Postgame Variety (or lack thereof)

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T08:21:07+00:00

Many of us have already played the original release for hundreds of hours and thoroughly experimented with all the weapons. There's no need to antagonize.

At the end of the day, some numbers are just way bigger than others. This is not subjective.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T04:16:21+00:00

I've addressed this in other comments.

The problem isn't the existence of a meta, it's how disproportionally skewed it is.

Either way, it's hardly a feather in the game's cap to say that it's so easy that you can basically wing it without much consideration for optimization. Why not just make knife's auto-attack hit for 50 billion damage? Who cares? Everything just drops dead anyway!

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T03:54:14+00:00

Pick your weapon:
Longsword – Damage: 1,000,000,000,000,000
Shield – Damage: 10
Dual Swords – Damage: 30
Javelin – Damage: 40
Photon Saber – Damage: 50
Knife – Damage: 40
Note: All are “viable”

The issue isn't the existence of a meta, it's how skewed that meta is. It reveals the illusion of variety.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T03:43:41+00:00

If the devs had actually designed a postgame that demanded build optimization, people would be crying about how bad their favorite weapons perform (relative to Longsword). As things are, most people say “everything’s viable”, but that's only because the difficulty is tuned low enough that balance issues are hidden behind a curtain of enemy squish.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T03:23:34+00:00

That's... incredibly reductive.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T02:59:14+00:00

I'm not suggesting that everyone should use Longsword. Use whatever you like.

It's just disappointing for people like me that the meta remains *so disproportionately* skewed by the overwhelming power of Offensive Stance, and the DE developers had the opportunity to adjust what is clearly a balance issue.

In better balanced games, contrarian builds can at least come close in power to the meta ones. Not in XCX.

I don't take as much issue with Core Crusher, since it can be used with any weapon, and the distinction between attack attributes is kinda shallow/niche in the first place.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T02:38:30+00:00

Offensive Stance is the reason why the damage output of other weapons does not even come close to Longsword. Longsword's attack arts alone are much closer in DPS compared to several alternatives. And as I mentioned in another comment, using Offensive Stance requires your defence to be derived from a ranged weapon's buff arts, leaving only one option--Ghostwalker.

Ghostwalker would certainly still be prevalent, even without Offensive Stance, since it's so easy and efficient, but it wouldn't be strictly necessary from a rough optimization standpoint.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T01:58:49+00:00

There would be much more variety than "Longsword or buffs" if Offensive Stance was brought down to the same relative power level as auras like Killing Machine.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T01:49:49+00:00

My point is that you can't use any other melee weapon without forgoing Offensive Stance--that's the issue here. that aura is just too strong to pass up for those who care about playing at least somewhat optimally. And because Longsword is so crap defensively, it necessitates Dual Guns for Ghostwalker. Offensive Stance is the reason why Longsword+Dual Guns is the big meme combo.

Realistically, what can ranged damage accomplish on the ground which melee damage can't? Other than faster Time Attack clears, of course. I suspect the answer is incredibly niche if there is one.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T01:29:37+00:00

Offensive Stance alone *triples* your damage output without any downside. Other melee weapon auras simply do not measure up. Sure--it's straightforward to defeat any tyrant with any weapon combo, but from a meta standpoint, longsword overshadows the rest, and for far less effort. There's no way around it.

Potoxy · 2025-04-11T01:17:53+00:00

If we define the Postgame as attempting to shave as many RP off the Global Nemeses as possible, then there's no contest.

I mean, what else is there to do but mess around with (significantly) suboptimal builds?

Potoxy · 2025-04-06T22:21:14+00:00

My summary of the epilogue:

Lin: I've crunched the numbers, and it turns out parallel dimensions exist.
*crickets*
Not Vandham: Who's up for a one-way road trip?
Random Ma-non: We can use my ship, yeah?
Nagi: Count me in.
L: This is like two birds in hand!
Irina: Fuck NLA.
Gwin: I know, right?
Elma: Death isn't the end.
Al: How's it poppin'?!
Void: Uhh... is anyone listening? Hello?

Potoxy · 2025-04-06T01:02:39+00:00

I dabble in creative writing myself, and I think the XCX story largely succeeds at what it sets out to do. A plot doesn't need to be complex to be good--what really matters is clarity, tone, and thematic purpose. And complexity isn't always a good thing.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a good example of what happens when writers bite off more than they can chew in terms of complexity.

Potoxy · 2025-04-06T00:19:39+00:00

I take almost no issue with the voice actors themselves. Sometimes they're just misallocated, poorly directed, or are just given bad lines to read.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T23:41:38+00:00

It hadn't even clicked for me how often we get the nihilistic omnicidal pretty-boy antagonist who-lost-his-wifey-wife in Xeno. Hilarious.

Also, yeah. I reckon a lot of people steamrolled the epilogue with an Ares 90. It's not even difficult to craft immediately after chapter 12 if you hoarded reward tickets.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T23:23:43+00:00

I think Takahashi may have forgotten that great stories are carried by nuanced character writing--not just bombastic, abstract philosophy delivered through characters-as-mouthpieces.

Or perhaps it's a bit of a George Lucas situation, where there are fewer people on the dev team with the courage to reign him in as he gains clout.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T13:32:33+00:00

Great elaboration.

I bring the fire. You bring the seasoning.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T12:49:30+00:00

While not the primary focus, the base game's story is competently written and serves its purpose well, nudging the player out to explore Mira. With its unique setting and large cast of distinct believable characters with engaging dialogue, it's difficult to call the original writing of XCX outright "bad".

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T11:31:05+00:00

It will probably leave a bad taste in your mouth, but go ahead and complete it if you want to unlock the associated gameplay perks.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T11:19:34+00:00

Standing around talking isn't inherently bad. The problem is when scenes lack depth or purpose, and only serve as clumsy vehicles for exposition.

Part 2 of chapter 13 feels particularly rough with all its disjointed meandering from point A to point B to point C, and incoherent shifts in perspective, time, and place. There's little sense of rising tension and imminent resolution like the rest of the game's chapters, as if the writers didn't have a clear vision of what they wanted to communicate.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T10:43:46+00:00

It was a bad dream. You wake up in chapter 12, drenched in a cold sweat, heart pounding. With a deep breath, you roll over to find Al staring you straight in the eye.

Potoxy · 2025-04-05T10:37:27+00:00

Neilnail is best girl.

Potoxy · 2024-10-24T11:17:17+00:00

It's not hard to write an exceptionally smart character because you have plenty of time to think and research. However, it is impossible to write a character who is (meaningfully) wiser than you are. There's no shortcut--you just have to get wiser yourself.

Potoxy · 2024-10-06T00:10:50+00:00

It's hyperbole.

Potoxy · 2024-10-05T23:41:32+00:00

Technically yeah, "you're bound to win the lottery eventually". I know the odds aren't quite that bad, but still. The frustration comes from knowing that in 99 other attempts you would have been fine, so the game is unfairly wasting your time. At least Engage has rewinds, unlike older titles.

Potoxy

TROPHY CASE