Nintendo has certainly been on a roll this year with an amazing number of first-party titles gracing the Switch.
Games like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Kirby and the Forgotten Land challenged tradition, offering new ways to play these classic franchises.
While Mario Strikers: Battle League and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes were fantastic sequels that dramatically improved on their predecessors.
It's only July but fans still have so much to look forward to Bayonetta 3, Splatoon 3 and another Pokemon title on the horizon.
But staying in the present Nintendo has another highly anticipated title due to be released this month.
It’s time to head back into the Xeno franchise with the third instalment in the Xenoblade Chronicles series.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is not a direct sequel to the previous two games in terms of plot and characters, but it shares similar themes, combat systems and more.
Set in the world of Aionios, the two nations of Keves and Agnus are at constant war with each other.
Each nation is split into different colonies that have a giant base called a Ferronis at their centre.
The Ferronis is powered by the Flame Wheel, which will result in the death of all the colony’s inhabitants if it runs out.
Desperately trying to keep the Flame Wheel alight is what has kept these nations warring for years, as it is powered by the life force of fallen soldiers.
The nations fight using engineered soldiers who have artificially limited lifespans of up to ten years.
Each of these soldiers has been assigned a specific role that they must accomplish in and out of battle.
The game focuses on two protagonists Noah and Mio who are both off-seers for their respective nations. Off-seers are soldiers who play special flutes to mourn the dead.
Mio and Noah, who are both on separate missions with their childhood friends, end up facing off against each other in a deadly battle.
During this intense battle, a mysterious man called Guernica Vandham confronts them in an attempt to reveal the truth behind their never-ending war.
Before Guernica can expose the truth he is shot down by a monstrous being called a Moebius.
In the midst of battle against the Moebius, Mio and Noah are somehow fused into a new form called an Ouroboros which allows them to fend off the unknown being.
However after the fusion ends, Guernica explains to them that the connection to their colony’s Flame wheel has been replaced with a new Ouroboros one.
This leads to the six becoming fugitives and being hunted down by the inhabitants of each nation.
This and the words from Guernica force the two parties to unite and travel to Swordmarch in an attempt to unveil the truth of their world.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a dark tale that’s an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.
The plot’s strength lies in its empathetic storytelling which sees the group of six heroes coming to terms with their misgivings.
The character development is simply captivating as each of these war-torn teens completes their own story arc by overcoming personal obstacles.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 does a great job at giving each character ample screen time that allows players to grow with them during the adventure.
The protagonists are the highlight of this adventure but the main plot contains superb world-building that sees the lore of Xenoblade reach heights not seen in previous games.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s visual art style follows suit with its predecessor’s anime-inspired design.
Each character sports a brazen look that’s bursting with bright colours and stylish haircuts.
The designs aren’t over the top but quirky enough to grant Xenoblade Chronicles 3 an original style from its predecessors.
The land of Aionios is huge and split up into several different locations. There is so much variation within Aionios from lush greens, vast deserts and cyber cities that are joyous to explore.
Its grand scale is wonderful to explore with each location being gracefully designed with wonderful landmarks, fierce enemies and useful items.
Some locations can feel slightly repetitive at times due to the lengthy travelling required but for the most part, Aionios looks wonderful.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks great on the Switch and ran smoothly for the majority of my time with it, however, there were times the game suffered from frame drops and rough edges, especially in handheld mode.
The game's soundtrack has been composed by artists who have contributed to the past titles.
The likes of Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu and Mariam Abounnasr have all worked on this soundtrack in one way or another.
The music maintains the style from past games with big orchestral pieces that serenade the landscapes during travelling that shift to fast-paced ballads for battle.
The music like always is a great accomplice to the adventure.
Like its predecessors, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 features dual voice attacking with Japanese and English dubs being options.
The Japanese voice is amazing and the best way to experience this game. The English version is just filled with over-exaggerated accents that don’t really fit the characters.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a JRPG that’s split into several different elements which include exploration, battle, crafting, quests and more.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 grants players the freedom to explore Aionios but I wouldn’t say that it's an entirely open-world experience.
The world is divided into different massive regions that are filled with plenty of secrets. The game makes traversing much easier by placing several locations called landmarks which act as quick travel points from the get-go, while also granting EXP and Spirit Points.
Players will respawn from these locations after dying. Field Skills also make a comeback allowing players to access even more hard-to-reach locations once that skill is acquired.
There are also rest spots where players can perform different actions such as training, crafting, discussing quests and even being able to clean clothes.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a massive game with each being an area seemingly endless which can feel daunting for newcomers to the series.
Although it really is impressive just how much extra content can be accessed by just strolling around and being curious.
Plus the abundance of landmarks and rest locations make the whole process of getting around far less gruelling, especially with all the backtracking.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will have main story quests that can be easily navigated by using the map or following a trail.
The missions vary from reaching certain locations to defeating a specific enemy to help progress the story.
There are also a ton of side quests that come in various different forms and ways to acquire them.
Side quests do start off as fetch missions through the Collectopaedia Cards system, but as players progress so does their ingenuity and difficulty.
Players will be able to take on side quests from NPCs scattered across the land of Aionios.
However what's great is that players don’t have to accept them straight away, rather they can discuss them with the team at rest points and decide whether to accept them.
This is a nice little feature that grants for extra cutscenes and players can learn more about what motivates each character.
There are also Hero quests which are given to the main characters from the recruited hero, these need to be completed for players to unlock the hero's class.
The diversity and scale of each mission will keep players on their toes as they cater for different playstyles.
The main quest is already long but these additional quests add so much extra to the game, really boosting the overall play time if all are completed.
Combat plays a huge part in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and there are many layers to its complexity.
Battles will take place in real-time where the player will be able to control all six characters that can be switched on the fly.
Players will also be able to turn auto battle on at any time allowing the characters to be controlled by the computer.
Each character will have access to a normal attack that can be mixed up with special moves called Arts and Talent Arts.
These Arts work on a cool-down system and can be reloaded in various ways that are specific to the class or character.
Further to that, there are several different combos that can be executed for players to quickly turn the tide in battle.
This really comes down to understanding each character's class and what they do in battle.
Combat can get really complex as there are so many different strategies to master such as accumulating aggro, using focus attacks, chains attacks or even fusion arts.
It’s great to see such a combat system with so many layers but with different things to remember before players get to interlinking, it might be a little overwhelming for newcomers.
However, the game has several training drills that allow the players to really get to grips with the multiple layers within the combat system.
The big feature within combat is the Interlink system that sees two characters fuse to make an Ouroboros, which is a giant mech-like creature.
In this form, the merged characters gain access to an extra set of Arts and a skill tree called the Soul Tree.
It's amazing that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 features an extra set of characters with their own skills and strategies for players to master.
If that wasn't enough the game grants players a seventh member of the team, these characters are known as Heroes.
Only one of these Heroes can be used at one time due to their powerful skills, but other than improving the player's attack prowess, they bring a new class that can be equipped to main characters dramatically increasing the player's strategic options in battle.
Combat can be really tough, so having all these options really helps with the unpredictability of the enemies roaming around the overworld.
Some players may think all the options might be slightly over the top, but the long duration of the game allows players to utilise all of these combat methods to their advantage.
My only issue with combat is that sometimes it can be really slow, with battles becoming quite drawn out, only to lose due to enemies' difficulty spike.
Classes play a major role in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, with the traditional JRPG archetypes such as healer, swordsman or defender being available from the start, but there’s literally an endless amount for players to experiment with.
Each class has its own unique quirk and weapon that will greatly dictate who they approach in battle, so knowing what each does is very important to assembling the team.
The Class system is a great feature that has worked well into the system, even granting a change of clothes when a new one is chosen.
Like other JRPGs players will be able to level up their characters by gaining experience points from various different methods.
The game also allows players to gain bonus EXP from specific tasks that enable characters to level up a lot faster.
On top of that players can level up their character class and craft gems to grant additional stats boosts.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 offers extensive levels of customisation that allows players to really build original characters suited to their playstyle.
The abundance of choices can be daunting for newcomers to the series with a lot of trial and error.
But JRPGs fans will salivate at what's on offer and grind to find that perfect combination to get the best out of their characters.
Verdict 4 / 5
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an amazing entry into the already wonderful series. It reaches a new standard of storytelling, combat and customisation within the Xeno series
There are a few technical mishaps here and there but not enough to dampen the overall experience. JRPG fans can’t miss this stellar adventure that’s one for the ages.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is out on 29 July for the Nintendo Switch
