Playing Xenoblade Chronicles as a NEWCOMER in 2024 | Clayton Morris Plays JRPGS 

Refreshing channel. Someone over 30 talking about JRPG’s and fitting it into their busy schedule. My kinda thing. Subbed.

Love your passion for playing these old JRPGS in your middle age years (I'm with you brother!). Very refreshing video game channel!

When I played Xenoblade back in 2013, it was my first year of college, and playing this game made me feel the joy of exploring an unknown world, like going to Disneyland for the first time as a child. It was the first time I felt that way since being a child, and every Xenoblade game since then has invigorated that feeling in me. It's an incredible series.

Definitely a great series. Interesting note is the guys who head the Xenoblade studio were ex-Squaresoft guys who worked on the PS1 classic Xenogears, as well as the PS2 XenoSaga Trilogy.

Clayton, you are soo right about being in the woods. In my part of the world we have trees that are tall as life and everytime I take walks, I am taken back to 'The Secret of Mana'. I can even sometimes hear the forest music. :) My friends immediately think of Skyrim when we go on walks....

Xenoblade Chronicles 1 Have such a big impact on me as a Teenager, even though, back then there is like no one to talk to regarding this game. I'm glad it still resonates to people up until now. Mainly because of the switch releases of the trilogy which made the game much much more accessible and enjoyable to play in a handheld device.

Hey, it's great to see you're enjoying Xenoblade Chronicles. I'm playing it through for the first time this year too, and it's been a blast! Hope you continue to enjoy the game, and don't let your brain get too fried when story really picks up! Peace!

XC2 is my personal favorite but they are all great games. One thing that truly stands out to me is the music of this series. Both XC and Final Fantasy have some of the most memorable soundtracks in all of gaming. You should listen to the battle theme from Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth. Wow!! Spectacular music that gets the blood pumping during each and every battle.

Played this game back in 2010 on my hacked Nintendo Wii because it was only out in Europe/JPN, and it enthralled me. This game alone got me back into playing video games again. Now nearly 14 years later, after having just completed Future Redeemed in the past year, I consider it my favorite video game series of all time. Every moment of Future Redeemed felt like a nostalgic fever dream.

Welcome to the world of Xenoblade Chronicles, I hope you enjoy your adventure enough to play all 3 games. My only advice is to check for side quests with a stop watch icon, those have a time limit where if you advance to certain points in the story, they will no longer be available.

Such a great series. I really think, in addition to just being great games, it brought the JRPG genre back from the endangered list in the late 2000s when this one first came out. Also, in regards to equipment weight, try giving Dunban the skills that increase his evasion when he doesn't have equipment and then just have him run around in his skivvies. In addition to being hilarious it makes for a surprisingly good tank.

It sounds cliche but Xenoblade is probably my favourite game of all time. Having grown up on JRPGs in the 90’s, the story in this game is fantastic and the english voice actors did a great job conveying the characters’ emotions. The music was also stellar, and there’s at least a dozen times where I ended up feeling goosebumps with the music hitting really hard before a boss fight or an epic cutscene. Glad you’re enjoying it. 👍

It's so nice to hear how much people enjoyed the Switch version! I stumbled upon this completely by accident back when it was released in the west for the Wii! One look at that box art and I was intrigued. Second look at the back of the case, and they mention fighting to prevent future events even in-battle and I had to buy it! The rest was history. One of my all time favorites, still!

The story is just mind-blowing, earthshaking, heartfelt and super - duper colossal. Complete it don't leave it at any point.

Absolutely wonderful game, I'd recommended remapping the left and right d-pad buttons to the L and R bumpers in the Switch's settings. It lets you move your character around enemies while selecting your arts instead of standing still to do it. It makes the pace of fights faster and can come in clutch when you're on your last sliver of health and the enemy is almost down. Moving from the Wii version to Xenoblade X, not being able to move and select arts was my biggest gripe. I hope you continue to enjoy the game, I'll never forget it. 😊

Perfect timing! I've added to cart Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, XBC2 and Torna, and XBC3 for like a month now. I don't know if it's worth it for my vibe so I keep on watching reviews. Thank goodness you're reviewing it.

I am pushing 50 and I immediately love your channel after seeing this. Subbed.

I fell in love with this game too. All 3 of them are amazing.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is probably the best game I've ever played. Xenoblade Chronicles one is on of my favorites as well, but 3 has changed me forever in many ways. My wife and I still talk about it.

I totally agree with the forest analogy. I feel exactly the same. Forest to me is exploration of the unknown, that whitch I love most about rpgs. Love this upbeat tone of youre videos, really lifts me up from the things that is going on elsewhere, both in videogames and the world. Games are supposed to be pure escapism. Thanks.

Man this was the best review of the game on RU-vid I am sold, buying it today

Glad you're loving the game. I've been following you on Redacted for a while now. I was thrilled to learn you were a gamer. The Xeno universe is huge, going back to Xenogears and Xenosaga on the consoles of old. XC 2 and 3 are two of the handful of games that have actually made a grown middle aged man like me cry. Enjoy! Can't wait to hear your thoughts as the XC story unfolds. It gets WILD as you get into the third act!

What a fantastic take, thank you. I’m thinking of grabbing Xenoblade having never played it, so the timing is great, plus it’s on sale! Have a sub as well! 👍

You're doing a great job paying attention to the small details, at least compared to me during my first playthrough. Wasn't until my second playthrough, when I had a better understanding of the game, that I really fell in love with this game.

A General Rule: People often prefer the first game they played. I started with XC2 and is my preferred one (folllowed by XC3 and XC1). Each game is different; so you can love certain mechanisms in the first game you played that are not in the other games.

I just started playing them a few months ago Finished XC1 DE and now on XC3 They are incredible

I played xenogears for the PS1 and the xenosaga episode 1 to 3 on the PS2, but i never finished xenoblade chronicles as my Nintendo 3ds broke on me. but Now that you reminded me, i will buy a new system to finish it off.

I'm playing the game for the first time 20hrs in on chapter 8. I love everything about the game except the combat. Can't wait to explore more 😎

@ClaytonMorris Just rolled credits on this this week! First time for me as well. Never played this game from back in the day and heard so many good things about it, it had been eying me from my backlog and so glad I saw it through. Looking forward to hearing your final thoughts on it!

I’m definitely going to tackle this on the Wii soon. Great video!

"I want to get good" If you like learning the battle system and all the other parts of the game, you're gonna love Xenoblade 2. In my opinion, it has the best battle system out of any game I've played.

This game is timeless, hope u will enjoy it

Man, Xenoblade is one of my favorite game series. I've finally found time to sink some serious time into the first game, and at 40+ hours I was shocked to discover that I'm only approaching the halfway point of the main story. These games are HUGE, and as an adult with responsibilities and also other things I want to do it's all a bit overwhelming. At this rate, I'm not sure if I'll ever get to 2 and 3 (And X! And Torna!), but I really want to.

great first impressions video, the best I can say about this game is that I never wanted it to end when I first played it on the wii, I truly loved this game

Since you mentioned you would be playing this a little while back, I've been wanting to hear your opinion of the very same sound track that you opened up this video with. I knew it would be something to get you in the feels, its such a beautiful game!

Xenoblade Chronicles is my favorite game of all time. It blew me away. I played it about a decade ago when I was about 20 years old, and that's back when it was just a wii game and it was going for 70 at gamestop if they even had it and was going for over 100 online some places. It's an awesome game. It took me about 90 hours to complete, but I hadn't even done a lot of the side quests or explored fully all maps. To this point I actually still have not done every single side quest, and I mean to. I love the affinity chart with all the characters and that it changes depending on the quests you do and the people you talk to, it makes the world feel more real and I've never seen it again since as in depth as xeboblade 1 has it. A couple things to remember is don't forget to level up your arts, I was probably about 30 hours in or so before I realized. Also make sure to use your skill links as well. Also sidequests I recommend taking each one you can get from someone in a row cause some npcs give you a few quests in a row and you can complete many of the quests just fighting and exploring the world like you said, even basic npc quests can actually be fun to do because it can do a few different things, it can change affinity chart, get you xp, money, help your characters grow closer get new items, etc. Also you can fill in the collectapedia which is fun as well. Each set of 3 characters in the game has a unique dialog after battles that you can hear once in a while. I still don't know if I've heard them all. I could go on, but anyway love this game and glad you are having fun with it!

I really got into the game this week after messing with the intro for a few hours earlier in 2023 and then having all my gaming time taken by TOTK. I’ve only started the Leg part but damn this game is awesome! I really like the unique battle system. But for now I’m sticking to casual mode

Would have never thought I’d see you talk about Xenoblade Chronicles but glad you’re into it!! One of the best trilogies in any medium imo. Enjoy!

This game is just peak fiction. The premise is immediately gripping, the world building is amazing, brilliant characters, epic moments, astounding environments, great combat/gameplay, the music just like everything else I mentioned is top tier

dude I'm so glad you found this game as its one of my all time favorites. It was cool to watch you detail your experience because its bringing back so many memories. there's something so pure about watching people enjoy gaming.

I went into XBC3 without knowing anything just because the reviews were really good, and I absolutely loved the whole setting. I want to get into the others available on Switch at some point in the future.

I remember when I first played this game very well. I work a full time job and workout 6 days a week. In addition to that I decided during that time to play this game for the first time and also I just started reading the IT book. Trying to juggle all that was very overwhelming for me. So obviously my 2nd time playing the game was less stressful.

I beat this game for the first time about 4 months ago. Took me a couple trys to get into it but it finally clicked for me. Amazing game.

I hope I still love gaming when I'm at your age. Life gets in the way and sometimes can kill the drive. Any tips on how to stay on the 'gamer for life' path? Btw I played this on the Wii and later 3DS epic game.

Started with XC2 and was on the fence about going back and playing this or just going on to 3. This helped me decide to buy and play this one next.

Xenoblade games are my faforite games ever Xenoblade 2 got me back into gaming and showed me why I love video games that game has so much emotional connection to me personally. I listen to the music of all three games pretty recularly on walks and stuff just makes feel so good and exited to be alive. For combat tips there is lot of like minute details but for xenoblade 1 being the right level usually you don't want to be more than two levels lower than opponent and agility is really important becouse it affects both the accuracy and evasion of your character. If you can focus on shulks party tree to get the increased chance of chain attack continution and link it to everybody for crazy chain attacks. Eventually with xb2 the combat is hard to learn and the tutorials don't make it any easier. With it I suggest using youtubers like enel to help but it is so addictive and satisfying when you learn it my faforite combat system although heavy bias but still

i dont know if im the first guy whos says it or everyone on your channel is used to it but jesusssssssssssssssss.................. the backgound is stunning !!! where are you living ? looks like your living in the world of bionis yourself XD

Always watched your videos & enjoyed your fresh outlook on current events. Had no idea you were a gamer.

Welcome to the club, please keep playing it, it gets better and better. Don't get lost in side quests because they're too many, they'll take you away from the story and you'll get overlevelled (you can lower your level though thanks to expert mode). This is probably the most epic game ever made, it has everything.

The reason I havn't started with these games is because I feel overwhelmed. They are really long, need to learn so much. If im gonna play this I need to almost do it for the next 2 years lol.

I am so glad i found your video just started playing xenoblade chronicles on monday (2 days ago) for the first time. So glad i found this video i bought the game the later half of last year and was also putting off playing it for a while because of the time commitment, so far i am enjoying it though

The Fox and Friends guy plays JRPGs? What?!!!

This game greatly helped me in understanding god complex.

When you get to 3 and the DLC its like heaven!

Biggest advice I can give is agility gems are super useful on your attackers like Shulk and Dunban, and Ether Up gems on characters like Sharla and Melia

I just picked this up this week! I’m enjoying it so far (I’m in chapter 5 so far). I find the combat odd but fun and weirdly relaxing.

This is one of my favourite RPG's. Saw a fanmade exploration trailer way back about a month before the European release on Wii and the music and exploration blew me away. I bought the special edition of the game day 1 and greatly enjoyed it. Also bought it on 3DS, the Wii U's digital release (for €10 at release) and on Switch. The European special edition of the Switch version came with an LP record that looks amazing. I also loved Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U. The main story is a bit incomplete and has a few inconsistencies, but... the game is mindblowingly good in many other ways. The sidequests are far better, the exploration is still the best of any game in the franchise and it's actually the only open world game in the franchise. The other Xenoblade games are all big, but X is the only one with an actual open world. After the initial opening chapters (granted, if you don't skip the cutscenes it can take a few hours), you can go almost anywhere in the game. Only places you can't go are the ones that require a mech or flight, but there's nothing stopping you from going to the furthest ends of the map. You can go by land, you can swim, whatever it's your choice. Xenoblade 2 and 3 sadly did not impress me as much as the first 2 games. I do like XC2, but I feel like it was designed for a younger audience and relies a bit too much on anime tropes (as much as I like anime). For XC3, I merely think it is decent. It has its good points, but it felt like a drag at many points to me and the story is an inconsistent mess. Granted, it does have a few amazing emotional highlights, but those alone don't really make up for the major flaws. Gameplay of the game is also somewhat simplified. Your combat party is a massive 7 characters and since complex mechanics would make it impossible to follow, they opted to simplify the combat instead to make it more manageable. Anyhow, have fun with this first game. I love it, but you're free to feel the way you do by the end of your journey. For me it was a special journey.

This is my favorite new RPG series. Each game starts kind of slow with the combat so it can seem very basic. But it will introduce more and more elements. The world is amazing, and I enjoy the races and story. I still haven’t gotten to 3 despite owning it.

The Xenoblade Chronicles series and its storyline is truly an epic one. Alot of it is Biblically inspired and has deep meaning behind the message. The soundtrack really captures the emotion and weight of consequences within the games plot too to make playing this game that much sweeter. I played all of the Xenoblade games, still working on finishing 2 and after that Xenoblade Chronicles X.

I JUST started playing video games in my middling age. I am SO excited to catch up on experiences that I just… missed. This is a game on that list, so I am so happy and grateful you did a video like this. Now I know what I’m in for!

Pretty great video, love the enthusiasm behind jumping all into a brand new series. Not even channels that cover Nintendo games go all into the JRPG side of Nintendo's offerings.

The only thing I’d say is to encourage you to use the other party members and not just Shulk most of the time! There are the story bosses that are usually easier with him as the leader, but there are exceptions. There’s also anti-Mechon weapons/armour that let you damage Mechon without needing Shulk to Enchant the other characters. I don’t remember when you get access to that kind of armor, but it’s super useful when you’re tired of using Shulk all the time. The later party members are some of my favorites to use, and some really good party compositions use them instead of Shulk, so I’d encourage switching it up! Also, if you finish this and wanna play Xenoblade 2, I’d recommend looking up a battle system tutorial for the 2nd game. Enel has good, easy to follow tutorials for Xenoblade 2 on his RU-vid channel. Shouldn’t take super long to watch them either, if there’s a part of the battle system that doesn’t make sense. The tutorials in 2 are like really bad lol. Enel has some really helpful videos about Xenoblade 1 as well if you’re struggling to understand something. I’d just be careful to not spoil yourself if you look up videos!

You're in for one massive treat. The first one ( for me personally) has the best ending..great concept No.2 has the best personality And No.3 is darker in general tone but great...especially the dlc You have embarked on an epic journey if you play them back to back.

I just played it last year and I really really loved my first Xenoblade experience. Diving into Xenoblade 2 this week after finishing some smaller games in the last few months.

I hope you review x3 and also the dlc future connected. It wraps everything up 🤓

The entire franchise is amazing. Highly worth it! 👍👍👍

I didn't know you had a gaming channel. 3rd in series is very good but I highly recommend XC2. Subbed cause your awesome.

Old man here. Og gamer. Rpgs replaced reading fantasy novels. Im just glad to see another old schooler who feels the art. Xenoblade saga is one of the rembrandts. I suggest playing them all. Part 3 is jaw dropping.. The open world is enormous!

Glad to hear you've been loving XC definitive edition! The Xenoblade franchise is a jrpg series thats really moved me by it's storytelling & characters over the past 5 or so years. Enjoy the rest of time with it!

Love Xenoblade chronicles first played on the Wii and again on the switch. The only others I have played are x and torna. It takes me ages to play jrpgs with work and family but I love them and they relax me. Great vid👍🏻 I

Xenoblade Chronicles is a master-class. Glad you finally started your journey, Clayton! Happy hunting!

Funnily enough, I'm in the endgame of xc3, and for both xc1 and 2, I can't say that I really enjoyed the combat that much. What kept me coming back was the story and the music. I can say though that I've started to enjoy the combat with xc3, because it feels like the most well put-together version of this combat system I've seen. But long story short, if I enjoyed xc1 as much as I did while not really caring for the combat, I cannot imagine how much you must be enjoying it when you seen to REALLY enjoy the combat! Keep having a great time playing, and I wish I could watch some of your reactions to moments that will be approaching in the game's story; I can safely say that it's been rare that I've ever been as invested as I was when I first played the game, and again cannot wait for you to experience it!!

My relationship with Xenoblade Chronicles has just been completing 2 or 3 chapters and taking a break for a week or two lol I'm loving the game but I can agree that it can be overwhelming especially if you're planning on completing every side quest like I am.

My brother when the time comes when you start Xenoblade 2 I highly recommend watching any guides because 2 is pretty infamous with it's tutorials and even 1 fails to explain some things properly, except for 3, I think 3 has good tutorials. I highly recommend Enel's and chuggaaconroy's channels for guides, Enel has guides for the combat to all 3 games and he even has character guides.

Not sure if you have a Wii U but Xenoblade Chronicles X is a must play!!

DAMN BRO I WATCH UR NEWS SHOW I DIDNT KNO U PLAYED GAMES TOO, ESPECIALLY JRPGS, THATS DOPE AF

in general you can just grab a bunch of quests in 1 and do them as they come around. side quests are way better designed in the other games. a lot of X is for example is hidden inside sidequests. one of my favorites being a quest about a professor that managed to turn his car into a time machine. or the blade quests in 2 and of course the amazing hero quests in 3.

Very happy to come across this video. I started playing XCDE in January (middle aged mom here 😊) and I wish I had the patience and love for this game like you do. But I played XC3 (as my first XC-game) in 2022 (and adored it) and now I have a hard time going back to this more simplistic combat system (and not so simplistic gem system, omg). I love the story and music though so now I am powering through and played the last couple of chapters in casual mode to not have to grind. I think I am wrapping up the game today. And I'll check out XC2 (and Torna) later this year. I want to do it all before playing the XC3 DLC. Great universe, but playing 3 first just raised the bar too high for me (gameplay wise). Wish you a happy couple of weeks/months with the game though!

youre gonna love the battle system of 3

I’m just starting Xeboblade Chronocles on my Switch. Never played a JRPG in my life, so I’m curious where it takes me.

As a life long Nintendo fan and a somewhat dabbler into any kind of RPGs or JRPGs I’m so glad I found your channel and now have a list of games I have to play! Cheers friend ☘️

Great video! I’ve been checking out the game to see if I’d like it and you convinced me to give it a go. Just friendly feedback, but can you turn down the background music in your videos, I had to strain sometimes to hear you. I’m looking forward to more content from you!

I love the Xenoblade franchise and have played all three games from start to finish. I love how every game has the same Xenoblade battle base with breaking and toppling and positional placement but each game has a unique spin on the battle system which I'd be excited to hear your thoughts on. My biggest tip I'd say is that the shield art doesn't reduce received damage, but instead only blocks enemy arts that have a roman numeral on them. I thought it blocked some damage on my first playthrough but no, it's pretty useless against regular attacks. The shield art can only block numerals that equal or lower than its level so it is worth while bumping it up when you notice you are fighting stronger enemies. Would love to see a discussion video of the game once you beat it.

I too have started my xenoblade journey this year as well. I'm loving this game and it's already in my top 10 fav games ever!

Congrats, Clayton! You may remember me saying I too was recently playing Xenoblade). Such a great game! I'm 55 hours into Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana now. It's just as great as Xenoblade, but they're very different games overall. Do yourself a favour and play Ys VIII sometime, you're gonna love it! It's a real adventure! Speaking about adventures. Say, any plans to visit Russia? Dunno if you know Anja (from Poland). She's currently in Moscow for the 4th or 5th time if I'm not mistaken. She really likes it there. And many other foreigners find Moscow and other cities here great to visit.

You gotta play Vanquish Clayton. Such a underrated game, so ahead of its time (came out in 2010) Red Alert 2 and cnc generals with the zero hour expansion dlc. Haven't play Zeno yet, one day.

I actually started the Xenoblade series with 3. I fell in love with the characters and story and went back to 1 and 2 and all the DLC. Looking forward to xenogears rereleases and a remaster of X. Truly a masterpiece series!

30 hours in? It only gets better and better. The ending of Xenoblade 1 blew my mind and I will never forget it. Good on you for trying the game. Many friends of mine see the length and dont even attempt it. Theyre missing out!

Just found this channel, absolutely love the content and vibe. Subbed and looking forward to more!

The combat system is similar to an mmorpg like World of Warcraft. I never did like it much, but I like almost everything else about the game (story, characters, setting, music, etc.). So overall I did have a good time with it.

If you enjoy the combat in Xenoblade 1 then 2 and 3 will really take it to the next level!

Xenoblade is my favourite media franchise of all times, and it's always nice to hear more people tre series. Also, I don't know if you've played XenoGears and XenoSaga in the past, but they're here if you want more xenoblade when there's no xenoblade left.

Glad to see you're enjoying Xenoblade! Been a fan of it since 2013 or so with Xenoblade X being my favorite. One thing I will mention is not to worry too much about weight for now. As long as it fits a characters role like how DPS characters like Shulk should usually stay lighter than tanks like Reyn you should be fine as long as their agility is ok and they aren't missing attacks on monsters around the same level as them.

XC series one of the best jrpg games exclusive on my nintendo Switch, finish all the game 1 to 3 but XC2 is my fav because the Blades and DLC torna 2 best DLC Prequel to me 🥰

Xenoblade Chronicles series makes use of a lot of Christian and Greek allegories, eapecially in XC2.

well you are not the only one, I have all the games and they still are in my backlog. The older I get the less time I get for big open world games, so I guess I have to manage my time better or stablish some kind of methodic list of games to focus and play exclusively. You are correct, current open world games are huge and it's easy to get sucked in with side quests, it's a never ending story.

played it on Wii in 2012 then on Switch a few years ago, huge fan. As for the question on weight, its been awhile, but I think it matters most for Dunban? Riki and Reyn are tanks that use aggro to shift the enemy focus to them with a lot of hit points, character 7 (spoiler character you show in your video!) can be any build you want. Shulk and Dunban are an attackers relying on agility for defense I think (low weight), Melia/Sharla are healers that heal/buff the party. Its been awhile, I could be wrong, but I thought weight was more important to Shulk/Dunban?

Incredible game, just wait until you play the 3rd one. It’ll blow your mind. I’m no where near finished with Xenoblade 3 Edit: also, I’d recommend changing the controls on the switch if you’re using a pro controller. Executing arts feels so much better with the shoulder buttons instead of the default way the game has set up

I've never played Xenoblade Chronicles. It looks pretty good; the r/t combat style reminds me of Grandia II for Dreamcast...(?) I have played Xenogears way back on the PS1...; but, I have no idea if it's a part of the same franchise. BUT! Holy smokes! It seems like you've been hammering the RPGs lately, but don't forget about Elden Ring! The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC releases in June & word has it, your character will need to be pretty juiced! & Even if your video coverage has to just focus on Shadow of the Erdtree..., that would give you the perfect excuse to cut your initial Elden Ring playthrough entirely as a Rocky-style montage. That might require some creative thinking to get around the music rights to pull it off, but Matt Stone & Trey Parker did it by just repeating ~"sometimes you gotta...montage!" I have faith!

So awesome, I still need to play this game. I'm currently doing some catching up on Final Fantasy XIV, because in 15 days, Dragon's Dogma 2 comes out! I've been waiting forever for this lol.