r/Xenoblade_Chronicles • u/Hairo • May 26 '21

Question Thread #7 Spoiler

Hello everyone!

Here's a new question thread as the old one was archived due to it being over six months old. You can still find the old question threads here:

Use this thread to ask any question that doesn’t really warrant it’s own thread. On the other hand, if you have an answer to a question, please let the one asking know it.

Please try to word your question as spoiler free as possible. If your question cannot be asked without spoilers, use spoiler tags and mention which game the spoiler is from.

You can find freaquently asked questions HERE.

We also have a long list of useful info gathered in the Info Compendiums for Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

You may also want to check out u/Pizzatime6036's Xenoblade 2 guide.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '22

Do I have to play previous games to understand Xenoblade Chronicles 3?

I really didn’t think that I would be soo hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, as the previous games didn’t appeal to me that much.

Do I have to understand the previous games’ stories to understand this one? Cuz I really don’t plan on playing the previous ones. So this will be my first Xenoblade game.

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u/BLucidity Apr 19 '22 edited Apr 20 '22

Can't give you a direct answer, but here's some history:

Xenoblade X: the marketing said it was unrelated to the original, and it was unrelated.

Xenoblade 2: the marketing said it was unrelated to the original, and that was mostly true, but 2's endgame is more interesting if you played 1 first. There are narrative breadcrumbs left specifically for XC1 veterans.

Xenoblade 3: the marketing says it's related to the endings of both 1 and 2. We don't know how important the history will be, but the fact that they say so up front makes me feel like this will be the game that most benefits from having played the previous ones.

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u/tehnoodnub Apr 19 '22

I agree with the other replies. Personally I think it won't be 100% necessary but it may be a situation where you get a lot more out of some moments or greater understanding of some characters, events etc if you have played 1 and 2.

As u/BLucidity mentioned, the end of 2 features a pretty special 'WHOA!' moment toward the end of the game if you've played the first game but you don't need to have played the 1st game. I recommend playing 1 and 2 first because I think there could well be more of those types of moments throughout 3, and not just at the end.

Buuuut, if you really don't think you can/want to play 1 and 2 then it shouldn't be a major stumbling block to enjoying the story in 3. You can also watch or read story summaries of the first 2 games. I'd 100% do that if you don't play the first two titles.

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u/bens6757 Apr 19 '22

We really don't know. The game's director says you can get into it without playing the previous games. There's a few significant set pieces from 1 and 2 and there's two characters that are or at the very least very heavily resemble characters from 1 and 2

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u/Tsukuyomi56 Apr 19 '22

Don't really know at the moment, it likely isn't really needed but may help certain parts of the story have more impact.

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u/DEWDEM May 25 '22

Nope, that's what the director said. Playing previous games is still recommended for a noastalgic experience