-By Nick Morrow Welcome to another edition of Tomorrow Reviews where I will look over various movies, shows, games, and anime and break them down Today the topic will be based on the game Xenoblade Chronicles 3 developed by Monolith Soft *This will be a spoiler-free review* ________________________________________________________________________ The magic continues in this new adventure The Xeno series has been one of the more creative and ambitious JRPG franchises since the initial release of Xenogears in 1998, and the latest entry Xenoblade Chronicles 3 continues to showcase the laurels that have allowed the franchise to continue its success. Story: A Dark, Innovative Tale of War and Identity Standing apart from the deep yet more light-hearted Xenoblade 2, the newest entry thrusts the world’s dark realities into the players’ faces right from the onset. Set in the world of Aionios, the cast of characters find themselves literally born into a war for survival between the nations Keeves and Agnus. Given the singular purpose to fight the other side, soldiers are born and bred for war in every literal sense. Artificially created and raised in pods, these soldiers are given a shortened life span of a mere ten years, which they use to fight one battle to the next. That initial, dark premise haunts the narrative from beginning to end as the game explores themes related to the nature of war, one’s identity in the midst of war, and the purpose of life altogether. Easily standing as one of the best in the long-running series, the entire narrative is full of emotional beats, emotional (albeit slightly predictable) plot twists, and thoughtful, entertaining connections to past games in the series. That said, the grand nature of the story acts as a double-edged sword for players. Due to having a playthrough time close to eighty hours, major bits of the story end up being dragged out as the players traverse the massive world. After a massive scene leaves the player wanting more information, the game normally follows it up by making the player slog through an additional twenty minutes of exploration just to get to the next cutscene. Normally such a reality is standard fare for open-world RPGs, but with the main characters being labeled as targets for elimination by the main antagonists, such slow progression hinders an otherwise captivating plot. The real joy of the story though comes from slowly unraveling the mystery of their world. Like the players, the main cast is blissfully ignorant of the nature of Aionios. Everything from the purpose of the war, the queens they serve, the nature of aging itself, and the meaning of their lives are questions they never think to ask until a pivotal moment at the start of the adventure. Granted, while some of the plot points can seem a bit convoluted at times, especially toward the end, the overall narrative is a labor of love that shines when it counts. Characters: A Rich Cast that Carries the Game Forward While other Xeno series have relied on the traditional JRPG Structure of slowly introducing each main character of the party, Xenoblade three opts for the opposite approach and immediately throws six, unique and vibrant personalities in the thick of the story. At first, the cast seems bland and just embodies the typical tropes for JRP and anime characters. There is the pacifist that is a skilled fighter, the rude, slow-witted meathead, the sassy female character, the know-it-all with glasses, the bubbly girl, etc. As time goes on, those initial labels aren’t lost per se, but they evolve through rich, dynamic interactions with the cast. That experience of seeing the characters slowly shed those cliche labels was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game. Each character has their own emotional story and ghosts that need to be overcome throughout the course of the journey that blends in well with the main narrative. Topics surrounding survivor’s guilt, duty vs morality, and regret are heavy ideas handled with great care through the evolution of the cast. Thankfully, these character arcs never seem like filler content but instead add to the overall richness of the narrative experience. In light of the great characters sprinkled throughout the game, the lackluster personalities of the main villains become more egregious. While the dark narrative surrounding the villains carries great weight, the initial batch the cast is introduced to doesn’t carry the same weight. While there are good ones later down the line, the main batch the players deal with just don’t have the same presence villains from the past entries like Jin, Metal-face, and ID had. Despite the shortcomings from the antagonists, the bonds developed by the main cast throughout their journey of discovery bring a genuine sense of pleasure to the story. Gameplay: Revamped for Maximum Enjoyment Just like the past entries in the franchise, the combat in Xenoblade 3 can be appreciated differently depending on the player. For some like me, the slower-paced auto-attack system never captured my interest in the earlier entry. Yet, there are plenty of others that will notice the new tweaks made to it and love it. Overall, combat in this entry is the most ambitious and chaotic it has ever been, but in a good way. For example, right from the moment the full cast gathers, all six will be active, controllable members in combat. Upon first glance, there will be too much going on in combat, but that feeling will generally fade after getting used to the party mechanics. The main appeal of combat this time around though comes with the new class system. After a little while into the game, party members will be able to switch roles and classes that allow them to use different weapons. Each class possesses its own special arts and skills that can be learned upon mastery and used with other classes, offering even more diversity in battle. For the most part. abilities can instill a variety of effects, such as buffing, debuffing, doing critical damage from different positions, or placing a status effect to combo into a chain attack. While they fall in the territory of spoilers for the story, there are a plethora of other options usable in battle that give combat a rich flow missing from the past entries that help offset the slower auto-attack system. Verdict (9/10) Despite the great success from previous entries, the Xenoblade franchise builds on an already established, great formula to create another innovative title. With a vibrant, well-developed cast, rich, engaging story, and innovative gameplay, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 joins the ranks of the previous great entries in the series while possibly being one the best made. |
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