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Xenoblade Chronicles 3 |OT| To Guide The Dead is My Lot
- Thread starter Komatsu
- Start date
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Kataploom
Gold Member
Ok, finally I can vent a little here...
I finished Xenoblade 3 last week. Man, what an experience, I can see NOTHING surpassing it, be it from Nintendo or from whomever, maybe Sekiro 2 if it ever comes out... It is so good it's unreal, like, how the F did Monolith put something so incredibly polished? Best RPG ever for me and one of the best games I've ever played.
Chain mechanic is so good once you understand it that it's even addictive, you can't get enough of that amazing music, my gosh!
The ending left me feeling uncomfortble and empty but that's because I expected differently, so F it surprised me a lot, couldn't ever imagine something like that, yet I can see it being expanded later so I'll let it pass.
And YES, it's as good or better than Persona 5 for me, that's as good as it is, it is the first single player game I player straight over 100 hours without a single break (I think Persona 5 is, I don't remember, but I still didn't clock as many as in Xenoblade 3 so far anyway), I ended it at 130 hours, all other long games I've played required me to do some breaks in order to avoid burn-out.
I'll be back later, probably sooner rather than later, I still have many post game stuff to do and want to do goof around before November when I plan to give Future Redeemed as BD gift.
I finished Xenoblade 3 last week. Man, what an experience, I can see NOTHING surpassing it, be it from Nintendo or from whomever, maybe Sekiro 2 if it ever comes out... It is so good it's unreal, like, how the F did Monolith put something so incredibly polished? Best RPG ever for me and one of the best games I've ever played.
Chain mechanic is so good once you understand it that it's even addictive, you can't get enough of that amazing music, my gosh!
The ending left me feeling uncomfortble and empty but that's because I expected differently, so F it surprised me a lot, couldn't ever imagine something like that, yet I can see it being expanded later so I'll let it pass.
And YES, it's as good or better than Persona 5 for me, that's as good as it is, it is the first single player game I player straight over 100 hours without a single break (I think Persona 5 is, I don't remember, but I still didn't clock as many as in Xenoblade 3 so far anyway), I ended it at 130 hours, all other long games I've played required me to do some breaks in order to avoid burn-out.
I'll be back later, probably sooner rather than later, I still have many post game stuff to do and want to do goof around before November when I plan to give Future Redeemed as BD gift.
Dirk Benedict
Gold Member
Man.. I need to finish that one. I started it and got pretty far... I don't really have an excuse as to why I didn't keep going, but.. I think other games came out that I was waiting for. Regardless. Before I stopped playing XBC3, I.. the battle system finally clicked and I was roasting and broasting MFers. I want to get back into it sometime, soon. It's not a bad game at all and the music is so tranquil and just plain good. It's one of few games that takes its own OST seriously as a way to convey the game better to the player. I love OSTs like this one. In fact, I was bitching about OSTs not too long ago and I really forgot about this one Jewel in the rough.
Brigandier
Gold Member
I think they're the best dev out there... incredible studio.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I hope it's a new IP
I love Xenoblade but I think they deserve a chance to make a new IP
NanaMiku
Member
Deserved. They journey was really rough until Nintendo bought them
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
As pointed out above, it's been nearly two years now since this game came out, and it still sticks in my mind as the absolute pinnacle of JRPGs this generation. And I've played a lot of them - most of the big ones for sure. The impact of the ending was incredible and you're right, it's likely to be matched anytime soon.
This game is truly a 10/10 experience that gets elevated to an 11 for those of us that have been around since the first one (especially true with the DLC, but still true with just the base game on its own). I would put this game up there with the heavy hitters like Chrono Trigger as being perhaps in the top 5 JRPGs of all time.
Retrofluxed
Member
I've become completely obsessed with this series. I'm doing yet another trilogy play-through and I'm starting from scratch on each one so I can re-experience everything from the ground floor. I do love the new game plus options, but these games are so enjoyable, I love grinding everything to 100% all over again.
darth.shrimp
Member
I still need to finish the first one, then go back to XC2... then maybe I'll start this one if I'm not senile yet by then
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Type_Raver
Member
You need to play Future Redeemed, dare I say i loved it more than the main game! (Rex!)
Brigandier
Gold Member
I felt the same, Xenoblade 2 for me was absolutely incredible I seriously hope Nintendos next console boosts Switch games I'd love to play Xeno 2 with better performance and higher resolution.
Dr. Wilkinson
Member
I keep bouncing off it. I’ve made it 70ish hours across three different attempts to play through the game. It really just depends on my mood and what’s currently new out there whether I can deal with the constant filler and ridiculously large field/ water areas that seem large just for the sake of it.
I will say the music, story and some of the bosses have been great.
I will say the music, story and some of the bosses have been great.
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Kataploom
Gold Member
I need some time to do post game stuff AND to take a break probably lol, so I'll do so in november, I'm avoiding spoilers like a plague
Fbh
Member
Finally decided to start this.
Back when it launched I was put off by the reported length (my main issue with the 2 previous one was them being too long), but I finally felt like I was in the mood for a 70+ hour JRPG.
So far I've been enjoying it, I like the cast of character, the fusion mechanic is interesting and the battles with 6 party members are a bit chaotic but fun. The music is also fantastic and the visuals are ok, looks low res as fuck coming from playing other games on ps5, but at least the art direction is solid.
What would you guys say is the recommended path regarding classes? Should I just have character stick to their natural tendencies (offensive, healer, tank, etc) and switch between classes in those categories? Or really go all out and have them level up as many classes as possible?
Back when it launched I was put off by the reported length (my main issue with the 2 previous one was them being too long), but I finally felt like I was in the mood for a 70+ hour JRPG.
So far I've been enjoying it, I like the cast of character, the fusion mechanic is interesting and the battles with 6 party members are a bit chaotic but fun. The music is also fantastic and the visuals are ok, looks low res as fuck coming from playing other games on ps5, but at least the art direction is solid.
What would you guys say is the recommended path regarding classes? Should I just have character stick to their natural tendencies (offensive, healer, tank, etc) and switch between classes in those categories? Or really go all out and have them level up as many classes as possible?
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jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
My strategy was to always have a similar party comp but to try and unlock as many classes for as many characters as possible, especially at first. Later on when you unlock the non-starter classes, they'll be tied to a single character and the other characters will "learn" it as they progress with that character in the party as that class, so the ideal strategy is to equip any classes that are unique to a single character right away, and keep them using that class until other characters learn / unlock it.
I've seen some crazy stunts pulled off with stuff like all-healer type parties, but your best bet is to have a good mix of tanks, dps, and healers.
DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
Shifty1897
Member
I basically just shoved any character into a job they were semi proficient at (S, A, or B) and I always kept the game's recommended balance of the trinity (2 DPS, 2 Tank, 2 Healers). Once a character hit level 10 in a class, I'd swap them to something else. If you main path the game you'll miss out on a lot of the classes and you'll also cut 60 hours out of your playtime. The choice is yours!
Fbh
Member
So far I've been doing the golden "hero quests" since they are pretty cool with engaging stories and worthwhile rewards (new classes and heroes).
I've mostly been avoiding the blue ones since most of the ones I've encountered are boring fetch quests.
Are there any hero quests locked behind certain blue side quests?
Shifty1897
Member
In light of NeoGaf’s grasping of the west’s situation with higher education and wokeness and its origins and possible intentions, I actually did do lots of research into philosophy and history, sociology and governance, the basis behind totalitarian/“utopian” ideology, and even spoke with people on different sides of the political spectrum. Many times resentment/revenge/fear/giving up on human goodness are the basis behind the people who want to establish totalitarian regimes that favor their groups. For example, the ones behind wokeness actually fear both nuclear and environmental Armageddon as well as hold the belief that cycles of history and scapegoating are inevitable and will repeat against them.
All this made me appreciate and reevaluate the meaning behind many JRPGs I played before when younger, because now I realize that the creators were well read in philosophy, history, religion, human nature, the chaos and order cycles, social experiments and manipulation, and even institutional infiltration by those with unorthodox ideologies set to changing the prevailing ideology.
Xenoblade 2 spoilers:
Spoilers for Xenoblade 3’s story:
In any case it makes me appreciate how Sci-Fi is actually well versed in reality and is legitimate speculation about the future, when I was younger I would laugh at how far fetched or “melodramatic” fiction could seem but now I realize I was just used to living in a stable world and never cared to learn or think more deeply about history, philosophy, and human nature. There is way more to glean and appreciate from JRPGs than the character designs, haha. I see now that a series like the Trails series is also based on the history of the West, about empires and republics and the Church, and secret societies working in the background to plan things and influencing government institutions and corporations from within, and even the most recent game is about a Republic grappling with immigration! so that’s a series I’m looking forward to playing eventually.
All this made me appreciate and reevaluate the meaning behind many JRPGs I played before when younger, because now I realize that the creators were well read in philosophy, history, religion, human nature, the chaos and order cycles, social experiments and manipulation, and even institutional infiltration by those with unorthodox ideologies set to changing the prevailing ideology.
Xenoblade 2 spoilers:
For instance in Xenoblade 2 there was Amalthus whose childhood experience set him on a path of revenge by taking over religious institutions and devising a new religion by transforming the institution he infiltrated (changing the relationship between driver and blade, monopoly on core crystals, etc.)
Spoilers for Xenoblade 3’s story:
And now when reevaluating Xenoblade 3’s story, I feel the creators of the game could be well aware of the source and intent of “wokeness” (I personally call it “biological Marxism”). You have the elites (Moebius), fearful of both apocalypse and their subjects revolting against them, create a totalitarian regime across the world, incite hatred amongst their subjects and have them direct their mental energy towards hating each other, dupe them into thinking there’s two competing groups of elites and two sides against each other, take control of the original biological cycle and understanding of biology, reproduction, male/female relations, and democratic governance (which is saved and preserved in the City) and hide away that and other knowledge, use technology as a form of surveillance and control, etc.
Some time in the far future the young, indoctrinated protagonists come into contact with someone from the City who sets them up with the original way of things and the people themselves take back control and deal with Armageddon their own way, trusting that there can be a good future still. This all makes me think perhaps the game is speculating that the West’s original ways can be preserved in some of the smaller countries that were influenced by the West if the West falls to totalitarianism similar to how the City preserved the original ways in the game.
I do like the message that Xenoblade 3 has towards totalitarianism, that the people themselves should be the deciders and human nature is free, and to face Armageddon collaboratively on their own terms rather than a false solution that keeps them in a form of slavery and an unnatural biological state. I personally see the young people of today falling for the “totalitarianism will keep us safe” mentality but how much of that is due to indoctrination and bad education rather than a well informed conclusion? I’ve even talked to someone who is on board because it will give them a chance for “historical revenge” for what happened to their group after the US withdrew from a country it was at war with (never mind that it was the genocidal ideology of the opposing side that led to those actions). Who knows, maybe a City of the West gets made, I personally see restoration of the US state’s rights as another way of controlling the effects of a totalitarian minded central government
Some time in the far future the young, indoctrinated protagonists come into contact with someone from the City who sets them up with the original way of things and the people themselves take back control and deal with Armageddon their own way, trusting that there can be a good future still. This all makes me think perhaps the game is speculating that the West’s original ways can be preserved in some of the smaller countries that were influenced by the West if the West falls to totalitarianism similar to how the City preserved the original ways in the game.
I do like the message that Xenoblade 3 has towards totalitarianism, that the people themselves should be the deciders and human nature is free, and to face Armageddon collaboratively on their own terms rather than a false solution that keeps them in a form of slavery and an unnatural biological state. I personally see the young people of today falling for the “totalitarianism will keep us safe” mentality but how much of that is due to indoctrination and bad education rather than a well informed conclusion? I’ve even talked to someone who is on board because it will give them a chance for “historical revenge” for what happened to their group after the US withdrew from a country it was at war with (never mind that it was the genocidal ideology of the opposing side that led to those actions). Who knows, maybe a City of the West gets made, I personally see restoration of the US state’s rights as another way of controlling the effects of a totalitarian minded central government
In any case it makes me appreciate how Sci-Fi is actually well versed in reality and is legitimate speculation about the future, when I was younger I would laugh at how far fetched or “melodramatic” fiction could seem but now I realize I was just used to living in a stable world and never cared to learn or think more deeply about history, philosophy, and human nature. There is way more to glean and appreciate from JRPGs than the character designs, haha. I see now that a series like the Trails series is also based on the history of the West, about empires and republics and the Church, and secret societies working in the background to plan things and influencing government institutions and corporations from within, and even the most recent game is about a Republic grappling with immigration! so that’s a series I’m looking forward to playing eventually.
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NanaMiku
Member
Yes, Takahashi has really deep philosophy in his games, even since Xenogears.
Miiks have really great analysis,
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Something else I've been thinking is that to the people from the 60's who devised "woke" (and the people even further back who would call themselves "Utopianists") is that they referred to Orwell as an "anti-Utopianist." In other words, they could earnestly be seeing Orwell's worlds and worlds like Aionios as a Utopia (from the perspective of Moebius, it could be) and the game actually isn't taking a stance one way or the other. From their perspective, I imagine
It does make me understand the people with that sticker that says "live free or die" and perhaps that is the message? The characters in the game have a brief moment of freedom and we see them at their happiest during that time. In any case, from my immediate perspective and when my classmates discussed books like 1984 in high school we only ever saw the Orwell worlds as bad, so when I actually dug deeper recently, it was a shock to see that the philosophical basis behind those sorts of worlds/countries that have been tried in real life is to earnestly believe it is a Utopia when to me it clearly results in miserable, paranoid people (unless I suppose if they are in a favored group in that utopian system but history shows they end up betraying each other too). At the far end of the future, maybe we will actually have such advanced technology that we can put aside worrying about the species going extinct, or spaceships to just get away and try again haha
The game still shows the world ending in Apocalypse, only advanced technology recreated the world afterwards. People tasted freedom for a little while, but still were doomed to die. Aionios is perfectly in balance (net zero) environmentally, and even humanity's need for scapegoating and catharsis through war and violence is managed scientifically through filling the flame clock being the goal of life. Also, people live only young and then don't have to face the decline of aging. And, there are even some who would think "See, women aren't burdened by having to carry children and pods can do the job instead haha). Perhaps the cycle of stability and Armageddon will happen all over again in the newly created world after the game and the player is left to ponder if that is a good thing?
It does make me understand the people with that sticker that says "live free or die" and perhaps that is the message? The characters in the game have a brief moment of freedom and we see them at their happiest during that time. In any case, from my immediate perspective and when my classmates discussed books like 1984 in high school we only ever saw the Orwell worlds as bad, so when I actually dug deeper recently, it was a shock to see that the philosophical basis behind those sorts of worlds/countries that have been tried in real life is to earnestly believe it is a Utopia when to me it clearly results in miserable, paranoid people (unless I suppose if they are in a favored group in that utopian system but history shows they end up betraying each other too). At the far end of the future, maybe we will actually have such advanced technology that we can put aside worrying about the species going extinct, or spaceships to just get away and try again haha
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Fbh
Member
Finished it yesterday.
Overall I enjoyed it though I think 2 is still my favorite of the trilogy (despite some gripes with the shitty gacha mechanics and character designs, I think it has the best balance between gameplay and story).
The world as always was fantastic, despite the low res look it's still impressive what Monolith can do on the switch. The environments are way more varied and feel way more alive than anything in, say, FFXVI.
The production values are great too, awesome music and some excellent cutscenes. Again, Monolith is pulling off more exciting real time cutscenes on the switch than many other games do on much more powerful hardware
The combat was pretty fun but it could get a bit chaotic at times with 7 party members fighting at the same time, though it obviously gives you a ton of flexibility and I did like how they give you enough new jobs to get a sense of progression through the entire run of the main story. The interlink mechanics was fun too.
One thing I think suffers from the big party though are the chain attacks, they started to get annoying towards the end because once you get good at keeping them going they feel super long and repetitive.
The story I'm a bit more mixed on, I think it starts really strong and mostly stays that way until this big climactic moment in chapter 6. But what comes after felt a bit rushed and too much stuff either doesn't get fully explained or gets resolves with anime bullshit. Also this easily had the worst antagonists from any of the 3 games.
I'm definitely picking up the DLC, though I'll probably wait a couple of months to do so to not burn out on Xenoblade.
Overall I enjoyed it though I think 2 is still my favorite of the trilogy (despite some gripes with the shitty gacha mechanics and character designs, I think it has the best balance between gameplay and story).
The world as always was fantastic, despite the low res look it's still impressive what Monolith can do on the switch. The environments are way more varied and feel way more alive than anything in, say, FFXVI.
The production values are great too, awesome music and some excellent cutscenes. Again, Monolith is pulling off more exciting real time cutscenes on the switch than many other games do on much more powerful hardware
The combat was pretty fun but it could get a bit chaotic at times with 7 party members fighting at the same time, though it obviously gives you a ton of flexibility and I did like how they give you enough new jobs to get a sense of progression through the entire run of the main story. The interlink mechanics was fun too.
One thing I think suffers from the big party though are the chain attacks, they started to get annoying towards the end because once you get good at keeping them going they feel super long and repetitive.
The story I'm a bit more mixed on, I think it starts really strong and mostly stays that way until this big climactic moment in chapter 6. But what comes after felt a bit rushed and too much stuff either doesn't get fully explained or gets resolves with anime bullshit. Also this easily had the worst antagonists from any of the 3 games.
I'm definitely picking up the DLC, though I'll probably wait a couple of months to do so to not burn out on Xenoblade.
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West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
yeah.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Fbh
Member
I did buy Torna (which I honestly didn't like that much, other than the music)
Never bought Future connected though.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Retrofluxed
Member
I'm such a nerd for this series I'm literally listening to a melody of You Will Know Our Names, You Will Recall Our Names and You Will Know Our Names - Finale on YouTube as I write this.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I'm such a nerd for this series that I'm playing through the Xenosaga PS2 games (with widescreen hacks) on my Steam Deck
Retrofluxed
Member
I really need to do the same after I finish up yet another Trilogy play through.
Fbh
Member
Yeah I actually would have been sick of chain attacks like 20 hours earlier if it wasn't for that track lol
On the topic of the OST there was also this tracks (or at least a few with the same melody)
Which one could almost argue they overuse a bit because there are a few spots where it feels like it plays every 10 minutes when something dramatic happens.
But damn...somehow it hits every single time. Specially that bit at 3:00
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jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Happy birthday legend! 
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
Happy birthday legend!
My favorite guy in the industry since xenogears in '98!
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
My favorite guy in the industry since xenogears in '98!
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