People were so attached to XB1 they damn near discarded this game because it wasn't character focused. Years later it's getting the respect it deserves. This is the problem with attachment I knew exactly what this game was during the first few minutes. The game's is based off of Mira and the lives lived on Mira. The best world building of the 3 games by far.
@@xenosanctum2531 personally I was thoroughly let down by Xenoblade 2, mostly due to the massive battle system and UI overhaul and the constant requirements for field skills which brought back some bad gen 4 pokemon HM flashbacks
@@unknownindividual210 If you watch this whole series you'll see that Monolith loves completly overhaulling their battle systems. I don't particually like it either but I'm use to it these days. In some respects it means you need to learn everything from scrach which in some aspects makes each game its own unique experiance. Unlike Tales in which I can usually get the gist of things after about 5 minutes since its basically the same thing I was doing in the last game.
I don't dislike a single tune in Xenoblade X. I love Black Tar, I really like the NLA theme, and GOD do I LOVE Don't Worry and Key We Lost. You're free to dislike any of those, but I legit find it weird that some people hate some of these songs so much, meanwhile I listen to them in my free time.
oh but one thing that IS annoying is how, save for a few special areas, any and every tune will be interrupted when you take flight/ land a Skell. I should NOT have listened to the first 2 seconds of Don't Worry so many more times then I've listened to the first 10 seconds of the same song...
@@StiffAftermath Difference in taste can be beautifull if acknowlegded and respected. But sadly the gaming community has a neck for forcing subjecitive opinion as objective fact. Most gamers just don't know what subjective is :p
I love Black Tar and the NLA theme aswell. In my opinion the themes capture the essence of the game's setting marvelously. (In other words, I find them fitting themes for their surroundings).
imo, there's a bit of scrub takes in this retrospective such as complaining about TP and where to focus on damage notifications. I can definitely see why you think that the story is lackluster, but the worldbuilding and lore of X combined with the quality of the sidequests easily trumps the other games in the series and helps to contextualize the themes of the game, really bringing out its unique flavor. Those are my main takes on the analysis
lmao you're insane, the soundtrack to this game is awesome and as a person that has all the Xenoblade blade games X is the best one hands down even with all of its flaws
Well... taste is subjective :P My personal favorite is X. But saying one is better than the other is like saying an apple is better than an orange. It doesn't make sense. One prefers an apple, the other an orange.
Best xenoblade imo. The first had the best story and characters and 2 was.. well cringe to say the least. Xs world and combat though are unrivaled especially the world. Probably my all time favorite fantasy world
I always had the impression XC1's got the best story, but I never found any of the characters appealing, except for Melia and a bit Shulk too. Gameplay sucks compared to the sequels. XC2's got the cringy looks and the story is very reminiscent of 1's, but GOD does it nail the characters. Nia, Jin and Malos, Pyra/Mythra, Amalthus... I found then WAY more appealing than almost all of the XC1 cast. Combat was awesome, with lots of build variety, worldbuilding and exploration were well done but GOD why did field skills have to exist. XCX has got everything. Best combat in the series, most appealing environment (thanks also to the Skells) and monster design, the sidequests were ACTUALLY enjoyable and expanded upon the world, the plot and the characters... Apart for the EXTREMELY grindy postgame and the cliffhanger ending, I loved everything about X. If that game didn't release on WiiU, it would've probably got the success it deserved.
@@average-tree-lover-42069 I thought pyra and mythra were cringe to the max and malos was laughable at best. Honestly almost every character in 2 was a walking cliche or had a one note cringe personality but to each their own, nia was okay and Rex was mediocre and kinda annoying. I found Dunban, reyn and riki a lot more enjoyable than tora, Rex, zeke and morag. I personally didn’t care for the combat alot either they just crammed a crap ton of mechanics together and made it slow as well. Per usual the world is amazing like the other games. I still like it quite a bit but I’d put it a bit behind 1 and a lot behind X but 100% agree on X
@@sharebear421 the thing with Pyra/Mythra is the fact they both look like anime girls and you'd expect them to behave like one, but if you pay attention to the story, the big reveal at the end of chapter 8 gives Pyra/Mythra lots of retrospective significance. The scene in chapter 3 where Rex sits with the gang at the campfire and tells Pyra the flames she makes are beautiful, and Pyra pauses briefly? Now you know why. Pyra seeing the positive side in Blades (after the Wulfric battle) being able to forget everything? Now you know how she must've felt when saying that. Mythra acting like a stereotypical tsundere after you awaken her? Now you know the trauma behind that façade, and also you understand why she's taken aback by Rex shows her affection in response. And most importantly of all: Pyra being the polar opposite of Mythra under ALL aspects, down to even trivial things like cooking skills? Now that suddenly makes more sense. Nia's whole character arc is also, like Pyra/Mythra, a story of seeking self-acceptance. And that's all the more evident considering her past, where she was deemed unfit both as a blade, and as a human. In your average anime RPG she'd have become the main girl, or part of the harem, but even after Rex doesn't expressly reciprocate her love, she's fine with that. Because what she needed was not MC dick. I could go on with Amalthus (and by extension Malos) being a perfect example of a villain with perfectly discernable (even if unjustified) motives, or Jin being the foil of Pyra/Mythra, but I'm not making an essay. Weirdly enough, I always found characters from XC1's main cast to really be clichéy. Shulk is the one who actually evolves and the most dynamic character, learning not to shoulder the burden of his visions alone, and understanding the futility of revenge (in Mumkhar's death scene). Melia is also a dynamic character. Unfortunately the walking cringefest that Fiora is exists.
This was a nice analysis, I may not agree with a few points here and there, But its nice to see people voice their likes and dislikes. Nothing will change for the better if we don't let them know that theres still many areas to improve. Funny enough out of every complaint I had regarding XBX the whole rap bit every time you went to NLA was reason enough for me to mute my tv every time I went there, its a shame because I really enjoyed 90% of the soundtrack. and everything else but the rap bits were at least tolerable.
I appreciate your criticisms and agree with most of them, but for some reason I still really enjoyed this game. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favorites, but some parts of it were amazing. Flying around in a Skell, finally getting a handle on the complicated combat system, enjoying the great side missions, and just the general open invitation to explore the game’s world, stories, and mechanics at your own pace we’re all incredibly rewarding experiences. I think this game stands alone as a very unique title. It definitely has flaws, but I think a sequel that fixes those flaws while keeping the core of open world exploration could be a truly incredible title. Thanks for the video.
The thing is, this game's focal point wasn't the story. It's the gameplay and setting. Onorthodox for an RPG, yes. But for some reason it just works for many people (incl. me. But this is a subjective matter of course) :P There's just something about that planet (joke intended) and it's beautiful region. And for me there is no other feeling like getting your skell licence
When I finished the grind for my ARES 90... It was such an awesome feeling! Finally you could fight these super big Tyrants and every normal monster was a pushover. I love this game!
Phew, that has to be my biggest video I have ever made. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will likely be a shorter video so I should get it out quicker. But in the meantime I hope you enjoy my deep dive into one of my most controversial games.
Xenoblade 1 and 2 had areas of much higher level enemies but made sure those areas where off the beaten path and did not set side quest their until later in the game when the cast was adequately leveled. The game also put a couple of high level enemies in the middle of the map however they where either, few in number, non hostile, only showed up at certain times or (in the case of Makna) completely by-passable via a rope bridge.
Damn boy 30 minutes to say you're wrong and have no taste. Anyway X's ost is top tier and being a scrub myself i never found myself dying without realising. Ik this vid is 3 years old but it still amazes me how wrong people are at criticizing the game. Even if i love it i'll understand when someone dosen't like how it has an unfinished story with some questionable pacing but really? You think the characters are one note? You should hate 2 then lol
I just naturally covered it as part of my larger retrospective series. Others thought might have covered it since Xenoblade 1 and 2 are out on Switch, X (as the allusive 3rd game) is now a sought after topic for new fans.
@@doddynuryanto3800 The fact that the game goes full Xeno right at the end after being a lame sci-fi story for 90% of the game just annoys me more that there was such a crazy in-depth plot hiding the whole time.
This is a great video. Really summed up a lot of problems that the game has and took the words right out of my mouth. Enjoyed the collected tone throughout the video as well instead of all the screaming and exaggerated pandering in so many other videos on this game. And of course Xenoblade is the type of franchise where the reviewer has to have a sound mixing section in the review because the studio that loves to put out great battle themes and employs accomplished music composers can't handle some volume sliders to save their lives ;)
@@xenosanctum2531 If it really surprised Iwata that much it's pretty incredible, and a little unfortunate at the same time. I'm glad he wasn't lost sooner.
As a fan of Takahashi since Xenogears. He is the man that want every project is different, I mean not every project is totally different, just like when xenoblade 2 release he state like he doesn't want x2 opening is war or something like that and he wanted xeno to be like elder scroll series which is still keep some element but change some elements neither story/gameplay/music. For xbcx I think monolith want this game to be somekind of an experiment on how to make open world rpg and became foundation for the next game e.g xbc2 which is why they only took 2 years to complete. So, you know this game is good on this part but bad on the other part. Xeno is like final fantasy series or elder scroll series, in each iteration there will be hate or love. I agree most of your point, but I still love this game despite this game is not as expensive as Ff15, this game is outmatch ff15 in all aspect But yeah even though I love this game it is hard for me to replay it again, the one thing that makes me say "not again..." kind of thing, you forgot to mention in your video btw, is about the farming material!! it is locked behind RNG. I give you example, I forgot the quest name but in that quest we need to fix some engine buster and we need some material from spesific monster, sort story I found the monster but I need to kill the same monster more than 10 times to get one material!, the shit is my friend only need to kill 3 times and he already has the material, awesome right? its just like the gacha system in xbc2, it is painfull. But, this is xeno for you, maybe the next xeno you will love it or maybe you will hate it even more. nb: sory for bad grammar, I am not native
You can avoid monster farming by using reward tickets. I for the most was able to find 50% of what I needed in the wild then get the reminder with reward tickets. Always do reward missions and you should be stacked with tickets. Playing XBX knowing how online works was actually really fun. Definitely improved the games standing IMO.
The game has some very die hard defenders. Its the problem when a series goes into a new genre. It creates a whole bunch of fans who are alien to the rest of the fan base. Same thing happened in Fire Emblem and Tales leading to a lot of toxicity in those fan bases.
@@xenosanctum2531 And those other fans are some hard gatekeepers. Which is weird when Takahashi has deliberately changed aspects of every Xenoblade game story or gameplay wise.
Bro this is sooo true but I love this game sooo much. The collecting sucked, getting money horrible, music repetitive, and story insane at the end. But the music so many Catchy tunes, so many memories of finding things and creatures while trying to find those stupid 16 bolts. Bro this game is an experience to say the least. Its still a must play.
What I didn’t like is that you don’t have another save file to start another solo adventure, I have rebooted my game like 5+ times. Or a new game plus once you finish the main campaign, to enjoy the story again and destroy all of your enemies specially the final boss, the first time I was under leveled so it destroyed almost all of my skells.
You got it all wrong for the second time, congratulations. This game is better than the rest of the franchise in every single department. My advice, don't make reviews when you have such a strong bias beforehand.
My advice, don't make such as comment when I have shown clear evidence of where this game fall short. Your kidding yourself if you think the characters and story are better than the other games.
I wasn’t a big fan of Xenosaga Episode 3. I thought the first Xenosaga game was a tremendous beginning. The second was a profoundly disappointing sequel that removed many of the best features of the first. The third game was a mediocre conclusion with a very contrived/forced story. and a lot of exposition mostly answering questions that were never asked. While Xenoblade Chronicles X doesn’t have a strong linear narrative, it’s not a linear game - the focus is worldbuilding, and the writing is mostly to achieve that, and it does it very well. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 don’t have particularly strong narratives either, they’re each nearly twice as long as Xenogears but only about a quarter as much stuff happens. The difference is that linear narrative is supposed to be their focus.
My only disagreement about this video is the gem crafting statement; this game does have gem crafting like Xc1, but unlike that one it’s painfully tedious and there’s no fun mini-game you can play and learn to maximize your gains.
Oh I guess I also disagree with Skells being too op; Skells actually kinda suck gameplaywise: Overdrive is WAY more broken- too broken, since it shifts the post-game meta into using a solo build with Overdrive, over using skells, or fellow party members in most scenarios- unless the skell is an Amdusias/Mastema, a Lailah, or an Ares.
If they ever do a "definitive" edition, they should scrap the online stuff and bring back the original narrative structure they were going with. Also change or redo some of the music. So much wasted potential with this one.
No they can make a part two if they wanna do that. But I like the idea of make XX about the planet the life on that planet. We need games that tackle story differently sometimes even it weakens for some.
@@xenosanctum2531 Not yet my friend! I'm going through your videos in order; I'm going to watch the XC2 one tonight! And now you've made that point, I am very intrigued, thank you very much :)
