Rate the Nintendo Direct 17/09/13

[Nuvendil]

Hiku said:

Nuvendil said:

I mean, this is a Takahashi game.  No way are Elysium and the Aegis going to turn out to be what we think.  And somebody we really like will betray us.  I mean, the first Xenoblade starts with you HAVING the legendary sword and being the chosen one and setting out on revenge.  Honestly, the opening of Xenoblade is a lot like the first part of Chrono Trigger: the most by the numbers fantasy story imaginable plot wise.  But it's all a red herring. 

Takahashi is a director though. I don't know if he has much leeway when it comes to how the script develops any more. He may have in the past because the main writer was his wife.

That said, it does sound like a red-herring.

If I recall correctly, there was an Iwata Asks featuring Hironobu Sakaguchi and Tetsuya Takahashi concerning the development of Xenoblade and Last Story and indicators were there that Takahashi has considerable influence on the story and pretty much all other aspects of the game.  Same with Xenoblade Chronicles X.  He definitely strikes me as an auteur, someone whose vission is core to and drives nearly every aspect of the work.

And also consider this: the trailers are being that blatant but they haven't shown a single story scene, not even the opening one, in its entirety yet.  So they are being quite cagey with plot specifics.  Also, another thing to keep in mind is The Quest plotline structure can lend itself to very engaging stories depending on how the nature of The Quest changes and what path it carves through the world.  See Lord of the Rings as an example.