Before starting Xenoblade Chronicles 3, should you play Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2? Before beginning, you should be aware of the following.
The most recent JRPG to arrive on the Nintendo Switch is Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Many people are unsure whether they should play the first two games because of the lengthy storyline (over 100 hours) and the large cast. How much time you want to spend immersing yourself in the setting where these games are set will determine the answer to that question.
Mechanically, XB3 is by far the best game in the series. The tutorial is perhaps the best in the series and is well-developed for beginners. It’s a good starting place if you’re unsure if these games are for you because its tutorial is far less perplexing than those in XB1 or XB2. When you understand how the Arts system functions and the battle mechanics, it will be easier for you to comprehend the prior two games.
The two universes in which the games are set to have different casts, worldbuilding, stories, and character designs. With a few late-game tweaks that make the games more relevant if you play them first, the games indeed overlap in a multiverse-like scenario. But both XB1 and XB2 require commitments of over 80 hours. You may enjoy Xenoblade Chronicles 2 without having played the first game.
The themes and ideas explored in the first two games are meaningfully combined in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. But it may be played alone just like any other Final Fantasy game. It is simpler to comprehend what is going on with the large cast of characters because of how the combat has been improved. The party structure in this single-player JRPG is designed to resemble leading a team of damage dealers, healers, and tank characters in an MMO dungeon.
Should I Play the First Two Xenoblade Games Before Xenoblade X?
You can jump into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 without having played the previous games. You shouldn’t even remember them if you’ve played them because it’s not a good idea. Their only real commonalities are a few shared goods and races, as well as a few shared mechanics and concepts. Overall, they share certain similarities with Final Fantasy. Chocobos and Nopon, two recurring characters from the Final Fantasy and Xenoblade series, appear in virtually every entry in both series.
Unlike Final Fantasy, however, there is a crossover between the two games in Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Because they create a ridiculous metaplot to the third game, I warned you not to give them any thought. The first Xenoblade Chronicles game is set in a universe established after human scientist Klaus finds the Conduit, an artifact that may create a gateway to another reality. When his lab is attacked, he resorts to the Conduit for help.
But alas, it doesn’t function as expected. Inadvertently, half of Klaus’s body and his coworker Galea are transported to the world of Xenoblade Chronicles. As the Bionis and Mechonis, the reincarnated Zanza and Meyneth are the halves of Klaus and Galea, respectively.
In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you find out that the first two games take place simultaneously and that the Architect, the other half of Klaus, created Alrest. The bright side is that he designed Alrest to safeguard humanity.
How Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will tie into previous entries is currently unclear. It’s possible that this is its own thing, in the same vein as Xenoblade Chronicles X, or maybe we’re witnessing a third universe that was created as a result of the Conduit catastrophe.
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