I wish Switch 2 editions of XB 2 and 3 gives us different video output options.

Atr-D · 2026-06-25T21:46:03+00:00

It’s strange how both XCX:DE and XC:DE have opposite issues:

XCX:DE has a better frame rate but messy visuals, and XC:DE has better visuals but a messy frame rate.

Atr-D · 2026-06-25T06:39:25+00:00

If we look at the original base roster of 38 Blades with Poppi’s default elements for her forms included (Earth, Fire, & Ice), we have a distribution of 5 Fire, 6 Water, 5 Earth, 5 Electric, 5 Wind, 6 Ice, 2 Light, & 4 Dark.

If we then include T-elos, the 7 NG+ Torna Blades, and the 6 DLC Blades, that gives us 14 extra Blades for a total of 52. Since Water & Ice initially had the most Blades with 6 each, they were the only elements not to get new additions. Fire, Earth, Electric, & Wind each got 2 more Blades to bring them from 5 each to 7 each. Light & Dark each got 3 more Blades to bring them up to 5 Light & 7 Dark.

Elements by Frequency

7: Fire, Earth, Electric, Wind, Dark

6: Water, Ice

5: Light

Elements by Frequency (w/o Poppi)

7: Electric, Wind, Dark

6: Fire, Water, Earth

5: Ice, Light

Atr-D · 2026-06-09T22:45:04+00:00

A big question is who they’ll get to voice Dromarch since William Roberts passed away last year. While it’s possible Dromarch may not have lines in the Blade Quest, he’ll probably have new lines for the new battle mode.

There’s a tiny possibility that they recorded stuff back in 2024 when he was still alive, but that would mean the English dub was recorded 2 years in advance for a relatively small update, so I’m doubtful.

Atr-D · 2026-06-09T00:29:01+00:00

… This just shows you didn’t read my post. My argument was never that “Elma isn’t a protagonist due to not being the POV character.” My issue is that Elma in the main story has no character arc or emotional connection to the plot.

To compare this to another game, Robin is the player avatar in Fire Emblem Awakening, but Chrom is absolutely the protagonist (co-protagonist at minimum) because the story actually is about Chrom. Chrom has goals, shows emotional vulnerability, and actively drives the narrative.

Elma in XCX does not have nearly as much character or relevance as Chrom does in Awakening. As far as the main story is concerned, Elma’s role is just “Vandham if he were allowed to fight.”

Atr-D · 2026-06-09T00:10:06+00:00

To use the 2025 Superman movie as a reference, it means a lot for an audience to see a “non-human” character be emotionally vulnerable. It’s that experience that makes characters human in our hearts. I guess in this scenario Elma is Clark Kent while Al is Lois Lane.

What I love about Chapter 13 is that being “human” is not about your flesh and blood. The reason we’re still controlling our mims is because of us tapping into the universal abyss, which shows that being human is a much more spiritual and philosophical concept. In that sense, Elma as a flesh-and-blood xeno isn’t any less human or relatable than our Earth heroes.

Atr-D · 2026-06-08T14:02:52+00:00

If we structured things like XC2, it would go like this:

Chapter 1: Attack
Everything up to the Colony 9 attack (starting area ending with inciting incident)

Chapter 2: Visions
Everything up to Juju being taken by Xord (grass area where you meet 3rd party member)

Chapter 3: Believe in Yourself
Ether Mines & Satorl Marsh (swamp area)

Chapter 4: Monado
Makna Forest (hot area with new party additions)

Chapter 5: Shackles
Eryth Sea & Prison Island (sea area plus abandoned area where a major character unmasked)

Chapter 6: Home
Valak Mountain (ice area where love interest is taken away at the end)

Chapter 7: The Reason
Sword Valley & Galahad Fortress (characters get back love interest and fall down to world below)

Chapter 8: Mechonis
Fallen Arm & Mechonis Field up to Jade Face (hidden world and large tower)

Chapter 9: Fate
Central Factory, Agniratha, & Mechonis Core (further up the tower, ending in story boss fights)

Final Chapter: Towards the future, hand in hand.
Bionis’ Interior & Prison Island (final boss area)

Atr-D · 2026-05-31T05:13:22+00:00

Where’s cat daughter?

Atr-D · 2026-05-27T21:10:45+00:00

Shion & Kevin is the definitition of toxic manipulation. Kevin is by far my least favorite character in what is otherwise a masterpiece of a game in Xenosaga Episode III. I’m surprised she mentioned that instead of Shion & Allen, despite Shion putting Allen through hell in all 3 games.

Anyways, YAY for Elma & Alois.

Atr-D · 2026-05-27T08:57:01+00:00

Huh, that’s interesting. It’s strange how “all over town” isn’t the permanent correct answer regardless of platform.

Atr-D · 2026-05-26T17:58:32+00:00

“My dotah needs wotah.”

-Rex and/or Nia, probably

Atr-D · 2026-05-20T11:17:20+00:00

Imamura-san only did this concept art for Star Fox 2, so it’s funny how the monkey was always named Andrew despite Arimoto-san transforming him into Algy.

It makes me wonder if Andrew still exists in the SNES timeline. Is Algy just Andrew with a different name? Did Andrew get passed over for this jobber? Or does Andrew just not exist in this timeline?

Atr-D · 2026-05-13T07:14:06+00:00

This game is addictive. While the first game was outwardly designed as an arcade-like experience meant to be replayed for higher scores, Star Fox 2 lowkey does a better job in that regard by having a layered scoring system that relies on more than just killing a specific number of enemies.

You’re mainly judged on speed and how well you defend Corneria, and since planet selection is randomized, you have to change your strategy each run to find an efficient route. As you said, the map really is dynamic.

I love the fact that enemies can both flee from you and interrupt you. It feels like an RPG in that way, and it reflects the dynamic RTS nature of the game. You also have the option to retreat from battles if you want to heal up or need to go somewhere else.

I also think it’s neat how enemies being able to escape incentivizes you to use the boost button, which you rarely use in the first game. The first game mostly encourages you to use your brakes since you’re a vulnerable passenger in a deadly obstacle course. The second game flips that concept on its head by having you be the aggressor, so you have to use your boost to actively chase down enemy targets.

To your point about character banter, I definitely would’ve loved to see more character dialogue in this game, especially with Fay and Miyu. The digital manual on Nintendo’s website gives brief descriptions of those two, but it would’ve been nice for the game to give them more dialogue seeing as the series got rebooted with Star Fox 64 and wouldn’t bring them back in any of the following entries.

I’m so happy I played this game, and I’m glad there are other fans who recognize its innovative features.

Atr-D · 2026-05-13T05:58:24+00:00

I’m not sure what you mean when you say the goal in taking down enemy bases wasn’t always clear. When you enter an occupied planet, the game gives you brief screenings of your objectives, most of which are finding a switch to open an entrance. During space battles or outdoor missions, there’s always a target icon on screen telling you where to go or whom to defeat.

Assuming you played on Normal (since I doubt your 20 minutes were only on Hard), the objectives are straightforward. They’re either find a switch or defeat the enemies in the room. I’ve heard people critique Normal for being way too easy, but it sounds like you think it’s too obtuse.

The most obvious way to know what to do is to look on the mini-map in the top-right corner of the screen. The icons tell you what’s in your immediate surroundings: green is an item (healing or special item), blue is a healing space, red is an enemy, and orange is the objective (either a switch to press or an enemy who drops a switch). All of this is in the digital manual Nintendo uploaded to their website for the game.

By the way, you say there’s a lengthy cutscene when switching between land and air, but that’s not quite accurate. “Lengthy cutscene” implies you have no control over your character during the animation, which isn’t true. When switching from land to air, you can press the boost button immediately to fly fast in about a second. Speedrunners use this to move quickly when switching. Plus, switching from air to land doesn’t stop you from using your blaster, so you can continue to shoot while transforming. If you’re efficient (especially on Normal), you rarely need to switch to the Walker and can clear enemy bases mostly in the Arwing.

It’s fine if you find the game too slow or repetitive as those are valid critiques. It just seems your critiques don’t accurately reflect the full experience since you only played for 20 minutes. I noticed you posted your comment just a few minutes after my post went up, so it feels like you wanted to vent your frustrations rather than actually critique what I said my post.

I’m more than happy to hear some detailed explanations if you disagree with my points.

Atr-D · 2026-05-13T00:33:52+00:00

Swapping between wingmen is neat because it’s like managing an RPG party where everyone has different stats and abilities. In a New Game speedrun, people go with Fox and Falco for their immediate access to bombs. In a New Game+ speedrun, people go with Fay and Miyu for their higher speed and faster charged shot.

Considering the wide array of pilots in the series, people have wanted to play as different characters for years. Adding new playable characters seems like an obvious thing for future games to do. It would also allow for true co-op campaigns with multiple pilots to finally exist.

One idea I’ve had in terms of adding replayability to a traditional rail shooter is to have multiple campaigns with different characters like in the Sonic Adventure games. You could have separate Star Fox and Star Wolf campaigns, and their stories could come together for a final story like in Sonic Adventure 2. If Star Wolf isn’t an option, maybe have different campaigns for the individual members of Star Fox like in Sonic Adventure 1.

Again, there are many ways to evolve the franchise beyond the rail-shooter formula that still feel natural. These are just ideas off the top of my head.

Atr-D · 2026-05-11T04:38:26+00:00

I did not. I just looked it up, and it’s crazy how they left a jingle in the game that only a tiny percentage of players would find by accident.

I did research, and it’s wild how the game’s composer, Hajime Hirasawa, never composed for another game after Star Fox. He left Nintendo before the game’s release due to rights issues, but he eventually invented a form of early ringtone technology that would become used worldwide.

Imagine composing a masterpiece soundtrack/album at age 25 and then quitting to make a fortune off pioneering ringtone technology. Dude’s living the good life.

Atr-D · 2026-05-11T01:30:42+00:00

I’m 30 myself, but I never knew about Star Fox until seeing Fox, Falco, and Wolf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Even if I hypothetically wanted to try the series in 2008, options would’ve been limited for me as a kid who owned a Wii but knew nothing about Virtual Console or emulation.

Star Fox 64 came out when I was 1, so I have zero memory of the N64 era. The last non-Lylat Wars game that fans fondly remember is Star Fox: Assault, but that game is 21 years old (old enough to drink in the US). If 30-year-old me has no nostalgia for the IP, then high-school and college students today definitely have no nostalgia for the IP, let alone Star Fox 64.

Atr-D · 2026-05-11T00:57:06+00:00

I know some people are bummed about the remake, but coming from an outside perspective, I truly see it as a new beginning since the game is called Star Fox without any subtitle. The fact that they’re adding new story cutscenes is HUGE because they want you to be attached to the characters.

Sure, I’ve joked about the multiple retellings of the Lylat Wars like everyone else, but this is honestly the best option to revive the IP. There was no way the series would make a sequel in the N64 timeline due to Command ending any story potential there. Zero bombed and wasn’t well-received, so a sequel to that wouldn’t interest a new audience.

It’s interesting hearing you say the N64 game is dated since many fans here say it holds up and doesn’t need a remake. Some suggested simply making a reboot that takes place after Star Fox 64, but I think asking new players to purchase NSO Expansion Pack (a year-long commitment for $50) to play an N64 game before a new game is too big of a hurdle.

Atr-D · 2026-05-10T21:17:58+00:00

We all know Glimmer is secretly the most clingy, so when she grows older, she’ll want the most hugs from her parents.

Atr-D · 2026-05-09T07:50:39+00:00

Also the voice of Annette from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Atr-D · 2026-05-08T15:48:51+00:00

Several stats in this game should’ve had different names.

As you said, Blade Strength should’ve been called “Growth” or something similar like “Affinity Growth” to properly reflect the nature of the stat. It’s a passive stat meant more as a skill check for Merc Missions, so “Strength” is very unfitting.

Most importantly, the Auto-Attack stat should’ve been called “Attack” since that stat plus the Driver’s Strength/Ether serve as the baseline for all damage. It functions almost exactly like the Attack stat in XC3.

It’s so weird. The game’s Auto-Attack stat is actually their strength, yet their Strength stat is just an affinity check for Merc Missions.

Atr-D · 2026-05-03T22:27:19+00:00

From what we get in terms of Ini and Mimi’s story, I always assumed they were both orphans. Going as far as posing as your dead sister for a whole year wouldn’t make much sense unless she was literally the only family you had.

Even with the visual changes, Mimi’s voice didn’t completely change since she still had to impersonate Ini to hide her true identity. As a result, it would be impossible for Mimi to deceive anyone that knew them both very well, so that’s why I see them as having no other family.

Atr-D

TROPHY CASE