And that’s it. I’ve officially run out of Xenoblade to play. In about a year and a half I’ve completed the entire series of games in some sort of obsessive newfan flurry of activity. Why did I sleep on this series for so long? It’s bloody great.

Anyway, I’ve said a lot about the three numbered games in the series, and I have to say I was a little worried coming to X because I’d heard it wasn’t quite the same, didn’t exist in the same chronology, and was originally the second game released so might not have the graphics, controls and gameplay improvements the series gained over time. So, how was it?

The first thing to address is how it fits into the series, because despite all the internet fora saying it doesn’t, it bloody does. I mentioned in the writeup of the Xenoblade 3 DLC that X is referenced there quite explicitly, but it’s not hard to see that the event that caused the creation of the worlds of 1, 2 and 3 is (or at least, could be) the same event that causes the mass exodus of humans from Earth, setting up the plot for Xenoblade X. Two alien races are fighting over Earth, which then blows up, and you are one of an ark of survivors (perhaps the only ark that made it) that escaped only to crash on a planet called Mira. A planet which, somehow, has Nopon. Curious. Plus, in chapter 13, the events of Xenoblades 1 and 2 are directly referenced.

The second thing is the gameplay. In terms of basic combat mechanics, Xenoblade X is very similar to Xenoblade 1, with the attack moves laid out across the bottom of the screen, each with cooldowns, and so on. However, it’s vastly more complex, as you can tweak your skills, arts, weapons, armour and (later) your big mech-like “Skell” to the nth degree with items similar to the weapon gems in the original game, only now you can gem up everything. And add more gem slots. I read a while back that the developers wanted to use X1 as a basic for the gameplay here, but make the focus of the game the combat rather than the plot, and it shows.

Because, you see, the plot isn’t fantastic. Well, it’s fantastic in the old sense of the word, but it’s a bit poo compared to X1/2/3. You crash on this planet, your ship has become a small city, and you have to find other parts of the ship that broke off in order to ensure the continued survival of the human race. Only you do very little actual hunting for the parts, and you get the “main” missing part right near the end of the main game without really working too hard for it. No, instead the game consists of more side quests (some of which, although classed as side quests aren’t actually optional) than probably the other three games put together mainly as a way of getting you to level up so you can progress the story. The day to day stuff, these quests, exploration, chats with NPCs and asides with your teammates are great, but the over-arching plot isn’t amazing.

Graphically, it’s bump up from the original Wii U version of the game. In addition to that, I’m playing it on the Switch 2 which although doesn’t do anything specifically to the graphics, it does make the framerate rock solid (something that wasn’t the case with the other games on the Switch 1) and some of the sunrises and sunsets look absolutely incredible, so I do wonder if there’s some upscaling or smoothing or something going on.

The main differences in the game come down to the setting, the addition of Skells, the number of possible characters in your party (something like 16 are possible, with four in your party at any one time), the music (which is more rock, guitar and rap – some of it sounds very Sonic Adventure 2 Pumpkin Hill), and a thing where you put probes into the world map.

This latter feature splits the map of Mira up into hexagons, with some of them suitable places to plant a probe. You obtain different types from quests and loot, and they can mine (miranium, used to make weapons and weapon mods) or generate money, every hour or so. Or, later on, buff your attack, defence, and so on in the region they’re planted. You can swap round your probes (for a small fee) when you want, and you get bonuses for probes of the same type placed next to each other. There are a few side missions that challenge you to arrange them in a way so as to generate large amounts of miranium or money in a single “cycle”. It’s diverting, and reminds me of the business/empire building side stories of the Yakuza games.

In all, I really did enjoy Xenoblade Chronicles X. There’s nothing really wrong with it but it just didn’t entertain me and push me to reveal the “truth” of the story in the same way the other games did. The combat is satisfying, and generally quicker and more flexible than in 1/2/3, it looks great, sounds great, and is a lot of fun, but there’s just something missing. Maybe it’s the characters, as your main character is generally mute (although you can choose his/her “combat calls” voice from a number of actors, include those from other games in the series) and almost everyone has a boring American accent. No Welsh catgirls or aussie pirates here. Two of the other alien races – the Prone and the Ma-non have horrible pitch-shifted voices too. Maybe it’s missing something else. I can’t quite explain it.

That said, it’s still better than 95% of other games. It’s just the worst Xenoblade, is all.

Now what? There’s no Xenoblade 4 or X2 on the (known) horizon. Boo.

I’m a little sad now that the whole Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy has come to an end. This feature-length DLC for XC3 might be the last time we see the worlds created for the series, as although it did manage to forge some links with Xenoblade Chronicles X, I understand that’s not really related and the “links” are really little more than Easter eggs. Sad.

But the good things! Future Redeemed is set about 500 years before Xenoblade Chronicles 3, in an area of the same world that is somewhat missing from the main game for reasons which are clear in that game. You play as Matthew, a very familiar looking human who is from The City (no, not the same one as the main game) rather than Agnus or Keves. Agnus and Keves are about, nearer the start of their never-ending campaign to wipe each other out. Matthew, a mysterious woman called A, two “rescued” soldiers from the war, and – what? – both Shulk and Rex from XC1 and XC2 make up your party.

Gameplay is much the same as the main story, although there’s no Ouroborosing here (instead you have team-up attacks that effectively serve the same purpose). A few minor mechanic changes, like clearing out waves of baddies, change things a bit, but really what you’re here for is the plot and the further exposition of how Aionios came to be, how the hell grownup Rex and Shulk are here, and why Matthew looks like, well, spoiler. That, and a very familiar location from XC1 makes a major reappearance.

For a series that I wasn’t too sure I’d get into at the start, I have certainly spent one hell of a lot of time on it these last couple of years!

I’ve been playing a lot of Huge RPGs in the last year or so, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 might be the longest one yet. I’ve completed it, but of course There’s Still More To Do, so it’s not over yet. Just 85 or so hours in.

It’s hard to talk about everything in the game without spoilers. Normally, a spoiler in an RPG like this would just spoil the ending of this game, but in the case of Xenoblade 3 it would actually spoil enjoyment of the previous two games in the series too.

What I can say, hopefully ruining nothing for you, is that the whole existence of the world of Aionios, the setting for the game, is directly related to Xenoblade 1 and 2. This becomes clearer as you play, especially if you remember locations from those games as places you visit in Xenoblade 3 are somewhat familiar, either in look or in name (or both). There are a few “wait, what?” revelations related to it too, but I won’t go into them.

Hung on the front of this is the “day to day” story of the game. Two factions, Keves and Agnus, are locked in perpetual war. Soldiers, when defeated in battle, release some sort of life essence which is used to sustain the Flame Clock of their enemy, and this clock is essential to the existence of that army. For centuries, this life force has bounced back and forth, with no overall victor – intentionally, as it turns out. To add to this, soldiers are “born” as children and only live for 10 years – assuming they’ve not KIA.

You start out as a small group of Keves soldiers, and because of $event, you end up fighting alongside some Agnus soldiers rather than (or perhaps, as well as) against them. This starts off a chain of events which ultimately reveals that this entire war is orchestrated by a higher, malevolent, power and surprise – you have to team up permanently and Become Greater Together and other tropes in order to prevent (or cause?) the end of the world. This mostly involves going round all the colonies, from both sides of the war, and destroying their flame clocks to release them from the endless fighting.

I’m amazed that the three games in the series can be so similar, but somehow still have completely different worlds and events and still be linked in ways that I couldn’t ever have imagined. It’s really clever.

But, that’s the plot. How is the gameplay? Well, it’s similar to what came before, really. You still have a party of heroes, you still have “arts” and other special moves and attacks, and it’s still real-time-ish battles as before. There’s no “foresight” power like in Xenoblade 1, and you don’t have “blades” as such like Xenoblade 2, and there whole upgrading and buffing your party and stats has been streamlined and polished, but it’s still played and controlled in essentially the same way. Battles feel quicker than they did in 2, which was one of my only negative points on that game.

Voice acting is, again, excellent. It took a while for the new characters to grow on me, but I can’t complain about how good their actors are. As before, it’s mostly regional accents – Welsh cat ladies, Australian rebels, etc. – which really adds something. There’s a big variety of characters, loads of heroes you can add to your party (only one at a time, though) each with their own missions and stories too.

And that’s it. There’s a lot more I could say, but spoilers, right? Is it better than 1 and 2? No. But the thing is, I’m seeing all three games as one massive game now, and it’s certainly not a disappointment or a dip in quality. Now, if only Xenoblade Chronicles X was also linked in to the series properly!

If the $hlmun of hours on the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 main game and DLC wasn’t enough, then thank $deity for this prequel spin-off! Yes, more Xenoblade! Amazing.

To be cynical for a moment, it’s clear that this was likely originally supposed to be integrated in the main game. There’s a number of flashbacks to events 500 years ago, and it’s those events that are retold in full here. You could complain about it being money-grabbing to ask you to buy two things, but when you get so much damn game for your money it’s hard to. Besides, despite being much smaller than the main game (both in terms of size and length) it’s still bigger than many other full price releases and did come with all the extra stuff for the XC2 itself.

Anyway. To the game itself!

It’s the same in many ways as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and they’ve not drastically tweaked the gameplay. You still have blades (although each character only has two and you can’t awaken an army of them), battles are pretty similar, and even one area of the game – Gormott – is here as it was before (albeit 500 years younger with no town to speak of yet). A few things have gone, like the cloud sea “tides”, which was silly and underused anyway, and salvaging. Your main character and blades now fight directly, rather than you “channelling” your blade, but this doesn’t really change the gameplay. Crafting items is now a big thing, expanding on the cooking you could do before. Finally, there’s a new addition called “Community”, where things you do for people you meet builds your reputation. It doesn’t seem to do much, though, aside from allow access to a few more missions or skills.

The plot follows Lora, who is Jin’s driver, who joins up with Addam (Mythra’s original driver) and one of Mòrag’s ancestors Hugo, driver of Brigid and Aegaeon as they try to put down Malos before he destroys the world. You know, much like in the main game. Although it’s set 500 years in the past, there are a surprising number of recurring characters, including Mikhail (as a kid). It’s interesting to see how Jin is a good guy here, before he becomes one of the Big Bads in XC2. In fact, it’s a shame that it isn’t really fully explained why Jin and Mikhail swap sides, although both are redeemed in XC2.

So really, it’s more of the (almost) same. A few changes, some new locations, and a power where you can halve your HP in return for vastly reducing the cooldown of your skills which speeds up fighting lower-level enemies greatly – a really issue in the main game and I’m thankful for here. Probably essential playing if you liked Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and probably useless to play if you haven’t played (or at least, intend on playing) that as there’d be a load of missing context. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 before X comes out now? Why not?