Operation Backlog Completion 2026

More Music-Based Hints of a Possible New Xenoblade

 Video games  5 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Aug 302021
 

Not too long ago, rumors of a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 circulated due to Jenna Coleman (who plays Melia) saying in an interview that she thought a third Xenoblade was in development.

Maybe yes, maybe no – it didn’t sound to me like she necessarily knew for sure.

Something that definitely makes me hopeful we might see a new Xenoblade soon, though, is the recent work of composer Yasunori Mitsuda.

Mitsuda has worked on a lot of games, not just Xenoblade, but the more details come out, the more hopeful it seems. Several months ago, there were tweets that suggested Mitsuda might be working on a project with ACE, a group that also worked on Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, although it wasn’t clear.

A couple of months later, the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra posted about recording music for a Japanese video game, to which Mitsuda replied saying it was a great recording session. The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra previously worked with him on Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

And now, Mitsuda is remotely recording with someone from Ireland. Another group that contributed to Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s music is the Irish choral group Anúna. When asked if they’re the ones he’s recording with now, they just replied “Aha…”

Is this related to Xenoblade Chronicles? Who knows? It’s certainly not confirmed. However, a composer who worked on Xenoblade in the past seems to be doing several collaborations with groups that also worked on Xenoblade… so it’s starting to feel likely.

(I still hope we see a Xenoblade Chronicles X sequel someday, though.)

Do you think we’ll see a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 announcement soon?

Tales of Luminaria Has an All-New Cast and Story

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Aug 272021
 

When the new Tales game announced at Gamescom turned out to be a mobile game, I was a bit disappointed.

Not that I expected a whole new mainline title to be announced before Arise is even out, but I was hoping they’d remaster some of the other titles.

Instead, they announced Tales of Luminaria for iOS and Android, the latest in a long line of mobile Tales games that haven’t had much longevity in the west. The most recent was Tales of Crestoria, which I’d like to play for its story once I get a newer tablet (so I really hope this isn’t a sign that Crestoria will be shut down like the others).

However, Tales of Luminaria is not a crossover game.

According to the recent developer messages posted by Bandai Namco, “none of the previous series characters will appear in this title, so you will have the experience of following the encounters and growth of an all-new cast of characters.”

They also said it will have “a volume of content that surpasses that of previous original titles.” Its official themes are “possibilities and discoveries.”

Back when Tales of Crestoria was first announced, that’s what it sounded like it would be, until they revealed the crossover element. It’s interesting to hear that Tales of Luminaria is completely original. The way they describe Luminaria makes it sound like a normal Tales game, just built for mobile devices.

Is it too much to hope that means it won’t have gacha? I’m not crazy about mobile games, but I’ll be interested in learning more about this one and what they have planned. What do you think of Tales of Luminaria?

Tales of Arise Demo Impressions

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Aug 202021
 

Wednesday was not only the day of Pokémon Presents, but also the day the Tales of Arise demo became available.

I downloaded it, and while I didn’t dig into it as much as some fans have, I played through it and enjoyed it quite a bit.

First of all, Tales of Arise is beautiful. I’ve seen debates about Tales switching away from an anime art style to a realistic style, but that’s not really how I’d describe Arise. It strikes me more like a painting, but whatever the art style is called, I love the way the world looks.

The camera is pulled in a little too close for my taste, but I got used to that as I played.

Exploration was one of the high points of the demo for me. There’s nothing I love more than running around a beautiful environment grabbing items, so the vegetables to collect at gathering spots for cooking made me happy. Being able to jump into the water and swim to new spots was great, too.

There’s a lot going on in the combat, and I didn’t quite get the knack for it yet. However, I’m sure that’ll be easier in the full game, when elements are introduced more gradually.

Then there are camps. At camps, you can rest and cook a meal to provide the party with benefits. Cooking as Alphen also gave me one of the funniest skits in the demo.

Skits are told in the comic-like style we discussed previously, and I enjoyed them, although it still feels odd to me. Not being able to see all of the characters’ faces/reactions when a pane focuses on a specific character might be why it doesn’t feel right.

Still, they were fun enough. More importantly, they gave me an idea of the character dynamics, and we could have some pretty entertaining interactions with this cast.

(Characters trying to interpret Dohalim’s way of speaking stood out to me the most. Also, it seems Hootle doesn’t talk, so he could be a non-annoying mascot after all!)

The demo provides very little story context (and for people criticizing the unvoiced “cutscenes,” I’m almost certain those exist only for the demo), but I don’t mind that, since that lets the demo give you a full party without risking spoilers. Overall, I enjoyed the Tales of Arise demo and it left me even more excited for the full release!

Did you play the demo for Tales of Arise? What did you think of it?

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