Episode 115 - Optimal Mastication - Xenoblade Chronicles

This is the strongest podcast ever built! Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re going to be talking about another expansive JRPG in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles. A series that debuted on the Wii, and took off, like several before it, due to its protagonist being included in Super Smash Bros., Xenoblade is an RPG with a subgenre that is really tricky to pin down. The overarching game, with its characters and story, feels like a traditional epic JRPG in the same way that a Final Fantasy game does, but its mechanics between combat and its quest system feel ripped straight out of a more Western MMO. With an emphasis on cooldown management and positioning based attacks, there isn’t much like it in the single-player realm of the genre, though the staple classes of Tank/DPS/Healer are all present here. That isn’t to say there isn’t room for experimentation, and the depth present in the game’s systems are arguably one of the most engaging parts of playing this. And if you aren’t here for the mechanical depth and number crunching, the game makes a pretty significant impression aesthetically as well. With an emphasis on huge vistas (which also translate into a large overall world map) and a soundtrack that kicks way more ass than you would expect, it doesn’t really pull its punches in this area either. Obviously the game has its flaws, and it’s been polarizing if public opinion can be believed, but it’s definitely worth checking out if only for the couple of things it does absolutely incredibly well. We’re going to be talking about the mechanical interactions the game almost hides away behind a probably-too-strong protagonist character, how the game’s emphasis on character plays into it both narratively and mechanically in an extremely satisfying way, and we pitch the movie that the expansion should have been and cast the really underutilized Composite Jason Alexander. Thank you for listening this week! We have been (read: Chad has been) putting off playing this game for a while due to just how long it is, but it was surprisingly easy to sink into the game once it started. What side of the “love it or hate it” spectrum do you fall on? Did Sharla’s incredibly stupid costume design and weird posture make you quit playing this game the second she appeared on screen? Let us know over in our Discord or in the comments! Next time, prepare to have your dark soul filled with light, because we’re going to be playing Devil May Cry (the first one), so we hope you’ll join us for that!