Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Do NOT play before reading this!

Introduction

With Xenoblade Chronicles 3 just around the corner, many of you are wondering what to expect. Since its announcement trailer back in February, we learned a lot more from the Xenoblade 3 direct and gameplay footage, providing valuable insight on the 6 main characters, combat, classes and more. That’s why today, we’ll be taking a look at the 10 things to expect in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

In this guide we’ll be taking a look at 10 things you should know before buying Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Story

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 weaves together the stories of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2. It takes place in what is known as Aionios, a world devastated by an ongoing power struggle between the technological nation of Keves and  the more magically oriented nation of Agnus.  

It seems you start with three party members early on. Noah, a brave Off-Seer from Keves, responsible for sending fallen soldiers their last rites, along with their respective queens. Lanz, a  burly brawler built for close-combat and Eunie, a brash High-Entian girl who is delicate to her core. At first, these three go to war against the forces of Agnus. They eventually fight Mio, a kind and compassionate Gormotti Off-Seer, Taion, a quick-thinking battle tactician and the small yet powerful Sena. Eventually, they discover the “true enemy” and band together against their nations in the hopes of reaching Swordmarch, a land pierced by a giant sword. A special “hero” may also join your party, bearing unique classes and skills as the 7th character. 

Ashera, Valdi, Riku & Manana, Fiona, Alexandria, Gray are the heroes we know of so far. In the trailer, Noah and Mio can be seen playing the flute as a way to honor the dead, thematically highlighting the meaninglessness of war. “Fighting to live and living to fight” is the first line in the reveal trailer, after all. Years are known as “terms” and each soldier only has 10 terms in total. Mio is on her last term in the trailer, with only 3 months to live. The subject of Lanz and Sena’s race are also mysterious. This is just speculation, but  Sena may be a blade, given the glowing lines and visible crystal core, while Lanz may be some form of Machina as seen in the first Xenoblade Chronicles. 

Exploration

Aionios is a fully explorable world with a great many sites, including Swordmarch, vast mountain ranges, oceans, forests, frigid regions and bustling cities.  As Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is somehow connected to the first and second game, certain areas will be returning. It’s unclear how this is even possible, given that there has not been any established connections in the second game. Regardless, fans of the series should take note of familiar locations like Uraya and a Leftherian Titan.

On top of all this, there are also numerous regions called “colonies,” found in both Keve and  Agnus territory, where Ferronis, giant robots of war, reside. Landmarks discovered provide valuable EXP and Spirit Point, and serve as fast travel points you can use throughout your journey. Quest routes is a new addition that is quite welcome. As someone who gets lost easily, this feature will cut away the headaches associated with navigating in the game’s massive open areas. 

Arts

Like the previous games, basic combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is mostly automatic.

As Nintendo previously confirmed, weapons can be materialized in battle as Blades. However, unlike the Blades seen in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, they appear to lack sentience. As a franchise known for its complex battle system, it’s no surprise that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 does little to deviate from this. In fact, the new features may only add to the confusion. I wouldn’t call it a bad thing.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s gives you access to unmatched creativity via new features like Master Arts, which lets you use arts regardless of class. This creates a layer of depth deserving of any great JRPG, especially Xenoblade. Arts are powerful skills that can contain various effects, such as buffs and debuffs, healing and even attacking from a certain angle for greater effectiveness.

Many arts also effectively make use of the driver combo seen in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a mechanic that lets players deal massive damage by inflicting status effects in the correct order. Fusion Arts, which lets you combine the effects of two compatible arts into one, is an impressive new feature that is sure to make combat quite interesting. Quick Move is one of the new mechanics that allows quick forward movement while retracting one’s weapon.  Of course, Chain Attacks make their return. This powerful attack sequence allows players to link up multiple arts consecutively in quick succession across your party, dealing massive damage. 

Ouroboros

This is further augmented by the new Ouroboros mode, a fierce and powerful time-limited transformation that fuses two compatible party members into one. The three sets of pairs are Noah and Mio, Eunie and Taion, as well as Sena and Lanz. Each Ouroboros changes form depending on the character used to control them, effectively giving you two sets of arts during this mode.. Making the most out of this form is key here, that’s why I believe using it during Chain Attacks will be optimal, assuming time freezes during the Chain Attack sequence.

Classes

Each weapon type seems to be assigned a class. Starting off with the normal classes, we have the

Swordfighter, a well-balanced attacker and starting class of Noah and Ogre, the starting class of Sena, who makes use of a large weapon to deal high damage. As for the defenders, we have the Zephyr, twin-wheel users skilled in defending by launching powerful counterattacks, as well as the Heavy Guard, the starting class of Lanz, who makes use of a huge weapon to defend his allies and draw aggro. Finally, there are the healer classes, Medic Gunner and Tactician.

Medic Gunner is the starting class of Eunie, who heals allies and provides buffs, while Taios adopts the Tactician class, specializing in disrupting enemies and healing allies using paper talismans called “Mondo”. Of the Hero classes,  we have the  Guardian Commander,Incursion and War Medic. These unique classes are accessible upon unlocking the corresponding Hero. Hero classes are confirmed to be usable for all party members. They also have their own Mater Art, giving players even more freedom to mix and match skills to customize units as needed.

Enemies

The four basic enemy types—Normal, Elite, Unique, and Lucky—are defined in detail in the most recent tweet from the official Xenoblade Twitter account.

Normal is self-explanatory,

 while Elite enemies are stronger than their normal counterparts. Unique enemies are even stronger and have their own last name. Finally, Lucky monsters give you better loot than normal.

When an opponent is targeted, you can identify the type of adversary you’re facing by looking at the symbol to the left of its name. 

Colonies

A lot of your time in Aionios will be spent in Colonies, hubs with necessary amenities like cooking and crafting stations, as well as stores. Additionally, players may speak to the many NPCs in these areas and discuss the information gathered among your party members. Colonies, which are found in both Keves and Agnus, all have mechas called Ferronis, as mentioned previously. These function as both weapons of war and mobile bases.

Gem Crafting 

Xenoblade Chronicles 1’s gem crafting is back, and it seems to be more refined.

Gems provide advantages like improved attributes and special effects.

They can be produced using materials and coins.

Blue, Red, Green, and Orange are the only four color categories that have been shown.

Although the mechanics of other features are not fully known, crafting appears to be much simpler than it was in the first game. 

Expansion Pass

For an additional $30, an Expansion Pass may be purchased in addition to the main game.

It offers four rounds of DLC; the first, which is due on July 29, includes “helpful items” and additional color options for outfits.

The second update, which is scheduled on December 31st, includes a new Challenge Battle, a Hero Character, Hero Quests, and new clothing.

The third wave, which launches on April 30th, 2023, is comparable with a new Hero, Challenge Battle, and attire.

The fourth and final DLC wave, which includes its own story expansion, will be released on December 31st, 2023.

Unfortunately, as there are no solo purchases, you must buy the Expansion Pass in order to access any DLC. 

File Size 

Despite Xenoblade Chronicles’ enormous scope, the game’s file sizes are often rather reasonable, with the second game only taking up 13.2 GB of storage.

However, as indicated by its official listing, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will have a file size of 15 GB, making it considerably bigger.

This doesn’t take into consideration DLC and updates, which at that point will surely increase the size of the game compared to its predecessors. 

Conclusion

As a fan of the series, I am really excited for everything Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has to offer, especially its connection to the previous main titles. It’s among the most highly anticipated games for the Switch, with a higher Famitsu popularity poll scoring than even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. And with the same team at Monolithsoft working on the game, we can keep our expectations rather high. Even the composer responsible for some of the most memorable scores in video game game history has worked on Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Thanks for reading everyone! But that’s not all – dive into an unparalleled gaming universe through Electronic First‘s seamless access to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo subscriptions. Say goodbye to barriers and hello to boundless exploration. Let Electronic First be your guiding light, illuminating a path toward the intersection of affordability and gaming excellence.

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