Past Posts
Introduction
Future Connected is a new playable epilogue added to the Definitive Edition. I often am skeptical of new areas added to remakes and ports. Many are just a new dungeon or some new powers duct taped on that are poorly balanced and add little. But I’d heard they put a lot of work into Future Connected and so was curious to see what it’d be like.
Future Connected takes place a year after the ending. While most of Bionis is laying in the sea one of its shoulders and Alcamoth are floating in the sky. Melia, eager to see what has befallen the former capital of the High Entia, wants to scout the area. Shulk comes with her and pilots the Junks.
You need not beat the main story to play Future Connected. Your team starts at about Level 60 with set gear and no carry over from the main story. You can choose to play Future Connected from the moment you load up the remake.
The Team
Shulk and Melia return and are pretty much the same as they were in the main story. One difference is there are no longer visions to warn you. This made me use the Monado defensive Arts less as I never learned to properly read enemies. There were a few Unique Enemies that I had to learn to read to get past. But Xenoblade is still not a tough game so optimal play isn’t necessary.
The newcomers are two Nopon. Two of Riki’s kids: Nene and Kino. Nene is a boistrous, tough, and confident. She’s the older sister and mentors Nene. Gameplay-wise Nene is identical to Reyn.
Kino aspires to be like Riki, who is actually his adopted father. He’s lacking in confidence at the beginning of the adventure but gains self-esteem as he goes along, with the rest of the team helping him along. Kino is Sharla’s clone: a healer and rifle-user. Nopon generally avoid metal so he has a weird wooden gun. A side conversation reveals the gun uses strange fruit which absorb ether to power it.
Ponspectors
Chain Attacks are replaced by the humorous Ponspectors: a group of 12 Nopon sent to survey the Bionis’ Shoulder. You find and recruit them one-by-one. The whole squad follows you wherever you go. When the Team Gauge is full you can call the Ponspectors for one of three super attacks. Red Comet does a ton of damage to one target. Yellow Chaos does AoE damage and inflicts Daze. Blue Caress heals the team and gives them a shield.
The three attacks are straightforward and very useful. Any one of them can turn the tide of a fight and they come with a humorous scene.
Bionis’ Shoulder
The Bionis’ Shoulder is another gorgeous, varied landscape for Xenoblade. Fun fact: the Shoulder was an unfinished dummied out area in the original. While some of the later areas in the base game started to lose their luster the Shoulder can compare to the great areas like Bionis’ Knee and the Fallen Arm. There’s grasslands, settlements made in ruins, interesting cliffs to climb, caves, farmland, lakes, and more. Time to Fight! is the battle theme here and I enjoyed it throughout the playthrough. Bits of it remind me of a game show theme.
Prosecutor Davrum, a dragon fought in ruins after you get all 12 Ponspectors, is the toughest challenge of Future Connected. He’s got several powerful attacks that can deal 70% or more of your team’s max HP and are AoE. I had to get a bit creative on this one. Main threat is his special attacks which have the “charging special” visual tell. I had Shulk go full defense. Attack and maybe do a Slit Edge to build some offense but main idea was to build the Talent Gauge. Then wait for the dragon to charge an attack and launch Monado Armor. That combined with some Ponspector moves brought in the victory.
Fog King – Final Boss
The Fog King gets its own theme and add this to the list of great fight songs in Xenoblade. The fight itself wasn’t too hard. Most dangerous thing it had was Mist Press which topples the whole party for a while. But even with some time to hammer on my team with impunity it wasn’t able to properly take advantage.
Conclusion
Future Connected was a fun epilogue. The main issue with it was not its own fault: putting this much time in any game, no matter how good, tends to give me some fatigue with it. But the fact I stuck with it for another wonderful, lengthy area and segment indicates it was good. Below I describe that the plot was also well done and provided a better ending for some characters.
***** PLOT SECTION *****
Survivors on the Shoulder
A year after the ending of the main story, Melia and Shulk decide to take a trip to Alcamoth. While most of the Bionis lays in the sea, Alcamoth remains floating and near it the Bionis’ Shoulder continues to float. The pair take the Junks to investigate. A mysterious blast comes from Alcamoth and shoots the Junks down, causing it to crash on the Shoulder. Soon after, the two come upon two Nopon in trouble. They aid the two, who introduce themselves as Nene and Kino, two of Riki’s children. Shulk deduces that they stowed away on board the Junks. Kino was looking for adventure and Nene came along to look after him. The two join Melia and Shulk on the adventure.
The group finds a settlement of High Entia at Companions’ Cape. The settlement consists mostly of soldiers and guardsmen. Maxis is the leader there and describes the situation. A bunch of people ended up stranded on the Shoulder after the war a year ago. There are many High Entia of mixed heritage who did not turn into Telethia. There are also Homs, Nopon, and even Machina. At one point, all lived in the same settlement in Gran Dell. They fought together against the monsters of the Shoulder.
Strange rifts began opening over Alcamoth and from that rift came a monster called the Fog King. It’s powerful and impervious to attack. Its presence also turns other monsters into Fogbeasts, making them more powerful. The soldiers of Gran Dell tried time and again to retake Alcamoth, to no success and great loss of life. A Machina told the soldiers to stop wasting lives on the futile endeavor. That pissed them off and they left the settlement and established their place at Companions’ Cape. The two factions haven’t spoke since.
Melia feels it is her duty to help the people of the Shoulder.
Tyrea and Teelan
Teelan is a young High Entia whose mother was turned into a Telethia. In the base game there’s a sidequest where you help him begin research into how to turn Telethia back to normal. In Future Connected he’s back as a more major character and continuing his research. He’s aided and protected by Tyrea.
Tyrea was the assassin that tried to kill Melia in the High Entia Tomb. A late game sidequest reveals she’s a half-sister of Kallian’s similar to Melia; Melia and Tyrea share no parents but Tyrea’s mother was the First Consort just like Kallian. The same sidequest has the team spare Tyrea the task of having to mercy kill her own mother as a Telethia.
On the Shoulder, Tyrea originally was in despair and was looking for death. Then she encountered Teelan and came to care about the boy. When Melia’s group helps Teelan out of a tough spot it gets Melia and Tyrea talking. Nene encourages Melia to try to reconcile with her sister, as they’re the only family either has left. But given their history such a task is easier said then done.
Later, Melia helps save some of Teelan’s research from a fanatical High Entia that believes half High Entia are the new master race and resents the former full High Entia for their treatment of half-Homs. That and Melia’s efforts to try and make peace between the two Shoulder settlements begins to gain Tyrea’s trust.
War Against the Fog
The rift begins widening. The Fog King grows stronger and sends Fogbeasts to attack Gran Dell. Melia’s group helps the settlement defend themselves but they realize they will eventually be overwhelmed. Tyrea stays to hold the line while Melia and company go to Companions’ Cape. With a rousing speech, Melia convinces the soldiers to come to Gran Dell’s aid. Their combined forces push the Fogbeasts back. Afterwards, the soldiers of Companions’ Cape and Gran Dell reconcile.
But even their combined forces will eventually be overrun. Shulk and the people combine to alter his replica Monado so that it can create a field to render the Fog King vulnerable. Melia’s team returns to Alcamoth to confront the Fog King. Shulk’s tweaks work but before the Fog King can be destroyed the rift grows even larger and more Fogbeasts come out. Some Telethia come and attack the rift. Freed from Zanza’s control and retaining some memories of when they were High Entia, the Telethia want Alcamoth freed too.
With their aid, the Fog King is struck down and the rift is closed. No definitive explanation is given for where the rift or the Fog King came from. Best Shulk comes up with is a “new threat for a new world.” Sounds like there’s some parallels to elements from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which I haven’t played, but nothing too solid. Others theorize this is meant as a sequel hook.
Ending
With the Fog King gone Gran Dell is allowed to rebuild in peace. The Junks is eventually repaired for Shulk, Nene, and Kino to return. Melia stays on the Shoulder. With the news of a settlement on the Shoulder efforts are immediately made to aid and integrate the Shoulder with the other Bionis settlements.
After some time Alcamoth is restored to a degree. Melia prepares to officially become Empress of the High Entia. She prepares to walk out for her ceremony. Tyrea is there at her side, supporting her.
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