Current Events > Starting up Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (progressive SPOILERS)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I really appreciate the addition of the "haggard" lines to the character models. Adds so much while doing so little.

Does kinda slightly take me out of the scene that the idea of "tying up Nopon" is to just put an X of chains around their entire body like they can't just immediately slide a wing out.

Regal Welsh catgirl noises.

Clever to introduce a "combat technique" and have it suddenly become extremely important from a narrative standpoint.

Which means, that the Mio in the cell for that entire month...

Also this sequence has really brought home the distinction between the names "Moebius" and "Oroborous".

So they went the path of "short-haired Mio in long-haired Mio's body".

I figured it was either that or long-haired Mio would just defect outright after short-haired Mio's death. Would have been an interesting philosophical question with regards to whether that truly could ever be "his" Mio, even if they do have all the memories. Or whether it really matters.

And I also have to laugh at this incredibly personal moment between N, Noah, and Mio, and we've kinda just are not caring that we're standing the midst of a massive group of Agnus troops and they're just watching us like this is great TV drama.

Dang 10 is a long charge on Unlimited Sword. Probably won't be using that outside of long drawn out battles.

Still that was a long ass sequence. I feel coming back to the normal grind of filling maps, finding containers, etc. is just weird.

CyricZ posted...

Dang 10 is a long charge on Unlimited Sword. Probably won't be using that outside of long drawn out battles.

Or, if you want to break the difficulty of the game, use Flash Fencer's Skill: Capable Hands. When you master the class, it lets you start the battle with the Talent Art guage at 100%. Then you just start every battle with Unlimited Sword lol

CyricZ posted...

Dang 10 is a long charge on Unlimited Sword. Probably won't be using that outside of long drawn out battles.

Flash Fencer has a passive that lets you start with full charge when you've maxed out the class (that is also one of the passives that can be moved around). It also has an auto-kill mechanic when used on any Attacker class. This is why I mentioned not doing any of the Attacker classes on Noah as it becomes insanely trivial to blast through any non-boss encounter even at level 1 and thus maxing out Attacker stuffs is super free.

But Ethel's deeead you guys how could I possibly max out Flash Fencer lol.

CyricZ posted...

But Ethel's deeead you guys how could I possibly max out Flash Fencer lol.

Prop her corpse up like a scarecrow and wave it around at Mobius.

ellis123 posted...

Prop her corpse up like a scarecrow and wave it around at Mobius.

No wait! Get her clothes and stick those three Nopon stacked up together in there.

CyricZ posted...

But Ethel's deeead you guys how could I possibly max out Flash Fencer lol.

Psh, you already learned her class before she died. Just learn it better than she did. Easy.

CyricZ posted...

No wait! Get her clothes and stick those three Nopon stacked up together in there.

Don't be silly. Nopon are neutral.

Minus, like, the entire game having them be anything but neutral.

Yeah if the game will not expand on the role Nopon have in this universe, I can only draw the conclusion that they're mostly a fickle and transient kind of people. They'll help whoever they deem worthy of help, serving no particular master, and cannot be tamed themselves.

CyricZ posted...

Yeah if the game will not expand on the role Nopon have in this universe, I can only draw the conclusion that they're mostly a fickle and transient kind of people. They'll help whoever they deem worthy of help, serving no particular master, and cannot be tamed themselves.

That's pretty much the impression that the game gives of Nopon. I forget where it was mentioned, but I remember early on, a Nopon saying that they don't like to follow strict schedules like humans do. They just work as they see fit, then go eat or nap.

Gotta say I was not expecting hairstyle choice for Mio.

I'm keeping it long, representing the corner her and the rest of the team have turned.

Sorry if it's "a pain in the arsh to wash", Mio. >_>

CyricZ posted...

Gotta say I was not expecting hairstyle choice for Mio.

I'm keeping it long, representing the corner her and the rest of the team have turned.

Sorry if it's "a pain in the arsh to wash", Mio. >_>

I kept it short, because it was a way to differentiate the person Mio is and the way M is. Yes, they are fundamentally the same person, but Mio isn't M.

I kept her short hair because the long hair clips through the model.

I really appreciate in the "Romero and Joulietta" side story that the dialogue sometimes take a turn for the Shakespearean. Really nice touch on the loc team's part.

Eunie and Rozana tag-teaming Gray into embarrassment oblivion is a wonderful watch.

CyricZ posted...

Eunie and Rozana tag-teaming Gray into embarrassment oblivion is a wonderful watch.

The game absolutely clowning on the "masked and mysterious badass" trope with him is pretty funny, honestly.

CyricZ posted...

Eunie and Rozana tag-teaming Gray into embarrassment oblivion is a wonderful watch.

https://youtu.be/y85gK2C8aaM

I love how the team treats "normal human" stuff that they were never taught or experienced with such an enthusiastic curiosity.

I appreciate Y's general tone: calm, a bit haughty, and Shakespearean.

In fact, I feel some similarities in his delivery between him and the narrator for Disco Elysium.

Man they throw the last three Heroes at you in quick succession, don't they?

Yeah, they just kinda dumped them all in one spot, really. Feels like Chapter 6 had to be cut down. And it probably was considering the artbook showed concept art of a much bigger Captocorn Peak.

Dorrick's up and running ayyyyy

In related news, Wave 2 of the DLC is up.

Phantom_Nook posted...

In related news, Wave 2 of the DLC is up.

It is it is.

Oh wow an actual sixth Defender class.

"Reveals their true power after they're KO'd" is a new idea. Hmm.

Also for those of you who like to save party formations to use later (class and loadouts), press the + button on the Pause Menu.

Okay Ino can take things down about 2.3 notches.

Edit: "I'm already over her schtick." - Eunie

I knew there was something I liked about her.

Lmao, that's at least one good thing about Ino. She's properly overbearing and the party doesn't like it.

Okay so Ino's gimmick, apart from being an evade Defender and having Arts and Skills that get boosted every time she gets KO'd, is that she's tied to a resource called "High Ether". Separate from normal Ether, it only shows up with the DLC unlocked, and you'll have to get a bunch to apply to a skill tree called "Inoswap" that's similar to an Interlink Soul Tree. It's got the usual stat buffs, skill buffs, and art buffs, and there's a second stage only unlocked when you complete her Ascension Quest.

For each High Ether spot you found, a new one gets put on the map as a "hint", so you kinda have to find them in sequence. I'd suggest the minute you get the hint to mark the spot, because there's no icon otherwise.

Also, *slight spoilers* Ino's an artificial Blade, like the ones in XC2. After Noah tries out her class during a cutscene, she names him her Driver. And they're all like "what's a Driver" and Ino's like "you fight by my side" and everyone's like "Uh, that's it? Sounds kinda dumb when you put it like that."

EDIT because I was wrong about High Ether. You have to follow the hints, but you can still see it in the field if it's there.

Also if you're looking to get Ino done quick, make sure you do the quest for upgrading your Cylinder they give you. It pulls more ether from each.

Also what the hell. I didn't get a new High Ether hint after the third one. Lame.

Did the first five Challenge Battles.

They're... whatever. Rewards aren't all that special. There's an accessory shop but most of it's pretty easily findable. Good if you like swimsuits I guess.

Oh and pay no attention to me about the High Ether on the map thing. Turns out yes you can see any and all spots on a map you've cleared, particularly if you haven't turned off those markers like a dope.

God I love how all it takes is the camo pants to make over 50% of Lanz's class drip to be absolutely horrendous.

Shout outs to the Troubadour class giving him the miko look totally shattered by those gigantic pants.

Oh by the way, High Ether stuff ONLY applies to Ino. If you give any other character her class, they grow Arts and Skills as normal (by advancing Rank), so this whole High Ether thing is only applicable if you want to have her screeching in your party.

*finds the spa while knocking about exploring*

*goes to a quest he hasn't done yet*

Taion: "Have you heard of this thing called a SPAAAA?"

Eunie: "YOU WOT, CAN YOU EAT THAT?"

Me: "Guys we already found it can we just go there?"

CyricZ posted...

*finds the spa while knocking about exploring*

*goes to a quest he hasn't done yet*

Taion: "Have you heard of this thing called a SPAAAA?"

Eunie: "YOU WOT, CAN YOU EAT THAT?"

Me: "Guys we already found it can we just go there?"

Lmao, that's the Xenoblade X syndrome.

Been putting away Ascension Quests. Just finished my 14th out of 24.

Some of them have been seriously lame, but the Miyabi one was actually quite nice. Not just the way the food was quite well-presented, but also things like the look into the Monica/Ghondor relationship.

Xenoblade 3 is funnier than it has any right to be. *Spoilers for Ino Ascension Quest...fairly sure you did it TC but I put it here anyway*

https://twitter.com/XenoTrivia/status/1581598142201724932

Just finished it actually (15th). That was legit the funniest part of the entire stretch of Ino's content. The thing stinks to hell and because Noah is Ino's Driver, he has to hold the stinky thing. The next part of the scene cuts to a wider angle showing the rest of the cast are standing like fifty feet away, well out of range.

And it does end on a decent note in the final battle when I'm pretty sure it's playing XC2 music. Noah and Ino start glowing (because of their Driver/Blade relationship) and most everyone's like "well that was cool" but it doesn't mean anything for gameplay. Would be interesting and would make Ino herself more viable if there was an actual "Noah and Ino can do joint Talent Art" or something like that.

CyricZ posted...

Just finished it actually (15th). That was legit the funniest part of the entire stretch of Ino's content. The thing stinks to hell and because Noah is Ino's Driver, he has to hold the stinky thing. The next part of the scene cuts to a wider angle showing the rest of the cast are standing like fifty feet away, well out of range.

And it does end on a decent note in the final battle when I'm pretty sure it's playing XC2 music. Noah and Ino start glowing (because of their Driver/Blade relationship) and most everyone's like "well that was cool" but it doesn't mean anything for gameplay. Would be interesting and would make Ino herself more viable if there was an actual "Noah and Ino can do joint Talent Art" or something like that.

Yeah I feel there's a bit missed opportunity with Ino overall. Inoswap not benefitting the class when others use it (to my knowledge), no special benefit for having Noah be the class with Ino as the Hero as the quests suggest...eh. Could've been more interesting I think.

BakonBitz posted...

Inoswap not benefitting the class when others use it (to my knowledge)

Yeah that's correct. I checked. Nopon Champion is an okay enough class on its own, but on any of the main six, it grows as normal (little boosts every five ranks).

You'd think they'd take the opportunity in DLC to shake things up a little more.

More regal Welsh catgirl noises. I kinda expected her to pop off at Lanz being cheeky, but no such luck.

Wow Sena's Side Story was really good.

...For being something that ultimately had very little to do with Sena.

CyricZ posted...

Wow Sena's Side Story was really good.

...For being something that ultimately had very little to do with Sena.

Yep. I do like it a lot but I wonder why it had to be called Sena's Side Story.