Conversation

So, does this outstanding DLC have any actual flaws? Well, of course it does, as great as it is, it’s by no means perfect. For starters, while it brings the Xenoblade trilogy to a satisfying thematic and emotional conclusion, it not only leaves tons of loose plot threads from Xenoblade 3 unaddressed, it adds quite a few apparent contradictions of its own. Once I finally do the full Xenoblade 3 writeup I’ll go over some of the more egregious issues with the lore and the backstory of Aionios, but for now, I’ll settle for saying that it’s indeed quite the mess, and I DARE Monolith Soft to provide an actual, official Timeline for the events prior to the main XB3 adventure.

Oh, and the actual ending of Xenoblade 3 is still as hard as hard to wrap my head around as ever.

Moreover, as mechanically sublime as Future Redeemed is (and is polishes up SO many of the minor annoyances I had with Xenoblade 3, including money being largely worthless and the weather being remarkably shitty), it still has some glaring issues, like the camera automatically zooming in and out to adjust for certain environmental features and obstacles, but only making things worse in the process (I didn’t find a way to disable this annoying feature either). Also, WHY is the ability to level down your characters still a postgame-only feature? WHY does the chain attack theme still override every single boss theme except for that of the final boss, despite fucking everyone having complained about the crimes committed against Words That Never Reached You? And WHY is the party character AI so retarded that literal Arts Spam would be superior to what these morons end up doing whenever you’re not controlling them? On that note, the Superbosses are some cheating, annoying turbo niggers, and probably added at least 15 hours to my playtime (in total it took me 57 hours to 100% the game, and I beat it around the 30 hour mark), but when I finally overcame them all it felt so satisfying that I’m not sure if I should bitch about the bullshit or be grateful for the challenge.

So sure, there are flaws and problems, but they positively pale in comparison to what a spectacular achievement this mere DLC is. Even without factoring in the glorious emotional payoff it provides, you still get 20-40 hours of some of the best, most fun and polished JRPG gameplay in existence, a bunch of utterly amazing new songs, and a number of great new areas. Obviously, Future Redeemed on its own not only makes Xenoblade 3’s Expansion Pass 100% worth it, but a must-buy for anyone who even remotely enjoyed the base game. Hell, if you liked the past two games, but disliked Xenoblade 3, I could still easily see you loving Future Redeemed.

The final question therefore becomes, why couldn’t the base game be like this? In terms of mechanics, I certainly agree that a lot of Future Redeemed’s features are straight up improvements, and FR also has a superior approach to stuff like music (have the area themes go hard!) and minority racial representation (don’t fucking bother with it). That said, in terms of retro fanservice and bringing back old characters, I’d say FR if anything justifies Xenoblade 3’s approach, namely to focus on building up its own world and its own cast, rather than relying on nostalgia beyond special occasions. Because now we finally have a situation where Monolith Soft has both truly done justice to the new world of Aionios, its heroes and stories, AND actually taken advantage of the storytelling potential that the merger of the two Xenoblade worlds provided us with. The Xenoblade 3 package as a whole is still flawed, but the base game was already a towering achievement in so many ways even prior to the DLC, and after the DLC, it finally feels like it has realized its true potential.

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