Xenoblade Chronicles (universe): Difference between revisions

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{{iw|xenoserieswiki|Tetsuya Takahashi}} was an employee for Squaresoft (now [[Square Enix]]), known for working in the {{uv|Final Fantasy}} series as an artist, starting in ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy IV}}''. He has worked on the opening scene of ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VI}}'', and as a graphic designer for ''{{iw|wikipedia|Chrono Trigger}}'', the latter where composer {{iw|xenoserieswiki|Yasunori Mitsuda}} would join him later in the ''Xeno'' franchise. While deciding potential scripts for what would eventually become ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}'' for the PlayStation, developer Squaresoft decided against a script written by Takahashi on the basis of it being "too dark and complicated" for the company's vision of ''Final Fantasy''; however, Square and {{iw|wikipedia|Hironobu Sakaguchi}} allowed him to start the project as a new property instead. Takahashi, working with a subteam within Square, became the director of what was released in the Americas as ''{{iw|xenoserieswiki|Xenogears}}'' for the PlayStation in late 1998. The game, a science fiction JRPG featuring traditional combat that sometimes involves humanoid combat robots called "gears" - in accordance with various recurrent concepts in mecha genres - was a critical and commercial success in both Japan and the Americas, and received recognition for its ambitious approach to incorporating major themes into its storytelling and characterization, examining both the principles put forth by reputed philosophers and the theological concepts and devotional practices of several real-world religions.

After the success of the seminal entry, Monolith Soft sought out to develop a new entry in the series. This new entry was teased with the codename "X" by in early 2013. The successor's title was finalized during E3 2014 as ''{{iw|xenoserieswiki|Xenoblade Chronicles X}}'' and released for [[Wii U]] in Japan on April 29, 2015 and on December 4, 2015 overseas. While not a direct sequel to the first entry, this game is instead a spiritual successor with an unrelated story that utilizes similar gameplay mechanics. However, their are some subtle connections to the first entry found in-game implying a shared universe, which was confirmed in later entries. Gameplay is largely similar to the first entry, with its major gimmick being characters can use both melee and ranged weapons and can pilot humanoid mechs called Skells to fight and traverse the game's enormous world, complete with smaller supplementary tools to aid in exploration and discovery. ''Xenoblade Chronicles X'' received mostly positive reviews and is generally received as a solid entry in the series with enough differences to play it over the others, although some elements like the soundtrack and obtuse user interface can be hard to swallow at times. The game sold roughly 400,000 copies, which was significantly less than the previous entry, though this can partially be attributed to the overall poor sales of the Wii U. This game did receive some controversy after release. Fans outside of Japan noticed that some content was removed during the localization process, including scantily clad costumes for canonically underage characters and a character creation slider for breast size. This caused some outrage that international players were getting an inferior product, though Tetsuya Takahashi has claimed that he personally does not mind these changes.<ref>[https://kotaku.com/xenoblade-chronicles-xs-director-on-localization-change-1796157409 Xenoblade Chronicles X's Director On Localization Changes: 'I Didn't Mind Much At All']</ref> The game was also the largest first party Wii U game ever made at 23 gigabytes, which was inflated even more with DLC packs that existed solely to fix performance issues, outright preventing many potential players from playing the game.

The ''Xeno'' franchise has also received a few crossovers, largely in other games that Monolith Soft had a hand in development. The most prominent is the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, which contains Shulk from ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' in the base game of both ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' alongside the stage [[Gaur Plain]], and {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}} added as downloadable fighters in ''Ultimate'' in 2021 alongside the stage [[Cloud Sea of Alrest]]. Other additions include music tracks, [[trophies]], [[spirit]]s, and [[Mii Costume]]s, including a special [[Rex]] costume for purchasing the ''Ultimate'' Fighter Pass 1. To commemorate the the launch of ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'', Rex's Salvager Armor Set was also released as [[zeldawiki:Salvager Armor Set|free equipment]] for [[Link]] in ''{{iw|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild}}'', which Monolith Soft helped develop. Outside of first-party titles, the game ''{{iw|wikipedia|Namco x Capcom}}'' and its spiritual successor ''{{iw|wikipedia|Project X Zone}}'' series, all developed by Monolith Soft contain {{iw|xenoserieswiki|KOS-MOS}} and {{iw|xenoserieswiki|T-elos}} as playable characters characters alongside Bandai Namco, [[Capcom]], [[Sega]], and Nintendo characters in ''{{iw|wikipedia|Project X Zone 2}}'', as it is also containing Fiora.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|Xenoblade Chronicles Medley}}''': The only ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' remix on the soundtrack, this track is a medley of "Gaur Plain (Day)", "Mechanical Rhythm", "You Will Know Our Names", and "Engage the Enemy".

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|Engage the Enemy}}''': This music plays during special story events in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' and is featured on Disc 2 of ''[[A Smashing Soundtrack]]''.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|Gaur Plain (Night)}}''': This is the music that plays in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' on the Bionis' Leg during the night.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|Time to Fight!}}''': This is the music that plays in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' during regular battles on Bionis.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|An Obstacle in Our Path}}''': This track plays during most boss battles, usually against Faced Mechon.

*'''{{SSB4MusicLink|Xenoblade Chronicles|Mechanical Rhythm}}''': This is the music that plays in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' during the regular battles on Mechonis.

In the base game, the series has received a massive boost in representation with the addition of elements from the two ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' games released between ''4'' and ''Ultimate'', primarily in the form of Mii Fighter costumes, music tracks, and Spirits. Otherwise, all of the previous representation has been maintained in the transition. One of the Mii Fighter costumes is also featured as a bonus for purchasing the first Fighters Pass. Then in March 2021, Pyra and Mythra from ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'' were added as downloadable fighters, bringing with them a new stage and even more music tracks and Spirits.

:*79. [[File:PyraIcon(SSBU).png|50px|right|link=Pyra (SSBU)]]'''{{SSBU|Pyra}}''': The fiery half of the Aegis appears alongside Mythra as the fourth downloadable newcomer in the Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Pyra falls into the slow-but-strong archetype, boasting high KO power and flame effects when dealing damage. However, her attacks are significantly laggier than her counterpart's. Her Final Smash, [[Burning Sword]], can catch multiple opponents in a whirlwind of fire before launching them.{{clr}}

**{{gameIcon|SSBU}} Pyra and Mythra appear as a fighter spirits.

**{{gameIcon|SSBU}} Noah & Mio appear as a combined spirit.