Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was revealed to close this week’s Nintendo Direct presentation, and to mark the occasion executive director Tetsuya Takahashi has shared a message about the upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive.
Set in a new world that will “connect the futures” of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you will play as protagonists Noah and Mio “amid turmoil between the hostile nations of Keves and Agnus.” There will be six characters from those nations that will join in a grand tale with “life” as its central theme.
“Just over four years since the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and one and a half years since the release of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, we now bring to you news regarding the latest game from Monolith Soft: Xenoblade Chronicles 3,” Takahashi explains.
“As the name indicates, it’s the third installment in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. We are currently making final adjustments to ensure we create the best game possible based on everything we’ve learned from the past entries in the series.
“The key visual features a broken great sword of Mechonis and the body of the Urayan Titan with a gaping wound. I imagine everyone who saw the trailer was quite surprised by the final scene. What is this visual hinting at? I can’t reveal that just yet. What I can tell you is that this visual was conceived quite some time ago. More precisely speaking, we came up with it sometime between the end of development of Xenoblade Chronicles and the beginning of development of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. So, it’s not something we recently added to the series.
“We believe the game will be enjoyable for both those who’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles or Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as well as those who will be playing a Xenoblade Chronicles game for the first time.
“The characters were designed by Masatsugu Saito, who also designed the characters for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. While we can’t reveal them at this time, Koichi Mugitani created some of the game’s key artwork. As you can see, familiar staff members with the Xenoblade Chronicles series have once again come together to create this game.
“The game music was also handled by artists who’ve contributed to the series in the past. The music for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, ACE (TOMOri Kudo, CHiCO), Kenji Hiramatsu and Mariam Abounnasr.
“The music in this game maintains the unique Xenoblade Chronicles touch while also taking on a new challenge, namely that of integrating a flute-based melody as its motif. The flute is actually one of the key themes in this game. A variety of other elements and themes are hidden in the trailer and we’ll be revealing the details a bit at a time going forward.
“Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a new adventure bringing together the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to take players into the future. While there is still some time left before the release of the game, I hope you’ll look forward to it.”
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will release at retail and on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide in September 2022.
