Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (Expansion Pass Wave 4) out now; details, footage, music track; amiibo announcements

If you were wondering when Wave 4 of the Expansion Pass for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 would be released, then you don’t have to wonder any longer: it’s now available worldwide! This story expansion is called Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, and it tells a brand new story that connects all three main Xenoblade Chronicles 3 games.

Here’s a trailer (available in English and Japanese):

Nintendo also launched the official website in Japan, providing us with some footage (mainly showcasing battles):

The website also features some details about the Future Redeemed DLC, starting with the story:

Keves and Agnus, two warring countries locked in an endless battle.

Nikol, a soldier from Keves, and Glimmer, a soldier from Agnus, confront each others on the battlefield. As they fight for their lives, a young man intervenes.

“Neither of you is the real enemy.”

Matthew, from the City, tells the Nikol and Glimmer they have no reason to fight each others, and that the real ennemy is Moebius.

Those who discovered the truth about the world are now ready to fight for their destiny.

Next, here’s some details about the main characters:

• Matthew (voiced by Junya Enoki in Japanese) is a young man who belongs to the City, an organisation that opposes Moebius. A rather straightforward person with a caring personality who’s looking for his sister, Na’el, who has gone missing. His Blade is special: it was given to him by his grandfather, Ghondor. It has a special function: it can serve as an Ouroboros Stone, though it’s more limited than the real deal.
• A (voiced by Rina Satou in Japanese) wields a slim red sword, and works with Matthew. She’s a rather composed person who always thinks things through carefully. She’s the perfect partner for Matthew, who tends to act first and think later! In fact, she often scolds him for rushing on ahead without thinking. They work surprisingly well together, don’t you think?
• Nikol (voiced by Kisamu Ono in Japanese) is a soldier from Keves, and a great mechanic. A calm and reserved person who always get carried away whenever he starts talking about machines. He fights using not a Blade, but a set of mechanical arms. Despite hailing from Keves, Nikol doesn’t really like fighting at all…
• Glimmer (voiced by Shino Shimoji in Japanese) is a soldier from Agnus, who fights using a cane. A strong-willed woman who can be pretty harsh with others. Unable to accept the truth of the world, she goes and act on her own… Glimmer leads a team of Agnian soldiers, and ends up confronting Nikol on the battlefield.
• Shulk (voiced by Shintarou Asanuma in Japanese) is a kind-hearted man wielding a familiar red sword. He lost his right arm in some past battle, and replaced it with a prosthethic one. He can only use his left hand to wield his large sword. In the video below, we can see Shulk protecting Glimmer. Could he truly be THE Shulk?
• Rex (voiced by Hiro Shimoni in Japanese) is an imposing man wielding not one, but two massive swords. He’s a lively and frank person, and together with Shulk, he’s at the head of an organisation called Liberator. He lost his left eye during a past battle. In the video below, we can see Rex jumping in to protect Nikol and the others. Rex sure grew up into a fine, cool man!
• Na’el (voiced by Akari Kitou in Japanese) is Matthew’s little sister. A king woman who takes care of the children of the City. She went missing following a certain event… As you can see in the video below, Na’el cares about the children more than anything else, and is exceedingly kind.
• ???: a mysterious man who appears in front of Shulk and Rex. He certainly looks familiar, but who is he?
• Ghondor (voiced by Bin Shimada in Japanese). He’s Matthew and Na’el’s grandfather. He was a driving force behind the creation of the City, which is why everyone trust him. Ghondor took great care of his two grandchildren, and is more than ready to fight.
• N (voiced by Ryouhei Arai in Japanese) is a Moebius. He attacks the City, and points his blade at Ghondor. He does so on Z’s orders.
• Z (voiced by Akio Ootsuka in Japanese) is the leader of the Moebius. He’s the one who pushes N to attack the City. Strangely enough, he’s seen fighting alongside Shulk and Rex in a cutscene. How could that be?
• Riku (voiced by Ayaka Senbongi in Japanese) is a curious Nopon with thick eyebrows. He’s a member of the Liberators, just like Shulk and Rex. Wait a second, is that really the same Riku?… Just like in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Riku is a skilled mechanic — so skilled, in fact, that he’s the one who built Shulk’s prosthetic arm. Also, if you want to strengthen your weapons, Riku’s your man Nopon. Head to Riku’s workshop, give him the required money and materials and he will work his “magic.” Speaking of materials, you can obtain them from treasures chests and Unique monsters all over the world. Oh, and that hammer of his certainly feels familiar…
• Panacea (voiced by Akeno Watanabe in Japanese). A soldier who fights alongside Shulk. A strong-willed and honest woman. She seems to have lots of respect for Shulk, and calls him “Master”. In the video below, we can see her fighting against Glimmer.
• Rinka (voiced by Ryou Hirohashi in Japanese). An intelligent soldier who fights alongside Rex. She’s cautious and sensitive. She has lots of respect for Rex, that she considers her teacher, but she often scolds him for acting recklessly.

Next: battles. Just like in the main game, each character has its role in battle: Attacker, Defender, or Healer. Players can make use of powerful techniques known as Arts, which offer various effects, to defeat enemies. Also, Future Redeemed features special powers and coordinated attacks (known as Union Combo) to allow players to tip the scales in their favour.

Here’s two key aspects of the battle system in Future Redeemed:

• Ouroboros Power: more powerful than regular Arts. Can be “fused” with regular Arts to obtain various effects (which kind of effects you get depends on the combination of Ouroboros Power and Arts). They also grant some sort of aura. They can be assigned to the directional buttons (left side of the screen)
• Unity Combo: Unity is a tag-team made of two characters. By working together, those two characters can unleash powerful combo attacks known as Unity Combos. Using one such combo boosts your stats by having the characters enter the Awakened state. The type of Attack you can unleash, its range, its powers, and the effects it grants depend on the characters that make up the Unity. To trigger a Unity Combo, you first need to get in the Rising state, and then hit an enemy with a special move. Using regular Arts allows you to refill the gauge for special moves. Unity Combos are quite handy when dealing with tough monsters, as they always deal Smash, Burst, or Blowdown.

Next, here’s some details about some classes:

• Martial Artist (Matthew). Weapon: Ouroboros Knuckles. Battle role: Attacker. A class to crush the enemy with consecutive hits, without giving them a chance to fight back. Its Talent Art is Gigantic Beat, which grants 50% recharge for all Arts when it lands.
• Monado Fencer (A). Weapon: Monado. Battle role: Healer. An offensive healer who hunts down enemies with sharp slashes. Its Talent Art is Vision, which prevents enemies from attacking the party for a certain amount of time. Also, while Vision is active, you can unleash “Vanishing End”, which hits all enemies at once!
• Machinist (Nikol). Weapon: Variable Backpack. Battle Role: Defender. Make full use of the Variable weapon, and activate various effects when attacking and guarding. Talent Art: Total Destruction. Not only does it deal damage that bypass the enemy’s defenses, it also reduces the amount of damage taken by the user while performing this Art.
• Souenshi (Glimmer). Weapon: Cane. Battle Role: Healer. A healer who can play music to heal allies. Can make use of various effects depending on the melody played. When their Talent Art lands, all allies recover their HP.
• Grand Soldier (Shulk). Weapon: Monado・R・EX/Kai (official English name TBC). Battle role: Defender. Their fighting style revolves around anticipating enemy attacks and evading them. A great class for attack and support. Talent Art: Monado Buster. Deals damage that bypasses an enemy’s defense, and deals extra damage when in an Awakened state.
• Master Driver (Rex). Weapon: Aegis Swords. Battle Role: Attacker. A class that allows you to unleash continuous slashes with two great swords, and crush enemies with powerful critical attacks. Talent Art: Infinity Blade*. A powerful attack that nullifies guard and deals damage that bypasses the enemy’s defense.

The video below shows a “new” region that players will get to explore in Future Redeemed. It may be somewhere on Aionos, but which region could that be?

Finally, the official website shares details about a new feature found in Future Redeemed: Affinity Goals.

You earn Affinity Points by exploring the world, meeting and interacting with characters, defeating enemies, and more. You can then use those points to grow the characters. One thing to keep in mind about Affinity Points is that they’re shared between all party members (unlike EXP), so you have to think carefully about how you will spend those precious points!

Here’s the various ways you can get Affinity Points:

• Enemypedia: an encyclopedia of all the monsters/enemies found in Future Redeemed. To register monsters/enemies, you need to defeat them. Once you’ve defeated a certain number of monsters/enemies, you will get Affinity Points as reward.
• Collectopedia: an encyclopedia of all the items found in the world. Collecting a certain number of each item allows you to earn Affinity Points as reward.
• Community: during your adventure, you will meet and interact with a variety of characters. They may ask you to help them with their problems. By solving their problems, you will deepen you affinity with those characters, and earn Affinity Points as reward.

Just like the main game, Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed features an Affinity Chart, and the various characters Matthew and co. meet during their journey are recorded in it. As a matter of fact, you earn Affinity Points when new characters are added to the Affinity Chart, so it’s highly recommended you talk to everyone you meet!

On the Affinity Chart, all the registered characters have their own profile card. Each card features a number of Affinity Challenges* (like clearing a certain quest, for example), and if you complete them all, your bond with that character will deepen, earning you even more Affinity Points. Try to make lots of friends and complete all their challenges!

And that’s not all! Future Redeemed also features “Affinity Views”: special events that occur at specific spots in the world. You can enjoy a conversation with Matthew and the other characters while admiring the sceneries of Aionios. You also get some Affinity Points as bonus, so make sure to check them all!

Chain Attacks are powerful attacks where all the party members get to chip in. During a Chain Attack, if the two characters that make up a Unity complete an Order, then you will be able to select a “Unity Order” next. Completing it will unleash a powerful special move that also puts an end to the Chain Attack.

Speaking of Chain Attacks, equipping certain accessories allows you to change the effects of Completion Bonuses and Heroic Chains. Those effects are stronger than the basic ones, so it’s highly recommended to equip those accessories!

While exploring the world, you will sometime come upon Enemy Bases. You can get rewards by attacking them and defeating all the monsters. Be careful though: you will be facing lots of enemies at once, so be prepared for a long and arduous fight!

Future Redeemed also a features a new type of enemies known as “Fog Rifts” (official English name TBC). The moment they spot you, those special enemies start summoning Fogbeasts one after the other, so be extra careful.

In Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, Matthew uses a device called “Ex-Device” This device reacts when a City survivor is nearby, and signals its location with sound and light. Use those signals as guides to find and rescue survivors! Do so, and the people you rescue will help you in your journey.

When at a Rest Spot, you can ask Nikol to mod the Ex-Device using various materials. You can add features that will prove useful while exploring the world or in battle. Do note that the Ex-Device doesn’t just serve to locate and rescue survivors, it can also be used to get information about undiscovered areas, and analyse information about enemies.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed features some brand new music. Nintendo and Monolith Soft. revealed one of the tracks: New Battle!!! (a battle theme, unsurprisingly!).

Finally, Nintendo announced that the Pyra and Mythra amiibo (Super Smash Bros. series) will launch as a Double Pack on July 21st 2023 worldwide. Scanning them will unlock a unique Aegis Sword weapon skin for the Swordfighter class. Don’t worry if you don’t plan on getting the amiibo: the skins will be unlockable without the amiibo, by meeting a certain condition (the amiibo only offer an early unlock).

Speaking of amiibo, Noah and Mio are also getting their own! More details about those new amiibo will be shared at a later date.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (Switch) is now available worldwide.

Source: Nintendo