Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Review

A review code was provided by the developer for this review.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hooked me from the very beginning, putting me in control of warbands on both sides of an age-long war between two kingdoms, Agnus and Keves. The not-so-merry bands are on a mysterious quest, searching for a fabled city where they hope to find the answers to their life-altering questions. The myriad paths to that end goal are spectacular and shocking, and the characters change their motives several times throughout the game, making for a long and emotional journey.

Each character has a deep backstory that make them the person they are. It’s not often that a game embodies and portrays a character quite as well as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 does. The Tactician Taion, for example, is a fountain of knowledge, which stems from his previous role as an Agnus strategist. Noah is a compassionate and empathetic leader – traits he has learned over his years as a Keves off-seer, a soldier in charge of seeing the souls of fallen comrades to their end destination. All personalities in the game – whether noble or abhorrent – are rooted in a solid foundation that makes them relatable. As I got to know them, each character’s actions became almost predictable, but this wasn’t a bad thing, making me feel closer to them and giving me a vested interest in their unique perspectives.

I have mixed emotions about the game’s writing and narrative direction. While the story has the ability to keep players entertained all the way through its lengthy run, there are moments that seem to be superfluous. There were countless cutscenes where the party members would come to conclusions that I thought had already been realized, seemingly belaboring the details of events that weren’t hard to pick up on in the first place. There were periods when the game would conclude a cutscene, giving me the reins for only a few fleeting moments before another long cutscene would begin.

The side quests in this game are really special. With a game as big as this, you’re bound to get a simple fetch quest or two, but they rarely feel like a waste of time in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. From complex, game-spanning tasks like tracking down several caravan traders to small, seemingly menial things like helping a person quench their thirst by gathering up hydrating foods, all of the side-quests are written in a way that makes you feel rewarded upon completion – sometimes due to the reward itself, other times because of the small but notable bit of dialogue and thanks you receive.

The world of Aionios features plenty of breathtaking locations, even some from past titles, with fantastic variation between the different environments. Each area – from the vast open fields to the scorching mirages of the Dannagh Desert and ruined cityscapes – has a unique feeling and theme that cannot be truly appreciated without giving a decent amount of attention to each one. You’ll get the most out of their experience with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 when they take it slow and appreciate all of the work that was put into the game’s world. Several times throughout the game, I found myself mesmerised by the beautiful landscapes created by the large monolithic structures dotted around the map.

Each area has a unique feeling and theme that cannot be truly appreciated without giving a decent amount of attention to each one.

The game’s combat is engaging, offering a lot of choice for those looking to play with different combat styles. It’ll be familiar to players of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, with Arts and Auto-Attacking making a return. Players can engage in combat simply by running up to enemies with their weapons brandished, and the fight will begin. Arts are essentially stronger attacks that have unique benefits to their use, like doing AOE damage or increased damage depending on your position in relation to the enemy.

The big difference in combat between this game and the last is the overhauling of the Blades system. In the previous game, players could unlock Blades (avatar-like NPCs) to fight alongside them in combat. In Xenoblade Chronicles 3, players won’t unlock Blades but rather Heroes, who you pick up either through story progression or by doing specific side quests.

Heroes will fight alongside you and your party, but with the added benefit of making their class available to players. The Hero’s class can be equipped to other party members once unlocked, and this is where a majority of the combat options lie. Players can choose to main a Healer, Attacker, or Defender and can pick their subclass from the many Heroes you meet along the way. It’s an acquired taste of combat system, based a lot around chains and cancels, but it’s a welcome change of pace from the classic turn-based combat of most JRPGs.

Something new to the Xenoblade franchise is the Ouroboros mechanic, which you get early in the game. Taking on an Ouroboros form in combat allows two of the characters to merge into a larger, more deadly, threat. Players will have unlimited use of their Arts in this form, making combat much easier for a bit. It’s one of the great aspects of combat, and also elegantly ties into the narrative in a satisfying way that you’ll have to discover for yourself.

The sheer size of the game could make combat repetitive eventually, but this isn’t too much of an issue since most combat encounters are avoidable. Should you run into an enemy you can always turn tail and flee. The only combat scenarios that are required are the ones that drive forward the game’s narrative, and these don’t happen too frequently.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is filled with interesting areas to explore, heartfelt character interactions, and an engaging narrative. While having knowledge of the previous games is handy in some respects, this is by and large its own world with its own characters and self-contained narrative, so you’ll be absolutely fine jumping in here. Despite its faults, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 gave me hours upon hours of entertainment that made me fall for the beautiful world of Aionios, and the soldiers that I came to know within it.