Categoría: Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (review)

~ Ichiro Yamazaki ~ Deja un comentario

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Year: 2022

Introduction
Months ago I wrote my expectations about this game and promised to return here to give a full analysis and evaluate if it was that good.
Without a doubt, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was one of the most wanted entries from 2022 for most switch owners and, according to the game’s director, this one is the culmination of the series, but not the end of it.
On this post I’ll try to describe the most important properties of the game and measure the core features of it.

Plot (No Spoilers)
First of all, a valuable asset for the plot is that we get a full background story about each and every main character from the team. This means they are all built at some depth, and I’d dare to say they also topped the main cast from the previous entries on this aspect.
In addition to this nice feature, we’ll enjoy a lot of unexpected and exciting situations throught the course of the game, and all these chain of events get better to the point we can’t stop playing it to discover what’s next.
Cinematic direction is neat and impeccable too, it cleverly mixes cutscenes from the current situation with background stories, and activity from the enemy as well. Besides, it has Xenoblade DNA after all, so, all the fighting cutscenes are amazing to watch and enjoy on the screen.
I also observed a meaningful improvement to the script compared to what was shown on XC2, and these are good news. Mistakes and flaws from that game are gone here: plot devices, plot armors, plot holes, tropes, abuse on open interpretation style are no more. I’d say this story is more serious, darker and tragic than past entries.
In my opinion, the only real problem with the plot is that it’s not fully convincing the way it intertwines with the other game’s stories, there are some plot holes and missing explanations, instead of something more concrete, straigtforward.

Gameplay
This third entry has a lot of new features that will be explained next.
One of these new features are the character classes, which include more than 20 classes, allowing for a decent, state-of-the-art customization for battle. And these classes work like jobs like the other RPGS: each one has specific goals, roles and art/skill sets.
Interlink is another new and interesting mechanic: pairs of main characters can transform into a single being to obtain more power and attack with a powered up art set, which inflicts more damage and effects. This mixed form is called Ouroboros and it’s a limited advantage that ends when its special bar fills.
In addition to these new features, a lot of valuable allies (called heroes) will join the fight as well. Once they are recruited, they can participate on any combat but the only rule is: at most one heroe per battle can participate.
Chain Attack is back and, in my opinion, this is the very best implementation. This time, the attack is organized into character Orders that allow to inflict damage and get additional effects like buffing/debuffing. Each order is completed after a special chain attack bar is filled, and, after it’s finished, then we can continue with another character Order. During a Chain Attack, the Order bar is filled with regular art attacks that we can freely select.
The number of orders to be used depends on the performance of the Chain Attack but we can also pick Heroes’ Orders and Ouroboros’ Orders as well.

Fortunately, some gameplay mistakes from the past are gone on this game: grinding for hours to get some levels is not needed (XC1) but we don’t need to farm Affinity Charts either just to unlock a new area (XC2).
Side-quest designs are better on this game, because some optional Heroes require to fulfill their quests in order to recruit them, and this is more rewarding and fun than the traditinal-boring fetch quests or «beat monster» quests.

Other stuff
Excellent soundtrack, specially all battle themes.
Very good character art that doesn’t need fan service to capture our attention.
Extremely good world design which provides a lot of climate and environment variety, and there are a lot of details to discover while exploring the huge Aionios planet.
Good voice acting.
Side content is very fun to play and extends the game duration for more enjoyment.
Overall, stable frame rate and acceptable graphic detail considering switch’s limitations (docked mode, didn’t try portable mode).

Conclussion
From the technical, artistic and entertainment point of views, this game has surpassed my expectations by a mile away. Xenoblade 3 is just the perfect culmination for these masterpieces, and they are all recommended for every RPG lover.
Score: 9.5

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (reseña)

~ Ichiro Yamazaki ~ Deja un comentario

Plataforma: Nintendo Switch
Desarrollador: Monolith Soft
Publicador: Nintendo
Año: 2022

Introducción
Hace meses escribí cuales eran mis expectativas de Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (https://consolesuniverse.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/xenoblade-chronicles-my-expectations-about-xenoblade-3-post-contains-spoilers-about-the-first-games/), y prometí regresar para analizar el tercer juego, y evaluar que tanto ha cumplido con lo esperado.
Esta tercer entrada es una de las más esperadas de 2022 para la mayoría de los propietarios de switch, y, en palabras del director, es la culminación de la trilogía, pero sin poner fin a la franquicia.
En este post intento describir a detalle las propiedades más importantes de Xenoblade Chronicles 3, y poner el medidor en los aspectos clave.

Historia (No spoilers)
Un primer punto a favor de la trama es que se tiene completo background de cada miembro del equipo, de manera tal que tienen una escritura más completa que el main cast de entregas pasadas.
Existen muchas situaciones impredecibles y emocionantes en cada chapter.
Se tiene una inteligente e impecable dirección cinemática de la trama, la cual presenta cuidadosamente la actividad del enemigo, escenas de la situación actual y a la vez, explora el pasado de cada personaje de forma congruente.
Mejora muy significativa del guión comparado con el XC2, pues prácticamente todas las fallas de aquel juego desaparecieron (plot armors, plot decives, tropos, abuso de narrativa de libre interpretación).
Sin decir ningún spoiler, esta historia es bastante más seria, oscura, sutil y a la vez trágica que previas entregas.
Probablemente el único verdadero problema con el manejo de la trama es la manera en que se entrelazó con la historias de los demás juegos, ya que dejaron huecos o bien poca información, lo cual causa libres interpretaciones en lugar de tener algo concreto y directo.

Gameplay
Esta tercer entrega incluye un set de nuevas características que serán abordadas a continuación. Principalmente, el sistema de combate ha cambiado por completo, y solo conserva algunas propiedades esenciales que han estado en todos los Xenoblade.
Una de las novedades es las clases, las cuales son arriba de 20, permitiendo un nivel aceptable de personalización del equipo para las batallas. Las clases funcionan como jobs de cualquier RPG: cada una con fin específico y habilitando muchas variables al combate.
El Interlink permite la transformación de parejas en un solo ser (Ouroboros), el cual adquiere un set de artes especiales y más poderosas. La forma de Ouroboros es una ventaja limitada ya que tiene una barra de carga que se consume mientras está activa esta forma.
Adicionalmente, un conjunto de personajes aliados no jugables (llamados héroes) se unirán al equipo para apoyar durante el combate. En cualquier momento, cualquiera de los héroes desbloqueados puede ser seleccionado para entrar al equipo, y solo un héroe puede participar a la vez.
El Chain Attack vuelve y en mi opinión, mejor que nunca, ya que se vuelve más dinámico y diverso ya que funciona por Chain Orders: cada personaje posee un Order especial que provee bonificaciones al equipo o debuffs en el enemigo. La cantidad de Orders que se permite usar depende de cómo se desarrolló el Chain Attack, y además es posible generar un Ouroboros Order para infligir más daño o bien, utilizar el Order del héroe que actualmente está apoyando.
Afortunadamente, la fallas de gameplay de entregas pasadas no vuelven aquí, de manera que no volveremos a perder nuestro (valioso) tiempo grindeando niveles o farmeando Affinity Charts para desbloquear áreas. Además, el gacha tampoco regresa y existen mejoras significativas en la manera en que fueron diseñados los side quests. Los héroes son desbloqueados y se unirán al equipo tras terminar sus respectivos quests, lo cual es bastante más divertido que los tradicionales quest de buscar ítems o derrotar enemigos random.
Otra nueva característica es que se añadieron campamentos, los cuales permiten fabricar gemas que habilitan mejoras, cocinar para mejorar recompensas en batalla, subir de nivel, tener conversaciones con el equipo o bien guardar el juego.

Otros
Muy buen soundtrack, especialmente los temas de batalla.
El arte de los personajes es tan impecable como diverso, y en esta ocasión no se necesitó recurrir a ningún fan service.
En general, mucha creatividad en la construcción del mundo, el cual abunda en detalles, diversidad de áreas y enemigos. Aionios tiene áreas peligrosas, otras muy fantásticas, otras más sci-fi y algunas tan sutiles que vale la pena detenerse y disfrutarlas.
Voice acting estupendo, tan bueno como el del primer juego.
El contenido opcional prolonga la duración del juego significativamente y proporciona muchas más horas de diversión.
Frame rate estable la mayor parte del tiempo, y nivel de detalle gráfico aceptable, considerando las limitaciones de Switch. Esto es en docked mode, nunca probé en portátil.

Conclusión
Desde el punto de vista artístico, técnico y de entretenimiento, el juego se ha elevado muy por encima de mis expectativas. Xenoblade 3 es una culminación excelente para una trilogía de obras maestras, dignas de ser todas recomendables para cualquiera que se diga amante del RPG.
Calificación: 9.5


Xenoblade Chronicles – My expectations about Xenoblade 3 [POST CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE FIRST GAMES]

~ Ichiro Yamazaki ~ 1 comentario

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a game I’ve been waiting for even before it was officially announced on the last Nintendo Direct. And after the first trailer was revealed and we got more info about the characters and gameplay, my expectations went really high.

So, I just thought it might be interesting to analyze and imagine how good this game can be, because, I’ll return here to post a mandatory review after I beat it. When that time comes, we’ll see if it surpassed, matched my expectations, or just couldn’t live up to them.

As a huge Xenoblade fan, I have to admit there are big flaws on both Xeno DE and Xeno 2. So, the least they can do is learn from that flaws, enhance the gameplay, develop more serious and convincing plots. I’ll go into details here.

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Xenoblade Chronicles 1

While this game was a huge success when it comes to storytelling, world building and character writing, some big issues still harm the overall outcome.
I mean, I believe Shulk should have killed both Mumkar and Egil without hesitation, because people like that doesn’t deserve second chances at all. But he didn’t, in the end he lacked the determination and I’ll always think they just ruined this part of the story.

And when it comes to gameplay, most of us players think it’s quite the challenge to understand and master even the very basic mechanics at first. This process has some learning curve and it goes complex after progressing. Besides, all the game is always about doing some huge grinding in order to defeat the next tough bosses.

The good news is that Xenoblade 2 learned from this last issue, and the game kept grinding to a minimum, which translates to more hours of fun and story progressing, and less time beating the same enemies time and again.
The bad news is that Xenoblade 2 has so much more plot problems….

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Xenoblade Chronicles 2

I already said this game improved the gameplay, but not just because it critically reduced grinding, but it also improved all the UI, controls, combat system. However, even If we had some experience with the first game, this one is still difficult to learn and master, and the blade system is not intuitive at a first glance.
More gameplay issues include mechanics to unlock areas, because the blades need to develop some skills before they can open up a new terrain to explore. And this can be really time consuming.

And now let’s talk about the story. I’ll be fully honest: I wouldn’t dare to write about these games If I didn’t love them in the first place. So, in the next paragraphs I’m not actually attacking a game I love, I’m trying to analyze and be objective, because some specific instances are not fully convincing, and they do harm the plot quality.
And there are many cases, but I’ll point out these ones:

– The party succesfully beat a boss, but in the next cutscenes it’s actually just the other way around. And while this does happens on Xeno 1 too, it is more over used on this game. Examples include the last battle in Uraya and Tantal too.

-The game just loves the open interpretation style, to the point nothing makes sense, we have to guess everything or imagine everything. And this is repeated time and again and gets old quickly. From the very first moment Azurda dies and then he is just magically brought back to life as a little different being, this is not explained at all. We have to guess or imagine the how and why. Nonsense. But the game continues with this style: I truly hated all the Spirit Crucile Elpis quest, because it was all for nothing, the sword just gets destroyed. In the same place, Nia reveals she is actually a blade, but surprisingly, she is also the only Flesh Eater who freely transforms from driver-to-blade form and vicevesa, the game never explains how and why, and it’s just a contradiction. But the very fact she is a Flesh Eater breaks the game’s rules too: that technology was only known in Judicium, and she always lived in Gormot. Nonsense and open interpretation again.

-Plot devices, here, there and everywhere. From the very moment in Gormoth where Tora decides to help a completely unknown people, this is already a plot device.
More examples?
The last battle at Tantal, Malos and Jin had no real reason to let everyone alive, the just could have killed all of them and become unstopabble with their plans, which would undoudebtly guide us towards a game over for the heroes. But the plot device says they just couldn’t, nonsense.
Another quite good example: Rex and his team shouldn’t have saved Jin nor work with him on the Land Of Morytha. I mean, after all that had happend up until that point, it’s full nonsense to trust him, he is a real and dangerous enemy, and can’t be trusted at all. Enemies like him don’t care about honor or things like that, and he just could have backstabbed everyone.
But the worst plot device is actually the endgame itself: Pneuma dies because of the heavy explosion, but then she is just brought back to life for no reason at all. Open interpretation/rule breaking all over again.

–Plot armors: Pyra was effectively defeated and died after the Tantal encounter, but when Rex fights Jin and Malos and wins the battle on Cliffs of Morytha, she gets revived and at full power, she moves at light speed and counters Jin, just because Yes.
Another plot armor: Nia apparently defeats Malos on her blade form, using a power she never revealed before.

–Anime tropes/cliche: Mythra and Nia are actually tsunderes and the game shows some cutscenes influenced by the anime cliche. The most obvious example is at the Argentum Trade Guild, when Rex surprisingly sleeps with Mythra.

And I can go on and on, all day If I wanted to. But I won’t. I do said I love Xenoblade 2, its cast, story, world, gameplay, but I do admit it has a lot of big flaws that inflict serious damage on the final script.

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All the previous analysis was necessary to explain which features I wouldn’t like to be included on Xenoblade 3. I expect they learned from all the flaws I mentioned on the previous paragraphs. I, concretely, have this expectations:

– The plot is actually better than both previous games. All the story makes sense, and there are no more plot armors/devices/cliches. I want that all the characters act reasonably, according to their backgrounds but also according to the situations, following logical flow of actions.

– The gameplay continues to keep grinding to a minimum.

– Improved mechanics to discover new areas.

-Better controls / UI / tutorials / than DE and 2, easy to learn, straightforward and yet with deep combat system.

-Amazing world design, like they did on the previous games.

-Excellent music like the previous games.

-Better VA than 2.

-Improvements and significative innovations to the gameplay, specially battle system, no one wants a rehash.

-Cool and nice looking cutscenes like before.

-Connections to the previous games is given near the endgame.