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Xenoblade: Future Connected |OT| On the Shoulders of Titans
- Thread starter TheMoon
- Start date
Yeah. I feel the Fog/Fogbeasts are particularly similar to the Tainted in Xenoblade X. In game description of the Tainted:
The tainted are only found around the crater where the Vita is found. They seem to be "contained" in that area, similar to how they were contained around Alcamoth, likely due to the abundance of ether on Mira (Or rather, the environment itself creates an ether field similar to the Telethia). It says they can't survive outside Noctilum, but I think it's more like the Tainted can't wander too far from the Vita's crater since the area has been contaminated so much over the many years that the Vita has been in that place. So the similarities include:
- Both the fog and the virus taint local wildlife.
- Both the fog and the virus seem to clash with other ether energies.
- Both the fog and the virus seem to attract the attention of the Telethia.
- Both the fog and the fog around the Vita crater look quite similar. Both have a black/purple-ish coloration.
There was also a brief moment in Future Connected where the Ponio's eyes glowed similar to how a tainted eyes/head glows:
It's not exactly the same, and the fogbeasts only looked like that for a split second, but I kinda figure it's because the Tainted on Mira have been tainted for a lot longer.
More tainted area picture with the fog:
One thing I always found interesting about the Vita crater is how there's a trail leading away from the center, like something huge spilled out of the Vita and crawled/dragged itself away:
That trail would had to have been created after the crater was made, so my personal thoughts and speculation are that the "Great One" was a person who was possibly possessed/controlled by the Fog King (Or something related to the rift?). They were defeated in some battle, the Vita fell and caused the crater, the host died, and the Fog King/whatever it was left the host/Vita and crawled away, contaminating the area similar to Alcamoth.
I also agree that the Telethia flying into the rift might've sent them to other worlds like Mira, explaining how the Telethia is there. The description for the Telethia shows that it's still very much the same kind of creature seen in Xenoblade 1:
On a similar note, the Orphean are also infected with a virus called the Ovah, which influences their actions. When you finish the quest involving the Telethia, if you took the path of killing it, you find out a little about the Ovah and the Telethia. I wrote down the dialog from this, when you return with the arm of the Orphe you were sent to bring back:
So the Telethia is definitely not native to Mira, and I feel it's likely from Shulk's world.
The tainted are only found around the crater where the Vita is found. They seem to be "contained" in that area, similar to how they were contained around Alcamoth, likely due to the abundance of ether on Mira (Or rather, the environment itself creates an ether field similar to the Telethia). It says they can't survive outside Noctilum, but I think it's more like the Tainted can't wander too far from the Vita's crater since the area has been contaminated so much over the many years that the Vita has been in that place. So the similarities include:
- Both the fog and the virus taint local wildlife.
- Both the fog and the virus seem to clash with other ether energies.
- Both the fog and the virus seem to attract the attention of the Telethia.
- Both the fog and the fog around the Vita crater look quite similar. Both have a black/purple-ish coloration.
There was also a brief moment in Future Connected where the Ponio's eyes glowed similar to how a tainted eyes/head glows:
It's not exactly the same, and the fogbeasts only looked like that for a split second, but I kinda figure it's because the Tainted on Mira have been tainted for a lot longer.
More tainted area picture with the fog:
One thing I always found interesting about the Vita crater is how there's a trail leading away from the center, like something huge spilled out of the Vita and crawled/dragged itself away:
That trail would had to have been created after the crater was made, so my personal thoughts and speculation are that the "Great One" was a person who was possibly possessed/controlled by the Fog King (Or something related to the rift?). They were defeated in some battle, the Vita fell and caused the crater, the host died, and the Fog King/whatever it was left the host/Vita and crawled away, contaminating the area similar to Alcamoth.
I also agree that the Telethia flying into the rift might've sent them to other worlds like Mira, explaining how the Telethia is there. The description for the Telethia shows that it's still very much the same kind of creature seen in Xenoblade 1:
On a similar note, the Orphean are also infected with a virus called the Ovah, which influences their actions. When you finish the quest involving the Telethia, if you took the path of killing it, you find out a little about the Ovah and the Telethia. I wrote down the dialog from this, when you return with the arm of the Orphe you were sent to bring back:
So the Telethia is definitely not native to Mira, and I feel it's likely from Shulk's world.
Also, regarding the multiverse...
Contrary to what most people think, Xeno 2 didn't introduce the multiverse, Xeno X did. Mira is not in the same universe that the earth was destroyed in. Luxaar somewhat mentions this near the ending of the game when talking about the Samaarians and how they came from another plane/dimension "at the dawn of the cosmos", and Mira is often referred to as the Samaarian homeworld. The White Whale is also transported from it's original universe to where Mira is, according to the short story from the official Japanese website:
Link to the short stories. The quote above is from "Blades formation, Part 2". Professor B also talks about having never heard of Mira, or the galaxy it's in, despite claiming to be "from the future" where the entirety of the universe has been explored.
Short Story Fan translation said:
Link to the short stories. The quote above is from "Blades formation, Part 2". Professor B also talks about having never heard of Mira, or the galaxy it's in, despite claiming to be "from the future" where the entirety of the universe has been explored.
It's really crazy how much stuff is in Xenoblade X. When you dig deeper into the game, you KNOW it has a great story somewhere underneath everything, but the game gives the player no answers, which gives a lot of people the impression the story sucks. You really have to work to find the interesting stuff, which is why I think so few people have noticed the connections to the other games over the years.
It's nice that Tetsuya Takahashi has confirmed the game has loose connections/roots to the other ones, which is something I've always felt was the case. What I really like is how Xeno X becomes a little more clear as other Xenoblade games are released (The multiverse stuff from Xeno 2, possibly the fog king stuff from Future Connected). I really hope the next Xenoblade continues Xeno X's story.
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Probably I'm near the end, ten hours in or so and I'm at the point where
I kinda wish they made
maybe as a Dunban clone. Too bad.
I'm really happy with how things were handled with this epilogue.
Is there some post-game/superboss content?
Melia and co. go to the Companion's Cape and ask Maxis if they want to rejoin forces with the other survivors
Tyrea as a playable character (and I'm kinda asking myself what that heart-to-heart with Melia is)
I'm really happy with how things were handled with this epilogue.
Is there some post-game/superboss content?
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No post game. Just the final boss of the Ponspector questline. That is what people refer to as the "superboss" ...and it's not particularly fun to fight since it has loads of spike dmg.
... Eh. I actually already did that quest lol
Well I figured that was the case, that's why I didn't beat the superbosses in the main game, at least I have a reason to return to it.
I started another play through of XCX after I finished the XC1 epilogue. Never knew about the short story stuff. I really do just adore the multiverse they are setting up here.
I still think the explosion you see when earth dies is just the consequence of Klaus messing with the Zohar, that we are all very familiar with now. The idea of Mira being this weird bermuda triangle location for the multiverse is also really cool.
Damn, I love this franchise so much.
For Melia's voice, I don't know if it's just me overthinking things, but I did notice that nearer to the end she started sounding more like herself in the base game. I interpreted the VA work as reflecting her personal journey, as Melia starts FC lost, anxious, in mourning, so she's less expressive and speaks in a lower tone, but by the end she sounds more like her old self, as she starts to settle into her new purpose, finding strength in herself and her friends, and feeling positive about what the future holds. So glad they got Coleman back because she really did justice to this part of Melia's story imo. I hope that, should Melia appear again in the future, Coleman can return as well.
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You unlock the things I mentioned in the OP for the maingame. That's your postgame, basically.
So if I start a game in this and then exit it I can use shulks outfit from future connected in the main game?
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Just as I described exactly that in the OPs of this and the main game, yes :)
You can, you just didn't read the text properly, you need to view the one on the ground-level first and the one on the tower after. It says something to that effect in the description. The red text is what you've overlooked.
That came up at the end of page 5: https://www.resetera.com/posts/36733183/
I am so stupid lmao. Thanks for that 😅Just as I described exactly that in the OPs of this and the main game, yes :)
You can, you just didn't read the text properly, you need to view the one on the ground-level first and the one on the tower after. It says something to that effect in the description. The red text is what you've overlooked.
That came up at the end of page 5: https://www.resetera.com/posts/36733183/
I think beating the same UM again gives you one coin. I don't think there's enough UM to cover all art books so beating them again is necessary.
And arts can only get level 10 max.
Okay, thanks. I assume it's one coin for each UM and fogbeast type. Is there a list of all the fogbeasts anywhere?
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It's in the OP. Of course this is worth playing, if you already have the game, how is this even a question :)
Just wanted to be sure I wouldn't be wasting my time playing it! Just got done with the main game, it being the first time since ever played it, and loved every second of it. Didn't want to play something that might leave a bad taste in my mouth really...
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Don't expect an epic-scale narrative and you're good to go!
I've not completed it, but it's a low scale short story focused on Melia and how she deals with her role in the world. I think it's pretty solid and the 2 nopons are great characters.
How long is FC? I beat the main game on the 11th but have been super busy since and am only two and a half hours in FC, mainly leveling. I am trying to beat it today/tomorrow since I got free time.
I aim to have it beat by tomorrow night before tlou2 goes up :P
I loved Xenoblade 1 so much, it was an incredible journey!!! I am bummed I haven't had time to dig deep into FC, but if it's 10 hours I can do that today/tomorrow :)
I aim to have it beat by tomorrow night before tlou2 goes up :P
I loved Xenoblade 1 so much, it was an incredible journey!!! I am bummed I haven't had time to dig deep into FC, but if it's 10 hours I can do that today/tomorrow :)
If you rush the story and ignore alle the sidequests, exploration and things like that, 8 hours could be more than enough
That being said, it's not the kind of content that deserves to be skipped like that. It would be better if you return to it after TLOU
That's what I am thinking.
I LOVED Xenoblade 1 and it's one of my favorite Nintendo games ever.
I was just wondering at the possibility :)
I don't have anything going on today or tomorrow, so I will see how far I get by tomorrow night! I don't want to rush the story.
I didn't rush it at all and it took me just under 12 hours for reference. Like, I did everything (i'm almost certain) that this epilogue has to offer.
Just started this after having finished the main game and I'm a bit dissapointed that the four party member types they put into this doesn't really allow for combinations that are fun to play:
- Melia is effective as usual, but you need to control her yourself and tbh she's not really that fun to play...
- And that also means you have to put Shulk on AI, which kinda works but isn't that fun either.
- Then there's Reyn-pon, who seems pretty much necessary as your third party member, because no one else can take over tank duties. And Reyn already was the most boring of all the tank-types in the base game.
- And, finally, Sharla-pon seems as superfluous as in the base game.
So yeah, seems kind of a shame that they left out exactly those three party member types from the base game that allowed you to set up parties that were actually fun to play: Riki with his insane allrounder capabilities, Seven being a total machine when it coes to slicing enemies into little bits and pieces at lightning speed, and Dunban being BADASS MOTHERFUCKING DUNBAN, BITCH!!!
Oh well, might just switch to the tried and tested Shulk/Reyn/Sharla combo. But benching Melia is also kinda stupid for story reasons...
- Melia is effective as usual, but you need to control her yourself and tbh she's not really that fun to play...
- And that also means you have to put Shulk on AI, which kinda works but isn't that fun either.
- Then there's Reyn-pon, who seems pretty much necessary as your third party member, because no one else can take over tank duties. And Reyn already was the most boring of all the tank-types in the base game.
- And, finally, Sharla-pon seems as superfluous as in the base game.
So yeah, seems kind of a shame that they left out exactly those three party member types from the base game that allowed you to set up parties that were actually fun to play: Riki with his insane allrounder capabilities, Seven being a total machine when it coes to slicing enemies into little bits and pieces at lightning speed, and Dunban being BADASS MOTHERFUCKING DUNBAN, BITCH!!!
Oh well, might just switch to the tried and tested Shulk/Reyn/Sharla combo. But benching Melia is also kinda stupid for story reasons...
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Well, we know there are a good amount of players who only play Shulk/Reyn/Sharla in the main game. It's obvious Monolith Soft fears that those people can't play FC withou this trio so they make Kino/Nene Sharla/Reyn. They could have made Kino using Riki's sets though. Sharla's sets still sucks even without real chain-attack system.
Finished this last night. Will post more thoughts later, but it's pretty clear to me Shulk > Melia as the lead in part because without good equipment you need Armour to keep Nene alive against mobs and in part because Melia can't build meter as well as Shulk, which is the best way to end fights quickly when you don't have access to powerful skill links or late-game staves
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None of this was the case during my playthrough. Melia - Shulk | Nene. Zero problems. We stomped everything.
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Some other thoughts I had while going through this:
Cool details in cutscenes, like Shulk trying Purge against the Fog King. Facial animations are a big step up all around.
Coleman is a much better actress now. Howden too, and whoever does Tyrea. Or maybe it's just better voice direction.
Music stopping under roofs is kinda meh. Cool in theory, doesn't work as well in practice, especially on the Shoulder where it can be hard to tell you're under something if it's not raining.
Area is cool but very complex, can see why it's intended for people who finished game already. Would've killed the pacing if players had to go through this even in part instead of Eryth Sea. I also suspect there may have been performance issues on the Wii.
Really should've had multiple elevation levels on the map. Might be the worst offender for bad elevation mapping in the series - would argue even Gormott was better than this.
Hoodie up vs down is pretty cool for how they implemented it, where the torso changes based on what's on the head. Went with the Rudra look for Ag and because I like the black, though it doesn't really match the Rudra. Does this mean making the Monado Rudra is canon?
Asterisks for emphasis in subtitles are tacky. Didn't their font have italics?
Quiet Moment listings could use landmarks or locations. I already know they're on the Shoulder. This was kinda bad in the main game but worse here.
I finished with all the Ponspectors and all the Quiet Moments at around 10:30 near Lv. 75, though I think I may have missed a couple of sidequests. Not sure if I'll come back to finish up some of the things I missed, though I guess it depends on which cosmetics I can get from Time Attack. I liked it overall, and I think making most of the content optional was probably a good move.
Gael'gar was pretty disappointing though. You pretty much figure out his whole schtick from his introduction, and when you do his sidequest it's pretty obvious how it's going to resolve.
Cool details in cutscenes, like Shulk trying Purge against the Fog King. Facial animations are a big step up all around.
Coleman is a much better actress now. Howden too, and whoever does Tyrea. Or maybe it's just better voice direction.
Music stopping under roofs is kinda meh. Cool in theory, doesn't work as well in practice, especially on the Shoulder where it can be hard to tell you're under something if it's not raining.
Area is cool but very complex, can see why it's intended for people who finished game already. Would've killed the pacing if players had to go through this even in part instead of Eryth Sea. I also suspect there may have been performance issues on the Wii.
Really should've had multiple elevation levels on the map. Might be the worst offender for bad elevation mapping in the series - would argue even Gormott was better than this.
Hoodie up vs down is pretty cool for how they implemented it, where the torso changes based on what's on the head. Went with the Rudra look for Ag and because I like the black, though it doesn't really match the Rudra. Does this mean making the Monado Rudra is canon?
Asterisks for emphasis in subtitles are tacky. Didn't their font have italics?
Quiet Moment listings could use landmarks or locations. I already know they're on the Shoulder. This was kinda bad in the main game but worse here.
I finished with all the Ponspectors and all the Quiet Moments at around 10:30 near Lv. 75, though I think I may have missed a couple of sidequests. Not sure if I'll come back to finish up some of the things I missed, though I guess it depends on which cosmetics I can get from Time Attack. I liked it overall, and I think making most of the content optional was probably a good move.
Gael'gar was pretty disappointing though. You pretty much figure out his whole schtick from his introduction, and when you do his sidequest it's pretty obvious how it's going to resolve.
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Zanza the Divine
obviously just a track from the main game, as the title suggests
Just finished it!
I really liked the characters interactions. I thought I would hate Kino and Nene but found them to be very cute (cute characters usually annoy me).
Loved the final scene,
I liked that the female nopon was the one to wield a sword-like weapon and the male nopon got the more support-oriented rifle. Melia was also very badass in the fighting cutscenes. I also thought they handled her well storywise. When I saw Shulk was going to be playable I was worried they would make her useless and he would be the one to resolve all conflict, as it is very common in jrpgs tropes.
Storywise Shulk didn't really need to be there, but I'm glad at least there was zero mention of Melia still having feelings for him. Still, it would have been nice if we got a playable machina instead of him, even if with his arts. Or even better, have Tyrea as playable, it would have made more sense than having only him besides Melia from the original main cast be around. I also wish more minor characters from XC1 appeared, especially High Entia from the sidequests post Mechonis Core.
Gaelgar was handled weirdly.
Sometimes I loved, sometimes I hated the Ponspectors aspect of the gameplay. At least it was cute to see them following you around.
I really liked the characters interactions. I thought I would hate Kino and Nene but found them to be very cute (cute characters usually annoy me).
Loved the final scene,
Tyrea's mocking but warm tone when calling Melia Empress made me smile.
Storywise Shulk didn't really need to be there, but I'm glad at least there was zero mention of Melia still having feelings for him. Still, it would have been nice if we got a playable machina instead of him, even if with his arts. Or even better, have Tyrea as playable, it would have made more sense than having only him besides Melia from the original main cast be around. I also wish more minor characters from XC1 appeared, especially High Entia from the sidequests post Mechonis Core.
Gaelgar was handled weirdly.
he screamed ultimate bad guy from his first scene, but his end happened in a sidequest. He was such an obvious evil character from the start I actually hoped he would just be a misunderstood good guy lol
Sometimes I loved, sometimes I hated the Ponspectors aspect of the gameplay. At least it was cute to see them following you around.
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Ha yea
Literally my first reaction upon seeing him was bursting into laughter because his glowy purple look and the way he talked just screamed I WILL RANDOMLY DO EVIL THINGS LATER ... silly character. They could have a character have that arc but this was super inelegant lol
The evolution Tyrea gets in just two quiet moments is so cool, btw
I feel like, in terms of characterization, Melia and Tyrea are handled as good as the other main characters get in the OG game, I'm glad they could use them in a non-trivial way. Shulk's contribute is almost none, but I feel like his interactions with Kino and Nene were well directed and I don't think we could see them in this way if the character who accompanied Melia would have been Reyn or Dunban.
I think that not having a machina playable character is such a waste though. We don't see any machina fighting in the original game and even here
Having Radzam as a Reyn clone maybe could have been a better idea, but oh well; probably these kind of things could have been implemented if FC was a real add-on content sold separately at 30/40€ like Torna.
I feel like, in terms of characterization, Melia and Tyrea are handled as good as the other main characters get in the OG game, I'm glad they could use them in a non-trivial way. Shulk's contribute is almost none, but I feel like his interactions with Kino and Nene were well directed and I don't think we could see them in this way if the character who accompanied Melia would have been Reyn or Dunban.
I think that not having a machina playable character is such a waste though. We don't see any machina fighting in the original game and even here
Tyrea is solely helped by High'entia and Homs in the Gran Dell's siege.
Playable Tyrea as a Seven clone would have been totally boss.
And yeah, what this epilogue could have used even more was some kind of Dunban clone, but I guess there can only be one Dunban.
And yeah, what this epilogue could have used even more was some kind of Dunban clone, but I guess there can only be one Dunban.
I finished this and have one big question
Don't think it was explained?
Also have to say nene and kino are terrible since they hogged most of the quite moments, should have just had riki tag along instead
who or what is the fog king
Also have to say nene and kino are terrible since they hogged most of the quite moments, should have just had riki tag along instead
Nah, they don't explain it at all. That part of the story seems to just be a setup/tease for the next Xenoblade game.
Though the fog king is virtually identical to the Infernal Guldo from XC2, so make of that what you will.
weird, reddit seem to think that boss from chronicles 2 is meyneths other half? Doesn't really make sense to me guess it's teasing xenoblade 3
Not exactly, in Xenoblade 2
it was implied that the Infernal Guldo in the land of Morytha was what remained of Galea's body, not "the other half of Meyneth".
Forgot to get back around to this and beat the super boss. Wow, it was much easier this time after getting Spike Defense, Topple Resist and Blaze Defense gems. When I tried before I was getting wiped out in seconds. I used Melia, Shulk and Nene and just used the tried and true DoT strategy.
Nene was awful with holding aggro though even though I had her 30% aggro up. Probably cause after I hit the boss with DoT, I dumped my two electric elementals on it so I could summon more defensive ones. I was so focused on trying to survive as Melia, that I didn't even notice the boss's HP drain from the DoT and I ended up finishing it off by reflecting its fire breath.
Pretty sure that's all the sidequests. Is there anything beyond that level 80 super boss or no?
Nene was awful with holding aggro though even though I had her 30% aggro up. Probably cause after I hit the boss with DoT, I dumped my two electric elementals on it so I could summon more defensive ones. I was so focused on trying to survive as Melia, that I didn't even notice the boss's HP drain from the DoT and I ended up finishing it off by reflecting its fire breath.
Pretty sure that's all the sidequests. Is there anything beyond that level 80 super boss or no?
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I don't think there is any reason to believe it's actually a specific person in particular, or am I misremembering? I don't think we ever saw a face or a name on the ID card.
I think that enemy drops her ID Card IIRC.
Honestly though I might be misremembering or misinterpreting myself, I played it two years ago.