Lightning Strikes posted...No relation beyond a few vague themes and references.
that's enough to make it not count because you could say the same for every Final Fantasy then
I knew someone would say this as soon as I posted.
And really there's a world of difference. Not only are each Final Fantasy much closer related (each is based on the same core concepts expressed differently) but they each bear the Final Fantasy name and trademark. Xenoblade is its own IP with no official relation to the other Xeno_ games beyond the first four letters of its name, which does not a series make. It's like saying that The Last Story is a Final Fantasy game because they have similar names and share a director. That's not enough to count as a series.
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Something something something
^Poorly disguised anti-caps sig