Xenoblade Chronicles 3, the analysis of the new trailer of the exclusive Nintendo Switch
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
You know when they say: like a bolt from the blue? Here, the new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, in the warm spring day yesterday, was like a bolt from the blue. Indeed, no. You know that movie with Seth Rogen and James Franco, Let's get it over with? The "kidnapping" scene, with people in ecstasy being carried to heaven by sizzling columns of divine light? Here, more or less the feeling was that when, after the trailer was finished, the new release date appeared on the screen: July 29, 2022. After all, while the others are postponing the games, why shouldn't Nintendo anticipate them?What then the question has raised a gigantic fuss because everyone is wondering: eh, but then, if Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will not be the Christmas game and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has been postponed to 2023, what will come out under the holidays? And a little who cares too, because for the moment our attention is all turned to this new trailer, which illustrates some unedited aspects of the story and gameplay of one of the most anticipated sequels ever.
In our new preview of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, examining the trailer, we could refer to some narrative nodes of the first two games, so be warned: if you haven't completed them yet, stop now and read no further!
Story and character news
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Ethel raised Noah but now she sees him as an enemy It would be difficult to write a scene-by-scene analysis of a trailer so well edited it mixes narrative and gameplay for almost three minutes, so we will divide our preview into two parts: one we will dedicate to the story and the other to the gameplay. What you are reading are the most delicate lines because, we repeat, we will cross over into spoiler territory in reference to the first two games.It would seem confirmed, in fact, that Aionios, the world in which Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place, combines the "futures" of the universes we explored in previous titles.
The mechanism is still to be clarified . The ending of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 may have given us some clues as to how this merger took place, but it is curious that the official press releases speak more of "futures", which could be a reference to Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and the additional epilogue entitled A common future, which, however, did not reveal who knows what connections. On the contrary.
The details, however, are unmistakable. Already the six protagonists, who we have learned to know better in recent weeks, represent, at least in their features, the different species that appeared in the previous games: Noah is a human, Miyo a Gormotti, Lanz a semi-human, Yunie a Haientia and so on. We also knew that three of them originated from Keves and the other three from Agnus, the two nations fighting in the world of Aionos: one more technological and the other more mystical, these nations are led by two masked sovereigns who in costumes are strikingly reminiscent of Melia and Nia, co-stars of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 respectively.
The new trailer makes it clear that Keves and Agnus are chasing the six protagonists, probably because they represent danger, but the two unreleased characters introduced in this trailer suggest a form of mind control is in place: they see our heroes as monstrous shadows to be eliminated. function ready (fn) {if (document.readyState! = 'loading') {fn ()} else {document.addEventListener ('DOMContentLoaded', fn)}} ready (function () {window.addEventListener ('message', function (event) {let target_origin = 'https://aff.netaddiction.it'; if (event.origin! == target_origin) return; if (typeof event.data == "object" && event.data.hasOwnProperty ( "type") && event.data.type == "embaff") {let embed_id = event.data.embed_id; if (embed_id == '695') {document.querySelector ('#_ aff_embed_695'). setAttribute ('height ', event.data.embed_size);}}}, false);}) We also discovered the names of these characters through the additional promotional material. The woman who appears at the beginning of the trailer should be called Ethel and be in command of the militias in Keves Colony 4: she was the one who raised and trained Noah, so the two have a very important relationship. The young man who wears a white suit and who seems to be mentally controlled himself is called Isurugi instead: he is Agnus' best strategist, therefore he leads the Lambda Colony and wants to take revenge on our heroes for the death of a certain Nimue who, yes, she wears a costume very similar to Lora's in Torna ~ The Golden Country, except that this Nimue seems to have crystallized.
Apparently, the reason both Keves and Agnus are hunting Noah and the others is the Uroboros, a humanoid form they can transform into in pairs. The trailer suggests that the first transformation occurs when Noah tries to defend Miyo from the attack of a monstrous giant who reminded us of the Black Face of Xenoblade Chronicles more in the attitudes than in the appearance: it is possible that he covers the canonical role of the villain who he knows something that we don't know and that has a mysterious connection with the protagonists. However, it is on this occasion that Noah and Miyo become an Uroboros, in a cinematic in which Noah explains that he can hear Miyo's thoughts in what almost looks like Pacific Rim Drift.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, is a Monolith Soft game and then there are mechas Later we discovered that the other characters can also merge into Uroboros: Yunie and Taion become a vaguely feminine Uroboros while Lanz and Sena transform into an Uroboros armed with huge brass knuckles. The queens of Agnus and Keves seem truly incomprehensible towards these powers, which probably represent the most important point of departure from the previous Xenoblade Chronicles.
Monolith Soft products, however, often resort to symbolisms like this, and in fact we have already encountered the Uroboros in Xenogears - it was a miniboss to be defeated after the final boss proper - and in XenoSaga, in where the snake biting its own tail represents the Unus Mundus Network logo. Perhaps it is to this allegory of eternal recurrence that the fanged creature refers when it speaks of the "flow of fate"? We'll find out in July.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, characters can merge into mighty Uroboros Meanwhile, the trailer raises even more questions in its final lines. The Uroboros would appear to be a new narrative gimmick, but it's not the only one. In fact, in a very short scene, we see Noah take off a kind of katana from his Monad, which turns into an armored glove. Plus, a final roundup reveals new characters. The girl with the bow and green hair seems to be still unknown; the semi-human boy is called Valdi, while the guy with the spear is Cam Navi: he is the head of Agnus' Delta Colony and for his feats in battle he has earned the title of "Crimson Lotus". Cam Navi doesn't appear to be under mind control, and in one scene from the trailer he battles Ethel in a duel that, however, takes place aboard their respective mechs. Come on, people: it's a Tetsuya Takahashi Xeno, did you really think there were no mechs !?
How history will exploit them remains to be seen. After Xenoblade Chronicles X, where they were called Skell and could be piloted, mechs have taken a back seat. Hard to believe they can also be piloted in Xenoblade Chronicles 3; however, the Uroboros, given their enormous size, somehow replace mechs in the combat system and could face them on an equal footing.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but Vandham wasn't dead !? The trailer closes with a couple of very interesting recurrences. First, we hear Noah mention the Gladius, and this means that Takahashi hasn't discarded that aspect of the storyline that was so important in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The fact that the Gladius return could justify the return of Mithra, Pyra and others in the story. The presence of the Nopons, then, should not surprise anyone: this species has officially become the mascot of the series, as well as being an effective comic relief. We then made the acquaintance of Riku and Manana, respectively a mechanic of Keves and a cook of Agnus, and we will return to them in our gameplay analysis.
Guernica Vandham, on the other hand, is the character who, already in the first trailer, caused the fandom to be discussed a lot. He is absolutely identical to the Vandham we met in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and who briefly joined Rex's group, only older. It could therefore be him, but there is a small detail that does not add up: that Vandham is dead. Are we facing a resurrection, or something completely different? It must be said that the name Vandham is, in fact, recurring in the Xenoblade series: he was also a character of Xenoblade Chronicles X and therefore could be the Xenoblade version of the Cid of Final Fantasy. The promotional material, however, has revealed that he will convince Noah and the others to reach the Plain of the Sword to fulfill their destiny.
Gameplay news
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 , the transformation into Uroboros would seem to be temporary Closed the narrative parenthesis, let's start over, because the new trailer tells us a lot about the gameplay. The first thing that catches the eye is the way the interface has changed, which appears more streamlined and modern than that of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but sadly still rather cluttered. At the top we have the target's health indicator and to its right an icon that perhaps indicates the number of enemies locked in the fight. Battles always take place in real time, although special attacks depend on a cooldown period and there is no transition between exploration and battleground - it's all in real time like in previous titles in the series and there seems to be a novelty, that is, a dodge that, when done at the right moment, slows down time for a few moments.Let's go back to the interface: at the bottom we have two large pop-up menus that probably correspond to the front buttons of the Joy-Con. The one on the right is pretty intuitive. To those keys we can assign the combat techniques, which as usual exploit the positioning to inflict additional damage or anomalous conditions. The right bumper button apparently serves instead to start the Fusion.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, dodging at the right moment we can briefly slow down the time The interface on the left is more curious. It would seem to represent a series of additional commands that affect the whole team or some specific characters. The left shoulder button calls up the Tactics menu which certainly serves to indirectly control artificial intelligence, while the other buttons could be used to trigger particular abilities. On the other hand, it is difficult to establish the function of the icon defined as Interlink: it represents the Ouroboros, of course, but it should be the right backbone of the Fusion that calls up the transformation of the various pairs. Maybe this is just an indicator that informs us about the availability of the Fusion and its power level?
On the right edge of the screen we find another familiar icon, that of the Chain of attacks. Those who have already played the previous Xenoblade Chronicles should feel at home: the third episode will probably change the cards a bit, but basically, once that indicator is filled, it will be possible to freeze the opponent and have him hit by all the members of the party, proportionally increasing the bonus damage dealt in the final assault.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, the chain of attacks grants bonus to the damage The most interesting thing is that when the trailer shows the chain of attacks, Noah is not holding his Monad, but Taion's origami. We have discovered that in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 there will literally be some sort of class system. The mechanics must be quite unusual, though, because class-changing characters end up wearing their teammates' costumes literally. In the Chain of Attacks scene we see Noah wearing Taion's suit, and in another very short scene we see Taion dressed as Yunie, Miyo wearing Lanz's costume, and Lanz holding the chakrams and wearing Miyo's clothes! It's a really weird solution that, in our opinion, may have to do with various characters' ability to mentally connect with their companions. This dynamic of the gameplay, however, will grant the player enormous strategic freedom: we will be able to configure the party at will, choosing the distribution of roles - attacker, healer and defender - that suits us best.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 , in this episode the characters can exchange classes We then have the Uroboros, who once recalled replace the pair of characters transformed on the battlefield. It's a mechanism we've already seen in the old Monolith Soft Xenos: the Gears and Skells replaced their pilots on the battlefield as they were in the cockpit. The visual solution of the footed humanoids fighting alongside towering Uroboros is a clear reminder of Tetsuya Takahashi's previous works, and the combat system would seem to match them too, but there are two interesting features to check out.
The first is the indicator that appears in the portrait that replaces the couple transformed into Uroboros: we have noticed that it increases with each hit, as does the aforementioned circular Interlink indicator. In the interface at the bottom right, where the fighting techniques appear, we see that under some of them the Interlink Level is indicated: they could be real super techniques that we can launch only once the necessary level is reached. Perhaps it is as if there were a countdown: in the form of Uroboros we have a certain number of seconds to be able to launch the techniques necessary to charge the indicator sufficiently and deliver one last powerful blow before the fusion melts. Alternatively, it is possible that the circular indicator and the one in the portrait are the same, albeit redundant.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, guests like Riku and Manana fight together at the party We still have many unanswered questions, but we left the best for last: the group. Looking at the list of characters that appears on the left of the screen in the different moments in which the trailer shows the fight scenes, we realized that in battle we will not be able to bring only the six protagonists, but also a variety of additional fighters. The promotional material talks about supporting actors that we can recruit and then lead into combat with us. The two Nopon Riku and Manana, for example, are basically one character, but we noticed that the party at one point also includes Valdi and a Haientia we had never seen before named Zeon. It would be great if we could unlock these additional characters by completing tasks and side missions - we probably won't have direct control over them, but they could grant important bonuses and have a considerable strategic value.
We have closed this preview of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 short of breath because the new trailer was really packed with information. Our analysis is made up of conjectures and hypotheses that we can't wait to confirm or deny: the early release date was a fantastic surprise, because Monolith Soft's new JRPG looks just overflowing with content, gameplay dynamics and shots of scene that could leave especially fans of the series speechless. It goes without saying that we will update you on any news, so stay tuned.
