“This is the truth of our world!”
Every once in a while, there comes a game that you simply want to savor; an experience you want to take in every last inch of in favor of possibly discovering something new. While I adore the Xenoblade Chronicles series, Monolith Soft’s latest in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is by far the developer’s greatest achievement, crafting a world and narrative so breathtakingly stunning that I relished every last minute of my 140-hour playthrough. While it certainly has the Switch’s hardware bursting at the seams, it nonetheless impresses at nearly every turn. In short, it’s an undeniable masterpiece.
After quite enjoying Xenoblade Chronicles 2, despite my few issues with it, I was unsure if this latest installment would top it. Would I get attached to the characters in the same way? Would the story captivate and keep its hooks in me for well over a hundred hours? Would the combat system and mechanics remain engaging throughout the lengthy adventure? After completing every single quest that came my way, exploring every environment to its fullest, and ensuring that no stone was left unturned, I can say without question that yes, Monolith Soft has truly created something special.
The world that Monolith Soft has created here branches out well past just this adventure as while the connections are there, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 certainly does earn the number in its title. While a new player may be lost in regards to some of the game’s connecting pieces, I’ll leave it vague and simply state this; Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 should be certainly be experienced before setting out on this journey as the pay off is immensely worth it, and both of those games are absolutely worth playing.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 shares in much of the same aesthetics of its predecessors with a world and tone that connect each of the games with an artistic cohesion we often don’t see, especially in JRPG’s. So many franchises are rarely connected in this way, well, apart from the Legend of Heroes series, and Ys in some ways as well. Still, having that cohesion benefits this game greatly to allow for franchise consistency, but it also allows you to see how much Monolith Soft has grown from game to game and how they have been able to take advantage of the Switch’s hardware like no other.
For those that don’t know, Monolith Soft has a deep history of not only developing their own titles but being that of a support studio for some of Nintendo’s biggest games. From Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and more, Monolith Soft is low key one of Nintendo’s best kept secrets. The fact that during the Switch’s now five-year lifespan that we have had two full Xenoblade Chronicles games, a remaster of the first, and a DLC add-on for the second, not to mention their assistance on other titles, makes this easily the best studio attached to the publisher by leaps and bounds. Their output is incredible and the fact that their games are as functional and polished as they are speaks volumes about their capability and execution.
The overall package that is Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of strong character moments, intense and satisfying action scenes, deep and rewarding combat mechanics, as well as taking in a wealth of stunning environments that offer a massive amount of scale that you won't believe is running on a handheld with hardware as old as it is now. While I'll certainly address the complaints that some have had with the games visuals, at no point during my time with the game was I ever disappointed in what the team has managed to do on such a now under-powered platform.
Set sometime in the future, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in the world of Aionios. It is here where two warring factions; Keves and Agnus, are at war with each other. Each faction specializes in different forms of combat, either through mechanized efforts or those via the flow of Ether. Each faction is divided into distinct colonies, each with their own giant mech that is called a Ferronis. This towering titan houses the extracted life force of that sides opposing soldiers in something called a Flame Clock, forcing each faction to essentially take no prisoners. Both Keves and Agnus populate their forces through soldiers that are engineered to have a lifespan of just ten years. As their colony is graded by their life-extraction efforts, their entire lives are devoted in service. Should a solider survive their term, their very essence is then given back to their people via a ceremony called Homecoming.
This process of extracting the life essence of the fallen, is via a ritual performed by flute-playing soldiers called “Off-Seers”. While the game differs from its predecessors in that we now have two main protagonists instead of one, both of them are part of this ritual, each being an Off-Seer for their own respective faction, each with their own unique history surrounding why they do what they do, and what it truly means to them.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 essentially conveys a story about three soldiers from each faction being caught up in a conspiracy that sees them joining forces to discover the truth behind the war, and that of the very world itself. This whole situation is pushed upon them when they meet Guernica Vandham, a man in his later years that triggers a device that will change their lives forever. While initially skeptical about the whole ordeal, and reluctant to work together, the group are nonetheless curious as Vandham is the first human they have encountered that looks as old as he does, something none of them ever knew was even possible. This causes the group to come to terms with various circumstances that go against what they know, what they have been told, or have experienced for themselves. It plays for a solid narrative as they continue to have their own personal views and beliefs shattered and then learning how to continue forward.
Being forced to work together is the catalyst for the entire adventure as the group are given a fantastical power called Ouroboros. While they will learn just exactly what that means, and the burden of what that truly represents, they are tasked with first reaching a place called “The City” in order to have all their questions answered. However, being given this power comes with a cost as they are now the targets of an enemy called “Moebius” who are essentially the caretakers of this world and the force behind each and every colony.
The central cast of playable characters consists of Noah, Lanz, and Eunie, who are Keves-born, and Mio, Sena, and Taion, who come from the Agnus nation. Each and every one of them have very distinct personalities and it is those differences that make each one of them stand out. While they do tend to initially fall into somewhat trope archetypes, those are largely only surface-level observations. I never once tired of Noah’s unwavering determination, or Mio’s desire to always do the right thing. Lanz was someone who I assumed would be this cocky tough-guy, but his vulnerability made him one of my favorite characters to see grow. Sena and Taion both are looking for acceptance in some ways, but their desire for it stems from very different places. Eunie, who is likely going to be everyone’s favorite, is very forward with everyone she meets, calling out any sort of BS that is placed upon her or the team.
While not part of the playable cast, Noah and company are consistently joined by Riku and Manana, a pair of Nopon that are part of their respective detachments. Riku, who is part of Noah’s team handles the maintenance of their weapons and equipment, whereas Manana handles the preparation of the team’s food supply. While Nopon have had varying levels of being annoying in previous entries, Riku and Manana have very different personalities from one another and do a great job at balancing each other out in ways where you actually care for them. When I heard Riku’s voice for the first time, I was overjoyed that he wasn’t going to be as annoying as Tora was in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Instead, Riku is almost suave in some ways, with a deep voice that seriously works for him. Manana is your typical Nopon, but her minimal use suits her well and made her as endearing as I truly believe the Nopon are meant to be.
In previous games, there was always a companion or two that I was never fully on board with or felt emotionally invested towards. Here, I was invested completely in each and every one of their backstories and what the future had in store for them. Their struggles became mine, their highs and lows impacted me emotionally, and a lot of that comes with some incredible voice acting that feels so perfectly suited for them, but is also written for the accents each of these characters have. Hell, even in the lines of dialogue that are not even voiced, I still heard their voices as if they were always there.
A bulk of the game deals with each of their various histories, the steps they took to be who they are and what they are willing to do to better themselves. The length of the game also allows them to truly grow, to have satisfying character arcs that feel not only earned, but a joy to see unfold. Seeing Sena really believe in herself, or Taion overcome a lot of his fears and doubts, I found each of them to be vastly compelling and part of a story I was heavily invested in seeing through. While much of this was during quests and objectives that were pivotal to the main plot, a great deal of these moments come from interacting and recruiting a wealth of heroes, each with their own stories, weapon classes, and deep connections to the story at large.
While each of the main characters have their own classes, which can be freely swapped at a certain point in the story, you are going to unlock additional classes from the various hero characters you discover on your journey. As of this review, there are 19 characters that you can recruit to join you in battle. They will act as a 7th party member that will operate of their own devices. You can give them accessories to boost certain stats, or play around with their Arts, but that is about it. Once you have recruited them, they will pass on a new class towards a specific core party member. Once other characters have fought alongside them enough, then you can allow other characters to benefit from that class as well. The way in which class switching is actually written into the main story is pretty interesting as opposed to it just being something that can be done but is never addressed.
Each hero comes from a different colony, offering their own take on the world, and how they see the war at large. While some of their stories are anywhere from good to great, there are several that truly sing, offering remarkable storytelling and fantastic character work. As you continue to push through the game, you’ll have more quests to take on with them, including what is called an Ascension quest that greatly improves that class’s abilities, as well as closing out their arc. Seeing Fiona attempting to do right by her people, or Alexandria’s past coming back to haunt her, I was invested to no end with their stories and how they affected not just the main plot, but their involvement in making the main cast grow.
Those colonies that grant you these heroes are all small settlements that allow you to buy and sell items, engage with conversations with various NPC’s and house a great deal of the side quests you will take on. While there is a more traditional city location present much later on in the game, these encampments work rather well due to the several characters you will meet, their views on what Ouroboros is attempting to achieve, and how they can help. As each colony is under the protection of Moebius, you’ll encounter them as you dig deeper into freeing the colony from under them as you attempt to shake up the status quo.
From having seven character in battle, to the swapping and proficiency of a wealth of different classes, combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is incredibly varied and while it has the appearance of being deeply complex or convoluted, is overly simple when you start to inject it into your overall repertoire. Similar to previous entries, you have a basic auto attack that will charge up your Arts. These are varied attacks or skills that can cause damage, boost stats, or heal your party. They also can be direction specific, such as doing more damage from the side, front, or rear. As you use Arts, you also charge up your Talent Art, a special attack that does far more damage than a standard attack. If you land certain Arts one after another in a set order, you can pull off a Art Combo. This allows you to Break, Topple, Daze, or Burst a foe for considerably more damage.
What I also found interesting is that Kevesi and Agnian classes charge their Arts gauges differently from one another, as well as having other differences that set them apart. Kevesi classes’ Arts gauges fill over time, whereas Agnian classes’ Arts fill by auto-attacking. As you unlock classes and learn some of their Arts, you can add additional Arts to your active selection and even fused them with other Arts if both of them are charged up at the same time, offering a stronger version of your main Art. The sheer amount of classes and skills to learn and apply into your arsenal is staggering, allowing you really flesh out a character with Arts that their main class may lack.
As Ouroboros, you will have access to a special power called Interlinking. With your party consisting of six characters, you will have three pairs of characters that have the ability to Interlink with one another, fusing into a powerful form to combat the worst that Moebius has to offer. While there is more to this system than has been shown, I’ll be very vague on certain aspects of it. Interlinking allows you to become this powerful form that comes with its own Arts and special attacks. You can only remain in this form for so long, so you’ll want to use it to your best ability before it ends. You can boost its power and how long you are able to be in the form via a skill tree that has a host of other perks and buffs to make it stronger and more dependable.
Another ability that you’ll learn is having your team work together in battle via a system called Chain Attack. We’ve seen a system like this before, but Chain Attacking here essentially gives you complete freedom to roll out a series of attacks without any opposition getting in your way. At the start of a Chain Attack, you’ll give an order by selecting one of three characters. Hero character can show up here, so it pays to have a hero equipped that you feel works well within this system. After choosing an order, you’ll then pick from a variety of attacks as you fill a meter. Once that meter is filled, the previous order then gets deployed. Eventually, you will be able to accommodate your Interlinking Ouroboros form into your Chain Attack, pulling off an attack than can chop off large sections of an enemies health bar.
Now, despite all that, there are still a wealth of deeper and more involved systems or an additional nuance to each and every mechanic. Finding these little flourishes to help in combat can certainly make or break some encounters. Noah will also gain several special systems as well as he wield a special type of sword, which isn’t uncommon when it comes to the male leads of the series. You can also use the Shulk Amiibo to grant him the Monado, which is a neat little easter egg, but one that does undercut some of the story moments when it focuses on the actual blade and it is instead replaced with Shulk’s sword in the frame.
Combat feels much faster and more chaotic than previous entries, and that is in large part to having seven characters on the field, or eight if you count your Nopon companions. Despite this chaos, it’s still fairly easy to pay attention to what is happening in battle, the various healing fields that characters have placed upon the battlefield, or even how many enemies are involved in the fight, indicated by an icon in the top right corner. Fights are often quick, and while you’ll hear a lot of the same battle chatter from your companions, it’s still much better than it was initially in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. For as deep and complex as combat can seem, it has been largely streamlined to make it more accessible to new players while not lacking any of the depth.
Exploring Aionios is often just as rewarding as combat and a wealth of systems always make it so you are contributing towards some goal. There are supply drops and loot cannisters almost everywhere to collect, Ether channels to fill up your cache, or even tending to your role as an Off-Seer and sending off the life force of the random husks you’ll find littered about the battlefield. Much like in previous games, you’ll often find tougher enemies moving around the map, leveled vastly higher than you are when you first encounter them. These encourage you to return to previous areas, defeat them, and then wander about, seeing what other areas of the map you can now freely explore. You also will have a variety of traversal systems such as climbing vines, grinding various rails that allow to you access out of reach areas, and more. And thankfully, these are skills you learn and are not based upon specific heroes or requirements of certain party members.
As you visit each of the many colonies, you’ll often find bits of random information all around you via NPC’s that have a bright yellow icon above them, usually having a conversation that you will overhear. Taking to a nearby Rest Spot or Canteen will allow you to put the pieces together of what could be just simple information, or a quest to dig into. Rest Spots will also allow you to spend any bonus experience you have to level up, craft gems to boost key stats, to a variety of food dishes to grant additional bonuses in the battles to come. You can also clean your character’s equipment, which is an odd addition, but leaving them dirty will result in characters appearing in cutscenes looking a bit worse for wear. As I can tell, there are no penalties to being dirty.
While you’ll have an incredible amount of side quests to tackle, some of which are your typical fetch quests or deep involving scenarios that extended to additional quests down the road, a lot of the tedium of simply finding items for each colony come in the form of Collectopaedia Cards. Odd naming convention aside, this allows you to send each colony a series of different material orders that aid in boosting your affinity with each colony. While side quests and conversations do that as well, it’s nice to know that all the random items you are harvesting and collecting can be sent to them from anywhere you are. While there are some very convenient fast travel spots that allow you to return to almost anywhere at any given time, or even a quick travel feature based on the quest you have on the go, being able to hand these in from anywhere is a huge bonus. What I enjoyed about these systems was that they contributed towards boosting my affinity with their respective colonies, gifting me more conversations and quests as I would increase my bond with each colony.
Whether docked or on the go, especially with that glorious OLED screen, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is often a feast for the eyes. That said, the resolution can see a hit when it comes to rendering characters at a distance, coming across as being a tad blurry. When characters are in frame, up close, the detail is damn impressive for what the Switch is capable at doing. Given how much detail is constantly on screen, I was expecting excessive framerate dips or vast levels of pop in, and yet, I experienced so such thing.
About the only issue I had in regards to anything that even remotely looked disappointing is that in some areas, the grass can grow literally around your feet or that there would be a boosted level of clarity only a few feet around you. When compared to Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s performance, this latest entry performs consistently better as I barely noticed any sort of frame dip or stutter, even when the action really picked up. Again, this is coming from knowing what this hardware has been capable of, and honestly, I don’t know of a better looking game on the platform, given the scale of its locations and the wealth of characters and detail on screen at once.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of the few games that I can say that legitimately kept my interest right from its opening moments to well beyond its credits. Aionios is a treasure trove of stunning locales, challenging encounters, and dozens of interesting characters to engage with. The central cast and the collective of heroes that can accompany me on my journey are incredibly impressive and have a host of memorable moments that will stay with me forever. The deep and rewarding combat never once wavered, and the conclusion to my journey was so incredibly satisfying and emotional that even with tears in my eyes, I had a huge smile on my face. I am beyond excited for the future of what this game will deliver in its DLC that even now with everything explored and conquered, I continue to dive in and take in this breathtaking world.
Developer - Monolith Soft. Publisher - Nintendo. Released - June 29th 2022. Available On - Nintendo Switch. Rated - (T) Language, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. Review Access - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was purchased for review.