What you need to know
- A Nintendo Direct took place today at 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced.
- The story ties the plots from Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 together.
During today's Nintendo Direct, we learned that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is coming to Nintendo Switch in the near future. This official announcement came a few months after Doctor Who alumni Jenna Coleman accidentally let slip that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was in the works and insiders verified its existance. Coleman voiced one of the main characters, Princess Melia, in the first game and it seems likely she will be in this newest game as well.
According to a Nintendo press release:
A vast world awaits in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, the next game in the acclaimed RPG series from developer MONOLITHSOFT. Players will step into the roles of protagonists Noah and Mio amid turmoil between the hostile nations of Keves and Agnus. Six characters hailing from those nations will take part in a grand tale with "life" as its central theme. Explore a new world that will connect the futures of both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, launching for Nintendo Switch in September 2022.
The Nintendo Direct went on to clarify that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will tie together the stories from Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. If you're not already familiar with those stories, you might want to get familiar now.
Previous games in the series
The Xenoblade Chronicles games are popular JRPGs that take place in a world where civilizations are built on the bodies of massive titans.
The first game originally released on the Wii, but was later remastered for Switch in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. It centers around Shulk, a young man who is in pocession of a mysterious weapon called the Monado. He and his friends are on a quest to get revenge on the mechs that destroyed their colony. To do this, they must travel around two titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis, defeating enemies and meeting a large cast of characters.
The Definitive Edition adds the brand new Future Connected storyline which involves Shulk, Melia, and a few other characters in their endeavor to retake the city of Alcamoth.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Nintendo Switch is technically the third game in the series, but Xenoblade Chronicles X, which came before it is more of an interstallar adventure and doesn't relate as much. In the sequel, the main character, Rex, is a salvager that dives into the ocean depths below the titans looking for things to sell. On one such trip, he discovers a special Blade, or living weapon, named Pyra. She holds the key to unraveling what happened in the past as well as figuring out how to save the world in Rex's time. They must travel around and defeat several enemies. Along the way, players encounter new team members and blades to fight with. Each blade has different fighting abilities and skills.
A year later, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country released as a short standalone adventure that dives into the backstories of some of the characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
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