For the most part, Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 felt like polar opposites to me. While I did love them both, the list of things I enjoyed about each of them could double as a list of aspects I find totally lacking in the other. If I didn't know better, I might assume they weren't even from the same series.
In that sense, XBC3 feels less like your typical sequel, and more like a "Capcom vs SNK" style mash up of two former competitors. While it never quite outshines either of its predecessors at their best, it somehow manages to preserve the better qualities of each while neutralizing many of their respective shortcomings in the process. Tone, art style, cohesiveness, mechanics, rhythm, world scale, character depth, voice acting/direction - It just hits all the right notes for me, in areas where the others sometimes dropped the ball.
It's perhaps a little sluggish in finding it's own identity, with so much attention being drawn to hollow callbacks that ultimately amount to very little. Aionios makes an uncharacteristically lacklustre first impression, seemingly content to exist as a backdrop rather than a "character" in its own right - never really selling itself as the war ravaged hellscape that the characters describe, nor truly evoking the essence of the familiar landmarks strewn across it. Over time, however, its merits eventually start to reveal themselves: An endearing party, who comfortably share the spotlight as equals - Heart to heart moments that are so naturally woven into every little errand that you'd swear they were vital parts of the main story - Side characters who exist outside the vacuum of their own questlines and form a living community that grows all around you... Like Xenoblade X before it, I can now look back on time spent in a beautifully crafted world that feels incredibly lived in. It's hard not to wonder what might've been if such top-tier world building had been paired with a slightly more imaginative setting, there's just something so bland about seeing the concept of "worlds colliding" take the form of "a Xenoblade Fan's Animal Crossing Island".
Xenoblade 1 and 2 definitely have far brighter highlights to cherry pick from; more iconic worlds, better endings, stronger villains, standout character performances and hard hitting moments - I really couldn't blame anyone who strongly gravitates towards 1 or 2 for finding this one a little underwhelming. But as someone who loved both games equally (albeit for very different reasons), Xenoblade 3 just feels like the most consistently on-point of them. If the DLC is even half as strong as Torna was, it may well push this one to the top spot for me.
In that sense, XBC3 feels less like your typical sequel, and more like a "Capcom vs SNK" style mash up of two former competitors. While it never quite outshines either of its predecessors at their best, it somehow manages to preserve the better qualities of each while neutralizing many of their respective shortcomings in the process. Tone, art style, cohesiveness, mechanics, rhythm, world scale, character depth, voice acting/direction - It just hits all the right notes for me, in areas where the others sometimes dropped the ball.
It's perhaps a little sluggish in finding it's own identity, with so much attention being drawn to hollow callbacks that ultimately amount to very little. Aionios makes an uncharacteristically lacklustre first impression, seemingly content to exist as a backdrop rather than a "character" in its own right - never really selling itself as the war ravaged hellscape that the characters describe, nor truly evoking the essence of the familiar landmarks strewn across it. Over time, however, its merits eventually start to reveal themselves: An endearing party, who comfortably share the spotlight as equals - Heart to heart moments that are so naturally woven into every little errand that you'd swear they were vital parts of the main story - Side characters who exist outside the vacuum of their own questlines and form a living community that grows all around you... Like Xenoblade X before it, I can now look back on time spent in a beautifully crafted world that feels incredibly lived in. It's hard not to wonder what might've been if such top-tier world building had been paired with a slightly more imaginative setting, there's just something so bland about seeing the concept of "worlds colliding" take the form of "a Xenoblade Fan's Animal Crossing Island".
Xenoblade 1 and 2 definitely have far brighter highlights to cherry pick from; more iconic worlds, better endings, stronger villains, standout character performances and hard hitting moments - I really couldn't blame anyone who strongly gravitates towards 1 or 2 for finding this one a little underwhelming. But as someone who loved both games equally (albeit for very different reasons), Xenoblade 3 just feels like the most consistently on-point of them. If the DLC is even half as strong as Torna was, it may well push this one to the top spot for me.