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Just finished XC 3 and I have to talk about it (Full Spoilers Inside)

Nautilus

Banned
Ok, so I just finished it, and I have to say its a fantastic game.

However, I feel confident saying that its the weaker of the three, if only because of the story(because combat-wise, its probably the best)

If I had to rank them with scores, I would say XC 2 is a 10, XC 1 is a 9.9, while XC 3 is closer to a 9.3.

So lets start with the positives:

- The combat is fantastic. I would say the game needed to be harder(I played on hard), because most of the time after 50% through the game, I was blowing past most enemies, especially the ones in the main story. But overall, it was really fun the class system. It made it so that you always had something to look forward to, so the combat and its progression was neer boring.

- The vistas/graphics were also phenominal. While they lacked a big WOW moment that XC 1 and XC 2 had with its titans, it was stronger overall.

- Honestly, everything was exce;llent, even the story that I am about to criticize.

So the negative would lie with the story. But let me start by saying that the story is very good. It was VERY clear that the focus was on the charachters. XC 1 and XC 2 always had strong charachters and the story uilt them perfectly when they wanted to, but it was clear on those games that the split between plot and carachter dram was 60/40(so plot being more important). While in XC 3 the carachters and their dramas are WAY more important, like its 70% of the story focus.

And while normally that wouldn't be an issue, its a problem here because the plot doesn't quite delivers. I have left... somewhat dissapointed once the game ended. Why?There were sooooo many questions left unanswered. What are the motes of light that comes off... everything(people, things the mud puppetss)? The game keeps contantly teasing the player about its importance, but the game never... says anything. Not concrete. You cant theorize that the motes of light are information that turn into light, which feeds back into Origin, but nothing is ever said. Same with Riku. Who REALLY is he? Again, the game teases you like 3 times about who he really is, and the best you get is a wink between him and Melia, possibly hinting that he is maybe Riki? But again, nothing remotely concrete. Same with Noah, Mio, N and M. Who are they? Why did they split up(the game says that they split up because N became the regret embodiment and Noah the hope embodiment(same for Mio) of their own person, but that's crap ,as even the game doesn;t quite settle on that)? Is there a bigger connection as to why Noah in particular has the Sword of the End, and why he could better stand Z's control? There are those and so many more smaller question(as where is the rest of XC 1 and XC2 cast? Poppi was fucking hiding in the Cloudkeep. Why did she, Nia and Melia appear in Aionios, and not the rest?And if they are anywhere, where are they? Inside Origin, but they weren't spawned? Or somehow outside of Ainious, where time is frozen? But then the game kind of tells you that at that moment, everything was cancelled by the universes colliding, and only Origin and it "simulation"(Aionios) is what existed)

So as you can see, there were too many questions unanswered, or that were answered poorly. And what's more infuriating is that probably a lot of those questions will be answered in the DLC. So in that scenario, they left key plot details outside of the main game to sell you the expansion, and that fucking sucks.

And even then, some of the revelations were underwhelming. Moebious is just... emotions? The negative emotions of people, like fear of the unknown, that took hold of Origin? Really? Maybe it was my fault, but considering this was the 3 game, I was expecting the game to connect all games far more, and to have more awesome twists, like the one at the end of XC 2. I was even expecting Z to actually be Zanza somehow, as all Moebious had a letter that came from their original names. But no, he is just an emotion that took form. Ugh.

Again, the story was still good(especially how well they kept the mysteries), and the carachter and their interactions ARE the best from the Xeno games bar none. But damn, the plot did dissapoint, mostly by not answering the own questions it made. And by the villains being just emotions. Still salty about that.

But yeah, rants over.

And yeah, Rex just owns. He has THREE WIFES!!!rEX FOR THE WIN
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
For me XC3 is my favourite Xenoblade game, the villains might not be as good as the 2nd game but 3rd game had AMAZING character moments that just worked for me also it not great side quests that character actually probably react to it instead of heaving generic line like “let’s hear more detail” like in XC1&2.

Easily my current GOTY.
 
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Nautilus

Banned
XB2 > XB3

Story, Combat, Villains, and Characters.

Also I'm going to be highly disappointed if that story DLC is a prequel about the founders and not an epilogue.
Its highly likely its about the founders. Probably will answer a lot of the questions I mentioned, like who is riku, what happened to the main cast of XC 1 and XC 2, who really Noah and Mio is, the motes etc.

Just makes too much sense to be aout the founders, or the first "itineration" of Noah, MIo or whoever else.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
Its highly likely its about the founders. Probably will answer a lot of the questions I mentioned, like who is riku, what happened to the main cast of XC 1 and XC 2, who really Noah and Mio is, the motes etc.

Just makes too much sense to be aout the founders, or the first "itineration" of Noah, MIo or whoever else.

Pointless to me. The worlds got separated and reset to a point where everyone is back alive or haven't been born yet. I'm more interested in seeing the cast of 1 and 2 in the post game timeline. Not the versions of them that died in Aionios failing to stop Mobius. What happened in Aionios does not matter.
 
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Nautilus

Banned
Pointless to me. The worlds got separated and reset to a point where everyone is back alive or haven't been born yet. I'm more interested in seeing the cast of 1 and 2 in the post game timeline. Not the versions of them that died in Aionios failing to stop Mobius. What happened in Aionios does not matter.
Nah, it would be important to know who the hell Noah and Mio really is, and the motes and all, since it probably relates to this so called Light, and how they can use this... medium so to say, to make up the story of XC 4, where Noah, Mio, Lanz, Eunie, Sena and Taion are trying to find a way to connect both unierses.

Having said that, an epilogue would be more fun. But that would constitute in making a completely new map, either from 1 or 2, and using Aionios seems more straightfoward
 

NanaMiku

Member
XB2 > XB3

Story, Combat, Villains, and Characters.

Also I'm going to be highly disappointed if that story DLC is a prequel about the founders and not an epilogue.
With the key visual of the expansion pass is the three blades, I think it's gonna be prequel.


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Mister Wolf

Member
With the key visual of the expansion pass is the three blades, I think it's gonna be prequel.


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Yuck. I care about seeing the past of Aionios as much as I would reading a current Marvel comic that takes place in The Age Of Apocalypse or Days Of Futures Past. Its elseworlds drivel and pointless. I don't need world building of a world that doesn't exist anymore. Rex, Shulk and everyone else are all alive reset to a point 12 years past 1 & 2's ending. As far as they are concerned remember nothing of the time they lived and died in Aionios or at most some fleeting memory that would make you sound crazy mentioning it to others. Noah and the rest are little kids. It's all pointless.
 

Brigandier

Member
To make up the story of XC 4, where Noah, Mio, Lanz, Eunie, Sena and Taion are trying to find a way to connect both unierses.

I believe XC3 is the end of that universe and the next Xenoblade game will be a fresh start, I'm sure Takahashi said this is the final "Chronicles"

Sounds like a good idea to me I'd like to see a new direction for the series.
 
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Nautilus

Banned
I believe XC3 is the end of that universe and the next Xenoblade game will be a fresh start, I'm sure Takahashi said this is the final "Chronicles"

Sounds like a good idea to me I'd like to see a new direction for the series.
Never heard of that before.

But considering how each game is (somewhat) self sufficient, and that XC 2 and XC 1 world is vastly different after the end of each game, you don't really need to start fresh, especially after 3 endings, which the gang promises to find a way to connect the universes.But we will see.
 

Soodanim

Member
I very much enjoyed XC1 on Wii, but I have neither the means nor the intention to play 2 and 3. Could someone please sum the big, world-sized plot points up for me? I liked the Mechonis/Bionis stuff and was interested to see where that went. Throw in X if relevant.
 
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Mister Wolf

Member
I very much enjoyed XC1 on Wii, but I have neither the means nor the intention to play 2 and 3. Could someone please sum the big, world-sized plot points up for me? I liked the Mechonis/Bionis stuff and was interested to see where that went. Throw in X if relevant.

Xenoblade 2 is about what happened to Earth after Klaus created his pocket universe in 1. Klaus being split in two. Zanza inside the pocket universe of 1 and the rest of him stayed on the destroyed Earth attempting to fix what he had done.

Xenoblade 3 is about the two worlds trying to force themselves back together which would cause an extinction level event for everyone. A plan was brought forth to work to together on both sides to save both worlds but there were some complications to say the least. XB3 is about those complications.

X has nothing to do with the 1-3.
 
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Soodanim

Member
Xenoblade 2 is about what happened to Earth after Klaus created his pocket universe in 1. Klaus being split in two. Zanza inside the pocket universe of 1 and the rest of him stayed on the destroyed Earth attempting to fix what he had done.

Xenoblade 3 is about the two worlds trying to force themselves back together which would cause an extinction level event for everyone. A plan was brought forth to work to together on both sides to save both worlds but there were some complications to say the least. XB3 is about those complications.

X has nothing to do with the 1-3.
That's perfect, much appreciated
 

NanaMiku

Member
Never heard of that before.

But considering how each game is (somewhat) self sufficient, and that XC 2 and XC 1 world is vastly different after the end of each game, you don't really need to start fresh, especially after 3 endings, which the gang promises to find a way to connect the universes.But we will see.
It's from the developer note: https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-6-xenoblade-chronicles-3-part-1/

If the setting of this title is linked to the first and second entries, does that mean that the story continues through all three titles?​

Takahashi: No, the stories of one, two, and three all stand alone. Although some elements and designs from one and two will appear in this third entry here and there, there is no need to have played the first and second games to understand the story or how to play. However, since this is a series of works, the underlying theme is consistent, and in each case, the story unfolds based on "the relationship between foreign things." Also, I used the word "culmination" earlier, but this title brings together all the themes that have been developed over the past 15 years since 2007, when development of the first title in the Xenoblade Chronicles series began, as well as the gameplay systems that have been developed throughout the series.
Yokota: So, by “culmination,” you don't mean that it brings closure to the series, but rather that it rounds out the trilogy thematically.
Takahashi: Yes, that’s right. I guess you can say that this is like a summary for moving on to the next step in the future.
 

Nautilus

Banned
I don't really think it means that it will start everything from scratch(completely new universe), as he very clearly states that it ends the thematics he was going for with the first game, whatever that means.

I think you could expect something more in line with a very big change in the gameplay system, or a new thematic(as all XC very clearly revolves around concepts of fate and finding your own way into the future), but given the cliffhanger at the end of 3, with the cast promising to find one another again, I doubt they will drop the continuity.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I think I can safely say Ashera Ascension Quest is my favourite from all Hero quests. Her story was heavy and her interaction with Eunie was fantastic and I love the quest we get after that with and her and Teach.
 
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Chapter 7, I haven't finished it and I stopped playing to wait for the DLC character/challenge modes next month

It's very good but it feels like there is maybe something that's off or lacking, but it's too early to judge for me since I'm not finished so I might retract that until I've seen the whole game
 

NanaMiku

Member
I don't really think it means that it will start everything from scratch(completely new universe), as he very clearly states that it ends the thematics he was going for with the first game, whatever that means.

I think you could expect something more in line with a very big change in the gameplay system, or a new thematic(as all XC very clearly revolves around concepts of fate and finding your own way into the future), but given the cliffhanger at the end of 3, with the cast promising to find one another again, I doubt they will drop the continuity.
From my understanding, it seems it's the end of trilogy theme, "the relationship between foreign things." Takahashi said they're moving onto the next step.

For me, the ending is not cliffhanger.
At the end, Noah hear a flute song. most likely he found something that connect to the world of Agnus

Xenoblade X is the one that have cliffhanger ending.
 

Jsisto

Member
Started strong and drove off a cliff straight into its own ass towards the end. Was a great game in its own right, but at this point I feel comfortable saying Xenoblade 1 was a fluke in being one of my favorite games of all time, and I generally do not like the direction the series as a whole has gone.
 
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