Xenoblade Chronicles 3: It's pretty good

[Bebpo]

I’m only in ch.6 but I assume Z stands for

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Zansa

[close]

since he’s the connecting thread across XB1/2 so I’d guess 3 as well?

[Rahxephon91]

Ok that’s a cool idea.

[demi]

Sorry - wrong : )

[Bebpo]

Sorry - wrong : )

Hmmm, ok. I mean my guess at this point is more of the Zohar/Zansa fuckery that caused the world split in 1/2 to be the cause of the world collide in XB3.

Otherwise my 2nd and 3rd guesses are that this is all a simulation world ala Star Ocean 3 or a Nier Automata-ripoff and its Aliens came to XB world thousands of years later and enslaved humanity in this system. Both would be pretty stupid plots.

So I'm expecting some asspull science nonsense from the XB1/2 Zohar expirements to be the cause of XB3's world because in the end the explanation for everything in every Xeno game is Zohar.

[Rahxephon91]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 important plot points ANSWERED

What was the point of the war between Keves and Agnus? It amused Z

Why did Origin only revive people at age 10? Don't think about it too hard

Why do they only live for 10 years? It amused Z

How is there a day and night cycle if time has stopped? Don't think about it too hard

What are Moebius? Amusing

Why can Nia create Ouroboros? Don't think about it too hard

Why can there be only 6 Ouroboros? It amused Z

How did they have the technology to create Origin? Don't think about it too hard

What is the sword of origin? Don't think about it too hard

Why weren't Nopon stored inside Origin? The Nopon's needs are many, don't question it

How can there be a flow if time has stopped? It amused Z

What was the point of off-seeing? It amused Z

Why did the motes change color when off-seeing? Don't think about it too hard

Who is Riku? Riku is Riku, don't think about it too hard

Did Mio just gamble on X cancelling Sena's and Lanz's interlink? Don't think about it too hard

If Joran got revived doesn't that mean D also gets revived and got away with everything? Based

Why do Machina and High Entia suddenly age like Homs? Don't think about it too hard

Why did N abandon his son in the woods? Don't think about it too hard

Why is the hole in the great sword during Melia's flashback? Don't think about it too hard

How did Noah not know that Mio was M if they Interlinked? Don't think about it too hard

How did Noah and M interlink if M is not Ouroboros? Don't think about it too hard

How can Noah dematerialize Lucky 7 if it isn't part of the Cores in Origin? It amused Z

Why wouldn't the worlds immediately collide again after the split? Z is no longer amused

What is the Black Fog? Don't think about it too hard

Why did Moebius have very specific powers when plot convenient? It amused Z

What happened to the City folk? Don't think about it too hard, Gondor decided it's ok to unexist them

How does Future Connected have anything to do with this? Don't think about it too hard

Why was the Fog King a Guldo? Don't think about it too hard

What are the Fog Beasts? Don't think about it too hard

Why did 3 have to be a sequel if it is absolutely pointless as such? Excuse to reuse assets
Who was best girl? Joran

[close]

[/quote]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

To keep Aionios running and maintain the endless now, life force kept it going

Because they wanted the main characters to be teenagers

Not explained but likely to keep generations apart without them recognizing people but pushing out the maximum number of people

because Z needs life to continue to maintain the endless now, so he caused a day night cycle

dead individuals who had showed an interest in ensuring the continuation of the war while they were alive in belief that it is the best existence possible, freedom from weakness, or enjoyment of the violence as a form of entertainment

She literally explains exactly how in her cutscene. Was something about using her core as a catalyst in combination with origin metal

Just what they decided, not chosen by Z as Ouroboros are literally one of the few things that Z cannot control

Tora literally built an artificial conduit, a multi dimensional obelisk, and made it his maid, they could probably do this.

Most likely made by melia using origin metal. It doesn’t follow the flow along with Ouroboros as to why it’s so strong.

Nopon never have explanations in any game

Idk what your even saying

It’s atonement. Makes people feel better about the people they lost and people they killed

Just how it’s visualized. The red stuff is life force

That is a mystery yes

Had to stay in disguise, even if they pulled it off they probably would’ve still been captured.

Idk

Another rule of the world Z made

Because his clock ran out while he was in the woods

Mistake in game

They only can view each other’s memories when they are interlinked. They view them like movies, so they can’t really understand them. People get Ouroboros and Interlinking confused. Ouroboros is what the main 6 are, it’s a title. Interlinking is what that robot form.

What? Origin has nothing to do with the weapons, the weapons and Iris are rules that Z made. Apparently you can modify your weapon with Origin and it’ll stay like that even when undrawn.

Because they were rebooted to the exact moment after they collided. Meaning they kinda just pass through each other because them colliding never happened

Showing of where the annihilation effect will happen. As in showing where the two worlds completely merge next. And also being the embodiment of uncertainty, as to why Moebius can’t see in it.

Because the villains have powers

They basically all died, idk what Ghondor was on about about them coming back

Shows the two worlds growing nearer. The fog king was a Guldo from Xb2. The fog is like the fog in xb3, showing where the worlds will collide. Also established Melia as the ruler of the whole new world

Because the two worlds were getting closer

Enemies possessed by uncertainty I guess, I really don’t know

Because it ended the current story. We know what happened to the people of 1 and 2. We know how the fates of the two worlds ended.

[close]

[Bebpo]

I'm almost 100 hours in now and at this point to me XB3 pretty much tied with Elden Ring as best rpg so far in 2022. Though tbf I don't think there's been any other rpgs this year besides Live-a-Live and Soul Hackers 2. Maybe TWEWY2 was this year idk.

I'm pretty satisfied with XB3 as a sprawling jrpg even if the plot goes to shit at this point. Definitely reminds me of PS2 days of Star Ocean 3s and Radiata Stories and Rogue Galaxies as interesting unique rpgs with a ton of flaws.

I'll be there for XB4, I just hope XB4 completely distances itself from XB1-3's stories and is 100% its own thing that just shares the Xenoblade name. XB3 is already stretching it on the connections. Ready to be done with everything related to XB and move on to something entirely new.

[Bebpo]

Someone said Zeon's Ascension quest w/potatoes was an example of a bad one?

Just did that and thought it was great. Probably best farming sidequest in a non-farming game. Someone on the team must really be a farming fan. Lotta good character/world stuff packed in there too.

Could've gone without the 2nd set of 10 potatoes and the troll rain NPC splishsplash borking you 10k each time and failing sometimes 
Those bits were just straight up trolling players. Didn't waste much time though so wasn't a big deal.

The only ascension quest so far I didn't enjoy a good amount was the Colony 30 kid. It was fine, but it was pretty short and nothing compared to the longer ones with more development.

[Supermanisdead]

It was horrible, especially when all you do is fast travel back and forth like 10 times in a row. It was extremely bloated, and there is a followup quest to continue it like. Enough with the goddamn potatoes.

[tiesto]

In the middle of chapter 4, about to raid the castle. Once again, I love the exploration element, but the combat leaves me cold. Even moreso in this one due to there being so much shit on the screen that it's difficult to follow what's going on, even moreso when the game's resolution drops from too much onscreen action and it ends up looking like a ps2 game in terms of image quality. Really hope Monolith moves on after this, or at least radically alters the combat.

Music isn't as good as the others, however the menu screen is a banger - best and most chill menu music since Legend of Dragoon.

[Bebpo]

Can anyone who is British explain innit?

Like it's short for isn't it, but it's often used in sentences where "isn't it" doesn't make any sense like "use some willpower, innit man" and "use some will power, isn't it, man" makes no fucking sense.

[Nintex]

Can anyone who is British explain innit?

Like it's short for isn't it, but it's often used in sentences where "isn't it" doesn't make any sense like "use some willpower, innit man" and "use some will power, isn't it, man" makes no fucking sense.

It can also be a sort of general endorsement or 'I agree', 'you are right' and 'come on'.

So it could be
Xenoblade 3 is great innit / Xenoblade 3 is great isn't it

But also
Xenoblade 3, innit! / Xenoblade 3, awesome!

and
Xenoblade 3 is a great game
Innit! / I agree

It's kinda fun that only because NOA didn't plan to release the first Xenoblade and Nintendo UK decided to do the English localization with local voice actors to save costs, the entire universe is canonically british

[Rahxephon91]

I don't think it's kind of fun.

Two and Three have pretty bad voice acting that does not mesh well with the asthetics. Anime teens talking like soccer hooligans is stupid.

[Bebpo]

Y'all play Japanese rpgs with English dubs even when they give you the JP audio track?
I've never even heard what the English voices sound like in XB3. I'm just talking about the non-voiced text.

[Supermanisdead]

I always play dubbed. I even watch my animes dubbed if possible. Sorry weebs, I can't read.

[tiesto]

I play dubbed too. Gotta turn in my weeb card I guess. 

[Svejk]

Voice actors have improved greatly since the 80’s and 90’s.  That’s when reading subtitles were cool.  Now, unless it’s cultural specific for immersion, who’s got time to read n’ shit, Especially when there’s action going on. 

[Bebpo]

I mean you’re still reading as the majority of the lines are non-voiced but whatever floats your boat, innit?

[Nintex]

Y'all play Japanese rpgs with English dubs even when they give you the JP audio track?
I've never even heard what the English voices sound like in XB3. I'm just talking about the non-voiced text.

WOTAH

[remy]

I don't think it's kind of fun.

Two and Three have pretty bad voice acting that does not mesh well with the asthetics. Anime teens talking like soccer hooligans is stupid.

and sounding like the same 4 dumb ass Americans in every game is somehow better? 

[Rahxephon91]

I don't think it's kind of fun.

Two and Three have pretty bad voice acting that does not mesh well with the asthetics. Anime teens talking like soccer hooligans is stupid.

and sounding like the same 4 dumb ass Americans in every game is somehow better? 

Yes.



And is this even true anymore(if it ever was)? The most recent Japanese games I've played(Soul Hackers 2, Babylons Fall, SMTV, FFVIIR, Monark, Triangle Strategy, Live a Live) and so on didn't seem to sound the same.

[Bebpo]

Finished what seems like almost all the side content in the game outside post-game? Got to ch.7. Feels like it's pretty close to the end and just like 2-3 post-game areas and a few post lvl.100 bosses.

The story in this is fucking terrible. It doesn't make a lick of sense. Just total nonsense plot.


I think this game is the best Xenoblade game (including X) but it seems like it has the worst story and that wouldn't be so bad if the cutscenes weren't crazy lengthy, but they are.

Whenever I'm doing side content it's just cool little stories about the people in this messed up world and a really entertaining jrpg with a mediocre battle system and character builds, but whenever I do the main story, especially in the back half it's a pretty bad jrpg that feels grimdark written by & for 12 year olds.


I wish Xenoblade 2/3 was Xenoblade 2's story & world & cities with Xenoblade 3's side content.

Feels like between Xenoblade 1/2/3/X they have all the pieces and they just need to make a damn Xenoblade game that takes the best stuff from each and they'll make a fantastic jrpg.

I'm so tired of them not being able to write villains after XB1. Take D vs Albedo as psychos and it's night & day how hard the writing has fallen. I really don't think Takahashi is hands on with these stories/worlds at this point outside the general plot concept.

[Bebpo]

XB3 is the Alien 3 of XB.

Demi was right about the story. Though I still disagree with him that the game is bad. There are plenty of good jrpgs with trash stories. This just goes in the pile. Elden Ring jrpg of 2022 confirmed.

[Tasty]

The Brit accents actually did put me off Xeno 1 a bit. Good thing I'm ok with subtitles but I very rarely change away from the English dub of a game, even if it's bad.

[Bebpo]

Still at the start of ch.7, but finished exploring the optional lvl.70/80 areas and ended up grinding out the lvl.95-100 area. The only thing I haven't beaten is the lvl.101/102 uniques guarding the chest and the lvl.100+ superbosses spread around. Party is lvl.90 now. Might as well go finish the main story and do the rest in post-game.

[Bebpo]

Feel like the end is in sight at this point. Back to enjoying the game after moving on from being disappointed in the main story. I definitely think this is gonna end up being a good jrpg with a bad main story. Probably gonna be an 8/10 for me. Better than XB2/XBX, worse than XB1 (entirely due to XB1 having a good story). I guess it's a good step in the right direction for the team.

Hopefully next time they can make a decent story.


And I was thinking about it and in terms of the DLC expansion, feels like the only leftover plotline they could do would be a jrpg starring the founders of the city and their friends/mentors...aka the statues in the city are the main cast for the expansion. Otherwise the statues are really weird and pointless in this game. If so, I like that one of them looks like a Xenogear's Fei-clone.

[Nintex]

Haven't had time to play 

Screenshots of the new DLC 





"I don't know Riku, $30 seems expensive"

"Noah should stop complaining and buy swimsuits for friends"

[HardcoreRetro]

Damn, look at the quality of those screenshots. Is it coming for free to the N64 emulator on the expansion pass? I think I recognise that beach from Pokemon Snap.

[Bebpo]

Kinda random but I think the worst gameplay mechanic in XB3 is following tracks. Especially when you have walking speed + 30% and you are basically outrunning the tracks.

That run from Colony 30 on Colony Iota's Ascension Quest was reaaaaally long.


Almost have all colonies at max rank 5. Think I'll get there this week and then finish up the main story over the weekend and fuck around with any post-game next week. Just need to finish this 150 hour jrpg before the 29th when the next 150 hour jrpg (Trails of the Black II import) comes out. Shouldn't be a problem.

[Nintex]

Gray's quest was fun. One of the best Hero characters for sure. The way you 'run' into these quite important quests feels a bit random though.
If you don't mess around the NPC's for a bit after you level up the colonies you will never find them.

Also managed to finish the Cloudkeep fight. That was pretty epic.
Story explained, somewhat. The order of how they explain things is a bit weird though, it's sort like a Babushka doll. When you think you sorta get it they go ackshually...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now to save Melia

[close]

[Bebpo]

Btw, this game has the worst quest rewards ever.

Dorrick 10-part collect-a-thon robo-building quest:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You get absolutely nothing for all that LOL

[close]

Six Noppon quest/Odd shards collecting:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You get a visual only upgrade for the ultimate weapons, no stat buffs, and the visual upgraded weapon only shows if you have the characters on their default class LOL

[close]

For Dorrick I was really expecting something like building the Erde Kaiser in Xenosaga ep1

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Aka, get a giant robot to summon in battle or something

[close]

I still think the Potato Spuds quests are some of the better ones in this! Since the reward for most quests is the journey itself and that quest actually has a good journey of accomplishing something (farming).

[Nintex]

Like I said before, I think there was more to this game that they cut out and that's probably why they could release it earlier.
The economy doesn't make any sense. Either it was colony building, having unscripted 'colony war' events more of these side quests integrated into the storyline or just a general rebalance/re-order of things.
Xenoblade 1 also had a colony that you could build and expand.

Just too much effort went into these flameclocks taking up space in the HUD to not have them do anything. 

[Bebpo]

Speaking of economy, I always have 99 ether cylinders and basically just avoid all these ether spots on the map. Like the game hardly uses ether cylinders and yet there's a million of them everywhere. It makes no sense.

Instead of silver noppon coins for upgrading classes and gold for gems they should let you use ether cylinders.

Money is also totally irrelevant. I have like a million+ and there's nothing to buy at all in the game since the gear from vendors is pointless since you get gear from the quests and drops.

[Nintex]

Yup those things are very strange. The Ether Cylinders are only used for 2 things: rebooting the husks and forging gems.
Maybe at some point it was fuel for more things, I mean, it had to be. 

[tiesto]

I don't think it's kind of fun.

Two and Three have pretty bad voice acting that does not mesh well with the asthetics. Anime teens talking like soccer hooligans is stupid.

and sounding like the same 4 dumb ass Americans in every game is somehow better? 

Yes.



And is this even true anymore(if it ever was)? The most recent Japanese games I've played(Soul Hackers 2, Babylons Fall, SMTV, FFVIIR, Monark, Triangle Strategy, Live a Live) and so on didn't seem to sound the same.

I was thrilled with the Live A Live remake but voice acting wasn't that game's strong suit. Especially the boss of the Ancient China chapter.

Still playing, about to head into

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Agnus castle to free the prisoner

[close]

. However, I'm taking a break from the main story to catch up on exploration, sidequests, and hero quests.

[Helen Keller the Musical]

Dunkey's review makes the game not look very good lol

[Bebpo]

123 hours, lvl.96, all sidequests 100% done before post-game and at the start of the final dungeon.

That was fun. Now it's time to not have fun while being back on the zzz main story. I'm multi-tasking during cutscenes at this point. They're just not worth my time for full attention. XB2 cutscenes were long but they were so much better directed than this even if they were 110% anime. This game just has sucky long cutscenes in its main story.

[Nintex]

90 hours, level 70, chapter 7 now, story wise I know need to collect things to unlock what I assume is the final area.

Went back to Colony 9 to unlock a whole bunch of stuff there, including the taters quest.
Which was again very NIER-esque I suppose. Now in classic Xenoblade tradition I need a piece of Ardun meat to finish a quest and can't remember where the rare Ardun's are. 

how do you know if you've finished everything, there is a post-game? Just how humongous is this thing. 

[demi]

Dunkey's review makes the game not look very good lol

Because it's not very good lol

[Bebpo]

Finished Michael Bay's Xenoblade.

Yup, that's up there with Cold Steel 4 and every Star Ocean game as the worst story in a jrpg in the last 20 years. It's not as bad as Cold Steel 4 because that had 3 games of setup to it, whereas XB3 had zero expectations.

Then again, it has the longest cutscenes and most in your face obnoxious story of them all, so yeah. That final boss fight with all the cutscene interruptions sure is a thing. Does this game even have real gameplay? Everything is scripted nonsense.

I call it Michael Bay's Xenoblade because the story doesn't give one shit the entire game at making a lick of sense and adhering to its own internal logic. Shit just constantly happens because flashy lights and anime power of friendship is COOL. There's no rhyme or reason to anything. None of the "mysteries" getting explained because they weren't mysteries to begin with. They were just the story doing whatever it wanted whenever it wanted to make for the next cutscene. There's no actual logic reasoning behind why things occur after a certain basic point. It's just nonsense flash.

Also I kind of agree that it's barely a Xeno game,

spoiler (click to show/hide)

First Xeno game ever without any Zohar sci-fi stuff?

[close]

Plus why there are no vehicles when the entire game is PEOPLE DRIVING MECHS AROUND is    I mean even XB2 had mounts. Wtf the fuck man.


Still it's a good, though very flawed in almost every design aspect, game outside the main story. It's a game that is both a good game and a bad game at the same time. Very weird game. At least the DLC expansion will be a whole new story, so like Torna it actually might be a better story and a better game than the base game since Torna fixed a lot of the gameplay system issues in the base game.

[Bebpo]

how do you know if you've finished everything, there is a post-game? Just how humongous is this thing. 

The colony rank restrictions are incredibly tight. You can do every quest for a colony, find every dead body on the field for a colony, and do every collectopedia request for a colony and sometimes still just barely be under 5 stars. But generally it's pretty close 1:1.

So once you hit rank 5 with a colony it's unlikely there are any quests left. Plus you can run around and won't find any.

There are two exceptions. Two of the colonies don't hit rank 5 until post-game quests although one is close enough you could grind repeat requests to hit it. The two areas are:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

both castles

[close]

So once you have every other colony at rank 5, you're done with all the content before post-game outside unique monsters. I still have the lvl.110 sea dragon left to fight.

[tiesto]

Is there a way to increase colony rank to 5 aside from finding every single dead body and doing every single collectopaedia request? I remember in xb2 you could just keep buying and selling to raise the rank...

[Bebpo]

Is there a way to increase colony rank to 5 aside from finding every single dead body and doing every single collectopaedia request? I remember in xb2 you could just keep buying and selling to raise the rank...

I mean doing all the sidequests...

If you mean besides those and sidequests? No. Finding the bodies are pretty easy and you can finish almost all the collectopaedia requests just buy going to each fabricator and running it like 10 times before moving on.

Although one collectopaedia request is BUGGED. It's a Noppon one that gives some silver coins. It requires an item that doesn't exist in the game. Someone hacked the game and it's in the database as a thrown item from an enemy but it's bugged because it's not linked to any specific enemy so it can't be thrown. I'm surprised the first patch didn't fix that since people who are OCD about 100% should be complaining about it. I don't care since you don't need it to hit noppon rank 5.

[Nintex]

Dunkey's review makes the game not look very good lol

Xenoblade 3 is a very good game but it's not for everyone. If you didn't like prior Xenoblade games you won't like this either.
Although I would say it is the most 'Nintendofied' of them all, certainly doing away with much of the lewdness of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but also infusing a heavy dose of NIER-like melancholy at the same time.
The tone is pretty weird, people are getting murdered left and right and some even kill themselves or attempt to but the game is sort of dancing around that with plot armors.
It has some very great moments though, just not as consistent as Xenoblade Chronicles. Still, this is personally my favorite Xenoblade game of them all.

Dunkey's not much of an RPG fan and a significant subset of the Nintendo fanbase is sort of tired of Nintendo's focus on RPG's. They'd much rather see Nintendo develop more action games and classic IP's like Mario, Zelda, Starfox etc. .
Nintendo however has heavily doubled down on series like Xenoblade and Fire Emblem. So as of late they've released as many if not more Fire Emblem games than Mario games in various shapes and sizes.
Since Mario Kart 8 and Pikmin 3 released, Nintendo released Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 2: Torna the Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected, and Xenoblade 3 and we'll likely see a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 spin-off before we see Mario Kart 9. On the third party side, Nintendo came up with the idea for the likes of a Live a Live remaster and made quite an effort to get SMTV to their platform. Prior to Switch Nintendo's platforms were never this RPG heavy.

[Bebpo]

Alright, all post-game done. Even took down the lvl.120 unique. Pretty much 100% the game outside hunting down every last monster for the gems. Most of my gems are VI/VII/VIII. The whole gem system is stupid and the increases per level are pretty minimal for most. Boosting your attack by 5 attack when you have 1,500 attack is like who cares.

Game was fun. There's no way I would've kept playing for 129 hours if I wasn't having fun. Even though I don't like the story, and everything is broken, it was a fun game. Probably like an 8/10 for me. Will come back for each DLC drop since I grabbed the season pass.

I really, really hope that Xenoblade 4 does not continue from the ending of XB3 and is just a completely separate game. The lore is such a mess now, I'd rather future games not have anything to do with it.

[tiesto]

Dunkey's review makes the game not look very good lol

Xenoblade 3 is a very good game but it's not for everyone. If you didn't like prior Xenoblade games you won't like this either.
Although I would say it is the most 'Nintendofied' of them all, certainly doing away with much of the lewdness of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but also infusing a heavy dose of NIER-like melancholy at the same time.
The tone is pretty weird, people are getting murdered left and right and some even kill themselves or attempt to but the game is sort of dancing around that with plot armors.
It has some very great moments though, just not as consistent as Xenoblade Chronicles. Still, this is personally my favorite Xenoblade game of them all.

Dunkey's not much of an RPG fan and a significant subset of the Nintendo fanbase is sort of tired of Nintendo's focus on RPG's. They'd much rather see Nintendo develop more action games and classic IP's like Mario, Zelda, Starfox etc. .
Nintendo however has heavily doubled down on series like Xenoblade and Fire Emblem. So as of late they've released as many if not more Fire Emblem games than Mario games in various shapes and sizes.
Since Mario Kart 8 and Pikmin 3 released, Nintendo released Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 2: Torna the Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected, and Xenoblade 3 and we'll likely see a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 spin-off before we see Mario Kart 9. On the third party side, Nintendo came up with the idea for the likes of a Live a Live remaster and made quite an effort to get SMTV to their platform. Prior to Switch Nintendo's platforms were never this RPG heavy.

Honestly, I'm thrilled with Nintendo's focus on RPGs and hope it continues. Which, if their sales of the Switch is anything to go by, is likely. People need to get over the fact that series like F-Zero, Starfox, Punch Out, etc aren't really that popular anymore, there's not really too much left you can stretch those concepts without radically changing what they are (hell, the best Punch Out game is still the NES one) pissing everyone off (see: that WiiU Starfox), and Nintendo (and most other people) have moved on. I was kinda surprised to see a new Pikmin, as I feel that game is even less popular than the aforementioned, but it is a Miyamoto pet project.

I wouldn't really trust Dunkey's takes on RPGs... guy is much more a fan of 3d platformers and "cinematic" Sony games... definitely a guy who developed his taste in the N64/GC era of gaming and can't accept the fact that Nintendo's focus isn't quite the same.

[Nintex]

I love it too, I vividly remember the days of the GameCube, where the only worthwhile RPG for a long time was Tales of Symphonia because Skies of Arcadia only really existed on paper.
Then the Wii came and Nintendo literally had to force the RPG's with Xenoblade and The Last Story. It was Iwata himself who told Takahashi to follow his vision instead of moving into action games like they had done with Day of Crisis.

On the DS it was really hit and miss as far as Nintendo's own output went and many third party games weren't localized like Xenosaga 1+2. I mostly remember Suikoden Tierkreis as a stand-out title from those days that was an entirely new game and not a remaster or port. Finally we got to the 3DS and Fire Emblem: Awakening, the last 'shot' Fire Emblem got before they would put it on ice. But to everyone's surprise it was finally the hit they had been hoping for paving the way for the franchise it is today.

With Zelda (action RPG), Fire Emblem (strategy RPG) and Xenoblade (JRPG), Nintendo has all these bases covered.
Hopefully they can get Golden Sun back into shape as well as the top-down classic RPG and continue with the Xenoblade X-series and the Xenoblade Chronicles games. Plus there's always the dream of the Mother series returning.
Nintendo being an RPG power house next to Square Enix is something I never expected to happen but it's certainly moving in that direction.

[Bebpo]

Some non-spoilerish shots from the backhalf of the game I took:

[Nintex]

All these hero quests are so good. 

[mormapope]

40 hours in, lvl. 40, middle of Chapter 3. Easily my GOTY so far, combat starts as chipping away at enemies, to building a fully kitted out team that decimates instantly.

[Rahxephon91]

So combat is a jrpg?

[Nintex]

Their stories begin on the battlefield, but their fight against a common enemy will unravel so much more. Don’t miss out on the emotional and action-packed journey in Xenoblade Chronicles 3!

Doing quite a bit of sidequesting, lots of great quests in this masterpiece.

[bork]

The Special Edition box arrived from Nintendo- I didn't get a shipping notification; UPS just dropped it off.  No packing materials of any kind, but it came in a form-fitting slightly-thick cardboard sleeve and that protected it really well.  Hopefully it's like that for everyone but I suspect there's gonna be some pissed off folks.

[Nintex]

I got another email about it a few days ago that due to technical problems the pre-orders have been delayed to mid October. 

[bork]

I got another email about it a few days ago that due to technical problems the pre-orders have been delayed to mid October. 

LOL YUROP

spoiler (click to show/hide)

...Gets better CEs from Nintendo than we do. 

[close]

[Nintex]

I don't like this trend of them moving the orders to the Nintendo Store.

Before you could just freely order these at any retailer. So if you missed one opening their pre-orders you still had a shot at another.
If you miss this window to get the XB3 CE there's probably no other way to buy it.

I have the XB:DE and XB2 CE's as well as the original XB CE. I want the collection complete 

[bork]

I don't like this trend of them moving the orders to the Nintendo Store.

Before you could just freely order these at any retailer. So if you missed one opening their pre-orders you still had a shot at another.
If you miss this window to get the XB3 CE there's probably no other way to buy it.

I have the XB:DE and XB2 CE's as well as the original XB CE. I want the collection complete 

It looks like they learned their lesson from this- I pre-ordered the Bayonetta 3 CE from Best Buy.  And didn't the new Fire Emblem game already get pre-orders up at other retailers for the CE?

[tiesto]

Finally, after 143 hours, done with it... every side quest and ascension quest, got all the colonies to level 5 (seems pointless but after doing all the quests I was almost all the way there, just had to mash 'a' a few times to fulfill collectopaedia requests). Liked the game, especially a lot of the side quests, though the main story wasn't as intriguing as some of the other Xeno series games. But I do feel that there were some things that feel unfinished - whole areas that feel kinda pointless and empty, the colony affinity system seems pretty pointless, lots of money and loot abound that's superfluous at best, repetitive cast of main villains.

[Nintex]

Xenoblade 3 CE finally went live then the Nintendo store crashed. 

[Nintex]

It went up for an hour then it went down again, what an absolute shit show.
Also people noticed the paypal option was gone so they could only pay with credit card (which is not a very popular payment method in Yurop).

Scalpers already selling their pre-orders on Ebay at ridiculous prices.

Guess I won't complete the CE collection 

[bork]

Xenoblade 3 CE finally went live then the Nintendo store crashed. 

It went up for an hour then it went down again, what an absolute shit show.
Also people noticed the paypal option was gone so they could only pay with credit card (which is not a very popular payment method in Yurop).

Scalpers already selling their pre-orders on Ebay at ridiculous prices.

Guess I won't complete the CE collection 

Sounds just like what happened in 'Murica.