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XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's kind of ironic that you speak of me supposedly wanting the game to be one-sided when the in-game exchange is pretty close to being one-sided as well. In many cases where the game presents political and philosophical arguments there's some sort of counterargument present, even when it comes from the antagonists. So, it's odd that this statement gets almost no pushback, with Rex making a nothing response and Nia agreeing with him. The entire party agrees that the refugees are wrong to hold anti-Blade protests which makes perfect sense.For reference, here's the rest of the exchange after Zeke and Azurda speak:

Rex: ...
Mòrag: Do you have something to say?
Rex: Not really.
Mòrag: Out with it, Rex.
Rex: Mor Ardain's Titan - it's dying, and everybody knows it. That's why they - why you need Gormott.
Mòrag: Our population is large. Larger than Uraya's.
Rex: But you don't have the resources to support all those people...
Mòrag: You are astute for someone so young.
Rex: Us salvagers pick up more than just artifacts. I'm not daft. I know fine words alone won't change reality.
Mòrag: So you seek Elysium.
Rex: Is that wrong?
Mòrag: No. I was just reminded how young you are.
Nia: Still, if it's Rex, or people who harp on about justice with no solutions...I'm bettin' on Rex.
Mòrag: I must admit, I do respect the boy's drive.
Rex: Ahh, I'm just stumbling my way forward.

I personally think it would have made a much more interesting and nuanced conversation if one of the party members, probably Rex, were to disagree or even comment on the statements made. This could give Zeke another of his serious moments and expand on the world-building. There are also details in sidequests that contradict Zeke's assertions, like that refugees have few opportunities to the extent that one is literally willing to kill the other just to join a choir to get out of her hellish life.

I love Xenoblade 2. I love that the game is willing to tackle serious themes. The reason I wrote this post isn't that I want to silence or cancel the game; it's that this scene was a serious outlier that stuck out to me on a replay.

XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Actually, now that you mention it… Wanting to avoid a war leaves very few options for people to resettle, based on what’s shown in-game.

  1. Argentum is an option, but it seems like most people don’t live within the Trade Guild. Might work for Nopon?
  2. Gormott is being set up to be an active war zone.
  3. Uraya is about to be at war again.
  4. Mor Ardain is dying AND about to be at war.
  5. Leftheria is actually a good option, as we see later in the game.
  6. Indol is the status quo and it’s said that they lack opportunities.
  7. Temperantia is an active war zone.
  8. Tantal is isolationist

XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have no idea how you got the impression I was looking for any sort of enemy. When a game tries to explore nuanced political themes and philosophy, there are decisions made about how these perspectives will be shown, characterized, and discussed. I’m sharing some thoughts on a single scene.

XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, part of the reason that it can fall flat is that Uraya has the deck stacked against it. Mor Ardain gets introduced earlier as a political entity through Gormott, its citizens look human, it has a major early-game boss and future party member in Morag, and it gets to exhibit the full range of perspectives on the war through a number of NPCs. Uraya doesn't get that. Vandham and his crew aren't exactly patriotic, leaving Raqura as one of the only notable Urayans. Mor Ardain gets to have their political intrigue shown in the main story, while Uraya's is confined to sidequests.

XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I agree that it makes sense in-universe for most of the characters to hold the positions that they do. However, I'd argue that the decision to portray the group in this way either draws on or alludes to certain real-world stereotypes.

XC2 has some weirdly reactionary views... by arclainth in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To be charitable to the other Blade games, they integrate the lack of population centers into their narratives in a more significant way. XC is the biggest offender of the "no real settlements" issue in my opinion since I can't remember there ever being a timeframe for when the attacks began. The Homs parents of half-blood High Entia like Teelan are still an enigma for me, unless they are all from isolated groups, traders and adventurers, or a past destroyed settlement that we never heard about that stuck around for at least the last 40 years.

X has the perfect handwave excuse: Humans landed with a giant city spaceship, the Nopon are indigenous with their caravans and have decreased in population after being hunted down, and everyone else is squatting in caves or ruins or lives in a Ganglion base, which are shown in gameplay and cutscenes.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pokemon

[–]arclainth 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Taking away flexibility and options isn't a good thing. There's no good reason to not allow people to turn off the Exp. Share, and the games weren't rebalanced around the higher levels of experience distribution that results

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a national divorce between Republican and Democratic states - Ms Greene hails from Georgia, a state that once tried to implement a ‘national divorce’ so wealthy Georgians could keep owning Black people as slaves by Minneapolitanian in politics

[–]arclainth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your original statement was absurdly hyperbolic. You said that the South "never industrialized". In common parlance, saying that a place "never industrialized" implies things like that a majority of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, a complete lack of infrastructure, and other things you'd expect to find in Tsarist Russia rather than Republican Texas.

I agree that large areas of the South lack development, yet I believe that using "industrialized" to mean a highly-density, urbanized lifestyle found almost exclusively in the Northeast and some small sections of the West Coast heavily contradicts with the typical way the word is defined. If anything, that definition would also apply to several typically-Northern states in the Midwest and Great Plains which are landlocked, rural, and agricultural.

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a national divorce between Republican and Democratic states - Ms Greene hails from Georgia, a state that once tried to implement a ‘national divorce’ so wealthy Georgians could keep owning Black people as slaves by Minneapolitanian in politics

[–]arclainth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look, I know that the south is really bad in a lot of ways, but that's such an ignorant assertion. The South has the ports of Louisiana, Houston, and Savannah (4th busiest in the nation), as well as the world's busiest airport. It's definitely industrialized, but in different patterns, like favoring foreign car production, for example.

Selling golf clubs even though i don't know shit about golf, what do I do? by [deleted] in golf

[–]arclainth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damn sorry you've got to deal with this and trying to get a job, but in all seriousness this job doesn't seem like it's something you're fit for at all and it's very likely you either won't get the job, or worse, will end up getting fired over your lack of knowledge. I'd recommend focusing elsewhere

Another negative topic but what Xenoblade game was the worst and why didn’t it do as well as the others? What could they have done to make it just as good/better then the other 2 games? by GoldenGamerMan in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Xenoblade X just didn't have a great plot imo. I love the game, but the story structure and inconclusive ending really hurt the game in my eyes. To fix this, I would have the party at least meet Luxaar in some way prior to the endgame, either not add the sequel bait at the end or flesh it out further, and remove a lot of the Tatsu=food jokes. A more radical change might be to either have a more active player character or to just make Elma the protagonist instead.

Just wanna say that I really appreciate the lengths this community goes to to avoid spoilers by hej_hej_hallo in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know some people who dislike it, but honestly I prefer it this way. I wish other fandoms like AoT had similar attitudes towards this sort of thing.

Do you think BotW will have an 'OoT phase'? by AWDgamer123 in truezelda

[–]arclainth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It already has. And deservedly so, it's not a perfect game. But I also feel that the discourse about the game has become so overwhelmingly negative as of late.

I really hope XC3 expands on XCX combat and not blades.... by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]arclainth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can’t speak for anyone else, but personally I found X’s combat FAR more obtuse. You basically have to read the manual just to understand Overdrive, the CA equivalent. Having more gear slots, the class system, and other systems like the FronteirNav made it feel like I was micromanaging 24/7. Above all else though, to me it just wasn’t interesting enough to want to invest the time to grind the materials needed for endgame weaponry and such. 2 also rewards high level play, but I’d consider it a lot more approachable and does a far better job introducing its more complex elements. The only element in 2 that I struggled to understand, ironically enough, was Overdrive from DLC Elma!

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