Nintendo Direct | Xenoblade 3 announced

I love Xenoblade.

But I'm going to be honest, the trailers from the previous three games got me more hyped than this trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I really think Monolith Soft should make a sci-fi and dark XCX2, like the previous game, to oxygenate the franchise.

However, I'm happy and as i watch the trailer again it's growing on me.
 
LOL XC1 and XCX had some derpy-ass faces, that's for sure.

But IDK, maybe I'm just a boomer, but I think a lot of times, trying to translate anime into 3D has made everything look too same-y. Usually it either looks like ugly low budget trash or Tales of/Korean MMO type stuff. It all sort of blends together.

Some examples of games that managed to avoid this fate IMO: SMT, Nier, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest.
Say what you want about it character design but I would say Monolith Soft currently does much better job translating their 2D art to 3D model.

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Now compare to Tri Ace

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LOL XC1 and XCX had some derpy-ass faces, that's for sure.

But IDK, maybe I'm just a boomer, but I think a lot of times, trying to translate anime into 3D has made everything look too same-y. Usually it either looks like ugly low budget trash or Tales of/Korean MMO type stuff. It all sort of blends together.

Some examples of games that managed to avoid this fate IMO: SMT, Nier, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest.

Yeah the generic anime style definitely blends together. Take these characters, the ones from Scarlet Nexus, the ones from Tales of Arise and the ones from the upcoming Granblue Fantasy Relink and they might as well all be part of the same franchise.

But personally I don't mind too much, to me the real star of the show in the Xenoblade games are the world and creatures. And if nothing else I'd rather have generic characters that at least look good in game than more unique looking character that look derpy as hell as in XBC1

They have identity though, and don't look like your average generic shounen anime protagonists.

True enough, though if your identity is to stand out because of how bad you look I don't know if it's really a positives.
I kinda agree with Danjin44 Danjin44 , XBC2 and 3 might not have the greatest character design, but at least it translates well to in game models.

And story wise they were generic as fuck in Xeno 1 too. The generic good teenage boy who finds a world changing power and travels with his muscle head best friend, a capable girl that's his childhood friend/ love interest, and the older more experience dude who is their mentor and role model, etc. It's all shonen jump 101.
 
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Say what you want about it character design but I would say Monolith Soft currently does much better job translating their 2D art to 3D model.

kpClAYl.jpg
xenoblade-chronicles-2-nia-710x400.jpg


Now compare to Tri Ace

png-transparent-star-ocean-integrity-and-faithlessness-star-ocean-the-last-hope-star-ocean-the-second-story-playstation-4-playstation-3-star-ocean-cg-artwork-video-game-playstation-4.png
387787d3174f7d1b6f1418881a3277a2.jpg

0CSpxK4.jpg
starremake-1507733589583.png
The ironic thing about Tri-Ace is that their Star Ocean gacha had way better character models than their mainline games did. They should do a personnel swap of the two teams.

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I love Xenoblade.

But I'm going to be honest, the trailers from the previous three games got me more hyped than this trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I really think Monolith Soft should make a sci-fi and dark XCX2, like the previous game, to oxygenate the franchise.

However, I'm happy and as i watch the trailer again it's growing on me.
The vast scenery in background of this trailer as characters run around exploring is really something else. Would be nice to have a mech to expore it in...
 
The ironic thing about Tri-Ace is that their Star Ocean gacha had way better character models than their mainline games did. They should do a personnel swap of the two teams.

HOTVzhG.jpg
wMWtDJz.jpg
The problem with way Tri Ace models their character is for some reason they want them look like realistic dolls or action figure.

Here is for upcoming Star Ocean.
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Its better than SO4&5 but not by much.

Xenoblade 3 in other hand feel like the characters are much more expressive even tho its on much weaker system.
Xenoblade-Chronicles-3-characters-2a-Mio-close-up.jpg
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The problem with way Tri Ace models their character is for some reason they want them look like realistic dolls or action figure.

Here is for upcoming Star Ocean.
51634548879_d768129598_h.jpg
51633070192_1cb581aa04_h.jpg


Its better than SO4&5 but not by much.

Xenoblade 3 in other hand feel like the characters are much more expressive even tho its on much weaker system.
Xenoblade-Chronicles-3-characters-2a-Mio-close-up.jpg
Switch_XenobladeChronicles3_artwork_02.jpg

I dont know why Tri Ace refuse to use cel shading.
 
The problem with way Tri Ace models their character is for some reason they want them look like realistic dolls or action figure.

Here is for upcoming Star Ocean.
51634548879_d768129598_h.jpg
51633070192_1cb581aa04_h.jpg


Its better than SO4&5 but not by much.

Xenoblade 3 in other hand feel like the characters are much more expressive even tho its on much weaker system.
Xenoblade-Chronicles-3-characters-2a-Mio-close-up.jpg
Switch_XenobladeChronicles3_artwork_02.jpg
Tri-Ace deserves some kind of lifetime achievement award for poorly translating anime into 3D. Shiny rubbery skin + realistic lighting + weird motion-captured animation + weirdly proportioned faces with giant foreheads + vacant, soulless facial expressions.

Watching their cutscenes makes me feel deeply uncomfortable. Like watching a bunch of freakish rubber dolls trying to act human. Guess the awful writing and direction aren't helping either.
 
Tri-Ace deserves some kind of lifetime achievement award for poorly translating anime into 3D. Shiny rubbery skin + realistic lighting + weird motion-captured animation + weirdly proportioned faces with giant foreheads + vacant, soulless facial expressions.

Watching their cutscenes makes me feel deeply uncomfortable. Like watching a bunch of freakish rubber dolls trying to act human. Guess the awful writing and direction aren't helping either.
I agree I really dont like the 3D character models in their games.

Xenoblade X had this same problem with character models as well.
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Some people might not like the "anime" style of XC2&3 but they are sooooooo much better than XC1(wii) and XCX.
 
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They have identity though, and don't look like your average generic shounen anime protagonists.
Looking like a "shonen anime" is not a bad thing tho, it's one of its strength regarding its audience, I love watching anime and therefore love Xenoblade characters design... Maybe I can understand you a little better thinking that whenever I see realistic things like RDR2 or GTAV I'm just like they don't exist, I don't care, they look boring AF to me even if they're probably are not
 
Watching the trailer reminds me I need to go play that Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected after-game (whatever it was called) that was included with the Switch version.

Was gonna play it after finishing the first game, but got kinda burned out on it after putting in 80 hours... Seems like a good time to jump back in.
I'm still having a blast in Xenoblade 2 post game, need to get and play the Ira (torna) DLC and after that, the Future Connected... idk how I'm gonna get time for all of this, I'm srsly wanting to ask the life a timeout lol
 
I agree I really dont like the 3D character models in their games.

Xenoblade X had this same problem with character models as well.
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Some people might not like the "anime" style of XC2&3 but they are sooooooo much better than XC1(wii) and XCX.
XCX has the same style models as XS3.
 
I agree I really dont like the 3D character models in their games.

Xenoblade X had this same problem with character models as well.
287567-XX1.jpg
Xenoblade_Chronicles_X_-_screenshot6.jpg


Some people might not like the "anime" style of XC2&3 but they are sooooooo much better than XC1(wii) and XCX.

Xenoblade 2's success made Monolith Soft realize its using cel shading from now on.
 
Is it necessary to play the first two Xenoblades to understand the story of Xenoblade 3?
The director said that you can play Xenoblade 3 without playing the first two games. But Nintendo describe Xenoblade 3 as: a new world that will connect the futures of both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2,
The key visual also have two objects from Xenoblade 1 and 2 for the key point. I guess you get better experience if you play the first two games.

And story wise they were generic as fuck in Xeno 1 too. The generic good teenage boy who finds a world changing power and travels with his muscle head best friend, a capable girl that's his childhood friend/ love interest, and the older more experience dude who is their mentor and role model, etc. It's all shonen jump 101.
Nintendo tone down the "Tetsuya Takahashi" style storytelling in Xenoblade, but if you looks for it, it still have his style.
Miiks analysis of the 2nd game is great, it's long though, 3 part videos with 1 hour duration each



Mister Wolf Mister Wolf ValiantTraveler ValiantTraveler Miiks analysis is out!
 
NanaMiku NanaMiku thanks for sharing and yeah I've watched around 20 minutes so far. A lot of details in the character designs aside from the obvious stuff! Mio might become best girl but I want to see more of the maksed Melia lookalike.

I'm gonna have to get Xenoblade 2 later this year to beat it and jump straight into 3.
 
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Game released 12/1/2017. It's 2022 now. Grow up pls. Thanks.

If you haven't been able to play XB2 in the span of 5 years I have no words for you.
I did play it, thank you very much (and loved every minute of it). But it looks like you haven't noticed how many people are talking about playing the older games for the first time after seeing this announcement, and that definitely was a pretty big spoiler.
 
I did play it, thank you very much (and loved every minute of it). But it looks like you haven't noticed how many people are talking about playing the older games for the first time after seeing this announcement, and that definitely was a pretty big spoiler.
Lol making a big deal about how something is a "spoiler" just draws more attention to it. Someone who hasn't even played the series yet would not know this was something that important until they saw your comment.

Reminds me of Xenoblade 1 where the community was so anal about the "SUPER SECRET SEVENTH PARTY MEMBER WHOSE NAME IS A SPOILER". I figured it out super early because they drew so much attention to it (although to be fair, this series telegraphs its big plot twists from a mile away).
 
Best battle system: Torna
Best world: Xenoblade 1
Best characters: Xenoblade 2
Best boobies: Xenoblade 2
Best story: Xenoblade 2
Xb2 for best story? Get out of here. The ending was a cop out and xb1 story is just overall better. I hadn't touched a jrpg in years before trying xb1 and that's the game that got me back into the genre. Mostly due to the story. I love a good plot twist she xb1 was full of them.
 
Xb2 for best story? Get out of here. The ending was a cop out and xb1 story is just overall better. I hadn't touched a jrpg in years before trying xb1 and that's the game that got me back into the genre. Mostly due to the story. I love a good plot twist she xb1 was full of them.
What was the cop out? It wouldn't be anything like Fiora magically getting access to a restorative chamber and getting her body back so Shulk can bang right?
 
Watching the trailer reminds me I need to go play that Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected after-game (whatever it was called) that was included with the Switch version.

Was gonna play it after finishing the first game, but got kinda burned out on it after putting in 80 hours... Seems like a good time to jump back in.
Definitely play it if you enjoyed the first game. It's relatively short, can probably beat it in 20 hours tops. It's a nice little story cap that doesn't outstay its welcome, and is almost guaranteed to be important to the story of 3.

I am so damn excited for this game. This is like the avengers endgame of JRPGs for me. And we all know damn well at some climactic point in the game Shulk will appear as a really old obi wan like hooded figure and I'm going to freak out like an insane fanboy.

"Don't give up yet, lads…if you want to stop them, you have to REALLY FEEL IT"

I believe this is possible because, although she is wearing a mask, what we assume is Melia in the trailer doesn't appear to be elderly. She was 88 in the first game and apparently high Entia can live for three or four centuries. The fact that she looks to still have SOME youthfulness makes me believe it's very possible we can still see some other characters from the first game in their senior years.
 
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It seems Xenoblade 2 is going be on sale, so if you haven't got it yet then now its a perfect time to do it.
 
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Oh right without the god-awful British voice acting (I'm British, it's fucking awful ... not quite as bad as the main character voice in XC2) it actually seems like a good game.
 
That's EXACTLY what I mean! I don't know why they thought making Xenoblade 3 characters ugly would be something positive.
Then you and me have entire different idea what ugly is, because I find character models in XC1 (Wii) and XCX pretty ugly.

I take "generic" over this.
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That's technical quality Danjin, not art direction/character design.

Preferences aside, there's no denying that they went from a semi-realistic representation of their characters to a completely stylized one.
To be COMPLETELY fair with everyone, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it's all about what each person prefers more and what the goal is when making the game (serious or goofy story? what's the target audience? etc...)

But I would really really love if more companies would go back at making their (anime) characters with semi-realistic representations.
The reason is that it helps it stand out from ALL that generic anime content that Japan has been producing for the past two decades.

Also, it allows for more serious stories (not that all games need that though, and I'm fine with that)
For instance, Lost Odyssey story would never work under a completely stylized representation of their characters

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XC1 had some fairly distinctive character designs that were translated into some ugly ass 3D models. XC3 has same-y generic shounen anime JRPG "tales of" type designs, translated perfectly into 3D models.

Those are not the only two options in existence
 
That's technical quality Danjin, not art direction/character design.

Preferences aside, there's no denying that they went from a semi-realistic representation of their characters to a completely stylized one.
To be COMPLETELY fair with everyone, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it's all about what each person prefers more and what the goal is when making the game (serious or goofy story? what's the target audience? etc...)

But I would really really love if more companies would go back at making their (anime) characters with semi-realistic representations.
The reason is that it helps it stand out from ALL that generic anime content that Japan has been producing for the past two decades.

Also, it allows for more serious stories (not that all games need that though, and I'm fine with that)
For instance, Lost Odyssey story would never work under a completely stylized representation of their characters

qb1f4vupmhl07wpkrlvu.jpg
To me "anime" style works well with Xenoblade because it allows Monolith Soft make large scale environments without character models suffering as result and it also allows characters to be much more expressive.


I enjoyed Lost Odyssey but I can't say I liked the character designs, they were going for much more realistic models but with anime cloths which doesn't mesh well together.
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For my taste I take anime style over this.

Also, it allows for more serious stories
Also disagree with this, you dont need realistic visuals in order tell serious story.....Have watched Odd Taxi?

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This guy's story super dark and realistic despite its art style.
 
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That's EXACTLY what I mean! I don't know why they thought making Xenoblade 3 characters ugly would be something positive.


Bad generic shounen is though.
Nah, I like and a lot of people likes it, you say "generic" but Xenoblade artstyle is far from generic... Generic I'd call God's Eater or Trails of Cold steel series. What would you not call generic, btw? I'm honestly curious
 
Nah, I like and a lot of people likes it, you say "generic" but Xenoblade artstyle is far from generic... Generic I'd call God's Eater or Trails of Cold steel series. What would you not call generic, btw? I'm honestly curious
But characters in XB3 trailer kinda look like they are from God Eater
 
But characters in XB3 trailer kinda look like they are from God Eater
You think so? Maybe the high entia girl... and that's it at least for me, I'll add that I never liked the Alvis design in X1 due to how "idol-ish" and out of place he looked, maybe I'm just too used to anime that I cannot see everything so same-y anymore
 
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