Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Announced For Nintendo Switch; September 2022 Release

During today’s Nintendo Direct, the publisher announced a new upcoming project by Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The narrative for the game will tie in elements and plotlines from the prior two mainline games, Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Flutes seem to play an integral role in the title’s premise. A plethora of combat footage and story dialogue is showcased.

Players witness the journeys of protagonists Noah and Mio contending with a conflict between the nations of Keves and Agnus. 6 characters will be the crux of the experience, and the broad concept of “life” will be the title’s central theme. Additionally, this new world connects the futures of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Xenoblade is a series originating from the Nintendo Wii, with the first title having received a recent remake on Nintendo Switch. The second game is also on the platform, making Xenoblade X the only exception.

A message from director Tetsuya Takashi was provided on Nintendo Europe, also viewable below:

“Just over four years since the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and one and a half years since the release of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, we now bring to you news regarding the latest game from MONOLITHSOFT: Xenoblade Chronicles 3. As the name indicates, it’s the third instalment in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. We are currently making the final adjustments to ensure we make it the best game possible based on everything we’ve learned from the past games from the series.

The key visual features a broken great sword of Mechonis and the body of the Urayan Titan with a big gaping hole. I imagine everyone who saw the trailer was quite surprised by the final scene. What is this visual hinting at? I can’t reveal that yet. What I can tell you is that this visual was conceived quite some time ago. More precisely speaking, we came up with it sometime between the end of development of Xenoblade Chronicles and the beginning of development of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

So, it’s not something we recently added to the series. We believe the game will be enjoyable for both those who’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles and/or Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as well as those who will be playing a Xenoblade Chronicles game for the first time.

The characters were designed by Masatsugu Saito, who also designed the characters for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. While we can’t show them to you at this time, Koichi Mugitani created some of the key artworks. As you can see, familiar staff members to the Xenoblade Chronicles series have once again come together to create this game.

The game music was also handled by artists who’ve contributed to the series in the past. The music for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, ACE (TOMOri Kudo, CHiCO), Kenji Hiramatsu and Mariam Abounnasr.

The music in this game maintains the unique Xenoblade Chronicles touch while also taking on a new challenge, namely that of integrating as its motif – a flute-based melody. The flute is actually one of the key themes in this game. A variety of other elements and themes are hidden in the trailer. We’ll be revealing the details bit by bit going forward.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a brand new adventure bringing together the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to take the players into the future. While there is still some time left before the release of the game, please look forward to it.”

The title’s Switch eShop store page is available.

The following character renders have been provided alongside their Japanese voice actors/actresses:

Intricate information regarding the cast and world is viewable via the game’s Nintendo European page.

You can view the announcement trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 below:

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is releasing for Nintendo Switch on September 2022.