Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition Makes a Fantastic Game Even Better

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Sep 112020
 

I love Xenoblade.

I love Xenoblade so much that when my copy of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition arrived, I decided not to jump into the new epilogue content right away but instead replay the entire game from the beginning.

And yes, I still love it.

Xenoblade Chronicles has a fantastic story, great characters, and such a beautiful world to explore. Everything looks more beautiful than ever thanks to the new graphics of the Definitive Edition, and that’s not the only benefit. There are several little quality-of-life improvements (such as marking side quest locations on the map) that made it feel even better.

There are still some frustrating things, like side quests with multiple paths that lock you into one path if you have the necessary items before starting the quest, and I wish it was possible to track Colony 6 restoration materials like side quests, but these are minor.

So much time had passed since I played the original Xenoblade Chronicles that even though I knew it was a great game, my memories of it were pretty fuzzy. Replaying it in the Definitive Edition really reminded me of just how much I love this game.

Backlog or no backlog, I happily put another 100 hours into Xenoblade.

Once I completed the main game, I moved on to the new epilogue added to the Definitive Edition, Future Connected.

Future Connected isn’t quite what I expected when it was first announced. I thought it would tease Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or otherwise tie into certain revelations about the series. It doesn’t do either of those things.

It’s largely just a short epilogue to the original game that helps resolve Melia’s storyline, gives a glimpse of what the world is like after the game’s ending, and makes use of the Bionis’ Shoulder, an area that was cut from the original. It also follows up on a few late-game side quests from the main game.

The story of Future Connected is… okay. Its villain is pretty uncompelling and the major threat is left so vague that maybe it is intended to tease a sequel after all. I don’t know. It just felt a bit bland.

On the other hand, it’s filled with a lot of great character interactions (especially in the “quiet moments,” Future Connected’s version of heart-to-hearts) and the group of Nopons you end up helping and saving are funny rather than annoying. A certain character from one of the main game’s most memorable side quest chains also returns for another side quest here, which was great.

My thoughts on Future Connected ultimately come down to this: it’s more Xenoblade, and more Xenoblade is good. If I’d played it on its own, I’d probably be disappointed, but it’s a nice little epilogue for the game.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition takes the fantastic JRPG that is Xenoblade Chronicles and makes it better than ever. I’m happy I decided to play through the whole game again, and I can’t wait to see what Monolith Soft has planned for the future.

Thoughts on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Sep 092020
 

Nintendo is still dropping surprise announcements (by now we’ve probably had enough to fill a Direct), and yesterday’s was something no one saw coming: a new Hyrule Warriors game that is a canon prequel to Breath of the Wild.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is set 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, during the battles leading up to the Great Calamity.

These events are discussed and briefly glimpsed during Breath of the Wild, but never in much detail. Now we’ll be able to play through those events as Link, Zelda, the four Champions, and probably several other characters as well.

Now, I never finished Breath of the Wild. I tried it, and I enjoyed parts of it, but the open world format just didn’t work for me. I took a break from it and never felt the urge to return. This prequel sounds like it could be interesting, though, and it looks great!

It’s a Musou game, so it’ll be a lot more focused on action than regular Legend of Zelda games are, but the official press release says “players will also solve environmental puzzles, unlock weapons and skills, craft materials, visit shops to obtain items and use the power of the Sheikah Slate,” so that sounds cool.

Maybe I should play my copy of the first Hyrule Warriors before getting this (although I have the Wii U version, much to my dismay since I never got around to it before the Switch version came out with more content).

And since more information about Age of Calamity will be revealed on September 26, I can’t help but hope for a Koei Tecmo partner showcase with details about that and a release date for Persona 5 Scramble.

Anyway, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is due out on November 20. Are you interested in it?

New Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Details

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Sep 072020
 

With Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory on the horizon, Square Enix recently answered questions in several interviews about what fans can expect.

First up, let’s take a look at the interview with Game Informer. In it, the Melody of Memory team explains how the game came to be, the number of songs that will appear in the game (140), and how you’ll level up despite it being a rhythm game.

Nomura then explains some of the story details. Most of the narrative will be a trip through past events in the series, with Kairi acting as storyteller.

Kairi is the central character here, and she “is relevant to a very big part of the plot.” Nomura also goes on to say that Melody of Memory will not have as much story content as other Kingdom Hearts games, but will provide a glimpse of Kairi’s childhood as well as where the future of the series is going.

An interview with IGN mostly covers the same ground, but co-director Masanobu Suzui adds that the team was “very excited, very surprised” by the new story scenario.

Ever since the game was announced, some fans have complained about the next part of the story being put in a rhythm game, while others expect it will only have a short snippet of story at the very end. From the recent interviews, it sounds like it might be somewhere in between those two. Nomura reiterated in a PlayStation Japan interview, translated here, that it does not have a “great volume” of story, but that a new story was written for it. Apparently the rhythm gameplay specifically connects to the story in some way, too.

Meanwhile, he confirmed in that same interview that Melody of Memory and Master of Masters having the same acronym is intentional (as theorized back when the title was first revealed).

So it sounds like we’ll have two general story threads, one dealing with Kairi’s childhood and the other involving the Master of Masters and the future of the series. It will probably be a minor part of the game’s content, with most of Melody of Memory being focused on the rhythm gameplay and the music, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it has an unexpected twist judging by that quote about the team being “surprised.”

And in a Famitsu interview, translated here, Nomura mentioned that 2022 is the anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, the next game is already in development, and upcoming announcements will surprise us.

Personally, I can’t wait!

Mixed news for fans hoping for Kingdom Hearts on the Switch, though – the question came up in an interview with Nintendo Enthusiast, and Nomura said porting Kingdom Hearts games to the Switch would be “technologically difficult,” but that he likes the Switch and “another game of his” could potentially come to it.

What games could he have in mind? If Kingdom Hearts is is a challenge to port to the Switch, I can’t imagine he means the Final Fantasy VII Remake… so I’ll go back to hoping for a The World Ends With You 2 announcement.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is being set up as the game that will bridge the Dark Seeker Saga to the next saga. I’m looking forward to playing it when it comes out this November. How do you feel about Melody of Memory?

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