Xenoblade: where to go from here?

[gorha]

So, I rolled credits on Xenoblade X Definitive Edition tonight. I've previously played the first game back when it came out on the Wii (in North America, so 2 years or so after it really first came out), but my memory of it is spotty at best. I enjoyed it, but didn't get XBX when it was new due to not having a Wii U, and then skipped 2 and 3 because I'd already missed a game in the series, and especially after XB1's Switch port came out I figured X was bound to get the same treatment sooner or later. So now that it has, I played it and I loved it, so much so that even before beating it I went ahead and ordered the rest of the series, including XB1 Definitive Edition.

I have not played the new epilogue in XBXDE, and I understand XB1DE also has a new epilogue, while 2 and 3 have DLC that extends their stories. At this point, having played the non-DE version of XB1 and not yet played XBXDE's new content, I've experienced what I have of the series - or at least the story - in release order. If I were to continue like that, I'd play XB2 and its DLC, then XB1DE and its epilogue, then XB3 + DLC, then come back to XBXDE and play the epilogue. Does playing in that order make sense, or should I just do the XBX epilogue now while the game is still fresh in my mind, and play the numbered series afterward? Or something else? I'm thinking mainly in terms of getting as much as possible out of the stories, since seeing the epic sci-fi series that Tetsuya Takahashi has been trying to make for 30 years or so finally coming to fruition is a big part of my motivation for playing them. The gameplay is also important, but honestly I think I'm going to have to brace myself for a downgrade in that department no matter which game I play next, since it's hard to imagine that going from a game where you can stomp around in a giant robot and eventually fly around in it as well to one where you can't do that would feel like anything but. Still, I'd rather see the series evolve as I go through it, so if XB1DE iterates on gameplay stuff that was introduced in XB2, that would make me more inclined to play in release order, but if XB1DE still plays more or less like the Wii game, I'd be more inclined to play in numerical order.

 

[gogglebob]

What is your experience with Xenogears and Xenosaga?

For grand, sweeping revelations (and if I were starting from zero), I would play them in order of...

Xenoblade 1 -
Xenoblade 2 -
Xenoblade 2 Epilogue -
Xenoblade 1 Epilogue -
Xenoblade 3 (kind of important to play 3 after completing all of 1 & 2)-
Xenoblade X -
(All of Xenosaga, or read this Let's Play by an extremely handsome and witty writer) -
Xenoblade 3 Epilogue -
Xenoblade X Epilogue

I feel like that is the appropriate order for where something is clearly referencing the next or previous thing. Obviously, you've already knocked some games off the list, so there is that.

Also, from a strictly gameplay perspective, I was reminded by X's release recently that Xenoblade 2 and Xenoblade 3 really made improvements to that battle system "clicking", so that may be something to consider if you want to knock off all the X and 1 content before "upgrading".

In all honesty, there really isn't a wrong order...

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Does Xenosaga explicitly tie in?

 

[gogglebob]

Yes, without getting into the details, XB3 Epilogue makes direct, named reference to Xenosaga characters. You do not need to know the details to enjoy the proceedings, but it is a a distinct through-line.

 

[gorha]

What is your experience with Xenogears and Xenosaga?

For grand, sweeping revelations (and if I were starting from zero), I would play them in order of...

Xenoblade 1 -
Xenoblade 2 -
Xenoblade 2 Epilogue -
Xenoblade 1 Epilogue -
Xenoblade 3 (kind of important to play 3 after completing all of 1 & 2)-
Xenoblade X -
(All of Xenosaga, or read this Let's Play by an extremely handsome and witty writer) -
Xenoblade 3 Epilogue -
Xenoblade X Epilogue

I feel like that is the appropriate order for where something is clearly referencing the next or previous thing. Obviously, you've already knocked some games off the list, so there is that.

Also, from a strictly gameplay perspective, I was reminded by X's release recently that Xenoblade 2 and Xenoblade 3 really made improvements to that battle system "clicking", so that may be something to consider if you want to knock off all the X and 1 content before "upgrading".

In all honesty, there really isn't a wrong order...

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm looking for, to make sure I get the references. So from this, it sounds like there are things in the epilogues of the Definitive Editions that call back to XB2 and XB3, but also some stuff in XBX even before the epilogue that makes more sense if you've played XB3, even though it originally came out first? Interesting.

And if XB2 is the one that makes the combat easier to understand, that does get me excited to play it, since I never really figured it out in XBX. Like, I found that longswords have several arts that are great for TP gain and damage once they're maxed out, so I spammed those all through the last few chapters and it worked pretty well, but I never got good results with any other weapons, and never felt like I could keep up with what my allies and enemies were doing beyond using arts that were flashing or had the little ! for their extra effects. In the fight with Ga Jiarg, I was still trying to make dual swords work, and I only barely got through it by burning most of the healing items the game had given me through division rewards. XB1 was much the same way, where I had a basic understanding of what to do with Shulk (i.e. get to the enemy's side or back and use the appropriate arts, use the Monado to counter enemy attacks that have to be countered that way), but my attempts to control anyone else always ended in disaster.

I played Xenogears around 2002, and liked it enough to buy Xenosaga Episode 1 when it came out. I'll give XS1 credit for being the only Xeno game where the combat ever really clicked for me, but it was not great in most other respects, and I've never heard much praise for the second game, so I opted to drop the series after the first. I have heard good things about XS3, though. I remember XG well enough that I was like, "oh, this is like the Eldridge!" during XBX's intro, and, "oh, a Zohar Modifier!" during its ending. My clearest memories of XS1 are the shot of baby Fei playing with blocks in the ending, which became an in-joke between me and a few friends, and some guy at a desk saying "U-DO" dramatically. If there was context for either of those, I've forgotten it.

I don't know that I'll have the time or inclination to play Xenosaga again, or for the first time in the case of the latter two games, especially with how annoying the second one sounds from everything I've heard about it, but I'll see how I'm feeling about it after Xenoblade 3, and I may indeed check out your LP if I don't play them myself. Thanks!

 

[gogglebob]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm looking for, to make sure I get the references. So from this, it sounds like there are things in the epilogues of the Definitive Editions that call back to XB2 and XB3, but also some stuff in XBX even before the epilogue that makes more sense if you've played XB3, even though it originally came out first? Interesting.

Actually, it's more like XBX is out in its own little world (ha!) before XB3 Epilogue. There's no real connective tissue between it and the XBs until that point. So it either goes in its original chronological release (after XB1) or just waiting in the wings until it is relevant (which is where I stuck it).

 

[Sarcasmorator]

They really oughta reissue Xenosaga at some point if they're going to start lashing the series together in more than cameo fashion

 

[Aurelia]

Yeah I’m kinda surprised they haven’t, here’s hoping they will considering the Baten Kaitos remasters released not that long back.

 

[YangusKhan]

The Xenosaga connection is almost enough to get me to play these games, but not when they're all 100 hours each...

 

[Olli]

The Xenosaga connection is almost enough to get me to play these games, but not when they're all 100 hours each...

Depends on how deep you want to go. I haven't played the others, but the main story of the first one is 50-60 hours, and at least the optional superbosses are just there as a kind of a mathematical exercise

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Yeah it took me a lot less than 100 for the first two, even doing some side stuff.