The announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 certainly seems to have a lot of fans of Monolith Soft’s previous games excited. That said, this essay is looking to possibly derail that hype train by trying to determine the possible ways this game could fail to live up to its predecessors. This isn’t exactly a critique of the game itself since we cannot judge the final product accurately based off of what we’ve been shown so far. Instead, we’re going to take a long look at what we’ve seen and the implications of a Xenoblade sequel so that you can decide how excited it’s really worth being, starting with its reveal. I honestly feel that the teaser trailer of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was extremely underwhelming and slightly worrisome since it looked so derivative of the first Xenoblade Chronicles, as well as other fantasy games. The recycled imagery from the first game, mostly generic locales, and new character designs suggest it may lack the creative spark of the original. It is quite presumptuous to make that claim based off of a single trailer and it is fair to disagree. However, the fact remains that, upon close inspection, this lackluster presentation should raise questions that anyone with an interest in this game should ponder.







The most obvious example of the trailer borrowing from the first Xenoblade game is the final shot. The grassy field; the gray figure (in this case, two figures) looming on the horizon; the large red sword; even the view of the protagonist’s backside as he holds up said sword – all this is taken from the cover of the first game with the exception of the protagonist holding up the sword which comes from the Wii version’s disc. It couldn’t be more blatant yet it’s actually quite defensible. It may be here just to pander to old fans but it has good intentions. Most Xenoblade fans seemed to hope that Monolith’s next game would have more in common with the first Xenoblade Chronicles rather than Xenoblade Chronicles X, which in hindsight may have been more of a spin-off than a real sequel. This callback to the first game in the trailer is actually a somewhat clever way for the developers to reassure fans that they’re taking this series in the direction they want. When we see that giant tree standing in the same position as the Mechonis we know that this is going to be a similar adventure and that the series is going back to its roots. It’s actually quite fitting that the game’s setting features a tree, as they have very strong roots and this game is also strongly rooted in what’s come before. That may actually be a problem though because this “back to our roots” has its drawbacks especially if it’s taken too far. When you put these elements – the world, our hero, and the sword – in the exact same position as their predecessors they beg a direct comparison which will inevitably lead to disappointment. If someone doesn’t like the new designs of one of these elements then the disappointment will be hammered home by the idea that it’s supposed to be the follow up to something they’re already fond of. The fact that this final shot does so little to differentiate itself from Xenoblade 1’s cover is also concerning. One would think they’d alter it at least a little bit to show it isn’t going to be the exact same journey just with an ostensibly different setting and characters; they could have shown us the game was going to be similar without having the sword be the exact same color as the Monado or having the main character in exactly the same position. This final shot can’t help but imply that there aren’t going to be very many new or interesting ideas if taken in conjunction with the rest of the trailer, which showed a world that also seems to look a lot like what’s been seen in the previous game. The most obvious example of the trailer borrowing from the first Xenoblade game is the final shot. The grassy field; the gray figure (in this case, two figures) looming on the horizon; the large red sword; even the view of the protagonist’s backside as he holds up said sword – all this is taken from the cover of the first game with the exception of the protagonist holding up the sword which comes from the Wii version’s disc. It couldn’t be more blatant yet it’s actually quite defensible. It may be here just to pander to old fans but it has good intentions. Most Xenoblade fans seemed to hope that Monolith’s next game would have more in common with the first Xenoblade Chronicles rather than Xenoblade Chronicles X, which in hindsight may have been more of a spin-off than a real sequel. This callback to the first game in the trailer is actually a somewhat clever way for the developers to reassure fans that they’re taking this series in the direction they want. When we see that giant tree standing in the same position as the Mechonis we know that this is going to be a similar adventure and that the series is going back to its roots. It’s actually quite fitting that the game’s setting features a tree, as they have very strong roots and this game is also strongly rooted in what’s come before. That may actually be a problem though because this “back to our roots” has its drawbacks especially if it’s taken too far. When you put these elements – the world, our hero, and the sword – in the exact same position as their predecessors they beg a direct comparison which will inevitably lead to disappointment. If someone doesn’t like the new designs of one of these elements then the disappointment will be hammered home by the idea that it’s supposed to be the follow up to something they’re already fond of. The fact that this final shot does so little to differentiate itself from Xenoblade 1’s cover is also concerning. One would think they’d alter it at least a little bit to show it isn’t going to be the exact same journey just with an ostensibly different setting and characters; they could have shown us the game was going to be similar without having the sword be the exact same color as the Monado or having the main character in exactly the same position. This final shot can’t help but imply that there aren’t going to be very many new or interesting ideas if taken in conjunction with the rest of the trailer, which showed a world that also seems to look a lot like what’s been seen in the previous game.





The world shown in the trailer looked good, but all the places shown are just your typical videogame environments like “forest” or “opening grasslands”. On its own this isn’t immediately a huge problem. This was just the first trailer so I’m sure they have more interesting places; they’re just going to keep them a surprise. It’s tough to maintain this cautious optimism however when a close look reveals that these locations have a bit more – or rather less – to them than your standard level-theme checklist. At least half the places seen in the trailer look uncannily similar to locations in the first game. The very first thing we see in the trailer is a grassy area with an immense cliff to the left and a walled-in, circular town to the right. This is undeniably Colony 6 – but at least the cliff was moving a bit (that’s cool… right?). It gets a bit better later on, but not much. There’s a forest with really big trees, a bronze-colored industrial sort of place, a market filled with Nopon, and a floating city. It is worth bringing up that the types of locales in the previous Xenoblade games were, at their core, just as generic as this sequel but at least they didn’t feel like they were borrowing from any one specific game. Now, with the exception of the flying airship city which at least looks a little different from past floating cities like Zeal, Shevat, or Alcamoth, the locations aren’t only derivative of games in general but especially the very game it’s a sequel to. The forest is clearly Makna Forest and the factory place looked a lot like the Mechonis. Without any locales that look different from the original game it plants the idea that this whole journey is just going to be a retread of the one in Xenoblade 1. There’s a good chance it won’t be that bad but the trailer didn’t do much to suggest otherwise. For a game trying to sell itself on its unique setting, not showing any imaginative locations is a real problem.





We called it "Sin"



Perhaps the original Xenoblade Chronicle’s biggest claim to fame is its creative world: the bodies of two titans, the Bionis and Mechonis. Although maybe not 100% original – several mythologies suggested the Earth was the body of some humongous being and Bionicle also set part of its universe inside a giant robotic god – it served as the creative spark for the game’s development and was something not quite like anything else we’ve seen in a game. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 evidently aims to continue what will probably become a tradition of unique settings for the series. Although the Bionis and Mechonis are a tough act to follow, the trailer proudly displayed their replacement: a big tree and a sky whale. Like most of the things in this trailer, this is seems like a decent idea but kind of falls apart after thinking about it a while. Giant trees are quite common in fantasy and mythology, the most famous example probably being the Yggdrasil, the Norse world-tree. (In Xenogears the obligatory airship was even called the Yggdrasil, so the developers are obviously familiar with it.) In addition to their prominence in general fantasy we’ve also seen these sorts of immense trees in other JRPG’s, from Secret of Mana’s "Mana Tree" to Etrian Odyssey’s “Yggdrasil” (known as the “Sekaiju” in the original Japanese version). Even the original Xenoblade Chronicles had a big tree. Frontier Village may have been just a village and not a whole continent but the fact remains it was a big fantasy tree that people lived in and we got explore. Sky whales are a bit less common than giant trees but are still appear quite often in fantasy games for some reason. A big sky whale plays a huge role in one of the popular RPG’s of all time, Final Fantasy X, where a being known as Sin ravages the world. They’ve also made appearances in the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Skies of Arcadia, not to mention the numerous smaller flying creatures that have appeared in other games, including previous Xenoblade titles, and look fairly similar. That said, the world shown in the trailer is honestly the best thing we’ve seen of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 so far (I personally really like big trees actually) but we’ve seen it all before. It almost appears as if Monolith simply tried to make the bare minimum of what could be considered a “unique setting” out of a sense of obligation. When compared to the Mechonis, which the trailer does by literally putting this new world in the same position as the old one, the whale and tree pale in comparison.





Lastly, the most divisive aspect of this game seems to be the new art direction and character designs. I’m not entirely sure it’s worth going to into because it’s already been discussed to death and is incredibly subjective but perhaps there is something here to analyze. Regardless of whether or not you like the new character designs, they are a lot closer to your typical anime aesthetic than what previous Xenoblade games had. While they also had undeniably Japanese art direction (big eyes and big boobs and stuff), they were somewhat more realistic and, in the first one at least, had a little bit of an almost painting-like touch to them that fit the world they inhabited. The more colorful designs stand out more in their world – too much for some in fact – but maybe stand out less among other games. The actual designs of the characters also bug a few people for very understandable reasons. We’ve seen four characters so far: a fairly normal-looking guy, two young ladies with impossibly brightly colored hair, and a cat-girl. Many people seem to associate these designs with what could be bluntly referred to as cliché anime schlock: harem shows and light-novel adaptations that prioritize fan-service above all else. Whether or not it’s a fair judgement, the fact that people could even draw these comparisons at all is a perfect example of how this trailer lacked its own identity.





The trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 wasn’t bad so much as bland and sickeningly ironic. It’s trying to sell itself on its unique world while simultaneously doing all it can to assure us it will be just like the first game. As stated early, it is fitting that the world is a giant tree since this game seems so desperate to root itself in what its predecessors accomplished. We can only hope that this game, like the original Yggdrasil, isn’t afraid to also branch out into new and exciting realms. Until we can play it ourselves though, all we can do is question what we’ve seen. What should be in a Xenoblade Chronicles sequel and is this game promising to deliver? Will it be able to stand on its own? Does it look to have the creative spark of the original that captivated its fans? To end on a note even more cliché as the games we were discussing: we’ll just have to wait and see.



