This review contains spoilers
As the big climax of the trilogy, Xenoblade 3 reaches extremely high peaks and feels like big love letter from Monolithsoft to both the series as a whole, and its fans.
The game's setting, a combination of the worlds from the previous 2 games, is intriguing from the very second you open the game. It might feel a bit strange for newcomers, but as a fan of the series you can't help but admire the way the worlds have merged and be curious to learn what exactly
happened to get us to this point. While some of the overworld locations can feel less interesting than the locations from previous games, they shine when they throw vague references and throwbacks to the areas they're based on from the other games. Seeing key landmarks such as the Hidden Machina Village and Distant Fingertip, to the ruins of Fonsa Myma inside the Urayan Mountains, the brilliant combination of The Land of Morytha with Makna Forest, and countless other tributes to famous areas from the series gave me chills as I continued to encounter more and more bits of connections to the previous titles. While Xenoblade 2 is not really a direct sequel to the first game, Xenoblade 3 is built as a direct follow-up to both Xenoblade 1 and 2 and is driven by the concept of having those merged worlds, yet managing to keep its own standalone narrative.
The story is an emotional rollercoaster, something the series is known for. The themes of life and death, the weight of life, and how we use the time we have to live are beautifully represented and give you as a player a lot to think about. It isn't without its flaws though, as the villain and antagonists of the game are by far the weakest in the trilogy (with the exception of N). A big chunk of the Moebius Consuls and especially Consul Z feel pretty flat, and even though it does make sense for them to behave the way they do considering what they really are, the encounters with them can feel like a lot of filler that drags on for longer than it should be. Despite the somewhat lackluster villains, the game shines with its core cast of characters. The entire main party is nothing short of outstanding, from the way they interact with each other, the world and other characters. There isn't a single party member that feels left out of the focus, with all 6 of them being incredibly well written that you get so attached to them and everything they go through. A huge part of this comes from the phenomenal performances by the voice cast, which all give their entire heart and soul to make their characters what they are. I have to give a specific shoutout to Harry McEntire as the voice of Noah and N, who delivers the strongest voice performance in the series and one of the best performances I've heard in a game as a whole. A lot of the side characters such as several Heroes are big highlights throughout the course of the game, with a lot of the more prominent ones such a Monica and Ghondor, Ethel and even Travis being real standouts for me.
From a gameplay standpoint, the combat and exploration is the most polished it's ever been and feels fantastic to play. The combat takes a lot from Xenoblade 2's, while doing its own thing with the character classes. Being able to improvise with your entire party's build felt refreshing and I'd find myself spending sometimes more than an hour just messing around in the menu and working on my team setups. Being able to swap the character you control mid-battle adds so much to the flow of battle that I don't know how I managed to deal without it previously. It feels like Monolith has perfected what the series' combat can be while not replacing the systems unique to the other games.
On the music side, while the soundtrack is once again a masterpiece as expected from Yasunori Mitsuda and ACE+, I feel like the enviornment themes aren't on the same level as the incredibly iconic overworld tracks from the other games in the series, which puts the OST in a strange position of being a 10/10, yet feeling lacking in some areas. The battle themes, emotional tracks, new arrangements of older tracks and the new vocal songs are all brilliant and despite the less impactful overworld theme the soundtrack as a whole is simply immaculate.
After playing this game for over 2 months straight, I can confidently say I think it ends up as the best in the Xenoblade trilogy, even if it isn't my new personal favorite over Xenoblade 2. The game brought me to tears like the others, resonated with me on a deep personal level and is without a shadow of a doubt my Game of the Year. As I said at the beginning, from start to finish it is a big thank you from the developers to the fans and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
Excited for the DLC and to see what the future holds for this incredible franchise.
The game's setting, a combination of the worlds from the previous 2 games, is intriguing from the very second you open the game. It might feel a bit strange for newcomers, but as a fan of the series you can't help but admire the way the worlds have merged and be curious to learn what exactly
happened to get us to this point. While some of the overworld locations can feel less interesting than the locations from previous games, they shine when they throw vague references and throwbacks to the areas they're based on from the other games. Seeing key landmarks such as the Hidden Machina Village and Distant Fingertip, to the ruins of Fonsa Myma inside the Urayan Mountains, the brilliant combination of The Land of Morytha with Makna Forest, and countless other tributes to famous areas from the series gave me chills as I continued to encounter more and more bits of connections to the previous titles. While Xenoblade 2 is not really a direct sequel to the first game, Xenoblade 3 is built as a direct follow-up to both Xenoblade 1 and 2 and is driven by the concept of having those merged worlds, yet managing to keep its own standalone narrative.
The story is an emotional rollercoaster, something the series is known for. The themes of life and death, the weight of life, and how we use the time we have to live are beautifully represented and give you as a player a lot to think about. It isn't without its flaws though, as the villain and antagonists of the game are by far the weakest in the trilogy (with the exception of N). A big chunk of the Moebius Consuls and especially Consul Z feel pretty flat, and even though it does make sense for them to behave the way they do considering what they really are, the encounters with them can feel like a lot of filler that drags on for longer than it should be. Despite the somewhat lackluster villains, the game shines with its core cast of characters. The entire main party is nothing short of outstanding, from the way they interact with each other, the world and other characters. There isn't a single party member that feels left out of the focus, with all 6 of them being incredibly well written that you get so attached to them and everything they go through. A huge part of this comes from the phenomenal performances by the voice cast, which all give their entire heart and soul to make their characters what they are. I have to give a specific shoutout to Harry McEntire as the voice of Noah and N, who delivers the strongest voice performance in the series and one of the best performances I've heard in a game as a whole. A lot of the side characters such as several Heroes are big highlights throughout the course of the game, with a lot of the more prominent ones such a Monica and Ghondor, Ethel and even Travis being real standouts for me.
From a gameplay standpoint, the combat and exploration is the most polished it's ever been and feels fantastic to play. The combat takes a lot from Xenoblade 2's, while doing its own thing with the character classes. Being able to improvise with your entire party's build felt refreshing and I'd find myself spending sometimes more than an hour just messing around in the menu and working on my team setups. Being able to swap the character you control mid-battle adds so much to the flow of battle that I don't know how I managed to deal without it previously. It feels like Monolith has perfected what the series' combat can be while not replacing the systems unique to the other games.
On the music side, while the soundtrack is once again a masterpiece as expected from Yasunori Mitsuda and ACE+, I feel like the enviornment themes aren't on the same level as the incredibly iconic overworld tracks from the other games in the series, which puts the OST in a strange position of being a 10/10, yet feeling lacking in some areas. The battle themes, emotional tracks, new arrangements of older tracks and the new vocal songs are all brilliant and despite the less impactful overworld theme the soundtrack as a whole is simply immaculate.
After playing this game for over 2 months straight, I can confidently say I think it ends up as the best in the Xenoblade trilogy, even if it isn't my new personal favorite over Xenoblade 2. The game brought me to tears like the others, resonated with me on a deep personal level and is without a shadow of a doubt my Game of the Year. As I said at the beginning, from start to finish it is a big thank you from the developers to the fans and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
Excited for the DLC and to see what the future holds for this incredible franchise.