I have finally got around to what will be a picture heavy review on this top tier game. Having spread myself rather thin like the final scrapes of butter on soggy toast, and being bogged down with two long games. Hopefully now i’ll be able to try and hit a more regular pace once more.
This is the sort of game you want to end a trilogy on. I tend to find games lose something in the sequels, even if they look fancier, play better and tell the story as it should be. This rings true to films as well unless you are the Lord of the Rings trilogy in which case all three films are perfect. Now don’t get me wrong this game doesn’t do everything perfectly but in my opinion it ain’t far off. Currently I’d argue this is the best game I have played from this year and second on my list for what I’ve played all year, with the top still firmly being Death Stranding.
To think this game for a Switch exclusive looks utterly fantastic. It just goes to show how impressive the Switch hardware truly is. Monolift Soft really have managed to squeeze all they can out of the engine for this title, just compare it to XC 2 to see the vast improvements. I can only imagine how it’d look fully utilizing a next gen or high end PC architecture. This games’ world and the series for the matter really do sit at the top for design, and the grandeur of size. I find not many games can equal the aesthetic and designs of each area to the scale or individuality of this series. With this title once again updating the style of characters to even more of an anime style then the first on the Wii. I find myself always impressed at the draw distance and rendering of the far away vistas, especially at the hidden spots which are made for an in-game photo so you can revel in the impressiveness of it all. I have also enjoyed the size of everything in this game and 3 really ups its big boy status with certain enemies. Especially the unique monsters and some of the giant Ferronis Hulks you come across. It really adds a nice scope of enormity to the world of Aionios as everything loops round gradually in the ever increasing road before you.
I would highly recommend playing XC Definitive edition, 2 and even Torna before 3. As far as the story goes it sits on its own and you can easily follow the main gist of it all. However certain aspects, characters and elusions, especially towards the end will not make much sense to you. As this mostly wraps up the story which started with 1. I’d argue it wraps most of the story up very neatly something’s are left a bit loose, iI’m not entirely sure if that’s done on purpose mind. This game like it’s predecessors are no short journey by any means, especially if you wish to unlock all the maps, find everything, do all side quest and kill all the unique monsters that roam around freely. You’ll be looking well into the 100 hour mark, probably closer to 150 realistically. If you are into long JRPGs then this game won’t even feel like a slog to you. Everything is worth doing, everywhere is worth exploring and increasing the Colonies trust levels up benefit the entire party. You had better enjoy cutscenes though, as this game fucking loves them. A good handful are very long, I personally don’t mind. It comes off very anime heavy, even to the point if they decided to it would work as a CG anime series on it’s own merit.
The Combat in this game is a lot more fluid then two, as even 20 hours in for 2 with the never ending tutorials I still was coming to terms with how the system was supposed to work properly. Here it’s pretty straight forward with all the changes coming from the different hero classes that every member in the party can unlock and use, with a ranking from S – D with S being the best suited roles. You can increase stats by standard levelling up, the returning and much improved gem crafting and accessories. I find though even with all the class swapping that your characters could easily stay as their first class and you wouldn’t struggle all game. I find the encounters overall more fun and less time consuming then before as well, which is a testament to the improvements. A downside to this is that you are easily able to stay over-levelled, especially with the extra XP boost you hoard and can use at camp spots. Even though there is a metric shit tonne of enemies which many are shared through titles, though some didn’t make the cut this time. With each areas variations of them keep the fighting fresh each time, and the variety sprawled out over the land never bore.
The developers have made everything for you as a player to be easily accessible, the main menu holds all the options you need. All the character pages, are made to easily access all the upgrades/skill points etc. There’s a fast travel point every two metres it seems so you can always quick travel close to the target of your quest. Something that I feel all item heavy games should do now as well, all items or auto picked up as you pass them with out the need to stop and watch a short animation, or never forget Skyrim’s absolute dog shit mining.
Two things here especially stand out and that is the voice acting and soundtrack. Firstly the soundtrack fucking rips, it is a fine tuned accompaniment to the game. With non sounding better then the Consul battle theme, my sweet Jesus when that hit’s, perfection. Now secondly the voice acting in the English dub is mostly on point, some character’s voices sound out of place for character designs but still hold up in talent alone. One however stands above the rest and that be Riku’s. Riku is the best Nopon to date in my book. This is largely due to the astounding voice actor choice, it fits the character like a gym bro’s grey three sizes too small and skin tight sweat shirt. A major downside is the after combat dialogue being very limited an spammy, you’ll constantly here the same few lines over and over. It’s nothing short of a pure annoyance.
One of the things that misses the mark a lot, is the villains in this game. There are a lot of consuls that appear to hinder your efforts throughout the journey. Some without going into spoilers are good, but many of them seem to come off as story fodder, they don’t do much and then you beat them. It just makes for the over arching story seem a little weaker for it as they are supposed to be this group of big bad, but they end up being a group of little whiny bitches mostly. I mean their Moebius forms at least always look cool. Not as good as the interlink forms of the main characters though. This is probably the highlight of the combat mechanics, and is only made better by the chain attacks which are used to deal heavy damage output and some sneaky EXP boost at the same time.
Having clocked in just under 60 hours to complete the main story, it doesn’t feel a drag. The story and differing environments with the constant character building propels the game, always making you want to keep playing to see how it all pans out. With this 60 hours I explored a fair whack, and completed a lot of side quests. However the end game restarts before the final boss which allows for you to mop up anything you’ve missed. As I managed to miss a few heroes off, and I didn’t manage to do many of the ascension quests which allow your subclasses to boosted up to level 20. All of these add to the style you want to play along with customising your party, with new moves.
I’m sure I’ve missed off some stuff, but I feel some of it will be too spoiler laden and I don’t wanna be that guy even if the game has been out a while now. As if you have been waiting and wanting to see what the conclusion holds I don’t wish to take that away from you. This is definitely a game you need to experience for yourself. It’s endless hours of fun combat all based in highly designed landscapes, all intrinsically linked around a top notch story. Topped off with great voice acting and cutscenes that propel the story onwards.
I’d certify this game a very solid 10/10, Real fuckin’ Tasty.
Released 29th July 2022
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