Xenoblade 2

Let us find a way to save this world...

Having gotten around to replaying this game in another NG+ run through the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ended up being truly another magical experience that set my heart aflame once more. Not only reinforcing Xenoblade 2 as one of my all time favorites but also all the more reminding me of why I love this work so much in the first place thanks to all the things it does so well. 

From start to finish among other things it could most notably be described as a sincere love letter. A declaration of love towards otaku media, Tetsuya Takahashi's and Soraya Saga's past works, as well as one towards the fans who have stayed up to this point and celebrating what this series encompassed up to the almost twenty years it existed at the point of its initial release. Taking heavy notes from Soma Bringer and perhaps feeling like the most deliberately Xeno made game since Xenosaga Episode III. 

A celebreation towards it all packaged into something new altogether that encompasses so much of what made this series so special in the first place since the very first entry that was Xenogears back in 1998. Felt not only by the guest character appearances across previous entries but also by all the different artists and people who contributed to this title as well as its core themes and incorporation of everything from a narrative perspective. Building its world and foundation on the past up to the skies above.

There's Yasunori Mitsuda contributing as one of the main composers, designer Risa Ebata who worked on Macross Frontier designing two characters, CHOCO as a long stay designer since the days of Xenosaga, Masatsugo Saito as the new main character designer, or Tetsuya Nomura for most of the antagonists on top of many more notable names. As someone who is a fan of a lot of the stuff they worked on, seeing all their contributions in this one game couldn't be a bigger treat. Even Soraya Saga served as a guest character designer, which remains one of the sweetest things to see given that the last game she worked on prior was Soma Bringer back in 2008.

Within this world of XB2 Homura, Hikari, Shin, Hana, Nia, Zeke, and so on are all characters I deeply care about and feel like they are one more key part as to what makes this experience so engaging. These characters feel fleshed out in a way that makes them believable within this world the game tries to portray and beautifully emphasizes their role, thoughts, and struggles throughout the story. A little less with some perhaps, and not every party member has the same significance to the narrative, with Homura, Hikari and Rex clearly taking the center stage, yet all still neatly fit within this portrayal.

Fundamentally Xenoblade 2 could be considered to be a story about acceptance and change, both believing in the world they live in for a better tomorrow and all the more the characters accepting themselves for whom they truly are. Making the best of one's circumstances thanks to newfound bonds and friends that support each other, in the process acting as one big family. Something that parallels with our world and a portion that manages to deeply resonate. Especially in dark times I feel like this work can act as a shining reminder of hope and bring a little bit of light into this ever so often cruel world of ours. 

In so many senses what this title tries to convey is beautiful and this core message conveyed throughout strikes highly as one of this game's biggest strengths. Be proud of who you truly are and there's no reason to hide your true self. After all we only live once, we only have these memories in this one lifetime. Thus it should be treasured and lived to the fullest without having to hide.

Throughout this entire game there can be felt one clear emotion, which I would describe as hope. Hope for a better world and not giving up despite all. Even in the most desperate moments as one could lose all of this, recieving support from others to overcome these hurdles, may there be all so much regret clinging on one from the past. Since together they are stronger and can carry the weight of this world.

Capping this off at the very end of this adventure with the beautiful lyrics of its ending song "One Last you". They may entail what this story was about and leave on a note that hits the emotional core in such a resonating way, leaving yet another strong impression among the very last scene.

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Packaged into the realms of an JRPG, besides its notable world and characters, its gameplay remains a ton of fun to play as well with countless options and enough variety that lifts up each segment this title got in store. Designed in a way that brings to life its unique setting of wandering on giant alive titans all within a sea of clouds surrounding one giant tree in the center reaching into the sky. 

Honestly, exploring Alrest and getting to know each corner makess for such a joy filled experience, only benefited by how tight and filled this world is designed. There's a lot of verticality and varying towns that make it easy to get to know this world on a quite intimate way. After a while it almost feels like a second home and coming back to some areas has an imprint of a noticeable nostalgic feeling accompanied by the strong music throughout, which with several tracks burns itself in memory.

Its political world, while not front and center of its story, feels alive and has an economy that feels believable and works well together. Blending into something that appears to have lots of history, each of its sides exciting to explore through small dialogues and some NPCs, even if most of the side quests themselves are not of the biggest significance. In total however perhaps some of the best worldbuilding featured in a Xenoblade entry and one that adds to the series greatly. 

All of this then again only gets elevated by a combat system that is both complex and all the more rewarding for mastering its systems with each little hidden mechanic adding another layer of worthwhile depth. If overcoming the rather poor tutorials that don't do a good job of explaining everything and at last getting a good grip on things, it's easily something that makes it hard to stop playing once it resonates with one and I for one always take great joy in engaging with this combat system bundled with so many of its mechanics.

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New additions to the Switch 2 Edition are largely great as well. Most notably the addition of M.O.M.O. from Xenosaga is more than welcome and couldn't have made me any happier. They nailed her new design and it blends in extremely well with XB2's artstyle while retaining her style of Xenosaga Episode I. Her heart shaped pink core crystal, U-kun or Bunnie as he was called in the localization, and all the other little details are nothing but charming and you can easily tell how much care went into this new design by CHOCO. She's so cute, isn't she?

Her new Blade quest on top of that quickly became one of my favorites too and it really does nail its emotional weight within a rather short time frame. It did make me tear up a tad bit and that's something I can surely give it credit for. You can tell Yuuichirou Takeda who also wrote for the Xenosaga anime and did take care of the script for the DS remake of Xenosaga I & II cared about this character. Even if it remains unfortunate we couldn't have gotten her written by her original creator, Soraya Saga. Given how she's retired from the video game industry and other factors not in her control though, there's likely not much to be done about that. 

Furthermore her all together new imaginary mode is sweet too and makes part of me happy to finally see this translucent kind of design finally implemented smoothly as a 3D character model within the game. It's heavily reminiscent of the KOS-MOS Ver.X VISION design by CHOCO featured in the KOS-MOS FIX doujin and I believe this makes for a neat addition.

Now as for other changes, the major new one is the change of field skills which now let count every Blade you have. Effectively removing having to swap your Blade party each time wanting to activate a field skill or pass a certain region. If anything I feel like this makes for a great change that greatly enhances the experience since you aren't slowed down anymore while exploring and a bit of challenge is still reserved as you need to have the required amount of Blade skills. Of course far less of a trouble to get through and perhaps even a bit arbitary at this point. Nonetheless, I'm glad they went other this part of the game design and made something that can end up becoming more annoying than anything else, much more pleasant and enjoyable to a great effect. 

If there's one remaining qualm, I do wish they would've added the option for multiple save files. Having still to swap your Switch profiles to start a new run without having to delete your previous save is really annoying and comes at the expense of the playtime not counting to your main profile, which doesn't ruin the game in any way but is a bit unfortunate and I wish we could just have more save files since there shouldn't be any downside to it.

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Coming to a close I loved fully delving once more into this game and fell in love anew altogether. This work is proof to me that Tetsuya Takahashi still has it in him, even without Soraya Saga at his creative side, to create beautiful and moving games that can stick with one forever. It might be one of his purest and sincerest works of the one's that came after Xenosaga, which shines with an undying will to live, love for otaku culture, and passion for his and Soraya Saga's past works fused in a hopeful message to both his fans, the players, and his children. 

A boy, the Heavenly Holy Grail, and their newfound family trying to find a way to Garden Eden while in the process attempting to climb up the World Tree in order to meet God and find meaning in their lives within a world that seems to be on the brink of death. 

What a beautiful story

One last time, I want you to know, how I truly feel, and ... share this love with you.

Ghonf