How Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Wrote its Main Party
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- čas přidán 25. 03. 2024
- (Audio is very sporadic; turn down volume. Sorry about that)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has some of the best writing in the series. From its theme to its Darkest Hour, this game knows how to write effective storytelling, but what about its main cast? How does Ouroboros compare to the main parties of Xenoblades 1 and 2? For that, let's dive into the plot!
Footage from:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Xenoblade Chronicles 1
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Persona 5
- Bungou Stray Dogs
- NieR: Automata
- Marvel's "Eternals"
Apparently the audio got messed up during the upload. Sorry about that, so just be warned about the audio spike between 6:25 - 6:41
With spoken work I usually mix to mono normalise the volume then duplicate it to stereo to avoid random hiccups like that.
Thanks for the video!
@@MisterBallZach I appreciate the feedback! I usually record in mono and then normalize it and add a limiter, but I'll try that next time!
Glad you liked the video!
Tion at the beginning: "I don't often outwardly express myself"
Tion at the end: *visibly in shambles after having to say goodbye to his bird gf*
I think the character writing is more subtle than other games in the series. I don't think there's a single moment where Noah and Mio say they love each other, but it's there, and I think it's written in a way where the audience knows they're falling in love long before they even realize it themselves. I think it's perfect for two people who have never had to think about things like love because they had to put everything into fighting and surviving, and watching them discover those feelings results in some beautiful moments. Great video.
it's a very impressive example of "show don't tell"
People often mistake this but Eunie is not a sassy dumbass. She is a sassy hidden smartass. There are many moments that show Eunie's capability and knowledge. Taion also comments that "If Eunie hasn't seen it, it probably doesn't exist in the Keeves' library".
The friendships just felt so organic. There were times where i would do a campfire chat and it felt like i was intruding on a really conversation between real friends.
Instant sub for anyone that talks about Xenoblade Chronicles
You forgot to mention the single most important aspect of what makes these characters appealing! British Accents!
And Welsh cat-girls!
Honestly the bonds of the main party are what made me love this xenoblade party the most out of the whole trilogy. There was barely a single character i didn’t like or thought that their screen time was cut short (well except sena….maybe eunie but both still are lovable regardless because of their dynamics in the party). I love this cast so much because they emit so much humanity in a story where it’s all about forging connections and standing up to a cruel and hopeless world.
The characters are some of the things I liked the most in this game!
The interesting thing to notice is that it's the first time in a Xenoblade game that you always have to fight with all 6 members. Unlike xc1/xc2/xcx, you can't compose your party. You always have to take the 6 members. So in a way, you have to connect more with them than the previous cast. Also, this is the first Xenoblade party in which every members has (almost) the same age. So their interaction makes it more fluid
I really wonder how the next Xenoblade game is gonna make his new party. Because Xenoblade 3 cast was soooo perfect to me that it's almost impossible to beat! Ouroboros are more than characters to me! They feel too real! And I'd love to have another adventure with them 6! Even just as a spinoff non canon! I just want to see them interacting with each other again!
Very nice analysis on the character dynamics 🙏 This games party truly does feel quite organic, I also feel a large part of it outside the cutscenes is the in game travel dialogs based on location (which they also did quite well in future redeemed)
Also as a quick aside, I hope you talk more about topics like this, as someone who writes for a living and keeps insisting video game writing tropes should be discussed more, this was quite refreshing a find 😁
Thanks!!
Nice video essay about the XC3 main characters, while all main characters of XC3 are really good. The side story though, I say Noah, Mio and Taion are the best (Espicially Taion's, heck imo it could been where you get Nimue as Hero after finish the quest similar to recruiting Miyabi.), Lanz and Eunie though, it's really just extra side stories with not much going on tbh. What made XC3 so unique compare to past games though is the Heroes also have their fair share of character developements as well if you did all of their quests. However, this makes me kinda feel bumbed on how Ethel and Cammurarvi are the only two Hero with almost no character developement after their death in chapter 4. Heck Ethel bascially become entirely optional to be back as Hero, yet she's still appears at the end of the game which might be seen as a retcon lol.
Cool video :D I like the format and presentation, and the way you made your points made them accessible even to someone like me who's only vaguely aware of Xenoblade but always enjoys learning about videogame writing.
Thanks so much! I'm glad that I was able to explain it well :)
I would avtually love to see a breakdown of how the first cutscene of P3 built dread better than the remake. The biggest drop in quality i felt between the games was those opening moments.
Thank you! I 100% agree. I've got it on my list of analyses, so it'll hopefully be one of the next few videos I upload :)
Very minor nitpick but Mio is rechnically the 18th non-permenent/fakeout death because Shania dies after her.
Fair enough
First of all glad to see you made another video. Appreciated the reference to bungo stray dogs definitely some issues wirh character development there. I mostly watch it for the mind games and mysteries as I like to see which ones I can figure out. Anyway, keep up the great work.
Also minor note: couple times I think you got too close to your mic and it made the audio go real loud
Thanks! And I totally agree, Bungou Stray Dogs is a great series regardless of any somewhat strange writing decisions.
Also thanks for the feedback! It took a couple takes to get the audio, so I must've forgotten to normalize it when I was editing it all together. I'll be more cautious of that next time
@@IntoThePlot No big deal I still greatly enjoyed the narration as someone who loves breakdowns of narrative. I just figured you'd like to know
Personally, fyodor's capture by the gambler will remain one of my favorite moments in anime. As someone who loves conniving and cunning characters overall.
@@Sarcastic_Sophist That was by far one of the best character establishing episodes they had in the series
@@IntoThePlot Indeed it captured the thing I loved most about the earlier parts of death note. We saw something occur but did not understand how it happened. Which made the explanation much more compelling.
I realized the struggle of writing good manipulative characters as pov characters due to this. If someone knows the trick before the situation occurs then it becomes less interesting to watch than to see a seemingly hopeless situation turn around unexpectedly.
kudos for praising the only thing praiseworthy of 3, very different from most of the other XC3 videos
Oh, I’m sorry but I whole heartedly disagree. The two main characters are very generic Mary Sue characters, every character have the same background, culture, religion etc. the only difference is some are “team black or team white”.
The chemistry and banter between them are very weak and underdeveloped. Even the scenes you bring up are painfully bland. Noa and Mio talks about the name of his sword, but don’t even say it to her and half of Noa’s voice lines are “uh” or “uhm”.
Everyone gets tossed aside in favor of Noa and Mio. Lance and Sena are the strong characters, but Mio punches a 10 tons uroboros form, double morbius boss 100 meters in a single punch, out matching any strength they have and deflates any enemy they meet, because now Mio can just punch her way through any obstacle. Noa takes Tions role as navigator and oh, by the way, starts out with a sword that can cut through anything. Making it extremely infuriating that our characters don’t use their tool, when the situation calls for it.
When all the characters have the same background of: Someone sacrificed themselves to save me” I can’t stand that every time the have the chance to save someone, they stand there like stooges and just let it happen. Noa didn’t save Lance when he had the chance as kids, or Jay for that matter. No one did anything to save Mio. Oh queen Nia was shot, well let’s just stand in a semi circle and make gasping sounds - in fact let’s do that when all of humanity is about to be blown up too.
The character that does any sacrifice was M, sacrificed her life, abilities, saves Mio, Noa and all of the humans (of screen mind you) and all because N wouldn’t say her name … with he actually does when he realizes she is dead … soooo yeah, instead of our “””heroes””” saving anyone, a character with 2 lines of dialogue saves everyone off screen … TERRIBLE writing!
Then you realize that the “pairs” share all of their thoughts and memories, and the whole Mio dragging Noa through the afterlife, just to say “war is bad” (the same thing he said from the very beginning of the game) is an answer Mio already knows the answer to, which makes her out to be kinda of a psychopath for faking her death.
The only character I think is a little interesting is Eunie, since she actually had a different backstory and some personal interest in the journey.
Ultimately my point is, all the characters except Noa, Mio and Eunie could easily be removed from the story, since no one have a character arc anyway and their traits are absorbed by Mio and Noa anyways. Of course I think both are very dull characters anyways, since Noa have no flaws and Mio’s only “flaw” is she is going to die. Otherwise we win every battle in the game, there is no tension when the enemy is completely useless against you, the only battle “lost” was because of Mio and M making it so, otherwise we would have easily won that too.
Uuuughhh … sorry for yapping on and on, I think you made a great video, even if I disagree. Now Xenoblade 2’s characters on the other hand … oh boy, I love them so much.
I agree with this in part. The story does not give the time of day to the MUCH more interesting characters of Sena Lanz Taion and Eunie and often times reduces them when there is plenty of depth to explore there.
I am not a fan of Noah and Mio
I strongly disagree with your points. If anything the most underdeveloped character is Noah. Taion, Eunie, Lanz, and especially Mio get significant development throughout the course of the story and pick up more interesting facets as we uncover more of their respective backstories which motivated their current incarnations. So much of your argument is such a major misunderstanding of the character arcs in XC3 yet to claim XC2 had better characters or more developed characters is the very definition of lack of awareness.
Zeke, Morag, Rex, Dromarch, and more than half the cast are static characters through and through. Let's not forget the hilarious moments of the story trying to antagonize Rex at the end of chapter 6 only to forget that up to said point he's actually been quite the opposite of thoughtless. Add to that the overuse of Deux ex elements and or last minute contrivences that the game loves to handwave ("Jin you were a beautiful soul", "Faster than lightspeed").
It's funny how the people that lombast the character writing of XC3 think XC2 (the game I'd argue is the very definition of mediocre in its narrative and writing) is somehow peak fiction when it literally spends half the game wasting the player's time with gags.
As for specific points you state that are easily countered
-"Everyone gets tossed aside in favor of Noa and Mio. Lance and Sena are the strong characters, but Mio punches a 10 tons uroboros form, double morbius boss 100 meters in a single punch, out matching any strength they have and deflates any enemy they meet, because now Mio can just punch her way through any obstacle."
Mio punched a completely off guard Mobius and even in the scene it's shown that ultimately it dealt no real damage. If you want to go off in game mechanics it's the equivalent of an enemy applying knockback despite not damaging the party member. In no way does it imply that she can somehow one punch man anything her way. Also this is within the realm of possibility given that most characters display insane feats of strength and agility at any given moment. Just because a character doesn't make lifting their personality doesn't change the fact Noah aka N can absolutely outpower Sena and Lanz.
-"Noa takes Tions role as navigator?"
Since when does he take on the role? Just because Taion isn't always stating where to go next doesn't change the fact that he knows the terrain. Noah being the protagonist takes the role of "party lead" and even then I'd argue he doesn't lead much but rather by nature of his rank in the army and party will often be the first to say "let's press on" and even then we get a whole scene dedicated to expressing that he has to take into consideration the party's stamina and mental state. (Mio and her issue)
- "and oh, by the way, starts out with a sword that can cut through anything. Making it extremely infuriating that our characters don’t use their tool, when the situation calls for it."
... LIke what other situation outside of fights and flame clocks? The game literally shows us it's only good for cutting things but it doesn't cut through anything nor is it a win button. We get a whole 20 minute sequence of Noah losing with said weapon over various iterations (and with the XC3 artbook we see that it's confirmed that N's version is in fact stronger than Noah's but you likely haven't kept up with that info). All this to say. The sword of the end is stronger but Mobious is and can be stronger. So I really don't get your point outside of nitpicking. By the same logic XC2 Rex is the biggest idiot for not using Pneuma to absolutely blitz any and all the endgame given that he can fly up the world tree and has strength comparable to Jin and Malos whom are considered the strongest blades in the world at said point (and he's not affected by shackling effects so you can't suggest that either.)
-"When all the characters have the same background of: Someone sacrificed themselves to save me” I can’t stand that every time the have the chance to save someone, they stand there like stooges and just let it happen. Noa didn’t save Lance when he had the chance as kids, or Jay for that matter. No one did anything to save Mio. Oh queen Nia was shot, well let’s just stand in a semi circle and make gasping sounds - in fact let’s do that when all of humanity is about to be blown up too."
This I'll somewhat give to you but mostly because they happened to be close friends with the two large respective sacrifices (Joran and Miyabi) It's not a case of each specific character having a close sacrifice as you put it (Eunie, Sena). Nor is it a major element of everyone's arc. Noah wasn't as affected by Joran he was mostly just surprised to see Consul C come to life given that he didn't think he had any regrets. Eunie was traumitized from her past life. Sena has inadequacy issues. Etc.
-"The character that does any sacrifice was M, sacrificed her life, abilities, saves Mio, Noa and all of the humans (of screen mind you) and all because N wouldn’t say her name … with he actually does when he realizes she is dead … soooo yeah, instead of our “””heroes””” saving anyone, a character with 2 lines of dialogue saves everyone off screen … TERRIBLE writing!
Then you realize that the “pairs” share all of their thoughts and memories, and the whole Mio dragging Noa through the afterlife, just to say “war is bad” (the same thing he said from the very beginning of the game) is an answer Mio already knows the answer to, which makes her out to be kinda of a psychopath for faking her death"
Genuinely have no idea what this argument is supposed to be either you believe the story focuses too much on Noah and Mio because you view Noah/N and Mio/M as a single character concept or you view them separately and complain that Mio's sacrifice is actually only meant to be M's. The point of the story is that each iteration is precisely that. The same but also wholely unique. There are traits and elements that each iteration will share and elements where they would differ. Mio/M would never have wanted to be Mobious. N/Noah in contrast are opposite because Noah is born from N's regret.
-"Ultimately my point is, all the characters except Noa, Mio and Eunie could easily be removed from the story, since no one have a character arc anyway and their traits are absorbed by Mio and Noa anyways. Of course I think both are very dull characters anyways, since Noa have no flaws and Mio’s only “flaw” is she is going to die. Otherwise we win every battle in the game, there is no tension when the enemy is completely useless against you, the only battle “lost” was because of Mio and M making it so, otherwise we would have easily won that too."
Rex literally had no flaw, Zeke had no flaws, Morag had no flaws, XC2's cast had no flaws. The only characters with Flaws were Mythra/Pyra (underdeveloped until Torna), Jin (Underdeveloped until Torna), and Malos. Amalthus is just A villain.
N's flaw was giving up everything just to be with Mio. Again 20 minutes for you to say no flaw. He's obsessed with the life with Mio that he flat out played a part in his own son's death.
Mio's flaw was not standing up to N and a lack of control over her life. Ironically her character arc is resolved indirectly through M as we see her finally fight back against N and sacrifice herself. Giving our Mio the chance to live her life as she wishes and not to be burdoned or use her term as an excuse.
I can write pages upon pages for each character and their part in the story. But if you refuse to pay even simple attention then of course you'll say a mediocre story like XC2's is godtier.
@@janrosa7243 Thanks for the passionate response. :D
I will try to answer as soon as I can.
@@janrosa7243
Hi Into the Plot, sorry for this being like a battlefield. XD
At least I hope it will give your video some traffic.
@@janrosa7243
Part 2
The gags are a key difference in X2 and X3. You see the """""humor""""" in X3 is:
"it's too hot"
"You splashed water on me"
"You ate my food"
"You are to lazy"
He fell down on his butt
I trippet and hurt my leg
The humor or gags in X3 are completely interchangeable. Anyone could have made the "joke" and doesn't say anything about the characters, let alone letting us understand them better or define them as characters.
When Tora learns about his dad, Poppi says "Don't worry Master, we will find your dad ... But no evidence of this hypophysis" It is a funny line, specifically because it IS Poppi that says it. It works on her duality as sympathetic servant, but must also has work within her constraints as a purely logical robot. You know she wants to comfort Tora, but has to completely undo it, because she is a robot. If Nia said it, it wouldn't work.
The gags tells us something about the characters and their personalities and helps us explore it, making them more well rounded 3-Dimensional characters, because we can push them into situations they might not normally be in.
For petes sake, in X3 there is a running "gag" that one of the girls hate getting their hair wet.
Is it:
A: The cat girl
B: The swan girl
C: The fire hair girl
And they have Eunie be the one!?? WHAT!?
Just what where they thinking? Everyone knows cats hate water, everyone know fire hate water. No one thinks Swans hate water? A quick google search and you learn that all feathers are naturally water repellent and when you think of swans, you think of them swimming on a lake. I just can't get over how they messed that up so bad and they think it is so funny, they make it a recurring gag. Ugh!
Ugh, I'm only 3 statements in ... jeez ...
Anyways, yes every character from the main team can be tossed out of the story except for Noa and Mio without any impact on the story.. Seriously, what goals do the other characters have exept being cheerleaders for our two protagonists.
Pretty much every X2 character have their own goal and motivation to reach Elysium (Sorry Dromarch, not you) Repentance, A place to fit in, save the world, save the kingdom, knowledge, answers to the meaning of life and death and being an "pseudo-driver" on an adventure to make your dad proud. I even think I don't have to tell you who thoese goals belong too. You know, engange you dear reader. Their connections and abilities help out through out the entire game, because Rex isn't OP from the very beginning.
The only time I can remember Noah and Mio needed any kind of help was Teion's paper men revealing an enemy, other then that, they are complete deadweight.
Seriously, the Nopon are more useful for them and that is only because Riku hands over Noah the Lucky Number Seven, after that Noah often just flat out ignore him (Prison and execution scene) Mananna cooks, but it is revealed that Mio also cooks a pot of stew every morning???? Okay, sorry Mananna, you are useless now too.
Mio is stronger than Lanz and Sena combined, yeah I don't forgive that stupid ass scene where she can just punch that giant Morbius, so those two are out too.
Their role was the "muscle" and to cheerlead our to protagonists. Sena does break the shield vs the Queen a second or two before Noah did, but that might not have been for the better.
Does Eunie even have a moment that makes her valuable to the team? And I'm not talking gameplay as a healer, but a moment in the story where she is the reason we get through?
Taion has that one moment like I said and in theory the map guy until Noah takes that away from him, but I doubt Noah and Mio couldn't have gotten through the story without him.
What are the X3 characters, besides Noah, N, Mio and M's individual goals? Just save the world? That doesn't say much about the characters, their motivation in life and what makes them individuals and 3-dimensional. Like I said, Lanz goal might have been to confront J about his insecurities, but was denied it.
In X2 Tora helps them escape Brigette, knows how to get a boat, builds Poppi. Poppi's strengh helps the team abord the prison ship, defeat Morag in part thanks to Rexes plan and like too many instances for me to count.
Nia's ability to restore saves Nial, keeping Morag on the team so she doesn't have to go be emperor. Her abillity to restore saves them from Malos taking their limbs of and weapons intact during their fight and actually beats him.
Morag's keen eye and planning sensed the trap in Tantal and by holding their energy was able to escape. Her diplomacy also gets them audience at the higher ups.
Zeke and Pandoria gets the team access to both Indol and Tantal.
I'm trying to keep it short, but my point is. The team in X2 is important for progressing the story and overcome situations Rex and Pura couldn't.
In X3 Noah and Mio are so overpowered from the start of the game, they never needed their team to get by.
Yes, Rex and Pyra are overpowered by the end of the game, but by this point we are well into the third act and the have fought, grown and earned their power.
Noah just gets Lucky Number Seven dropped on his lap from the beginning and Mio is just offered a solution to her dying problem and given even more power from it.
They didn't fight for it, they just showed up and the solution was just given to them. And sure we can talk about how this ties into N and M, but for us the player, it is just not very satisfying that the game just gives us it all without our involvement.
Zelda games doesn't start you off with the Master Sword and Light arrows for a reason.
Unless it's the CDi ...
Anyways. I need a break, ben going at it for two hours with my slow English writing.
Have a nice day and enjoy your summer and if you reached the bottom here, thanks for reading. :)