Just two weeks ago, we looked at the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack collection announcement and wondered if it could be a sign that the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 story DLC would be released before July 29.

Well, there’s no need to wonder any longer, nor to wait for a Nintendo Direct where they might announce news. Nintendo announced the release date last night.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, which is a story expansion and the final part of the Expansion Pass, will be out on April 25.

That’s right. Next week.

I haven’t watched the trailer because I still need to avoid spoilers. I did return to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 since we last discussed it, after I finished Fire Emblem, but I’m still nowhere near the end. My hope that I’d finish the game in time for the DLC no longer feels reasonable.

(In other release date news, Jack Jeanne will be out on June 15. The second half of June is looking intense for my backlog.)

I never expected the DLC to be out this soon, but it certainly is exciting. Now I just need to avoid spoilers until I’m ready to play. Will you be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed next week?

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?