That trio right there seems to be the holy trinity of Xenoblade 1 cutscenes. I probably would give the HMs to the final cutscene where Beyond the Sky plays and Shulk's Power.
I'd say the beach scenes are also included there The party loss at a bad time, as they had the golden opportunity to defeat egil It shows a lot of the characters weak points, especially for reyn and dunban Shulk reunites with fiora, reyn discovers his new purpose on the team and dunban gets some useful advice from Riki on how to be a better protector and his role as a father figure The whole party is eventually reunited with fiora and shulk, with a family reunion type thing So to summarize, shulk and fiora get closer than any time before that, reyn and shulk form a mutual relationship of respect and protection of one another, fiora acknowledges that reyn has grown a lot since last time they were together and sharla becomes closer to reyn, being her that gives him the confidence boost that he needed after not being able to protect shulk Dunban reunites with fiora, no need to explain why this was great and he already had said to shulk that if anybody were to be with fiora it would be him, so now he needs to protect both his sister and her childhood friend And while this isn't as good as the other stuff, Melia gets hit with the harsh reality that she will never be able to be with shulk due to fiora's return These scenes alone are amazing in developing the whole party, without being to sudden, like reyn finally feels defeated because he couldn't protect and is the one being protected, dunban doesn't know how to feel about nemesis and fears that he will need to fight fiora before he meets her and shulk assumes the role of protector towards fiora so she doesn't have to go through pain again So between loss, prison island and the beach scenes, plus maybe some more, but I haven't gotten to those parts yet, I think the beach scene is amazing due to feels and development
The end of Ether Mine is severely underrated. Both the fight with Xord and Unfinished Battle are amazing, making up for the gameplay of Ether Mine by a country mile.
The story has 4 arcs 1.) Fiora’s death: objective becomes finding and killing Metal Face 2.) Prison Island: Objective becomes finding Fiora 3.) Meeting Miquol: Objective becomes facing Egil 4.) Dickson’s betrayal: Objective becomes killing Zanza It’s amazing to think that Zanza, the God of the universe, orchestrated everything to happen as they did, carefully nudging Shulk in the right direction through the use of visions. Visions that ultimately became his downfall.
Tho silent protags can still be used for dramatic effect, Lucas from mother 3 is a silent protag, he does talk in the end, and its revealed its cuz he was still emotionaly crushed by his moms death
Nah silent protag or not works on its own. Also you cant say whether is better. I have a friend that love silent protag bcos how it feels thatvtheyre the actual protag not playing as someone. It works on byleth, pokemon protag etc where the story mainly focus on the world rather the protag itself. For xenoblade we play as shulk with a clear personality feels like we playing in really good movie. So yeah I enjoy both kind of protag depends on how the game works. Some people ignore these fact tho
I feel like silent portags have their place where you’re LITERALLY supposed to be the character, like Pokémon. But with the main character being a fully developed, speaking character, they feel more like a real person, like Shulk
What I absolutely love about this cutscene from a gameplay perspective is that right after in the Metal Face boss the trio's tension is maxed out and fired up. When the game tells you that chain attacks to topple Metal Face is the only real way to damage him shows that the trio is giving everything they got within the gameplay to destroy Metal Face with the desire of revenge. After the loss.
Well, It makes sense from a gameplay standpoint too. How are you supposed to build it up when every attack does 1 damage and tension falls every time it does?
"But, I found her weapons." It's a shallow thought, but it was what instantly flashed through my mind when this happened. In almost any RPG I play, I like to make sure I'm a little ahead of the curve. The first thing I do is grind for cash to deck the characters out, and spending an extra hour learning the battle system doesn't hurt either. By this point in the game, Fiora had actually become my preferred party leader. She could do sneak attack damage like Shulk, but also inflict Bleed. Meanwhile AI Shulk would Break and Reyn would Topple without my intervention, so putting Fiora first had great results. And this was before I knew how important that combo was. By the time I was done grinding, the party was strong enough to take on some unique monsters. It was in one of those fights I found a pink set of knives. If there is one thing to get me excited as a player, it's cool loot drops. And if it's for my best character? Forget about it. Satisfied, I advanced the story in Colony 9 knowing something bad would happen, but I was absolutely confident I could handle it. Learning that the weakness of the Mechon was the combo the AI was doing anyway only cemented that "You mean I have to do what the AI was doing anyway? Not a problem." Basically everything that happened was predictable. The Mechon attacking, the love interest running to safety, the mentor passing the torch. All of it I knew was coming. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for some good classic storytelling, but it didn't suck me in. I was having fun, but about the amount of fun I have with a Final Fantasy game. The scripted fight threw a wrench in that. Immediately after teaching them to me, the game broke the rules. I had been demolishing the Mechon up until this point and suddenly Shulk is faced with an enemy that is untouchable. It doesn't happen in a cutscene. Shulk can't hurt Metal Face because I can't hurt Metal Face. He's got me pinned. And then the cavalry arrives. As expected. But not in the form I expected. I'm not excited to see Fiora, because the game broke the rules again. The love interest is supposed to stay out of danger. And here she comes. Directly up against a villain I could barely scratch. I'm actually scared. Shulk can't protect her because I can't protect her. And the game is about to break the rules a third time. The visions had been established as a warning, something Shulk can use to avoid a bad future. But he can't this time. There is nothing he can do. There is nothing *I* can do. And Fiora dies because of that. In that moment, all that time and energy I had put into buying her gear, finding it, and learning party synergy. It was all wasted. While I don't love her like Shulk does, I'd come to rely on her. "This isn't fair" I thought. And I was pissed. When Shulk yells "I'll kill you!" I'm right there with him. This motherfucker just took away hours of my life with my favorite character. He's going to pay for this. I can't think of many other games that do this. What's so brilliant about this sequence is that it ties me to three characters. Shulk lost the girl he loves, and while - again - I don't, she was my favorite. Dunban loses his little sister, which hits close to home for me, and cements him for a long time as my new favorite because he went through something I can 100% imagine. Most importantly, I fucking hate Metal Face. Not just because of what he did to the characters, but because of what he did to me personally. He made me powerless and scared and took something away from me. I want to do the same to him. Everything that happens after this sequence, I am IN the story. And that is a powerful statement on the brilliance of this game. tl:dr - Fiora's death hits so hard because the gameplay does the work.
This was a fantastic read, while I can’t specifically remember how I felt when I first played I know I had gone in blind, so that death hit incredibly hard. I really think you’ve perfectly described what can make this such an impactful moment, even if some people didn’t use her a lot or care about her as much as you did it was still a heavy moment, rife with emotions. Like a lot of people I partly wish I could forget it all and go through it again, and I think considering how impossible that is what you’ve written has kinda act rather that itch, that desire to feel those same emotions with that same potency as the first time.
@@Implosion-Gaming To confess I played the game on the 3DS first but I never finished it (I paid for my insolence). I'm playing through the remastered and I'm hoping to actually beat it this time. Losing Fiora again still stung even knowing what happens later because in addition to being the absolute sweetie she has always been, she's also now super cute and I can see how scared she is. The remastered edition really put a lot of effort into making the characters more expressive. Even with the fish faces of the original cutscenes I still felt invested, but it's amazing how much better they are now. I can't wait to see certain story elements again like this. And I'm even more excited to see the end for the first time like this.
@@66Roses I have the original on the Wii, but I bought the DE as well... I still love this game for the storytelling aspect... and yes Shulk's cry of 'I'll kill you' still sends shivers down your spine as the voice actors really captured the emotion in that scene... and pretty much all of them.
You fucking _nailed_ it, that's exactly what I was thinking when it happened (though I was also invested in the story). She was in my party, and I got equipment for her, and I was planning out her build. And then she just _died,_ and I didn't think I'd ever see her again. He took a valuable teammate away from me, and I never, ever forgave him.
Definitive Edition really did this legendary cutscene justice. Not that it wasn't emotional in the original version... but my god, the graphical upgrades helped make this scene that much more emotional. Even though I knew it was coming.
Spoilers for final boss: I never realized that this cutscene could also hint at Zanza's influence over Shulk. Crackling electricity and muscle spasms are a sign of the Monado rejecting its user, as evident by Addam with Mythra, Shulk in the mechonis, and Dunban in the beginning. Showing Shulk a torturous vision of his life interest, Fiora, being brutally murdered while he himself is paralyzed could indicate that Zanza is doing this to give Shulk motivation for completing his grand plan. People who die in Shulk's visions who are beyond being rescued are always deaths that don't inhibit his or his party's strength, but rather affect him emotionally in order to motivate him towards Zanza's goal of eliminating Mechonis+Meyneth. It makes sense that the Monado starts to reject Shulk after Fiora rejoins the party because Shulk has less of an incentive to seek revenge and needs to be pushed in the right direction by Zanza.
It’s a damn shame I went to a electronic store and saw an entire stacking of Xenoblade definitive edition copies Which is saddening because this game is really good
The delivery of "I'll kill you!" is so good is and everytime it gives me chills. I only recently got into Xenoblade, but this cutscene is a masterpiece.
I like to imagine Vangarre lived through sheer spite and anger alone. Possibly to an even comical level like forcefully shoving his soul back into his body before it leaves him.
@@Apolleh "WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?", Vangarre says to his own soul, wrestling it back into his body with a bear hug. "WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO, DO YOU REALLY TRUST THESE MAGGOTS TO DO IT WITHOUT YOU!?"
Another thing I love about this whole scene is that in the battle after Fiora's death, Shulk, Reyn and Dunban start the battle with the tension at max level, with their portraits in fire with the angry sprites; symbolizing the rage the three feel in that moment. And if I'm not wrong, for that battle tension cannot be lowered. Xenoblade does an amazing job mixing gameplay and narrative so perfectly.
Great video ! What I find so great about Fiora's death (apart from all the things you mentioned) is the fact that the game makes you believe (or at least made ME believe) that Dunban is the most likely character to die during the attack. I mean, he's the legendary hero/mentor who possesses the weapon that we know the main character will inherit : those characters usually don't live long in fiction. But no, instead Fiora dies and Dunban goes on to become the absolute badass he is.
That's a very interesting perspective that I've never heard from anyone before! I feel like I've definitely seen the mentor character as the one that makes the heroic sacrifice or dies in plenty of stories. Especially with hindsight, I wouldn't be surprised if Dunban was Metal Face's first victim. Well said!
@@Hadaron Idk if this applies in DE, but quick reminder that whatever equipment you give Fiora while she's on the party dissapears from your armory FOREVER. I guess this is another point that tried to hide her death: you could equip her, gain affinity and so on, not knowing that, in a few minutes/hours of gameolay, she would be forever gone. (We got Seven sure but... Spoilers?)
Also, spoilers. . . . . . Mumkhar knowing Fiora was someone precious to Dunban would make her a primary target anyway, since Mumkhar is sadistic about twisting the knife instead of going for the jugular. Things would likely have been very different had his memories been wiped, since his targeted sadism would be replaced with ruthless efficiency.
This scene hit me particularly hard when I first played this game. At the time of the 3DS version's release, the one I first played, I was around age 16, close to Shulk's in-game age, yes, but also getting to the age where I began to look on the world with a sense of cynicism. Having seen and experienced countless works of fiction through books, movies, and video games even by that age, I thought I had this game's plot figured out. Shulk is the nerdy yet very observant protagonist, Reyn is the ever-lovable best friend character, Fiora is the romantic interest who is still a capable woman, and Dunban is the mentor/inspirational character for Shulk. The ingenuity of the developers that also contributes to the power of Loss as a moment in the game is also sold by how they presented Fiora as a playable character. Unlike the temporary party members we'd already been given, being Dickson and Mumkhar, we could actually play as Fiora and her entire load out was customizable. She even had a massive (for that point in the game) Skill Tree which looked like it would take the rest of the game to fill out. Her basic stat block even sold her a filling the role of crit-machine (lol, bad joke) for the party. So by the time Loss rolls around in the game's story, I had begun to build some party configurations including Fiora to work with the game's battle system. I figured the attack on Colony 9 would serve as the game's catalyst for action, following the typical hero's journey archetype, which it does, to be fair. But once Metal Face shows up, the first inclination that something wasn't right was with the scripted battle. Odd, but I kept with it. And as the cutscene starts, Fiora comes in with the newly-fueled mobile artillery to save the day. "A good old deus-ex-machina," I thought to myself. Then, Metal Face starts to overwhelm the mobile artillery, and I thought, "Hmm, okay. She's going to be fine though. Let's just see how she's rescued." And then...she was killed. Boy was that a shock to me. I predicted the exact WRONG outcome for this encounter. She had a place in the party, put in by the devs. She had gear that I had kitted her out with. SHE HAD A SKILL TREE. But all of that was gone. The loss that Shulk felt then suddenly hit me all at once, and I, like Shulk, wanted revenge. This was the moment that told me this game was something else. Something new. Something I hadn't experienced before. This moment had taken me, hook, line, and sinker, into the shoes of these characters and caused me to realize how wrong I was for looking at the game with a cynical eye. Instead, I looked at it with admiration and wonder over the coming weeks as I marathoned the rest of the game that summer.
Well said. They hid everything masterfully. This is gameplay/story integration at its finest. It was kind of my first JRPG but it hit me hard all the same.
This, except I got to play the wii version first. They convince you that she's just part of the crew, and then the first time I got the end of that cutscene, I was like 'forget reyn time, it's genocide time!' I don't tend to really connect with pre-written main characters - they're not me if they have their own personality, after all - but the time they walk out of colony 9, I was well on board with shulk's hate-boner.
I swear. Dunban’s shakey eyed expression as Fiora died, that fucking hurt. As an older brother, it’s the one thing I never want to see happen and I feel like I have to protect her. So to see him powerless and forced to watch the one person he wanted to protect the most die. It hit differently than just Shulk’s perspective. It was like family died. The scene still hits just as hard watching it again.
18:15 Out of the many takeaways from this scene, this is the one that meant a lot to me when I first saw it and now that I'm looking back on it. Xenoblade does a fantastic job at letting you know that, at least within this universe, the power to "see" the future is not necessarily the power to "change" the future. This scene delivers that message in an incredibly painful manner so that the player will *never* forget it. It also explains why some of Shulk's next visions cause him so much anxiety, since as of this moment he's no longer certain if he can rely on that power when it matters the most.
Additionally, shulk's visions before that were mostly not fatal. You just see him get knocked around. As a player, you see those and are like "haha manado boi gets rekt. Jrpg fun!" We are, as an audience, relatively calm about this attack because we know friendship will prevail and everything will be fine. Then that scene hits and we are like "oh shit... did that just happen?" They do a good job at easing us into a very traumatic scene with false security. I love it.
Thanks for watching the video, everyone! I'm glad I finally got the chance to talk about one of my favorite cutscenes in the series and one that hit me incredibly hard. She had a skill tree, guys! Like c'mon! *SPOILERS* I took a section out of the script to let players not completely done with the game watch the video. It focused on how crucial that vision was for sending Shulk off on his adventure and all the pawns being arranged for Zanza's plan to come to fruition. If we are inclined to believe Zanza's assertion that Shulk's ability to see visions came from him and that he showed him Fiora's death beforehand to make the results sting even worse then Zanza is even more heartless than originally imagined. Man, I love this cutscene.
Never thought about it but it would fit. Here’s the problem I have with that, how would zanza command a mechon attack (specifically against Melia). But then again, he had to get the homms to move the monado to him somehow (which would explain why he forced the mechons to attack bionis, which in turn explains my first problem, which would justify your theory, zanza controlling the only small thing he really can control > shulk / the monado, leading him to the point where a certain future is inevitable). Man I Love this game
well im guessing the people looking at the comments already beat the game already. and i think the best cut-scene in the game is the one where zanza emerges from shulk and we get multiple plot twists.
That cutscene has to be top 3 in this game for me. I still remember how hard my mind was blown when I first hit that point. One of my favorite plot twists in any game, for sure.
@@KayJulers sadly, i played through half way in my first play through and then i was severely under leveled and i just watched cut scenes and i sort of spoiled it for me but i was still in awe
This scene combined with the scene that follows as "Once We Parts Ways" plays to Shulk and Reyn departing colony 9 with Dunban looking on from his window, promising to follow them IS THE GREATEST MOMENT IN VIDEO GAME STORYTELLING
Some more details that make this cutscene amazing: It has the payoff of Fiora using the Mobile Artillery, since fixing it had pretty much been the point of their adventure up until the mechon attack. It establishes that Face Armor can actually be damaged by the Monado, if you aim for the damaged areas. This then pays off in the 3rd Xord battle. Shulk stabbing Metal Face in the... face in that scene also further strengthens our vision of him being the analytical type.
I think shulk was only able to damage metal face in this scene is because that spot he stabbed is the exact same spot fiora shot making the armor weak enough for the Monado to pierce through
I do really like that they kept that point consistent. The reason the monado can't damage Faces is because they contain Bionis Ether. But if you damage the parts that contain the flow, the monado has no problems. My only problem with that is why can't Dunban's Anti-mechon Glaive damage Faces either? It shouldn't have any issue cutting right through them if it can cut through regular mechon
What really makes this scene stick out the most to me was the subversion of expectation it brought about. I honestly expected Dunban to die instead of Fiora after seeing the game's treatment of him when he joins the party in Colony 9 as well as expectations created from past stories I've experienced. The most notable for me was the fact that you couldn't change ANY of Dunban's equipment nor even change his arts or check his Skill Tree. Usually when a character is given these types of restrictions, they don't stick around for long, especially since I knew Shulk would wield the Monado prior to playing Xenoblade Chronicles 1. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also did something similar, so it further solidified that prediction for me. Overall, I expected the usual trope of the master passing down their power to their student before dying. Meanwhile, Fiora had no restrictions whatsoever compared to Dunban and the game played at the usual trio group in every JRPG ever (2 guys, 1 girl). Fiora was for sure going to stick with us until the end... or so I thought. When Loss played, even after Shulk received his vision, I thought "how's Shulk going to save her?" But that's just it: he didn't. The moment Fiora's cry rang through my laptop (I played this on a Wii emulator) as Metal Face simultaneously, mercilessly, impaled her body... time seemed to froze. Seeing Fiora's lifeless arm flailing inside the mobile artillery before Metal Face threw her behind him like an eaten apple left me in utter shock. The slick, red blood flowing on his claws were a clear, profound sign that everything I thought I knew got thrown out the window. The transition afterwards built up akin to the reality finally setting in on my mind, as Shulk screamed his iconic, bone-chilling declaration: "I'll kill you!" Fast forward about 2 years later, I noticed some of the subtle visually details presented in this video while playing Definitive Edition, and it plus this video further made me realized how immaculate of a beginning Xenoblade Chronicles 1 has. The storytelling's absolute incredible and I'm still getting confounded by the numerous plot twists coming my way! If it keeps this up, the game has an absolute spot in my favorite video games of all time! Very enlightening video, man! 👍
13:50 at that moment I knew I was into for something special. I was fully expecting for Dunban to swoop in and die, but no, holy shit, they had the guts to kill Fiora. From that point on I was absolutely hooked, and I'm so glad I played it, it's now my favourite Switch game.
Incredible video, I seriously love Xenoblade and plan on reviewing it soon, but man that scene I'm so glad a lot of people feel how I do during it. Adam Howden's scream of that line is so emotional and got me shivering in tense.
I really like Metal Face's finger wag as well. Even though you don't know he can talk yet, it let's you know this is an antagonist and not just a boss.
Yeah XCDE might have, for my money, the best beginning of any video game (at least narrative focused ones, it's for sure up there with Mother 3 in my eyes), and this cutscene is the culmination of that initial act which I believe to be the game's greatest achievement, the one which jumpstarts the chain of events this game's story is so acclaimed for. I was devastated, trembling. I had spent the last 12 hours running around Colony 9 with the three friends, getting to know them as well as the place where they lived. I had been spoiled about Fiora's death (thank you Smash Ultimate, not only do I despise playing the game but it also managed to spoil one of my most awaited video games for me), but I didn't realise this would be the "when", "where" and "how" until Shulk had his vision. Fiora's shriek hurt for real. Plus, like you said, Engage the Enemy and Metal Face do a superb job in this cutscene.
The assault on Colony 9 and this scene in particular are why I think this has one of the best starts to any video game, especially in the JRPG genre. Sakurai unfortunately has spared few with his rampant spoilers. That man literally tweeted out the final smash picture on release date haha. I'm sorry you had that spoiled, but I'm glad to hear there was still great things to find out!
I absolutely agree, Xenoblade's first story arc is the best writing for a video game that I have experienced. The worldbuilding, character introductions, set-up and pay-off, the cinematography, I love every single detail, micro and macro.
i've seen this cutscene like a half dozen times already, and i cry probably once a year, but when playing through DE it still brought me to tears. absolutely one of my favorites in a game with like 200 of them
Shulk even says something not long after, along the lines of "There are two versions of me in my head. One of them tells me to cherish the life I've been given. The other says 'Kill them! Make them pay!'" I think you may be onto a detail I never noticed. I'll have to pay attention to the lightning more in my playthrough and see how much that theory lines up.
Unfortunately, the electricity appears around Dunban and Reyn as they got hit by Metal Face too, so I don't know. It's probably just an effect of the attack, although I definitely had a similar thought right then.
You can see that the lightning effect is used on many different occasions throughout the game, when things collide, hits are being delivered, Dunban getting zapped by the monado or even shulk using the monado. Even in this cutscene when Melia uses the mobile turret to drift through mechons there are sparks. It just represents something like sparks, nothing else
Well, I decided to keep Fiora's dagger as a memento. Then when grinding, I kept remembering about the dagger about her skill trees etc And then I realized something is wrong. That's how I figured out the great plot twist at Prison Island.
For me, it was the scenes immediately following this that cemented this game as something I absolutely must see through to the end. Dunban finding ways to help others cope and being generally amazing, Shulk pledging revenge and acknowledging that his motives are shallow, but wanting to proceed with it anyway, and then Reyn having his back every step of the way. These are characters with some real depth and the story really lets us get to know them. Seeing that sometimes Reyn is the most philosophical and not always the big lug (his late scene with Sharla about being unwilling to die for a cause, because that would mean he couldn't fight for it any longer), or that Shulk in this scene is just so angry he would seek to burn an entire world down made them all so interesting.
Another great thing about this cutscene is just how well it integrates with the gameplay: it teaches the player the cheap method of dealing with Xord by showing that ether guns can hurt faced mechon, and that fighting faced mechon at melee range with a gun is a bad idea. This leads to the strategy: play as Sharla and kite Xord while spamming Thunder Bullet. At 300 damage per use, you need to use Thunder Bullet 37 times to take Xord down, while keeping your allies alive and staying on top of cool off. However, once I managed to pull that off, I got the incredible satisfaction of doing what Fiora did to a faced mechon, and coming out alive!
A couple of more points about this scene: - Introducing a brand new (and awesome) song during a key scene makes them both that much more memorable. It gives you the feeling that something big and unprecedented is happening, and since Engage the Enemy is such an ambiguous song (both tragic and triumphant, uplifting and ominous) it just heightens the feeling that the story is moving into uncharted territory, and you don't know what's going to happen next. - The Monado and Metal Face are until their confrontation beautifully set up as an Unstoppable Force meeting an Immovable Object. Until their confrontation, both look absolutely invincible and receive great hype build-up, which makes the Monado being outright useless against Metal Face that much more shocking.
I love the hidden details. Each playthrough I come to realise another detail that may or may not have been intended from the start. Spoilers for mid-to endgame below. Before that, an annoying point is that there's a couple of times where a character very much should be dead but they come back way later without an explanation. When Zanza get pierced by the spear, he disintegrates, and if you pay attention, the green particles seem to get absorbed into Shulk or the monado, making it complete. The reason it hurt Dunban before is probably because it wasn't in proximity to Shulk and had to draw ether from somewhere. Just a bunch of things you can discuss about the plot that are left just at the right level of unknown so that you can make your own conclusions. This is why I love this game and hate 2. One funny result of the Mechonis Core twist is that... why does Zanza chose to show visions for the most pointless of sidequests?
Zanza may have wanted to speed it up. I never sold, traded or gifted the items marked with exclamation marks because I knew they’d be valuable later. Imagine Zanza just waiting for Shulk to climb up and fight Egil, only for Shulk to say “wait no we need three more fairytale diodes to complete this sidequest let’s spend three in-game days finding them”.
So you hate 2 because it answers the questions that the game presents? I find that too be a weird thing too hate a game about. 2 is a good game and it handles itself differently from 1 but the fact that it actually answers what the player asks is a point in its favour imo and this is clearly monolith soft's goal when they made TTGC which was to show kind backstory and show what happened during the war 500 years ago. I do think that Xenoblade 1 has the superior story but 2 is still a brilliant game
Those side quest visions could be Shulk's unconscious attempts to awaken his own True Monado. At some point before the Big Split (Zanza/Mechonis cutscenes), the visions you receive stop being provided solely by Zanza.
Funny thing, Zanza believes he is feeding you the exact visions he needs, but there is one vision in the early game that shows this is no true Rewatch the vision Shulk gets when meeting Melia for the first time, he sees the party fighting a telethia, but if you look carefully, its vs Lorithia instead of vs the Malkna Forest Telethia!
Aaaand subscribed. This game has meant a great deal to me this last decade. A mental roadblock, as well as a source of comfort. It helped me during a really dark time in my life, but also stayed in that dark place as well. Great video. Always fun watching it with newer context clues and notice subtle cues to something deeper happening.
Wait, was it ever confirmed what the red lights actually are? I theorized that it was blood flowing through the unit to make the whole thing untouchable to the Monado.
I don't think it's ever explicitly stated, but I think that's a pretty logical theory. It would also explain why characters like Metal Face cry out in pain when the Monado starts to cut through the armor.
It was confirmed by Vanea right after you meet her. She states that the Homs that are piloting the Face Mechon have been modified to have their blood flow through the frame of the mech itself. Since the Monado couldn’t harm those that had blood relation to Zanza, it couldn’t cut through the frame as the frame had Homs blood flowing through it
@@KayJulers In the now translated book about the lore and stuff, it's said that Xord was one of the first faced mechon ever built, and he was built not with a full homs, but only vital organs for the imune system, brain, and bloodflow. It's pretty much confirmed at this point.
@@kass1089 Her daughter talks about how he had a place where he fixed machines "Xord's forgery" or something like that I don' t remember, you can actually get that dialogue before Mumkar's reveal
The delivery of Shulk's lines is beautiful. The first time I played the game was on the 3ds with headphones on and when Shulk proclaims to Metal Face "I'll kill you" it was chilling. It was no different in DE. The emotions throughout the game feel real, and that's why I'll never see XC2 as the better entry. Another iconic moment is the scene right before this one when he receives the first vision and says, 'It's as if I could see into the future." There's a sense of bewilderment but also wonder in his voice, and most importantly, hope. Like you mentioned, it makes Loss even harder to see because they had just seemed to grasp victory even if Dunban had been overwhelmed by the Monado. My one gripe is I like the original song better than the DE version simply because it doesn't have the almost screech in the climax.
There are some moments in XC2 that hit _REALLY_ hard, but the overall pacing is honestly terrible, I thought Tora was a terrible character with few redeeming qualities, and I absolutely hated the gameplay. I don't think I could honestly recommend XC2 to people who don't already love Xenoblade.
Incredible video & commentary, you are talented. Describing everything we can see, useful interpretation of actions and motivations, the effect of musical pieces, description of emotions, comparison to other medium, talking about the voice acting & how YOU felt immersed. Not only did you capture what happened, you made the viewer relive it once again and allowed him to understand what made him so invested in the first place. I have to say, this video is to the „Videos which explain what makes Xenoblade so good“ what „Loss“ is to Xenoblade! A maassterpiece
Loved the game when I first played it on “New” 3DS, and the new facial expression improvements make this game even better in immersing me in the story. I just reached Valak Mountain and every cutscene since really makes me itching to get to Mechonis for obvious reasons regarding Metal Face lol.
im glad someone else brought up the enhanced expression in a lot of the characters. a lot of people had worries about the new more anime art style, and after seeing how they were able to make this cutscene especially and many more invoke more emotion through just showing the characters feeling more emotion through their expressions really makes the scene even better in DE
This was an absolute amazing and extremely well made analasys of one of my favourite games of all time. And its just 1 cutscene. You deserve way more subscribers.
I found your channel yesterday and have been bingeing all of your Xenoblade videos, and man, i gotta say you are one of my new favorite channels! Your ability to understand and express little details is amazing! I’ve subscribed and can’t wait for more!
This video popped up in my recommended randomly and I decided to give it a watch, and now after I've binged almost all of your XC1 and XCX videos (haven't played 2 yet), I gotta say it's a crime you only have 3k subs As a Xenoblade 1 fan for almost 7 years now, your story analysis videos are definitely the best I've seen on the game This video seems to be blowing up and I'm glad, it's very well deserved, and I hope XC1DE's popularity gives your channel a well deserved boost
This video is not only an excellent analysis, but is edited so, so well. So many great gags with great timing. You earned yourself another subscriber good sir
I love the scene where shulk tries to save otharon. At a time where shulk is quite timid and doesn’t speak when he gets a vision because he’s worried he won’t be able to change the future, he tries to save otharon and seemingly fails. However, Reyn saves him, proving to shulk that he can’t change the future alone, but instead as a team
I’ve noticed since this video your channel has been growing a bit more and I’m happy more people are discovering your xenoblade videos since they are best I’ve seen on here
Favorite scene in the entire game for me is when you meet up with Dunban again, when Shulk starts up his monado and says those words will be his last (metal face's last) and ofc he doesn't succeed at that time but it still had my heart pumping when I played the game for the first time, the beat that start up as he activate his sword for that scene was something special.
(BIG endgame spoilers read at own risk) . . . . I think the electricity around Shulk’s body is supposed to represent Zanza. In the next cutscene, Shulk mentions ‘in my head there are two versions of me’, one that’s more logical and Shulk-like with ‘Fiora sacrificed herself for me she wouldn’t want me to get revenge’ and the other being Zanza’s influence crying out for revenge. In this scene, Shulk is angry when the electricity surrounds him, and jumps to sad when the electricity leaves. So I think the electricity is Zanza trying to get Shulk to fight, but Shulk’s feelings power through Zanza’s efforts and he goes back to a more Shulk-like sadness. (Sorry I can’t explain good)
There really are so many great scenes in this game, but I would say my favorite (at least so far anyways...I just started the last chapter) is the one with, who I will call #7 to avoid spoilers, on the fallen arm. That moment literally made me cry as I felt that swelling eruption of pure emotion. I even went back to watch it a second time a day later and it still brought tears to my eyes. That was a seriously powerful moment for me!
After watching this video I was actually shocked to see you have so few subscribers. This was excellently made, and did a beautiful job of showing why this cutscene has stuck with me for almost 10 years. The line delivery of "I'll kill you" is so bone chilling because of all the factors you mentioned, giving weight to the entire rest of the journey.
When I first saw this scene while playing the game, I was shocked, and I actually almost shedded a tear, but then the scene where Dunban explains how he deals with his grief to Shulk actually brings out an important life lesson. This is why I enjoy the story of Xenoblade Chronicles so much.
I applaud you for even being able to choose a favourite cutscene in the game. The whole game is a constant stream a highs and there are so many other scenes you could find some amazing examples of storytelling in.
Yeah this cutscene was amazing, and I LOVED this analysis! Personally though, “the golden mechon” hit the hardest for me. With the music and everything going on, it caused me to immediately head to the event menu to watch it again haha. Edit: it’s preceding cutscene kinda helps the impact of it too
Such an awesome video, once again! I watched it on my private account so sorry for damaging your watchtime on this by changing to this acc just to comment on it ':D You went into such amazing detail that I suddenly understood a little bit better why I myself was drawn into the game so much by this scene :D Keep up the awesome work man!
You explained it perfectly, this is exactly why my heart aches every time I hear this theme song, because it’s so closely associated with all the emotions in this cut scene.
Even thought I already knew Fiora was going to die because is hard to avoid spoilers for more than 8 years, this scene is so powerful that I felt how my chest was going to explode to Shulk's "I'LL KILL YOU" and Dunban's face when Fiora was stabbed. I'm really glad that I finally was able to play this masterpiece.
I know this video is a few months old but after just completing the game today (I did the superbosses btw Abaasy can suck one) the early game cutscenes and everything related to them feel alien to me. Maybe it's just because what happens later is insane but it's wild to think the simple beginnings at Colony 9 go somewhere truly crazy. Excellent game. And great video dude. Now if only Smash didn't have those two level up Legendary spirits involing key characters. Yeah you know the ones...
This videos are amazing. I would love it if you can make one with Tornas ending, that cutscene is also emotionally very impactfull and full of details.
My favourite detail from that scene that you only notice from a rewatch after beating the game is Metal Faces' long state at Dunban before leaving, it's great foreshadowing as to who he really is.
Great analysis! I felt exactly the same about what you talked about in this video, when I first time watched this cut scene. It was such a disbelieve moment for me to see Fiora die. You know, common story plots in games would suggest that whoever you encounter at the begging of the game, would normal be with the main protagonist to the end or at least for a while. This cut scene destroys your expectation such early on and leaves a huge uncertainty to the future. I think this is another reason how great it sets up the tune for the rest of the game for the players. I think the second most important cut scene that changed everything is the moment that Shulk was be able to use Monado to damage the Faced Mechon. The symbol in the middle of the Monado before this cut scene always displays 機, which is a Kanji literally means machine. This is the reason why Monado is so effective on damaging Mechons. Depends how Shulk wants to use Monado, the character will change, and the function of Monado will change accordingly as well, e.g. 盾 for shield, 疾 for speed/haste, 食 for eat, etc. I had such a chill feeling literally form my hands to the top of my head at the moment Monado changed from 機 to 人 (human). This confirmed so many speculations I had. And it also gave me this fear that, now there no limitation of what Monado can or can't do. It can kill both machine and human. With such immense power and nothing to hold it back, what will Shulk do? Can he still maintain himself without being consumed by such power? Does he realize that for every Faced Mechon his destroys is a person he kills? Where will this lead him to? This moment reveals so much information, like Mumkhar could be the Faced Mechon, Fiora could still be alive, there reason Mechons where "eating" people, etc. I had to pause the game and thought for while to process all these before I could continue watching the rest cut scene. But in the end, I was so happy when Shulk stopped Dunban when Dunban tried to give a final blow to Mumkhar. Trust me, I was as eager to Mumkhar dead as much as Dunban. But I feel more happy to see Shulk knows what power he has and he realizes what he is dealing with. In the end, Mimkhar died without putting anyone's hands dirty and Shulk is still Shilk, it was a win win to me =D
Loss, Prison Island and Mechonis Core are THE defining moments of Xenoblade 1. Each one blew me away on my first playthrough.
That trio right there seems to be the holy trinity of Xenoblade 1 cutscenes. I probably would give the HMs to the final cutscene where Beyond the Sky plays and Shulk's Power.
I'd say the beach scenes are also included there
The party loss at a bad time, as they had the golden opportunity to defeat egil
It shows a lot of the characters weak points, especially for reyn and dunban
Shulk reunites with fiora, reyn discovers his new purpose on the team and dunban gets some useful advice from Riki on how to be a better protector and his role as a father figure
The whole party is eventually reunited with fiora and shulk, with a family reunion type thing
So to summarize, shulk and fiora get closer than any time before that, reyn and shulk form a mutual relationship of respect and protection of one another, fiora acknowledges that reyn has grown a lot since last time they were together and sharla becomes closer to reyn, being her that gives him the confidence boost that he needed after not being able to protect shulk
Dunban reunites with fiora, no need to explain why this was great and he already had said to shulk that if anybody were to be with fiora it would be him, so now he needs to protect both his sister and her childhood friend
And while this isn't as good as the other stuff, Melia gets hit with the harsh reality that she will never be able to be with shulk due to fiora's return
These scenes alone are amazing in developing the whole party, without being to sudden, like reyn finally feels defeated because he couldn't protect and is the one being protected, dunban doesn't know how to feel about nemesis and fears that he will need to fight fiora before he meets her and shulk assumes the role of protector towards fiora so she doesn't have to go through pain again
So between loss, prison island and the beach scenes, plus maybe some more, but I haven't gotten to those parts yet, I think the beach scene is amazing due to feels and development
Also hm to unfinished battle
The end of Ether Mine is severely underrated. Both the fight with Xord and Unfinished Battle are amazing, making up for the gameplay of Ether Mine by a country mile.
The story has 4 arcs
1.) Fiora’s death: objective becomes finding and killing Metal Face
2.) Prison Island: Objective becomes finding Fiora
3.) Meeting Miquol: Objective becomes facing Egil
4.) Dickson’s betrayal: Objective becomes killing Zanza
It’s amazing to think that Zanza, the God of the universe, orchestrated everything to happen as they did, carefully nudging Shulk in the right direction through the use of visions. Visions that ultimately became his downfall.
The best counterargument to silent protagonists: this cutscene
Tho silent protags can still be used for dramatic effect, Lucas from mother 3 is a silent protag, he does talk in the end, and its revealed its cuz he was still emotionaly crushed by his moms death
Nah silent protag or not works on its own. Also you cant say whether is better. I have a friend that love silent protag bcos how it feels thatvtheyre the actual protag not playing as someone. It works on byleth, pokemon protag etc where the story mainly focus on the world rather the protag itself. For xenoblade we play as shulk with a clear personality feels like we playing in really good movie.
So yeah I enjoy both kind of protag depends on how the game works. Some people ignore these fact tho
Ok, but link... Thats it... Thats my argument
Yes! I am so sick of silent protags.
I feel like silent portags have their place where you’re LITERALLY supposed to be the character, like Pokémon. But with the main character being a fully developed, speaking character, they feel more like a real person, like Shulk
What I absolutely love about this cutscene from a gameplay perspective is that right after in the Metal Face boss the trio's tension is maxed out and fired up. When the game tells you that chain attacks to topple Metal Face is the only real way to damage him shows that the trio is giving everything they got within the gameplay to destroy Metal Face with the desire of revenge. After the loss.
Oh my gosh really? Holy crap that's awesome! I've never noticed that and I'm geeking out really hard about this.
Well, It makes sense from a gameplay standpoint too. How are you supposed to build it up when every attack does 1 damage and tension falls every time it does?
"Not bad!"
That's the only bad thing about this segment, is that as soon as they go back into battle, they are their usual peppy selves.
Although "tension" isn't in xbc2, Bloody Orbs - or any accessory that adds damage when an ally is incapacitated - seems like the closest thing to it.
@@ShadowSkyX Tension isn't in XC2, but (Battle) Affinity works in a similar way
KayJulers: I'm gonna tell you about what I think is the best scene in Xenoblade Chronicles
Me: Is this loss?
I realized about halfway through the process that this joke would be inevitable LOL
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The best scene in Xenoblade Chronicles is Shulk’s revival.
I Iı
II I_
@@KayJulers *sad Thanos noises*
"But, I found her weapons." It's a shallow thought, but it was what instantly flashed through my mind when this happened. In almost any RPG I play, I like to make sure I'm a little ahead of the curve. The first thing I do is grind for cash to deck the characters out, and spending an extra hour learning the battle system doesn't hurt either. By this point in the game, Fiora had actually become my preferred party leader. She could do sneak attack damage like Shulk, but also inflict Bleed. Meanwhile AI Shulk would Break and Reyn would Topple without my intervention, so putting Fiora first had great results. And this was before I knew how important that combo was.
By the time I was done grinding, the party was strong enough to take on some unique monsters. It was in one of those fights I found a pink set of knives. If there is one thing to get me excited as a player, it's cool loot drops. And if it's for my best character? Forget about it. Satisfied, I advanced the story in Colony 9 knowing something bad would happen, but I was absolutely confident I could handle it. Learning that the weakness of the Mechon was the combo the AI was doing anyway only cemented that "You mean I have to do what the AI was doing anyway? Not a problem." Basically everything that happened was predictable. The Mechon attacking, the love interest running to safety, the mentor passing the torch. All of it I knew was coming.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for some good classic storytelling, but it didn't suck me in. I was having fun, but about the amount of fun I have with a Final Fantasy game. The scripted fight threw a wrench in that. Immediately after teaching them to me, the game broke the rules. I had been demolishing the Mechon up until this point and suddenly Shulk is faced with an enemy that is untouchable. It doesn't happen in a cutscene. Shulk can't hurt Metal Face because I can't hurt Metal Face. He's got me pinned. And then the cavalry arrives. As expected. But not in the form I expected. I'm not excited to see Fiora, because the game broke the rules again. The love interest is supposed to stay out of danger. And here she comes. Directly up against a villain I could barely scratch. I'm actually scared. Shulk can't protect her because I can't protect her. And the game is about to break the rules a third time.
The visions had been established as a warning, something Shulk can use to avoid a bad future. But he can't this time. There is nothing he can do. There is nothing *I* can do. And Fiora dies because of that. In that moment, all that time and energy I had put into buying her gear, finding it, and learning party synergy. It was all wasted. While I don't love her like Shulk does, I'd come to rely on her. "This isn't fair" I thought. And I was pissed. When Shulk yells "I'll kill you!" I'm right there with him. This motherfucker just took away hours of my life with my favorite character. He's going to pay for this.
I can't think of many other games that do this. What's so brilliant about this sequence is that it ties me to three characters. Shulk lost the girl he loves, and while - again - I don't, she was my favorite. Dunban loses his little sister, which hits close to home for me, and cements him for a long time as my new favorite because he went through something I can 100% imagine. Most importantly, I fucking hate Metal Face. Not just because of what he did to the characters, but because of what he did to me personally. He made me powerless and scared and took something away from me. I want to do the same to him. Everything that happens after this sequence, I am IN the story. And that is a powerful statement on the brilliance of this game.
tl:dr - Fiora's death hits so hard because the gameplay does the work.
Have you finished the game yet? If not what are your thoughts so far? I hope you continue playing.
This was a fantastic read, while I can’t specifically remember how I felt when I first played I know I had gone in blind, so that death hit incredibly hard. I really think you’ve perfectly described what can make this such an impactful moment, even if some people didn’t use her a lot or care about her as much as you did it was still a heavy moment, rife with emotions. Like a lot of people I partly wish I could forget it all and go through it again, and I think considering how impossible that is what you’ve written has kinda act rather that itch, that desire to feel those same emotions with that same potency as the first time.
@@Implosion-Gaming To confess I played the game on the 3DS first but I never finished it (I paid for my insolence). I'm playing through the remastered and I'm hoping to actually beat it this time. Losing Fiora again still stung even knowing what happens later because in addition to being the absolute sweetie she has always been, she's also now super cute and I can see how scared she is. The remastered edition really put a lot of effort into making the characters more expressive. Even with the fish faces of the original cutscenes I still felt invested, but it's amazing how much better they are now. I can't wait to see certain story elements again like this. And I'm even more excited to see the end for the first time like this.
@@66Roses I have the original on the Wii, but I bought the DE as well... I still love this game for the storytelling aspect... and yes Shulk's cry of 'I'll kill you' still sends shivers down your spine as the voice actors really captured the emotion in that scene... and pretty much all of them.
You fucking _nailed_ it, that's exactly what I was thinking when it happened (though I was also invested in the story). She was in my party, and I got equipment for her, and I was planning out her build. And then she just _died,_ and I didn't think I'd ever see her again. He took a valuable teammate away from me, and I never, ever forgave him.
Definitive Edition really did this legendary cutscene justice. Not that it wasn't emotional in the original version... but my god, the graphical upgrades helped make this scene that much more emotional. Even though I knew it was coming.
You can actually see Fiora's hand limping out of the machine, and the facial expressions Shulk makes says it all.
Absolutely true, the level of fear in Fiora’s eyes was heart-wrenching
@@StitchFunkoPop pause it at the right time and you can see her head :(
Spoilers for final boss:
I never realized that this cutscene could also hint at Zanza's influence over Shulk. Crackling electricity and muscle spasms are a sign of the Monado rejecting its user, as evident by Addam with Mythra, Shulk in the mechonis, and Dunban in the beginning. Showing Shulk a torturous vision of his life interest, Fiora, being brutally murdered while he himself is paralyzed could indicate that Zanza is doing this to give Shulk motivation for completing his grand plan. People who die in Shulk's visions who are beyond being rescued are always deaths that don't inhibit his or his party's strength, but rather affect him emotionally in order to motivate him towards Zanza's goal of eliminating Mechonis+Meyneth. It makes sense that the Monado starts to reject Shulk after Fiora rejoins the party because Shulk has less of an incentive to seek revenge and needs to be pushed in the right direction by Zanza.
Great observation! Zanza using these visions to manipulate Shulk really explains a lot.
You know when you said final boss I wasn't also expecting xenoblade 2 stuff
Man, the level of depth in the writing is absolutely _bonkers._
I actually can't believe how many people sleep on this game
I know, it's so good
Xenoblade 1 should be a cultural ICON. It’s just perfect.
It’s a damn shame
I went to a electronic store and saw an entire stacking of Xenoblade definitive edition copies
Which is saddening because this game is really good
Spoiler alert: Me and the original commenter are the same person. We don’t only share a name, but an opinion. Just ruined Xenoblade 3 for you.
The delivery of "I'll kill you!" is so good is and everytime it gives me chills. I only recently got into Xenoblade, but this cutscene is a masterpiece.
8:30 reminds me how OP the colonel is. He survived being blown up by a vehicle.
I like to imagine Vangarre lived through sheer spite and anger alone. Possibly to an even comical level like forcefully shoving his soul back into his body before it leaves him.
Apolleh Man literally too angry to die.
@@Apolleh "WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?", Vangarre says to his own soul, wrestling it back into his body with a bear hug. "WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO, DO YOU REALLY TRUST THESE MAGGOTS TO DO IT WITHOUT YOU!?"
@@JeepusChrystler I totally read those quotes in the colonels voice. Lol
@@JeepusChrystler And then he punched his soul...
Another thing I love about this whole scene is that in the battle after Fiora's death, Shulk, Reyn and Dunban start the battle with the tension at max level, with their portraits in fire with the angry sprites; symbolizing the rage the three feel in that moment. And if I'm not wrong, for that battle tension cannot be lowered.
Xenoblade does an amazing job mixing gameplay and narrative so perfectly.
Great video ! What I find so great about Fiora's death (apart from all the things you mentioned) is the fact that the game makes you believe (or at least made ME believe) that Dunban is the most likely character to die during the attack. I mean, he's the legendary hero/mentor who possesses the weapon that we know the main character will inherit : those characters usually don't live long in fiction. But no, instead Fiora dies and Dunban goes on to become the absolute badass he is.
That's a very interesting perspective that I've never heard from anyone before! I feel like I've definitely seen the mentor character as the one that makes the heroic sacrifice or dies in plenty of stories. Especially with hindsight, I wouldn't be surprised if Dunban was Metal Face's first victim. Well said!
KayJulers
Additionally, Dunban’s equipment can’t be changed (yet), setting up even more death flags.
@@Hadaron Idk if this applies in DE, but quick reminder that whatever equipment you give Fiora while she's on the party dissapears from your armory FOREVER.
I guess this is another point that tried to hide her death: you could equip her, gain affinity and so on, not knowing that, in a few minutes/hours of gameolay, she would be forever gone.
(We got Seven sure but... Spoilers?)
Also, spoilers.
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Mumkhar knowing Fiora was someone precious to Dunban would make her a primary target anyway, since Mumkhar is sadistic about twisting the knife instead of going for the jugular. Things would likely have been very different had his memories been wiped, since his targeted sadism would be replaced with ruthless efficiency.
This scene hit me particularly hard when I first played this game.
At the time of the 3DS version's release, the one I first played, I was around age 16, close to Shulk's in-game age, yes, but also getting to the age where I began to look on the world with a sense of cynicism. Having seen and experienced countless works of fiction through books, movies, and video games even by that age, I thought I had this game's plot figured out. Shulk is the nerdy yet very observant protagonist, Reyn is the ever-lovable best friend character, Fiora is the romantic interest who is still a capable woman, and Dunban is the mentor/inspirational character for Shulk.
The ingenuity of the developers that also contributes to the power of Loss as a moment in the game is also sold by how they presented Fiora as a playable character. Unlike the temporary party members we'd already been given, being Dickson and Mumkhar, we could actually play as Fiora and her entire load out was customizable. She even had a massive (for that point in the game) Skill Tree which looked like it would take the rest of the game to fill out. Her basic stat block even sold her a filling the role of crit-machine (lol, bad joke) for the party.
So by the time Loss rolls around in the game's story, I had begun to build some party configurations including Fiora to work with the game's battle system. I figured the attack on Colony 9 would serve as the game's catalyst for action, following the typical hero's journey archetype, which it does, to be fair. But once Metal Face shows up, the first inclination that something wasn't right was with the scripted battle. Odd, but I kept with it. And as the cutscene starts, Fiora comes in with the newly-fueled mobile artillery to save the day. "A good old deus-ex-machina," I thought to myself. Then, Metal Face starts to overwhelm the mobile artillery, and I thought, "Hmm, okay. She's going to be fine though. Let's just see how she's rescued."
And then...she was killed. Boy was that a shock to me. I predicted the exact WRONG outcome for this encounter. She had a place in the party, put in by the devs. She had gear that I had kitted her out with. SHE HAD A SKILL TREE. But all of that was gone. The loss that Shulk felt then suddenly hit me all at once, and I, like Shulk, wanted revenge. This was the moment that told me this game was something else. Something new. Something I hadn't experienced before. This moment had taken me, hook, line, and sinker, into the shoes of these characters and caused me to realize how wrong I was for looking at the game with a cynical eye. Instead, I looked at it with admiration and wonder over the coming weeks as I marathoned the rest of the game that summer.
Well written, mate. I enjoyed reading every bit of it.
Well said. They hid everything masterfully. This is gameplay/story integration at its finest.
It was kind of my first JRPG but it hit me hard all the same.
This, except I got to play the wii version first. They convince you that she's just part of the crew, and then the first time I got the end of that cutscene, I was like 'forget reyn time, it's genocide time!' I don't tend to really connect with pre-written main characters - they're not me if they have their own personality, after all - but the time they walk out of colony 9, I was well on board with shulk's hate-boner.
Cristian Allwood I’ve never heard of hate boner Bravo
Reading this gave me chills bro , that feeling was exactly how it felt like watching that scene for the first time
I swear. Dunban’s shakey eyed expression as Fiora died, that fucking hurt. As an older brother, it’s the one thing I never want to see happen and I feel like I have to protect her. So to see him powerless and forced to watch the one person he wanted to protect the most die. It hit differently than just Shulk’s perspective. It was like family died. The scene still hits just as hard watching it again.
For sure dude. When I think about Xenoblade, this scene is the first to come to mind
Same here! When I think about how to kickstart a game past the beginning, this is the cutscene. It's absolutely amazing.
That moment when smashers spoiled Fioras return from a final smash which I never would've understood from the outside
She is also a spirit and a pfp. Smash spoils Fiora's return in so many places.
18:15 Out of the many takeaways from this scene, this is the one that meant a lot to me when I first saw it and now that I'm looking back on it. Xenoblade does a fantastic job at letting you know that, at least within this universe, the power to "see" the future is not necessarily the power to "change" the future. This scene delivers that message in an incredibly painful manner so that the player will *never* forget it. It also explains why some of Shulk's next visions cause him so much anxiety, since as of this moment he's no longer certain if he can rely on that power when it matters the most.
Additionally, shulk's visions before that were mostly not fatal. You just see him get knocked around. As a player, you see those and are like "haha manado boi gets rekt. Jrpg fun!" We are, as an audience, relatively calm about this attack because we know friendship will prevail and everything will be fine.
Then that scene hits and we are like "oh shit... did that just happen?" They do a good job at easing us into a very traumatic scene with false security. I love it.
Xenoblade is actually my first jrpg I'm use to so many tropes and clichés that I did not see fioras death coming at all
I frigging laughed at how dorky you made Reyn look.
Thanks for watching the video, everyone! I'm glad I finally got the chance to talk about one of my favorite cutscenes in the series and one that hit me incredibly hard. She had a skill tree, guys! Like c'mon!
*SPOILERS*
I took a section out of the script to let players not completely done with the game watch the video. It focused on how crucial that vision was for sending Shulk off on his adventure and all the pawns being arranged for Zanza's plan to come to fruition. If we are inclined to believe Zanza's assertion that Shulk's ability to see visions came from him and that he showed him Fiora's death beforehand to make the results sting even worse then Zanza is even more heartless than originally imagined. Man, I love this cutscene.
Never thought about it but it would fit.
Here’s the problem I have with that, how would zanza command a mechon attack (specifically against Melia).
But then again, he had to get the homms to move the monado to him somehow (which would explain why he forced the mechons to attack bionis, which in turn explains my first problem, which would justify your theory, zanza controlling the only small thing he really can control > shulk / the monado, leading him to the point where a certain future is inevitable).
Man I Love this game
Me looking at the 4 panel at 10:47 :
IS THIS LOSS?!
well im guessing the people looking at the comments already beat the game already. and i think the best cut-scene in the game is the one where zanza emerges from shulk and we get multiple plot twists.
That cutscene has to be top 3 in this game for me. I still remember how hard my mind was blown when I first hit that point. One of my favorite plot twists in any game, for sure.
KayJulers 1. Loss 2. Unfinished Battle 3. Zanza reveal
@@KayJulers sadly, i played through half way in my first play through and then i was severely under leveled and i just watched cut scenes and i sort of spoiled it for me but i was still in awe
Yeah that's the one that changed everything for me.
I still don't know how to feel about this just this complete Mind F
This scene combined with the scene that follows as "Once We Parts Ways" plays to Shulk and Reyn departing colony 9 with Dunban looking on from his window, promising to follow them IS THE GREATEST MOMENT IN VIDEO GAME STORYTELLING
Some more details that make this cutscene amazing:
It has the payoff of Fiora using the Mobile Artillery, since fixing it had pretty much been the point of their adventure up until the mechon attack.
It establishes that Face Armor can actually be damaged by the Monado, if you aim for the damaged areas. This then pays off in the 3rd Xord battle. Shulk stabbing Metal Face in the... face in that scene also further strengthens our vision of him being the analytical type.
Shulk: I'm going to stab your Face. In the face.
I think shulk was only able to damage metal face in this scene is because that spot he stabbed is the exact same spot fiora shot making the armor weak enough for the Monado to pierce through
@@michaelchi1336 Yeah that's exactly what I was referring to! Its cool
I do really like that they kept that point consistent. The reason the monado can't damage Faces is because they contain Bionis Ether. But if you damage the parts that contain the flow, the monado has no problems. My only problem with that is why can't Dunban's Anti-mechon Glaive damage Faces either? It shouldn't have any issue cutting right through them if it can cut through regular mechon
@@wtf_is_this_handle_shit I'm pretty sure it can, chuggaaconroy mentions it in his let's play
What really makes this scene stick out the most to me was the subversion of expectation it brought about. I honestly expected Dunban to die instead of Fiora after seeing the game's treatment of him when he joins the party in Colony 9 as well as expectations created from past stories I've experienced. The most notable for me was the fact that you couldn't change ANY of Dunban's equipment nor even change his arts or check his Skill Tree. Usually when a character is given these types of restrictions, they don't stick around for long, especially since I knew Shulk would wield the Monado prior to playing Xenoblade Chronicles 1. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also did something similar, so it further solidified that prediction for me. Overall, I expected the usual trope of the master passing down their power to their student before dying.
Meanwhile, Fiora had no restrictions whatsoever compared to Dunban and the game played at the usual trio group in every JRPG ever (2 guys, 1 girl). Fiora was for sure going to stick with us until the end... or so I thought. When Loss played, even after Shulk received his vision, I thought "how's Shulk going to save her?" But that's just it: he didn't. The moment Fiora's cry rang through my laptop (I played this on a Wii emulator) as Metal Face simultaneously, mercilessly, impaled her body... time seemed to froze. Seeing Fiora's lifeless arm flailing inside the mobile artillery before Metal Face threw her behind him like an eaten apple left me in utter shock. The slick, red blood flowing on his claws were a clear, profound sign that everything I thought I knew got thrown out the window. The transition afterwards built up akin to the reality finally setting in on my mind, as Shulk screamed his iconic, bone-chilling declaration: "I'll kill you!"
Fast forward about 2 years later, I noticed some of the subtle visually details presented in this video while playing Definitive Edition, and it plus this video further made me realized how immaculate of a beginning Xenoblade Chronicles 1 has. The storytelling's absolute incredible and I'm still getting confounded by the numerous plot twists coming my way! If it keeps this up, the game has an absolute spot in my favorite video games of all time!
Very enlightening video, man! 👍
13:50 at that moment I knew I was into for something special. I was fully expecting for Dunban to swoop in and die, but no, holy shit, they had the guts to kill Fiora. From that point on I was absolutely hooked, and I'm so glad I played it, it's now my favourite Switch game.
Incredible video, I seriously love Xenoblade and plan on reviewing it soon, but man that scene I'm so glad a lot of people feel how I do during it.
Adam Howden's scream of that line is so emotional and got me shivering in tense.
Thanks so much! That scream is the truth! One of my favorite deliveries out there.
I really like Metal Face's finger wag as well. Even though you don't know he can talk yet, it let's you know this is an antagonist and not just a boss.
Yeah XCDE might have, for my money, the best beginning of any video game (at least narrative focused ones, it's for sure up there with Mother 3 in my eyes), and this cutscene is the culmination of that initial act which I believe to be the game's greatest achievement, the one which jumpstarts the chain of events this game's story is so acclaimed for. I was devastated, trembling. I had spent the last 12 hours running around Colony 9 with the three friends, getting to know them as well as the place where they lived. I had been spoiled about Fiora's death (thank you Smash Ultimate, not only do I despise playing the game but it also managed to spoil one of my most awaited video games for me), but I didn't realise this would be the "when", "where" and "how" until Shulk had his vision. Fiora's shriek hurt for real. Plus, like you said, Engage the Enemy and Metal Face do a superb job in this cutscene.
The assault on Colony 9 and this scene in particular are why I think this has one of the best starts to any video game, especially in the JRPG genre. Sakurai unfortunately has spared few with his rampant spoilers. That man literally tweeted out the final smash picture on release date haha. I'm sorry you had that spoiled, but I'm glad to hear there was still great things to find out!
I absolutely agree, Xenoblade's first story arc is the best writing for a video game that I have experienced.
The worldbuilding, character introductions, set-up and pay-off, the cinematography, I love every single detail, micro and macro.
This game’s and The Last of Us’s openings are the only ones ever to get me so invested in a story so early on.
Garrr I’d recommend Mother 3 if you can get hold of it. I think it’s opening is on par with Xenoblade in terms of quality in writing.
i've seen this cutscene like a half dozen times already, and i cry probably once a year, but when playing through DE it still brought me to tears. absolutely one of my favorites in a game with like 200 of them
I know what you mean. My eyes started watering when I got to this scene while streaming and I had to take a quick break to get my composure.
Still getting chills to this day when Shulk says "I'll kill you". Such a powerful yet simple line.
SPOILER
Could the lightning around Shulk whenever he's aggressive be linked to Zanza who is inside him?
Very well could be the case! It's hard to say for sure, but given the fact that it happens during emotional moments then I'd say it's a possibility.
Shulk even says something not long after, along the lines of "There are two versions of me in my head. One of them tells me to cherish the life I've been given. The other says 'Kill them! Make them pay!'"
I think you may be onto a detail I never noticed. I'll have to pay attention to the lightning more in my playthrough and see how much that theory lines up.
@@Starfloofle Holy shiiiiit Wow.
Unfortunately, the electricity appears around Dunban and Reyn as they got hit by Metal Face too, so I don't know. It's probably just an effect of the attack, although I definitely had a similar thought right then.
You can see that the lightning effect is used on many different occasions throughout the game, when things collide, hits are being delivered, Dunban getting zapped by the monado or even shulk using the monado. Even in this cutscene when Melia uses the mobile turret to drift through mechons there are sparks. It just represents something like sparks, nothing else
Cheers to not being able to speak openly about the plot for an extra 10 years
Also I never realized the wagging of Metal Face's claw
Well, I decided to keep Fiora's dagger as a memento. Then when grinding, I kept remembering about the dagger about her skill trees etc And then I realized something is wrong. That's how I figured out the great plot twist at Prison Island.
I love your scene analysis so much! it really makes me appreciate this masterpiece of a scene that much more
Thank you for the kind words and for watching! Glad to hear you enjoyed!
For me, it was the scenes immediately following this that cemented this game as something I absolutely must see through to the end. Dunban finding ways to help others cope and being generally amazing, Shulk pledging revenge and acknowledging that his motives are shallow, but wanting to proceed with it anyway, and then Reyn having his back every step of the way. These are characters with some real depth and the story really lets us get to know them. Seeing that sometimes Reyn is the most philosophical and not always the big lug (his late scene with Sharla about being unwilling to die for a cause, because that would mean he couldn't fight for it any longer), or that Shulk in this scene is just so angry he would seek to burn an entire world down made them all so interesting.
Another great thing about this cutscene is just how well it integrates with the gameplay: it teaches the player the cheap method of dealing with Xord by showing that ether guns can hurt faced mechon, and that fighting faced mechon at melee range with a gun is a bad idea.
This leads to the strategy: play as Sharla and kite Xord while spamming Thunder Bullet. At 300 damage per use, you need to use Thunder Bullet 37 times to take Xord down, while keeping your allies alive and staying on top of cool off. However, once I managed to pull that off, I got the incredible satisfaction of doing what Fiora did to a faced mechon, and coming out alive!
"The best cutscene on Xenoblade Chronicles"
Me: "Is this Loss?"
A couple of more points about this scene:
- Introducing a brand new (and awesome) song during a key scene makes them both that much more memorable. It gives you the feeling that something big and unprecedented is happening, and since Engage the Enemy is such an ambiguous song (both tragic and triumphant, uplifting and ominous) it just heightens the feeling that the story is moving into uncharted territory, and you don't know what's going to happen next.
- The Monado and Metal Face are until their confrontation beautifully set up as an Unstoppable Force meeting an Immovable Object. Until their confrontation, both look absolutely invincible and receive great hype build-up, which makes the Monado being outright useless against Metal Face that much more shocking.
Hmm, this is not the cutscene where Shulk doesn't eat the sandwich
I love the hidden details. Each playthrough I come to realise another detail that may or may not have been intended from the start. Spoilers for mid-to endgame below.
Before that, an annoying point is that there's a couple of times where a character very much should be dead but they come back way later without an explanation.
When Zanza get pierced by the spear, he disintegrates, and if you pay attention, the green particles seem to get absorbed into Shulk or the monado, making it complete. The reason it hurt Dunban before is probably because it wasn't in proximity to Shulk and had to draw ether from somewhere. Just a bunch of things you can discuss about the plot that are left just at the right level of unknown so that you can make your own conclusions. This is why I love this game and hate 2.
One funny result of the Mechonis Core twist is that... why does Zanza chose to show visions for the most pointless of sidequests?
Zanza may have wanted to speed it up. I never sold, traded or gifted the items marked with exclamation marks because I knew they’d be valuable later.
Imagine Zanza just waiting for Shulk to climb up and fight Egil, only for Shulk to say “wait no we need three more fairytale diodes to complete this sidequest let’s spend three in-game days finding them”.
@@Hadaron It could also be to make Shulk have more faith in the visions, giving them more credibility so he wouldn't dismiss them at times of need
So you hate 2 because it answers the questions that the game presents? I find that too be a weird thing too hate a game about. 2 is a good game and it handles itself differently from 1 but the fact that it actually answers what the player asks is a point in its favour imo and this is clearly monolith soft's goal when they made TTGC which was to show kind backstory and show what happened during the war 500 years ago. I do think that Xenoblade 1 has the superior story but 2 is still a brilliant game
Those side quest visions could be Shulk's unconscious attempts to awaken his own True Monado. At some point before the Big Split (Zanza/Mechonis cutscenes), the visions you receive stop being provided solely by Zanza.
Funny thing, Zanza believes he is feeding you the exact visions he needs, but there is one vision in the early game that shows this is no true
Rewatch the vision Shulk gets when meeting Melia for the first time, he sees the party fighting a telethia, but if you look carefully, its vs Lorithia instead of vs the Malkna Forest Telethia!
Aaaand subscribed.
This game has meant a great deal to me this last decade. A mental roadblock, as well as a source of comfort. It helped me during a really dark time in my life, but also stayed in that dark place as well.
Great video. Always fun watching it with newer context clues and notice subtle cues to something deeper happening.
Wait, was it ever confirmed what the red lights actually are? I theorized that it was blood flowing through the unit to make the whole thing untouchable to the Monado.
I don't think it's ever explicitly stated, but I think that's a pretty logical theory. It would also explain why characters like Metal Face cry out in pain when the Monado starts to cut through the armor.
It was confirmed by Vanea right after you meet her.
She states that the Homs that are piloting the Face Mechon have been modified to have their blood flow through the frame of the mech itself. Since the Monado couldn’t harm those that had blood relation to Zanza, it couldn’t cut through the frame as the frame had Homs blood flowing through it
@@KayJulers In the now translated book about the lore and stuff, it's said that Xord was one of the first faced mechon ever built, and he was built not with a full homs, but only vital organs for the imune system, brain, and bloodflow. It's pretty much confirmed at this point.
@@Laenthor did you encounter the Hom in colony 9 who knows Xord? I think it was a Sidequest.
@@kass1089 Her daughter talks about how he had a place where he fixed machines "Xord's forgery" or something like that I don' t remember, you can actually get that dialogue before Mumkar's reveal
The delivery of Shulk's lines is beautiful. The first time I played the game was on the 3ds with headphones on and when Shulk proclaims to Metal Face "I'll kill you" it was chilling. It was no different in DE. The emotions throughout the game feel real, and that's why I'll never see XC2 as the better entry.
Another iconic moment is the scene right before this one when he receives the first vision and says, 'It's as if I could see into the future." There's a sense of bewilderment but also wonder in his voice, and most importantly, hope. Like you mentioned, it makes Loss even harder to see because they had just seemed to grasp victory even if Dunban had been overwhelmed by the Monado.
My one gripe is I like the original song better than the DE version simply because it doesn't have the almost screech in the climax.
There are some moments in XC2 that hit _REALLY_ hard, but the overall pacing is honestly terrible, I thought Tora was a terrible character with few redeeming qualities, and I absolutely hated the gameplay. I don't think I could honestly recommend XC2 to people who don't already love Xenoblade.
Incredible video & commentary, you are talented.
Describing everything we can see, useful interpretation of actions and motivations, the effect of musical pieces, description of emotions, comparison to other medium, talking about the voice acting & how YOU felt immersed.
Not only did you capture what happened, you made the viewer relive it once again and allowed him to understand what made him so invested in the first place.
I have to say, this video is to the „Videos which explain what makes Xenoblade so good“ what „Loss“ is to Xenoblade!
A maassterpiece
"Homanity received a grim reminder."
A+. Genius. End of story.
AMAZING video!! Keep up the incredible work!!!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed!
Loved the game when I first played it on “New” 3DS, and the new facial expression improvements make this game even better in immersing me in the story. I just reached Valak Mountain and every cutscene since really makes me itching to get to Mechonis for obvious reasons regarding Metal Face lol.
im glad someone else brought up the enhanced expression in a lot of the characters. a lot of people had worries about the new more anime art style, and after seeing how they were able to make this cutscene especially and many more invoke more emotion through just showing the characters feeling more emotion through their expressions really makes the scene even better in DE
One of the most emotional scenes ever, good video !
Thanks a bunch, Angel!
You did a great job on this video. Very enjoyable!
Amazing video.. this truly sums up all the emotions I had when I originally played Xenoblade and this scene happened
This was an absolute amazing and extremely well made analasys of one of my favourite games of all time.
And its just 1 cutscene.
You deserve way more subscribers.
I was already on the verge of tears but you showing Buccellati biting his lips made me finally break down crying. Amazing video. I love this game.
First time I played this game, I did NOT AT ALL expect this to be a revenge story....
I found your channel yesterday and have been bingeing all of your Xenoblade videos, and man, i gotta say you are one of my new favorite channels! Your ability to understand and express little details is amazing! I’ve subscribed and can’t wait for more!
I love your in depth xenoblade videos. Awesome vid as always
Thanks so much!
This video popped up in my recommended randomly and I decided to give it a watch, and now after I've binged almost all of your XC1 and XCX videos (haven't played 2 yet), I gotta say it's a crime you only have 3k subs
As a Xenoblade 1 fan for almost 7 years now, your story analysis videos are definitely the best I've seen on the game
This video seems to be blowing up and I'm glad, it's very well deserved, and I hope XC1DE's popularity gives your channel a well deserved boost
Video was amazing, keep up the amazing work
This video is not only an excellent analysis, but is edited so, so well. So many great gags with great timing. You earned yourself another subscriber good sir
So metal face is perfect chaos 2: hot metal knife Butter edition
Lol Metal Face's theme was actually "Open Your Heart" and was meant to be taken literally this entire time! Poor Fiora.
I love the scene where shulk tries to save otharon. At a time where shulk is quite timid and doesn’t speak when he gets a vision because he’s worried he won’t be able to change the future, he tries to save otharon and seemingly fails. However, Reyn saves him, proving to shulk that he can’t change the future alone, but instead as a team
man, I never noticed all these brilliant little details packed into the cutscene. great video as always.
I’ve noticed since this video your channel has been growing a bit more and I’m happy more people are discovering your xenoblade videos since they are best I’ve seen on here
Awesome video man!
Just started watching your channel. Great Xenoblade content!
Favorite scene in the entire game for me is when you meet up with Dunban again, when Shulk starts up his monado and says those words will be his last (metal face's last) and ofc he doesn't succeed at that time but it still had my heart pumping when I played the game for the first time, the beat that start up as he activate his sword for that scene was something special.
I just LOVE your videos!!!
This scene is indeed really amazing!
❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for the support as always, Daniel! ❤️
I hate that I tear up everytime I watch this cutscene
Great video and explanation. I hope to watch you make more content in the future
Wow this is one of the best analysis videos I’ve seen. 😳
Im amazed you have so little subs. Incredible video! I finished XC for the first time a few days ago and absolutely loved it.
I think the remastered soundtrack enhanced this moment so much as well, it’s a shame I seem to be alone in that.
YOU ARE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT!! what a great video!!!!
(BIG endgame spoilers read at own risk)
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I think the electricity around Shulk’s body is supposed to represent Zanza. In the next cutscene, Shulk mentions ‘in my head there are two versions of me’, one that’s more logical and Shulk-like with ‘Fiora sacrificed herself for me she wouldn’t want me to get revenge’ and the other being Zanza’s influence crying out for revenge. In this scene, Shulk is angry when the electricity surrounds him, and jumps to sad when the electricity leaves. So I think the electricity is Zanza trying to get Shulk to fight, but Shulk’s feelings power through Zanza’s efforts and he goes back to a more Shulk-like sadness. (Sorry I can’t explain good)
Shulk was aldo feared of metal face before screaming "i'll kill youuuu!!!!!!!!!1111!1!"
I think it's because Zanza controlling him
There really are so many great scenes in this game, but I would say my favorite (at least so far anyways...I just started the last chapter) is the one with, who I will call #7 to avoid spoilers, on the fallen arm. That moment literally made me cry as I felt that swelling eruption of pure emotion.
I even went back to watch it a second time a day later and it still brought tears to my eyes. That was a seriously powerful moment for me!
After watching this video I was actually shocked to see you have so few subscribers. This was excellently made, and did a beautiful job of showing why this cutscene has stuck with me for almost 10 years. The line delivery of "I'll kill you" is so bone chilling because of all the factors you mentioned, giving weight to the entire rest of the journey.
great vid dude. This game is amazing in every way. I'm subscribing :D
great video I really liked it
When I first saw this scene while playing the game, I was shocked, and I actually almost shedded a tear, but then the scene where Dunban explains how he deals with his grief to Shulk actually brings out an important life lesson. This is why I enjoy the story of Xenoblade Chronicles so much.
Great video! Loved it
Thank you for the kind words!
This cutscene is burned into my subconscious so much that I cry every time I hear Engage The Enemy. Every. Single. Time.
You used the classic version of "Engage the Enemy"
I see you are a man of culture.
How this game managed to have different cutscenes all sync soooo well with the same piece of amazing music is like magic to me
I applaud you for even being able to choose a favourite cutscene in the game. The whole game is a constant stream a highs and there are so many other scenes you could find some amazing examples of storytelling in.
Yeah this cutscene was amazing, and I LOVED this analysis! Personally though, “the golden mechon” hit the hardest for me. With the music and everything going on, it caused me to immediately head to the event menu to watch it again haha.
Edit: it’s preceding cutscene kinda helps the impact of it too
Such an awesome video, once again! I watched it on my private account so sorry for damaging your watchtime on this by changing to this acc just to comment on it ':D You went into such amazing detail that I suddenly understood a little bit better why I myself was drawn into the game so much by this scene :D Keep up the awesome work man!
You explained it perfectly, this is exactly why my heart aches every time I hear this theme song, because it’s so closely associated with all the emotions in this cut scene.
Even thought I already knew Fiora was going to die because is hard to avoid spoilers for more than 8 years, this scene is so powerful that I felt how my chest was going to explode to Shulk's "I'LL KILL YOU" and Dunban's face when Fiora was stabbed.
I'm really glad that I finally was able to play this masterpiece.
I know this video is a few months old but after just completing the game today (I did the superbosses btw Abaasy can suck one) the early game cutscenes and everything related to them feel alien to me. Maybe it's just because what happens later is insane but it's wild to think the simple beginnings at Colony 9 go somewhere truly crazy. Excellent game. And great video dude.
Now if only Smash didn't have those two level up Legendary spirits involing key characters. Yeah you know the ones...
This videos are amazing. I would love it if you can make one with Tornas ending, that cutscene is also emotionally very impactfull and full of details.
My favourite detail from that scene that you only notice from a rewatch after beating the game is Metal Faces' long state at Dunban before leaving, it's great foreshadowing as to who he really is.
This cutscene made me cry for the first time. Never made me cry before. You changed this whole cutscene for me.
16:21 thank you for cropping out the stuff on the left
god i swear, no matter how many times i watch this scene, i get goosebumps
Thanks for making me cry again
You need many more subscribers
This is amazing
Holy crap this needs more views
Never got the chance to react to this cutscene blind, but it still hits me every time.
This sence made me hooked to the game so much
Yea i constantly rewatch this scene ngl
Great analysis! I felt exactly the same about what you talked about in this video, when I first time watched this cut scene. It was such a disbelieve moment for me to see Fiora die. You know, common story plots in games would suggest that whoever you encounter at the begging of the game, would normal be with the main protagonist to the end or at least for a while. This cut scene destroys your expectation such early on and leaves a huge uncertainty to the future. I think this is another reason how great it sets up the tune for the rest of the game for the players.
I think the second most important cut scene that changed everything is the moment that Shulk was be able to use Monado to damage the Faced Mechon. The symbol in the middle of the Monado before this cut scene always displays 機, which is a Kanji literally means machine. This is the reason why Monado is so effective on damaging Mechons. Depends how Shulk wants to use Monado, the character will change, and the function of Monado will change accordingly as well, e.g. 盾 for shield, 疾 for speed/haste, 食 for eat, etc. I had such a chill feeling literally form my hands to the top of my head at the moment Monado changed from 機 to 人 (human). This confirmed so many speculations I had. And it also gave me this fear that, now there no limitation of what Monado can or can't do. It can kill both machine and human. With such immense power and nothing to hold it back, what will Shulk do? Can he still maintain himself without being consumed by such power? Does he realize that for every Faced Mechon his destroys is a person he kills? Where will this lead him to? This moment reveals so much information, like Mumkhar could be the Faced Mechon, Fiora could still be alive, there reason Mechons where "eating" people, etc. I had to pause the game and thought for while to process all these before I could continue watching the rest cut scene.
But in the end, I was so happy when Shulk stopped Dunban when Dunban tried to give a final blow to Mumkhar. Trust me, I was as eager to Mumkhar dead as much as Dunban. But I feel more happy to see Shulk knows what power he has and he realizes what he is dealing with. In the end, Mimkhar died without putting anyone's hands dirty and Shulk is still Shilk, it was a win win to me =D