How Xenoblade Chronicles 3's DLC Could Change the Game for Me
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Nearly two weeks ago, we were graced with an amazing Nintendo Direct, but also a brief preview at what the story DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 could shape up to be. I am absolutely stoked and realized that it might just be the Torna to my Xenoblade 2 or, in other words, that extra piece of content that buffs some of my main issues with the base game. This video will be diving into observations, my criticisms of Xenoblade 3, and how I could see this story DLC addressing them. Enjoy!
0:00 Introduction
1:35 My Criticisms and How the DLC Could Address Them
3:14 The Founder of House Vandham and Prequel DLC
8:02 Mastering Ouroboros
12:10 Giving the Villains More Development
15:05 Other Details to Explore
16:13 Brief Summary of My Prediction
17:33 Closing
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#xenobladechronicles3 #dlc #analysis - Ігри
no matter what, i think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised. if torna was any indication of how much our expectations can be exceeded, then i would say it’s not entirely off the table for our expectations to be exceeded AGAIN
Amen to that. Torna might be the best DLC I've experienced for a game, so I have no reason to doubt they couldn't do it again.
@@KayJulersit's also worth noting that they've said in an interview that it's going to be similar to Torna in content size and scope
This comment aged finer Than any wine ever will
I really do think that while a majority of this DLC will be a prequel, the end of it will be a sequel to the base game (or more likely a short epilogue). Something to show us where they are taking this story from here.
Yeah this is definitely the most likely setup. Having 90% of the story be a prequel, then the final 10% be an epilogue where we see the aftermath of Aionios and how the worlds have moved on from it.
I honestly hope that the DLC starts with how Origin activated on the XC2 universe to parallel the beginning of base XC3 and it ends with how the time resumes on that side so we can see the “full picture” of how both worlds were on the moment they collided
Considering the artbook had designs for Mio as a child just like the Kevesi crew that were never used, this is quite likely.
Yeah, the ending of the base game should've been Mio's POV, since the opening scene was Noah's.
Founder of Vandham using an early unrefined form of Ouroboros in the DLC; just as Jin and Lora were using an early unrefined form of the blade-driver combat. I see you Monolith.
Very excited for this DLC, mainly hoping it can explain and fill in the lore gaps. There's just so many unanswered questions in the base game.
yea i think prob fully realizing is them interlinking. Considering Founder Doyle's plague also mentions bringing out the power to completion, it prob refers to them successfully interlinking possibly in a moment like Noah and Mio did. The primitive version reminds me of how consuls can become moebius so if they are opposites makes sense an earlier version of ouroboros could do it too
I think the first official interlink could make for an absolutely incredible moment too as long as we get to spend a decent amount of time with the primitive form first!
I think it's relevant that the transformation available in normal gameplay is technically the phenomenon of interlink, something which even moebius can induce, and that getting hit by an ouroboros stone's effects has other obvious consequences outside of the interlinked state (like all the class change weirdness and being forced out of their flame clock connections). And in N's flashbacks, companions of his previous lives have opened ouroboros stones as well, though not full knowledge of how to utilize it. So in my mind it is certainly not unlikely that a solo transformation or other functions unseen in the base game may be buried within the ouroboros "system".
The story of the Founders is all but certain for Wave 4 however, I also feel like we're going to be time jumping quite a bit in this DLC. After the release of XC3, Takahashi wrote a message to players. Within it he states, "everyone who has played this title & the additional stories (as in plural) in the Expansion Pass can imagine what lies for the future of Xenoblade."
The reason stories in the Expansion Pass could be in written plural might be because it includes Ino and Masha's Hero Quests but having played through both of them now, I really doubt it as they do not give us any sort of insight into the 'future of Xenoblade' he mentions or anything substantial related to the overall narrative for 3.
Personally, I think this points to one logical conclusion: the unnamed Story DLC may be both a prequel and a sequel. While this might seem too ambitious of a project in comparison to Torna, you have to remember Monolith never originally intended Torna to be DLC in the first place but rather a content in between chapter 7 & 8. Obviously the project was too ambitious to squeeze into a single chapter and potentially could've ruined the flow of the base game but they didn't want to get rid of it so after consulting Nintendo, they opted to release it as an expansion.
Contrarily, Takahashi and Monolith were aware from the beginning that they would be releasing an expansion for 3, which is why the story of the game left many others questions unanswered whilst raising a couple of it's own, making it feel more like a single (substantial but still single) component of a much larger whole-the conclusion of the entire Klaus Saga.
Monolith planned this expansion's story/format/length etc before the release of the base game unlike Torna and yet it's about to eclipse the length of Torna's development, it was already a much more ambitious project as it's confirmed to be the last piece of content in this saga pair that with the extended development time and it would very reasonable to assume it's a MUCH bigger game fuelling the idea that includes both a prequel and sequel.
Timeline of events I believe we'll explore will probably be: Pre Intersection, moment of Intersection, early Aionios, Founders, destruction of Aionios (the events of the base game) and a sequel to 3's ending where the universes combine correctly.
This is all obviously speculation but given everything I mentioned, it seems quite likely.
Also at 4:59, Adult Shulk & Rex Vs Alvis could very well take place at either the early moments after the worlds intersected (since they haven't sustained their injuries yet) or sometime after the events of 3 since everyone that was alive when Noah was 10 in Alcamoth (seemingly 15-20 years after the events of 1 & 2) would all live freed from the eternal cycle of Aionios in a state before their lives Aionios (hence the lack of injuries) as they have been reset by the data saved in Origin.
Both are logically sound, but the former is more likely than the other.
I completely forgot how much development time this game got compared to it's siblings. Wasn't there a pre-release rumor that the game had been completed already before the first reveal trailer came out?
@@Rman1228 "Wasn't there a pre-release rumor that the game had been completed already" holy shit yeah there was. The game was supposed to drop in 2021. Makes perfect sense why we witnessed a game's release date being pushed up instead of a delay.
They've been developing the Story DLC for longer than all of us probably realise, If so then 30-40 hours of main story content without hero/ascension/side quests might not seem so impossible especially when you consider the previous Waves of DLC for 3 had far less than what 2 had, meaning its all hands on deck at Monolith for Wave 4.
Monolith might genuinely be making the most packed DLC expansion of all time, deadass a whole game for just $30 USD.
@@ZephyrK_ bout to remind us and let everyone else know why they're the best at what they do
Considering I don't think it's strictly a prequel, I think it will be fire. You are not told the state of the world outside of aionios and how much potential origin reflects. As such, we litteraly do not know what the future holds. If my theory is correct, history is repeating as a "Futures past" scenario, but different this time from origins data calculations, you could say aionios is false because of pepoles disposition and simply because it's "the path of failure". This way it will be both after xenoblade 3 and before because origin calculated "future lives" as melia states. So who says it couldn't caculate keves, Agnes and everything else? Origin and the world are practically now one and the same, without it, the world cannot function anymore because everything is a core crystal data copy.
The one thing I'm certain of with the dlc is that they're definitely going to suprise us with the story somehow. With takahashi having stated that the dlc will hint at the future of the series it makes me pretty curious how exactly they're going to do that here.
I think it would be very nice if we get a Triton cameo since he is one of the oldest Moebius. It would also be very interesting if we can see different landscapes of familiar places just like with Gormott in Torna. Eagus wilderness is one of the places with a lot of Annihilation events so it would be interesting seeing how it would compare to base game
Also it would be very interesting to see if we get Nopon lore considering that there is a line from Consul X in Eunie’s side quest where she thought Nopon weren’t supposed to interfere, like they have made a deal to not go at each other’s throats since Nopon are not part of the cycle of rebirth, which would then go against Moebius’ Endless now
Also one last thing, but I hope we get more information on Rex’s other two kids and some other characters from previous games. Doesn’t have to be all of them, but characters like how Riki’s Legendary Biter Weapon is in the lowest part of Maktha Wildwood, or what happened to all of the characters that weren’t mentioned at all like all of the blades or what happened to the rest of the Xenoblade 1 main cast
Yeah I'm in a similar position as you. I love the base game of Xenoblade 3, but 2 is still my favorite. But I've always acknowledged that Xenoblade 2 being my favorite of the series was partly due to the expansion of the story with Torna. If 3's story DLC is done right, it could easily rocket Xenoblade 3 as my favorite game of the series no question. I'm super excited to see what this DLC will be all about when it finally comes out.
I really hope we get to see N’s Moebius form in the DLC; it always felt conspicuously absent to me
chances are we will, but I honestly expect it to look near identical noahs ouroboros, but more organic and with different color scheme. I''m honesly surprised it wasn't in the base game at all let alone the time attack trial where fight N and M at the same time
I honestly always took at as N just didn’t really have any need/desire to use his Moebius form
Here's a crack theory for you.
His Moebius form only alters his sword, hence the upgraded Sword of the End in the fight against N in Origin.
There’s a chance that “succumbing to Moebius’ power” was overcome in the final boss with Z which is what Nia was referring to
Agreed, which is why it might’ve been a more subtle mastery of the form. Xeno’s historically used very visual transformations to show growth, so that’s why I find there’s some room for doubt.
Thanks for the mention. I am beyond excited for this. I feel the same way you do. Zelda is my favorite series, and Tears of the Kingdom is my most anticipated game, BUT that 20 seconds of footage set off the hype meters. There are too many things to be excited for. One thing I have been thinking about is, with Aionios being what it is, are we going to see earlier versions of the main cast (Eunie, Taoin, Lanz, and Sena) as well as some of the heroes from 1,000 years ago? They have been stuck in the cycles, so it seems like a possibility.
Torna made me care about Jin and his story. With just the base game his arc felt very back heavy and last minute. This dlc can definitely fix the problems I had with Z and other moebius
I feel very similarly about Jin and even Mythra. Torna did so much for those characters in my eyes and I think they're excellent now. That's one of the reasons the prospect of this DLC gave me so much hope.
Nah Jin and Z are very different characters, the base game already gave Jin tons of development and fleshed out his backstory enough even without Torna. Z has very little development and zero backstory of any form, dlc can’t flesh out something that doesn’t exist lol.
@@EED1_evilsbane I don’t think he’s comparing Jin and Z. We all know how drastically different they are written, Z is not a individual a was written that way. That doesn’t mean the dlc can make us find him more interesting.
@@KayJulers I definitely understand with Mythra. Torna showing where her trauma came from made arc story much more cohesive and emotional imo
@@EED1_evilsbane I mean, Z is a concept. He doesn't really need a lot of backstory.
Something I think about the founders of Rhodes and Ortiz is that they probably didn’t have a home coming and after they died they return back to the cycle to influence some people within both Keves and Agnus with the ability for them to remember their past memories and maybe they continued to exist to the point of the main game. Maybe characters that we have meet before. :)
Great video I am so hyped for this DLC
Personally, I’m still kinda on the copium that the dlc will show us the future after the worlds separated. The main reason for this is that I don’t see an ending where Alvis/Ontos gets beat and the world just stays the same, as Alvis is most likely as powerful or even more powerful than Z. Like, how do the cast beat Alvis but then not stop Z later, unless they die during the battle against Alvis, which just wouldn’t make for great character send off, especially for Shulk and Rex as this is probably the last time we’ll ever see them.
Shulk and Rex are alive after the end of the base game, I think. Everyone is reverted to how they were pre-Aionios, based on the post-credits scene. It's weird.
@@ltb1345 Nah I get that. but like in terms of gameplay and the story, Aionios is most likely the last time we'll ever get to see them properly, and if they get killed off then like, it would be a kick to the balls you know?
I feel like they're gonna pull a huge twist and make it so that Alvis is Z. They both have world controlling powers and even look similar.
I'm also hopeful that the DLC fleshes out Aionios and Moebius further. One thing that excites me that I haven't heard anyone talk about is the potential for possible sidequests we might be getting.
Torna did an amazing job with its sidequests, using a lot of them for world building. Like, why landmarks were named in a certain way, or seeing historical figures like Bathein the sniper, or the context for how the weakest trade guild in the base game got broke. Little things like that make a surprising amount of difference in making the world feel "alive".
Imagine getting to see minor Consul members from the base game showing up as NPCs at a time when they were still human. What life G used to lead that made him give that oath to Oleg. Seeing colonies that became Ferronis Hulks in the base game before their destruction. Heck, even silly stuff like who sealed away that fluffy, unspeakable being in Cadensia.
Indeed. The wealth of excellent side quests + potential hero quests for legacy characters that aren't too important in the main story and Side Stories for the Founders are going to make this game incredible.
XC3 set an unprecedented standard for extra content, having that be explored further will enrich the world of Aionios to an incredible degree.
Learning why Consul I took on an "undercover" role could be interesting as well, or how Consul F formed Colony 0.
Fantastic video! I agree with basically everything you said. I'm super excited for this DLC story! xD
I remember someone saying (video don't remember) that what if the moebius system didn't fully exist and it was Z doing everything but when he met Noah he became the first Consul (hence the Gold coat)? Now that I say it out loud it has a lot of holes like who was running each colony and who was Noah and the first city fighting but would be kinda cool if there is a moment like that
Maybe N and M aren’t the first consuls, but the fact that Z made them “lord” consuls (consuls who lead each nation) must mean that Z found something unique/important about them.
@@EED1_evilsbane N and M or just Noah & Mio in general are important as they are the only characters who constantly met and stayed together within the Endless Now proven by Eunie being on her lonesome back at Colony 18 in her past life. Z realised this constant within the flow of time and was enraptured by it hence why he appeared in so many of Noah's cycles inevitably coercing N & M into becoming the Gold and Silver Consuls.
Why were they a constant in the flow of time? We have no clue, the game alludes to something being different about Noah but never provides anything close to a clear answer.
His origin's being shrouded in mystery is also weird to me, he's definitely not the child of anyone from 1 despite being from Bionis (Mio is the only one out of the six who is strongly implied to be related from a prominent character in 1 or 2, heavily doubt anyone else is), maybe his parents are incredibly minor or completely new NPC's like I assume Lanz, Eunie, Taion and Sena are or perhaps something else entirely?? All of Takahashi's protagonists have something unique about them, I believe this is a clue to Noah's.
Prior to 3's release, I assumed that given his name (a prophet) and his resemblance to Fei Fong Wong he might be Blade's version of Xenogears' 'The Contact' and while I don't completely believe it anymore, Idk maybe something along those lines is actually at play.
@@EED1_evilsbane I think it's because Z was disturbed by their reincarnation past Homecoming (which even he didn't seem to understand), so he wanted to keep N and M close in order to observe them and keep them under his thumb. I also think Alvis may be behind Noah and Mio's unusual reincarnation conditions.
I have no idea where this dlc story is going to go, but I just hope that we do get to see a little more of the entire xenoblade 1 and 2 cast all grown up even if it's for just one cutscene. Also, Alvis potentially being the missing Consul A is so damn exciting to see. You can even see during the close up shot of him in the trailer that his core crystal is emitting a white glow at its center just like the Moebius have on the center pieces of their armor. Just further points towards him probably being Consul A, and I really can't wait to see how it all plays out. Great video man!
It's bittersweet that the DLC story is a prequel. Yes I want to see Shulk and Rex's stories but I'd also be hyped to see the worlds rejoin. Then again maybe that joined world will be the setting of the next Xeno game.
The dlc spoilers say otherwise. It could be both.
Adopt the "Futures past" theory, join me brother.
im very excited for it! i feel like some of the stuff we'll hopefully get expansions on should've proooobably been main story content, but i'd rather have it here than not at all. i also see someone bring up N's ouroboros form, and that makes me think that mayhaps we would get him and m interlinking, which does feel like it would've been a fairly thematic bossfight in the main story with two different sides of the same fusion power coin against their reincarnated selves. honestly i would just love to see m again. im particularly curious about her role as moebius considering she never wanted to be there, and the glimpse we got with her and crys in noah's quest made me want more.
Also, my personal interpretation of mio and noah overcoming z's power at agnus castle was that mio was technically immune, being both ouroboros and moebius now, note how the others only interlink after she directly destroys x's staff.
i personally feel that alvis isnt really in line with the blade system, as it appears logos and pneuma were fitted into the system after klaus made it, but previously they were simply ai. he also mentions that they were initially raised in a simulation to help them develop more full personalities, but malos and mythra later develop personalities that were very reflective of their drivers, so i wouldnt be surprised if that was mentioned to show that alvis is more of a machine at heart than his siblings. i also dont really think the driver/blade analogy is one to one with him, to me it's more like he's the owner of a server that is the world (this is further confirmed in 2 where klaus specified that ontos specifically was the processor to trigger the incident, though zanza pressed the button alvis did the physical work of actually creating xenoblade 1's world and then recreates it at the end) and has given out admin privileges to certain people, but its harder to take it away than it is to give, which is why the plot of xenoblade 1 happens at all. zanza and meyneth BOTH had monados and shulk manifested his own, so it seems to be less of a synchronized driver/blade bond and more of alvis giving out his blessing/power to certain individuals.
some more musings on alvis for characterization for the dlc, one of the things about him that really sells the fact he's more of an ai than the other aegises is he seems to need a sort of outside human input to accomplish certain things. he clearly didnt approve of zanza, but he couldnt just straight up take his monado power away and needed to sort of build up someone to take his place and also to determine what the state of the world would be like. in the end of xenoblade 1 he clearly has his own idea of how the world should go bc of how he shows shulks friends to him, but he seems to need shulk to actually make the decision. its sort of similar to how irl real ais, contrary to their movie depictions, are always going to be held back by a lack of adaptability and flexibility because they can only process what's been programmed into them and you can only program so much. so considering this i definitely think the predictions that alvis' motives are caused by a distorted version of shulk/humanitys wish are plausible, essentially since shulk said everyone in the world should decide their fate and everyones fear did sort of lead to moebius. you get out of the computer what you put into the computer
When Xenoblade 3 was announced to be a combination of xeno 1 and 2 I think this is what everyone had in their mind originally. I'm glad 3 ended up being it's own thing in the end but I'm still very excited to see how they use Shulk, Rex, Alvis and other characters in the dlc!
I’m really glad they’re saving lore bits and fan service slob for dlc, in a game where such beguile things like colony placements help present the themes in a more impactful way, I don’t think I would’ve traded that for extra lore or fan service
I wouldn't mind a Founders prequel as long as it isn't just a thematic retread of Torna. As well, I would honestly be disappointed if Rex, Shulk, and Alvis were the only returning characters either by appearance or mention. I think it'd be incongruous to bring them back and not give them a satisfying conclusion, along with any other characters thereby attached to them (Fiora, Pyra, Mythra, etc.)
Especially since, in my opinion, there's no damn way that Shulk and Fiora didn't have children, if Rex did. Not that I want Wave 4 to be entirely callbacks and fanservice, but bringing back the main characters of the two previous games would be a low blow if they didn't get the right sendoff alongside their loved ones and companions.
It might reveal that Crys is Shulk and Fiora's son.
@@ltb1345 I could certainly see that being the case, though that would lend credence to Noah also being their son, due to how close Crys was to player Noah, their similar weapons and term marks.
The main point, however, is that one way or another, at some point between 1 and 3 they wed and had children. They may not say it outright, but its a perfectly logical conclusion.
Damn you Gaelgar!! But seriously, I wanted to know what you think about the nod Melia gave to Riku at the end of the game. Could that be explained in the prequel you think
Great video as always! 😁
Im really high rn so I cant explain it good but the reason Vandham/Fei in the trailer might be able use Ouroboros alone is probably because he’s the child of M and N, maybe a child born of kevesi and agnian parents have no need for a partner?
Ouroboros in base game can only be activated between a kevesia and agnian, so it follows that a child with dual heritage wouldnt have the same restriction.
His stand is harder to explain though. I agree it is probably some honed ouroboros
LOL
This dude so high he started talking about Stands in Xenoblade 💀
I'm excited to see how combat will be different from the base game!
Good point! I honestly loved Torna’s more than base game XC2, so I’m very curious now.
Well. We got your much anticipated conclusion to Klaus' saga with Future Redeemed!
I just want to see the redesigns for the old xeno 1 and 2 characters
So Xenoblade 3 is still my favorite on so many levels. But I will admit that I wish there was more of the Xeno-y stuff at the ending. Xenoblade 2 always gets me at the ending. I needed more of the context as you mentioned. Not to mention that I love the meta story and hunger for more it. And this hunger will prob be satiated by this DLC.
I want them to finally reveal the 5th Salvager's code.
Some people think the Masha DLC might’ve teased it, but perhaps we’ll get it from Rex first hand in this!
Wait, something just clicked that's been bothering me. During the fight with the interlinked moebius after camuravi and ethels death, they use the phrase "go for full interlink". And I don't think this is them trying to do a suicide annihilation event to take out the party, because they act surprised when they can't move and the black fog starts pouring into them. It almost seems to imply that for moebius as well, there is some kind of greater form of interlink they can take if they've properly mastered it.
11:00 i belive it to be the unrefined version, a half way version between blades and ouroboros
16:35 FINALLY someone mentions that Rhodes and Ortiz could be the children of Shulk and Rex respectively. Considering how Ortiz looks like Shulk while Rhodes looks like Pneuma, I think it’s possible that they’re the children of the previous protagonists. I personally have a really wild theory that Ortiz is one of Shulk’s kids, while Crys is another child of Shulk and Fiora, and Noah is the third child. It would be an interesting way to show a parallel between Shulk and Rex, since the latter also had 3 children. And it kinda makes sense when you think about it because if Noah is Shulk’s and Fiora’s kid, then that essentially makes house Vandahm a descendant of the characters from the previous games, essentially making it a metaphorical fusion of the 2 worlds
Edit: something else I want to add is that while this might be the conclusion of the Klaus Saga, it’s possible that the stories of xenoblade 1 and 2 could continue, like the end of a story and the beginning of a new one. The newer stories can build something up that’s entirely new and doesn’t reinvent Xenogears again. Just because it’s the final game in the Klaus saga doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed that we’ll say goodbye to these characters and worlds.
Noah probably isn’t shulks son… both him and fiora are blonde. More likely reyn and Sharla (although I dont think that either).
@@guywholikesgames7459apparently it is possible for two blonde parents to have a child with black hair, it’s just extremely rare. And not only that, but Noah’s intuition seems to be similar to Shulk’s visions that he used to have, so maybe Noah takes after Shulk in that regard
I heavily doubt it. The only person in game that bares a striking resemblance to Shulk and/or Fiora is Crys, he most likely is their son. It's also mentioned that he adopted the Founder of House Reid as his daughter on the plaque and mentors her.
Oritz may look like a younger Shulk but that simply might be Takahashi deliberately using the lack of colour with the statues as misdirection, I strongly believe when we see his actual design, he'll look nothing like Shulk. Rhodes's could be Mythra's daughter but that's merely a guess, nothing supports this at all.
Also besides Mio, none of cast of 3 are related to party members from 1 or 2 as they don't share a resemblance with any of them nor was it implied anywhere throughout the game.
For example if Eunie, Noah & Lanz were related to anyone from 1's party, then during the anniversary celebration at the start and post credits of the game they would've been inside Alcamoth Castle and not seen as casual civilians (even down to their clothing) running in the Square.
@@guywholikesgames7459 I imagine if they made Noah Shulk's son, they'd explain the hair by the fact of Dunban being his uncle, and children can and often do resemble aunts and uncles.
@@liamruiz3196 good point but in xenoblade they like to make it very clear who’s related to who
Thank you. I had the exact same hopes for the prequel DLC and I'm so happy I was right. If we moved on from the founders we would have never returned to it to answer major questions that need to be answered. This will be all that plus stuff we never expected with Alvis. This is literally the best of both worlds.
I hope we see N and M get a transformation and interlinked moebius form in this story.
Finally, the Riku origin storu we were all waiting for
I wish Shulk and Rex weren't mentors because I want to see their Ouroboros more than any of the others!
We haven’t had a same gender Ouroboros, and we know they don’t have to be romantically-implied as Lanz and Sena’s is very much not written thay way. Sad still of course.
@@corrinflakes9659 While we don't see a same gender ouroboros, we see a same gender interlink with D and J so I doubt ouroboros has to be opposite gender.
@@corrinflakes9659 Looking at the positions of the founder statues, I think there is a same-gender one.
@@corrinflakes9659 The founders have a same gender ouroboros. Shulk and Rex mentored girls
@@corrinflakes9659 I think the only condition is one being from (or descended from) the Bionis world, and the other, Alrest.
The way I see it, I feel like the first half is going to be a prequel and then halfway through will be a time skip to after the events of the main game where we see what becomes of Shulk, Rex and the crew from the main game. Perhaps with the six of them reuniting and sharing their experiences from Aionios with the previous protagonists to figure out how to deal with the new threat. It would definitely be a treat to see both the old and new versions of Ouroboros forms teaming up together at the same time!
That would be a best of both worlds scenario to me, seeing as having it as purely a prequel wouldn't really be telling us much more than what was already established in the base game. Seeing how the world continues to grow after Moebius was stopped, and seeing the base game crew reunite once their memories of Aionios are fully restored would make for an interesting scenario. Plus, I just really want to see each of those pairs be happy with one another, especially Noah and Mio. Those two deserve to be happy together, and the way the game ended with them being separated really left a lot of room for more to develop, especially after all they went through.
Eh with lucky seven I think it's just a sword made from origin metal by the 7 legendary nopon. Though I am interested to see what the gauntlet part means to Noah's relations to Vandham.
UA-cam didn't notify me of this aaaaaa
Don’t think I didn’t hear that rendition of “Small of Two Pieces”! 😭
If you re-watch the cutscene when vandham activates the Ouroboros stone and pause it a second or two later, you will see this new self manifesting Ouroboros form standing right behind him
Personally, I interpreted Nia saying "not completely" as " I couldn't make something strong enough to fully resist Z's power cause Z still affects it" rather than her saying you guy's didn't achieve Ouroboros full power. I feel like if that were the case, that would have something talked about in the base game, but nothing really indicates to me at least, that Ouroboros has some final form that'll wash Moebius. This is just myself talking tho and I could be completely wrong
"I wouldn't use Rex and Shulk not being injured as proof there's not gonna be any parts of the dlc set post-main game- after all if Noah can go from being a teenager to a child, Rex and Shulk can be restored to their pre-collision selves as well
That is a fair point! I think I just have it so wrapped up in my head that, "Hey, Xenoblade 3 already ended on a satisfactory note, so nothing will likely come after," that I didn't even consider the possibility. I should've learned my lesson with Future Connected lol.
The problem with this being a prequel in Ionious. Is that they have set up the possibly of turning the high entia back to normal from telethia. This seems like a major chekhov's gun
Finding out more about aionios with my Boi rex and the monado boi himself AND we get stando powah fei fong wong? Sign me the hell up
I'm looking forward to some continuation of 1 and 2's character arcs into 3's world, but I also feel that 20 to 30 hours is not enough time to do that and have a story about the founders. I do think the smaller amount of main game DLC compared to 2 might mean this story DLC is a much beefier game than Torna was, so it could be 40 to 50 hours long and probably have as many cutscenes as the base game's main story does. That's very wishful thinking though.
I also wonder what this DLC is going to be called because that might be a clue as to what we're in for.
I can almost see this dlc pulling a "Find the scattered members of the city," like the Torna one did the affinity missions. Where a certain count of them are found and do missions for them throughout the game to progress through blockers. And that's how they pad out the DLC a bit.
I sure hope not.
While I am glad the prequel will explain some more about Ouroboros and give XY&Z more development, I feel like the ending of the base game just isn’t enough for me and I need a more defined ending for the main story & cast.
Agreed.
All i wanna know is how long we can expect the dlc to be. Are we expecting another torna or just a chapter or two added. either way I CAN'T WAIT XC3 BABY HWFG
Somebody had mentioned they stated in an interview it’d be around the same size and scope as Torna!
To quote something I read on twitter:
"XC1 had a sequel, XC2 had a prequel. XC3 is both interlinked, prequel+sequel."
I hope that's the case as well, but I might just be coping at this point.
Honestly, I do think the story of the Founders is gonna be a fun and interesting path to take. What I can imagine is we could be having 8 characters on-screen, though 6 would be available at the start, being Vandham's founder (who for convenience I'd call Fei since that's who people think of when looking at him), his sister Doyle's founder, the proteges of Shulk and Rex, and then Shulk and Rex themselves as our hero stand-ins. They'd probably find the Ouroboros stone and get tangled up with Ortiz and Rhodes, who join the party after Ouroboros liberates them, and the endgame would be as you say with N trashing the city and Fei and Doyle coming together to form this first combined Ouroboros, though I'm thinking either their limit is reached and Doyle dies sacrificing herself to save her brother or N does something that separates the two then kills her. Part of me is thinking by the end Shulk and Rex would die, but afterwards they'd wake up in the old world after the end of Xenoblade 3.
while 3 is my overall favorite. the problem i always had with it is the fact that the story in the end is just going nowhere. it resets itself to the ending of the other to games by the end. the only slight difference is the implication that maybe some people might still remember small bits of aionios in their subconsious. i really hope the dlc shows what the point of it all was. like in what way did the short existence of aionios really move things forward in the overall meta narrative?
Exactly, that's my biggest problem with it too.
I just want one thing, playable shuk and Rex and that at the very least their classes are usable in the main game, still salty that they didn't give us the opportunity to awaken Jin, haze and minok as a reward for having complete data from torna
On the homecoming right, we technically see the begins of it with Crys in the flashback 1000 years ago. Will it is unclear if he was the first, it seems as if his request was maybe a bit weird. as for why they had flutes, it is conformed that at least the Agians sometimes fight to the flutes rhythm, even if they don't realize it. It's very possible that Kevis did the same thing.
Also the Zohar makes no sense to be in prequal, or in Aionios at all. Alivs seems to listen to the "User", which is who he decides. He could not chose between Shulk and Zanza, so he let them fight. IF Alivs finds Shulk to be wrong, for what ever reason (he feels Shulk is going against his own wish , fear that Shulk will turn out like Zanza, A simple misunderstanding of Shulk wish) , who would he make the "User." If he Sees Rex and Shulk on the same side it won't be Rex or any one in the city. The "User" would default to Z And if Alvis is A, he would give the power of the Zohar to Z without question, if he could. If Z had the power of the Zohar, he would use it to try and stop Ouroboros (as they give the world the best odds to rise against Mobius) and prevent annihilation Events (as Eventually, they will destroy everything, including Mobius).
I agree that the Zohar will be in the DLC, but only in a sequel part. The art book has an image of a bunch of Zohar in space, so that's why I think we will see it, just not In Aionios.
I didn’t think about til now that a founders prequel involving N would have to be a long, long time after the origin of the world and the original Shulk and Rex would be long dead. I think their statues implied that they achieved long life and lived til at least 80? I wonder if that’s not necessarily true and rather, they achieved some form of immortality….in which case it COULD be the originals. Can’t wait to find out.
If this DLC is anything like what torna was i'm already sold. That said, i'm more inclined to an origin of origin than a founders thing. I just don't see how N would fit into the plot, assuming the dlc will end at the start of the endless now and that scene where Noah look at the skies and time stops. But hey, it's monolith we're talking about, so i'm sure they will somehow merge both and make it work out.
At this point I think I just trust monolith to do what they want. I've never been disappointed with a story they've written so whether this is a prequel or sequel, I think it'll be great. There's precedent for both but personally I think it would be cool to have a prequal and let the game's ending be the actual ending. We don't need a connective story like they added in future connected so I don't think there's much reason to make sequel dlc unless they don't plan on ever making a 4th xenoblade game that's a sequel to 3 in some way, shape, or form.
I put in 155 hours in Xenoblade 3 and haven't even done the DLC yet. Can't wait until the new story DLC comes out. On a side not, the XC3 music in this video gave me chills.
Feelings Risen to the Sky is probably my favorite track in the game.
I’ve missed your voice so much
Man, I really need to finish Torna. I know I'll like it, but I keep getting distracted by other games lol
we need poppi
Prequels can do so much for a game's story. I HATED Tales of Zestiria for many reasons, the story and world being the #1 reason yet after playing the sequel "prequel" it almost entirely changed my perspective and after trying Zestiria again I actually grew to like it. So even though that's kind of an unacceptable way of storytelling since both parts should be able to stand on their own with the prequel simply adding context to an already complete story, I'm hopeful that this one for XC3 does something similar in expending concepts that were glossed over.
I think Torna is the obvious example considering it's also a Xenoblade prequel, but Halo: Reach as well as Metal Gear Solid 3 are my favorite games from their respective series and both prequels. I agree that the best prequels should be able to stand on their own, even if they clarify things in chronologically later entries.
What about the Expansion Pass key art? Did Monolith Soft just purposedly mislead us? Was it false advertising? Because if it's purely a prequel there ain't no way for Noah's red sword (with the Ouroboros symbol no less) to be in it, and we already saw in the trailer that Rex is not wielding the Aegis Swords.
So what was the deal with the key art hyping up this 3 sword if 2 of them are most likely going to be absent from the Expansion if its purely a Prequel?
There will be 100% an epilogue.
I wanna know what and how Riku knows what he knows haha
Riku is the Conduit lol
100% sure its prequel, I think anyone who thinks otherwise is clinging to their hope to find out what happens next. I do agree though that they will also give us some form of closure for the ending post 3, and I also think there is a way to move the series forward without Zanza/trinity processors etc and yet to keep the characters we know and love while exploring new worlds etc. I found Martial Artist to be the most fun class to play in the base game, and I'm still enjoying the combat all this time later, so while I think there will be some difference, I don't mind if Vandam founder plays the same as Ghondor :D I am most excited though to see how the story shakes out, given how much better the writing and pacing was in 3, when you add all of our favourite characters to the mix and the possibility we see their whole lives play out (and then their lives post reset maybe?) My expectations for this DLC are SKY HIGH
According to certain datamines, we might get both, a Prequel and an Epilogue
And the series can move forward without Zanza, Klaus and The Trinity Processors, 3 basically did that, despite supposedly being the end of the Klaus saga (way to end a saga huh? By having almost nothing to do with anything that happened before in that same saga)
@@eliasacevedo9542 What? 2 worlds that were originally one coming back together. And who split those worlds apart?
The existence of Aionios itself is, in a way, a result of Klaus' experiment.
Imagine if Consul A is just a fucking Super Rotbart
Honestly I really want big things from this DLC if it's the end all of the Klaus saga xenoblade works
they really to up the anti that means more THRILLER! make it very DRAMATIC! the story DARKER than the ending of torna and emotional too that would be PEAK FICTION xenoblade aswell as LORE!
If they pull another Torna rather than a Future Connected, I don’t think I could possibly complain.
I wanna know where Lucky Seven truly came from that makes it so special, sure. I wanna see X, Y, and Z all be more interesting (X and Y were pretty solid, but wtf were those final fights we had I’m still baffled by that experience) as well, sure. I would like to know more about the Ouroboros forms I guess, but that entire system was narratively done so much worse as far as the finale went compared to the Monado and other Aegises, so I’ll admit that I’m rather impartial to that part.
All of those are things I would like, but won’t go out of my way to complain about if I don’t get my way over. What I do want to know is how the world of Aionios came to exist. After finishing 2, it was a bit trickier to take the setting of 1 too seriously when so much of it, at the time at least, seemed like a grandiose computer simulation cooked up largely by Ontos and Zanza to me. But having devoured each frame of each trailer and every scrap of prerelease material I could find on the net, and simply knowing that N existed, already had me looking at the world as a true simulation of sorts where characters likely could (and would) be reincarnated after death, which really killed the sense of stakes for me, and even now still somewhat disconnects me from the trials and tribulations the Colonies faced in all their admittedly incredible families of quests that put even Torna to shame.
What I think I need for this story to provide is a grounding new perspective on the world that can help me overcome the fact that it literally is a massive computer simulation crossed with a world engine.
Loving the absolute hell out of the roguelite mode though. Had no idea I’d get this addicted to it but the builds I’ve seen and replicated in it to hit damage cap so stupidly easy and actually even just making Segiri and Riku/Manana valuable party members with functional debuffs has me beyond addicted. Managed a 139 run on Hard already and boy were those 40k Noponstones a satisfying payout.
THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THE DATE AND ITS IN A FUCKING W E E K
I'm still hoping this will continue somehow Noah's (and maybe Mio's ?) story. I'm not that interested in the lore and speculation, but more on characters.
I’m curious what more needs to be explored? If anything this story will go more into N and M’s dynamic which fleshes out their story. Their conclusion was perfect imo
@@Dr.Farewell Yeah not saying the OG conclusion is lackluster, but that's the character I'm invested in. I'd have loved Alvis to stand in the way of his reunion with Mio, and Rex and Shulk coming to help Noah or something (I know that doesn't strictly make sense, but you get the point).
Xenoblade lore is like a nice bonus for me, not the point, so I'd love a character-focus approach for this conclusion of the trilogy.
N's voice actor, Harrry Mcentire doesn't seem to recognize the DLC so we probably won't see N but I'm just guessing.
When Founder Vandham is shown in the teaser, he it's deep in thought asking if he hilariously asks if 'recognises' him. Mans is under NDA, he can't say whether he is or not but to me it seriously seemed like he was puling everyone's leg lmao.
There is that tweet David Menkin (Malos' VA) posted of him and Harry together for XC2's 5th anniversary in December that Adam also added to, to consider. This doesn't confirm anything but it is something to dwell on.
I’m pretty sure they don’t show footage to the VA’s, so unfortunately it doesn’t confirm much other than that he doesn’t voice any of the characters shown in the trailer
My whole issue with Founders has always been well... that it's boring. It will go more into depth with things as you've asserted most likely, but unlike with 2 and Torna, a prequel tale isn't wound into the original story of 3. The founders and their backstory is entirely pointless to the main characters, and the villains. My hope is that somehow they make this both a sequel and a prequel, to both let us know what happened but also let us know where they want to go with things.
Be prepared to be disappointed then
How is the dlc irrelevant to the villains? A main point of the game was that the world itself was the villain. I don’t see an issue with fleshing out things that were weirdly vague
@@XenoGemini I guess Gats T doesn't have a clue that plenty of people were disappointed with 3's lack of lore and explanations in its story after playing such expansive stories as xenoblade 2, torna, and xenoblade 1. all 3 games' stories were more fleshed out than xenoblade 3's story so for alot of long time xenoblade fans xenoblade 3 was lacking. xeno as a whole is always a story of expansive lore and worldbuilding, if you're wanting it to be lacking lore and rushing through the whole story just focusing on fighting the whole time like a fighting anime or whatever, you're getting into the wrong game series.
I can see where you're coming from and I think you're right that the events before Xenoblade 3 aren't as instrumental to the plot as the Aegis War is to Xenoblade 2. Yet, there are some smaller things I believe would be important to clarify as outliers in Xenoblade 3, primarily Lucky 7 and Riku. I also think a prequel could be beneficial to the villains, particularly N.
As it stands, I really loved the ending note of the game with its bittersweet, yet hopeful epilogue and I'm not sure I'd want anything to follow that. I'm totally onboard to have stuff run concurrently with Xenoblade 3's ending stretch, though! But hey, maybe they pull out something amazing with sequel content I would never predict!
@@XenoGemini
Because to them... none of it matters? No Consul at any point in the game even addresses the original City outside of N, and for Z, it seems to be a small nuisance at best... like sure we could see X and Z and N and all that, but given how they are in the main game I doubt backstory, would make their small appearances any more memorable.
I'd really like to watch this video. But I don't want to watch anything DLC related, neither videos on YT nor future trailers, to go completely blind if I can. Still leave a comment to support though
A true hero!
Shulk and Rex sacrifice themselves heroically to defeat Alvis to give the future a chance against N and Moebius.
This might be the last bit of Xenoblade story, huh? I’m not ready to live in a world with no more xenoblade.
I have no doubt that there will be Xenoblade after this, but this DLC will just be the final bit of story for the games connected to Klaus! There is a chance they switch the name to something like "Xenofables", "Xenosword", or something following the Xeno naming convention, but their responses in the interviews make me think the name is staying.
Considering what Aionios really was I think it is obvious that the Story DLC will be Prequel and Sequel in one. I mean the Characters who were alive before they started building the "Origin" would mean it would be a Prequel; but characters like "actual" Noah who looks at the Clocktower in the intro and outro would mean it would be a sequel. So in essence the direct sequel picking up after the outro and the "actual" peaceful merge of the worlds (which is implied by "real" Noah hearing Mio's music and reacting to it) would be a Sequel and Prequel in one as the World of Aionios is stated as being actual data now stored in the device and in the worlds future evolvement together.
So a story in the "real" world developing could be perceived as the "unreal" Aionios's story origin. That would also fit with the metaphor of Alvis and Z being A and Z the beginning and the end of the modern latin alphabet akin to the biblical metaphor of alpha and omega the beginning and the end of the greek alphabet. Therefore for all we know maybe the "older Noah" or "Housefounder" or the other callouts I have read for him could be just "real" Noah or maybe the father of "real" Noah.
The only thing I am certain about is that the experience of the game will be something I will not easily forget; the story of Shania still gives me food for thought considering the deep complecity in the context of real japanese suicidal problems and motivations amongst young adults. No matter what, the story will be way deeper than you might think on a first glance.
I am still salty that it took me that long for me to start delving into these games only after me becoming a japanese studies scientist. From normie to weeb because of science, what a world we live in.
Finally, someone on the same wavelength. I'm calling it a "Futures Past" story. It would tie a nice bow on the series because each game gripes with each perception of "time" and how it affects us.
The Sword of the End 100% needs more explanation.
Where did Riku get that damn thing LOL?
Considering I don't think it's strictly a prequel, I think it will be fire. You are not told the state of the world outside of aionios and how much potential origin reflects. As such, we litteraly do not know what the future holds. If my theory is correct, history is repeating as a "Futures past" scenario, but different this time from origins data calculations, you could say aionios is false because of pepoles disposition and simply because it's "the path of failure". This way it will be both after xenoblade 3 and before because origin calculated "future lives" as melia states. So who says it couldn't caculate keves, Agnes and everything else? Origin and the world are practically now one and the same, without it, the world cannot function anymore because everything is a core crystal data copy.
I honestly don't know how this section fixes Z for me. My main problem with him is his motives: entertainment and keeping the world as it is now. Maybe, MAYBE exposure and more screen time helps here, but I doubt it. If anyone can, though, it's Monolithsoft.
My other problem dates with Noah and Mio. At the beginning of chapter 6, we see 3 different incarnations die: 1 in a snowy area abandoning their friends, 1 in a warzone area, and 1 being N and M respectively (not in battle with Moebius, which always felt a little wrong to me). How come Shulk and Rex aren't involved with the other 2 sets fighting Moebius? If they are alive for the founders section, why aren't they around for the others? It feels like an oversight, if this is set as a prequel, since Rex and Shulk don't back down from helping others.
Aionios is a big place that's even bigger before all the annihilation events. Shulk and Rex may have been halfway across the world at those times.
@@ltb1345 but there are other people with them. How come neither shulk nor rex are anywhere to be found?
the existance of characters that existed before XC3 does not preclude this from being a sequel DLC. because XC3 and the world of Aionios exist for the equivilant of a fraction of a second. any injuries shulk and rex may have had in Aionios, would not have happened to their actual selves outside of Aionios. while it's still likely this will be prequel content, it is not 100% gaurenteed to be.
The main character is one of the founders. So at least the main story is going to be a prequel.
I’m hyped for the DLC but I just hope it’s not ‘Future connected’ levels of quality and more like ‘Torna’ levels of quality.
leaks and datamines is out for the story DLC, look it up at your own risk
While I appreciate Future Connected and Torna for what they are, the cynic in me dislikes how their very existence accentuates the writing flaws of their respective base games. FC finally giving Melia some closure on her character journey highlights just how unproactive she and most of the secondary party members were in XC1, and XC2's reliance of telling the Aegis War over showing marred the motivations of characters like Mythra and Jin especially, something Torna fixed by actually showing. However, FC was an addendum to a 10 year old story and Torna's story content was initially going to be part of the base XC2. With XC3's expansion it feels different; it's as if the story was planned to be told in two parts, base game and DLC, from the very start, and so the writers intentionally left elements vague in the base game in order to elaborate on them in the DLC.
And that's... fine... I really enjoy Xenoblade 3's story as is and thus am optimistic for the DLC story, but I admit that XC3 is less "complete" standalone than even Xenoblade 2 without Torna. I do not believe that this approach Monolith's taking with 3's DLC is going to quell most people who felt disappointed with Xenoblade 3, it will instead push them away even further. "You must pay $29.99 plus tax in order for us to explain this thing that you expected would already be in the $59.99 game you previously purchased." (And look, that's an issue with Torna as well, but at least the other DLC content pertaining to the base XC2 is fantastic, which is not something I can say about XC3).
Basically, if there's a hard science to Off-Seeing beyond "it's about feelings" and you pussyfoot around the subject for the entire half of the story where the main characters are OFF-SEERS, then you'd better expect some backlash if you explain in the part that will likely have no off-seer protags, got it?
There was something you said in this that got my attention (for the wrong reasons) when the the guy interlinks alone... you seem to think that the guys from XC3 have a STRONGER version of Ouroboros? the conversation with Nia says the exact OPPOSITE! she tells them that the reason that the one Mobius lady was able to suppress them was because they were using a lesser version of the power, and in its true form, mobius wouldn't be able to affect them... if you think about it, the protagonist's from XC3 have only had their power for a few months at best, whereas the founders might have been using it for YEARS! it could be solo-interlinking is possible for someone with more training in the power, but it summons a lesser version of the power (as an incorporeal body, or something) I mean Mobius has a more powerful form AND an interlinked form for even more power... why wouldn't Ouroboros as well? But as a side note, it is also possible that that guys partner was just offscreen, and in the full cutscene you see her actually interlink with him...
I hear a LOT of people people mentioning that Rex loses an eye and shulk an arm, so therefor there is something weird going on in this DLC, and say its either gonna take place in the present day (outside of Aionios) or way before the fall of the old city... but did they stop to consider that the characters loose their bits and bobs IN this DLC? I mean just look at Dunban, he didn't LOOSE his right arm per se, and he never really can use it again (he's such a beast with a sword that he is still a god using his off hand!), but he still fought on regardless! I think a really good story would be one set parallel to N's fall, using N as an NPC that we get to interact with through out the story, but have the characters away fighting some boss, and only return afterwords to see the destruction their once-ally wrought (like how we got to see Torna before its fall, and witness the aftermath)
I had that thought process for a very long time, actually up to the revisions I did for the video the night before, which is why I still have the segment about reverse scaling and the mastered form in the video. Yet, I just kept coming to the conclusion that it’d be strange these DLC characters didn’t solve the issue if they did master Ouroboros, so the party might’ve done in it the fight against Z by breaking his limit.
I really hope they finally finish the trilogy. Xenoblade 3 just didn't play off of anything that happened in 1 and 2, including Alvis' character not being completed.
But even if this is gonna be the best piece of media we'll ever get to see, it's a DLC to a game that has almost nothing to do with "Xenoblade". Putting that behind a $90 paywall seems unfair. (Main game + DLC). It's what I already expected from Xenoblade 3, you know, the "grand finale".
No matter how great the next Xenoblade games are i will never find another game like xc1 . That game is just something else nothing has surpassed it for me . Even with Shulk being in the prequel story i will still hold bias towards xc1. One of my first videogames ever I'll always have a special place for it . Either way more Xenoblade is always great and I'm sure monolithsoft will make an amazing story
Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled with the base XC3 game; not only was the beginning bogged down horribly with incredibly hand-holdy tutorials (I don't need you to go through the menus with me!) that could've easily been made optional with a toggle in Options, but the gameplay was just not as good as the first two games, especially 2 (which 3's gameplay is overall closer to).
Sure, having six characters you can freely switch between is nice...except I rarely found myself needing to do so, and XC2 allowed me to switch between three Blades (and actually had reasons to do so, like Blade Combos or hitting elemental weaknesses) anyway.
Gem crafting is significantly toned down compared to both 1 and 2 as well, as unlike those two (which had a smorgasbord of different Gem types and effects, and were individual items - one Gem could be attached to one piece of equipment, and you needed to forge or collect more copies) Gems here have both rather underwhelming effects, there are far fewer types of Gems, and once a Gem level is forged you can apply it to as many characters as you wanted - not to mention how ridiculously expensive higher-leveled Gems are. Why do this? Ugh.
Food's been functionally removed from battle, too; in XC2, you could put various food or other items into a character's Pouch, enabling a variety of effects (faster Arts recharge, Special gauge charges automatically, reduced damage, increased Affinity gain, etc.), and characters could have two Pouch items active at a time - and each item lasted a certain period of time.
Here? Food does nothing in battle, instead just affecting Exp and money gain and the like, and only one food item is active at any time. Boooring, and not nearly as flexible.
Chain Attacks are also not nearly as interesting or fun, either, since the three characters whose orders you can pick from are random, and you cannot legitimately get all seven orders in one chain attack. XC2's Chain Attacks offered more strategy, I feel, as all three Drivers participated, the number of rounds was dictated by the number of orbs placed around an enemy through Blade Combos and if you could break at least one a round, and you could freely choose which Blade to use each round. XC1's Chain Attacks, while being luck-based after the first three attacks, still had those three guaranteed strikes enabling all active characters to participate and allowed you to choose which Art to use (and Art types/colours could be chained for more powerful attacks).
I understand why this next one is the case, but...the characters all share the same Arts and animations when using the same class. This is justified in-universe by the Ouroboros mechanic, but it also made all six feel replaceable and identical in-battle. Compare this to XC2, where most Blade weapons could be used by every character, but their fighting styles (and thus Art selections and effects and animations and stuff) differed quite a bit. This gave you a reason to want to play as each character - use Greataxes with Zeke or Megalances with Rex or Chroma Katanas with Morag, for example, as these characters have the shortest animations and best Arts with said weapons.
XC1 just gave each character their own unique weapon type, avoiding this issue altogether.
This game just felt quite a bit shorter and less fulfilling than the previous two, which it likely is anyway but also due to how quickly things progress. It doesn't help that the various Moebius villains are almost interchangeable, both in appearance and in role, and most of them aren't involved in the main story (instead being in optional Quests). There were also fewer Chapters, the final boss was underwhelming, and Erythia Sea is just WAAAY too large. Eryth Sea was large too, but not nearly this large.
There were also not nearly as many updates for this game, compared to XC2; back then Monolith Soft practically deluged us with countless improvements and fixes and the like, which this game never really got. We don't have Custom difficulty, for example, or a "Bringer of Chaos" style extreme difficulty, which is disappointing.
All in all, I consider XC2 to still be the best, followed by Torna: The Golden Country, then XC: Definitive Edition, and XC3 in fourth place. I can't rank XCX, as I've never finished it.
Saying all of that, I sincerely hope this new story gives me an actual reason to want to return to XC3; it didn't help that the base game's story barely touched upon anything from the first two games, aside from featuring familiar races and some backstory to Aionios' existence at the end of the game. Klaus isn't mentioned _at all_ despite being a major character in both previous games and the very reason why the two worlds are separate to begin with - sure, he's dead now, but his actions are still very much felt, still affecting the two worlds.
Just...pleeeease be good DLC, pleeeease. I beg you. Give me a reason to like this game.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is like Return of the Jedi or How To Train Your Dragon 3 of the Xenoblade Trilogy, may be the weakest especially compared to how great the first two were but still I really good nonetheless.
The one thing it won't fix is the problem that none of the story of XC3 matters because it's all undone at the end.
*LONG TINFOIL THEORY POST UPCOMING*
**SPOILERS FOR XBC 1-2-3 IN**
I see a lot of people online saying that Wave 4 is gonna be either a Prequel OR a Sequel. My personal theory is that is gonna be BOTH
The reason for this is simple. It has been stated by Monolith/Takahashi that the DLC is gonna be the definitive end of the “Klaus Trilogy”. And let’s face it, if the DLC is only a prequel that means that the ending of XBC3 will still be the ending of Klaus arc and I really believe is an AWFUL end for his story.
Kaus is a mad scientist that, in a fit of Hubris, literally broke the world and created a new universe. But while his megalomaniac part went on to become and evil god, his human part stayed behind, reflected on his errors and tried to fix them. After losing hope, he meets some young people that show him that there is a chance for the future and thus, by letting the Conduit go, he begins the process to reunite the two world and fix what he did. But, at the end of XBC3 his plan failed: the two worlds didn’t unite, they only caused a great deal of suffereing from millennias and then went their separate ways again. Once again, not the best ending.
So here’s my theory on how Wave 4 is both a prequel, a sequel and the best ending of Klaus’saga.
The story begins some years, 10/15, after the end of XBC3. The XBC1 world and Alrest are separated but still orbiting kinda close to eache other, their vicinity causing rifts/annihilation events and thus making the survival of both world still in jeopardy.
Here comes the “Big Brains” (Shulk, Melia, Nia, Tora, ecc). They find out that the only way to stop these events and stop the destruction is merging the two worlds together, by creating a planet-wide Ouroboros fusion, but in order to do so, they need to fully understand Ouroborsos.
Time for a PLOT TWIST: Origin has kept in his databases a record of all the events happened in the millennias of the Endless Now.
The “Big Brains” decides to study the past to understand Ouroboros.
Maybe they could use Real Noah and Mio (now grown up, being the DLC set some years after the end of XBC3) to do an Encephalon Dive (blink blink) into the past datas of Origin to relive the story of the 6/7 Founders and understand the true meaning of Ouroboros:
We find what the true power/secret of Ourobors is through re-living the stories of the Founders, maybe also discover the secret of Riku/Lucky 7
After the main body of the DLC, set in the past, we go back to the present. Time has come to fuse the 2 planets, but first they gotta defeat the BIG BAD that lives inside the rifts. Could be Alvis possessed by the Evil will of Zanza/Corrupted Collective Unconcious/Gnosis/Zed/The Perfect Works Book or Takahashi himself.
To fight this enemy we have the final fan service battle: Noah + Adult Shulk + Adult Rex (we find out that the trailer scene was a fake out/edited scene) plus all of their friends fighting together (So we can fulfill the 3-sword DLC image). They come up with the ultimate power-of-friendship anime shonen bullshit and create the Uber Final Ouroboros. The Evil is defeated and the two world finally Ouroboros together to create True Aionios/Earth/Lost Jerusalem (blink blink)
Everyone now lives happily together, through Origin’s backup everyone who lived in the City is restored and Klaus mistakes are finally corrected. Everything is fine.
Then cue to post credit scenes, KOS-MOS body from the end of Xenosaga 3 falls on the New Earth. Shulk finds her, she opens her eyes and says “Welcome to Xenogears Episode VI, bitch”
THE END
I do think it's a weird "Futures past " thing . Maybe origin is just melia and Nia enchephalon dive lol.
It's kind of funny how I made my peace and chose to not dwell in the endless now (after dwelling in it) by lamenting how little mention there was of the crazy "old world"/klaus/conduit stuff...and now after seeing that teaser I immediately turned to the "right" path with all the copium and probably (? maybe? hopefully not) unreasonable expectations.
And yet I never would've dreamed that the way they would do it is through a (at the very least minor) focus on ALVIS.
Which is amazing because as of now, xc1 always felt standalone and like a retcon in the sense that there was no "trinity processor" in mind when writing the story and alvis is monado, not a "blade" (originally) (though I do like the subtle design change with the core neklace and of course how much they developed klaus). I'm sure they'll be able to smooth things over and even add to it without screwing it up (I hope).
I'm pretty sure the Trinity Processer was a thing when XC1 came out, because Alvis does mention his part of a computer, when he's showing Shulk, Klaus before he became Zanza
Personally with the way Xenoblade 3 ended, I am not really interested in a sequel. I don't want mindless fanservice that will make the ending actually pointless.
I am much more interested in a prequel. How exactly did Aionios come to be? So much of Nia and Melia's exposition dump doesn't explain anything. I also want to see what happened to the characters of 1 and 2. If this is going to be the finale of the Klaus saga then I want to see everything properly explained.
Xenoblade 3's main characters are great and their story is good. But the world and the villains are definitely the weakest in the main three. I don't know if this is going to change anything for me. I'm only going to watch it. I don't have any interesting in buying the season pass. But you really can feel that they kind of want to be done and move on. It's a shame.
Promo>SM 🤭
If only the combat or underlying systems were more than just filler :(