XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 2 REVIEW.
The majority of my reviews will go as follows. I will first list the pros and cons. Then divide each sub-category like story, characters and gameplay into their own section. So, here we go. SPOILERS ABOUND.
Pros and cons are listed below.
+ Improved battle system. Xenoblade 2 improves upon the bland combat system from Xenoblade 1 in many areas. After being able to use three blades, battles are quick and easy. Unlike Xenoblade 1 where they can become a drag due to how long it takes.
+ Amazing music. Xenoblade 2 has my 2nd favorite soundtrack of any Nintendo published game, Xenoblade 1 beating it out slightly. Every song in the OST fits each scenario, and it's epic as all hell. Zeke's theme is a god-send, give it a listen.
+ Good story. The story, while not the roller-coaster that was Xenoblade 1, was still a fun ride. I liked seeing the characters deal with the scenarios they were handed. When Pyra was kidnapped by Jin in Chapter 6 and the entirety of Chapter 7 was about rescuing her, I loved seeing how worried Rex was. It was a perfect mirror to how the player [should] be feeling.
+ Game isn't crazy with plot-twists like Xenoblade 1 was. That game kind of got predictible due to all the plot twists. You know something else was going to happen. Fiora and Gadolt being alive as a Mechon, Mumkahr being Metal Face, and especially after Egil started calling Shulk "Zanza" at the end of the game. Low and behold, Shulk dies and Zanza is revealed to have been using his body as a vessel. Xenoblade 2 on the other hand doesn't have much if any plot twists at all besides Amalthus being evil.
- Bad voice acting. Not every character has bad voice work, but god Rex does. And for the main character, that's not a good thing.
- A bit of a predictible plot. Anybody who's played JRPGs, especially those in the Xeno franchise, could see Amalthus being evil coming from a mile away.
- Nia is basically the same character as Melia from Xenoblade 1. Think about it. They both are royalty. Melia the princess of the High Entia, Nia a princess of the Gormotti. They both have their family killed off. Both grow to love the main protagonist (Melia/Shulk, Nia/Rex) and don't get him due to the MC loving someone else in the party (Shulk loving Fiora, Rex loving Pyra).
- Jin is basically every Shounen villain ever. I hate Jin in this story. He is written to be so overpowered, but never really explained why. At first, it's understandable that he's so strong. You're weak. It's normal. But once Rex gets Mythra? Oh my god. It's like Takahashi gathered around the writers and said:"Rex now has Mythra. We have to find a way to make Jin still a threat. I got it! Make him transform!" Even though there is no evidence at all to other blades being able to transform.
"The player now has Morag in the party that can tank his boss fights...make him travel at the speed of light too by manipulating the atmosphere with his sword." -Takahashi.
"Oh, the player reached the point in the game where they have Blade Nia now...screw it. Make Jin an Ice Element blade so he can block Nia's healing." -Takahashi.
Jin seriously is a big problem in this story due to his BS power-ups that make him seem like nothing more than a Dragon Ball Z villain.
- Designs for the majority of the cast kind of suck. Pyra (Red one) looks like a stripper. Rex (blue one), while he does go a re-design at the end of chapter 7 that makes him look a little better, still has a bad design for the majority of the game.
STORY: The basic plot to Xenoblade 2 is Rex loves Pyra from the very first time he saw her, and agreed to take her to a place called Elysium. 10 chapters and 60+ hours of gameplay later, and Elysium is not as it seems.
Xenoblade 2's story was quite the good ride while it lasted. I didn't want to dive in depth in the pros and cons, but I will here and will list some of the moments that made my jaw drop....and some that made me angry due to how terrible it was.
I loved the ending of chapters 1, 3, 6, and 7. Those /were/ the highlights of my time spent with the game. Until the entirety [well, almost. I'll explain in a bit.] of Chapter 10 came in and stole the show. That chapter really caters to those who have played and beaten Xenoblade 1. The chapter starts off with a recreation of one of the final scenes of Xenoblade 1 where a scientist by the name of Klaus destroys (for the most part) Earth, but ends up creating a new universe. This ends up being Xenoblade 1's universe. Half of Klaus went to 1's universe to become Zanza, the eventual final boss of the 1st Xenoblade, and half became the Architect of Xenoblade 2's world. ( Xenoblade 2's version and Xenoblade 1's version )
However, the story was dragged down by Jin and the other villains. For a game that improved so much on the development of the main party, the villains just feel bland and weak compared to the cast of Xenoblade 1's. Malos, literally the first villain you fight in chapter 1, is the final boss. How boring. Zanza being the final boss of Xenoblade 1 was so much better.
The game also suffers from cliche anime tropes. If you're a female character in this game, more often than not you have over-exaggerated breast sizes and skimpy outfits. There's even a hot-spring scene in this game where the female characters are fully nude, their sensitive areas only being covered by steam. Granted, this scene did serve a purpose for the over-all story as it was fore-shadowing to Nia being a blade eater, but wow.
Also, the game was changed/censored a lot from the writing in Japan to being dubbed here. Two notable instances are in Chapter 2 where Rex and Pyra are short on money.
JPN Azurda:"Pyra, you have a nice body. Why don't you 'sell' it?"
ENG Azurda:"Better not do anything illegal for that money!"
And another instance in Chapter 7, where the exact quote escapes me, but Nia basically says she wants to have sex with Rex in the Japanese version, while in the ENG version she says "I love you, Rex!"
I honestly prefer the changed versions of both instances. One, I think Azurda telling Pyra to basically whore herself out is very insensitive, especially because he knows Rex has a crush on her. Second, both Nia and Rex are like 15, so hearing "Oh yeah I want to sleep with you so badly" would creep the heck out of me.
Now, remember how I said "almost" the entirety of Chapter 10? Right, so let's explain that. The final scene of the game tricks us into thinking Pyra and Mythra [Short explaination: Pyra's stronger alter-ego] are going to die. They draw out this long, sappy scene of Rex crying like a baby about how he can't protect them from this. Zeke finally reveals to the players that the girl Rex loves is actually Pyra as if it was some big mystery the entire game. Through-out the entire game, Rex had been the guy to come in and save Pyra time-and-time again due to his love for her, but this time he can't. He has to accept it. The World-Tree is collapsing on itself due to the Architect dying. He died due to his shared life-force with Zanza, who Shulk kills in Xenoblade 1. This is actually good character development for Rex as he sucks it up, becomes a man and respects Pyra's decision to sacrifice herself so Alrest can be saved from the World Tree collapsing on it. Pyra mouths something to Rex the player isn't supposed to know (the lip flaps are Japanese, which she says simply:"Thanks for everything!") before dying.
After Rex leads the party out of Elysium and out of the World Tree and back to Alrest, everything is destroyed. Their homes, the titans they live on, all gone. However, the Architect did one last thing before dying. Create a new world. Azurda finds a portal to this new world and leads the party there. This is heavily implied to be the "True Elysium". The last scene before the credits plays, Rex holding a piece of Pyra's armor and holding it close to him whispering:"We finally made it...". That'd be a great ending; it shows Pyra will always be with Rex forever even if she's dead.
BUT NOPE! After the credits are done rolling, one more cut-scene plays. Pyra is brought back to life. Along with Mythra, who is in a separate body now for some reason. They mouth something again to Rex the player isn't supposed to hear (It's been debated if "I love you too" or "I'm back" was said, but I'm going with the latter), and Rex walking towards them. This ending ruined any development Rex had. Rex finally understood he couldn't protect Pyra anymore and had to let her die. He knew he wasn't strong enough and had to face the consequences. But no, they're alive. Rex can have his three-way with Pyra and Mythra because the writers don't want to make him sad.
CHARACTERS: For the most part, I really like the characters in this game (Please die and never return, Jin). The main party (Rex/Nia/Tora/Zeke/Morag) are all pretty memorable in their own right. Rex for being the main character and thus getting the most screentime, Nia for being the most developed, Tora for being a perverted little Nopon, Zeke for being wacky but also serious when the time calls for it, and Morag for being the serious one in the group. She never cracks a joke the entire game. It's cute to see later in the game because Zeke and Morag kind of become the "parents" of the group in the sense that they're the only two adults. They spread their adultly wisdom to the party.
Amalthus: Amalthus was just Zanza 2.0, but that's not a bad thing since Zanza was a well-done villain, in my opinion. Genocidal and actually takes pleasure in killing and wiping humanity out one-by-one. It's sickening, and it feels rewarding finally killing him in chapter 9.
Malos: At first, Malos is a really bland villain who basically just wants to conquer the Earth, but he slowly becomes more twisted and sick. He wants to kill their (He's Pyra's brother) father, the Architect, to become the god of that world. He wishes for nothing more than to destroy and re-create the world in his image. Basically, he wants to be the only thing alive. However, by end-game he realizes this isn't what /he/ truly wants, but it's Amalthus' influence. He can't fight it and ends up torturing humanity in chapter 10 before the party abruptly kills him. Malos finally finds happiness in his death.
GAMEPLAY: Xenoblade 2 marketed itself as a story driven game, but damn. It's gameplay is quite top-notch. It's kept me playing for darn near 240 hours total. It's really hard to explain without you, the reader, playing the game; but I shall do my best.
There are Driver Combos where the party does the fighting. Break > Topple > Launch > Smash is a driver combo. This can potentially destroy an enemy in a single combo. I've had that happen, but more often than not it's about half their health.
Then there are Blade Combos where the Driver's (The main playable party) blades get in on the action. They can link their elements together to perform a super attack at a stage 3 combo. For example, let's look at Pyra.
Level one blade combo: Fire
Level two blade combo: Burnout
Level three blade combo: Mega Explosion.
If you playing as Rex can link attacks consectutively to reach all three stages, Mega Explosion will happen as the super attack. Other Fire Elemental blades can continue the combo as well. There are many elements and many elemental combos to experiment with.
Overall, the gameplay is much more smooth and much better than Xenoblade 1's I feel.
CLOSING THOUGHTS, SCORE: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a fantastic game in it's own right, but it doesn't live up to the masterpiece I feel that is Xenoblade Chronicles 1. The story is a tad worse, and the villains are severely worse I feel. Voice acting is nothing spectacular in 2, but god could I go on for days about the amazingness that is Adam Howden as Shulk or Rufus Jones as Dunban. Or Jenna Coleman as Melia. Overall, I'd give Xenoblade 2 an 8.3/10. Solid game, but needs a bit of improvement.
