Despite being originally released in 2007, Xenoblade Chronicles 3's Reception has been a whirlwind of emotions from fans, however, and though these are mostly positive, there's no denying that the game can make players feel a multitude of ways that brings opinions in every possible direction.
Make Music Like Your Life Depends On It
Yasunori Mitsuda has been composing for JRPGs since the mid-90s, starting with the influential Chrono Trigger, and has since then been a staple in the composition of the Xeno-themed games since Xenogears in 1998. With Xenoblade Chronicles 3, there's no denying that the evocative and heart-pounding music is a massive driving force for the game, almost so much so that the epic nature of each composition feels like the game could be reaching its final act at any moment - even just an hour into the game.
Whether traversing the beautiful open world, witnessing a wonderfully written and choreographed cutscene, fighting the most basic of low-level creatures, or cracking jokes amongst other of your party, the music in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is beautifully orchestrated with no tracks coming off as filler.
Healers Are Fighters, Too
Healers in video games have a long history of being great at what they do, which mainly means keeping their teammates alive. They're undoubtedly important, but they aren't known for being self-sufficient or combat-oriented.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 makes sure every class has a purpose that is both versatile and accessible to players that have preferences in their combat mechanics and move sets while sacrificing very little to make up for it. Healers are every bit as important and impact in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and fans are loving the fact that they can do more than just provide potions.
Award-Winning Material
Despite Xenoblade Chronicles having been Persona even with the huge and recognition the third entry has received, but that doesn’t mean it's not eligible for some of the biggest and best awards available during award season this year.
Providing hundreds of hours of content, a post-game, tons to collect, a captivating story, and impeccable music, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has all the ingredients needed for guaranteed success and award recognition.
Attention To Downtime
One of the most overlooked yet plentiful features in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are the rest spots that accumulate a good portion of Aionios. It's here at these moments of downtime that the cast of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 can take a breather and refresh themselves before heading off to continue their grand adventure, and it's also when the characters bond.
These smaller moments in Xenoblade are just as important as the bigger moments, and the game wonderfully weaves the bigger and smaller moments together into one seamless experience. It builds character and world immersion and gives comfort to the game, making up for the stressful moments in between.
Nothing Else Matters
Usually, when a new first-party game on Nintendo Switch sees a release, one can expect to see many in a friend's list playing, but Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was clearly a must-have for everyone who owned one and amassed immediate attention and appeal.
It can be fairly comical for a larger active friends list, however, when a popular open-world game releases and s see every name attached to the same title under their 'Now Playing' status, especially when the series was previously much more niche.
All The Emotions
While everyone will have their own experience playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 depending on the content completed - which can vary given there's well over 100 hours of content - there's no denying the impact the game will leave once credits roll.
Laughter, sadness, shock, happiness - all of this and more is engrained into the world, characters, and story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and the slice-of-life elements make the epic adventure feel more grounded and relatable than many similar games.
The Message of Life
Though Xenoblade Chronicles 3 may seem like another open-world JRPG on the surface, it has an incredible depth that is undeniable to anyone who plays it. What it also includes, however, is a deep-rooted message that is seldom found with most other games.
A driving force of the plot of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is that majority of characters in the world are created and only live about ten (years) which are tracked by marks on their body before they expire and are sent off in a Homecoming Ceremony. Once this is lifted, however, the characters do their best to make use of their extended time and experience as much as they can out of life while protecting the ones they love.
A Wonderful Finish
JRPGs can do a wonderful job at conveying emotional stories and tackling philosophical subjects, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ends its trilogy by evoking tears from many players.
Even with a fantastic adventure in tow, endings can make or break the entire experience of a game. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 puts players through an emotional monologue that pulls on the heartstrings, leaving a statement while ending a journey that will be talked about for the foreseeable future.
What Was I Cooking?
The cooking mechanic used at rest spots where Manana and other traveling Nopon show up is meant to help provide buffs and ives to the adventure to increase rewards and benefits. Throughout the game, Manana will help cook these recipes for the party; however, these can vary in ingredient and resource usage.
What can't help but be noticed, though, is that despite the listed effects, it seems like these dishes are mostly just placebos. These dishes ostensibly offer a variety of benefits that are timed, but these enhancements seem negligible and instead are just to make ingredients seem a bit more useful and offer another form of collectibles.
99% Spoiler-Free
Videogamedunkey is one of the biggest video game YouTubers around with nearly 8 million subscribers. It's no surprise then that as an RPG lover he would play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but whereas the internet has done a surprisingly good job at keeping the game spoiler-free, Dunkey laid it all out there with no warning.
The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 became so controversial that Dunkey began trending on Twitter, with s warning followers to stay away from the video unless they've already completed the game.