So I just finished a high percentage run-through of Xenoblade. It's taken me about a full year mostly because I'll stop and go but I decided this week to just knock the game out. I was planning on doing a full 99%/100% playthrough but I realized I have way too large of a backlog to just dump another 20+ hours in this game to get the final 10% of quests/achievements, after I've already dumped close to 110 hours already into the game. I suppose I should start off by saying that the last RPG I've liked this much was the original KOTOR. I play JRPGs every now and then but I feel this is one of the strongest I've played in a long while. It does have its faults, which I'll explain in a bit, but they're relatively minor and don't really detract from the game.
Narration: The game for the most part uses a lot of tropes such as your mentor betraying you, the chosen one, the value of teamwork/friendship, the MC dying/reviving, and fighting god at the end. By itself, there's nothing particularly novel about the story other than the world itself but what makes it so enjoyable is the execution in of itself. It's a really well told story even if it's lacking in originality and for me, that's the most important thing. The larger themes such as fate and free will are also present from the beginning and stay a major constant up till the very end. The game does a remarkable job dissecting that theme through the larger story but also the smaller narrative bumps. Oh to be sure there are definitely some surprises along the way that really help to prevent the narrative from ever feeling stale. The two big ones of course being Fiora's 'death' and the High Entia transforming. Not only is the story well put together on a larger framework standpoint but the cutscenes themselves are also framed excellently. The cutscenes did a wonderful job of showing either the scale, tension, or desperation needed in certain climaxes. Two examples in particular that stick in my mind are the opening battle in Sword Valley with Dunban and Dickson's final goodbye bit at the top of Prison Island.
I should say one element that the story really excels, is in the world-building. A large part of that is due to the player's own exploration in that when a player finds a hidden alcove, it really adds to the sense of scale of the world but also making it believable as a place. In addition, going to places like Mechonis give an 'epic' feeling to the story in that it doesn't feel restrictive or limited in the narrative it's trying to tell. The setting itself is also unique and it really gives a distinctive flavor to the game, when you're traveling up a 'god's leg'. Smaller touches like having high level enemies in low level areas really make the world come alive as it feels organic.
I did have a bit of an issue with Dickson's heel turn though as it feels way too hard. There is some stuff that does flesh out/characterize their relationship even after Dickson's betrayal but it still comes off too sharply. The other issue I had was with Melia in that she gets left in the wayside after Fiora comes back and while she does get some scenes, she's the apparent third-wheel in the Shulk-Fiora relationship. That's a larger issue I have with the story actually in that quite a few of the characters get left in the wayside when all is said and done.
Characters: Shulk wasn't that bad of a main character despite him yelling "FIORA!" a bit too many times. He feels like your generic lead for the most part except for the fact that he's a scientist, something I'm sure was foreshadowing for Zanza. I never really felt that he was obnoxious though and he does have enough of a personality so that the cutscenes don't feel like a drag. While researching the title I came across this interview that discusses Shulk a bit:
I'm not a huge fan of this, I would rather the writers create a story where not everybody might like a character, but that there is some sort of purpose to the character, in the story that the author is trying to tell. I would rather deal with an annoying character that develops than a character everybody likes. I feel that this shouldn't be a major goal for an author, that of trying to make characters that everybody is happy with, because then you just get something vapid. I don't think you should go out of your way to make them either likable or dislikable but rather try to make them as naturalistic as possible. I'm sure some people disagree with me but I would say that part of having a strong personality means rubbing a few people the wrong way. I'm sure Yuri, from Tales of Vesperia, angered a few players with his decision tohttp://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-Xenoblade-Chronicles/Vol-2-Story/3-A-Hero-Who-Wouldn-t-be-Hated/3-A-Hero-Who-Wouldn-t-be-Hated-206797.html said:
kill one of the minor villains
Dunban for example is the clear highlight of the party in that he's got the old-man swagger on lock and he serves as the emotional core of the group moreso than Shulk. Dunban also probably has the most ties to the villains as a whole, so the story feels a bit more personal for him. The events in the game and why Dunban is participating, feels like a natural element of the story as a whole. I wasn't a huge fan of Reyn or Riki as I found neither to be remotely as funny as the creators imagined them to be. They're both supposed to serve as comedic material and neither clicked with me. I view the best stuff for Reyn to be his interactions with Sharla. Then there's Fiora who became much more likable at the end of the game compared to the start as she's stronger as an individual. I felt she became less a damsel-in-distress but her own individual. I also think the Meyneth storyline really helped in giving her something substantial to do compared to Sharla and Melia near the end. Melia just gets shat on the entire game and never really breaks out of that princess shell for the most part. I felt so bad for her at times because it's just non-stop for her.
I really liked the character designs for the most part, even Riki's. It had a sort of anime-ish feel to them, similar to FF at times. The characters were all fairly distinct in their design and it was clear what their roles were. I would say the facial character models were pretty low resolution but it wasn't bad enough to be a real sticking issue for me. The British VA cast brought something different to the table and for this reason, I'm glad this was localized in Europe first.
Art Direction: Really strong throughout the game. Each area has its own distinctive feel and stuff like being inside the Bionis really feel unique because of how great the art direction. For example inside the Bionis, there are all these tendrils all throughout the lungs and cells floating everywhere which give it a really organic feel. Even the flooring itself feels alive to accentuate how the Bionis is reviving. Then there's the Mechonis which is just full of gears everywhere which reminded me of a clock. Despite the game being so massive, each area feels unique and has its own personality. The art direction really helped the world feel alive.
Let me just say that the final level is fucking gorgeous. The last level that left an impression on me like this was Fate/Extra's final level where something sorta of similar happened. I really wasn't expecting something like this and it really left a wow impression on me. It's super clean and the visuals leave you with a really strong lasting impression. I'm really happy that I played this game with Dolphin as the high resolution allows me to appreciate the how awesome the art is.
Music: I'm sure you guys are fully aware of how great the OST is. I recently finished Nier and while it's not as 'heavy' as Nier's, it's not only amazing at being atmospheric but also all of the larger moments. The only track that I think fails at what it tries to be is The God-Slaying Sword, it's not bad but it's not as good as I want it to be. It's the usual 'final boss' music and didn't really stand out to me despite the vocal use. The rest though is top-notch especially the stuff in Mechonis. I would say Takahashi succeeded on the front that the music does feel cohesive and it never felt like the work of a group of composers.
Might as well list my top picks;
Colony 6[Future]
To The Last Battle(oh lawd this one in particular)
Engage the Enemy
Central Factory
Gameplay: The combat felt like an improved version of the Tales system in that there is a very large strategic element but also a heavy dependency on number crunching for max damage. I really enjoyed the real-time aspect to the combat as it helped prevent the fights from becoming stale, even when I was overpowered against a certain enemy. The system also allows for you to go against enemies much stronger than you and with the proper strategy, prevail. That said, there were a few weird difficulty spikes but nothing too outrageous. One issue I did have though was the fact that the player could only control the lead in combat. I would have loved to been able to switch between the combat trio and I think that would have helped to create even more complexity to the system. In a game largely about freedom, this felt weirdly restrictive.
Xenoblade is bloated with sidequests though, I tried to do all of them but gave up as it's just a soul-less endeavor. I think this game has more quests than SWTOR. I appreciate the overwhelming amount of content but it also feels too much at a sorta point. This might be fine if most of them were interesting on a storytelling level but quite a few have you picking up some sort of material or killing X number of monsters. That's one thing I hated about this game is how you collect certain types of material in that it's completely random so that becomes a huge timesink. It's really frustrating when you can't control something like that than the game requests that you go out and find five of whatever, that Heart Peach quest really pissed me off. There's also the Advanced Art Books which require a ton of grinding, oh god.
That said, I have to give props about how the quests are handled. I very much appreciate that I don't have to go back and hand in all of the quests and the game noting when you collected an item for a future quest was extremely useful. There's also the quick travel/landmark system which allowed me to quickly go all over the place, which made some of the quests more bearable than they would have been otherwise.
Conclusion: At the end of the day, I feel the two words that sum the game best up is freedom and scale. The player is granted the freedom to go wherever they want in a world that is brimming with scale. There is a 'larger than life' element that is present all throughout the game and it really makes it feel like a big (and long) journey. There was still stuff I was learning at the very end of my playthrough, such as using Melia, it always felt like I was broadening my horizons.
