This review contains spoilers
My first JRPG !
The opening got me really pumped up. In a couple of minutes, you learn the basis of the battle system, the game briefs you about the confrontation between Bionis & Mechonis, and you understand everything that is at stake. The sequence shot of the ongoing battle between the 2 titans was dope.
Once I discovered the first area, I was blown away by the music. This is becoming a recurring opinion in my reviews, but the environment themes in this game are incredible. All of them are a league above.
I was immediatly hooked on the combat: the cooldown on your arts, the added effects depending on your positioning, the chain attacks, the arts combos... Everything clicked instantly.
And even though some people criticize it for being too spammy, I never got tired of it personally.
I enjoyed spending a lot of time managing my team: getting the best gear, hunting down Unique Monsters to upgrade my arts, increasing the affinity between characters, unlocking their skill trees. There were so many little things to keep me busy, and optimize my team as much as possible.
The side quests were completely uninteresting ("go kill X monsters" type of thing) but I always tried to activate those quests because the rewards were quite generous. This was a good way of getting gold & gems.
Really often, I was completing some of those quests without being aware of it, just by wandering around killing random enemies.
I got really attached to some of the characters. Dunban was the first one that really stuck out. The fact that he was the previous wielder of the Monado was really cool. He has the aura of a leader and he teaches a lot to the other characters, he's the mentor/veteran of the party.
There's also Dickson. He's like Shulk's cool uncle, when you see his chara design, personality, and his attitude towards Shulk. I also liked how detached he looked at times.
And of course, there's Melia. She goes through so much during the whole game, she has to be the one who suffers the most throughout the story. I was always cheering for her.
So many beautiful sceneries... Satorl Marsh at night, the waterfalls in Makna Forest, the Frontier Village, Eryth Sea, Valak Mountain, Fallen Arm... They put so much effort into the aesthetics of the environments, and it shows. And when you combine that with the environments themes which I talked about earlier, you get an amazing experience. Exploring can be so damn satisfying.
However, this game (and other xenoblade titles too) has a big flaw in my opinion: your character is way too slow, compared to the HUGE size of the map.
It takes too long to go anywhere... especially when you want to complete your map to the fullest.
The moment when the party finally arrives in Frontier Village was such a high point in the game. You acquire 2 new characters with really different combat mechanics (Melia and Riki).
The party gets biggers, you learn more about the Monado and the different races, especially the High Entias, and the party gets closer to its goal: reaching Prison Island.
Moving forward, the party arrives in Alcamoth, then there are the events at High Entia Tomb, Prison Island, Galahad Fortress, etc... I'm not gonna go over every event happening in the story, but it's just so captivating. It's full of action & great reveals.
Something else that I enjoyed with XC1 is the different points of view that you get of Bionis & Mechonis. Since you're literally traveling on a titan, you're always exploring different parts of its body.
At the beginning, you're on its foot, and as the story progresses, you go higher and higher (leg, back, shoulder, head, etc...)
And you can occasionally deduce where you are by looking at the other titan, since the 2 titans are facing each other. It made for a really coherent World.
Zanza was a good final Boss. I really enjoyed how over-the-top he was, with the stereotypical god complex, and his exaggerated chara design. Not to mention his epic battle theme.
It was a satisfying ending to an epic adventure. And despite its flaws, it has became my favorite singleplayer game.
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Played the Wii version in March 2021 & the Definitive Edition in mid-September 2022]
Wii version Playtime: 130 hours
DE version Playtime: 110 hours
100% Completion
The opening got me really pumped up. In a couple of minutes, you learn the basis of the battle system, the game briefs you about the confrontation between Bionis & Mechonis, and you understand everything that is at stake. The sequence shot of the ongoing battle between the 2 titans was dope.
Once I discovered the first area, I was blown away by the music. This is becoming a recurring opinion in my reviews, but the environment themes in this game are incredible. All of them are a league above.
I was immediatly hooked on the combat: the cooldown on your arts, the added effects depending on your positioning, the chain attacks, the arts combos... Everything clicked instantly.
And even though some people criticize it for being too spammy, I never got tired of it personally.
I enjoyed spending a lot of time managing my team: getting the best gear, hunting down Unique Monsters to upgrade my arts, increasing the affinity between characters, unlocking their skill trees. There were so many little things to keep me busy, and optimize my team as much as possible.
The side quests were completely uninteresting ("go kill X monsters" type of thing) but I always tried to activate those quests because the rewards were quite generous. This was a good way of getting gold & gems.
Really often, I was completing some of those quests without being aware of it, just by wandering around killing random enemies.
I got really attached to some of the characters. Dunban was the first one that really stuck out. The fact that he was the previous wielder of the Monado was really cool. He has the aura of a leader and he teaches a lot to the other characters, he's the mentor/veteran of the party.
There's also Dickson. He's like Shulk's cool uncle, when you see his chara design, personality, and his attitude towards Shulk. I also liked how detached he looked at times.
And of course, there's Melia. She goes through so much during the whole game, she has to be the one who suffers the most throughout the story. I was always cheering for her.
So many beautiful sceneries... Satorl Marsh at night, the waterfalls in Makna Forest, the Frontier Village, Eryth Sea, Valak Mountain, Fallen Arm... They put so much effort into the aesthetics of the environments, and it shows. And when you combine that with the environments themes which I talked about earlier, you get an amazing experience. Exploring can be so damn satisfying.
However, this game (and other xenoblade titles too) has a big flaw in my opinion: your character is way too slow, compared to the HUGE size of the map.
It takes too long to go anywhere... especially when you want to complete your map to the fullest.
The moment when the party finally arrives in Frontier Village was such a high point in the game. You acquire 2 new characters with really different combat mechanics (Melia and Riki).
The party gets biggers, you learn more about the Monado and the different races, especially the High Entias, and the party gets closer to its goal: reaching Prison Island.
Moving forward, the party arrives in Alcamoth, then there are the events at High Entia Tomb, Prison Island, Galahad Fortress, etc... I'm not gonna go over every event happening in the story, but it's just so captivating. It's full of action & great reveals.
Something else that I enjoyed with XC1 is the different points of view that you get of Bionis & Mechonis. Since you're literally traveling on a titan, you're always exploring different parts of its body.
At the beginning, you're on its foot, and as the story progresses, you go higher and higher (leg, back, shoulder, head, etc...)
And you can occasionally deduce where you are by looking at the other titan, since the 2 titans are facing each other. It made for a really coherent World.
Zanza was a good final Boss. I really enjoyed how over-the-top he was, with the stereotypical god complex, and his exaggerated chara design. Not to mention his epic battle theme.
It was a satisfying ending to an epic adventure. And despite its flaws, it has became my favorite singleplayer game.
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Played the Wii version in March 2021 & the Definitive Edition in mid-September 2022]
Wii version Playtime: 130 hours
DE version Playtime: 110 hours
100% Completion
Bells
1 year ago