Rate top games已经说不清总共有几次捡起来又放下了。自己也在想到底是因为什么一次次放弃，又始终没有弃坑，而再一次捡起来。因为如果说剧情的话，我是觉得开头的部分挺抓人的。无论是主人公作为战场牧师的身份，还是他们短寿，发现这世上存在老人这件事。真的好想知道后面的故事。
但是另一方面，游戏的慢节奏进展，以及无穷无尽的遇敌却让我烦恼。剧情持续被战斗拖累，而偏偏游戏的场景非常庞大，哪怕不遇敌，只是跑动，都是一件非常让人疲惫的事情。 大地图探索四处捡垃圾，以及无处不在的杂兵战，看起来是为游戏的养成系统服务的。角色在将一个职业练到10级后，可以保留一个职业技能到额外技能盘，理论上说这给了玩家无穷无尽的练级动力，因为这样子就可以拥有额外四个自定义的技能。
我遇到的问题在于，游戏现在第三章这个阶段，能用来交换的职业太少了。在解锁这个系统的很长一段时间，我只能在已有的六个主要角色中反复排列组合，让他们去互相学技能。即便如此，我也很快把自己想学的职业学满了。硬要让每个人把其他5个职业全都轮一遍也没有意义，比如让Lanz去学治疗之类的。这么一来，经验值就会溢出，我就更没有动力去地图上打怪，捡垃圾。
我当然知道尽快解锁主线就可以获得更多的职业，尤其是一些彼此间有意义的化学反应会开始出现，那么我自然会希望尽快抵达这个阶段，让我拥有探索和收集的乐趣。但是这个过程一直没有到来，相反，我遇到的是非常慢的剧情展开，以及每个剧情点之间要跑很久的路。这么说可能不太客观，因为如果单纯量化来看，每一次杂兵遭遇也就十几秒，虽然地图大，但是考虑到是明雷，打架快，其实也就几分钟的事儿。但是，每次打架实在是太吵了，这是这个系列我一直无法理解的一点。六个人一起打，所有技能一起喊出来，就导致每次战斗都变成大吵大嚷，没有任何节奏和主次可言。这就又成了一个促使我去回避战斗的点。
最后，另一个异度神剑一直以来的特点，就是我在冒险过程中捡的大部分东西，并不知道是干什么用的。它们的直观观感就是地图上的一个个闪光点而已，甚至没有建模。它在现阶段没有形成一种「我现在需要A，积累够数量就能强化武器B，让我在面对这个区域的敌人C时占据直观的优势」的反馈。当然，异度神剑一直试图在二次元RPG游戏里构建一个逻辑自洽的世界，这也是他们一直以来的卖点。既然是逻辑自洽，那么游戏里的万物就不可能是按照玩家的需求顺序生长的，而是有自己的生态系统。例如在《异度神剑2》的第一张大地图里，既有和玩家等级接近的十几级敌人，也有80多级的巨兽。后者的存在就不是提供给玩家在这个阶段挑战，而是展示这里的生态位。玩家也很容易被巨兽发现，几步追上一脚踩死。这种前期被屈辱地击败的怨念，要等到未来当玩家真的一身神装来挑战时才会报仇雪恨。 或许我就会这样有一搭无一搭玩个好久，终于走过这一阶段，然后一口气玩下去吧。RAWG上很多人的反馈都是「终于打完了」，「累死了」。我认为这样是有问题的。
但是另一方面，游戏的慢节奏进展，以及无穷无尽的遇敌却让我烦恼。剧情持续被战斗拖累，而偏偏游戏的场景非常庞大，哪怕不遇敌，只是跑动，都是一件非常让人疲惫的事情。 大地图探索四处捡垃圾，以及无处不在的杂兵战，看起来是为游戏的养成系统服务的。角色在将一个职业练到10级后，可以保留一个职业技能到额外技能盘，理论上说这给了玩家无穷无尽的练级动力，因为这样子就可以拥有额外四个自定义的技能。
我遇到的问题在于，游戏现在第三章这个阶段，能用来交换的职业太少了。在解锁这个系统的很长一段时间，我只能在已有的六个主要角色中反复排列组合，让他们去互相学技能。即便如此，我也很快把自己想学的职业学满了。硬要让每个人把其他5个职业全都轮一遍也没有意义，比如让Lanz去学治疗之类的。这么一来，经验值就会溢出，我就更没有动力去地图上打怪，捡垃圾。
我当然知道尽快解锁主线就可以获得更多的职业，尤其是一些彼此间有意义的化学反应会开始出现，那么我自然会希望尽快抵达这个阶段，让我拥有探索和收集的乐趣。但是这个过程一直没有到来，相反，我遇到的是非常慢的剧情展开，以及每个剧情点之间要跑很久的路。这么说可能不太客观，因为如果单纯量化来看，每一次杂兵遭遇也就十几秒，虽然地图大，但是考虑到是明雷，打架快，其实也就几分钟的事儿。但是，每次打架实在是太吵了，这是这个系列我一直无法理解的一点。六个人一起打，所有技能一起喊出来，就导致每次战斗都变成大吵大嚷，没有任何节奏和主次可言。这就又成了一个促使我去回避战斗的点。
最后，另一个异度神剑一直以来的特点，就是我在冒险过程中捡的大部分东西，并不知道是干什么用的。它们的直观观感就是地图上的一个个闪光点而已，甚至没有建模。它在现阶段没有形成一种「我现在需要A，积累够数量就能强化武器B，让我在面对这个区域的敌人C时占据直观的优势」的反馈。当然，异度神剑一直试图在二次元RPG游戏里构建一个逻辑自洽的世界，这也是他们一直以来的卖点。既然是逻辑自洽，那么游戏里的万物就不可能是按照玩家的需求顺序生长的，而是有自己的生态系统。例如在《异度神剑2》的第一张大地图里，既有和玩家等级接近的十几级敌人，也有80多级的巨兽。后者的存在就不是提供给玩家在这个阶段挑战，而是展示这里的生态位。玩家也很容易被巨兽发现，几步追上一脚踩死。这种前期被屈辱地击败的怨念，要等到未来当玩家真的一身神装来挑战时才会报仇雪恨。 或许我就会这样有一搭无一搭玩个好久，终于走过这一阶段，然后一口气玩下去吧。RAWG上很多人的反馈都是「终于打完了」，「累死了」。我认为这样是有问题的。
«Boooring»
Other reviews3
The best JRPG to come out this year, Xenoblade 3 had me up at 2am on launch day to play it
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
XC3 takes every good part of the gameplay from previou games, add some new, mix them and....10/10, that's' it.
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
Xenoblade 3 is the culmination of MonolithSoft's talent so far. It uses the best elements from their previous entries to explore more mature themes in a darker story.
The combat is the best of the series. It is a literal fusion of XC1 and XC2's combat systems, with half the cast adopting 1's timed cool down arts, and the other half using 2's auto-attack recharge arts. You can have your full party of 6 in every encounter, so there's no need to choose 3 or rotate through them. You can also switch who you control at any time, and choose a 7th guest "Hero" for your team. There are only 3 roles (Attack, Defend, Heal), but the classes within those roles take many many different forms.
Every cast member can choose any class, albeit with varying levels of proficiency. If a character Ranks Up a class enough, they gain access to its skills in all classes. This opens the way for tons of character growth and tons of customization. You get 3 passive.skills, 7 arts, 3 gem slots, and 3 accessories per character.
I have one complaint with the class system: you can't save your team comps. It takes a painfully long time to manage all 6 party members' class, skills, arts, gems, and accessories. I wish I could save different setups so I could quickly switch to a better team for Unique Monsters or a better one for exploration.
The gem crafting system is way way simplified. You gather the materials, then craft them gem ONCE for all your characters to use forever. Cooking is your other resource intensive mini game that gives bonuses to combat rewards, but not any stats itself. The accessory menu could use improvement, since I often forgot to use my best accessories because they were hard to find in the massive one-column list.
The story is incredible. The chapter 5/6 transition is the best story segment of the series. Every character (except Sena) feels fleshed out. The themes are explored well and connect with me on a personal level. The animations and the voice acting are both great (especially Eunie and Ashera), and the dialogue rarely felt forced. There are a host of side stories for each Hero and cast member that are well worth your time.
One downside, if you want to call it that, is the length of cutscenes. There were multiple instances where I would watch 2 hours of cutscenes with a few minutes of gameplay sprinkled in. I enjoyed it, but I can see that being a burden if you aren't prepared for a 3 hour play session.
The explorable world isn't quite Xenoblade X tier, but it is better than XC2 and XC1. It's huge, it's very open, and it's full of secrets to uncover, people to meet, and colonies to explore. The boat in Erythia Sea is reminiscent of piloting X's Skells, which is a huge compliment. The world has tons of references to XC1/2 which are fun to spot while you play.
The OST isn't my favorite. I don't like the flute. The instrument itself hurts my ears, and one of the battle tracks has the flute front and center. Fortunately, there are several different battle tracks, so I didn't have to listen to it all the time. There are, however, some stellar tracks that get revealed later in the game. I especially enjoyed some XC2 melodies.
I haven't gone back and done the post-game content yet, but even with 120 hours clocked so far, I can tell I'm going to get another 50-100 more. I have a lot of hero quests to do, super bosses to fight, and entire regions to explore. The difficulty level felt really good playing on Hard and never cashing in on bonus XP. If you're concerned about missing content, know that you unlock the ability to "level down" your characters after completing the main quest line.
The combat is the best of the series. It is a literal fusion of XC1 and XC2's combat systems, with half the cast adopting 1's timed cool down arts, and the other half using 2's auto-attack recharge arts. You can have your full party of 6 in every encounter, so there's no need to choose 3 or rotate through them. You can also switch who you control at any time, and choose a 7th guest "Hero" for your team. There are only 3 roles (Attack, Defend, Heal), but the classes within those roles take many many different forms.
Every cast member can choose any class, albeit with varying levels of proficiency. If a character Ranks Up a class enough, they gain access to its skills in all classes. This opens the way for tons of character growth and tons of customization. You get 3 passive.skills, 7 arts, 3 gem slots, and 3 accessories per character.
I have one complaint with the class system: you can't save your team comps. It takes a painfully long time to manage all 6 party members' class, skills, arts, gems, and accessories. I wish I could save different setups so I could quickly switch to a better team for Unique Monsters or a better one for exploration.
The gem crafting system is way way simplified. You gather the materials, then craft them gem ONCE for all your characters to use forever. Cooking is your other resource intensive mini game that gives bonuses to combat rewards, but not any stats itself. The accessory menu could use improvement, since I often forgot to use my best accessories because they were hard to find in the massive one-column list.
The story is incredible. The chapter 5/6 transition is the best story segment of the series. Every character (except Sena) feels fleshed out. The themes are explored well and connect with me on a personal level. The animations and the voice acting are both great (especially Eunie and Ashera), and the dialogue rarely felt forced. There are a host of side stories for each Hero and cast member that are well worth your time.
One downside, if you want to call it that, is the length of cutscenes. There were multiple instances where I would watch 2 hours of cutscenes with a few minutes of gameplay sprinkled in. I enjoyed it, but I can see that being a burden if you aren't prepared for a 3 hour play session.
The explorable world isn't quite Xenoblade X tier, but it is better than XC2 and XC1. It's huge, it's very open, and it's full of secrets to uncover, people to meet, and colonies to explore. The boat in Erythia Sea is reminiscent of piloting X's Skells, which is a huge compliment. The world has tons of references to XC1/2 which are fun to spot while you play.
The OST isn't my favorite. I don't like the flute. The instrument itself hurts my ears, and one of the battle tracks has the flute front and center. Fortunately, there are several different battle tracks, so I didn't have to listen to it all the time. There are, however, some stellar tracks that get revealed later in the game. I especially enjoyed some XC2 melodies.
I haven't gone back and done the post-game content yet, but even with 120 hours clocked so far, I can tell I'm going to get another 50-100 more. I have a lot of hero quests to do, super bosses to fight, and entire regions to explore. The difficulty level felt really good playing on Hard and never cashing in on bonus XP. If you're concerned about missing content, know that you unlock the ability to "level down" your characters after completing the main quest line.