A thread where I complain about Xenoblade 2 because I want to and it'll make me feel better.

Go ahead and downvote if you want or whatever, this isn't for you. It's for me.I'm a huge fan of this series but I didn't buy Xenoblade 2. It's a big disappointment for me because it's prominently got a lot of stuff that I abhor: waifuism, lolicon, shonen-style writing, and all forms of pandering. It's been grinding my gears for over a year now.Let's start with some plot stuff.Implying that the Monado is the same as an Aegis is a gross retcon of what Xenoblade was about. The point wasn't just about the Monado being a powerful weapon. Access to a Monado allows the user administrative privilege. The world of Xenoblade began like and indeed functions like a computer simulation, and a Monado allows a user to see possible futures because the behavior of Ether is completely predictable. Alvis was never a person.Zanza was therefore a believable character. Once a normal human, he became corrupted by lust for power. He let his increased perception of reality blind him to the fact that the struggles and accomplishments of the people of his world had the capacity to equal his own.Xenoblade 2 retcons both of these. Now the Monado is (heavily implied to be) just another "Sword guy", but like a really STRONG sword guy that can do mAGIC and stuff. Zanza ceases to be understandable as a character when we're told he's just an "evil half". "Evil halves" can still be kind of useful--Klaus is still understandable as a character only through Zanza, for instance--but it's weak writing. A character that becomes irredeemable through their own actions is both more likable and more hateable than an "evil half".Don't even get me started on villain motivations. Xenoblade 2's main villain is like Dickson but you only met him after the big twist. That's boring as hell. I don't know anything about the other guys other than "wants the (other) Aegis because it's strong and stuff".Now let's talk about pandering.It's a statistical fact that media that supports pedophilia or violence or rape DOES NOT make people commit crimes. It is, however, immoral. Immorality of any kind can be a useful writing tool if it's done tastefully. Hell, it doesn't even have to be done tastefully. Violence is often immoral but it's almost ubiquitous in media. That doesn't mean that all violence is created equal when it comes to writing. On the other hand, fanservice by definition doesn't have anything to say or to present. It's just indulgence. It's nothing special. I don't like settling for mediocrity, especially mediocrity that makes me uncomfortable.It's not an accident they hired a hentai artist to do character designs for this game.Gameplay I won't comment on because I never bought the game. I'm sure it's plenty fun, but skill matching is super huge in the JRPG scene right now and it really just does not resonate with me. I hardly used it in Xenoblade 1. I also haven't played enough of the game to know if it has religious symbolism, but I really hope it does.So what's my point with all this? Xenoblade 2 is like going to my favorite restaurant and ordering something new, and getting a plateful of peanut butter. It's fine to love peanut butter and eat the whole thing, but it's boring and I just so happen to think peanut butter is disgusting.Of course you can ignore all of this because media is almost completely subjective. Making a meta-narrative about fanservice Evangelion-style doesn't necessarily make it better, I just feel like it's higher art. But IMO games shouldn't strive for the lowest common denominator, especially the grandchild of Xenogears. via /r/Xenoblade_Chronicles https://ift.tt/2r6z5XS