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A while back, YL mentioned that he thought Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looked like "discount Star Wars." I can kind of see where he's coming from, but actually, it occurred to me that it has a lot more striking parallels with The Matrix.

And before you think that's a story spoiler, no, the world does not turn out to be a computer simulation. However, I will be discussing some early and late game spoilers, so be warned.

First of all, there's the plot point about people being grown in pods ("cradles"), and their life force being used as a source of power for the villains (powering the Flame Clocks).

EDIT: Forgot to mention something, but not sure if it's a spoiler.

Early game spoilers?


First-half game spoilers:


Major second-half and end game spoilers:


So, yeah, the game's a bit murky on the details, but I think the comparison fits pretty well. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else talk about it.

OK, this turned into a bit of rant, but here we go.

I finished Xenoblade Chronicles 3 recently. The in-game timer marked my final, post-game save data at 100 hours 15 minutes, which is actually relatively short for a Xenoblade game. My first playthough of XC1 took 130+ hours, XC2 was 170+ hours, and even XC1 Definitive Edition (without Future Connected) was still 120+ hours. I wasn't rushing through the story or anything. My usual rhythm when playing a Xenoblade game is to stop between certain story beats and go do side quests or explore the map, sometimes even for days at a time, and that was no different with XC3, so I was a little surprised when it seemed like the endgame sneaked up on me. That's not necessarily a negative; it just wasn't what I was expecting.

XC3 is easily the most polished of all the Xenoblade games. All of them are a little janky due to size and scope, but XC3 suffers the least. It looks great, the controls feel good, things are organized well, and while the systems and combat are still quite complex, they're fairly streamlined compared to XC2, which admittedly was a little messy, convoluted and unwieldy. MonolithSoft has taken everything they've learned up to this point and significantly refined it.

Previous games tended to get off to a slow start, but XC3 is interesting and exciting from the get go. The story and setting are quite dark and deal with some pretty heavy themes, but it develops well and has lots of intriguing twists. (Some of it is difficult to watch. The end of chapter 5 has developed an infamous reputation, and I think people will be talking about it for years.) The characters are mostly really likable and memorable, and filled with personality. The English voice acting is exceptional, and definitely on the level of the original Xenoblade.

The world is really fun to explore, and further reinforces how great MonolithSoft is at world design. At the same time, I have to admit that the world of Aionios doesn't have quite as appealing a “personality” as previous Xenoblade games.

As usual, between the story, side quests, heroes to recruit, and exploration, there is a ton of content in the game, and even more is added after finishing the story. Despite the story campaign being a little shorter than previous games, there's still a lot to do.

I hate to say this, but I felt that the music didn't quite live up to the standards of the previous Xenoblade games. It's still really good, but it didn't quite take my breath away that previous soundtracks did, and seemed to be missing a certain “Xenoblade feel.” This is unfortunate considering that I've heard Yasunori Mitsuda is retiring from composing game music after XC3.

While the cast of characters are generally great, I have to admit, Noah feels somewhat bland. It's weird to say this considering some of the powerful emotional notes he hits. I suppose the same could be said for Shulk and Rex, but even they felt a little more distinct in their own ways. Similarly, the ultimate villain is also not terribly interesting. Even Malos from XC2, who literally has no other motivation than to be evil for the sake of being evil, was far more fun and charismatic.

These are kind of nitpicks, though, and aren't too big of a deal overall. If these were the worst negatives I could come up with, then it would do more to demonstrate how strong the overall game is, but I do have one major complaint: the ending.

I'll do my best to talk about this without spoilers. Also, I'll add that from what I've seen online, the ending is somewhat divisive, but in general, most people really liked it, so my opinion falls into the minority.

Also, I do understand why the game ends the way it does. It's actually the whole point of the story, and the narrative builds up to it. But that doesn't necessarily make it a satisfying ending. I don't think it's explained very well, and it leaves a lot of questions. (I was actually caught off guard, as I was under the impression something different was supposed to happen.) After all the emotional highs and lows the story puts the characters and player through, it just isn't enough of a resolution, and I think we deserved more. It's a very bittersweet ending, but the aftertaste was far more bitter than sweet.

To make a comparison that I know YL will understand, it's comparable to Ys VIII's ending. Given how clever and interesting the endings were to the other Xenoblade games, I'm disappointed that XC3, the supposed grand finale of the trilogy, reduces itself to such a cheap cop out.

Does it affect how I feel about the rest of the game? At the risk of sounding petty, I'd say yeah, at least a little bit. Going back to do side quests and such feels a bit empty, and even a little depressing, knowing the fate of the world and everyone in it.

Although, looking back, the whole game is a bit depressing. Not that it doesn't have plenty of moments that are lighthearted or even genuinely happy, but the world of Aionios is such a hellhole that I suppose it deserved the ending it got. It's the characters and the inhabitants of the world that I feel deserved a better resolution.

Does it affect how I feel about XC1 and 2? Not really. It does not change my feelings towards XC2 being one of my favorite games... even if a certain image in XC3's ending raises a lot of questions. (Honestly, I can't help but laugh at it. It seems more like an in-joke about a certain meme. But taken at face value, it's highly questionable at best.)

Overall, how do I evaluate a game that I felt was 99 percent great, but didn't stick the landing? Well, my initial reaction to the ending soured the experience for me to a degree, but I'll get over it. It is what it is. My overall impression is positive. A great game, but with an asterisk.

Also, there's still the major story DLC due out next year, and there's plenty of speculation about it online. Some think it could be a prequel story like Torna ~ The Golden Country, but others think it might be an epilogue chapter like Future Connected. Obviously, I'd rather have an epilogue that gives us a better resolution for the characters, but I kind of doubt that's what it'll be.

So, this kind of turned into a big rant. I will continue to play the game, as it does have some really cool post-game content. I'm thinking of making a spoiler post to talk about some of it and other certain things.

So, apparently 55 first-party Switch games have sold at least one million units (as of the end of last year).

Here's a list of them all:




Source: GoNintendo

All right, let's see how you did...



So, your first try got 9/20. Your second try improved to a 13/20. Pretty good either way, I think. Looking back over them, maybe the questions were still harder than I intended.

I've actually been a little interested in Harvestella. I may check this out.

Some comments on your comments:



Anyway, hopefully I'll have my quiz finished soon.