The Xenoblade series started in 2010 on Wii with the original Xenoblade (PAL release in 2011, NA release in 2012) and is a spiritual successor to lead-creative Tetsuya Takahashi's and MonolithSoft's Xenogears and Xenosaga games from their Squaresoft and Namco days, respectively. Xenoblade 3 is obviously the fourth (or fifth) game in the Xenoblade-series following Xenoblade and its 2020 epilogue Future Connected, followed by Xenoblade X (2015) and finally and Xenoblade 2 (2017) and its standalone expansion/prequel Torna: The Golden Country (2018). Now, Xenoblade 3 (2022) brings together Xenoblade (post-Future Connected) and Xenoblade 2 with the two having literally merged to create the world of Aionios that this latest game is set in while leaving the world, characters, and events of Xenoblade X out of the equation (so far).
Classes
Classes allow for complete customization. All your characters can take on each others' class and you can mix and match the party to your liking. Everyone has their unique base stats, though, which will affect their ultimate viability as that class. A key feature from Xenoblade X, the ability to costumize your arts selection once you've mastered a class (reached level 10), returns and lets you pick arts from different classes to give your tank healing abilities or whatever else might seem useful.Combat
The classic combo system is back, too. Combo status effects to increase damage and/or stun enemies. Returning from the first game is the Daze combo which was absent in Xenoblade 2. This combines with the Launch -> Smash finisher from the latter to enable two different strains of combos:
- Break -> Topple -> Launch -> Smash
- Break -> Topple -> Daze -> Burst
Launch -> Smash finisher in action
Ouroboros
Ouroboros moving in and doing some damage, but beware that heat-meter!
Heroes
Campsite Activities
By chatting up your party members at campsites, the conversations you have with them can lead to you open up new questlines. So aside from learning more about everyone, you should do this also as to not miss out on potentially cool quests and rewards.
Gem Crafting (Riku)
Another returning element from the first game, gem crafting, is now much much simpler. You no longer need to look for ether deposits and farm them for crystals. You craft crystals with specific items from a menu. And - most importantly - once you have crafted a certain gem, multiple characters can equip this gem! Gems can permanently enhance your attack/defense abilities, etc.
Cooking (Manana)
Cooking is also done via a menu by combining certain items picked up in the environment. Cooked food will grant temporary buffs.
Cleaning Equipment
What does cleaning your equipment do you ask?
(make you feel good/bad about your hygiene)
Field Skills
These skills grant you unique traversal and interaction abilities in the world, most (all?) of them can be learned from the Heroes you meet in your party. Among them are climbing vines and grinding rails.
Are there annoying Field Skills again?
No, not in the way that made them so frustrating to deal with in Xenoblade 2. There are simple checks based on you having a certain ability (like rail-grinding) or not. There's no skill-tree grinding just to climb a ladder this time! Yay!
Some of the character designs in Xenoblade 2 were really off-putting. Anything like that in here?
As far as we currently know, nothing as egregious as in Xenoblade 2 is in this one. The Ouroboros-form of a character pair seems to be as bad as things go in this one, which seems to be quite an improvement.
Are there better tutorials this time?
Yes! You can look up everything via the pause menu again AND you can do so-called Training Drills where you can directly try out mechanics yourself instead of just reading about them. This is an even more enhanced version of the exemplary tutorials found in the first game.
Is there anything from Xenoblade X in this game?
While the story focus is on merging Xenoblade 1 and 2, they still took a lot of gameplay influences from Xenoblade X that were strangely absent in 2 such as how the classes work and the navigation help inspired by the Follow Ball from X. The whole Ouroboros mechanic also is a new spin on using Skells during combat.
Do I need to have played Xenoblade, Xenoblade 2, and/or the expansions before this?
The official line is, obviously, that you don't need to. However, it's undeniable that having experienced the emotional journeys of those stories will be greatly rewarding in Xenoblade 3. At the same time, even playing this first is no reason one should skip out on playing the others even later out of order. At any rate, there's always the recaps (such as the excellent summary from NWR linked in the MEDIA section) for those who want to jump into this one first or those who need a refresher. Additionally, Xenoblade X does not seem to factor into the story of this game at all (yet? this could always change or be expanded on in 2023's expansion).
Can you freely swap between characters now?
Yes! Even during combat, you can freely switch to any other party member that is part of the battle currently. A much requested feature from the prior games. Notably, you don't exchange your current character for the other one, but the camera zips over to the next character in line that is being cycled through in order of the party member display in the top left of the screen.
What's with that supposed amiibo support?
Currently, the Shulk amiibo is supported and unlocks a Monado-skin for the blade used by Noah. The same skin can be unlocked by finishing the game. It is highly likely that with the upcoming Expansion Pass and general game updates, support for the Pyra and Mythra amiibo will be added, once they have been released.
Is there a NG+ or post-game?
Yes, a New Game Plus option is unlocked after finishing the game. It carries over "your full inventory as recorded in your save data, but all key items will be reset, with the exception of Origin Shards, The Art of Flow and Nopon Coins" along with arts obtained from UMs. Additionally, tutorial prompts will be removed (but still remain accessible on demand from the menu) and gameplay mechanics (such as Chain Attacks) will still need to be unlocked through the story. NG+ also unlocks the ability to level down your characters. There is also the option to remain in the post-game. Finishing the game unlocks the Monado skin for Noah's sword which can also be obtained by tapping the Shulk amiibo.
What Carries Over to New Game+?
- Character Levels
- Equipment and Items
- Arts
- Money
- Nopon Coins
- Chain Attacks (must be acquired again through the main story)
- Interlink Fusions (must be acquired again through the main story)
- Tutorials
- Origin Fragments
- Advanced Secrets
- Map Data
- Unique Monsters Slain (all respawn in New Game+ which essentially allows you to hunt them again throughout the main story)
Tips will be collected here based on stuff we discover and share in this thread within the early days post-release!
As a bookmark, here's the Xenoblade 3 Wiki where you'll eventually be able to look up specific info for quests.
Interactive Area Maps (WIP, will be updated with the later maps as they become available) + general guide + walkthrough
- Region 1 map: https://www.gamerguides.com/xenoblade-chronicles-3/maps/aetia-region-full
- Region 2 map: https://www.gamerguides.com/xenoblade-chronicles-3/maps/fornis-region-full
- Game guide: https://www.gamerguides.com/xenoblade-chronicles-3/guide/walkthrough/chapter-1/heading-to-colony-9
For now, make sure to make active use of the Training Drills that let you try out all sorts of mechanics and combat tutorials directly in a simulation!
Press L+R to take screenshots without the HUD!
Raising Interlink Levels
(from RockmanBN) "Gotta do multiple Fusion Arts to get from level 0 to level 3. On Tactics, you can have the team AI focus on Fusion Arts so it levels faster in battle. It'll get faster as you level up then you'll have access to all 3 of your Arts being able to do Fusion Arts."
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDK2ak6jaZs
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmLXU2Yzqfo
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPKDX5B8X0s
Chapter 1: The relationship between "Xeno" (foreign) things
Chapter 2: A sound that hasn't been heard before
Chapter 3: We have a thing for abundance
Purchase (EU)
Vol. 1 – releasing July 29th, 2022
- Items to support your adventure
- Consumable items: Nopon Coin (Silver) x30, Nopon Coin (Gold) x10
- Accessories:
- Iron Temple Guard (Common): Boost HP 25%
- Circlet of Wisdom (Common): Boost Healing 25%
- Silver Belt (Common): Boost Attack 25%", "Auto-Balancer (Legendary): Stops off-balance when your attacks are blocked
- Glass Memory (Legendary): Reduce aggro by 5% for each auto-hit
- Nopon Strap (Legendary): 10% chance to instantly recharge art that is used
(above items can also be acquired within the game)
- Outfit color variants
- "Noah - Color #02", "Mio - Color #02", "Eunie - Color #02", "Taion - Color #02", "Lanz - Color #02", "Sena - Color #02"
Vol. 2 – released October 14, 2022
- Challenge Battles
- New Hero character and quests
- New outfits
- Challenge Battle
- New Hero character and quests
- New outfits
Vol. 4 – releasing by December 31st, 2023
- Brand new story scenario: Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed
Patches & Updates:
Launch game/review version (on card): 1.0.0
Day-1 update: 1.1.0
September 7, 2022 Update 1.1.1
October 14, 2022 Update 1.2.0
October 21, 2022 Update 1.2.1
NCL Update Site
NOA Update Site
NOE Update Site
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