My first foray into the Xenoblade series and it's the expansion, prequal, DLC to the second game of a trilogy and I don't think I'd have it any other way. It was short and simple and felt like a perfect introduction to a series that is a bit overwhelming from the outside looking in.
I had a lot of trepidations going in. There's a lot of videos out there making fun of Xenoblade. Weird voice acting and awkward deliveries, walls of tutorials and systems, overly dramatic moments, one liners on repeat, and the boobs. The cans on some of these gals put me in an absolute cold sweat hoping my wife wouldn't walk into the room. But really if you go in with your good time hat on, all of these things I thought I'd hate just came off as incredibly charming. I was being charmed left and right by this cornball cast of characters and their overly complicated lives and gameplay mechanics. I couldn't get enough of it. When Lora says "aren't we intrepid?" for the 500th time I was on my couch just hollering "hell yeah, we are intrepid as fuck!" I haven't played the other games so the blue guys come on the screen and say a bunch of silly words about whatever and I'm just snacking. Say more nonsense at me I love it. A whole cutscene just talking about how Lora and Haze kind of look like sisters, why not!
You put the good time hat on and the fun don't stop.
I've always viewed the Xenoblade games from a gameplay perspective as kind of a single player MMO. You've got attacks and cooldowns and random people online just champing at the bit to explain it all to you. Once you've got the rhythm of it all it feels amazing. You've got to time your attacks so they chain into each other while also keeping track of 3 bars that fill up and do one thing and another 5 menus that pop up and do another thing, all while the game is exploding in colors and numbers and just screaming directly into your face. Juggling all this nonsense "I won't lie, it feels good".
So yeah, I was really surprised to be so smitten by all the stuff I thought I wouldn't like. But even better than all of that is the stuff that I WAS excited for. The worlds are huge and beautiful and the game is just a joy to exist in. At the end of the game when you climb to the highest point and overlook the massive desert and city you just spent hours in at the ground level, and in your peripheral the mountains are moving and you realize the whole world is literally breathing because your on the back of this massive beasty, and it's all true to scale and lovingly crafted. I was in awe. This is Xenoblade baby.
NOTES:
I like that the characters have distinct colors and big gaudy weapons. They all look like action figures and toys. It fits with their over the top nobility and niceness. They are all pretty predictable character archetypes and I like that. I want an Addam and Lora toy and I want to smash them together and make them kiss.
Mythra's tits are out of this world. Then at the end you get a quick glimpse at Pyra and holy shit. I think Mythra is a really interesting and cool character with great voice acting and her giant rack really does her a disservice. But I guess I also don't want to contribute to like...large breast erasure or anything. They are just so distracting lmao
I had a lot of trepidations going in. There's a lot of videos out there making fun of Xenoblade. Weird voice acting and awkward deliveries, walls of tutorials and systems, overly dramatic moments, one liners on repeat, and the boobs. The cans on some of these gals put me in an absolute cold sweat hoping my wife wouldn't walk into the room. But really if you go in with your good time hat on, all of these things I thought I'd hate just came off as incredibly charming. I was being charmed left and right by this cornball cast of characters and their overly complicated lives and gameplay mechanics. I couldn't get enough of it. When Lora says "aren't we intrepid?" for the 500th time I was on my couch just hollering "hell yeah, we are intrepid as fuck!" I haven't played the other games so the blue guys come on the screen and say a bunch of silly words about whatever and I'm just snacking. Say more nonsense at me I love it. A whole cutscene just talking about how Lora and Haze kind of look like sisters, why not!
You put the good time hat on and the fun don't stop.
I've always viewed the Xenoblade games from a gameplay perspective as kind of a single player MMO. You've got attacks and cooldowns and random people online just champing at the bit to explain it all to you. Once you've got the rhythm of it all it feels amazing. You've got to time your attacks so they chain into each other while also keeping track of 3 bars that fill up and do one thing and another 5 menus that pop up and do another thing, all while the game is exploding in colors and numbers and just screaming directly into your face. Juggling all this nonsense "I won't lie, it feels good".
So yeah, I was really surprised to be so smitten by all the stuff I thought I wouldn't like. But even better than all of that is the stuff that I WAS excited for. The worlds are huge and beautiful and the game is just a joy to exist in. At the end of the game when you climb to the highest point and overlook the massive desert and city you just spent hours in at the ground level, and in your peripheral the mountains are moving and you realize the whole world is literally breathing because your on the back of this massive beasty, and it's all true to scale and lovingly crafted. I was in awe. This is Xenoblade baby.
NOTES:
I like that the characters have distinct colors and big gaudy weapons. They all look like action figures and toys. It fits with their over the top nobility and niceness. They are all pretty predictable character archetypes and I like that. I want an Addam and Lora toy and I want to smash them together and make them kiss.
Mythra's tits are out of this world. Then at the end you get a quick glimpse at Pyra and holy shit. I think Mythra is a really interesting and cool character with great voice acting and her giant rack really does her a disservice. But I guess I also don't want to contribute to like...large breast erasure or anything. They are just so distracting lmao