I can also add another XBX fun fact here: As part their WRPG experimentation they actually ditched their usual composers and hired a tv/movie guy instead, giving it some very distinct musical vibes from the rest of the franchise.
vgm nerd nitpicking incoming (These games having some of my all time favorites)
Eh... I don't quite know if I'd characterize it that way. While it's true the "main" Xenoblade series (the numbered one) has the shared link of the composers being ACE+, Kiyota, and Mitsuda - I don't think you could really characterize them as the "usual composers" at that point since it was
just XC1 at that point. You could argue Mitsuda as an exception here having composed for Xenogears and Xenosaga 1 but IIRC he was not part of Xenosaga 2 and 3 and I
believe his sole composition in Xenoblade 1 was the Ending Theme.
Xenoblade X does bring in Sawano who did not work on any previous Xeno game before (or since) to my knowledge but honestly it also wouldn't be the first time that Takahashi brought in one of the biggest names in anime composition to work on Xeno- titles. Sawano, at the time, would have been coming off composing for series such as Gundam Unicorn and, probably most popularly, Attack on Titan. By comparison, Kajiura (who worked on some of Gundam SEED as well as .hack//SIGN) was brought in to compose the cutscenes of Xenosaga II as well as all of Xenosaga III.
Really, if anything, you could make a credible case that "at some point a big name composer who worked on a contemporary Gundam soundtrack will end up involved in composing for the series" is the
real pattern
Anyway, vgm aside, Xenoblade is a pretty fun ride, looking forward to reading your experiences!
