Gaming Reference & Reviews

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a brilliant conclusion to the trilogy

Monolith Soft have done it again & proved they are still the kings of Nintendo published JRPGs in scale, story & soundtrack. Starting with Xenoblade Chronicles in 2010, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in 2017 & the near full game length DLC Torna: The Golden Country in 2018, their latest release confidently takes its place amongst the peaks of the franchise. It’s difficult to find an aspect of Xenoblade 3 that can be definitively stated as inferior to its predecessors, as near everything in this game is a result of over a decade of Monolith Soft formula refinement leading to spectacular results.

The game’s story concerns itself with two warring nations called Keves & Agnus. Both nation’s soldiers live a measly 10 years of constant fighting, & if they reach the end of their 10th year without perishing on the battlefield, the Queen of their respective nation will send their souls off in a ceremony called the “homecoming”. Being a story focused on war, the game is noticeably more melancholic throughout than previous entries, being most distinct from Xenoblade 2’s goofy anime feel. Xenoblade 2 was the most controversial of the series thanks to the less tasteful parts that came with the anime inspiration such as character designs & questionable relationships, so choosing not to follow in its footsteps was likely a wise decision. Since you have 6 party members sharing the focus as opposed to the previous game’s groups of 3 at a time, the main cast can feel a bit homogenized in both gameplay & personality. Since every character can use every class, the party can feel like they all function the same with no particular specialties, a consequence of the high customizability. The same case is apparent with the group’s dynamic, as there are no weak links in your party, but no one particularly stands out in the group with Eunie being the closest to a fan favourite so far.

The gameplay of Xenoblade 3 is a slick combination of previous entries. Your party members get six arts each, 3 from Keves & 3 from Agnus. The Keves arts recharge on a cooldown like Xenoblade 1 while the Agnus arts recharge off of auto attacks & cancels a la Xenoblade 2. This way both camps get their preferred style of gameplay while offering the party even more options gameplay wise. Interlinking adds another dimension to combat, allowing you to fuse pairs of your party members into a powerful Ouroboros form for a limited time. Chain attacks have also been completely reworked into possibly the best form they’ve ever taken. The player picks an order that will have a specific effect when completed, & completing an order requires a minimum of 100 TP which is gained by attacking. Each role has its own application in a chain attack, attackers gaining a point boost when they strike first in an order, healers capping the TP at 99 to fit more attacks in for bonus damage & a higher TP total, & defenders always bringing back the character with the highest TP for the next round. All of these features combine to create what is quite possibly the best Xenoblade combat system to date, built off of everything fans loved from the other games. All of these features can prove to be a lot to swallow for new players though, which results in a large dump of tutorials throughout the game.

Xenoblade 3’s soundtrack is stellar as is to be expected of Monolith Soft’s titles, boasting tracks to get your blood pumping in the heat of combat like Chain Attack!, tracks to make you shed well earned tears during the game’s lowest moments like A Step Away & even tracks to remind you to enjoy the good times while they last like Where We Belong. The entire OST is full of powerful songs to fit every moment of the game & shows that Monolith Soft haven’t come anywhere close to losing their edge in the music department. Graphically Xenoblade 3 is far from boasting the highest polygon count or the most crisp resolution, but the primary feast for the eyes the game delivers is its locations. Somehow the Xenoblade franchise’s 3rd entry manages to create a world even more vast & grand than its predecessors which already tote world sizes that are nothing to scoff at. The game sits at a solid 90-100 hour completion time for a casual playthrough which is to be expected of the Xenoblade series, with easily an extra 50+ hours if you want to go all the way for every sidequest & unique monster. The game sits at a typical $80 CAD price point but the DLC expansion pass will add on an extra $40 CAD, most of which includes extra costumes & classes but will conclude with some extra story content of which the details are as of yet unknown. Xenoblade 3 is first & foremost the finale to a trilogy so it should not be a player’s first dive into the series, otherwise much of the story’s history & characters will hold far less weight. For those who have kept up with the franchise, Xenoblade 3 will offer a very satisfying conclusion for everything the previous games have built up.

Since assigning a numerical value to art seems somewhat pointless to me, instead included below is a handy list of pros & cons to help you come to your own conclusion

Pros	Cons
The most refined combat in the Xenoblade series	A ton of tutorials that can feel invasive during gameplay
Another grand & diverse world to explore	Requires playing the previous 2 entries for the full experience
Several hours of content to keep both casual players & completionists occupied	A main cast that can struggle to stand out from the large group of 6 from the get go
A deeply introspective & melancholic story
Fantastic soundtrack filled with emotion to keep you engaged