Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
File:Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Official Artwork.jpg
Developer(s)	Monolith Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Koh Kojima Genki Yokota
Producer(s)	Koh Kojima Genki Yokota Katsuya Eguchi Toyokazu Nonaka Tomohiro Hagiwara
Programmer(s)	Toshiaki Yajima
Artist(s)	Eiji Takahashi Masatsugu Saito Koichi Mugitani
Writer(s)	Tetsuya Takahashi Yuichiro Takeda Kazuho Hyodo
Composer(s)	Yasunori Mitsuda ACE Kenji Hiramatsu Manami Kiyota Mariam Abounnasr
Series	Xenoblade Chronicles
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release	July 29, 2022
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a 2022 role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released on July 29, 2022, it is a part of the open-world Xenoblade Chronicles franchise, itself a part of the larger Xeno metaseries. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 depicts the respective futures of the worlds featured in Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The game received critical acclaim, with critics praising the combat, environments, music, and story. Many critics stated that is the best game in the series, while minor criticisms were made at technical and graphical issues.

Gameplay

Like its predecessors, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an role-playing game with a large open world to explore. Unlike previous Xenoblade series entries, which limited the number of active party members to three, the game allows for up to seven party members to participate in battles at once, including the main party of six and one of several different characters that appear over the course of the story. Party members will also gain the ability to change their character class, granting them access to different abilities. Under certain conditions, specific pairs of party members—Noah and Mio; Lanz and Sena; and Eunie and Taion—can utilize the Interlink system to combine into an Ouroboros, a larger form with more powerful moves.

Exploration

Traversing the map is a similar affair to previous Xenoblade Chronicles games, with some new features introduced. Players can now turn on a quest navigation line that will mark a line on the ground to follow if they are unsure of how to reach their destination. Fall damage returns—a long enough fall will knock out the playable character and force them to return to the nearest travel point.

Battle system

Like previous games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, the battle system occurs in real-time. Unlike past entries, players have the ability to swap between characters in the middle of combat. All of the party members automatically attack with their weapons once in range. Party members use abilities called Arts. Some Arts may deal bonus damage or inflict a status ailment, depending on a character's position in relation to the enemy. As a character continuously uses Arts, they will eventually be able to unlock a Talent Art. Talent Arts from different classes are all unique—some will grant a large chunk of bonus damage to a dazed enemy, and others will summon a circular field that gradually regenerate HP to anyone inside the field. In addition to Arts, the Break—Topple—Daze combo will temporarily stun enemies in combat.

Every tutorial the player receives is archived under the Tips section in the options menu. The Training Drills feature allows people to redo any combat tutorial to ensure they understand a specific mechanic.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Further information: Fictional chronology of Xenoblade Chronicles

Set after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles (2010) and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017), Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in the world of Aionios, where the mechanically proficient nation of Keves and the ether-oriented nation of Agnus are at constant war with one another. The wars are fought by engineered soldiers with artificially limited lifespans of ten years (referred to as terms), all ten of which are spent on fighting. Among both forces are "off-seers", soldiers who play special flutes in rituals to harness the life force of soldiers who fall on the battlefield. The game features six main characters, including two protagonists: Noah, a Kevesi off-seer accompanied by his childhood friends Lanz and Eunie; and Mio, an Agnian off-seer accompanied by fellow servicemen Taion and Sena.

Plot

After a victorious battle against an Agnian colony, Kevesi soldiers Noah, Lanz, and Eunie are given a special mission to intercept a mysterious airship. However, when they reach the area, they also encounter Agnian forces, sparking a battle. During the fight, the airship is shot down and Noah and his team arrive at the crash site at the same time as an Agnian squad consisting of Mio, Sena, and Taion. As they battle, the airship's sole survivor, Guernica Vandham, intervenes and stops the fighting, claiming he knows their "true enemy". However, he is shot by the Consul D, who is a powerful being known as a Moebius and part of an organization of the same name that controls the war between Keves and Agnus. D then attacks Noah and Mio's teams and quickly gains the upper hand until Guernica activates the Ouroboros Stone he was smuggling, imbuing Noah and Mio's teams with its power. Noah and Mio then inadvertently Interlink together into an Ouroboros, which D explains is the natural enemy of Moebius. D is forced to retreat, and a mortally wounded Guernica instructs the party to head for the "City" at Swordmarch, (the Mechonis’ sword) where they can find answers. It's also revealed that Mio is near the end of her tenth term and has just three months left to live.

Realizing that the Consuls have ordered both Keves and Agnus to hunt them down, Noah and Mio's teams are forced to band together into a single party and start making their way to Swordmarch. Along the way, they pass Colony 4, whose soldiers have been brainwashed by Consul K into attacking them. Realizing that the colony's Flame Clock is the means by which the Consuls control the colonies, Noah destroys it with his sword and the entire party manages to Interlink into their Ouroboros forms to defeat and kill K. Colony 4's leader, Ethel, thanks them for freeing them from the Consuls' control. They also liberate Colony Lambda from Consul J, but are shocked to discover J is actually Joran, one of Noah's old teammates who was thought killed in an Agnian raid years prior. J retreats while taunting the party. Meanwhile, Consul N concocts a plan by forcing Ethel to team up with her Agnian counterpart, Cammuravi, to hunt down the party. The party finds out about this and Noah resolves to infiltrate Keves Castle and destroy its Annihilation Cannon, which the Kevesi Queen is using to hold Colony 4 hostage.

As the party makes their way to Keves Castle, Ethel and Cammuravi intercept them. However, the party's coordination proves to be an even match for them, and when the Consuls O and P attempt to mind control Cammuravi, he tears his left eye out to counter it. Desiring freedom from the Consuls, Ethel and Cammuravi decide to duel each other instead, resulting in their mutual deaths. Enraged at their insults at Ethel and Cammuravi's deaths, the party kills O and P. They then proceed on towards the Annihilator and destroy it, defeating D and J in the process. As they try to leave the castle, they inadvertently enter the throne room, and discover the soldiers of both Keves and Agnus are actually clones forced to fight each other. They are then confronted by N and the Queen, Melia Antiqua. The party is forced to battle Melia, who turns out to be a robot posing as her. Before N can join the battle, a faction called the Lost Numbers attack the castle, stealing a number of cloning pods, and giving the party the opening to escape. It is then revealed that N is Noah, and his partner M is Mio - although the nature of their existence and similarity to the Noah and Mio that the player controls is yet unknown.

After escaping the castle, the party encounters the Lost Numbers, who are led by Vandham's daughter Monica. Monica leads them to the City, which is populated by humans with regular lifespans who oppose the Moebius as well. Monica explains that they are descendants of the first group of Ouroboros, which is what allows them to live free from Moebius. She also explains that the war between Keves and Agnus is orchestrated by Moebius so they can harvest the life energy from the bloodshed, and then replace the losses with clones to repeat the cycle. The Lost Numbers have been trying to resist by stealing Moebius' birthing pods, denying them the ability to replenish Keves and Agnus' ranks. The real Queens of Keves and Agnus created the Ouroboros before going into hiding, and only six Ouroboros can exist at a time. Monica then tasks the party to go to the prison underneath Agnus Castle and rescue a soldier named Ghondor, who is revealed to be Monica’s daughter and knows the location of the Queens.

After several days of planning, Ghondor, the party, and several other prisoners attempt their escape from the prison underneath Agnus Castle only to be caught by N and M the moment they leave the prison grounds. To N's surprise, M states that she wants to "take care of this herself", stepping forward to fight the party. Suddenly, a purple pulse appears from M and time seems to stop as M and Mio make eye contact. M sheds a single tear for reasons unknown, as Mio seems to share a look of shock. As the purple pulse fades, the moment is cut short by Noah stepping in front of Mio to defend her. The battle with M then begins, and it is revealed that M is able to "possess" the party members by transferring her mind into theirs, leaving her own body unattended and vulnerable to attack. During this state, the possessed party member will attack the other party members until M re-enters her own body.

After the party successfully defeats M, N decides to spare Noah and the party and capture them, in order to force them to watch as the upcoming Homecoming ceremony is performed on Mio. The party is then taken prisoner in Agnus Castle to await Mio's death. Mio is placed in a separate cell from the others, in order to further torture their wait. During this period of imprisonment, the party reflects on their time together, their feelings of purposelessness, the futile nature of their world, and the futility of their actions. During a tender moment, Mio expresses to Noah from her solitary cell that after all this, she is happy to live her last days with "her Noah". On Mio's final day, after a month of imprisonment, the party is brought before the fake Queen Nia for their execution. Noah is forced to watch Mio expire before being executed then himself. N stands above a kneeling Noah, raises a sword above his neck, and forcefully brings it downward.

Suddenly, Noah witnesses memories of his past lives, in each of which he tried but failed to defeat Moebius and save Mio alongside other Ouroboros. During each of these lifetimes, he was approached by a mysterious character named Z and told to yield. In one particular lifetime, he was tempted by Z with the promise of being able to live eternally with Mio as Moebius. This Noah and his Mio were the origins of N and M. Despite seeing these visions of his past lives, Noah resolves not to make the same choice as N and returns to reality. Noah then opens his eyes, still kneeling underneath N's sword. However, it is revealed that N stopped short of killing Noah because M had entered his body at the last moment in order to show Noah all of his past memories. Noah opening his eyes meant M had returned to her own body. N, sensing suspicion at M's actions, stares confusedly and fearfully as M walks up to Noah, offers her hand, returns his flute, and asks if he still wants to "walk beside" her. Noah asks if M is Mio, and M nods, smiling. N then realizes, through a fearful and tragic rage, that M had switched her mind with Mio so that M could take Mio's place in death in order to "escape" her relationship with N. This mind switch had occurred a month prior when the party encountered N and M during the prison escape, which means that the Mio that fought M, was captured, imprisoned, and ultimately died, was actually M, while Mio was occupying M's body.

Regrouping, Noah manages to draw the Sword of the End and uses it to defeat N and X and destroy the fake Nia. Mio, having inherited M's memories, reveals that she and Noah are manifestations of N and M's guilt, seeking repentance for joining Moebius.

Using M's memories, Mio leads the party to the Cloudkeep, where the real Nia sleeps. D and J ambush them, but J has a change of heart and sacrifices himself to kill D. Nia awakens, and explains that in the past, the worlds of Bionis and Alrest were in parallel universes after being split in two, but would inevitably merge back together, destroying all life on both planets in the process. In order to avoid this, Nia and Melia collaborated across the two universes to create Origin, which would act as an ark to store all the data and memories of both worlds and then rebuild them once the universes merged. However, Z captured Melia and hijacked Origin for his own ends, creating the current world where Moebius feeds off endless warfare. With Nia's knowledge, the party storms Origin, defeating N and freeing Melia. They then confront Z himself, who is a manifestation of humanity's fear of the future and desire to stay in the now. At the climax of the final battle, N and M return in spirit form and sacrifice themselves to destroy Z for good.

With Origin reactivated, Noah and the party decide to proceed with the reconstruction process for both worlds. However, this would require the people of Keves and Agnus being separated and returned to their respective worlds. Noah, Lanz, and Eunie say their farewells with Mio, Sena, and Taion, while Mio and Noah share a kiss with each other before the worlds separate, but promise to find a way to reunite one day. Melia looks fondly upon Shulk's Monado REX while Nia reunites with Poppi and looks upon a picture of her with her friends.

In a post-credits scene, right after Bionis and Alrest have been merged and rebuilt, Noah, Lanz, Eunie, and Joran are reincarnated on Bionis. As they head for a fireworks show, Noah hears the sound of Mio's flute playing and decides to follow the music. As doves fly by, Noah vanishes from the world.

Development

According to Tetsuya Takahashi, creator of the Xenoblade Chronicles series, the key visual depicting the broken sword of the Mechonis from Xenoblade Chronicles (2010) and the wounded Titan of Uraya from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017) was first conceived between the end of development of Xenoblade Chronicles and the beginning of development of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In May 2018, Takahashi pitched Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as a new game concept to Nintendo. The first production group of Monolith Soft, known for their work on the Xenoblade Chronicles series, started development on the game in August 2018 after Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country went gold.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced in February 2022, and was initially set for release in September. It was later shifted to an earlier release date of July 29. The game is described as featuring a narrative that will depict the respective futures for the worlds of the previous two entries. Following the announcement, a blog post on the official Nintendo website revealed preliminary details about the game's development. Takahashi was confirmed to be working on the game in an executive director position, while various other returning staff members from previous Xenoblade Chronicles games were revealed to be reprising their duties, including the composing team behind the first two entries and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lead character designer Masatsugu Saito, returning to work on the game's art alongside Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles artist Koichi Mugitani.

Music

File:Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Flutes.jpg

Special flutes created for the game. In order to assist in writing the soundtrack, Yasunori Mitsuda requested the creation of flutes based on the ones present in the story.

As with previous numbered games in the series, the game's soundtrack was written by Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, ACE (Tomori Kudo and Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka), and Kenji Hiramatsu. They are joined by Mariam Abounnasr, who arranged tracks for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There are 140 musical tracks in this title, including short jingles, but Takahashi felt that wasn't enough and wanted to add around 15 more. In order to create a sound that hasn't been heard before, Monolith Soft had special flutes created from scratch in different sizes and tuned to different scales resembling Noah's and Mio's flutes in the game, as per Mitsuda's request. The first track Mitsuda worked on for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was 'A Life Sent On', the game's main reoccurring theme. Tetsuya Takahashi told Mitsuda in advance that to interweave the two melodies of Noah and Mio into a single piece of music, and Mitsuda seemed to have thought that creating the flutes from scratch would enable him to choose a scale freely and express himself more easily.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	89/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Destructoid	9.5/10
Eurogamer	Essential
Famitsu	36/40
Game Informer	7.25/10
GameSpot	8/10
IGN	8/10
Nintendo Life	10/10
Nintendo World Report	9/10
Shacknews	9/10

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 received “generally favorable reviews,” according to review aggregation website Metacritic.

Sales

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was the bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 112,728 physical copies being sold. It was also the bestselling physical game during its first week of release in the UK, where it had the biggest launch for the entire Xeno franchise in terms of units sold.

External links

• Official website