After hearing the struggle of Monolith to make Xenogears and Xenosaga, it touched my heart to hear that Yamagami told Takahashi to not cut anything and promise to get the time they needed from Nintendo.
Technically, only Squaresoft developed Xenogears. Of course, I never really understood why Squaresoft thought 900k was bad. What an undeserved slap in the face from Square.
@@ShionJrCitrine That's a black legend of sorts. Takahashi has said multiple times that the short comings from both "Xenogears" and "Xenosaga" came from his lacking management skills at the time and the inexperience of most of his team members, not because Square nor Namco didn't support him. Heck, a sequel to "Xenogears" was greenlit, it's just it was during the time when Square was starting to deviate resources, not only from Takahashi's team, but from the entire company, towards movie production, something that affected all Square games not titled "Final Fantasy". Ditto Namco, who supported the entire "Xenosaga" franchise way more than most fans give them credit for (they created 3 spin-off games, produced an anime series and multiple merchandising, for crying out loud). But of course, the narrative of greedy corporations squashing the creativity of a bohemian artist is too strong to resist to many, I guess.
When you factor in Monolith's support teams, the studio's game design philosophy single-handedly leading to a game like Breath of the Wild even being possible for Nintendo, and how close Takahashi and co. came to working on so many historic games (between Xenogears near-missing as a story for FFVII, the doomed Chrono sequel, Mother 3), there's an argument to be made that they're one of the most important studios of the 21st century so far. It's insane.
After seeing how good they managed to make Xenoblade 3 look on Switch using some sort of temporal magic, I kinda can't wait to see how much better the Zelda sequel looks and runs compared to BotW
@@FluffyWuffy17 im in the camp that believes Botw 2 will be a dual release on a new console and the footage shown is for said console. Zelda releases are no stranger to this concept, and botw 2 is looking a little *too crisp for Switch. But it’s not impossible, botw was beautiful, x3 is beautiful, somehow they can manage the depth of field and draw distance impeccably. But I look at that map and the textures of the clouds in botw 2 and im like, “on a switch? Damn.”
The sheer ambition and stubornness Takahashi has for telling the complete Perfect Works story cannot be overstated. The man might finally get that goal with the xenoblade series.
The Perfect Works story can't be told given it's broken up with different publishers and his wife was half the force behind it. Xenoblade is very much something new he started as Takahashi does get bored easily with things. There already were retcons in Perfect Works not seen in Xenogears and concessions were made with Xenosaga. There would be no way that Xenoblade could perfectly tie-in given the time between, how the Xohar and other aspects are veery different. The episodes he originally planned on got as far as Xenosaga it would seem before he took a new approach and did a time leap to soft-reboot/start a new story in the same universe, if that. Kind of a brand name than continuation of Perfect Works that had plans for a very different story we've seen with Xenoblade.
@@blumiu2426 He reworks the ideas into new games. Klaus Saga is finished with Xenoblade 3 DLC and this will be a cut, we'll see how the Xenoblade Series evolves and in which direction it goes.
@@currywurst2434 No idea has been reworked that he planned for the original Xeno series. It couldn't because some things I don't think he can use because it is under BandaiNamco, this after he had already started somewhat again after leaving Square. He also has a penchant for moving on to new things and of course that would happen after 20 years. It's very light-hearted now and simple, even a tonal shift from Xenoblade Chronicles to the moe-level of anime Xenoblade 2 was (plus he put a harem in the game, a harem that fulfilled with the MC impregnating three women like traditional Mormon lol) It's just not the same series or story, especially given his wife was also part of it all originally and now it's just him. The series just hasn't caught on like many thought would happen with XC3 outside it's fanbase. Personally, Japan has a problem now that when it makes any that look anime, it uses anime tropes and conventions instead of just telling a story with those visuals. It already reinvented the series last game, so I'm not sure what more it can do when it made it so female characters cranked out like gachas.
@@blumiu2426 Honestly the best we can hope for is a proper remake of Xenogears that includes all of the cut content. Of course that would require Square, Monolith, and Nintendo to come to some sort of agreement which seems unlikely. Even if that never happens I would like to see all of the old Xeno games re-released on modern consoles even if it is just PS Classics ports.
@@Wiseman108 Most definitely will never happen. Too much red tape for something they wouldn't be confident in the sales of unless it was altered to cater to the casual market, meaning ARPG leaning heavily into action like FFXVI. And given how censorship ready SE is now, Xenogears would have so many scenes and dialogue changed that the game wouldn't be the same because it was a mature story. It's so far removed from what Monolith does now it's hard to consider they stemmed from one another other than Xohar appearing in every entry in some way.
The fact that the original xenogears was called project Noah and that it's now the protagonist's name in xenoblade 3 is pretty cool to know ! Thanks for you video and for all the work that went into it.
Can't take too much time because I'm busy playing 3 myself now, but excellent job not only recapping Xeno in a greater context but also elaborating on just why the series is so special. This was a massive undertaking and I'm happy it turned out so well, congratulations on a job superbly done!
That was a fantastic video... I would not be able to live with myself if I did not sub and leave a tip after the amount of work you put into this retrospective!
I know this is a ton of work but Derrick has such a talent for doing these longer features/retrospectives! Congrats on another amazing video (SMT was also incredible). Take a well deserved break…but I’d love to see another one like this down the line.
Thank you Derrick for your dedication and time to bring light to all these amazing games and their development story. Truly a work of love that must have taken you ages to put together. Cheers!
Man I really hope we can get an updated Xenosaga releases. I have them all still for ps2 but would absolutely love an hd compilation. I know Namco and the lead from Tekken said there wasn't enough demand but it would be so awesome.
Also a ridiculous excuse i think. Release it on all platforms and make clear that they are connected to xenoblade and it will sell, alternatively i wish monolith would just get the rights back.
I-… wow Derrick… I was beyond impressed with the SMT retrospective but this one coming so soon after only makes me even more shocked. You have a natural talent at making literally anything look and sound interesting and I absolutely adored these two retrospectives. Thank you for releasing this just in time for Xenoblade 3 it made me just that little bit more excited for it.
This was wonderful, thank you so much! You taught me so much about one of my favorite developers. I have loved Takahashi's work since playing Xenogears as an early teen and the Xenosaga series (especially Episode I) ruled my life for a long time. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this additional history and context! Also, for anyone who has yet to try any of these games, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is absolutely a fantastic jumping-on point for beginners!
I hope one day all of Takahashi's works will be easily accessible for the world to see, the amount of heart, ambition technical knowhow, effort and even just pushing the limits of what he and his crews can do is deserving of recognition.
Despite being stranded on a dead console and faced with its servers being shut down soon, I still love Xenoblade Chronicles X so much after having done a 100% run last year over the course of 650+ Hours. It truly gave me a new appreciation for not just the franchise(s) (Xeno-Gears/ Saga/ Chronicles) but for game design as a whole! They practiced some sort of Coding/Game Design Black Magic to make it run so excellently on the Wii U while giving it so much to see, do, and experience! It’s highly unlikely it’ll ever come to the Switch, so I can rest assured I saw everything in my experience with it over 4 months/8-16 hours a day. MonolithSoft proved with that game (as well as the other Xeno games & BotW) that they’re not just Deity-Tier on every front BUT ALSO A FRONTRUNNER FOR BEING AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT STUDIOS WITHIN THE GAMING INDUSTRY! Bless you, Takahashi & Friends! Can’t wait for what’s after XC3!
Masterful work again Derrick, loved to heard about all the development history of this franchise and mad respect for avoiding giving spoilers about the plot of this games.
Monolithsoft has quickly become one of my favorite game studios. I am blown away by their ambition, passion, and work ethic. From what I've read, it sounds like a good place to work too. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games I've ever played, and I hope to say the very same about their 3.
Wow. Great vid so far. Lots of love and work in this one and I’m not even done but had to comment. XC2 was my first, I played definitive and watched a play through of X. XC2 is one of my all time fav games and I’ve always wanted to know more about the series so thank you for this!! Monolith is one of my fav devs now so this history right before release is perfect!
As someone who has never played the series, aside from the Xenogears demo on a Playstation demo disc (and failing to find a copy of the full game every time I visited a game store), I had heard about most of these games in that I knew they existed, but I had assumed that they were all one long running series starting with Xenogears. But, it's 3 different series across 3 different publishers by the same people? I've heard of spiritual successors, usually in the indie space but it is not unheard of in the AAA space with System Shock and Bioshock, even sharing part of the name. But Xeno technically being 3 series while also being spiritual successors building off of ideas from games in previous series'? Amazing
Really nice, I’m 41 now oh my gosh… But I started xenogears on* PlayStation when it came out and believe that it really was the motivation for me to become a control engineer. Now I program robotics in manufacturing facilities, I’ve worked for Tesla and Amazon… Got a really neat career and I think that this game really jumpstarted all that for me. Now later in life I’m finding Artifacts that no one wants to really talk about, and then right when I start doing all this that anime Spriggan comes out… It’s like I can’t get away from this… What do you guys know about ancient American history? ;all these little stories about Ooparts and Ancient technology… I have to tell you there’s something to it. I would’ve never thought so unless I witnessed it firsthand.
This is fantastic Derrick!! Great work!! Man I want a Xenoblade X Definitive Edition so bad, that game consumed me and really was one of the most unique rpgs I’ve played. Mira is still my favorite game world I’ve explored.
When I played Xenoblade 1 on Wii back in 2014, it became my favorite game of all time. Then when Xenoblade 2 came out, it became my favorite as well (Now I can't decide which one is the best so they're both my number 1 ). And now Xenoblade 3 has come out, I'm playing it and I'm around Chapter 3. As a person living in Chile I don't have access to the old games, but it was really really nice to see Monolith's and Takahashi's complete story. I really want to thank Derrick for this video, he's so dedicated and passionate for bringing us the best content. 🔥👏
Truly my favorite series of all time. The story of Xenogears, the characters of Xenosaga, and the world of Xenoblade are undoubtedly the greatest of their field
X is good, but suffers severely from pacing issues and structural design choices in comparison to 1,2, and 3. I also think it being a Wii U release stunted its growth too. Nothing quite like flying around those maps in a mech though... after 30 some odd hours.
loved the video, learned a lot. Honestly was only knowledgeable about Xenogears and Saga. But you've got me interested in Xenoblade as well. Still wishing for a remake of Xenogears, but having played through it recently I can say it still is a testament to Monolith's creative teams ingenuity and brilliance
It is an honor to have played the game xenogears , and xenosaga ,as a child I escaped to this world I became part of this world that was created for us to these games ,even to this day the soundtrack of xenogears still makes me emotional, I have no idea why but it tugs so deeply at my soul and my heart
I don't leave comments often. This is investigative reporting at its best..true it's not national security or major politics...but to the people watching it's very much appreciated on how much time, investigation, and effort you put into this video. Thank you.
Love this video. You can tell how passionate Derrick is for this franchise. I remember his review of XC2 in GameXplaIn back in 2017 was the first one I saw and just sold me into the game immediately, this also being my first Xeno Game. Now Xeno is one of my favorite series, and I cannot wait for tomorrow to play Xenoblade 3!
Polishing a single level to production quality in order to get better estimates is genius. I'm not a game dev, but I think that approach can be applied to other types of development and I'm eager to try it out next time I can.
Derrick thank you so much for making this amazing video. I am so glad we have a very detailed timeline of not only the Xeno series, but Monolithsoft as a whole. I love Tetsuya Takahashi so much because it shows that one must never give up. From commercial failures, to commercial successes.
Holy crap, I never learned what happened to Derrick after he left gamexplain so clicking a random video in my recommended and hearing his voice again after all this time… the nostalgia hit me like a freight train
What a great video, amazing effort by Derrick. Thank you I only just finally started playing through the Xenoblade series this year with the hype of XC3 being announced, and just managed to catch up a couple weeks ago. It's easily entered itself into one of my favorite series of all time now.
wow, just stumbled on this vid and thanks for it. Xenogears has always been my all time favorite game, and learning a few things I hadn't known prior is awesome.
One of the best videos I have ever seen period. I'm currently still in an ongoing 3+ year process of getting my friends to start any Xenoblade game (One played XC2 until chapter 4 but got stuck in the old factory. Can't blame him lol. Another bought XC1 but dropped it for some reason. The last one bought XC3 after trying it out on my switch but hasn't played yet). I will not stop going on their nerves until they give in to my mental warfare.
My first Xenoblade game was Xenoblade 1’s Definitive Edition back in May 2020. It got me hooked on the series and since then I have also played and very much enjoyed Xenoblade 2! I’ll also be getting Xenoblade 3 later today! I’m so excited! It is very fascinating and inspiring to see Monolith Soft have such big visions for the games they create and to have said visions become reality. Really goes to show that anything is possible if you put your mind (and enough resources) to it.
First time i heared Xenogears was called Project Noah. Guess that's why Takahashi called the protagonist of Xenoblade 3 Noah (and his descendant the mainchara of Xenoblade 3 DLC "Future Redeemed" (thats coming out now) named Mathew extremely resembles Fei Wong.
The JOY I felt when I saw that this is a scripted video rather than a discussion (which are also good! just not quite on the same level iykwim). I can't fathom how much time and work went into making this, but I'm incredibly glad that it got made.
Great video! Xenoblade is my favorite game and I’ve always been curious about the other Xeno games but had a hard time piecing it together! This was perfect!
I really hope one day we get XenoGears Perfect Works HD-2D game by Team Asano from Square Enix & XenoSaga getting a full remake with all 6 episodes included like it intended to do.
I love these long form deep dives. I found this channel through the Shin Megami Tensei Deep Dive, and despite not being anywhere near as interested in the Xeno Franchise (I've played Xenogears and XenoSaga Episode 1, that's it) I'm totally here for this! Edit - To answer your question from the end of the video - YES PLEASE! I will watch any and all retrospectives of this kind you care to produce. Aside from the obvious choices like FF and DQ, here are a few suggestions from me - the Tales series, the YS series, or the Fire Emblem series. the Trails games, Suikoden, the Shining franchise, or the SaGA games could all be really interesting as well. Thanks for the content! I'm sure these take A LOT of time and dedication to produce.
As a fanboy of the series after XBC 2 and researching every nook and cranny Monolith Soft has done, I really like the video. So many details I have either forgotten or still didnt know. Like all the crossover games lol. XBC 3 is a no brainer for me. #InMonolithWeTrust
These long form retrospectives are FANTASTIC. Hope to see some other JRPG series like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Hell the game trailers final fantasy retrospective from like 10+ years ago needs to be topped finally lol
Thanks a bunch for putting all of this information together into one video. As someone whose first real exposure to Monolith was through Xenoblade 3, this really helps put into perspective just how far they've come since the Squaresoft days. Bonus points for keeping things spoiler-free, as I now want to play all these games to figure out the stories behind them for myself. Great work!
What a great video, As a hugeeeee Xeno series fan I know exactly how hard this video must of been to make. Xenogears alone made me a scholar in psychology and Gnosticism. I'm joking of course but this series is so dense in lore and inspirations to research it so intensely is hard work. Thanks Derrick for all you did for this video. Enjoy XBC3 :)
This video is great and reminded me just how much I love all Xeno games. My most favorite JRPG to this day is the Xenosaga trilogy. I truly believe that among these three games, they all make up one perfect game. I really wish for them to remaster Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Batem Kaitos also, as I believe that these games would surely fare much better sales wise nowadays.
I was a hard Xeno fan back when I had played Xenosaga and later Xenogears. This is an amazing in depth dive into the history of the Xeno series and I had learned a lot watching this. It gives me a newfound appreciation to the dedication of Monolith's team. I'm just getting around to sinking my teeth to the Xenoblade series and as an older fan I feel like a kid at the candy store. Thank you for giving the series the in-depth documentary it deserves. The attention to detail and thorough research truly paid off and I was hooked to every moment. I learned of some spin-offs I did not know of prior and it has me wanting to dive deeper into these games. I can't say it enough how much I loved this! Thank you for your hard work.
Finally finished this entire video. Thank you for the deep dive. I learned a lot about pretty much everything Xeno related that I think is a lot of new information for me, tbh.
Never played Xenoblade, but I loved Xenogears and watching this has made me want to check out Xenoblade now. Especially the ones on the switch, those anime graphics look amazing.
Great vid, Derrick! I've always been interested in the Xeno games outside of Xenoblade, and Monolith Soft is definitely one of my favorite developers. Great research and thoughtful pacing, as always! Now get some rest!!
😍 Xenogears was the very first jrpg that I've played all the way through!! It has an amazing story and the gameplay was awesome! I still have 2 physical copies and the guide book!
Wow, Derrick, you're the man! It's evident that a lot of time and effort went into this video, and your hard work absolutely paid off. The script, visuals, narration, and overall presentation are concise and informative, really top notch stuff! So happy to see a video of this quality for my favorite series
Absolutely brilliant video. Had to watch it over about 6 sittings but was well worth it. I’ve bought XC3 but I’ve played XC2, Torna and XCDE within the last 12 months. I’ve still not finish DE, I’m about 40 hours in so I feel like I’ll need a break before starting XC3.
I’m so glad I decided to complete Xenogears and the Xenosaga games before Xenoblade 3. I understand so many references now even within 1 and 2. I’m also already seeing a LOT of Xenogears references in 3. If 1 and 2 are spiritual retellings of episode 5 of perfect works, then maybe 3 is episode 6?
I thought Xenoblade 1 was originally intended as a separate game (Monado Beginning of the World) and only retroactively positioned as such via the remake and Future Connected
@@sunlitsonata6853 Well before Future Connected it kinda made a case for being Lost Jerusalem with Xenoblade 2 and the Zohar. So 2 tied it together before future connected.
Thank you Derrick for making such a great video on Monolithsoft and the Xeno series. I appreciate the Xenoblade games even more now. I can definitely say Xenoblade 3 is another masterpiece created by Tetsuya Takahashi and his team.
Man, this is an epic video but is so jam packed with amazing and inspiring information about the development of the games and a bit of the thought process that went into getting these games released. I want to work on my own game now after watching this. Kudos and thank you very much for making this video!
I know this must have been tons of work. Thank you so much! I love long, intricate videos about games, I am not even interested in the xeno series that much, but enjoyed this video tremendously. What I would want is them being able to make and remake all six parts of Xenogears with all the time and money they need!
I really enjoyed this Derrick. Your knowledge and experience with the series shines through. A fun experience while impatiently waiting for Xenoblade 3 tomorrow.
I remember being such a big fan of Xenosaga series that even I never played one I watched the entire trilogy walkthroughs on YT, watched the animation, listened to the incredible OSTs, read the script of the Pied Piper phone game, and played the II to III flash game ... Also played the 2 Baten Kaitos games for GameCube, so for me Monolith is a seal of quality for every product they release; now I have the Xenoblade trilogy on Switch and it just gets better; 3 is truly fantastic so far. I hope one day since Namco and Nintendo are good partners, they can remake Xenosaga.
This is a really good video series and you should definitely make more of them even though they clearly take a load of effort. I’ve been chasing the high from GameTrailers Retrospectives for a decade now and this comes pretty close to scratching that itch. Keep it up!
I first learned about the Xeno series because a friend of mine let me play their copy of Project X Zone and I was introduced to KOS-MOS and some of the story elements of Xenosaga. Then eventually I watched Chuggaconroy’s letsplay of Xenoblade Chronicles and really wanted to play the game for myself but I had no money at the time and couldn’t find it anywhere, then the 3DS version of the game came out. My older sister bought me a New 3DS which I still have and need to repair since it messed up along with XBC1 on the 3DS and I played that game so much. Unfortunately right when I was about to finish the game it corrupted so I could still play my file but I couldn’t progress along in the story and do the final dungeon but I still fell in love with the game and it’s characters. I knew about Xenoblade 2 but I was always unsure about the game, never really been spoiled by it but I wasn’t sure about the new art direction the game took. I did eventually buy the game but only played alittle bit of it like 2 years ago now when I finally picked it back up and really found myself enjoying the story and characters but not a fan of the gameplay. I am still currently playing through it but I put it down because I started playing Xenoblade 3. Before talking more about 3 I do want to mention that the only other nitpick I have about 2 is the gacha element of getting the blades along with the more anime style humor which is hit or miss. Now I didn’t watch any trailers or see any gameplay of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 at all, only the pictures on the Eshop. I am so glad I didnt get spoiled at all because it is my favorite game in the series and I’m not sure where to play it yet but one of my favorite games of all time now. I think it’s a almost near perfect combination of story, music and gameplay. The lore and story behind 3 back up the game play with a blending of XC1 gameplay and XC2 gameplay along with the lore of both games being brought into this game. And it’s still able to stand on its own without needing to know much about the other 2 Xenoblade games. The cast is incredible and likable and you get all of them near the beginning of the game and get to see them all grow together unlike other RPGs where some later party members get less talked about and some early party members stories ending earlier than the game itself. It’s hard to really express without spoiling what really makes 3 so great but it’s a must play for any one and I’m so glad Monolith never gave up and made it through all of their struggles so I could have experienced all of these stories and I can’t wait what else they have to offer
A fantastic retrospective Derrick. Learned a whole lot in this video and I consider myself a true diehard fan. The effort that you put into this clearly shows. Outstanding work and I look forward to your review of XC3 in the next month of 2
The absolute kings of game development. If Xenoblade had the respect it deserved no other game, film, tv series, book or album would release in the same month for fear of being completely overshadowed
Really enjoyable and informative video. Great job Derrick. Has made the wait for my XC3 delivery this morning bearable. However a quick little correction, the X online is still available, its only the miiverse connectivity that was shut down. I've been playing X online pretty recently.
Jesus Christ, I'm only midway through, but the detail & development insights are so juicy. I'm used to videos like this being clickbait/plot summaries. This is mana from heaven.
This is a great video! I especially appreciate the effort taken to avoid spoilers, since now my interest has been stoked in trying out the earlier Xeno games for myself.
I’ve been a huge fan of the series since xenogears and I still own and play xenogears and xenosaga 1-3. But the best thing I loved from your video was a argument I used to have with my best friend from high school. He used to always say that xenosaga had nothing to do with xenogears without ever playing xenogears. I had played both and tried so hard to get him to try and play xenogears but he never played it. So when you straight out confirmed it was connected a part of me was remembering my argument with him and saying in my head, “booyah!” Thanks for this video. I loved it .
Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, and FF6 remain three of my favourite games to this day. Of the later Xeno games, my opinions get a little more controversial (I don’t think much) I think Xenosaga Episode 1 was a fantastic intro, and I loved the cutscenes (despite the popular consensus that they were too long, to me they were what set Xenosaga apart in how interesting I found it) but found 2 and 3 fell short - 3 was really loved, but I found it felt like too many unconnected and inconsistent scenes. Xenoblade was a massive step up, but unlike most, it was the world, and not the story I liked-in fact, I found the story a big decline from the previous Xeno games, but I loved the Fallen Arm segment. Xenoblade Chronicles X really impressed me for its world, it took what Xenoblade Chronicles did best (IMO) and made it so much better-everywhere you could see, you could go. Unlike most, I find the idea of a city from Earth now trying to survive on an alien planet is one of the most compelling story premises in video games, ever. I played 2 and 3, but they didn’t leave the same kind of impression as previous Xeno games-it’s not that I think they’re bad games, it’s that their new additions to the franchise were less pronounced than the previous games, and to me were to XC1 and XCX the way Xenosaga Episode 2 and 3 were to Episode 1, they’re still great games - just not (what I felt) were the groundbreaking FF6, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode 1, Xenoblade Chronicles, or Xenoblade Chronicles X.
This retrospective makes it abundantly clear that there would have never been a Breath Of The Wild without Xenoblade X. X is far from perfect and infuriating at times, but it is an underappreciated gem nonetheless.
After hearing the struggle of Monolith to make Xenogears and Xenosaga, it touched my heart to hear that Yamagami told Takahashi to not cut anything and promise to get the time they needed from Nintendo.
What a legend, without him, this series might not be what it is today.
@@varenoftatooine2393 Look at what we get when ambitious creators refuse to compromise their integrity and vision.
A real power move that allowed one of the best games of all time to exist.
Technically, only Squaresoft developed Xenogears. Of course, I never really understood why Squaresoft thought 900k was bad. What an undeserved slap in the face from Square.
@@ShionJrCitrine That's a black legend of sorts. Takahashi has said multiple times that the short comings from both "Xenogears" and "Xenosaga" came from his lacking management skills at the time and the inexperience of most of his team members, not because Square nor Namco didn't support him. Heck, a sequel to "Xenogears" was greenlit, it's just it was during the time when Square was starting to deviate resources, not only from Takahashi's team, but from the entire company, towards movie production, something that affected all Square games not titled "Final Fantasy". Ditto Namco, who supported the entire "Xenosaga" franchise way more than most fans give them credit for (they created 3 spin-off games, produced an anime series and multiple merchandising, for crying out loud). But of course, the narrative of greedy corporations squashing the creativity of a bohemian artist is too strong to resist to many, I guess.
When you factor in Monolith's support teams, the studio's game design philosophy single-handedly leading to a game like Breath of the Wild even being possible for Nintendo, and how close Takahashi and co. came to working on so many historic games (between Xenogears near-missing as a story for FFVII, the doomed Chrono sequel, Mother 3), there's an argument to be made that they're one of the most important studios of the 21st century so far. It's insane.
I second that!
After seeing how good they managed to make Xenoblade 3 look on Switch using some sort of temporal magic, I kinda can't wait to see how much better the Zelda sequel looks and runs compared to BotW
@@FluffyWuffy17 im in the camp that believes Botw 2 will be a dual release on a new console and the footage shown is for said console. Zelda releases are no stranger to this concept, and botw 2 is looking a little *too crisp for Switch. But it’s not impossible, botw was beautiful, x3 is beautiful, somehow they can manage the depth of field and draw distance impeccably. But I look at that map and the textures of the clouds in botw 2 and im like, “on a switch? Damn.”
@@FluffyWuffy17 a good amount of the textures look pretty bad up close though.
What can you do, that’s the Nintendo switch for ya.
false
call of duty
Y'know, after all MonolithSoft's been through, I think we can safely say that these really have been the Xenosaga.
Shut up, Alex
...-_-
*Credits roll*
Bddmmmmtssssss..
Shut up, Alex
The sheer ambition and stubornness Takahashi has for telling the complete Perfect Works story cannot be overstated. The man might finally get that goal with the xenoblade series.
The Perfect Works story can't be told given it's broken up with different publishers and his wife was half the force behind it. Xenoblade is very much something new he started as Takahashi does get bored easily with things. There already were retcons in Perfect Works not seen in Xenogears and concessions were made with Xenosaga. There would be no way that Xenoblade could perfectly tie-in given the time between, how the Xohar and other aspects are veery different. The episodes he originally planned on got as far as Xenosaga it would seem before he took a new approach and did a time leap to soft-reboot/start a new story in the same universe, if that. Kind of a brand name than continuation of Perfect Works that had plans for a very different story we've seen with Xenoblade.
@@blumiu2426 He reworks the ideas into new games. Klaus Saga is finished with Xenoblade 3 DLC and this will be a cut, we'll see how the Xenoblade Series evolves and in which direction it goes.
@@currywurst2434 No idea has been reworked that he planned for the original Xeno series. It couldn't because some things I don't think he can use because it is under BandaiNamco, this after he had already started somewhat again after leaving Square.
He also has a penchant for moving on to new things and of course that would happen after 20 years. It's very light-hearted now and simple, even a tonal shift from Xenoblade Chronicles to the moe-level of anime Xenoblade 2 was (plus he put a harem in the game, a harem that fulfilled with the MC impregnating three women like traditional Mormon lol)
It's just not the same series or story, especially given his wife was also part of it all originally and now it's just him. The series just hasn't caught on like many thought would happen with XC3 outside it's fanbase. Personally, Japan has a problem now that when it makes any that look anime, it uses anime tropes and conventions instead of just telling a story with those visuals. It already reinvented the series last game, so I'm not sure what more it can do when it made it so female characters cranked out like gachas.
@@blumiu2426 Honestly the best we can hope for is a proper remake of Xenogears that includes all of the cut content. Of course that would require Square, Monolith, and Nintendo to come to some sort of agreement which seems unlikely.
Even if that never happens I would like to see all of the old Xeno games re-released on modern consoles even if it is just PS Classics ports.
@@Wiseman108 Most definitely will never happen. Too much red tape for something they wouldn't be confident in the sales of unless it was altered to cater to the casual market, meaning ARPG leaning heavily into action like FFXVI.
And given how censorship ready SE is now, Xenogears would have so many scenes and dialogue changed that the game wouldn't be the same because it was a mature story. It's so far removed from what Monolith does now it's hard to consider they stemmed from one another other than Xohar appearing in every entry in some way.
The fact that the original xenogears was called project Noah and that it's now the protagonist's name in xenoblade 3 is pretty cool to know !
Thanks for you video and for all the work that went into it.
And now, he keeps becoming more and more of a Fei reference by the day
Started from the bottom now we here 🤣
Can't take too much time because I'm busy playing 3 myself now, but excellent job not only recapping Xeno in a greater context but also elaborating on just why the series is so special. This was a massive undertaking and I'm happy it turned out so well, congratulations on a job superbly done!
Thank you for this amazing video!
That was a fantastic video... I would not be able to live with myself if I did not sub and leave a tip after the amount of work you put into this retrospective!
I know this is a ton of work but Derrick has such a talent for doing these longer features/retrospectives! Congrats on another amazing video (SMT was also incredible). Take a well deserved break…but I’d love to see another one like this down the line.
Thank you Derrick for your dedication and time to bring light to all these amazing games and their development story. Truly a work of love that must have taken you ages to put together. Cheers!
Man I really hope we can get an updated Xenosaga releases. I have them all still for ps2 but would absolutely love an hd compilation. I know Namco and the lead from Tekken said there wasn't enough demand but it would be so awesome.
Also a ridiculous excuse i think. Release it on all platforms and make clear that they are connected to xenoblade and it will sell, alternatively i wish monolith would just get the rights back.
Nah, that would make too much sense.
I-… wow Derrick… I was beyond impressed with the SMT retrospective but this one coming so soon after only makes me even more shocked. You have a natural talent at making literally anything look and sound interesting and I absolutely adored these two retrospectives. Thank you for releasing this just in time for Xenoblade 3 it made me just that little bit more excited for it.
This was wonderful, thank you so much! You taught me so much about one of my favorite developers. I have loved Takahashi's work since playing Xenogears as an early teen and the Xenosaga series (especially Episode I) ruled my life for a long time. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this additional history and context! Also, for anyone who has yet to try any of these games, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is absolutely a fantastic jumping-on point for beginners!
0:45 "Searching for Friends" from FFVI in the background - a favorite of mine. Very nice touch!
I hope one day all of Takahashi's works will be easily accessible for the world to see, the amount of heart, ambition technical knowhow, effort and even just pushing the limits of what he and his crews can do is deserving of recognition.
Despite being stranded on a dead console and faced with its servers being shut down soon, I still love Xenoblade Chronicles X so much after having done a 100% run last year over the course of 650+ Hours. It truly gave me a new appreciation for not just the franchise(s) (Xeno-Gears/ Saga/ Chronicles) but for game design as a whole!
They practiced some sort of Coding/Game Design Black Magic to make it run so excellently on the Wii U while giving it so much to see, do, and experience! It’s highly unlikely it’ll ever come to the Switch, so I can rest assured I saw everything in my experience with it over 4 months/8-16 hours a day.
MonolithSoft proved with that game (as well as the other Xeno games & BotW) that they’re not just Deity-Tier on every front BUT ALSO A FRONTRUNNER FOR BEING AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT STUDIOS WITHIN THE GAMING INDUSTRY!
Bless you, Takahashi & Friends! Can’t wait for what’s after XC3!
Masterful work again Derrick, loved to heard about all the development history of this franchise and mad respect for avoiding giving spoilers about the plot of this games.
This video is such an absolute triumph. Easily the best video on the franchise I’ve ever seen. Congrats Derrick, you should be proud!
Ya but it was also about all their other franchises, besides Baten Kaitos for some reason 🤔
1 week into XC3 and I can say it easily lives up to the high expectations and monolithsoft is keeping up its momentum!!
Monolithsoft has quickly become one of my favorite game studios. I am blown away by their ambition, passion, and work ethic. From what I've read, it sounds like a good place to work too. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games I've ever played, and I hope to say the very same about their 3.
Wow. Great vid so far. Lots of love and work in this one and I’m not even done but had to comment. XC2 was my first, I played definitive and watched a play through of X. XC2 is one of my all time fav games and I’ve always wanted to know more about the series so thank you for this!!
Monolith is one of my fav devs now so this history right before release is perfect!
I really hope we get a Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster at some point, that game deserves so much more than to be stuck on the WiiU.
Congrats
We got what we wished for. I've been hoping for it as well and we got it
As someone who has never played the series, aside from the Xenogears demo on a Playstation demo disc (and failing to find a copy of the full game every time I visited a game store), I had heard about most of these games in that I knew they existed, but I had assumed that they were all one long running series starting with Xenogears. But, it's 3 different series across 3 different publishers by the same people? I've heard of spiritual successors, usually in the indie space but it is not unheard of in the AAA space with System Shock and Bioshock, even sharing part of the name. But Xeno technically being 3 series while also being spiritual successors building off of ideas from games in previous series'? Amazing
Really nice, I’m 41 now oh my gosh… But I started xenogears on* PlayStation when it came out and believe that it really was the motivation for me to become a control engineer. Now I program robotics in manufacturing facilities, I’ve worked for Tesla and Amazon… Got a really neat career and I think that this game really jumpstarted all that for me. Now later in life I’m finding Artifacts that no one wants to really talk about, and then right when I start doing all this that anime Spriggan comes out… It’s like I can’t get away from this… What do you guys know about ancient American history? ;all these little stories about Ooparts and Ancient technology… I have to tell you there’s something to it. I would’ve never thought so unless I witnessed it firsthand.
This is fantastic Derrick!! Great work!!
Man I want a Xenoblade X Definitive Edition so bad, that game consumed me and really was one of the most unique rpgs I’ve played. Mira is still my favorite game world I’ve explored.
When I played Xenoblade 1 on Wii back in 2014, it became my favorite game of all time. Then when Xenoblade 2 came out, it became my favorite as well (Now I can't decide which one is the best so they're both my number 1 ). And now Xenoblade 3 has come out, I'm playing it and I'm around Chapter 3. As a person living in Chile I don't have access to the old games, but it was really really nice to see Monolith's and Takahashi's complete story. I really want to thank Derrick for this video, he's so dedicated and passionate for bringing us the best content. 🔥👏
X 2 my friend
Xenogears #1!
Try Xenogears. It is much deeper than any of the other games.
Ok This Right here is Amazing outright!
keep up the good work guys
Truly my favorite series of all time. The story of Xenogears, the characters of Xenosaga, and the world of Xenoblade are undoubtedly the greatest of their field
Project Noah … Noah in Xenoblade 3 … holy cow… the connections are soooo deep.
God, seeing Xenoblade X in action just reminds me how freaking cool that game is, and what a shame it is more people haven't been able to play it.
We're close to the 10th anniversary, we might see it again soon
@@MarcuStar745XD man I sure hope so. X is such a great game.
X is good, but suffers severely from pacing issues and structural design choices in comparison to 1,2, and 3. I also think it being a Wii U release stunted its growth too. Nothing quite like flying around those maps in a mech though... after 30 some odd hours.
@@GG256_ and one of the few games where farming was well rewarded once you fnished your perfect build
If they're to remaster it, then I hope they completely replace the UI
What's most impressive about this is the insane amount of info you were able to gather for this. We need more of this
First the Megaten vid, now this! Derrick is really going above and beyond for the sake of us JRPG enjoyers!
loved the video, learned a lot. Honestly was only knowledgeable about Xenogears and Saga. But you've got me interested in Xenoblade as well. Still wishing for a remake of Xenogears, but having played through it recently I can say it still is a testament to Monolith's creative teams ingenuity and brilliance
It is an honor to have played the game xenogears , and xenosaga ,as a child I escaped to this world I became part of this world that was created for us to these games ,even to this day the soundtrack of xenogears still makes me emotional, I have no idea why but it tugs so deeply at my soul and my heart
I don't leave comments often. This is investigative reporting at its best..true it's not national security or major politics...but to the people watching it's very much appreciated on how much time, investigation, and effort you put into this video. Thank you.
The best retrospective available on the Internet, period!
Plus a shout out to Xenoblade X, which is a masterpiece and unfortunately, a hidden gem! 💎
I didn't like it
@@Doors067 and you’re uncultured
I absolutely loved Xenoblade X.
Never played it, still hoping for a switch port. Would be great to have the complete xenoblade series on one platform.
@@Doors067 Probably because you're a more casual gamer who plays JRPGs just for the stories, no offense.
I find most video essays hard to get into, but this was amazing. Thanks so much for your work on this.
Love this video. You can tell how passionate Derrick is for this franchise. I remember his review of XC2 in GameXplaIn back in 2017 was the first one I saw and just sold me into the game immediately, this also being my first Xeno Game. Now Xeno is one of my favorite series, and I cannot wait for tomorrow to play Xenoblade 3!
Polishing a single level to production quality in order to get better estimates is genius. I'm not a game dev, but I think that approach can be applied to other types of development and I'm eager to try it out next time I can.
Derrick thank you so much for making this amazing video. I am so glad we have a very detailed timeline of not only the Xeno series, but Monolithsoft as a whole. I love Tetsuya Takahashi so much because it shows that one must never give up. From commercial failures, to commercial successes.
Holy crap, I never learned what happened to Derrick after he left gamexplain so clicking a random video in my recommended and hearing his voice again after all this time… the nostalgia hit me like a freight train
Excellent video thank you. Very few of these xeno recap videos offer a look behind the curtain and at the development challenges of the games
What a great video, amazing effort by Derrick. Thank you
I only just finally started playing through the Xenoblade series this year with the hype of XC3 being announced, and just managed to catch up a couple weeks ago. It's easily entered itself into one of my favorite series of all time now.
wow, just stumbled on this vid and thanks for it. Xenogears has always been my all time favorite game, and learning a few things I hadn't known prior is awesome.
One of the best videos I have ever seen period. I'm currently still in an ongoing 3+ year process of getting my friends to start any Xenoblade game (One played XC2 until chapter 4 but got stuck in the old factory. Can't blame him lol. Another bought XC1 but dropped it for some reason. The last one bought XC3 after trying it out on my switch but hasn't played yet).
I will not stop going on their nerves until they give in to my mental warfare.
My first Xenoblade game was Xenoblade 1’s Definitive Edition back in May 2020. It got me hooked on the series and since then I have also played and very much enjoyed Xenoblade 2! I’ll also be getting Xenoblade 3 later today! I’m so excited!
It is very fascinating and inspiring to see Monolith Soft have such big visions for the games they create and to have said visions become reality. Really goes to show that anything is possible if you put your mind (and enough resources) to it.
And someone supporting and believing in your visions.
First time i heared Xenogears was called Project Noah. Guess that's why Takahashi called the protagonist of Xenoblade 3 Noah (and his descendant the mainchara of Xenoblade 3 DLC "Future Redeemed" (thats coming out now) named Mathew extremely resembles Fei Wong.
The JOY I felt when I saw that this is a scripted video rather than a discussion (which are also good! just not quite on the same level iykwim). I can't fathom how much time and work went into making this, but I'm incredibly glad that it got made.
Great video! Xenoblade is my favorite game and I’ve always been curious about the other Xeno games but had a hard time piecing it together! This was perfect!
This is such a great video. I learned a lot about my favorite developer through it. Now onto Xenoblade 3!
X’s Music is freaking amazing. Hiroyuki Sawano was a great choice. I’ve never played the game, but it is by far my favorite game soundtrack.
I really hope one day we get XenoGears Perfect Works HD-2D game by Team Asano from Square Enix & XenoSaga getting a full remake with all 6 episodes included like it intended to do.
God damn an HD-2D Xenogears would be INCREDIBLE.
Honestly, I think they would have to completely reboot xenosaga if they wanted it to be a 6 episodes story.
It'd be an absolute blast. Xenogears was incredible, the only downsides it has were because it was a rushed game.
Eww
I posted a similar comment. Remaking Xenogears with the second half as intended would be awesome.
I love these long form deep dives. I found this channel through the Shin Megami Tensei Deep Dive, and despite not being anywhere near as interested in the Xeno Franchise (I've played Xenogears and XenoSaga Episode 1, that's it) I'm totally here for this!
Edit - To answer your question from the end of the video - YES PLEASE! I will watch any and all retrospectives of this kind you care to produce. Aside from the obvious choices like FF and DQ, here are a few suggestions from me - the Tales series, the YS series, or the Fire Emblem series. the Trails games, Suikoden, the Shining franchise, or the SaGA games could all be really interesting as well. Thanks for the content! I'm sure these take A LOT of time and dedication to produce.
As a fanboy of the series after XBC 2 and researching every nook and cranny Monolith Soft has done, I really like the video. So many details I have either forgotten or still didnt know. Like all the crossover games lol.
XBC 3 is a no brainer for me. #InMonolithWeTrust
These long form retrospectives are FANTASTIC. Hope to see some other JRPG series like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Hell the game trailers final fantasy retrospective from like 10+ years ago needs to be topped finally lol
It really is amazing to see just how far Monolith Soft has come
Thanks a bunch for putting all of this information together into one video. As someone whose first real exposure to Monolith was through Xenoblade 3, this really helps put into perspective just how far they've come since the Squaresoft days. Bonus points for keeping things spoiler-free, as I now want to play all these games to figure out the stories behind them for myself. Great work!
What a great video, As a hugeeeee Xeno series fan I know exactly how hard this video must of been to make.
Xenogears alone made me a scholar in psychology and Gnosticism. I'm joking of course but this series is so dense in lore and inspirations to research it so intensely is hard work.
Thanks Derrick for all you did for this video. Enjoy XBC3 :)
This video is great and reminded me just how much I love all Xeno games. My most favorite JRPG to this day is the Xenosaga trilogy. I truly believe that among these three games, they all make up one perfect game. I really wish for them to remaster Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Batem Kaitos also, as I believe that these games would surely fare much better sales wise nowadays.
I was a hard Xeno fan back when I had played Xenosaga and later Xenogears. This is an amazing in depth dive into the history of the Xeno series and I had learned a lot watching this. It gives me a newfound appreciation to the dedication of Monolith's team. I'm just getting around to sinking my teeth to the Xenoblade series and as an older fan I feel like a kid at the candy store.
Thank you for giving the series the in-depth documentary it deserves. The attention to detail and thorough research truly paid off and I was hooked to every moment. I learned of some spin-offs I did not know of prior and it has me wanting to dive deeper into these games. I can't say it enough how much I loved this! Thank you for your hard work.
Woow! Thank you for all the work that went into making this video! I think Xenogears deserve a remake that respects the original story and gameplay.
This man just increased Xenoblade franchise sales. I can't believe I watched this whole thing and I didn't know a single thing about Xenoblade.
Finally finished this entire video. Thank you for the deep dive. I learned a lot about pretty much everything Xeno related that I think is a lot of new information for me, tbh.
Never played Xenoblade, but I loved Xenogears and watching this has made me want to check out Xenoblade now. Especially the ones on the switch, those anime graphics look amazing.
Great vid, Derrick! I've always been interested in the Xeno games outside of Xenoblade, and Monolith Soft is definitely one of my favorite developers. Great research and thoughtful pacing, as always! Now get some rest!!
😍 Xenogears was the very first jrpg that I've played all the way through!! It has an amazing story and the gameplay was awesome! I still have 2 physical copies and the guide book!
Wow, Derrick, you're the man! It's evident that a lot of time and effort went into this video, and your hard work absolutely paid off. The script, visuals, narration, and overall presentation are concise and informative, really top notch stuff! So happy to see a video of this quality for my favorite series
So grateful to have a video like this! ❤️ Xenoblade 3 was absolutely incredible. The callbacks were just so amazing ❤️
Absolutely brilliant video. Had to watch it over about 6 sittings but was well worth it. I’ve bought XC3 but I’ve played XC2, Torna and XCDE within the last 12 months. I’ve still not finish DE, I’m about 40 hours in so I feel like I’ll need a break before starting XC3.
Derrick with a lengthy Xeno video that would make Chuggaaconroy proud! Can’t wait for lunch to watch this!
Love these documentary style videos hope to see more in the future. Great work Derrick :)
I’m so glad I decided to complete Xenogears and the Xenosaga games before Xenoblade 3. I understand so many references now even within 1 and 2. I’m also already seeing a LOT of Xenogears references in 3. If 1 and 2 are spiritual retellings of episode 5 of perfect works, then maybe 3 is episode 6?
yeah it is rewarding as hell to piece these stories together
I thought Xenoblade 1 was originally intended as a separate game (Monado Beginning of the World) and only retroactively positioned as such via the remake and Future Connected
@@sunlitsonata6853 Well before Future Connected it kinda made a case for being Lost Jerusalem with Xenoblade 2 and the Zohar. So 2 tied it together before future connected.
The perfect watch to get through my work day, the last one before Xenoblade 3 comes out. I can't wait. Great work, Derrick!
I'm so glad that you were able to get it done in time man, can't wait to give it a watch!
Thank you Derrick for making such a great video on Monolithsoft and the Xeno series. I appreciate the Xenoblade games even more now. I can definitely say Xenoblade 3 is another masterpiece created by Tetsuya Takahashi and his team.
Man, this is an epic video but is so jam packed with amazing and inspiring information about the development of the games and a bit of the thought process that went into getting these games released. I want to work on my own game now after watching this. Kudos and thank you very much for making this video!
Thanks!
This retrospective was fantastic, and I plan on watching the SMT one too. Great job
Absolute dedication right here. Great work!
I loved this! Despite the work involved, I'd love to see a history of Fire Emblem too!
Yes please!
Woohoo!! Thank you Derrick! Can't wait to dive through this Xeno history lesson!
2 minutes in and I've already learned so much. Amazing stuff Derrick
I know this must have been tons of work. Thank you so much! I love long, intricate videos about games, I am not even interested in the xeno series that much, but enjoyed this video tremendously. What I would want is them being able to make and remake all six parts of Xenogears with all the time and money they need!
I really enjoyed this Derrick. Your knowledge and experience with the series shines through. A fun experience while impatiently waiting for Xenoblade 3 tomorrow.
I remember being such a big fan of Xenosaga series that even I never played one I watched the entire trilogy walkthroughs on YT, watched the animation, listened to the incredible OSTs, read the script of the Pied Piper phone game, and played the II to III flash game ... Also played the 2 Baten Kaitos games for GameCube, so for me Monolith is a seal of quality for every product they release; now I have the Xenoblade trilogy on Switch and it just gets better; 3 is truly fantastic so far. I hope one day since Namco and Nintendo are good partners, they can remake Xenosaga.
I'm so proud of you Takahashi! Your love for mechs shows through in all of your works.
This is a really good video series and you should definitely make more of them even though they clearly take a load of effort. I’ve been chasing the high from GameTrailers Retrospectives for a decade now and this comes pretty close to scratching that itch. Keep it up!
Incredible work!
I adore these deep dives into video game history. Would love to see more!!
I first learned about the Xeno series because a friend of mine let me play their copy of Project X Zone and I was introduced to KOS-MOS and some of the story elements of Xenosaga. Then eventually I watched Chuggaconroy’s letsplay of Xenoblade Chronicles and really wanted to play the game for myself but I had no money at the time and couldn’t find it anywhere, then the 3DS version of the game came out. My older sister bought me a New 3DS which I still have and need to repair since it messed up along with XBC1 on the 3DS and I played that game so much. Unfortunately right when I was about to finish the game it corrupted so I could still play my file but I couldn’t progress along in the story and do the final dungeon but I still fell in love with the game and it’s characters.
I knew about Xenoblade 2 but I was always unsure about the game, never really been spoiled by it but I wasn’t sure about the new art direction the game took. I did eventually buy the game but only played alittle bit of it like 2 years ago now when I finally picked it back up and really found myself enjoying the story and characters but not a fan of the gameplay. I am still currently playing through it but I put it down because I started playing Xenoblade 3. Before talking more about 3 I do want to mention that the only other nitpick I have about 2 is the gacha element of getting the blades along with the more anime style humor which is hit or miss.
Now I didn’t watch any trailers or see any gameplay of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 at all, only the pictures on the Eshop. I am so glad I didnt get spoiled at all because it is my favorite game in the series and I’m not sure where to play it yet but one of my favorite games of all time now. I think it’s a almost near perfect combination of story, music and gameplay. The lore and story behind 3 back up the game play with a blending of XC1 gameplay and XC2 gameplay along with the lore of both games being brought into this game. And it’s still able to stand on its own without needing to know much about the other 2 Xenoblade games. The cast is incredible and likable and you get all of them near the beginning of the game and get to see them all grow together unlike other RPGs where some later party members get less talked about and some early party members stories ending earlier than the game itself. It’s hard to really express without spoiling what really makes 3 so great but it’s a must play for any one and I’m so glad Monolith never gave up and made it through all of their struggles so I could have experienced all of these stories and I can’t wait what else they have to offer
A fantastic retrospective Derrick. Learned a whole lot in this video and I consider myself a true diehard fan. The effort that you put into this clearly shows. Outstanding work and I look forward to your review of XC3 in the next month of 2
The absolute kings of game development. If Xenoblade had the respect it deserved no other game, film, tv series, book or album would release in the same month for fear of being completely overshadowed
I loved the series but I don’t think I’d go that far lol
Really enjoyable and informative video. Great job Derrick.
Has made the wait for my XC3 delivery this morning bearable.
However a quick little correction, the X online is still available, its only the miiverse connectivity that was shut down. I've been playing X online pretty recently.
Jesus Christ, I'm only midway through, but the detail & development insights are so juicy. I'm used to videos like this being clickbait/plot summaries. This is mana from heaven.
Derrick you are amazing! I can't wait for Xenoblade 3 and this is the perfect thing to listen to while I wait. Congrats on finishing right on time.
This is a great video! I especially appreciate the effort taken to avoid spoilers, since now my interest has been stoked in trying out the earlier Xeno games for myself.
I’ve been a huge fan of the series since xenogears and I still own and play xenogears and xenosaga 1-3. But the best thing I loved from your video was a argument I used to have with my best friend from high school. He used to always say that xenosaga had nothing to do with xenogears without ever playing xenogears. I had played both and tried so hard to get him to try and play xenogears but he never played it. So when you straight out confirmed it was connected a part of me was remembering my argument with him and saying in my head, “booyah!” Thanks for this video. I loved it .
Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, and FF6 remain three of my favourite games to this day.
Of the later Xeno games, my opinions get a little more controversial (I don’t think much) I think Xenosaga Episode 1 was a fantastic intro, and I loved the cutscenes (despite the popular consensus that they were too long, to me they were what set Xenosaga apart in how interesting I found it) but found 2 and 3 fell short - 3 was really loved, but I found it felt like too many unconnected and inconsistent scenes. Xenoblade was a massive step up, but unlike most, it was the world, and not the story I liked-in fact, I found the story a big decline from the previous Xeno games, but I loved the Fallen Arm segment. Xenoblade Chronicles X really impressed me for its world, it took what Xenoblade Chronicles did best (IMO) and made it so much better-everywhere you could see, you could go. Unlike most, I find the idea of a city from Earth now trying to survive on an alien planet is one of the most compelling story premises in video games, ever. I played 2 and 3, but they didn’t leave the same kind of impression as previous Xeno games-it’s not that I think they’re bad games, it’s that their new additions to the franchise were less pronounced than the previous games, and to me were to XC1 and XCX the way Xenosaga Episode 2 and 3 were to Episode 1, they’re still great games - just not (what I felt) were the groundbreaking FF6, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode 1, Xenoblade Chronicles, or Xenoblade Chronicles X.
This retrospective makes it abundantly clear that there would have never been a Breath Of The Wild without Xenoblade X. X is far from perfect and infuriating at times, but it is an underappreciated gem nonetheless.
Breath of the Wild feels extremely hollow after playing X, TBH.
@@ltb1345 To be fair, BOTW does go for a more desolate feeling than the ever-plentiful Mira.
Derrick, you outdid yourself, once again. Thank you for this hard work, it is massively appreciated.