Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country

Watch humans closely and you'll learn one thing. Deep down they wish were dead. They kill each other like they swat flies. Running towards oblivion like blind rats. They see the divine flame of life and piss over it. They're genius at that. In a class all of their own really. Oh...That flame is wasted on them. So I... I want to give them a push in the right direction. As the benevolent servant of our "wise dad" should...

—Malos, the renegade Aegis.

A 2018 Action RPG by Monolith Soft, and a prequel to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country was big enough to be released as standalone (and also as download), after almost landing in What Could Have Been territory. It was originally meant to be a segment between chapters seven and eight.

This game follows Lora, a mercenary driver from the country of Torna, which is seeking from her estranged mother alongside her blade Jin, which wears a mask to hide the fact his core had actually been stolen and accidently feel on Lora's hands seventeen years before. In the middle of her journey, she finds Addam, a prince of Torna which recognizes who Jin is by his external appearance.

Lora and Jin fight Addam but the prince grows so impressed by her abilities that he asks her to follow him on his journey: a special Blade called Malos has gone rogue, and for some reason wants to kill every last human being on Alrest. Having already witness the extent of damage Malos can do, Lora agrees to join, as long she can meet her mother first, that other of her blades, Haze, had localized on Torigoth.

Directed by Koh Kojima and Genki Yokota, which also directed the main game. Published by Nintendo.

Tropes used in Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country include:

The Ace: Both Jin and Brighid are considered the most powerful blades of their respective nations, Torna and Mor Ardain.
Badass Adorable: Hugo is a small cute teenage boy which wields two of the most powerful blades on the setting with murderous efficiency.
Bad Powers, Bad People: Malos' primary power is to create a Sphere of Destruction. He is a lunatic bent on committing genocide against mankind.
Big Bad: Malos. Not only he is an One-Man Army, but he is also an army of one, as he commands a legion of Artifices which barely seem sentient. He has no real allies, and as you can see by the opening quote, nothing less than a suicidal cult would try follow him anyway.
Dangerously-Short Skirt: Lora's wear a red, pleated mini skirt which seems always on the border of showing a panty shot thanks to her kick-heavy fighting style but never does.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Mythra is cold and indifferent to human struggles at the start of the story, but slowly the party and Milton manage to make her care more.
Foregone Conclusion: A big amount of this, likely thanks to not being planned as a prequel:
- Mythra will somehow sank Torna, and two more continents along it.
- Addam will seal her away, not return to his family, and live in obscurity the remaining of his days, leaving an opening for future kings of Torigoth to claim to be direct descendants from him.
- Lora will die. By the hands of indoline troops, so basically you know she will survive any other deadly confrontation.
- Jin will lose all hope on mankind and become much like Malos. With added hate directed entirely at the Architect.
- Haze will become one of the blades of Amalthus as Lora dies.
- Brighid mentions core crystals can't keep or protect diaries while discussing the Aegis War with Mythra on the main game and why she doesn't know everything about Mythra's actions, what spells Hugo's doom.
- Malos will survive but will be greatly weakened.
Generation Xerox: Hugo not only looks a lot like his descendant Niall, but he is also Older Than He Looks. To make things even more similar with them, he is uncomfortable with the fact he is the emperor instead of his older sibling just like Niall is uncomfortable with being emperor instead of his older sibling-like figure Morag.
Heroic Bastard: Addam is a son out of wedlock of his father, the Tornan king. It is downplayed as his father does officially recognise him and he is on the line of succession, but it does not stop Malos of insulting him with the fact.
Insane Troll Logic: Malos simultaneously despises mankind and also says he is doing what humans want to do. This is justified as, per the main game, Amalthus is a Boomerang Bigot and his way of thinking is resonating inside Malos without the latter even knowing.
Irony: Dramatic type. Haze says she would hate to be the blade of someone like Amalthus. In 2 she is Amalthus' blade and very happy about it.
Lack of Empathy: Mythra makes a joke about the village of Torigoth being burned to ashes. Addam quickly brings up how insensitive that is, and she tries to make amends as she realizes Lora's sadness.
Late Arrival Spoiler:
- Jin is a blade, something that Rex and the audience only learned after the battle with Aeshma.
- Amalthus is evil. That only becomes pretty clear in 2 by Tantal when Eulogimenos reveals his blackmail of the royal family for core chips. The party of this game learns this pretty early on, but Malos's threat is a greater problem.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Hugo feels sad about being the emperor because he is a Driver and his older brother is not, and his gentle personality contrasts with the militarist culture of his country.
Pet the Dog: Despite showing zero positive qualities on-screen, Gort is stated by Lora to having treated her mother well.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Hugo is our ardainian party member, and the ardainians are confirmed to be this: they only allow drivers to be emperors, they delegate the most powerful blades to the emperor, and every ship that the emperor uses must be armed and ready for combat.
Punch Clock Hero: Mythra is just going along with the plan to destroy Malos because her driver wants to and manifests a lowly opinion of humans. Most of the game involves her growing out of this.
Sinister Minister: Malos tries to emulate the behaviour of one, declaring that a servant of the Architect should push mankind towards destruction. The actual evil priest is his driver Amalthus.
Supporting Protagonist: Lora and Jin get involved in the plot because Malos is too big of a threat to ignore. Much of the plot development instead falls on Mythra, which is not only Malos' Good Counterpart, but the reasons of why she ended up sinking Torna are focused on.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Lora stops Jin of killing Gort, justifying it by saying he treated his mother well.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: Mor Ardain has an In-Universe rule to avoid this: non-Drivers cannot be emperors, making Hugo the ruler despite being the younger brother. Hugo doesn't seem to be comfortable about this, however.
Younger Than They Look: Hugo barely seems to have reached puberty at all. He is eighteen.