Instead of calling this my review of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I’m just going to say I appreciate it. Anyone reading this already knows it’s great and should be on your must-have list.
A detailed review of every working part of the game is too much to cover. His epic JRPG, his Xenoblade Chronicles 3, features a melodramatic plot, intricate characters, world exploration, glorious monsters, and an intricate combat system. Fans of his other Xenoblade Chronicles games know what to expect, and this latest (and final?) entry in the series delivers on all counts.
But is it better than others? It depends on your taste.
Briefly, the story centers around two groups of three soldiers from opposite sides of the Perpetual War. Noah, Lantz, and Eunie are Quebecian soldiers. Mio, Taion, and Sena fight for Agnus. The angle here is that all they know is combat. From the moment they are ‘born’ into the world of Aionios (our early teens, I think), they are trained to ‘serve the Queen’ through combat. increase. At that point, via what is revered as ‘Homecoming’, they return to the Queen.
Our band of soldiers from Keves and Agnus looks cool in this, until they don’t. I set out to find out why it’s dark.
The problem is that both Keves and Agnus now have no friends in the world, as they consider them enemies.
That changes as you progress through Ionios and the game’s winding plot. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hits all the marks fans expect along the way, but with a degree of intelligence and respect that isn’t always present. The biggest example is Noah and Mio being off-seer. Their job is to bring the spirits of the dead to the Queen through some pretty haunting tunes played on the flute. This leads to some pretty heavy and intellectual conversations about the afterlife and the need to heroize fallen soldiers. Do we do it for their comfort or do we do it for our own comfort?
Stories usually don’t take a stance on such issues, they ask questions and move on. Still, if all you’re looking for for adventure is to kill them all and let God sort them out, you won’t get it here. There is a mission to monitor the “shell” spirits that are in war is death, incessant Death, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will never let you forget it.
The downside to this approach is that the story isn’t as interesting as the previous entries. Our party of six of hers are all interesting people, and while they perform wonderfully, this is the group I dislike the most in the Xenoblade Chronicles game (actually part of his trilogy except no X). Eunie and Lanz are outstanding and Taion really captivated me after a dozen hours but is he in the group Reyn Mithra or Zeke? No, but honestly, Zeke and his shining eyes of justice are more than we ever deserved.
Most of the game’s personalities come from heroes you can recruit through your adventures. There are many things to unlock either through the main plot or side quests, and he can almost always place one in his party.
This is great for combat strategy as each combatant has three main roles: attacker, healer/buffer and defender. If your party needs a little more defense for certain bosses, choose heroes with solid defensive skills. , which allows the character to change roles and learn new skills and arts that can be used in other roles. Eventually, other characters in the main party will be able to use hero classes as well, but some matchups will be unproductive. The main advantage is that you can actually swap main characters without completely rethinking your battle strategy.
I don’t want to go too far into the multi-layered combat system for fear of dragging things out, but it’s arguably the easiest of the Xenoblade Chronicles games to master.
Boss fights aren’t as challenging as Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s sphere-busting approach, but you’ll feel more in control throughout. Swapping between characters during combat is easy and fun, and even if you don’t issue basic commands, the characters you don’t control are pretty smart.
These battles, including those against “unique” monsters with great names and designs, proved easier to win in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 than in previous games. This is partly because combat is streamlined, but mostly because it’s easy to overlevel. In previous games, side quests had to be taken on for a chance to fight plot-driven enemies. Numerous side quests and hero missions push you far beyond where you really need to be here, and by the time I get to the endgame showdown, I’m almost 20 levels higher than his opponent. I was. It was effortless, just focused on getting the most out of our heroes and “answering” every question mark we found on the field. It made the final battle a little rebellious, but considering I’d put about 140 hours into the game over the course of a month, I was a little happy that the conclusion was so easy to pull off.
It’s worth noting that completing the story doesn’t mean the game is over. New elements have been opened up, all those quests and unique monsters left, and his upcoming DLC (via Expansion Pass) will add even more over the next 16 months. Until then, I welcome the regular incentive to return to Aionios. Aionios is a beautifully designed world full of wonders to discover, so just scurrying between plot points is a lot of fun.
It’s also great that the hero system lets you meet and take advantage of the wealth of characters without being forced into Blades of Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s pitfalls system.
There are many good and bad things, but nothing changes my opinion. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a great final chapter (?) in the series. Giving up a month or two of gaming time to the struggles of Noah, Mio, and their friends is perfectly justified. In addition to the Chronicles of Shulk and Rex, you may find yourself finally compelled to start that new game. How many more months of game time?
