I started the game the day it leaked online. Some spoilers in the spoiler section
I've been sort of passively waiting for xc3 since the day it was announced. I say passively because I did my best to distract myself from its release so that I could avoid the agony of waiting everyday for it and building expectations so believe me when I say I didn't go into this with unreasonable expectations.
Story
The story unfortunately is full of unanswered questions or questions that were explained badly. It would be one thing if it was just minor stuff, like how Noah tells Mio that he doesn't like the name of his sword and chose to name it something else and then never tells her but important plot elements and items will just happen or show up with no explanation and for a series that's as methodical and planned out as the Xeno series its quite disappointing to see. That said, the story does have many kino moments, the cutscenes are well choreographed and the dialog is mostly good with odd sentences and conversations here and there.
Characters
The main 6 are pretty good and each of them get their own time in the spotlight thankfully but I don't think Noah gets enough. This might just be me not vibing with the type of character he is though as he is more of a thoughtful quiet character as opposed to the shonen type characters that are Shulk and Rex. The side characters are quite good and their personalities mesh well with the main 6. The villains mostly suck though. Moebius D, J and C are good but the rest are just bruh moments. Its one thing to have a few villains that are just "Hohoho I am the evilest evil" but its another thing to have almost your entire villain cast consist of that. X and Y in particular I feel were really badly handled and Z, the main villain is contradictory about his beliefs and methods. Also for some reason, most of the villains share 90% of the same design and their lackluster character makes it hard to differentiate them.
Gameplay
Might be the best combat in the series. I loved the elemental orb system from XC2 but the combat and customization can get pretty deep here with loads of build options. Exploration is really good, the story takes you through a small part of all the areas in the game but if you choose to explore there is so much to see and do. The world design is pretty good with plenty of callbacks to areas from previous games. Side Quests are plentiful but don't feel generic as each one typically has its own story to tell which is connected to the Colony that quest came from. Hero Quests are a new type of quest where completing one grants you access to a new Hero which is an AI controlled ally you can add to your party as well as unlocking a new class that your party can use. The combination of Hero and Standard Quests fleshes out the world and side characters quite well.
Music
Music is great as always for a Xeno game but the non battle tracks are less memorable. I did not rush through the game at all as you can see by my playtime (this is the most time I've spent on a xeno game even) but I can barely remember any environmental music. Battle tracks are really good though except the final boss track which is kind of nothing for half the fight. Weight of Life is a really good track but they play that thing only twice in a 40 hour story lmfao!!
Spoiler stuff
Originally I was going to type out questions I had regarding the story and how it doesn't explain many things but it got way too long so I put it in a pastebin instead. If anyone knows the answer to any of those questions hit me up on discord, @Shu_Watch#0423.
Also I just remembered that all the hype of 3 being the conclusion to 1 and 2 was a lie and Future Connected is pretty useless because the story is quite separate which can be a benefit or a negative depending on your tastes but I don't think the story is strong enough to stand on its own without that connection.
Conclusion
Everything gameplay related is top notch and honestly the price of the game could fully be justified by the gameplay and I will certainly be returning to this game after finals to get the 100% but the story is disappointing. Definitely did not expect that of a Xeno game. Like I said its not awful, there are still many kino moments but you should temper your expectations going in
I've been sort of passively waiting for xc3 since the day it was announced. I say passively because I did my best to distract myself from its release so that I could avoid the agony of waiting everyday for it and building expectations so believe me when I say I didn't go into this with unreasonable expectations.
Story
The story unfortunately is full of unanswered questions or questions that were explained badly. It would be one thing if it was just minor stuff, like how Noah tells Mio that he doesn't like the name of his sword and chose to name it something else and then never tells her but important plot elements and items will just happen or show up with no explanation and for a series that's as methodical and planned out as the Xeno series its quite disappointing to see. That said, the story does have many kino moments, the cutscenes are well choreographed and the dialog is mostly good with odd sentences and conversations here and there.
Characters
The main 6 are pretty good and each of them get their own time in the spotlight thankfully but I don't think Noah gets enough. This might just be me not vibing with the type of character he is though as he is more of a thoughtful quiet character as opposed to the shonen type characters that are Shulk and Rex. The side characters are quite good and their personalities mesh well with the main 6. The villains mostly suck though. Moebius D, J and C are good but the rest are just bruh moments. Its one thing to have a few villains that are just "Hohoho I am the evilest evil" but its another thing to have almost your entire villain cast consist of that. X and Y in particular I feel were really badly handled and Z, the main villain is contradictory about his beliefs and methods. Also for some reason, most of the villains share 90% of the same design and their lackluster character makes it hard to differentiate them.
Gameplay
Might be the best combat in the series. I loved the elemental orb system from XC2 but the combat and customization can get pretty deep here with loads of build options. Exploration is really good, the story takes you through a small part of all the areas in the game but if you choose to explore there is so much to see and do. The world design is pretty good with plenty of callbacks to areas from previous games. Side Quests are plentiful but don't feel generic as each one typically has its own story to tell which is connected to the Colony that quest came from. Hero Quests are a new type of quest where completing one grants you access to a new Hero which is an AI controlled ally you can add to your party as well as unlocking a new class that your party can use. The combination of Hero and Standard Quests fleshes out the world and side characters quite well.
Music
Music is great as always for a Xeno game but the non battle tracks are less memorable. I did not rush through the game at all as you can see by my playtime (this is the most time I've spent on a xeno game even) but I can barely remember any environmental music. Battle tracks are really good though except the final boss track which is kind of nothing for half the fight. Weight of Life is a really good track but they play that thing only twice in a 40 hour story lmfao!!
Spoiler stuff
Originally I was going to type out questions I had regarding the story and how it doesn't explain many things but it got way too long so I put it in a pastebin instead. If anyone knows the answer to any of those questions hit me up on discord, @Shu_Watch#0423.
Also I just remembered that all the hype of 3 being the conclusion to 1 and 2 was a lie and Future Connected is pretty useless because the story is quite separate which can be a benefit or a negative depending on your tastes but I don't think the story is strong enough to stand on its own without that connection.
Conclusion
Everything gameplay related is top notch and honestly the price of the game could fully be justified by the gameplay and I will certainly be returning to this game after finals to get the 100% but the story is disappointing. Definitely did not expect that of a Xeno game. Like I said its not awful, there are still many kino moments but you should temper your expectations going in
2 Comments
thank you
conduit
1 year ago