I wish I can forget this game so I can re-experience it again. Playing through the last three chapters of the game in one sitting is still one of my favorite moments in my life for the amount of emotions I went through. It is the most I have cried in any story.
There are 10 chapters in the game.
First chapter was good. Nice introduction.
Chapter 2 was alright. It kind of went downhill a bit.
Chapter 3 picked up, that was a fun ride.
Then Chapter 4 killed the momentum... hard.
The first half of the game was rough. But all worth to get to the second half.
Every chapter 5 and onward keeps escalating until you get to the climax in the final few chapters. And once you are there, you will get an experience of a lifetime.
The way I see it, Takahashi and Monolithsoft were trying to grab a new audience. At the time this game came out, gacha games with waifus really started to boom. Anime has already gained worldwide appreciation. So to grab this new audience, they tried to replicate that. From the in-game gacha mechanics (no money needed, just grind) and the character designs, and the cringy anime-type scenarios, this game strayed FAR from the first Xenoblade. They did a terrible at doing this.
At the halfway point, Takahashi probably saw the mess of the first half and decided to fix it. That second half of the story is where the real meat is at. More sci-fi, and more Xenogears/saga.
Monolithsoft received a lot of well deserved criticism for its sexualization on many characters. It was absolutely not needed and really reduced the seriousness of some cutscenes. And even outside from that, this game and the series have received a more negative perspective from non-JRPG fans because of the character designs.
Yet even with the above stated, Pyra and Mythra are what drive the story. It is the character development and their place in the story that make this game great. The english dub is even better at portraying their type of character. While the japanese dub used a more cutesy voice for Pyra/Mythra, the english dub (thanks to Skye Bennett) went with a more lower or tomboyish voice. Pyra/Mythra are supposed to be strong female characters, especially with the way they are written, and keeping your typical cute high pitched voice would definitely detract from that.
Gameplay wise, it drastically improved from its predecessor. It is way more chaotic and fun, with a lot more customization and more fluid combat gameplay. It is slow at first. But of course once you get to the second half, it becomes more fast paced and fun to play.
And the music. Man it is incredible. ACE and Yasunori Mitsuda really went all out. Honestly it was their music that made me play this. If you watch the first E3 trailer for this game, it seems like a very generic anime jrpg. That is, until you reach the end. Rex staring off to a sea of clouds with a giant tree piercing the sky. And a slow piano soundtrack plays. That music, gave that scene an otherworldly feeling. The game's soundtrack has some of the most emotional music of any video game, and I highly encourage anyone to take a listen to it.
Overall 9/10. To quote Etika: "This is not even a game. Its a whole interactive movie".
There are 10 chapters in the game.
First chapter was good. Nice introduction.
Chapter 2 was alright. It kind of went downhill a bit.
Chapter 3 picked up, that was a fun ride.
Then Chapter 4 killed the momentum... hard.
The first half of the game was rough. But all worth to get to the second half.
Every chapter 5 and onward keeps escalating until you get to the climax in the final few chapters. And once you are there, you will get an experience of a lifetime.
The way I see it, Takahashi and Monolithsoft were trying to grab a new audience. At the time this game came out, gacha games with waifus really started to boom. Anime has already gained worldwide appreciation. So to grab this new audience, they tried to replicate that. From the in-game gacha mechanics (no money needed, just grind) and the character designs, and the cringy anime-type scenarios, this game strayed FAR from the first Xenoblade. They did a terrible at doing this.
At the halfway point, Takahashi probably saw the mess of the first half and decided to fix it. That second half of the story is where the real meat is at. More sci-fi, and more Xenogears/saga.
Monolithsoft received a lot of well deserved criticism for its sexualization on many characters. It was absolutely not needed and really reduced the seriousness of some cutscenes. And even outside from that, this game and the series have received a more negative perspective from non-JRPG fans because of the character designs.
Yet even with the above stated, Pyra and Mythra are what drive the story. It is the character development and their place in the story that make this game great. The english dub is even better at portraying their type of character. While the japanese dub used a more cutesy voice for Pyra/Mythra, the english dub (thanks to Skye Bennett) went with a more lower or tomboyish voice. Pyra/Mythra are supposed to be strong female characters, especially with the way they are written, and keeping your typical cute high pitched voice would definitely detract from that.
Gameplay wise, it drastically improved from its predecessor. It is way more chaotic and fun, with a lot more customization and more fluid combat gameplay. It is slow at first. But of course once you get to the second half, it becomes more fast paced and fun to play.
And the music. Man it is incredible. ACE and Yasunori Mitsuda really went all out. Honestly it was their music that made me play this. If you watch the first E3 trailer for this game, it seems like a very generic anime jrpg. That is, until you reach the end. Rex staring off to a sea of clouds with a giant tree piercing the sky. And a slow piano soundtrack plays. That music, gave that scene an otherworldly feeling. The game's soundtrack has some of the most emotional music of any video game, and I highly encourage anyone to take a listen to it.
Overall 9/10. To quote Etika: "This is not even a game. Its a whole interactive movie".