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Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Xenoblade Note Vol. 8 (Side activities, Expansion Pass, Commercials)

Nintendo have shared the 8th Xenoblade Note blog post on their Topics website, providing us with some more details about Xenoblade Chronicles 3. This time, the post shares some more details about side activities such as things to do in Colonies, exploring the world, and more. We also get a preview of the first set of additional content for the game!

Here’s the list of blog posts available:

Here’s the footage featured in this 8th Xenoblade Note blog post for Xenoblade Chronicles 3:

There’s quite a bit of brand new footage to check out this time around!

Also, here’s not one but three commercials from Japan:

Worldview – System: Savouring the landscapes of Aionios

On their way to Swordsmarch (the land pierced by a giant sword), Noah and the others will get to explore a variety of areas ranging from grassy meadows to deserts, snowfields, forests, and even vast oceans. One such area is the Erythia sea: it’s so vast that swimming between islands is rather cumbersome. You might want to hop on a boat if you want to explore it!

The clock never stops ticking while you’re out exploring Aionios. If you ever want to change the time of day, you can do so at any time from the main menu. This is pretty handy, because just like in past Xenoblade Chronicles games, certain monsters only appear at specific times of day. Also, changing the time allows you to see the many sceneries of Aionios in different lights!

System – What you can do in Colonies

You will find Colonies in all the regions of Aionios: those are strongholds used by both Keves and Agnus, and it’s where the people of this world live. You can stop at friendly colonies to shop, eat, and take part in various activities.

Buying accessories

Noah and the others can equip various acccessories in order to power up. Accessories can have various effects: they can increase your attack power, raise your HP, or even make your Arts more effective. Make sure to try out different things! By the way, you can get Accessories from Shops or as Quest rewards.

Collectopaedia Cards

Throughout the game, residents of the various Colonies will ask you to find some items for them, tasking you with filling up cards known as Collectopaedia Cards. Once you’ve collected all the items on one such card, you will get a reward. Some of the items can be found pretty easily by collecting them from the ground while exploring Aionios, so it’s definitely a good idea to go and explore the world every once in a while!

Affinity Chart

The Affinity Chart allows you to visualize the conflicts between the various Colonies, but also the relationships between the various people there. You can also check out brief profiles of the inhabitants.

While exploring the world or a Colony, if you come across a character with a ★ right next to their name, that means two possible things:

  • you are yet to speak to them
  • you have already spoken to them, but they have a new conversation for you to listen to

By the way, talking to a character for the first time will net you some affinity points with their Colony, so make sure to talk to everyone you meet!

Gather information and complete quests

While exploring the world, you will sometime come across yellow marks. If you go and investigate, you will gain some valuable information, so make sure to go and check out every such mark you find! Once you have enough information, you can consult the other party members at a Rest Spot. This will sometime develop into a Quest.

During certain Quests (those where you need to defeat certain monsters, for example), you can have a set of glowing footsteps lead you to your objective instead of searching blindly. It’s almost like a detective following the trail that will lead them to the criminal!

System – Exploring the world

While exploring the world, there are many things for you to discover.

Nopon merchants at Rest Spots

Nopon Merchants can be found at some of the Rest Spots. If you’re ever in need of gear, make sure to take a break from your adventure and drop by! One of them is called Silsil (official English name TBA!), and she will automatically buy cash item as you acquire them!

Containers

Containers can be found all over Aionios. When you come across one, make sure to pop it up open, for it could contain some rare and/or valuable items! Also, Agnus and Keves will occasionally drop supply containers on the field, and you can find them by following the column of red smoke. They contain some pretty valuable items, so it’s definitely worth it to go and open them.

Plants

During your adventures in Aionios, you will find handy machines known as Plants. Using Gold, they can be used to manufacture items. In some rare cases, they can even make items that are not easily found in the field, so you might want to check out every Plant you stumble upon.

Ether Channels

While exploring Aionios, you will come across strange spots which emit a green light. Those are called Ether Channels, and they allow you to collect Ether in Ether Cylinders. Ether is used as material for Gem Crafting, so make sure to collect as much as you can: you will need it to become stronger!

Unique Monsters

Aionios is home to many monsters, including the rare and extremely powerful Unique Monsters. Unless you know what you’re doing, it’s quite likely they will wreck you and your party, so don’t be afraid of running away if things go south!

Here’s two such monsters:

  • Immovable Gonzales: this large monster appears to spend its days doing nothing but sleep. It really doesn’t like to be disturbed, and will attack anyone who dares wake it up, so make sure to stay well clear of it (unless you’re prepared to fight it!).
  • a large, dinosaur-like monster (English name TBA!) who will attack you on sight, so be careful!
Power struggle

While exploring the world, you will occasionally come across enemies fighting each others. When you do, you can decide to take part in the battle by picking up a side. Doing so will allow you to earn a reward once the battle is over. As for deciding which side to pick up, pay attention to the rewards you can get, but also how easy/hard it will be for the side you choose to come out on top.

Nopon Coins

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 features a special currency known as Nopon Coins. Those are quite useful, and can be used for a variety of things: you can trade them for items, use them to complete Collectopaedia Cards when you just can’t find certain items, or even to cook or craft Gems even when you don’t have all the required materials/ingredients. And that’s not all: you can also use them to level up Classes!

You can get Nopon Coins as reward for clearing Quests or defeating Unique Monsters.

System – Introducing a new Hero

Heroes are special characters that join your party to give you a hand during your adventure.

  • Gray (voiced by Shigeru Chiba in Japanese). His class is Full Metal Jaguar (an Attacker), and thanks to his two pistols and some drones, he can attack enemies over wide areas. Gray is one crafty Hero, as the more enemies he hits, the more elaborate his attacks become! We get to see part of a cutscene where Gray is seen attacking Noah and the others. Just what lies under the eye patch covering his right eye?

Worldview – Introducing a new music track

This 8th Xenoblade Note blog post for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 introduces another music track. This one is not a battle theme for once: it’s called Millick Meadows, and as the title indicates, it plays when you’re out and exploring that region of Aionios.

Millick Meadows is one of the first areas Noah and the others will get to explore during their adventure. You really get that feeling of an adventure about to begin with the mixture of anticipation and eagerness of this track. You will get the urge to go and run around the grasslands while listening to it!

About the Expansion Pass

The first set of DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 comes out on July 29th, and includes Helpful Items and Outfit Color Variants.

Fashion Equipment for the 6 Protagonists

The first set of DLC includes Fashion Equipment, and more precisely colour variants of the regular outfits of Noah and the others. You can change your equipment at any time during your adventure.

About the second set of DLC

The second set of DLC, to be released this Winter, will include the following:

  • Challenge Battle
  • New Hero Character and Quests
  • New Outfits

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch) comes out on July 29th worldwide.

Source: Nintendo

Lite_Agent

Founder and main writer for Perfectly Nintendo. Tried really hard to find something funny and witty to put here, but had to admit defeat.