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How does Xenoblade Chronicles 3 rank?
- Thread starter OnanieBomb
- Start date
What they'll do next, outside of the expansion, will be in a new console from the ground up that will be far above base PS4/XBO, plus add DLSS on top of that, so we may see worlds so much bigger (and prettier) that we will probably be taken aback again with how incredible they are.
2>>>>>>1>>3
Story: 2>>>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
Cast: 2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>1>>3*
OST: 2>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
Gameplay: 2>3>>>>>>1
Side content: 3>>2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>1
World: 2>>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
*Eunie and Mio are better than any of the protagonists in XC, but the antagonists drag the XC3 cast down.
Story: 2>>>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
Cast: 2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>1>>3*
OST: 2>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
Gameplay: 2>3>>>>>>1
Side content: 3>>2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>1
World: 2>>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3
*Eunie and Mio are better than any of the protagonists in XC, but the antagonists drag the XC3 cast down.
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2 > 3 > 1, with X being very much its own thing. I love all the games dearly, though.
While 2 certainly stumbles in places, the whole Chapter 7-10 stretch is the highest point of the series for me (and that cutscene in Chapter 10 still always gives me a huge rush every time I watch it). I also much prefer the combat and exploration (field skills notwithstanding) in 2 to the other games. There's something magical about visiting all the different titans, and the towns feel so much more alive and interesting than the settlements in the other games. 2 largely frontloads its bad parts, so ends on a high.
3 is really great overall with a strong initial impression but, as much as I enjoyed the (admittedly hype) final sequence, the game leaves so much unexplained at the end which takes a lot of the wind out of its sails. The combat is decently good, but it also doesn't really change in any meaningful way from around Chapter 3 or 4-onwards. 3 is also the only Xenoblade game that I actually felt was kind of unfinished, with lots of oddly rushed moments such as the entirety of Chapter 6, Colony Mu, Consul G etc. The game's sidequests are really, really strong however, and I love how expansive the world feels.
1 is a very balanced game with a fantastic story and rad world design, but the gameplay is simply not as good as any of its sequels. Some parts, such as the sidequests, are offensively awful and dated and even DE couldn't do much to improve that. I thought Future Connected felt drastically better to actually play, despite simply being a short and sweet epilogue. I find the two experiences make for an interesting point of comparison as to how far Monolith's design has come over the years.
While 2 certainly stumbles in places, the whole Chapter 7-10 stretch is the highest point of the series for me (and that cutscene in Chapter 10 still always gives me a huge rush every time I watch it). I also much prefer the combat and exploration (field skills notwithstanding) in 2 to the other games. There's something magical about visiting all the different titans, and the towns feel so much more alive and interesting than the settlements in the other games. 2 largely frontloads its bad parts, so ends on a high.
3 is really great overall with a strong initial impression but, as much as I enjoyed the (admittedly hype) final sequence, the game leaves so much unexplained at the end which takes a lot of the wind out of its sails. The combat is decently good, but it also doesn't really change in any meaningful way from around Chapter 3 or 4-onwards. 3 is also the only Xenoblade game that I actually felt was kind of unfinished, with lots of oddly rushed moments such as the entirety of Chapter 6, Colony Mu, Consul G etc. The game's sidequests are really, really strong however, and I love how expansive the world feels.
1 is a very balanced game with a fantastic story and rad world design, but the gameplay is simply not as good as any of its sequels. Some parts, such as the sidequests, are offensively awful and dated and even DE couldn't do much to improve that. I thought Future Connected felt drastically better to actually play, despite simply being a short and sweet epilogue. I find the two experiences make for an interesting point of comparison as to how far Monolith's design has come over the years.
this is interesting to hear because the lack of an affinity chart and interesting or memorable NPCs made the towns feel kind of empty and dull to me. i guess they certainly look nicer than the colonies in 3 though.
(e: I do think it's good that each of the towns/titans had their own distinct Fashion Vibes that were a bit more subtle than 1's, but more pronounced than 3 and X)
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3 is the best one so far. 1 has a lot of quirky issues, 2 introduced a lot of stuffs, with its own issues (gatcha, complex mechanics and guest char designers).
3 fixed almost everything. Only things I'd complain about are that they haven't quite yet solved the items UI issue and the story beat did suffer a bit after CH5.
3 fixed almost everything. Only things I'd complain about are that they haven't quite yet solved the items UI issue and the story beat did suffer a bit after CH5.
Just finished three, I'd probably go
3>2>1 but it's a kind of tough call because each game has something I like and dislike.
3 has a good cast with good gameplay but a story that fumbles the ball at the end pretty hard. The OST was also pretty forgettable in this sadly.
2 has a good story(that doesn't really pick up until the end) with a meh cast, ok gameplay and really oddball decisions with field skills/gacha/character designs.
1 had my favorite cast/story but the gameplay is probably the worst in the series(makes sense as it was the first game).
3>2>1 but it's a kind of tough call because each game has something I like and dislike.
3 has a good cast with good gameplay but a story that fumbles the ball at the end pretty hard. The OST was also pretty forgettable in this sadly.
2 has a good story(that doesn't really pick up until the end) with a meh cast, ok gameplay and really oddball decisions with field skills/gacha/character designs.
1 had my favorite cast/story but the gameplay is probably the worst in the series(makes sense as it was the first game).
I'm only two hours in to 3 but first impression is that the world design is way below the other the games. They all instantly hooked me with creative and visually distinct environments, but 3 is kinda bland and unappealing.
Keep going, the environements really open up later and - while it hasn't yet reached the heights of the other games (Ch4) - they beome a lot more interesting and have more verticality and lots of secret and optional areas to find.
I have mixed feelings on 3, and I'm not actually sure where I'd rank it. Maybe below 1, which is my favorite.
I found the setting generally less compelling than the other games. There's still plenty to explore, and it does a good job with that, but something about it just didn't grab me like the others did. It's hard to explain.
There's a ton of cutscene content. That can be a positive, and it can also be too much sometimes. I keep going back and forth on it.
The story didn't hit me very hard, except for that time when it did. You probably know.
I mostly like the combat system. It builds on what the previous games did in very smart ways. The cross-class art and fusion art mechanics are very fun, and I like what they did with terrain abilities. Even the Interlink manages to not feel like a tacked on gimmick. And it all has enough complexity and depth to take advantage of its potential. Very nice.
I do have one gripe with the combat, though. The revival system. In Xenoblade 1, anyone could revive a character, but it would cost part of your chain attack gauge. Which meant you could have a full or nearly-full bar and be very far away from losing the battle outright. And the enemy would try to whittle you down until resources are depleted. Optionally, if you felt like you were in a safe enough position, you could spend that energy on a chain attack instead.
My main point there is that there was some substantial distance between "you're doing fine and not about to lose" and "total defeat". Xenoblade 3 is different in this regard. Characters can only be revived by healers. Healers can revive people infinitely without spending any resource other than time (which depending on your setup, might not even be much time at all). Meaning, you are sustainable forever. As long as at least one healer lives, they will revive the other healers and everyone else and you'll just keep going.
The result is that if an enemy can't burst down all your healers in a short time, you can't lose at all. And if they can, then there's almost no distance between safety and defeat. You could be doing great, and then all your healers could get caught in an AOE and swiftly drop dead, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to salvage anything after that. You lose in an instant. It can either be too easy or frustrating, with a fine line between them that the game can't always manage.
So yeah, I really don't know at this point. Maybe in a few more months my thoughts will solidify more one way or the other.
I found the setting generally less compelling than the other games. There's still plenty to explore, and it does a good job with that, but something about it just didn't grab me like the others did. It's hard to explain.
There's a ton of cutscene content. That can be a positive, and it can also be too much sometimes. I keep going back and forth on it.
The story didn't hit me very hard, except for that time when it did. You probably know.
I mostly like the combat system. It builds on what the previous games did in very smart ways. The cross-class art and fusion art mechanics are very fun, and I like what they did with terrain abilities. Even the Interlink manages to not feel like a tacked on gimmick. And it all has enough complexity and depth to take advantage of its potential. Very nice.
I do have one gripe with the combat, though. The revival system. In Xenoblade 1, anyone could revive a character, but it would cost part of your chain attack gauge. Which meant you could have a full or nearly-full bar and be very far away from losing the battle outright. And the enemy would try to whittle you down until resources are depleted. Optionally, if you felt like you were in a safe enough position, you could spend that energy on a chain attack instead.
My main point there is that there was some substantial distance between "you're doing fine and not about to lose" and "total defeat". Xenoblade 3 is different in this regard. Characters can only be revived by healers. Healers can revive people infinitely without spending any resource other than time (which depending on your setup, might not even be much time at all). Meaning, you are sustainable forever. As long as at least one healer lives, they will revive the other healers and everyone else and you'll just keep going.
The result is that if an enemy can't burst down all your healers in a short time, you can't lose at all. And if they can, then there's almost no distance between safety and defeat. You could be doing great, and then all your healers could get caught in an AOE and swiftly drop dead, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to salvage anything after that. You lose in an instant. It can either be too easy or frustrating, with a fine line between them that the game can't always manage.
So yeah, I really don't know at this point. Maybe in a few more months my thoughts will solidify more one way or the other.
(Not played played 3 yet)
It's real close for me, but id give the slight edge to 2 over 1. Mostly due to more cohesive quest lines surrounding Blades that mixed in the world, lore, and occasionally interfaced with major players. And I'm someone that really appreciated the affinity chart in XC1 and how connected the world and it's NPCs were! Sidequests in 1 and 2 mostly involved the same sorts of mind numbing tasks everyone loves to drag(and they aren't wrong), but most would easily thumb through dialogue or ignore all the effort put into the world building of 1 in that affinity grid, whereas 2 develops the Blades into more dimensional creations through its quests that were a bit easier to appreciate than a node connection.
I also give the music the nod in 2. Subjective but that OST is killer. Of course 1 is great as well.
I also liked the story slightly more in 2. In fact 2 made me appreciate the plotting in 1 a bit more given their loose connection. On its own, I was one of the few that felt 1 got up it's ass a bit in its narrative nonsense, esoecially in the last reveals. 2 certainly did as well, but it contextualized 1 in a way that I began to appreciate. Even if it's totally insane, but it worked for me in 2 where 1 just irritated me.
Oh and secrets and world Layouts matured better in 2. 1 secret areas felt a bit flat and had less interesting finds, but 2 helped contextualize them and made them feel naturally ingrained in their settings/quests. Hard to describe, but it's a subtle yet noticeable difference I found.
Both 1 and 2 I enjoyed tremendously. I also think the weakest aspects in each were their combat systems. Both felt like they had a lot of mechanical faff that prolonged actual fights and or limited available fight options, even when fully kitted out. Just a lot of redundancy in both games when fighting that grew tiring, no matter the foe challenge. I really hope 3 is an upgrade over both.
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Feels like it has nothing to do with the previous games I played, like I might as well have not bothered investing time in the series if they're gonna light it on fire and piss on it : )
I'm now about 4 hours into 3 and at least 2 of those are spent watching cutscenes. Hopefully this let's up eventually? If not, this alone would be enough to put 3 at the bottom.
It's exactly the same that happened with BOTW, yeah. It's great but different
The world looks cool but is stupidly huge and empty and is not narratively fleshed out anywhere nearly as effectively as the other games. The combat is slow, simplistic, and tedious and provides no extrinsic reasons to use the game's whole cast and explore its full mechanics. The story is the most simplistic in the series, Shulk is good but the rest of the cast are very one-note and are mostly just there for the ride once they've joined Team Monado. The vast majority of the sidequests are terrible, a bunch of the ones that are decent are missable, and the game's pacing falls off a cliff halfway through. It's great for 2010 but it's easy to see how the other games have built upon and improved what it did first.
I only cared about the story and for the cast only cared about Shulk and Dunban + the major villains. Environments we're kinda empty and combat was slow and clunky
I can't ever see the appeal of 2 over 1, which is so interesting to me. I'm even more flabbergasted to see someone say XB2 is fast compared to 1 (or that 1 is too slow). To me the story of 1 comes like a million miles a minute when 2 spends hours in the beginning faffing about with Poppi and Poppi AE-X Elon Musk and other shit. It's not until you get Mythra that it really starts to be about anything at all. And the gameplay...well trash mobs in XB1 you can mow down whereas I feel like every battle in XB2 is a bunch of little minions shoveling coal into a furnace to get the machine moving. The music is fabulous but I still prefer 1's.
I never ever ever do side content because ew so the crap of 1 never bothered me.
And the designs...Jesus I just can't with Rex. No character designs in that game at all make any sense to me.
I never ever ever do side content because ew so the crap of 1 never bothered me.
And the designs...Jesus I just can't with Rex. No character designs in that game at all make any sense to me.
Having just finished the game after 165h, I maintain my opinion, it's an amazing game but the first remains the best by far personally.
The story in 3 is not bad, having an amazing cast of characters and a nice concept but the villains are awful and the lack of more meaningful connections to the previous games is a huge bummer for me.
The OST is ok, I guess some great themes but 80% are on the forgettable side, unlike 1 and 2 that have soundtracks I hum to myself daily
The gameplay is an easy win for 3, never thought a game would surpass the first game as my favorite combat system ever made, but it happened and it's amazing
The side content is phenomenal, way better than the previous games and it shows considering I had double the playtime
On the other hand, the environments were really mediocre for me, they lacked the creativity of past entries and were kinda boring
So overall:
1>X=3>2
The story in 3 is not bad, having an amazing cast of characters and a nice concept but the villains are awful and the lack of more meaningful connections to the previous games is a huge bummer for me.
The OST is ok, I guess some great themes but 80% are on the forgettable side, unlike 1 and 2 that have soundtracks I hum to myself daily
The gameplay is an easy win for 3, never thought a game would surpass the first game as my favorite combat system ever made, but it happened and it's amazing
The side content is phenomenal, way better than the previous games and it shows considering I had double the playtime
On the other hand, the environments were really mediocre for me, they lacked the creativity of past entries and were kinda boring
So overall:
1>X=3>2
TO me one thing i like about Xeno 3 is the lack of annoying parts, similar to why i like DMC 5. In the games prior to those entries in thier respective series i could always think of an iritating section or mechanic that was tedious but with Xeno 3/DMC5 i rarely ever feel that way
This is a ranking where whatever comes last is still an excellent game. I've been throughly enjoying 3 but would probably have to put it at the bottom of the pile even though there are ways in which it is the best. Everything is a 9/10.
just finished the story yesterday.
the only question was 3 vs 1, and I might end up where you're at
XC2 starts dull and then becomes progressively more exciting. Everything after you get Mythra is mint. XC1 starts exciting and then becomes progressively more dull. Everything after you enter Mechonis is a complete slog.
Give me the former overarching pacing any day of the week.
I haven't played XCX, but XC3 was definitely the best of the main series for me. They took a genuine step forward in telling a meaningful story with emotive characters and well-crafted story arcs. The fact that none of the characters are grating is a minor miracle. The game's musical score was fabulous from the start, and the game's technical improvements are undeniably impressive. Sadly, it still falls into a few too many tropes for my taste, and to call the vocal quips from the cast irritatingly repetitive would understate the case in the extreme. Combat gets old long before the game is done and some of the plot twists are utterly unnecessary, serving to undermine rather than underscore what went before.
All in all, it's a step forward but still a not really suited to my tastes. By far the most exciting thing about the game is that much of the technical foundation is likely shared with the upcoming Zelda - but in the hands of a team with different sensibilities. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Monolith's raw talent is undeniable.
All in all, it's a step forward but still a not really suited to my tastes. By far the most exciting thing about the game is that much of the technical foundation is likely shared with the upcoming Zelda - but in the hands of a team with different sensibilities. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Monolith's raw talent is undeniable.
I see people often saying that XC3's OST is more atmospheric and not bombastic like the others, and like, I see where they're coming from generally, but I wouldn't say that's why people aren't as happy with it. XC2 had a lot of somber and atmospheric themes too (Morytha, Theosoir, Indol, Abandoned city, Spirit Crucible Elpys, First low orbit station…) but they just were more memorable imo. The one that really struck me similarly in XC3 is Agnus Castle.
Not to say the rest was bad but it gets kind of lost while actually playing compared to when you go back to listen to it outside of the game
Not to say the rest was bad but it gets kind of lost while actually playing compared to when you go back to listen to it outside of the game
*Disappointed Xenogears boomer enters the thread*
I haven't 100% the game yet but after 100 hours I doubt my opinion is going to meaningfully change at this point and might as well post this before the thread becomes too old
2>1>3
While not part of the so-called trilogy and somewhat harder to compare directly I also had more fun with X I feel. Albeit different series I also consider Xenoblade 3 to be inferior to Xenogears and Xenosaga 3.
Very disappointed with the writing in general. From setting, to plot, to worldbuilding, to themes and scope of the story (imo it feels very little like Xeno despite some really shameless recycling of old ideas), to meaningless visual fanservice (sometimes the game seems to confuse this for real worldbuilding), to the whole final act of the game, to even the characters themselves (honorable mention to the power rangers, probably the worst group of antagonists in a Xeno game)
On the gameplay side there were some annoyances too but nothing on the level of disappointment as the writing. But I was still expecting better, too many areas where I thought "not enough improvement" or even "this feels like a step back" from previous games which I feel shouldn't be happening at this point.
The visuals and soundtrack veered dangerously into kinda bland territory sometimes.
I wanted to like this game a lot more, I really did. I was very hyped for it.
*Disappointed Xenogears boomer grumbles*
I haven't 100% the game yet but after 100 hours I doubt my opinion is going to meaningfully change at this point and might as well post this before the thread becomes too old
2>1>3
While not part of the so-called trilogy and somewhat harder to compare directly I also had more fun with X I feel. Albeit different series I also consider Xenoblade 3 to be inferior to Xenogears and Xenosaga 3.
Very disappointed with the writing in general. From setting, to plot, to worldbuilding, to themes and scope of the story (imo it feels very little like Xeno despite some really shameless recycling of old ideas), to meaningless visual fanservice (sometimes the game seems to confuse this for real worldbuilding), to the whole final act of the game, to even the characters themselves (honorable mention to the power rangers, probably the worst group of antagonists in a Xeno game)
On the gameplay side there were some annoyances too but nothing on the level of disappointment as the writing. But I was still expecting better, too many areas where I thought "not enough improvement" or even "this feels like a step back" from previous games which I feel shouldn't be happening at this point.
The visuals and soundtrack veered dangerously into kinda bland territory sometimes.
I wanted to like this game a lot more, I really did. I was very hyped for it.
*Disappointed Xenogears boomer grumbles*
I don't feel like "writing" can be easily summed up as one better than the other. Like on that topic alone I would say the narrative stumbles quite badly in the back half, the plot is good but meted out at somewhat unsatisfying intervals because of the narrative, the dialogue is leaps and bounds over the other games, the character writing is at it's best but character arcs might be at their worst, NPC and quest writing shits all over the other games etc. Oh and villains lmao. I hate the villains in 1 and am so confused by anyone who ever likes any of them, but they were just so massively better even in that game, much less 2. I think they work for the plot of the game, but the execution was just massively missed in almost every regard, save a couple moments I liked (and I've seen others hate some of the consul stuff I thought was at least a little better, so ymmv).
Still, after finishing the game I maintain my belief it is for me far and away the best Xenoblade game (again, haven't played enough of X yet), so I'm happy with the poll results :D I just can't really categorically state any of the games are the best at everything they do, and that is totally fine, especially because they're all great games with incredible strengths.
Still, after finishing the game I maintain my belief it is for me far and away the best Xenoblade game (again, haven't played enough of X yet), so I'm happy with the poll results :D I just can't really categorically state any of the games are the best at everything they do, and that is totally fine, especially because they're all great games with incredible strengths.
You are right that it can't be summed up so easily but that's just how I felt. Like I had more or less tuned out by the final chapter, instead of thinking "ooooh what's going to happen next" I was like "welp this is obviously not getting any better, can we end please", which was a first for me for a Xeno game.
When I finally faced the bad Persona final boss and my group of teenagers started throwing around their anime teenager platitudes in response to its comically awful justifications, and started repeating once again the same goddman move forward message that I had been hearing nonstop for the last 2 chapters, as if I could somehow miss this is in fact the message of the game in case it wasn't preachy enough about it here's one final and extremely unsubtle reminder, I really felt like I'd had too much.
Regarding quest writing I initially also thought it was the best without a doubt. But then ocassionally I stumble into horrid stuff like Juniper's ascension which really makes me second guess myself. Though perhaps I'm growing bitter to sidequests in general since I've noticed the game starts throwing gathering quests at me the more I advance through colonies and I find them super boring and tedious, especially with collection points gone.
Speaking of sidequests, this game reinforced my opinion that tirkins are much funnier than nopons and they deserve to be the mascots more.
Even though opinions are wildly different, I'm just glad that the poll shows that 1 and 3 are the best and 2 is the worst
Character writing I can agree somewhat, but the story itself tbh didn't like it as much, especially the villains
Yeah Agnus Castle is one of the few tracks in the game I'll remember for a long time, besides the obvious combat ones I heard like 2000 times
I'm at the final dungeon in 3 and I've decided it's the one I've enjoyed playing the least. Which surprised me because I didn't much enjoy 2 either and was hoping the more "mature" tone would make 3 better. But it didn't end up being all that mature in its storytelling, it was still anime af and I was unable to connect with any of the cast. As I've aged into my 40s, I've become acutely aware that I'm no longer the target audience for these games and it really hit me hard here. This may be my last modern, cutscene-heavy JRPG. I'll keep playing the old-school indies and remakes.
I also thought that 2 did a better job of keeping its combat more engaging. By the endgame in 3, I was reading Reddit while letting boss fights play themselves out.
I also thought that 2 did a better job of keeping its combat more engaging. By the endgame in 3, I was reading Reddit while letting boss fights play themselves out.
I am at chapter 5 and Is pretty weak.
Systems Wise and qol It Is the best One.
Events Wise almost nothing new happens From chapter 1 and Is formulaic.
Character Wise Is fine but too much padding.
Overall i am really disappointed.
Also world Is too big and a bit uninspired from a grapichs pov
Systems Wise and qol It Is the best One.
Events Wise almost nothing new happens From chapter 1 and Is formulaic.
Character Wise Is fine but too much padding.
Overall i am really disappointed.
Also world Is too big and a bit uninspired from a grapichs pov
I suggest to continue and see the combo end of ch5/beginning of ch6 which, in terms of narrative, is among the peaks of scenes in Jrpgs. If you don't like that and the gameplay is not good enough to keep you hooked, then just drop it, at this point you won't probably change your mind
I play these titles for the plot, main plot i mean.
So far xb3 was weak imho, most plot points were showed in chapter 1 or hinted well before.
Chapter 4 end was a teaser imho but many things lacked any impact.
I am really sad because monolith soft games are my main reasons for buying this hardware and well this Is not going anywhere plotwise.
Sure the main underline themes are interesting Indeed, but this focus on anime Life Is not for my taste.
Not to mention the consuls personalities which are a massive disappoint...from id, krelian, to zanza or albedo and now this....
Also for a world so big there are few important villains that really matters...
So far xb3 was weak imho, most plot points were showed in chapter 1 or hinted well before.
Chapter 4 end was a teaser imho but many things lacked any impact.
I am really sad because monolith soft games are my main reasons for buying this hardware and well this Is not going anywhere plotwise.
Sure the main underline themes are interesting Indeed, but this focus on anime Life Is not for my taste.
Not to mention the consuls personalities which are a massive disappoint...from id, krelian, to zanza or albedo and now this....
Also for a world so big there are few important villains that really matters...
I'm in chapter 5 myself so haven't seen what you're talking about, but one good stretch in a 70ish hour main plot isn't exactly singing it's praises.
The story so far in 3 is very uneventful and low key compared to 1 and 2.
Well, obviously I disagree with your take on how nothing happens, I was merely stating which point of the plot could potentially change your opinion.
Edit: wait, I thought you were the same user I quoted. Never mind then, just difference of opinions I guess.