Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is now officially available on the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to numerous announcements and presentations from Nintendo, we've already been given an abundance of insight into what players can expect: multiplayer battle mechanics, fresh faces and the gorgeous alien world of Aionios await both devoted fans and newcomers alike.
With the latest Xenoblade Chronicles looking to be an epic experience, we've good reason to believe it may even surpass previous entries. That being said, it could be the right time to reflect on the story so far, and speculate on where we’re going next.
NATURALLY, THERE WILL BE STORY SPOILERS OF XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 1 AND 2.
XENOBLADE CHRONICLES (2012)
Due to the multitude of characters and twists in this sweeping epic, we will do our best to summarize.
The game takes place on two corpses of giant gods, Bionis and Mechonis, who died fighting each other aeons ago. Over time, life began to take shape on their frozen forms. Humanoids called “Homs” live on the flourishing body of Bionis, while a robot race called the Mechon dwells on Mechonis.
The story follows the progression of the main protagonist, Shulk, an 18-year old engineer living in the peaceful village of Colony 9. When Mechons suddenly attack Colony 9, Shulk comes into contact with a luminescent red sword called the Monado, which gives him visions into the future and grants him new abilities as he progresses. An attack on the village, led by the Mechon leader Face-Mechon, kills his childhood friend and romantic interest Fiora, motivating Shulk and his best friend, a soldier named Reyn, on a quest for revenge. Along the way, more teammates join their mission: Fiora’s older brother Dunban, medic Sharla, an indigenous Nopon creature Riki and Melia, a princess of the High Entia, an ancient race of royalty living on Bionis.
Through numerous twists and turns, we discover that all is not as it seems. A further consolidation of plot is necessary:
Reveal 1: Later in a prison Shulk meets and frees Zanza, an imprisoned god who is later revealed to be the main antagonist and hell-bent on destroying/reshaping all life using the Monado.
Reveal 2: The inhabitants of Mechonis are actually peaceful and the invasions on Bionis were because of a rogue Machina called Egil, who seeks revenge on Bionis and its god, Zanza, for destroying his people.
Reveal 3: Fiora is not dead, but has been turned into a cyborg, and later becomes possessed by Mechonis’ god, Meyneth.
Reveal 4: Once Zanza destroys Mechonis with the stolen Monado from Meyneth, the High Entia transform into world-destroying entities called Telethia.
Reveal 5: Shulk manages to produce his own Monado that has the power to not only destroy Zanza, but to create an entire new world without gods.
Reveal 6: After defeating Zanza, Shulk learns that Zanza and Meyneth were once human scientists named Klaus and Galea, whose disastrous experiment in a space station caused them both to be transformed into gods in a newly created universe, where they, in turn, created Bionis and Mechonis.
It is a long and winding road, but good prevails in the end. Upon Xenoblade Chronicles' re-release on the Nintendo Switch, an epilogue entitled “Future Connected” was added to the game, which followed Melia’s ascension to Empress of the High Entia.
XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 2 (2017)
Story
Humanity lives on top of massive flying Titans that soar above the Cloud Sea in a land called Alrest. There is no indication that this is same universe as in Xenoblade Chronicles 1, or even the same time. However, long ago, it was said that humans used to reside with their creator, the Architect, in the utopia of Elysium, high above the clouds in the World Tree.
We meet our main protagonist, a young Cloud Sea scrap scavenger named Rex, riding Azurda, a Titan and Rex’s best friend. After taking a job with a group of Drivers (the masters of powerful weaponized beings called Blades), Rex meets Jin, Malos, and Nia, who make up the terrorist group Torna. Their job is to infiltrate and plunder a large vessel, but it all turns out to be a setup, as individuals like Rex are the only ones who can obtain certain items. Inside the ship, he discovers Pyra, a powerful Aegis. After being killed by Jin, Rex wakes up in what he assumes to be Elysium. There, Pyra gives him half of her life force, thus becoming Rex's Blade and promoting him to a Driver.
On the road to Elysium to meet the Architect, numerous relationships with Drivers, Blades and Flesh Eaters (Blades fused with humanoid cells) are made, and an equal number of revelations are discovered. The team is composed of the following members (and Blades): Rex, Nia (Dromarch), Tora (Poppy), Zeke (Pandoria), Vandham (Roc), Morag (Brighid). The main antagonists are Jin, Malos and the duplicitous Amalthus.
Reveal 1: Pyra’s true form is her sister-self Mythra, whom she can switch back and forth between.
Reveal 2: While Malos is a part the terrorist organization Torna (whose mission it is to destroy Elysium), he is also one of the three Aegis Core Crystals created by the Architect.
Reveal 3: Amalthus is the main antagonist and Malos’ Driver, as he is shown to have stolen both Mythra and Malos's Core Crystals from the World Tree ages ago.
Reveal 4: Pyra and Mythra’s 3rd form is the legendary Pneuma, who only Rex has seen.
Reveal 5: The Architect reveals himself to be Klaus, a scientist whose experiments with the Conduit opened up other dimensions and sent half of his body to Alrest and the other to another dimension.
Reveal 6: The death of the Architect brings about the end of Elysium and the World Tree, but paves the way for a new landmass beneath the clouds formed by the merging of a number of Titans, such as Uraya, Mor Ardain, Torna and Genbu.
MORE - Super Smash Bros. Needs To Utilize Its Crossovers Better
XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3 (2022)
Nintendo has been at the ready with a Q&A that sheds light on what can be expected with XC3, as well as some insights into the series in general. For example, the series’ use of the English prefix “xeno”. Takahashi explains, “A person's life is basically built up of relationships with other people. A relationship with foreign things…the relationship between “Xeno" (foreign) things is at the core of the series that bears this name.”
Other than the interview, what do we know so far about Xenoblade Chronicles 3?
STORY
Right away, XC3 paints a very dystopian-like picture on account of the warring of the Keves and Agnus nations, which use artificial soldiers to fight their wars. These soldiers only live for 10 years before expiring.
Our heroes are Noah and Mio, who work as Off-Seers—soldiers in charge of “seeing off” fallen soldiers to the other side by playing a song on flute. Whatever the reason, characters from both nations must work together to take on a greater—yet unknown—threat.
Characters
Off-seers Noah and Mio share the protagonist moniker, but are on opposing sides on an endless war between nations Keves and Agnus.
Eunie and Lanz - childhood friends with Noah
Sena and Taion - childhood friends with Mia
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
Although both games have distinct stories, a connective tissue does in fact run between the two. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not a direct sequel, per se, but therein lies the wonderful passive truth of it. As nothing was ever written in stone, players have graciously laid out a pretty airtight case for the existence of alternate universes themselves, directly inspired by the events of Klaus.
From what has been posited, prior to the events in XC1 or XC2, a universe assumed to be ours once existed. Chapter 10's cutscene in XC2 introduces two scientists, a man and a woman, hovering in the First Low Orbit Station, just outside of an Earth-like planet, conducting experiments around the Conduit, a machine that we have come to understand serves not only as a gateway between dimensions, but the power to create a new universe. Out of pure hubris, Klaus activated the Conduit and unknowingly opened up a portal that created the universe seen in XC1, but also brought about the end of the Earth.
The sheer amount of energy produced by the Conduit did four things: 1.) destroyed the majority of life on Earth, 2.) created the new universe of XC1, 3.) split Klaus' body in two and 4.) sucked both Klaus and Galea into the new universe, turning Klaus into Zanza, the soul of Bionis and Galea into Meyneth, the soul of Mechonis. While one half of Klaus was busy in the new XC1 dimension as the evil obsessive Zanza, his other half, the Architect, was left behind in the ruins of the Earth. As he is responsible for Earth's destruction, he fashioned a floating world, the land of Alrest, to rise above the wasteland and exist in the Cloud Sea. The Architect, or Klaus, is cognizant of the horrible mistake that he made with the Conduit, but also aware that his other half is simultaneously living in another dimension. Even his physical frame is indicative of this fact, as his right half is veiled in shadow.
The proof is even audible. In XC1, before Shunt delivers the deathblow to Zanza, he announces triumphantly, "Today, we use our power to fell a god, and then seize our destiny!". In XC2, during final boss fight against Malos, Shunt's voice can be heard echoing the same triumphant words somewhere in the darkness, at which point, the Architect urges Rex to hurry. He is aware that his Zanza form is about to be killed, which will mean his own end, and ultimately the destruction of the World Tree. In short, the immediate creation of XC1's dimension allowed one half of Klaus to exist simultaneously, while his human self was kept alive in the universe of XC2 (the current dimension). Awesome.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Connections to Previous Games
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has an image of Mechonis' sword next to the wounded Titan Uraya, suggesting that it's set in the same world as both the first game and second game. For now, that's all the evidence we have, but it's pretty big!
BURNING QUESTIONS
Just a few things to consider before freshly booting up the game on your Switch:
-How can Mechonis’ sword exist in the universe as a Urayan Titan?
-Are the Blades / High Entia still alive? If so, where could they be?
-What are Noah’s origins and where did his sword come from?
The Xenoblade Expansion pass will be dropping at the same time, so it may make sense to purchase the entire bundle at once. With four massive waves of DLC content to absorb, there'll be plenty more story to come.