A Party with Purpose | Xenoblade Chronicles

[@Cyndr22]

There's a really nice detail about Riki's character even though he doesn't have much of an arc himself. He tends to play a mentor and counselor figure for everyone else ein the party, even Dunban. Especially during heart to hearts, he's often giving his friends new perspectives and helping them to refocus or let go of baggage. It's a good reminder that although he's silly and irresponsible sometimes, he's also a father and has a lot of life experience to share

[@PretzelYT]

I definitely did think of the moment with Riki, Dunban, and Melia on the Fallen Arm when writing his section, but I left it out to stay focused. It was a really great scene though, I loved it.

[@AlexCat92]

I think an important aspect of Reyn is his dynamic with Sharla. He is obviously very attracted to her, but he knows she is grieving her partner and he is just supportive and mature about it. When Shulk suggest she replaces Gadolt's rifle, Reyn tells him off and validates her feelings. He also stops Dunban from attacking Mechon Gadolt. Basically, he realises that Sharla's feelings come before his in this situation and tries his best to be a supportive friend for her. Generally, just a super mature way to handle a situation that most 19 year olds boys would probably not be great about. I'm happy you mentioned that Riki is established to be a great dad. Another thing you don't mention is that Riki is not Kino's biological dad, he just decided to adopt him when he was orphaned, despite the fact that he already had a massive family, and was hugely in debt because of it. Heropon might be a made up title, but he already was a heropon as far as I'm concerned.

[@janrosa7243]

Melia drop kick on sleeping Shulk was a desperate move to advance the plot. But yeah the argument that XC1’s characters are underdeveloped or secondary is imo done through ignorance be it intentional or unintentional. The game has a ridiculous amount of optional dialogue and no one has taken the time to document it all unfortunately.

[@PretzelYT]

Yeah there is a LOT of optional story stuff in this game. Thankfully, all the heart-to-hearts and basically the whole script is uploaded on the Xenoseries Wiki. That was a great resource. Plus I got to read up on some exchanges that I didn't have the right party affinity to see in-game. 😅

[@samueltitone5683]

I think the sequels had the right idea by not locking heart-to-hearts behind affinity.

[@linnaealyn]

All of the H2Hs and all of their paths have been documented and iirc all of the optional dialogue any characters might have if you have them in your party when you're doing certain sidequests is also documented. That makes up for the majority of the optional dialogue that I can currently think of.

[@drumcanjones]

What a bunch of jokers.

[@linnaealyn]

Riki's best development is with all of the party members in all of his heart to hearts. He's very much a support party member that takes a backseat to the rest. If you havent unlocked all of the H2Hs you're missing out on a lot of character development/exploration in general. Like Riki offering to adopt Shulk, just like we later find out he did with Kino, the new character introduced in 2020.

[@altarium4220]

That Shulk and Riki H2H at the Distant Fingertip is probably my favorite one. Riki offering to be Shulk’s dad was such a touching moment, and really goes to show his kindness and selflessness. He wanted Shulk to have an actual family and didn’t hesitate to bring him into his. Unfortunately Riki’s maturity is only appreciated in H2H outside of the conversation with Dunban at the beach.

[@face_nemesis]

i’ve gotten really attached to this party in a way i haven’t for other games. i think it’s the way each of them has a unique dynamic with each other. if you haven’t but plan to play xenoblade 3, they do it exceptionally well there too

[@dameme8043]

Man, I absolutely adored your summary of Fiora's arc in particular, because it really helped me realize just why she was always my favorite member of the XC1 cast when I first played it years and years ago. Coming back to the story through this video, I'm realizing that Fiora's story arc easily resonates with the experience of many trans people (though it's not 1:1, after all very few allegories ever are), but especially my own lived experience. The act of being placed in a body she's not familiar with and the struggle to both cope with that and longing to be the version of herself she wants to be, the reappearance of Shulk and her other loved ones in her life after disappearing for so long, and the fact that she feels like she's changed so much as to be almost an entirely different person when she does reappear in their lives. These are all very relatable feelings to things I've had to experience due to my own identity, even if they're just in a different order and with a more fantastical spin on them. What feels most poignant is how, even after feeling like she's a completely different person, like a foreigner among her own family and friends, Shulk reminds her that her personality, her memories, and her emotions are not so drastically different that it invalidates the love that everyone has for her. She's different, but for good or bad, she's still the person that they care about, despite those changes. And that's honestly just really beautiful from an allegorical standpoint. Honestly, this was a really comfy and well-made video, kudos to you for the great work. And to everyone who made it through this whole comment, I hope you all have a great day!

[@Nyperold018]

There is a bit of "Got anything else you want to brag about?" in one of their conversations, though I forget if that was in a Heart-to-Heart or a regular cutscene, and yeah, they mostly drop it. And then she has to deal with some -- or maybe just that one guy -- of the remaining High Entia demonizing the ones who weren't diluted enough to avoid becoming Telethia. It hurt enough, I'm sure, to go around and take on all those sidequests where you put Telethia to rest, even ones you may have done other sidequests for. Now she has to hear them slandered as a group.

[@XxguaxinimxX.]

That was a great video! "A Party with Purpose" is def a good title, too!

[@PretzelYT]

I'm gonna be trying out some more titles like this over the next month or so. I like the idea of a couple impactful words to try and hook the viewer. We'll see how the format works for other videos, once I thought up "A Party with Purpose" I KNEW that had to be title. Not sure if I'll come up with one as good as that for future videos, but I'll try.😅

[@iishiir]

17:33 damn the jealousy goes crazy

[@spicyananaspizza]

Your videos are by far my favourite to fall asleep to, and I mean that in a good way. Your storytelling is interesting and your voice is so relaxing. Like I'm getting told a bedtime story :)

[@thehypist2587]

Excellent job on covering the areas and characters of Xenoblade Chronicles! I hope you do similar videos for the other two games in the series, as their locations and characters are just as good, if not better than the first one.

[@STARSVeteran]

I never played the Xenoblade series, but I enjoyed this video a lot.

[@PretzelYT]

Thank you for your perspective, I was curious if a video like this would be satisfying to someone who hasn't played the game before. Glad to hear it was for you.

[@WoobertAIO]

Ah let me predict the next video: "Could you SURVIVE in Mechonis?"

[@devincombs4509]

I believe there's more than just fioras head left, but that isn't really explored. Her alternate outfits show off more skin, so her torso is most likely intact to some degree under her armor. She definitely had some of her organs removed and she is somehow being powered by electricity or ether or something. Only running off of water that she drinks is kind of a weird way of sustaining a robotic body. Ether has weird and unexplained properties so maybe that has something to do with it, especially when you think about how ether works in the next game.

[@KurowChibifan1]

if you look closely at her swimsuit outfits you can see robo-lines running up her skin, so it's actually all fake!

[@Nelsito99]

7:23 this connects to a heart to heart from the main game that riki has with i think sharla

[@TheJaredPunch]

I love all of the Xenoblade casts. 1 is no exception. I need to get back to 1 and play through NG+

[@MartKart8]

That was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fiora appeared, the last 2 Smash games before that, fiora wasn't part of Shulk's Final Smash. Do wonder if Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be mentioned as Shulk is in the DLC for it. Shulk is also in the DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, funny how Shulk appears in most of the games.

[@HectorT52]

Smash ultimate is an spoiler machine, it spoils both Mumkar and Fiora's twist with spirits, I am surprised they didnt spoil zanza too seeing how much they enjoy it

[@blackjacksetzer7748]

i used to dislike rikki, i generally dislike the "mascot" party member from jrpg, but rikki was well developed, he is a simpleton, nopons are all, but that doesn't mean stupid or useless, sometimes the simple perspectives of nopon give the party a new level on insight on their heart to hearts also gotta love fiora starting story, losing the loved one is nothing new for a jrpg protagonist, but they often die as a defenseless prey, no fiora went out guns blazing saving shulk from an early grave

[@SinNombre-_-]

I'm about to finish this game, so I'm saving this video in my playlist to watch it after I've done it :P

[@PretzelYT]

See you soon ✌️

[@meeplesmcmeep3595]

Rikis arc is that he pays off his debt

[@justinlewis2819]

Loving the Xenoblade videos :)

[@DadNDave]

Stopping kids from saying "stopping kids from saying first"

[@eugeniaamariei8626]

But you didn't stop yourself from saying "Stopping kids from saying "stopping kids from saying first"".

[@recht_voor_zijn_raap5506]

​@@eugeniaamariei8626But...Who's going to say Stopping kids from saying "stopping kids from saying, stopping kids from saying first" ?

[@Agefonduge]

Really a well made video, congrats! I've read that in the future you'll cover XCX, so the question comes natural: have you played every Xenoblade game, or not/not yet?

[@PretzelYT]

I haven't. This is the only one I've beaten. I played a TINY TINY bit of XCX many years ago, and played maybe a dozen or two hours of XC2. I'm excited to get through this series.

[@Agefonduge]

@@PretzelYT good to know. Take your time, and have fun!

[@MartKart8]

That was so weird Melia tries to wake up Shulk by literally kicking him, then falling over 17:32 I did go up and got the dialogue before, expect she never did that to Shulk.

[@PretzelYT]

Hahaha I think that was just an idle animation playing at the wrong time. That has to be it, right???

[@MartKart8]

@@PretzelYT Yes it is.

[@Kowie_geg]

I love 1s party but man does sharla not contribute much to the story at all, if she wasnt the main healer and 3rd member i wouldnt even remember her

[@PretzelYT]

Yeah, she kinda fades into the background until Gadolt comes back a good while after she's added to the party. I liked the scenes with him and her though. But compared to everyone else, yeah, I don't think she has as much to do.

[@uncleiroh5983]

I think this is the weakest party in the trilogy but I love them all the same. I love how Reyn and Sharla were the ones who taught Kino and Nene how to fight and how everyone just became one big family

[@Human_01]

Could you please make a video on Xenoblade chronicles X?

[@PretzelYT]

XCX is the next Xenoblade game I'll cover. I don't know when, it'll probably be a bit. But it will happen. ✌️

[@Human_01]

@@PretzelYT Thank goodness. 🙏I eagerly anticipate that video. 😀👍✨

[@freddybaptista9883]

Kids

[@snapslingpeavine1371]

second

[@itsasecrettoeverybody]

Spoilers: Chad Rex ended up with mythra, pyra and nia in XC2. Virgin Shulk couldn't handle melia and fiora.

[@pedrobeckup456]

Rex is a exemple of man 💪

[@keiichimorisato98]

if you want to explore characters, the Trails series has a ton of great characters.

[@PretzelYT]

I have played the first Trails in the Sky, that would be a GREAT game to look at for this series.🤔 I've wanted to play the others but they don't get that deep discounts, and I wanna get a good deal considering how many games there are. 😅

[@keiichimorisato98]

@PretzelYT trails in the Sky SC are on sale now, if I recall. Also, the games are available on GOG, so if you want, you can sail the high seas for the GOG version and buy them later.