Xenoblade Chronicles X - Theme X | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@elizabethagudelo7179]

here's a fun fact the composer, Hiroyuki Sawano, recently stated that this soundtrack was the most important stepping stone in the development of his style as it is today

[@Skallva]

Hiroyuki Sawano 🤝 Shoji Meguro Solidifying their style through a soundtrack for a cult classic in a jRPG series.

[@ATXnomad698]

It makes so much sense tbh, Theme X is so obviously the proto-Attack on Titan in my mind

[@arminarlelt7471]

​@@ATXnomad698except he did AOT OST before XCX

[@dugtrioramen]

​@@arminarlelt7471actually if you look at his wacky track names, a lot of them have the date of the recording in the name. From that you get: Aot's season 1 tracks were recorded in either February 2013 or June 2013, whereas xenoblade x tracks were recorded either September 2012 or January 2013 Aot ost was probably directly after X, making it the first to enjoy his new "style". And the reason X released so much later than it's soundtrack was because halfway through development, they made major changes to the game to be online focused with a silent player avatar

[@killerking2346]

Even thought Sawano didn't do Ashes on the Fire for AOT season 4, I can't help but notice the similiarities to Codename Z from XenoX. The new composers did their homework!

[@Sekainoowaride]

Hiroyuki Sawano, mostly composes Anime Soundtracks, but he does dabble in videogames every once in awhile. It's 10/10 every time 😊

[@pockystyx4087]

Xenoblade X needs a damn remaster/remake already, let alone a sequel! Such a crazy OST too; its odd in places, but I find it always popping up in my head in other open world games lol

[@VelvetAura]

that cliffhanger must be resolved at some point

[@cyanmage1]

yes it does please nintendo gods let it happen

[@dragonprincess2925]

My problem is that they have all the games but X. Their newest one even includes landmasses from X. I'm like comon, X is prequel to all the games. It needs to be brought to the switch. It helps people understand, plus it was never really known cause it was on the WII U.

[@zeezus890]

Sawano is most known for his work on Attack on Titan, he has a very distinctive style

[@dragonprincess2925]

Really. No wonder when I listen to the music from AOT, I think of music from this game.

[@scubajho]

XCX is still one of the best open-world games out there, and the OST is fantastic. One thing you do notice when going through the OST is a clear trend/order in Sawano's compositions. They all build, starting in an engaging way, but far softer, then backing out, then swelling farther, then backing out farther, and repeating until backing out almost to nothing, before coming back in full, like a sine wave with increasing amplitude. It's such a simple concept, but it keeps the interest in the song, as the only predictable thing is that the music will eventually throw down the glove. The naming for the soundtracks are nigh unintelligible, and this is probably one of the most sane track titles. The melody was written for a vocal performance, found in the track "The Way." I was not a fan of the OST for this game when I first got it, as it was so different from the original Xenoblade Chronicles, but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to enjoy it, with the exception of one or two themes (the main city themes both stand out as the worst tracks in the game, imo). It also didn't help that the text was so small as to be almost illegible at anything greater than monitor sitting distance on the Wii U.

[@MrKanooe]

This is a masterpiece, there's no other words for it. Sawano, an incredible composer already, outdone himself for that theme.

[@evoasus2286]

I'm glad you finally get to experience more of X's music, Jesse. I was one of the submissions for the song. Sawano does some amazing work. Thank you.

[@JessesAuditorium]

[@MagnyusG]

X is extremely popular, people just dont know it yet. Because the Wii U wasnt popular ;-;.

[@thenonexistinghero]

Meaning the game wasn't that popular. And well, sales were okayish for a system that didn't sell well. I love the game and it's tied for best game in the series to me along with 1,, but... it's not popular.

[@saintfayde4438]

Oh man, X was my favorite Xenoblade game of the series and, until 3 came out, it was my top soundtrack as well. So many bangers in that OST. Unfortunately, I feel like most of them wouldn't translate well as reaction videos to simply the music, because a lot of them hit so hard in conjunction with the locations and times they're played in. I'll never forget the first time I arrived in Sylvalum and heard that hauntingly beautiful track alongside all that white, alien "wintery" landscape. Absolutely breathtaking.

[@VelvetAura]

Same!! I first came across it at night and I'm not going to lie, coming across it with that song playing was actually an experience I'll never forget. I was awe-struck in that moment.

[@kaz7886]

If i had the possibility to play it day one i would, i think my opinion on it would be way better if i didn't emulate it and cheat stuff like skells, money, and such and ruin my experience. Still a great game, but for someone with a patience like mine that had only a month until XC3 came out.. i wanted to finish it quickly. At least now i know the story, but man.. if a Remake ever comes out my pants will be white for a reason.

[@ATXnomad698]

So true, like NLA Night is a fucking banger when you're playing the game, but if you're not playing it's such a confusing mess of music

[@Malacite]

The entire soundtrack for X is just nothing but bangers, but that's to be expected of Sawano. Weir Fliegen and Uncontrollable are just too good.

[@katharsis101-]

Man, you were ON POINT with your guesses. This game is definitely fundamentally different to the rest of the Xenoblade franchise in story, environment, heck even graphics. And the way you said it gave you the feeling of wanting to "salute" is also on point, because the game has some very militaristic vibes with humanity fighting tooth and nail with weapons and giant mechs against an alien world. And of course, even the guess about the name was right. It's a theme used in pivotal moments that really represents the themes of the game. Great reaction.

[@DylanYoshi]

Apologies if this comment came up twice, I think it failed to post but I'm not sure. Hiroyuki Sawano is more known for anime music than games, but his style is immediately recognizable due to how distinct it is. He's known for having really weird song titles too, he has some that have emojis in the title even. His most notable trademark trait, though, is how his songs tend to become incredibly dramatic midway through- Something known to his fans as the "Sawano Drop". If you're interested in hearing more from him, I'd recommend checking out the anime movie Promare as it's just one movie that has a large sample of songs from him (and it's one of my favorite movies ever). I know you don't react to anime music (for good reason), so if ever get a chance on your own time, I'd recommend watching that movie and/or checking out its ost. Sawano's music is insane regardless of where it comes from, though, and X is a great example of it.

[@elidalton9421]

This is THE track I've been waiting for you to react to since you started this channel, but have not the means to make the request myself. I was very surprised when a year ago EX01 was requested first. This is my favorite of the Xenoblade X OST and I believe it to be one of Sawano's best ever.

[@danielduarte6802]

YES, I'm glad he eventually got to this one. I think this is one of his bests pieces too! And his work on Gundam Unicorn as well

[@GTA-iu1ok]

sawano hiroyuki is god

[@Biosleeve]

Glad you liked it Jesse, and I'll be sure to add more X to the list! I think the reason you don't hear much from X is that the other 3 are readily available on the Switch, whereas this only came out on the Wii U, which sold a tenth of what what the Switch, or even the Wii, achieved. It's definitely a different flavour of Xenoblade, and very much tells its own story, but it's still a great game that keeps the gameplay style of the series and gives you an enormous world to explore, whilst adding new elements such as the mechs (or Skells). Musically, it's probably my favourite game in the series, and the OST kept on bringing me back to it. Anyway, I'll stop fanboying now, and go back to waiting eternally for an announcement that they'll port it to the Switch

[@johnnyshins511]

Xenoblade X is a genuine underappreciated banger, one of my favourite soundtracks of any video game alongside the best open world I've ever experienced. I always boot it up just to gawk in awe at the environments, it's a genuine technical marvel because how it ran on the Wii U is beyond me. Praying for a re-release though, perhaps switch 2 will be powerful enough for it.

[@Keldiur]

I think they are waiting till XB3 winds down. A lot of people do not know that X was a pseudo shared world. With events and group bosses with online play. Depending on how well kept the server code was, it has to be ported or emulated to run on the switch, but more importantly for nintendo, on their sub servers. I do hope it is re-released though. The hardest challenged required gear from bosses or drops for completing map events. Basically 1/4th of the game gets stupidly hard to complete the last time I played it.

[@Alex.Holland]

X is the only one of these games I like. I was an old gears and saga fan, but the blade games never landed with me, but X was rad.

[@ThiagoRomam]

It's awesome how this theme introduces the main Xenoblade titles players and then changes direction showing in 5:38 that it's still Xenoblade, but different (X). It's like the first part connects to the other games and then it merges on it's own showing the player what to expect for from now on.

[@VelvetAura]

This is actually the second Xenoblade game, and yes it is pretty much its own thing. It was the first one I played though, and while the story is pretty underwhelming compared to the other Xenoblade games that came before and after it, it has a special place in my heart for the world and the exploration that takes place within it, and the mechs ofc. I absolutely adore everything I've heard that Yoko Shimomura has composed for the series, but I also love Hiroyuki Sawano's take on the soundtrack for this game. He's done a lot of soundtracks for anime and film, but not many for video games. He really brings a unique feel. I gotta send you some more XBX sometime.

[@mojojojox5043]

X has my favorite ost in the series. Just super cool and I jive with it more than the other soundtracks in the series.

[@pokeguyz123]

Back then, me hearing Theme X for the first time was otherworldly for vgm. Even without knowing Hiroyuki Sawano or his work in AoT. I’m sure there’s battle themes in your list, but hopefully “so nah, so fern” is in there too :)

[@Zxanonblade]

Love Xenoblade X so much! never played the game once in my life lol

[@elijahdarden1275]

This is my favorite song in Xenoblade Chronicles X it really hits hard wow the feelings of war and mystery are coming back we need a sequel.

[@Teybort]

8 years and it's still trapped on the Wii u. #freeXCX

[@angelaguerrero3808]

This song is played during the sequence where you are introduced to the main base and also where it is shown the main logo as an introduction. Its also the same song in a different style as The Way sang by Mika Kobayashi

[@Mechadeuce]

Based on your reaction to Nylon guitars in these reactions, I really hope someone has added Oblivia's theme to your long list of tunes... Bonus points if they link the upload of it by Jaidyn Holcomb, who paired the song with some excellent visuals of the area it plays in.

[@Omni_G]

I remember listening to some music on my phone and falling asleep on the floor when Theme X played and I woke up like “Hol’ on, this sh*t clean!!”

[@Varewulf]

I think the entire XCX OST is great. I would personally recommend checking out Uncontrollable, which is the battle theme for fighting the elite named enemies aka Tyrants. If you hear that start up, you just know something terrifying has spotted you. As for why it's less popular... well... Xenoblade X had the misfortune of launching on the Wii U, and fairly late in the lifecycle too. Meaning it fell onto a console basically no one owned, and most had given up on. So it didn't get the spotlight it deserved. Definitely my favourite in the series by far. Even one of my favourite games of all time. Monolith keep saying it's too difficult to port it to Switch, which I don't entirely buy, but it definitely depends on whether Nintendo will give them the budget or not. Next year is the 10-year anniversary, and possibly the Switch 2 launch, so... maybe there's still hope?

[@shizzlebizzfizz]

Xenoblade X is sometimes refereed to as the black sheep of the Xenoblade family. A bit of strong opinions of the game on either side. I personally loved the game despite its shortcomings.

[@m__two9829]

Finally, the best Xenoblade theme

[@punishedjojonah]

my favorite game and favorite game soundtrack of all time! glad you could review more from it!

[@blackglurakx2409]

8:58 the Game is from 2015. And yes it is completely different and removed from all the other games in the series. All other games have a Story that goes on and on and has a definitive end in the 3 DLC. X was always the outside of it all, not just music, but also gameplay, graphics, world design, enemy design, artstyle, environments, etc. Yet Fans and myself still scramble and try to fit it’s story into the other games. It plays on normal earth, but in future and it’s under alien attack. In the opening of the game the Earth gets destroyed in that battle and the humans flee in huge ships. One of the ships that escaped, searched for a new planet out there to live on but was attacked and crash landed on it. In this game the last of human kind tries to survive on this new alien planet that clearly wants to kill them. Yeah and that’s basically the opening. Then you get to explore this huge new world. Seemless open world exploration with multiple continents. Even to this day I find the game to be better then most open world games cause non ever gave that much freedom every again aside form Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Lastly yes, Theme X is the main theme.

[@UberNoodle]

Love the soundtrack so much. A lot of people criticise it, but I think they're fixating too much on a particular few moments in the game when certain music comes up. And yes, it can get on your nerves, but when you listen to the soundtrack as a whole (and it comes on 4CDs) it is incredible. Those couple of missteps are so insignificant to the rest of the soundtrack.

[@GCLU]

Ah yes Swano. Just different but wonderful. There's also a vocal version of this theme called This Way but I heavily prefer this version. A cameo OST theme from XCX got into Xenoblade 2 known as Uncontrollable. It's their unique monster theme and quite different from You Will Know Our Name.

[@PrincessAki2009]

Xenoblade Chronicles X is my fave out of the series. the soundtrack for this game is so good. I spent hours on this game.

[@0XenonPL0]

Sawano is probably mostly known for not attack on titan, but Kill La Kill which even has the same singer as XCX ost xD

[@NintendoSegaGuys]

Make sure you also litsen to The Way, which is a softer, less intense but more emotional version of Theme X with Lyrics.

[@FrenzVorstellen]

Hiroyuki Sawano my 2nd favourite composer after Master Uematsu, although he mostly composed anime OST but damn he's good

[@smahlt]

This is my favorite track from a game of all time. It's so good.

[@mrleelongi]

Ah yes! This is the song that plays when you finally arrive to humanity's last hope, New Los Angeles or NLA, the place that you see in the background of that image. Humanity was forced to flee from the Earth due to two warring alien factions fighting at our doorstep leading to the destruction of the Earth. Would love a port or remake for Switch or Nintendo's next system.

[@nero6942]

For some strange reason, this song reminded me of the Smash Bros' version of Theme of Solid Snake. I dont know if they were composed by the same composer but personally they both sounded somewhat similar in their style. This is really good regardless

[@DerdOn0ner]

Ah yes, based Sawano, love this guy. His ost for Kill la Kill is straight up fire too. Blumenkranz, anyone? 😊

[@danielduarte6802]

The nZk version, yeah 💯

[@Makuro_XIII]

God-tier theme :D Hiroyuki Sawano is a monster! 👌

[@zepharahara]

It's always fun witnessing someone's first time with Sawano. For me it was Guilty Crown

[@zaeranos]

The fans of Xenoblade Chronicles X are more of a niche within a niche. That is why you have less requests for that game. However I could recommend any song of that OST, such as "Uncontrolable", "Melancholia", "The Way", "Black Tar", "Your Voice", "The key we've lost", "Don't worry", "Noctilum (Day)" and "Wir Fliegen" (is German, which translates to "We're flying"). The thing with XCX is, that it made an open world game out of something that is highly linear. The first Xenoblade Chronicles game was a linear story. It pretty much did the same thing that Breath of the Wild did for the Zelda franchise. Only it was afew years earlier. Because it was the second game in the series and thus there was not actually a set formula that fans could get fatigued with. The fans did not take too kindly to the exeperiment, which made it kind of a black sheep in the series. Personally I love this game and see it better than some of the other Xenoblade Chronicles games. People are going to hate me for it, but in my opinion Xenoblade Chronicles X did the open world game a whole lot better than Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. Which is ironic, because Monolith assisted in building the open world of those Zelda games.

[@nathanperquin9910]

my first touch to sawano was gundam unicorn's ost, that was chef's kiss

[@nathanperquin9910]

also i enjoyed XBX on wii u, the fact the humans actually come from earth is also neat

[@nathanperquin9910]

but yeah i can't request it as a reaction since its not game music, but i reccomend just finding the Full ost for mobile suit gundam unicorn, its basically just more of this

[@henriquemarques4903]

My favorite song! Let's gooooooo!

[@defmedia85]

"we have ascended into riffage" :D

[@Imufur]

the goosebumps when the huge ships appeared in the game

[@Sekainoowaride]

You're not ready for Hiroyuki Sawano Jesse, lol.

[@Sekainoowaride]

@@princessoscar3089 Exclusively Videogame Music for now. Unfortunately lol

[@davidwhidden9337]

Amazing soundtrack. Hope you'll find time to enjoy the rest of it. Good luck finding the song names though! I'm not kidding.

[@karjar5742]

XBCX has such an interesting OST, because theres a lot of weird and usual in it, and its not always... great. But when it hits, it really hits. And even those that dont hit are very memorable. Kinda gives the OST its own flavour. Almost feels like Sawano just went off and did whatever the fuck he wanted and the devs were too scared to not use those tracks.

[@premier1975]

XCX is the greatest gaming experience I've ever had..... possibly ever will have...... 2015 the game came out. It's a stand alone story, nothing to do with 1, 2, & 3 also know as Xenoblade Chronicles 'Cross' , because that's the intended name of the character you play as. even though you can make up your own name..... This is the game 'everyone' is waiting to be ported to the switch...but there are theories that its too big to run perfectly so it'll come out on Switch 2....one last thing, this is THE GREATEST GAME on WII U

[@VirgoTruck]

Was hoping you'd get around to this one ❤

[@krisparker1014]

Xenoblade X is one of my favorite games of all time and until XC3 it was my favorite in the series.

[@grimreapress8578]

I'm surprised you haven't heard the soundtrack 'Uncontrollable' from this game. It's a favorite

[@manbearpigsereal]

Incredible game, doomed by the fate of the Wii U.

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

this. this game needas a remake on a super powered nintendo console. or just emulate it on pc.

[@yologamer2297]

The Way

[@shadowstormx9394]

If you do another track from this game highly reccomend Telethia The Endbringer Boss Theme

[@pietrom.4846]

This game is a masterpiece in my opinion

[@MrPeanut624]

If you want to hear the song with lyrics, look up "The Way" from the same soundtrack.

[@abbysol5812]

ah yes, my favorite game that is forever trapped in Wii U purgatory

[@moomanchu608]

xenoblade X is stuck on the Wii U and many new fans got into the franchise on switch. There is also a semi spoiler sensation that the ending was a cliffhanger and didnt really feel satisfying

[@thenonexistinghero]

The ost for XCX does sound very experimental. Lots of great music, but due to bad implementation it's fairly common for a song with lyrics to overshadow a cutscene. As for that Sawano guy... he has mainly done anime, but he has one of the most recongizable music styles out there. No one does the kind of "everything all at once and make it epic" type of music better than him.

[@zanderlaitinen7109]

Xenoblade Chronicles X was only on the Wii U. The Wii U did not sell well, so this game in the series just isn't well known by a good number of the Xenoblade fans. It also doesn't connect to the main trilogy either, so people haven't been clamoring to play it to get more context. I promise you, if this game were to get a Switch Port, the interest in it would skyrocket.

[@Mohgwynthemohglested]

You should listen to uncontrollable from X, and you should listen to Alpha, The Divine End

[@Nobrev]

I love Xenoblade Chronicles X's soundtrack and Hiroyuki Sawano is one of my favorite composers ,but in my own opinion Xenoblade Chronicles X as a game is full of amazing ideas but subpar execution. The story ultimately amounted to nothing and there were some gameplay ideas I found baffling, like the absolute blank slate create-a-character protagonist and the TP based combat abilities that made combat grind to a snail's pace. I wanted to love the game because the setting and premise were promising but it just fell flat for me. I've played it to completion once and probably won't pick it up for another playthrough in the future like I will with the rest of the series.

[@Aiscence]

Xenoblade X did a lot of things right and musically it's my favourite. It's just forgotten because wii u and the story :/

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

XCX is the best game in the Xeno series besides Xenogears man.

[@salvadoragramon2799]

try reacting next dont worry xenoblade x

[@Solarasthma]

The X in the title of this game is read "Cross"

[@Mondoness]

Merry Crossmas

[@MagnyusG]

Xenoblade "Ecks" rolls off the tongue a lot easier than Cross, I don't think anyone really calls it cross even if that is indeed the correct reading.

[@GameDragon2k]

This isn't fully correct. It's actually called Xenoblade Chronicles X (Ecks) in the west. Nintendo of America themselves call it by this name. Xenoblade Cross however, is the Japanese name of the game.

[@gasparguruoftime5475]

No it isn’t lol. Even in official promotions for the game they read it as “Ecks”. Look up the “Xenoblade Chronicles X Video Showcase” and go to 15 seconds in. Maybe in Japanese marketing they do.

[@totalradlad]

Only in Japan

[@princeofhyrule2205]

Theme X is definitely my favorite from xcx. I also enjoy codename Z, sylvullum, and noctilum (might have spelled them wrong). But, not a big fan of the rest. Xcx has a wide range of music, and most is not great (imo).

[@ProbablyAori]

Honestly most of Sawano's music is the same, you hear one you've heard most of them. The only thing that makes them different is the vocalist he gets for some and then they really pop.