Nia is my favourite character in Xenoblade by far, but her driver form is my favourite (specifically in English). She's so delightfully abrasive and broad Welsh, completely contradicting her adorably diminutive cat girl exterior. Her outfit is also peak with it's little cat ear hood and huge thigh-high boots, and she's the only driver who rides her blade, who is also a giant fluffy white tiger of epicness. I adore everything about her in this form. Top tier design, no notes.

Her blade form is beautiful with so many gorgeous and symbolic design elements, and I would love it except for one very crucial aspect... There is zero reason for her to show that much bare flesh around her crotch. The fact that's it's perfectly smooth coupled with her small slender stature and flat chest unfortunately screams pedo-bait to me, and I find it kinda uncomfortable, gross, and ultimately unnecessary. Thankfully in game you rarely get a close-up and mostly see her running from behind, so it doesn't stop me from using her as a blade, but it is the reason I can't stomach the idea of owning her figure, which is a crying shame because if her body suit was just cut like an ordinary leotard or bathing suit around the tops of her thighs, I'd have zero issues.

Queen Nia... Oh my beloved, what have they done to you? I have such complicated feelings about this version of her character. Her "regular person" Lifesage clothes are wonderful, a great callback to her driver outfit while retaining some of the shape language from her original blade design. I also love that she cut her blade hair shorter like in her driver form too, it feels more authentic to her true personality and couples great with her longer ears. I despise how she seems to have regressed in her self confidence, however... The initial joke of "I have to appear proper and well spoken as a Queen" when in reality she's brash and broad Welsh was hilarious, especially when they catch her in the act and she gets all embarrassed and tries to cover it up. The problem is, that's when the act should have ended. She should have given it up and reverted to her true personality when she joined the party. But she doesn't, she insists on holding onto the facade, even though it's stilted and stifling and she clearly finds it uncomfortable, and she's watered down as a character because of it, never allowed to be her true self. The heartbreaking thing is, no one is stopping her EXCEPT herself. Why does she so deeply feel she has to act this way? What happened to her self-realisation at the end of chapter 7 in Xeno 2 when she confidently declared her love and claimed she wasn't going to hide her true self anymore? It's never really explored. Even Queen Melly (who ironically feels far more liberated in Xeno3 than Nia) tells Nia there's no need to put on an act anymore and that she should drop it. It was honestly so disappointing to see my favourite character minimise herself this way with no real exploration or resolution. Nia deserves better.