Xenoblade 2 enjoyers and appreciators, I need your advice.

[Slime Stack]

I recently started Xenoblade 2 after getting it on sale last week (which is still active btw). I just finished the climactic chapter 7 and I now I find myself at an impasse.

In an interview with Nintendolife, the game's writer, Tetsuya Takahashi, recommended people to play Torna in between chapters 7 and 8 as it's more in line with the narrative vision he had for the game.

However, my friends who have played the game + dlc seem to be split on that recommendation. They say that while it will make the third act of the base game much stronger, playing the dlc in between those chapters will be too jarring given the gameplay changes. Not to mention that it will be a significant detour since the dlc seems to be fairly meaty. And apparently it spoils some late base game reveals?

Basically, I don't know what to do. So here I am asking for your advice. Should I play Torna now, or wait until I beat the main game? If you could also elaborate a little on why that would be great too. Thanks y'all.

 

[LordGorchnik]

This is not an option.

After

 

[JediOrderPizza]

This is not an option.

After

Click to shrink...

This

 

[Jencks]

On a first playthrough? 100% after.

I always wanted to try a plathrough with Torna after Ch. 7 though

 

[Aaronrules380]

I don't think it really matters much tbh, either should be fine

 

[Chie Satonaka]

This is not an option.

After

Click to shrink...

.

 

[Owl]

Definitely more impact if you do it after

 

[PhantomArtifice]

Play it after you beat the main game. You will get so much more out of Torna this way.

 

[Kiria]

Or play it after chapter 7 is fine too just not before

 

[texhnolyze]

It's designed to be played after you beat the main game.

 

[Cornbread78]

After, after, after, after, after, after, after

 

[ghibli99]

I'd say just keep going and play Torna afterwards. They have different battle systems, so it might feel strange going from XC2 to Torna and then back again.

 

[Farrac]

I recently started Xenoblade 2 after getting it on sale last week (which is still active btw). I just finished the climactic chapter 7 and I now I find myself at an impasse.

In an interview with Nintendolife, the game's writer, Tetsuya Takahashi, recommended people to play Torna in between chapters 7 and 8 as it's more in line with the narrative vision he had for the game.

However, my friends who have played the game + dlc seem to be split on that recommendation. They say that while it will make the third act of the base game much stronger, playing the dlc in between those chapters will be too jarring given the gameplay changes. Not to mention that it will be a significant detour since the dlc seems to be fairly meaty. And apparently it spoils some late base game reveals?

Basically, I don't know what to do. So here I am asking for your advice. Should I play Torna now, or wait until I beat the main game? If you could also elaborate a little on why that would be great too. Thanks y'all.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it would spoil anything significant? But yeah, after, since it will obliterate the pacing otherwise.

 

[brinstar]

Play it after

 

[falcondoc]

Poll speaks for itself. After

 

[Xenosaga]

After

 

[Dyle]

You have to play it after because some of the changes to the battle system and general QOL stuff will make going back to the base game feel very weird.

 

[delete12345]

I put in 210 hours in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 mainline first playthrough and grinding to level 99, and 80 hours in Torna, also grinding to 99.

Torna after your first mainline XB2 playthrough.

But second playthrough onwards, do what Takahashi suggested, and do the split story plots, because there's a story plothole in the mainline story that I don't know if anyone else knew about it.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Do it after

 

[Brewster123]

This is not an option.

After

Click to shrink...

 

[Tomo815]

I think it doesent matter. Torna is cool, play it now if you cant wait.

One thing is that Torna is shorter and more streamlined. You may burn out on Xenoblade if you wait until finishing 2. Its a long ass game. I played it for more than 300 hours lol.

 

[Neoleo2143]

I will be one of the dissenters. Up to chapter 7 of the main game basically gives you all the information to understand what's happening in torna and there aren't any reveals that are actually "spoiled" (Except for maybe one, but the trade-off is dramatically sharper emotional resonance) either when doing it this way.

The real trade here is a somewhat jarring shift to a new simpler game system in torna and a sense that some forward momentum in the story has been lost, in exchange for what is a much more emotionally resonant endgame that takes these character threads and closes them all out.

 

[ARobotCalledV]

I only know what's like to play it after, same for most of the people here, but I've always been curious to know what it would be like to play it before. Torna would spoil some points of 2 but 2 also spoils Torna. So it'd be interesting to play Torna not knowing what happens.

It's kind of like in the Trails series, Ao was released before Cold Steel but spoils a fair bit of it so the only way to play Cold Steel spoiler free is to play out of order.

 

[Zen Hero]

I would play it after just to avoid interrupting the pacing of Xenoblade 2. Xenoblade 2 is basically nonstop climax from chapter 7 to the end of the game, I personally wouldn't want to interrupt that with an entire run of Torna in the middle.

 

[shadow2810]

Either.
Actually if you plan to play new game + then i would recommend main game > torna > new game +

 

[yaystrawberrypie]

torna is 10ish hours, and frankly, better gameplay system. I also recommend playing it after beating 2.

 

[Alric]

Anything but "After" is wrong.

 

[KernelC]

storywise although it's a prequel, it is ntended to be played after the base game. The sidequests are also garbage and obligatory so I would skip until you beat the game

 

[delete12345]

Torna would spoil some points of 2 but 2 also spoils Torna. So it'd be interesting to play Torna not knowing what happens.

Click to shrink...

Story wise, I do not actually think it will spoil some story plot points when going from (Torna -> XB2) on your first attempts.

In fact, it will give you a slight challenge/more difficulty being added when you transition to XB2, which I would recommend trying it out. You can accuse me of being a heretic in this thread, but let me tell you, it's like playing Hyrule Warriors: AoC, then transitioning to BotW on your first attempts, too.

 

[VZ_Blade]

Had Torna been way shorter and use the same battle system then it would be a yes. But it's a 10 hour+ experience and have a different battle system, so play it after you finished the main game.

 

[rAndom]

My recommendation OP is to beat the game first, then go to Torna. Story-wise, you can go either way and the experience will not be that different. It will just give each other more context. But gameplay-wise, they have significant differences and you may feel disconnected if you go Torna in-between then go back again to XC2 after.

 

[Dolce]

After.

 

[LordHuffnPuff]

I played it between Chapters 7 and 8 as the developers requested, in keeping in line with their creative vision, and I cannot imagine playing it as it was originally released. It absolutely felt like the correct decision in terms of narrative pacing and traditional storytelling convention. The gameplay is not so divergent that it was a meaningful adjustment either going to the expansion or back to the main game after.

 

[Scruffy8642]

After the story. There's no reason to put the main narrative on hold at its best part to play Torna where it's supposed to go as it's essentially a flashback that can be experienced any time. Not to mention more than half the DLCs story runtime is gated behind forced side quests and it's infuriating. Would ruin the pacing of the main game to do it in between.

 

[Apopheniac]

isn't this basically the XC2 version of Star Wars Machete Order

 

[Daysean]

You have GOT to play it after

 

[Tfritz]

Torna as it was released is not paced to be played at the end of Chapter 7, there are some... obvious choices that were made to beef up the playtime to justify selling it as a stand alone title (and that's fine), but it's sort of a momentum killer.

 

[DPT120]

This is not an option.

After

Click to shrink...

This

 

[WestEgg]

On a first playthrough? 100% after.

I always wanted to try a plathrough with Torna after Ch. 7 though

Click to shrink...

I'll agree with after, but I will say if you ever replay it, playing it between chapter 7 and 8 makes for a really good experience.

 

[Unknownlight]

Dissenting opinion: It honestly doesn't make much of a difference either way, so I recommend playing Torna after Chapter 7 so that you can be one of the few people in the world to have first experienced the story of Xenoblade 2 that way.

 

[ShroudOfFate]

After for sure, then do NG+. The ending of Torna hits hard afterward and in turn makes the base game hit harder when you know how things played out

 

[TheMoon]

never play things chronologically according to the timeline (unless it's a replay). always play things in the order of release as that's how things are made to be experienced 99% of the time (someone will find a person who will insist you play/watch/read Z before A).

Torna is designed to be played after you've finished the main game of Xenoblade 2.

 

[Dnomla]

I would personally say now. Torna feels like a chapter ripped from the game. You've already learned everything now that would considered a spoiler.

It does so much for Mythra's character and will really give the rest of the game some real emotional oomph.

 

[Madao]

i'd say play between Ch7 and 8.

when i did my replay using that order, i felt it enhanced the whole thing. release order doesn't feel that better, especially how they end.

i think the only real drawback is that there's little details you might miss on a first play that you might catch on a replay. this goes for both games.

 

[King Kingo]

After, the combat system of Torna makes the original game feel sluggish.

 

[-shadow-]

If the gameplay wasn't changed, it would've worked fine in between the chapters, but as it stands? Afterwards is the way to go. On a replay though, it'll probably work fine once you're used to both systems.

 

[CiNozzo]

I played it between Chapters 7 and 8 as the developers requested, in keeping in line with their creative vision, and I cannot imagine playing it as it was originally released. It absolutely felt like the correct decision in terms of narrative pacing and traditional storytelling convention. The gameplay is not so divergent that it was a meaningful adjustment either going to the expansion or back to the main game after.

Click to shrink...

I'm in the middle of doing the same thing (almost at the end of Torna, and chapter 8 waiting for me in the main game).
I totally agree !
My hype for the end of XCB2 is over the roof. I don't know if I would have liked Torna the same if I already know the endgame of XBC2.


But you also have to know that gameplay-wise, Torna is on another level and maybe it will be hard to come back to XBC2 after...

 

[Jane]

Man idk if that guy really thought that advice through. Torna is its own game with its own start, middle and end. Shoving it into Xenoblade 2 near the end would totally kill the pacing. What a weird suggestion.

EDIT: After thinking about it some more, I can see how having played Torna could increase the impact of chapters 8-10 but still, I can't imagine actually playing them like that. If you're invested in seeing what happens next in Xenoblade 2, you're probably going to be less engaged with Torna and more wanting to rush through it. It just doesn't seem like a good idea.

 

[Aleh]

It could have worked better if you stopped at ch 6 instead of 7... dunno why Takahashi ever said 7. 6 makes more sense.

just play it after the whole game tho

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Play it after you clear the game.

At the time that interview happened they were trying to sell the season pass /standalone torna, of course they'll say buy it earlier in that context.