Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a 2022 action role-playing game created by Monolith Soft and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is part of the open-world Xenoblade Chronicles series, which belongs to the larger Xeno franchise. The game shows the future of the worlds from Xenoblade Chronicles (2010) and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017) and finishes the story of the three-part series.
The game’s creators aimed to make a story-focused game similar to the first two games in the series, while including elements and fighting styles from earlier Xeno games. The gameplay and world design mix features from the first and second games. Like the first two games, Nintendo of Europe translated the game, using mostly British voice actors.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set in a world called Aionios, where two countries, Keves and Agnus, are in a never-ending war. Soldiers in this war live for only ten years. The story follows Noah and his two friends, Eunie and Lanz, who are from Keves, and Mio and her two soldiers, Taion and Sena, who are from Agnus. The six characters gain the ability to join together in pairs, called Ouroboros, and work together to learn the truth about the war and the real nature of their world.
Critics praised Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for its story, themes, gameplay, music, characters, and size, but they pointed out problems with its technology and graphics when it first came out. By March 2023, the game had sold 1.86 million copies. An extra game content called Future Redeemed, which takes place before the main story, was released in April 2023.
Gameplay
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an action role-playing game with a large open world. This game allows up to seven party members to fight together at once, including six characters that players control and one special character called a "Hero." Players can recruit up to 19 Heroes in the base game. Each Hero has unique skills and abilities. They can join the party through story events or side quests. Four additional Heroes are included in the DLC (downloadable content). Party members can also change their character class, which gives them access to different abilities. Increasing a Hero's friendship with the party unlocks their class for use. The game has an open world design, with a day-and-night cycle that affects in-game events, such as the availability of quests and items. The game’s map is the largest in the series and is fully connected. Players can use fast travel to move quickly or activate navigation to help complete quests.
The game’s battle system is action-based. Players control the lead character in real-time, while other party members automatically attack when enemies come close. Unlike earlier games, players can switch between all six main party members during battles. Party members use abilities called "Arts," which can deal extra damage or cause effects like slowing enemies, depending on their position relative to the enemy.
Each character starts with a set of moves based on a Class, which determines their fighting style and role. There are three main roles: "Defenders," who draw enemies’ attention and block or avoid attacks; "Attackers," who deal damage and use position-based Arts for stronger effects; and "Healers," who support the party with healing, buffs, and debuffs. Performing actions that match a character’s class fills a Talent Gauge, allowing them to use a special move called a Talent Art when the gauge is full. Talent Arts are unique to each class and can cause effects like dealing large area damage, making enemies target the user, or healing the entire party. Characters also earn Class Points (CP) by defeating enemies, which increase their class’ Mastery level. Reaching certain Mastery levels unlocks Master Arts that can be used against enemies of other factions. Players can combine Master Arts and Class Arts into Fusion Arts, which mix the effects of both.
A key new feature in the game is the Interlink system. Early in the game, specific character pairs—Noah and Mio, Eunie and Taion, and Lanz and Sena—can fuse into powerful forms called Ouroboros. These forms are invincible and have stronger Arts. However, their use is limited by a Heat Gauge, which fills up as the form is used. When the gauge is full, the fusion ends, and the pair cannot fuse again until the gauge empties. Using Fusion Arts reduces how quickly the Heat Gauge fills. Some Arts only work when the Interlink Level is at 3, which encourages players to wait until this level is reached before fusing.
Like earlier games, the game includes the "Chain Attack" mechanic. A Gauge fills as party members attack, and it fills faster when using Master Arts. Filling the Gauge allows players to chain multiple attacks for extra damage. Each Chain Attack has several rounds. At the start of each round, players choose one of three randomly available "Chain Orders." Each character’s Chain Order applies an effect when completed, such as reducing an enemy’s defense. After selecting an Order, the round begins. The goal is to earn over 99 TP (Tactical Points), which is gained by using moves during the round. Factors like the character’s class and how often they are used affect TP. Reaching over 99 TP ends the attack for that round, applying the selected Chain Order’s effects for future rounds. Players can achieve three ratings: "Amazing" (over 200 TP), "Bravo" (over 150 TP), and "Cool" (over 99 TP). These ratings determine how many characters are available for use in the next round and increase damage. The attack continues until the Party Gauge is empty.
Plot
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in Aionios, a world that combines parts of two previous game worlds: Bionis and Mechonis from Xenoblade Chronicles and Alrest from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In Aionios, the nations of Keves and Agnus are constantly at war. The world is divided into Colonies, each with a giant mecha called a Ferronis. These machines are powered by a Flame Clock, which uses the life force of fallen enemy soldiers. Each Colony has soldiers called Terms, who are created with artificially limited lifespans of ten years. These soldiers fight to keep their Flame Clocks running and hope to survive until their tenth year to receive a Homecoming ceremony. Some soldiers, called off-seers, play flutes during rituals to honor the dead.
The game follows six main characters who have the power of Ouroboros. Two of them are the protagonists: Noah, a Kevesi off-seer who is joined by his childhood friends Lanz and Eunie; and Mio, an Agnian off-seer who is joined by her soldiers Sena and Taion. Both groups are supported by Nopon characters: Riku, a Kevesi mechanic, and Manana, an Agnian chef. Other important characters include the Vandham family, who lead a group called the Lost Numbers, and Melia Antiqua and Nia, the queens of Keves and Agnus. Moebius, an organization led by a being named Z, controls the war between Keves and Agnus and is made up of powerful beings who oversee the Colonies.
The downloadable story expansion, Future Redeemed, is set centuries before the main game. It takes place in the Cent-Omnia region of Aionios, which is not explored in the main story. This expansion follows a group of Ouroboros who formed after a leader named Consul N destroyed the original City. Like the main game, Future Redeemed includes six main characters: Matthew Vandham, a City resident searching for his sister; A, a mysterious traveler; Shulk and Rex, the heroes from Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 who now lead a group called the Liberators; and Nikol and Glimmer, the children of Shulk and Rex who fight for Keves and Agnus. Other characters include Panacea and Linka, who are students of Shulk and Rex, and Alpha, a being created from a character named Alvis.
In the main game, Kevesi soldiers Noah, Lanz, and Eunie, along with Riku, are sent to stop a mysterious airship. They meet an Agnian squad led by Mio, Sena, Taion, and Manana. A fight breaks out, but Guernica Vandham, the airship’s only survivor, stops the battle and claims he knows their real enemy. When Consul D attacks, Guernica activates the Ouroboros Stone, giving Noah and Mio’s teams its power. D escapes, and Guernica, who is dying, tells them to go to the City at Swordmarch for answers.
With Keves and Agnus hunting them, Noah and Mio’s teams join forces to reach Swordmarch. They free Colonies by destroying their Flame Clocks. The Queen of Keves attacks with a weapon called the Annihilator, forcing the group to go to Keves Castle. There, they learn that the soldiers of Keves and Agnus are clones created to fight each other. They defeat the Queen, who is revealed to be a robot.
The group meets the Lost Numbers, led by Guernica’s daughter Monica. She takes them to the City, where humans with normal lifespans oppose Moebius. Monica explains that Moebius caused the war to harvest life energy endlessly. The true Queens created the power of Ouroboros to stop Moebius before hiding. Monica asks the group to rescue her daughter Ghondor, who knows the Queens’ location. During a prison break, the group is betrayed and captured by Consul N and his partner, Consul M. N reveals that he and M lived many lives trying to stop Moebius. After Mio died, N made a deal with Z to revive her, becoming Moebius in the process. Noah and Mio are reincarnations of N and M, carrying their hope.
On the day of their execution, Mio’s friend M uses her psychic powers to switch places with Mio and dies instead. The group defeats N, destroys the fake Queen of Agnus, and awakens the real Queen, Nia. D attacks Nia but is killed. Nia explains that the worlds of Bionis and Alrest were once separate but would merge in an event called the Intersection, destroying all life. The Queens and others created Origin, an ark to store data and souls. Z captured Melia and used Origin to create Aionios. The group destroys Z, who represents humanity’s fear of the future. N and M, whose spirits are in Noah and Mio, sacrifice themselves to defeat Z.
With Origin reactivated, the worlds of Bionis and Alrest begin to merge again. The people of Keves and Agnus are separated and returned to their original worlds. Noah and Mio share a kiss before the worlds split, promising to reunite. In the new world, everyone forgets their time in Aionios. As Noah heads to a fireworks show, he hears Mio’s flute and follows the music, disappearing into the crowd.
Centuries earlier, the first City was destroyed by N. Matthew Vandham, a City resident who gained the power of Ouroboros from his grandfather, meets a mysterious woman named A. They search for survivors and meet Nikol and Glimmer, the last soldiers of their armies. Matthew gives them the power of Ouroboros and stops them from fighting. They join Shulk and Rex, who lead the Liberators, a group protecting City survivors and fighting Moebius. Shulk and Rex explain that they made a temporary truce with Moebius to fight Alpha, an AI controlling Origin.
Downloadable content
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 had an "Expansion Pass" that players could buy when the game launched. This pass gave access to four sets of downloadable content released over the next year. The first set came out with the game on July 29, 2022, and included useful items, clothing accessories, and different colored outfits. The second set was released on October 13, 2022, and added a new Challenge Mode and a hero quest to unlock the character Ino. The third set was released on February 15, 2023, and included new Challenge Mode battles, new clothing options, and a hero quest to unlock the character Masha. The fourth and final set was released on April 26, 2023, and introduced a new story scenario called "Future Redeemed," which takes place centuries before the main game and follows a new group of characters. Completing "Future Redeemed" unlocks an extra challenge battle that lets players earn Shulk and Rex as heroes in the main game.
Amiibo figures of Noah and Mio were released on January 19, 2024. Using Noah's Amiibo unlocks the Consul N outfit for Noah and "Leisure Time" outfits for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Using Mio's Amiibo unlocks the Consul M outfit for Mio and "Leisure Time" outfits for Mio, Taion, and Sena.
Development
The first ideas for the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 were created before the development of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Tetsuya Takahashi, the creator of the Xenoblade Chronicles series, said that the Mechonis sword on the cover of Xenoblade Chronicles and the Titan of Uraya on the cover of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 inspired the idea for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The image of the broken Mechonis sword passing through the wounded Titan of Uraya became the visual symbol of the game, showing a war between the two worlds and starting the idea for the game. In May 2018, Takahashi suggested Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as a new game idea to Nintendo. The first team at Monolith Soft, known for making Xenoblade Chronicles games, began developing the game in August 2018 after Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country was officially released.
Like earlier numbered games in the series, the soundtrack for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, ACE (Tomori Kudo and Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka), and Kenji Hiramatsu. They were joined by Mariam Abounnasr, who worked on music for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Yutaka Kunigo. To create a unique sound, Monolith Soft made custom flutes in different sizes and tuned to special musical scales similar to those in the game. The first song Mitsuda composed for the game was "A Life Sent On," which is the main theme. Takahashi told Mitsuda to combine the melodies of Noah and Mio into one piece of music. Mitsuda believed the custom flutes would help him express his ideas more clearly. As with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the Irish choral group Anúna helped record vocals for the game. Aisling and Lauren McGlynn sang on tracks related to Ouroboros and Moebius, while Sara Weeda performed "A Step Away" and the ending theme, "Where We Belong." The Future Redeemed expansion includes a new ending theme, "Future Awaits," sung by Joanne Hogg, who also sang the ending themes for Xenogears and Xenosaga Episode I.
An original soundtrack for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was released on August 2, 2023. It was announced along with the soundtrack for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and the Xenoblade Chronicles Original Soundtrack Trinity Box, a special collection containing the soundtracks for all three main games in the series. The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Original Soundtrack was available in a regular edition and a limited edition that included 1/3 scale replicas of the flutes used by Noah and Mio in the game, as well as an 80-page deluxe booklet with liner notes and interviews with the composers. The limited edition was released on July 29, 2023, exactly one year after the game’s original release. Both editions included the music from Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed.
Release
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced in February 2022 and was originally planned to be released in September. The release date was later changed to July 29. The game’s story is said to show the future of the worlds from the first two games in the series. After the announcement, a blog post on Nintendo’s official website shared early information about the game’s development. Takahashi was confirmed to be working on the game as an executive director. Other staff members who worked on previous Xenoblade Chronicles games also returned, including the team that composed the music for the first two games and Masatsugu Saito, the lead character designer from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, who is helping with the game’s art alongside Koichi Mugitani, an artist from Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles.
A collector’s edition was announced on April 19, 2022, and would only be sold on the My Nintendo Store after the July 29 release date was set. The collector’s edition includes an art book, a steelbook case, and a special outer packaging. Preorders began on June 7, but the website crashed that day, causing some users to be logged out and unable to preorder the game. Because the release date was moved earlier in the year, production of the collector’s edition faced challenges. As a result, some Nintendo stores in the UK sold the items from the collector’s edition without the game as a separate product, while the extra items in the North American special edition were delayed until Fall 2022.
An artbook titled Xenoblade 3 Official Artworks: Aionios Moments was released on April 1, 2024, and published by Kadokawa.
Reception
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 received "mostly positive reviews" according to Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews.
Nintendo Life praised the changes to the combat system, especially the ability to combine character abilities. They said, "Combining abilities is a smooth addition to the action here. It adds excitement to battles and is easy to understand." Destructoid admired the game's visuals, noting that they looked impressive even on the Nintendo Switch. They wrote, "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks amazing. I took many screenshots of this beautiful world." Nintendo World Report mentioned that the game had the most balanced combat in the series, saying, "It is challenging but well-paced. I rarely felt too strong or too weak."
IGN criticized the game's pacing, saying some parts of the game had unnecessary tasks that made the 150-hour playtime feel too long. They wrote, "Some sections, like doing simple tasks or collecting metal pieces, made me feel my time was wasted." GameSpot praised the new Master Arts, which added new ways to fight. They said, "I have played over 120 hours and still find new Master Arts, new classes, and new strategies." Game Informer noted that the game's world had few activities and that the environments looked similar over time. They wrote, "Beyond fighting monsters, collecting items, and recruiting heroes, there isn’t much to do or see."
PCMag said the Nintendo Switch struggled to handle the game's large environments and battles. They mentioned, "There are visible drops in resolution and objects appearing suddenly. The frame rate is not steady, and the game can slow down at times." Eurogamer praised the game for giving players a sense of freedom, like in older JRPGs. They wrote, "Running through endless fields with companions while facing tough challenges felt exciting." Polygon liked the optional content, saying it was some of the best in the series. They wrote, "There are over 100 side quests. Though some tasks were simple, they helped me understand more about the world and its people."
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was the most sold retail game in Japan during its first week, with 112,728 physical copies sold. It was also the top-selling physical game in the UK during its first week, achieving the largest launch for the Xeno franchise in that region. As of March 2023, the game had sold 1.86 million copies.
The game received several end-of-year honors, including "Game of the Year" nominations at the New York Game Awards, Golden Joystick Awards, and The Game Awards. At IGN's "Best of 2022" awards, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 won the "Best RPG" category.