Re. the shift in style/tone in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, here is the director's explanation:
"A young adult story with a taste of boy-meets-girl. Lately it feels like all I’ve been doing are games full of devastation, like where your hometown burns down at the start, or the spaceship you’re riding crashes(oh wait, that is all I ever do). Sometimes I just wanna try something different!
I want to make something that people can look back on fondly one day as something that really shaped their lives. Something like what I loved as a boy, like Oliver!(by Carol Reed) and Galaxy Express 999(by Rintaro). That’s why I started working on this game.
I’ll leave the stories about the solemn old men and hot stylish guys to someone else (even though there’s way more demand for that stuff), and go ahead with this.
Some people think exploration is what games should be all about, while some are like “no no, story is what’s best.” Well we’ve got something perfect for both of those kinds of people: Xenoblade 2.
Tetsuya Takahashi"
Ok, I get that. I get a bit tired of the "devastated world" theme, too. I'll keep my mind open. I like the comment about how the game combines story and exploration, two of my favorite things. And I'll cut him some slack on the anime cuteness element. We'll see how the story develops. If it's just a cliché, never mind. But maybe he'll bring something new. We'll see.
