Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has quickly become one of the best-selling games in its franchise. Like any good sequel, it enhances many aspects of previous entries to become a more enjoyable experience for both new and old fans alike.
Monolithsoft listened to criticism well and offered an experience that not only fixed some issues previous games had but also added multiple features fans asked for. From gameplay changes to story quality, this list will cover things that Xenoblade 3 did right.
10 New Battle Mechanics
The ability to change which party member you’re playing as was a highly desired mechanic from the community after Torna The Golden Country offered a taste of what it could be like. Popular games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake also offered this feature, which sparked the desire for it even more.
Other new mechanics include turning into an overpowered Ouroboros form, circles on the battlefield now showcasing locations to stand for stat buff, an entirely new Chain Attacks system, and more. Nearly every addition was widely enjoyed by the fan base.
9 Improved Tutorials
One of the most complained about aspects of Xenoblade 2 was its poor combat explanations. Xenoblade has very different gameplay from most series, so having good tutorials to help new players is important. The inability to find the tutorials again in the menu made things even more difficult.
Xenoblade 3’s tutorials were much better at explaining the gameplay and even offered the ability to reread them in the menu. Some parts of the tutorial may have been slow for returning fans, but it was more than worth it to ease new players into Xenoblade’s gameplay style.
8 Class Changing
Xenoblade X was the first Xeno title to have class changing. It had a total of 16 classes to choose from. Xenoblade 2 offered a similar mechanic in the way of Blades. At launch, it also had a total of 16 play styles to choose from. Xenoblade 3 upped this by having 26 classes prior to any DLC inclusions.
All 6 main party members started with a unique class, and every unlockable hero added another class to the line-up. Every main party member could use every class in the game and even mix arts and skills from other classes. This makes Xenoblade 3 the most customizable game in the series thus far when it comes to combat.
7 Straight To The Point Story
RPGs tend to be very long games, and Xenoblade 3 is no exception, but it actually focuses almost entirely on the main storyline as opposed to adding minor side goals to artificially stretch the game’s length.
Players are immediately greeted into the game by seeing two universes merging together and an endless massacre of bloodshed between nations. A lot of major plot points are set up almost immediately, and the pacing is very consistent for most of the game. The only few forced detours are near the very end of the game.
6 Side Quests
The quality of side quests has increased insignificantly as the series progressed. Nearly every side quest in Xenoblade 1 was a fetch quest, with only a very tiny handful of quests that actually stick out. 2 gave every Rare Blade a side quest that shows off their personalities well, and there were significantly more side quests that contributed to the story.
Xenoblade 3 continued the trend by giving every Hero two quest lines, having a major side quest for every main party member, and even standard side quests feel like they were designed with a purpose. The more side quests you do, the more you learn about the world of Aionios and its citizens. These side quests also often improve character stats.
5 Exploration
Xenoblade games always featured massive maps; however, 3’s world size overshadows the previous main entries by quite a large margin, although it is not quite as big as X’s. While 2 had large island-to-island zones, every location from 3 is truly connected in one big one world. The ability to physically run around the entire map gives an incredible sense of scale.
Aionios is filled with many locations from 1 and 2; the Mechonis Hand, the Mechonis Sword, the ruins of Fonsa Myma, and much more. 3 managed to feel like a true continuation to prior games thanks to its world having so many previous returning locations. Field Skills were another aspect of Xenoblade 2 that was disliked, and they weren’t executed very well in X either. In 3, however, they were redesigned in a way that greatly improved the game’s exploration.
4 Tone Shifting
Xenoblade 3’s main story is a dark fantasy about endless death and destruction, yet it still contains many uplifting, cheerful cutscenes. Cute party bonding moments act as comic relief to calm players after stressful scenarios.
Action-heavy sequences are often the most exciting, but calm cutscenes can be equally memorable, such as when the party sees a baby for the first time. It’s a heartwarming moment in what is otherwise a game about constant warfare.
3 Older Game References
Returning Titans, the identity of the two queens, Riki’s staff bring hidden behind a waterfall, Ashera’s Blossom Dance attack, and Nia talking about the origins of Morytha in the post-game are just some of the many references to Xenoblade 1 and 2. Xenoblade 3 also contains references to Xenosaga and Xenoblade X, but they’re mostly minor. Mio’s Ouroboros was designed to look like Xenosaga’s KOS-MOS, and the Full Metal Jaguar class was originally the class of X’s Elma.
Surprisingly, the game that Xenoblade 3 referenced the most is Xenogears. The nations of Keves and Agnus were based on Kislev and Aveh. Noah, his Ouroboros, N, and Mio were heavily inspired by Fei, Weltall, Grahf, and Elly, respectively. Even major plot points are shared between the games. Xenoblade 3 managed to pay tribute to all of its predecessors while also being a game that can be experienced without any past knowledge of the series.
2 Symbolism
The Xeno series is no stranger to deep symbolism. Xenoblade 3’s favorite symbol to represent is the Ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail, which represents an infinite cycle. The beasts the party turn into are named after the Ouroboros. Aionios is trapped in an endless cycle, and its entire map is actually in the shape of the symbol. N’s upgraded sword contains a different infinite symbol on it.
Religious symbolism was toned down a lot from previous entries, but that doesn’t mean it has none. Some late-game Moebius is based on a Gnostic concept of souls rejecting an afterlife known as Collective Consciousness. Z, especially, is the physical embodiment of this concept.
1 Party Members Importance
Xenoblade 1’s story is almost entirely focused on just Shulk. There were some storylines dedicated to other characters, but nearly half the party didn’t affect the plot in a very large way. Xenoblade 2 focused on side characters more, but there were still some that got ignored. Xenoblade 3, however, made every single one feel very important.
All six have backstories that foreshadow plot twists, they all have character development, and they each have their own separate side story. Sena gets the shortest end of the stick, but even she feels more important to Xenoblade 3 than multiple of the least relevant members of other games feel to theirs. Even the new traveling companion, Nopon, Riku, and Manana, were well-received among most fans.
