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Monolith Soft

Xenoblade 3 art book lore

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 art book was released a few months back, and in addition to providing an in-depth look at character designs, it also provided a huge amount of lore via its included interviews. Xenoblade Chronicles games are famous for their lore, and all 3 numbered titles provide story tidbits at the end that sort of re-contextualize cutscenes from earlier in the game. The interviews included in the art book are with game director Tetsuya Takahashi, and a good chunk of the new lore he reveals in them re-contextualizes certain cutscenes from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in the same way. Today, we’re looking at the Xenoblade 3 art book and all of the new story details – and what they mean for the game’s overarching plot. This will contain full spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3, so keep that in mind before you continue.

Monolith Soft interview

Earlier this year, Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft published its Company Brochure 2024. It includes interviews with key members of the company who talked about the past and future. It’s a good time for reflection given how Monolith Soft turns 25 this year.

Hirohide Sugiura, one of the founders of Monolith Soft, shared some of the more interesting comments. Sugiura feels that the company is still in its “genesis” stage and hopes the company can keep going far into the future – maybe even 500 years.

Xenoblade 3 Mio scale figure

We have an update on the new Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Mio scale figure, including a release date, pre-orders, and photos. This was first revealed during Smile Fest 2022.

The figure is based on an original illustration drawn by Masatsugu Saito, the character designer of the series. The team behind it put a lot of care into the sculpting of the details and texture of Mio’s clothes. Additionally, the multilayered base features the Zephyr icon, which is the mark of her initial class.

These days Xenoblade is one of Nintendo’s bigger franchises – at least when it comes to RPGs – but that wasn’t always the case. The first entry came out in English more than a year after its Japanese launch, and that was for European fans only. It wasn’t until the “Operation Rainfall” fan campaign that Nintendo brought it to North America in 2012.

Those unfamiliar with the early days of Xenoblade may not know that it was originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World. The game was actually announced at E3 2009 with an under-the-radar reveal. Yet even though the reveal took place during what was the biggest gaming show of the year in the states, it seems Nintendo of America knew right away it wouldn’t be bringing the RPG stateside.

Monolith Soft expressions

According to Monolith Soft co-founder and Xenoblade executive director Tetsuya Takahashi, the company wants to focus more on expressions in the future.

With each Xenoblade game, Monolith Soft seems to improve upon things like cutscene direction, character models, and more. Characters were the most expressive they’ve ever been in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it sounds like Takahashi and the rest of the team isn’t satisfied just yet.

Xenoblade 3 City Citizens Ghondor Monica

The recently-released Japanese art book for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and one part of the interview section talks about the City and what happens to the Citizens after the ending.

Executive director and writer Tetsuya Takahashi addressed the topic, which was brought on by a fan survey. There was interest surrounding the end of the game and what happens to the Citizens.

We’d recommend reading Takahashi’s words unless you’ve completed Xenoblade Chronicles 3 yourself, but we’ve translated his comments below. He clarifies the fates of certain characters, talks about the decision Noah makes, and more.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Moebius Z

Tetsuya Takahashi, the executive director and writer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, explained how he approached Moebius and Z in the game. This comes as part of the recently-released art book (you can import a copy of the rerun here).

Players battle different members of the Consuls, or Moebius, throughout the adventure. It all ultimately concludes with a face-off against Z with Noah and the rest of the gang looking to change the harsh reality of their world, which sees never-ending war and soldiers with ten-year lifespans.

Xenoblade 3 ending

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 art book came out this week in Japan, and it contains a pretty big interview with various members of the staff, including executive director / writer Tetsuya Takahashi.

At one point, Takahashi addressed a player survey with a specific topic about the administrator of Origin. This led him to mention that while fans may have some questions and may want to see certain things such as what happens after the end of the game, he’s asking them to wait for now and answers could follow in the future through additional titles.

Xenoblade 3 logo boxart

A little while back, Nintendo staffer Osamu Nagai shared some insight into the making of the logo and boxart for Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

For both the key visual (which would go on to be the boxart) and logo, Nagai thought about the importance of the series’ previous games while also focusing on the individuality of the newest entry. A key point for the logo “was the particles of light that appear when people mourn.” Meanwhile, for the key art, Nagai “used the concept art from development as a base, then combined it with the giant Mechonis Sword and Titan that were in the previous games’ boxarts.”

Xenoblade 3 Official Artworks Aionios Moments art book

January 18: Kadokawa will release an art book for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 titled Xenoblade 3 Official Artworks Aionios Moments, the company just announced. In Japan, it’s slated for April 1, 2024.

The book features content from both the main game and Future Redeemed DLC. There’ll be a ton of content here as 448 pages will be in the final product.

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