Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has one of the best stories since the original graced the Wii. The pacing is great with not a lot of slowdown time due to goofy antics or overly dramatic sentimentality. The cast is tighter, with six main heroes that are unlocked relatively fast. The action choreography has always been a plus for this series but it is even better now.
As great as all of these things are, there are still some logical issues with Xenoblade Chronicles 3. None of these issues hurt the game in any major way but they are still worth discussing. There will be spoilers based on about the first ten hours of the story, along with some gameplay mechanics.
7 Mech Fusion
There is an inconsistency between the mech forms characters use in battle and the ones they use in cutscenes. An RPG-like skill tree, called the Soul Tree, unlocks passive and active abilities for each form. One passive skill reduces the overheating used by these suits, which means players can stay in these forms longer in battle.
The cutscenes seemingly assume that these skill trees are completely upgraded, allowing characters to fight at an almost constant level. This is not the only thing that doesn’t make sense between battle scenes and story scenes.
6 Changing Clothes With Classes
Characters, like Shulk from the first game, have occupied classes in the past. However, these characters were set in their combat modes and couldn’t change whereas the class system in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is more robust. Characters change their weapons when jumping classes and their clothes as well.
Seeing a more feminine jacket on Noah from Mio is a bit weird. Based on the size of each character, the swapping of clothes shouldn’t match on a genetic level. This can later be changed in the settings to make the clothes be consistent with the original designs. However, there can also be an inconsistency between classes in battle and classes in cutscenes as well since characters can have different ones but show their starting classes in the story.
5 Let’s Murder Those Majestic Creatures
Earlier in the game, Noah marvels at the idea of monsters looking different from one another. He points out that a group of monsters has three different sizes as if to show an aging pattern. This is a subject he, and the rest of the party, are struggling to understand. It’s a nice cutscene that players can destroy by attacking these monsters as soon as the story bit is over.
Logically, Noah should yell at the party to not attack. That would go against the open-ended nature of an open-world RPG though.
4 The Seventh Party Member Says Nothing
One of the game’s best features allows all six main characters to be in the party at the same time. It’s like controlling a mini-mob in an MMO or something. There is another slot for a guest character that unlocks about ten hours into the game. These guest characters also unlock new classes for the party.
Their intro stories are good, but even though they always follow the party afterward, they don’t contribute to the main story anymore. What are they doing in the background if not helping out? The only exception is Riku and Manana.
3 No Food, Really?
There is a small filler arc about halfway through the game wherein some monsters supposedly steal all of the food. This forces the team to go hunt for new supplies, thus leading to a new set of trials. There is an inconsistency here because players won’t lose any of their materials even after this cutscene.
Their party could still be overloaded with cooking supplies. It’s another one of many things in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that doesn’t match up between the gameplay and the story.
2 Fighting Giant Mechs As Humans
Noah and the others should not be able to fight off some of the bosses that they do in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. One of the wildest ones is Commander Isurd’s base about a third of the way through the game. This thing looks like a massive turtle that dwarfs the heroes in size and yet players can fight it like they would a tiny bird. It belongs in an experience like Shadow of the Colossus.
The same is true soon after this when the party takes on two mechs at once via their encounter with Ethel and Cammuravi. The cutscenes show them in their mech suits the whole time, but again, players can’t do this in a normal battle situation.
1 Use The Lucky Blade All The Time Noah
It is revealed early in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that Noah has an ace up his sleeve. Riku gave him an incredibly powerful sword when he was still in training, but Noah is afraid of its power. It doesn’t make sense why Riku would entrust this blade to Noah, though since it is god-like.
Should they have given it to the queen to then bestow to a better colony? This thing can cut mechs in half in a single slice. After Noah tests it out the first time, he should use this legendary sword all of the time in battle. It would make the game too easy but it would at least make more sense.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was released on July 29, 2022, and is available on Switch.