P-Vock's Music Box: I'm Really Feeling This
Hello and welcome to P-Vock's Music Box. I don't care. I know already that I've spoken about Xenoblade too much. I genuinely don't care about that, and I'm going to do it again.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 beefy DLC expansion story, Future Redeemed, is finally out and I am beside myself with glee about it. The amount of fanservice and jaw-dropping moments for longtime fans in just the trailers alone is enough to get me absolutely rock hard.
Every single time Xeno gives us a story expansion we get so many new and great things.
New locations that are wonderful to explore. New characters that are hot as hell and fun as heck. New story moments that hit hard and cause immense depression. New music that absolutely slaps.
So, let's take one more Xenoblade-themed musical journey.
Xenoblade Chronicles was immediately praised for its absolutely incredible soundtrack upon release. So, imagine the anxiety and excitement some people (like the Monado Dumbass writing this stupid column) felt at the idea of a new addition to the story coming ten years later. How could they possibly add to the music? Would they even add to the music? OH BOY DID THEY EVER. This new battle theme is just so energizing. So bouncy. So catchy. So quick to raise the players' mood as they lower their enemies' HP bar. Every instrument, every melody, every single note combines for a wonderful track that you just get lost in. Everything feels so unique and yet, so in sync, which is perfect for a battle theme.
So what if Xenoblade 2 had an additional story with an even better battle theme?
Holy Mythra, this may be my favourite battle theme in the entire series. It just hits you with a barrage of notes immediately, much like how our new protagonist and best girl Lora hits you with her fists at an insane velocity. Those piano notes are angelic. The strings are blissful and strike your senses with the precision of Jin's stupidly long sword. The drums slam your eardrums with a thunderous quake even Hugo's big shield cannot match. It all combines for a battle theme that I honestly think is genuinely perfect.
It's the single greatest example of a battle theme that I will (and have so many times it's probably worth being concerned about) extend battles as long as I possibly can just to continue vibing to.
Sheer perfection.
But, can 3 possibly match?
OH DAMN, CAN IT EVER!? Just like in most of the good tracks in 2, we get a piano that absolutely delivers some emotion. Just like most of the good tracks in 1, we get an electric guitar that delivers more electricity than you'd see if Zeus and Thor fought. Much like the central concept of 3 being two great forces combining to amplify their power, this track takes one of the main and most prevalent sounds from each prior game and combines them into something truly awesome that I can't wait to have as the track that accompanies most of my life for the next two years (just like the previous two tracks were).
AND THEN, AFTER TWO MINUTES WE GET THAT PIANO SOLO, AND OH BABY!
I don't think there are many people that love any single thing from media as much as I love the Xenoblade Chronicles games and the greater Xeno series as a whole, and I relish in it every single time I get the chance to speak of it in any context.
I truly hope these tracks gave you something to vibe to before this weekend.
Thank you so much, as always, for checking out my content and I hope to catch you back here with another suggestion from my Music Box.
Stay Brutal!
PS. I can't not throw in one more track from the first game's additional story, so here you go, enjoy!