Even with the late start thx to a number of factors, it is always nice to see reviewers playing on their own time at a regular pace every once in a while. Enjoyment, immersion, and annoyances all feel more genuine and simmered when there's less of the gotta-rush factors that probably plague every long RPG playthrough pre-release.
It took me 112 hours to finish it on Hard and it was soooooo worth it, imho THE best ending to a Xenoblade game. One of best casts of characters in any videogame. You can really tell there was a jump in budget between 2 and 3, my only gripe is that the main villain should've been more present in the story, but they nailed almost everything else.
Couldn't agree more, I do appreciate monolith soft more mature approach to the story though and not answering everything. Life doesn't always give you answers so I can see where they were going.
I'm slightly baffled that Monolith Soft didn't allow the leveling-down aspect until hitting New Game+ when Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition had it from the start.
"The thing you do for 50% of the game isn't fun for 80% of the game's length, and the game is fundamentally broken in that it provides no tension or challenge." 9 out of 10 wat.
I'm playing it right now, about 30 hours in. So far, I love it. I felt a little "restricted" at the beginning, when it comes to exploration, but at the moment the game really opens up and once you get behind how the chain attacks work and you can significantly boost your experience and class points at the end of a chain, it feels so satisfying. Side quests are much more interesting too. And I agree that the "level down" option should be available from the very beginning.
Great succinct review for such an apparently epic journey through the world of Xenoblade. Hopefully the veterans of the genre will be challenged sufficiently to slog through what appears to be another grand story arc. As we've grown accustomed to such a high level of review from the allies, we hope it's not derivative to again heap praise upon their time and dedication displayed here.
I've gotta say, I didn't find myself tiring of the battle system, it was my favorite of the series. I was enjoying battles throughout. I rarely skipped many enemies
It does have a lot to do with how you level and the difficulty mode. Skipping campfire leveling and playing on Hard seem right for me. I agree that the game could have managed over leveling better.
Yeah, I purposely stopped using bonus exp until post game. But I actually like being a little overleveled in JRPGs. I like feeling strong. I managed to stay within 3-4 levels of most enemies even with lots and lots of exploring, and that's about perfect for me.
I wish that had been the case for me. I felt like I was doing pretty organic exploration, and I still wound up being 10 levels over for the last third of the game.
I dunno man. I explored almost every inch I could find, did all of the hero quests and most of the regular side quests I could find, all the while fighting the majority of the enemies I came up to(or that came up to me), and I was never at any point 10 levels over except when I used bonus exp. Crazy
I'm 80 hours in and still at Chapter 6. It's crazy how good the side quests are in terms of world building and just making you invested in the characters. It's like they took the Witcher 3 to heart + the exploration of Breath of The wild + The story and characters of a good old JRPGs. Needs Improvement: * I definitely agree with the review that if they only made the enemy battle mechanics more diverse or have level syncing like in FF14 to reach the full potential of the mmo ish battle system * a fix on some of those ludonarrative dissonances (like how the heroes stick out like a sore thumb or left out in some story moments) * game needs a codex badly (bestiary, lore, story) fix these and it would be a near-perfect JRPG.
Kind of a weird review in some spots, to be honest. I think it's a little weird to say the character swapping "could use some refinement" without actually explaining what's wrong with it. My assumption is he wanted to choose who to switch to rather than cycle through, which is fair, but anyone who hasn't played the game I would imagine would want more information. Also the "basic attacks can be fused together to begin an interlink" isn't super accurate. Fusion attacks raise your interlink level which is ultimately completely optional just for a buff. The interlink itself has nothing to do with fusion arts and is begun just by pressing left on the d pad any time.
indeed, if he could at least point how chaging to a specific characters could have been implemented, within the game UI and limited buttons availability, that would have made for a better critic.
Nice review. The game is incredible, Monolith deserves all the prise they get and much more, this is easily the best RPG of the year up until now. As for the difficult, I think hard mode did pack a punch, even if you are overlevelled, and specially if you try the superbosses, so I disagree with this point of the review. Also, allowing to decrease the level before beating the game would actually make it more easier to break, since you can level down to get more XP from battles (there is a formula that takes your level in relation to the enemy quite a lot), and then level up again but more that what you had initially, making it super easy to get really high levels. Hence, they locked it to post game, where the goal is to use this to max the remaining classes.
Easy Allies editing/writing and Jones's voice makes any game look so appealing. They're an asset to the industry. Xeno 3 is my goty, I hope it's a contender against Elden Ring this year!
I felt like XB3 started off tremendously but had trouble closing all the concurrent narratives in the same impactful way - perhaps I'm alone in this opinion. Also the final boss encounter was pretty tedious.
I thought the game was great up untill the final stretch to the final boss. and the final bodd was just fine? Suffering from the Persona 4 and 5 final boss problem imo
my only issue with the game is the ending. The last act is just... not good? Which is odd because I would argue every single Xenoblade game up to now has excelled at its ending, even redeeming the slow/uninteresting starts like in Xenoblade 2
I found the final couple of Chapters more interesting than XC1's last act, but not as strong as 2. So for me, the ending and final stretch sits right in between the two. I still think XC1 is my favorite game in the series overall though
It was pretty good. Xenoblade 2 ending or final boss had a very good enemy....XB3 final boss...everyone's insecurities bundled into one big ball of gas.
One thing I found myself doing is, not leveling at the campfires... You level just by fighting enemies and then you can also level by choice at campfires, by not leveling at the campfires I was able to keep most enemies from being greyed out... Every now and then I would come across a particularly tough elite (Or epic perhaps, you know the yellow ones) and then have to level up a bit.
I paid a ton of attention to Hero and sidequests on my first playthrough (on Hard) and never got anywhere close to 20(!) levels over boss encounters. I think the reviewer was overusing Bonus XP. Anyhoo... one of the best RPGs I've ever played. An absolute masterpiece.
Ilove your review I just bought mine yesterday on sale I finally get to play sadly I have x1 n 2 never get to finish them and now I'm jumping on the 3rd one
@@golfer435 i mean overkill bonus is fun mech they design that way that why people will use it and that the problem for difficulty balance that i can enjoy battle but still feel worry to overlevel and easy at time
@@warm-heartedreaction6191 So up the difficulty. I played on Hard and regularly hit overkills and the only reason I was overleveled at the end was because I accidentally hit the max level button at the camp.
There's no other series quite like Xenoblade, especially among its contemporaries like the Tales series. I must protest Damiania's claim that the cast is simply "solid", they are probably the most likeable main cast in a JRPG I've ever played. Unlike Persona, (at least 4 and 5), Everyone banters with each other. Granted Noah isn't an "avatar" the way Yu and Rem are, and there are duos in Xeno3 which have their relationships emphasised more than others (thanks to the Ouroboros element), but I feel far more invested with them as a cast than I have with Persona or even most Final Fantasy games.
I don't agree, this cast although on the surface good never really got across to me as endearing as previous ones for some reason. Maybe it's the lack of heart to hearts or sidequests that focus on them and their interpersonal relationships. But once you get to the main part of the game through the end it feels like the cast gets sidelined in favor of focusing on the colonies, their troubles, their heroes, etc and your cast is sort of just there for the ride. You get one side story for each of them for their class ascensions and that's it, that's all you get. And nothing happens to further the bond between that character and their Ouroboros counterpart who is supposed to be basically in their head. They never really delve deeper into that interesting aspect of Ouroboros that could have made their character development even more interesting.
Now that Xenoblade and Splatoon are both on their third entries it would be nice to see Nintendo attempt some more new IP. I honestly thought the Mario Kart team might make a new IP since we're likely not getting Mario Kart 9 until the next console. But they're doing super late DLC for Mario Kart 8 instead to bridge that gap
Damiani I don't know why but this was one of my favorite reviews of yours. It still sounds like you but something is different. I don't even have any interest in the game so it's something about what you've done here.
Stellar game, great review. On the topic of difficulty, the devs were a bit too generous with EXP boosting mechanics. If you're picking this up: avoid using bonus EXP in rest spots and turn off overkill bonuses in the settings (unless you're stuck on a story boss and need the levels to beat it). Also, don't use EXP boosting food, it just makes it harder to level up your job classes. That should be enough to prevent the level/difficulty problem this reviewer had, even while doing all the optional content and exploration.
@@EasyAllies Exactly! I noticed this way too late and was about 20 levels over the boss levels for most of the game. Even switching the game to hard didn't made a difference. Edit: Lol, that is the exact same number of levels as you stated in the review. Funny that you had the exact same experience as me.
Played for about 15 hours but the story really did not catch me yet. Still thinking about it if I should give it another try as I absolutely adored Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
If you are taking a break and you're still thinking about it, I think that's a sign you should go back and push further. Something is pulling you to it
Same! Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of my favorite JRPGs ever but this 3rd entry isn't as interesting IMO... I think it's my least favourite of the trilogy.
Though I thought 2 had a stronger ending, I like 3's story more overall. I had a rough time sticking with 2 in the first half of the game, I came very, very close to dropping it in Chapter 4. I'm glad I didn't because it kicked up its game a lot in the back half, but 3 pulled me in immediately and never let me go once.
The beginning of the game is where it's at its most interesting. It peaks before the end and just sort of...stumbles over the finish line. It felt strangely hollow after a certain point and lost me well before the credits rolled.
Is this a good starting point ?? Like can i play this without playing the first 2 and also would this be ok for a first RPG. Im more of a casual, life sim gamer but ive been wanting to play something else. Is this a good game to dip my toes into 😊
They actually had just added it before I messaged them, but it's been a while since I talked to them. So good to have an excuse to get in touch. -Bloodworth
just finished the game today, flawed but amazing game, a step up from the 2nd game but the first one remains the best. this is how i rank the xbc games 👇. 4. Xbc2 3. X 2. Xbc3 1. Xbc1 This is how i rank the entire xeno series 👇. 8. Xenosaga 1: 6.0 7. Xenosaga 3: 7.5 6. Xenosaga 2: 8.0 5. Xbc2: 8.0 4. X: 8.5 3. Xbc3: 9.0 2. Xenogears: 9.5 1. Xbc1: 10 Top 25 gaming series of all time (21), top 5 rpg series of all time (4). Peace fools ✌.
Heard about the over level problem before I started so haven’t used any bonus exp so far and planning to only cash it in after I’ve beaten the final boss. (Currently part way through chapter 5 for those wondering)
I'm sorry but I can't get over my gripe with the main villain of this game. I won't go into details because of spoilers but I felt empty when I fought in the final battle. It didn't feel like I cared at all about the villain, there was no payoff or build up. It just was.
As others have pointed out, don't use bonus exp. I played the game on hard and it was insanely challenging until around the end of chapter 3 when I realized I was too high lvl. After that point I stopped using bonus exp and after a while my lvl sort of evened out and the challenge returned.
See, the one thing about this review I really disagree with is the quality of the world design. I think it's generally weaker than 1 and X, while being better than 2. There really aren't a lot of secret areas to be found in this game comoared with past entries, abd comparatively few areas that will stun you and make your jaw drop, not to mention almost all of them are confined to the same region.
errr Aionios overshadows Biones/Mechonis and Alrest by quite a lot... The only that is a match fro Aionios is Mira, and that is thanks to X movement options.
@@joebilly3719 I disagree, there's a lot of hidden stuff in Valak Mountain, the marshes and the forest, not to mention the layouts are a lot more interesting than, say the boring corridors of aionios' final 2 areas.
Hmm really? I personally found the world to be more cohesive and interesting than 2. I LOVED most of 2's individual areas design-wise, but overall I thought the worldbuilding was kind of flat until Chapter 7 or 8. XC3's setting felt more fully-realized to me! As for the endings themselves, I think 2 is a little stronger, but I'd still give 3's ending 8/10.
I'll have to agree to disagree. I find 3's world to be second after 1. I really loved XC2 in the back half. Strong story, wonderful characters, interesting areas in terms of exploration, but one thing about 2 that never hit home with me as much as the other games in the trilogy is the setting. As much as I liked each area on its own, they never felt like part of a whole to me; loosely connected by lore, which was cool lore mind you, but disjointed from each other. I really loved 3's setting from beginning to end, and the way the world is put together made it feel like a real place, areas very naturally connected to other areas much like 1. My sole complaint is that there are definitely fewer secret nooks and crannies(which the game makes up for IMO by them being insanely cool and feeling extremely special when I did find one)with some zones being a bit too straightforward, but beyond that, I found them about as majestic and fun to explore as the other Xenoblade games. I just really really love the worldbuilding and lore behind Aionios, it was so interesting! I think they gave me much more than enough to chew on and theorize about, letting me fill in the dots, and dropping enough tantalizing hints to see what they do next
Not only is this game a return to form after Xenoblade 2's flawed, lazy and ultimately disappointing state (with Torna showing us what we should've got the first time round), but it goes above and beyond to rival the first game as a masterpiece. Surpassing it in a few ways, even. While I still prefer the first's story, I'm surprised how well Xenoblade 3 fairs if you want to enjoy it as a self-contained narrative. Much like with Torna before it, Monolith Soft managed to salvage every good idea from Xenoblade 2, polish them to perfection, introduce NEW ideas to give this game its own identity, and do all this while meeting that same bar for quality as the masterpiece that started it all. Hell, they handled sidequests with the same finesse as Xenoblade X, which, as the world's biggest X fan, made me happier than you can imagine. This might just be the finest triple-A game I have ever played. And that's before the DLC is even finished yet. Also I don't blame Easy Allies for not getting this review out sooner. It took me 6 weeks to finish the game, and EVEN THEN, there were still post-game goodies to enjoy.
completely disagree with your statements regarding 2. Agree with your statements regards 1, X, and 3. 1, X, 2 and 3 are all masterpieces, and some of the best RPGs out there, period.
I stopped using bonus xp early, as you need to fight monsters within 5 levels to expand your classes to more heroes.. also kept the combat more interesting
I don’t understand why this channel isn’t more popular, like there are other channels that are LITERAL TRASH and people watch by the millions. Yet here are top notch reviews and content and so few watch it
Thought it was overall very good but it really does not respect the player's time at all. The Dorrick quest (all ten phases) is fucking horrendous is how much of a pain it is to gather materials. Traversal took too long. The Alexandria ascension quest is especially bad on this front, making you walk for 10 minutes while following a BS witcher sense trail. And certainly agree about how not being able to level down until ng+ is a horrible move. Super easy to get overleveled, and I think a lot of people will reach a point early on where they've been using all their bonus levels and can no longer learn other classes because enemies are too low. The characters really carry it.
Honestly I found the world itself kind of boring and hinging on a rehash of the previous games. Where I was utterly spirited away back when I played XB2 and when I replayed it this summer once again (it being so unique and memorable that it made me ignore the horrible, horrible fanservice and some of the characters even). Where as here in XB3 I didn't have that sense of wonder and curiosity to discover the next area like I did with each titan. It didn't help that the Switch is really showing its age and even an emulated 4K version didn't help some of the later levels. It also felt like the later zones were more rushed where in the beginning it seemed to be building up toward something special. But once you're past the cave part and get into the jungle it was kind of samey and stitched together was my feel. Close but no sigar.
Aionios overshadows Biones/Mechonis and Alrest by quite a lot... The only that is a match fro Aionios is Mira, and that is thanks to X movement options.... The review is correct about the world.
@@joebilly3719 You do this very specific thing the Reddit and Twitter crowd likes to do. Spitting opinions as if they were facts, not even further explaining why you think something. Why cant you people elaborate things? I at least explained my reasoning, so where's yours?
@@mikev8746 Because Aionios has more enviromental variety within its entire extension (both mute/destroyed and beautiful/imaginative kind of enviroments), because it has more enviromental story telling than 1 and 2 and even X (when you analyze how the enviroments of previous games merged together and then envolved including fauna and flora). Because it has more mechanics that incentivize exploration than 1 and 2, being closer to X in that regard (and even surpassing it in pure numbers). It even fixes the problem with field skills that X, and more proeminently, 2 had. Because Aionios is as vast as Mira and both dwarfs 1 and 2 worlds. Because the tons of new QoLs feature makes navegation more streamlined. Again, it only looses to X in movement options, since in X characters can run super fast, super jump, and skells can do essentially everything at some point and the world is truly boundless. What I can say though is that, a possible Xenoblade X definitive edition, bringing many of the features and QoLs introcuded in 3, has potential to surpass 3 in terms of world. But as of now, 3 brought the best from each game.
@@joebilly3719 I can't judge the gameplay side of things regarding the openworld. My point was more that XB1 and XB2 had more interesting 'hooks' to their world. Being scaling a huge titan and discovering all these lands within and around it. And again discovering all these alive titans with all their different cultures and such in XB2. XB3 just felt like it lacked a bit of that. Instead it being about the fusing of two worlds. I guess I just liked the titan premise of the first two games more and that made discovering the zones unique. XB3 could have worked for me if they had made a few more zones past the Uraya mountains. But honestly after you get out of the jungle it's just 3-4 zones until the end really. It just wasn't enough for me personally. I'm a huge fan of XB1 and XB2 though. Hope they remake that first game one day haha.
@@mikev8746 While I agree that the titans premise is really cool, it is also limiting in some aspects, map design wise. And it is worth mentioning X is not in a titan either, and neither are the old xeno games, the franchise is more than that. A remake of XC1? well, since the game got a really good remaster in 2020 and I not sure that would be a good idea any time soon. I would totally be in for a Xenoblade X definitive edition on Nintendo´s next console though. X, with the mechanics, expertize and QoLs from 3, has potential to surpass 3, if handled well. But let me finish by saying that I find all 4 blade games to be great and some of the best RPGs out there, and that, much like with Zelda, I don´t see much value in ranking them, when in the end they are all great in their own rights.
@@stormcutter59 The bosses only have 50% more HP compared to Normal mode, and the entire point of Hard mode is the fact that you have to master the combat system lol, it would be a terrible thing if it wasn't making you have to do that. What an utterly silly thing to say.
@@stormcutter59 Debuffs suck bad on ALL difficulties, it's not exclusive to Hard mode. Chain attack ratio gain is nerfed by 50%, not "by high heaven" but that simply means you need to actually equip proper gear on your characters instead of brainlessly using auto equip the entire game and you need to learn how the chain attack system actually works to overcome the damage reduction. I've watched other people play normal mode after having finished playing only on Hard mode and people were only doing half the damage or even a third of the damage I was doing with chain attacks at the same points in the game because they were just pushing random buttons and using random orders the entire time. What you're saying pretty much amounts to "normal mode is too easy, but I should be able to not pay attention at all and mash buttons all the time and still beat Hard mode as I don't want to put in any extra effort either", it's completely contradictory and sounds like a game journalist.
@@stormcutter59 I just accurately pointed out the flaws and misinformation in your statements and how it contradicts itself. If you don't want a game to demand that you have to PROPERLY learn all of its systems and mechanics you shouldn't be playing on a game's highest difficulty to begin with, and complaining about that very fact is the underlying issue.
@@potatoesblink3299 More people seem to dislike XC2 over its fanservice more than anything else, from what I can see off the subreddit. I think people are just in the honeymoon phase of this game. Once some time passes, I really don't see this game holding up compared to the first two. It's just so meh. It's somewhere between a 7/10-8/10 for me. While I've poured about 600 hours into XC2 and 300hrs into XC1DE. I sadly don't enjoy 3's world or characters enough to do the same
Really disliked XC2, could not finish XC1 definitive edition since it felt too old but I'll give another chance. But this one ended up one of my favorite jrpg along with persona 5. Really liked the story.
@@hododod246 hey, to each their own. I found the story to be pretty terrible and the characters to be some of the most bland characters I’ve ever played in an RPG. Comparatively, I poured about 600 hours into XC2 and 300 into DE. 🤷 But if you liked xc3, good on you
"The combat gets stale 20 hours into the 100-hour adventure." I will never understand how something like this doesn't absolutely kill a game for people.
If you want to get the best of it, I suggest playing the first and second game. If you have no intension of playing them(1 & 2) then maybe watch the cutscenes and get a good understanding of both stories ( Xenoblade 1 & 2), then play Xenoblade Chronicles 3
so maybe you should play it to completition before claming beforehand that Elden ring is better, much less using the term "of course" as if, just because average scores, that is somehow written in stone...
Honestly, I'm like 15 hours or so into the game and just can't bring myself to continue. I feel like I've played a different Xenoblade 3 from everybody else. Genuinely shocked at how much worse and seemingly more limited it is than the previous games in most respects. By far the weakest cast with only one member with any sort of charisma at all (Eunie), completely forgettable music (the most shocking thing of all...I couldn't hum for you a single track I've come across in the game thus far), a narrative that seems to be leaning HEAVILY on nostalgia for the previous 2 games as the primary motivator rather than standing on its own, no real motivation for the player to be invested in the party's journey in the first place, zones that feel more restrictive than all the previous 'Blade games, what is essentially a version of 2's battle system (which was already worse than 1's and X's, though it is admittedly introduced much better than 2's was), and villains that so far are right out of a Saturday morning cartoon. I'm sure a number of these things improve later in the game, but the game has long since lost me, and honestly hearing that there aren't that many twists to the story is particularly discouraging since that was kind of the one thing I was holding out hope for. Maybe I'll come back to it sometime after I'm done using my Switch as a Picross S8 machine, but we'll see.
@@dan_kotsu no- I hate it. The pacing is just so unnatural. You can tell that Tora’s arc was extremely rushed. Tora could clearly see MuiMui during Bana’s attack, so how did Tora not recognize him? Not to mention that the entire chapter is 1 giant filler arc until the end when Torna comes back suddenly. Also, the imperial guards should know about what we did to their base in Torigoth by now as well as what we look like and who we are, but here they all are just letting us waltz right into the capital like it’s nothing. Either they’re all morons, or communication in the empire is laughably bad. How do they even know that an artificial blade is attacking them to begin with since the figure is cloaked? You lose Tora in the factory almost immediately. The old factory is so poorly designed that it’s one of the only times I’ve ever gotten lost in a Xenoblade game before (and it’s not a me thing. Even Chuggaconroy got lost from this mess). From both a gameplay and story perspective, this chapter just sucks. Also, level 80 enemies everywhere in a story area that will attack you on sight with a large range of vision. Who thought this was a good idea?!?!?!?! Okay- this isn’t necessarily a chapter 4 problem, but I’m gonna say it since it takes place on the Mor Ardain Titan. I don’t think the world building for that particular titan is well done at all. We see that it’s a dying Titan, but there’s barely any attempt to elaborate on emergency plans. We see them say that they want to move to Torigoth for this reason, but that’s not nearly enough time to show that their committed to this problem. Also, the rebellion factions are just there. We see that they have different beliefs, but that’s all we get on them.
Ugh, 100+ hours with boring battles. I'm always on the tip of getting a Xenoblade game, but I think the monotony is a big turn off. Maybe if the games were 40 to 60 hours long.
Even with a 9.0 score, Lanz wants something a bit meatier.
Hear that, Noah??
Exactly
Yea I love the game but don't know how much more I can take. You'd think they'd come up with something new
@@brandonmalone1893making a franchise is not really easy to come up with new things for each titles
doodad
Even with the late start thx to a number of factors, it is always nice to see reviewers playing on their own time at a regular pace every once in a while. Enjoyment, immersion, and annoyances all feel more genuine and simmered when there's less of the gotta-rush factors that probably plague every long RPG playthrough pre-release.
It took me 112 hours to finish it on Hard and it was soooooo worth it, imho THE best ending to a Xenoblade game. One of best casts of characters in any videogame. You can really tell there was a jump in budget between 2 and 3, my only gripe is that the main villain should've been more present in the story, but they nailed almost everything else.
Couldn't agree more, I do appreciate monolith soft more mature approach to the story though and not answering everything. Life doesn't always give you answers so I can see where they were going.
The best ending? I'm genuinely curious why you think that. So many things were left unexplained and it's essentially a dream sequence.
All the villains sucked. Besides N. Worst game in the series but still good overall.
Great review. Just finished this off yesterday myself and loved it.
I'm right before the final boss myself, it's an incredible journey.
Getting the hero quest and adding heroes to my party was one of the most fun I've had doing side quest in any game.
Played through Hard for just over a month. Took me 183 hours to complete everything the game had to offer. Easy pick for my GotY.
I'm slightly baffled that Monolith Soft didn't allow the leveling-down aspect until hitting New Game+ when Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition had it from the start.
Agree with the other commenters here; still find the review valuable and love to see EZA avoiding the crunch for their employees ❤️ Great review!
It's my GOTY so far, and I love the combat so much. It's fun, innovative, and easy to understand.
Damiani did a great job on this review! Looking forward to playing it in the near future.
"The thing you do for 50% of the game isn't fun for 80% of the game's length, and the game is fundamentally broken in that it provides no tension or challenge."
9 out of 10
wat.
I'm playing it right now, about 30 hours in. So far, I love it. I felt a little "restricted" at the beginning, when it comes to exploration, but at the moment the game really opens up and once you get behind how the chain attacks work and you can significantly boost your experience and class points at the end of a chain, it feels so satisfying.
Side quests are much more interesting too. And I agree that the "level down" option should be available from the very beginning.
I'm still trying to finish this game and this review was much appreciated! I absolutely love XC3's story and characters.
If I haven't bought it at launch, I would have done so after this review. Great work as always.
I came here to make sure the Mobius battle theme gets its due.
I walk away satisfied.
We got a rare doodah review right here.
WHOOAAA!
It's awesome still hearing Brandon Jones voice these reviews.
Right in time for the DLC launching this upcoming week!
Great succinct review for such an apparently epic journey through the world of Xenoblade. Hopefully the veterans of the genre will be challenged sufficiently to slog through what appears to be another grand story arc. As we've grown accustomed to such a high level of review from the allies, we hope it's not derivative to again heap praise upon their time and dedication displayed here.
this comment is either peak heart warming or the most sarcastic thing ive ever read
I've gotta say, I didn't find myself tiring of the battle system, it was my favorite of the series. I was enjoying battles throughout. I rarely skipped many enemies
@UCEUU2JBGBKElQ6pWhft9H4A I think I turned it on a grand total of once while I was doing something on my second monitor. I also played for 150+ lol
It does have a lot to do with how you level and the difficulty mode. Skipping campfire leveling and playing on Hard seem right for me. I agree that the game could have managed over leveling better.
Yeah, I purposely stopped using bonus exp until post game. But I actually like being a little overleveled in JRPGs. I like feeling strong. I managed to stay within 3-4 levels of most enemies even with lots and lots of exploring, and that's about perfect for me.
I wish that had been the case for me. I felt like I was doing pretty organic exploration, and I still wound up being 10 levels over for the last third of the game.
I dunno man. I explored almost every inch I could find, did all of the hero quests and most of the regular side quests I could find, all the while fighting the majority of the enemies I came up to(or that came up to me), and I was never at any point 10 levels over except when I used bonus exp. Crazy
I'm 80 hours in and still at Chapter 6. It's crazy how good the side quests are in terms of world building and just making you invested in the characters. It's like they took the Witcher 3 to heart + the exploration of Breath of The wild + The story and characters of a good old JRPGs.
Needs Improvement:
* I definitely agree with the review that if they only made the enemy battle mechanics more diverse or have level syncing like in FF14 to reach the full potential of the mmo ish battle system
* a fix on some of those ludonarrative dissonances (like how the heroes stick out like a sore thumb or left out in some story moments)
* game needs a codex badly (bestiary, lore, story)
fix these and it would be a near-perfect JRPG.
Funnily enough I just bought the game a couple days ago but glad to confirm my decision by watching Easy Allies, great review as always folks!
Kind of a weird review in some spots, to be honest. I think it's a little weird to say the character swapping "could use some refinement" without actually explaining what's wrong with it. My assumption is he wanted to choose who to switch to rather than cycle through, which is fair, but anyone who hasn't played the game I would imagine would want more information. Also the "basic attacks can be fused together to begin an interlink" isn't super accurate. Fusion attacks raise your interlink level which is ultimately completely optional just for a buff. The interlink itself has nothing to do with fusion arts and is begun just by pressing left on the d pad any time.
indeed, if he could at least point how chaging to a specific characters could have been implemented, within the game UI and limited buttons availability, that would have made for a better critic.
Nice review. The game is incredible, Monolith deserves all the prise they get and much more, this is easily the best RPG of the year up until now. As for the difficult, I think hard mode did pack a punch, even if you are overlevelled, and specially if you try the superbosses, so I disagree with this point of the review. Also, allowing to decrease the level before beating the game would actually make it more easier to break, since you can level down to get more XP from battles (there is a formula that takes your level in relation to the enemy quite a lot), and then level up again but more that what you had initially, making it super easy to get really high levels. Hence, they locked it to post game, where the goal is to use this to max the remaining classes.
Easy Allies editing/writing and Jones's voice makes any game look so appealing. They're an asset to the industry. Xeno 3 is my goty, I hope it's a contender against Elden Ring this year!
Well done on this massive quest. Ben would be proud.
Actually you can prevent getting overleved by skipping most enemies in the field
The true way to prevent it is not using bonus exp at the camps.
I know XB3 is mad long and all but damn. Never thought I'd see the day where an EZA review came out so late that I'd beaten the game already.
I felt like XB3 started off tremendously but had trouble closing all the concurrent narratives in the same impactful way - perhaps I'm alone in this opinion.
Also the final boss encounter was pretty tedious.
I thought the game was great up untill the final stretch to the final boss. and the final bodd was just fine? Suffering from the Persona 4 and 5 final boss problem imo
my only issue with the game is the ending. The last act is just... not good? Which is odd because I would argue every single Xenoblade game up to now has excelled at its ending, even redeeming the slow/uninteresting starts like in Xenoblade 2
I found the final couple of Chapters more interesting than XC1's last act, but not as strong as 2. So for me, the ending and final stretch sits right in between the two. I still think XC1 is my favorite game in the series overall though
It was pretty good. Xenoblade 2 ending or final boss had a very good enemy....XB3 final boss...everyone's insecurities bundled into one big ball of gas.
One thing I found myself doing is, not leveling at the campfires... You level just by fighting enemies and then you can also level by choice at campfires, by not leveling at the campfires I was able to keep most enemies from being greyed out... Every now and then I would come across a particularly tough elite (Or epic perhaps, you know the yellow ones) and then have to level up a bit.
Didn't expect a review on this one glad you did though.
This game is awesome
10/10 xenoblade 3 Is a legend
I paid a ton of attention to Hero and sidequests on my first playthrough (on Hard) and never got anywhere close to 20(!) levels over boss encounters. I think the reviewer was overusing Bonus XP. Anyhoo... one of the best RPGs I've ever played. An absolute masterpiece.
Music gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. Top tier game
One of my fav games of all time
7:53
100% agree, I found myself avoiding enemies just so I wont be over-leveled.
Ilove your review I just bought mine yesterday on sale I finally get to play sadly I have x1 n 2 never get to finish them and now I'm jumping on the 3rd one
One correction: Battles give exp. Everything gives bonus xp. The only way you get overleveled is if you use the bonus xp.
Not really, I finished the game without using bonus exp but still overleveled.
@@Reggie21 Yes, because ypu were likely spamming overkill bonuses. Still net nearly as overleveled as you will get by using all your bonus xp
@@golfer435 i mean overkill bonus is fun mech they design that way that why people will use it and that the problem for difficulty balance that i can enjoy battle but still feel worry to overlevel and easy at time
@@warm-heartedreaction6191 So up the difficulty. I played on Hard and regularly hit overkills and the only reason I was overleveled at the end was because I accidentally hit the max level button at the camp.
@@warm-heartedreaction6191 then turn the overkill off. You can do that in 3.
There's no other series quite like Xenoblade, especially among its contemporaries like the Tales series.
I must protest Damiania's claim that the cast is simply "solid", they are probably the most likeable main cast in a JRPG I've ever played. Unlike Persona, (at least 4 and 5), Everyone banters with each other. Granted Noah isn't an "avatar" the way Yu and Rem are, and there are duos in Xeno3 which have their relationships emphasised more than others (thanks to the Ouroboros element), but I feel far more invested with them as a cast than I have with Persona or even most Final Fantasy games.
I really thought you were going to protest it in the way that you disagree, but glad to see you thought even more highly of them. - Damiani
I don't agree, this cast although on the surface good never really got across to me as endearing as previous ones for some reason. Maybe it's the lack of heart to hearts or sidequests that focus on them and their interpersonal relationships. But once you get to the main part of the game through the end it feels like the cast gets sidelined in favor of focusing on the colonies, their troubles, their heroes, etc and your cast is sort of just there for the ride. You get one side story for each of them for their class ascensions and that's it, that's all you get. And nothing happens to further the bond between that character and their Ouroboros counterpart who is supposed to be basically in their head. They never really delve deeper into that interesting aspect of Ouroboros that could have made their character development even more interesting.
Now that Xenoblade and Splatoon are both on their third entries it would be nice to see Nintendo attempt some more new IP.
I honestly thought the Mario Kart team might make a new IP since we're likely not getting Mario Kart 9 until the next console. But they're doing super late DLC for Mario Kart 8 instead to bridge that gap
Damiani I don't know why but this was one of my favorite reviews of yours. It still sounds like you but something is different. I don't even have any interest in the game so it's something about what you've done here.
This is my GotY. I never got bored of playing it.
Great job Damiani. I wonder what Ben thought about this game.
That music is so good!
I'm so excited to play this! I'm still finishing Xenoblade 2.
Stellar game, great review. On the topic of difficulty, the devs were a bit too generous with EXP boosting mechanics.
If you're picking this up: avoid using bonus EXP in rest spots and turn off overkill bonuses in the settings (unless you're stuck on a story boss and need the levels to beat it). Also, don't use EXP boosting food, it just makes it harder to level up your job classes. That should be enough to prevent the level/difficulty problem this reviewer had, even while doing all the optional content and exploration.
I just wish they would have been a bit more in my face about "you should avoid Bonus EXP if you want a more challenging experience". - Damiani
@@EasyAllies Exactly! I noticed this way too late and was about 20 levels over the boss levels for most of the game. Even switching the game to hard didn't made a difference.
Edit: Lol, that is the exact same number of levels as you stated in the review. Funny that you had the exact same experience as me.
You only truly get overleveled if u use bonus exp
I always love your guys reviews.
Played for about 15 hours but the story really did not catch me yet. Still thinking about it if I should give it another try as I absolutely adored Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
If you are taking a break and you're still thinking about it, I think that's a sign you should go back and push further. Something is pulling you to it
Same!
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of my favorite JRPGs ever but this 3rd entry isn't as interesting IMO...
I think it's my least favourite of the trilogy.
@@golfer435 yup will probably do!
Though I thought 2 had a stronger ending, I like 3's story more overall. I had a rough time sticking with 2 in the first half of the game, I came very, very close to dropping it in Chapter 4. I'm glad I didn't because it kicked up its game a lot in the back half, but 3 pulled me in immediately and never let me go once.
The beginning of the game is where it's at its most interesting. It peaks before the end and just sort of...stumbles over the finish line. It felt strangely hollow after a certain point and lost me well before the credits rolled.
I was waiting for this review for weeks, what the hell took you guys so long
Is this a good starting point ?? Like can i play this without playing the first 2 and also would this be ok for a first RPG. Im more of a casual, life sim gamer but ive been wanting to play something else. Is this a good game to dip my toes into 😊
0:02 was i the only one thinking she was gonna Say WTF?
Damn, may finally need to get a Switch to play these games.
I have no interest in this game, but I know Damiani's review makes this a much watch. (And Jones, please never stop narrating EZA)
you should then reconsider and do have interest in this game, because it is awesome and easily the best RPG of the year.
Also, are you guys from Easy allies going to send the review for metacritic? seems like they forgot to upload.
Thanks for the heads up. I think they may have just missed it with the timing of when this one went up. I just sent them an email. -Bloodworth
They actually had just added it before I messaged them, but it's been a while since I talked to them. So good to have an excuse to get in touch. -Bloodworth
just finished the game today, flawed but amazing game, a step up from the 2nd game but the first one remains the best.
this is how i rank the xbc games 👇.
4. Xbc2
3. X
2. Xbc3
1. Xbc1
This is how i rank the entire xeno series 👇.
8. Xenosaga 1: 6.0
7. Xenosaga 3: 7.5
6. Xenosaga 2: 8.0
5. Xbc2: 8.0
4. X: 8.5
3. Xbc3: 9.0
2. Xenogears: 9.5
1. Xbc1: 10
Top 25 gaming series of all time (21), top 5 rpg series of all time (4).
Peace fools ✌.
Your not influential enough so nobody cares how you rate anything
I thought these guys were gonna start voicing their own reviews? Still glad to hear Brandon regardless!
I need Xenoblade Chronicles X2!
Heard about the over level problem before I started so haven’t used any bonus exp so far and planning to only cash it in after I’ve beaten the final boss.
(Currently part way through chapter 5 for those wondering)
I mean... the hero quests are essentially just the blade quests from part 2... (and those were a lot more fun *cough*)
I'm sorry but I can't get over my gripe with the main villain of this game. I won't go into details because of spoilers but I felt empty when I fought in the final battle. It didn't feel like I cared at all about the villain, there was no payoff or build up. It just was.
Good review!
Thanks for still putting out a great review, even it's somewhat after the release. Know that we appreciate the effort there Damiani!
As others have pointed out, don't use bonus exp. I played the game on hard and it was insanely challenging until around the end of chapter 3 when I realized I was too high lvl. After that point I stopped using bonus exp and after a while my lvl sort of evened out and the challenge returned.
there are small stuff here and there i got problem with
but anyone who said this game is GOTY I would have to agree with them
GOTY for me. We'll see if God of War can usurp it
See, the one thing about this review I really disagree with is the quality of the world design. I think it's generally weaker than 1 and X, while being better than 2.
There really aren't a lot of secret areas to be found in this game comoared with past entries, abd comparatively few areas that will stun you and make your jaw drop, not to mention almost all of them are confined to the same region.
errr Aionios overshadows Biones/Mechonis and Alrest by quite a lot... The only that is a match fro Aionios is Mira, and that is thanks to X movement options.
@@joebilly3719 I disagree, there's a lot of hidden stuff in Valak Mountain, the marshes and the forest, not to mention the layouts are a lot more interesting than, say the boring corridors of aionios' final 2 areas.
Right on time guys -.-
fantastic game with a poor last chapter but a really excellent ending. regarding the battle system I still think that X has the best in the series.
@@stormcutter59 both of you have some really bad takes uh, wow.
Hmm really? I personally found the world to be more cohesive and interesting than 2. I LOVED most of 2's individual areas design-wise, but overall I thought the worldbuilding was kind of flat until Chapter 7 or 8. XC3's setting felt more fully-realized to me! As for the endings themselves, I think 2 is a little stronger, but I'd still give 3's ending 8/10.
I'll have to agree to disagree. I find 3's world to be second after 1. I really loved XC2 in the back half. Strong story, wonderful characters, interesting areas in terms of exploration, but one thing about 2 that never hit home with me as much as the other games in the trilogy is the setting. As much as I liked each area on its own, they never felt like part of a whole to me; loosely connected by lore, which was cool lore mind you, but disjointed from each other. I really loved 3's setting from beginning to end, and the way the world is put together made it feel like a real place, areas very naturally connected to other areas much like 1.
My sole complaint is that there are definitely fewer secret nooks and crannies(which the game makes up for IMO by them being insanely cool and feeling extremely special when I did find one)with some zones being a bit too straightforward, but beyond that, I found them about as majestic and fun to explore as the other Xenoblade games. I just really really love the worldbuilding and lore behind Aionios, it was so interesting! I think they gave me much more than enough to chew on and theorize about, letting me fill in the dots, and dropping enough tantalizing hints to see what they do next
I will say though that Mor Ardain is one of, if not my favorite individual area in any Xenoblade. They knocked it out of the park with that one
Not only is this game a return to form after Xenoblade 2's flawed, lazy and ultimately disappointing state (with Torna showing us what we should've got the first time round), but it goes above and beyond to rival the first game as a masterpiece. Surpassing it in a few ways, even. While I still prefer the first's story, I'm surprised how well Xenoblade 3 fairs if you want to enjoy it as a self-contained narrative.
Much like with Torna before it, Monolith Soft managed to salvage every good idea from Xenoblade 2, polish them to perfection, introduce NEW ideas to give this game its own identity, and do all this while meeting that same bar for quality as the masterpiece that started it all. Hell, they handled sidequests with the same finesse as Xenoblade X, which, as the world's biggest X fan, made me happier than you can imagine.
This might just be the finest triple-A game I have ever played. And that's before the DLC is even finished yet.
Also I don't blame Easy Allies for not getting this review out sooner. It took me 6 weeks to finish the game, and EVEN THEN, there were still post-game goodies to enjoy.
completely disagree with your statements regarding 2. Agree with your statements regards 1, X, and 3. 1, X, 2 and 3 are all masterpieces, and some of the best RPGs out there, period.
I stopped using bonus xp early, as you need to fight monsters within 5 levels to expand your classes to more heroes.. also kept the combat more interesting
I don’t understand why this channel isn’t more popular, like there are other channels that are LITERAL TRASH and people watch by the millions. Yet here are top notch reviews and content and so few watch it
The review was worth the wait.
wauw, is this because Ben left ? (not watched, because finished ages ago, just wondering)
Thought it was overall very good but it really does not respect the player's time at all. The Dorrick quest (all ten phases) is fucking horrendous is how much of a pain it is to gather materials. Traversal took too long. The Alexandria ascension quest is especially bad on this front, making you walk for 10 minutes while following a BS witcher sense trail. And certainly agree about how not being able to level down until ng+ is a horrible move. Super easy to get overleveled, and I think a lot of people will reach a point early on where they've been using all their bonus levels and can no longer learn other classes because enemies are too low.
The characters really carry it.
Here’s the thing. If you didn’t like what you did in some of these quests, stay as far away from 2 as possible.
wootah.. yeah water 😅
bonds, Pacific Rim... did Huber cowrite this?
GOTY!!!
Honestly I found the world itself kind of boring and hinging on a rehash of the previous games. Where I was utterly spirited away back when I played XB2 and when I replayed it this summer once again (it being so unique and memorable that it made me ignore the horrible, horrible fanservice and some of the characters even). Where as here in XB3 I didn't have that sense of wonder and curiosity to discover the next area like I did with each titan. It didn't help that the Switch is really showing its age and even an emulated 4K version didn't help some of the later levels. It also felt like the later zones were more rushed where in the beginning it seemed to be building up toward something special. But once you're past the cave part and get into the jungle it was kind of samey and stitched together was my feel. Close but no sigar.
Aionios overshadows Biones/Mechonis and Alrest by quite a lot... The only that is a match fro Aionios is Mira, and that is thanks to X movement options....
The review is correct about the world.
@@joebilly3719 You do this very specific thing the Reddit and Twitter crowd likes to do. Spitting opinions as if they were facts, not even further explaining why you think something. Why cant you people elaborate things? I at least explained my reasoning, so where's yours?
@@mikev8746 Because Aionios has more enviromental variety within its entire extension (both mute/destroyed and beautiful/imaginative kind of enviroments), because it has more enviromental story telling than 1 and 2 and even X (when you analyze how the enviroments of previous games merged together and then envolved including fauna and flora). Because it has more mechanics that incentivize exploration than 1 and 2, being closer to X in that regard (and even surpassing it in pure numbers). It even fixes the problem with field skills that X, and more proeminently, 2 had. Because Aionios is as vast as Mira and both dwarfs 1 and 2 worlds. Because the tons of new QoLs feature makes navegation more streamlined. Again, it only looses to X in movement options, since in X characters can run super fast, super jump, and skells can do essentially everything at some point and the world is truly boundless. What I can say though is that, a possible Xenoblade X definitive edition, bringing many of the features and QoLs introcuded in 3, has potential to surpass 3 in terms of world. But as of now, 3 brought the best from each game.
@@joebilly3719 I can't judge the gameplay side of things regarding the openworld. My point was more that XB1 and XB2 had more interesting 'hooks' to their world. Being scaling a huge titan and discovering all these lands within and around it. And again discovering all these alive titans with all their different cultures and such in XB2. XB3 just felt like it lacked a bit of that. Instead it being about the fusing of two worlds. I guess I just liked the titan premise of the first two games more and that made discovering the zones unique. XB3 could have worked for me if they had made a few more zones past the Uraya mountains. But honestly after you get out of the jungle it's just 3-4 zones until the end really. It just wasn't enough for me personally. I'm a huge fan of XB1 and XB2 though. Hope they remake that first game one day haha.
@@mikev8746 While I agree that the titans premise is really cool, it is also limiting in some aspects, map design wise. And it is worth mentioning X is not in a titan either, and neither are the old xeno games, the franchise is more than that. A remake of XC1? well, since the game got a really good remaster in 2020 and I not sure that would be a good idea any time soon. I would totally be in for a Xenoblade X definitive edition on Nintendo´s next console though. X, with the mechanics, expertize and QoLs from 3, has potential to surpass 3, if handled well. But let me finish by saying that I find all 4 blade games to be great and some of the best RPGs out there, and that, much like with Zelda, I don´t see much value in ranking them, when in the end they are all great in their own rights.
Damiani never actually played hard mode so a lot of his comments about the combat and difficulty don't actually hold up for the most part.
Hard mode is a SERIOUS challenge. There are fights that are incredibly hard on hard mode.
@@stormcutter59 The bosses only have 50% more HP compared to Normal mode, and the entire point of Hard mode is the fact that you have to master the combat system lol, it would be a terrible thing if it wasn't making you have to do that.
What an utterly silly thing to say.
@@stormcutter59 Debuffs suck bad on ALL difficulties, it's not exclusive to Hard mode. Chain attack ratio gain is nerfed by 50%, not "by high heaven" but that simply means you need to actually equip proper gear on your characters instead of brainlessly using auto equip the entire game and you need to learn how the chain attack system actually works to overcome the damage reduction.
I've watched other people play normal mode after having finished playing only on Hard mode and people were only doing half the damage or even a third of the damage I was doing with chain attacks at the same points in the game because they were just pushing random buttons and using random orders the entire time.
What you're saying pretty much amounts to "normal mode is too easy, but I should be able to not pay attention at all and mash buttons all the time and still beat Hard mode as I don't want to put in any extra effort either", it's completely contradictory and sounds like a game journalist.
@@stormcutter59 I just accurately pointed out the flaws and misinformation in your statements and how it contradicts itself.
If you don't want a game to demand that you have to PROPERLY learn all of its systems and mechanics you shouldn't be playing on a game's highest difficulty to begin with, and complaining about that very fact is the underlying issue.
Yippee
Out of the trilogy, I find XC3 to be the worst. Not a bad game by any stretch, but it’s pretty forgettable overall
Thats interesting. A lot of people I know think XC2 was the least due to its tropey vibe.
@@potatoesblink3299 More people seem to dislike XC2 over its fanservice more than anything else, from what I can see off the subreddit. I think people are just in the honeymoon phase of this game. Once some time passes, I really don't see this game holding up compared to the first two. It's just so meh. It's somewhere between a 7/10-8/10 for me.
While I've poured about 600 hours into XC2 and 300hrs into XC1DE. I sadly don't enjoy 3's world or characters enough to do the same
Really disliked XC2, could not finish XC1 definitive edition since it felt too old but I'll give another chance. But this one ended up one of my favorite jrpg along with persona 5. Really liked the story.
@@hododod246 hey, to each their own. I found the story to be pretty terrible and the characters to be some of the most bland characters I’ve ever played in an RPG. Comparatively, I poured about 600 hours into XC2 and 300 into DE. 🤷 But if you liked xc3, good on you
"The combat gets stale 20 hours into the 100-hour adventure."
I will never understand how something like this doesn't absolutely kill a game for people.
Well he's also wrong, it doesn't get stale
I found it interesting and fun throughout personally
RPGs would be dead without the answer
Better late than never I guess?
Still havent decided on this game yet, having not played the others.
Odd franchise.
If you want to get the best of it, I suggest playing the first and second game.
If you have no intension of playing them(1 & 2) then maybe watch the cutscenes and get a good understanding of both stories ( Xenoblade 1 & 2), then play Xenoblade Chronicles 3
mann.. im playing this game.. only 10 hours of gameplay but its the 2nd best game of the year for me.. Elden Ring is first of course...
so maybe you should play it to completition before claming beforehand that Elden ring is better, much less using the term "of course" as if, just because average scores, that is somehow written in stone...
The lack of challenge in the combat is a deal breaker. No way I'm going to spend 100 hours playing a game that doesn't offer any challenge.
the game is tough on hard mode
.....
Meatier.
wait, how is the footage so smooth like their 60fps?
the switch barely maintains a 30 fps frame. Is this running on a pc emulator?
No, just a normal Switch OLED. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies wow. Maybe my launch switch is really getting a little old.
Anyway thanks for the clarification
I love the XB games but i don't feel 3 is as good as the first. 9 is a bit much.
Honestly, I'm like 15 hours or so into the game and just can't bring myself to continue. I feel like I've played a different Xenoblade 3 from everybody else.
Genuinely shocked at how much worse and seemingly more limited it is than the previous games in most respects. By far the weakest cast with only one member with any sort of charisma at all (Eunie), completely forgettable music (the most shocking thing of all...I couldn't hum for you a single track I've come across in the game thus far), a narrative that seems to be leaning HEAVILY on nostalgia for the previous 2 games as the primary motivator rather than standing on its own, no real motivation for the player to be invested in the party's journey in the first place, zones that feel more restrictive than all the previous 'Blade games, what is essentially a version of 2's battle system (which was already worse than 1's and X's, though it is admittedly introduced much better than 2's was), and villains that so far are right out of a Saturday morning cartoon. I'm sure a number of these things improve later in the game, but the game has long since lost me, and honestly hearing that there aren't that many twists to the story is particularly discouraging since that was kind of the one thing I was holding out hope for. Maybe I'll come back to it sometime after I'm done using my Switch as a Picross S8 machine, but we'll see.
Honestly, your experience mirrors my Xenoblade 2 experience at first. If 2 is anything to go by, hang in there.
Tried 1. Never again.
The game came out 2 months ago 💀 eza be slacking
They weren’t originally going to review it (I think due to length and lack of reviewers), but I guess they changed their mind?!
and?
What's the point of this type of review more than two months after release? Would've served much better as an in-depth critique
Thats a late review :D
Honestly I hated this game. Story and characters get really bad last 2 chapters. Combat is fun for awhile until mid game where it gets too easy.
Better than 2. Chapter 4 in 2 is the worst Xenoblade chapter ever
@@Mojo1356 it's been awhile I cant remember what happened there.
@@dan_kotsu it’s the dumb factory chapter.
@@Mojo1356 oh I didn't mind that one actually lol
@@dan_kotsu no- I hate it. The pacing is just so unnatural. You can tell that Tora’s arc was extremely rushed. Tora could clearly see MuiMui during Bana’s attack, so how did Tora not recognize him? Not to mention that the entire chapter is 1 giant filler arc until the end when Torna comes back suddenly. Also, the imperial guards should know about what we did to their base in Torigoth by now as well as what we look like and who we are, but here they all are just letting us waltz right into the capital like it’s nothing. Either they’re all morons, or communication in the empire is laughably bad. How do they even know that an artificial blade is attacking them to begin with since the figure is cloaked? You lose Tora in the factory almost immediately. The old factory is so poorly designed that it’s one of the only times I’ve ever gotten lost in a Xenoblade game before (and it’s not a me thing. Even Chuggaconroy got lost from this mess). From both a gameplay and story perspective, this chapter just sucks.
Also, level 80 enemies everywhere in a story area that will attack you on sight with a large range of vision. Who thought this was a good idea?!?!?!?!
Okay- this isn’t necessarily a chapter 4 problem, but I’m gonna say it since it takes place on the Mor Ardain Titan. I don’t think the world building for that particular titan is well done at all. We see that it’s a dying Titan, but there’s barely any attempt to elaborate on emergency plans. We see them say that they want to move to Torigoth for this reason, but that’s not nearly enough time to show that their committed to this problem. Also, the rebellion factions are just there. We see that they have different beliefs, but that’s all we get on them.
The accents, why!!!?
Why not?
Ugh, 100+ hours with boring battles. I'm always on the tip of getting a Xenoblade game, but I think the monotony is a big turn off. Maybe if the games were 40 to 60 hours long.
If you just gun the story you can beat it in around 50 hours, just like Xenoblade 1. In fact my first playthrough for Xeno 1 was 72 hours