Michael,
First,
thanks so much for doing this with me. As I sit here writing on the
22nd of March, I'm excited to have a project, and especially one
where I get to talk about games with you. Let's dive in!
So,
as a long-time fan of Eastern RPGs, why didn't I play Xenoblade
Chronicles when it first came out? To answer, you have to
trace my history with Tetsuya Takahashi and the Xeno series, all the
way back to 1998's Xenogears, which I played as a
14-year-old Square fanboy willing to call a 60-hour
chair-sitting-simulator a genius masterpiece. But I kid! I
love Xenogears.
That
being said, the game was a tipping point in a path that Square had
started on with the more esoteric elements of Final Fantasy
VII, the moment the company got too obsessed with creating "games
as art," full of religious symbolism (often cribbed from anime)
and plots that were complex for the sake of complexity. (Chrono
Cross, which came out the next year, is the ultimate expression
of this trend, converting one of the most optimistic games of all
time into a quasi-nihilistic expression of human hopelessness. It's
probably not a coincidence that Final Fantasy IX, a
pretty clear refutation of the trend, came out the next year.)
But
being the vanguard in an arguably bad trend doesn't make Xenogears a
bad game. For all its pretension and the swift right turn it takes
into what TV Tropes would call (not coincidentally) a Gainax
Ending, XG has
some great plot twists, likable characters, and a really fun battle
system. (Plus, the robot Battling fighting game, because if there's
one thing late '90s Square was good at it, was designing mini games I
would have paid money to get as a standalone game). It's not perfect;
besides the notoriously slapdash second disc, the plot has a nasty
tendency to ignore most of the game's cast once their individual plot
sections are over, usually to the detriment of interesting
characters. But it's a game that I have a lot of fond memories of,
and if I've never revisited it, it's because I'd like to keep them
intact.
Xenosaga was
a whole other story, though. A "spiritual sequel,"
everything about it felt off-brand. I know I shouldn't put much stock
in the name Square (or Square-Enix) any more, but the publisher
switch threw me a bit, putting me on a weird footing. From
there, Xenosaga Episode I seemed to capture
everything I didn't like about JRPGs of its era; an overreliance on
long cutscenes, a plot that danced around giving the audience
information less for artistic purposes and more to obscure how
pedestrian everything was, and that same 1999-esque reliance on
symbolism and religious allusions at the detriment of storytelling.
Even worse, the game had a generally plodding feeling that's my least
favorite thing to encounter in an RPG. Out of all the genres, this is
the one that I need to be FAST; menus have to be responsive, load
times have to be minimal, and rewards need to come quickly. Xenosaga
Episode I didn't respect my time, and I ended up discarding
it roughly 20 hours in. When the sequels came out, I happily ignored
them.
 |
| Get a load of THESE jerkbags. |
So
when Xenoblade Chronicles was released, I'd been
primed to ignore anything with the Xeno name. It
didn't help that I was completely ignorant of Project Rainfall,
although I'm always in favor of weird Japanese games making their way
over here (he said, shoving his ROMs of Mother 3 and Retro
Game Challenge 2 discreetly out of sight). More than that,
by 2010 I'd completely written the Wii off as a gaming platform. Too
many years of shovelware had given me a massive blindspot where
Nintendo's console was concerned. Instead, my attention was on the
DS, which had built up a frankly incredible lineup of titles,
including some truly great RPGs, in that same time. So I
skipped Xenoblade, and never looked back. Until now.
Why
return to Xenoblade Chronicles in 2015? Part of it
is your enthusiasm, Michael. I trust your taste in games, so I
figured this one deserved its day in court. Beyond that, I'm just in
love with the 3DS (especially my beautiful red New 3DS XL), and I'm
only mildly ashamed to admit that the game's status as the first New
3DS XL-exclusive has my interest piqued. I've just finished
the Majora's Mask remake, and, while Monster
Hunter still sometimes pulls at my attention, it's a hard
game to marathon. I want something meaty and narrative to sink my
teeth into.
 |
| Who needs a Porsche? |
What
do I know about the game? Almost nothing. I don't even know if the
combat is real-time or turn-based! If it wasn't included in Smash
3DS (Shulk, something called the Monado, some kind of
chicken man), I'm completely ignorant. I don't have an Amiibo (I'm
still waiting for proof that the concept is a DS, not a Virtual Boy,
Nintendo-idea-wise). As to the length, my social life is of variable
activity, as is my work schedule. I tend to binge on games on the
weekend, so that'll be when most of my play time is done. As for
opening thoughts... I'm excited. The 3DS has been extremely spotty
for me in terms of RPGs; the best of the lot is probably Persona
Q, and even that's failed to hold my attention. Beyond that, we
have titles like Shin Megami Tensei IV and Bravely
Default - interesting, ultimately badly flawed games. I need
something great to carry around with me; I'm hoping
this'll be the game.
In
closing, is there anything I need to know before I dive into this
game? Any prep work I should be doing, gaming wise, or anything I
should avoid so I'm not tainted by similarity? Are my expectations
too high? Should I track down one of these damn Amiibos? I eagerly
await your response.
Sincerely,
Will
PS:
I assume that will make sense eventually!
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