Xenoblade Chronicles

So this is it. I knew I was going to make some kind of article about Xenoblade Chronicles once I finished it, but I wasn't sure what it was going to be. A review? I don't know why but the word review just doesn't go with a piece of work as massive and as philosophically deep and huge as Xenoblade Chronicles. I would never be able to say everything I wanted to say. A plot summary? No way. Xenoblade Chronicles nearly took me 90 hours to complete the story and so much of that is cutscenes I just feel like I would never be able to get everything right and include all the things I wanted to with the story of this incredible game being so expansive. Or maybe there would be something I wanted to focus on. Some specific detail or a certain story arc that just makes the game. Bingo. I am going to be talking about the overall story of this game and why it is the best story in any video game ever! But to be fair and honest this is kind of a review but not really... It's basically a review.

(SPOILERS)

Xenoblade Chronicles starts out with a narration telling us that the world was once nothing but a massive sea. And then, suddenly, two enourmous titans "came into existance" in the midst of a massive battle as the two gods, the Bionis and the Mechonis, fought. They slash at each other, with their swords creating massive waves and as the battle waged on and on, the titans eventually grew stiff. They fell into a deep slumber, not before the Bionis severed the Mechonis arm though. Many years later, life has sprung up on the two giants. There are Homs (basically just like humans) Nopon (weird furry balls of comic, insanely cute, but yet super B.A hilariousness) High Entia (super advanced "bird people", basically the Xenoblade Chronicles versions of the Elves from Lord Of The Rings) Telethia, Mechon, and Machina. But Xenoblade Chronicles basically deals with what happens when the giants wake up.

Now, from the beginning, what the player knows is that there was a giant fight between the Bionis and the Mechonis, then they froze, then life sprang up on the two giants, now the Mechon are attacking Homs for an unclear reason. But the thing I like most about Xenoblade Chronicles' twisty, bendy story is that all of this, by the end you realize, is pretty much not true.

Reyn and Shulk set off to get revenge on the faced mechon that you later find out to be Mumkar for attacking Colony 9 and killing Fiora thinking that the Mechon and the Mechonis is their enemy. But the Bionis and Mechonis didn't come into existance fighting. They were living very peacefully with their souls Zanza and Meyneth being very friendly and living in harmony as were their people of Bionis and Mechonis. But then, the Monado came into existence, a sword that could bend the very fabric of the world, Ether. It was selfish and unable to accept the existence of anything but itself and it consumed Zanza, possessing him. Zanza, no, the Monado attacked Mechonis and killed a large amount of the Machina that were living prosperously on the Mechonis chest. And you find out that this was really the start for Egil's hatred toward Bionis and all of its inhabitants and the start of his belief that peace could never be achieved unless Bionis was killed. This is incredibly shocking at the time because to find out that the Monado, the weapon you have been playing with the entire game and the weapon you relied on so much is, ultimately, the villain of the whole story and the reason all of this happened. It's not really Egil that is behind all this! All he saw was just the Bionis suddenly attacking the Mechonis and nothing else. When Zanza reveals to be the main villain of this story, Egil dies, maybe not a hero but certainly not a villain.

Another great and powerful moment in this great and powerful story is when Shulk realizes that the only reason he exists was bacuse Zanza created him to, one day, be his vessel. The look in Reyn's eyes when he says "but that's impossible! We grew up together!" is so sad and heartbreaking. The way Zanza plays all of these characters is so fascinating. Like how the High Entia are made to turn into Telethia when they die which are the destructive servants of Lord Zanza, made to make the 'destruction' part of destruction and recreation a reality. It's heatbraking and so great! Or like when the team realizes that the only reason for the Homs and the Nopon and the High Entia and the creatures of Bionis existance is to die. When they die they are returned to the Bionis and so is their energy, Ether. They are just food for the Bionis. And this is why Egil is sending Mechon to kill Homs. When, Egil says "Are you familiar with the concept of starvation tactics?" I just...I... SO GOOD! And Reyn when he says "Are you saying we're just food!" in horror. I mean just think about how powerful of a plot point that is. These characters realizing they are just insignificant little specs, alive only for the purpose to one day die and give a tiny fraction of the energy the Bionis they live on needs to awaken.

But the main thing that makes this story great is the characters' rebellion and pure will to survive and take control of their own lives. They don't want their futures to be pre-destined by any diety. Their will to fight for their futures is just...it just...it makes me cry. It's the story of a god that wants to rule on his people and control their futures. But the people standing up and fighting right back that makes this story so powerful. "The futures of our children belong to them alone! Though we are their creaters, their lives are theirs to control." - Meyneth to Zanza. At the very end of the story, Shulk has the choice to decide what he wants the new world to be like. He tells Alvis that he wants people to live their lives joyfully, day by day and be in charge of their own future, making their own path as they want it. Shulk gives up his Monado and destroys his world to create a new world. A world where "all life will walk towards the future hand in hand". "A world with no gods!" And that is the foundation of the new world.

"The future doesn't belong to you!" - Shulk to Zanza. What a powerful line. That is definitely going to be on a shirt that I will purchase. :)

Thank you so much for reading and if you want more articles from me then go on the "Who should write more on ZachLogic" form on the homepage and vote for Pace! Until next time.