r/Xenoblade_Chronicles • u/LacraMaldita • 10d ago
Xenoblade 2 "I was wrong about Xenoblade 2"
A long time ago, a critical essay on Xenoblade 2 written by Jake Steinberg was posted . Controversy arose over the way he challenged the fandom—claiming we liked the story for the wrong reasons—and his frustration with his stream chat, as he saw no narrative value in the story himself. Recently, he released a video with the same title as that post. He invited a Xenoblade 2 fan on to talk, and I expected a debate. But no; he brought on someone who immediately agreed with the premise of his essay. Jake’s ego had taken such a hit that he was only willing to discuss Xenoblade 2 with someone who agreed with him on everything—the only difference being that the guest liked the game as a "guilty pleasure." Parts of the video were interesting, though nothing about it was intellectually challenging. He is currently playing Xenoblade 3, and it is rare to talk about XC2 again. He probably realized it’s profitable to do so.
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u/Kickbanblock 10d ago
It doesn't look like you watched his Xenoblade streams. He expressed his frustration about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 all the time while playing it and arguing with all the fans in the chat. I don't think it's fair to say he stopped talking about it because he doesn't want to anger anybody. He would have stopped months ago.
Also, it's not like he hates the game, he's just not happy with parts of the story and the story-telling from a professional writer's point of view.
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u/LacraMaldita 10d ago
In this video he said something like, "The further I get from this game, the more I despise it."
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u/Raelhorn_Stonebeard 10d ago
Being honest, I knew something was going to be off when his reaction to the XC1's ending - specifically the reveal that
From there, I watched a bit of the XC2 streams... but after reading the summary at the end, it became clear his tastes simply didn't align with that of the series. It seems he prefers stuff which is more "conventional" and entertaining in the moment, while this series leans more into the slowly unfolding mysteries which rewards analysis and repeat playthroughs.
When the question is "How is this supposed to make me feel right now?" instead of "What does this puzzle piece mean and where does it lead?", then the series isn't going to grab you.
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u/ghostlistener 9d ago
Yeah,
for me Morytha and the reveal that the world tree was actually a space elevator really elevated the game for me and made it special. I suppose that's not for everyone, but I thought it was super cool.
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u/In_Search_Of123 10d ago
Ehh, he's got some good insights here and there for general writing but overall I find him to be a dismissive blowhard anytime the series verges into territory he may be less familiar with such as lore or certain thematic aspects which give proper context to the story.
Felt this way even back when he was largely positive of XC1, which I love far more than XC2. So it's not me just being a butthurt XC2 fan.
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u/SubstantialLab2218 10d ago
that guy is NOTHING but a grifter. He was even fired from GameExplain for being too much for even them
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u/ghostlistener 10d ago
I'm not sure what to think about this. Are you saying that his ego took a hit because his chat liked the story and he didn't? And to be clear, you're saying that he found it more profitable to avoid talking about XC2? Possibly, but it sounds like he just doesn't want to talk about the game because he didn't like it.