Small note: Blades only exist in Xenoblade 2, you probably mixed them with Rex and Pyra, actual protagonist and Blade. Shulk and Fiora are from the original Xenoblade, her being Shulk's... "Best female friend"/Childhood friend? Girlfriend? All of the above
Childhood friend fits. There is. an oddity there where it's not really stated as girlfriend.. But she does bring him soup (when this is first played) and often tends to Bring food to Shulk as he.. forgets to eat. so while they are not relatives.. it's more like that Little brother/ older sister relationship they got. Marco WAS correct though on how they both do kind of joke and play around with the other.. Case and point the scene this plays in (really early in game mind): Fiora asks him "is it good? " (a sandwich and soup) Shulk replies, : "yeah. your food is always good. But today.. it's amazing.." Fiora: Really?! shulk: yeah Fiora: thank goodness. I used some special herbs and spices today. So if you said it was just the same as usual, i'd know for sure you have no sense of taste! Shulk: what? Fiora: oooh, nothing!
@@jesseallen3109 That would more accurately be read as Fiora being exasperated that her childhood friend/crush/kinda boyfriend but not really is denser than a black hole imo. After all, her first reaction when they're reunited at the beach is happiness that he was her first kiss.
What I found funny is that Marco was actually kinda right saying Fiora is a blade though to be precise. Indeed, Fiora IS used as a blade in a Xenoblade 2 DLC. Now I know the only thing this DLC could probably be associated with as canon would be Smash with the Pyra/Mythra trailer when Shulk says: "I never expected to see you two again" so obviously it's not canon regarding the Xenoblade lore or it would become quite problematic, but still it's a bit comical in my opinion. It's more a yes, but actually no situation.
Blades also exist in Xenoblade Chronicles X. But they're 2 entirely different things. In XC2 they're pretty much life forms born from crystals. While in XCX it's an organisation. It's members are also referred to as Blades, but the organisation is called BLADE as well.
I really wish from weeks that he heard Zanza the Divine, it kinda give me fear to him describing in the totality the meaning of the song as always, but is so good that I could take that XD
One of things I appreciate about this song is that it really hones in on and expands the gentle/familiar-feeling motifs of the Main Theme of Xenoblade Chronicles (a theme which, overall, encompasses the entire hero’s journey of the game). As such, “Shulk and Fiora” feels like it demonstrates the peace and tranquillity that the Main Theme longs for.
Shulk and Fiora is my personal favorite song from Xenoblade 1, but it's not because of Shulk or Fiora. Cheers to all the third wheels out there, heartbroken they cannot be with the one they loved.
Shulk is the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles and Fiora is his childhood friend/love interest and another playable character. This song plays in some cutscenes throughout the game. (not just with the two of them)
I’m amazed at how you almost perfectly interpreted their dynamic from just this theme. Great interpretation on your end and also a brilliantly composed piece. I know everyone is suggesting more Xenoblade songs so I’ll throw my hand in for the agniratha themes. Day and night are both great, night has a solo vocalist which is really splendid.
I know Zanza the Divine will eventually come, so, in the meantime, I'll say "Ophilia, the cleric" from Octopath Traveler. Such a nice and warm melody (while living in the cold mountains, ironically). OT is a master at that. And tension. And epicity. And sadness. And unsettledness. And everything that has to be with orchestral music.
Fiora and Shulk romantic relationship is one of the best I ever seen in gaming/ manga/ anime. They were built so good. You should give a chance for Xenoblade 1 (if you have the time of course, because it is massive RPG that I was only able to beat in month because of the corona).
I'd say Lunar 1 & 2 take that cake (especially the complete versions). But I think it's trash in FFX. Not all that logical, the chemistry feels fake, the writing is just off, etc. Doesn't really help that Tidus is a rather typical representation of an American high-school football player. Not sure which is worse between the love stories of FFVIII and FFX, but I consider both of them to be pretty terrible. Worst one is probably from The Last Story. The main couple is just so dull and the writing is just so poor. Any 5 minutes from the 'secondary couple' in that game trounces every single moment between the main couple.
I really think you hit the nail on the head with the whole tenderness aspect. I love how it adds so many minor intervals throughout the song, it makes the song feel super bittersweet and nostalgic. I know you already get a lot of requests and suggestions, but I can't not recommend Once We Part Ways. It's a beautifully tragic song, it still makes me emotional. It's only used a handful of times, but it's always to represent the idea of leaving the old world behind, and entering a new one. It's played right near the beginning of your journey, and again when it comes to an end. I can't give it a higher recommendation.
I remember this song touching me back when I played it around 2015, I guess Xenoblade isn’t really niche anymore but it’s cool to see someone react to this specific song in its OST.
A really underappreciated Xenoblade track is Sea of Clouds from 2. It's like a star gazing with that special someone type song, beautiful but makes you ponder at the same time
God I love how peaceful this theme is, and it shares much of the main theme's melody which is just another great theme. One theme I would love to see you react to is Unfinished Battle, or Unfinished Business is another name for it. Probably one of the best tracks in the game in my opinion
3:26 Wow! You got it spot on basically! Shulk and Fiora were lifelong friends/young lovers, then during the events of the game, they become separated, and this song plays when they're reunited basically
This is super interesting to watch. As someone who played the games, I can understand and feel the emotional feeling the songs portray because I got attached to them. But seeing a professional's reaction to them and how they interpret them raw without any influence from the game is very entertaining and shows how much these songs can carry just as music.
I really love your Xenoblade music analysis videos! Hope to see Zanza the Divine, great track. And I hope you'd analyze some Zelda songs one of these days as well, has incredible songs as well.
Yet another Yoko Shimomura track SO much of this track is pulling themes from other parts of the game (Specifically it pulls a lot from Thoughts to a friend and the main theme) Then she adds new piano parts to it and omg it always gets me so emotional listening to this track. Literally my favorite composer and her contributions to this soundtrack are certainly part of the reason why
Shulk and Fiora has a...I don't know how else to say this, but an early Nintendo games vibe to it. It reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for some reason, just a simple piece that you can hum and smile. I hope you get the opportunity to play it, I have the definitive edition and played the original version back on the Wii. It is a major time investment (talking 100 hours if you do all the side content), but it is the definition of an rpg and 1000% worth the time.
Interestingly, this was one of the few songs that was NOT remastered for the Definitive Edition, so it sounds the same here as it did back in 2010 on the wii version of the game.
Oh no another banger song that makes me want to make a bad financial decision. I am already getting ideas for other jrpg songs to recommend. But of course I must stay committed first. Day twelve of recommending Stay Gold from the Arknights OST
Xenoblade is one of my favvourite OSTs along with Halo 3, would love to hear you react to 'Behold a Pale Horse' Halo 3, also Guar Plains is my favourite from Xenoblade !
Make sure you react to Gaur Plains music in game. The music and the location make so much sense. It's the most fitting music in any zone in any game I've ever seen. The music entitled "Memories" is also super recommend, and "Thoughts of a friend" has so much sugar and honey I don't recommend if you're diabetic.
I'd say Mechonis Field is about equal in terms of being just as fitting. Though besides that... it doesn't get more fitting than perfectly fitting. And while these fit perfectly, there are many tracks that perfectly fit their stage/environment in many different games. Heck, Sonic games alone are f***ing legendary when it comes to this. Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles and Mania... each and every single one of their tracks perfect fits.
You might notice that the main theme you listened to earlier contains a lot of the elements of this song. Shulk and Fiora are basically the central relationship for the entire game - Shulk says her name almost as often as "Monado", the titular strange blade of the title!
If you want to switch it up a bit, I can only recommend E.O.V. from Trails of Cold Steel 2 (Sen No Kiseki 2), and anything else composed by Jindo in any of arcs from the Legend of Heroes : Trails series. The way he uses choirs and orchestra are absolutely amazing in E.O.V. although he does have other great compositions (Great Power from Cold Steel 1 comes to mind too, as well as Holy Saint, Holy Spirit). Other compositors at Falcom have great tracks (Phantasmal Blaze, Blue Destination, To be continued, Unfathomed Force, The Azure Arbitrator) but none of them are allowed to use live instruments or vocals due to being inhouse employees whereas Jindo can as a contractor (due to a stupid policy from the game studio). For those who don't know this 20 years old and 11+ games series that's still ongoing with characters from the first games still acting as secondary characters, here's a link to the song I'm talking about: ruclips.net/video/1Dga3Vw1NQ0/видео.html
3:34 - 3:55 is way too accurate. It is amazing how the music encodes the plot in such a way that you can hear it. Those who don't know: 😃 Those who know: 💀
Not all of the music in Xenoblade Chronicles was remastered for the Definitive Edition. All of the area and battle themes were remastered, but only a handful of the music in cutscenes were remastered. The only cutscene music tracks that were remastered were the following: Engage the Enemy, A Tragic Decision, Zanza the Divine, The God-Slaying Sword, and Zanza's World. All the tracks that weren't remastered only sound better because of the better audio quality of the Switch compared to the Wii and New 3DS.
Weeeell, for those who've seen what happens storywise, I actually got a chuckle, cause "blade" (although technically wrong terminology) isn't actually far off... but I may have gone too far already.
I'm gonna go and Recommend you some wildly different songs to react to. The game is called "Enderal" and is basically a mod for Skyrim that became a standalone game. There are Songs that the Bards sing in the Taverns throughout the land. Two of Those Songs are called "The Winter Sky" and "The Night of the Raven". While i prefer the German versions of those songs i also really like the English versions. It literally makes me stop with whatever i'm doing right now and listen to the Bards sing. When a song in a game makes you do this, there must be something special to it.
Small note: Blades only exist in Xenoblade 2, you probably mixed them with Rex and Pyra, actual protagonist and Blade. Shulk and Fiora are from the original Xenoblade, her being Shulk's... "Best female friend"/Childhood friend? Girlfriend? All of the above
Childhood friend fits. There is. an oddity there where it's not really stated as girlfriend.. But she does bring him soup (when this is first played) and often tends to Bring food to Shulk as he.. forgets to eat. so while they are not relatives.. it's more like that Little brother/ older sister relationship they got.
Marco WAS correct though on how they both do kind of joke and play around with the other.. Case and point the scene this plays in (really early in game mind): Fiora asks him "is it good? " (a sandwich and soup)
Shulk replies, : "yeah. your food is always good. But today.. it's amazing.."
Fiora: Really?!
shulk: yeah
Fiora: thank goodness. I used some special herbs and spices today. So if you said it was just the same as usual, i'd know for sure you have no sense of taste!
Shulk: what?
Fiora: oooh, nothing!
@@jesseallen3109 That would more accurately be read as Fiora being exasperated that her childhood friend/crush/kinda boyfriend but not really is denser than a black hole imo. After all, her first reaction when they're reunited at the beach is happiness that he was her first kiss.
@@DragonEdge10 aye. She was happy about that. But it was doubly so at that point because ... Well... Spoilers. But I'm sure you know.
What I found funny is that Marco was actually kinda right saying Fiora is a blade though to be precise. Indeed, Fiora IS used as a blade in a Xenoblade 2 DLC. Now I know the only thing this DLC could probably be associated with as canon would be Smash with the Pyra/Mythra trailer when Shulk says: "I never expected to see you two again" so obviously it's not canon regarding the Xenoblade lore or it would become quite problematic, but still it's a bit comical in my opinion. It's more a yes, but actually no situation.
Blades also exist in Xenoblade Chronicles X. But they're 2 entirely different things. In XC2 they're pretty much life forms born from crystals. While in XCX it's an organisation. It's members are also referred to as Blades, but the organisation is called BLADE as well.
Highly recommend Zanza the Divine and God Slaying Sword. It’s better to listen to them both back to back.
I really wish from weeks that he heard Zanza the Divine, it kinda give me fear to him describing in the totality the meaning of the song as always, but is so good that I could take that XD
Zanza the Divine is one of those songs you'll always find yourself unconsciously bopping your head to even after the 100th listen...
The breeze feels so good. I wish every day could be like this, always
he literally just accurately guesses their relationship from just listening this song
😂😂
One of things I appreciate about this song is that it really hones in on and expands the gentle/familiar-feeling motifs of the Main Theme of Xenoblade Chronicles (a theme which, overall, encompasses the entire hero’s journey of the game). As such, “Shulk and Fiora” feels like it demonstrates the peace and tranquillity that the Main Theme longs for.
I super recommend you try Xenoblade 1. It's story is divine
I second that! It’s one of the best games ever made, for me at least
absolutely YES
If you liked this one, I recommend “the fallen land” which can be thought of as almost the spiritual part 2 to this song.
I wish I could explain the weight of this song, but with the HEAVY SPOILERS, I just can't. It's very sad
Shulk and Fiora is my personal favorite song from Xenoblade 1, but it's not because of Shulk or Fiora. Cheers to all the third wheels out there, heartbroken they cannot be with the one they loved.
#PoorMelia
I love the use of this piece in Future Connected. It overwrites the sadness that I feel remembering Melia.
Shulk is the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles and Fiora is his childhood friend/love interest and another playable character. This song plays in some cutscenes throughout the game. (not just with the two of them)
I’m amazed at how you almost perfectly interpreted their dynamic from just this theme. Great interpretation on your end and also a brilliantly composed piece.
I know everyone is suggesting more Xenoblade songs so I’ll throw my hand in for the agniratha themes. Day and night are both great, night has a solo vocalist which is really splendid.
Fiora is the childhood friend/romantic interest. Anything more is forbidden spoiler territory so I won't say.
I know Zanza the Divine will eventually come, so, in the meantime, I'll say "Ophilia, the cleric" from Octopath Traveler. Such a nice and warm melody (while living in the cold mountains, ironically). OT is a master at that. And tension. And epicity. And sadness. And unsettledness. And everything that has to be with orchestral music.
My God. Any Octopath track would be great to hear
AH- I love this song, with the motif of the main theme. Ah, such a sad song
Fiora and Shulk romantic relationship is one of the best I ever seen in gaming/ manga/ anime. They were built so good. You should give a chance for Xenoblade 1 (if you have the time of course, because it is massive RPG that I was only able to beat in month because of the corona).
I'd say Lunar 1 & 2 take that cake (especially the complete versions). But I think it's trash in FFX. Not all that logical, the chemistry feels fake, the writing is just off, etc. Doesn't really help that Tidus is a rather typical representation of an American high-school football player. Not sure which is worse between the love stories of FFVIII and FFX, but I consider both of them to be pretty terrible. Worst one is probably from The Last Story. The main couple is just so dull and the writing is just so poor. Any 5 minutes from the 'secondary couple' in that game trounces every single moment between the main couple.
The question and answer to this song is just SO beautiful
yes more xenoblade songs youre literally covering all the songs i love its amazing
I really think you hit the nail on the head with the whole tenderness aspect. I love how it adds so many minor intervals throughout the song, it makes the song feel super bittersweet and nostalgic.
I know you already get a lot of requests and suggestions, but I can't not recommend Once We Part Ways. It's a beautifully tragic song, it still makes me emotional. It's only used a handful of times, but it's always to represent the idea of leaving the old world behind, and entering a new one. It's played right near the beginning of your journey, and again when it comes to an end. I can't give it a higher recommendation.
I remember this song touching me back when I played it around 2015, I guess Xenoblade isn’t really niche anymore but it’s cool to see someone react to this specific song in its OST.
I really recommend u to listen to Xenoblade Chronicles OST Gaur plains
You can actually change the time of day in this game, and I always set it to sunset for the scene in which this song is heard for the first time.
A really underappreciated Xenoblade track is Sea of Clouds from 2. It's like a star gazing with that special someone type song, beautiful but makes you ponder at the same time
Loved the fan fic part of the review 👍
God I love how peaceful this theme is, and it shares much of the main theme's melody which is just another great theme. One theme I would love to see you react to is Unfinished Battle, or Unfinished Business is another name for it. Probably one of the best tracks in the game in my opinion
Love xenoblade music so much hope you keep doing more music from this series
3:26 Wow! You got it spot on basically! Shulk and Fiora were lifelong friends/young lovers, then during the events of the game, they become separated, and this song plays when they're reunited basically
You really should play Xenoblade, I know it can be dense a little bit I am sure your community would help you from getting to overwhelmed.
I could consider streaming it!
What about “Zanza the Divine”? I’d kill to hear that one!..
Absolutely love the Xeno content you’re doing👍
Why did your explanation in 3:30 made me cry? Like, really shed a tier, not just writing that it made me emotional.
This is super interesting to watch.
As someone who played the games, I can understand and feel the emotional feeling the songs portray because I got attached to them. But seeing a professional's reaction to them and how they interpret them raw without any influence from the game is very entertaining and shows how much these songs can carry just as music.
One of my favorite tracks from the game! ❤️
I really love your Xenoblade music analysis videos! Hope to see Zanza the Divine, great track. And I hope you'd analyze some Zelda songs one of these days as well, has incredible songs as well.
Oh please do Zanza the Divine! That is a good piece to react to!
love seeing people enjoy music from my favorite game of all time
Highly recommend A Tragic Decision or You Will Know our Names, Marco.
This track made me cry in my first walkthrough.
Yet another Yoko Shimomura track
SO much of this track is pulling themes from other parts of the game (Specifically it pulls a lot from Thoughts to a friend and the main theme)
Then she adds new piano parts to it and omg it always gets me so emotional listening to this track.
Literally my favorite composer and her contributions to this soundtrack are certainly part of the reason why
I actually like Thoughts to a Friend more than this one. Main theme as well.
wow that song is indeed really sweet
I will do the same as the others and recommend Zanza the divine.
Loved this game and it’s music
Shulk and Fiora has a...I don't know how else to say this, but an early Nintendo games vibe to it. It reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for some reason, just a simple piece that you can hum and smile. I hope you get the opportunity to play it, I have the definitive edition and played the original version back on the Wii. It is a major time investment (talking 100 hours if you do all the side content), but it is the definition of an rpg and 1000% worth the time.
Interestingly, this was one of the few songs that was NOT remastered for the Definitive Edition, so it sounds the same here as it did back in 2010 on the wii version of the game.
Oh no another banger song that makes me want to make a bad financial decision. I am already getting ideas for other jrpg songs to recommend.
But of course I must stay committed first.
Day twelve of recommending Stay Gold from the Arknights OST
I always associate “A friend on my mind” with Schulk and Fiora. So many great songs in the series. It would be great to see you review that.
Xenoblade is one of my favvourite OSTs along with Halo 3, would love to hear you react to 'Behold a Pale Horse' Halo 3, also Guar Plains is my favourite from Xenoblade !
I hope you give the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack a listen. One of my favorite ost's of all time.
Make sure you react to Gaur Plains music in game.
The music and the location make so much sense.
It's the most fitting music in any zone in any game I've ever seen.
The music entitled "Memories" is also super recommend, and "Thoughts of a friend" has so much sugar and honey I don't recommend if you're diabetic.
I'd say Mechonis Field is about equal in terms of being just as fitting. Though besides that... it doesn't get more fitting than perfectly fitting. And while these fit perfectly, there are many tracks that perfectly fit their stage/environment in many different games. Heck, Sonic games alone are f***ing legendary when it comes to this. Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles and Mania... each and every single one of their tracks perfect fits.
I'm waiting for you to reacts to shadow of the lowlands and our eternal land from Xenoblade 2
They reconnected later in life. HOW DO YOU KNOW?
You might notice that the main theme you listened to earlier contains a lot of the elements of this song. Shulk and Fiora are basically the central relationship for the entire game - Shulk says her name almost as often as "Monado", the titular strange blade of the title!
If you want to switch it up a bit, I can only recommend E.O.V. from Trails of Cold Steel 2 (Sen No Kiseki 2), and anything else composed by Jindo in any of arcs from the Legend of Heroes : Trails series. The way he uses choirs and orchestra are absolutely amazing in E.O.V. although he does have other great compositions (Great Power from Cold Steel 1 comes to mind too, as well as Holy Saint, Holy Spirit). Other compositors at Falcom have great tracks (Phantasmal Blaze, Blue Destination, To be continued, Unfathomed Force, The Azure Arbitrator) but none of them are allowed to use live instruments or vocals due to being inhouse employees whereas Jindo can as a contractor (due to a stupid policy from the game studio).
For those who don't know this 20 years old and 11+ games series that's still ongoing with characters from the first games still acting as secondary characters, here's a link to the song I'm talking about: ruclips.net/video/1Dga3Vw1NQ0/видео.html
Wou;d love to hear you reacting to Deus Ex music in the future. Mainly the theme
Great song, I love the quieter ones better in this game, since it's overall soundscape gets a bit too noisy during battles.
I’d recommend listening to some tracks from the Kingdom Hearts series. Absolutely phenomenal music. Dearly Beloved would be the perfect place to start
3:34 - 3:55 is way too accurate. It is amazing how the music encodes the plot in such a way that you can hear it.
Those who don't know: 😃
Those who know: 💀
Not all of the music in Xenoblade Chronicles was remastered for the Definitive Edition. All of the area and battle themes were remastered, but only a handful of the music in cutscenes were remastered. The only cutscene music tracks that were remastered were the following: Engage the Enemy, A Tragic Decision, Zanza the Divine, The God-Slaying Sword, and Zanza's World. All the tracks that weren't remastered only sound better because of the better audio quality of the Switch compared to the Wii and New 3DS.
Play this game till you leave town you'll see things
Weeeell, for those who've seen what happens storywise, I actually got a chuckle, cause "blade" (although technically wrong terminology) isn't actually far off... but I may have gone too far already.
Can you please do Zanza the devine and God slaying sword next.
try Sylvalum (night) - Xenoblade Chronicles X
Sylvalum (piano arr.) - Xenoblade Chronicles X
So nah so fern (violin ver.) - Xenoblade Chronicles X
Based based based based baded
I'm gonna go and Recommend you some wildly different songs to react to. The game is called "Enderal" and is basically a mod for Skyrim that became a standalone game.
There are Songs that the Bards sing in the Taverns throughout the land. Two of Those Songs are called "The Winter Sky" and "The Night of the Raven".
While i prefer the German versions of those songs i also really like the English versions. It literally makes me stop with whatever i'm doing right now and listen to the Bards sing. When a song in a game makes you do this, there must be something special to it.
totally forgot to mention that there are male and female bards to sing some songs. What i meant was "The Winter Sky" from the female bards.
Please listen to zanza the divine
Listen to Theme X vom Xenoblade Chronicles X... 😉
Attack on Titan music reaction when?
Never :"D
The birds and the eagles will happen some time.
For that one... Its best for you to not know the context.