
Thats great Video. Thank you so much.
Great video! I agreed with a lot of points, disagreed with some and ended up asking myself "When sexualisation is and when it isn't a problem?" Which gave me an idea to recommend to you Guilty Gear designs analysis, since imo they use sexualisation as a strength, and not weakness there - that's if you will ever desire to branch out of jrpgs, into Fighting game territory lol
On side note... My personal favourite designs in the game are specifically Rex v2 and The Third Sword (renamed for sanity of spoiler avoiders in 2022).
It is an evolution of their previous designs, all of them really - what bond was earlier illustrated by just a core crystal in ones chest, now became the main aspect of the entire fit with shared colours and armour aspects, as well as a more confident look from Rex on official art. The finale of their mutual character arcs, which they as Driver and Blade show exquisitely - how bond is a two way street and helps us defend ourselves from danger.
I feel like i could gush about how imo third blade is the prettiest of all her forms as well, but this is just a you tube comment so i'll stop myself-
Fighting games are one of my favorite genres alongside JRPGs! The last video I did before this one was actually about GGST.
In my opinion it's never a problem, it's just a matter of preference. Some people tend tend to demonize fanservice because of maybe their culture or education, which is not bad nor good, it's just how it is. I personally never minded ecchi ever since I was a kid lol, but the you'll find people that are "afraid" of being found to play stuff with fanservice in it, those people are the ones that find problems with designs/camera shots etc. The answer is very complex in the end, every one of us comes from very different places and each one perceives things differently. That is why it's hard foe developers to be experimental in a single franchise, there is always going to be backlash of change and Xenoblade 2 is VERY different than 1 and X in many aspects that people will not accept a drastic change in tone. The sexualization is done by choice, proof of this is how Masatsugu Saito is the main character designer in 2 and 3, and both have very different approaches.
Forst of all I love the editing on this video and the music selection (specially that NMH one). This video is a must watch for those who love hating on XC2's character designs. You may not like them but calling them bad is pure nonsense. Complaining about the female characters sexualization to me is like complaining about Twilight's male sexualization, it's different but it's clearly there.
Maybe I always get frustrated because these people are in the mayority american and so their perspective ends there as they expect, want or demand media appealing to their cultural values.
What you point out in the 3rd point is vital not only for this video but for all creators out there and that is Subjetivity. I feel like many never even tried to play and get to know these characters which I personaly love all. Let's take Dhalia for example, she is by far the most pointed out regarding sexualization and like you SIG, I've seen women like her in real life and as a little detour from my point, (I've met american girls oftem from California that dress with the littlest amount of clothes as possible, little tops, tiny shorts, very exposed chest shirts or tights that for people from my country is scandalous how little they're wearing).
Back to Dhalia, she may look that exagerated and you may think at first glance that her character moves around her looks but that sidequest at Tantal shows us so much about her, how really is she like, strong, thoughful, kind, brave, encouraging, elegant, strong. She's an amazing character that is unfortunately missjudged by how shw looks both in game and by the players.
I don't want to keep stressing you with this testament of a comment but I just want to mention two more characters, Nia and Pyra. I will always quote a sentences everytime I think about them and that's "The fear she carries" and that is because throughout the whole game we learn about them, how they feel, what they think and the burden that is emotionally killing them inside and missing all that just because they are designed the way they are is totally crazy and really close minded from my perspective.
Anyway, I hope I managed to point out my perspective of this eternal discussion, thank you so much for this video and I'll make sure to check more of your work soon. Sorry for any gramatical mistakes, I'm still learning this language.
Honestly first video of your's I've seen but with how open to other opinions taking all whatnot into consideration I'll give you a sub it's a refreshing kinda deal that isn't all positive or negative and I'm here for it
7:37 absolutely no one
The first argument never got me, I don' really know what more the outfits should tell than they already do.
For the sexualisation, I think they're two different groups. One are the ones you mentiones, who actually debate about things like costumes or certain camera angles in Xeneblade games in general. The other group is mostly complaining about that because of the sexualised design, they can't play the game in public. This group does not really talk about sexualisation, but that they have to deal with it. In XC1 and XCX the sexy costumes were a choice the player had to make (and thus, actual sexualisation), in XC2 it's just the design.
I agree with everyhting but when you get to Min 16:09 you lost me. Like either we say that EVERY game have sexualization or accept that some people have problems
Whenever I hear Danganronpa music in Xenoblade videos it always catches me off guard. And for some reason it happens more often than you would guess.
Some good points, but I think I die a little bit on the inside every time someone takes sexualization in media like this actually seriously. We have enough studies and evidence to understand that media consuptiom has very little if not almost no impact on the behavior of a healthy individual. And yet people constantly talk about sexualization as if it was something different, as if the moral panic over sexualization is real despite having already seen the precedent of the moral panic over violent games in the past. Yes, people like titilation, so what? Why do people care so much? Coming from people trying so hard to take games seriously its surprising how few people know how to abstract ideas from media.
Edit: Also, I don't mean to get you anxious or anything. I didn't sugarcoat my opinion because I am tired of this discourse, I honestly think its a harmful mindset, specially since censorship and attacks on artists have been on the rise lalely. I think your video tries to diminish these notions a little bit, but sometimes certain body sizes and exposure are just sexualization too and honestly, there is nothing wrong with it either way. It is still a form of expression and even sexualized designs may tell something about a character or narrative or have an artistic intent behind them.
The problem isn't necessarily that sexualization will negatively impact someone's behavior by consuming media. In the case of XC2 especially, some people may feel it detracts from the story or characters. It also can make people uncomfortable for any number of reasons. It's more personal than anything else. For myself, you, and many others this wasn't the case. But to completely dismiss the concerns of the people who DO feel like some moments are taken too far isn't fair, I feel. I think it's only right to be honest about the aspects of the media we love that might not be for everyone. So, to answer your question: "who do people care so much?" Because whatever experiences they've had, beliefs they hold, and/or people they've met have made it so. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that!
@@SiGNet_GM If people only cared about it on that personal level, I really wouldn't mind. But it almost never is just personal, its more about this idea of fixing whats they think is wrong. They don't care about other's personal experiences because they already assume they are righteous and who disagrees is in the wrong. Suddenly, your personal opinion makes you seem like you have no empathy, but sometimes they have no empathy. Sometimes artists get harassed and decide to leave twitter, sometimes a game gets delayed or censored because it fell upon a public mob. It has certainly changed now because of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I am sure you're gonna remember some very vocal opinions about the "hentai artist" that made the designs for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and his moral character and the other staff involved and maybe what Nintendo or Monolith Soft should do with them. If someone has a personal distaste for sexualized things, that fine, its a matter of subjectivity and personal experience, if they think sexualization in media per se is wrong however thats a different topic altogether for me and the tone of these discussions is more about the latter and the former is used as a framing device for it. Its honestly suffocating. I really, really don't mean to dismiss anyone's taste or personal opinion, but this discussion always involves more than that.
@@madokaayukawa577 I'd say this is the kind of thing I feel with the discourse as well. Far too many people go out antagonizing people who disagree with them regarding this topic. If they have no problems with the designs, people call them sexist pigs, and if they dislike them, they're sjw snowflakes. This kind of antagonistic discourse is not good for discussion, and I appreciate this vid doesn't do that. For that alone, I can give it respect. I don't believe the vid diminishes the notions of those who worry about censorship and harassment towards artists who make sexualized content. If it was, he wouldn't want those who disagree with his opinion on sexualization to kindly voice their disagreements.
@@madokaayukawa577 Exactly, there is a recent Xenoblade 2 retrospective from a big youtuber that flat out calls the design a bad thing and they redirect to a video where it demonizes de idea of female fanservice, as if inherently is a bad thing. It's quite sad if you ask me, didn't the Xeno games teach people that not everything is black and white and stuff are so for a reason?
I feel like the framing of shots exacerbate a lot of designs so while yes, the designs aren't inherently bad they get dragged down worse by the direction.
I find mythra's see through dress that let's you see her panties to be eye rolling, and a real source shame.
I also have this little game I play where I see how many designs of female characters feature garterbelts, thongs, or are basically onesies. To me it comes off as more pervy design choices. I'm also now including the swimsuit design for Japanese games because apparently the Japanese school swimsuit is something of a fetish outfit. Non of these points to a bad design I just it's just like mythra's see through dress it makes me think the artists treat the characters like dolls.
Your comment on body types I find to be improperly explained. The designs do feature different body types in terms of age and muscularity, but gor all the female blades I can't find a single chubby blade, which doesn't help the idea that the characters aren't being objectified.
You have a problem with the designs being pervy? of course they are, and that is not a good or a bad thing. It's an stylistic choice, Takahashi wanted to approach the story in a more juvenile way, with a teen protag having sexual attraction to her blade. Proof that is intended is that Saito went for a more subdued style for his characters in 3, but he can make sexy characters since he's a professional.
Too bad it's off putting to you, but I personally liked it.
Also, as far as I remember there is no chubby males between the blades? Maybe Boreas, but does he even count? considering he's hollow inside and being a more alien design. I don't see the problem of an artist to see their characters as dolls, because essentially that's what they are, dolls that you can dress make them look however you want, and I appreciate the expression in the designs 2.
@@andr0zzsenpai whenever I see sexualized characters it takes me out of the experience cause I'm like oh great guess the director wanted to flash some tits on the screen for a bit.
A lot of the framing really doesnt seem intentionally done for sex appeal ie the scene where Rex looks up and sees Pyra is a first person perspective shot while hes lying on Pyras lap
For Me I'm Not Even Bother with Female Charaters Designs Sense My Favorite Charater Design are More Animal Or Monster Like Sense I Toke Enjoy Stuff like Dinosarurs when I Was Younger Like Yes I Like Nia And Mythra Design But I Could Say I Like Roc and Wurfic Design more for my Biases but that the thing that makes it great well that All I Have to say Anyways!
As someone who is generally HIGHLY critical of XC2 I can say for certain that you managed to give a voice to some of my more nuanced thoughts about the game better than most people are "on my side of the fence" as one may say. There is a lot of great work that went into this game, many talented people who have done great work before and continue to do great work did exceptional work on XC2. But in spite of all of that the game still has its hangups that we can't just hand wave away by calling invalid or wrong. There is something there which people are noticing and feeling but they may just not have the best way of phrasing it. You gave a voice to perspectives I hold on both sides of this subject in a way I have been struggling to for a long time and it was a joy to see. Not only that but relentlessly bashing other people's work is just kind of a shitty thing to do especially when it has merit. I feel like I am typing in circles here and I don't even know if you will read this but from the bottom of my heart big props for the great video and thank you for doing this topic justice like no one else I have seen online.
honestly the fact you said "identified as" secured my subscription. this has been an amazing defense and i agree with almost everything you said.
I will agree that the in-game models & cutscenes really do make the designs more appealing. I dont know what's with the main party's renders, but it looks so...stiff? I remember not liking Rex & Pyra's design at first until I saw them in action in the game.
The ONE thing I ended up agreeing with the Freelancer article on was how "impassive" the renders' designs were. There are some exceptions to this like Morag and Zeke, but everyone else's render is so static and lifeless.
Let Saito draw more renders for XC3!
I will always prefer Mythra’s original design over the censored one for two reasons: censorship in general, and the fact that the censored version ruins pretty much all the narrative significance the original design had.
First, Mythra isn’t supposed to have internal contrast, she’s supposed to contrast with other characters, specifically Malos. Her white contrasts with his black. Her feminine figure contrasts with his masculine figure. The fact that Mythra is a woman while Malos is a man is explicitly pointed out when Amalthus first meets her after she is awakened. Covering her feminine features and adding black weakens that contrast with Malos.
Second, Mythra is meant to be a single part of a greater whole along with Pyra and Rex. Parts where Mythra is exposed are covered on Pyra and vice versa, and parts where both of them are exposed are covered on Rex. Mythra has exposed legs and a short skirt so Pyra has thigh length leggings and shorts. Mythra has long gloves and exposed shoulders so Pyra has short fingerless gloves and short sleeves. Mythra has a cleavage window, Pyra does not. Pyra and Mythra have an exposed lower back and hips so Rex’s Salvager Suit covers him in those places. It’s why Pneuma is the only form completely covered from neck to toe: she only comes about when Rex, Pyra, and Mythra all come together. By completely covering Mythra, you lose that dynamic she has with Pyra and Rex.
If you, any of you, prefer the censored design for aesthetic reasons , that’s fine. But do so with the knowledge that you sacrifice a lot of smart design an narrative intent.
Also, the sleepwalking scene is hilarious and if you don’t find even a little funny you should stop playing JRPGs all together because you clearly can’t appreciate Japanese humor. That last part is a joke, but seriously, it happened, it’s a cliché of Japanese romance stories, it was an early hint that Mythra was not the divine being the legends depict her as, quit bellyaching about it and move on.
I don’t really agree but I do wonder if it has to do with the Driver being Amalthus
Besides being designed by different people, it could be that Mythra is designed to look exposed because Amalthus finds that beautiful, whereas he doesn’t really think about male beauty
I would’ve preferred exposed himbo Malos, but we can’t always get what we want 😞
@@joeyjose727
What are you talking about? Amalthus didn’t have anything to do with Mythra’s awakening outside of instilling a fear of the Aegises in Addam through Malos’s destruction. And Amalthus hates everything about the world, he’s not going to genuinely care about female beauty, he can’t perceive the beauty in anything.
@@jasperjavillo686 oh lol you’re right, I completely forgot the plot because it’s been so many years since I’ve played. Adam awakened Mythra, right?
Well Amalthus still should’ve considered my feelings when he awakened Malos in that stuffy armor, some sins can’t be forgiven
@@joeyjose727 Yeah, Addam awakened Mythra. His desired to be a father and his fear of the power of the Aegises is what gave Mythra her rebellious teen personality and her subconscious fear of her own power.
To be fair, Malos's armor is very form fitting. His chestplate has some very well defined abs.
@@jasperjavillo686 I love how Mythra compliments Addam, he’s one of my favorites in xc2 for sure. Great design too
And 100%, Malos looks super cool, I guess I’m just not much of an abs guy… I prefer more cutouts like Jin and Mythra, but there’s room for subtly like Malos as well (not subtle because he’s ripped, but subtle as in covered up)
While I did enjoy the video and agreed with most things in it (for example I have no issue woth sexualization in this game or any media for that matter.) I would like to being up a sort-of common argument that I have a massive problem with.
"These characters are designed to be sexy, so their characters should be about sex."
My problem with this idea is that it limits the types of stories that happen to the characters. It'd be like if I had a black character in one of my stories and someone said "This character is black, therefore this character's story must be about racial prejudice."
Supporter's of the argument often link to Bayonetta as an example but in my experience with media she's more the exception not the rule because I've seen more sexualized woman who's stories don't have to deal with sex, the ones I know off the top of my head being Baiken from Guilty Gear and 2B from Nier.
Though I am a straight, white, cis male so I have no idea how my opinion floats. But I do have a sister who's studied a bit of character design at SCAD and I kinda want to see her opinion on the female Blade designs.
Great video! I do dislike the argument that males shouldn't complain about female sexulisation because females don't complain about it. There are many reasons to complain about female sexulisation other than voicing your complaints on behalf of women, because, yes, women are perfectly able to do that themselves.
The idea that females' opinions on sexulisation of women are worth more than those of men is silly though in my opinion.
Female sexulisation affects women differently than men, so obviously their opinions will differ at least slightly too. For women, female sexulisation is more likely to cause self-esteem issues. On the other hand, female sexulisation distracts Cis-men more obviously, because they are attracted to women. Not everyone wants to be sexually stimulated while playing games. Naturally, cis-women don't have this problem, but, again, that does not at all invalidate these complaints of cis-men.
Morag never defects what
Overall I agree with a lot of your points but I do disagree with your viewpoint on how the clothes are not sexualized. I mean I do get your point that revealing clothing does not equal sexualized clothing, but I think it is important to look at why the clothes look like this. As you said revealing clothes can express a multitude of things and I honestly feel like a lot of times it really doesn't help to convey the character. Like the revealing clothes for Pyra really feel out of place for her character, at best it makes her look more vulnerable, which probably makes people uncomfortable for other reasons.
your opinion should be ignored, don't share it.
@@mpo48 "Your opinion is wrong, because I said so".
Wow such a striking arguement, yet it somehow failed to convince me. Next time you disagree with someones opinion try to use logic instead of petty insults.
@@altermann1991 my opinion literally is that your wrong.
@@mpo48 Well I'm sorry to tell you but the fact that it is your opinion holds, on its own, little worth to me, cause opinions can be based on misinformation or bad logic.
@@altermann1991 misinformation and bad logic are buzzwords that people who cant accept their wrong use.
I'll subscribe for another one of these videos covering the cast of Xenoblade Chronicles 3
FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT
I honestly don't think the portrayal of any of the female characters is a problem, considering that they all get cool moments, have proper personalities, and are treated with respect.
The fact that whoever wrote this article spelt Mortal Kombat as "Mortal Combat" tells you everything you need to know to reject their opinion.
A-MEN
I don't care about the sexualization and wish people would look past it. as for the presentation, I think there is a reason for it and believe no one considers it beyond vice.
I think urging people to look past being mindful of how we present characters in a tasteful way is really short-sighted, personally
What's wrong with my boy Adam?
Caused more problems than he solved by coming into a position of power that he didn't really want. He's a nice guy though!
You attacked chaos and here I was going to give this video a shot. Smh... Always the Blade fans insecure of Saga
I just think his Saga 1 outfit is goofy! He looks a lot better imo from that point forward. I'm not even finished with Episode 1 yet and I can tell you that I like some of these characters more than some of the main cast of XC1/2.
I'd also ask that you try to finish the video if you get around to it, there's some stuff in there about this "division" of fanbases that you're implying here.
You changed my mind on a few things, to be sure.
I definitely misunderstood the sauna scene because I completely thought Nia was a trans story at first
I mean, it kind of is. By the end of the game, Nia can basically be read as genderfluid, with Driver form being her "boy-mode" and Blade form being her "girl-mode." There are also some more weird details that connect her status as a Flesh Eater to someone being transgender.
@@angeldude101 :0 hmmm!!!
@@angeldude101 I dunno about that.
@@LordlyWeeb "can basically be read as" does not meant the interpretation was intentional, but it is an interpretation that one can make to relate her character arc to something in real life..
@@angeldude101 Yeah I know. Still a weird reading
While I only watch half of the video and will watch the rest later.
I feel that when people complain about XC2 Character design or physic and then says that XC1+X has better design. It honestly annoys me as there are much much more sexualised character clothing design in these games. Design that in XC before the remake. You are forced to use and have on your character if you want to want to have the benefits of their stats. These design are much more revealing then in XC2 having it showing, more of the breast or crouch + butt but general more skin. Both with Sharla and Seven.
Both these games also has more sexualised Camera shots then XC2 as well as more fictional jiggy physic as seen with Vanaa.
But you won't see people complain about these games due to biases and people not liking XC2. Which is frustrating.
also I never voted on your poll, didn't know about it, so therefore your poll doesn't account for everyone. no poll really does so you can't trust polls for everything. that said you did a good job, but yeah, its definitely true that alot of these people making these criticisms are male, but they're also ones most likely born in the era of social media, whereas most of us grown adults from the 90s know better than to act that way and aren't blinded by all this new media stuff or pc culture. we lived in an era where we didn't have the big internet and thought for ourselves instead of believing the media and we had windows 95 98 and we relied on guide books or figuring stuff out for ourselves when it came to games and we loved anime to death and we had the big action figure and video game and v pet craze and all that. THAT is the kinda of people that mostly support xenoblade and don't overly criticize it, us old school anime fans that don't act like that, and even the fans before the 90s from the 80s, 70s, etc are also like me. and we know the game has flaws, sure, like the menus and stuff and field skills, but we love the game anyway even with its flaws. character designs and tropes are not flaws, no matter what someone says or claims. also another thing you didn't bring up is that alot of the character designs in xenoblade 2 were in fact made by women, including dahlia and ursula. makes the fact they're hating on the designs like they're objectifying women very hypocriticial. alot of female characters in japanese games, I guarantee alot of female character designs that people bash for reasons like this are in fact made by women so the problem here is they don't even try to understand japanese culture and japanese women or respect them and instead try to force their western culture on japan and other countries. just because they have a problem with something doesn't mean their opinion is shared by everyone in the west or even shared by japan or other countries. sooner these internet people learn this, the better society will be.
I take issue with most of the blade designs still, but Brighid has never bothered me. Not only is the camera usually pretty good about keeping neutral shots of her, but her general demeanor is about as un-sexualized as you can get. Stiff body language, regal tone, emotional strength, etc. Despite the gaping hole down the middle, her actual proportions are pretty reasonable, and she doesn’t have any bunny tail or painful looking heel spikes to overcomplicate her.
Also yeah, Nia is a 10/10 character. Hilarious, genuine, and lovable personality. Striking designs. Major trans vibes. No matter how much I love Xenoblade 3, nobody is topping her.
Good Video, aside from a few of the rare blade's that I think look kind of ugly, as far as the main characters and Torna go I love pretty much all of their designs.
The mental gymnastics you did to justify the amount of sexualization in this game earn you my respect 😂
the desings in the game are coloful, diverse and creative. even after playing the game years ago I remember them. not so much I think xb3 with its more tone down generic looks with a few exceptions
I much prefer xc2 design over the other xc games. xc1 character design are prety revealing as well for female characters all the while feeling very dull. On the other hand the character design of the main protagonists in xc3 seem so off from everything else. Sure they wear lost numbers cloth which are meant to be diferent from agnus and keves military uniforms but while the actual people of the city all wear plain grey cloth the main cast happen to find the one crate of brightly colored designer cloth? It almost feel like those stereotypical colege student fall into a heroic fantasy universe with his blue jeans, hoodie and cellphone in his pocket. Xc2 on the other hand have so much variety you are bound to like something. I think my favorit design main cast aside would be adenine agate and zenobia
seeing the new fire emblem get revealed and then seeing this video now is really funny
I’m one of those people that disagreed with 90% of this video.
The point about the outfits themselves not being sexualized I disagree with the most probably. The situations the characters are put in are definitely the worst of the sexualization (along with the obvious boob physics), but I don’t see how you could even glance at dahlia, kora, and the variations of poppi and not reach the conclusion that they’re catered for a specific audience. They wouldn’t have the camera panning up their bodies in sexual ways if they were designed reasonably. Why is it that morag, nia, lora, or any of the other moderately dressed women aren’t treated that way? I think it’s cause they weren’t designed with “sexy” in mind.
I definitely understand your stance in this video, but I think the arguments rely on you really reaching with your logic and that takes away from it.
Oh hey I saw myself on there haha.
Anyway I don't agree with alllllll of this? Like, just to give one example, I find that Dahlia is, funnily enough for female characters, given soooo much benefit of the doubt that she really doesn't deserve. The fandom really acts like her blade quest is amazingly deep characterization when it portrays her as nothing more than a generic nice motherly lady. I don't want to speak for people, but it seems like they're doing this to "prove" she's a better character than her design, when her design is, imo, truly beyond the pale. (I'm a woman btw) I also think the issues with the oversexualization of the game are both the designs AND the way the female characters are treated. Take someone like Newt, who idolizes the military. The oversexualization of the design makes her character actively make no sense; she should be wearing a uniform, not skimpy panties that barely cover her buttcrack and nipple pasties.
Also I fucking love Nia soooo much and I think her Catalyst design is gorgeous... I completely agree it makes sense for her to show more skin in that design too... buttttt it also looks like her labia are gonna flop out lmao and I can never get over it.
But one thing I appreciate about your videos is that you always try to be super fair and get all the viewpoints in and you have a lot of nuance and I guess kindness? for alternative viewpoints. I also agree that Rex's design is way over-hated! I liked this video a lot. I feel like I've rambled here but I think your videos are great and I can't wait for more of your coverage with Xenoblade 3 :)
Also because I've been thinking about this all day: I think Xenoblade 3's main character designs are just way more... aesthetically appealing, like there's something that's nice to look at for them that just isn't there for Xenoblade 2. (Can you tell I'm not very artistically inclined, lol) BUT I think the Xenoblade 2 (and 1 for that matter) designs are way better at the thing where like, you look at a character and know their whole deal.
I would really love Nia's blade design if it just was not skirting the borderline so hard you would half expect to see pubes popping out the sides. The ideas behind the design and the story moment are fantastic! The execution was sadly just a touch off.
@@friday608 yes! like the specific cut is just unpleasant to look at and like normally I can set aside my practicality concerns, it's a gd video game, but for some reason here I just can't lol
A lot of people criticize the designs without thinking about why they are different.
In Xenoblade 2 the people's of Alrest wear regular clothes and attire. The Blades are the ones that are purposefully designed to be more exotic.
Nia is the perfect example of this. Driver form wears basic clothing whereas Blade form sticks to the God-like appeal of blades.
So when it comes to oversexulization people often forget that we aren't even talking about actual people here. We are talking about Gods and robots not comforting to the appearances of regular people.
Of course, Oversexualization is basically a complete and total non-issue anyway, at least in most cases. But even if it were that criticism doesn't mesh well when you understand the differences between the characters.
The main cast design is perfect, Pyra and Mythra are incredible and there are 1-10 games in history with such a original and good character design. The ‘problem’ are ≈15% of rare blades, designs that are part of an optional mechanic and in full control of the player.If five or six blades are bad looking or sexualized (whatever that means) I don’t think it’s a big deal, everyone can choose which blade to use and they have almost 0 importance in the game outside combat values and blade quests. I think if one of the biggest complaints about a game is the the breast size of character that means the game have very few flaws. And it’s really like that,
I agree with some of your points but I personally disagree with characters like pyra and mythra being portrayed like that. I don't consider their characters exaggerated, revealing, or newly inappropriately like people claim. this coming from a guy. I'm not like these random people online where I go after female designs and all this other nonsense. theres literally nothing forcing people to pay attention to their chest just because of some camera angle. they could easily dismiss it as rex just waking up and pay attention to the plot, problem is the gamers themselves thinking those thoughts and not letting those things go and its their own fault for thinking those thoughts. you could easily look past designs like that and pay attention to the story. if I could do this for this game and every anime I watched, even gurren lagann and one piece with yoko and nami(which they may have way worse outfits than this game but I don't hate the characters or anything even then, I think hating characters over designs or hating anything fictional is dumb, a waste of time, and a waste of emotions and energy)and look past the stuff and enjoy the story and characters, so could they all, it isn't an excuse no matter how they want to twist it, you can easily look past these designs and enjoy the game, its only a problem because they make it a problem themselves. we didn't have any of this nonsense go on in the 90s and we could enjoy games like xenoblade 2 without nonsense like that, now all of a sudden in the 2020s and late 2010s with social media being a thing its suddenly a problem, so at that point the problem is these people on social media and pc culture and how they look at the real world and don't understand it blinded by what they think or see online or try to subject fiction to real world logic and don't know how to properly enjoy fictional material without shoving their ideology into everything, and thats no fault but their own.
To be honest I got annoyed at Pyra and mythra's design, I wouldn't go online chasings "bad" character design, I just happen to be a Xenoblade fan, so i obviously picked up the game. But i found their look so stupide, I couldn't take some story moment seriously, tho I tried.
The fan service, character sexualisation, and kinky camera placement are not just a matter of perspective, these things all intended by the developpers, They designed it this way. Now if I, the player have to look past those things to actually enjoy the story doesnt it show there is a problem with these design choices?
While fan service has always been a part of xenoblades games, it has never been forced in the story and on the player before, it was more of a bonus thing.
I personally don't mind lewd stuff when it fits the story context, I love the bayonetta series for example, but i personally think it doesn't fit Xenoblade, and I'm better of without it, or at least give me the choice.
And yes internet blows things out of proportions but sexualiation in media has always been a problem for many people. Many games and mangas were censured back in the days, overseas medias especially always had this stigma, actually even moreso in the 90's than today.
@@christopherpoussin3948 again you missed my point, the sexualization is only a problem because you make it a problem. bayonetta is way worse than pyra and mythra, also you contradicted yourself. pyra and mythra do indeed have plot reasons for dressing the way they do. 1. they aren't humans, they're blades. 2. blades are treated like tools by some people in that world(blade sex ring was hinted at.) and weird outfits like that is the normal, you can't compare how society works in your world to how it is in a fictional world hence why bashing it for "sexualization" makes no sense. 3. ursula and dahlia were made by a female artist so it all goes back to what I said in my second comment, which you obviously didn't read. 4. this is the big one, pyra and mythra are meant to be 2 halves of a greater whole and their designs are meant to hint to that fact which is why they were designed that way, pneuma being more covered up because she is the completed form. xenoblade does its designs a certain way to match story themes and character portrayals and color palletes, they didn't go into detail about the themes behind pyra and mythra and pneuma in this video but its the same way here. I can really tell you didn't pay attention to the video did you?
@@infern209x "
*again you missed my point, the sexualization is only a problem because you make it a problem. bayonetta is way worse than pyra and mythra, also you contradicted yourself*
Bayonetta is all about sexualisation. The story is kinda irrelevant and placed in the background. Its all about her being sexy and owning it while killing angels like a badass she is. Xenoblade 2 as a much more serious approach with "deep" story and subjects where sexualitation feels tacked on imo. When the game startes by "touch my chest Rex" or him waking up to a generous breast covering Pyras face etc, I naturally think to myself "Ok.. is it necessary for storytelling tho?" while witnessing it.
It is a problem to me it isn't a problem to you, I get that. While indeed bashing the game for that is silly, I think it's understandable for so many people to be bothered by fan-service enough to the point of it souring their experience with the game. It's only fair for them to ~respectfully🙃~ voice out their discomfort with nudity and fan-service being an unavoidable part of Xenoblade 2. Especially since these things are far from a focal subject of the game. It has ben avoided in Xenoblade 1, I personally wish it was the same in Xenoblade 2.
*Pyra and mythra do indeed have plot reasons for dressing the way they do...*
I don't think sexualization is righ or wrong, but it can be well or badly implemented. I believe someone can convey a strong fantasy story without the protagonist being half-naked humanoids, and avoiding that cliché fan-service booby filled pit many medias fall into nowadays.
Yes it is a fantasy with its own rules, but fantasy is still closely or loosely based on real life, thoses rules were consciously chosen by the creator. It will be consummed by people with standards based on their respective education, beliefs and society like you and myself. It cannot be overlooked.
*Ursula and dahlia were made by a female artist so it all goes back to what I said in my second comment, which you obviously didn't read.*
I indeed didn't see your other comment, is it down below? Anyway i'm focusing on pyra and Mythra here, and it doesn't really matter to me if they were designed by males or females.
*This is the big one, pyra and mythra are meant to be 2 halves of a greater whole and their designs are meant to hint to that fact which is why they were designed that way, pneuma being more covered up because she is the completed form.*
Yes I read that article, I get the idea and I find it interesting. But once again I don't like the execution, I just believe they could convey that same idea in many different ways and keep Pyra an Mythra decently covered. They just chose to go the fan-service route.
*I can really tell you didn't pay attention to the video did you?*
Is it the impression you get? Well im sorry about that, I actually did watch and pay attention to the video before commenting😅
@@christopherpoussin3948 if you really have that much of a problem with nudity and fanservice or whatever, then anime and jrpgs aren't for you to begin with. so this whole discussion is pointless because none of the xenoblade games will be for you. you also can claim all you want that xenoblade 1 didn't have revealing or fanservicey outfits as well but it does, also xenogears and xenosaga were way worse than xenoblade 2, the fanservice and revealing stuff is both a xeno character design and writing trope and just a trope of xeno in general. even xenoblade 3 will have the stuff. xenoblade 3 is a continuation of both xenoblade 2 and xenoblade 1's endings. but again, this whole fanservice thing is only a problem when you as a person make it a problem instead of dismissing it and enjoying the story. it wasn't until recently for example that people want to ban dragon ball in countries over master roshi. meanwhile all us dragon ball fans don't mind master roshi at all that much. so again, it all goes back to you making it a problem. and again, I went into detail about how this fanservice stuff or whatever wasn't complained about back in the 90s when it was around but now suddenly in the 2010s and 2020s you people are born now and make it a problem and like a writing flaw or design flaw when it isn't, that is subjective and is only a problem because you make it a problem. and if that offends you, I don't really care but its the truth. fanservice is only considered fanservice when you consider it as such and make a big deal out of it. also last tidbit, very hypocritical to say bayonetta is better written or less fanservicey when bayonetta shows straight up nudity in her games when none of the xenoblade 2 characters do such whatsoever. revealing outfits don't equal nudity. nor does every revealing outfit period equal nudity or fanservice or sexualization. only nudity is nudity and sexualization isn't the same thing or as bad as a scene like in the last of us 2, and I get real sick of you all blowing xenoblade designs out of proportion yet giving western games like that or bayonetta a free pass. it is very hypocritical, you may not think its hypocritical but it in fact is. also again it does indeed have to do with your pc culture vs real life. and also your political views though I don't want to start a political discussion. because guess what, you all will make excuses how characters are sexualized over having a big chest or whatever and say its unrealistic, guess what? people can indeed have chests that big in real life, you're the one being unrealistic with your views on the world. and then shoving your views of realism and story telling, which I will tell you right now, does not account for all forms of good storytelling or good character design. the character designs and story is good, no matter how much you say it isn't, your opinion is subjective and does not account for all types of storytelling and character design philosophy on this planet. for all you know its an uninformed view like everyone else makes as of late. now, are we done here?
@@infern209x Xenoblade 1 or X never made fan-service a focus, it was there for sure but wasn't forced on the player. Im not a 2000 or 2010 "kid", Dragonball and many other japanese media were censored in the west all the way since 1990, especially master roshi .Him being depicted as a light predatory definetly didnt pass with many kid oriented western TVs then. I don't believe Bayonetta isnt fan-servicey or well written, I pointed out how it clearly was focusing on fanservice over story, compared to Xenoblade 2 which is focusing on good storytelling but with obligatory fan-service.The bayonetta series is not western and I don't care for TLOU. I never talked about unrealistic proprotions either. Maybe im wrong, but all that is beside the point.
Basically I don't think the designers are inherently wrong for giving Pyra a spandex air suction outfit and a generous breast. But Many don't like this design approach. It would be a bit simplistic to just tell to get over themselves, or that they are xenoblade/Jrpgs haters. Pyra, has a bold design that proves difficult to dissmiss. It ends up splitting it's audience, bringing unecessary "bad publicity" and debates to a really great game.I believe the game would've been and done as good if aegis had a more tamed base design. Once again I might be completely wrong for believing that, thats cool, I'll stop bothering you.
Bruuuuuuhh
Like yeah character design in XC2 are good but sexualization ruin it.
From the start sexualization is either not a bad or good things. It is just that XC2 use this aspect in the worst possible way.
Same with the scenario, very good and genius on paper but it fail to show and present it in the game (I can write a whole book about that)
But good video, I Hope you make one about xc2 combat part 2 because you missed a F** lot about xc2 combat system potential.
Personaly I thinks this game is realy twisted in some way. Some aspect are incredible and others are garbage.
The word patchwork came in my mind, like chaotic développement, maybe marketing descision, and other problems.
Like I am F*** sure that this game was originaly a big free2play like genchin impact but nintendo kept is promesses about the whole xeno serie at the last moment.
The gatcha system do not make any sense I am sure about it I am not a fool 🤣🤣🤣😭😭
I agree. Luckily Xenoblade 3 seems to have a more "Believable"...
Mean comment and dislike (you said Rex has the best design of all the Xeno protags)
re: sexualisation come on dude Dahlia and Newt look like they're wearing lingerie and QTpi a swimsuit and you showed them in the video. Also you mentioned how showing skin can mean multiple things but you never substantially proved that with specific examples
There was undeniably a lot of work put into making this game, but the big problem with it is that they didn't put a lot of thoughts into designing it, and it's most apparent with the character designs.
Saying that there was so much thoughts into each design as then comparing them to Torna's design just bear the question, what exactly do you consider "so much thoughts" ?? Basic character design principle ?? And even then, they aren't really even put to good use.
Comparing Morag (which is apparently your second favourite character design) to Hugo from Torna just put to shame Morag and how uninspired and lame that design was, a lame military outfit with a hat and a very few amount of references to the army, despire her going to the front. Hugo in the other hand is the perfect middle ground between an Ardainian soldier and the emperor, he is a very fancy soldier, exactly what Morag should have been, but no, she had to look nothing alike to her peers from the Army, and even the other Special Inquisitor we have to compare her to.
If that's one of your favourite, (and what is regarded as a whole by the community to be one of the best too) character design from the game, it just goes to show how poor of a job they did on the designs.
Though I agree with you, it might be over hated for some pretty bad reasons in some cases, I still think Nia was designed great, and Rex is effective even if ultimately it isn't the kind of characters most people want to play as.
You barely mention the other most infamous design which could also be considered the Main characters of the game, equally to Rex, Pyra and Mythra, which is weird since they are easily the worst designs in the game. Yes there is a logic behind them of them mirroring each other, but there's a huge problem with that, they are not written to be that way, and it was done extremely lazily, in a way where it would be more plausible that it was just an excuse to show more skin than anything else, and which would never have been done if Pyra and Mythra weren't femal characters.
Pyras very existence is written to be a mirror of Mythra
@sonic 1995 Its not an excuse, its the reason why Pyra was created in the first place
@sonic 1995 Its not an excuse, Pyra was made as a coping mechanism for Mythra's self loathing and trauma
@sonic 1995 Being a bimbo now = depicting trauma in a realistic and creative way, that says a lot about you as a person
@sonic 1995 You said her being a coping mechanism for Mythras trauma made her a bimbo
First
I don't think it's really in question that most (not all) of XC2's female character designs are overly sexualized to the point of detriment.
However, my issue with people that *constantly* bring it up is it's used as a cudgel to simplistically dismiss what I view as one of the greatest games ever made (and I've been playing JRPGs for 30 years), and one that has been very meaningful for me. The things XC2 seems to be *universally* panned for are things that are absolutely ubiquitous and normalized throughout the entire JRPG and anime industries.
But while animes overtly sexualize entire characters, from their bodies and clothes to their personalities, many are regardless treated as masterpieces; XC2's characters are exceptionally written, and each character is not just an object, but a real individual presented in a way to make you care about them.
Despite this, it's almost impossible to share your enthusiasm or interest about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 online without being denigrated as a weeb pervert or misogynist, while virtually every other popular game or media product doing this gets a free pass.
It is incredibly frustrating as a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 fan.