You have to Xeno-start somewhere
Xenoblade Chronicles 3is out this Friday, and already it’s quite a swell behind it. Monolith Soft’s latest is obviously of high interest to RPG fans, but we’re curious to see who else might finally try the series.
This thirdXenoblade Chroniclesgame is the latest Switch game for Monolith, a company that both craftsXeno– games and supports other projects at Nintendo. The firstXenoblade Chronicleswas abig hit for the studio, bringing a massive open-world RPG to the Nintendo Wii. Its follow-up, though, proved alittle more divisive. And spin-off entryXenoblade Chronicles Xisstill landlockedon the Wii U.
The review embargo lifted forXenoblade Chronicles 3today, and the critical consensus seems keen on it. The new entry got an Essential badge over atEurogamer, high marks at many score-giving sites, and a9.5 here at Destructoid.
It’s reasonable to guess that some might be considering trying the series, possibly for the first time. And hello, I’m among them.
What’s in aXeno-name?
I never got around toXenogears, the firstXeno-prefix game made under Squaresoft. My hop-on point was later, withXenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Machton the PlayStation 2.
Xenosaga‘s weaving of sci-fi, religion, and bonkers robots hit the bullseye in my heart. It was a staple of my PS2 collection, and I still own a copy to this day.
So years later, when Monolith Soft and Nintendo announced a newXenogame for the Wii, why didn’t I jump in? Well, for one, I didn’t have a Nintendo Wii. (My family did, but I didn’t get to steal that away to college.)
And once I could actually play it, the MMO-ness of it intimidated me. I’d heard stories about how it handled like an MMORPG, and after not clicking with games likeWorld of Warcraft, I was ready to write it off.
Thrice upon a time
So what changed? Well, I got really intoFinal Fantasy XIV, for one thing. And I’ve also long-held the opinion that if something is incredibly popular, it’s probably popular for a reason. AndXenoblade Chronicles 3was popular enough to cause the Nintendo Storesome problems with its collector’s edition.
The story also seems right up my alley, as a war conflict tale in a vast fantasy world. My biggest concern was whether familiarity with the series was necessary for jumping in. Our own Chris Carter allayed my fears with this section ofhis review:
“Because of the way everything funnels back into the emotional core, this isn’t a bad “first dip into the pool” if you’ve never played a Xenoblade game before. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 didn’t need to do a whole lot to keep me invested, as I was all-in very early on. The cast, the weight of the story, and the freedom of party composition are the power trio that won me over.”
But my question, readers, is simply this:Are you also dipping your toe in the Xeno-water for the first time withXenoblade Chronicles 3?Are you a longtimeXeno-ficionado with some helpful hints and tricks? Are there still things that concern you? Let us know below!
