This was pretty fucking ass, I'll be honest that I didn't like it but it has Atlus on its name so I'm obligated give it 5 stars because of that alone. A game can be the worst fucking creation in all the universes that ever existed and will ever exist, it can be the cause for the tiniest wars to the fucking Holocaust & the most horrific carnage recorded in human history, but if it has the name ''Atlus'' on it I simply have to act like it saved my life and gave me an everlasting feeling of solace. This isn't even dickriding, it's how my brain is wired. Dickriding is a choice of freedom, this is intinct & a part of my construct. If you make fun of this then you're ableist. I dont make the rules

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.

Si bien suena lo suficientemente loco como para escribir una reseña sobre un juego que ni siquiera está FUERA de LMAO. He aquí por qué puedo confirmar al 100% que este juego será mi juego favorito cuando se lance.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 es de una serie con la que realmente no estoy tan familiarizado. además de jugar Xenogears en una PS1 hace 20 años. Habiendo jugado unas horas de Xenosaga en la PS2 y habiendo visto como 2 episodios de Xenoblade Chronicles 1, vamos a jugar y luego dejarlo por aburrimiento. ¡¿Estarías realmente loco de una serie en la que tu interés nunca fue capturado ni captado por completo para que la última entrada sea tu JUEGO FAVORITO?! Bueno, aquí intentaré explicar de manera bastante concreta mi "Mi locura" o, para algunos de ustedes, "Estupidez", supongo.
Me enteré de Xenoblade Chronicles 3 bastante tarde, de hecho, el juego se reveló en el Nintendo Direct en febrero de 2022. Accidentalmente me topé con el juego al día siguiente por puro capricho. Estaba viendo videos sobre JRPG y vi el tráiler de los juegos en mis recomendaciones. Ni siquiera quería hacer clic en el tráiler ni quería que se reprodujera en YouTube. Lo reprodujo automáticamente cuando fui al baño jajaja... pero cuando regresé estaba como "a la mierda, ¿por qué no?" y presioné reproducir y mi mente estaba asombrada... para la mayoría es un tráiler estándar, nada sobresaliente o lo suficientemente experimental como para que alguien pierda la cabeza por eso, pero hombre... YO ESTABA DENTRO. Desde el SFX de Noah tocando su flauta hasta la construcción silenciosa y la música hasta la fuerte atmósfera de fantasía pero con un estilo visual llamativo y distintivo. Me recordó tanto a todas las series de Fantasía que amo y sucede tan raramente que alguna vez tengo una fuerte sensación de nostalgia del pasado de algo en el presente que no tengo un conocimiento sólido. Pero de las cosas mencionadas anteriormente y el juego llamativo y los diseños de personajes fuertes y llamativos. Solo sabía que era el indicado. El género de fantasía es un género MUY importante para mí porque me ayudó mucho como persona a lo largo de mi vida y, sinceramente, vi muchos medios de fantasía, pero muy pocas veces se ha sentido este mismo sentimiento antes. Literalmente busqué toda la información sobre el juego desde entonces y creo que nunca he estado tan emocionado por algo como este juego. El último volcado de información me hizo aún más seguro de mis sentimientos. Volví a ver el tráiler más de 10 veces y vi las exhibiciones del juego más de 10 veces. Investigué tanto como pude sobre las personas que trabajan en él. Teorizar mucho sobre futuros personajes, entornos y posibles ritmos de la historia. Realmente confío al 100% en este juego y no creo que pueda decepcionarme realmente. Entonces, es realmente un caso de puros sentimientos de nostalgia, encanto y confianza que me hace sentir tan segura. Sé que parece una tontería escribir esto, pero me conozco mejor, así que sé mejor cuáles serán mis verdaderos sentimientos sobre el juego.

(P. D. He hecho esto antes y sé cómo funcionan mis expectativas, así que realmente no puedo estar decepcionado. También haré un seguimiento en septiembre cuando lo juegue).

It's been almost 30 years since the original Super Famicom release of Live a Live, a game that many people (including myself) had never gotten the chance to play, and there really isn't anything else quite like it in gaming. It's a game that presents a non-linear experience through seven distinct stories set within a wide range of settings that each take inspiration from various genres such as Westerns, Space Horror, Fighting Games, Mecha, etc., and all put their own spin on JRPG conventions to the point that none of them deliver a similar experience. As one would expect this leads to a game that feels very uneven, yet I don't think any of the chapters were particularly weak even if certain ones carried their own unique frustrations. From what I've seen so far there's a lot of disagreement about which one is the best or worst and I think that's one of this game's strengths. Each chapter fully commits to what it set out to do and every player is going to enjoy some more than others.
The combat system is one of the few aspects that carries over between all of the chapters, and even though the scope of this game limits it in some ways I found myself quite impressed with it and also surprised at how fresh it still feels. Some of my enjoyment may have come in part thanks to changes in the Remake particularly in regards to rebalancing and showing enemy weaknesses but I also really like the strategy offered by the grid based movement and attack trajectories, and I even found that in certain stories it found ways to make interesting fights where you were only in control of one combatant which is rarely done well in JRPGs.
I would say that the only part of this game that felt a bit weak to me was the way in which much of the endgame plays out after getting through each of the seven stories. Part of it comes from the Middle Ages chapter's commitment to replicating the conventions of a more traditional fantasy RPG, such as being the only part of the game with random encounters, but also that when everything does come together the game doesn't really allow the different characters opportunity to interact much outside of when you recruit each one individually. I think it might have helped make that section more enjoyable to play through and also add more weight to the truly fantastic finale sequence, which I won't say too much about other than that it makes me glad that at least this game still gets to end on a high note after how strong the stories that lead up to that point are. Overall this is a very worthwhile experience, and a breath of fresh air to anyone looking for something a little different from a JRPG or even just one that they can beat in under 30 hours. This remake, with its small changes and updated presentation, breathed new life into a game many would have overlooked and even I might not have enjoyed as much without, and I am very grateful that this one was chosen to be remade in such a beautiful way.

Takahashi and monolith soft proving that they can create emotionally compelling and thematically sound stories set in the most realised of worlds mixed in with some of the most likeable and consistently great JRPG character casts, while also maintaining focused story pacing and very fun easy-to-learn-hard-to-master gameplay with some brilliant voice acting and direction. Top it off with a fun world with an absolute ton of endearing details and you have one of the best JRPGs to come out in recent memory.

TL:DR this is pure kinography and I will not let anyone tell me otherwise.

A great, varied, unique game with a wholesome message by the end of it. Takes a few turns I legitmately didn't expect.

Combat has more depth than you think. The more you get through the game, you realize that for it's time it was actually quite a good battle system. Though some bosses (like Present Day) go down with easy spamming.

My only real issue was probably the fact that I wasn't a huge fan of the Prehistory Chapter and the final chapter was a bit of a grind without much in the way of real story progression, coupled by a few annoying dungeons you should probably do for good weapons.

And you do wanna grind a bit. The final boss was actually quite tough, though I did beat it on my first try.

That being said I think the main strength this game has is offering a varried amount of gameplay experiences for a JRPG. Each chapter brings something different and new to the table, the music is stellar, some of the stories themselves stand up find on their own too, the localization and VA work are all great (English here, though the Japanese cast looks fucking stacked with great actors too.)

I think overall my favorites were Distant Future, Near Future, and the spoiler chapter because they each played into the game's storytelling strengths.

Sundown Kid is also a GOAT.

Oh and one other thing I gotta mention. Game looks fucking gorgeous. HD2D has peaked.

This game takes everything I already enjoy about 2 and either fixes or does away with the parts I dont. The writing and party dynamics are up there with the best of base game, and almost none of the original's awkward "comedy" is there which makes the characters feel much more natural and real. The new combat system is so much fun, the new mechanics are great and having only one party setup makes everything feel clean and intended. I love the new UI and quality of life features so much, with things like autosave, better collection points, and a smaller menu, the game feels easier to take in and focus on. The original blade system being gone makes everything so so so much better: I dont need to keep account of anything beyond my main party, i already mentioned the battle system, and field skills feel like legitimate progress checks now instead of the mess they were in base game. Side quests are a huge step up as well; I was worried when I heard there was a sidequest barrier to make progress, but most quests are super simple and provide a lot of unique party dialogue, which made the process enjoyable. The community system is also neat, and helped the quests to feel as if they built off each other, instead of being independent events. I also wish so badly 2 had the same level of world design as this does because torna clears every other area in that game so easily. Individually the areas are amazing but on top of that they all piece together like a puzzle and makes the titan feel complete and diverse. Really the only negative thing I can think to say about this game is I wish it was longer, but for what it is the story is still really good. I really hope this level of care can be brought into games with a much larger scale as well, this was just amazing.

It's odd because.... I feel like this game did a lot of things better than the first one, but I think I liked the first one's ending more.

I also felt like everyone hyped up the post-game ending a bit too much.

That being said, the TWEEST was very, very good and some of the performances from Gen, Ryuki, and Mizuki were amazing. Overall I'd say it's an awesome game, and great story. The fact that the Somniums made more sense this time is a major plus too. Less trial and error.

I think I enjoy it more overall, but i'm still not really sure. For now I will give it half a star more than I gave the first one.