Phew, it took 90 hours (obviously did a lot of exploring and side quests, though not all of them), but I finally finished the story for Xenoblade 3. So yeah, a got a lot to say about what I thought about the game.
Before I get started, I just want to warn that I am gonna be fairly negative. But wait, wait. Don't do the whole "Ohhh, you're a hater, so nothing you say counts" crap. You know how much I looked forward to Xenoblade 3, and unlike most of you, I have even played Xenoblade X.
And of course, plenty of spoilers. Not gonna shy on that.
So let me just say as far as a game goes, I do think it is a good game. Each of the Xenoblade games have their own battle system and everything, so I'm not gonna really go about which one is better. Xenoblade 3's is fun in its own way, so good enough. The graphics were nice, the exploring fun, the robots and transforming gimmicks awesome, etc, etc. You know, the usual good Xenoblade-ness.
So let's go straight ahead to the problems I had with the game, starting with the most serious.
1. Anything other than the main storyline doesn't matter at all.
The worlds RESET themselves at the end of the game. All of the characters you learn about in side quests are gone. In Xenoblade 1 and 2, the worlds changed, but the characters were left intact. But not this game. As you know, a person's personality is shaped from their experiences throughout life. And since a single world and two worlds fighting each other are completely different, there is no way any of the characters (especially the ones shown to be reset to a young age AKA Noah and co.) will be the same. Also frankly not even sure if some are born. I mean, they don't even show Mio's group, so... Huh...
2. The enemies in this game almost all just suck
90% of the enemies are just assholes enjoying being assholes. Another 5% are assholes who have sad pasts, which doesn't justify anything but at least they have more character than the other 90%.
You think this just goes for the side story Moebius? No, not at all. In fact, they are part of that 90%. And you know X and Y, who seemed to be so important that they are No. 2 and No. 3 and pop up in the final fight? No, no. They go "I won't let you pass" and get killed. That's it. That's how they die. There isn't even a cutscene for their deaths. They just die like any random enemy you encountered.
And the boss? At first, he goes "The weak don't have options, and I am giving them a good environment", and sure, I see what he is saying. Cool. And then what does he say? That it is fun watching them. And there you go. Ruined. Just another asshole.
Yes, I understand that there is a reason they are all assholes. That doesn't mean it is good. Almost none of the enemies in this game have a character, and the last boss is a stereotypical "I am the evil in your hearts" crap. Sure, Zanza was an asshole too. But at least he was a character. And it really helped you didn't have 20 other characters before him that were pretty much the same character, by personality and setting.. Also, the protagonist group doesn't actually interact with the final boss until the final battle, so no investment there either.
3. There honestly wasn't really that many emotional scenes in this game
The only three that got close were Mio's death, Ethel's death, and the ending. But here's the thing.
When you think of Mio's death and the ending, what remains in your memory?
For me, it was the fact N acted like a jerk but he gets Uno Reversed and gets NTRed in front of the entire world, prompting him to go crazy with over-ly (but good) voice acting.
For me, it was Rex having a 4P like the doujinshi and impregnating three girls at the same time. Also, for some reason, Dromarch, an eternal being, isn't alive and Poppi, a robot that needs maintenance, is. Also, apparently Nia has a child, but Melia just gets a sword. Wow, man. Melia better not learn Nia got some action, or this time she is really gonna try and destroy the world.
And as for Ethel, that scene itself was honestly a miss for me. Ethel is only fighting against Noah and co. because Colony 4 was taken hostage, and this fact does not change at any time, but she just starts fighting with her boyfriend. And Colony 4 is just fine because... no reason. Also, it would kinda be nice if they helped get rid of the Moebius first before fighting? Or maybe at least not stop Noah from fighting the Moebius? You know? Also, at this point, I know nothing about Cammuravi and couldn't give a crap about him.
4. The BGM didn't stand out
The BGM that I think is Xenoblade 3's Counterattack apparently only plays twice in the entire game, and none of that in the latter half of the game. Yeah. How is this supposed to remain in my memory?
The only BGM that stood out in the game was the Chain Attack BGM, which coincidentally, you hear to your death throughout the entire game.
Also really liked the use of Xenoblade 2's music in Nia's quest, but that isn't really complimenting Xenoblade 3, right? That's complementing 2's memorable music.
5. How the heck did Melia and Nia become queens of an entire world in the first place?
Sure, maybe if they were queens of the worlds after they combined, this could be excused. But they seemed to be head honchos of their world before anything happened. Melia was only queen of one place, and Nia was nothing. But now they rule over the entire world.
6. Sena
Let's face it. She got shafted hard.
All of her main story interaction is combined with either Mio or Lanz (or Shania, I guess), meaning she hardly has any character-specific screentime. You know how Eunie goes through her own death, or Taion with his colony? No. Sena was just some awkward girl that couldn't join any group until Mio came along. So now we have Mio, not Sena.
"Why are you using a hammer?" Nope, not answered. Sena's whole "in-kya 陰キャ" thing honestly wasn't addressed, but I have questions if the game is aware thats how she plays out in the first place.
Side Story Sena? Nope, Side Story Shania (or Ghondor).
Yeah, I know, Side Story Sena has Sena on the sidelines. Even Segiri's story is more Side Story Sena. That's just how little of a character she has. Even her own quest shafts her.
7. Mio is like "We will meet again"
No, no you won't. It doesn't make sense, it ruins the ending, and it is even more anti-climatic than Y just reviving people and aging them so you can use Ethel and co. again. Miyabi is cute as can be, but I'm not gonna deny the iffy-ness of just reviving characters like that.
So yeah, that's all I can think of right now. Like I said, it wasn't a bad game or anything. I think it was a good game. But the story just didn't really work for me, and I would place 3 below 1 or 2, easily.
But hey, we still got some DLC left to go, so let's see what is ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment