Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review – a monolithic success

metro.co.uk:

Monolith Soft’s newest role-player is one of the most technically impressive Nintendo Switch games ever and the best Xenoblade game to date.

Nintendo’s release schedule for the rest of the year is looking pretty strong in terms of console exclusives. Both Splatoon and Pokémon are receiving new instalments, with Bayonetta 3 recently confirmed for an October launch. Kicking off this line-up, however, is Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Nintendo’s biggest summer blockbuster and the latest project from open world specialist Monolith Soft.

In the 15 years since it became a Nintendo subsidiary, Monolith Soft has proven to be a more than worthy acquisition for the company. Not just thanks to the Xenoblade series (with even its weakest entries being among the best Japanese role-playing games out there), but by providing support on some of Nintendo’s biggest releases, including The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and its 2023 sequel.

Given how heavily it’s promoted Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and its decision to release it a couple of months early (it was originally a September game), Nintendo clearly has a lot of faith in both the game and developer. It was already looking good when we previewed the first few hours and, having now played the full game, we can safely say that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is everything fans hoped it would be. In fact, it may well be the best entry in the series.

For the uninitiated, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an open world Japanese role-playing game where basic combat is handled automatically. While your party attacks enemies on their own, you only control the movement of a single selected character, while issuing orders to the rest of the party. The character you’re controlling has to be within a certain range for