After playing the original, I think I like this version a bit less but still find it pretty fun. I feel compressing all of Midgar into a single game when I know how much the game opens up after this part in the OG makes the linearity of the adventure feel a little bloated. It really is FF7 as an action movie at times. I think the character interactions kinda carry cause all of them are so much fun. Really excited to see what happens in the next part as I liked everything outside of Midgar so much more.

Going into this game I didn't know much about it outside of it being an a "playable anime" and having a ton of QTE's. I figured it'd be a simplified action game with the set pieces of bayo 1 and dmc. I feel like Asura's Wrath really is a one of a kind game today considering you only see this over the top full on animation spectacle in licensed anime games or the one or two character action games that come out every once in a while.

Asura's Wrath takes every conceivable trope of any shonen anime and throws them at you with it's plot. Combat is pretty bare bones. Enemies aren't all that interesting to fight outside of bosses. Interactive cutscenes boil down to pressing a button or flicking the joystick a certain way. The characters are simple and the story is pretty easy to grasp. But the developers managed to execute all this VERY well to the point your in for the wild ride the second Asura jumps off a space ship 2 mins into the game or is stopping a giant finger from gigantic demigod with 6 fucking arms. I love all the set pieces and you could tell the developers had fun animating and creating the world this game takes place it. After a certain point mashing a button feels less mindless and more like you are as angry as Asura is on screen. QTE's I feel actively add to this game more than any other game I've played with QTE's.

Games like Asura's Wrath don't get made often anymore so play it if you can. I'd love to see more "playable anime" games if they're like this. (and improved upon of course)

This is without of doubt my favorite trilogy of games ever. Xenoblade 3 takes everything mechanically learned from the past Xenoblade games and mashes them all together and adds on top of them in a chaotic mess that somehow is playable and extremely fun. Having control of 6 characters all at once with insane class customization felt daunting but becomes natural once you sink your teeth into the game. Aionios is also filled to the brim with places to discover and find. I found exploring it like playing a xenoblade X lite with how large areas are.

For the story, I feel like this is more of a show don't tell story as a lot of concepts and things aren't explained and are left up to the player to piece together themselves. I think this has comes to the games benefit while also letting it down in some areas since I feel the story peaks around the 2/3's mark. The central theme of life coming together however is felt through every aspect of this from the gameplay mixing styles from 1 and 2, to the side quests that genuinely made me care about almost every npc on the affinity chart. I feel the strength of this story is found in tandem with it's side content which deliver the complexities of how you change the world over the over again.

One of the weak points of the game comes from the villain's and how they are handled. XC2 had such strong antagonist that I feel it's very noticeable here. The few standouts from the cast are the ones that matter the most but I feel the majority of Mobieus works better as a concept that their individual execution. In contrast, the main cast I feel is the strongest it's ever been and all the heroes are wonderful and I absolutely love how they're all applied in the game.

Some other nitpicks include menu and chain attack song overriding other music all the time, some QOL stuff from definitive edition not being in this game like being able to track specific items, collectopedia to see items from specific areas and lot more. These can be fixed in future patches but I do wish they were in the base experience. (just like Manana cooking not working till a recent patch)

I adore this game and I wanna believe it my favorite one right after beating it. Xeno 1 changed my perspective on rpgs and this game felt like a conclusion to the story started in that game. I broke down at the ending and I'm super excited for the dlc and whatever monolith does with the xeno series next since this is the conclusion to the arc.