Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Year: 2022
Introduction
Months ago I wrote my expectations about this game and promised to return here to give a full analysis and evaluate if it was that good.
Without a doubt, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was one of the most wanted entries from 2022 for most switch owners and, according to the game’s director, this one is the culmination of the series, but not the end of it.
On this post I’ll try to describe the most important properties of the game and measure the core features of it.
Plot (No Spoilers)
First of all, a valuable asset for the plot is that we get a full background story about each and every main character from the team. This means they are all built at some depth, and I’d dare to say they also topped the main cast from the previous entries on this aspect.
In addition to this nice feature, we’ll enjoy a lot of unexpected and exciting situations throught the course of the game, and all these chain of events get better to the point we can’t stop playing it to discover what’s next.
Cinematic direction is neat and impeccable too, it cleverly mixes cutscenes from the current situation with background stories, and activity from the enemy as well. Besides, it has Xenoblade DNA after all, so, all the fighting cutscenes are amazing to watch and enjoy on the screen.
I also observed a meaningful improvement to the script compared to what was shown on XC2, and these are good news. Mistakes and flaws from that game are gone here: plot devices, plot armors, plot holes, tropes, abuse on open interpretation style are no more. I’d say this story is more serious, darker and tragic than past entries.
In my opinion, the only real problem with the plot is that it’s not fully convincing the way it intertwines with the other game’s stories, there are some plot holes and missing explanations, instead of something more concrete, straigtforward.
Gameplay
This third entry has a lot of new features that will be explained next.
One of these new features are the character classes, which include more than 20 classes, allowing for a decent, state-of-the-art customization for battle. And these classes work like jobs like the other RPGS: each one has specific goals, roles and art/skill sets.
Interlink is another new and interesting mechanic: pairs of main characters can transform into a single being to obtain more power and attack with a powered up art set, which inflicts more damage and effects. This mixed form is called Ouroboros and it’s a limited advantage that ends when its special bar fills.
In addition to these new features, a lot of valuable allies (called heroes) will join the fight as well. Once they are recruited, they can participate on any combat but the only rule is: at most one heroe per battle can participate.
Chain Attack is back and, in my opinion, this is the very best implementation. This time, the attack is organized into character Orders that allow to inflict damage and get additional effects like buffing/debuffing. Each order is completed after a special chain attack bar is filled, and, after it’s finished, then we can continue with another character Order. During a Chain Attack, the Order bar is filled with regular art attacks that we can freely select.
The number of orders to be used depends on the performance of the Chain Attack but we can also pick Heroes’ Orders and Ouroboros’ Orders as well.
Fortunately, some gameplay mistakes from the past are gone on this game: grinding for hours to get some levels is not needed (XC1) but we don’t need to farm Affinity Charts either just to unlock a new area (XC2).
Side-quest designs are better on this game, because some optional Heroes require to fulfill their quests in order to recruit them, and this is more rewarding and fun than the traditinal-boring fetch quests or «beat monster» quests.
Other stuff
Excellent soundtrack, specially all battle themes.
Very good character art that doesn’t need fan service to capture our attention.
Extremely good world design which provides a lot of climate and environment variety, and there are a lot of details to discover while exploring the huge Aionios planet.
Good voice acting.
Side content is very fun to play and extends the game duration for more enjoyment.
Overall, stable frame rate and acceptable graphic detail considering switch’s limitations (docked mode, didn’t try portable mode).
Conclussion
From the technical, artistic and entertainment point of views, this game has surpassed my expectations by a mile away. Xenoblade 3 is just the perfect culmination for these masterpieces, and they are all recommended for every RPG lover.
Score: 9.5
Consoles Universe 