I didn't think Monolith could top their excellent work with the base game, but somehow they managed to make one of the best RPGs I've played that's been released in recent years. Then again, I think that's because this game champions the idea of "Less is more" in spades, and perfectly uses it's more limited runtime and scope coupled with the set up and leg works every previous game has done to make this game's scenario and setting work as effectively as possible.
Note, I will be spoiling the main story here unlike my base XB3 review since I have more to say, but I will give a warning before I do so.
Firstly, the gameplay is somehow even better here than the base game. One of my main complaints with base 3 is that I feel it's overwhelming with too much to see and do, and while it's nice to chip away at over time, if you're just trying to binge the main story while seeing a good amount of quests, it will take a long time and leave you at a loss for what to see and do for awhile, and just feel incredibly daunting, especially if you're an adult with limited free time and a job like me. This game completely nips that problem in the bud by having a good amount to do, but not be too insane in scope. I feel that shorter RPGs are very underrated these days in terms of respecting your time and being better at streamlining its mechanics, while also packing a meaningful experience into a succinct timeframe. As much as I enjoyed the base game, bigger isn't always better.
The exploration here is better than it's ever been, and that's because they learned from Xenoblade 2 Torna's DLC expansion's mistakes. While the Community Affinity system in that game was great, it's biggest problem was that it was required and not optional, and would gate you from literally beating the game for several hours of playtime, even if you worked to do quests ahead of time. Here, it's all optional, but you're subtly encouraged to do so by actually being rewarded for exploring the world via many rewards beyond just EXP and items. Growing stronger and fulfilling objectives like the returning Collectapedia from Xenoblade 1 was so satisfying and addicting. Not only that, the environments and setting being more directly connected returning ones from Xenoblade 1 was another genius way to incentivize the exploration and be good fanservice for fans, so it works doubly in the games favor.
Another great aspect of this progression system is how it's tied into the combat. Because the gameplay is more streamlined, we don't have an expansive class system with tons of options to choose from here, but that works in the combat's favor. Because everyone is limited to one class, the game goes hard on making the progression system in how they get stronger a lot more succinct and rewarding, and making the characters more broken in their roles in ways that couldn't really be done in base 3. My favorite aspect of this was the additional Accesory slot that changed up Chain Order bonuses and let you really mess around with what characters can do what effects to make Chain Attacks that much more engaging and fresh, and give you such a strong edge in racking up the damage in such cool fun ways. I got so incredibly addicted to this, far more than the base game where I felt pretty limited due to how most of the character's completion orders other than the Heroes tend to be pretty eh. Very nice improvement. I also appreciate having Break Arts that aren't solely dependent on positioning in a pinch compared to the base game, as well as having a much more convenient and reliable Smash option that wasn't hard to get like the base game. Both of these changes really helped me pull off more combos than I could in the base game and made the combat that much more enjoyable and strategic, but fair with your control over it this time around.
The music is even better here than in the base game, with generally more memorable tracks, both new and with old homages to Xenoblade 1 and 2 songs from the past in great ways, but it helps that there's less areas that you spend more time in overall in this game, which helps memorability.
Now here come the story spoilers, you have been warned.
While Xenoblade 3's main game was a pretty strong thematic sequel to Xenoblade 1's themes on the cyclical nature of war and revenge, Future Redeemed is very much a direct sequel to Xenoblade 1's narrative as a whole. FR takes full advantage of the fact that it has 3 full games (and an epilogue's) worth of build up for its story, and wastes no time just jumping into the meat of the plot from the get go, no slow burn beginning this time which I appreciate this deep into the series. We get Matthew and Na'el's backstories fed to us via flashback after the journey's already started, and the game capitilizes on addressing remaining questions left over from the base game, as well as resolving plot threads left untied from what happened after Xenoblade 1 and 2's respective endings, which was super satisfying to see finally answered. I know a lot of people think FR raises more questions than it answers, but I disagree. If you have full Xenoblade lore knowledge, FR gives more than enough in terms of overt answers and implied answers for you to piece together the full story of Xenoblade 3 as a whole and how it follows up 1 and 2. The only things left unanswered are the Xenosaga teases near the end, which is pretty clear set up for future Xenoblade games, so that's intentional and not a big deal for the moment in my opinion in terms of being "unanswered".
The cast is as strong as ever, which is great to see not toned down from the base game's quality of writing, and it helps that half the cast are returning characters who had their arcs completed and are more fleshed out as adults who've been through it all. Rex for example I think works a lot better as a character here after having seen him push through with his ideals even after losing his mentors, lovers, and children and still fight to make the world a better place as a more gruff adult. Shulk and Alvis are still as endearing as ever as well, and their bonds with the rest of the cast are so nice and truly enrich the story. Having heart to hearts be incorporated into Shulk, Rex and Alvis revisit old sights and such was a genius idea as well gameplay wise.
The themes of FR inverting the base game's while following up Xenoblade 1 and 2's themes of seizing the future and pushing through a cruel world with hope to rebuild the world better than before in the face of adversity hit so much harder now after seeing how the world has fallen into a worse state than they were in 1 or 2's scenarios. But it makes the triumph at the end all the more sweeter as a result too, and is definitely the pinnacle of Xenoblade's themes as a whole of working towards the future, endlessly. The characters and world of the series isn't stagnant, and doesn't live in an endless now of eternal peace, as that's just now how humanity is. There will always be problems, but we must work through them together for the entirety of our lives in pursuit of something better. That's how life is, and Xenoblade Chronicles as a whole captures that perfectly.
Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with this game, and I wish more episodic direct installments of shorter length were more viable in today's market sadly. Here's to hoping Monolith can do more of these going forward. Their future looks incredibly bright after this magnum opus of a work from them.
Final Playtime: 27 hours, 14 minutes.
Note, I will be spoiling the main story here unlike my base XB3 review since I have more to say, but I will give a warning before I do so.
Firstly, the gameplay is somehow even better here than the base game. One of my main complaints with base 3 is that I feel it's overwhelming with too much to see and do, and while it's nice to chip away at over time, if you're just trying to binge the main story while seeing a good amount of quests, it will take a long time and leave you at a loss for what to see and do for awhile, and just feel incredibly daunting, especially if you're an adult with limited free time and a job like me. This game completely nips that problem in the bud by having a good amount to do, but not be too insane in scope. I feel that shorter RPGs are very underrated these days in terms of respecting your time and being better at streamlining its mechanics, while also packing a meaningful experience into a succinct timeframe. As much as I enjoyed the base game, bigger isn't always better.
The exploration here is better than it's ever been, and that's because they learned from Xenoblade 2 Torna's DLC expansion's mistakes. While the Community Affinity system in that game was great, it's biggest problem was that it was required and not optional, and would gate you from literally beating the game for several hours of playtime, even if you worked to do quests ahead of time. Here, it's all optional, but you're subtly encouraged to do so by actually being rewarded for exploring the world via many rewards beyond just EXP and items. Growing stronger and fulfilling objectives like the returning Collectapedia from Xenoblade 1 was so satisfying and addicting. Not only that, the environments and setting being more directly connected returning ones from Xenoblade 1 was another genius way to incentivize the exploration and be good fanservice for fans, so it works doubly in the games favor.
Another great aspect of this progression system is how it's tied into the combat. Because the gameplay is more streamlined, we don't have an expansive class system with tons of options to choose from here, but that works in the combat's favor. Because everyone is limited to one class, the game goes hard on making the progression system in how they get stronger a lot more succinct and rewarding, and making the characters more broken in their roles in ways that couldn't really be done in base 3. My favorite aspect of this was the additional Accesory slot that changed up Chain Order bonuses and let you really mess around with what characters can do what effects to make Chain Attacks that much more engaging and fresh, and give you such a strong edge in racking up the damage in such cool fun ways. I got so incredibly addicted to this, far more than the base game where I felt pretty limited due to how most of the character's completion orders other than the Heroes tend to be pretty eh. Very nice improvement. I also appreciate having Break Arts that aren't solely dependent on positioning in a pinch compared to the base game, as well as having a much more convenient and reliable Smash option that wasn't hard to get like the base game. Both of these changes really helped me pull off more combos than I could in the base game and made the combat that much more enjoyable and strategic, but fair with your control over it this time around.
The music is even better here than in the base game, with generally more memorable tracks, both new and with old homages to Xenoblade 1 and 2 songs from the past in great ways, but it helps that there's less areas that you spend more time in overall in this game, which helps memorability.
Now here come the story spoilers, you have been warned.
While Xenoblade 3's main game was a pretty strong thematic sequel to Xenoblade 1's themes on the cyclical nature of war and revenge, Future Redeemed is very much a direct sequel to Xenoblade 1's narrative as a whole. FR takes full advantage of the fact that it has 3 full games (and an epilogue's) worth of build up for its story, and wastes no time just jumping into the meat of the plot from the get go, no slow burn beginning this time which I appreciate this deep into the series. We get Matthew and Na'el's backstories fed to us via flashback after the journey's already started, and the game capitilizes on addressing remaining questions left over from the base game, as well as resolving plot threads left untied from what happened after Xenoblade 1 and 2's respective endings, which was super satisfying to see finally answered. I know a lot of people think FR raises more questions than it answers, but I disagree. If you have full Xenoblade lore knowledge, FR gives more than enough in terms of overt answers and implied answers for you to piece together the full story of Xenoblade 3 as a whole and how it follows up 1 and 2. The only things left unanswered are the Xenosaga teases near the end, which is pretty clear set up for future Xenoblade games, so that's intentional and not a big deal for the moment in my opinion in terms of being "unanswered".
The cast is as strong as ever, which is great to see not toned down from the base game's quality of writing, and it helps that half the cast are returning characters who had their arcs completed and are more fleshed out as adults who've been through it all. Rex for example I think works a lot better as a character here after having seen him push through with his ideals even after losing his mentors, lovers, and children and still fight to make the world a better place as a more gruff adult. Shulk and Alvis are still as endearing as ever as well, and their bonds with the rest of the cast are so nice and truly enrich the story. Having heart to hearts be incorporated into Shulk, Rex and Alvis revisit old sights and such was a genius idea as well gameplay wise.
The themes of FR inverting the base game's while following up Xenoblade 1 and 2's themes of seizing the future and pushing through a cruel world with hope to rebuild the world better than before in the face of adversity hit so much harder now after seeing how the world has fallen into a worse state than they were in 1 or 2's scenarios. But it makes the triumph at the end all the more sweeter as a result too, and is definitely the pinnacle of Xenoblade's themes as a whole of working towards the future, endlessly. The characters and world of the series isn't stagnant, and doesn't live in an endless now of eternal peace, as that's just now how humanity is. There will always be problems, but we must work through them together for the entirety of our lives in pursuit of something better. That's how life is, and Xenoblade Chronicles as a whole captures that perfectly.
Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with this game, and I wish more episodic direct installments of shorter length were more viable in today's market sadly. Here's to hoping Monolith can do more of these going forward. Their future looks incredibly bright after this magnum opus of a work from them.
Final Playtime: 27 hours, 14 minutes.