Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Upon finished XC1, I almost instantly hopped into the sequel in hopes to finish it and get to my most anticipated game, XC3. The game had me pretty hooked with some interesting ideas and beautiful graphics, but as the game moved forward more and more details blended in and I found myself falling out of the story as it progressed. This game is incredibly split for me, with a cast consisting of Nia; one of the best personalities in the series, with a great story, Zeke; the funniest character I’ve seen in ages that you’d just love to be friends with, and Jin, one of the greatest antagonists I’ve seen in a while that I was always invested in no matter how I felt about anything else happening in the story. On the other hand, characters like Morag and a lot of the blades fell flat for me, with not enough for me to care about their inclusion to the main cast, and Tora, the only main character in the series thus far I’ve actively disliked. The story progression was also very split, with a great first 3 chapters, and an amazing last 2 chapters; with only a few moments and details falling in between those middle 4 chapters that really fell into place for me to actually love this game.

The story of this game has a lot going on and not all of it clicked, but specifically Jin and Malos’ story were easily the most interesting. Pyra and Mythra were a delight but I feel like their story about reaching Elysium wasn’t the most compelling part of it all

While this game lands on its feet with its ending, cast and stories; it trips and falls with mechanics such as blades and field skills, along with a sometimes messy story that can be confusing to follow

Reviewed on Feb 22, 2023


3 Comments


1 year ago

Respect your opinion but hard disagree on the combat, the gatcha implementation is hit or miss, but the fluidity of combos, high ceiling for damage potential, and variety in ways you can approach the same battle (environmental effects, weapon types, etc) only works because of the excess of things to collect and use at your disposal. While all of that is available to you, there’s still the option to ignore most of the specifics and still succeed/have fun.

And while I do agree the story/characters are a mixed bag, I think it relies a lot on its ending to tie up the thematic points, which it does well. Even still, the exploration and combat are still the main forces driving the experience.

1 year ago

period

1 year ago

stfu Brodie the ending doesn't justify the horrible middle