Genre:RPG.
Developer/publisher: Monolith Soft.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: N/A
Release date: 2022-07-29.
Okay since this is turning into an rpg blog anyway, i've just decided to carry on
and write a post about it, straight of the bat I will say here that I like this series
mostly for its characters, story and exploration... I have never been a fan of the combat
and i'm not here for it, sure its cool but i'm a story enjoyer that still tries to play on normal.
Pro's
- Great cast, I liked the story surrounding Noah and Mio.
- Exploring is fun, plenty of quests/optional content.
- Great OST.
- English/british dub is good, has a stellar seiyuu cast as well.
Con's
- Story while interesting, it might seem a bit farfetched to how it ties itself to its prequels
part of me even wondered what was the point and that it felt kind of forced.
- PLOT is also full of cheeseHOLES and story elements either are underdeveloped or unused.
- Using side stories or subquests to advance the main story no longer makes it optional.
- Class system is chaotic, and makes everyone seem samey.
- Too many bosses are sponges, the final boss itself was a tad too long plus WhErE
iS mY cHeCkPoInT?! if you die(funny cuz every other boss'll wait for u).
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TL;DR its a well-rounded rpg with a great cast and the story that on its own is seemingly fine.
I won't spoil anything about the story which is interesting to say the least but I think
in how it connects to the first two games feels a bit off and/or far fetched
that at the end of the day seems to amount to nothing thus making it all
seem like some fan fiction of trying to merge the worlds/aspects of xenoblade 1 and 2???
I did however really like the story surrounding Noah and Mio! by the time of the ending
I was actually shipping Lanz/Sena and Taion/Eunie as well.😄
The battle system is okay, class system can be weird and chaotic but as long as you
do quests and fight blue enemies its easy to gain the upperhand and stay ahead of the curve.
If you don't do that then it could get a bit more challenging but I absolutely recommend to not
miss out on the hero quests as they're great supplement to the story. Sadly I wish everyone
could revive like in past games and not just the healers cuz if they die for whatever reason
then you are fucked and this happened more than once. The combat is actually pretty simple
and straight-forward but they just expect players to just get it. I didn't even know till I beat
the damn game that you could do a dash move to quickly move around while in combat! also
if it was in a tutorial then I must've forgotten? I don't remember it being told to you.
I have my gripes but its a good game, fans of the series will probably not be disappointed!
So if you're looking for a 60+ hour adventure which could be even longer if you try
everything it has to offer including postgame stuff. But after beating the game I was too tired
for any of it except unlocking the extra heroes... so yea even after beating the game
there could be plenty left to do if you're up for it. Sadly idk what it is but this game
left me so drained by the end of it? in comparison to Arise which left me satisfied/fulfilled.
Oh well, i'm just gonna say that Xenoblade 3 had a strong start, a very good middle(ch5)
but it ended up being a little bit confusing and/or lacklustre in the way they ended it.
Even for a TL;DR this was pretty long... well the game was long it took me a good 70 hours!
Now for the big question should you play the other two games first?
hmm probably better you do! but its not completely necessary. I did wonder why
the Queen's of each nation looked like certain characters from both games
but other than that this game just takes place after the first and second games.
For the most part there's not much that directly references anything except two characters
but if you played the other games you'd probably have several questions why things
are like the way they are in xenoblade 3, it takes a long time before you even get
a good explanation and even then, I thought huh why did that even happen?
Its all up to you really, when it comes to numbered games and knowing they all
take place after the other, i'm more willing to say start with 1 than at 3. Honestly though
I think both 1 and 2 were fine as stand alones. Anyway that's my opinion and I say it
later down the post as well, i'm not a gatekeeper you're free to do whatever you want.
If you like lengthy rpg's with a battle system that has you do epic attacks then this game
might be for you, if you can get past the same-ish combat flow and system that is actually
quite simple but never really properly explained which at this point I consider a series staple.
7,4/10
I was gonna give this an 8,5/10 but the final boss was just such a slog and I found out
that if you die in the fight, doesn't matter where you're forced to restart from scratch.
And it was like an hour long LMAO... wtf even xenoblade 1 had checkpoints in its final fight.
Also what was up with lucky seven? the whole thing was underdeveloped, we got to use it once
there was even a tutorial and then it was just forgotten. Riku also was kinda SUS if you ask me.
After chapter 5 the story and all did take a little nosedive and it never regained its momentum
and we get boring fetch quest and a rushed/lacklustre conclusion to it all.
I'm gonna say it this game was released ahead of its initial release in september
SOMETHING HAPPENED and we don't know what. Either it was budget or
they decided it was good enough, no one really knows.
Sad, I know! I really want to like this game more but this all ain't helping....
The rest of this post is just more rambles/more detail on my experience of the game
if you don't like/agree then just close the tab in your browser, its just my own opinion
which could differ from yours. There are no plot spoilers but there are a few screenshots so beware!
plot progression is better than ever in this game, you always feel like you're making progress.
Noah, the protag is a sweet boy and someone who thinks things through. I like that
honestly can't find much wrong with him, he has his moments but we all have.
Mio, she obviously has her own problems but she isn't annoying, I found her and Noah
to be quite relatable. I am just glad Noah does not simp for her more than needed.
Taion is my favorite and the best boi, calm and collected nerd and a voice of reason...
a little careful perhaps too careful but he listens to everyones concerns.
Lanz, well typical muscle head friend and then there's Eunie well I like her
but also not a whole lot, she's okay. Same with Sena but I think I like her a little more.
If I had to be honest I liked everyone in some way... so i'm not gonna rank them.
This game doesn't have gacha or weird time wastery elements, something I disliked
in xb2 was that in order to view all the sub characters stories you were often forced
to fetch items by junk diving which was all rng, yea I gave up quick cuz it did not
respect my time since it also needed items to be able to dig up said items. Yea no!
XB3 has none of that and most optional characters that join just have a simple quest to complete
which also unlocks to you their class that you can learn even if they aren't around.
There is only one guest that can't join you for some reason but its story related
anyone else can join up with the main gang anytime regardless of story progress.
I really, really like this that you can have an extra seventh member! I tended to use the war medic
guest Valdi a lot in the beginning, nothing against Zeon but while he grew on me
he has difficulties fulfilling his role, that aside he can supervise me anytime.
 |
| Gray's a cutie-pie! sadly I didn't get to use him a lot but his side story is nice. |
and Isurd always managed to save my butt. Yup i'm a filthy casual, Isurd enjoyer however
for the endgame I had to replace him for Ashera cuz her hero chain is a lot better.
Now for something funny/interesting, in ch6 there's a lot of cutscenes at the start
so it was late and let myself get ko'd myself at a boss they wanted me to fight then I noticed
how you could still re-add a hero and said boss was waiting patiently for me.
The boss did become easier... this all was because an npc joined temporarely and there was no
time to add another hero to the party unless you die. Sometimes dying on a boss can be beneficial!
 |
| This made me laugh cuz it looks like he is lifting in the water...😂 |
Now moving on to the combat, its more or less shares the same elements as the previous games however this game adds a class change system, meaning everyone can become anything
you want them to. Some might take a little longer to unlock the new class but really
anyone can learn any class even if it doesn't suit their personal builds. Uh yea
you read that right, anyway this system can make things quite chaotic and honestly
I didn't really like it because of that.The battle system is slow, on the plus side
the ai doesn't appear to be that bad but more often than not at times cooldowns
don't align and I'd die. Its not like healers cannot heal their skills are on cool down
speaking of all skills in this game have insanely long cooldowns so most of the time
you're just auto attacking and building up the chain attack. So if you end up dying
either your setup is not right or you just got unlucky and the boss managed to burst you down
because that is exactly what we do to the boss most of the time anyway.
 |
| You'll be doing this a lot, i'd even go and say chain attacks are the main feature. |
This game recommends to always change your class and all but then I got to a boss
in chapter 3 which just forced me to switch Noah to a tank class he'd already mastered.
Which means the system is full of bullshit. That boss was bullshit too. I am talking about
the Incomplete siege lev. Of course it can 1/2hit my entire party so I had to be a tank
and hope my party doesn't stack so I can unleash a trinity combo. >_>;
I feel like that boss was supposed to be the noob killer and/or force players to grind
when its not even necessary. Yes I beat it but it was so sad... I felt like I wasn't playing right
even tho i'm trying to make everyone learn each others classes.😢
If I understand things right it is best to keep switching classes as you play the game, the game
is balanced at 2 tanks,2healers and 2 dps so try to go out of that zone and welp. Wait that's
just like a full party in FFXIV. Hmmm am I onto something here. Its funny everytime I tried
to go slightly outside of the norm with classes but a boss would just say nope! sadness...
but it is what it is, just keep 2 healers and two tanks with dps's and you'll be fine!
 | |
| I hated that mini boss, it is hilariously overtuned even tho it is nothing remarkable. |
due it summoning adds you'll die pretty easily. My only recommendation is lvl even higher
and grab all the hero's you can get atm. Its sad but no guide online is even mentioning this.
Either I am just a total noob or due to the class system no one can really write a strategy.
TBH at times I just went back to old classes that were already rank 10...
it is not untill post game you can like... unlock the initial cap of the classes too.
Most of the time I die anyway is because healers can't keep up with incoming damage
and I wasn't yet able to do a chain attack or interlink which is what this game is about
its all about enjoying seeing big numbers fly on your screen as characters do cool moves.
 |
| Taion is my best boi! |
One key thing is to have classes that can pull of combo's like break/topple/daze.
If you can't pull of the combo's its no good at all. So look for classes that have those skills
unfortunately some bosses appear to be immune to it and are just a sponge.
The system can be a bit chaotic with everyone being able to learn anything...
Taion never really ventured out of the healer role, I tried with Eunie and for her it fits
to have her as a jaguar or something but when I got alexandria's class I was like uh
I don't like this class for him so after I maxed that it was back to healing for him.😅
Back to nice things, the exploration! its always nice if you get to hidden areas with nice views.
I play on switch lite so these game(s) probably don't look as great on it as on a regular switch
but still this game still looks nice and the game never really lagged or anything.
Music wise, this game has a great soundtrack, I hardly ever complain of OST's
but this game is definitely is in the amazing category.
The ones you should look out for and/or prioritize are hero quests, atleast I did
because they can add a seventh party member to the list of which you can also learn their class.
The stories told are also better, some could even be considered part of the main story
but are still entirely optional. This was pretty great tbh it didn't feel like I was wasting my time
or had to do this or that so I could finally proceed, progression was natural and not gated behind
having to dive up items which needs an item to do it in the first place. Yea sorry for the mild
rant but that is why I could never finish Godfrey's quests in XB2 even tho without him
I could never have beaten that game which was kind of sad.
If I had to give any advice to the generic quests prioritize the ones in colony 4
and a certain city because its necessary for a hero.
 |
| Thanks for checking out the water guys! this was also the only time I let Cammuravi tag along. |
to progress the story, this I can understand if we're dealing with multiple objectives
but they also shoved in side story's such as noah and mio these however are not side stories
cuz they're not optional, I get that perhaps they couldn't program it in any other way
still it was a bit jarring to be gotten something that seems optional only to be forced on you anyway!
The other one would be that fetch quest in the beginning of chapter 7 was kind of a slog
but then it had you progress through an area full of lvl 70 mobs only to be greeted
by a lvl 58 mob at the destination, maybe the dev's idea of a joke but I wasn't laughing.
Mostly cuz its all running away cuz if you play normally you'd probably be 59.
The poison pools aren't a problem, as you can mostly run around it if you have yet
to recruit Segiri as she gives you a skill that makes you immune to it.
Overall I did enjoy Xenoblade 3, it has a great cast and for the most part good story progression.
I may dislike the combat but in this series I was never too great on it...
did that stop me from enjoying exploring its worlds? nope!
Some story elements in this game did remind me of FFXIII and FFX/X-2
such as those marks that show their age/life span that's left and offseer/sendoff's.
At times I even got pretty emotional and got teary eyed. Yeah it can get a bit sad.
This is also one of the few RPG series I play with eng dub... even if XB2 had takahiro sakurai
it was stiill played in english, I just can't say no to some of the british accents.
Sadly by playing in english I missed out on maeno tomoaki and hiroki Takahashi.
The only bad part of the dub is that in some menu sections such as interlink they tend
to shout out things like ''you have obtained power'' Lanz's version in the menu was especially bad.
Still i'm just glad they got rid of the gacha and let characters join if you do their quests!
said quests don't feel too optional either they could have been part of the main story.
Honestly in RPG's this is how it should have been, there's a reason why I am very hesitant
to get into a certain open world free to play game with lot's of interesting characters.
Some aspects of its class system might be chaotic but its alright! the AI was pretty good compared
to trials of mana. Its just that from my experience the game's balance can be pretty whack...
and I generally had no idea what I was doing even tho I tried to keep using the same class balance
but sometimes i really had to use three healers(1 guest) or go back to classes i've already maxed.
Most guides online were useless when it came to bosses too, and I only used them to
know where to find this or that hero. Maybe it is because I am playing at release...
Then again I could beat most bosses in one or two tries, the only boss that was overtuned
was a tetsudo that summons adds in chapter 5, actually forcing me to do all available hero quests.
Anyway gripes aside I thought Xenoblade 3 was a pretty well-rounded rpg, maybe the combat was a
bit confusing with its class system and all but the cast and all was great so there's that. The only
other thing is that it might ride a bit too much on XB1 and XB2... and this game uses that as its base.
It still gets my recommendation if you like the series but its not a good starting point for
those completely brand new to it, mostly because it borrows too many elements from it prequels.
Its only a trilogy and all three games are on the switch, there's never been a better time to get into it
which means it is in a better situation than say the trails series. I will say once again that
I am no gatekeeper and you're free to do as you please which is actually a theme in this game!
Yea you're free to just do whatever you want... don't let other people oppress you
or force you into doing things a specific way too much. This game isn't perfect
maybe monolith soft will try and patch some things up... but somethings might never get better.
For what its worth its all gucchi, the cast is surprisingly shippable too, but let me just say this
I guess rpg's about killing god are old and busted so now its all about beating depression!
Sigh oh well, I liked what I liked including the ending... just not the final fightyes it is on my list as worst final fights i've ever had the pleasure of sitting through
ugh it felt like it sucked the life out of me... how long was it? an hour or more. Blegh!
even worse I noticed they kinda ripped off from FFXIV's endsinger.
Am I on to something here... this is the 3rd FF reference I count aside from the party comp.
Sadly I am gonna miss the gang, but all good things must come to an end!
Due to some things in the ending I am wondering if they're planning DLC
but hmm I think I am really done with the game even though I haven't touched
any of the ascension quests or other post game challenges. I did recruit everyone.
I wonder if that wiiU game will ever be ported, if they did i'd probably play it
as most of monolith's games have not disappointed me, maybe a few gripes here and there
but they're good at making rpg's with a nice world to explore, a good plot & likable casts.
What's next? I'll probably go take a break for a little while till Kuro no Kiseki 2 crimson sin. Monochrome Mobius was delayed so maybe if I have time i'll just relax and pick out
an english otome game I never played in japanese.
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