Xenoblade Chronicles General Thread

[Midoriya]

I looked back and have seen threads for some of the games, but not a general thread for ALL of them. Use this thread to talk about Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3! Your experiences, opinions, and advice, I want to hear them all! ​

As for me I beat Xenoblade Chronicles on the 3DS in 2018, so thankfully didn't have to play the Definitive Edition on the Switch, though I could if I wanted to. I'm currently almost or about halfway through Xenoblade Chronicles 2, on chapter 4 right before heading to Mor Ardain. I got stuck on a side quest for the game and stopped playing for like... a year (lol), but finally returned to it! I'm going to force myself to finish it before starting Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (which I already have purchased, but haven't played), even though it's not really required to do so.

^This is the side quest that I was stuck on. Although, looking back on it now I'm not sure how I was, but ah well, at least I completed it now.

I'll continue posting about my progress as I get further and further into the game. For now, enjoy this evolution of themes from the franchise's soundtrack:

 

[Belle T]

I finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 over the holiday and will probably go back to play the other two shortly. Very fun game, if a little obtuse at points. The only serious complaints I had with the game are related to the UI, which I felt was clunky, antiquated, and not particularly user-friendly. In particular, I disliked the way the compass would often have overlapping blips that would obscure the distance numbers and make navigation unnecessarily burdensome. And the menus could have benefitted from some major streamlining. But I enjoyed the world, the characters, and the combat. I went in expecting to enjoy Pyra and Mythra the most--and make no mistake, I did enjoy them! They are fantastic!!--but it was Nia's story that really hit me on an emotional level. Without going into detail, I found her... highly relatable.

The music is also something of a highlight for me. Every time I would think I had found my favorite track in the game, another one would be introduced that tops it. My main three standouts right now are...

XC2 is the one I was most interested in--and a friend of mine was kind enough to pay for the DLC for me--so I was determined to see it through to completion, but for the other two, I will probably just stick to main story and whatever side quests happen to be most convenient and/or useful for progression. At least for right now. I'd love to 100% them all, but I just don't have the time/energy anymore.

 

[Cress]

I've played and finished 1, 2, 3, and X! Although I played the original Wii version of 1, so I haven't played Future Connected if you want to include that, but otherwise I have played them all! X is my default answer for favorite game since it's the first one I played, but all 4 have their strengths and weaknesses and are quality games. 2 easily has my favorite combat! There's definitely a learning curve as it can be a lot to keep track of, but once you get it it flows so so so well. Learning about things like Stutter Stepping also help :D

 

[Mick]

I've actually played 1 not too long ago, having borrowed the cartridge from a coworker! I already played both X and 2 before that, I will probably get 3 at some point soon and apparently having played 1 helps there. I did play it on casual mode because sometimes I feel like the amount of combat encounters gets a bit too much, considering that (as long as you keep on top of all the skill trees) you can basically repeat the same two or three tactics to steamroll most enemies.

I did like playing the stories of all three of those though, fairly entertaining and just so long haha. Would love to see them follow up on the story for X at some point!

 

[-Blue-]

I've played them all. A lot of people will say that 2 had the best cast and 1 had the best story and that 3 blows them all out of the water, but I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't really care for 3 like I did 1 and 2. I actually like 2 the most. Not because of the story but because the cast was so dynamic that it made the journey more memorable.

1 had a great story, but damn the cast was so bland. Reyn and Rikki were really the only ones I liked the others were such wet blankets. I really liked the idea of living on a giant. The swamp region is literally on the giant's butt. It's ironic. He got swamp butt.

The only issue I have with 2 is you do a lot of scripted losing. And after a while that gets so old. They needed to throw some more major enemies in the story that you had to defeat so it felt like your leveling and progress mattered instead of it being like-

I over-leveled and stomped them. Now my cast is on the floor begging for mercy. Maybe 3 or 4 extra major underlings under the two big-bads. That way it feels like you're slowly cutting away at their numbers.

 

[Midoriya]

The only issue I have with 2 is you do a lot of scripted losing. And after a while that gets so old. They needed to throw some more major enemies in the story that you had to defeat so it felt like your leveling and progress mattered instead of it being like-

Yeah, that is something someone pointed out on this site before and also something I noticed while playing it. It's kind of annoying that after every boss fight we win, we lose anyway, but I mean, the game is still enjoyable and I'm still really loving it. Also you're right, 2 has a really great cast so far.

 

[Belle T]

Yeah, that is something someone pointed out on this site before and also something I noticed while playing it. It's kind of annoying that after every boss fight we win, we lose anyway, but I mean, the game is still enjoyable and I'm still really loving it. Also you're right, 2 has a really great cast so far.

The only issue I have with 2 is you do a lot of scripted losing. And after a while that gets so old. They needed to throw some more major enemies in the story that you had to defeat so it felt like your leveling and progress mattered instead of it being like-

I over-leveled and stomped them. Now my cast is on the floor begging for mercy. Maybe 3 or 4 extra major underlings under the two big-bads. That way it feels like you're slowly cutting away at their numbers.

I'd completely forgotten about that. I agree that the game really over-relies on it, and it gets pretty old.

Fun story! During the final battle with...

Spoiler

Amalthus

...I ended up winning because he fell into a hole within the first minute of the battle. It was... a little bit anticlimatic, not going to lie. I thought it was a scripted sequence, but apparently it's a rather rare (or not so much rare as much as it requires a highly specific set of circumstances to achieve) thing to happen, and that you actually are supposed to fight him like normal. I'm not sure if I should feel robbed at the opportunity or happy I managed to pull it off on accident.

 

[Midoriya]

I'd completely forgotten about that. I agree that the game really over-relies on it, and it gets pretty old.

Fun story! During the final battle with...

Spoiler

Amalthus

...I ended up winning because he fell into a hole within the first minute of the battle. It was... a little bit anticlimatic, not going to lie. I thought it was a scripted sequence, but apparently it's a rather rare (or not so much rare as much as it requires a highly specific set of circumstances to achieve) thing to happen, and that you actually are supposed to fight him like normal. I'm not sure if I should feel robbed at the opportunity or happy I managed to pull it off on accident.

That is interesting and also crazy, haha. I can't imagine expecting the final boss like that and them going down so easily. I will have to watch out for it when I do that battle.

 

[-Blue-]

I'd completely forgotten about that. I agree that the game really over-relies on it, and it gets pretty old.

Fun story! During the final battle with...

Spoiler

Amalthus

...I ended up winning because he fell into a hole within the first minute of the battle. It was... a little bit anticlimatic, not going to lie. I thought it was a scripted sequence, but apparently it's a rather rare (or not so much rare as much as it requires a highly specific set of circumstances to achieve) thing to happen, and that you actually are supposed to fight him like normal. I'm not sure if I should feel robbed at the opportunity or happy I managed to pull it off on accident.

I actually ended up killing one of those special npc bosses that way. I forget the name. Where you trigger them with the monument? It was some floating robot in some factory. The tombstone time says something like 0:00:01. Kind of looked like KVN from Final Space.

 

[Belle T]

I actually ended up killing one of those special npc bosses that way. I forget the name. Where you trigger them with the monument? It was some floating robot in some factory. The tombstone time says something like 0:00:01. Kind of looked like KVN from Final Space.

That's going to kill me because I think I know which one you're talking about but I can't remember its name at all.

 

[-Blue-]

That's going to kill me because I think I know which one you're talking about but I can't remember its name at all.

lol you're lucky if I remember what I had for dinner 3 nights ago. I can't remember any of the names of the enemies or special tombstone bosses. I only remember the names of the main cast/villains for most games. It doesn't help that I probably played in around 2018.


I think I bought it at ToysRUs because they were having some kind of %off sale for all games because they were closing out. The selection back then for Switch titles was slim and I already had most of the top sellers like Odyssey and Botw so I figured I'd try it out. I stopped playing and then finally picked it back up a year or so later because of the battle system. Was never a fan of how combat works. But I just dealt with it because the story and cast were likeable enough.

 

[Belle T]

I played about four hours of Xenoblade Chronicles 1, and here are some brief thoughts. Please bear with the shorthand and (relative) brevity because I'm typing on mobile and I hate typing on mobile.

• I find the battle system and user interface much more intuitive and easy to grasp than in 2.
• The characters aren't as immediately lovable as in 2, but they're not as wooden or paper thin as I've heard some people claim.
• I think the way XC1 introduces the Break/Topple combo is very unintuitive. It starts with an enemy that can only be damaged when in the Topple state. But Break lasts for only a couple seconds, and for what felt like ten minutes, Reyn simply refused at any point to so much as attempt to topple the enemy. So I was stuck on a tutorial that should have taken me a minute for far longer than I would have liked.
• I think the enemies spawning treasure chests instead of simply dropping items is poorly considered. On more than one occasion it caused me to be boxed in by a unique encounter.
• I appreciate that many sidequests (most apparently) can be completed without checking in to the NPC that gave the quest. That means that most sidequests can be completed naturally as you play the game, rather than as a distraction from the main story. The trade-off, obviously, being that it makes those side quests much less personal.
• Hulk Hogan says I spend too much time indoors.

 

[Midoriya]

I played about four hours of Xenoblade Chronicles 1, and here are some brief thoughts. Please bear with the shorthand and (relative) brevity because I'm typing on mobile and I hate typing on mobile.

• Hulk Hogan says I spend too much time indoors.

 

[Belle T]

I was actually thinking of Dickson when I wrote that. Helpfully, someone on Reddit apparently thought the same thing.

 

[Midoriya]

I was actually thinking of Dickson when I wrote that. Helpfully, someone on Reddit apparently thought the same thing.

LMAO that's great. I completely forgot about Dickson to be honest, but the resemblance is uncanny.

 

[Venn]

I never played XBC until XBC3. I've seen the talk about how great it was and while it did look amazing to watch, I never really played this type of game style before (the automatic fighting and timed moves) but I decided to give it a try and it became an instant favorite. I dug hours into the game for 100% completion. I believe I was able to do it for the main campaign and the other stuff there. But I still have a little bit to go into Future Redeemed but I moved onto other games at the moment, but I remain pretty happy with it. I definitely plan on playing any future games in the franchise or made by the developer. I'm not sure if I'll go back to play the earlier games, but I'm not saying no.

 

[-Blue-]

It's not so much that the characters are wooden in Xenoblade 1. From what I remember,

Spoiler

it's actually that most of them get cast aside the further you go into the story. Only a few get any screen time after a while and the others are forgotten unless you keep them in your party. Which is why a lot of people say they like the cast in 2 more. Almost all of them stay relevant in the story, have screen time, and speaking lines.

 

[Haru Okumura]

A thread about my favourite JRPG series, neat. I'd originally bought the 3DS port years ago to have something new to play. Liked it, bought 2 shortly after buying a Switch, bought 3 on release. Torna and Future Redeemed were damn good DLCs.
Some of the greatest OSTs in gaming imo

• I find the battle system and user interface much more intuitive and easy to grasp than in 2.

That's my main gripe with 2. In game tutorials are so poor and only appear once. I didn't understand blade combos, element orbs, etc til near the end of the game.

 

[AshtonDraws]

Would love to get back into Xenoblade and continue both 1 and 2 again...May get 3 sometime in the future. X)

 

[Belle T]

That's my main gripe with 2. In game tutorials are so poor and only appear once. I didn't understand blade combos, element orbs, etc til near the end of the game.

The learning curve with 2 is considerably higher, yes. It's frustrating because elemental orbs are a relatively simple concept when you figure it out, but the way they explain it is so unhelpful. It's something of a running theme throughout 2, I feel, that tutorials are paradoxically too frequent and yet insufficient at the same time. The text is constantly spamming your eyes with paragraph after paragraph of tutorial text, but the text is often very obtuse and difficult to parse. And for the most part, the tutorials are very hands-off, so there's no requirement to actually understand the concept in order to complete it.

Once you do figure it out, I think it's a very fun and rewarding system with abundant room for experimentation and strategic planning. But understanding it is the difficult part, even if you play lots of RPG's.