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Script Available for Upcoming Video!
🕑 Added 2018-12-17 19:07:12 +0000 UTC The following is a rough script for an upcoming video on Xenoblade Chronicles. This was a request from a Patron.Xenoblade Chronicles - A World Without Gods
“ I don't know what the future holds. But that means I can imagine the possibilities. We can achieve anything we put our minds to.” (Epilogue)
Xenoblade Chronicles is my favourite video game of all time. Filled to the brim with emotional richness, presenting an epic, sprawling plot, following charming and weird characters and taking place in one of the greatest settings I’ve ever experienced in fiction - it has no shortage of moments that are sure to take your breath away, in and funnily enough, outside of the storyline. I’ve come to believe that it’s a game that strikes a chord with those who love it when all of the elements seem to coalesce in the more mundane moments. For instance, the point at which I decided that I was in love with it came when I was crossing the bridge in Makna Forest while controlling Melia, who I had recently acquired as a party member - as the breathtaking scenery took over, the context of the story grabbed hold of me, the beautiful music swelled and her words echoed in my head, it all sort of clicked for me.
“They are one, with the Bionis.”
There were a number of other moments like this throughout the game for me as well, and from what I’ve gathered, I’m far from alone in this regard. Xenoblade Chronicles is so cohesive with its design and has such an understanding of context and emotional gravitas that it can turn ordinary routine into something quite special, which makes a lot of the in between moments much more engaging than one would expect. But having said that, it does not stake its claim as a story through simply being consistently emotionally captivating and beautiful - it has a vision and a focus. Not just in the more minor character and narrative threads, but in global terms, through the cohesive, very clear thematic intent shown overlying the conclusion of it’s story that feeds into the rest of the game so well.
This story is a constant war between two pseudo-races for survival and a revenge tale that slowly expands into a conflict of epic proportions, touching the very essence of the universe and creation. It's a layered red herring of a plot that twists and turns until it transforms into something of grand proportions with personal stakes for all involved - especially the main character, whose ideals warp and change over time to eventually reflect the story’s theme. From the very beginning, Shulk is plagued by temptations of bloodlust and violence by those more powerful than him in basically every way. Spurred on to destroy Mechonis by the supposed death of Fiora, by Egil to oppose him, by Dickson and Zanza, who gave him such substantial motivations to subsequently want to destroy Bionis - but in the end, he finds that he doesn’t do any of that. Because this world is his home.
He initially vows to destroy all Mechon through a pretty nationalistic allegiance to humanity and Bionis life - even strangely stopping Dunban from killing Metal Face, whose life goal was essentially to cause the party pain, simply because he was a Homs. But as time goes by and he learns of the true plight of Mechonis and Egil, he resolves do things his way. Shulk sees that Egil does not deserve to die, and that he was hurt - striving for revenge and to save his kingdom in a way that very much parallel’s Shulk’s initial thinking - so Shulk offers him and Mechonis a hand of friendship. He seeks to inspire those around him to look for a more suitable and prosperous world, one where all can live prosperously. To think outside the box, outside their seemingly pre-ordained roles in this war, and strive for something greater. Shulk defies the fate thrust upon him through his measured and active choice to foster connections and defend, not attack. And after being given the power of the Gods, he fittingly chooses to forego such divine authority and simply live as is - with the choices of him and his loved ones being unrestricted and independent.
“I won't decide. The future should be decided... by each and every person in the world. And so, what I... No, what WE wish for is... a world with no gods!’
This characterizes a story that says that Gods are not needed. That dogma need not be adhered to, that worship is not necessary for a fulfilling or admirable life. It isn’t necessarily a dystheistic story, as Meyneth is portrayed to be a wholly good goddess to contrast Zanza, but it does emphasize that life should be lived following the values YOU prescribe to, doing the things that YOU believe in, regardless of what you’ve been taught.
Now, in order to achieve the life force and power he sought, Zanza perpetuated a cultural belief that all beings of the Bionis need to return to the Bionis, and that this is a natural fact of life, one to be celebrated.
“All life is returned to the Bionis.”
Through an element reminiscent of the Lifestream in Final Fantasy VII or Mist from Final Fantasy IX, it helps to give the impression that Bionis is innately organic. These customs, the environments and the creatures on the Titan give it a feeling of natural warmth to contrast the cold and mechanical Mechonis. And this, along with the violent behaviour of the Mechons, cleverly and subconsciously tricks the player into buying into an ideology that has no basis at the root of it just as Shulk does. Why are they doing this? Most of us wanted to know, but had this curiosity overtaken by a simple desire to beat down the enemy. And this bait and switch is essential for showing the shallowness and detriments of dogma and ideologues, which is very important for the conclusive point of the story.
Back to the concept of returning to the Bionis, it is a custom ingrained in the Homs species, and they repeat this without realizing what it actually means - that the God of this world views them as food and slaves, beings who owe him for creating them and who should be happy to croak when he needs them to without a second thought. Only when the party wakes up and sees the truth of the world do they realize how twisted this is, and only when the truth is clear do we see what Xenoblade Chronicles is really saying.
“ALL LIFE RETURNS TO ME”
The story is very much fixated the concept of illusion; these postured customs and the red herring of Mechonis being a couple of examples. But this is presented through other twists in the story as well, both small and big - Melia ending up being royalty, Riki being a father and actually turning out quite wise, Metal Face being Mumkhar, Fiora being alive, Dickson ending up as traitor.. the fact that Shulk is not actually truly alive. They’re twists that could be passed off as standard decent storytelling to keep the audience engaged, but they mean something extra in this story that invites you to see past the illusion to find fulfillment.
In the beginning, Shulk’s salvation was vengeful aggression. By the end, it’s non-aggression and understanding. Be it a God, or livestock that grew into something more sentient and sapient, Bionis or Mechonis, Homs, Noon, High Entia or Machina, it all equals out in the end to the building block of the universe: ether. Life, no matter how big or small, equals unparalleled significance. And revealing the truth of this means unrestricted freedom.
These plot revelations and what they mean thematically feed into the characterization of Zanza, whose relation to the concept of godhood is absolutely huge for what it means for both our characters and the story at large. Again, it is not anti-god and it is not an atheist work, but it criticizes the concept of adhering to doctrine or stifling individual beliefs for the sake of some higher power. It states that people are perfectly capable of living harmoniously through a synthesis of ideals, beliefs, compromise, and most importantly, love. The villain in the story being someone with a god complex who just wanted to be adored is profound because it drives home how lonely it must be to live without the connections that Shulk and co form, feeling the need to force things and conflating love with blind obedience. But at the same time, it very clearly chastises this god complex while showing through Meyneth’s final words that life is not some sort of debt owed to deities, and that every life is equally valuable, gods or not.
“Meyneth quote”
This just gets the player to think twice about their beliefs related to the themes of the game while criticizing indoctrination and submission to oppression. Life is valuable, so know your worth and spend it doing what YOU believe in, fueled by the connections you have with those around you. This story believes in people, and states that we have the independence and stature to stand on our own two feet and make decisions for ourselves - to learn and grow and form a culture from what we know, not what we’ve been told to do.
It gives Xenoblade an optimistic, empowering, poetic spirit that is not only present at the end, but can be felt throughout the entire story and the environments it takes place in. It’s a feeling present throughout the different areas of the game that gives a very distinct tonal identity that can only be contextualized once one knows the existentially optimistic main theme. Colony 9, with all of its comforts and warmth. The Bionis Leg, a vast landscape that inspires one to think bigger. From Satorl Marsh, imbued with a sense of wonder, to Frontier Village, eccentric and fantastical yet grounded. The wondrous and atmospheric Valak Mountain and the contemplative, lamentably beautiful Fallen Arm.. And Agniratha, a remnant of the past, a ghost of a town that ever so slightly hints at the joys and sorrows of times gone by, accentuating the agency and affection that our party are lucky enough to have in the now. It’s all connected by this abstract and spiritual, yet very deeply striking and profound string of emotional context. A common theme connected by music, setting, themes, characters and plot that provides this game with such an ineffable sense of soul that captivates and captures the imagination in a way unique to anything else. It’s difficult to put into words just how and why your favourite stories speak to you so deeply, but for me, it’s something about how much Xenoblade’s final point provides a sense of poetic identity for everything that precedes it, and how beautifully immersive the sum of it’s parts are. I can only hope that some of you can relate to, or at least understand this thinking. Many thanks for watching, and please feel free to leave any and all thoughts about this game in the comments.
“Fiora: Look, don't worry, Shulk, none of us want to be gods anyway. And i don't really know what the future holds, but we just want to live our life as it comes.
Reyn: Eating grub, sleeping, laughing, crying, sometimes arguing. Sounds alright!
Sharla: Yes. Heh, he's right. And being with the ones we love, that's enough.
Melia: Even so, we change little by little. Every day is a little different from the last. We do not know what the future will hold.
Riki: More fun not knowing! RIKI WANT TO HAVE FUN!
Fiora: Life's little surprises are what makes it great. We don't know what's going to happen. It's worrying sometimes, but it's also exciting,don't you think?
Dunban: Yeah. Isn't that called progress? Aren't we all continously evolving? I'm not sure we need a more dramatic change than that.
Shulk: Yeah. You're right. Little by little, each day as it comes, that's how we should live. [Shulk looks towards the starry sky] That's our world.”
