I'm playing through XB1 on the Switch (just arrived at Mechonis), and it's good, but I'm not finding it to be outstanding or anything. The music, world, and voice acting are all fantastic, sure. But a vast portion of the game consists of just walking across open areas, collecting orbs for the log book, or for some quest that I can't even remember. The battle system is unique, but it feels like there isn't much involvement and it gets boring controlling only one character waiting for cool-downs. I'm also not exactly gripped by the story. The concept is cool, but none of the characters have had any meaningful moments, or actual development whatsoever. I'm enjoying the game, but feeling somewhat detached from the experience. Wondering if I should check out XB2 after this, or give something else a go...
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LTTP: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - a unique and gripping game bursting with heart and creativity. I may prefer it to 1.
- Thread starter Phendrift
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OP
OP
The blushy crushy scene is awful, and Poppi's intro scene with the maid outfits is awful, no one was denying that. I've said tons of times, I wish shit like that wasn't in the game. But if you described Giga Rosa as "fighting a robot sex slave" I would go in expecting something DRASTICALLY different then what it ended up being.Just re-watched the cutscenes. Rosa is literally an enlarged version of Lila, the robot maid which is specifically and explicitly shown to be made into a maid because of a fetish that Tatazo and Tora share.
This is the problem with discussing Xenoblade 2 on resetera. The entire Xenoblade 2 community is filled with fans who LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the sexualized bullshit, but because acknowledging that destroys the whole argument, which relies on everyone else who doesn't agree with you just "not getting it" all people fall back on is...
"Nooooo"
"This is just anime aesthetic."
"there's nothing SEXUAL here! That's just YOU reading in too deeply"
"That's just ONE scene, and the game as a whole is super awesome epic writing and i will make a threat weekly to praise this game as a masterpiece"
As though scenes like this
don't exist.
The whole problem being, the REASON the robots are maids, is because of a sexual fetish shared by the family that made them. The only way it is NOT that is if you cannot functionally connect multiple scenes together temporaly in your brain. And it's always the same people brushing all of it off as "misinformation" rather than actually addressing it and reckoning with the sexualized garbage that is actively harming the overall quality of the game. Yes, it is a good game (if you remove the fundamental mechanics of gatcha, and the stupid field skill system which brings parts of the game to a GRINDING halt.)
But that does not mean the bad shit magically goes away, and if this was anywhere other than a gaming forum, you'd look like fools trying to tell people there isn't overly sexualized fetish shit present throughout.
It's getting intolerable. At this point it feels like a few resetera people are just CONSTANTLY making threads about this game because they're baiting this kind of fight and they just WANT it to happen. Between this and the "xenoblade 2 is a deep rumination on trauma" thread, it just feels like fucking bait at this point.
Also i want to FURTHER point out that poppi, during the scene i linked, is canonically supposed to be middle school aged, which is all kinds of fucked up
And This is my first thread on the game? It's not for bait. And how is that trauma thread bad? That's literally an analysis of the game. The terrible sexualization in the game is by the most talked about thing about it on ERA, why would people who like the game and want to talk about what it does well want to "bait" more conversation about those aspects when it's literally 70%+ of Xeno 2 discussion on ERA? That makes no sense
I really didn't interpret the scene that way at all, and either way, it's supposed to be a dream sequence where Rex is realizing something is wrong no?
I know these things exist and they are things i have criticized however, even then i know this isn't the whole game, I can still critisize these aspects and no they are bad, heck P5 has similar issues, with Ann with the first dungeon being about sexual assault and ann being sexually harrassed for the rest of the game has the party perv on her, not to mention completely condone a student teacher relationship. but again that's 1 part of the game it doesn't change the rest of what the game did. I have never said you couldn't criticize the moments you can but at the same time you have to remember there are many aspects of the game. That artificial blade factory we are talking about the standard artificial blade they produce isn't lilah or rosa or poppi but these things
(actually whish we could have gotten one of these for ourselves)
which you see the factory produce. yes the mazinger parody is about maid bots but not everything.
I have critisized every game in the xeno franchise yet i still have it as one of my favorite franchises, why because the amount of good it does out ways the bad
The difference is you arent pretending it doesnt exist.
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I mean, sure. But I think I made it clear my experience with 2's combat system was limited to the main story in the base game, and while I didn't mention this, that was also without any DLC blades. While I admit I've gone far further into 1's content, I think my points about it become even more true if you limit it to the main story.
As for Enel, I'm quite familiar with him. He very clearly approaches these combat systems differently than I do, because he enjoys them for entirely different reasons and has very different goals. I said this in the very post you quoted:
This video, while not a full burst, is the antithesis of that. I don't like it for the same reason I don't like how my playthrough ended up revolving around full bursts. You can do this to superbosses in XC1 too if you want, but I never have and don't desire to.
okay I can see that as an issue but we also have people who actually do misconstrue the content of the game and push people off of the game that might enjoy it might be able to look past it, The OP originally was one of those people hearing all the negative about it and didn't want to even touch it until the smash. We had people over the course of rea talking about 2 objectively lie about things 2 did, and trying to change context even directly lying about the ending of the game. if i wasn't a lurker back then and had an account i would of have absolutely called that stuff out. The negativity over 2 here was massive to say the least
yes there are going to be more positive threads for 2 now because pyra is in smash and it's been 3 years when since the negativity was at it's highest and people are going to try to give it another chance, some might be able to look passed these moments others won't.
and thank you for saying about MY THREAD over the themes of trauma is bait that really helps
OP
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yes pretty much.
Xeno 2 has big issues with sexualization and toxic tropes that monolith DESERVES to be called out on and should ensure aren't in their next game. Hell that's what made me think "maybe this isn't for me" in the first place.
However, when that's all you read about it on ERA because it is the thing that is most discussed, you think it comprises the entire game. That's why people on here who do like the game feel the need to point out that there is a lot to love in it I think.
personally I came away in love with every character. Pyra and Mythra have big problems in their designs yes, but they are some of my favorite female characters in a JRPG, Nia, Morag, Brighid, Poppi, I love them all. When the sexualization takes up most of the discussion, it does overshadow the great character work they did with this game relative to XC1.
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i loved xenoblade 2 so much. Only a few hours in on XC1 but i havn't gotten attached to any of the characters the way i did with XC2.
A question for anyone whos played Torna.
Is there lots of side quests needed to progress the main story? i got up to a point where i had to increase the "community level" by doing side quests, and i really can't be bothered.
A question for anyone whos played Torna.
Is there lots of side quests needed to progress the main story? i got up to a point where i had to increase the "community level" by doing side quests, and i really can't be bothered.
Yeah, you end up needing to do most of the side quests to finish Torna. I get why they did it, the side quests are generally very good and are meant to flesh out the smaller scope compared to the base game, and it's meant to show how the party is invested in the affairs of the common folk, but it can feel a bit like padding and slows the pace of the game down. It's really my only complaint with Torna, as it does a great job of improving on many aspects of the base game.
In other words, Rampant sexualization HURT the game.
I think my problem is. We could have the best of both worlds.
Nothing of what people claim to LIKE about xenoblade 2 is packaged in the sexualization, but everything the no-buy potential consumers HATE is contained in its sexualization and prevents the game from even broader success (which is clearly what people WANT).
But instead of saying "yeah that makes sense" we too often get "all you no-buy'ers are just LYING or misrepresent the content!"
If they took that shit out with earnest acceptance of the fact of the matter, EVERYONE would be happy.
One of my favorites, I really enjoyed the story and combat. Also liked the progression; I had treated descending into the sunken city (morytha?) and all that followed as endgame so the story moved like a freight train. Even family who were watching me play intermittently became interested in those later chapters, and they have typically no interest in rpg let alone jrpg.
I have torna and then the first in DE to do but am waiting a bit , I prefer changing up game genre after completion.
I have torna and then the first in DE to do but am waiting a bit , I prefer changing up game genre after completion.
I remember X doing this aswell, They had certain sidequests that you had to do for certain story missions to unlock, some were simple like the skells, others were massive quest chains like i believe the bug xeno ones
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For sure. I completely agree that the sexualization is only a negative thing that hampers the game itself and the people who could potentially play it and love it. Nothing I love about the game would be changed if it were removed.
I don't think people are purposefully lying or anything, but I do think when you're someone who hasn't played the game and biggest source on it is ERA discussion, which mostly DOES revolve around the sexualization and tropey issues with the game, then you do come away with a view that that stuff is more present in the game than it actually ends up being. It's not people lying or anything, it's just that that's what the discussion mostly centers on and that's what you know the game by.
Maybe it varies by person, but that was literally my personal experience. Mainly gave it a shot because I had just watched the smash reveal, just watched a ton of anime so I was in the mood for more anime-like media, just wrapped up the first one, and was in a JRPG mood so all those things pushed me over the edge finally.
some of these quests are straight up fetch quests and it's annoying.
if it was just criticizing the sexualization i would agree, but then we do have people who say things like "blushy crushy" is present throughout the Entire game, and yes those people exist. When really its in total one chapter maybe and it's the chapter involving the maid robots. it's things like this is what i am talking about when i say the game is misconstrued. Yes those things are in the game but they aren't the only thing what that game has to offer.
if both of those things were changed i would have no issue either, HOWEVER there is clearly more to the game than just those moments
User Banned (1 week): hostility, inflammatory point of comparison
Bad faith bullshit gaslighting sus alarm going off.
This game has the absolute worst fanbase since saga.
At least they havent tried to get anyone to commit suicide yet.
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I think this is a blatant misunderstanding, people use this because it's a clear and available example easily reachable for.
I'm not going to go re-play an 80 hour jrpg to screencap EVERY instance i have issues with, so unless those are easily available examples online i'm SOL when i am trying to make a point to those who haven't played it.
and often times the argument isn't "this exact content is in the game constantly" it is "content LIKE THIS" is prevalent throughout, even if it isn't the focus.
The hard part about arguing online is that people don't follow the principle of charity. Those who want to dismiss the constant sexualization find any means to say GOTCHA! rather than addressing the actual meat of the argument. And instead of proving the falsehood of the claims, they attack us as liars, people who haven't played the game, crazy, agenda driven, etc. It ignores the substance of the argument about sexualization, it ignores the industry-wide problem which the game exists within, and it is disrespectful to the players who legitimately have this issue because it's always attacking the people instead of the veracity of the core argument.
It was a great game, but Tora was a blight. I truly hope they don't force an annoying ass Nopon party member on you in the next game. Worst mascot race of any jrpg ever. And Tora was a creepy fuck on top of that.
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I mean blushy crushy is by far the WORST thing I've encountered in the game so it's understandable people use it, but I see what they mean in that when it's the scene that gets posted the most constantly it does give the impression that it's a big part of the game, when it's the crux of the arguments and stuff. When in reality it's the worst scene in the game, and it's an optional heart to heart. I'm not saying it's okay that it's in the game, I'm not saying that it's the only problematic thing in the game either. I'm saying that when that scene is so present in arguments and the scene that's posted the most here, how is it NOT going to paint an overall picture of the game thats different from what most people will experience? Every main story scene in Xeno 2 past chapter 4 is JRPG seriousness.
I don't think I've said anything like the bolded? To be honest, it's just at this point I don't know what I could add that already hasn't been said in terms of "the substance of the argument." The sexualization is shit, it shouldn't have been in the game, it's brings nothing good to the game, and objectively makes it worse than it could've been. I think all of those things, and they've all been said here countless times.
I just think you painting people who want to talk about what they enjoyed regarding the game as "baiting" or whatever isnt really what's going on. There's simply a lot to love despite its issues, and people want to talk about that.
I love all 3 Xenoblade games and they all have their standout features. I do think 2 is probably my favorite overall though and I can't wait to replay it again (I think I'm NG+6 or so?) sometime in the next few weeks! Torna, while I dislike some parts (the community levels), really added a ton to the story and Mythra in particular that really propelled XC2 overall to the top.
I like the Nopon a lot more in the Japanese dub.
In English we got this
While the Japanese dub got Solid Snake
The character writing for Mythra in Torna is excellent. She's funny, dense and endearing. She's kind of the odd one out, which is why it's so much fun to watch her interact with people.
This is true however its not 100% of the time that its "content like this" the people i am talking are the ones that use "this exact content is in the game constantly" i have seen those arguments a lot. They don't not exist they do and have said it.
If we want to talk about the sexualization we can i have never once stopped anyone from doing it here or any place else on era when talking about 2, except one time when i was going over the critisms i have in one that i put a disclaimer in that thread to specifically not talk about 2, because how the discourse is.
and lets be blunt 2 fans have been attacked on this site as well. Its not when it's about sexualization. we've had people on this site say "the only reason you can like pyra and mythra is that you're horny". You said my thread over the themes of trauma in Xenoblade 2 was bait. It's not exactly onesided
To be fair the sexualization stuff, while certainly way more present than it should be, is still probably like...fourth or fifth at most on my personal list of grievances with the game so far. And hell even the sexualization, or jokes made to make fun of it, could still be considered more acceptible if they'd simply tackled things in more moderation.
First introducing Poppi, for instance, begins with the cringey reveal of Tora's original plans for her...but then he "corrects" that mistake and for a while she goes on as a typical character would. As a gag, it was a bit dumb but I can live with it.
...But then chapter 4 happens and what was originally a simple gag is being wholly embraced and does so without much of any sense of irony. It undermines what it felt like both Tora and Poppi had been building toward.
Anyway please don't lock skill availability and party strength behind gacha ever again because that and all the systems associated with it still suck a lot of fun out of the experience.
First introducing Poppi, for instance, begins with the cringey reveal of Tora's original plans for her...but then he "corrects" that mistake and for a while she goes on as a typical character would. As a gag, it was a bit dumb but I can live with it.
...But then chapter 4 happens and what was originally a simple gag is being wholly embraced and does so without much of any sense of irony. It undermines what it felt like both Tora and Poppi had been building toward.
Anyway please don't lock skill availability and party strength behind gacha ever again because that and all the systems associated with it still suck a lot of fun out of the experience.
Even one moment or a design choice creates a lens to interpret the rest of the game through. It's then a reasonable stance to say, Xenoblade 2 as a whole has excessively sexual elements in a story that probably is harmed by their presence and thus puts off some people who may otherwise be interested and have relation to other aspects that the game is about. Those are such people who take issue with the game and find its financial success concerning.
This wasn't my argument. My argument was that this game gets so many threads that end up being filled with hard-line defenders that it FEELS like bait. not that it IS. Yes, people want to talk about that. But this game especially has had like 3 praise threads in as many weeks.
Now having said that. I don't think blushy crushy is the worst scene. There is a quintessential hot-springs scene with the ladies, The scene where mythra wakes up beside Rex and calls him a pervert. The "put your hand on my chest" scene at the beginning. The outfits in general. tendency for women to be extremely underclothed compared to men. The tropes of women as care-takers and motherly. This game runs the gamut. Blushy Crushy is just an easy find on youtube to give as a representative example.
They just got into smash, more people are going to be playing it, and some may like it, several may not, but it is going to be a topic of interest for a while, especially on resetera
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Well that's probably because of Smash, and renewed interest in the game and it being in the public eye. I'm not sure I get the point in pointing that out, like should people not make threads praising it or detailing their experience?
And yeah those scenes are pretty bad, though I still think blushy crushy takes the cake, the Mythra bed scene comes close though. I was holding my breath during the hot springs scene dreading if a male character was going to come in and make it worse so thankfully that didn't happen. Blushy crushy was like the worst aspects of Tora at the expense of Pyra, once I realized it was THAT scene I just quickly mashed through to get it over with.
I think there is a misunderstanding here, I wasn't trying to imply your views were incorrect or that your approach to Xenoblade combat was wrong. In fact, I even acknowledged that Enel's playstyle wouldn't apply to most levels of XC2 play (It definitely wouldn't apply to people like you who are limiting your experience to the main story). I just wanted to show how there can be other viable approachs to XC2 combat when you push the system to its upper limits. Apologies if I came off as condescending or aggressive.
You're right, friend.
I'm usually avoiding or ignoring threads about XB2 (or Xenoblade in general) because that's literally all they talk about, every single Xenoblade thread will have people shitting on Xenoblade 2 because of some (bad, yes, I agree) optional scene or the bunny blade design (that was designed by a woman btw LOL)
Like, there are hundreds of hours of content in the game, why focus on some small optional thing and use those same arguments over and over again to shit on the entire game, as if all the game had to offer was that blushy crushy optional scene or some random optional blade design.
It's honestly tiresome to see the same shit posted in every single Xenoblade thread lol. We get it, it's bad, and we all agree, but can we like.. talk about the actual core of the game from time to time?
Yeah, it was a really good game. Though it had a bit too much menu bloat for my tastes, especially with all the items you pick up and the blades etc.
Part of why I prefer Torna, even with the mandatory sidequest oxymoron, is because it felt a lot more concise and focused. I also really liked the party members in it.
Part of why I prefer Torna, even with the mandatory sidequest oxymoron, is because it felt a lot more concise and focused. I also really liked the party members in it.
Oh, that's fine. I was already aware of that myself through some of Enel's stuff, though I suppose I may have painted a more negative picture to this thread than necessary. I do think my experience is more likely to line up with the average player that doesn't get to the end of all the side content or look up how to min max every (or any) aspect of the battle system, but if you want to keep the record straight on the full possibilities of 2 for other people in this thread I get it.
Well, it's basically a forum-wide case of "Stop liking what i don't like!"
I mean isn't it just 4859 voicing their issues aggressively here? I would hardly call it a forum wide issue, surely the concern is more nuanced than that.
It's certainly not Dahlia or some random optional heart to heart. :>
Play 1 first.
I mean then what is it. We can go on and on for what it isn't but until we know what it is, we'll never have an actual baseline to discuss anything and the whole exercise is fruitless.
They're both separate stories, and have vaguely similar (at first) but very different in practice combat systems. Mechanically, the game does not assume you know anything from 1. There are thematic connections between the games that might be more impactful if you play 1 first, but it's not necessary. I'd still recommend playing 1, it's a great game, even if I prefer 2.
Until not long ago, no thread about XC2 could be opened without being drowned in the same discussion over and over again.
In fact, i'm amazed to see that today it's only 2 members.
