The Xenoblade series is cemented as my favourite game series, and the new game is a gripping, thrilling experience I’ll reflect on more once I finish playing it. In a recent article on Kotaku, Cole Kronman wrote about the game and situates it in the context of the larger Xeno metaseries. “Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Is A Genius JRPG Vision That Began 25 Years Ago” has some fascinating analysis and gives a good history of Tetsuya Takahashi’s efforts to tell a complete story. This is a great way to get a glimpse of why these games are treasured by those of us who love them.
Tetsuya Takahashi has a story to tell.
It began in 1998, with the release of Xenogears. It began in 2002, with the release of Xenosaga Episode I. It began in 2010, with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles. It ended in 2022, with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Is A Genius JRPG Vision That Began 25 Years Ago
As always, love is the antidote. The operatic, time-transcending romance between Noah and Mio, echoing that of Fei and Elly, functions as a microcosmic distillation of the plot’s overarching conflicts. As “off-seers”—soldiers tasked with mourning the lives of their fallen comrades—they’re acutely attuned to cultural memory, or lack thereof. Together, they realize that uncertainty is preferable to stagnation, and that imperfection begets improvement. They see a hideous, mangled variation of their relationship in the characters N and M, who relinquished their humanity in favor of eternity, and decide to do better. Indifference becomes their greatest enemy. If the world prevents their union, then so be it: they’ll remake the world. Why wouldn’t they? Their love is stronger. Any system obfuscating it has no reason to exist.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Is A Genius JRPG Vision That Began 25 Years Ago
