roxas
2020
a really bad game i cant stop playing
2013
gameplay carries this one (except for random encounters), the story is good but not the strongest in tales, party has a fun dynamic.
this is a game that desperately needs a sequel. having an ending like that without a sequel just feels unnecessary and unsatisfying.
i loved this game though. amazing gameplay although i feel like the game itself doesn't tell you how to do anything it's ok.
the story feels like it could've had more meat, but i love the elements that are there. it's great and had me interested the whole time.
character wise, this game has lao, elma, and lin going for it and that's about it. the side characters don't get enough or sometimes even anything to them, they're just there. to me it's ok though bc i played this game for lao and got plenty from him.
the world exploration is definitely the most fun i've had in the series in that aspect, but that's obvious. only issue being that the entire world is trying to kill you and enemies jumpscare you 24/7 and they are the most aggressive in this game than any of the others.
sidequests were generally pretty fun.
ost is great and i'm not budging on that one. i know it's different from the other xenoblade games but that doesn't make it bad - what about this game even felt like xenoblade to you in the first place besides the title??? like come on. the ost fits the game.
ummm i think that's all i have to say. i have a disease that makes lao huang live in my brain forever now.
i loved this game though. amazing gameplay although i feel like the game itself doesn't tell you how to do anything it's ok.
the story feels like it could've had more meat, but i love the elements that are there. it's great and had me interested the whole time.
character wise, this game has lao, elma, and lin going for it and that's about it. the side characters don't get enough or sometimes even anything to them, they're just there. to me it's ok though bc i played this game for lao and got plenty from him.
the world exploration is definitely the most fun i've had in the series in that aspect, but that's obvious. only issue being that the entire world is trying to kill you and enemies jumpscare you 24/7 and they are the most aggressive in this game than any of the others.
sidequests were generally pretty fun.
ost is great and i'm not budging on that one. i know it's different from the other xenoblade games but that doesn't make it bad - what about this game even felt like xenoblade to you in the first place besides the title??? like come on. the ost fits the game.
ummm i think that's all i have to say. i have a disease that makes lao huang live in my brain forever now.
This review contains spoilers
growing up, i had like absolutely no video games to play but i was introduced to tales as a kid so i tried vesperia on the xbox when i got the chance... i loved it, poured 300 hours into it, and hated the fact that the ps3 exclusives were japan only. vesperia de definitely made my wishes come true. i love this game to death even still.
the plot itself is kinda on the wackier end of tales, but still solidly in the middle quality wise at least. honestly most of it doesn't have much direction but it's whatever idc. duke is one of my fav antags even if hes kind of just thrown in as the final boss way at the end. i love this story and all of its flaws.
gameplay is ok, i don't see why people HATE it but it is slower than some other tales.
as for the new additions in definitive, i think the game was still just as good without them, but i like them regardless. patty feels out of place a bit, but i do enjoy her. more flynn is cool even if he's not my all time favorite. society if de removed raven.
came for judy (no one make a joke about that), stayed for judy (and the friends we made along the way)
the plot itself is kinda on the wackier end of tales, but still solidly in the middle quality wise at least. honestly most of it doesn't have much direction but it's whatever idc. duke is one of my fav antags even if hes kind of just thrown in as the final boss way at the end. i love this story and all of its flaws.
gameplay is ok, i don't see why people HATE it but it is slower than some other tales.
as for the new additions in definitive, i think the game was still just as good without them, but i like them regardless. patty feels out of place a bit, but i do enjoy her. more flynn is cool even if he's not my all time favorite. society if de removed raven.
came for judy (no one make a joke about that), stayed for judy (and the friends we made along the way)
2015
this game isnt as bad as people claim it to be but the gameplay drags it down a bit. also if you dont like sorey you suck
2003
widely beloved classic, unfortunately not quite as amazing as people claim it to be. it was a new beginning for tales and an experience i look back on fondly, so it definitely has nostalgia value. main party is unfortunately dragged down by 2 p*do characters and the story falls victim to the "tales of series tries to make a commentary on racism" pattern. also gameplay is not fun LOL
This review contains spoilers
i loved this game, both on its own and as a finisher for the xenoblade trilogy. dividing this into sections for my sanity
gameplay:
definitely the best in the series. the class system is truly the highlight and it really does feel like there’s a lot to be done, especially if you consider the soul hacker class and how versatile it is (although i haven’t completely experimented with it myself). i appreciate that anyone can shine in any role, rather than how in 2 there are plenty of ways one character can excel or not. it also is much more varied, which i enjoyed, and i like that there are some really good healer classes in this game as well. interlink can be fun once you make some good progress with the soul trees, but before arts canceling it sucked really bad and i didn’t touch it. chain attacks in this game are definitely my favorite, although at first i wasn’t sure if i preferred 2’s, the orders especially the variety of hero orders really made this system shine. fully learning the way chain attacks work felt extremely rewarding.
in terms of the world, i loved it. i am especially fond of maktha wildwood and erythia sea, despite how horrific it was to realize that the thing keeping me from filling out the map was a sidequest lol. also despite the boat controls. fuck the boat. but anyway, those areas are some of my favorites from 1 and 2 and the way they were merged feels depressing and really cool at the same time. i remember my jaw dropping when i found the spirit crucible altar in erythia. i love how big the world feels. i was definitely too invested in the story to explore much before beating the game, but it gave me plenty of time in the postgame to truly see it all. i also like that they kept field skills in a sense but they weren’t horrible this time. the one thing i will say is that finding collectibles was always annoying. especially with no guides online, i had such a hard time locating some things. telling me which region something is in doesn’t tell me shit bc the game is SO BIG.
after having done every sidequest, i can say they’re definitely my favorites among the xenoblade games. they flesh out the main party and the heroes so well. i love that heroes continue to take part in quests for their colonies even outside of their own quest, and i love that the colonies befriend each other. aside from a few quests that frustrated me (fetch quest my detested), i really did enjoy completing them all. the one thing i won’t forgive is the ardun breeding. tussore i am sending you negative energy like you wouldn’t believe. also the side stories were really nice although you kind of know what to expect from them once you’ve done a few (which dead/old friend are we finding this time?).
music:
as always, of course the soundtrack is amazing. the battle themes were crazy good (shoutout to the seraphic ceratinia music i wish i could listen to that forever). both the keves and agnus battle themes are really good, also can i just say keves battle reminds me of battle - torna which is great. ummm the boss themes were great too. N’s boss theme makes me so depressed. im ngl i cant really remember what the final boss music sounds like but not every song can be zanza the divine so whatever. not like i could hear it anyway. but yeah the battle themes are so good.
i also loved the area music, i don’t really understand why some people say they’re too boring. some of them feel very sad to me, but i like that, i think it’s fitting. erythia sea probably has my favorite area music. i do still prefer xc2’s area themes but that is okay<3 i think 1 and 2 just have very different kinds due to the atmosphere of the games…if that makes sense.
also society if they played the weight of life more.
OH I ALMOST FORGOT both of the vocal songs made me want to die. where we belong has me crying every time i hear it
also the remixes for nia and melia were SOOOOOOOOO good i especially love the drifting soul remix. absolutely fucking crazy.
characters and story:
GOD the main party in this game. i love them so much. ofc i also love the main party of 1 and 2 but i feel like the dynamic in this game is just on another level. especially when you consider that they finally wrote a good romance!!!! i am always nervous about romance that goes beyond just being implied but wow this game did so well. i mean noahmio is absolutely wonderful but i could’ve done without the implications of lanz/sena and eunie/taion (extremely unnecessary and wouldn’t serve the plot at all). every interaction felt so real and these characters get on so well. even the heroes were great all around. i love that all of the main party felt like they got their time to shine, the way their pasts were incorporated into the story to serve the plot at certain times was so well done (notably sena’s narrative in chapter 5, that really made me cry over her).
in terms of antagonists, this game is of course weaker compared to that of xc2. N and M were great, i was fond of joran and shania also had a good arc if you end up doing sena’s side story (i went from despising her to crying about her and ghondor so fast). ummm crys was cool, he added to noah’s character and i liked that, but that’s about it (although he doesn’t truly count as an antagonist, but if we’re talking moebius). i kind of barely remember some of the earlier moebius so forgive me there. D…well he sure was ugly and fucking annoying. lame backstory and he sucked all around. Z was interesting. it’s hard to “hate” him considering he’s a manifestation of desires/a concept in general but i think it’s what makes him more compelling than he otherwise would’ve been if he were just some guy. i wish that some of the other moebius were more fleshed out though. like it feels as though some of them had nothing… X was there during some more prominent moments but she has no substance??? it’s not the end of the world to me though considering how strong N and M were.
the story itself. the pacing was good at first, then it was odd, chapter 5 felt quite slow to me but then it picks right back up after you go to prison 2 and the ending is right around the corner at that point. i wish there was more substance packed into chapters 6 and 7, i really do. i adore this game but that is definitely one complaint i have.
i couldn’t quite grasp all the lore at first and i feel like some of it is presented in a kind of confusing way, but now that i understand it fully i have even more of an appreciation for this game’s story. the themes of this game are very well executed and hit particularly close to home for me, N’s motivations for example struck me as quite similar to my own thinking but that’s a little too personal for a backloggd review. regardless, i’m crazy about it
xc3 didn’t quite go where i was EXPECTING it to, but i was never mad about it nor did i feel like it was lacking. i kind of expected more about the aegises, but truly now that i look back, their narratives are pretty well done (except for my insanity about malos he definitely deserved a better ending and i will never not be mad about that but xc3 isn’t what i’m blaming for that i’m blaming xc2. MOVING ON). i do not think that klaus would have served the plot of this game at all. he’s gone and that is okay. he was the beginning, not the end. regardless, xc3 was meant to conclude the story of the worlds, not klaus as an individual (i believe 1 and 2 already did that well enough). for that reason, i am not mad about the direction this game went in. one thing i will say is that i hope for an epilogue dlc because the ending is just too heartbreaking otherwise lol. i also think a founders prequel dlc would be the WORST direction they could go in considering who even cares about the founders? there are too many holes left by the ending we got and i hope they can repair that.
anyway yeah. those really were the xenoblade chronicles
gameplay:
definitely the best in the series. the class system is truly the highlight and it really does feel like there’s a lot to be done, especially if you consider the soul hacker class and how versatile it is (although i haven’t completely experimented with it myself). i appreciate that anyone can shine in any role, rather than how in 2 there are plenty of ways one character can excel or not. it also is much more varied, which i enjoyed, and i like that there are some really good healer classes in this game as well. interlink can be fun once you make some good progress with the soul trees, but before arts canceling it sucked really bad and i didn’t touch it. chain attacks in this game are definitely my favorite, although at first i wasn’t sure if i preferred 2’s, the orders especially the variety of hero orders really made this system shine. fully learning the way chain attacks work felt extremely rewarding.
in terms of the world, i loved it. i am especially fond of maktha wildwood and erythia sea, despite how horrific it was to realize that the thing keeping me from filling out the map was a sidequest lol. also despite the boat controls. fuck the boat. but anyway, those areas are some of my favorites from 1 and 2 and the way they were merged feels depressing and really cool at the same time. i remember my jaw dropping when i found the spirit crucible altar in erythia. i love how big the world feels. i was definitely too invested in the story to explore much before beating the game, but it gave me plenty of time in the postgame to truly see it all. i also like that they kept field skills in a sense but they weren’t horrible this time. the one thing i will say is that finding collectibles was always annoying. especially with no guides online, i had such a hard time locating some things. telling me which region something is in doesn’t tell me shit bc the game is SO BIG.
after having done every sidequest, i can say they’re definitely my favorites among the xenoblade games. they flesh out the main party and the heroes so well. i love that heroes continue to take part in quests for their colonies even outside of their own quest, and i love that the colonies befriend each other. aside from a few quests that frustrated me (fetch quest my detested), i really did enjoy completing them all. the one thing i won’t forgive is the ardun breeding. tussore i am sending you negative energy like you wouldn’t believe. also the side stories were really nice although you kind of know what to expect from them once you’ve done a few (which dead/old friend are we finding this time?).
music:
as always, of course the soundtrack is amazing. the battle themes were crazy good (shoutout to the seraphic ceratinia music i wish i could listen to that forever). both the keves and agnus battle themes are really good, also can i just say keves battle reminds me of battle - torna which is great. ummm the boss themes were great too. N’s boss theme makes me so depressed. im ngl i cant really remember what the final boss music sounds like but not every song can be zanza the divine so whatever. not like i could hear it anyway. but yeah the battle themes are so good.
i also loved the area music, i don’t really understand why some people say they’re too boring. some of them feel very sad to me, but i like that, i think it’s fitting. erythia sea probably has my favorite area music. i do still prefer xc2’s area themes but that is okay<3 i think 1 and 2 just have very different kinds due to the atmosphere of the games…if that makes sense.
also society if they played the weight of life more.
OH I ALMOST FORGOT both of the vocal songs made me want to die. where we belong has me crying every time i hear it
also the remixes for nia and melia were SOOOOOOOOO good i especially love the drifting soul remix. absolutely fucking crazy.
characters and story:
GOD the main party in this game. i love them so much. ofc i also love the main party of 1 and 2 but i feel like the dynamic in this game is just on another level. especially when you consider that they finally wrote a good romance!!!! i am always nervous about romance that goes beyond just being implied but wow this game did so well. i mean noahmio is absolutely wonderful but i could’ve done without the implications of lanz/sena and eunie/taion (extremely unnecessary and wouldn’t serve the plot at all). every interaction felt so real and these characters get on so well. even the heroes were great all around. i love that all of the main party felt like they got their time to shine, the way their pasts were incorporated into the story to serve the plot at certain times was so well done (notably sena’s narrative in chapter 5, that really made me cry over her).
in terms of antagonists, this game is of course weaker compared to that of xc2. N and M were great, i was fond of joran and shania also had a good arc if you end up doing sena’s side story (i went from despising her to crying about her and ghondor so fast). ummm crys was cool, he added to noah’s character and i liked that, but that’s about it (although he doesn’t truly count as an antagonist, but if we’re talking moebius). i kind of barely remember some of the earlier moebius so forgive me there. D…well he sure was ugly and fucking annoying. lame backstory and he sucked all around. Z was interesting. it’s hard to “hate” him considering he’s a manifestation of desires/a concept in general but i think it’s what makes him more compelling than he otherwise would’ve been if he were just some guy. i wish that some of the other moebius were more fleshed out though. like it feels as though some of them had nothing… X was there during some more prominent moments but she has no substance??? it’s not the end of the world to me though considering how strong N and M were.
the story itself. the pacing was good at first, then it was odd, chapter 5 felt quite slow to me but then it picks right back up after you go to prison 2 and the ending is right around the corner at that point. i wish there was more substance packed into chapters 6 and 7, i really do. i adore this game but that is definitely one complaint i have.
i couldn’t quite grasp all the lore at first and i feel like some of it is presented in a kind of confusing way, but now that i understand it fully i have even more of an appreciation for this game’s story. the themes of this game are very well executed and hit particularly close to home for me, N’s motivations for example struck me as quite similar to my own thinking but that’s a little too personal for a backloggd review. regardless, i’m crazy about it
xc3 didn’t quite go where i was EXPECTING it to, but i was never mad about it nor did i feel like it was lacking. i kind of expected more about the aegises, but truly now that i look back, their narratives are pretty well done (except for my insanity about malos he definitely deserved a better ending and i will never not be mad about that but xc3 isn’t what i’m blaming for that i’m blaming xc2. MOVING ON). i do not think that klaus would have served the plot of this game at all. he’s gone and that is okay. he was the beginning, not the end. regardless, xc3 was meant to conclude the story of the worlds, not klaus as an individual (i believe 1 and 2 already did that well enough). for that reason, i am not mad about the direction this game went in. one thing i will say is that i hope for an epilogue dlc because the ending is just too heartbreaking otherwise lol. i also think a founders prequel dlc would be the WORST direction they could go in considering who even cares about the founders? there are too many holes left by the ending we got and i hope they can repair that.
anyway yeah. those really were the xenoblade chronicles
2000
good cast but dated. unfortunate that skits were removed for the localization
2016
happened to me again
this game is honestly so fucking crazy i love it
2012
this is what kinning is doing to our children...
2010
game: gay
f arc: straight
only worth playing f arc for more playable richard. otherwise L
f arc: straight
only worth playing f arc for more playable richard. otherwise L
shuk
friendship is real
there are some things they shouldve tackled differently for sure but im crazy about this game