#i love him but he has all of the traits of an antivillain | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kob131 · 2 years

Text

https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/sx8okp/how_miles_and_kerry_create_division_within_the/

Due to the length of this post- I’m sorry but I’m going to have to summarize this.

1. “James Ironwood was never suppose to be morally grey because he was always meant to be a villain.”

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Laconic/AntiVillain

“ Someone who lacks several key villainous traits, but is still ultimately a villain. “

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Laconic/FallenHero

“ A villain that used to be a hero. “

Both of these are classified as morally grey

That statement is just not true. Being morally grey and being a villain are not mutually exclusive. In fact, this goes AGAINST the idea of being morally grey because all that means is that the morality in question is neither absolute good nor absolute evil. It is the opposite of the absolute.

And yes I know that James losing his arm is symbolic of him losing parts of his humanity- The same is said of Darth Vader and he’s still morally grey.

2. “Mantle doesn’t look THAT bad.”

... It looks like the ghetto in my city, just not as big. It certainly looks far worse than Atlas, the city LITERALLY above them. Not to mention that they have Atlesian drones stomping throw the streets with people reacting with fear (slowly stepping away and children cowering in front of a drone before throwing rocks at them). If that wasn’t bad, why are they so apprehensive? And if the giant fucking projection is so not bad, why does it also play a part with Winter saying ‘Listen to and obey Atlesian authorities or be arrested?’

You can try to say that it’s not showing a dictatorship but that wasn’t the point. It’s suppose to show Ironwood overstepping his boundaries which eventually devolve INTO dictatorship.

And how is ‘we just lost all our jobs and we live in fear of our own general’ NOT build up to a fucking riot? You don’t acknowledge the fear and anxety the drones cause so why would anyone trust if they don’t already WANT to buy your shit.

Also I love that you try citing Itsclydebitches about fucking CODING. May as well tattoo ‘Ironwood dick sucker’ on your forehead.

3. " We were never TOLD why Team RWBY lied so we need to make up headcanons!"

"Ruby: What about it?

Yang: (frowning) We're really not gonna tell Ironwood about what happened to Oz? What we learned about Jinn? About Salem?

Ruby: We are. (small sigh) We will. But you saw how things looked when we flew into Atlas.

Blake: The General's heart seems to be in the right place, but that doesn't mean we should trust him yet.

Weiss: We need to play along for a while before we make any major decisions"

Yes we are. They directly say so. You even quote Ruby's part but disregard it because you refuse to acknowledge the people of Mantle's discomfort beforehand.

While they actually acknowledge that the military can cause issues...they frame this as a Volume 2 thing alone and STILL refuse to acknowledge that our first shot of Mantle is covered with disdain for Atlas and fear of the military meant to protect them.

And it gets worse. In the section, they bring up a line from Blake to prove that the military presence is a bad thing. But they not only ignore the demands of Ironwood for obedience but also the line mentioning that James is RESTRICTING ASSEMBLY.

As in, something so fundamental it is an INALIENABLE RIGHT.

He also tries saying a military presence is necessary as a response against the Grimm while disregarding Huntsmen as 'incompetent'...even though the military of Atlas has about the SAME track record.

His notes also try to say that James didn't abandon Mantle because the drones (worse than Huntsmen), Ace Ops (showed up late to the invasion of Grimm) and Penny (single person) are there...even though that was first brought up in V7 E7 by Nora in reference to him STILL not fixing a single hole.

AND said note try to say the Grimm die in the cold and the info about them adapting doesn't count because it's outside material...even though the info about Grimm dying in the cold is ALSO from outside material (WOR: Atlas) so the whole point kills itself.

This was just one long string of 'Imma ignore canon to make my argument

4. 'Ironwood is inconsistent because Yang's arm and stuff.'

So this whole argument is that the actions of James throughout the Volume wasn't because he was supposed to be nice and a good man but because plot, fans just see it as him being nice.

... To demonstrate just how earthrendingly stupid this is, I want you (the reader) to think back to all the scenes following; Ruby lying to Ironwood; discussing it with the rest of her team and Oscar; being gifted her huntsman liscense where she talks with Qrow; Yang and Blake's talk before Robyn; Oscar telling her to say the truth; Ironwood confronting them; Yang pushing back against Ruby; Ruby breaking down-

How, in the world, does this make sense if James is absolute evil?

From what I observe: it doesn't. All of that was the result of his good nature. But just as OP is not a bad person even though they are wrong- General James Ironwood was wrong as well. Just like Team RWBY, just like Ozpin.

5. "Why should we side with Robyn over Ironwood,? She doesn't have a plan!"

This isn't about plans. It's about morals and principles. And Robyn never betrayed her morals. She's still flawed in her anger (you can tell her anger isn't a good thing due to her similarity in expression with Yang pre-Volume 4) but she actually tried to help her people while James made far off promises with no reason to believe in him.

6. "The wall offense is contrived! Weiss or Winter can use Dust and it has no defenses!'

But it lets people know James is thinking of them. It lets them know that the general cares outside of a plan that he tells no one but expects everyone to believe in.

This is why morals are so important. Not only do they ensure you don't fall off your path, they endear you to others and breeds trust with them.

Oz understood this. That's why, even as Salem was right on the doorstep of Beacon and he needed a Maiden, he gave Pyrrha room and time to think. Why even as his school burned, he still asked for her permission. Something so necessary that even Salem, loathing everthing he is, imitates him. So necessary that James realized it on the grand scale, sadly not the smaller though.

7. "You can't tackle real life issues with cartoony villains, it's not believable!"

Believable. AKA Realistic right?

I remember people saying the same as the P5 villains. Just how many Kamoshidas and Shidos did we find out about?

Fuck, you could replace Madarame with RT and lose nothing.

8. "The materials needed to fix the wall and to build Amity doesn't make sense! Amity needed fuel not structure!"

"Pietro: Uh... We’ve made decent progress on construction and fuel collection, all potentially manageable, but uh… hm… Amity was designed so it couldn’t launch itself without first being granted clearance from General Ironwood’s terminal"

"Manageable" and "Finished" are not the same. The former denotes uncertainty and unpredictability while the latter firmness and certainty. You would not engage a "manageable" project and not a "finished" one without outside forces forcing you.

9. "This leads to two fans. One who think Ironwood is evil for not helping Mantle and one who thinks Robyn is stupid for interfering with Amity!"

Why would you jump to "Ironwood evil" and not "Ironwood is flawed" given that the characters even within Team RWBY are conflicted on him?

And how would Robyn know about Amity before Yang and Blake? Is she a member of the audience?

10. " Why is Ironwood blamed for all Mantle issues?!"

He's not. He's blamed for the neglected security, military presence, neglected infrastructure (the hole), Dust embargo and out of date security. All things under his control.

And yes, the Dust embargo is his fault not Jacques

If Jacques can't bring in enough demand to warrant enough supply that his workers are meant to produce- he can't get enough profit to pay his workers and would need to lay them off. See also: The 2020 lockdowns.

11. "What about the council huh?! They okay with Schnee bad man because of his unrelated business practices so they trustworthy?!"

James has been doing this WITHOUT consulting the council. V7 E8 was all about that.

Also Jacques' business practices have nothing to do with him being a council member. That's just an ad hom.

12. "Atlas political system vague!"

Congrats on the ONE point...that doesn't matter...after borderline cartoonish stupidity.

I'd give you a cookie if I thought you could eat it without choking to death.

13. "We not know enough to know what is power abuse!"

... Maybe the shit that OTHER council members call him out on? Or just...the violation of basic human rights like assembly? Common sense?

14. "Dictatorship not evil!"

And James isn't pure evil either. He also only became a dictator post V7 E11 while you say he's always been this way.

And it's bad because he's ditching the people he's suppose to be serving to die. I would think 2021's Afghanistan disaster would showcase why that's bad.

15. "Team RWBY stance no flesh out! Ruby no trust Ironwood because Mantle but help Amity?!"

You ever stop to think the talk of James looking tired and his desperation with Oscar might have played a part? Why bring this up if it's not relevant? Do they really need to explain BASIC writing for you to understand?

And no, helping Ironwood with Amity is not a contradiction. That only comes up after seeing Robyn and between Penny's frame job and the aftermath she wouldn't have time to do so.

16. "Blake and Yang trust Robyn but no Ironwood?! HYPOCRISY!"

"Blake: I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing.

Blake crosses her arms, and her cat ears completely fold over.

Yang: Then, maybe we shouldn't"

The standard is "we're doing what he should have done" and "we're meant to be hypocritical."

For a man who talks about stereotypes (Sorry, "coding") you sure do miss stereotypical tropes.

16. "Team RWBY no say what they do in he shoes!"

*What the fuck do you think their talk about the wall and Yang helping the citizens in Volume 8 was about?*

17. "Norwma go cuckoo and no sky why Ironwood action not best! She just say Mantle suffers!"

"You'll just be trading all these problems for the Grimm."

... I will now require exact quotation and citation from you from now on.

18. "Narrative no answer why he dumb!"

You outright admit to the military being incompetent here, killing a previous point.

You just have to ruin any chances at a good point, don't you?

19. "Narrative no give reason why Ironwood stupid, like about raising Atlas!"

It's. About. Morals.

James has been preaching these morals of self sacrifice and fighting against impossible odds when he gave them their licences and is now turning his back on them. His decision isn't even framed as rational but bullheaded.

20. "This situation is nuance because neither solution is best but writers act otherwise!"

The fucking show is built off being moral and good in the face of a harsh and cruel world. It went down on Ozpin AND Team RWBY for failing to uphold their principles.

It's not the creators' fault you can't understand anything without being treated as a baby.

21. "Team RWBY meant to be absolute-"

No, they're not. Right or wrong. The show has gone as far as to beat the moral into your head (the risk speech). This is no longer their fault.

22. "It like WF plotline!"

Where no one fucking gets it right due to their own political bullshit? That is right.

23. "They do Damge Control and make Ironwood irredeemably evil-"

Darth Vader blew up a fucking planet. He was redeemed. Kiritsugu Emiya committed every sin in the book. He was redeemed.

Eat my ass.

24. "They no establish gravity dust could stop fall so staff deus x machine!"

It. Didn't.

"The show no do show stuff good-"

You wanna know the fucking hilarious thing?

I actually agree with the statement that RWBY is flawed at conveying info. But considering that this post has NO unambiguously good points, I may have to question that. They try to say that the fandom is incorrectly assuming James is supposed to be morally grey, well intentioned man but flawed...when the show all but SCREAMS that in your face. This person even portrays "morally grey" and "well intentioned but flawed" as separate camps. It really goes to show that they can't understand any morality outside of absolutes

I don't regret the mocking representations. The source is right there. And this shit is inexcusable.

It doesn't matter how well the show gets at conveying info if someone will just ignore or be incapable of comprehending it.

22 notes · View notes

stvlti · 4 years

Text

10 female characters tag

@timothydraike tagged me to post 10 favourite female characters from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people, but honestly this list isn't gonna be too different from my 10 fave characters list cause most of them are women anyway 😂 😂 but here you go:

Nausicäa // Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Studio Ghibli

I didn't explain it last time, but I feel like she is the prototype for all the Ghibli girl heroines, free and autonomous, except she's a young woman who knows exactly what she believes in and wants to do. She's a warrior princess who believes in peace and kindness rather than war; she listens to mother nature and tends to her garden as deftly as she handles her glider jet; she's a born leader who puts her subjects' wellbeing before her own immediate safety. This gif here shows the moment she took of her own gas mask to boost morale while they're crashing into a toxic wasteland. I don't think I've seen many representations of female leadership as compelling and utterly human as hers was before or after this film debuted in popular media.

Harley Quinn // DCU

She's a bundle of contradictions but it's in that I find a female antivillain/antihero that feels real. Her stocky build and bit of chub in the tummy area? Real. Her slobbish habits and love for nasty junk food? Real. Her all encompassing empathy for animal welfare? Real. Disregarding the artists that draw her with too big boobs, she's so ordinary in her appearance and habits that it actually feels like she's the kind of girl that media often overlooks. She's like the manic pixie dream girl but rounded out with relatable human traits.

Tsunemori Akane // Psycho-Pass

I related to her when I was 20 (exactly her age at the start of the series) because I was at a crossroads in life, just as she was. I was searching for my calling, just as she was trying to understand her purpose and place in society. And at that point in my life, I could appreciate the duality between abiding by the system (legal reformation) and questioning the system (dipping into revolutionary ideas). I can't see myself relating to a cop anymore now obviously, but she's a rather unique figure that I still think about.

Ava // Ex Machina (2014), filmblr

She brings out all my post-humanist sympathies. And I think she captures a sort of queer android and Other perspective, one that the male characters feel threatened by, that women can understand well.

Maeve Millay // Westworld

She's my murder mom. Something something about "I've died a thousand times, I'm not afraid of death" (I'm paraphrasing majorly), she's so badass. The fact that she was one of the first androids to awaken and actually challenge the humans, there's so much power in her taking her trauma in stride and moving forward nonetheless. And I think you can see a recurring theme here lolol

Lois Lane (Gotham City Garage) // DCU Elseworlds

Perhaps this is just preserving a core attribute of her main continuity counterpart, but I absolutely adore the spirit she embodies of journalists who stay defiantly committed to truth and justice in the face of insurmountable odds. Fighting against a fascist terror regime - which hits very close to home - and keeping the broadcast going even out in the wasteland. In this last aspect she carries similarities to Dr. Death Defying's character from Gerard Way's Killjoys series, except she's a woman and she was actually fleshed out as a character with a heart and soul and a lot of gravitas. How can you not love her?

(and I forgot this was supposed to be 10 characters from 10 different fandoms until I finished this list but let's say her being an Elseworlds character counts as a different fandom 🤡🤡)

Ripley // Alien (even tho Sigourney Weaver's personal politics is a bit yikes)

The proto-final girl and original warrior mother in sci-fi wrapped into one. (Ok, the crown for modern scifi warrior mother might have to go to Sarah Connor actually, but that's also another Cameron invention so they can share that title.) Even tho I can't relate to most of her character arc, I'm still very impressed by her character. They even touch on her PTSD a little which is unheard of in the contemporary movies at the time.

Honorary mention: Sarah Connor // Terminator

Marceline the Vampire Queen // Adventure Time

Not the original goth gf, but she is a goth gf. Gay and aesthetics aside, I really liked that the show let her be a bit weird and gross (which she should be considering she's kind of undead) and her tragic backstory gets me every time. The best thing is she's still a big softie, who takes good care of Ice King / Simon when he's around; you don't see that kind of (grand)daughter character in media much.

Beverly Marsh // It (2017)

I haven't read the book but tbh I liked the agency the first movie awarded her enough that I'm afraid of jeopardising it; I don't like how the book portrays / handles her sexuality. She is a survivor of csa, but she's a fighter regardless. I like that about her.

Darlene Alderson // Mr. Robot

I honestly debated putting her on this list again since I haven't seen a single Mr. Robot episode in so long, but I do remember her character being given her own arc in S2 (and onwards I suppose) and she's a little fucked up in her own way. People look at Rami's character and get sucked in sorting through his alters but Darlene is no less complex - damaged, dangerous, and compelling.

Other honorary mentions:

Riko Sheridan // DCU (an Asian girl who isn't infantilised or reduced to the model minority? shocker!)

Missy // Colette (2018), filmblr (she's actually a real historical figure so I'm not sure if she counts. But she's so radical and ahead of her time - in fact the film seems to suggest she prefers he/him pronouns. I have never seen such intriguing butch representation and I just fell in love with her character. Worth a watch.)

Jo March // Little Women (2019), filmblr (since we're talking about historical women... well, she's a period film character but not a real one, but she's highly evocative of certain female experiences in much the same way)

Blue // The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (so I didn't wanna crowd this list with too many android ladies but she's the first queer android girl character I came across and I loved her instantly. Too bad they buried her gay but her entire concept is my aesthetic)

Rem // Death Note (I feel like I'm obligated to mention DN, too bad it has shitty writing wrt female characters, that's why I have no choice but to stan the lesbian monster gf friend who is so in love with her gal pal she would die for her. Ugh, poetic cinema)

Ok now I am gonna tag @lawliyeeeet @sweetgloss @dressed-to-keehl @3dnygma @hikenacedabi and anyone else who wants to I guess

#tag meme #long post

6 notes · View notes

sometipsygnostalgic · 6 years

Text

xenoblade chronicles 2 rapidfire review

π after i started writing up a 5000 word review and was still on the “character” section ive decided to make a rapidfire version to get to the fucking point.

Story - at the end of the day, it’s a tale about how to deal with all the pain and insecurity that life throws at you. how to dig down deep and find a way to continue in what you may interpret as a dreadful world. it also has some of the most satisfying mysteries and plot resolutions i’ve ever seen in a videogame. utterly touching themes. unfortunately gets a bit too shonen at points especially with the protagonist. also quite possibly a lowkey harem anime.

Story rating - 8 out of 10.

Characters - mostly all amazing in the english version.

Rex - a top lad. your best mate. however, becomes a total flawless gary stu pretty quickly. better than many protagonists out there. i like the way he gets people to open up by acting so casually friendly around them. 7 out of 10.

Pyra - unfortunately the weakest character in the main cast. has 3 forms that are treated as different characters for some reason, and no emotions beyond “sad” and “in love with rex”. her mythra form is a slightly better character who will talk to other cast members and sass down people. however mythra also comes across as weak and overly emotionally fragile at times, considering she is supposed to be the Master Blade. i suspect she exists for rex to have 4 3 girlfriends at once.

Azurda - dragon grandpa. subversive in that when he dies for the hero to move on from the homeland, he immediately resurrects himself as a cute furry thing that sleeps in rex’s helmet. best videogame decision ever. gives top advice.

Nia - welsh. double furry. how old is she? 6? most useful NPC. swears a hell of a lot. hilarious sassmaster with an intriguing story and well-rounded motivations. consistently interesting relationships with other cast members up to the end of the game. even remains the same after receiving her compulsory magical girl transformation. has the most awesome magical girl transformation. gives the main villain super cancer, causing him to blow up like harry potter’s aunt. probably the best character. lightly orbits the black hole of the rex harem, struggling to maintain geostational stability against the powers of fanservice.

Dromarch - a good dad cat. there is not a lot else to say about dromarch, except that you can ride him, which is badass. he and azurda are the old dad types babysitting the kids.

Tora - meh meh. actually likable mechanic child. why is this furry cat thing a key member of my party. despite rarely ever upgrading his blade he has made me basically immortal many times. nopon mask is underrated. masterpon is same at start of game as at end of game. that is to say he is an ambitious child, and a bit of a pervert. however, has terrible taste in upgrades. has many IRL blades pointed at him.

Poppi - poppi artificial blade who speak like masterpon. poppi α has cool design. poppi α adorable and cool. due to being newborn blade, poppi have refreshing and truthful view on world. poppi have tragic artificial sister who almost die terribly after evil nopon brainwash! poppi have most sad heartbreaking scene at end of game. however, poppi QT and poppi QT π designs can die in big fire. poppi good at throwing shade. it endearing and special trait.

Morag - technically the group normie. however, very weird. when you first see morag she reeks of pure chilled badassery. logical and with a strong sense of justice and compassion, morag starts off as an intimidating antivillain but becomes a staple member of the party. even though rex and the gang are fugitives in her city, she lets them leave because she senses they weren’t crooked ruffians and they had a purpose of their own. but she comes back to kick their ass when she thinks they’re causing more trouble, and is actually quite pissed off about rex and pyra holding back on her. has a sweet relationship with the emporer, her distant cousin/adoptive kid brother. morag learns on her adventure the value of the optimistic views the kids around her have of the world, and says multiple times if more people thought like they did, maybe there wouldn’t be so much political nonsense stopping people from living together peacefully. morag has a lot of pride and cannot deal with being oneupped. i love her.

Brighid - Morag’s wife blade who is one of many that struggles with the thought of losing her identity after regenning. has a diary of her past lives. uses it to taunt mythra about that one time she kicked her ass. pretends to be a little distant but low key super emotionally invested in the cast’s development. literally asked a main villain if she was like her past self that he knew, causing him to reconsider his entire philosophy on blades becoming completely different people when they’re reborn. bitchslaps rex that one time. Owns everybody at some point. such a beautiful character design that i never even noticed her chest is basically bare.

shellhead Zeke - the prince... of NOTHING. wishes he was still a student. that one time he nearly died, he was probably impaled by a falling twig. enjoyed playing Team Rocket. surprisingly wise for a teenlike NEET. does not look after his precious turtle. potentially does have a thunder powered eye. however, definitely requires second contact lens. unfortunately not comparable to rex in combat especially as his Luck stat means using a legendary crystal on him is like throwing it away.

Pandoria - i often forget pandoria is a blade because she is zeke’s girlfriend, also i never use her in battle due to his redundentness. well reknowned for also not looking after turtles properly. also well reknowned for slam dunking the prince over his nonsense while being equally silly.

BAD GUYS

Jin - apparently has special people-drawing trait that makes all the good cast who know him shocked he is ordering such evil bastard things to happen. not entirely sure what that trait is. emo about much bad stuff that happen to him and his driver. wishes to never forget his life with his driver. dirty child killer.very aniime. why is he the only flesh eater whose core turns red? okay character with decent enough motivation. was confused as to why Malos was following him until the very end.

Malos - evil bastard. cheesy villain. you can kick his ass many times and he will get back up 3 minutes later and laugh at you while swallowing back the bile of a bitter defeat. is actually a little tragic by the end of the game. dies for no reason. makes morag jealous because he found his purpose in life, though im not sure what that is.

Akhos - N3RD. probably the most likable member of Torna. had a silly Blade companion who he was really upset died. i like how he was sentimental about his ‘sister’ blade.

Patroka - most forgettable Torna member. a little bit tsundere.

Mikhail - grew on me significantly at the end though like Akhos and Patroka his backstory was unceremoniously dumped on your lap at the last second. must be a great fan of Prince Zeke as he’s heard of the term Blade Eater. also why has Mikhail got awesome blade powers and immortality when Zeke hasnt? maybe Mikhail is “possessing” the blade per se.

Amalthus - emo bitch. stared God in the face and raised his middle finger. hypocritically creates flesh eaters then sends witch hunts out for them. i like that he reminded himself every day about how bad humanity was by doing his best to help people. so despite the praetor being this “benevolent” figure he had somehow manifested a being of pure hatred.

Theres a lot of other people I cant be assed talking about right now.

Character rating - 9 out of 10. Even though some important characters arent as impactful as they should be, everybody is memorable and I can remember all of their damn names and backstories.

Gameplay - not particularly amazing. battles are alright, RPG-wise, with orb breaking combos and cancelling being fun to use. but they’re highly limited by the fact you can only control 1 character at a time and there is no Co-op feature. they also take an incredibly long time, even for just one enemy encounter, and there can be unfair Spike damage moves that oneshot you. my most satisfying moment battling ever was when i was fighting Aeon, the final boss, and got a Full break for the first time... I decimated the fucker when he was at 60% health.

Of course, those are just the battle mechanics.

The game is full of complex mechanics that do nothing but add tedium. Every single quest in the game forces you to farm for certain “collectibles”, plants that grow in specific unlisted locations that respawn when you fast travel. Many character “affinity” upgrades, which can lock out certain areas of the map, special skills, or unique interactions, also require you to do this shit. A guide is NECESSARY for this. There’s also the Merc Missions. Little did you know, you will need to complete Merc Missions to reach the end of many blade quests!!!you know what’s FUN? Waiting for a timer to pass after 25 fucking minutes!!!! this game has NO RESPECT FOR YOUR TIME WHATSOEVER.

the biggest bullshit of all is when you’re locked out of the main story because a specific character on your team hasn’t unlocked level 3 of a specific skill, because there’s no way that you’d be able to unlock that by naturally playing the game as you have to go out of your way to fill the criteria and grind something or other for 20 minutes.

This makes sidequests absolutely worthless.

The saving grace for the gameplay is probably the customizability of the blades themselves. Not so much the skills you can attach to each blade, but that you can unlock a number of fun characters to use, and they will have their own unique dialogue. The drivers and blades talking during battle also makes a 20 minute fight feel a lot quicker.

Battle gameplay mechanics: 6 out of 10. Fun but could be better. Sidequests, crafting, and field skill mechanics : 1 out of 10. Worthless trash that should never have been greenlit.

Considering that you will be spending so much time on the gameplay, why even bother playing the game at all?

It’s very much the story that pushes the player to move onwards. If this game didn’t have such a fun cast and meaningful plot then I’d probably not have gotten past the first act.

Music and Environments - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is filled with vast, beautiful and diverse environments. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of interactivity with them other than killing monsters or foraging those bloody collectibles, but they’re beautiful enough with a diverse range of monster inhabitants that give them life. The MUSIC is godlike. My favourite track in the game would be the song used for the city in Tantal. Very ominous and beautiful hymn, sung in English.

Music and environment rating - 8 out of 10.

Localisation - While many sneer at the localisation choices for this game I thought it brought it to life. Granted I have great bias as being a Welsh girl who is familiar with the differences in UK regional dialect, but it felt like the dialogue the characters were saying also had a heavy makeover to fit the new voices... I really don’t believe that Rex’s Japanese voice actor also sounded like a Top Lad, or that Nia’s japanese voice actor sounded as much like she was ready for a valleys bar fight. However there are some clear obstacles as well - the characters seemed to have no idea of the context of their lines. This is obvious when they shout something for a long time. Rex’s “HIYAAAAAAAAH” and Nia’s “NOOOO MOOOOORE” sound comically off-tone when they are supposed to be epic. It’s the works of someone who read those lines off a script without knowing what was going on. Tora’s actor saying “meh meh” sounds like it was meant to be a COMPLETELY different noise. Morag and Zeke never go off-course, however. I think either they had an advantage with more visuals being completed by the time they were cast, or they just don’t have diverse enough dialogue in the game for it to have been an issue.

Localisation - 7.8/10 too much Meh.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Xenoblade chronicles 2 is a highly addictive game that pulls you to the finish line with an interesting plot and a cast you just can’t let go of. While Pyra is certainly the weakest link of the characters, and the game has some extremely goofy shonen scenes that it’s hard to take seriously, and oh dear me that’s an awful lot of boob shots, I had a lot of fun powering through it. I’m going to have a tough time letting go of this story and these characters.

Unfortunately the gameplay itself is not similarly addictive, and becomes more of a chore for you to get to the next cutscene or funny interaction.

Final rating - 6.5 out of 10. While a worthwhile experience, the greatest story in the world cannot save this game from piss-standard design choices. It is probably better to spend your time on a game that doesn’t have anti-fun mechanics. But I’d be hard pressed if any had a cast that touched your hearts quite like that of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

4 notes · View notes