Xenoblade 3 Is Already Winning Me Over
Screenshot: NintendoI’ve been looking forward to Monolith Soft’s next game since the last one ended in 2017, though not without my fair share of reservations. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a meandering JRPG with a hodgepodge of systems and extremely uneven storytelling. As much as I love the series, I was worried Xenoblade Chronicles 3 would be the same. So far, it’s not. It’s a first-party Nintendo Switch blockbuster that can hang with the rest of the library.Five hours in, it feels like the most lush and balanced game in the series. The environments are sprawling but filled. Combat has plenty of layers to experiment with but none of them seem overly obtuse or overbearing. Your party’s roster is stocked with classic archetypes that stop short of cliché. And the music, responsible for sustain...