How did you completely miss the Xeno- series? Particularly with Xenogears and Xenoblade, the entire set can be summarized as the title of chapter 10 of Xenoblade 2: "And thus, boy meets girl."
When I saw the first few items, I thought to myself, "Xenoblade 3 had better be on here." The main characters are eight people who form four pairs, each half from completely different worlds. While the two people at the center of it all, Noah and Mio, form an iconic "love at first sight" pair, it's two of the other couples that really stand out to me.
Lanz and Senna are the pair that immediately hit it off, both being very enthusiastic about exercise though for very different reasons. Lanz is just focusing on what he's good at, as his job is being a tank and he does it very well. Senna, meanwhile, swings a hammer that weighs more than she does, boosted as she is by her core crystal. But her enthusiasm for exercise comes from her own insecurities that come to light over the course of the story.
Eunie and Taion, meanwhile, want nothing to do with the whole adventure, but are forced on it because of their circumstances. Eunie harbors half-forgotten memories of betrayal by her entire society; Taion remembers his hero who died for lack of intel, and so focuses everything on optimal strategy. While we never really get any "I love you" from either of them, we do get probably the most important dialogue during a cutscene towards the end of the game.
"I never thought you would open up," Taion remarks to Eunie during an evening around the campfire.
Eunie is startled by the comment, but after hesitation, replies, "Maybe I found someone I could depend on."
I do love this game too! Though, Xenoblade Chronicles (the original from Wii era) is my fav.
And you are right, the relationships here deserve a spot. The Noah and Mio one in particular, because that's almost a story about whether genetics or destiny determine our partner.
All I can say is: Write in!! You did 150 words here easy! If only you caught my notes on this!!
The chapter 10 should be more appropriately named: "And thus, boy meets girl, her somewhat-of-a-sister, and another girl, and has kids with all them at roughly the same time" ;-)
our vote goes to Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man, two lovers brought together through a shared love of running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music. heartwarming stuff.
What a great collaborative article. Thanks so much for this. Learned a lot about games I knew nothing about and found new newsletters in the process. Thank you this was awesome.
Thank you! I'll try and think of some more to do in the future. I think this one caught a lot of "2025: I'm starting a gaming substack" writers, which is great!
So many interesting couples! A side note about Yuna and Tidus, I watched a video of that scene before I even knew about the game and I thought it was an amazing scene. And I played the game a few years ago and I think it's even more amazing knowing the context! Though... yeah, still a bit confused about how it worked out but a breathtaking (hah!) scene nonetheless lol
Yes!!! Thank you so much for this. Love that Jak and Ashelin made the part.
The diversity of responses I got really blew me away. I'd never thought of this one either!
How did you completely miss the Xeno- series? Particularly with Xenogears and Xenoblade, the entire set can be summarized as the title of chapter 10 of Xenoblade 2: "And thus, boy meets girl."
When I saw the first few items, I thought to myself, "Xenoblade 3 had better be on here." The main characters are eight people who form four pairs, each half from completely different worlds. While the two people at the center of it all, Noah and Mio, form an iconic "love at first sight" pair, it's two of the other couples that really stand out to me.
Lanz and Senna are the pair that immediately hit it off, both being very enthusiastic about exercise though for very different reasons. Lanz is just focusing on what he's good at, as his job is being a tank and he does it very well. Senna, meanwhile, swings a hammer that weighs more than she does, boosted as she is by her core crystal. But her enthusiasm for exercise comes from her own insecurities that come to light over the course of the story.
Eunie and Taion, meanwhile, want nothing to do with the whole adventure, but are forced on it because of their circumstances. Eunie harbors half-forgotten memories of betrayal by her entire society; Taion remembers his hero who died for lack of intel, and so focuses everything on optimal strategy. While we never really get any "I love you" from either of them, we do get probably the most important dialogue during a cutscene towards the end of the game.
"I never thought you would open up," Taion remarks to Eunie during an evening around the campfire.
Eunie is startled by the comment, but after hesitation, replies, "Maybe I found someone I could depend on."
I do love this game too! Though, Xenoblade Chronicles (the original from Wii era) is my fav.
And you are right, the relationships here deserve a spot. The Noah and Mio one in particular, because that's almost a story about whether genetics or destiny determine our partner.
All I can say is: Write in!! You did 150 words here easy! If only you caught my notes on this!!
Yep, totally missed any notes related to this.
The chapter 10 should be more appropriately named: "And thus, boy meets girl, her somewhat-of-a-sister, and another girl, and has kids with all them at roughly the same time" ;-)
He did that last part several years later.
our vote goes to Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man, two lovers brought together through a shared love of running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music. heartwarming stuff.
great feature!
Thank you!
What a great collaborative article. Thanks so much for this. Learned a lot about games I knew nothing about and found new newsletters in the process. Thank you this was awesome.
Thank you! I'll try and think of some more to do in the future. I think this one caught a lot of "2025: I'm starting a gaming substack" writers, which is great!
So many interesting couples! A side note about Yuna and Tidus, I watched a video of that scene before I even knew about the game and I thought it was an amazing scene. And I played the game a few years ago and I think it's even more amazing knowing the context! Though... yeah, still a bit confused about how it worked out but a breathtaking (hah!) scene nonetheless lol
The scene is just odd. I mean they are swimming and kissing and swimming.. I try not to think to hard about it.
This turned out so well! And I was introduced to couples I wasn't aware of. I'm happy you put this together and thanks for featuring me.
It came up so well! Thanks for contributing! I realise its a lot to ask other writers to write for me. But really appreciate it!