Procyon Studio, the music studio founded by composer Yasunori Mitsuda, has announced a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack release, as well as a “Trinity Box” set, with limited editions released on July 29.
On the website, the Trinity Box is listed as including the soundtracks for Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Future Connected, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Torna ~ The Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass Vol. 4.
(Xenoblade Chronicles X’s music wasn’t composed by Mitsuda, so it makes sense that it’s excluded.)
While it’s exciting to see the soundtracks themselves (the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack limited edition even includes two mini replica flutes, among other bonuses), what might be even more interesting is that they include music from the upcoming Expansion Pass Vol. 4.
Volume 4 is the story DLC, which was teased in the February Nintendo Direct. If its soundtrack will be released on July 29, it seems likely that the DLC itself will already be out by then.
The timing also fits. Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s story expansion, Torna ~ The Golden Country was released in September 2018, just over 9 months after Xenoblade Chronicles 2. July 29 will be exactly one year since Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came out, so coming out before then makes sense if we consider Torna’s release an example.
I can’t believe Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has already been out for over 8 months and I still haven’t finished it. I expected to be fully addicted to it, yet I keep putting it aside for games like Fire Emblem Engage. Here’s hoping that I finally get back into it and reach the end in time to get excited for this upcoming story expansion!
Do you think Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s story DLC will be out before the soundtrack releases on July 29? Are you planning to pick up the soundtrack?
Remember how thrilled we were back when Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced for a September 2022 release?
Yep, that’s not happening. It’s coming out July 29 instead.
An anticipated game actually having its release date moved sooner instead of being delayed is pretty rare. I know it’s happened before, but it’s still a shock.
So instead of having five months to get my backlog in order (hah!) so that I can play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I have three months instead.
Alongside this release date change came and exciting new trailer, although I’ll admit I didn’t watch the trailer as attentively as I often would because trailers have spoiled me too often in the past.
I did watch enough to catch the major ideas, though, such as having more characters than ever in combat and a fusion system that is where the name Ouroboros comes into play.
They also announced a Special Edition, which includes a hardcover art book and a steelbook case. It will only be available from the My Nintendo Store, with details to come at a later date.
(I used the special edition’s art for this page image, although I took it from the Japanese site since the other images I found were all too small.)
Now, some people have taken this to be a bad sign, assuming that content must have been cut from the game or it’s been rushed, but I’m not worried. If they were trying to avoid a delay, then I could see it, but I find it hard to believe Monolith Soft would cut content or rush just to get the game out months ahead of the already-announced release window.
Everything shown of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 so far looks fantastic, so I’m confident this will be another excellent game.
Meanwhile, Digimon Survive’s worldwide release date was confirmed for… July 29. Xenoblade and Digimon Survive are now coming out on the same time. That’s just a few days after the Live A Live remake, as well. This year might not be as jam-packed with must-play games like the second half of the year was for me in 2021, but it’s starting to put forth a good effort.
What do you think about Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s sudden July 29 release date, trailer, and special edition? Will you be picking it up?
Ah, now those are words I’m delighted to be able to write!
In the middle of our romance celebration in February, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced for the Nintendo Switch.
Not only that, but it already has a release window: September 2022.
That’s right, the next Xenoblade game is coming out this year!
I’m still hoping we get a Xenoblade Chronicles X sequel someday (with a Xenoblade Chronicles X port as a likely first step), but I’m thrilled to get any Xenoblade game.
(As excited as I am for Bayonetta 3, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 vaulted into the top spot as my most-anticipated game of the year as soon as it was revealed.)
And in what is very interesting news, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a sequel that brings together the future of both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In fact, the trailer actually shows that, with some familiar locations popping up in the gameplay segments.
So let’s start by watching the trailer.
The trailer is exciting and teases many intriguing details about this new game in the series, especially the glimpse of two masked characters near the end who are widely believed by fans to be Melia and Nia.
It also shows us a world filled with conflict, a reference to people being used as fuel, and a puzzling line in which a character asks, “What good’s filling up these flickering clocks in our eyes?” Some intriguing story elements are definitely being set up.
The protagonists, as detailed on Nintendo UK’s official Xenoblade Chronicles 3 page, are Noah and Mio, two “off-seers” who mourn for soldiers who lose their lives (which seems to have something to do with the flutes that they play).
Joining them in the main cast are Lanz, Eunie, Taion, and Sena. Curiously, character details translated from the official Japanese Xenoblade Twitter account revealed that all 6 main characters are age 18, except for Mio, who is 19. Yes, even the High Entia and Machina (?) characters, even though they shouldn’t age like Homs, are 18. What does this mean? I have no idea. A popular theory is that enough time has passed for the genetics to have diluted to the point of giving them Homs-like lifespans.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 deals with a war between two nations called Keves and Agnus. Noah, Lanz, and Eunie are from Keves, while Mio, Taion, and Sena are from Agnus, so it seems as though their groups will come together despite the conflict between their countries. Interestingly, “Keves” means “sheep” in Hebrew and “Agnus” means “lamb” in Latin. Is this significant? It can’t be a coincidence.
Eagle-eyed fans have also caught a lot of tiny details in the trailer that I would have missed on my own, such as a shape that might be the Conduit on the machine at 1:10, a symbol that appears on the bodies of the three Keves characters, and ouroboros symbols on the party’s weapons (which is especially interesting since the character who might be Melia says, “Ouroboros abhor this world”). Noah and Mio also appear to exchange flutes at some point in the story.
Finally, let’s talk about the art at the very end of the trailer, which shows the sword of the Mechonis from Xenoblade Chronicles alongside the Urayan Titan from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This is a puzzling scene if this is the future of both worlds.
Click for Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2 spoilers
The Mechonis’s sword was destroyed during Xenoblade Chronicles, and Uraya merged into the landmass at the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. So why are both intact in the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 3?
What makes this even more interesting is that in a message from Executive Director Tetsuya Takahashi about Xenoblade Chronicles 3, he brings up this key visual as an important point and says that the image of the Mechonis sword alongside the wounded Urayan Titan was first thought up between the development of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
So whatever this visual means, whatever this is all building up to, they actually had it in mind before they made Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Knowing this has been planned for so long makes me even more excited for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I’ve tried to cover everything we know about it at this point, but if I missed anything, let me know in the comments! Are you looking forward to Xenoblade Chronicles 3?
Procyon Studio, the music studio founded by composer Yasunori Mitsuda, has announced a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack release, as well as a “Trinity Box” set, with limited editions released on July 29.
