Christi Junior on Nostr: 3/4 Because again, so many of my criticisms of Xenoblade 3 have to be viewed in light ...
3/4
Because again, so many of my criticisms of Xenoblade 3 have to be viewed in light of Xenoblade 2 being my 4th favorite game of all time, and Xenoblade 1 being my absolute all-time favorite game. And even with that in mind, it’s not like it’s a complete blowout – just for kicks, here’s how I’d rank the 3 mainline Xenoblade games in various categories I find important:
World/Exploration
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (decent gap here between all three games)
Music
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 1
3) Xenoblade 3 (EXTREMELY close!)
Story
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (1 wins comfortably here, but 2 VS 3 is a close AND complicated situation)
Characters
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 1 (2 and 3 are pretty close, 1 is actually a fair bit behind)
Combat system
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (I can’t really pick between 3 and 2, though 3 *does* have some key advantages. Also, 1 trails the two other games pretty badly here)
Sidequests
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (decent gap between the games here)
Based Morality/Themes
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 1 (decent gap here between all three games)
Fanservice (the lewd anime girl kind)
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (Yes, 2 has the prettiest girls, but 1 lets them show far more skin. Also, 3 is FAR behind here)
Polish
1) Xenoblade 1 (at least the Switch remaster)
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 2 (Xenoblade 2 lags kinda badly behind here)
Bonus Story (aka Future Connected VS Torna VS Future Redeemed)
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (Future Redeemed is comfortably ahead of Torna, which is LIGHTYEARS ahead of Future Connected)
So as you can see, even facing the fiercest competition imaginable, Xenoblade 3 is no slouch. In fact, giving out 3 points for each 1st place finish, 2 for every 2nd place and 1 for every 3rd place, this is how each game did:
Xenoblade 1: 19 Points
Xenoblade 2: 22 Points
Xenoblade 3: 19 Points
Not all categories are created equal though, and XB1 comfortably winning in terms of world/exploration AND story is absolutely huge for it, and honestly, it’s still quite good in areas like characters, combat system and yes, even sidequests. And even a Based Morality score of +1/-2 isn’t that bad. Meanwhile, XB3 is badly hurt by finishing last in the majority of the categories most important to me – though even with adjusted scores, it would still remain competitive.
Because again, so many of my criticisms of Xenoblade 3 have to be viewed in light of Xenoblade 2 being my 4th favorite game of all time, and Xenoblade 1 being my absolute all-time favorite game. And even with that in mind, it’s not like it’s a complete blowout – just for kicks, here’s how I’d rank the 3 mainline Xenoblade games in various categories I find important:
World/Exploration
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (decent gap here between all three games)
Music
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 1
3) Xenoblade 3 (EXTREMELY close!)
Story
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (1 wins comfortably here, but 2 VS 3 is a close AND complicated situation)
Characters
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 1 (2 and 3 are pretty close, 1 is actually a fair bit behind)
Combat system
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (I can’t really pick between 3 and 2, though 3 *does* have some key advantages. Also, 1 trails the two other games pretty badly here)
Sidequests
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (decent gap between the games here)
Based Morality/Themes
1) Xenoblade 2
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 1 (decent gap here between all three games)
Fanservice (the lewd anime girl kind)
1) Xenoblade 1
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 3 (Yes, 2 has the prettiest girls, but 1 lets them show far more skin. Also, 3 is FAR behind here)
Polish
1) Xenoblade 1 (at least the Switch remaster)
2) Xenoblade 3
3) Xenoblade 2 (Xenoblade 2 lags kinda badly behind here)
Bonus Story (aka Future Connected VS Torna VS Future Redeemed)
1) Xenoblade 3
2) Xenoblade 2
3) Xenoblade 1 (Future Redeemed is comfortably ahead of Torna, which is LIGHTYEARS ahead of Future Connected)
So as you can see, even facing the fiercest competition imaginable, Xenoblade 3 is no slouch. In fact, giving out 3 points for each 1st place finish, 2 for every 2nd place and 1 for every 3rd place, this is how each game did:
Xenoblade 1: 19 Points
Xenoblade 2: 22 Points
Xenoblade 3: 19 Points
Not all categories are created equal though, and XB1 comfortably winning in terms of world/exploration AND story is absolutely huge for it, and honestly, it’s still quite good in areas like characters, combat system and yes, even sidequests. And even a Based Morality score of +1/-2 isn’t that bad. Meanwhile, XB3 is badly hurt by finishing last in the majority of the categories most important to me – though even with adjusted scores, it would still remain competitive.