Game Review: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: The Golden Country

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: the Golden Country is a terrific prequel to the wildly excessive Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (my review here). As a reminder, XC2 centers on the salvager Rex and his quest to bring Pyra/Mythra, the ultimate Blade (sentient weapon), back to her creator on Elysium. Rex's companions face off against Malos and Jin, two powerful Blades bent on world destruction. Torna occurs 500 years before the events of XC2, and focuses on Jin and his beloved Driver (weapon wielder), Lora, as they become embroiled in Malos' campaign against the world . Along the way, they are joined by Prince Addam of Torna and Emperor Hugo of Mor Ardain.

The standout feature of Torna is its gameplay, which is far, far superior to the bloat of its predecessor. It's as if a million voices cried out...and the developers listened. First, the combat system has been overhauled. The camera angles are now entirely reasonable, and it's possible to see when combos are happening. And this time, combos are easier to execute and they look amazing! Second, having only six Blades is a vast improvement over the ridiculous number players deal with in XC2 (28 unique Blades plus dozens of common ones). Third, Torna tells a tight story and limits it to only two locations: the kingdom of Torna and the perpetually-contested territory of Gormott. Finally, Torna eliminates the annoying Merc Missions element of XC2, instead linking side quests to the Community feature. Points two and three cut down playtime by about a million hours.

Meanwhile, Torna's characters are all endearing. Mythra, Malos' counterpart in the all-powerful Blade department, is newly awakened here, and much more standoffish and perplexed by human behavior than 500 years later. She's also wearing tights, which is sensible and slightly mitigates all that mid-boob exposure.

Athleisure, Aegis style.

Mythra's Driver, Addam, is a tall, handsome prince with a constant smile, and IMO far better than Rex. In XC2, Blades keep talking about how Rex reminds them of Addam, and they're out of their minds. Addam is smart, charismatic, and always calm. Rex is emotional, reckless, and dresses like a steampunk clown. Maybe the Blades are referring to their genetic link, since Rex is a descendant of Addam?

Anyway, the other Blade-Driver relationships are great. The Jewels of Mor Ardain, Brighid and whatsisface, are back to guard yet another boy emperor, while Haze joins Jin in accompanying sweet Lora. Minoth sticks to Addam. Minothis actually also the Blade of Amalthus, the villainous long-armed smurf who awakens Malos in the first place and infects him with his hatred of humanity. Minoth avoids Amalthus as much as possible. Which begs the question: if people know that killing the Driver reduces the Blade back to his/her crystal core state, why hasn't anyone killed Amalthus??? I get it, he has rank in the Vatican-equivalent of the game, and he's pretending that Malos broke free from his control, but a truly solution-oriented hero would've stabbed him and been like, Fixed it!

Moving on: Torna is fairly light thematically, choosing to concentrate on bonds/relationships, and this is the only area where it pales compared to XC2, which explores the existential crisis of beings reborn again and again with no memory of their past. And since this is the story of how Jin turns to the dark side, it ends up being heartbreaking, with gut-wrenching post-final battle scenes that explain why Mythra consented to being sealed away for centuries. The game also ends with the ominous arrival of the group responsible for Jin's fall.

Finally, Torna's soundtrack is incredible. For example, whereas XC2 combat gives a mosh pit vibe, in Torna, fighting is accompanied by a jazzy, synth- and piano-heavy track ("Battle!"). I could listen to it on loop all day. The rest of the music is beautiful, especially mournful pieces like "Desolation" and "The Power of Jin."

Overall, Torna succeeds as a standalone game because of its compact story, setting, and characters. While it's not necessary to have played XC2 before Torna, doing so drives home the glaring weaknesses of the previous game. It's like having a too-heavy meal and then getting a dessert with balanced flavors--you appreciate the latter more for having experienced the former. 

TL;DR: A baby JRPG worth playing, especially if you want to skip the main game.

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This post brought to you by jet lag!

Game Review: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (XC2) is a massive JRPG that outdoes its sprawling predecessor by adding more, more, more! While it has its share of flaws, XC2 offers so many delights that it's already absorbed 150+ hours of my free time. To put that into context, I usually take 80 hours to 100% complete a JRPG. To quote from Brokeback Mountain: "I wish I could quit yew."

Briefly, XC2 tells the story of Rex and Pyra and their quest to reach Elysium, a paradise in the sky. Rex is an earnest young salvager who conscientiously sends his earnings back home, while Pyra is a mild-mannered and sweet-tempered "Blade," or living weapon, which can be wielded by a "Driver." During their journey, the pair encounter various colorful playable and non-playable characters, formidable monsters, and a group called Torna that wants Pyra's power for its own destructive goals.

Like the first Xenoblade Chronicles, XC2 achieves epic scale through, well, scale: the game takes place on a world called Alrest, which consists of the "Cloud Sea" and continent-sized Titans that house all living organisms, including humans, etc. Running around on a giant being while essentially being a microbe evokes a feeling of wonder, an impression helped immensely by the game's outstanding visuals. Of course, the story is appropriately grand, with the world itself at stake, as usual. What starts out as a rather obvious allegory for climate change and humanity's decline becomes an examination of existence.

Image from gamingbolt.com

Of course, love and friendship make every journey worthwhile, and here XC2 performs very well. Every character is my favorite; I simply can't choose one! The playable characters all have an arc and demonstrate a broad range of emotions and reactions. For example, Rex goes from determined to self-doubting to implacable, while Nia learns to trust, without ever losing her signature snark. Meanwhile, their Blades are loyal, loving, and absolute beasts on the battlefield. And the villains are equally engaging, with motivations and histories that turn them into complex, nuanced, and even tragic figures.

But the best part of XC2 is unquestionably its soundtrack. The musical styles run the gamut: hard rock spurs combat; operatic swoops underscore majestic vistas, slapstick twangs mark humorous interactions; and more! I particularly like "Counterattack" and "Kingdom of Tantal (Day)," but the rest of the OST is so good that I don't mind listening to it on repeat. Kudos to Yasunori Mitsuda, et al for yet another excellent body of work.

The tracks perfectly accompany the fabulous cut scenes, which feature a lot of outstanding fight choreography. The voice acting is top-notch, of course, although I can only speak for the Japanese track, which I switched to early on. I did like the UK accents that I heard before the switch!

Now let's talk about some questionable decisions the developers made. The internet is rife with grumbling about the bloated gameplay (here's one example, from Kotaku). Indeed, XC2 is...very extra. This becomes glaringly apparent during combat and sidequests. In combat, there are Driver combos, Blade combos, Fusion combos, Specials, chain attacks, etc., and while players can master these with practice, the absolutely terrible camera angles ruin the fun. I've gone through countless battles where I deliver a devastating blow, and the camera inexplicably focuses on someone's feet or legs. Why? Why?

The aftermath of combat is also a hot mess. Defeating enemies causes money or items to drop, and players have to run around scooping them up. But! If the enemy is, say, an aerial creature that has to be fought over a cliff, say goodbye to your prizes! Rrrrgh! To say nothing of salvaging rare treasure chests, only to lose your chance to open them because an enemy five levels higher got pulled up too. Kyaaaa!

As for sidequests, there are hundreds of them, if you include the Merc Missions, which is how you raise your Blade's Trust levels and max out their affinity charts to unlock special combat skills and Field skills, which are needed to access buried treasure, secret locations, and possibly the cure to cancer. Merc Missions also increase the development level of the various countries you visit, as do talking to NPCs, buying lots of goods at stores, and becoming the owner of said stores. So simple!

The character designs of certain rare Blades have also been dragged (e.g. see this hilarious article about boob monster Dahlia), although I personally have no issue with them. Yes, main character Pyra is in booty shorts, and it took me about 20 hours of gameplay to become inured to her big boobs (which she keeps calling attention to by clasping her hands in front of her chest), but you know what, she's the Aegis, she can wear whatever she wants! Besides, dear Nia is there for contrast, with nary a centimeter of skin showing below the chin.

50% skin vs. 0% skin

And anyway, Rex is the most ridiculously dressed, since he looks like a goddamn blue clown, pardon my French.

Save the world with these clown feet

Let me end with this gripe: the RNG (random number generator) system for acquiring one of the 28 rare Blades is frustrating. In the game, core crystals can be "resonated" with to acquire Blades. There are common, rare, and legendary core crystals, and, as their names suggest, the corresponding likelihood of resonating with a rare Blade. But in practice, it all boils down to chance. To pluck from my own experience: I got KOS-MOS after spamming 44 common cores, T-elos and Perceval from a single common core each, and Zenobia from a combination of common, rare, and legendary. Again: why? Why??? (Actually, this video explains those mechanics pretty well.)

In any case, the fact that I'm still playing XC2 is testament to its strengths overcoming its weaknesses. The characters are great, the story has a good twist, the themes of relationships, self, and memory are thought-provoking, and the music is spectacular. Although I've finished the game and can move on to New Game+, I still have four rare Blades to acquire, and my current rare Blades' side quests to complete. Then, and only then, will I put this game down. Unless some kind person gives me the DLC Torna: Golden Country *cough*Christmasgift*cough*

TL;DR: Flawed but fun, interminable yet addictive! Recommended for non-casual JRPG fans!

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This post brought to you by lentil chips!