This review contains spoilers
After 120 hours, I can finally move on from this beautiful, engaging, and emotionally overwhelming "endless now." I wanna write a whole ass essay here in this little review box so I can dump all my feelings about this game and what it means to me, because special experiences like this come very rarely.
The first trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 got me to play the entire series in over the course of a single year. I had played a bit of Xenoblade 1 on the 3DS and really enjoyed it, but eventually dropped it when I picked up a Switch in early 2018. It wasn't until the Nintendo Direct trailer of XC3 that I impulsively decided I wanted to play Xenoblade DE and 2 in preparation for 3. I was all in. I ended up loving Definitive Edition and liking 2 (though I think that game has a ton of problems), and I also really enjoyed the Torna ~ The Golden Country. I now considered myself a fan of the series (but not one of the weird ones please just trust me), and I was looking forward to experiencing the end of a trilogy I spent so much time with.
...And then the game came out, and it was a magical first night. Xenoblade 3 has easily the best opening in the series. Tonally, it's by far the most fascinating; The first area in the game is a cold, desolate battlefield full of dead bodies. Noah, Eunie, and Lanz show depth in their personalities from the very first time you see them interact. Not too long after, you meet the second half of the party and the writing only gets better from there. Gameplay wise, 3 is fun from the very beginning thanks to it borrowing the best aspects from 1 and 2's systems. Even if Xenoblade 3 is the finale of the trilogy, I probably recommend this for newcomers because it's so much easier to get hooked in the beginning here compared to in the other games.
The quality of this game's story kind of forms a bell curve, which makes sense considering that any narrative with a set-up, climax, and resolution takes that sort of shape, and the climax is obviously the "peak" (pun kind of intended) of the whole story. The climax in this case is pretty obvious to anyone who has played through the whole game - the end of Chapter 5 and the beginning of Chapter 6 was a goddamn tornado of emotion thrown at me. I literally couldn't not cry because of how much the game decided to tackle all in the span of a couple hours.
I actually cried a total of 3 times when playing this game (which isn't at all something I do in games normally): the beginning of Chapter 5, the climactic point already mentioned, and Side Story Sena, because this game is so fucking good that even the side content that isn't mandatory for beating the game is emotionally gripping. In fact, Xenoblade 3 has probably the best side content in any RPG I've ever played, and maybe of any game I've ever played period. Very few sidequests are necessary to fully appreciate the main story and yet almost all of them are interesting from a writing or worldbuilding standpoint. And thanks to the quality of life features not present in previous Xenoblade games, I actually felt inclined to do all of them simply because they were fun and not because of any rewards they might have given me. This time, questlines are also MUCH more intuitive for the player, since each colony has their own line of quests that progresses as you progress through the story. This also gets you more attached to each hero, on top of their Hero Quests which basically takes the Blade Quests from Xenoblade 2 but actually makes them not horribly designed (seriously who thought it was a good idea to have quests available AFTER using a Blade that you're not even interested in because you know nothing about them?). The Side Stories are the best of the bunch, too, because they focus on the main cast and have cutscenes on par with the main game. In fact, I kind of feel like all of the Side Stories should have been mandatory as you went through the last couple chapters, but I understand it would have halted the pace significantly so this was the better decision in the end.
The overall area design in this game is a master work in encouraging the player to explore and discover. Very little is blocked off from the very beginning and the game is super willing to have you discover side areas - that are COMPLETELY optional by the way - and be immersed in the world of Aionios. It was also a delight to see how different parts of 1's and 2's worlds were combined to make new locales here - the best of this was easily Maktha Wildwood, which probably is my favorite singular area in the whole game. The Cadensia Region as a whole is another highlight for me; being able to explore the unbelievably massive map in my boat while listening to the region's mesmerizing music is a memory I'll hold for quite some time. For a long time I thought Xenoblade 1 would be my favorite world overall due to how well they take the concept of two massive titans and channel that into each of the individual locales, but I think Xenoblade 3 wins out by taking all of that and also making them more engaging to explore with containers, husks, and other little things to find in every nook and cranny.
I want to also dedicate a section of this review to gushing about some of the characters in this game, because they're incredible and their struggles really resonated with me. Sena went from a sort of silly happy-go-lucky character to someone I really connected with in how she masks her insecurities and doubts and struggles to accept herself for who she is. Taion is just as lovable as you start to see how much he cares about his friends, and Eunie and Lanz demonstrate a level of bravery in accepting trauma that was really compelling to see by the end of their respective arcs. Noah and Mio are obviously the "main" characters, but the rest of the main six are just as compelling that I really can't see this game functioning without all of them and their combined efforts. Best main cast in any RPG I've played.
Some of the supporting cast took me by complete surprise, too. I thought Ghondor would be some throwaway old man type character by the way Monica described her, but she ended up being a REALLY interesting character, and her interactions with Shania made for some of my favorite moments in the game. Shania actually takes the cake for the most surprising side character for me. Her perspective on things and the way she ends up being characterized makes her one of the best additions in the later half of the game.
The music is really fucking good by the way.
So in conclusion, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is not only my 2022 game of the year but one of my favorite games of all time. PLEASE do not call me a Xenoblade fan though I HATE those guys
The first trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 got me to play the entire series in over the course of a single year. I had played a bit of Xenoblade 1 on the 3DS and really enjoyed it, but eventually dropped it when I picked up a Switch in early 2018. It wasn't until the Nintendo Direct trailer of XC3 that I impulsively decided I wanted to play Xenoblade DE and 2 in preparation for 3. I was all in. I ended up loving Definitive Edition and liking 2 (though I think that game has a ton of problems), and I also really enjoyed the Torna ~ The Golden Country. I now considered myself a fan of the series (but not one of the weird ones please just trust me), and I was looking forward to experiencing the end of a trilogy I spent so much time with.
...And then the game came out, and it was a magical first night. Xenoblade 3 has easily the best opening in the series. Tonally, it's by far the most fascinating; The first area in the game is a cold, desolate battlefield full of dead bodies. Noah, Eunie, and Lanz show depth in their personalities from the very first time you see them interact. Not too long after, you meet the second half of the party and the writing only gets better from there. Gameplay wise, 3 is fun from the very beginning thanks to it borrowing the best aspects from 1 and 2's systems. Even if Xenoblade 3 is the finale of the trilogy, I probably recommend this for newcomers because it's so much easier to get hooked in the beginning here compared to in the other games.
The quality of this game's story kind of forms a bell curve, which makes sense considering that any narrative with a set-up, climax, and resolution takes that sort of shape, and the climax is obviously the "peak" (pun kind of intended) of the whole story. The climax in this case is pretty obvious to anyone who has played through the whole game - the end of Chapter 5 and the beginning of Chapter 6 was a goddamn tornado of emotion thrown at me. I literally couldn't not cry because of how much the game decided to tackle all in the span of a couple hours.
I actually cried a total of 3 times when playing this game (which isn't at all something I do in games normally): the beginning of Chapter 5, the climactic point already mentioned, and Side Story Sena, because this game is so fucking good that even the side content that isn't mandatory for beating the game is emotionally gripping. In fact, Xenoblade 3 has probably the best side content in any RPG I've ever played, and maybe of any game I've ever played period. Very few sidequests are necessary to fully appreciate the main story and yet almost all of them are interesting from a writing or worldbuilding standpoint. And thanks to the quality of life features not present in previous Xenoblade games, I actually felt inclined to do all of them simply because they were fun and not because of any rewards they might have given me. This time, questlines are also MUCH more intuitive for the player, since each colony has their own line of quests that progresses as you progress through the story. This also gets you more attached to each hero, on top of their Hero Quests which basically takes the Blade Quests from Xenoblade 2 but actually makes them not horribly designed (seriously who thought it was a good idea to have quests available AFTER using a Blade that you're not even interested in because you know nothing about them?). The Side Stories are the best of the bunch, too, because they focus on the main cast and have cutscenes on par with the main game. In fact, I kind of feel like all of the Side Stories should have been mandatory as you went through the last couple chapters, but I understand it would have halted the pace significantly so this was the better decision in the end.
The overall area design in this game is a master work in encouraging the player to explore and discover. Very little is blocked off from the very beginning and the game is super willing to have you discover side areas - that are COMPLETELY optional by the way - and be immersed in the world of Aionios. It was also a delight to see how different parts of 1's and 2's worlds were combined to make new locales here - the best of this was easily Maktha Wildwood, which probably is my favorite singular area in the whole game. The Cadensia Region as a whole is another highlight for me; being able to explore the unbelievably massive map in my boat while listening to the region's mesmerizing music is a memory I'll hold for quite some time. For a long time I thought Xenoblade 1 would be my favorite world overall due to how well they take the concept of two massive titans and channel that into each of the individual locales, but I think Xenoblade 3 wins out by taking all of that and also making them more engaging to explore with containers, husks, and other little things to find in every nook and cranny.
I want to also dedicate a section of this review to gushing about some of the characters in this game, because they're incredible and their struggles really resonated with me. Sena went from a sort of silly happy-go-lucky character to someone I really connected with in how she masks her insecurities and doubts and struggles to accept herself for who she is. Taion is just as lovable as you start to see how much he cares about his friends, and Eunie and Lanz demonstrate a level of bravery in accepting trauma that was really compelling to see by the end of their respective arcs. Noah and Mio are obviously the "main" characters, but the rest of the main six are just as compelling that I really can't see this game functioning without all of them and their combined efforts. Best main cast in any RPG I've played.
Some of the supporting cast took me by complete surprise, too. I thought Ghondor would be some throwaway old man type character by the way Monica described her, but she ended up being a REALLY interesting character, and her interactions with Shania made for some of my favorite moments in the game. Shania actually takes the cake for the most surprising side character for me. Her perspective on things and the way she ends up being characterized makes her one of the best additions in the later half of the game.
The music is really fucking good by the way.
So in conclusion, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is not only my 2022 game of the year but one of my favorite games of all time. PLEASE do not call me a Xenoblade fan though I HATE those guys