Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a clear improvement over its predecessors in almost every way. It streamlines so much and avoids past pitfalls, though there’s still work to be done in terms of balancing the difficulty. There’s a grounded story here with a solid cast of characters, and the basic plot is much easier to digest. The world design exceeds past efforts with ease, and the implementation of Hero Quests is a game changer. While the devs have done an admirable job making the battle system easier to grasp, it feels like the series has fully explored and exhausted these core combat mechanics, signaling it’s time for the next game to change things up. As a whole, it stands as a phenomenal RPG with a one-of-a-kind sense of exploration you can’t find anywhere else.