We finally got a full overview of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 today and the upcoming Switch JRPG looks huge. A 20-minute Nintendo Direct showed more rhythms of the game’s existential history, multi-layered combat mechanics, and other activities that players will perform in their giant open world. We hope you like the icons on the screen, because there were a lot of them.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was only announced in February and is just around the corner. Wednesday’s extended trailer made it clear that the game doesn’t take anything away from its strange, esoteric roots. In any case, it seems that it is deviating even more towards the series’ fascination with war, class struggle and free will. Also mechs, including giants that act as mobile military bases.
The game takes place in a land called Aionios where the residents of two warring colonies, Keves and Agnus, experience unpleasant, brutal and short lives fighting for their leaders. But when two groups of youths from opposing sides meet during a special operations mission, a mysterious old man wearing glasses intervenes to reveal a deeper threat lurking behind the scenes. Intrigue, Monster Hunter-inspired grinding and great sci-fi fantasy shows.
We also took a full look at the basic cast of the game. There is Noah, the “seer” in a red jacket, Eunie, a “cheeky and forceful” gun healer, Lanz, the massive sword, Mio, a double-eyed seer, Taion, the philosophical tactician, and Sena, a small fighter carrying a giant wrecking ball. Taion is by far the best, which probably means he will die or betray us.
Here’s a quick rundown of what was shown on Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Direct:
- Aionios looks great, very big. Xenoblade has always offered unnecessarily large and beautiful worlds to automatically fight enemies, but this, which reaches five years of the Switch’s life cycle, is the most impressive to date. I just hope that frame rate and pop-ups aren’t a mess when your group of six people go from one search engine to another.
- The search routes highlight the way forward. Now a red line will show you exactly where you need to go to get to your destination. No more following a marker next to a cliff just to realize you have to go back to the other side.
- The places of elaboration, kitchen and rest return. But in another layer of gamified adventures, you’ll be able to sit with your teammates at a campfire and learn what you’ve heard from NPCs to start new mission lines. It seems cumbersome unless there is also a relationship building aspect.
- The characters have classes. In addition to roles as an attacker, defender, and healer, each of the six members of your group will have related classes with which they will be able to rise in rank to further personalize their contributions to the battle. Master arts are special skills that can even be equipped through classes, allowing you to create hybrid constructions.
- You can recruit additional heroes. In case six characters in the battle were not enough, there will also be unique “hero” NPCs that you will meet throughout the game and that you can select to help you in battle.
- Characters can be merged into mini-mechs. Called “Ouroboros”, these Evangelion-looking fighters are very strong and can switch between two different styles of play, each shaped by the characters who formed them. It can’t be combined, though. Fusion couples are based on stories and set.
Screenshot: Monolith Soft / Nintendo
Originally scheduled for September, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 last month extended its release date to July 29th. Nintendo revealed on Wednesday that Monolith Soft’s latest foray into Xeno-verse will feature a $ 30 ($ 42) expansion pass that will be supplied by new characters. and story content until December 2023. There will even be support from Amiibo, which will offer additional items to players, or in the case of Shulk’s Amiibo, the Monado lightsaber from the early Xenoblade Chronicles .
While I can say without hesitation that I’m ready for all the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 JRPG shit and more, I’ll be curious if this is the one that can finally go beyond the basic fan base of the series. Games have traditionally been too long, repetitive and heavy for terrible dialogue. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sold 2 million decent copies on Switch, but it’s not as easy to recommend as things like Persona 5 or even Tales of Arise. Maybe Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be different. I’ll let you know when it’s out and you’ve played 100 hours.
Here’s the rest of Wednesday’s live: