I was unsure how I felt about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 during my first 10 or so hours because it was around that mark that I gave up on _Xenoblade Chronicles 2 _ and cast it to the contents of my “games-I’ll-finish-one-day-just-because-I-spent-money-on-them” drawer. This time was different because it felt like the complaints I had been telepathically transmitting about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 were received and taken into consideration during this game's development. Resolved issues aside, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 still asks new players to forgive a lot before it reveals its fun side.

 

My biggest gripe with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is the combat. I may have caught myself having fun a few times after unlocking new abilities, but I never reached a point where I could say I really enjoyed combat in the game. The jump from normal to hard difficulty is massive which kept me locked between battles being just a little too easy or battles becoming a hard stop for story progression.

 

Okay, there is a lot that can be said about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 combat to someone who is new to the series, so I’ll hit some of the highlights for the sake of keeping this review brief.

 

The arts and fusion arts combo systems are very engaging and I genuinely enjoyed the challenge of timing my arts just right to string each of my attacks into combos. The key to quickly filling gauges (and the gauges within those gauges) needed to perform the most potent arts is cancelling attacks--using a different art right as your current attack connects. With each class using different attack animations, the combo system can take a while to master. Adding more complexity to the mix, fusion arts involve mixing abilities from both Agnus and Keves classes to create interesting new combinations with customizable effects. This rocks.

 

The class system is another great feature that provides plenty of party customization along with interchangeable clothing options that persist in cutscenes. However, the large number of classes means that certain ones are naturally going to outperform others in general content, and that only a few will get regular use in most scenarios. The way you go about unlocking new classes also feels fun and rewarding, even if the story attached to each class is not always the most interesting or fleshed out.

 

Ouroboros and interlinks add even more depth to the combat formula as you customize each character’s soul tree. You have direct control over the growth of each ouroboros form and can decide how to use each member best from a strategical standpoint. This was pretty cool and I spent a lot of hours stressing over how I wanted to outfit each character for battle. I do have to mention how the ouroboros forms are some of the most mm’chef kiss designs I’ve seen in the series.

 

Now for the meaty part, Xenoblade Chronicles 3's story. Before the game's release, I saw popular reviewers with early access describe Noah as an annoying, goody-two shoes hero. Having an aversion to insufferably cool and aloof heroes like Cloud Strife and Lightning Farron, I love a protagonist who isn't an Edgelord. After a few hours I realized that he was actually insufferable.

 

Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s world gave me the same distinct feeling of mundanity that many free to play anime MMOs from the past decade gave me growing up. It’s bright, colorful, and inviting but without any defined identity or soul. Perhaps this is intentional, given the story revolving around (technically) 19 year olds who haven’t had the opportunity to go outside their colonies for anything besides battle. The multitude of insignificant, named NPCs you encounter and complete requests for and their unique bios and dialogue also lent to this feeling of quantity over quality. Ultimately, while the world is PACKED with places to go and monsters to slay, it just didn’t always feel unique or interesting to me.

 

There is a lot to love about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for a fan of the series. As a Xenoblade hater I don’t think my views on the trilogy have changed. I’d still say it’s worth checking out for anyone who’s curious about the series but can’t find a copy of the first game or was warned against playing the second one. And I'll just come out and say it: Eunie's voice actor sounds like Peppa Pig to me.