Review of “Xenoblade Chronicles 3” by a player who has not played the previous games

This is a review of “Xenoblade Chronicles 3”, the third game in the “Xenoblade” series.
Please note that it will be a review with no previous games played, and there will be light spoilers.

Story and production aspects and connections with past “Xenoblade” series.

It spreads greatly from the encounter between “Keves” and “Agnus”, the protagonists who can only live for 10 years who are soldiers of the nation, to the “save the world” story that tends to be found in JRPGs. Although the story is spread widely, each scene is very carefully staged with cutscenes and so on, so I didn’t feel weird about leaving the player behind.

There are so many quests that involve not only the main story and characters, but also the NPCs called “Hero” that are involved in it, and various people who live in “Aionios”, the setting of this game.

Nice cutscenes and staging, but…

However, because of the politeness, the number and time of the cutscenes is quite large, and in some cases, although it includes a boss fight and a little character move, there are scenes that exceed an hour at the end, so there is no doubt that what you are drawing is important, but there are also some that are so long that it can be said that it is a disadvantage for those who do not place much importance on the story.

In addition, although it tends to be in the works of Japan developers, there are many scenes where voices are not included even though it is a cutscene, and there is no voice during the previous and subsequent quest cutscenes, but during the operation such as moving the character There is a voice related to the quest, I think that there is a feeling that you can not read the text because it is being operated, but even so, I can not wipe away the feeling of discomfort.

I think that there are many players who are worried about the connection with the past game, but in terms of whether you can start from this game without problems without playing the past game, there is a setting that the world of both worlds of “Xenoblade” and “Xenoblade 2” are fused, so if you are a user who has played the past game, there may be a scenery you saw somewhere, There were no scenes that I could not understand because I had not played the past game in terms of the story, so I think that even those who have not played the past game can start from this game without any problem.

Last boss of little presence

The only thing that can be said to be clearly not good here is the last boss with a thin presence.
Although its appearance can be seen from the beginning quite a bit, it does not talk much and enters the battle with the thinness of its existence until the end. Nothing makes a story more boring than a villain with no presence, and not only in games, so I think the presence of another villain (dare I blur it, he is a golden one) is a factor that makes the last part of the story boring because he is so strong in his own way.

Battle system and other system

As a battle system, You control one of the six characters, and I feel that it is a very good balance because it is not old-fashioned like the command system, nor is it too action-oriented.|
There are so many elements related to battle, such as “Fusion Arts” and “Interlink”, but they gradually become liberated as the story progresses, and you can review and confirm at any time with the elements of help and “training”, so if you play carefully, you will be able to use it naturally before you know it.

Class System

In this game, you can set a class for each character. Acquisition conditions can be obtained by advancing the quest of “Hero” except for the initial class set for each character, and although there are advantages and disadvantages for each character, it can be set freely. The class itself can be broadly divided into tanks (shields), attackers, and healers, which I think has succeeded in giving players a lot of freedom because they can give the party composition a wide range.

Equipment, etc.

In this game, there are practically only accessories as equipment in RPGs.
This may also be to simplify the game, which has many systems, such as the adoption of a class system (the so-called occupation can be changed for each character, so naturally the weapon will be changed automatically) and the skill masters that accompany it. (However, there is a sense that this has created another problem.) See below)

A very vast world

One might say that it is not strictly an open world. It is divided into certain areas, and loading occurs when crossing areas. However, one of these areas is very large, and the actions such as crossing walls and ropes that can be climbed seem to create more variation in the world.

The excitement and rewards of exploration

In the beginning, you can enjoy taking a detour with a sense of excitement and wondering, “What if I go there?” but by the time you get to the middle of the game, the player notices.
“Nothing, anyway.”
Of course, there are materials falling in various places and there are small activities, but there is a problem with the reward that can be obtained as a result.

I feel that this is partly due to the fact that the equipment in this game is concentrated in accessories, and of course the accessories themselves are important for strengthening the character, but even so, the pattern as equipment is inevitably limited. In addition, it is possible to acquire materials such as ether, but since the consumption amount is very small relative to the acquisition amount and there is an upper limit on the amount of possession, there are some things that have become less meaningful to collect. Of course, there are powerful monsters for the end content, but that doesn’t make sense in the main story.

I’m curious if we didn’t strike a balance between attractive worlds and rewards and results that are beneficial to the player.

graphic

I think it is one that is expressed quite well considering the fact that the platform is Swicth.
This is partly due to the fact that the graphics are anime-like, but the resolution of the environmental textures is quite blurred, and I feel that it is quite tough when I have already experienced the transition to the new generation of PC and PS5.
In particular, it is difficult to evaluate “Tales of Arise” (review here) because there is already a work called “Tales of Arise” that has also been released on PS5 and PC in the same anime style.

Works to play as JRPGs

First of all, be prepared for 100 hours to play this game.
However, I think that time will be a very intense time, especially for those who place importance on the story side. Although there is nothing innovative about the system, it is well balanced and enjoyable as a JRPG of the current generation.