A Xenoblade Reading List
Last updated July 6, 2026
I started this last after Jake gave me a shoutout on stream and I got a lot of new followers with Xenoblade avatars (I use A on my Switch profile.). Here I have collected the most influential criticism I have read on the games alongside my own publications on the series or related conversations.
Ah, Philosophy
- Jake Steinberg compares Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2's scripts and writes about how the fandom of the sequel operates like a conspiracy.
- Cole Kronman's series retrospective at Kotaku on how XC3 relates to Xenogears both in content and in form. Go read more of Cole's writing.
- Elijah Gonzalez makes an anti-Capitalist reading of XC3 for Unwinnable.
- Kai after Kai has a coherent read on why Future Redeemed is a thematic conclusion to both Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and the trilogy.
- Aaron Suduiko's series of analyses on A Terrible Fate tease out more than trivia from the philosophic traditions of each game.
- I enjoyed PhantomHeit's analysis of how all the sci-fi bullshit works through themes across the trilogy (and making some sense of Lucky Seven).
- Abram Buehner writes in response to playing Xenoblade Chronicles for the first time. You could find many videos about why someone loved Xenoblade Chronicles, but Abram grounds his approbation firmly in his experience of mechanisms and place.
My Own Words
- I touch on XC3's class commentary in an essay on FFVII: Rebirth, Berserk, and fantasy at the end of the world for Bullet Points Monthly.
- I write poetically about the broadest strokes of the series as a whole for Start Menu.
- I wrote about the discourse around the character A, how Xeno fans are terminally obsessed with canonicity, and how this drains the series of meaning for TechRadar. Spoilers for the entire series. (Note: This piece was not copy edited properly.)
- I wrote about Xenoblade Chronicles at Unwinnable when I was fresh out of college during the onset of COVID. It feels embarrassing to reread now but that's growth I guess!
- You can also read the review I wrotte at launch for Polygon.
- You can listen to Jake and I talk about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 after he finished his playthrough.
Further Reading
Canon Is An Abyss by Mike Rugnetta is not about Xenoblade at all, but the larger cultural tide many of its fans have projected onto it in the form of lore-obsession, canonicity, and correctness.
For Unwinnable, I wrote a series on how we talk about, invoke, and understand intentionality in media and discourse today.
- Part 1: Realism, Reality and the Real
- Part 2: Another Meaning of the Words
- Part 3: There are Decapitations
For Polygon, I wrote more about doing queer readings, and I also wrote about the perennial JRPG discourse via Trails in the Sky for Gamers With Glasses.
Shoutouts
Go check out Unwinnable, an indie outlet with two monthly publications of cultural crit from industry vets and newcomers alike. Also consider following and supporting Bullet Points Monthly, one of the few places left that specializes in publishing essays and criticism that go longer than immediate audience reaction.
Read something I missed? Find my email on the links page.