It's just peak. Peakoblade
incredible finale to the best trilogy in gaming
The best possible end to the series that fans could've wanted, it appeals to enjoyers of the entire series, with tons of great and well-implemented fan service.
This review contains spoilers
Finally a Xenoblade DLC that I enjoyed thoroughly!
Very nice QoL features: You can pin items required for quests, gem crafting or even X-reader upgrades. And it will then show you if you find an enemy that drops the item you're looking for.
Finally having access to a bestiary is also very welcomed! Now we can find specific resources more efficiently.
The game does a great job at being an Openworld. Exploring & doing side quests is very rewarding, as Unlock Kits are what allow you to upgrade your characters and become stronger. And the X-reader helps you locate hidden treasures very easyly. It's just a joy to explore.
The battles flow quite well even without using chain attacks, I'm really happy about that.
Just cancelling your arts nonstop and doing Unity combos depletes the enemies HPs quickly enough.
Sometimes, I didn't even use chain attacks even though I could. It just feels better to not use those all the time.
I mostly focused on strengthening Shulk because he is my favorite character. When I found Unlock Kits, I would always use them on him first. I also had fun using Matthew, A and Glimmer.
Btw, it was really sweet seeing the father/son relationship between Shulk & Nikol and Rex & Glimmer. Seeing Nikol having the same passion for engineering than his father is so wholesome.
There are a lot of callbacks to the previous games: The moment the kids ask Na'el to sing them songs, and they name-drop famous tracks from previous Xenoblade games, it made me giggle. "Gaur Plain! Tomorrow with you! Bringer of Chaos, Ultimate!"
The original Colony 9 from Xenoblade 1 is back, along with its music and the battle theme "Time to fight".
More over, they continued to mix up environments from previous games just like they did in base game Xenoblade 3. Combining the three snowy areas from each Xeno game to create the Black Mountains was sick!
And making Prison Island the final area of the DLC was amazing. The developers really wanted to trigger a reaction in the player with all this nostalgia.
Even though he did that to serve his own purposes in the long run, seeing Z team up with Shulk & Rex to try and get rid of Alpha was kinda raw. He's the last person I would have expected to team up with our beloved Heroes.
I was quite invested in the cutscenes showing the Past of Na'el, her struggles with the war & endless killing. The voice actor did a good job portraying her emotions and making us understand why Alpha chose her as a vessel.
After defeating Alpha for good, Shulk, Rex & Alvis leave to become the new avatars of the Trinity processor. This ending really got me in the feels. I loved the story of Future Redeemed, this was a great way to wrap-up the trilogy.
Also, we learn that Matthew is part of the Vandham lineage 🤯
The end credits were so good, great music, and I love that we see a recap of all 3 Xeno games, with actual in-game footage. It was an amazing send-off.
Playing that DLC reinforced my love for those games and the Xenoblade series in general. This really is my favorite video game franchise, no doubt about it.
I can't wait to see what Xenoblade 4 is gonna be like. Because the producer said Future Redeemed put an end to this trilogy, and the next Xenoblade games are gonna be quite different, with an entirely different storyline. So I'm very curious!
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on April 7th & finished on April 26th 2024]
Playtime: 28 hours
100% Completion
Very nice QoL features: You can pin items required for quests, gem crafting or even X-reader upgrades. And it will then show you if you find an enemy that drops the item you're looking for.
Finally having access to a bestiary is also very welcomed! Now we can find specific resources more efficiently.
The game does a great job at being an Openworld. Exploring & doing side quests is very rewarding, as Unlock Kits are what allow you to upgrade your characters and become stronger. And the X-reader helps you locate hidden treasures very easyly. It's just a joy to explore.
The battles flow quite well even without using chain attacks, I'm really happy about that.
Just cancelling your arts nonstop and doing Unity combos depletes the enemies HPs quickly enough.
Sometimes, I didn't even use chain attacks even though I could. It just feels better to not use those all the time.
I mostly focused on strengthening Shulk because he is my favorite character. When I found Unlock Kits, I would always use them on him first. I also had fun using Matthew, A and Glimmer.
Btw, it was really sweet seeing the father/son relationship between Shulk & Nikol and Rex & Glimmer. Seeing Nikol having the same passion for engineering than his father is so wholesome.
There are a lot of callbacks to the previous games: The moment the kids ask Na'el to sing them songs, and they name-drop famous tracks from previous Xenoblade games, it made me giggle. "Gaur Plain! Tomorrow with you! Bringer of Chaos, Ultimate!"
The original Colony 9 from Xenoblade 1 is back, along with its music and the battle theme "Time to fight".
More over, they continued to mix up environments from previous games just like they did in base game Xenoblade 3. Combining the three snowy areas from each Xeno game to create the Black Mountains was sick!
And making Prison Island the final area of the DLC was amazing. The developers really wanted to trigger a reaction in the player with all this nostalgia.
Even though he did that to serve his own purposes in the long run, seeing Z team up with Shulk & Rex to try and get rid of Alpha was kinda raw. He's the last person I would have expected to team up with our beloved Heroes.
I was quite invested in the cutscenes showing the Past of Na'el, her struggles with the war & endless killing. The voice actor did a good job portraying her emotions and making us understand why Alpha chose her as a vessel.
After defeating Alpha for good, Shulk, Rex & Alvis leave to become the new avatars of the Trinity processor. This ending really got me in the feels. I loved the story of Future Redeemed, this was a great way to wrap-up the trilogy.
Also, we learn that Matthew is part of the Vandham lineage 🤯
The end credits were so good, great music, and I love that we see a recap of all 3 Xeno games, with actual in-game footage. It was an amazing send-off.
Playing that DLC reinforced my love for those games and the Xenoblade series in general. This really is my favorite video game franchise, no doubt about it.
I can't wait to see what Xenoblade 4 is gonna be like. Because the producer said Future Redeemed put an end to this trilogy, and the next Xenoblade games are gonna be quite different, with an entirely different storyline. So I'm very curious!
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on April 7th & finished on April 26th 2024]
Playtime: 28 hours
100% Completion
I gotta admit, I was a little burnt out on XBC3 when I went into this, so I was a little worried once I started it. Imagine my surprise when not even 20 minutes in, I was already incredibly invested, and by the end, I didn't want it to be over. Future Redeemed takes every system that works from XBC3 and builds upon them in such a fun and satisfying way that it makes the gameplay loop maybe the most enjoyable in the entire series. Playing as Rex is quite possibly the most fun I've had in a JRPG, Double Spinning Edge is one hell of a drug. In terms of story, I gotta hand it to FR for being able to weave bits and pieces from all 3 XBC games, alongside nods to Xenosaga and Xenogears, and do it all so coheasively, its an enjoyable tale all the way through. FR doesn't add too much new music, but the pieces it does have all stand out extremely well, with the Final Boss theme in particular being absolutely insane. My last big praise for FR is its length, because it genuinely feels like the perfect length, its not too long nor too short, I never felt like my interest was fading, it really nailed that sweet spot. In conclusion, I'm feeling full of beans and I need XBC4 stat.