Xenoblade 2's Chapter 4 (which many dislike) was written by Yuichiro Takeda (and it's his favorite)

[CGiRanger]

A lot of people have reacted very negatively upon reaching and experiencing Chapter 4 in this game, much more prevalent and specifically called out in people's impressions than any other Chapter in the game.

I thought it was worth re-noting that this Chapter (along with all even numbered chapter) was written by scriptwriter Yuichiro Takeda. As noted in Nintendo's own release here: https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/xenoblade-chronicles-2-behind-the-story-development

For this script, Director Takahashi provided us with a rich plot right from the start, and Kazuho Hyodo and I split the writing in half. I worked on the even numbered chapters while Mr. Hyodo worked on the odd numbered chapters.

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What is also interesting is how Takeda considers the writing of Chapter 4 to be his favorite out of the game as well:

My personal favorite is the story about Tora and Poppi in chapter 4. I love robots and I feel like this story fully reflects my infatuation with the Nopon. I hope that you all like it too.

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What is interesting is how again many have regarded Chapter 4 as kind of a strange chapter filled with filler material that many feel sidetracked and distracted from the main plot too much. It's also interesting is that it sounds like Takeda is the primary writer who is "infatuated" with the Nopon, and that makes me wonder if he is responsible for writing previous characters like Riki and Tatsu.

I do also recall a lot of people not being happy with Takeda's previous contributions to Takahashi's games, or at least, many pinned blame on him for how the complexity of characters in the stories has faltered, from say how Soraya Saga used to do things. Obviously now being responsible for Chapter 4 is certainly not going to make those people change their minds about him.

 

[Renna Hazel]

I'm on the final chapter and 4 was by far my least favorite. I really can't stand the Tora people and having an entire chapter based around them was pretty harsh for me. Thankfully I'm liked the rest of the chapters.

 

[Spine Crawler]

i liked chapter 4. poppi is the best character.

 

[Deleted member 1413]

That explains a lot, lol.
Felt like chapter 3 was excellent and 4 was kind of bad.
Chapter 2 was also bad.
Too silly and Tora is terrible and given a big focus

 

[Carassius Auratus]

I dunno, I felt the chapter was mostly pointless, but I though it was a cute breather episode before events really ramp up. IMO

 

[Vault]

Worst chapter and worst location as well just ugly

 

[Brodo Baggins]

Chapter 4 was hilarious, but I think it should have come a chapter later, because chapter 5 is when the story really picks up.

 

[mrmickfran]

Chapter 4 was such a slog and almost stopped me from playing the game.

Chapter 5 was great though.

 

[Theswweet]

wait, that means that chapter 10 was also written by him then

 

[wrowa]

Eh, I liked it. It's silly, but not in a bad way. It's a nice way to lighten up the mood in the middle of the game.

 

[Deleted member 1839]

That explains a lot, lol.
Felt like chapter 3 was excellent and 4 was kind of bad.
Chapter 2 was also bad.
Too silly and Tora is terrible and given a big focus

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Wouldn`t apply to chapter 10, but I do have personal nitpick about that chapter however.....

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

It's the gameplay side of chapter 4 that really grated on me. I don't know how much say Takeda would have had in that, but there's so much of it that just feels like padding because they thought there needed to be "more game". Constantly going back-and-forth from place to place, the thief detour, the stakeout shenanigans, and a lot of really repetitive mandatory battles. So much fat that could have been trimmed without really changing anything. The old factory dungeon wasn't great either. Thankfully I'm on chapter 5 now and things are looking up.

 

[Deleted member 1413]

It's weird that chapter 2 and 4 were written by him and have the weakest story mixed with the weakest locations.
3 and 5 are pretty fantastic locations with a stronger narrative. Feels the most like the original xenoblade's best.
Hope this guy doesn't write for Monolith's next game.

 

[SpottieO]

I think it's more the design of some chapter 4 elements that suck. Although it did seem like some weird filler that served little purpose.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Chapter 4 is not that bad.

I don't really understand the complaints considering how awful chapter 1 is.

 

[hussien-11]

I do also recall a lot of people not being happy with Takeda's previous contributions to Takahashi's games, or at least, many pinned blame on him for how the complexity of characters in the stories has faltered, from say how Soraya Saga used to do things. Obviously now being responsible for Chapter 4 is certainly not going to make those people change their minds about him.

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I don't agree with this at all, I like his writing style, he is a good writer in my opinion. I just don't think that Nintendo will allow Monolith to write a very philosophical/dark story like their previous works, their products are aimed for everyone now, and there is a difference in their direction overall. Takahashi and Takeda both said before they prefer to write adult characters for example (in one of Iwata's asks if I'm not mistaken), but look at the direction Xenoblade 2 took (which I have nothing against). I know he said he liked to do something different, but I don't believe it, Nintendo is trying to pursue Fire Emblem audience is what I believe.

 

[Yesterday]

I only hated the dungeon in chapter 4, the rest is great

 

[Comic Obsessed]

I thought the chapter was funny, is clearly making fun of classic anime tropes. Hell, the whole game is like that.

 

[RagnarokX]

Chapter 4 was great. Poppi is super likeable and the absurdity of the whole thing was fun. It didn't feel like filler because it dealt with the story of 2 of the major characters and while handled with some comedic tone what goes on has major relevance to the overall story.

 

[Deleted member 9971]

I liked it, loved the final boss of it hilarious.
The villian of that chapter actually was quite the change of pace compared to the more serious villians too and poppi is da best well alongside with Nia ofcourse ;)

No chapter dissapointed me tbh they all were cool and i liked that the chapters truly explained nearly all things and ended well. MGSV and FFXV this is how you do chapters in games properly!

They had a proper beginning, middle and end, kinda how a book does it.

 

[Xtortion]

Chapter 4 is pretty meh, yeah.

 

[RockmanBN]

Riki is Heropon. Tora is Loserpon.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I didn't really have a negative reaction to it, its just a bit of silly fun

 

[Opa-Pa]

Honestly I was "warned" about this chapter so I was fully expecting it to be the worst and... It was mostly fine. I don't like the tone of this game compared to XC1, I hate or dislike most of the character designs and the art style in general, but if it wasn't for Poppi's transformation I would have 0 complaints about this chapter.

Sure it wasn kind of tonally inconsistent and silly but that fits the game, for better or worse. I dislike when the game goes full anime but only if there's pervy shit involved. Silly over the top stuff is fine in my book (I mean I love Zeke lmao).

Riki is Heropon. Tora is Loserpon.

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Yes.

 

[Tribal_Cult]

I liked it a lot to be honest. Not the best but there are far worse fillers

 

[WonkyPanda]

I didn't really have a negative reaction to it, its just a bit of silly fun

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My reaction too. People treating this like Tora shit in their breakfast smoothie.

 

[Eros]

Having to figure out how to get to the dungeon, and then the dungeon were the worst parts. I didn't mind the Tora story.

 

[David]

I am in chapter 4 and don't know where to go.

The map is useless

 

[Papercuts]

The story was alright, though it did feel like filler at the start.

The real issue with 4 is game design. The actual path you take to get the old factory is HORRIBLE player direction.

 

[Akai_XIII]

Chapter 4 is pretty meh meh, yeah.

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FTFY...?

 

[Xtortion]

FTFY...?

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Spoiler

I didn't want it to be too obvious :x

 

[RagnarokX]

Having to figure out how to get to the dungeon, and then the dungeon were the worst parts. I didn't mind the Tora story.

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Meh. While I think it was bad for them to make you leave the place where you found the barrels to report your findings, the obvious way to the dungeon was where the barrels were. They shouldn't have to expressly tell you something that obvious.

 

[Oswen]

While I am not really a fan of the whole Poppi related story and presentation in that chapter I did find some parts of Chapter 4 enjoyable.
The whole nopon gag sequence is actually a great homage to old mecha anime, especially to Mazinger Z which is a staple of its genre; the whole sequence with the two antagonists was hilarious, especially the camera angles mimicking what happens in those old shows.

 

[KLoWn]

Can someone remind me what happened in chapter 4?

 

[bottledfox]

Chapter 4 is passable once you get past the shitty detour at the beginning. I had no problem finding or getting into the abandoned factory, and the Tora-centric plot had some good moments.

Also Morag and Chairman Bana are two of my favorite characters (but I'm only halfway through the game yet).

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Can someone remind me what happened in chapter 4?

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Spoiler: The thread is about this chapter so I assume everyone already played it but fuck it

You visit Mor Ardainn after a thief kid steals Roc's core crystal, once you're there you chase Lila and meet Tora's father, Poppi gets upgraded, at the end Morag joins the party.

 

[shadow2810]

I like chapter 4, especially the nopon robot scene.

 

[Deleted member 12555]

I am in chapter 4 and don't know where to go.

The map is useless

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Everywhere and on all floors, according to my experience. Good money to be found too.


Just finished the chapter, and while I was getting tired of the factory itself, there are some cool character moments throughout the whole thing. Then you've got the final stretch of the chapter with all the story stuff, which is just incredible and completely makes up for the rest of it. The cutscenes and OST on this thing, my God.

Then you've got all the classic mecha and astro boy references. It was cool.

 

[Deleted member 1839]

Can someone remind me what happened in chapter 4?

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Nopons, factory, old school mecha pandering, and foreshadowing.

 

[Sanlei]

Chapter 7 is gameplay/locationwise the worst(however the story is great).
Also Chapter 6 and especially 8 are great.

I didnt mind the filler bit and some scenes were actually good/relevant, or just fun. But yeah its the weakest chapter storywise and 2nd weakest gameplaywise after 7.

 

[Vena]

I honestly didn't even really notice. I figured the intent of 4 was to breathe after what happens in 3.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

I was ok with it the later chapters are much better.
Apparently my Switch didn't like the chapter, the game froze a couple of times during this particular chapter.

 

[Sanlei]

I honestly didn't even really notice. I figured the intent of 4 was to breathe after what happens in 3.

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Yeah it felt that way, besides the odd decisons about finding the way to the factory(which completely destroyed the breath of it).

 

[KLoWn]

Spoiler: The thread is about this chapter so I assume everyone already played it but fuck it

You visit Mor Ardainn after a thief kid steals Roc's core crystal, once you're there you chase Lila and meet Tora's father, Poppi gets upgraded, at the end Morag joins the party.

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Nopons, factory, old school mecha pandering, and foreshadowing.

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Ah that chapter. Thanks.

I can't say I remember disliking it more than any of the other chapters tbh. It dragged a bit I guess.

 

[h8bit]

Hah wouldn't you know it, I haven't played this in about a week since I've been knee deep in this chapter. I'll probably push on through tonight.

 

[Dunban]

I loved the game overall but damn, if it wasn't for the timely entry into the party of a certain highly-anticipated duo at the end of it, chapter 4 might have made me drop the game entirely. I was... astonished when Giga Rosa showed up, especially when there were many more interesting things going on in Mor Ardain that they could have focused on, instead. Another big problem is that Tora as a character simply cannot carry a story; giving him that degree of prominence was a mistake, even if it only lasted for a chapter.

The odd digression with the core crystal sticks out as the weirdest piece of filler in the game. I guess you get a salvager part or two for free because of it, thirty hours later. That's something?

 

[ILikeFeet]

chapter 4 was fucking terrible. breather episode my ass, it felt like shitty filler. starting off with a irrelevant-ass goose chase that didnt matter for dick, and introduction to a new important region that did fuck all with what we know of its importance to the story, and a bad dungeon thanks to the terrible compass. the only saving grace of that chapter was the last part were it decided to be relevant again.

it also doesnt help that the chapter (and the game itself) largely hinges on bad shonen anime tropes. everything from panty shots to the generic hotsprings episode. at least the Poppi stuff was funny in its outrageousness, but everything else was cringey shit.

 

[Dyle]

I liked it. Mor Ardain is a good contrast to the pastoral titans and feels suitably different. The hot springs scene was no where near as bad as I expected, although the sleepwalking one was rough. I didn't mind the Roc diversion because it gave me a good opportunity to do some sidequests and flesh out Gormott. The factory is much easier to navigate than everyone said it was. Zeke's scene was great. Muimui being evil was a great use of dramatic irony for comedic effect. Rosa as a chibi girl is hilariously stupid in the best way and felt totally in character given the way the Nopons are written. Morag is great and it felt great for her to join the team. Fan coming in at the end felt like a bit of a dues ex machina, but not a super egregious one since you were going to win the fight anyway. It's funny and takes some diversions to flesh out the world before the stakes get too high and serious stuff starts happening, which is fine after chapter 3. It's the weakest chapter so far, I'm at chapter 7, but it isn't bad.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

The Chapter was pretty good imo. There are a few things I dislike about it but it isn't the nopon. The nopon are great and add a nice dimension to the world and characters. Poppi is also a fucking amazing character. The whole cast in the game is leagues better than I was expecting.

 

[RagnarokX]

Yeah it felt that way, besides the odd decisons about finding the way to the factory(which completely destroyed the breath of it).

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The path to the factory is literally the place where you found the barrels. Find the barrels. Report findings. Go back to the place where you found the barrels and continue down.