i've always found him one of my favorite xeno antagonists due the unique exploration of grief and regret that comes with him essentially being noah with a slightly different life experience. the way his introduction into the plot fully cements a shift in the game's framework (which started in ch4) from a story of simple survival to finding meaning in a temporary but fulfilling lifetime is one of my favorite things about xc3, and i adore how his ending is one of understanding and the reconciliation of those feelings rather than one of righteous rejection. also he's just REALLY cool i love his fighting style and general aesthetic and he has a solid helping of patheticness which i love in my male faves
anguh ushiromiyuhh??? still trying to find a style i like. I think im kinda not good at lines in general? Maybe its bc i drew it in a hostpital waiting room, idk.
uuu hi. this will hopefully be my final time making a post like this... i'm calico and after two years of being jobless due to covid i am finally on track to have a job again! the only issue is that it won't start until summer, and i need funds until then... ;;; i have been doing commissions to help with expenses but i unfortunately need to rely on donations for my next goal to be made...!
i just need some money to help cover my monthly medical bills (i am disabled and have to get check ups monthly) & some food expenses for the next few months (up until june!!).
i also am taking care of my dad who is a cancer patient and things can get really hectic really fast so i just want some wiggle room and peace of mind...
i should only need around $500 to feel comfortable, this will eliminate all my stress until my job starts!! it would really be appreciated, if you cannot donate, please spread!! but even $1 helps. please consider helping because this is truly the Final Stretch for me.
Remember how Xenoblade Chronicles was an anime in the mid-90s that never officially came to the west, and the only way to watch it was on bootleg tapes?
Okay, I made that up. But this is how it mightāve looked!
First things first: thisĀ link contains some really useful information on XC3, including party member names and a quick description of the setting. I recommend checking it out if you donāt know this stuff already, otherwise this might be a bit of a confusing read.
Now, to break this trailer down a little:
We start off with Noah playing his flute in the middle of what may be ether particles. Noah is an āoff-seerā, which seems to be someone who mourns for soldiers on the battlefield. This scene does a quick job of getting us into his mindset: heās more spiritualist than being a soldier for Keves would have you believe.Ā Being somewhat in-tune with ether particles also lends credence to this idea.
The flute specifically has a very suspect motif, looking incredibly similar to Zanzaās wings (as shown below). Probably has something to do with Kevesā essence mostly hailing from XC1ā²s universe. Might be something major, or it might just be a little nod.
Back to XC3:
We then get a quick monologue from him over what appears to be Kevesā side of a battle.Ā
āFighting in order to live, and living to fight. Thatās the way of our world- Aionios.āĀ
We get to see that Kevesā technology appears to be based directly on the Machinaās tech, specifically the Face mechs. His dialogue here also seems to indicate that he might be a bit of a pacifist as wellā again contrasting his allegiance to Keves. It also reveals the name of what appears to be a fused XC1/2 world: Aionios. Probably based off some combination of Aion, Aoidos, Bionis, and Mechonis.
We then get some flashes of some of our main cast in what appears to be a battle scene between the Keves and Agnus sides:
This shows off some of their abilitiesā Mioās agile, Lanz has a shield, etc etc but the most interesting thing here is the dialogue.
Noah:Ā āTell me! What would possess you to side with them!?ā
Mio:Ā āWeāre fighting because there are enemies to kill!ā
This indicates that Mio is a bit on the nationalist side of things while Noah, again, might be more pacifistic. This is akin to Elly and Feiās dynamic when they first met, with Elly absorbed in Solarisā propaganda and having to be snapped out of it by Fei. To me, at least, this is one of the things that indicates Agnus might be a little darker than Keves. Iāll go into detail about a few other things later on.
Thereās some other dialogue here too, but itās a little too out of context to be useful.Ā
Lanz(?):Ā āI refuse to believe youāre him!ā
Sena(?):Ā āI knew it... I saw this coming.ā
We get two more shots of presumably major characters:
Dialogue from the Vandham-looking guy is interesting:Ā āYou arenāt... youāre not enemies.ā Guessing heāll get into a scuffle with the party before having some sense beaten into him.
The flutes again!! This is definitely Keves, due to the Shulk FC belt-looking circles on the soldiers as well as flute personās hand tattoo, which is shared by every Keves party member.
Some really cute shots of Noah and Mio playing the flute together:
Seems like Noah either lent her his flute for the first one, or these shots are out of order and they traded flutes. If itās the former, fluting might be a Keves-only thing, and a tradition he teaches her as they work together. More interesting dialogue, again hinting at Noah being more pacifistic while Mioās the dedicated fighter:
Mio: āFine for you, isnāt it? All that time youāve got.ā
Noah:Ā āYou can try. Try and move forwards again.ā
Also hints at Mio having gone through something horrible, which would absolutely check out. Sheās a Flesh Eater, after all.
More shots of what appears to be the fight earlier, this time featuring the healers of each party:
Again, this shows some of Taionās special abilities. Itās possible that, just like Mio and Sena, heās some sort of blade due to his clear supernatural powers.Ā
One thing of note: the symbols on Taionās paper seem to reflect bits of XC2ā²s aesthetic.
This little bit might be something in Alrestian:
Just a neat little nod to how Agnus seems to be more rooted in things that originated from XC2ā²s universe while Keves seems to be stuff from XC1ā²s.
We get more interesting dialogue too:
Eunie:Ā āHow can our lives mean so snuffing little to you?ā
Taion:Ā āTheyāre not your friends anymore, theyāre his fuel.ā
This should be VERY eyes emoji for anybody familiar with Deus, or Deusā expies such as Zanza. Might indicate another godlike life-devourer showing their face.
Some relatively meaty exploration shots:
Thereās some dialogue here. I canāt tell if itās the Vandham-like guy or someone else, but a gruff voice saysĀ āSword-Nacht(????). The land pierced by the great sword. Itās the only way youāre gonna defeat the real enemy.ā
This is probably referring to what you can see in the third image above. Chances are the place around where the Mechonisā sword is stuck in the ground will probably have some kind of McGuffin the party will need to take on whatever existential threat is driving the conflict that forces them to put aside their differences. This threat might also be theĀ āheā that Taion was talking about.
That aside, the environments here are super interesting. Bits of the first and third image look like Bionisā shoulder, the second image looks like the Fallen Arm merged into the rest of the territory, the fourth and fifth image appear to be Keeves-owned territory, the sixth looks like some kind of Machina city, and the last two involve Agnusā magical machinery with the last one in particular looking like a base camp of sorts.Ā
While Keevesā machinery is clearly based off of Machinaās own, the history behind Agnusā tech is a total mystery. A lot of Agnus is, really. Very excited to learn more about whatās under the hood with these people.
A few more exploration shots:
The first shot here looks like remnants of Mor Ardain with a Keeves airship hanging around. Of note is the rail grinding, obviously. The second gives off Makna Forest vibes, and the third is likely Eryth Sea. Something interesting aside from the obvious rail grinding is that you can now put together a 4 person party; the combat implications of this have yet to be seen.
Also, it looks like vehicle travel is back from XCX! Actually super neat, I wonder what other traversal mechanics might be thrown in.
The island in the distance looks a lot like a Leftherian island as well.
Back to cutscenes:
This looks to be a Keeves construct attacking the party, perhaps? Definitely gives off boss fight intro vibes.Ā
This looks to be back at the initial fight scene. Thereās some dialogue here that seems to be taken from another point in the game:
Mio:Ā āWhatever life is lost, I wonāt let you shoulder it all alone.ā
At this point the outfit changes from this fight scene to other points may be obvious to you. It looks like the Keeves and Agnus groups are going to be dressing in uniform colors (black and white, respectively) until they group up and change into more adventure-y clothing, possibly also signifying them breaking off of their nations entirely.
This is just a kinda cute shot of the two helping each other out. Looks like Taionās unique ability comes into play here a little, given those symbols kinda looking like his paper attacks.
Two Nopon, one looking very very very vaguely like Rex?? Probably a coincidence or a tiny homage. I like the idea of Rex having had faded into legend, and this lil guy just wanting to emulate it a little with a wig.
But also I really hope heās not a party member šš Iām a little tired of relevant Nopon!!
We get a little bit of Eunie characterization in what seems to be the Machina city that was seen earlier.Ā
Iām... gonna be completely honest, her accent is pretty indecipherable to me without subtitles. But the dialogue I can make out is kinda interesting!
Eunie:Ā āWhat goodās filling up these flickering clocks(? Might be a fantasy word) in our eyes? Itāll never ablade(????? I have no idea what sheās saying here Iām sorry) the friends weāve lost.ā
Again, that theme of loss that Mio mentioned earlier is back. Given that this gameās main theme is supposed to beĀ ālifeā, itāll probably be important.
Mio and Noah teaming up against a construct of Agnus make. This is another reason why I think Agnus might be a little darker than Keeves, especially with all the mystery surrounding them at the moment. More dialogue here, probably relating to this battle, which will likely be a boss fight.
Mio:Ā āThe flame(? Might beĀ āmainā) clock(?)! It has to go!ā
I have no clue what theseĀ āclocksā are but theyāre definitely important!!
Now hereās something meaty. Melia and Nia, one Keeves and one Agnus, with some very interesting dialogue between them.
Melia:Ā āOuroboros(?) abhor this world.ā
Nia:Ā āThey must be erased without a trace.ā
Obviously the dialogue might be (and probably is) edited like this for purposeful redirection, but itās interesting nonetheless. I canāt tell if Melia is saying Ouroboros or something else but Iām going with the former because itād be really funny coming off of binging all of Kiseki.
Them going bad is very intriguing, especially in the manner of being militaristic leaders bent on going to war with each other. It goes directly against both of their characters, so either something went horribly wrong, or theyāre being controlled/possessed in some way. Those masks are very eyebrow raising as well, Meliaās in particular resembling traditional High Entia masks.
Lastly, the equal parts gorgeous and somber key visual of the game: Uraya cut in half with Mechonisā sword laying next to it. Whatever happened to merge XC1 with XC2, it mustāve been chaotic as hell, and Iām super hyped to see what happened.
Thereās a few more details in the logo for the game, as well:
The little dots look reminiscent of those ether particles or whatever that were emerging when characters were playing the flute. Since being anĀ āoff-seerā involves mourning the dead, Iām assuming fluting has to do with putting them to rest in the form of those particles. Think something akin to Shulk and Reyn dumping those corpses in that ether river toĀ āreturn them to the Bionisā, only this timeĀ
The symbol in the 3 warrants some attention, as it looks like the entire Keeves crew has it tattooed onto them on various parts of their bodies:
This is genuinely super intriguing, and plays a small part in my theory that Keeves is going to be the slightly less dark/fucked up faction at play if theyāre that representative of the game as a whole, though I have zero doubt that the partyās going to tangle with both of them on the way to their ultimate goal.
This trailer is so fucking packed with little details, and yet it somehow manages to tell us just the right amount of Absolutely Nothing. Iām incredibly stoked to learn more of the lore as we get more information on the title, this might be the most hyped Iāve been for a game in years (I like this series a normal and healthy amount!)